One thing that I've learned to my,
especially as a pastor,
one thing that I've learned in my Christian life is
when you get really excited and you get really happy
and things are going well
and things are going seems like on track,
that's where we can sometimes let down our guard
and Satan can come and put a foothold into our lives.
So we're there in second Corinthians chapter two,
and I'm taking a break from the perfect man series.
So I just wanted to look at Satan today
and we need to be aware that, you know, if we're excited,
I'm just past excited.
I'm sure some of you guys are excited.
My family's excited.
Satan does not like it when we're excited.
Satan does not like it when he knows
a great work for God will be done.
And so he's gonna come in
and try to cause as much havoc as he can.
So it says in second Corinthians chapter two, verse 11,
lest Satan should get an advantage of us
for we are not ignorant of his devices,
devices plural there.
You know, Satan has many ways to get at us
and we're being commanded here to not be ignorant
of Satan's devices.
So I'm trying not to be ignorant.
You know, I'm happy, I'm excited to get to Queensland.
I'm also not ignorant that we have an enemy.
Satan, he's going to try to put any stop,
any discouragement, any slow down of God's work,
anything he can do, brethren.
So I will strongly encourage you over the next few weeks,
please be cautious, please be on guard.
Maybe more than you usually are.
Be aware that Satan will try to sap the excitement
of New Life Baptist Church.
He's not gonna want, you know,
great work to continue there in that church.
Now, I believe I have 10 of Satan devices
that we can look through.
I've just gone through the New Testament
and look at different times that Satan has gotten involved
in a church or a believer's life.
And first passage that we're gonna look at, of course,
is there in second Corinthians chapter two.
So let's get a little bit of the context
of what verse number 11 is speaking about.
In verse number 10, let's start there in verse number 10.
It says, to whom you forgive anything, I forgive also.
For I forgave anything to whom I forgave it,
for your sakes forgave I, it in the person of Christ.
Then it says, lest Satan should get an advantage of us,
for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Now, brethren, the first device that Satan will use
to cause harm in our church
is the device of unforgiveness, unforgiveness.
All right, what are we learning here?
Now, you may recall back in first Corinthians,
there was a man who was sleeping with his father's wife.
He was committed fornication.
And then the apostle Paul instructs the church
to kick that man out of the church.
You know, the sin of fornication is one sin
where somebody is not to fellowship with the believers.
They're to be kicked out of the church.
And so he's gone out.
Yes, he's been kicked out of the church.
And then we get to second Corinthians chapter two.
And you'll learn that as you go
from second Corinthians chapter two,
this man has repented.
This man has got that sin right.
Well, not the sin right, but he's overcome that sin.
Now he wants to be back in church.
And Paul is encouraging the church, hey, forgive this man.
Allow this man back into your church.
Yes, there are some sins that men are worthy
to be kicked out of church.
But if they come apologetic, asking for forgiveness,
saying sorry, then we are commanded to forgive that person
and allow them back into the church.
And so, brethren, the first device
that you need to be aware of
that Satan might use in your heart
is the sin of unforgiveness.
As Christians, we are commanded to forgive
those that apologize, those that say sorry,
those that seek forgiveness,
we are commanded to forgive them.
If we don't forgive them,
it says Satan should get an advantage of us.
If we at our church are unforgiven
towards somebody who has done wrong,
then that just gives open cause for Satan
to do what he wants to do with our church.
Brethren, I don't know where you sit right now.
I'm sure we've all got people that have wronged us.
And I hope for the sake of our church
and for your own family and your life,
that if someone has sought forgiveness,
that you have forgiven them.
Now, one thing that I do always wanna say,
I always wanna say about this topic of forgiveness,
is that even though we've been given
a commandment to forgive,
and we know if we don't forgive,
Satan will come in and hurt us severely,
but there's a big difference between forgiveness and trust.
And I say this because there are certain people
that have done wrong or have wronged others,
they've committed some type of offense,
and they've apologized for it, and that's wonderful.
And they received full forgiveness.
But just because you've received full forgiveness
doesn't mean you automatically receive full trust, okay?
So for example, if someone betrays my trust,
and you know, you cause me harm, you cause me hurt,
you cause hurt for my family.
And then, you know, a week goes by and you say,
look, I'm sorry, I've done wrong, please forgive me.
I will forgive you.
I will not hold a grudge against you.
I will not be bitter against you.
But you know what's going to change?
I'm not going to be able to trust you
as much as I trusted you before.
It doesn't mean I've not forgiven you.
It doesn't mean I hold a grudge and I'm trying to hurt you.
It just means I can't trust you to the same level, all right?
And you know, if you wanna have that trust back,
you've got to rebuild that trust, potentially.
Maybe that trust never gets rebuilt.
But you need to understand, you know,
if you've caused offense, all right, and you apologize,
and they're not allowing you into their life
as much as they used to,
it doesn't mean they've not forgiven you.
It just means they don't trust you
to the same level as before, okay?
So please be aware of that.
Unforgiveness is the first device that Satan would use
that we see here in his sermon against our church.
Now let's turn to Matthew 4.
Let's go to the great meeting, I guess,
between Satan and Jesus Christ.
You may recall when Christ started his ministry
after getting baptized, he went into the wilderness.
He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.
And it says here in Matthew 4, verse number three,
I want you to notice the title that Satan is given.
It says, and when the tempter came to him,
he said, if thou be the Son of God,
command that these stones be made bread.
The first thing you need to understand
as he confronts Jesus is that Satan is called the tempter.
And so the second device that Satan uses against us,
brethren, are temptations.
Temptations.
Temptations for what?
Temptations to sin.
They say, well, Pastor Kevin,
there's nothing wrong with Jesus
commanding this stone to be made bread.
He's been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights.
And you know what?
I suppose that's true in many ways.
