Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday,
September 15, 2019
Satan’s policy is to deceive, ever since the garden of Eden; for in GEN 3:1
Our Lord was emphasizing to His disciples two NEW doctrines, 1) Positional Truth and (2) Union with Christ.
You cannot do the work that God has appointed you to do without the proper equipment to do so.
The world or the Cosmos, which refers to the Cosmic System, is basically run by unprincipled creatures, both angelic and human.
If you are like millions and millions of people, then you have been deceived and you will continue to be deceived whenever you look to the world for happiness, peace, tranquility, love, joy, or peace, etc.
The main doctrinal conclusion that we should come to is the fact that the god of this world, who is called Satan, is responsible for the conditions of the world as they presently exist.
The god of this world, the one presently in charge, is a murderer, a deceiver, a phony and a traitor who is judgmental and criticizes those who are trying to live the spiritual life.
The devil, also known as Satan, or Heylel, if you will, is also a liar and whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies; Joh 8:44.
Satan’s policy is to deceive, ever since the garden of Eden; for in GEN 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
- We have the serpent that Satan used to deceive the woman and take over the rulership of the world; Gen 3:1-6.
- The king of Tyre, who was possessed by Satan and dealt with harshly by our Lord when His prophecies against Satan will come through; Eze 28:11-19.
- There is the sad commentary about Judas Iscariot who had the face-to-face opportunity of hearing and seeing our Lord’s ministry for three years and yet he still chose Satan over our Lord.
He just opened up his heart which was being filled with more and more arrogance that he got from his father, the devil; JOH 13:1-2.
Knowingly or ignorantly, Judas wanted to do it and he did it.
With the possessions, even greater than that, are the deceptions of Satan and his kingdom of darkness.
This is why Satan’s policy was to deceive the world ever since the garden of Eden.
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
GEN 3:13, Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said," The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
She blames the serpent, which of course, is a manifestation of her arrogance and unwillingness to take responsibility for her decisions.
Deception has always been one of the most powerful weapons that Satan and the kingdom of darkness possesses and uses.
The god of this world also uses Deception to turn believers away from the truth. ISA 44:20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?"
In JER 49:16, arrogance is what deceives the unbeliever who has a little knowledge and thinks that they have a lot; "As for the terror of you, the arrogance of your heart has deceived you,
Satan also uses deception to mark the simplicity of the Gospel and Bible doctrine.
2CO 11:3 But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
Self-deception is caused by self-righteousness as in GAL 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
The warning against deception is found in GAL 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
Notice what it says about the god of this world in REV 20:10, the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone.
He knows the inability of all the angelic creatures who have rejected whatever it was that God had offered them for their salvation, both angelic and human.
Satan, as the god of this world, desires for the human race to help him prove his equality with God by improving their environment and cleaning up the devil’s mess or the devil’s world.
Our Lord gives a detailed study of why they needed to be strong in Positional Truth and Union with Christ and why it is one of the main areas that Satan attacks by causing us to think that we have failed the Lord.
A few more principles that we need to believe and apply, and that is the need to “know our enemy”
He is the serpent, the Great Dragon, Beelzebub, the ruler of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the evil one, and the adversary.
Like a roaring lion he is prowling about seeking to destroy or deceive and then use whoever he can.
How can you stand firm and resist the devil so that he will flee from you?
- He may slander God to you in order to cast doubt on God’s word and the goodness of God that sets us free; (Gen 3:4-5).
- He may tempt you to deceive others in order to make you look better than others; ACT 5:3.
ACT 5:3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back {some} of the price of the land?
- He may corrupt your mind and steer you away from the simplicity of Christ and His gospel and doctrine; 2Co 11:3-4.
- He may try to get you fighting against your progress in Christ as he attacks you with his demonic officers; Eph 6:12.
- He may tempt you to commit sexual immorality against your spouse as a result of neglecting the intimacy of the marriage bed; 1Co 7:5.
- He may harass you with some form of fleshly affliction if God permits; 2Co 12:7.
- He may blind the spiritual eyes of your unsaved family, friends, and neighbors so that they may not see the glory of Jesus in the gospel; 2Co 4:4.
- He may try and keep your family, friends and unsaved acquaintances in bondage to sins that hinder them from coming to God; Gal 4:8.
- If the Lord desires us to go through certain forms of sickness or disease, Satan may smite you with physical disease; LUK 13:16; Job 2:7.
LUK 13:16 "And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
You have found the answer or the mystery doctrine or the secret of why you and I had to be created and why the Lord Jesus Christ had to die for the sins of the entire world.
- He may sow tares [counterfeit Christians, who are really sons of the evil one] within your assembly of believers in order to deceive and create disunity; Mat 13:37-39; 2Co 11:13-15.
- He may lead you toward theological compromise by causing you to be friendly to false doctrine and its teachers; 1Ti 4:1-3.
- He may persecute you for living the spiritual life or living in godliness; Rev 2:10.
- He may tempt you to do evil; Mat 4:1; 1Th 3:5.
- He will keep on slandering you before God in heaven just hoping that some day will come when God will listen to the accusations --- nut…that day will not come; Rev 12:10.
- He may try to cripple your effectiveness through confusion, discouragement, and despair; 2Co 4:8-9.
Our Lord made in Joh 15:1-8, concerning the Vine and the branches or concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and the believer, were profound.
All these verses were taught by the Lord to His disciples so that all of them could understand their fantastic position with TLJC which can never be changed.
This is a subject that the kingdom of darkness loves to blind the believer from because our condition is what we are in our Christian walk as we develop from infancy to maturity.
This condition may change from time to time but although our position remains immutable and unchangeable our condition varies.
Our Lord gave us certain commands to follow so that understanding your position can change your condition, but your condition can never change your position, this is taught in Rom 8:38-39.
ROM 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
ROM 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Because of the two subjects, Positional Truth and Union with Christ, I have been searching for the best way to make these two doctrines come alive.
One of the best ways to teach these doctrines is to make it simple and repeat.
- When we concentrate upon our condition we are not living by faith but by feelings and appearances.
All of these verses and more teaches us not to concentrate on our condition but rather and more importantly, we should be concentrating on Him; Heb 12:1-3.
- When we concentrate upon our condition we are not living by faith but by feelings and appearances.
- The inevitable result of concentrating on your condition is that you become increasingly self-conscious and self-centered and enter into subjectivity.
Our main concern is to concentrate upon the condition of TLJC and not our own.
JOH 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
This is when growth develops and our Lord becomes manifested more and more in our condition.
However, in most cases, believers are more aware of their condition than their position.
Prin-It is "faith" in the doctrines of our position that gives us the momentum and the divine energy to grow in our condition.
If the believer is not clearly aware of the specific doctrines concerning his position then he cannot exercise the necessary "faith" for growth and service.
We live in our position not by attempting to get into it but simply by seeing that we are already positioned in Christ.
Faith toward our position will bring growth in our condition.
Our justification is based upon the fact that we are "in" Christ; Rom 8:29.
Satan knows that if a believer does not know of his position in Christ he will struggle in his condition.
In most cases, believers are more aware of their condition than their position. This is the reason for so much failure and stagnation in the Christian life.
It is "having faith" in the doctrines of our position that gives us the momentum and the divine energy to grow in our condition.
If the believer is not clearly aware of the specific doctrines concerning his position then he cannot exercise the necessary "faith" for growth and service.
Principle then-Faith toward our position will bring growth in our condition.
Even our justification must be according to positional truth. This is because our justification is based upon the fact that we are "in" Christ.
We receive justification in Christ by faith in His word, which means that it is a "fact" which we must believe.
Our justification has nothing to do with our condition but everything to do with our position.
If we are at peace because of our justified position, our spiritual condition will be affected.
Positional truth therefore is related to our acceptance with God.
Very few believers are enjoying the daily benefits of acceptance with God.
The believer who is not aware of his position of acceptance "in Christ" is caught up in the struggle to improve his condition in order to feel accepted by God.
Here's where some of the problems comes in, instead of life bringing forth service, service becomes the life.
As long as the believer serves and hustles around for God, he's happy and he feels accepted....
The problem many have is that they are seeking to "do things" for God rather than discovering who they are "in Christ."
What the subjective condition-centered believer does not realize is JOH 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease."
God is actually causing this shattering revelation of self.
He takes us into situations and relationships that finally cause us to face up to the fact that we are simply failures as Christians.
Our nothingness, our total unacceptability in ourselves, becomes magnified.
Can the believer rest in his position of complete acceptance in TLJC or will he place himself upon a works program.
To abide "in Christ" and to consent to be loved while unworthy is the believer's personal privilege, personal responsibility, and personal obligation.