SEPTEMBER 22, 2020
MINISTERING: PASTOR OLUSOLA OGIDAN
Ephesians 6:10-13
In the list of the things we will combat against as stated by Paul, the most important that was mentioned was “wiles”. We do not use material ammunition for this kind of warfare against the Devil because the bible teaches that we are up against his schemes, strategies, well-crafted wisdom and plans. In this present day, you would have observed that the most prevalent crime in the country is scam which is basically deception. This points out to us that deception will be a major item of our warfare in these last days. Treachery is a system of deception and that is the battle we will be up against in the last days.
In Revelation 12:7-9, the only thing that could be used to describe the devil’s operation was deception. In Revelation 20:2,7-8, there was a need for Satan to be bound so that he will not deceive the nations. Satan’s nature is to deceive because he was deceived too. However, his deception was from himself. Genesis 3 was the first mention of the devil on earth as far as we know and his first operation was deceit as seen from Eve’s response in verse 13. This has defined him to us and everywhere you find him in the bible, deception is part of his main operation.
1 Timothy 2:12-14
To deceive means to lead astray, to lead to the wrong path or to make somebody believe a lie. It also means to make somebody hold a wrong view, wrong opinion or wrong mental position. Not every deception involves trickery, but trickery is a major element in deception. In the scripture above, we noticed that Adam was not deceived but Eve was deceived by the lies of the devil. The woman believed the lies and acted based on a wrong mental position that Satan wanted her to take.
Matthew 24:3-6
In this story, the disciples had asked Jesus about issues related to His return and end of the world. To this, He gave a very sobering warning and it was about avoiding being deceived. It is your responsibility to ensure that you do not deviate from this right path that you have found. There will be lies but you must not believe any. In the last days, the deception will come from within our company, there will be people who we thought were a part of the church and influential so we accepted them but they are not (1 John 2:18-19). Satan will not leave any stone unturned; he will try to deceive even the very elect (Matthew 24:24). We are in the last days when deception will reach its climax.
If the devil is so interested in deceiving men, they we should ask what he seeks to achieve? With his deception, Satan wants to:
- Cause man to transgress (1 Timothy 2:14)
It was to Adam that the instruction of not eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was given (Genesis 2:15-17), which means he must have communicated the information to Eve. Down the line, Eve became the determinant of what was done. The one that was designed to listen became the spokesman. When the follower becomes the leader, there will be confusion. In God’s judgment of their fall, Adam was declared wrong to have listened to the voice of his wife (Genesis 3:17). It was a perversion.
When Satan deceives you, the first thing he aims to achieve is to cause you to transgress. Eve was deceived, but Adam’s transgression was not a product of deception (Romans 5:12-14). However, they both became transgressors though the cause of transgression was different. According to 2 Peter 2:18-21, we are all potential victims of deception. Satan has been overcome by sin and he knows how to use death. He aims to cause us to turn and reject known commandments that has been given to us.
Adam and Eve died not because God killed them. The death was in the tree and God’s commandment was to save them from death. The commandments of God are hedges. They are life savers; they are to protect us from predators. When God gives instructions, it is preservation from death.
- Cause man to become vulnerable
When you are vulnerable, you become open to attacks. Every deception opens you up for invasion (Romans 5:12). Adam was supposed to guard the garden and tend it but by transgression he opened the world to sin.
Next week we will continue the thought on how deception aims to make us vulnerable and also see more of what the enemy seeks to achieve when he deceives us.