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  BEING AWARE OF SATAN'S TACTICS
  by Zac Poonen
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of preachers like Peter
who prioritize reminding people of the truth over seeking personal
reputation. It delves into the necessity of hearing the gospel
repeatedly until it transforms lives, highlighting the need for
continuous reminders of God's truth and the importance of not being
ashamed to keep learning and growing. The sermon also explores Satan's
schemes of deception, focusing on how he distorts the image of God's
love and seeks to hinder believers through accusations and false
beliefs.

Duration: 44:57 Topics: "Truth Reminders", "Overcoming Deception"
Scripture References: 2 Peter 1:12, John 14:6, Luke 14:27, Genesis 3:4, John 8:1, John 4:1, Romans 8:13, Luke 15:11

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the importance of preachers like Peter who
prioritize reminding people of the truth over seeking personal
reputation. It delves into the necessity of hearing the gospel
repeatedly until it transforms lives, highlighting the need for
continuous reminders of God's truth and the importance of not being
ashamed to keep learning and growing. The sermon also explores Satan's
schemes of deception, focusing on how he distorts the image of God's
love and seeks to hinder believers through accusations and false
beliefs.

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CONTENT
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There are many preachers who are afraid to preach the same message twice
because they will lose their reputation. People will say, hey this guy's
got nothing new to say. I'll tell you one preacher was not ashamed to
repeat what he said more than once and that was Peter.

Good example to follow because he was more interested in people
understanding the truth rather than his getting a reputation for being a
great preacher. There are very few preachers like that who are more
interested in people knowing the truth and coming to that life with God
rather than building their own kingdom or their own honor or the praise
of men. I want to read to you 2nd Peter chapter 1 where Peter says in
verse 12.

2nd Peter 1 verse 12. I will always be ready to remind you of these
things even though you already know them. You say Peter if you already
know them why do you want to remind them? Because nobody gets it even
with one or two hearings, sometimes ten hearings.

I think of people who, there are very few people who are born again the
first time they hear the gospel. Many of us, I know I've heard the
gospel hundreds of times before I actually got born again and I thank
God that God didn't allow me to hear it just once. I may never have been
saved.

It's so important to hear it again and again and again and he says not
only that you have been established in the truth but I'm still going to
remind you of it and this is right as long as I am in this earthly body
I will keep on reminding you. Peter was certainly not interested in a
reputation for preaching something new. He was more interested in the
people to whom he was speaking than his own reputation.

It's very rare to find godly preachers like that and he also says in
verse 15 I'm going to be diligent about something else that after I
depart from this world you will still remember what I said. That means
he was concerned that even after he died and went off to be with the
Lord people should still hear what he said and that's in this letter.
See that's why we read the Bible again and again.

We don't read the Bible like a storybook. If you read a storybook that's
it. You won't read it again.

You see I already know what's there but we read the Bible so many times
scores and scores of times. Why? Because you can't read the Bible and
say well I already read that. Until that word has become flesh that
means until that word has become a reality in me I got to keep hearing
it.

Like if a person's not born again he's got to keep on hearing you must
be born again you must be born again you must be born again until he's
born again and if you have a difficulty forgiving others you need to
keep on hearing the word which is forgive one another as Christ forgave
you. Forgive one another as Christ forgave you. When do you stop? When
you've learned to completely forgive others as God forgave you.

The same is true of many many other things. Do all things without
murmuring and grumbling. When do we need to stop hearing that? When you
come into a life where you never murmur or grumble about anything but if
you haven't come there yet you need to keep hearing it again and again
and there's nothing wrong in that.

You don't have to be ashamed of it. Many of us have fallen into such a
deep pit of sin in our unconverted days all of us that it takes a while
for all that muck and dirt to be removed from us. We are forgiven but
the effect of the way we live the selfish way we live doesn't go away
from us easily but the Holy Spirit is there working with us patiently.

To me one of the greatest marks of the patience of the Holy Spirit is
how he keeps working with us never giving up even where we're defeated
again and again in the same area. He works with us. He says I won't give
up on you because I'm determined to make you like Jesus Christ.

