September 22, 2024 • 40 mins
Warning Against Worldliness
Pride in What?
Text: James 4:1-12
- The Great Deceiver
- A Defeated Foe
- Victory in Jesus
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PHSA Church (Potter's House Salmon Arm)
#201 231 Trans Canada Hwy.
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
604-997-8446
Email: pottershousesa@icloud.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located
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in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship
Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,
discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church
and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bigford and I will be your
host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing
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to you and bring you closer to God.
Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. My name is David Bigford
and I am the pastor here in Salmon Arm. Today I have a message called Warning Against Worldliness
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and a subheading if you want it is called Pride in What? We tend to gravitate towards
in society and what has kind of captured you that could be in a harmful way and that is
kind of the picture of worldliness as well. What are you allowing yourself to be captivated
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by that might seem okay on the surface but if you were to like pick away at a little
bit you would realize that you are giving up a lot of what the scripture tells us is
right in favor of stuff that is unholy. So to jump off here, sorry I am mumbling my words
today but to jump off like our text will be James 4, 1-12. So if you have your Bible,
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if you are following along for the purpose of that you can turn to James chapter 4 verses
1-12. We will be jumping in there in just a second. So you might have heard of a book
called the 48 Laws of Power. It is by a guy named Robert Green and I am going to jump
in with an excerpt about this book but I want you to pay attention because this is not a
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book that I recommend. In fact far to the opposite I would actually disagree with this
book vehemently in a lot of different ways but let's jump in with the preface to the
book just so you can get an idea of where I am coming from.
The feeling of having no power over people and events is generally unbearable. To us
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it feels like when we feel helpless we feel miserable. No one wants less power, everyone
wants more. In the world today however it is dangerous to seem too power hungry or to
be overt with your power moves. We have to seem fair and decent so we need to be subtle,
congenial yet cunning, democratic yet devious. This game of constant duplicity most resembles
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the power dynamic that existed in the scheming world of the old aristocratic court. Throughout
history a court has always formed itself around the person in power, the king, queen, emperor,
leader. The courtiers who filled their courts were in an especially delicate position. They
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had to serve their masters but if they seemed to fawn, if they seemed they curried favor
too obviously, the other courtiers around them would notice and would act against them.
Hence to win the masters favor then had to be subtle and even skilled courtiers capable
of such subtlety still had to protect themselves from their fellow courtiers who at all moments
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were scheming to push them aside. So let's read our text in James 4, 1-12. What causes
quarrels and what causes fights among you? It is not this that your passions are at war
within you. You desire and do not have so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain so
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you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive
because you ask wrongly to spend it on your own passions. Your adulterous people, do you
not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes
to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is no
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purpose that the scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made
to dwell in us but he gives more grace therefore it says God opposes the proud but gives grace
to the humble. Submit yourself therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from
you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and
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purify your hearts you double minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned
to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Do
not speak evil against one another brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges
his brother speaks evil against the law and the judge is the law. But if you judge the
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law you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one law giver and judge. He
who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge? Your neighbor. And that
last part your neighbor is a question. We're getting a question from our brother James
in this scripture. Because the question of this is where is your heart going to lie?
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So as we jump into this let's pray. Dear Lord God I pray that your word will pierce the
heart with spirit of conviction and that we will see that the word of God that we just
read illuminates the wickedness of that first preamble of that book that we just read. The
two things are at odds and I pray that through this message that we'll be able to show the
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desire of our Father that is summed up in the commands to love God first and to love
your neighbor as the next primary command. So in Jesus name I pray amen. So our world
today is made up of two groups. The first and largest group is the group that wants
to be left alone. This is a group that's not interested in dominating the other group.
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There are you know they're primarily interested in being taken care of in life. If their basic
needs are met they are most likely to not involve themselves in the comings and goings
of the other group. The second group is made up of an ambitious and striving people. This
group desires to influence change. They often want to exert control and dominate the first
group. But this idea is nothing new to the world and it's presented in the scriptures
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when Jesus calls the people sheep without a shepherd in Matthew 9 36 he was drawing
attention to the masses of people who are without godly direction in their lives. The
trouble is that is not that there are leaders and followers in life. No the problem is where
the desire to lead stems from in the heart of those called to lead and why some who choose
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to follow or refuse to serve because some who refuse to serve or refuse to lead who
are called they're doing just as much of a disservice as those who want to lead but want
to lead from a wrong heart. So that's what I want to look at today. Why do some desire
more than anything to dominate and why do others only desire comfort and what links
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these two ideas together. So I want to contend it's the same route that drives some to power
and others to comfort in first John 2 16 it says for all that is in the world the desires
of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the father but
is from the world. The struggle is against worldliness as Christians we are called to
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stand for Christ against the world. This is a tall order and it's easier said than done
clearly but let's think of the root of the issue. The core issue is one of sovereignty.
Are we giving God the rightful place of kingship in our lives and are we allowing or are we
allowing something else to take the throne in our lives and in our hearts. This brings
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me to my first point which is the great deceiver. The power or this book that we read the preface
to is lauded in many circles especially like business circles and it's amazing because
what drives this message and when we look at that preface we get this picture of what's
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true you know what is the author what is in the author's heart and we get an idea of
the condition behind it this desire for power but to be devious. So meanwhile the court
was supposed to represent this height of civilization refinement we read about this when he's talking
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about the courtiers and the kings and the emperors all the stuff we see this. We also
know that violent or overt power moves were frowned upon. Remember we read that they they
you had to act silently and secretly you had to be mischievous you had to be you know operate
in the shadows. This was the dilemma that was presented in that preface with the courtiers
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dilemma while appearing to be a paragon of excellence you had to outwit and thwart your
opponents in the subtlest of ways and when he talks about opponents what are they talking
about if you put this in context of your workspace this would be your colleagues at work if you
put this in your friend circle this literally be your friends or in a family it'd be your
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brothers and sisters. This is such a dramatic idea that you're always having to be you know
trying to out move your friends and family and your co-workers like everything is chess.
