Arm Yourself Against the Enemy s Scheme. A Taste of When Godly People Do Ungodly Things 1(! Beth Moore

Transcription

1 Arm Yourself Against the Enemy s Scheme A Taste of When Godly People Do Ungodly Things 1(! Beth Moore

2 Published by LifeWay Press 2008 Beth Moore Fifth printing 2012 No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing by the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to LifeWay Press ; One LifeWay Plaza; Nashville, TN ISBN Item Dewey decimal classification: Subject heading: SPIRITUAL WARFARE \ TEMPTATION \ CHRISTIAN LIFE Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version. Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. To order additional copies of this resource, write to LifeWay Church Resources Customer Service; One LifeWay Plaza; Nashville, TN ; orderentry@lifeway.com; fax (615) ; phone toll free (800) ; order online at or visit the LifeWay Christian Store serving you. Printed in the United States of America Adult Ministry Publishing LifeWay Church Resources One LifeWay Plaza Nashville, TN

3 contents Introduction 4 Chapter 1 12 Understand Satan s Plot Chapter 2 20 Acknowledge Points of Vulnerability Chapter 3 28 Hear the Warnings of the Seduced Chapter 4 40 Know That God Is in Control Chapter 5 48 Learn the Steps to Reconciliation Conclusion 56 God s Way Home

4 INTRODUCTION A strange thing began to happen soon after my books Breaking Free and Praying God s Word were released. Probably because I admit to such a flawed and sinful past, letters began stacking on my desk from Christians confessing, often for the very first time, to harrowing rounds of defeat at the hands of the Devil. Satan has attacked man since his creation, but I d like to suggest that something about this spiritual phenomenon might have taken demonic assault to a whole new level. In the course of my ministry I ve read countless letters, and I have come to discern the difference between blatant accounts of mercifully forgiven rebellion and the testimonials I m talking about. Beloved, I believe Satan is more active today in attacking Christians than ever before. Three streams of evidence lead me to my conclusions. As we proceed, consider the significance of each. 4

5 1. A Growing Stack of Testimonies What has terrified me is my growing pile of letters from believers who loved God and walked with Him faithfully for years and then found themselves suddenly overtaken by a tidal wave of temptation and unholy assault. Many Christians are convinced such things can t happen. Not to good Christians. They are wrong. I believe many accounts of formerly pure lives suddenly knee deep in the mire are absolutely authentic. Not one presents himor herself as an innocent victim. They are horrified and taken aback at what they have done and at what they appear capable of doing. I ve repeatedly heard renditions of the statement, For the life of me, I can t figure out how something like this could have happened. 5

6 6 2. Scripture Supports the Idea I don t care how many testimonials I receive, I would not give their suggestions that godly people can do ungodly things a second thought except that Scripture supports the idea: I am fearful, lest that even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted and seduced from wholehearted and sincere and pure devotion to Christ (2 Cor. 11:3, AMP). Those who are wholehearted and sincere in devotion to Christ can be beguiled by the enemy, whose utmost fantasy is to corrupt and seduce. Not only are the godly capable of suddenly sprawling into a ditch from a solid, upright path, but many do. As the days blow off the kingdom calendar, I am convinced that the casualty numbers are growing. To say that the body of Christ would be shocked to know how bloody and bruised by defeat we are is an understatement. God, however, is most assuredly not shocked. You see, He told us this was coming.

7 3. The End of the Age In Christ s discourse to His disciples concerning the signs of His coming and the end of the age, He emphatically warned of an increase in deception, lawlessness, and wickedness. In Matthew 24 Jesus told of a time of severe persecution, a time of great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now (Matt. 24:21). These warnings have applied to all ages, but many Bible scholars believe they point specifically to the war going on today. While fresh winds of the Spirit are blowing in many of our churches and a double portion of the anointing is bestowed on many believers, the Word strongly suggests that we are occupying earth during the scariest time in human history. You need only look as far as your own community to be able to stare 2 Timothy 3:1 5 in the face: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of 7

8 money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having a form of godliness but denying its power. I believe in these last days Satan has two primary motivations: (1) to exact revenge on God by wreaking havoc on His children and (2) to try to incapacitate the believer s God given ability to overcome him. Revelation 12:11 says, They overcame [the Devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Those of us who have received Christ as personal Savior are the Holy Spirit s dwelling places (1 Cor. 6:19 20). We are covered by Jesus precious blood, and neither Satan nor his demons can come near us. Satan s worst nightmare is being overcome especially by measly mortals. He 8

9 knows the Bible says we overcome our accuser in two primary ways. If he can do nothing about the blood of the Lamb covering the redeemed, what s a Devil to do? Go for the word of their testimony! Satan is out to destroy the testimony of every believer in Christ. His murderous eye is on the sparrow, and he doesn t have much time. Many people who by the grace of God have never been had by the Devil wrongly assume that all departures from godliness are nothing but defiance, rebellion, and proofs of inauthenticity. They have no idea of the suffering involved when someone with a genuine heart for God slips from the path. Tangling with the Devil, whom the Bible calls a roaring lion who is trying his hardest to devour believers, can constitute authentic suffering (see 1 Pet. 5:8). In fact, I have suffered more at the flesh ripping paws of the raging lion than anything else. Now that countless letters, frantic phone calls, and face to face testimonies have found 9

