Daily Devotional for Monday March 4, 2013

Negotiating with Satan

(Genesis 3:1-6)

***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, Luke 12:8-10 "I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." Brother Bill, could you explain to me what this passage is trying to tell me?

ANSWER: This is a critical passage since it simply means if we will take our stand for the Lord, He will take His stand for us! Every follower of the Lord should be reminded of this verse, since every time we sit back in silence, refuse to defend the Lord and His Word, we are denying Him just like Peter did. The bottom line is that there is only one sin that you cannot be forgiven for, and that is rejecting Jesus Christ. Period. As long as you have breath, at any moment you can cry out to the Lord, repent of your sins, and ask Him to forgive you and your sins will be forgiven and you will be saved. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to literally reject Jesus Christ.

One of the most stupid things we can do in his life is try to negotiate with or talk with Satan. Now I realize many people doubt that there really is a Satan, that he is some mythical character with horns, a red cape, and a pitchfork. Some think that Satan is not real, but what we call the evil side of life, something to blame all of the pain and suffering on.

As in everything, rather than try to sort through what we think Satan is, let's go to the Bible and see who he really is. In Ezekiel chapter 28, we find out that the devil was at one time an angel, with access to the very throne room of God. Isaiah the prophet tells of his fall in chapter 14, after Satan desired the very throne of God and is cast out of Heaven because of pride, taking along 1/3 of the angels who followed him.

A quick side note. Maybe now you can see why pride is so dangerous; it was the original sin in the universe. Satan is intelligent, has a memory, a will, emotions, and great organizational ability. THE DEVIL HAS READ THE BIBLE!!!

Think about that. If your enemy has read the Bible, how much more do we have to? He is busy. He imitates God, perverts the Word of God, hinders the works of God's servants, blinds men to the Truth, accuses Christians before God, tempts, afflicts, deceives, undermines the sanctity of the home, and tries to disrupt the prayers of God's people. Can you see why he is so dangerous?

However, let me clearly tell you that his powers are limited. He is NOT omnipresent. He cannot be in more than one place at a time. He is NOT omniscient. He does not know everything. He is NOT omnipotent. He is not all powerful. These are only attributes of God himself. Also, and hear this clearly . . . Satan can DO NOTHING apart from God allowing it to happen as in the example of Job.

The good news is that he has already been defeated by Christ. God foretold of Satan's demise even as early as Genesis 3:15. Knowing that prophecy, Satan and his demons must have been rejoicing as Christ took His last breath on the cross. However, their rejoicing turned to terror just 3 days later when Christ rose from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ sealed Satan's doom once and for all.

The Bible tells us that his final destination is the Lake of Fire for eternity. That is why it is so sad to see people reject Christ. They are going to spend eternity in a place that was never created for man, but for Satan and his fallen demons.

I love you and care about you so much. My prayer for you today is that you will recognize who your enemy is and stand in the midst of whatever he may try to throw at you. Satan's final resting place will not occur until after the millennium, which is after the 7 year Tribulation, which happens after the Rapture.

Until then, we still have to contend with Satan and his hosts. Satan claims authority over this world, which is why he is called the god of this world. He has the power to blind sinners to the truth, contends for the saints to destroy their lives of service and their testimony. He is a very real foe that we must contend with.

That is why the Bible warns us to be self-controlled and alert, to submit to God and resist the devil..to stand firm in the faith. Ephesians 6:11 tells us to "put on the whole armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." Ephesians 4:27 says " . . . do not give the devil a foothold."

Those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ are protected by His blood. We do not have to live in fear, but in victory. When Jesus was in the wilderness and Satan came to tempt Him, Jesus didn't try to negotiate with him or debate him. He simply stood on the Word of God. Stand on that word today that says "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." The best way to deal with Satan is by taking souls on the way to Hell, and reroute them to Heaven. Live in the victory that Jesus Christ has given us each and every day!

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller