Impact of Satan on the Church and Unity

I'm going to give you a quiz. I think everybody will pass this. If you'll write down one to five.

It'll be very simple. Who murdered Abel?

Number two, who killed the babies in Bethlehem? Remember when Christ was born. Who killed them?

Who betrayed Jesus Christ?

Then, who was involved in a lie to Peter about how much money was received from a piece of land that was sold?

Was that Tom, Dick, and Harry, or Joe, Sally, and Catherine? Who was it?

Then, five, who caused Israel to be punished by causing Israel to be numbered?

Those are all questions that I'm sure that we could just rattle off the top of our head. When it comes to Abel, who asked the question, who murdered Abel? We think of Cain, obviously, because the Bible says Cain murdered his brother.

Because of his jealousy, because of his anger, and we find that he became jealous of his brother. His brother's offering was accepted by God, and his wasn't, and so God had to speak to Cain.

But you find that the inspiration and guidance for that murder came from Satan the devil.

Let's go over to John chapter 8 and verse 44. John the eighth chapter and verse 44.

And we read this.

It says, So from the very beginning, especially of the human race being on the earth, you find that Satan the devil was a murderer.

Satan was the one who inspired Cain. Cain's emotions got out of culture, and the devil was there trying to inspire him, and apparently he was able to do so.

And it goes on to say, So not only did Jesus state that Satan was a murderer from the beginning, but I want you to notice, he stated that the people who were there present, that he was talking to at that time, were the children of Satan.

Now, if you made that statement today in public, walked out on the street and said, well, you are the children of Satan, you might get yourself stoned.

But Jesus Christ said that to the Jews of his day, and not only that, he said that they would do the desires of their father, who are of Satan the devil. So not only were they his children, but they would follow through and do what he desired.

The Bible clearly reveals that we human beings don't always make decisions based just on our own desires, or the desires of the flesh, but are sometimes, or many times, motivated by Satan the devil.

We have to realize that we live in a society and an age where there are all kinds of influences coming at us all the time.

And the Bible reveals very clearly that there is a devil out there, and that he is broadcasting, and he is broadcasting his attitude.

And when you see human beings who display anger, perhaps bitterness, resentfulness, greed, pride, vanity, that those simply open the door for Satan the devil to influence them.

And so he will influence and exacerbate certain attitudes that people have.

Now, I also ask the question, who killed the babies in Bethlehem?

We think of Herod, and obviously the Bible indicates that Herod sent and had all the male children, two years and under, killed.

And we would say he did that out of jealousy, or he did that because he did not want a competitor.

He did not want somebody competing with him to be king, or who would be called king of the Jews.

So therefore, he did that.

And yet, let's go back to Revelation 12, beginning in verse 3.

And you will notice another angle on this.

Revelation 12, beginning in verse 3, And another sign appeared in heaven.

And behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadoms on his head.

And his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven, a star being symbolic of angels.

So he took one-third of the angels, Lucifer did in his rebellion, and he threw them to the earth.

And the dragon stood before the woman, who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born.

So the Bible clearly shows here in the book of Revelation that Satan the devil was the one who wanted to devour Christ, who wanted to destroy him, annihilate him, kill him.

And he was the one, undoubtedly, who used Herod, inspired him to issue the order that Jesus Christ would die.

And of course, God intervened on his behalf and sent the family into Egypt.

Now, who killed Jesus Christ?

Well, we would think of the Roman soldiers. They were responsible for killing Christ.

Pilate gave the final order to go ahead and do so.

The Jewish leaders were the ones who cried out, Crucifying, crucifying, and Judas betrayed him.

So if you put any one of those down, you'd probably get that correct.

But yet, as we read, back here in Luke 22, beginning in verse 1, the inspiration and guidance behind this was Satan the devil.

He was the one who stirred the people up.

He was the one who influenced Judas.

Beginning in verse 1, Now the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called Passover.