10 10 their way to my office, I realize I am far from the only true lover of God whom Satan has tried to destroy. Although I don t characterize myself as godly, I will tell you that I loved God more than anything else at the times of my greatest demonic assault. I know plenty of others whom I would not hesitate to call godly, yet they suddenly found themselves objects of overwhelming battles against godliness. Based on the findings landing on my desk, increasing numbers of dear brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing tremendous suffering at the Devil s paws. Beloved, Satan hates to let go of a captive. He also hates being exposed as the fraud that he is. My specific prayer for the message of this booklet is threefold: that God will use these pages to shed light on Satan s campaign to seduce the saints that God will use this message to remind battered believers how loved

11 they are and how much the Father longs for their restoration that many readers will wise up and fortify their lives before Satan traps them into something ungodly Seductions can vary in type, but one thing is for sure: They are tailor made to catch the believer off guard. Dear body of Christ, it s time we put down the popguns of yesteryear s church. Satan is waging a worldwide nuclear war. 11

12 Chapter 1 UNDERSTAND SATAN S PLOT Many believers have a wrong conception of Satan s power. They think he is somehow parallel to or as powerful as God. Satan is far more powerful, personal, and conniving than many believe. Let s be very careful, however, not to dream of giving Satan more credit than he is due. While he is tremendously potent, armed, and dangerous, he is not the equal of the Most High God. The Lord maintains authority over all powers and principalities. Satan is merely a created being, but that doesn t mean he is not a threat. At our strongest moments we are no match for him. Only Almighty God can overpower Satan. We walk in the victory Christ won for us only when we are strong in the Lord and in his mighty power (Eph. 6:10). 12

13 Christ Himself referred to Satan as the prince of this world system in John 12:31 and 16:11. He also portrayed Satan as already defeated (Luke 10:18). So why is a defeated enemy so hard at work in a post Calvary world? This illustration helps. In the United States our presidential elections occur in November, but the new president does not assume the position until January. Let s see if I can explain the parallel. I believe in a literal reign of Christ on this earth. I am convinced Scripture teaches that Christ Jesus will visibly return to earth and rule in righteousness for a thousand years. I also believe that the scroll described in Revelation 5 is somewhat of a title deed to the world system. God permitted that authority to fall into Satan s hands for a time, after man s forced exodus from the garden. One day soon God will place that title deed back in the hands of its rightful ruler. At the God ordained 13

14 time, Christ will return to earth, conquer every foe, and take His seat of authority. We now live in the period leading up to Christ taking His rightful throne. Today Christ is Lord of lords and King of kings, but His kingdom is currently not of this world (see John 18:36). The day is coming when the nature of the kingdom will change. The Christ who reigns today in believers will reign outwardly and absolutely. He will take back what the enemy has stolen. As if Satan needed any more reason to rage, his situation becomes even bleaker. Peter described the consummation of the age in these words: The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the 14

15 heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness (2 Pet. 3:10,12 13). Don t miss the significance of Peter s words from Satan s perspective. All beings will be in their eternal state from this time forward whether redeemed in the presence of God or unredeemed in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15). Think soberly of those words: No other place will exist. Satan rages because he knows his eternal destiny bears down on him like an approaching freight train, and he is out of options. In my illustration, election day took place on the cross. Christ has the only valid claim as the ultimate ruler of all creation. The one on the throne is God, of course. He is the all powerful, ultimate ruler of heaven and earth, and nothing happens except by His perfect 15

16 16 or permissive will. Yes, Satan is prince of this world, but only by divine permissive will and to accomplish God s own purposes. Satan was completely defeated by the offering of the perfect, sinless life of the Son of God on the cross. One day Christ will assume full reign of the world system where Satan has wreaked such havoc. Presently, however, the world exists in the period between the new election and the earthly inauguration of Christ. Suppose we had a wicked president who knew he had already been defeated in the election and his removal from office was imminent. Can you imagine how he might wield and abuse his power in the little time he had left? On a mammoth, humanly incomprehensible scale, I believe that s what we re presently experiencing. Satan reads the signs of the times like the Washington Post. He knows the

17 inauguration of Christ s kingdom grows closer, so the arch demon furiously unleashes his power to the full extent of God s permissive will. The dragon is in a tailspin, and he is whipping everything he can in the time he has left. Because his ultimate fury is at God, nothing gives Satan greater unholy pleasure than assaulting God s children. Hence, our present conflict. Our purpose through this booklet then is to understand how the people described in 2 Corinthians 11:2 3 as being wholeheartedly, sincerely, and purely devoted to Christ can be beguiled by Satan and have their minds corrupted and seduced. Certainly no one will argue that a believer can be characterized as godly while practicing ungodly things. Our task is to understand how a person who has consistently walked with God can be so powerfully seduced to ungodliness. 17

18 18 If I were forced to put the entire concept in a nutshell, I d have to say that somewhere along the way, the godly person walked into a well spun lie. Lies are Satan s stock in trade. He fathers every deception (John 8:44) and seduction (2 Cor. 11:2 3). Satan s desire is to modify human behavior to accomplish his unholy purposes. Second Timothy 2:26 tells us that Satan s objective in taking people captive is to get them to do his will. If we have received Christ as our Savior, Satan is forced to work from the outside rather than the inside. Thus he manipulates outside influences to affect the inside decision makers of the heart and mind. Beloved, Satan will do everything he can to hang on once he gets a foothold in us. If the Devil has you in chains and you want out, know hope is here. God loves you, and He wants to restore

19 you. If you are a believer who has never been had by the Devil, beware. Learn what he s up to, and be on guard. With Christ s help, you can overcome. 19