2019 Homecoming - The Truth about God's Enemy...the Liar
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a small and intimate Christian Church with a worldwide impact. My name is Pastor Rory Clark. At Barah Ministries, our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We make a difference by teaching the Word of God from God’s perspective, and not from man’s perspective.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON The Truth About God’s Enemy…the Liar
Have you ever been blamed for, or accused of something that you absolutely did not do? There are many people in prison today for a crime they did not commit. Our God gets blamed for things He doesn’t think or do more than anyone in the universe. He is blamed through the insidiously influential and evil thoughts of our enemy, Satan. In today’s lesson, I’ll be sharing more insights into our enemy and how he operates…and Pastor Farley will continue his look at Second Corinthians, Chapter 11 as he delineates how false teachers attack the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and the gospel message.
In second Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 6, the apostle Paul reveals how his enemies attack his manner of speech.
SECOND CORINTHIANS 11:6 But even if I am unskilled in speech…yet I am not so unskilled in knowledge…in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.
In the song A FEW GOOD MEN, Phillips, Craig and Dean make it clear that slick speech isn’t what God is looking for in us. Let’s listen to learn what God is looking for in us…
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
A FEW GOOD MEN Phillips, Craig and Dean
OPENING PRAYER Let us pray...
We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Father thank you for the ability to think…quite often our thinking is impaired because our enemy encourages us to sin…and sin clouds the mind…thank you for being trustworthy, because when our minds are clouded we forget to trust You…we run on emotions, and they have no thinking power…thank you for enlightening the eyes of our souls so we can see God’s enemy, Satan, at work…so that when he encourages us not to think straight, we can still do what You have laid out for us to do…
Destroy every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of You and Your Son, Jesus…help us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…help us to separate lies from the truth…help us to reject with prejudice every encouragement that lures us into sinful things to make us hopeless and desperate…instead, help us to stay close to You, and to recognize and obey Your voice…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON The Truth About God’s Enemy…the Liar
Where do the lies about Jesus Christ come from? God has an enemy…and he is your enemy, too. His name is Satan. Satan definitely exists. He is not a concept. He is not a “symbol” of evil. He is an angelic creature. Here is a description of Satan in Ezekiel, Chapter 28, Verses 12 to 15…
EZEKIEL 28:12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You (Satan) had the seal of perfection…you were full of wisdom and you were perfect in beauty.”
EZEKIEL 28:13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God…every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz and the diamond…the beryl, the onyx and the jasper…the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald…and the gold…the workmanship of your settings and sockets was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared.”
EZEKIEL 28:14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I (the Lord God) placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God…you walked in the midst of the stones of fire.”
EZEKIEL 28:15 “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.”
EZEKIEL 28:16a “By the abundance of your trade (the trafficking slander against God) you were internally filled with violence…and you sinned…therefore I (the Lord God) have cast you as profane from the mountain of God…”
Sin breeds death.
We know our enemy is called the serpent and the devil and Satan. He also goes by other names in the bible, titles that likely describe how he functions.
Satan is called THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR in Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 1 and 2…
EPHESIANS 2:1 And you were spiritually dead in your trespasses and sins…
EPHESIANS 2:2 …in which trespasses and sins you formerly walked (as a lifestyle) according to the curriculum of this world (Satan’s kingdom)…walking according to the PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR…walking according to the spirit that is now working in the sons who are disobedient (unbelievers).
Satan is called the RULER OF THIS WORLD in John, Chapter 12, Verse 31…
JOHN 12:31 Now judgment is upon this world…now the ruler of this world (Satan) will be cast out (dethroned).
Satan is called THE GOD OF THIS WORLD in Second Corinthians, Chapter 4, Verses 3 and 4…
SECOND CORINTHIANS 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, and it is, it is veiled to those who are perishing (unbelievers)…
SECOND CORINTHIANS 4:4 …in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Satan is called THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN in Revelation, Chapter 12, Verses 9 and 10…
REVELATION 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down…the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan…the one who deceives the whole world…he was thrown down to the earth…and his (fallen) angels were thrown down with him.
REVELATION 12:10 Then I (John…author of the book of Revelation) heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the ACCUSER OF OUR BRETHREN has been thrown down, he who accuses the brethren before our God day and night.”
Satan is called the ANGEL OF LIGHT in Second Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 13 to 15…
SECOND CORINTHIANS 11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
SECOND CORINTHIANS 11:14 No wonder…for even Satan disguises himself as an ANGEL OF LIGHT.
SECOND CORINTHIANS 11:15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
Satan’s followers are called LAWLESS ONES in Second Thessalonians, Chapter 2, Verses 8 and 9…
SECOND THESSALONIANS 2:8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming…
SECOND THESSALONIANS 2:9 …that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders…
Satan’s followers are called RAVENOUS WOLVES in Matthew, Chapter 7, Verse 15…
MATTHEW 7:15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing…but inwardly are RAVENOUS WOLVES.”
Satan’s followers teach lies, called THE DOCTRINES OF DEMONS in First Timothy, Chapter 4, Verse 1…
FIRST TIMOTHY 4:1 But God the Holy Spirit explicitly says that in later times (in every generation) some will fall away from the faith…paying attention to deceitful spirits and paying attention to the DOCTRINES OF DEMONS…
Satan is called YOUR ADVERSARY in First Peter, Chapter 5, Verse 8…
FIRST PETER 5:8 Be of sober spirit…be on the alert. YOUR ADVERSARY, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Satan HATES God…he HATES you… HE WANTS TO DESTROY YOU… and HE WANTS TO DESTROY EVERYTHING that is IMPORTANT TO YOU. Think of something or someone that is important to you…Satan wants to kill it.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself describes Satan as a LIAR in John, Chapter 8, Verse 44…
JOHN 8:44 You are of your father the devil (Satan)…and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning…and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature (from his identity…from who he is…not just from what he does)…for Satan is a liar and he is the one who keeps on fathering lies.
