In our study of Satan's deceptive propaganda that lead to the deception of the woman and the fall of mankind last time we saw that the believer faces three battlefronts in the spiritual war against Satan's kingdom of darkness that humanity became engaged in after the fall.
Every person who has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior is engaged in this spiritual warfare weather they know it or not. They are engaged on three fronts: the world's system, the flesh (OSN) and the devil (demonic viewpoint).
When we left off last time we were discussing the attack of demonic viewpoint propaganda.
When a person's free will determines to ignore, reject, or disapprove of divine viewpoint that exists in the form of Divine Establishment, the Gospel and Bible Doctrine then a vacuum is created in the soul. This rejection of the truth results in the soul accepting the lie because everyone has to believe something. The lie is demonic viewpoint.
Believers are instructed to be aware of Satan's tactics to prevent him from getting an advantage over us: for we are not ignorant of his schemes. 2Cor. 2:11; The Greek word translated "device" in the KJV is the word "noema" is better translated scheme or strategy. Everyone is the target of this satanic attack but believers are specifically targeted because of their relationship with Jesus Christ and their potential to become front rankers in the invisible war.
His attack includes accusing believers. Rev 12:9-10; And the great dragon was cast out (his second fall), that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
v10 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, who accused them before our God day and night.
God is well aware of the believer's sins and failures, but Satan is permitted to bring them to His attention in the interest of advancing his agenda.
Satan considers it advantageous when he can accuse any member of the Body of Christ as a failure before God but his advantage is only propaganda and an illusion because Jesus Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Father, acts as our defense attorney whenever any accusation is made.
1John 2:1-2; My little children, these things write I unto you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
The means of resolving sin is covered in 1John 1:9; But if we do sin third class condition in the Greek maybe we will and maybe we will not, we have or keep on having an Advocate. This means that the Lord Jesus Christ represents us in heaven.
In 1John 2:1; The word translated "with" is the Greek word "pros" that means "face to face with." "Jesus Christ the righteous" is face to face with the Father at all times. The basis of His argument in our defense is propitiation. Net note 5
After Satan's accusation all Christ needs to do is to mention that the accused has accepted Christ as Savior and is therefore "hidden in Christ in God." Col 3:3; In other words, our sins were paid for by the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross and no accusation will be accepted by God.
Since our sins have already been judged the principle of the law of double jeopardy applies so we cannot be judged twice for the same sin. Therefore, God the Father throws Satan's accusation "out of court," and any discipline becomes a family matter under the principle of Heb 12:6;
Job 1:6-11; is an excellent example of this Satanic strategy. Satan impugned Job's character and motivation by suggesting that Job was worshipping God and offering sacrifices only because God was blessing him but God always proves that Satan is a liar and that his accusations are false and the rest of the Book of Job demonstrates this.
Another deceptive scheme that Satan uses is to entice believers from the Word of God. We saw this in Gen 3:4; where he led the woman astray from the Word of God by using her own misunderstanding to convince her that the wages of sin really was not death.
Another example is found in 1Chron 21:1; Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. To number means to take a census.
It is not wrong to take a census, but it was wrong in David's case because Satan sponsored the idea by playing on David's fears that came from his doubt regarding God's unconditional promises.
David's chief of staff, Joab, even warned him against numbering the people 1Chron. 21:3; God had unconditionally promised to Abraham, that his seed would be as the sand of the sea and as the stars of the sky Gen 13:15, 16; Heb 11:12;. By taking the census, David was demonstrating a lack of faith in God because he was trusting in the strength of his army instead of God. Jer 17:5;
We see from this that one of Satan's strongest devices is to use his propaganda to deceive believers and to cause them to doubt the promises that God has made in His Word.
One of the major objectives in the Christian life is to learn the promises of God and the doctrines that support them, to mix them with faith Heb 4:1,2; and then to apply the appropriate doctrine every situation that we face. Rom 1:17;
We are weak but strength comes from the Word of God. Bible doctrine is the "coin of the realm" in the spiritual war and it is freely available for the believer s to acquire and to spend in time, but believers cannot spend what they do not have and they do not have it because it has not been taught by those were supposed to teach it. Hosea 4:4-6; Net note 11
Every difficulty, every adversity, as well as every blessing and prosperity is provided for in God's Word. So what we need as believers more than anything else is to store up doctrine in our souls, where it will be ready for use at any moment. 2Cor 4:7;
We use God's Word "by casting all your anxieties and fears upon him; because he cares for you. Be sober, be alert because your enemy the devil, walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour: Resist him by being strong in doctrine, knowing that your brethren around the world are enduring the same kinds of suffering. 1Pet 5:7-9; Net note 12
The word translated "casting" is the is aorist active imperative of the Greek word "epirrhipto" that means that every time you have a care, an anxiety or are worried you are to throw it on Him.
We are not designed to bear the anxieties and adversities of life but most Christians are trying to do the impossible by trying to solve their own problems on their own. When they do this they are falling for the deception of Satan who keeps the entire world under his control through their fears. Heb 2:15;
Every second you live in worry or anxiety, if you are upset about anything, you are not only under Satanic deception, but you have already lost the battle because worry is a sin, and all sin hinders your function in God's Plan.
The antidote for worry is a mind fixed on Christ: "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because he trusts in You" Isa. 26:3;NKJV Perfect peace is the result of occupation with Christ, and occupation with Christ is the product of a mind fixed on the thinking of Christ that is revealed in Bible doctrine.
When you are afraid, remember the promise of Isaiah 41:10; Don't be afraid, for I am with you! Don't be frightened, for I am your God! I strengthen you yes, I help you yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand.
If you face an impossible situation, recall Luke 1:37; "For nothing shall be impossible with God."
If you lack the necessities of life, claim His promise in Phil 4:19; "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
It is the devil's objective to keep believers distracted and off balance so that they are unable to recall God's promises. When he succeeds, believers will accept incredible distortions of God's Word.
They will believe gossip simply because they do not like a person; They will believe the lies of deceitful people, they will fall into legalism or licentiousness; whichever represents the trend of their old sin nature.
What believers will accept as true is often unbelievable. They are confident in the strength of men to accomplish the impossible but they refuse to trust in God. Jer 17:5;
If you are trying to carry heavy anxieties and worries by yourself, you are out of touch with the invisible reality and you are destroying yourself. Heb 10:38; Faith or Bible Doctrine is the only way to perceive the invisible reality.
The thinking of many believers in effect says, "why should I trust God when I can worry?' This is exactly what Satan wants us to do. Instead, cast your anxieties and your problems on the Lord. When you place your difficulties with Him, you can relax because you are no longer working, the Lord is.
In the next phrase of 1Pet 5:7; there is a change in tense: "He keeps on caring for you." That means He will take care of your problem.
Then notice a command in 1Peter 5:8; "Be sober and alert" "Sober" means to have a stabilized mentality; to maintain a balanced attitude in which doctrine controls the mind. It means to look at life from the standpoint of divine viewpoint that comes from God's Word.
The second part of the command is to "be vigilant or alert". Believers can only be vigilant or alert by understanding the invisible situation from their knowledge of God's word. We must be on alert because our adversary, our enemy the devil, keeps on walking about as a roaring lion and keeps on seeking whom he may devour."
The lion's roar paralyzes his victim with fear like deer in the headlights. This is exactly what Satan does. Satan's objective is to immobilize believers with fear and then devour them. He devours believers who are functioning in mental attitude sins of anxiety, fear, worry or pride because the sin immobilizes them. 2Tim 3:6;NKJV