You know, the Lord Jesus Christ feeding himself
after his fast isn't the big issue here,
but what Satan is doing,
he's trying to cause Jesus to let down his God
instead of trusting his father for his provisions,
instead of relying on God the Father
for all of the needs that Jesus Christ requires,
Satan said, hey, I can actually find you a solution here.
And so it opens those doors to trust Satan
or to rely on Satan to some extent.
And so brethren, temptations.
Satan will use temptations against you.
You know, every time you sin,
you've been tempted to do that sin.
You know, one big mistake some Christians make
is say, well, you know, I sinned and you know,
so, you know, it's not my fault, it's Satan's fault
because Satan is the tempter.
And yes, sometimes Satan can cause the temptation.
Yes, he is a tempter.
But most of the times, brethren, when you sin,
it is just directly from your own sinful flesh,
your own sinful heart.
The Bible says in James chapter one, verse 13,
let no man say when he's tempted, I am tempted of God,
for God cannot be tempted with evil
neither tempteth he any man.
And that's verse number 14.
It says, but every man is tempted
when he is drawn away of his own lusts.
Brethren, his own lusts, all right?
And enticed.
Then when lust has conceived,
it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished,
bringeth forth death.
You see, the lust is already in your heart.
When the tempter comes,
he doesn't put the lust in your heart.
It's already there.
But he may present a scenario
that draws that lust out of your heart.
And so even if Satan is the one that tempted you to sin,
it is still your own fault
because it is still your own lust
that the tempter is using against you.
And brethren, if we're able to overcome temptations,
and yes, the Lord God has given us power over sin.
He's given us escape
to be able to escape any kinds of trials and temptations
that come in our lives.
It's true, but many times we just give into it
because of the weakness of this flesh,
because of that wicked heart that we have within us.
And so don't forget that it comes out of your own heart.
Let me just give you some examples of this.
I personally, I hate alcohol, okay?
Now I don't have to be a Bible believing Christian.
Like I'm not really a hater of alcohol
because of what God says about alcohol.
I'm not really a hater of these things
because of what God says about drunkenness.
And many of you are.
And I guess part of why I hate it
is of course of what God says in the Bible.
But really alcohol is something I've just never,
you know, really been, I've never really desired.
I don't, like if someone put a beer right in front of me
or a bottle of wine,
I wouldn't even be tempted to touch that thing, you know,
because it's just something that it never clung to me.
You know, I did try it when I was, you know, of age.
And I just found it disgusting.
I just found it tasted horrible.
And it smelled horrible.
And when it gets spilled, it smells horrible.
And when people vomit, it's just horrible.
And I just associate all those smells with vomiting
and partying.
And I just think,
I don't even want to touch that kind of stuff, right?
And so Satan comes and tempts me,
tries to tempt me with a bottle of wine.
It's just, it's not gonna work
because I don't have that really in my heart there, right?
But some of you may have been alcoholics in the past.
Some of you may strongly desire the drink.
And so Satan can use a bottle of wine
or can use a, you know, a cup of beer or whatever, right?
To tempt you.
And you need to be aware of this, you know,
that Satan can come.
He understands the lust that's in your heart
and he'll use that lust against you, right?
There are obviously other things that I'm tempted to do
and Satan can use those things against me.
And so brethren, the second device that Satan uses
is temptations.
He appeals to the lust of your own heart.
Please brethren, over these next couple of weeks,
you know, it's so vital that, you know,
this pastor is able to get out there with his family.
Please watch yourself.
You know, you know, we're gonna sin every day.
I understand that, okay?
But please be careful,
especially the sins that you've had victory over.
You know, you may have, you know,
you've may have committed them in the past
and now you have some success.
You've got the power of the Lord upon you
and you're able to overcome those things.
Please be aware.
Because I truly believe that Satan
is going to try to tempt some of you,
even this pastor over the next couple of weeks,
as we prepare to get back into New Life Baptist Church.
All right, let's keep going there in Matthew chapter four.
I hope you're still there.
Drop down to verse number eight,
Matthew chapter four, verse number eight.
So we saw that one of the titles was the tempter.
And then it says in Matthew four, eight,
again, the devil.
So that's another name for Satan.
He is the devil.
Now there are many devils, okay?
Many, you know, what we often call demons,
the Bible calls devils,
but there is one, the devil,
which is the tempter, which is Satan.
It says again, the devil take him up
into an exceeding high mountain
and show him all the kingdoms of the world
and the glory of them and safe unto him.
All these things will I give thee
if that will fall down and worship me.
What is Satan trying to tempt Jesus with?
The glory, the kingdoms of this world.
And so Brethren, the next thing that Satan
will use against you, the next device
is love for this world.
Love for this world.
When you love this world, Brethren,
that is a device of Satan to keep you distracted
from the kingdom of God.
You know, having our focus on the kingdoms of this world
and what this world can give us, Brethren,
it will take us away from the kingdom of God.
You know, our desire, our love,
our service for that kingdom
will start serving ourselves
for this kingdom on this earth.
But it keeps going in verse number 10.
Then save Jesus unto him,
get thee hence Satan for it is written,
thou shall worship the Lord thy God
and him only shalt thou serve.
And so you can see that Satan,
Jesus Christ was causing Satan, the devil, the tempter.
This is the one and same person.
Okay, Satan is the devil.
Satan is the tempter.
And notice how he tries to tempt Christ.
Well, if you just worship me, I'll give you the power.
I'll give you the glory.
Hey, you can have these kingdoms for yourself.
And you know, I have no doubt
that there are many celebrities, many music stars,
many people that make of themselves something really,
I mean, you know, playing a song,
should you really be a billionaire
because you can play a song to a billionaire?
You know, should you be making millions of money
because you know how to pretend,
you know how to lie and act,
that's an actor by the way, you know,
and you make it big in Hollywood
and you're making billions, millions of dollars,
you know, every movie make, you know,
is that really an occupation worth that kind of money?
