Don't Fall Victim to Satan's Tactic of Misdirection!

Brendan, does it seem to you that this world has been turned upside down in recent months? I'm sure you feel that way. Add to that, this has been done with a degree of speed. This has been astonishing. It's been astounding. It's been breathtaking to see how things of the world has turned on its ear.

For example, we've got the situation with the COVID-19, how it's impacted every aspect of our lives in this country and most countries around the world. How we live, how we interact with one another, how we work. If we work, you know, my daughter has been laid off for a number of months now, and her husband, how we communicate with one another. You know, I never heard of Zoom until we started doing the things we're doing here. And again, thanks to our technical staff who are making this possible and doing such a very wonderful job with this.

How we move around, how we travel. You know, Mary and I were scheduled to go to England for the for the feast. We were going to take a stopover in Iceland, and we've canceled all that because we didn't know what was going to happen. You know, people were talking about another rebound come fall. We didn't want to be overseas and quarantined overseas. So now we're just going to be going to the Wisconsin area and Pewaukee for the feast.

Certainly all of us, excuse me, all of us have been saddened. We've been shocked. We've been stunned as a nation and in the various parts of the world as we've seen the murder of George Floyd. I don't think anybody who's seen and witnessed that video will ever forget that. The poor man on the street say he can't breathe a knee to his neck, and eventually he succumbed and died. How, you know, as a result of that, we've had protests in major American and international cities around the world.

There's been a substantial call for social justice, for social change. There's been protests, looting, rioting. In some areas, a call to defund the police. So we're having some very significant things happen in this country and even around the world. Question. Is there a being who is taking advantage of these situations? Is there a being who wants to see this world destabilize?

Well, the answer to that is yes. We know who that being is. It's Satan the devil. Let's turn, as we begin our discussion here, to John chapter 10 and verse 10. John chapter 10 and verse 10. I quote this quite frequently because, to me, this is a tremendous contrast in Satan's way versus God's way. John chapter 10 verse 10. We can ask yourself, as we're reading this scripture, which way of life is the world experiencing now?

John 10. 10. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, that they might have it more abundantly. We'll take a look at that first part of the verse there. The thief, Satan, does not come except to steal, to kill, and destroy. And certainly, we are seeing that in a very big way, aren't we, in this world. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11, I'll read this for you.

Again, we've read this on many occasions. 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11, where it says, "'lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices, lest he take advantage of us." Brethren, in this world today, Satan is very much taking advantage of some very negative situations, and that is impacting you and I on a regular daily basis.

And we're not ignorant of his devices. We know those devices. We know his tactics. You know, I gave a sermon not long ago where we talked about that, where we may mention that the name Satan itself means superhuman adversary. You see that definition in the Brown driver Briggs Hebrew English lexicon, the superhuman adversary. That's what Satan, the name, means. We've seen in where from Vines Expository Dictionary where the name Belial. Belial has the meaning of extreme wickedness and destruction.

We see in Matthew chapter 4 and verse 3 where Satan is called the tempter, where he's trying to get people to do things that are not the way of God. So we very much have a being who's trying to take advantage of the situation we see here in the world today. We're not ignorant of his methodologies either. Let's take a look at Galatians chapter 1 verses 6 and 7. Galatians chapter 1 verses 6 and 7.

Galatians chapter 1 verse 6. I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who would trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. Now, I'm sure the Apostle Paul here was talking about a different twist on the true gospel in terms of religion and a religious twist to this—a false twist. But you know, brethren, there are the gospel—there are many different ways we can view the word gospel. There are many types of gospels in the world. There are religious gospels, the true gospel. There are false gospels. There are counterfeit gospels. But there are also social gospels—social calls for social change, social justice. And I think that by principle, that fits here—that there is a call, a desire for a social justice, social gospel in our society today. But we've got to be very careful about that—very careful about that. Let's take a look at Colossians chapter 2 and verse 8. As I'm beginning to drill down to what I want to discuss with you today more specifically. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 8.