Isn't that an encouraging thing? The Holy Spirit has come to make us
like Christ and he doesn't give up on us. One of the things that the
Apostle Paul said which often comes to my mind and which I've tried to
understand is 2nd Corinthians and chapter verse 2nd 2nd Corinthians
chapter 2 he says I want to forgive people in verse 10 if you have
forgiven anybody I also forgive and I have forgiven in the presence of
Christ. Why? Because if I don't forgive others Satan will take an
advantage of me.

Did you know that? Did you know if you don't forgive somebody I mean I
don't care what they did Satan will take an advantage of you. That's
what it says and Paul the Apostle says I want to forgive so that no
advantage be taken of us by Satan. See Satan knows that he can't harm
God's people directly.

He can tempt them but he can't harm them because the devil is because
Jesus has taken away his power on the cross but he knows one thing if I
can make these children of God proud God himself will resist them
because the Word of God says God resists the proud. I don't have to do
anything I just make them proud and God will resist them. God will do
the job for me.

So Satan doesn't have to attack us directly. He's just going to puff us
up. God resists us.

He knows that or for example Jesus said if you don't forgive others God
will not forgive you and Satan knows that. So he doesn't want God to
forgive you so what does he do? He just makes you not forgive somebody
else. He's accomplished his task.

See this is part of Satan's schemes. He doesn't have to attack us
directly. He just gives us the wrong attitude and knows that the laws of
God determine that you will suffer the consequences of disobedience to
that law and he goes on to say we this is a phrase I was thinking of we
are not ignorant of Satan's schemes.

You know in the Old Testament people had very little understanding of
Satan almost zero. That's why if you read in the Old Testament you
almost never read about Satan. You read about Satan in the book of Job
which is probably the first book that was written.

You read about Satan in Genesis in the time soon after creation his
coming in tempting Adam and Eve and in the rest of the Old Testament you
read about Satan only two or three times rarely once in a vision that
Zechariah had another time indirectly but there's no direct reference to
Satan anywhere in the Old Testament except these three or four
references I mentioned. Their conflict was not with Satan. All those
Israelites they were fighting with human beings.

The first person who confronted Satan directly was Jesus Christ. As soon
as you come to the New Testament the very first thing is Satan tempting
Christ and Christ defeating him and all the way casting out demons and
finally defeating Satan on the cross and then of course there's a lot
about Satan in the Epistles. We are in a conflict with Satan.

Why was it that Satan was not permitted to attack people in the Old
Testament like that? They would have been finished but today God has
given us the Holy Spirit when we are born again the Holy Spirit of God
comes into our heart and then we have the power to resist Satan and God
who does not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability would not allow
anyone in the Old Testament to encounter Satan. It would have been
beyond their ability but today the fact that God allows Satan to attack
us or attack our families or tempt us indicates that it is not above our
ability to overcome him because it's a law of God that for his children
God will never allow us to be tempted beyond our ability. That's like
saying that in a school a teacher will never give an examination to a
student that is above their grade.

I mean if they're in the third grade they won't get a fifth grade
question paper. No it never happens anywhere and God doesn't do that
either. Each of us will be tempted at the level we are spiritually but
hopefully we'll grow.

So we need to be aware of Satan's schemes and one way we can become
aware of that is by reading the Bible. So when we read even the Old
Testament even though Satan is not mentioned some places we can see how
the devil works in people because now we have light on Satan's
activities. So we should be able to say as we grow spiritually that we
are not ignorant of Satan's schemes.

So in the end of the Bible in Revelation chapter 12 there's a title
given to Satan which is important for us to understand. Revelation and
chapter 12 we are told that Satan is in verse 11 verse 10 sorry he's
called the accuser of our brethren. Satan is in verse 9 middle of verse
9 the deceiver of the whole world.

He deceives believers too but he's the accuser not of the world he's the
accuser of believers. He doesn't need to accuse the people in the world
because they already belong to him but believers he's always accusing
them. It says he accuses them day and night.