You know, what about, you know, and look, I love soccer.
I love football, right?
But really, I mean, someone just kicking a ball on a field,
should they really be making millions of dollars?
You know, literally, you know, hundreds of thousands
of dollars every single week just to kick a ball around.
You know, I truly believe there are some people,
you know, some names that have made of themselves
something in this world.
They've got the glory and the power on this earth
because they worship Satan
and Satan has come through on his side
and given them some power in this world.
But brethren, even though that might be the non-believers,
you know, we are commanded by Jesus Christ
to not love this world.
You know, I've already preached on this not long ago,
the importance of our sight, our attention
being on heavenly things, on eternal things.
The Bible says in 1 John 2.15,
love not the world,
neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.
Brethren, you got a choice.
You either love the Father,
you love God or you love this world.
You choose.
You know, you love this world,
then you know that you're not loving the Father
the way you ought to.
You know, the love that you have toward this world
is not coming from God.
You know, that love is coming from the lust of your heart.
The Bible continues in verse number 16,
for all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes
and the pride of life is not of the Father,
but is of the world.
And then it says in verse number 17,
and the world passeth away and the lust thereof,
but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
Brethren, let that be an encouragement to you.
When you start to have your heart set upon this world
and the things of this world,
the glory and the kingdoms,
thinking that you can make of yourself
something great in this world,
please remind yourself that this world will pass away.
You know, you'll be able to take nothing
that you achieved in this world to heaven with you, okay?
Keep your eyes on eternity.
Keep your eyes on the kingdom of God.
It says by he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
You know, whatever we do in accordance to God's will,
if we set heaven as our priority,
we set God's kingdom first,
then those works that we do is going to abide forever.
God's gonna reward us in heaven
for the service that we've done for him.
Brethren, that's what matters in the long run, okay?
Not having our hearts set upon this earth.
And so I've already gone through three of Satan's devices.
Number one was unforgiveness.
Number two was temptations.
And number three was the love of this world.
Can you please now turn to Mark chapter four.
Turn to Mark chapter four for me, please.
Mark chapter number four.
And we're looking at one of our favorite parables.
I think it's one of the favorite parables of many of us.
And it's the parable of the sower, okay?
And we know that the seed that is getting sown
is the word of God.
So this is all about preaching the gospel, all right?
And when we sow the seed, it falls on different grounds
and we see the results of our sowing efforts, for example.
But I just want us to look at one part of this parable
in Mark chapter four, verse number 13,
which reads, and he said unto them,
know ye not this parable?
And how then will ye know all parables?
The sower soweth the word.
So Brethren, when we go sowing,
we are sowing the word we are trying to plant, right?
The seeds as we go and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But look at verse number 15.
It says, and these are they by the wayside
where the word is sown, but when they have heard,
Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word
that was sown in their hearts.
And so Brethren, what do we learn here?
That when we go sowing, we have an enemy.
There is an enemy to sow within.
Yes, the fourth device that Satan has, Brethren,
is to act as an enemy to our sow within efforts.
You know, sometimes we may go
and we may even present the entire gospel to somebody.
We might plant seeds of God's word.
And you know, in our hearts we're excited,
hey, we got to the gospel presentation.
But you don't know, as soon as that door closed,
that Satan takes that word immediately out of their heart,
that Satan is an enemy to our sow within efforts.
And so I'm saying this, Brethren,
because whatever is causing us to stop sowing the seed,
whatever's causing us to stop sow-winning
or not to be as consistent as we used to be, Brethren,
is a device of Satan.
There is something trying to stop you.
You know, whether it's stopping you doing the sowing
or whether it's the person that you sow to,
the word of God being removed out of their hearts
so they cannot believe and be saved
by the finished work of Jesus Christ.
And so many times this enemy might be distractions, right?
I mean, how many times, Brethren, have we given stories
where we've given the gospel to somebody,
they appear to be close to being saved,
they're receiving the word,
they seem to just want to know
and receive the free gift of salvation.
And then somebody comes, maybe a family or a friend,
they come alongside, cause a distraction.
Oh, they don't want to hear what you have to say, you know?
And they just cut it short.
And in your heart, you kind of knew
if I could just have a few more minutes with this person,
they would have caught upon the Lord for salvation.
You know, these things,
when these things happen, Brethren, it's the work of Satan.
Understand that Satan is trying to stop people
from being saved and Satan is trying to stop you
from being consistent in your soul winning.
And I say this, Brethren,
because I don't want you to become discouraged
or give up on your loved ones.
I know that the hardest people to get saved
are your loved ones.
It's actually easier to talk to a stranger
about the gospel than your own family
or your own friends that you have that are close, right?
Cause there's that concern at the back of your mind
that this might break our friendship.
This might break our relationship
if I offend them with the word of God,
whereas a stranger at a door,
you don't really care if you offend them
at the end of the day,
you're trying to just deliver the soul from hell
and you don't know,
you don't really have that relationship with them obviously.
And so please don't give up on your loved ones.
I'm sure you have given the gospel to loved ones, you know,
and they've not received it
or they've just forgotten about it.
And maybe you've done it two times, three times, four times,
and you start to become discouraged
or you start thinking this person can never be saved.
Brethren, please don't give up.
Remind yourself you have an enemy, Satan,
who takes the word that you've tried to plant,
removes it out of their heart.
You know, give your friends, give your loved ones
a second, a third, a fourth opportunity
as you keep giving them the gospel.
An enemy of soul winning, Brethren,
whatever, you know, tries to stop that work getting done,
it's a device of Satan.
Please be cautious, please be aware.
All right, please turn to the book of Luke now.
Luke chapter 13 and verse number 10.
One of the great works that Jesus Christ did
when he was walking this earth
was of course performing miracles.