Beware, lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and that according to Christ. So there is a social gospel out there, a social gospel of change, man's way of change, a philosophy that is not God's philosophy. You need to be very careful about these gospels and these philosophies. In today's American society, there's a deafening cry for social justice, social change, social revolution. But these would be brought about by man's flawed perspectives, man's philosophies based on human nature, based upon the principles of the world. And where does the world get its principles? Not change brought about by the rule of Jesus Christ, not change brought about by adhering to man's law. Brethren, we know that Satan is the God of the sage. We know that Satan has deceived the whole world. We know that Satan has blended the minds of the masses. We know that Satan is the prince of the power of the air, broadcasting his ways of death 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We know that Satan has his devices. We know he's got his tactics. We know he's got his methodology. But there's one methodology, or there's one tactic, one strategy that we don't mention very often. And I want to discuss that strategy of Satan's today. You need to be very careful about this. That strategy is this. And if you're taking notes and you want to jot down the theme of my sermon today, it's encapsulated in eight words. And that would be this. Don't fall victim to Satan's tactic of misdirection.

Don't fall victim to Satan's tactic of misdirection, or Satan's strategy of misdirection. Now, let's define terms. When I'm talking about misdirection at the hands of Satan, what am I referring to? Misdirection is a subtle, deceptive art of directing individual's attention towards one thing so it does not notice another. The key to misdirection is that the individual is unaware of it, feels his or her attention was precisely where it should be. We, as God's people, are passionate people. We, as God's people, are zealous people. We, as God's people, want justice. We want to change society. We want real change to take place. But we have got to be careful, brethren, as to where that change comes from, how that change comes about, because I'm here to tell you that Satan is going to use this tool of misdirection to get at you and I, to get at you and me. But what is our job as a church, as an organization? What is one of the big things we are to be doing right now? And then let's take a look at how Satan could use misdirection to hurt us. Let's take a look at Isaiah 58 and verse 1. Isaiah 58 and verse 1.

Isaiah 58 and verse 1 says, Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, tell my people there's transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. This is what we are to do. This is what we've been doing for generations. Sometimes we've been stronger in doing it than other times, but we have been doing this for generations. Satan understands that. He knows where we're coming from. He knows we're passionate, zealous people. So how, how, but let's continue on. And for the sake of this sermon today, I'm going to bring up three areas that we feel passionate about.

And we need to be careful how Satan deals with us with these passions. Let's talk first, and I'm not going to go through these three in great detail, but just as to illustrate a point. The sin of racism. The sin of racism. Any way you slice it. Racism in all of its forms is sinful. It is wrong. It needs to be abolished. There is no doubt in our minds as Christians of that fact. Again, we think about the, the death of George Floyd. We think about what we saw on that video. And it, it goes to our very core. Now for those people who aren't affected by that, well, there's not much you can do for those people. They may have a heart of stone. They may be racist. If they are not moved by what they saw in total, in total horror to what they saw, people say, well, what is, what is United Church of God stand on that? Well, in the June 4th e-News, the President of United Church of God, Victor Kubik, wrote this, and I quote, Scott Ashley, the managing editor of The Beyond Today, which is our, I would add to this, our flagship publication. Scott Ashley, the managing editor of Beyond Today, saw the importance of speaking out as quickly as possible on this searing issue. He rearranged the July-August lineup of articles accordingly to create space at the last minute before sending the magazine to the printer. We are going to speak out on the sin of racism. Speak loudly. Mr. Kubik goes on to say, to God who is no respecter of persons, he quotes Romans chapter 2 and verse 11, skin color and cultural background don't matter. All have full access to him through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That is why, as the current President of the United Church of God and International Association, I can declare with authority that we condemn racism. Make no mistake, as a church and as a people called out by God, we condemn so-called white superiority. Neither has anything to do with God. As members of the Body of Christ, we know firsthand what Paul meant when he stated in the first century, near he quotes from the New Living Translation, Galatians chapter 3 verse 11, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free, Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