In the book it talks about how the successful courtier learns over time to make these moves
indirectly so that if he stabs one person in the back he can do it with a velvet glove
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you know so that he comes across as you know sweet with and he has a smile on his face
so that it's like almost like yeah I might be stabbing you in the back but it's okay
because I did it in such an elegant way. Instead of using coercion or outright treachery the
perfect courtier got his way through seduction or charm or deception or these subtle strategies
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always planning several moves ahead. What kind of weird travesty is this if you were
to have to like worry about your friends your family or co-workers always trying to manipulate
the situation to their benefit and to your detriment. So life in the court was there
was this never-ending game that required constant vigilance and tactical thinking and that's
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what the book says. So when the book was recommended to me to read I first thought okay let's give
it a chance but I couldn't even make it past the preface. I immediately was confronted
by the spirit of this book. It right away is telling you that in order to obtain power
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you have to be scheming duplicitous and willing to betray all of those around you. Right away
this does you know like alarm bells are going off and this doesn't sound like a you know
something that that I could follow because it doesn't sound anything like the teachings
of our Lord Jesus. In fact it sounds a lot more like our enemy or Satan or the devil.
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The message isn't even veiled it's right out in front of the reader. It doesn't require
much discernment to see that this is not a good book for Christians to read or worse
yet to implement. The root of this kind of book and its larger message is one of power
at any costs. It is the open call to take what is not yours by any means necessary.
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There's nothing new or innovative in this message. Satan has been spinning this old
tale for a very long time. It's important to remember that God did not create Satan
or create the devil as we know him today because everything God made was good. Right we have
to we have to recognize that he was an angel and at one point he was good. In Genesis 1
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31 it says and God saw everything that he made and behold it was very good and there
was evening and there was morning the sixth day. So why do I bring that up? I bring that
into this discussion because at this book I'm not purposely writing this just to rail
on this book but rather the larger picture that you're not starting out being a wicked
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manipulator and betrayer in the court of the king but it all starts with little steps over
time so what we know is that when creation was finished everything was good. In Ezekiel
28 12 through 19 we get a more detailed picture of Satan's original beauty and his wisdom.
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It says you were the signet of perfection full of wisdom and perfect and beauty. You
were an Eden the garden of God every precious stone was your covering. Sardius, Topaz, diamond,
barrel, onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, carbuncle and crafted in gold were your settings in your
engravings and on the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian
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cherub. I placed you you were on the holy mountain of God in the midst of the stones of fire you
walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till unrighteousness was
found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst and you
sinned so I cast you as a profane thing from the mount of a god and I destroyed you oh guardian
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cherub from the midst of the stones of fire your heart was proud because of your beauty. You
corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor I cast you to the ground I exposed you
before kings to feast your eyes on feast their eyes on you by the multitude of your iniquities
and the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries so I brought the brought fire
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out from your midst and it consumed you and turned you to ash on the earth in the sight of all who
saw you all who know you or know you among the peoples are appalled at you and you have come to
a dreadful end and shall be no more forever. So as we read that it tells us a little bit more about
Satan's fall but then we can read also in Isaiah 14 12 through 14 to get a little bit more of a
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picture. How are you a fall how are you or how you are fallen from heaven oh day star son of dawn
how you are cut down to the ground you who laid the nations low you said in your heart I will ascend
to heaven above the stars of God I will set my throne on high and I will sit on the mount of
assembly in the far reaches of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds and I will
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make myself like the most high. So to discern the world we live in it's critical to know that the
devil is real and that he does influence our culture our governments and if we let him he will
also he will also affect what you allow to be your desires. He does influence your desires if you
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allow him to. Satan is the great deceiver in the garden he was there that's why Paul tells Timothy
and first Timothy 3 6 that the early church leaders must not be novices. He says lest being
puffed up with pride they fall into the same condemnation as the devil. The sin of the devil
was pride the sin of the devil was his aspirations for power power above the most high and so when
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Paul's telling Timothy this he's telling him that you need to have discernment so that when you place
people in positions of authority within the church they can't be new believers because if you allow
people who are new or novices they'll be puffed up and they'll think they're they're bigger than
themselves and they could fall victim to pride. Satan's greatest device in opposing the work of
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the Lord is his deceptiveness and so F.C. Jennings wrote about how false notions of Satan have led
people to reject any belief in Satan. He says in considering the person of Satan it may be well
first to look at the common vulgar popular idea such it is still held by masses of Christendom
and such it has made the basis or at least one of the basis for rejection of his very existence by
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many of the learning of the day. The lowest possible and yet most widespread conception we
have is that in what one may term the stage idea as we constantly see it on posters in our streets
a human form with a leering face characterized by a grim by a grin of low cunning horns hoofs in a
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forked tail utterly obscene and provoking nothing but contempt ridicule and disgust but when we read
the Bible we certainly don't get this kind of picture of Satan. If he came looking like that
no one would follow him. Quite contrary to this popular notion Satan's dominant purpose is not to
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be unlike God or to be the opposite of God. His transcendent objective is to be like God to be like
the most high as it says in Isaiah 14 14. So scripture gives us a great number of different
names and descriptive titles for Satan so we'll examine Satan's name and titles to recognize his
various approaches and to reveal his true character. So what are some of the names that are given to
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Satan? Well first we have a very common one or one that we're pretty aware of is called Lucifer.
This is you know from the King James the new King James version and it it's basically a translation
out of the Latin Vulgate today in which was used to translate the Hebrew word which is
Hylal in Isaiah 14 12. Hylal literally means a shining one and the Latin word that we pull Lucifer
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from means light bearer or morning star. So the name Lucifer seems to refer to Satan's position
in heaven before his rebellion and fall. How are you falling from heaven oh Lucifer son of the
morning? The Bible tells us that. We also get the name Satan which means adversary or one who
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opposes because that's what the devil does is he is the opposition to the righteousness of God.
The name devil means slanderer or accuser because he is a slanderer of the saints. He is a slanderer
of the of God's message of Christ's message and he is a slanderer of us. Beelzebub is Lord of the
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Flies and Belial means worthless. So other names that are attributed to Satan are tempter, wicked
one, ruler of the world, prince of power of the air. So many of these names given to him in the
Bible with the purpose of bringing our attention to his nature and tactics. He is an enemy of God
but he is not the victor. But before we move on to my next point I just want to emphasize the fact
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that he doesn't come looking like some terrible creature from the cartoons. He comes as an angel
of light because he was an angel of light and his desire is to present himself as a replacement for
God because he, you know, in his bride desired to be above God. So why would he try to come and look
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like something that's opposite to God when he was trying to take God's place? So as we move on I
want to make sure I emphasize this point you know with with a lot of intensity is the idea that he's
a defeated foe. In Isaiah 14-15 it says, but you are brought low to shoal to the far reaches of the
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pit. We know that Satan was cast out. He lost his position in heaven and he was cast out of the
Garden of Eden. He failed to turn Christ aside from his mission and Satan was judged finally at
the cross of Calvary. So when we think about that and we look at Isaiah and we think about, you know,
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the fact that, you know, we know that he's brought down, that he's been judged. We know he lost his
position in heaven from the very beginning of the Bible where it talks about that.