And part of those miracles was healing the sick
and they made the blind to see and the lame to walk.
We have a story here of Jesus Christ performing a miracle
on a lady here in Luke 13 verse 10,
Luke chapter 13 and verse number 10.
The Bible reads, and he was teaching
in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.
And behold, there was a woman
which had a spirit of infirmity 18 years
and was bowed together and could in no wise lift up herself.
So notice this woman's sickness or this woman's illness
isn't just a regular run of the mule, body breaks down,
we have defects, genetic issues with these problems,
they're all gonna perish.
No, the reason this woman was sick
is she had a spirit of infirmity, all right?
Now let's keep going there, verse number 12.
And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him
and said unto her, woman, thou art loosed
from thine infirmity.
And he laid his hands on her
and immediately she was made straight.
So she was all bowed and low and then Christ heals her,
she was able to stand up straight.
You know, I'm sure we've all seen people
become maybe elderly or maybe a little bit elderly,
maybe some type of back injury and people just lowered
and they just can't fix themselves up.
Well, that was this condition of this lady.
Now I'm not saying that everybody that is bowed
has a spirit of infirmity or has a devil in them,
I'm not saying that at all.
I'm just saying that this is one device that Satan used,
illness, okay, a physical infirmity.
And it says in verse number 14,
and the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation
because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day
and said unto the people,
there are six days in which men ought to work in them,
therefore come and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.
The Lord then answered him and said,
thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath
loose his ox or his ass from the store
and lead him away to watering?
And ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham
whom Satan hath bound?
Lo, these 18 years be loosed
from this bond on the Sabbath day.
So why did this woman have this ailment?
Why does this woman have this infirmity?
Because Satan had bound her.
This spirit of infirmity is part of the kingdom of Satan,
part of this kingdom of darkness
that Satan rules over in this world.
And so, brethren, the fifth point that I have,
the fifth device of Satan can be health problems,
can be health problems.
And we know that Satan can attack the flesh to some extent.
We've seen this with this woman here.
If you've read the story of Job in the Bible,
you know clearly that God allowed Satan some power,
some control over Job's body,
brought great boils and great burdens on the body of Job.
Satan can attack our flesh.
Satan can bring infirmities.
Now again, we're not some charismatic Pentecostal church here
that says every time you're sick,
anytime you have the sniffles, come and touch my garment
and you'll fall over
and you'll be all healed from your sickness.
Okay, that's just stupidity, all right?
But you need to be aware there are some sicknesses
that definitely are a result of Satan's devices, okay?
Just trying to harm the people of God
for whatever wicked reasons he has.
And remind yourself many times
that God allows this to happen, okay?
Maybe it's to bring humility.
You may recall when, for example, the Apostle Paul,
he speaks about this in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 7.
I'll quickly read it to you.
He says, unless I should be exalted above measure,
Paul was worried that he'll be exalted above measure.
He was worried that he'd become prideful in all the works,
all the achievement that he's done for God.
So he says, unless I should be exalted above measure
through the abundance of the revelations,
because I'm able to reveal so much of God's word,
he's such a great preacher, such a great teacher,
he's worried that he might get exalted with pride.
He says, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh,
the messenger of Satan to buffet me,
lest I should be exalted above measure.
Is it sometimes God allows Satan to attack your body
because he knows that if you don't,
you're gonna become prideful about something,
whatever that might be.
Well, I could become prideful about being a pastor,
prideful about preaching,
prideful about being a pastor of two churches.
And I guess these things can happen.
And then God will allow Satan sometimes
to just buffet that body,
just to bring some type of sickness,
some type of ailment,
lest I be exalted above measure.
And so Paul, even though Satan's attacking Paul,
Paul's happy, at least I'm not getting prideful.
This sickness, this ailment that I have in my body
is keeping me from becoming lifted up full of pride.
And so Satan can attack the body.
We spoke about, when we looked at the beginning verse,
how a man was kicked out of the church
because of his fornication.
Well, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 5,
about the man being kicked out of the church,
it says to deliver such and one unto Satan
for the destruction of the flesh,
that the spirit may be saved
in the day of the Lord Jesus.
And so when someone is kicked out of church,
officially kicked out of church because of grave sin,
we are handing that person over to Satan
for Satan to destroy that flesh,
to bring an ailment, to bring some problem in their life.
Why?
Because we hate them though.
So they can be humbled, like Paul,
to be humbled, to be brought low
and say, I've done wrong, I've committed a sin,
I need to get right, I need to get back in church,
I need to get back with the brethren.
That's the whole point.
And when they want to be forgiven, when they apologize,
then we ought to forgive them.
Again, unforgiveness was the first point that I had,
the first point of Satan's device.
But brethren, we need to be aware
that Satan can attack our flesh.
Health problems can be a result of Satan's device
for whatever purpose that Satan might have.
And brethren, if you are suffering with something like that,
where you feel that Satan might
have taken a hold of your body,
then let me encourage you again,
what we read about in James 5,
where the elders are caught in,
there's the anointing of oil
and the prayer of faith shall save him.
And so please be, just keep that passage in your mind.
If you're battling some type of physical issue
and you have suspicions,
I mean, I guess it doesn't even have to be
something about Satan,
but if you are suffering with something,
some chronic issue, please let's...
And it's up to you, I'll leave it in your hands.
But the Bible does say to call for the elders
to be prayed over and anointed with oil.
So please keep that in mind.
We don't want to be suffering unnecessarily
because of Satan's devices, which could be health problems.
All right, I think you're still there in Luke.
So let's go to Luke chapter 22.
Let's go to Luke chapter 22.
Luke chapter number 22, please.
And verse number 31.
Luke chapter 22 and verse number 31.
Now we're fast forwarding to,
in Christ's ministry when he's arrested.
Actually, I should say shortly before he's arrested
and crucified.