So, yes, racism is a sin that needs to be abolished. We say that as an organization. I say that to you as the pastor of the Beloit and Chicago congregations, and I know you join me in those feelings as congregants. A second thing that we preach about, and that is the sin of abortion. At the heart of the abortion issue is the question, who possesses the authority to take human life? Who has the right to make that decision? God's royal law, his law of liberty, declares in a sixth commandment, you shall not murder. The sixth commandment reminds us that God is the giver of life. He alone has the authority to give it or to grant others, such as the state, with the death penalty, to take it. The decision to give or take life rests in God's hands, not man's. So yes, we are totally anti-abortion. It is a sin before God. We preach that and have preached that, and we'll continue to preach that. The third area, again as an illustration, is the sin of the LGBTQ lifestyle, the LGBTQ lifestyle. God set certain laws in motion when it comes to the creation and governing of human life on earth. God defines what marriage is. God is defined marriage as between one man and one woman. Mankind, even though he does, but mankind does not have the right to redefine what marriage is, or how men and women are to be working with one another and dealing with one another from a family point of view.

The LGBTQ lifestyle is sin, and we are not afraid to say that. So brethren simply stated racism in all of its forms, abortion and the LGBTQ lifestyle are all sin and condemned in the scriptures. Now, we understand that we condemn the various acts. God wants us to love the sin or hate the sin. We understand that. We're not trying to condemn people. We condemn the sin. We understand that. We've talked about that. Now, the thrust of my message today has to deal with Satan's taking our passion and our zeal and misdirecting that. How does he do that? How do we fall victim to that? Again, misdirection is the subtle, deceptive art of directing one individual's attention towards one thing so it doesn't notice another. The deed of misdirection is that the individual is unaware of it. He feels that his or her attention was precisely where they wanted it to be. So again, how does Satan take something that we feel is sinful and is sinful according to the word of God and misdirect us?

Well, one way, brethren, is when we feel we need to champion various groups or organizations that have been devised by man. Devised by man with his human nature, with Satan broadcasting to these men, various organizations through their perspective are dealing certain ways to find what they consider to be social justice. And it's their definition of social justice at times, not God's. And sometimes if we're not careful, we can say, well, you know, they've got that really interesting bumper sticker. Or they've got that slogan and just those words really, they really say it the way it is. So we might say, well, I'll send them a couple of bucks, or I'll put the bumper sticker on my car, or I'll use that motto that they use.

And if we're not careful, because we are zealous people and passionate people, we can begin to back things that really we should not, that really we should not, that we find ourselves giving more energy to some of the world's social causes, trying to change the world the way we think it should be done, how and when it should be done, versus the way God wants to do it, how God wants to do it, when God wants to do it. We need to be very careful about the social engineering that is taking place in our society today. You and I can't change society. It's all we can do. It's all we can do with God's help to make changes in our lives, let alone change all of society. Now, before going further, to make sure I'm clear, am I saying all worldly organizations devised by men are wrong and evil? Of course not. That would be a foolish stance to take. That would be an erroneous stance to take. There are a number of very fine organizations out there that do good. If you go to their website and you take, you know, where it says about whatever the organization is, and you take a look at their statement of beliefs or their stances, or their statements of belief, their stances, the way they want to perceive their course of action, their methodology, you take a look at all that, it can be very fine. And you and I would have no disagreement with what they're doing whatsoever. But then, if we do our, and we're careful in our due diligence, there are other groups. They may have wonderful mottos and bumper stickers, and they may say certain things that just sound, yeah, that's right. But when you do your due diligence, and you go to their website, in so many cases, you will find, well, wait a minute, they have, you know, apart from that thing, I think it's so evil, and God says it's evil, but they have these other things that they're okay with. And they're promoting those things which are contrary to the Word of God.

And maybe they're promoting, in some cases, not just peaceful protest or not just getting literature out. In some cases, they are promulgating the idea of using force when necessary. They have a, perhaps, a militant way of dealing with things. So I've got a couple of cautions. You know, brethren, it's not my intent to tell you what organizations you should or should not be involved in. That's your decision to make before God. It is my responsibility as your pastor to give you something to think about. And before you start mouthing some things, or I start mouthing things, or putting a bumper sticker on my car, or you on your car, before we send a couple of bucks, let me give you a couple of cautions. Something to think about. I'm going to letter these to cautions and getting behind supporting worldly organizations. Yeah, some are fine, some not so much, some very bad. Caution, I'll letter these. Letter A. Letter A. Know what you're standing behind. Know what you're standing behind. You know, you've got a name that you've tried all your lifelong to make sure your name was a good name. It stood for something positive. It stood up for something good. You worked hard. Your families worked hard, perhaps for generations, to have a good name. Don't just put that name behind everything or anything. Also, for us, we are sons and daughters of God. We've got God as a name. We're His children. We are Christians. We are Christ. We've got that name to consider. You know, as I said in a sermon not long ago, we pray with the Lord's Prayer as our model. You know, our Father in heaven. He is our Father. We have a family. We've got a family reputation to uphold. We've got a very high bar. So watch where you put your name. Let's take a look at 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19.