And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people.

Then Satan entered Judas, or named Ascarat, and who was numbered among the twelve.

And so he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how they might betray him.

So Satan possessed Judas, and it was through that possession and inspiration, I don't know if you'd call it inspiration, but his influence, that this took place.

In verse 21, we read later on during the Passover, that evening it says, So Jesus Christ knew he was going to be betrayed.

He knew that one of the twelve would do that.

Verse 47, dropping down, it says, And he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near to Jesus to kiss him.

And Jesus said, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?

And that's exactly what he did.

Notice verse 53, another illuminating aspect of this.

Christ, in talking to the Jews, said, Well, look, when I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize me.

But this is your hour.

This is the time, this is the hour, when I came to the world.

This is your hour, you're in charge.

And notice the power of darkness.

So Christ acknowledged that the power of darkness, which is talking about Satan, the angelic world, that this was their time.

And that they may have thought that they triumphed, but obviously Christ was to die for our sins.

So we find, again, in the affairs of mankind, that even though human beings carry certain things out and do certain things, and perhaps are motivated by their own vanity, their own lusts, their own desires, that there is another power behind them.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, when you look around, you read sometimes some of the horrible things that take place, grotesque things in society, where people are being burned alive, people have their heads hacked off, hands cut off, people who are butchered, mutilated, and killed.

Have you ever asked yourself, how could a human being do that to another human being?

And in many cases you find that there is an influence there, who influences those people to perform such atrocious acts.

Why did Ananias and Sapphira, see the name wasn't Tom, Dick, or Harry, or Sally, or Kathy, or whatever, Ananias and Sapphira, why did they lie about how much money they received when they sold a piece of property?

Perhaps we could think of it as pride, or wanting to look good in the eyes of the members of the church, but when you read it, you find that the inspiration behind them was Satan the Devil.

Perhaps he planted the thought, and they're mine.

And they thought, well, we can give this.

Everybody will think that we've given the whole amount, and we'll just save some of it back for ourselves.

Well, they could have done anything they wanted to with it, but they lied.

And we read here in Acts 5, beginning in verse 1, about this story.

It says, Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession.

And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it before the apostles' feet.

And Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?

See, they came, they lied to Peter, the other ministers.

And when you do that, you're not just lying to a man.

So he said here, you've lied to the Holy Spirit. You've kept back part of the price of the land for yourself.

While it remained, was it not your own?

And after you sold it, was it not under your own control?

Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?

You have not lied to men, but to God.

You'll remember the story, Ananias fell down dead, and they carried him out.

And shortly after, his wife came in. Peter asked the same question. She lied, and she fell down dead, and they carried her out.

And so you find that God dealt with that.

So you find that human beings and their actions are not always just solely motivated by the flesh, that there is an influence in this world who influences others.

David sinned by numbering the fighting men of Israel.

And we find in 1 Chronicles 21 that there was a reason for this.

It says, Now Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.

So Satan the devil was the one who inspired David to do this. He planted the thought in his mind.

David didn't need to number Israel. He didn't need to know how many fighting men, how big of an army he might have. All he had to do was trust God and rely upon him. But somehow there's a thought planted in his mind, well, I need to know what our armies are so that I can plan and I can prepare. And so he got suckered into this.

Going on, so David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, Go number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know of it.

And Joab answered, May the Lord make his people a hundred times more than they are, but my Lord the king, are they not all my Lord's servants?

Why then does my Lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?

Joab and others of the leaders understood that this was not right.

Try to convince David to the contrary. David would not listen to counsel had his mind made up. He was going to do this.

So verse 4 says, Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab, therefore Joab departed, went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.

And now in verse 7, God was displeased with this thing, therefore he struck Israel. So David said to God, I sin greatly because I've done this thing, but now I pray, take away the iniquity of your servant, for I've done very foolishly.

So David admitted that, but there was still a punishment that was carried out.