And you may recall when Christ is telling them
that he's gonna be taken and killed,
that Peter says, not me, I'll never deny you, Lord.
Peter's so confident, so sure
that he's going to stand with Jesus Christ.
And it says here in Luke chapter 22, verse number 31.
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, look at this.
Satan have desired to have you
that he may sift you as wheat.
So notice, Satan desires us.
He wants to sift us as wheat.
He wants to destroy us, brethren.
And then in what way?
Look at verse number 32.
But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not.
And when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren.
Listen, Peter, when you fail,
when you're converted and you're back to your faithfulness,
then go to your other brethren and encourage them as well.
Christ knows that Peter's about to become faithless,
that he's not gonna be faithful
toward the Lord Jesus Christ the way he ought to.
And Jesus knows that this is a work,
this is a device of Satan.
And then it says there in verse number 34,
sorry, verse number 33.
And he said unto him, Lord, I'm ready to go with thee,
both into prison and to death.
Now, look, I'm sure he wanted that.
I'm sure his heart's desire,
look, I'll even die for you, Jesus.
But he wasn't ready for that.
Because in verse number 34, he says, and he said,
I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day
before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
Thrice, three times, Peter, not just once, not just twice,
but three times you're going to deny me.
Three times you're gonna be unfaithful toward my name.
And we know that took place.
We know that took place.
And so, brethren, the sixth device
that Satan will use against you is unfaithfulness,
unfaithfulness toward the Lord God.
You know, why was Peter unfaithful?
He got discouraged.
Yeah, he got discouraged saying his Lord being arrested,
being spat on, being punched, you know, being treated,
you know, the son of God being treated in such a way.
Of course he got discouraged, okay?
Was he fearful?
Of course he was fearful as well.
What could man do unto him as well, right?
I mean, what could happen to not just Jesus,
but the disciples?
He was fearful.
And then when they came, when, you know,
he had different opportunities.
When people came to Peter and asked,
hey, I've seen you, Jesus.
You're, you know, you're one of his disciples.
You know, what did he do?
He denied Jesus three times.
He was ashamed to speak of Christ.
He was ashamed to stand up for Jesus Christ.
And so he got to a period of discouragement,
a period of unfaithfulness.
And Jesus says that this is a device of Satan.
Satan is the one that's causing this in the heart of Peter.
And brethren, if you're discouraged,
if you're unfaithful toward the Lord God,
this could be another device of Satan.
And again, you know, as we go through this list,
I don't want you to think that every time I'm discouraged
or every time I'm unfaithful, it's the devil.
Again, we already seen there's lust in our own heart.
We do wickedly because of our own sinful nature.
What I'm trying to show you as we go through these,
that these are devices.
These are opportunities that Satan seeks for
in order to cast you down.
And I do believe once again,
that Satan over the next couple of weeks,
even maybe a few weeks after we start,
that Satan's gonna do everything he can to stop us,
doing a great work for Jesus Christ
at New Life Baptist Church.
All right, let's go to the book of Acts, please.
Go to Acts 5.
Go to Acts 5, please, in verse number one.
Acts 5 in verse number one.
There must be two Adelas.
I saw another Adela posting here on the live chat.
And over here, got another Adela right here.
I don't know, Adela, do you have a twin?
Acts 5 in verse number one, please.
The Bible reads,
But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife,
sold a position and kept back part of the price.
His wife also being privy to it and brought a certain part
and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Ananias and Sapphira, hey, they're Christians,
they're saved, they're excited for the work of God.
They've got a piece of land, they've got a possession.
And you know what they say?
They say, you know what we're gonna do
to further God's work,
in order to provide for those that are serving the Lord
and to send them on missionary journeys
and making sure the word of God is being preached.
We're gonna sell this land.
We're gonna take that money
and we're gonna give it to the apostles.
Sounds good, okay?
But it says in verse number two,
and kept part back of the price.
So let's say they sold it for $100,000.
You know, maybe they took $20,000 for themselves
and they gave $80,000 to the work of the church, okay?
And is there anything wrong with that?
Of course there's nothing wrong with that, okay?
If you wanna sell your own piece of land
and hold 20% of it and give 80% of it to the church,
that's fine.
You know, if you wanna hold 80% of it
and give 20% of it to the church, that's fine.
There's nothing wrong with that in of itself, brethren, okay?
Please don't misunderstand what's happening here.
And more is God telling you
to sell your piece of land to give to the church.
That's all.
This is just something this couple wanted to do, okay?
To be a blessing.
They thought, yeah, let's just do this
to the house of God, further the work of God,
but they held back part of the price.
It says his wife also being privy to it.
So this was like a secret.
This was a private matter between the husband and wife
and brought a certain part
and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Then notice what it says in verse number three.
And Peter said,
"'Ananias, why have Satan fueled thine heart
to lie to the Holy Ghost
and to keep part back of the price of the land?'"
So what happened?
Satan got a hold of Ananias' heart
and they lied about what they did, right?
What they said basically was this,
Oh, we sold the land for, again, pretend, $80,000
and we're bringing all $80,000 to the house of God.
We're giving them all to God's house.
Well, they're lying.
They held back part of the price.
Again, if they sold it for $100,000
and they just said, hey, you know what?
We're just giving 80,000.
We're holding 20,000 for ourself.
No problem.
That's not lying.
The fact is that they lied about it, okay?
Why would you lie about such a thing?
Why would you lie?
Because the wickedness of a man's heart,
trying to look righteous on the outside,
we sold it, we've given it all to Jesus
and they're holding back part of it.
It says there, verse number four,
whilst it remained, was it not thine own?
So while that land before you sold it,
wasn't it just yours?
It says, and after it was sold,
was it not in thine own power?
He goes, that land belongs to you.
It doesn't belong to us.
You sold it.
The money you made from that, that's in your hands.