He's a full-time worker 24 hours accusing them before God and very often
holding hands with some believer on earth to accuse another believer.
Beware of holding hands with Satan. We must be discerning.

I'm not saying we should be blind to the deceptions of people. I'm not
saying that we should be ignorant of the way the devil uses certain
believers to bring confusion in God's work. We must be alert to that and
the Bible speaks about rebuking those who sin.

The Bible speaks about avoiding those who cause divisions. There are
warnings like this but we must not be ignorant how Satan is working but
we must not spend our time accusing. No that's not thank you.

We're not here to accuse but we must discern so that we protect
ourselves. So Satan accuses us to God and he accuses God to us. So
that's one of his schemes.

It's very important to understand that if you turn back to the beginning
of the Bible how did he deceive Eve? It's good for us to know because
that's the way he deceives us. The way he deceived Eve was a couple of
things. In Genesis chapter three you know that God had told Adam and Eve
there's only one tree in the garden that you should not eat of.

Now he didn't give them a reason teaching us that when God tells us not
to do something there's no need for us to understand the reason. You'll
never get much obedience from your little children from your three year
old if you tell him to do something and he tells me why should I do it
and every time you ask him to do something you have to give him an
explanation. You'll never get an obedient child.

You tell your three year old you do it because I'm your dad and I tell
you to do it or I'm your mom and you got to do it. You don't go on
explaining why you don't allow that two year old to play with a knife.
Don't understand it.

God never gave an explanation to Adam why he should not eat from that
tree. Adam it's enough for me that I your creator have told you not to
eat of it period. Is that enough for us that God has told us certain
things in the scriptures or do we need an explanation? That's that's one
of Satan's schemes.

Why should you do that? What's wrong if you don't do it and you're
already in his trap. So when the Lord told Adam don't eat of that tree I
mean there were thousands of other trees he could have eaten. Nothing
was forbidden except one and the devil comes exactly at that point and
said to him and said to Eve in verse 1 he knew that it was easier to get
at Eve than at Adam and certainly didn't want to get at them both of
them together.

So he goes to the woman and says in verse 1 has God really said you
shouldn't eat from any tree of the garden? And the woman says yeah the
fruit of the trees in the garden we can eat all of them but the fruit of
this tree which is in the middle of tree of knowledge you couldn't eat.
God said you shall not eat from it or touch it. Now that's adding to
God's Word.

God never said anything about touching it. See that's the thing
sometimes we have people who add something to God's Word which is their
own ideas that's disobedience too or you know like the Pharisees they
kept adding things to God Moses law and Jesus had to condemn them. He
said why in the world you add to God's law? Stop where God's law stops.

If God says don't eat it why do you say and don't touch it? It's an old
habit with the human race to add something to God's Word. There are many
many Christian groups that have added commandments to what's written in
the Bible and there are and subtracting also or you will die and
immediately the devil says in verse 4 you surely will not die. That's
the first thing we see the schemes of Satan saying even though it is
written like this in God's Word it will not happen to you.

That's not for you. I've heard people take scriptures in the New
Testament and see that's not for us. That's for the Jews.

One one elder in one assembly told me the book of Hebrews is not for us.
It's for the Hebrews. Really? I said what about Corinthians? That's not
for us either is it? Or Ephesians or Galatians? What's for us then? It's
a deception to say that that's not for us.

But he found some inconvenient verses in Hebrews that for example I was
talking to about what the Bible says that we shall be made partakers of
Christ Hebrews chapter 3 verse 13 and 14 if we hold fast to the
beginning of our confidence firm until the end. I said are you made a
partaker of Christ if you don't hold that beginning of your confidence
firm until the end? He said no that's not for us. So that's another
trick of the devil.

No no no you you will not die. I'll give you an example of how the devil
says that today. That's he said to Eve.

