What The Serpent Wants From You Part 1

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Satan is a defeated foe, out on bail until his final sentence is carried out.

In the meantime, he wants to mess up your life. Understanding his tactics is crucial. Today, the wily schemes of an enemy who walks about like a roaring lion. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Today, we'll hear another message on God's Devil, the incredible story of how Satan's rebellion serves God's purposes. Pastor Lutzer, give us a heads up on what the serpent wants from you. Well, Dave, in a single sentence, the serpent wants to cut us off from God. He wants us to break fellowship with the Almighty. And the way he does that is to plant lies into our minds about God, so that we begin to doubt God's goodness and we begin to trust ourselves in some very deceptive ways. As a matter of fact, in my book entitled God's Devil, I have an entire chapter that details what the serpent wants from us.

And I go into detail also of the kind of bait that he uses so that we fall for his deceptions. Now for a gift of any amount, this book can be yours. It's entitled God's Devil. Here's what you do.

Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. And now let us listen carefully as we learn more about what Satan wants from us and his deceptions. All of us know that we are indeed in a spiritual battle. What's in it for Satan?

Why all this harassment? Why all of this activity when he knows that he has already been defeated? Well, one of the things that Satan wants to do, he always wants to do, is to separate the soul from God. He wants us to be separated from God as believers as best he can through guilt and through a sense of alienation and a feeling that God doesn't love us because we aren't good enough. He wants the unbelieving world to be separated from God and for them, the Bible says, he blinds the minds of those that believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ should shine onto them. And he wants people to be like he is, independent, evil. He always calls bad good and good bad, thoroughly evil. And he'd like us to be as much as possible like he himself is.

That's his goal. But let me tell you that his method is always to make sin look good. That's the way he works. People are always saying, well, how can you tell whether a problem is demonic or whether it's just our sin nature? Often you can't. Sometimes you can.

But frequently you can't. Because he works through the sin nature. He makes sin look appealing. He makes sin to appear as if it's a real good deal. Satan is the sin seller. And he'll tell you that if you follow me, if you do your own will, if you do your own thing and fulfill your own desires and not always be consulting with God, you'll really be better off.

Because if you follow God, you might be lonely, you might be single, you might be in despair and think of all the pleasures you might miss. And so that's the battle. What is his motive? I want you to know today that he is angry. He is very angry at God because he wants to be like God and never is going to be like God and knows it. So he's angry at that. He's angry because God purchased us at high cost out from under his domain, as we learned last week, and Jesus Christ defeated him.

So he's angry with us and he uses us to get back at God. Now in the history of theology, what you find is there have always been two extremes. On the one extreme, there are those who have just done away with Satan and they have underestimated him.

I think that's the way it was when I was growing up. Oh, you heard a couple of messages about Satan. I went to seminary and studied Satan in theology class and we memorized the notes and we put those notes on and then exam somewhere.

God knows where that exam is today and clearly he's not telling but he would be the only one who would know. And so that was done, but it was theoretical. Then when I came into my first pastorate, I began to have a more realistic view because when you begin to counsel and you begin to see expressions of demonic activity before your face, you begin to realize that this battle is a whole lot more real than I realized. But today we live in a time when I think that the opposite error is now in effect and that is where people are overemphasizing Satan or I should say perhaps not overemphasizing him but they are rather overestimating his ability and his strength.

Listen to some people and you almost get the impression that he is some kind of a second God and God and the devil are duking it out and in the end, yes, God will win, but it's almost a close call all the way along the line and there's some wrong theology that is being taught in what is known as the deliverance ministries. Now I believe in deliverance and in the next two messages in this series, we are going to be speaking about that, about resisting and about spiritual deliverance, but there's been some wrong theology that's been communicated. So what I'd like to do today is to give you five truths and I know that you didn't maybe bring notebooks with you, but you should write these down somewhere.

Five truths that we can hang on to. We'll turn to some passages of scripture, some I will simply stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance and what I'd like you to do is to pretend. Are you good at pretending? I want you to pretend that you're not here listening to a sermon but that you are in my study and we're sitting across from one another about five or six feet between us and you're looking into my eyes and I'm looking into your eyes. I try to look into your eyes when I preach and you probably are trying to look into mine, but some of you folks are sitting too far back to do that and we're just having a talk. Today is, it's time to talk to the pastor and we're just chit-chatting, but we're chit-chatting about truth and what I have to say, I want you to take seriously. Sometimes we say to one another, well you know I want to tell you something but don't take it personally. Well I want you to take this personally, just between us.

Here we go. Truth number one, Satan cannot act independently of God. He cannot act independently of God. You listen to some people today and you would think that Satan is autonomous as if he has such freedom he can just harass people at will and God is in heaven just simply saying well after all he is the prince of this world and I've got to let him do it.

No, that's not the way it is. Think with me. Satan and God have this little conversation about Job one day and they're discussing Job and God is saying look he's a great man and he loves me and turns away from evil and Satan says yeah but take everything he has away and he'll curse you. God says okay Satan let's test Job.

