Part 2: “Speaking Evil and Guile Comes From Situational Complaining Against God.”
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
[“The art of a professional thief is he keeps on stealing from you, and you never realize you have been stolen from, until it’s all gone!”]
Introduction:
Happy Sunday to you in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Have you ever stopped and thought about Satan, and his works? I mean, have you asked yourself—what’s wrong with this fool?
As Jesus Christ said, Satan only seeks to steal, and to kill, and to destroy—to exact pain, heartache, suffering, and the total demise of human beings and the whole world. What’s his beef with us? Jesus even told Peter, and the other disciples as well, that Satan excessively desired to “have them, and sift them as wheat.” (Luke 22:31-32) But, Jesus prayed, especially for Peter, that his faith would not fail, and when converted he would also strengthen the brethren.
This is exactly what Satan wants of you too—to have you—to own you—but he cannot because you are born-again and belong to God.” (John 1:13) However, Satan does rule over the unsaved people of the world, which are those who refuse to believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. Their eyes have been blinded and hearts darkened from the truth, and they hate the Light of Christ less their evil works are reproved. (II Cor. 4:4, Eph. 2: 1-3 & John 3:20)
As we discussed last week, for born-again Christians, neither Satan, nor any work of sin—with the exception of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost—has any in-roads into our sanctified hearts (soul, mind of the soul and spirit) as our hearts are sealed until the day of redemption. (II Cor.1:22)
However, Satan can gain access to our thought-life through the human brain, the control tower of the human body. From the human brain we make our choices in life—whether to obey the Voice of God and live under the blessings of God, or the voice of Satan and live under the curse. From our brains, we choose the words we speak; life and blessing or cursing and death. If we desire to have longevity and see good days we must choose to speak words that are godly and edify one another. (I Pet. 3:10) For life is truly a “Thinking Man’s Game.”
Today, I want to focus on Satan and his tricks to get born-again Christians to obey his voice, and speak evil and guile. We are to know the tricks and whiles of God’s enemy the devil. (II Cor. 2:11) Satan uses a tactic I call, “Situational Complaining,” to tempt born-again Christians to enter into evil communications. (Situational Complaining occurs whenever a person gets into a perplexing or difficult situation they have to cope with and choose to murmur and complain about it.)
Remember, Jesus Christ pointed out at John 8:44, that Satan is the “father of lies.” (John 8:44) Since he is a father, it means he has offspring, and only seeks to make more children who have his nature. Satan desires to impregnate your thought-life with lies that have their root in a complaint against God.
Situational Complaining Results in Evil Speaking Against God
Saints of God, let’s get to the bottom-line upfront. Satan desires to plant his “complaint against God,” in your head, in hopes you will rebel against God and His Word. As I said before, Satan is the “father of lies.” A lie is nothing more than a complaint against the truth.
Let me illustrate the egregiousness of a lie in the natural. Archimedes the famous Greek Mathematician, and considered the father of Mathematics, would certainly hold to and prove that the addition problem of 1 + 1 = 2. Throughout history, everyone in the world recognizes this as truth; the correct answer. Sitting here today, all of you would agree that 1 + 1 = 2. Am I right about it?
But, what if I was a Math instructor (at any grade level) and adamantly taught my students, down through the years that Archimedes was totally wrong; that 1 + 1 = 5 and not 2. In fact, let’s take things a bit further and assume that I taught my students that all of the math principals espoused by Archimedes were invalid—that they lacked sound reasoning and mental rigor, and if followed, would destroy all human understanding of the core contents of other subjects such as the sciences, social studies, music and even art, which have their root in mathematics.
If I did this, the first violence I would be committing is voicing a complaint against Archimedes—expressing total displeasure and dissatisfaction with his competence in mathematics, and defying all of the basic laws of proven mathematics. The second violence, I would be committing is lying against the truth; as 1 + 1 does not equal 5, and never can it. But, also consider the violence I would be committing against the learning of innocent students—because one plus one equals two—is common to all human logic. My false teaching (lies) could be injurious to the students’ welfare and entire life if they believed the lie!
