We’ve been looking at spiritual warfare in the context of Nehemiah 6:1-13, today we will primarily take a look at Nehemiah 6:10-13 and his third weapon—DECEPTION!
In this text we see someone trying to lie to Nehemiah & get him to sin…you see, if Nehemiah would have done with Shemaiah said, even though an argument could have been made that it was the right thing to do in light of the circumstances, then his enemies would have been able to discredit him because he was not permitted to go into this section of the temple. In other words—this would have been SIN!
The Bible says in John 8:44 that satan is a liar…actually that he is the father of lies. What are some lies that he tries to get us to believe today…and what does God’s Word actually say?
- “Jesus could NEVER save you…you’ve messed up WAY too much.” God says Romans 10:13
- “Sex outside of marriage is ok—just as long as you REALLY love one another.” God says I Thessalonians 4:3
- “I know marriage is for a lifetime, but he/she is NOT meeting my needs.” God says Proverbs 5:15-20
- “You can’t tell anyone about that issue you are struggling with, they won’t understand; in fact, they will judge you.” God says James 5:16
- “Church is not necessary!” God says Hebrews 10:24-25
- “Yes, the Bible does say forgive others, but what that person did to you is not forgivable.” God says Ephesians 4:32
- “Your money has nothing to do with your relationship with God.” God says Matthew 6:21
- “God is the one who keeps reminding you of what you did before meeting Christ.” God says Romans 8:1 and II Corinthians 5:17
I could literally go on and on…folks…the enemy wants us to believe lies, we see him in his first interaction with mankind in Genesis 3:1-7 lie to Adam and Eve, thus deceiving them and allowing sin to enter the world.
One more thing we must remember. One of the BIGGEST LIES the enemy wants us to believe is that he and God are equal…and that there is a cosmic power struggle going on…that he is just as powerful as God and that God actually feels the heat from his competition.
Folks…NOTHING is further from the truth.
- Scripture says in Luke 10:18 that Jesus saw him FALL from heaven…a little reference to the first ultimate fight ever where God completely whipped his rear end!!!
- Check out Job 1 and Job 2, notice anything there? Uh…satan has to get permission before he acts. In other words—God has a pet snake—his name is satan.
- Revelation 20:10 is pretty clear as to how all of this turns out!
I hope you have enjoyed this series of posts…we MAY do a series of messages on it next year—that will be fun!!!