God allows us from time to time to be tried by Satan the devil. And this is especially true if we're not close to God.

If we're not close to God, we could be sifted.

I think as we heard in the sermonette, we could be burned. That we might not stand the test. We might not be purified in the way that we should be.

No human being on his own, under his own power, by his own authority, is able to resist a great archangel. You don't have the strength. You don't have the power. You don't have the ability to do so.

In Luke 22, Luke 22's interesting chapter contains a number of important points.

But beginning in verse 31, Luke 22, and verse 31, we read this.

The Lord said, Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you.

Has Satan ever asked God for you?

Has he ever said, I want that one. Leave him alone. Let me go after him.

Well, this is exactly what he told Simon. That Satan the devil had asked for Peter.

That he may sift you as wheat, sift you and eliminate you.

But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. That you will endure. You will remain faithful and true and honest. And when you have returned to me, now notice that. What did he mean when you have returned to me? Strengthen your brothers or the brethren.

And Peter said to him, Lord, I'm ready to go with you, both to prison and to death. Anything. I'll do it. And he said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day, before you will deny me three times, that you know me. So Peter was all ready to follow God, but we know that he did deny Christ. And he went off and he wept very bitterly.

All of the apostles, when Christ was taken captive, they went off, they went back to fishing. Christ was dead when he was crucified, put in the grave, and they went fishing. And it wasn't until Christ appeared unto them, and they were able to see that he had been resurrected, that they were totally convinced of what God was doing. So Peter did return. He did remain faithful, and after he did, he then strengthened the rest of them. And that's what Christ prayed for him.

On my own, you on your own are not able to resist Satan. He will sift us like wheat. Only God can deliver us, only God can protect us. Only through the power of God are we able to do so.

Let me ask, how about you? Are you stronger than Satan the devil? Do you have more power than he does? Peter wasn't. Christ said, I had to pray for you, that he wouldn't do this. How about all of the members of the church scattered worldwide? Are we all more powerful than Satan? Is every member in the church close to God? Are there times that all of us find that we regress, that we reach to a certain point, and then we are not praying the way we should? We're not studying the way we should? We don't fast as often as we should. We neglect the spiritual so that we're not close to God. And if we were attacked at that point, would we be overcome? How about all the members in this congregation? Are we close to God? Are we seeking His protection every day? We know that there are two beings in the family of God, the Father and the Son. Even one of them is more powerful than all the angels that were ever created. So we have them on our side. And God gives us His Spirit. He gives us that spiritual contact that comes from Him to us, His power, His might, that He gives to us to reside within us, to give us His mind, His attitude, His approach, to give us His strength to be able to endure. For every demon out there, there are two faithful righteous angels. And so the power is on our side. But the key is we have to stay close to God. We have to be walking with Him on a daily basis. If we're not close to God, we could be sifted by Satan the devil. Why doesn't Satan come whenever we're weak and immediately sift us, immediately yank us out of the church or cause us to stumble? Well, there could be several reasons why that might not happen. He's clever enough to save those that he can sift as sort of an ace in the hole, just waiting for the best time to use them if we're not seeking God's protection daily. Ask yourself, do you ask God every day to protect you? And not only just to protect you physically, but to protect you from the influences of this world and of Satan the devil. I think one reason people don't always seek protection is we can become conceited. We are used to making our own decisions. We think we can resist Satan without realizing how hopeless we are without God's protection. I think another reason is we just don't think about it. Too often we forget that the enemy is out there and we just drift along. One of the admonitions in the Scripture for all of us is to be careful not to drift, not to just sort of go along taking it easy, but we have to actively stay close to God. In 2 Timothy 2, 2 Timothy 2, beginning in verse 24, we read this.

A servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but he must be gentle to all, able to teach patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses. There are time, brethren, that we need to come to our senses and be able to really look at ourselves the way God looks at us. May come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, like setting a snare for an animal, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Now, this certainly is a valid translation from the New King James Version, but there are other possibilities. Notice how this verse, verse 26, is translated in the King James Version. And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. So he's showing that there are some who are taken captive at his will. The Living Bible says this, Then they will come to their senses and escape from Satan's trap of slavery to sin, which he uses to catch them whenever he likes. He catches whenever he likes, and then they can begin doing the will of God. The word here for capture, or catch, in the Greek is the perfect passive participle, and it literally means being captured alive, conveys the sense of having been taken and held captive, and expresses the decisive hold that Satan has. So it is possible to be held captive, and you and I want to make sure that we never fall into that pitfall where we fall into Satan's snare. There may be several reasons why Satan has not already attacked this congregation, and we know he attacks us all the time, but where he hasn't sifted everyone here, God simply may not have permitted it. God may have said, you know, he's prayed for us, and he hasn't allowed that test to come upon us as yet. Or Satan may have permission, but he's waiting for just the right opportunity that he would think is the right opportunity. Or he may be after bigger fish. Maybe after trying to influence somebody who's a little higher up. But the time will come when God will allow every one of us to be tested, and when we, as a church, will be tested. We, as a local congregation, will be tested. Satan the devil will do it when he feels we're ripe for plucking. He can cause the most damage if God allows that.

We see Satan attacking congregations in other areas around the world. And in a number of those areas, they become susceptible to certain influences or to falling away. And it would be easy for any of us to say, well, you know, we're superior, we're stronger, we're better. Nothing like that could ever happen to me. That would never occur here. And that simply is not true. See, that's the perfect scenario for Satan the devil.

This is what Satan would want us to think. He doesn't want us to put our complete trust, confidence in God on a daily basis. He'd like for us to become a little complacent, a little conceited, and not do that. I mentioned this last week, but back in 1974, the associated churches started. We, at that time, were in a pastoring a church in Texas. In fact, we pastored three churches in Texas. And there were people defecting from the church. We lost, at that time, over 35 elders and ministers and over 4,000 members.

Our church was not affected. We didn't have anybody who was being bothered by this. But mostly, this was on the East Coast at that time. And it was a matter of who was going to be in charge. They were wanting to redo the structure of governance. And then they were also claiming, at that time, about church doctrine. Same thing happened in 1978, when a prominent minister left. And over 3,000 left the church at that time. Dozens of high-ranking ministers have left over the years and gone and started their own congregations. The church we were pastoring, which was not having any problem, didn't have a problem with that.

But later on, they were tested. They were tried. And they had some difficulties. They had some difficulties at that time. We will all be tested at one point or another. So, brethren, we need to know, as God's precious children, those of us who are in His church, that Satan the Devil is out there, and He is trying in every way that He can to conquer, to divide.

And I think that we are presently being attacked as an organization. And He will—and I can personally assure you of this— He will try to attack each one of us personally, individually, and as a congregation. I don't know when, but He will. So, the Bible indicates that eventually there's going to come a time when brother will deliver up brother to death. Let's go back to Matthew 24, verse 9, where we find this mention. And to think that something like this couldn't happen in our congregation, I think would be a terrible mistake for us to make.

Matthew 24, verse 9—this is talking about the end time— verse 8 talks about these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation. They'll kill you, and you will be hated of all nations for my namesake. And then many will be offended. The word offended means to stumble. So many will stumble and will betray one another and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will wax cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. So the Bible very clearly shows that we have to endure to the end. So it talks here about being offended, being betrayed, being hated. It's sad to think that a brother or a sister would turn against someone else who is a brother or a sister.

But likewise, I know that most of us sitting here would be willing to give our lives for one another, but have just the opposite, would be willing to die for each other, to stand up for God's way. Now, what temptations does Satan use against God's people? How does Satan come after us? When Satan comes to sift us, and we're not close to God, it might be too late. How could Satan sift us? How could he sift us as a congregation?