Today there's no tree of knowledge you're good and evil but there's
something else. Turn with me to Romans in chapter 8. In Romans chapter 8
there's another word which says you shall surely die. The same God who
told Adam and Eve you shall surely die says in Romans 8 if you do this
you shall surely die.

Romans 8 and verse to whom is Romans 8 written? To believers. It says in
verse 12 brethren he's not talking to unbelievers brethren we are not
under obligation to the flesh but verse 13 brethren if you live
according to the flesh even though you're a child of God you will surely
die. What does the devil say? What he said to Eve.

No you won't die. You're a child of God you remember 15 years ago you
accepted Christ as your Savior. So what does it matter if you live
according to the flesh you will not die.

It's the same old voice that was heard in Eden which he has been
speaking throughout the world for 6,000 years. What God has said will
not happen. Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away but my word will
not pass away.

That's not to scare us I mean it's like a doctor warning us. Think of a
person who's an alcoholic and his liver has been thoroughly damaged the
devil's and the doctor tells him listen if you're gonna drink more
alcohol your liver will be ruined and you'll die. Does he hate him when
he says that? No.

Most sensible people will take that doctor's warning seriously. Okay I
better get rid of alcohol or if somebody's lungs are all black with
cigarette smoke and the doctor says if you smoke one more cigarette
you're gonna reduce your life expectancy by a couple of years he'll
stop. I'll tell you most people that I have met listen to doctors more
than they listen to God and the reason is they fear sickness more than
they fear sin but let me tell you something.

I know people who got AIDS and who got converted later on in life who
died of AIDS and went to heaven because they were born again. Their sin
was forgiven the consequences of their sin remained but nobody goes to
hell because they got AIDS or because they got cancer. People go to hell
because they sin so which is worse sin or cancer sin or AIDS we need to
understand that it's I mean it's so clear and yet the devil has made
people fear sickness more than sin.

It's one of the prayers I prayed for myself. Lord as I get older I have
to be more careful about my health and but I don't want to fear blood
pressure or diabetes or cancer more than I fear sin never let that day
never come in my life where I fear some earthly sickness more than I
fear telling a lie more than I fear hating people more than I fear
having an unforgiving attitude or living according to my lusts let that
day never come in my life. I hope you'll pray that prayer and if you
start that praying that when you're young what a life you can live where
you fear and hate sin more than you fear and hate any sickness in the
world.

How careful we are even when we get in you know you know go to a
hospital and they take your blood for testing they rub it with some
spirit so that there are germs on your skin which shouldn't go inside
your vein and that's why they do that it's so careful and if you know
the importance of that and somebody doesn't do it you tell them hey
please rub my wrist with the spirit before you do it because you're so
careful that one little germ should not go inside your vein boy imagine
if you had that attitude of sin Lord I don't want one little sin to come
into my heart. Do you know what type of church we would be? The light
would shine so brightly here that people will be drawn to that light.
Years ago when I was burdened about preaching the gospel in India and
India's got a 1,200 million people of which only 1% are nominally
Christian and out of that 1% maybe 10% of that are born again so which
means such a small number of people in a country of 1,200 million people
I said Lord how in the world am I going to reach all these people and
give them the gospel and find who wants to respond to the message of
Christ.

