“Satan’s Schemes” Conclusion
Broadcast #1632
January 14, 2024
Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 1632 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text
Phil: Scripture says, one follows his heart is a fool because the heart, man’s heart, is evil. The one we’re born with is evil. That’s why we need a new one. And God’s plan is to deal with all of these issues and to give us a full and complete salvation. Thank God!
It’s salvation too. It’s not a self-help program. It’s something where I have to give myself completely to Him and trust in His power to save me because I have none.
Oh, we’ve gotta have this sense that there is truth that we need to recognize. This is how it is, this is what God says and that trumps everything else. I don’t care how Satan packages it, makes it appealing, ‘cause folks, if there’s some part of your nature that has a hold on you, whether it’s a bodily lust or whether it’s pride or whether it’s trying to obtain something or gain a position in the eyes of others, Satan will pull on that and he will give you a rationale that will make it seem okay.
You know what a rationale is? You’ve already decided something, but now you gotta come up with a reason so it makes it seem okay, instead of it being rooted 100% in the truth. And God calls us to walk in the light, to walk in the truth. So that becomes the central thing right there. We’ve got to recognize there is such a thing as absolute truth and we need the Lord to reveal it to us and to give us a heart that surrenders to that truth. Even when, especially when it shows our own need. Praise God
But the second thing I think is where my mind went to more than any other, when I was thinking about all this. The belt of truth buckled around your waist, but with the breast breastplate of righteousness in place.
Now, what is righteousness about? Think about what that means. It means being right with God. It means God regarding us as right with Him. Sin has absolutely built an impenetrable barrier between us and God, impenetrable to us. All you have to do is go back to the, to what the Lord showed Isaiah, who all of his experience was down here and he thought of some people as good and some people as evil and all of that.
And then all of a sudden the Lord captures him up and he sees the Lord, high, lifted up, utter purity. In one moment He knew the truth about, not just about the Lord, but about himself, didn’t he? Oh my God, if we’re gonna walk in truth, we’re gonna have to see that as a starting point.
But here is the situation God is dealing with. He is determined and has purposed and will successfully call a people out of this and make them fit to live in a place like that. Do you need the Lord? Oh my. That’s the only hope that I have. You can come here and be faithful and sing all the songs all your life and miss out completely on this. We need the Lord to do a saving work and to give us an understanding of righteousness.
So, what’s the Lord’s plan in this? We find out, and Satan certainly is better, knows this better than a whole lot of professing Christians, that when Jesus died, he paid it all. Once for all he died for those that God is calling into His kingdom. When he laid down his life, he went there in my place. That gives God the freedom to have punished my sin in him.
And when I come to Him with an open repentant heart, He has the power, the right to blot out all of my guilt, to remove the barrier that separates me from Him. I think the devil knows far better than we do, that salvation and God’s purpose is all about a relationship, an open, pure, free relationship between us and a holy God.
Okay, well if you’re the devil, what are you gonna be doing? You gotta undermine that somehow, don’t you? And so plan A is to undermine that idea, to so focus on being the accuser of the brothers that you focus the person’s attention on their need. And somehow it just can’t quite be applicable to me. Oh, this is wonderful for brother and sister so-and-so, but poor old me. Look at me, I’m such a, I’m so bad that I could never….
And somehow he undermines the confidence, the ability to let go and let God have his way in this, to understand that God meant what he said, that we have that right and that privilege of calling upon Him. Now, we don’t call upon Him saying, I’ll try harder. We are coming to get a righteousness that we did not earn, could never deserve.
But it means putting our lives 100% in His hands, saying, God, you are gonna have to fix what’s wrong with me. And what’s wrong with me needs not just fixing, it needs replacing. I need a new heart and a new life. And I just give myself, I humble myself in your hands. We talked about that, you know, humbling ourselves in the mighty hand of God. This is involved in that.
But oh, the devil is gonna do everything in his mind, in his power to come to an individual and blind them to the reality of this truth, at least as it applies to them. And you know, one of the best ways, one of the best tools he has, you know, I can just see the devil saying, you know, we knew how to handle it when God came to Moses and then tried to pass all that knowledge and that revelation on to God’s people. Look how we fixed that.
Yes, I know there was a whole lot of idolatry along the way, but there were still people that were so married to that law that we knew we had to do something. God wanted a relationship. And so the way we’ve got to fix that is we’ve got to turn that into a self-righteous effort. We’ve got to corrupt the message so that people don’t understand how the relationship is meant to happen.
And you call it legalism. And you’ve got a lot of churches who have devolved into a system where I have got to measure up, here’s what God expects of me. And I am constantly falling short and repenting and then trying harder and trying, you know, falling short and repenting and that’s my life. But I gotta do it because that’s what He expects. Yeah, I think you’re the only one.
