Biblical Teaching

Satan's Strategy, Continued: Spiritual Warfare, Training Your Hand for Battle, 14(1)

Satan's Strategy, Continued: Spiritual Warfare, Training Your Hand for Battle, 14(1) Here they were accusing other disciples, accusing them of stirring up the city. But what was the uproar about? What was it that bothered the residents of that city, that they accused them of stirring up and…

Francisco Ventura · 42 min

Here they were accusing other disciples, accusing them of stirring up the city. But what was the uproar about? What was it that bothered the residents of that city, that they accused them of causing an uproar? Preaching the gospel, telling the truth. Yes, because of telling the truth, those who are under darkness — but who often believe they are in the light — since they cannot tolerate it, the demons in those people get stirred up and angry.

But Satan clearly also uses the same tactic he used since the Garden of Eden. In Eden, the Lord said one thing, and he twisted it. 'Will he surely die if he eats this?' 'No, he will be like us if he eats this.'

Blessings, and welcome all to our church, Jesus King of Kings. We continue our teaching series, Spiritual Warfare: Training Your Hand for Battle. Today we'll be in the continuation; in the previous teaching we talked about the strategy Satan uses to fight against us, to do what he came to do.

He came to steal, kill, and destroy. Previously we talked about some of the strategies he uses. We talked about lying, deception, accusation, especially false accusation.

We also talked previously about how Jesus Himself was falsely accused. Today we will continue with how the first disciples were also falsely accused, were persecuted. Accusation and lying are among Satan's favorite weapons and strategies.

We must understand his strategies so that he does not take advantage of you. Satan also uses false ministers to deceive those who seek the Lord. Satan also uses whoever he can — close people, even people who may already know the Lord — but if there are weaknesses, the enemy tries, through witchcraft or by using different manipulation strategies, to use even people who have a noble heart.

We will also share about how to overcome deception, that is, how not to be deceived ourselves. The word warns us that in this end time, Satan, if possible, would deceive even the elect. And we will also share about how to overcome, how to respond when lies and slander are raised against us.

In Matthew 10:25 the word tells us, it is enough for the disciple to become like the teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household? So here the Lord is giving us understanding.

Him, being God Himself, being holy, being perfect, they called Beelzebub, but He tells us it is enough for the disciple, because if we truly belong to the Lord, we must be disciples. Not disciples of a religion, not disciples of one of the many 32,000 denominations supposedly in the world today, but we must be disciples of the Lord. But He said — the Lord Himself said — it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher.

And if they accused the Father — practically, if they said terrible things about the Father, that He was demon-possessed, that He cast out demons by Beelzebub — the Lord tells us how much more will they do to those of His household. If they said such things about the Master, the Holy One, how much more about us, who have sinned in the past and in many things did things that do not please God. If they said such things about Him, being holy and perfect, imagine what they will say about us.

So the Lord warns us, gives us understanding, that these things will happen, because He Himself lived through it, and we will live through it too. We must therefore understand, so that Satan does not take advantage of you. In Acts 6:10-11 the word says, but they could not resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.

Then they bribed some men to say they had heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. Here they were speaking of Stephen, of Stephen, a servant of God full of the Holy Spirit. What was the insult, what was the wrong that Stephen did, that the religious leaders were filled with rage and could not bear his words? They could not bear the spirit with which Stephen spoke.

They could not bear it because he spoke the truth. So when the enemy has a person bound — in this case they were religious people, the Pharisees — Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom, full of the word of God, spoke to them with the truth.

But it says they could not resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke, because Stephen was rebuking them. He mentioned the wickedness their ancestors had done, and he spoke the truth. Because of this, since they were bound by a spirit of deception, a spirit of religion, and much other wickedness, they could not resist.

So they tried to bribe people to falsely accuse him, in order to have an excuse to kill him. So here we see that Stephen went through situations very similar to the Lord's. With the Lord, if you noticed, every time the Lord opened His mouth in front of the religious leaders, they became furious, filled with rage, and then simply looked for a way to kill Him.

Why? For telling the truth. When the enemy has souls chained, they cannot tolerate the truth, unless they have great humility. Great humility is required, and there is still, so to speak, an inner struggle required.