We know he was cast out of the Garden of Eden so he's already been tried and convicted and he is
waiting for his sentence to be fulfilled. He attempted to turn Christ aside from his mission
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of salvation for us through the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary but he failed. He failed to tempt
Jesus because Jesus is God and he needed to be a pure sacrifice for us and he was. So he was
so he failed in his mission to stop us from receiving grace through Jesus' name
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but he had already been himself convicted. He was still awaiting his punishment
and his final judgment came with his mission when Jesus died upon the cross and rose from the grave
because Satan had failed at his goal of keeping humanity from being able to obtain grace through
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the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So we know that he's a defeated foe. We know he's a failure. We
know all these things. So why do we give Satan so much time in our lives? When we think of this
book and this grasping for power, why is it that we are just so willing to dive in and
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do people wrong in order to gain a step up in a company or to gain more accolades from a group
of friends or a group of colleagues at work? Why is it that we're so willing to do harmful
things to ourselves and others for this trivial attempt to power? When we read in our text earlier,
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it talked about the route that we're supposed to go in our life. So when we look at James and we
go down to verse 7, it says, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will
flee from you. We need to be strong enough to stand against the devil and these kind of
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pulls from society that go constantly contrary to the word of God. He tells us to draw near to God
in verse 8, and if we do, he'll draw near to us. He tells us to cleanse our hands, purify our hearts.
He tells us to humble ourselves before the Lord in verse 10, and if you humble yourself,
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you will be exalted of God. So the reality is, we know from other messages I preach
that Jesus brings this upside down kingdom. He is the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords,
but he was humble and he came as a servant, and he calls us to be humble and to be servants as well,
and in doing so will be elevated. It tells us in verse 11, do not speak evil against one another.
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Brothers, and again this is from James chapter 4 verses 1 through 12. So we're not meant to speak
evil against one another. We're not meant to judge each other wickedly,
because there's only one lawgiver and there's only one judge, and it's that judge, the judge Jesus,
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who is able to save, but is also able to destroy. And who's he going to destroy? We know because
he is the victor. The devil is convicted, he's sentenced, and he is awaiting
his punishment. This brings me to that final point, which is victory in Jesus.
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The believer's course of action regarding Satan should be, one, to recognize Satan's limitations.
Two, we have to understand with clarity that Satan has been conquered,
and three, that Jesus intercedes on behalf of us believers.
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So when we're recognizing Satan's limitations, we're recognizing that Satan is the one who
is the most powerful. When we're recognizing Satan's limitations, what does that look like?
Well, we need to understand that Satan is not God. He is not omnipotent. He is not all powerful.
He is limited. He is not omniscient. He can't know your thoughts. He is not all knowing,
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which means you guard your tongue, because if you're struggling, if you're having a hard time,
he's not going to rule you, because he doesn't know what you're thinking. That's why we lay our
burdens down in prayer, and we cry out to God for help, because he knows what we're going through.
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And also, Satan is not omnipresent. He is not there all the time. And obviously, there are demons,
who work behind the scenes. But my point is that our God is all powerful, omniscient, or actually
omnipotent. Sorry. He's all powerful, omnipotent. He is all knowing, omniscient, and he is everywhere
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omnipresent. And he resides even in us, and he is all around us all the time.
The devil cannot bestow life and raise anybody from the dead. We know that from John 10, 10.
But our Lord can. Not only did he rise and was able to raise from the dead himself,
but he has the power over life and death. Satan has been conquered. Number two, right?
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He has been convicted. He stands condemned, and he has been sentenced, but the sentence has yet to be
carried out. We live in a society that disregards this fact. In fact, we see the wickedness that
wages war against the church all the time in every country, some countries more than others.
But the reality is, is that they're all on borrowed time.
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Our part is to claim by faith and to stand in Christ's victory over the deceiver, over Satan.
The scripture states that Satan has been conquered for his purpose the Son of God was manifest that
he might destroy the works of the devil. In 1 John 3, 8, Satan is a conquered foe overcome
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by our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the son of God, and he is the son of the devil. He is the son of
Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere are Christians told to fight the devil. Jesus fought Satan once and for
all on the cross. Our part is to claim by faith and stand in his victory and resist the devil.
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1 John 3, 8 says, whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been
sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the
devil. So believers are not commanded to fight the devil but to resist the devil and he will flee
from you. James 4, 7, we read that. First, Peter 5, 9 explains how believers are to resist Satan,
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resist him steadfast in the faith. Faith in the account of Christ's victory over the devil and
in God's promise is the secret of victory for believers. Jesus made Satan's tactics quite clear
in the parable of the sower and the seed. Jesus said that some of the seed fell by the wayside,
the birds of the air devoured it. Jesus explained those by the wayside are the ones who hear,
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then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be
saved. The devil knew that if the word were allowed to remain in the hearts of the hearers,
it would bring forth faith. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing of the word of God.
Romans 10, 17. Faith in God's word is the secret to believers' daily triumphs. FC Jennings summed up
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this truth in this comment here. He says, this then suggests very clearly the root aim of his attacks.
It is always to destroy faith in God and on our side of the conflict is to maintain that faith
in spite of everything he can bring against it. So the apostle Peter says, whom resists steadfast
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in the faith and our apostles calls, joyful song is I have fought a good fight and I have finished
my course. I have kept the faith in second Timothy four seven. And he passes back the words to us,
fight the good fight of faith. First Timothy six 12. So we don't fight the devil. We fight the good
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fight of faith because in resisting the devil because of our faith, he will flee from us.
He is already defeated. And finally, Jesus intercedes on behalf of the believer.
Luke 22, 31 to 33 says, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift
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you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned
again, strengthen your brothers. Hebrews seven 25 says, consequently, he was able to save to the
uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.
And I want to make sure I point this out to it was something that came to mind, you know,
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just a little bit ago when I was, you know, in a different section here.
See if I can remember what I was going to say.