I can't reach all these people and if I just talk about going to heaven
everybody wants to go to heaven how do I know who wants to give up sin
and so the Lord said to me you don't have to go all over the country
doing all that there's a better way you know it's like there's an
expression in English called finding a needle in a haystack. A haystack
is a huge bundle of hay and if there's one needle hidden inside that how
are you going to find it put all the hay aside and find that needle and
supposing in the huge haystack of a thousand two hundred million people
in India there are a few here and there who want to follow Jesus how do
I find them it'll take me a lifetime just to cover 1% of my country and
the Lord said you don't have to do that if your church is a very
powerful magnet it'll draw out these needles from the haystack without
your plunging inside the haystack that means your light will be so your
power will be so great the testimony of your life and church will be so
great that people will be drawn from here and there I said that's a more
efficient way of getting the needles out of the haystack and that's what
we want to be a powerful magnet as a church if that means a church which
is holy well loved where we love one another we live by God's standards
that's a powerful magnet and who will we draw we won't draw hay hay is
not drawn to magnets but we will draw those needles that means in the
midst of that hay the few people who are longing for a godly life who I
don't know where they are but they'll be drawn and that's a prayer we
used to pray Lord if there's anyone in this area where we are living who
are looking for a godly life please draw them to us or bring us to them
so that we can add them to your church give them the gospel and then
once that prayer was answered in a little way we said Lord is there
anybody in this state or then in this country and then finally we said
Lord in the world it was very ambitious prayer to pray that way but we
went in concentric circles little by little by little by little and to
preach in the whole world how in the world can we do that and then the
Lord opened up the internet some years ago and it's amazing how that
word has gone out I mean when I get a letter from Greenland where I
thought they were only asking was responding to a message on the
internet I said wow we really have reached from far out New Zealand and
Fiji and Chile and Greenland I said Lord it's amazing what you do when
we pray a simple prayer Lord where are those needles help us to find
those I don't want to find people who want to go to heaven everybody
wants to go to heaven I want to find those whom Jesus said the way to
life is narrow and very few people find it because it's a way of taking
up your cross and denying yourself and following Jesus I said Lord I
only want to find those few I'm not interested in all the others I want
to find those few I preach the gospel wherever I get opportunity but I
want to build the church I want to find those few who want to walk the
narrow way who want to follow Jesus the church is a group of people who
want to follow Jesus and we want to be a testimony and the more we all
are willing to take up the cross in our daily life and follow Jesus the
more powerful you will enable this church to be a powerful magnet to
draw others who are interested in that life and that won't be many I
don't think we'll be able to build a mega church when Jesus had huge
crowds following him he turned around and said some of the hardest words
to them you got to hate your father mother brother sister wife and
children if you want to be my disciple you got to take up the cross
every day and if you want to be my disciple you got to forsake your
possessions if you want to be a disciple imagine saying that to crowd of
huge crowd I mean most pastors if they saw a huge crowd like that today
they say let's pass the offering bag around but Jesus was didn't say
that he said let's preach the truth to them and most of them left that
was that is in Luke 14 by the way and then another instance in John 6
where another big crowd he just fed them the five thousand five loaves
and two fish and then again he preached some hard words to them about
eating my flesh and drinking my blood meaning participating in my death
the death of the cross and again it says great numbers left him saying
this is a hard statement who can bear it you read that in John chapter 6
and finally there were only 12 left Jesus was a great master at doing
the opposite of what many pastors do today reducing numbers in a church
to a small group I've seen that I've experienced that in a number of
churches that we have planted in different parts of the world where it
starts with a number then gets reduced and then the Lord says no I can
build my church there has to be a sifting because that's a pattern if
you read the Gospels you see that pattern Jesus did miracles and
preached powerful sermons and a lot of people came and then he began to
preach the whole truth and a sifting took place and a lot of people left
and then he was left with a few he said now we can build the body so
Satan schemes he will try to avoid us I tried to prevent us from
preaching the whole truth which is if you live according to the flesh
you will die don't don't don't don't preach that because you will not
die of course you'll die the Lord Bible says you will now what I want to
point out further here about Satan schemes is once he had succeeded in
deceiving Eve to believe that God did not really love her you know the
essence of that temptation was God doesn't really love you Eve I tell