I, for example, I can never tell you, brethren,
sell your house to fund the work of God.
I can't do that.
That's in your power.
That's in your control, all right?
You do whatever you want with what God has given you.
It says, why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?
Hast thou not lied unto,
thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down
and gave up the ghost,
and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
So Ananias passes away.
God kills Ananias right there and then for lying to God.
You know, he thought he was just lying to men.
Why would you lie to men?
Well, the seventh device of Satan, brethren,
is the praise of men.
The praise of men is the seventh device in the sermon
that comes from Satan.
Please be careful.
You know, I have no doubt that you're in church
because you love God, because you love God's house,
because you love God's people, you love fellowship,
you love singing praises, you love hearing God's word.
That's when you're in God's house.
And you know, many of you have given generously,
you know, to God's house.
Many of you have been a blessing to me, you know?
And you know, I want you to consider
everything you've given this church,
all the service you've done.
You know, even the men who preach,
even the men that song lead,
even those that go out soul winning,
whatever service you do
or whatever funds you've given to the church
for the furtherance of God's work,
I want you to consider your heart.
Have I done this for the praise of men
or have I done this for my Lord God?
Okay.
And brethren, if you've done it for the praise of men,
this is a device of Satan.
Satan has put this in your heart
to be recognized well done, you know?
And you know, being a pastor,
it's this fine line where people like to sometimes,
you know, thank you and sometimes they speak highly of you.
And it's nice, it's an encouragement sometimes,
but I don't like it when it's overboard
because it just could be flattery,
it could just be, well, I'm saying these things,
you know, so you can look favorably upon me,
so you can look well upon me.
And you know, if I commit some grave sin in the future,
that you should be able to overlook that pastor
because I've done so much for you.
You know, you need to be careful that whatever you do,
you do it for Jesus, you know?
And if men are blessed, then praise God, it's a bonus.
But whatever you do, whatever service you do,
do it for Jesus, brethren.
Please do it for Jesus because men will fail.
Men will let you down.
And if you haven't been doing it for Jesus,
then you're gonna quit church.
Then you're gonna quit your service for God.
Then you're gonna quit soul winning.
Then you're gonna quit Bible reading.
Then you're gonna quit it all, brethren.
When you do it for man and man will disappoint you,
man will let you down, this pastor will let you down.
If I haven't already, I probably will.
Not that I intend to, not that I want to,
but we're men, we fail, we do mistakes.
We say wrong things, right?
Just last service, I forgot to greet somebody at the door.
I felt rude, I didn't mean to, but you know,
that these things can happen, you know?
But just remember, you put Jesus first, you do it for Jesus.
It doesn't matter what happens to the man,
if you're doing it for Jesus, you're gonna remain faithful
and you're not gonna allow Satan
to have a foothold in your heart.
Please do all things for Jesus.
And also a warning to you, brethren,
when your own brothers and sisters are serving you,
they're helping you, they're encouraging you,
they're being a blessing,
please be careful with brethren
that say things along the line of,
but I've done so much for you.
I've been a help to you here,
I've been a help to you there,
I've done all this for you.
Reverend, please be careful.
You know, when those words start to come
out of someone's mouth,
they're doing it for the praise of men.
The reason they served, the reason they worked,
the reason they gave is to be patted by men.
Well done, good job, be careful.
When those words start coming out of someone's mouth,
I've done this for you, I've done that for you.
I've learned this, I've learned this recently, you know?
I want people, when you serve in God's house,
do it for God, do it for Jesus, don't do it for me.
Don't do it for me, okay?
You know, you're not gonna hold any leverage against me
if you do things for me.
And then I don't see something your way,
oh, but I did all this for you, Pastor Kevin.
No, well, that just tells me,
then you just wanted the praise of men.
That just tells me your heart's in the wrong place.
That just tells me you're in Ananias, you know?
No, do it for Jesus Christ, you know, do it for Jesus.
So can you please now turn to 1 Corinthians, chapter seven.
1 Corinthians, chapter number seven.
1 Corinthians chapter number seven.
The next three that we looked at there, brethren,
let me just go back, was some of Satan's device.
Number four was he's an enemy of soul winning.
Number five, health problems can be a device of Satan.
And number six was unfaithfulness.
And number seven was the praise of men.
Number seven was the praise of men.
All right, let's get to number eight, nine, and 10 now.
1 Corinthians, chapter seven, please.
1 Corinthians, chapter seven, and verse number four.
The Bible reads, the wife hath not power of her own body,
but the husband.
All right, now, brethren, marriage is so important
in the eyes of God, all right?
We become one flesh.
We're not two individuals living under the same house.
That's not marriage.
Marriage is one flesh, okay?
When you think of me and Christina,
think of literally one person.
We operate together, okay?
We are one, okay?
Now, what is it saying?
It says that the wife's body
does not even belong to her own.
It belongs to her husband, all right?
Then it says, and likewise also,
the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
You see, even the husband's body does not belong to him.
It belongs to the wife.
We are one, okay?
We belong one to another.
And then it says in verse number five,
defraud ye not one the other.
And this defrauding basically
is don't restrict your spouse, your body, okay?
We're obviously talking about physical intimacy,
the intimacy that belongs in marriage.
Defraud ye not one the other,
except it be with consent for a time.
So there is a time to withhold from that relationship
that you may give yourselves to fasten in prayer, okay?
And then it says this, and come together again,
that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency, okay?
So Satan can tempt you when you withhold physical intimacy
between husband and wife.
That's where Satan can get a foothold in your marriage.
That's where Satan can come in and cause you to get divorced
or whatever other issues, separated, fights, arguments.
You're allowing Satan into your family.
And so brethren, the eighth device of Satan
is dissatisfaction with your spouse.
And it says that Satan tempt you, tempt you to what?
