God never Speaks like Satan but Satan Speaks like God!

A Christian woman came out of the prayer room one Sunday; she sighed and said, “Sometimes I feel so inadequate in God.” In a telephone conversation, the Christian man said, “I ask forgiveness for my sins every night.” That’s a grand thing to ask if one sins every day, but he was asking for that too which he’d confessed when he first turned to the Lord years ago! Another man told me he felt so distant from God at times that he doubted whether he had been truly accepted by Him in the first place. One can never know what’s in the heart of another person, but it seemed to me that each was a genuine Christian, not simply a religious person.

In listening to them, a pattern showed up – they’d given more attention to the preaching of the word of God than they had to the reading and studying of the word of God. It is not that the preaching they sat under was “off the track” and it was not that they’d done no Scripture reading or study, they simply had not done enough of either and therefore, they had too little to sustain them when the enemy shall come in like a flood Isaiah 59:19. Singing, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal in song is one thing, knowing that they’re not is another! 2 Corinthians 10:4. Like multitudes of Christians under testing and trials, they had been spending too much time looking at imperfect self and not enough time looking at perfect Jesus.

They knew Satan to be a liar, but they were not mature enough in the word to be able discern just how subtle those lies are when being attacked by him. As a result, they were not resting in God … nor were they able to discern the Holy Spirit’s voice of conviction from Satan’s voice of condemnation. In other words, they didn’t know that God never speaks like Satan, but Satan speaks like God! We must know the word of God because without such knowledge we can never know the voice of God – it really is that simple. God does not speak outside of His word, ever. Those claiming to represent God and speak on His behalf, do not, if it’s not according to His word; they represent Satan and they speak on his behalf.

Too, we must not get seduced by those who quote Scripture to back up their story. We must rigorously ask, “Are they quoting or misquoting?” We must get the full story, not their story! If Satan was clever enough to try that on with Jesus, we must seek to be as wise as Jesus in discerning the real deal. That’s why the Lord sent us the Holy Spirit. Just like the Son of God when He was on the earth, it is the sons (children) of God who are led by the Spirit of God Romans 8:14 and nobody else. However, unlike Jesus who was/is both God and Man and sinless, we children of God who are led by the Spirit of God are not God, only man (people) and sinful. And because we’re still sinful, we believe we must have got it wrong somewhere along the track.

Now … when we have a solid grasp on the word of God, we see that “getting it wrong” is the normal Christian life! The Scriptures have not been given to Christians to make us sinless; they’ve been given to make us sin less. And, it is the indwelling Holy Spirit’s job to undertake that task, not our job, it’s impossible. If it were possible, we wouldn’t need the Holy Spirit. Here’s why the gospel is called the Good News: through the Lord Jesus Christ, the sins of all repentant believers have been totally and finally dealt with. Everyone of them has been washed away from us by the blood of Jesus which He shed on Calvary’s cross. They’re all gone – past, present, future – end of story. That’s how God sees it, that’s how God says it!

As well, that’s how God wants us to see it and say it too – and until we can, we will be frequently played with, tossed around, chewed up and spat out like a cat with a mouse! When God says no condemnation Romans 8:1, He means all condemnation. It has all been removed. That’s why we can stand before God right here, right now completely forgiven and totally justified. Our old sin nature (the flesh) was executed on the cross with Christ and we’ve been given a new nature. This is a fact, not theory. But until this glorious truth moves from our head into our heart, we will say, “I know it’s in the Bible, but in my case it’s not true. Maybe I haven’t repented properly. I’m still sinning, so where’s the truth in all this?”

Well, part of the truth is that the person who asks that question is back living in Romans 7 where the spirit of death put him, instead of living in Romans 8 and beyond, where the Spirit of Life put him when he first surrendered to the Lord. In other words, although he knows he has two inner natures warring with one another, he frequently gives in to the wrong one. Then he goes running back to live under religious law, believing he can solve the problem there. Lots of Christians do that for lots of reasons. They still confess their sins and plead the blood of Jesus over them, but they don’t get to experience the power of both, because law keeping can never be compatible with liberty living. Confusion and frustration then rule supreme.