you that's the message that Satan's been preaching for 6,000 years to
all humanity God doesn't really love you if he loved you he'd give you
this which is so beautiful and so appear so tasty and so good why
doesn't he permit you to have it that's what he was saying there and
look what he says in verse 5 Genesis 3 5 you know why God has not
permitted you to eat of this tree because God knows he's accusing God of
being selfish he knows that if you eat your eyes will be opened and you
will be like him and he doesn't want you to be like him he wants to be
the only God if you eat this you will also be like God and he doesn't
want you to be like him what a lie and that's what fooled Satan and
women's heard that and immediately she ate it she ate it because she
wanted to be like God the world is full of people who want to be like
God today they've all got that from Adam and Eve did you see that that
was the temptation you God doesn't want you to be like him today the
world is full of dictators rulers who want to be tyrants like God and
rule people have everybody under their domination the wrong
understanding of God that's not how God rules they think this is the way
to be God we have religious leaders of all types of religions who want
to be like God to their followers obey me listen to me it's all that
same temptation that started there you can be like God and it's very
interesting that Jesus also came with the same message but meaning
something quite different Satan said you can be like God having power
and authority and knowledge and Jesus came and said you can be like God
in love and goodness and humility and character not in ruling over
others but in washing their feet and serving them two messages both say
you can be like God which one shall we go for I tell you a lot of people
haven't understood the truth if you've gripped by the message of Christ
I want to be like God in the way you remember Jesus said in John 13 I
don't have time to show it you just take your dictate time to read it
sometime he washed the disciples feet in John chapter 13 and then in
John chapter 14 he said when Philip said shows the father and he said
have you seen what I did just now washing your feet if you have seen me
you've seen the father that's what the father is like God is one who
wants to wash your feet Wow is this the God you worship do you want to
be like him you want to wash the feet of others or rule over others
God's called me to be a preacher and teacher of God's Word and he has
told me very clearly never forget that all you're preaching is only
washing people's feet it's not to rule over their lives it's not over
there to tell them what they should be doing it's because you see a lot
of people with dirty feet you want to get down on your knees and wash
them sometimes it hurts because the dirt is pretty strong you've got to
get a rough brush to remove it so if you feel it'll hurt don't get
offended it's just removing the dirt from the feet still washing the
feet I'll never forget that I'll never forget it for the rest of my life
and that's I work with over a hundred elders in many churches and that's
what I keep telling them I said remember my brothers we are washers of
feet never ever think you are anything more than that we are called to
wash feet we are to be like God in that way not in power and authority
not to listen to the devil's message you can be like God in power and
authority and ruling over people no but to listen to Jesus message you
can be like God in character and humility and serving giving your life
for people like God came down to earth and gave his life so the schemes
of Satan are this he wants to make you like God in the wrong way and we
need to discern what Paul said we're not ignorant of Satan's schemes and
Paul never allowed himself to be puffed up to become some great ruler
over the churches he was a servant to the end of his life the other
thing I want to mention here is this wrong picture of God that Satan
gives to that tried to give either God doesn't really love you you know
he that's why he doesn't allow you to eat this if he loved you he don't
allowed you to eat anything nobody's forbidden you because he doesn't
love you and I believe that's the reason why many many believers don't
come to the Lord they they feel that God doesn't really love them and so
they hide as soon as Adam sinned it says he went and hid behind a tree
can you imagine how sin makes a man so utterly foolish isn't the height
of foolishness to think you can go behind a tree and play hide-and-seek
with God that shows the stupidity of a man how God a man becomes stupid
the moment he sins he thinks go and hide behind a tree God can't see him
and I'll tell you sin makes a person stupid and it has made a lot of us
stupid when we sin the more we are free from sin the more we will
understand the truth not only hide from God before they sin Adam and Eve
they were husband and wife they could be perfectly naked with each other
and not ashamed as it says in Genesis 2 25 but the moment they sinned
and their connection with God was broken they not only hid from God they
began to hide from each other they had to cover themselves with leaves
as if he was saying to Adam I don't want you to see me as I really am
I'm embarrassed about things in my life or in my body and Adam saying I
don't want you also to see me as as I really am and you know that hiding
from each other has continued till today even today husbands and wives
hide from each other I don't mean physically but we don't want the other
person to know some weakness in us because we think if they know it
