By Pastor M. Isi Eromosele
Satan is the great enemy of the
Saint. In fact "Satan" means "adversary." The Bible refers
to the devil by a number of names and descriptions. He is seen as "the
anointed cherub" (Ezek. 28:14), "the ruler of demons" (Luke 11:15), "the ruler of this world" (John 16:11), "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4), and
"the prince of the power of the air" (Eph 2:2).
He is identified as a great
dragon, a roaring lion, the vile one, the tempter, and the accuser. He is
formidable, cunning, and powerful. Paul writing to the Corinthian church
realized that Satan was working overtime in the church and emphasizes that we
are to be vigilant and alert to his subtlety.
Satan’s advantage is based upon
one being ignorant of his devices or his methods. What are some of the devil’s
devices by which he seeks to deceive God’s children, defeat God’s church,
destroy God’s work, and denigrate God’s Word? His methods include distraction,
discouragement, disillusionment, discontentment, discord, and disassociation.
Distraction
1 John 2:15-16 "Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of
the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world."
Satan seeks to distract us by
getting us to focus our attention on the material instead of the spiritual, on
methods rather than the message, on men rather than God.
2 Timothy 2:4 "No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this
life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier."
If Satan can, he will get us to major on the minors and to minimize the majors.
It was a 99-degree September day in San Antonio, when a woman accidentally locked her 10 month-old baby
niece inside a parked car. Frantically the mother and aunt ran around the auto
in near hysteria, while a neighbor attempted to unlock the car with a clothes
hanger.
Soon the infant was turning purple
and had foam on her mouth. It had become a life-or-death situation when Fred, a
wrecker driver, arrived on the scene. He grabbed a hammer and smashed the back
window of the car to set the child free.
Was he heralded a hero? He said,
"The lady was mad at me because I broke the window. I just thought, what’s
more important, the baby or the window?" Sometimes priorities get out of
order and it takes a Fred reminds us what’s important.
Satan seeks to get our priorities out of order.
Discouragement
One of Satan’s most potent weapons
is trying to get you into a feeling of discouragement, so maybe you’ll give up.
Discouragement is a lack of hope usually after a major victory.
Many are confronted with it on
Monday after a breakthrough on Sunday. The Devil wants you to believe that
things are worse than what they are and that you are the only one who cares.
That is exactly how Elijah felt after his victory on Mt Carmel.
A man who is continually
criticized becomes good for nothing; the effect of criticism knocks all the
gumption and power out of him.
Sometimes it’s circumstances that discourage us. Numbers 21:4-5 "And they
journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to
compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because
of the way.
And the people spoke against God,
and against Moses, saying “Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither
is there any water; and our soul loathes this light bread."
Discouragement is faith in the devil.
Everywhere the perpetual endeavor
of the enemy of souls is discouragement. If he can get the soul "under the
weather," he wins. It is not really what we go through that matters, it is
what we go under that breaks us. We can bear anything if only we are kept
inwardly victorious.
Disillusionment
Disillusionment is the state of
being disenchanted or disappointed by unfulfilled expectations.
Proverbs 13:12 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the
desire cometh, it is a tree of life."
Have some of your carefully created castles been washed away? Mine have.
Several times along my life’s journey, I had nowhere to turn except into my
heavenly Father’s arms. There I remained quiet, soaking up his love for as long
as I needed. Then I saw his hand begin a new creation for my life, a new
direction, a new service for him and his kingdom. Waves need not always
destroy. We must allow our heavenly Father to use them to redirect our lives.
If you expect perfection from people, your whole life is a series of
disappointments, grumblings, and complaints. If, on the contrary, you pitch
your expectations low, taking folks as the inefficient creatures, which they
are, you are frequently surprised by having them perform better than you had
hoped.
There are no disappointments to
those whose wills are buried in the will of God.
Discontentment
Numbers 21:5-6 "And the
people spoke against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up
out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither
is there any water; and our soul loathes this light bread. And the Lord sent
fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died."
The children of Israel did not find in the manna all the sweetness and strength
they might have found in it; not because the manna did not contain them, but
because they longed for other meat.
1 Corinthians 10:10 "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured,
and were destroyed of the destroyer."
Half the world is unhappy because it can’t have the things that are making the
other half unhappy.
Complainers are the greatest persecutors.
Discord (Division)
1 Corinthians 1:10-11 "Now I
beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak
the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be
perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it
hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house
of Chloe, that there are contentions among you."
There are four ways the devil brings about division in the church. He uses
Selfishness, Favoritism, Narrow-mindedness, and Lack of Fellowship
Selfishness says do it my way or no way. Favoritism says our way is better than
your way. Narrow-mindedness says we’ve never done it that way. Lack of
Fellowship says you go your way and I’ll go my way.
Romans 12:3-5 says "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every
man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to
think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the
measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have
not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one
members one of another."
The secret of every discord in Christian homes and communities and churches is
that we seek our own way and our own glory.
It is too bad that anything so obvious should need to be said at this late date,
but from all appearances, Christians have about forgotten the lesson so
carefully taught by Paul: God’s servants are not to be competitors, but
co-workers.
The problem with the church today is not corruption. It is not
institutionalism. No, the problem is far more serious than something like the Minister
running away with the organist. The problem is pettiness that is so blatant
Disassociation
Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as
ye see the day approaching."
The devil loves when believers do not fellowship: he loves it when we distance
ourselves from each other.
1 Corinthians 12:18-21 "But now hath God set the members every one of them
in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where
were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye
cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the
feet, I have no need of you."
1 Corinthians 12:25 "That there should be no schism in the body; but that
the members should have the same care one for another."
Communion is strength; solitude is weakness. Alone, the eland is an easy target
for the stalking lion. The devil would like to isolate believers just like
predators separate their prey from the herd thereby weakening it and easily
killing and devouring it.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring
lion, walking about, and seeking whom he may devour:"
Churchgoers are like coals in a fire. When they cling together, they keep the
flame aglow; when they separate, they die out.
Community ... means people who have to learn how to care for each other.
Pastor M. Isi Eromosele is a part
of the Leadership Pastors at God’s Intervention Center in New York. He is also the Founder and CEO of Oseme Group, a
global management consulting company based in New York City.