For the born again Christian, law keeping is a thing of the past, because Jesus fulfilled them all. Yes, there are laws still applicable to us, but the Holy Spirit is the one to carry them out … He is now the Law Keeper, not us Romans 7:6. We are not to be trusting in religious ways, rules and observances. They didn’t work for the Pharisees and they won’t work for us. Anything that relates to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life 1 John 2:16, will always present themselves in temptation to us one way or another until the end, just as they will for unbelievers. But, the more we know the word of God, the more we will respond to the voice of God who will remind us, “Leave those things on the cross of Christ; move on to Romans 8.”

There will always be instances of sin in our lives, but not the life-style of sin. That’s what died with the Lord on the cross. Regardless of all feelings to the contrary, in Christ we have been made the righteousness of God 2 Corinthians 5:21. I love the way the late Derek Prince put it, “To Adam’s sin we’ve added plenty of our own; to Christ’s righteousness we can add nothing.” The most liberated Christians are those who’ve discovered that they have absolutely no righteousness of their own. No longer do they come under the voice of condemnation telling them they’re not measuring up. They hear that voice but they reject it! They know that’s not the language of God because through reading and studying the word of God, they know how He speaks John10:27.

It’s not that liberated Christians are not convicted by God and even sometimes rebuked by Him, for obedience is the only pathway to liberty. But these are a far cry from condemnation; there’s no liberty there, only spiritual bondage – restlessness, guilt, striving, sighing, always on edge etc. As we live by the Spirit, He takes care of all the stuff not pleasing to Him; our job is to acknowledge and confess whatever it is, tell Him we hate it and wait on Him to carry out the process of delivery. It is a process; we don’t get instant spirituality like we get instant noodles! In the meantime too, it’s a great idea to praise and give thanks to God for the knowledge that we are no longer in captivity to the powers Jesus has defeated.

“God knows the heart,” Christians are fond of saying. It’s true, He does. However, what too many Christians don’t spend enough time meditating on is the fact that they’ve been given a new heart. Heart means: mind, will, emotions, conscience, intuition. That’s what 2 Corinthians 5:17 is all about; that’s what God goes to work on and He  works on it non-stop regardless of how often we slip into sin! For some of us, slipping into sin is often, but it doesn’t change anything from God’s perspective; the work still goes on. What ceases is our intimate fellowship with God; this is what makes us feel we’re not measuring up. Well, the measuring up is not ours to judge, only God’s so the smartest thing is to confess and get back into fellowship with Him.

Spiritual enemies, mental enemies, physical enemies – they were all the same to Jesus, He got the victory over the lot of them! And He did so as a Man, not God Philippians 2:6-7. Setting aside the fact that He was a sinless Man, Jesus got the victory because He trusted God the Father, He trusted the written word of God and He trusted God the Holy Spirit. He had to learn this trust though; none of it was dropped to Him on a silver platter. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God Romans 10:17, was as true for Him as it is for us. Jesus put hundreds of hours into His Scripture reading and study, so when Satan and his hordes came against Him He was well prepared for them.

Satan is not afraid of any one of us, but he is afraid of the name of Jesus, the written word of God and the blood of Jesus. He’s afraid, because these three render him powerless when he comes up against them. He doesn’t mind people sitting in churches listening to preaching; he has endless ways of making that to be of no effect. In an instant he can switch their minds away from it and onto all manner of things – work, family, sport, money, pleasure, leisure. But for those who know the power of the name, the word and the blood by on-going experience, that’s a different story. Yes, as mentioned, he catches us out at times whereby we “get it wrong”, but we quickly repent and move on. We don’t spend time back in Romans 7 trying to get it right!

The name of Jesus is the name of God. That’s why it’s the name which is above every name Philippians 2:9. Born again Christians speak for God under the authority of that name. We’re the only ones who can. The Bible is the only book that is the word of God. That’s why, the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword…. Hebrews 4:12. Only born again Christians have the right to quote the word of God with authority. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin 1 John 1:7. More than that, it has unparalleled (unequaled, unmatched, peerless, unprecedented) power and authority; Satan knows that and he runs from it every time! Victory in Jesus? Always! “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” Hebrews 11:6.