2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19.

I'm just going to read the last part of this verse. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 19. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 19.

Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Yes. Do your diligence. Research what that group stands for. Remember, this group has not been inspired by God but by men, by human nature. Sometimes a group can be fine, other times not. You need to make a determination where this group stands with the Scripture. You know, you can ask yourself a question, brethren.

Does God desire us to crusade for social change man's way?

You know, the New Testament church lived under the shadow of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire had many very positive things going for it. Art, literature, architecture. They had a tremendous army. But life in Roman society could be brutal.

Slavery, the selling of one human being to another, gladiatorial games for entertainment, on and on that list could go. But where in the Scriptures do we see the Apostle Paul or Peter or John? Where do we see them saying, rise up and let's change the sight?

We don't see that. Can consider that. Now, we are to be a light. We are to be an example. We are to let our light shine. If people bring up the subject of racism or abortion or the LGBTQ movement, we have our point of view based on Scripture. We shouldn't shy away from that. But is it our job right now to change society? To get head over heels with societal change man's way from man's perspective? And what do they mean by changing society? What are their rules going to be? Are their rules going to be anything like the Ten Commandments? The golden rule?

What are their perspectives? So know what you're standing behind. Letter A. Letter B is a caution. Does it shift your focus away from spiritual priorities? Is it backing some organization or mouthing their... You know, you may not send a few bucks, but maybe you might put a bumper sticker, or you might use a certain catchphrase that is well used. Where does your thinking go with that? Is there a misdirection of your priorities? Ask yourself about your time commitment. You know, again, we can be passionate, zealous people. Are we spending more and more time with thinking about, you know, the social change of this particular group as a spouse? Maybe with a militant tone? What is your... Where's your time commitment?

Where are your emotions? Today, emotions are raw in this country. They are absolutely raw in this country. Anger, resentment, being judgmental of our fellow human beings, those are rife in society today. And if we're not careful, say you can misdirect us where we start thinking more about our anger toward our fellow man versus our love toward our fellow man. Our resentment toward our fellow man versus our love toward our fellow man. Our judgments toward our fellow man or the need we have to repent before God and get our house in order.

You can ask yourself as you're thinking about your focus being shifted, are we taking our cue more from society or from the scriptures? More from society or from the scriptures? Or are we taking our cue more from the world's way of thinking or God's way of thinking? Is our multitasking dividing our attention so that we really can't focus on much of anything? We can't focus on much of anything. So it's very important that we realize that Satan is wanting us to misdirect us by us, number one, championing the causes or the organizations of the world.

The second way, and the last way I want to discuss with you today, is Satan can have us fall victim to misdirection. By what one person he wrote a book, and I think the title of the book, and I'm sorry I didn't check this out any further, but the title of the book was The Tyranny of the Urgent. The Tyranny of the Urgent. Are we being misdirected, Satan misdirecting our passions and our zeal by the tyranny of the urgent?

What do I mean by that? What did the author of that book mean by that?