When we're talking about the seed, we were talking about how the devil tries to swoop in and steal it
for someone so that it can't take root. What is a good takeaway from that as believers,
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as Christians, part of part of the body of Christ? To me, that speaks to the reason of always
preaching the gospel unceasingly. Right. The fact that we would tell someone about Jesus
and we might see that it they catch a little bit of a glimpse of what salvation is,
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but they don't fully accept it because the devil comes and steals it. Are we supposed to just stop
and say, well, they had their chance? I think that's pretty ridiculous thought, right?
Of course not. We're going to continue to preach the gospel to our friends, our families.
And when when available, our co-workers or those we come in contact with the grocery store on the
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street and align somewhere, even if we've told them before, we're going to continue to share the
gospel with them. They're going to continue to see our example of our Christianity so that
there's always the possibility that they will turn to Christ in time. We're going to keep
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spreading that seed. Maybe the devil came in and took it once, but maybe the devil came in and took
it twice or three times. But maybe that's fifth or sixth time it'll take root.
And we might say, you know, bring someone to Christ so that they can be saved by grace in Jesus.
We need to practice unceasing vigilance as Christians as well. In 1 Peter 5, 8, it says,
be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion,
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seeking someone to devour. So for me, as a pastor, as someone who's striving to see people save,
what this tells me is that we all know from the scripture that we, you know, pastors and leaders
are going to be held to a higher standard. We're going to be held to a higher standard.
So what that means to me is I need to be a better example and I need to be a better father. I need
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to be a better husband and I might not be perfect and I might fail more than I, you know, you know,
more than I win sometimes. But the reality is that you're always trying to do better. You're
always trying to grow. And that portion of the 1 Peter 5, 8, where it talks about being sober
minded, be watchful. It tells me, you know, someone who used to be like a binge drinker,
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and now people go, well, why don't you drink? The Bible has drinking in it. Well, that's fine.
But the reality is it tells us to be sober and to be sober, to be watchful. So that means you can
never imbib of anything to the point where you are not sober. And if you have the control
to do that, well, then you're better than I am because I tend to live a life of excess
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if I'm not under the blood of the lamb. And so I would be sober so that my testimony can't be
tarnished and so that I would be a better example for somebody else. So we have to deny Satan a
foothold in Ephesians 4, 27 says, and you give no opportunity for the devil. So this goes back to
that earlier point. Don't give the devil a beachhead to work from. If you struggle,
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like let's say you like dance and rave music, but you struggle because there's always bad things
at those events. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to give no opportunity for the devil.
You need to allow the Lord to work in your heart. You need to allow him to have kingship
over you. In John 14, 30, it says, I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world.
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This is from Jesus, right? He's talking about what's coming.
The devil has no claim over you, so don't give him the beachhead into your heart. You're into
your life. And finally, put on the whole armor of God. You can read this on your own Ephesians 6,
13 through 18, where it talks about the whole armor of God.
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But the Lord has provided this complete set of armor to protect Christians from every fiery dart
of the wicked one. But believers have to put on the armor. You have to do it daily. You have to do
it constantly. The admission of any part may be fatal to you or your Christian life and testimony.
This is something we all do as Christians. The devil is a
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devil. He's a devil. He's a devil. He's a devil. He's a devil. He's a devil. He's a devil.
He's a devil. He's as many as picators are known. This is something we all do as Christians. The
devil is defeated, but really it is on us to be that testimony so that we can see others saved,
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because that's what it's always about is the lost sheep. The people that pick up this book and think
And they say, oh, the word of God, the Bible is nothing but fairy tales, but the Bible
is far more moral and perfect than anything else on this planet.
It is the word of God.
It is the logos.
So we need to put our faith in God and what he is going to, you know, what he has done
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for us in Jesus name.
And with that, if I could have every head bowed, every eye closed, wherever you are,
unless you're driving, I haven't said that in a while.
I want to take this quick opportunity to give you an invitation.
Maybe you've read this book, maybe you've read other books like that.
I come into these books a lot from a business standpoint.
People get really excited about the idea of taking power from the world, but it's wicked
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because God calls us to be humble so that he can exalt us.
He calls us to humble ourselves so that he can be the one that bestows blessing upon
us because when we try to rip blessing away from someone, we live in pride.
We try to tear people down or stab people in the back or, you know, manipulate the system
situation and be very Machiavellian in the way that we act.
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It's darkness, it's wickedness, it's from the devil.
And I don't mean that to be hyperbolic.
I mean that to say quite literally that you are allowing a beach had to be created your
heart that will fester and create hate and strife and bitterness.
You don't need that.
Give it to Jesus.
Give it to Jesus.
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He's right here.
He wants to save you from a life of miserable, miserable pain and suffering.
So that's you and you know that you're not living for God and you want to get your heart
right.
You can signify that with upliftoed hand wherever you are because even though I can't see it,
God sees it.
He knows your heart.
And if you do that, if you're doing that right now and God spoke to you and you raised your
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hand, I want to pray a quick prayer or lead you in a quick prayer.
Just repeat after me.
Dear Lord, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you sent your son Jesus Christ that
he died for my sins.
I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior and I repent of my sin.
In Jesus name I pray.
Amen.
So that's a quick sinner's prayer.
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So if you said that you meant it, then you need to get to a church.
You need to read and pray.
Read the Bible and pray.
Because the Bible tells us to preach to everyone, baptize them in the name of the Father, the
Son, the Holy Ghost and get the baptism of the Holy Spirit and disciple people.
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We preach to disciple so that we can create more beachheads for Jesus in the church body.
So if you're in Salmon Arm and you want to come to our little church, we're a tiny little
church, but we have a huge vision and we are striving on fire for God Christians.
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And we'd love for you to come.
And so all the details for that are in the show notes that you could reach out to me
and I'd love to have you come for service.
I just want to thank you for listening.
Again, if this message has impacted you, I'd love it if you liked, shared this message
and subscribed to the podcast.
It really helps us to get the message out to more and more people.
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And I just want to give God all the praise and glory for everything He's doing in our
town and in the hearts of our people.
And to everybody who listens to this message, I want to thank you for listening and I can't
wait for you to come back next time.
God bless.
Thank you for listening to the P.H.S.A.
Potter's House Salmon Arm Podcast.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram at pottershouse underscore salmon arm to keep up to date on
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what we're doing.