Well, there are many different ways. We've already mentioned some of them. One is by being offended. Something comes along, somebody does something to you, you become offended. You don't like how something is done, you become offended. People become offended all the time. They stumble. And bitterness against a brother, bitterness against another individual. In Luke 17 and verse 1, Luke 17, verse 1, Jesus Christ clearly explains that there will be offenses. He said to the disciples, It is impossible that no offenses will come. So it's an impossible thing. Offenses will come, is what he's saying. But woe to him through whom they do come. So the Bible very clearly tells us that this will happen.

And the easy thing is, if somebody becomes offended, they begin to develop an attitude of resentment or become critical, then Satan could begin to work on that and develop an attitude of bitterness in an individual. A person could have anger, irresistible anger, and could be sifted, and therefore it is absolutely imperative that we all stay close to God.

And this is the way you can prevent this type of bitterness and resentfulness from occurring. In Hebrews 12 and verse 12, we have another section here talking about a root of bitterness. It says, therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down and the feeble knees. So it's easy for all of us to become discouraged. As it says here, we need to strengthen our hands and the feeble knees. We need God's strength and power. It makes straight paths for your feet so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

Pursue peace with all people and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Looking carefully, lest anyone fall short of the grace of God. So it is possible to fall short. Lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble. And by this, many become defiled. Now, there's a whole lot mentioned in this particular verse. Notice it calls it a root of bitterness. A root is something that goes down, takes root. You can have above in the ground, and it can send down roots. And then a plant grows from it.

Now, here we're talking about a bitterness plant. First of all, it has to take root in us. There has to be fertile ground for that bitterness to begin to grow. And the roots are being resentful, offended, turned off. Whatever it might be, it could be pride, it could be vanity, it could be ego. See, again, we human beings tend to say one thing when actually it's another thing. And then you find it springs up.

Bitterness begins to spring up. And one of the problems with that is that many, one person can be bitter. And many can be defiled because that attitude will then begin to be pervade. It will begin to rub off on other people and begin to have an effect upon them. And many will be defiled. Now, it's interesting here when it says, unless anyone falls short, the word in the Greek for fall short or fail means to come late or to be tardy.

In Hebrews 4.1, let's turn back there, Hebrews 4 and verse 1, it is used here. It means to be left behind in the race, so to fail to reach the goal, to fall short of the end. And here we find, therefore, since a promise remains of entering his rest, of entering into the kingdom of God, let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it. We fall short of it.

We miss it. We fail to end the race. We start the race, but something comes along and we don't reach the end. It's not how we start out, it's how we end up, that counts. So we've got to make sure that we end. It goes on to say, it's used here with the preposition, which means off or away or from, meaning to fall back from.

That's important because it's implying a previous attainment, whereas we had attained a certain level of growth, development, closeness to God, relationship with God, and then we fall back. And something comes up and we don't pray as much, we don't study as much, we fall back. So the translation could be simply, lest anyone be falling back, because it's talking about a progressive thing that's going on. So it's possible to be falling back from where we were. Spiritually, we don't just stay in one spot. You don't reach a certain spiritual growth, and you can say, okay, now I can sit back, I've achieved this, I don't have to worry anymore.

No, spiritual development and growth and closeness to God and a proper relationship is something you have to constantly work on, constantly develop. Now the word bitterness in the Greek means a state of sharp, intense resentment or hate. Somebody who becomes bitter has an intense resentment or hate or spite. And this is what we have to look out for. James 3, going over here to the book of James, chapter 3, beginning in verse 13, gives an interesting observation. James 3, verse 13, says, So it's our conduct, our actions, how we liberalize what we do, that shows this.

But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking, that's selfish ambition, self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.