But do you see the work of Satan in that? Do you see how he is corrupting the message? There’s no question what God wants and what holiness really is about. That’s not the issue, but the how do you get there is the issue.
And so here’s Satan saying, I have got to undermine the gospel. I’ve got to attack this person. In some cases, you have a person who has never really come to faith, but some people have really come to faith. God has a remnant of people who actually know Him, but they’ve fallen under the influence of people who sound good because they’re talking about the holiness of God and all these things but they don’t really have the gospel. They don’t understand God’s plan and how it works.
And so here’s the devil, undermining. My God, do we need a revelation of the finished work of Christ? Do we realize that if there is a genuine heart repentance and faith in His saving power, that we can stand before Him as if we had never sinned? It takes a divine work in the heart to come to that place where we can be His and know that we’re His, know that we’re accepted in the Beloved. He who knew no sin became, was made sin for us. Why? So that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Now, one interesting thing about that, that we might become, that’s again, that is that Greek present tense. So it’s in one sense we have a standing before God that is secure but yet become the righteousness of God tells you that there is a process that follows that, okay?
And the devil has all kinds of ways of trying to get somebody who has maybe come to that place. Yes, I believe in the finished work of Christ. I believe that when Jesus died, he took the law with him. We’re not under the law anymore. Praise God, we’re under grace.
Oh my God, the devil says, what am I gonna do now? They believe in the finished work of Christ. I’ve gotta come up with something. I know what. I will use the, “it’s all taken care of” doctrine. Anybody ever heard that one? Because now I can work on a person who has weaknesses. They can look in the word and say, nowhere does it say I’m gonna be perfect, but it’s all taken care of. All of my sin has been put on him. Therefore, God understands. I can just, I mean, I’ll stay outta something that’s gross. I won’t go out and murder people or rob banks, but you know, God understands that what I’m made of and He’s already taken care of it.
So pretty soon, without meaning to, the devil can take somebody whose particular weaknesses he has nurtured and somehow create a justification where it’s okay. God help us. Is that what Jesus died for? You know, we have been set free, but why? Have we been set free so that we can now be free to give vent to our nature? Oh, but it’s a small private little thing. It is not hurting anybody. I mean, nobody knows where I go on the internet and the stuff that I look at and the things I think about, that’s just all being, it’s private.
And the devil’s sitting there feeding, feeding all these things that he’s cultivated in us, the weaknesses that we all have, every one of us. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. But he’s sitting there, I’ve got to keep feeding this. And right now they’ve got this idea. They understand that Jesus paid it all, but now I’ve got to somehow keep my hold on them. Alright, let’s come up with a rationale that makes that seem fine.
And this is the one where it’s all been taken care of at the cross. So I can just, I’ll do the best I can. I’ll say I’m sorry when I’m done, but basically I’m allowing something to go on in my life. That’s what it boils down to. So you got one person who’s living for, supposedly for the Lord, but yet they’re allowing things.
And, I’ll tell you, when does the devil come to you most readily? When does he succeed with you most readily? When you’re sitting here in the congregation and the Lord is present? Or is it when you’re off by yourself? You might even be in the wrong place or around the wrong people. Or you’re tired, man, you’re worn out.
There’ve been a lot of battles in history where somebody, some one particular army just came in and won a great victory. What did they do afterwards? They went and had a party. And how many times have they wound up being the ones defeated because they weren’t watching. They were giving vent to their night, to their nature, and letting down their guard because they had just come off a great high victory.
How many times, how many people, I won’t ask you for a raise of hands, I wonder how many of us have come through a time when it’s been a time of battle or a time of victory, a time of, you know, being around the Lord and things, you know, going His way. And then you ever had the devil come to you right then and kind of steer you back into ways of thinking and doing that aren’t good? Yeah, I certainly have.
You think the Lord wants us to become more aware of those things and experience more of His victory? Do you think the righteousness that He’s talking about is just this legal standing that I have before God? Or does He actually want to produce real righteousness? And if so, how?
You know, you still got this legalism, like I said, where someone can come to the place where, yes, I know I’m the Lord’s, but oh God, I gotta live up to it. And all of a sudden it becomes saved by grace and kept by works. How’s that work out for you?
You know, you read again, you read Romans seven, you discover how Paul learned the hard way, it doesn’t work if I try to serve God. I don’t care how zealous I am to keep God’s law. It ain’t happening because I got something in here that just won’t let me. Oh God, who’s gonna set me free? Who’s gonna deliver me from this body of death?
And that’s when he realized that’s not God’s plan. It was never God’s plan just to save us, wipe out our sin debt, and give us a ticket to heaven and then say, go for it and just try to live for me, ‘cause it’s all taken care of, don’t worry.