Join the conversation and discover how Jesus Christ can revolutionize your life.
Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located
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in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship
Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,
discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church
and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bigford and I will be your
host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing
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to you and bring you closer to God.
Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. My name is David Bigford
and I am the pastor here in Salmon Arm. Today I have a message called Warning Against Worldliness
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and a subheading if you want it is called Pride in What? We tend to gravitate towards
in society and what has kind of captured you that could be in a harmful way and that is
kind of the picture of worldliness as well. What are you allowing yourself to be captivated
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by that might seem okay on the surface but if you were to like pick away at a little
bit you would realize that you are giving up a lot of what the scripture tells us is
right in favor of stuff that is unholy. So to jump off here, sorry I am mumbling my words
today but to jump off like our text will be James 4, 1-12. So if you have your Bible,
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if you are following along for the purpose of that you can turn to James chapter 4 verses
1-12. We will be jumping in there in just a second. So you might have heard of a book
called the 48 Laws of Power. It is by a guy named Robert Green and I am going to jump
in with an excerpt about this book but I want you to pay attention because this is not a
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book that I recommend. In fact far to the opposite I would actually disagree with this
book vehemently in a lot of different ways but let's jump in with the preface to the
book just so you can get an idea of where I am coming from.
The feeling of having no power over people and events is generally unbearable. To us
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it feels like when we feel helpless we feel miserable. No one wants less power, everyone
wants more. In the world today however it is dangerous to seem too power hungry or to
be overt with your power moves. We have to seem fair and decent so we need to be subtle,
congenial yet cunning, democratic yet devious. This game of constant duplicity most resembles
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the power dynamic that existed in the scheming world of the old aristocratic court. Throughout
history a court has always formed itself around the person in power, the king, queen, emperor,
leader. The courtiers who filled their courts were in an especially delicate position. They
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had to serve their masters but if they seemed to fawn, if they seemed they curried favor
too obviously, the other courtiers around them would notice and would act against them.
Hence to win the masters favor then had to be subtle and even skilled courtiers capable
of such subtlety still had to protect themselves from their fellow courtiers who at all moments
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were scheming to push them aside. So let's read our text in James 4, 1-12. What causes
quarrels and what causes fights among you? It is not this that your passions are at war
within you. You desire and do not have so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain so
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you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive
because you ask wrongly to spend it on your own passions. Your adulterous people, do you
not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes
to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is no
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purpose that the scripture says he yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made
to dwell in us but he gives more grace therefore it says God opposes the proud but gives grace
to the humble. Submit yourself therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from
you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and
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purify your hearts you double minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned
to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Do
not speak evil against one another brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges
his brother speaks evil against the law and the judge is the law. But if you judge the
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law you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one law giver and judge. He
who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge? Your neighbor. And that
last part your neighbor is a question. We're getting a question from our brother James
in this scripture. Because the question of this is where is your heart going to lie?
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So as we jump into this let's pray. Dear Lord God I pray that your word will pierce the
heart with spirit of conviction and that we will see that the word of God that we just
read illuminates the wickedness of that first preamble of that book that we just read. The
two things are at odds and I pray that through this message that we'll be able to show the
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desire of our Father that is summed up in the commands to love God first and to love
your neighbor as the next primary command. So in Jesus name I pray amen. So our world
today is made up of two groups. The first and largest group is the group that wants
to be left alone. This is a group that's not interested in dominating the other group.
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There are you know they're primarily interested in being taken care of in life. If their basic
needs are met they are most likely to not involve themselves in the comings and goings
of the other group. The second group is made up of an ambitious and striving people. This
group desires to influence change. They often want to exert control and dominate the first
group. But this idea is nothing new to the world and it's presented in the scriptures
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when Jesus calls the people sheep without a shepherd in Matthew 9 36 he was drawing
attention to the masses of people who are without godly direction in their lives. The
trouble is that is not that there are leaders and followers in life. No the problem is where
the desire to lead stems from in the heart of those called to lead and why some who choose
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to follow or refuse to serve because some who refuse to serve or refuse to lead who
are called they're doing just as much of a disservice as those who want to lead but want
to lead from a wrong heart. So that's what I want to look at today. Why do some desire
more than anything to dominate and why do others only desire comfort and what links
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these two ideas together. So I want to contend it's the same route that drives some to power
and others to comfort in first John 2 16 it says for all that is in the world the desires
of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the father but
is from the world. The struggle is against worldliness as Christians we are called to
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stand for Christ against the world. This is a tall order and it's easier said than done
clearly but let's think of the root of the issue. The core issue is one of sovereignty.
Are we giving God the rightful place of kingship in our lives and are we allowing or are we
allowing something else to take the throne in our lives and in our hearts. This brings
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me to my first point which is the great deceiver. The power or this book that we read the preface
to is lauded in many circles especially like business circles and it's amazing because
what drives this message and when we look at that preface we get this picture of what's
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true you know what is the author what is in the author's heart and we get an idea of
the condition behind it this desire for power but to be devious. So meanwhile the court
was supposed to represent this height of civilization refinement we read about this when he's talking
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about the courtiers and the kings and the emperors all the stuff we see this. We also
know that violent or overt power moves were frowned upon. Remember we read that they they
you had to act silently and secretly you had to be mischievous you had to be you know operate
in the shadows. This was the dilemma that was presented in that preface with the courtiers
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dilemma while appearing to be a paragon of excellence you had to outwit and thwart your
opponents in the subtlest of ways and when he talks about opponents what are they talking
about if you put this in context of your workspace this would be your colleagues at work if you
put this in your friend circle this literally be your friends or in a family it'd be your
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brothers and sisters. This is such a dramatic idea that you're always having to be you know
trying to out move your friends and family and your co-workers like everything is chess.
In the book it talks about how the successful courtier learns over time to make these moves
indirectly so that if he stabs one person in the back he can do it with a velvet glove
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you know so that he comes across as you know sweet with and he has a smile on his face
so that it's like almost like yeah I might be stabbing you in the back but it's okay
because I did it in such an elegant way. Instead of using coercion or outright treachery the
perfect courtier got his way through seduction or charm or deception or these subtle strategies
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always planning several moves ahead. What kind of weird travesty is this if you were
to have to like worry about your friends your family or co-workers always trying to manipulate
the situation to their benefit and to your detriment. So life in the court was there
was this never-ending game that required constant vigilance and tactical thinking and that's
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what the book says. So when the book was recommended to me to read I first thought okay let's give
it a chance but I couldn't even make it past the preface. I immediately was confronted
by the spirit of this book. It right away is telling you that in order to obtain power
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you have to be scheming duplicitous and willing to betray all of those around you. Right away
this does you know like alarm bells are going off and this doesn't sound like a you know
something that that I could follow because it doesn't sound anything like the teachings
of our Lord Jesus. In fact it sounds a lot more like our enemy or Satan or the devil.