For this wisdom does not descend from above. So there are different sources of wisdom. There's wisdom from above, that comes from God. But there's this wisdom that does not descend from above, but is earthly, in other words, of this world, sensual, demonic. So you see where that influence comes from, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking, selfish ambition, exists, there will be confusion and every evil thing are there. But wisdom that is from above, wisdom that comes down from God to us, is first pure, then peaceable, then gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy. So we find that there is a wisdom of this world, and that wisdom is not from God. I think that there are times also when people fall short, leave God's church, because of having itching ears, as the Bible talks about. Over doctrine, our new teaching, many, many members have left over the years claiming to have a new truth, claiming that God has revealed something to them that nobody else understands. I call it a baby. They've created a baby, they've given birth to it, they coddle it, they feed it, they want it to grow, and they think that they have a special connection with God because, quote-unquote, they understand something that nobody else does. And in many cases, in most cases, it's not the truth. It's a false teaching. In Ezekiel chapter 33, Ezekiel described here, beginning in verse 30, Ezekiel 33 and verse 30, this type of situation, that there are those who are always wanting to learn something new, wanting to hear something, but they never do anything with it. Verse 30, as for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls in the doors of the house. They speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, Please come and hear what the word is from the Lord. Let's hear what God has to say. And they come to you as people do, and they sit before you as my people. They hear your words, but they do not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but with their hearts they pursue their own gain. They have their own desires, what they want. Indeed, you are to them is a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, can play well on an instrument. But they hear your words, but they will not do them. And when Ezekiel was preaching to the people in captivity, they heard, but they weren't changing. And when this comes to pass, he says, and surely it will come, then they will know that a prophet has been among them. So it's not just a matter of wanting to hear something, but it's a matter of obeying, of doing, of putting into practice. Now, the big question is, for all of us to answer, is how close are we to God? Am I close to God? Are you close to God? Are we close to Jesus Christ? Do we have the right relationship? Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan the devil, if you remember. And he went through those temptations. He was able to resist Satan. But he went out and he fasted 40 days, and he resisted Satan. So Satan tempted him. God allowed that. And you and I are tempted from time to time.

Ephesians 6 tells us, beginning in verse 10, that our real enemies are not other human beings. It's not another human being, as he says here in verse 10, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord. See, that's where our strength comes from. In order to be strong in the Lord, you have to be close to the Lord for him to give you his spirit and have that spirit growing. And in the power of his might, so the might and the power and the strength comes from God, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Now, verse 12, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, see, other human beings, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. So our struggle is with Satan, and he's the one who is the unseen influence. The Bible very clearly brings out in 1 Corinthians 2 that there is a spirit of this world. There is the spirit in man. There is the spirit of God. There is a spirit of this world. That is the influence of Satan, the devil. And when we give in to human nature, we give in to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, give in to vanity, give in to our human desires, our egos, our selfishness. All of these areas. This is when Satan can begin to influence us. He will say, yeah, go for it! And he'll encourage us and egg us on. He'll put thoughts and ideas into our minds.

James 4 tells us and gives us the absolute key on how to be close to God. James 4, verse 7, says, Therefore submit to God. So you and I are commanded to submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. So if we don't want Satan's influence, what must we do? We have to resist. Now, how do you resist something? Have you ever used the phrase, somebody, it's Thanksgiving, you've already eaten a piece of pumpkin pie and a piece of, you know, cake, and you've had some bread pudding or something, and somebody else brings another dessert out, and it looks so good. You think, how can I resist this? Well, we know that resist means you don't do it. There's a resistance there. Well, the same thing is true here. To resist the devil means we don't give in. We don't give into the temptation. We don't disobey. Satan wants us to go one way, but we resist him. So we have to resist the devil. You resist the devil by obeying God, submitting to God, and not going his way. And then in verse 8 it says, draw near to God. So you and I have to draw near, and he will draw near to you.

If you draw near to Satan and his ways, then we will be easily influenced to go that way. You draw near to God, then you're close to God, and then he can influence you. So draw near to God, he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts. You double-minded. So we have to resist the devil. That's step number one. We submit to God, and we draw near to God. Submitting to God means to obey God, whatever he says, and then we draw close to him. That has to do with our relationship with him, to be close to him. Turn over here to 1 John 5, 1 John 5, verse 18.