Now consider Satan, for this is exactly what the father of lies is all about. He lies against God and His Word—he lies against the Truth. (John 17:17 & John 8:44) If you allow Satan to have airtime in your head, he will do nothing but lie against the truth. You will find yourself in various situations in life, in which you have a complaint, or even multiple complaints against God. Satan has no new tricks, and since the creation of Mankind, he has used his twisted wisdom, cunning, and craftiness to bring about situations for human beings to voice complaints against God, with corresponding actions of sin following.
Satan’s tactic worked in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, which I will describe in a moment, and still works in the lives of people, including Christians today. Satan wants you to “perceive” in situations in life that you have a need, want, or desire for something that is not being met by God, and vocally he wants you to express your displeasure or dissatisfaction about it. Whether your dissatisfaction about the thing is directly aimed at God or not, does not matter.
For you see, God is the creator of all things, and for born-again Christians, God has already made you an heir of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ, and supplied all of your needs. (Rom. 8:17 & Php. 4:19) God has given you everything that pertains unto life and godliness. (II Pet.1:3) He has given you all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 1:3) All things are yours. (I Cor. 3:22) These are all blessings that the Bible tells us we possess in Christ Jesus. They are not written in the Bible so we can just say thank you Lord, smile, and move on and complain so more! Rather, they are written so that we might profit from the promises of God, and God may be glorified through us in the earth! (II Tim. 3:16-17 & II Cor.1:20)
So when Christians verbalize the “perceived” thing(s) that they lack, are missing, and/or are broken in their life, they are “complaining” against God—speaking evil, because they are saying things that are contrary to God’s Word! They are lying against the Truth. Oh yes, as born-again Christians, albeit often unknowingly, we complain into the ears of God. For example, we say things like:
--I have no money, food, job, house, or car
--I’m sick in my body and can’t get well, I’m going to die
--Nothing good ever happens for me
--I can’t find a husband or wife
--Everybody is against me
--I can’t do this and I can’t do that
--I hate this and dislike that
--I will never forgive him or her
--I just want to be left alone (you are telling Jesus to leave you, is that what you really want?
When people voice complaints, negative feelings and emotions are discharged due to frustration over a situation/problem, which most often leads to more evil speaking. You know—such as fussing, cussing, cursing, defaming, lying, deceiving, and so forth. These are all the thoughts and words of the devil and in these situations the Christian is saying in effect, that God doesn’t love me, God is a liar, God is stingy, and God cannot be trusted.
This results in the Christian reasoning that since their material need(s) have not been met, in a timely manner and/or in the desired way, they must take matters into their own hands—either by letting a promise of God slip and become slothful, or to take actions that trespass God’s Word. It’s the old lying adage: “God helps those who help themselves.” Wrong, God helps those who ask for His Help! (Ps. 91:15 & Rom.10:13)
Also, after sin is committed, many Christians tend to defend their behavior through excuses for why it was necessary to do what they did—and then attempt to draw God into their wrong behavior by saying things like, “the Lord knows my heart,” “God knows I meant well,” or that “someone else is at fault and made them do the wrong thing.” This only results in more evil speaking and guile, you see.
A close examination of the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden illustrates how Satan attempts to put his complaint about God in all of us. Thereby, coaxing us to speak evil and guile before the Lord.
Adam and Eve Consumed the Complaint of Satan, Forfeiting the Good life God Ordained for Them to Live.
When God created Adam, He gave him authority and dominion over the whole earth. The blessing of God was wax-weighty upon Adam (Mankind), and with Eve whom God made from the man. (Gen. 1:28, 2:7, 21-22) Adam was anointed with fruitfulness, the ability to multiply, replenish, and given the power to subdue anything that would rise up against him in the earth.
So anointed was Adam in wisdom, that he gave names to every animal God created, he named the female “woman, and his wife Eve,” and God prophetically spoke through Adam, pronouncing the unique bond of the institution of marriage. (Gen. 2:19-25) God gave into Adam’s stewardship, the Garden of Eden, to keep and dress it. The Garden of pleasure and delight—paradise was the enjoyment of Adam and Eve. God with the first couple had intimate fellowship daily, as they reflected the goodness and grandeur of the glory of God in His presence—they were innocent and holy before God and all of heaven. Indeed, Adam and Eve had it going on!