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The message isn't even veiled it's right out in front of the reader. It doesn't require
much discernment to see that this is not a good book for Christians to read or worse
yet to implement. The root of this kind of book and its larger message is one of power
at any costs. It is the open call to take what is not yours by any means necessary.
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There's nothing new or innovative in this message. Satan has been spinning this old
tale for a very long time. It's important to remember that God did not create Satan
or create the devil as we know him today because everything God made was good. Right we have
to we have to recognize that he was an angel and at one point he was good. In Genesis 1
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31 it says and God saw everything that he made and behold it was very good and there
was evening and there was morning the sixth day. So why do I bring that up? I bring that
into this discussion because at this book I'm not purposely writing this just to rail
on this book but rather the larger picture that you're not starting out being a wicked
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manipulator and betrayer in the court of the king but it all starts with little steps over
time so what we know is that when creation was finished everything was good. In Ezekiel
28 12 through 19 we get a more detailed picture of Satan's original beauty and his wisdom.
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It says you were the signet of perfection full of wisdom and perfect and beauty. You
were an Eden the garden of God every precious stone was your covering. Sardius, Topaz, diamond,
barrel, onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, carbuncle and crafted in gold were your settings in your
engravings and on the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian
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cherub. I placed you you were on the holy mountain of God in the midst of the stones of fire you
walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till unrighteousness was
found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst and you
sinned so I cast you as a profane thing from the mount of a god and I destroyed you oh guardian
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cherub from the midst of the stones of fire your heart was proud because of your beauty. You
corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor I cast you to the ground I exposed you
before kings to feast your eyes on feast their eyes on you by the multitude of your iniquities
and the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries so I brought the brought fire
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out from your midst and it consumed you and turned you to ash on the earth in the sight of all who
saw you all who know you or know you among the peoples are appalled at you and you have come to
a dreadful end and shall be no more forever. So as we read that it tells us a little bit more about
Satan's fall but then we can read also in Isaiah 14 12 through 14 to get a little bit more of a
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picture. How are you a fall how are you or how you are fallen from heaven oh day star son of dawn
how you are cut down to the ground you who laid the nations low you said in your heart I will ascend
to heaven above the stars of God I will set my throne on high and I will sit on the mount of
assembly in the far reaches of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds and I will
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make myself like the most high. So to discern the world we live in it's critical to know that the
devil is real and that he does influence our culture our governments and if we let him he will
also he will also affect what you allow to be your desires. He does influence your desires if you
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allow him to. Satan is the great deceiver in the garden he was there that's why Paul tells Timothy
and first Timothy 3 6 that the early church leaders must not be novices. He says lest being
puffed up with pride they fall into the same condemnation as the devil. The sin of the devil
was pride the sin of the devil was his aspirations for power power above the most high and so when
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Paul's telling Timothy this he's telling him that you need to have discernment so that when you place
people in positions of authority within the church they can't be new believers because if you allow
people who are new or novices they'll be puffed up and they'll think they're they're bigger than
themselves and they could fall victim to pride. Satan's greatest device in opposing the work of
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the Lord is his deceptiveness and so F.C. Jennings wrote about how false notions of Satan have led
people to reject any belief in Satan. He says in considering the person of Satan it may be well
first to look at the common vulgar popular idea such it is still held by masses of Christendom
and such it has made the basis or at least one of the basis for rejection of his very existence by
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many of the learning of the day. The lowest possible and yet most widespread conception we
have is that in what one may term the stage idea as we constantly see it on posters in our streets
a human form with a leering face characterized by a grim by a grin of low cunning horns hoofs in a
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forked tail utterly obscene and provoking nothing but contempt ridicule and disgust but when we read
the Bible we certainly don't get this kind of picture of Satan. If he came looking like that
no one would follow him. Quite contrary to this popular notion Satan's dominant purpose is not to
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be unlike God or to be the opposite of God. His transcendent objective is to be like God to be like
the most high as it says in Isaiah 14 14. So scripture gives us a great number of different
names and descriptive titles for Satan so we'll examine Satan's name and titles to recognize his
various approaches and to reveal his true character. So what are some of the names that are given to
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Satan? Well first we have a very common one or one that we're pretty aware of is called Lucifer.
This is you know from the King James the new King James version and it it's basically a translation
out of the Latin Vulgate today in which was used to translate the Hebrew word which is
Hylal in Isaiah 14 12. Hylal literally means a shining one and the Latin word that we pull Lucifer
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from means light bearer or morning star. So the name Lucifer seems to refer to Satan's position
in heaven before his rebellion and fall. How are you falling from heaven oh Lucifer son of the
morning? The Bible tells us that. We also get the name Satan which means adversary or one who
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opposes because that's what the devil does is he is the opposition to the righteousness of God.
The name devil means slanderer or accuser because he is a slanderer of the saints. He is a slanderer
of the of God's message of Christ's message and he is a slanderer of us. Beelzebub is Lord of the
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Flies and Belial means worthless. So other names that are attributed to Satan are tempter, wicked
one, ruler of the world, prince of power of the air. So many of these names given to him in the
Bible with the purpose of bringing our attention to his nature and tactics. He is an enemy of God
but he is not the victor. But before we move on to my next point I just want to emphasize the fact
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that he doesn't come looking like some terrible creature from the cartoons. He comes as an angel
of light because he was an angel of light and his desire is to present himself as a replacement for
God because he, you know, in his bride desired to be above God. So why would he try to come and look
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like something that's opposite to God when he was trying to take God's place? So as we move on I
want to make sure I emphasize this point you know with with a lot of intensity is the idea that he's
a defeated foe. In Isaiah 14-15 it says, but you are brought low to shoal to the far reaches of the
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pit. We know that Satan was cast out. He lost his position in heaven and he was cast out of the
Garden of Eden. He failed to turn Christ aside from his mission and Satan was judged finally at
the cross of Calvary. So when we think about that and we look at Isaiah and we think about, you know,
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the fact that, you know, we know that he's brought down, that he's been judged. We know he lost his
position in heaven from the very beginning of the Bible where it talks about that.
