Neither Give Place To
The Devil
Ephesians 4:27
You know the Devil is like an old stray cat , that if
allowed to stay around the house will
potentially by and by be on the back porch and if allowed to stay on the back
porch will by and by potentially be allowed in the den , then if allowed in the den will potentially find acceptance
in the living room and by and by having found no resistance in any other areas he will find his way to the foot
of you bed probably with the Pillow in
mind.
Now for you cat
people don’t be offended by the characterization of a cat as the Devil I
surely was not talking about your high
bred cat I was talking about your neighbors cat…
Because the Devil is as he is ….
Paul gives a warning in Eph. 4:27 that is relevant to all of us…..6 brief
words that if neglected , not considered and ignored can cost anyone of us dearly….
Now how can the Believer …indwelt of the Holy Spirit …give
place to the Devil ??????
We have already dealt with the main subjects at hand and the
main opportunities for Satan to gain a place in our life…
If we lie …sin against the truth…we give Satan a place in
our life
Illustration
The book The Day Americans Told the Truth says that 91 percent of those
surveyed lie routinely about matters they consider trivial, and 36 percent lie
about important matters; 86 percent lie regularly to parents, 75 percent to
friends, 73 percent to siblings, and 69 percent to spouses
If we are angry without temperance we give Satan a place in
our life
Illustration : -Abilene, Kansas: October 1900. It
was Halloween night, and ten-year-old Dwight Eisenhower was so angry his face
turned crimson. His older brothers were allowed to go trick-or-treating, but he
had to stay home. "You're too young to go out," his father, David,
told him. Young Ike burst into tears, ran into the yard and began punching the
trunk of an apple tree. He later recalled: "My dad suddenly had me by the
collar and I was getting a tanning." Then he sent Ike to bed. The boy's
mother, Ida, came into his room with a word of advice from the Bible:
Prov. 16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he that
ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a
city.”
When he was 76, Ike wrote: "I have always looked
back on that conversation as one of the most valuable moments of my life."
If we steal it is a sin against toil and trade and we give
place to Satan.
If we use corrupt communication
we give Satan a place in our lives…
·
Note these are the areas the Devil often and regularly traffics in , he excels in these areas , when these become part
of our life and living we are playing on his field , we are giving him hometown
and home field advantage….
Satan is the Father
of lies….John 8: 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the
truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of
his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Satan encourages anger and wrath the lack of temperance ..Mark 5 : 5 Man of Gaderanes …. Possessed with an “.. unclean spirit…” angry , uncontrollable, abusive
, mutilator of his person…
Satan is a thief…Mark
4:14-15 The sower soweth the word. 15And these are they by the way side, where
the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and
taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
Satan…. day and
night traffics in corrupt communication…Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power
of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night.
These are Satan’s Approaches to finding a place in our lives….his practice and tradition
….
Note Consider the thought
….. that while we are being untruthful and intemperate and while we
are being dishonest and or conversing corruptly it may not be that we are in danger of
giving place to the Devil….but it may be that we have already given place to
him …these are as much indicators…..evidence that Satan has been given place ..
He has already set up shop and made him self to home…..he has already clocked in
·
By all indicators would you not agree that Satan has been given place in this Country…
·
By all indicators would you not agree that Satan has been
given place in the Churches of this country
Abortion
Homosexuality …Judge
Moore…Illustration
Pluralism….acceptance
of all perceived gods as equal
I believe him to be
very successful at what he does as it
appears many , in various areas have given place to the Devil….and the
greater evidence of that is the
accepted inconsistencies that we are seemingly ignorant of or blind
to their being a conflict
Couple of accepted inconsistencies …
The world Declaring Absolute assurance that there
is no such thing as absolute truth.
The world Criticizing and condemning someone as
intolerant
But now the situation is just as serious among those of us who profess to be saved.
Illustration After the Los Angeles riots, Steve Futterman of
CBC radio broadcast an interview he had with one of the riot's many looters.
The man had been one of many people who had looted a record store. When asked
what he had stolen, the man replied, "Gospel tapes. I love Jesus."