But clearly, the same strategy the devil used against the Lord — of accusing, of lying — he also used against Stephen. In Acts 16:20, presenting them to the magistrates, they said, these men, being Jews, are stirring up our city. Here they were accusing other disciples, accusing them of stirring up the city.

But what was the uproar about? What was it that bothered the residents of that city, that they accused them of causing an uproar? Preaching the gospel, telling the truth. Yes, because of telling the truth, those who are under darkness — but who often believe they are in the light — since they cannot tolerate it, the demons in those people get stirred up and angry. But Satan clearly also uses the same tactic he used since the Garden of Eden.

In Eden, the Lord said one thing, and he twisted it. 'Will he surely die if he eats this?' 'No, he will be like us if he eats this.' So Satan uses that strategy where whatever one does, even if it is good, even if it is true, he twists it in the heart and mind of the person to plant anger, to plant hatred, so they get angry, so they accuse us — that is how these things work.

So, because of these situations, where there are often misunderstandings, because of this we will actually be hated by all for the sake of His name, because the greater the light in God's servants, in His chosen ones, in those who have truly surrendered their lives to the Lord — the more light there is in us, the more we expose what lies behind, what cannot be seen with the eyes, the greater the anger and rejection toward us. But it is nothing new; the Lord said it — it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher. Whoever is not willing to suffer for Him is not worthy of Him.

Acts 25:2, and the chief priests and the most influential Jews presented accusations against Paul and were urging them — accusations against Paul, the most influential Jews — another disciple who was accused. I think it is becoming clear that not only was the Lord accused, not only were lies spoken about the Lord, but also about the disciples.

It is part of the battle — not only against the Lord did Satan speak lies and deceive, in the sense of creating false accusations so people would think badly, but also against the disciples, against Paul, against Stephen. And if we keep reading more verses, we will find that many other disciples also suffered for the gospel. But this is one of Satan's strategies, one of the ways he fights against us, one of the ways he tries to stop the moving of the Holy Spirit in our lives, one of the tactics with which he tries to silence us so that we do not bear witness to the truth, so that people are not healed.

He manipulates people from the inside, and when the truth is spoken — not a lie, since if a lie is spoken there is no anger — it is when the truth is spoken that the devil makes those demons inside stir up: 'They're exposing me, I'm going to have to leave here if this person repents, this person is going to escape.' So Satan uses the very person we want to bless, using them against their own blessing. That's why it turns out that when we go to family members — the father, the mother, the uncle, the neighbor, people we know — and we want to talk to them about the Lord, we want to share with them, in the best way possible, that their walk, their conduct, is contrary to the Lord, to the word of God.

And if we want to share with them that if they do not repent of that path there is a consequence, an eternal consequence, because the Lord will repay each one according to their works — you notice that when we share this, many, the great majority, especially if they are close to us, if there is trust, react badly toward us, they get angry: 'Who are you to tell me that? And what about you? Who knows?' They respond badly and get angry; if they say nothing, at least you can see on their face that they are immediately unhappy that someone told them the truth. But it's because there are spirits involved — it's one of the strategies Satan uses to fight against us, to try to silence us, to try to limit us, to try to intimidate us, to oppose our helping people be saved.

In Acts 24:5, once again it says here that this man has been found to be a plague, one who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. The Lord Jesus Christ is God, and He came to make disciples. But look at what the devil does, using people.

Against the true church — because there is only one true church, not two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, a hundred, or thirty-two thousand as there are in this end time; there is only one true church. And it is the church that Jesus Christ Himself formed when He was with us. And He is the head of His church, and He came to make disciples.

But the religious leaders called Paul, accusing him, lying, and blaspheming the Lord's church. He is the leader of a sect, they call the Lord's church a sect. But they accused Paul of being a plague — imagine that.

They called the Lord Beelzebub; they called Paul a plague. Imagine how they spoke about Paul — that he stirred up dissension throughout the whole world, that he was a plague, and that he was the leader of a Jewish sect.