You and I can be so consumed with the things in our life that's right in front of our face, right in front of our nose, that we've got to do this. We've got to get to action and take care of that. And as soon as we're done taking care of that, there's something else we need to take care of. And that takes up our time and our thought. And when we're done with that, there's something else that's also urgent. Now it might well be that those things are have a sense of urgency. It might well be that those things are good and not evil. We've got to do X, Y, and Z. But do we find ourselves in a situation where we're putting out so many brushfires that we are not establishing a fire prevention program? That we're going from putting out one fire after another, and yet we're not seeing the overview. Because we are under the tyranny of the urgent, God is being scheduled out of our lives. Because, well, He doesn't seem to be as urgent. It's not as urgent to pray right now. It's not as urgent to study right now. It's not as urgent to have a day of fasting right now. We can be we can become so busy doing what might be good things, that you and I are robbed of doing the excellent things. Now, there's an interesting Scripture that talks about this. And let's turn over to Luke chapter 10 and read about this story. Luke chapter 10, verses 38 through 42. 38 through 42. You know this story very well. We've gone through this. You've read this. We've written the sermonettes. You've heard of the sermons. But the point is still valid. And it's a good example of missed spiritual priorities where our priorities suffer, where Satan can misdirect us with our zeal, with our passion. Luke chapter 10, verse 38. Now, it happened as they went that he entered a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his words. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she approached him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. So one sister was doing something good. She was preparing, you know, for Jesus Christ and making sure that, you know, things were just so. Nothing in one sense wrong with that, but her perspective wasn't where it should have been to listen to what the man had come to say to them.

You know, it says there in verse 40, Martha, you are distracted with much serving. You know, brethren, over the years, one group that's susceptible to this as much as any group in the church, being distracted with much serving, could be our deacons, deaconesses, elders, and pastors. That can be a failing for us. You know, we're out doing this, and we're out doing that, and we've got to organize this other, and we're working real hard. But if we're not careful, we as the leadership of the church can be so distracted and misdirected that we can organize God right out of our lives. That's not good. We can't serve anybody as deacons, deaconesses, elders, and pastors if that's happening in our lives. We've got to do what it says here in verse 42. We've got to choose the good part, and not let Satan use our zeal against us to misdirect us. With that zeal.

So, brethren, let's now, again, have a contrast. What is it God wants us to do? You know, God hates racism in all of its forms. He hates abortion. You know, He calls the LGBTQ movement sin. At least the Bible calls it sin. God calls it sin. We call it sin. But what does God want us to do? To sit around doing nothing? No. We read Isaiah 58 verse 1. We are to cry aloud and spare not. We are to do a work that talks about the ways of God, the coming kingdom of God. We are to decry. We are to sigh and cry over the sins of the nation. If people ask us a reason or the hope that's within us, we give them that reason. If they ask what we think about those three issues I brought up today, depending upon where the person is at, and if they're not just looking for an argument, if they're sincere about where do we stand, we will tell them where we stand on those issues. We will not mince words as individuals, as an organization.

But let's take a step back and analyze the whole idea of social change, social justice. Where does God want our minds to be? Where does God want our minds to be? You know, what's interesting, as I was putting my thoughts together, I thought about John 18, verse 36. Let's turn there. John 18, verse 36. I believe this could be a verse that could be talked about social justice, social change. Let's notice Jesus Christ's words of wisdom here. Words to his church. This is John 18, verse 36. John 18, verse 36. Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now my kingdom is not from here.

There was going to be some social injustice imposed upon Jesus Christ. Great social injustice, great pain brought upon him. And yet, did he say, well, wait a minute, let's gather all my disciples and let's make a stand. Let's make a stand here. Let's put up some signs. Let's have a protest. No, there was, you know, God had his plan to work out. And Jesus Christ being our sacrifice was very much a keystone to that plan. But again, let's take a look. Let's look at another scripture. Philippians chapter 3, verses 20 and 21. Philippians chapter 3, verses 20 and 21, which I think gives us a real basis for thought.

Somebody comes to us and asks us about, you know, where we stand. Well, we can tell them where we stand on the issues. We've got no problem with that. We are, those of us who live in this country, I know we may have some Canadians listening in, but we of this country, and I'm sure we have some Canadians listening in, but we of this country, and I'm sure you Canadians, we love our country. We view ourselves as patriotic people. We pay our taxes. We obey the laws.

We are a light. But that having been said, there's a prior authority, there's a prior allegiance we have. Philippians chapter 3, verse 20 and 21. For our citizenship is in heaven, in which we also eagerly await for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that might be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself. So here we see where our first loyalty is, our first loyalty is to the kingdom of God, and proclaiming the coming kingdom of God, the gospel of the coming kingdom of God. Societal change through Jesus Christ and the family of God, when God wants that to take place, in the way God wants that to take place, with the laws he wants to have in place.