However, it was a simple and direct Commandment that God gave to Adam that would take center stage. Where the arch enemy of God, Satan, once known as Lucifer, would conjure up a situation and wreck-havoc on the relationship between God, Man and Woman, and the world. Let’s take a few moments and talk about Lucifer.
Lucifer, who in the before times, was God’s created anointed cherub, was a magnificent being! The prophet Ezekiel described him as the “seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Every precious stone was his covering. He was the anointed cherub who covered. He was perfect in all of his ways from the day he was created. (Ezek. 28:12-17). Lucifer was fully arrayed by God to reflect His glory. He walked in the Garden of Eden, in the earth as created at Genesis 1:1, and he had direct access to God. But, Lucifer disgraced himself and fell from heaven as lightening when he attempted with one-third of the angels, to invade, dethrone, and become the Supreme ruler of the cosmos and all created therein. (Luke 10:18 & Rev.12: 4, 9)
You see, the cause of Lucifer’s fall was a “complaint” in his heart against God—a complaint that he trafficked and merchandised among the holy angels of God, and the inhabitants of the earth that was before. According to the Dake Bible, the nations of the earth consisted of kings and the other inhabitants, who were referred to as, “Pre-Adamites” (mortal beings). God established Lucifer as the ruler of the earth. However, Lucifer became dissatisfied with his “eternal vocation”—created to worship God, and minister to the Pre-Adamites—he aspired to be greater than God and to replace Him.
According to Ezekiel 28, Lucifer became filled with violence within, and he sinned. His heart was lifted up because of his beauty (Verses16-17) Lucifer’s appearance, and everything that he possessed was a gift from God, and yet he allowed the gift of beauty, to inspire rebellion in him. In Lucifer’s heart he proclaimed and weakened the nations on earth with these evil communications, recorded in Isaiah 14:12-14…For you have said in your heart:
“I will ascend into heaven,” “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God,” “I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;” “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Do you see the immediate problem with the bellicose words from the heart of Lucifer? They are all lies! His ambitions were far above his pay grade!
Lucifer’s name meant “day star” or son of the morning—an angel with specific duties to carry out, was what God created Lucifer to be. Lucifer was a “created being” of the angelic class—therefore, it was not possible that he could be “The Supreme God!” But Lucifer was determined to disobey, rebel, and become the enemy of God. Thus, God renamed him Satan, meaning “the adversary” or “the one who opposes God, His Word, and people.” Satan if you will is the “father of violence against the truth.”
Lucifer, turned Satan was judged and casted from heaven into the earth, and the Pre-Adamites who he had turned away from God were swallowed up in the first great flood of the earth (Lucifer’s flood) and perished. (Gen. 1:2, Jer. 4:23-28, & II Pet. 3:5-6)
As God released the earth and recreated it in Genesis 1:3-31, Lucifer, now Satan, was also released—for an angelic being cannot be destroyed by water, as the mortal Pre-Adamites were, but only contained. Now Lucifer, roaming the earth was void of power and authority, and only left with an eternal complaint of bitterness in his heart against God. Now, we can clearly see Satan’s beef with God and Mankind.
Adam had been given authority and dominion over earth, he dwelt in a new Garden of Eden, he and Eve were made in the image of God, after His likeness, and God had given to Adam Commandments concerning the consumption of fruit from the trees in the Garden of Eden. In other words, Adam possessed everything and more that Satan once possessed as Lucifer on earth—and you know he was furious at God for placing him under the feet of Adam and Eve! Satan, the fallen angel, had nothing but humiliation—he had lost the earth, his throne, his subjects, and access to God.
As Satan, his heart’s ambition and mission is to oppose God, to tempt and turn Mankind against God through sin against God’s Word, and once again rule the earth. But, sin could not enter into the earth, without a Commandment of God being violated by Adam (Mankind). (Rom. 4:15 & 3:20) So now the stage is set with the Commandment God had given to Adam concerning the trees of the Garden of Eden.