But he was not the leader of a sect; he was a leader of the church of Jesus Christ, sent to us, to the Gentiles, so that you and I would hear the good news and be able to be saved. But Satan twists things. I want you to see how he gives the situation a little spin.

And what is good, he describes it in such a degrading and twisted way, trying to humiliate people, to make them feel bad for doing good. An emotionally sensitive person is told: no, because you're in a sect. But Paul was a leader of the Lord's church, formed by the Lord.

No, you're the leader of a sect. But this was to try to humiliate him, to make him feel less, to make everyone think badly of Paul, that he was practically a nobody, that he was sick, that he was messed up. The leader of a sect.

Those who are in a sect are generally in a bad way, because through the sect the demons regain hold of people. Once more I'm going to read one last verse where Paul is again accused. Acts 21:28.

Crying out, 'Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place.'

'And furthermore he has brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.' Once again, here lies were told about Paul, false accusations were raised, he was slandered, and there was deception. And look at the devil's strategy.

Men of Israel! Crying out! Come!

This is practically the criminal. This is the one who teaches everywhere against the people. Right there they already appealed to the whole people.

He is teaching against you, so that they would get angry at Paul and want to kill him. This man lies against the law. There they mentioned the law so that those who were under the law would also get angry — which was everyone — and want to kill Paul.

And he also teaches against this place. There they mentioned the temple so that those who were faithful to the temple would also get angry at Paul. And furthermore, because it was forbidden, he had brought Greeks into the temple.

They accused him of bringing in a Greek and defiling this holy place. There were many accusations, but in all of them there were distortions. It is a lie.

There is deception. False accusations. Lies.

Deception. Satan's strategy. All employed together in an attempt to eliminate a servant of God.

The purpose of this was to try to get Paul killed. So we see how Satan uses lies, deception, and accusations to try to degrade and stop the work of God. Another of Satan's strategies against us, against the church, against those who desire to serve, to please, to live a life in accordance with the perfect will of God, is the use of false ministers.

That's why I say this humbly. I know many don't like it when denominations are talked about, but we cannot fight the real battle without talking about them. That is the reason Satan has more than 32,000 denominations in the world at this moment.

Because it makes it harder to find the way. When we want help, when we understand that we have an adversary who is very active affecting our lives and trying to steal our health, our finances, our family, our children, and everything he can, and if possible to kill us. We start seeking God, but we find, most easily and most likely, that the first churches we encounter are false. Because Satan is the god of this age, and those who serve him, he promotes them, and they are the ones easily found on social media and everywhere. And here the word says in Jeremiah 14:13-14, and I said, ah, Lord, it is here that the prophets tell them, you will not see the sword, nor will you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place. Then the Lord said to me, the prophets prophesy lies in My name; I have not sent them, nor commanded them, nor spoken to them. They prophesy to you a false vision, divination, futility, and the deceit of their own heart.