Well, I'm not satisfied with my spouse anymore.
So what's the temptation?
You start thinking about other people.
Oh, you know what, man, you start looking at other women.
Women, you start looking at other men.
Oh, I wish my husband was more like these other men.
Oh, I wish my wife was like all these other women.
Brethren, that's Satan's device in your life.
God loves marriage.
God loves family.
You know, this is the first thing
when he created Adam and Eve, he marries them, right?
Day number one, hey, Adam never got single life, right?
He never got it, neither did Eve.
They started marriage, all right?
I mean, marriage is so important to God.
He wants us to raise a godly seed,
dissatisfaction in your spouse and adultery,
whether it's actual physical adultery
or even adultery of the heart.
Brethren, these are Satan's devices against you
and against your family.
Please be careful.
Please, husbands and wives, you know, be intimate.
You know, stay close together.
And it doesn't have to be the marriage bed.
Just, you know, kisses and hugs and, you know,
show each other affection and love.
You know, it's important.
There's that union.
You know, we require it.
God has put it in our makeup to desire
that physical connection with someone else,
which is why God has given us marriage, okay?
That physical connection is not outside of marriage.
It belongs within the realms of marriage.
So brethren, Satan's device is that he'll cause
this satisfaction in your spouse
and cause you to think upon others, all right?
Please go to 2 Corinthians 11.
2 Corinthians 11.
Now that previous point is so important
because I've heard it said, and I keep saying it,
the strength of our church depends on the strength
of the families in our church.
If you want a broken church,
then it's a church with broken families.
You know, if you want New Life Baptist Church
to be a strong church, we must have strong families.
And the foundation of a strong family
is the relationship between husband and wife, all right?
So 2 Corinthians 11, please.
2 Corinthians 11, verse number 13.
It says, for such a false apostles.
You know, we may have people that come into our church
that wanna be teachers, they wanna be preachers.
They might be false prophets.
They might not even be saved, okay?
It says if such a false apostles,
deceitful workers transforming themselves
into the apostles of Christ.
So they look like Christians.
They look like teachers that know things about Christ, okay?
But what are they?
They're false prophets.
They've transformed themselves.
Verse number 14, and no marvel for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore it is of no great, it is no great thing
if his ministers, his ministers,
one of the false prophets, ministers of Satan.
What does the word minister mean?
Servants.
Reverend, false prophets are servants of Satan, all right?
Therefore it is no great thing
that his ministers also be transformed
as the ministers of righteousness
whose ends shall be according to their works.
Reverend, device number nine that Satan uses
against the church and against God's people
are false prophets, false prophets.
Reverend, please be careful about who you listen to.
I hope you've already marked it down
whether I'm a prophet of God or I'm a false prophet, all right?
I mean, I don't think you'd be in church
if you thought I was a false prophet, okay?
But listen, you need to test.
The Bible says in 1 John 4.1,
beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits whether they are of God
because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
If you're able to mark someone down as a false prophet,
they teach a false gospel, or they teach another Jesus,
or they have another spirit, right?
Or they're just teaching damnable heresies.
Mark it down, he's a false prophet.
Oh, but he said good things in this other sermon.
He's a false prophet, he's a minister of Satan,
he's a servant of Satan.
Oh, but he said good things.
Yeah, they transform themselves
into ministers of righteousness.
Please be careful, all right?
If you know there's a preacher that you'd like to listen to
and they've revealed themselves to be false
or teaching damnable things, Reverend,
then mark them, avoid them, have nothing to do with them.
Now, actually, point number eight
for New Life Baptist Church,
I'm not even that concerned.
Oh, sorry, point number nine, false prophets.
I'm not even that concerned
because I know that so many of you are so alert, so aware.
But the reason I wanted to throw this in
is because I don't wanna get to the points
that we think, oh, we've got it all,
you know, well, Pastor Kevin,
we know Pastor Kevin's all right,
and you know, and he's like, you know,
we think we're so good in this area
where sometimes when you lift it up high,
you can be brought low, you know?
This is sometimes where you're so confident,
so sure you stop being aware, you stop being mindful.
And you know, we need to be careful
that we do not allow false prophets
to preach in our church, to teach in our church.
Now, sometimes you can't avoid it.
Sometimes, again, the ministers of righteousness,
you think they're righteous
and you allow them to have some influence,
but eventually they reveal themselves.
And when they reveal themselves,
you mark them, you avoid them,
you have nothing to do with these false prophets.
Please be careful who you listen preaching,
who you listen the teaching of God's word from.
So that's point number nine, brethren.
Now let's go to point number 10.
Please go to 1 Timothy chapter five,
1 Timothy chapter number five,
1 Timothy chapter number five, please.
Verse number 11, 1 Timothy chapter five, verse number 11.
The Bible says, but the younger widows refuse,
for when they had begun to wax once and against Christ,
they will marry, having damnation
because they have cast off their first faith.
All right, I'm not gonna go into those verses just now,
but look at verse number 13.
And withal, they learn to be idle,
wandering about from house to house.
Let's stop there for a moment.
So if somebody, if there's a young lady
going about wandering from house to house,
I'm gonna go visit sister so-and-so,
I'm gonna go visit sister so-and-so.
You say, well, that's not been idle.
God says it's been idle, okay?
It says there, and before they learn to be idle,
wandering about from house to house,
look, and not only idle,
the reason they go house to house is because they're idle.
They've got nothing to do.
They've got no accomplishments.
They've got no goals.
They're gonna, let's go visit sister so-and-so.
Let's go and visit this house.
Let's go and visit that house.
For what purpose?
It says, but toddlers also and busybodies
speak in things which they ought not.
Reverend, the 10th device,
Satan's device that I have in this sermon is gossip.
Being a toddler, being a busybody.
Yes, when you are idle, you know, you become a gossiper.