Let’s take a look at what God commanded of Adam concerning consumption of the trees in the Garden of Eden, as recorded at Genesis 2:15-17.
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Look at the love of God at work. God gave to Adam and Eve every tree in the Garden of Eden to liberally consume fruit from, with the exception of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The Bible does not tell us how many fruit trees there were in the Garden at the time He gave the Commandment to Adam. However, we know God is the abundant supplier of all we need. (Php. 4:19) So, we can safely assume there was more than an ample supply of food available to eat. Further, the blessing of God on the earth, and on Adam and Eve, would have caused perpetual replenishment, and new growth of trees for harvests in paradise. (Gen.1:28 and Prov.10:22)
God’s warning to Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, was an act of love, to keep them, from the experience of death—separation from God resulting in spiritual, moral, and ultimately physical death. Clearly, if you love someone, as certainly God loves Mankind, you never want to see them hurt, diminished, or lose connection with you. The Commandment not to eat of the forbidden tree was a warning from a loving God and Father watching over His children to protect them from danger. Aren’t you glad your parents taught you never to place your hand on a hot stove, to drink poison, and to look both ways before crossing the street?
Now let’s review the conversation Satan had with Eve, while Adam stood by, as recorded at Genesis 3:1-5.
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Wow, can you see how violent, divisive, and destructive the thoughts and words of Satan were? Satan’s line of questioning about God’s Commandment was solely intended to “build a complaint” in Adam and Eve against God. He used what I call “The Four D’s of Evil Communication” to turn them away from God: (1) Doubt God’s Word, (2) Deny God’s Word, (3) Disobey God’s Word, which exalts “self” above God, and (4) Defend sinful actions against God’s Word. These four elements form the basis of all complaining Satan tries to inspire us to do, to speak evil and guile against God, and ultimately commit acts of sin. Moreover, every sin that we ever commit against God and His Word contain these four elements.
Notice in Verse 1, Satan’s question of Eve is intended to raise doubt as to whether she heard God correctly about eating from all of the trees in the Garden of Eden—“Yea, hath God said you shall not eat from every tree of the garden.” What a violent/wicked question to ask of Eve. Satan was implying that God did not want the couple to eat fruit of any of the trees in the Garden—that while God had placed them in the Garden to live and work—He was being stingy and didn’t care if they had anything to eat. The question, was intended to cause immediate alarm and fear in Adam and Eve that their basic needs for food would not be met by God.
Satan, however, was really using the first question to cause Eve to focus on the only tree forbidden by God to eat from. When Eve told the Serpent they could eat of every tree, except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the Garden, and not to touch it because they would die, (Verses 2-3) Satan quickly moved to vehemently deny that they would die if they ate from the tree—in Verse 4, “you shall not surely die.” The Amplified Bible states, “You certainly will not die.”
Satan working through the Serpent moved quickly from tempting the couple to doubt God’s Word, to denying God’s Word was true. Satan was implying that God had outright lied to them and could not be trusted. He shared with them his twisted wisdom about what happens when the tree is consumed, as if he had some personal knowledge and experience with the tree—that they would not die, but would have a wonderful enlightenment that God Himself knows they would benefit from. (Verse 4)
As their eyes would be opened, and they would be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Now, Satan had insinuated that God was holding out on them—that the fruit from the forbidden tree held the key to them becoming as wise as God Himself—“knowing good and evil.” In doing so, Satan had built the perfect “house of complaint” in their heads against God. That is: God who created them, really does not love them, but hates them, desires to enslave them, doesn’t want them to be like Him, nor have the very best things in life. This was nothing but the trick of the enemy and pure evil thinking. As we saw in Scripture, Adam and Eve were already like God—created in His own image and likeness and given dominion and authority over all the earth. (Gen. 1:26-27)
But, most egregious of all, Satan was accusing God of being both “good and evil,” and was suggesting that the couple could be good and evil, like God if they partook of the forbidden tree. However, we know, there is no evil nor darkness in God at all. (Ps. 92:5 & I John 1:5) God knows of the evil in the hearts of Satan, fallen angels, and in men who rebel against him. But, He has no intimate knowledge of evil within Himself, neither can a Holy God do evil.