they'll despise us even in the church it can be oh I hope they don't
discover I hope those brothers don't discover this weakness in me
because they'll despise me isn't it sad that people could should be like
that because it started with the start in the Garden of Eden this
unwillingness to be known even before God we think God won't love me
because I'm so bad that's a lie of the devil it's a lie of the devil you
want to hide from God and you think you can't hide anything from God he
knows you through and through but he still loves you that's one of the
things that Jesus made clear in so many of his actions of his you know
the Pharisees once brought a woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8
and there was a law in the Old Testament it said if a woman's caught in
adultery she must be stoned to death and you know who gave that law to
Moses Jesus when he was in heaven as a son of God he gave that law to
Moses stone a woman caught in adultery of course the reason was to
people help people to see how serious adultery is not because God hated
women caught in adultery but because you must see how serious a sin
adultery is and that was the only way to teach them just like sometimes
you need to spank a child to teach them how serious disobedience is and
when the same Jesus came to earth and the Pharisees remind they didn't
know this was the same Jesus they reminded him of that law which said
Moses said the woman must be stoned to adultery and Jesus is listening
to the law that he gave what are you going to do now and he said if
anyone of you is without sin cast the first stone and they all went away
finally there was one man left without sin who was qualified to pick up
stones and throw it the woman and that was Jesus himself why didn't he
do it why didn't he keep the law he gave Israel 1,500 years earlier to
stone women caught in adultery because that was not God's purpose he
refused to pick up a stone he did not come here to stone people caught
in adultery he came to forgive them and to redeem them and change them I
wish we would understand this I wish we would have no wrong idea of God
in our mind that I'm so bad that God cannot possibly accept me
particularly if I'm a believer supposing you're a believer and you're
part of a church that preaches holiness like here and you slip up
somewhere you say boy I'm a part of RLCF and I slipped up here oh people
know that they won't love me really if they don't they're not like God
God still loves you you know how much the father of the prodigal son
loved the prodigal son that prodigal son had been away from the father
for years but it says one day the father saw this ragged boy not even
looking like what he was when he left home thin skin and bones coming at
a distance and the father ran it's the one place in the Bible where it
says God ran to welcome not a holy man but a sinner who had disobeyed
him broken his laws if Jesus had only said God loves you that wouldn't
have been as powerful as that story he said of God's intense love for
people who messed up their life so Jesus forgave that woman caught in
adultery so there's nobody condemned you woman no I don't condemn you
either does it mean he took adultery lightly not at all because the next
sentence was don't do that again there are two sentences don't forget
one is I don't condemn you but that's not the full gospel the full
gospel is don't do it again and I'll help you not to do it again
wonderful so many people preach the first part of the gospel they're not
condemned we preach the full gospel which is don't do it again or you
take the other story of this woman in Samaria who had been divorced five
times John chapter 4 and was now sleeping with a man was not even her
husband and Jesus deliberately led by the Holy Spirit goes through
Samaria and is prompted by the Holy Spirit to sit down at a well because
the Holy Spirit knew that woman was coming it's amazing how God leads us
to meet needy people even today and here was this woman whom Jesus knew
everything about her life I've often thought about that supposing a lady
came to this church who was divorced five times and it was now sleeping
with a man who was not even her husband how would you look at her how
would I look at her I hope I look at her like Jesus looked at that woman
needy messed up needing forgiveness and God came to earth to restore
such people that's the type of church he must be it's not that we
condone sin don't do it again that's the second part of the gospel we
preach that as well but not such that we give people the impression that
God won't accept you because you're too bad even after you become a
believer if you slipped up don't ever let the devil tell you oh I don't
want to accept you know you did that for the 50th time or the hundredth
time he'll welcome you back he'll help you to overcome it never never
given to the schemes of Satan to go and hide behind a tree or whatever
is the equivalent of that in your life but you think you can hide from
God and we read that God came into that garden and said Adam where are
you and that's how he comes looking for us so brothers and sisters let's
rejoice in a God who comes not only to forgive us but to help us
overcome whatever our limitations are and let's not be ignorant of
Satan's schemes let's pray Heavenly Father help us to hear and be
founded unshakably on these wonderful truths of your love for us pray in
Jesus name

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/v5q_zSC6eoM.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/being-aware-of-satans-tactics/
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