Everyone of us would quickly recognize the inconsistency and
direct conflict in profession and
practice in such an obvious contradiction …..but what about other areas noted in Scripture maybe not so obvious…
Other areas where Satan traffics and has found a place
…evidenced by accepted inconsistencies
I.
Satan would find a place in the practices we allow
in our lives…….Eph. 5:3-7
Note
he list some disallowed practices ….things we are not to allow in our
life…things if allowed would be inconsistencies…..
Vs
3 it is not to be once named among us
We are not exempt
from maintaining inconsistencies of our
own.….
new age material and
practices,
Harry potter , pokeman ,
Acts 19: 18
Gives a precedent for Gods people
to maintain a consistent witness in the
things we maintain in our home….And many that believed
came, and confessed, and showed their deeds. 19Many of them also which used
curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and
they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
20So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.
Missionaries face this all the time in a more obvious
manner …folks coming to Christ
and professing belief ..but not being willing
to part with idols and practices with that pertain to the old pagan
religion. We would say to retain the
idols of the past would represent inconsistencies ….
Programs we watch on
TV,
movies we rent ,
posters we put on the wall,
music we listen to ,
the occasional alcoholic drink
Boundless Scripture in the Bible dealing with the life we are to live …apart from the old way and
the old practices …our old practices if
we are not careful creep back in don’t they?????
What often happens is we put them partly out , set
them back , (we might need them later) and if we are not careful they creep
back in …
Illustration : Trying to Stay Half-Decent
In Mexico City, 7,500 feet above sea level, it is
rarely hot, but one day, years ago, was a scorcher. Trying to cope with the
heat, our youngest daughter, Debbie, shed all but her panties.
"Debbie, what are you doing running around
half naked?" I asked.
"Well," she replied, "you want me
to be half decent, don't you?"
Citation: Thomas E. Fountain, Vidalia, Georgia.
Christian Reader, "Kids of the Kingdom."
Listen don’t think
the ambition and inclination to partake of things of that nature is not being promoted by an unseen power….and
it is both a means of and evidence of Satan having a place…. It is
an open door , an open window , an
invitation ..indication that he has taken up residence
·
The first mistake in most sin is not taking the danger of
evil serious enough and giving the
devil a place an opportunity and he is quick to take every opportunity and make
his best of it….
It usually starts out
something small and seemingly innocent and then it snowballs into
something uncontrollable.
·
We were only going to try one puff on a cigarette as kid,
but it turned into a life habit that may bring us to death with cancer way
before our time.
·
We just going to have one drink to see what the big deal was
and then we became alcoholics after years of just one more for the road to be
sociable.
·
We were only going to look at one porn magazine or web site
and it turned into an addiction.
·
We were only kissing and use to call it necking , making out
, don’t know what its called now but , young people you better know what seems
only inappropriate in the front seat of
the car often ends up out of control in the back seat of the car
Its not all planned Parenthood’s fault and it is not all the
pornographers fault …we settle in and partake…. with what we call reasonable
limits and which is really accepted inconsistencies and that is all Satan
wanted…he has a place , a station , an opportunity ,
Satan finds a place in the things we bring into our lives
II.
Satan would find a place in the relationships we maintain….Eph.
5: 7 be not partakers with them
Much
of what we are guilty of would be prevented if we were more careful in our relationships…
II Cor 6: 14Be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
And what communion hath light with darkness? 15And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16And what
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the
living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I
will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and
I will receive you, 18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons
and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Don’t misunderstand we are
not to shun and deny anyone a loving witness , we are to share the love
of Christ and express the compassion of
the Lord….But we are not to be partakers and companions and partners with the unsaved in their
evil.
The Lord witnessed to and shared the truth with harlots
and the wayward but he was not a
partaker with them ….we have come to believe that to win the lost we must be
like the Lost…but we fail to understand that when we are like the Lost we have
no witness with the Lost. We have
not presented them anything better to win them too. Satan has the position in our lives and from this position he destroys our witness…
Satan will find a place in practices we bring into our lives
Satan will find a place in and through our relationships
III.