Since ancient times, in the Old Testament, there were already false prophets who spoke flattering words, who spoke words that God had not commanded, in their false chatter — even though these words pleased the flesh, they made people practically reject the true word of God. And what Satan did in the past, from the Old Testament, he also does now in the present. So he uses — that's why he sends many people, many false prophets — to try to make it harder to find the true way. In Matthew 24:24 the word says, 'For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.' There will be false christs, there will be false prophets, they will also perform wonders. Here we are warned — we are warned that these things will happen, and that Satan uses false prophets, false ministers, lies, deception. There is lying and deception; they use words, they even use the Bible to speak, but the word comes misinterpreted, comes twisted. Even though they use the word, they do not come to build up but to bind souls. They do not lead the sheep along the narrow way that surely leads to salvation; they lead the sheep along the broad way that leads to slaughter, because they are ravenous wolves. According to 2 Peter 2:1, 'But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, and even deny the Lord who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.' Here the word warns us again that in this time there will be false teachers, there will be false prophets, there will be false teachers — people who come to teach the word of God, but secretly, in a subtle way, in a way not very perceptible to the eyes or the senses, they introduce teachings underneath that are destructive, destructive heresies — teaching doctrines that, if received, and the person does not wake up and repent, will lead them to eternal death. So it is important to understand that the enemy uses teachers, uses people standing in a pulpit, to try to deceive you, to lie to you, and the purpose is to steal your souls. That is why the way that leads to salvation is narrow. It is important to love the truth with all our heart. If we understand that the devil has false teachers, false prophets, false apostles, false pastors, false evangelists — if we understand this and truly fear God, then, persevering in our conduct with the fear of God, the possibility that we will enter that narrow way that few find becomes greater. Because if we do not guard our salvation, if we do not realize that the devil has false teachers, false ministers, false evangelists, false everything, then it is easier for us to be deceived. He is the father of deception and lies. Once again, these are the strategies he uses to steal souls, to fight against us, to prevent those who want to be free in the Lord from being free. He unfortunately uses that same strategy of lying and deception to keep many people who claim to serve Christ, who sincerely want to serve God and still believe they are serving Him, and are sincere but are sincerely deceived, because they have lacked love for the truth, have not examined their lives alongside the word, because they have not humbled themselves. The devil makes them think, 'No, you're already saved, you're already going to heaven, you have nothing to worry about.' And certainly we must have faith and trust in the Lord, but it is wise to listen to counsel, it is wise to evaluate our lives, and very importantly, the fruits of what we do with the word of God. If we evaluate our lives, if we evaluate our fruits, if we listen to counsel — but from people we can see who truly, at least, appear to have a life in keeping with the grace of God — then we do not have to be part of the many who, on that day, will still say to Him, 'Lord, Lord, in Your name I did many things.' How is it that I would go to the lake of fire if I was serving You? The Lord will say, 'Depart from Me, I never knew you, I did not send you. You preached, you healed, you prayed, but it was not Me you were serving. You cast out demons, but it was not for Me. You tithed, you gave offerings, but you were only giving to the devil, to a false church. You served Satan, you did not serve Me.' That is practically the Lord's answer. But you and I do not have to be part of those many. You and I can be part of the few to whom the Lord will say, 'Come to Me, blessed of the Father.' If we have the fear of God, if we have humility, if we use the word as a mirror in which we look for our own stains — not the word's stain, but our own — we have to look at the word as a mirror, to look at our lives, to see: in what way, Lord, am I being rebellious, in what way am I being disobedient, in what way could I be being deceived, in what way could the devil, who is the father of lies and deception, be there weaving something I am not seeing because of deception. 'Lord, have mercy on me, Lord, without You I cannot, Lord, I want to be part of that narrow way.' But if we do this, the Lord is merciful, and a broken and humbled heart He does not reject. If we do this, then we are positioning ourselves to be able to fight the true battle of faith and destroy the works of the devil, because the Lord seeks humble vessels. Humble — he who humbles himself will be exalted, but he who exalts himself will be humbled. Another thing — Satan uses everyone he can around us to trip us up. Look in the word, even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself — Satan spoke through one of the disciples who was considered the pillar of the twelve, through Peter. Suddenly, when they were about to hand the Lord over, when they were about to crucify Him, Peter said to Him something like, 'Lord, this must not happen to You,' and it seemed like something good, what he said seemed like a good comment. But the Lord, in that moment, said — not 'Thank you, Peter, because you don't want anything bad to happen to me' — but rather, 'Get behind Me, Satan,' the Lord answered Peter. It was Satan speaking through Peter. But I also want you to understand that Satan can speak through people, even through an apostle, one considered among the twelve, the pillar of the twelve — because the Lord made Peter a leader among the twelve — and even through him, Satan spoke to the Lord Himself. If Satan tries to use just anyone, we understand that Satan tried to use Peter against the Lord. If Satan can use those who are not with God to try, one way or another, through word or action, to divert, to block, to stop, to delay God's purpose — but also, obviously, Peter was used, an apostle. He can use anyone, even leaders, and anyone who has some weakness, anyone who at that moment can, for some reason, come in and try to put a stumbling block. When there is a blessing the Lord is giving someone, he can use any person who has a weakness to try to oppose that blessing so it isn't received. Proverbs 12:5, 'The thoughts of the righteous are right, but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.' What does the word tell us here? If we exclude those who are wicked — who is wicked? Anyone who does not live a life in accordance with the word of God, anyone who does not know the Lord, or who supposedly knows the Lord but is not free in Christ, who holds false doctrine — unfortunately, their counsel, their words, even though they may seem good, even though they come with good intentions, can bring a stumbling block. The thoughts of the righteous are right, but the counsels of the wicked are deceit. The wicked — and in this case I include in the word 'wicked' anyone who has a weakness. That is, anyone who has a weakness that Satan can use, and those who cannot hold their tongue, who always want to give their opinion and give advice — many times they don't even know it, because they aren't doing it out of malice, it's Satan deceiving. Satan operates from the spirit and speaks through their mouth, or makes them behave a certain way, and you don't know it unless you already have spiritual discernment and humility. If we have spiritual discernment and humility, suddenly we realize, 'Wow, Satan manipulated me,' but only if one becomes wise. But among that counsel, unfortunately, there is deception. That's why we also have to be careful about whom we listen to. If your mom loves you, your dad loves you, your children love you, your uncle, your cousin, and the neighbors supposedly love you — they love you according to the flesh, but if they do not have a relationship with God, if they are not led by the Holy Spirit, their counsel can be a stumbling block for you. We have to be careful about whom we listen to. Of course we should love everyone, we should love our family, we should pray for them, but we do not want to take our direction from them. On the contrary, it is we — if we truly fear God and know the truth — who need to speak to them, to counsel them, because they do not want to counsel according to the world, according to the flesh. Counsel from those who are not with God does not lead us to God; even though it may seem good, it is like hidden poison — its purpose is to draw us away from God. Proverbs 14:8, 'The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit.' Another scripture also says that to fools all their ways seem right, but they lead to death, because they are fools, they do not listen to counsel, and since they walk in the flesh, they cannot perceive the spiritual. The point here is that we have to be alert, we must be careful about whom we listen to. There may be people close to us who love us, but the question is: do they have a relationship with God? The question is not whether they come to us, but whether they walk according to the word of God. Another question is: do the people close to us — our family and everyone around us — love us, but are they being led by the Holy Spirit or by the flesh? Are they being led by fear or by faith? What spirit is guiding them? Do they walk in fear? Are they spiritually mature people, or are they spiritual babies? Because it may be that there are also people who, even though they fear God, are in a process of growth, but if they are spiritual babies — that is, people who have only just begun having a relationship with God — they may also lack wisdom, and you have to have a little discretion. It's not that we can't listen to them, but we do have to be careful about what we accept from them. Ideally, the ideal situation, whenever possible, is to receive counsel from people we know truly have a good relationship with God, who have revelation of the truth, who are walking in the Spirit, in the true Spirit. There, yes, the counsel of those who walk with God is good. But if we receive counsel from those who do not walk with God, we stumble. How to overcome deception — that is, how not to be deceived ourselves — is a question I feel we should all seek to understand or seek to have an answer for. And it is important to understand that Satan, the father of lies, and the word warns us that deception in this time is so great that, if possible, Satan would deceive even the elect. The elect are those who have a calling, a purpose, a ministry for this end time, and even these people — the word says. Who believes the word is true? I do believe it. The word warns us that, if possible, Satan would deceive even the elect of this end time. So if we truly believe in the word of God, we believe that the word of God speaks the truth. So the first step for us not to be deceived is to understand that we can be deceived. If we understand that we can be deceived, we already have a step in our favor, because if we exalt ourselves — thinking 'I know the truth,' or 'my church, my religion, my doctrine, I already have a first-class ticket to heaven' — we can indeed be being deceived. Just look at the churches — for the majority of those who call themselves Christian, isn't it obvious that Catholics are deceived? For many, isn't it obvious that Mormons are deceived, that Jehovah's Witnesses are deceived? Right — but they themselves don't know it. Tell a Catholic, 'You are deceived.' Tell a Mormon, 'You are deceived.' Tell any of these denominations, 'You are deceived' — 'No, because my church, my prophet, my doctrine, we are guided by the word of God' — and you could go three months and get nowhere but pure argument. The Pharisees — the Lord Himself tried to make them understand they were deceived, and not only were they deceived, their minds were corrupted, so that not even the Lord, who walked in power and with anointing, could get the word to penetrate them. So, if we understand that the devil can indeed deceive even the elect — not the sheep, because the sheep actually need the elect to be able to enter through the narrow door; it is to the elect that we are sent to guide the sheep — we too can be deceived, for even we who have a calling must be humble. If we understand that we can be deceived, then the second step is to humble ourselves and understand: yes, I can be deceived. I don't know about you, but I fear God. Honestly, going to prison here for 30 years is bad, right? I don't want to go, and I hope none of us ever go to that place, much less for a sentence of 10, 20, 30 years. But that's actually nothing — you eventually get out of there, and even if you were to die in prison, if we are with God, we go to heaven, nothing happens to us. But those who do not humble themselves, who do not make sure they are truly on that narrow way, when they go to that other place, it is eternal — from there there is no way out, from there there is no turning back. We can make mistakes in many things; we can still commit errors that, unfortunately, can even land someone in prison, and all those things are bad — we don't want to make mistakes. But in the end, all of that comes down to this: if we die with Christ, nothing else matters. But if we do not die with Him, if we do not humble ourselves, if we do not understand that Satan deceives, that he is the father of lies, then even learning to fight spiritual warfare, or a teaching series like this one, is of no use — because it is also possible to fight spiritual warfare while deceived, and be fighting for Satan while believing you are fighting against him, be caught fighting on Satan's side while thinking you're fighting against him. Satan deceives. There are many people who are witches, warlocks, male and female ministers — but there are people who are not witches, who are simply deceived, and Satan uses them as puppets, and they don't even know it. Satan calls them 'useful idiots' — that's what he calls them. That's what he says when he manifests and suddenly talks about some of the people who serve him as ministers in the church — he calls them 'usable idiots.' That is, they are like idiots to him, who don't know what they're doing, and he simply uses them through deception. So if we want to overcome deception, we have to recognize that it is possible, no matter our calling, and if we don't have the humility — understanding that it is possible to be deceived is very important. Here, in Ezekiel 45:20, the word says, 'And so you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who sins unintentionally or in ignorance, and so make atonement for the house.' Those who sinned in error and in deception — this already happened back in the Old Testament, and what did they do? They made atonement. Now we have a new covenant, and the atonement for us is made by our Lord through the blood He shed for us. But just as they regularly made atonement each seventh day for sin committed in error and deception, we have to learn from that. If we understand that we sin through error and deception, we must constantly repent. That is another step to overcoming deception — we must know that it is possible that we have been deceived, that it is possible we have sinned in error and deception without knowing it. So what do we do? We pray: 'I ask You forgiveness for every sin I have committed in error and in deception, Lord, have mercy on me, Lord, give me wisdom, give me understanding, open my eyes so that I may understand in what way, in ignorance, in error, or through deception, Lord, I am transgressing Your will.' Another step — repentance. We must repent, we must seek the presence of God for forgiveness, even for sins we don't know we have committed. Hebrews 3:13, 'But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.' We must be exhorted, we must have a humble heart, and we must be willing to listen to exhortation. Exhortation is when they tell us something that doesn't feel good to the flesh, but we receive it with humility, and it has the power to save our souls, if we listen to the exhortations of people who fear God. Another point, another important step to overcome deception, is to have a heart willing to listen to the exhortation of those who walk with revelation, full of the Holy Spirit, who walk in love for God. We want to have such people around us, we want to associate with them, we want to have around us people we have no doubt fear God, love God, and strive to please God. Then, when these people tell us something, we pay attention, because they may see something in us that we ourselves are not noticing. The devil is very cunning, and first of all, many of the schemes he unleashes, especially against the elect or the sheep in the church who seek the Lord, are generally not perceptible to