You take everything away but don't touch his life. So Job's children die. God even gave Satan there the authority to take the lives of Job's children. Awesome power.

Yes awesome power but done under the providential guidance and direction and limitation imposed by God. Later on, Job passes the test, Satan comes to him and says to God that is well you know touch his life. You haven't touched him and he'll curse you. God says go ahead touch his body but you can't take his life and Satan smites him with boils from top to bottom.

You know that I frequently ask people this. I did when I preached that series of messages on the book of Job. Where did Job's trial come from? God or the devil? Well the answer is that the immediate cause was the devil but the ultimate cause was God so that when Job was wrestling there in the ashes he was wrestling with God because he knew that it was God who had tested him.

Now you think about that. It's not as if Satan could just take on one of God's children without asking permission to do it. One day Satan was looking at Peter and he thought you know this Peter is so rash.

He's always making these promises. He's got a little edge to him. Have you ever met people who have an edge to them?

Some of you live with a person like that. They have maybe even more than one edge to them and Satan said to himself I'd like to see Peter fall. I'd like to see him deny Christ. What did Jesus say in Luke chapter 22? Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you that he might sift you like wheat but I've prayed for you that your faith might not fail and when you are restored you're going to be stronger because of it.

Now notice that. Satan couldn't attack Peter willy-nilly. He had to go to Christ.

I almost get the impression that he came begging to Jesus and said give me a chance to test Peter and Jesus gave it to him. Now you think of the implications then if that is true and it is true. If Satan cannot act independently of God think of what that means for some of you who live under the fear that you have been cursed because of your genealogy or because of a curse that has been put upon you. I and another pastoral staff member were counseling a lovely young couple who love the Lord Jesus Christ who came to us in fear fearing that someone in another country who hated them that's an intricate story but but had put a curse upon them because this person was profoundly evil and they even wondered whether there was a car accident in their life or health problems that resulted from this curse.

Well the answer is this. People may put curses on one another and certainly Satan has the power to curse and there are witches who cast spells but if you were a believer in Jesus Christ your destiny does not rest in the hands of Satan. Your destiny rests in the hands of God. God is the one who determines how long you are going to live. It is not up to Satan to somehow attack you and to do you in.

If you feel that you have a curse probably that fear if anything is going to be worse than the curse itself and I suggest what you do is you commit yourself to God and say God I belong to you and I reject any of these curses or the fear of curses because I do not belong to the devil. I belong to God. Who is Satan to say to you you're going to die at the age of 26?

He has no right to say it. He has no right to destroy you. It says in Hebrews chapter 2 very clearly that Jesus came to render powerless that's what my Bible says to render powerless him who had the power of death that is the devil.

You belong to Christ. Oh let's take and turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 20 a passage of scripture that I think has often been misinterpreted and misused and has been used by the devil to give him a license to do things that he has no right to do. You'll notice it says in the 20th chapter of Exodus verse 5 it's speaking about the curse of idolatry and idolatry is a curse it says you shall not worship them nor serve them for I the Lord your God and a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing loving kindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments.