Brethren, what society is mostly in our minds?

Is it God's society, or is it human society? Do we find ourselves thinking more and more about focusing in on, well, this society needs to change, versus, no, we need to put our hearts and minds behind the coming kingdom of God. Let's turn over to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11.

Now here we're going to take a look at some sisters in the faith.

What was their mindset? Are they trying to change the society of their day? Is that what God has called us to do? To change our society by our feeble actions?

Again, that's not to say that we don't highlight sin in our society. Again, Isaiah 58 verse 1, we do that. We do that through the Beyond Today broadcast. We do it through the Beyond Today magazine. We do it in our personal interactions with people. We don't turn our back on society's sins and act like as though they don't exist. But again, do we put our beings behind some of these organizations that are out there? You've got to be very careful about that. Hebrews 11 verse 13. Hebrews 11 verse 13, going through verse 16. All these died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Now that they were people who were going to raise Cain and do this and that and the other, they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They were passing through. We are passing through. Verse 14, for those who say such things declare plainly they seek a homeland, and truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better—that is, a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. There's where our mind is. There's what the Old Testament people of God focused in on—God changing society. Brethren, let's not lose sight of the very high calling that we have. Let's turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9. We have got a very high calling. Let us not return—let us not have Satan, Mr. Rectus, or return to the organizations of this world and kind of get behind—get in line behind them. We've not been called to do that. We've been called to do something else that only we can do because God has selected us to do it. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 9. Who is saved as and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. We have got a holy calling, not a societal calling, a holy calling from God. Let us remember that. Let us turn our attention now to 2 Timothy chapter 2, chapter 2, and verse 15. 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15. Where does God want our minds to be? Where does God want our hearts to be? Reading literature about various organizations, taking empty hours on Facebook, reading through what various people are saying on Facebook, or does God want us to put our nose in the Scriptures and to understand what's there? 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a work who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Be diligent to be approved by God, understand the heart and the mind and the way of God. Learn to be a disciple who is growing and developing the grace and knowledge of God, so that when Christ brings His kingdom, you and I will be a part to make true societal change. We will be a part to bring true justice as God wants justice dispensed.

Brethren, we've been called out of the world to serve God. We've been called out of the world to do His work on this earth. That work will result in seeing the gospel preached, the world witnessed too by the Church of God, so that Jesus Christ can come and make sweeping societal changes in the way He sees fit. We don't want to misdirect our passions. We don't want to misdirect our zeal. We don't want to give people false, misplaced hope in this society that we're going to fix and band-aid this society, and it's going to be better. We want what God wants. We want real hope for the people of this world. Jeremiah 29, verse 11. Let's read that. Jeremiah 29, verse 11.

Jeremiah 29, verse 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, they give you a future and a hope.

And in so many of these organizations, they're out there. Again, not all organizations are wrong or evil. Some do a lot of good, but some of these organizations, do they have thoughts? Do they engender thoughts of peace? Really? Truly? Are they offering to give us a path to the future and a path to real hope? Of course not. Of course not. So, brethren, let's remember that Satan, the name Satan means super human adversary. That our super human adversary is a tempter, and he's tempting us now with all the things that are happening in our society in this country and in parts of the world, many parts of the world. Satan is tempting us as the super human adversary to misdirect our passions and misdirect our zeal. Let me read for you 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8. I think Mr. Duran may mention this in his message. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8, Be sober! Be vigilant! Because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. So, brethren, let's you and I be sober and vigilant. Let us now fall victim to Satan's tactic of misdirection.

Satan doesn't have to devour us. We don't have to fall for that.

We can be very assured that God will protect us if we're keeping our noses into scriptures, if we're living by every word of God and not by human nature or the capriciousness of what man wants to do in society today. So, let's not open a door of our hearts and minds, even a crack, to allow Satan to gain entrance so he can use his strategy of misdirection.

Brethren, don't fall victim to Satan's tactic of misdirection.