the eye. The word says that spiritual things seem like foolishness to the natural man, because he cannot understand them — only what is spiritual can. So it seems like foolishness to the natural man. But those who are spiritual, who walk in the Spirit, guided by God — these perceive whatever the devil is doing. But if it's difficult to see the strategies the devil uses on other people, it's much harder to see if he is manipulating us ourselves. Therefore we must be willing to listen to the exhortation of others who are close to us, who walk in the fear of God. This is very important if we want to escape — not from deception, because we may already be deceived, walking in deception without understanding it. Ephesians 4:22-24, 'that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.' To overcome deception, we must put off the old man — that is, our fallen nature, that person we were before being born again, who sought our own desires, who walked according to our own understanding, who sought to satisfy ourselves. To overcome, we must put these things off, we must allow our minds to be renewed by the word of God. It is only when we give up our own understanding, the 'I' — 'I want, I think, I desire, I want to do this, I want that, me, me, me' — and now it is no longer me. If we truly desire to please God, we must die to ourselves, and now it is Christ; it's what the Lord wants, what the Lord desires. In what way do I please Him? Now it is the Lord — we no longer live for our own desires. All these answers are in the word of God, but to receive an answer we have to ask — that is, our heart has to be willing: 'I want to please You, I want to know the truth, I desire to do what pleases You.' When we begin to make this transition, no longer guiding ourselves by our own understanding but by the word of God, then we are firmer on that path, on that narrow way, and the devil, even though he still tries to deceive, now has much more difficulty, because a broken and humbled heart the Lord does not reject. If we humbly seek His presence regularly, repenting even without knowing we have sinned — in case we have sinned through deception — and beyond that, we are seeking Him with love, wanting to be guided by His word, He is faithful to keep us. He guards us from deception. Now, by our own strength, by our own understanding, we cannot guard ourselves from deception, because we are fighting against higher powers we cannot see, invisible enemies, and it is only if we are humble, through the Holy Spirit, that we can understand the devil's strategy. But in the end, by our own strength we also cannot stop certain spiritual things — everything comes through the Lord. Therefore, understanding our vulnerability, that we are not independent but dependent on the Lord, is another important step to being able to overcome. We must be humble, we must know that without Him we are nothing, that we cannot do good, we cannot even keep ourselves away from evil, if it is not by the mercy of God. Therefore all the glory is His. We must seek Him, we must place our faith in Him, not in ourselves, our trust in the Lord, not in ourselves, because again, by our own strength, by our own wisdom, by our own understanding, we arrive at deception — we do not escape deception, we end up being deceived. 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, 'and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.' Here the Lord says — because the Lord Himself sends a deceiving power — the Lord allows the devil to deceive many because they did not love the truth. If you do not want to be deceived, you must love the truth. Now, if you do not love the truth with all your heart, if you do not set your heart on wanting to please God, on wanting to know the truth, then you have zero chance of not being deceived, because then you are at the mercy of the devil himself, because the Lord is the only one who can defeat him, the Lord is the only one who can rescue you from that deception, who can free you from deception. But the word says that the Lord Himself sends a deceiving power to those who do not love the truth, so that they may be condemned. This is the result of deception — condemnation. If you want to overcome deception, you must set your heart to love the truth. Narrow is the way that leads to salvation. Does anyone understand this word? It seems to me that even churches that claim to be Christian do not understand the truthfulness and the severity of this word, that the way that leads to salvation is narrow, and few find it. The more we read the words of God and pay attention to them, the more we see that we truly must walk in the fear of God, that we must love the truth, that we must seek our Lord with all our heart, if we wish not to be ashamed at His coming, which is very near. And finally, to conclude, we will talk about how to overcome when lies and deceptions rise up against us. Yes, because lies and deception will rise up against you, against me, and it is things like this that make the difference between who are true disciples and who are not, between the elect and those who are not elect. When religious people, those who make religion out of it in the churches, practically present a gospel where everything is going to be pretty and rosy: 'your best life now,' 'come to Christ so you can enjoy life, so you'll have money, abundance, so you can have fun, so all your problems will be solved.' And certainly the best decision that you, I, and anyone can make is to serve the Lord and surrender their life to Him. But the truth is that to overcome in this world we will have tribulation. And we see the Lord overcame lying, deception, and accusations. Stephen overcame lying, deception, and accusations. And the word tells us how to overcome