We know he was cast out of the Garden of Eden so he's already been tried and convicted and he is
waiting for his sentence to be fulfilled. He attempted to turn Christ aside from his mission
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of salvation for us through the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary but he failed. He failed to tempt
Jesus because Jesus is God and he needed to be a pure sacrifice for us and he was. So he was
so he failed in his mission to stop us from receiving grace through Jesus' name
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but he had already been himself convicted. He was still awaiting his punishment
and his final judgment came with his mission when Jesus died upon the cross and rose from the grave
because Satan had failed at his goal of keeping humanity from being able to obtain grace through
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the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So we know that he's a defeated foe. We know he's a failure. We
know all these things. So why do we give Satan so much time in our lives? When we think of this
book and this grasping for power, why is it that we are just so willing to dive in and
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do people wrong in order to gain a step up in a company or to gain more accolades from a group
of friends or a group of colleagues at work? Why is it that we're so willing to do harmful
things to ourselves and others for this trivial attempt to power? When we read in our text earlier,
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it talked about the route that we're supposed to go in our life. So when we look at James and we
go down to verse 7, it says, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will
flee from you. We need to be strong enough to stand against the devil and these kind of
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pulls from society that go constantly contrary to the word of God. He tells us to draw near to God
in verse 8, and if we do, he'll draw near to us. He tells us to cleanse our hands, purify our hearts.
He tells us to humble ourselves before the Lord in verse 10, and if you humble yourself,
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you will be exalted of God. So the reality is, we know from other messages I preach
that Jesus brings this upside down kingdom. He is the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords,
but he was humble and he came as a servant, and he calls us to be humble and to be servants as well,
and in doing so will be elevated. It tells us in verse 11, do not speak evil against one another.
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Brothers, and again this is from James chapter 4 verses 1 through 12. So we're not meant to speak
evil against one another. We're not meant to judge each other wickedly,
because there's only one lawgiver and there's only one judge, and it's that judge, the judge Jesus,
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who is able to save, but is also able to destroy. And who's he going to destroy? We know because
he is the victor. The devil is convicted, he's sentenced, and he is awaiting
his punishment. This brings me to that final point, which is victory in Jesus.
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The believer's course of action regarding Satan should be, one, to recognize Satan's limitations.
Two, we have to understand with clarity that Satan has been conquered,
and three, that Jesus intercedes on behalf of us believers.
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So when we're recognizing Satan's limitations, we're recognizing that Satan is the one who
is the most powerful. When we're recognizing Satan's limitations, what does that look like?
Well, we need to understand that Satan is not God. He is not omnipotent. He is not all powerful.
He is limited. He is not omniscient. He can't know your thoughts. He is not all knowing,
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which means you guard your tongue, because if you're struggling, if you're having a hard time,
he's not going to rule you, because he doesn't know what you're thinking. That's why we lay our
burdens down in prayer, and we cry out to God for help, because he knows what we're going through.
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And also, Satan is not omnipresent. He is not there all the time. And obviously, there are demons,
who work behind the scenes. But my point is that our God is all powerful, omniscient, or actually
omnipotent. Sorry. He's all powerful, omnipotent. He is all knowing, omniscient, and he is everywhere
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omnipresent. And he resides even in us, and he is all around us all the time.
The devil cannot bestow life and raise anybody from the dead. We know that from John 10, 10.
But our Lord can. Not only did he rise and was able to raise from the dead himself,
but he has the power over life and death. Satan has been conquered. Number two, right?
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He has been convicted. He stands condemned, and he has been sentenced, but the sentence has yet to be
carried out. We live in a society that disregards this fact. In fact, we see the wickedness that
wages war against the church all the time in every country, some countries more than others.
But the reality is, is that they're all on borrowed time.
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Our part is to claim by faith and to stand in Christ's victory over the deceiver, over Satan.
The scripture states that Satan has been conquered for his purpose the Son of God was manifest that
he might destroy the works of the devil. In 1 John 3, 8, Satan is a conquered foe overcome
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by our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the son of God, and he is the son of the devil. He is the son of
Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere are Christians told to fight the devil. Jesus fought Satan once and for
all on the cross. Our part is to claim by faith and stand in his victory and resist the devil.
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1 John 3, 8 says, whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been
sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the
devil. So believers are not commanded to fight the devil but to resist the devil and he will flee
from you. James 4, 7, we read that. First, Peter 5, 9 explains how believers are to resist Satan,
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resist him steadfast in the faith. Faith in the account of Christ's victory over the devil and
in God's promise is the secret of victory for believers. Jesus made Satan's tactics quite clear
in the parable of the sower and the seed. Jesus said that some of the seed fell by the wayside,
the birds of the air devoured it. Jesus explained those by the wayside are the ones who hear,
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then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be
saved. The devil knew that if the word were allowed to remain in the hearts of the hearers,
it would bring forth faith. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing of the word of God.
Romans 10, 17. Faith in God's word is the secret to believers' daily triumphs. FC Jennings summed up
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this truth in this comment here. He says, this then suggests very clearly the root aim of his attacks.
It is always to destroy faith in God and on our side of the conflict is to maintain that faith
in spite of everything he can bring against it. So the apostle Peter says, whom resists steadfast
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in the faith and our apostles calls, joyful song is I have fought a good fight and I have finished
my course. I have kept the faith in second Timothy four seven. And he passes back the words to us,
fight the good fight of faith. First Timothy six 12. So we don't fight the devil. We fight the good
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fight of faith because in resisting the devil because of our faith, he will flee from us.
He is already defeated. And finally, Jesus intercedes on behalf of the believer.
Luke 22, 31 to 33 says, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift
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you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned
again, strengthen your brothers. Hebrews seven 25 says, consequently, he was able to save to the
uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.
And I want to make sure I point this out to it was something that came to mind, you know,
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just a little bit ago when I was, you know, in a different section here.
See if I can remember what I was going to say.
