The Devil's Tools Of Destruction

Sunday Morning February 20, 2000 Bel Aire Baptist Church, Hobbs NM

THE DEVIL’S TOOLS OF DESTRUCTION

2 CORINTHIANS 11:13-15; 1 PETER 5:8

Introduction:

1. The Devil or Satan is our enemy.

a. He is described by Peter as our adversary or the one who stands

against us or opposes us.

b. The Devil is very deceitful in his activity and dealings with

mankind.

c. He is evil and very wicked.

d. Jesus said he was a liar and the father of lies.

e. He is a murderer.

f. The truth does not dwell in him.

g. He may only use the truth to teach a lie.

1. There is a saying that says that Satan will use 99% truth to

float one lie.

2. Many preachers don’t like to preach on Satan, but I am here to tell

you this morning that Satan is constantly attacking God’s people if

we are in God’s will.

a. You want to know why I believe our church is experiencing growth,

and I’m am talking spiritual growth not numbers.

b. Because we can see Satan attacking from all corners.

c. Satan is going to try to use you and I to attack the church.

d. What better place than inside to start problems.

3. There are some common tools that Satan uses in dealing with people

and you need to be aware of these.

a. The Scriptures tells us to “take heed lest we fall”.

I. The Devil’s Tool Of Worldliness

A. The definition.

1. John describes all that is in the world in 1 John 2:15-17.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man

love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,

and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the

will of God abideth for ever.”

2. The lust of the flesh and eyes and the pride of life are part of

the world system that appeals to our flesh.

3. Jesus taught in the parable of the sower that the cares of the

world and deceitfulness of riches choke the Word and make

it unfruitful.(Matthew 13:22)

4. If you try to be a friend of the world, you cannot be a servant of

God.

a. There is a great difference between spirituality and

worldliness.

B. The design.

1. The design of worldliness is to get your mind off of the things

of God and on the things of the world.

a. Let me give you an example I found in the American Family

Association Journal.

[A new study of more than 3,000 kids ages two to 18 presents disturbing

evidence that the average U.S. child spends almost 51/2 hours a day

either in front of the TV, the computer or the radio.

“Watching TV, playing video games, listening to music and surfing the

Internet have become a full-time job for the typical American child”.

Perhaps more disturbing was that the study showed parents being

inattentive to their children’s’ media habits. According to USA Today, the

report revealed that 61% of parents have no rules about TV viewing, even

though 65% of kids age eight and up have a television in their own room.

“This research should give every parent pause because every day, their

children are spending more time using media than they spend at school.”

b. Have you looked at what the media is producing lately.

c. Is that something that God would be o.k. with?

2. Worry and fretting about the material supply of what we need

and the things we want have hindered a lot of God’s people.

3. Demas a co-worker of the apostle Paul forsook him because he

loved the present world. (2 Timothy 4:10).

4. Love for the world will cool your love for God and love for God

will cool your love for the world.

C. The damage.

1. Many who are saved have gone back out into the world because they have yielded to it’s appeal.

2. The material things do not last forever.

a. The things that we hold dear like position, power, passion,

possessions, popularity are only for the moment.

3. Many saved people have stopped serving the Lord and have

gone back out into the world because they will not mortify the

things of the flesh.(Colossians 3:5).

“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,

uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness,

which is idolatry:”

4. Paul pleads with the Romans to present their bodies a living

sacrifice to the Lord.

a. Such a sacrifice is holy and acceptable to God.