An interesting scripture that John writes says we know, verse 18, that whoever is born of God does not sin. Now, you and I sin, but this is talking about does not practice sin, does not live in sin as a way of life, is not habitually sinning. To practice sin as a way of life, an example would be the Sabbath. If you worked on the Sabbath, didn't keep the Sabbath, didn't church on the Sabbath, you just went and did your own thing, you'd be habitually disobeying God. Well, most of us don't do that. We strive to obey God, but we fall short, and we sin. But he does not sin, but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. Now, the word keep here, keeps himself, means to guard himself. You and I have to guard ourselves. We have to guard and make sure that we don't give way to Satan the devil. What if you were on guard duty? You're in the army, you're on guard duty. You're in the middle of a war. Fighting is taking place. You go to sleep on guard duty, or you're not alert while you're on guard duty. What would happen? Well, you could very easily be shot, killed, stabbed. No, when you're on guard duty, you're alert.

You've got to be alert. You've got to have all your senses about you. You've got to know what's going on around you. And so it is with us. We have to keep ourselves. We have to be on guard against Satan. We have to be alert and spot when he's around. And if we do that, the wicked one does not touch us. So this is another clue on how we resist the devil. Then, verse 19, we know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the wicked one. So Satan the devil is able to sway the whole world, all humanity. And you look at the religions of this world, you look at the customs of this world, philosophies of this world, cultures of this world, economic systems, you go on and on and on. They're under the sway of the evil one. You and I are not to be under that sway. We're to be close to God. We need to guard ourselves. Then finally, in Matthew 6, beginning in verse 9, Matthew 6, verse 9, the outline or model prayer. In verse 9, Christ said, in this manner therefore pray, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. So we honor God. We acknowledge Him. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. So this is an important point to note. There are things that we need to pray about daily. It's not wrong to ask God to give us our daily bread. It doesn't say, give us our monthly bread, give us our weekly bread, give us our yearly bread. We're told to pray, give us our daily bread. That God would provide for us for that day. We'd have clothing, shelter, and so on. So there are things that we have to pray for on a daily basis. We live in this Western world, and because of the abundance of food, if you get hungry, you go down to Publix, you go over to Bylows, you go to Kroger's, Ingalls, you go to a grocery store, shelves are stocked, you pay money, they give you food, you go home and you eat. And there isn't a great deal of scarcity in most Western world, most Western nation. It isn't a present problem that we have. And so therefore, people are lured into thinking that, well, it'll always be there.

But what happens one day if the trucks stop running, if the freeways are shut down, and if there's a drought and disaster and there's no more food being delivered? How do we live? We're today more concerned about whether the food is tasty, whether it looks good, as opposed to having it. So we become a little complacent.

Well, Satan, the devil, sees that, and he is trying to lure people into taking it easy spiritually to become lax, to become complacent. And if we do, that's a mistake. Let's go on here in verse 12 and notice other things that we need to be praying for on a daily basis. Forgive us our debts. Do we need to have our sins forgiven? Well, certainly we do, and we need to do that on a daily basis. Forgive us as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation. We want God to deliver us from temptations, from the tests and the trials that might come our way. But notice also, but deliver us from the evil one. Do we pray daily that God would deliver us from Satan, from his influence, and from his ways? Well, this is something that we should be praying about on a daily basis. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. So God has called us. We know that as we approach the end time, it's only going to get harder, more difficult. We're actually, as we may see here in the future, we're actually living in the green times right now. Because the times are going to get harder and more difficult in the future when the dry times will come. And so, brethren, we need to pray for God's kingdom to come and that we can remain strong. We need to rely upon the might and the power of God's Spirit. And we need to pray daily, every day, deliver us from the evil one.