deception, lying, and accusations. We see in Revelation how it says they overcame the enemy by the blood of Jesus Christ and by the word of their testimony, because they did not love their lives even to the point of death. To overcome, we must not love our lives even to the point of death, and that is what makes the difference between who are disciples and who are not — those who are willing to die for God. That is what is required — being willing to die for Him — then we can overcome when deception rises up. Of course, when we understand the truth, even though many times when lies and deception rise up, if we do not understand the truth, we become distressed, or if we understand but still have difficulties, if we are not firmly grounded in the spirit, we become distressed. But the more we understand the truth, then even when lies and deception rise up, it is not a reason to be distressed but to rejoice. So the word says in Matthew 5:10-12, 'Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.' When we understand this word, and a word like this one, we already know that when we are persecuted, when all kinds of evil are said about us, it is not a reason to be distressed, it is a reason to rejoice. Like the disciples, when they were flogged after having healed the lame man, and even so they were glad in the church because they had been counted worthy to suffer for the name of the Lord. When we understand the truth, that this — lying, deception, criticism, and these things — is a weapon of Satan, but that it shows how weak he is, that he has to attack the elect especially, this is not a reason for us to be distressed, but to glorify God: 'Lord, thank You for counting me worthy.' Doesn't the word say, 'Rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven'? We have a reward when we suffer. Who wants to have a reward in heaven? Who wants to have a great reward in heaven? Well, you should know that the greater your reward, the more likely it is that the persecution, the lies, the criticism, and all these things we suffer, and will suffer, will be greater. These things are among Satan's weapons; it does not mean he will stop God's purpose in our lives by using them — no. But in using them, he shows he is already defeated. He knows his time is running out. He knows that soon he will be bound for a thousand years, and then thrown into the lake of fire. So he no longer has anything, it's all run out for him, he knows his time is very short. So the only thing he has left to act against us, to try to prevent us from being useful, from being vessels of honor used by the Almighty to save souls, is lying, deception, criticism, accusation against us. If we already know these are among Satan's weapons, then of course there is more we can do — more than anything, when we are in this position of surrender, of humility toward the Lord, willing to suffer for Him, we are positioned to overcome. Just as we are learning in this teaching series, we also have other spiritual weapons — having this attitude, having understanding of the word, having this attitude already in place when negative things come against us, so that we remain firm and understand these are weapons of Satan — that already puts us in a position of victory. But the word says pray without ceasing; our weapons are not carnal, we have powerful spiritual weapons to destroy the works of the devil. It does not mean that we are also tied hand and foot and that the devil simply comes against us and we just suffer while he attacks — no, we have weapons. These things are the devil's weapons and he will use them against us, but we also already know how to pray, we already know fasting is important, constant prayer, obedience — we use these weapons too, as offensive weapons, weapons of destruction, to destroy the lies and what the devil is doing against us, and in that way the slander and whatever they are doing against us will pass more quickly. 1 Peter 3:14-17, 'But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.' So, those who do good suffer, those who do evil suffer — the word tells us that if it is the will of God — it may be the will of God that some of us, especially those of us who have a calling, suffer certain things. It was said of Paul that he was chosen to suffer much for His name's sake. It may be the will of God that some of us suffer, but in that we also give thanks to God, as long as we suffer for doing good — glory to God. Now, if we suffer for doing evil, that we do not want. And finally, I'm going to read Revelation 2:10, 'Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.' That is the most important thing. The tribulation, the unpleasant moments, the obstacles that the devil manages to cause some of us while we're here, will not compare with the glory that will be revealed to us at the coming of our Lord, which is very near. That crown of eternal life is worth it. So do not love your lives, even to the point of death. This is how we overcome the devil, and this is how we will be found victorious, and with joy we will be ready, waiting for the Lord who is coming soon. Thank you for listening to us. This is the word I had for you today. If you have been edified by it, please like the video and share it — it is a way to support our effort. Also, below each video you will find different links where you can give to support our church with your offering, if that is what you feel in your heart. Thank you for supporting us. Until our next opportunity.

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Pastor Francisco Gomez

Thank you for reading our posts. It is our greatest desire that you be edified and blessed. Greetings in the name of our whole congregation, Jesus King of Kings.

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