But here’s Paul saying, it matters that I serve God, but I can’t seem to do it. How is this supposed to work? And then he realizes the righteousness of the law, the righteousness of the law, the purpose that was intended for in the first place is fulfilled in me. Ah, how does that happen? “Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Wouldn’t it be a good prayer to say, Lord, please shine the light, shine the light. Show me where the devil is getting an advantage over me. Show me how to recognize him and what to do and how to defeat him. That’s a pretty good description of the Christian life, folks. Walking in the light. But walking in the light, that’s terrible because that’s gonna show all the bad stuff in me and then I’m gonna feel bad. That sound like the way the devil would have us react to that?
So he recognizes that truth. He says, I got to do something. I gotta undermine that somehow so that people are just afraid to walk in that light because I need light that’s gonna show my need. I need to have an honest heart that says, Lord, I know I need you. You know everything that’s lacking in me. That’s why you saved me. You gave me the certificate, if you will, of righteousness, but now you’re working to actually make it happen.
And I don’t know how to do that. I don’t even know what’s wrong with me, let alone have the power to do anything about it. But I know You do. And I don’t want anything to come between us in this process. I want to just walk with You, be willing for You to shine the light wherever it needs to be shined, rest in that knowledge and that truth, not be anxious.
Oh my God, I should have, you know. You see how the devil’s going to, comes in so many different ways to undermine all of this. When God wants that person just to walk with Him, and then we discover something that’s wrong. Now what? “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.”
Now is that just sort of an automatic thing? There’s actually a part that we play. And that’s where he goes into at the end of that passage. “If we confess”…. Again, what does confessing mean? Is it just admitting? It’s an agreement with God.
You see here, somebody’s walking in the light wanting to experience His righteousness, knowing that they don’t have any power, not afraid to face the truth. Oh, the devil’s getting scared when he sees all this begin to happen. He’s terrified because he knows what’s real. We’re the ones who misunderstand and listen to his little suggestions that kind of undermines this in one way or another.
But we’re walking in that, we’re wanting Him to show us our needs and then to help us with them. And that’s going to involve us coming short. That’s what a need is, if I’m less than He wants me to be, is that not a sin? Is that not something that’s wrong? Does that not need help?
So, what do I do? I go right back to the cross. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Oh, but I messed up. I have got to get it straight before I can face Him again. Where does that thought come from? You see how the devil just, he’s gonna be sitting, he’s gonna be parked out there desperately trying to undermine every little thing that happens in our lives. And all God wants is this free open relationship.
We first of all, trust him with our soul. We depend on the cleansing power of what happened at the cross, we stand on that foundation, we’ve got righteousness right here. It’s not just what happened then, but it’s what He’s doing in me right now. And yes, there are things that are gonna come up that we haven’t got there to the future yet, but that’s in His hands. I don’t have to worry about that. I just walk with Him right now, let Him deal with what He’s dealing with right now and grow and be honest with Him.
And when there’s something that’s wrong, I bring it. I don’t wait. I bring it right to Him right then. And the fellowship never has to be broken. Can’t you just hear the devil screaming when a child of God wakes up and realizes such simple truth and begins to walk in it?
But I’ll tell you what, I pray that God will, God will help us with these things, help me. And not to feel condemned because I’m not down the road somewhere. And not to worry about the past or be out with this person or that person, just to say, Lord, here I am, I’m in Your hands. You know what I need, and I know I’m confident in Your love because You called me knowing what I am.
I don’t have to produce righteousness. What I need to do is learn how to submit to Yours and trust You to give me the strength and the knowledge and the wisdom to be able to recognize the enemy when he starts talking to me, when he starts maneuvering me to go down that street and I’m not ready. When he puts me in with these people, and I start listening to their way of thinking and their way of doing stuff, to help me to recognize what’s going on, recognize the voice of the enemy. See beyond the outward circumstances and see a sneaky enemy that isn’t always going to mount an outward offensive. He’s gonna try to sneak in that back door every weak place that we have.
But we can walk with Him with confidence because of the cross, because of His promise to walk with us to the end of the road, because His promise that we can walk in the light in a place of fellowship acceptance with Him. But He counts us as a righteousness, as Jesus himself. Praise God!
Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all learned these things to the point where they became the operating principle of our lives? Anybody here need Him this morning? Well, He’s available and He longs to walk with every one of us and teach us how to recognize the tricks of the enemy and to be able to stand against them and say, wait a minute. I understand what righteousness means. I’ve got this. You can’t get to me, devil. You can accuse me all you want, but I have an answer for every accusation. I know I need a Savior, but I got one. Praise God!
And I’m looking forward to standing with beside Him one day, not because I deserve it, not because of anything I’ve ever done, but because I just put myself in His hands and let Him save me. And I walked with Him and He was faithful. Praise God!
May God help us to recognize Satan’s devices, schemes, and learn how to stand against them. Learn how to recognize them as the biggest thing, I think, and understand how he works so that we can more effectively stand our ground. And the Lord’s gonna help us, isn’t he? Praise God!