Satan was only tempting Adam and Eve to make the decision to complain in their hearts against God, disobey God’s Word and eat of the forbidden fruit, so they would have intimate knowledge of evil and sin. In disobeying God’s word, they would have the same complaint against God, as Satan had in them.
We know how the rest of the story goes, Eve was beguiled by the Serpent and Adam transgressed the Commandment of God by eating the fruit of the tree. (Verse 6) (I Tim. 2:14) In so doing, they exalted themselves above the knowledge of God, sinned, died spiritually and morally, and later experienced physical death. In their hearts, they said they would make themselves as God, just as Lucifer turned Satan did, when he attempted to become as the Most High God in the before times. The sin of Adam and Eve plunged themselves and all humanity and world, into sin, death, and hell. Every person, from the womb of their mother, is born into sin and shaped in iniquity. (Ps. 51:5)
Lastly, after Adam and Eve sinned, God confronted them in the cool of the day and inquired about their location and actions, both Adam and Eve attempted to defend themselves. Adam first blamed God for giving him Eve, and that she was the one who gave him the fruit to eat. Then when God asked Eve about her actions, she blamed the Serpent who beguiled her to eat of it. (Gen. 3:8-13) The couple expressed no remorse for their sin, nor did they ask God to forgive them. This is the harvest of fruit of the complaint of Satan—a conscious without remorse for sin. Instead, Adam and Eve desired only to remain in the Garden of Eden—with business and life as usual.
The sad truth of this story is Adam and Eve never recognized they were having a conversation with an inferior species—a Serpent and Satan who had together conspired to rise up against Adam and stolen everything God had given to them. Though the Serpent was more subtle than the other beasts of the field, Adam, was the one who gave the Serpent its name, and had complete control over beast.
Yet, the couple found themselves listening to the Serpent accuse God of all manner of evil. They failed to put up any resistance against the questions and accusations of the Serpent. Instead, they accepted Satan’s complaint and sinned against God. So, God put them out of the Garden of Eden, and placed Cherubims, and a flaming sword around the tree of life to protect it. For if they had eaten from it, they would have become knowing good and evil forever. (Gen. 3:22-24) Thank God Jesus Christ came according to Messianic Prophecy and saved the world from sin through the shedding of His blood and died on the cross at Calvary, and resurrection from the dead on the third-day. (Gen. 3:15, Rom. 5:8 & II Cor. 5:18-19)
Closing Thoughts
Satan today uses the same tricks he pulled on Adam and Eve—The Four D’s of Evil Communication to stir up complaints about God. He uses tribulation, crises, common troubles and problems in life to make born-again Christians think they have things missing, broken, or lacking in their lives to complain about. Thereby, giving voice to murmuring and complaining. To murmur and complain about “perceived” material things at a given station in life, is speaking evil and guile against God. This only leads to rebellion against God, and spurs the lust for forbidden things, and ultimate transgression of the Word of God. We need to always remember Hebrews 13:5, it reads as follows:
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
As the children of God, we are to always be content with the things we have for God will never leave us without support. We are to be content in knowing that through God in Christ Jesus all things in the earth belong to us and with the appropriate faith confession every promise of God will come to pass in our lives. We have no need to express dissatisfaction with our station in life, nor envy and become jealous of what someone else possesses, nor idolize another human being or things in this world.
Thus, with diligence, we must watch over our words, and as the Apostle Peter says, “refrain” from speaking evil and guile. (I Pet. 3:10) The temptation of speaking evil and guile will always come from Satan, but through yielding to the Holy Ghost, we have the power to think first and control our mouths from speaking evil words and guile so that we may enjoy longevity and good days on earth. Greater is Christ in us than the wicked one in the World. (I John 4:4) God is our life and length of our days. In speaking good things and living for God assures us we will live a long satisfied life on earth.
Next week, we will examine an amazing tool God has given to us to tear down and demolish Satan’s house of complaints, so we can become holy communicators and champions in the game of life. Amen to the preaching of the Word of God.
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