LIES AND LYING

Time with Jesus - Saturday, 05 January 2013

Hi all,

There is a world of difference between a parable and a statement. Jesus never minced words and told several parables. In one of them He refers to “binding” the strongman. ²⁹ For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger; someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house. Matthew 12:29 NLT I’ve always struggled with understanding how this Scripture gives Christians the authority to ‘”bind” Satan. It is a illustration by Jesus, not an instruction. The verse does not say we should seek to “bind” the strongman. Jesus was merely commenting on confronting anyone stronger than we are. Somehow I think we have missed the point. Look at what Jesus’ half-brother said. ⁷ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NLT James actually shows us with what we should do about Satan. 1) “Humble yourself before God”. When you have done so you are in a position to “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you!” Trying to “bind” him, without an attitude of humility toward God in the heart, is pointless.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Saturday, 05 January 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	Lies and Lying
For me, Satan is something of an enigma. Many believe that his fall from heaven is described in Isaiah. 12 What a comedown this, O Babylon! Daystar! Son of Dawn! Flat on your face in the underworld mud, you, famous for flattening nations! Isaiah 14:12 MSG I’ve never been entirely happy with this. The context is within Isaiah’s “lament” over the dead king of Babylon. To say this is a reference to Satan, seems to me to be “stretching” Scripture, to mean something not intended. It may be a reference to the fall of Satan. But to take this description out of context seems unwise. I’ve got much the same difficulty with the lament of Ezekiel 28. Here Ezekiel speaks of the king of Tyre. To say this refers to the fall of Satan also seems to stretch the truth beyond breaking point. It all seems too “convenient”. We want to know where he originated and think these verses give the answer. Now, Jesus speaking to the Pharisees about Satan said, 44 You belong to your father, the devil. You want to obey your father's wishes. "From the beginning, the devil was a murderer. He has never obeyed the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his natural language. He does this because he is a liar. He is the father of lies. John 8:44 NIrV. This comment by Jesus tells us a great deal about Satan and his kingdom. Basically, he is a liar. How he can rule his kingdom is questionable? How can he give orders? If he tells them to go to Cape Town, they end up in Harare. Where else? You choose. It can’t be Cape Town! He’s a liar and can’t give accurate instructions. Lying is his natural language. So his minions don’t know where to go or what he wants! For them, anywhere will do. No wonder Peter tells us, 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.1 Peter 5:8 NLT What else can an inveterate liar do? He’ll devour anyone and anything regardless of whose “side” they are on. So who exactly is Satan? If you want to go along with those who like Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 and believe it, that’s fine. Personally I’m not convinced. What I can say is that he is no push over as Jude tells us. 9 But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Jude 1:9 NLT So what can we do? James puts it in a nutshell. So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NLT It’s the best Biblical recommendation I know. You may or may not be able to “bind” him. If Michael couldn’t, I doubt we can. But you can resist him. Go for it! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			3 LORD, guard my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3 NIrV 3 LORD, if You kept a record of our sins, who O Lord, could ever survive? Psalm 130:3 NLT 33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips. Psalm 106:33 TNIV 11 What goes into your mouth does not defile you, but what comes out of your mouth that is what defiles you." Mat 15:11 TNIV 28 A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends. Proverbs 16:28 NLT 18 Rash language cuts and maims, but there is healing in the words of the wise. 19 Truth lasts; lies are here today, gone tomorrow. Proverbs 12:18-19 MSG 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. James 3:8-10 ESV 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices Col 3:8-9 ESV 3 God wants you to live a pure life. Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity. 1 Thess. 4:3 MSG . 5 Their mouths told no lies. They are without blame. Rev 14:5 NIrV	I’ve often wondered how the devil’s forces can be strong. They’re all a bunch of liars, so they always get things wrong. The devil is their father. The truth is not in him. He says that he is flying while he’s going for a swim. It’s terribly confusing. When he gives a command, They don’t know if it’s local, or in some foreign land! He tells them, “Go to Cape Town!” so they go to Timbuktu. They can’t obey his orders, ‘cause they don’t know what to do! While I was an apprentice, I met someone from his gang. He said that he was thirty and was injured in a prang. But everything we said, he told us he had done before. And from his great achievements we guessed he was much more. He’d seen so many places and done so many things, We thought he was a puppet that was hanging by his strings. If what he said was true, he was the oldest man alive. We stopped our calculations when we go to ninety five. The Lord has told us Satan is the Father of all lies. So everything he does, should never take us by surprise. Our children are his followers. They have a bent that way. When they have just been naughty you’ll always hear them say, “It wasn’t me that did it. I don’t know who it was. It must be mister nobody! I’m innocent because, I wasn’t even playing in that portion of the house. So if you heard a racket, it must have been a mouse!” We know that they are lying. They just will not own up. “It wasn’t me that did it. My sister broke that cup!” Now this was clearly mentioned by the Master’s brother, James. He said the tongue was wicked and it poisoned people’s names. He said no one can tame it and we know that it is true. And that is why the Spirit gave a special gift to you. This gift is often criticised, the gift of “tongues” it’s named; And every time you use it, the Lord is not defamed. You don’t know what you’re saying. Your speaking to the Lord; And everything you say declares the Master is adored. So if you have a problem and the devil’s drawing near; You really needn’t worry or start trembling with fear. Allow God’s special gift to flow from deep within your lungs, And Satan will freak out ‘cause he’s not got this gift of tongues! So now we have a weapon in our battle for the truth, From all of Satan’s minions and every lying youth. Let your spirit speak to them in something that’s unique. The only way we’re certain that it’s only truth we speak. Jim Strickland Written 5th January 2012