You desire to go see sister so-and-so
and talk about what happened in church on Sunday
and this is about the family, this so-and-so.
Did you see that person's kid over there?
Did you hear about this person's relationship?
And you go about house to house, being idle,
being a busybody, you know, being a toddler,
being a gossiper, this is one of Satan's devices.
Please be careful.
Let's keep going there, verse number 14.
I will therefore let the younger women marry,
bear children, guide the house, give no occasion,
look, to the adversary, to speak reproachfully,
for some are already turned aside after Satan.
Ladies, when you go gossiping from woman to woman,
or maybe not even going house to house,
just picking up the phone and ringing,
did you know about sister so-and-so?
I can't believe she saw,
did you see how she was dressed in church on Sunday?
Right, when you go around to speak in this stupidity,
it's a device of Satan.
You've turned, you're already following after Satan.
You're doing exactly what Satan wants you to do.
Idleness, instead of being idle,
what are young ladies required to do?
Get married, bear children.
I mean, oh man, such a burden.
That's what God's created you for.
That's what's gonna give you the greatest joy,
the greatest satisfaction,
doing the things that God has made you for.
And for men, what God has made you for is to be a worker,
to go and provide for your family.
That's what's gonna give you satisfaction.
This is God's way of doing things.
You wanna be happy in life?
Just do it God's way.
Bear children, guide the house.
Yeah, be a housekeeper.
Look after the household affairs.
Give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
Ladies, if you don't focus on your family,
on your own household,
then you give Satan the opportunity to come
and plant a device in your heart.
Then you'll be dissatisfied with your family.
You won't wanna get married.
You won't wanna have children.
Go on, I'll go talk to your sister so-and-so.
I'll go waste my time in other people's matters.
You say, what is gossip?
And I've had that question.
What is gossip?
Sometimes we might talk about things.
Are we gossiping?
And this is what I believe.
You can see there in 1st Timothy 5,
where it said, in verse number 13,
tattlers also and busybodies,
speak in things which they ought not.
So I'm gonna also read to you
from 1st Peter chapter four verse 15 that says this,
and let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief
or as an evildoer or as an busybody in other men's matters.
So we learn what a busybody is.
Some of that is a busybody in other men's matters.
So how do you know if you're gossiping?
All right, if someone comes to you and say,
I'm gonna tell you about so-and-so.
I'm gonna tell you about their life.
Say, but what does that have to do with me?
Okay, that's another man's matters.
You know what?
You're dealing with a busybody right there.
You're dealing with a gossiper right there.
And should that person be gossiping?
Of course not.
But you should also not be hearing it as well.
If you identify a gossiper, a tattler,
say, look, I don't wanna hear that
because this is just gonna cause issues.
It's gonna cause problems, all right?
I don't want nothing to do with that tattling,
that gossiping, because I don't wanna partake
of Satan's devices in our lives, okay?
That's what gossip is.
Now, if you do speak about someone else though, okay,
where it is your matter,
it does relate to you in a significant way.
It does, you know, it requires your, you know,
maybe it feels information for you
because of something that's happened in your life
or whatever, that of course is not gossip, okay?
We talk about somebody else
because it affects you directly, you know,
or affects the person you're speaking with directly,
you know, that's not gossip, okay?
Because this is not just another man's matter,
this is your matter, okay?
That is not gossip.
So sometimes people ask me, is this gossiping?
Well, is it relevant to you?
Is it important?
Is it significant to your life?
You know, something that's happened with you?
Because if it is, then that's not gossip, okay?
But when it has nothing to do with you,
it's about someone else's kids.
It's about someone else's life.
And it's like, well, I mean, what's it got to do with me?
That's a gossiper, that's a tattler,
that's somebody getting involved in other people's business.
Someone else's matters, they're busybodies.
For some already turned aside after Satan.
And so brethren, number 10 was gossip.
Number 10 was gossip.
Let me just go for those last three again.
Number nine, sorry, number seven was the praise of men.
I think I already said that.
Number nine, oh, sorry, number eight.
That's what I'm missing.
Number eight was dissatisfaction with your spouse.
And adultery is one of Satan's device.
Number nine was false prophets that creep into our churches.
And number 10, it's gossip.
Now, please be careful, ladies.
This is something that the Bible goes over and over again
with the ladies, you know?
And if you've got to prioritize your house,
you've got to prioritize your husbands and your children
and your house, this gives you joy.
And it stops Satan from having a foothold in your life.
All right, let's go to one more passage, please.
Please go to 1 Peter chapter five.
1 Peter chapter five, please.
1 Peter chapter five and verse number eight.
1 Peter chapter five, we'll end on this one.
1 Peter chapter number five and verse number eight.
1 Peter chapter five, verse number eight reads,
be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary,
the devil as a roaring lion,
walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
You know, Satan is looking for weakness.
And as I started this sermon, I said,
I have no doubt that as we prepare
to go back to new life at the church,
as we're excited to do great works for God, right?
That Satan's gonna come in.
Satan's gonna cause any kind of discouragement he can.
He's walking around as a roaring lion seeking to devour us.
And so my question for you this morning, brethren,
has Satan devoured you already?
You know, when you look at these 10 devices
that we've looked at, you know,
are you falling into one of these traps?
Do you find that Satan has gotten ahold of you?
Well, you need to fight back.
You need to, you know, seek Jesus Christ.
You need to seek the Lord to help you,
to deliver you from Satan, you know,
to resist the devil and he'll flee from you, the Bible says.
You know, this is what we have to do.
And so this is why I wanted to preach
this sermon this morning.
As a reminder, we do have an enemy, it's Satan, okay?
And he hates the work of God.
He hates God's people and he's going to try
to do whatever he can to hurt new life at this church.
So let's be aware, let's be sober,
let's be vigilant as we go about the next few weeks.
In fact, your entire life, okay, let's pray.