When we're talking about the seed, we were talking about how the devil tries to swoop in and steal it
for someone so that it can't take root. What is a good takeaway from that as believers,
(31:29):
as Christians, part of part of the body of Christ? To me, that speaks to the reason of always
preaching the gospel unceasingly. Right. The fact that we would tell someone about Jesus
and we might see that it they catch a little bit of a glimpse of what salvation is,
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but they don't fully accept it because the devil comes and steals it. Are we supposed to just stop
and say, well, they had their chance? I think that's pretty ridiculous thought, right?
Of course not. We're going to continue to preach the gospel to our friends, our families.
And when when available, our co-workers or those we come in contact with the grocery store on the
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street and align somewhere, even if we've told them before, we're going to continue to share the
gospel with them. They're going to continue to see our example of our Christianity so that
there's always the possibility that they will turn to Christ in time. We're going to keep
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spreading that seed. Maybe the devil came in and took it once, but maybe the devil came in and took
it twice or three times. But maybe that's fifth or sixth time it'll take root.
And we might say, you know, bring someone to Christ so that they can be saved by grace in Jesus.
We need to practice unceasing vigilance as Christians as well. In 1 Peter 5, 8, it says,
be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion,
(32:56):
seeking someone to devour. So for me, as a pastor, as someone who's striving to see people save,
what this tells me is that we all know from the scripture that we, you know, pastors and leaders
are going to be held to a higher standard. We're going to be held to a higher standard.
So what that means to me is I need to be a better example and I need to be a better father. I need
(33:19):
to be a better husband and I might not be perfect and I might fail more than I, you know, you know,
more than I win sometimes. But the reality is that you're always trying to do better. You're
always trying to grow. And that portion of the 1 Peter 5, 8, where it talks about being sober
minded, be watchful. It tells me, you know, someone who used to be like a binge drinker,
(33:40):
and now people go, well, why don't you drink? The Bible has drinking in it. Well, that's fine.
But the reality is it tells us to be sober and to be sober, to be watchful. So that means you can
never imbib of anything to the point where you are not sober. And if you have the control
to do that, well, then you're better than I am because I tend to live a life of excess
(34:05):
if I'm not under the blood of the lamb. And so I would be sober so that my testimony can't be
tarnished and so that I would be a better example for somebody else. So we have to deny Satan a
foothold in Ephesians 4, 27 says, and you give no opportunity for the devil. So this goes back to
that earlier point. Don't give the devil a beachhead to work from. If you struggle,
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like let's say you like dance and rave music, but you struggle because there's always bad things
at those events. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to give no opportunity for the devil.
You need to allow the Lord to work in your heart. You need to allow him to have kingship
over you. In John 14, 30, it says, I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world.
(34:57):
This is from Jesus, right? He's talking about what's coming.
The devil has no claim over you, so don't give him the beachhead into your heart. You're into
your life. And finally, put on the whole armor of God. You can read this on your own Ephesians 6,
13 through 18, where it talks about the whole armor of God.
(35:19):
But the Lord has provided this complete set of armor to protect Christians from every fiery dart
of the wicked one. But believers have to put on the armor. You have to do it daily. You have to do
it constantly. The admission of any part may be fatal to you or your Christian life and testimony.
This is something we all do as Christians. The devil is a
(35:39):
devil. He's a devil. He's a devil. He's a devil. He's a devil. He's a devil. He's a devil.
He's a devil. He's as many as picators are known. This is something we all do as Christians. The
devil is defeated, but really it is on us to be that testimony so that we can see others saved,
(36:03):
because that's what it's always about is the lost sheep. The people that pick up this book and think
And they say, oh, the word of God, the Bible is nothing but fairy tales, but the Bible
is far more moral and perfect than anything else on this planet.
It is the word of God.
It is the logos.
So we need to put our faith in God and what he is going to, you know, what he has done
(36:27):
for us in Jesus name.
And with that, if I could have every head bowed, every eye closed, wherever you are,
unless you're driving, I haven't said that in a while.
I want to take this quick opportunity to give you an invitation.
Maybe you've read this book, maybe you've read other books like that.
I come into these books a lot from a business standpoint.
People get really excited about the idea of taking power from the world, but it's wicked
(36:53):
because God calls us to be humble so that he can exalt us.
He calls us to humble ourselves so that he can be the one that bestows blessing upon
us because when we try to rip blessing away from someone, we live in pride.
We try to tear people down or stab people in the back or, you know, manipulate the system
situation and be very Machiavellian in the way that we act.
(37:15):
It's darkness, it's wickedness, it's from the devil.
And I don't mean that to be hyperbolic.
I mean that to say quite literally that you are allowing a beach had to be created your
heart that will fester and create hate and strife and bitterness.
You don't need that.
Give it to Jesus.
Give it to Jesus.
(37:36):
He's right here.
He wants to save you from a life of miserable, miserable pain and suffering.
So that's you and you know that you're not living for God and you want to get your heart
right.
You can signify that with upliftoed hand wherever you are because even though I can't see it,
God sees it.
He knows your heart.
And if you do that, if you're doing that right now and God spoke to you and you raised your
(37:59):
hand, I want to pray a quick prayer or lead you in a quick prayer.
Just repeat after me.
Dear Lord, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you sent your son Jesus Christ that
he died for my sins.
I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior and I repent of my sin.
In Jesus name I pray.
Amen.
So that's a quick sinner's prayer.
(38:19):
So if you said that you meant it, then you need to get to a church.
You need to read and pray.
Read the Bible and pray.
Because the Bible tells us to preach to everyone, baptize them in the name of the Father, the
Son, the Holy Ghost and get the baptism of the Holy Spirit and disciple people.
(38:42):
We preach to disciple so that we can create more beachheads for Jesus in the church body.
So if you're in Salmon Arm and you want to come to our little church, we're a tiny little
church, but we have a huge vision and we are striving on fire for God Christians.
(39:03):
And we'd love for you to come.
And so all the details for that are in the show notes that you could reach out to me
and I'd love to have you come for service.
I just want to thank you for listening.
Again, if this message has impacted you, I'd love it if you liked, shared this message
and subscribed to the podcast.
It really helps us to get the message out to more and more people.
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And I just want to give God all the praise and glory for everything He's doing in our
town and in the hearts of our people.
And to everybody who listens to this message, I want to thank you for listening and I can't
wait for you to come back next time.
God bless.
Thank you for listening to the P.H.S.A.
Potter's House Salmon Arm Podcast.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram at pottershouse underscore salmon arm to keep up to date on
(39:44):
what we're doing.
Join the conversation and discover how Jesus Christ can revolutionize your life.
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