Satan would find a place in the things we set our affections
upon…
Col. 3:2-8
2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5Mortify therefore your members which are upon the
earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry: 6For which things’ sake the wrath of God
cometh on the children of disobedience: 7In the which ye also walked some time,
when ye lived in them.
Now understand what is being said …the
truth of Scripture is that we are to have a love for God that is above all
else …everything we are and have is to
be at his disposal…it is not wrong to have things , desire things , pursue
things ….
I Chron.29:3
3Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I
have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the
house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,
But we are to be careful that all the
things we desire , posses , pursue and admire are to for the purpose of
glorifying God ……and are at his disposal
I would assume that people blessed of God
are prime targets for Satan that he would desire a place in you affections….
…Satan battles to have us set our affection on the blessing rather than the
Being of God…Acts 5: 3 But Peter
said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and
to keep back part of the price of the land? 4Whiles it remained, was it not
thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou
conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
5And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great
fear came on all them that heard these things.
You understand Satan found a place ..a
place to work ,to whisper and plan and
convince …the result of setting affections on things of this life….
The answer , the victory is to use our possessions as God
intended….to be diligent to give God his portion , first , quickly , habitually
, no matter what Prov.
3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine
increase:
Satan would find a place in our lives ,
relationships , affections :
IV.
Satan would find a place In our failure to
stand for the Faith.…
Jude 3-4 3Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was
needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4For there are
certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are not to be contentious but be are to contend ….we are
to stand firm , and stand faithfully and stand with out apology…
We are not contentious with those who would desire to unite
the world under the throne of various Gods
but we are to resist uniting with then standing in and upon the Faith.
Illustration : Protestants…moving together …that
is not where we came from …our people , our heritage goes deeper and farther
back….and the faith we have was a gift to us …we are the recipients of the charity and diligence and faithfulness
of others
II Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21For the prophecy came not
in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost.
We
are to maintain that which was given from heaven…
We are to contend for The Faith …..One God , all else are mans supposed Gods .
One creator and he made it all out of nothing and man out of the substance he mad out of
nothing
One authority , the
Book of God
One door of salvation that door being the sinless Christ and
his death and shed blood
One gospel ..that
being the death burial and resurrection of Christ.
One means of experiencing the Lords salvation , that being
by grace through faith a part from any work of man.
Condemnation for all who are apart from Christ.
Eternity with the Lord for all those who are born again
Understand “The Faith “ is not a bumper sticker that you can display if
you like it ..this is the Faith…given of God …we must in this life ever stand
on it…
I suppose in our time as
an altered Faith becomes more accepted … that the Faith will become less
recognized ….. but that must be our platform…..our foundation …our message and
stand lest Satan find a place …
Conclusion : We are Gods people blessed
with a relationship with him that enables victory in these areas …this is the life of Joy , a life where we daily
experience and express the victory of
Christ secured over Satan…….
Our lives glorify him ,
our relationships glorify him,
Our affections glorify
him
Our stand glorifies him
The secret to victory in all this area is realizing we are powerful and secure in him and that he lives
in us and in every instance reckon him present and powerful…..
If the IRS was helping you fill out your taxes would you
fill them out differently , have we considered that Christ was or will be present when we fill them out.
If Christ was sitting in your living room would you be
watching something else on TV
If Christ was riding to work with you would you be listening
to something else on the radio
If Christ was sitting at the computer with you would you be
visiting another site
If Christ was present when you were correcting you children
would you do it differently
If Christ was present when you were communicating with your
wife would you speak differently
If Christ was next to you when you were doing your budget
would you do it differently
If Christ was present would
you ask your parents for permission to attend that function
If Christ was present would you give your child permission
to attend that function.
Embracing Christ in the place he deserves disallows Satan
the place he desires.
Acknowledging Christ in the Place he deserves disallows
Satan the place he desires
Reckoning Christ in the place he has stated is his disallows
Satan the place he desires.
Embrace him in the place he deserves and trust him to take
care of the consequences that come from it…
