Imagine for a moment that your city is surrounded by enemy forces who aimed to destroy you. And you are aware that enemy sympathizers live and work in the city with a view to undermining the city’s defenses. And suppose you discover that there is a song which the enemy and their sympathizers cannot tolerate or approach. Whenever they hear it, they pull back and run the other direction.
Isn’t it certain that you would want to learn this song? And after you learned it, you would sing it when you went to bed at night and when you got up in the morning. You would sing it on the way to work, and whenever you were among strangers. And as your confidence grew you would even venture outside the city and sing it as you walked boldly through the enemy lines on your way to another town. The more deeply embedded in your mind the song became, the more steady and deep and serene and fearless your life would become. Others would see and hear and learn the song from you. And in the end you would conquer the enemy, and there would be no threat at all.
Satan, the Old Self, and the Weapon of Thanksgiving
Well, we are surrounded by the enemy—namely, Satan and his forces. He is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). His weapons are deceit and delusion. His aim is the destruction of your faith and love.
And there are enemy sympathizers inside the city of our own souls—namely, the desires of the old self.
And there is a song that Satan and his sympathizers cannot tolerate or approach—namely, the song of thanks to God.
Posts Tagged ‘Satan’
Piper: Battle Hymn of the Thankful
Posted: July 3, 2011 by Pam Larson in Colossians, Devotionals/Commentaries, JulyTags: A Song That Conquers, Battle Hymn, Bible, Bible daily, Bible reading, Bible study, daily Bible, Dr. John Piper, enemy, Piper: Battle Hymn of the Thankful, Satan, Scripture, sermon, thanksgiving
His Truth Will Triumph
Posted: May 21, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Galatians, MayTags: Bible, Bible daily, Bible reading, Bible study, daily Bible, Dr. John Piper, Galatians, His Truth Will Triumph, Satan, Scripture
And though this world with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.The prince of darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure
For, lo, his doom is sure;one little word shall fell him.
An example of the word that can fell Satan in our lives is Galatians 4:3–7, “When we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir.”
Do you see what that means? It means that when the appointed time came, God looked down on his own world under the dominion of Satan and said to his Son, “Prepare for the invasion. The artillery of the enemy will be heavy. In fact, before you get very far on the beach you will be killed. But I will raise you from the dead and the beachhead you established will spread until it invades every tongue and tribe and nation. And I will free town after town from slavery to demons and slavery to the law. And we will draw into our movement all those who trust in you, my Son, and we will send your Spirit to empower them and bring them to glory. And they will be my children and heirs of everything I have. Satan will be vanquished, all unbelievers will be banished to outer darkness, and our glory will fill the earth like the waters cover the sea.”
Embracing Accusation
Posted: November 15, 2010 by Pam Larson in 1 John, Devotionals/Commentaries, NovemberTags: 1 John, accusations, Bible, Bible daily, Bible reading, Bible study, daily Bible, Dr. John Piper, Satan, Scripture
Here is a Shane and Shane video, intermixed with a clip from John Piper, that expresses the truth of 1 John 3:19-21 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
A Song That Conquers
Posted: July 3, 2010 by Pam Larson in Colossians, Devotionals/Commentaries, JulyTags: A Song That Conquers, Bible, Bible reading, Bible study, Colossians, daily Bible, Dr. John Piper, enemy, praise, Satan, Scripture, sermon, singing, thanksgiving
John Piper says,
Imagine for a moment that your city is surrounded by enemy forces who aimed to destroy you. And you are aware that enemy sympathizers live and work in the city with a view to undermining the city’s defenses. And suppose you discover that there is a song which the enemy and their sympathizers cannot tolerate or approach. Whenever they hear it, they pull back and run the other direction.
Satan, the Old Self, and the Weapon of Thanksgiving
Well, we are surrounded by the enemy—namely, Satan and his forces. He is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). His weapons are deceit and delusion. His aim is the destruction of your faith and love.
And there are enemy sympathizers inside the city of our own souls—namely, the desires of the old self.
And there is a song that Satan and his sympathizers cannot tolerate or approach—namely, the song of thanks to God.
Knowing the Truth and Loving the Truth
Posted: July 21, 2011 by Pam Larson in 2 Thessalonians, Devotionals/Commentaries, JulyTags: 2 Thessalonians, Bible, Bible reading, Bible study, daily Bible, Dr. John Piper, Knowing the Truth and Loving the Truth, Satan, Scripture, The way the truth and the life
John Piper, in a sermon, “What Must Happen Before the Day of the Lord”
According to verse 10 the signs and wonders of the man of lawlessness deceive those who are perishing. Why? Why are they so vulnerable? Why do many professing Christians leave the truth and follow falsehood?
Knowing the Truth and Loving the Truth
Look at verse 12: ” . . . so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” The opposite of believing the truth is delighting in evil.
And this means that saving faith—faith that will endure to the end through the affliction now and through the apostasy to come—is not merely an accepting of truth but a loving of truth. Verse 10: “They perish because they refused to love the truth.”
We can be sure that when the man of lawlessness comes, his signs and wonders will be used to support claims that appeal to our natural desires. Therefore the only defense against this appeal will be a deeper desire for God. If Christ is our portion and our treasure, if he satisfies our longings, and if we love the glory of his gospel, then the mystery of lawlessness will not overcome us, and our love will not grow cold and we will endure to the end and be saved. May the Lord grant us all to receive the love of the truth. Amen.