I cannot count the number of times people have asked me about this passage. They say to themselves I was brought up in an occultic home I have a bad background there are generational spirits in our family and there may be just yesterday I read about a little girl two or three years old uttering obscenities that she could not have learned in a normal way. So there are generational spirits yes but if you're a believer in Jesus Christ two things about this passage very quickly it was pointed out to me actually by our associate pastor Darrell Worley to whom God has given a very keen mind notice what the text actually says that I will visit the iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. So if you meet somebody like that you say oh are you a God hater and if they're a believer they'll be shocked and say no I'm not a God hater I love God then whatever it is that is being spoken about here does not apply to you it says that the curse is if there is a curse on those who hate me to the third and the fourth generations and if you belong to God you have no reason to be under the curse of Satan. Now I've had people tell me that Satan actually uses this passage of scripture to harass God's people and they live in defeat they say to themselves well you know my family was so bad and we've got all these problems there's nothing that I can do except to simply accept it because this is going to go on for at least three more generations. I would say in the name of Jesus Christ rebuke that kind of a spirit rebuke that kind of unbelief and negativism and say to yourself as a Christian I belong to God my destiny is with him he is mine and I am his and who shall separate us from the love of Christ. I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present or things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. My dear friend if you are a believer you have a whole new identity you are now in Christ nothing can touch you in Christ unless God approves it a curse may be put upon you if the curse even worked and you died in accordance with it it would be within the providential hand of a loving father. God loves you as one of his children you are his and Satan cannot touch you without his express written consent. I don't know if it's written but it is express and it is consent. When our children were younger we used to take them to the zoo all parents have the responsibility of taking their children to the zoo and I remember our children just like all others we go over to the lion cage you have a child about two or three no daddy I don't want to see the lion the lion's gonna get me but you walk confidently over to the lion cage why because children see only the lion that's all they see but you're an adult and you not only see the lion you also see the bars and there are many people today all that they see is the lion they think to themselves that Satan has so much authority he can at will cast spells he can bring about death and God has nothing to do with it my dear friend I want you to know that he is the lion who seeks whom he may devour absolutely he is loose but God keeps him on a leash he cannot tempt job he cannot tempt Peter without express consent he cannot act independently rejoice if you are a believer for you have triumphed over his lies that's number one are you ready for number two ready or not here we go number two God uses Satan God uses Satan to discipline the disobedient he uses Satan as a means of discipline how many times have I quoted and you're going to hear it no doubt from me many more times the words of Martin Luther that the devil is God's devil take your Bible and turn to 1st Samuel chapter 18 1st Samuel chapter 18 this is the story of Saul you know I'm preaching a series of 8 messages and I'm sure that that is enough but in my heart I'm saying if I really did justice to the topic it would be more like a dozen messages or 15 because Saul himself almost merits an entire message 1st Samuel chapter 18 verse 10 now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul and he raved in the midst of the house while David was playing the harp with his hand as usual and a spear was in Saul's hand and Saul hurled the spirit David and said I will pin him to the wall what's going on in the text an evil spirit from the Lord well if you've been following our argument so far what else would the text say except that the evil spirit was from the Lord he can't act independently but here was Saul consumed with jealousy filled with rage at David he would not accept the fact that God had abandoned him as king and had stripped him of the title and he hated David and wanted to kill him God says in effect Saul if this is the way you're going to act if this is the way it's going to be I'm going to send you an evil spirit who is going to take that jealousy and that hatred and that paranoia because he became very paranoid and I'm going to I'm going to magnify it I'm going to let a spirit harass you that's a judgment for your sin that you are unwilling to repent of you say well can you prove that in the New Testament oh I knew you'd be asking that so I'm ready for you 1 Corinthians chapter 5 1 Corinthians chapter 5 you have a man living in immorality actually incest he is involved apparently sexually with his stepmother and the Apostle Paul is upset with the church for knowing about it and not doing anything about it and that in itself is an entire message but notice what he says in verse 5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ he's a believer Paul says we have to cut him off from the fellowship and in cutting him off from the fellowship we are abandoning him to the devil and the devil is going to harass him the devil is going to judge him why that his spirit may be saved that he may be brought to his sentences and repent God is going to make it so miserable and use the devil to make it miserable that the man in desperation will finally repent and give in you say well do you think that there are evil spirits today that are used by God like this for believers the answer is yes I believe that years ago I was counseling a man and you know these cases are very difficult we as a staff talk about our philosophy of counseling and and about our needs and it's difficult really is but he couldn't sleep at night he had insomnia he had depression he told me he was up four o'clock in the morning praying and it didn't do any good he was memorizing scripture and here's here's a man who's being literally eaten alive he is he is being harassed and I had no idea what his problem was couldn't find it asked him all the right questions he gave me all the right answers well it was weeks later when his life became unraveled he had been having an affair during this period of time and I believe that no matter how secret it was no matter how well guarded it was no matter how he thought for sure no one would find out that because he was a believer God says I'm going to make this man so miserable that he'll finally come clean that his spirit may be saved in the day of Jesus Christ I'll use Satan to do it so number two is God uses Satan to discipline the disobedient maybe David even experienced this when he said regarding his sins day and night was thy hand heavy upon me and then number three number three God uses Satan God uses Satan to purify to purify the obedient I'm giving it to you slowly enough so that you can write it down God may use Satan to purify the obedient I have frequently pondered that passage in the second Corinthians chapter 12 which we will not turn to but it's there you can write it down where the Apostle Paul has a thorn in the flesh he said it is a messenger of Satan to buffet me now that's interesting three times the Apostle Paul prays to the Lord and says Lord take this from me and and God says to him my grace is sufficient for thee my strength is perfected in your weakness you know this is Pastor Lutzer isn't it wonderful to know that ultimately Satan is under God's control and how does Satan tempt us well to put it in a single sentence I would say this he always makes sin look good to us and so we are deceived in my book entitled God's devil I have an entire chapter on doors doorways let me put it that way through which Satan can gain some kind of a foothold in the lives of believers do you know what those doors are well if you want an exposition of them they are in that chapter but also how we close those doors my ultimate purpose is of course is that we might walk in victory for a gift of any amount this book can be yours here's what you can do go to rtwoffer.com and while you're there thank you so much in advance for helping us as we get the ministry of running to win around the world go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 learn how the devil tempts us and how we can say no once again that contact information rtwoffer.com or you can call right now 1-888-218-9337 thanks in advance for helping us as we get the gospel to thousands upon thousands you can write to us at running to win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard Chicago Illinois 60614 Satan wants us to think he has godlike powers but God wants us to see Satan as being on a short leash Satan cannot trip you up unless God gives the okay there's no heavenly conflict between equal powers of light and darkness there's just God period next time more on how God uses the devil to accomplish his purposes in the lives of believers this is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the moody church