What is Satan’s objective?
SATAN’S OBJECTIVE In every interaction, Satan seeks to conform your thoughts to be in line with his thoughts, to be in line with the thoughts of his world system, and to be in line with the thoughts originating from the flesh inside of you.
Satan’s lies are insidious.
INSIDIOUS Things intended to entrap you or to beguile you…things that are stealthily treacherous and absolutely deceitful…things operating in inconspicuous or seemingly harmless ways which actually have a grave and negative effect.
Make no mistake about it…Satan…your enemy…WANTS TO HURT YOU. What is Satan’s strategy?
SATAN’S STRATEGY Deception Revelation, Chapter 12, Verse 9…
REVELATION 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down…the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan…WHO DECEIVES THE WHOLE WORLD…he was thrown down to the earth…and his (fallen) angels were thrown down with him.
When we return from the break we’ll take a look at one of Satan’s most devastating tactics.
FIVE MINUTE BREAK UNCONDITIONAL LOVE Donna Summers
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON The Truth About God’s Enemy…the Liar
Yes...we have an enemy...but as believers we also have our union with Christ. Here’s June Murphy to sing about Him in her tremendous song COME SEE A MAN.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
COME SEE A MAN June Murphy
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON The Truth About God’s Enemy…the Liar
As we continue our study of the liar and the lies, it’s important to investigate HOW Satan deceives the whole world with his lies by looking at his lies in writing.
How Satan deceives the world is by counterfeiting. Satan is a counterfeiter. He takes the plan of God and counterfeits it. His hope is that you will buy into his lies so that you’ll think you have the real thing…a real spiritual life…but instead you will have a fake spiritual life. His most devastating tactic…his most effective tactic is religion.
Let’s make one thing clear…Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is a relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Satan, the great deceiver, would like for you to think that Christianity is a religion because he is always looking to dilute the power of Christianity in our minds.
If you want to expose a lie, you have to know the truth. To be a successful counterfeiter, you have to be able to disguise a lie with the truth. You have to tell a lie that is so close to the truth that the lie is imperceptible.
I’d like to close out this lesson by introducing you briefly to one of the most deceptive religions on the planet…Roman Catholicism. I was Roman Catholic for twenty-one years. I knew the religion inside and out. I practically memorized the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It wasn’t until I started investigating the religion in writing that I was able to expose Satan’s tactics in such a way that I could tell I had let myself be deceived. It was a devastating discovery, one that had me crying like a baby for weeks.
If you want to expose religion…you have to examine the fake, religion, right next to the genuine article…Christianity. If you don’t examine them side by side, you’ll never see the deception.
Let’s just take one example today, and I’ll give you more examples in the next lesson. The example connects to the Word of God.
In Christianity…Scripture…the Word of God…”it is written”…has authority over the church. Second Timothy, Chapter 3, Verse 16 says…
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:16 All Scripture is God breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…
The word of God comes from God. Nothing is higher than God and His thoughts. In Second Corinthians, Chapter 4, Verse 2, the apostle Paul says…
SECOND CORINTHIANS 4:2 …but we have renounced the things that are hidden because of shame (deceitful and sinful things)…not walking (as a lifestyle) in craftiness and not adulterating the word of God…but we have walked by the manifestation of truth…commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
Paul has nothing to be ashamed of because he is simply reflecting what his God is teaching him.
A Roman Catholic is taught that the Roman Catholic Church has authority over Scriptures. This “truth” of the church is one hundred and eighty degrees in opposition to what the Word of God…the bible…teaches. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part 119, it says…
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (CCC119) The manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Roman Catholic Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God.
If you’re a Roman Catholic who uses the bible, and simultaneously the Catechism of the Catholic Church, what are you to believe? How do you reconcile the contradiction between what the two “doctrines” are teaching? We’ll have more to say about that and more to learn about it in our next lesson.
When we return from the break, Pastor John Farley will be in the drivers seat to teach us more about false teachers and about attacks against the Lord, and the Holy Spirit, and the gospel.
FIVE MINUTE BREAK HOME Phillip Phillips
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON The Simplicity in Christ
Satan, the enemy of God, uses emotion to discourage us. Here’s Zach Williams to call fear exactly what it is...a liar!
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
FEAR IS A LIAR Zach Williams
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON The Simplicity in Christ
INSERT PJF LESSON 2-PART 1 HERE
When we come back from the break...
FIVE MINUTE BREAK HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD Don Moen
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON BLANK
SONG INTRO
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
BLESSINGS Laura Story
INSERT PJF LESSON 2-PART 2 HERE
GOD WANTS YOU! Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
The closing moments of our study are for anyone who does not have a personal relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We want you to know that GOD WANTS YOU.
In the midst of all we learn about the enemy, we must never forget, as believers in Christ, that we are possessions of the almighty God! Here’s June Murphy to remind us in her song YOU OWN ME.
CLOSING SONG YOU OWN ME June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
THANKS- INTERCESSION- PETITION
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