Dear Friend,

This world is not a playground; it is a battleground! The Christian life is a life of warfare. We have a terrible enemy who wants to destroy us. That enemy is Satan!

Christians are called to be “good soldiers” of the Lord Jesus Christ, and “to war a good warfare.” The reason why the Christian life is a warfare is that we have a terrible enemy who wants to destroy us. That enemy is Satan.

Satan was originally created as an angel named Lucifer, but he rebelled against God. A third of the angels in Heaven followed Satan in his rebellion against God. Satan and his fallen angels are spirit-beings. We cannot see them, but they are very real enemies of every child of God.

When God created the world, He put Adam in charge. But when Adam rebelled against God, he took sides with Satan and came under his rule. It is a terrible thing to think that the first man chose rebellion and sin and death. What did it mean? It was a great victory for Satan. The Bible says,

“…the whole world lies in wickedness [under the rule of the wicked one]” (1 John 5:19).

Why Christ came.

The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to destroy the works of the devil. The Bible says,

“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

For thousands of years, until Christ came, sin and death and Satan reigned in the world. Death meant that Satan had the victory. But one Man went into the prison house of death, and rose up out of it in triumph. The Bible says,

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

God is at last victorious!

There is a Man who has gotten the victory for God. The Man Christ Jesus destroyed the power of Satan and rose in resurrection victory. He went back to Heaven as the mighty Victor over sin, death, and Satan.

Christ was exalted.

When God’s Son went home to glory, the Father gave Him the place of greatest honor and power. The Man Jesus Christ is now seated on the very throne of Heaven. The Bible says,

“…He [God] raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:20-21).

The Man Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of God. Neither Satan, nor his fallen angels, can ever dispute the fact that they are Christ’s captives.

Satan is a terrible enemy.

Though Satan has been defeated and condemned to the lake of fire, the sentence has not yet been carried out. For now, Satan is a terrible enemy, and he has great power.

Because he knows that his time is short, Satan is filled with wrath. The Bible says,

“Be sober, be vigilant [watchful]; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Satan is “the father of lies.”

All lies have their source in Satan. Satan’s objective is to destroy people. He knows that his eternal destiny is the lake of fire, but he wants to take as many people as possible with him.

Satan destroys people by deceiving them. To deceive someone is to cause them to believe a lie. Jesus said of Satan,

“…He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).

God hates lies! In His Word God lists seven things that are an abomination to Him. Two of them are “a lying tongue” and “a false witness who speaks lies.” (See Proverbs 6:17-19.)

God is the “God of truth.”

Truth is that which may be known of God and of His will. It is the setting forth and expression of what God is like. People have many wrong ideas about God, put in their minds by Satan. Jesus came to tell us and show us what God is like.

God is the “God of truth.” God cannot lie. The Son said, “I am the truth” (John 14:6). The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth” who “guides us into all truth” (John 16:13). The Bible is “the Word of truth.”

The word “truth” is mentioned ninety times in the Old Testament and one hundred seven times in the New Testament. Jesus said,

“…the scriptures cannot be broken” (John 10:35).

The truth of the Bible is set forth in understandable statements called Christian doctrine. God is very concerned that we hold to the true doctrines of the Bible. The one thing that is emphasized more than any other in the New Testament is warning against false doctrine. It is emphasized more than love, unity, or experience. Since God inspired the Scriptures, this shows that true doctrine is of paramount importance to God.

Concerning His disciples, Jesus prayed to His Father,

“Sanctify them [set them apart] through your truth: Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

The Bible is our unfailing guide on all matters of doctrine and practice. The Bible says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because they have no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). Jesus said, “…the scriptures cannot be broken” (John 10:35).

The battle for the minds of men.

The battle of the ages between God and Satan comes down to a battle for the minds and hearts of people. It is a battle between God’s truth and Satan’s lies.

The Bible calls Satan “the god of this world” because he is the unseen ruler of his world-system. Satan is the one who ultimately controls business, education, entertainment, sports, religion, the news media and countless other things. Satan uses his world system to propagate his lies. Let us consider some of them.

The theory of evolution teaches that all life evolved upward from a single cell billions of years ago.

This is one of the biggest lies that Satan has ever invented to deceive the human race. This unproved theory leaves God out and is almost universally taught as fact in schools and universities.

The truth is that man is not evolving upward, but going downward, deeper and deeper into sin. The reason for this is that man did not want to retain God in his knowledge. Romans, chapter one, gives us the true account of man’s history. The Bible says,

“Because that, when they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, neither were thankful…Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools…Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator…For this cause God gave them up to vile affections…” (Romans 1:21-22, 25-26).

Regarding moral values, Satan says everything is relative. Do what feels right to you. If you don’t think it is sin, it’s not sin to you. Don’t let other people put a guilt-trip on you.

The statement, “There are NO moral absolutes” contradicts itself. It is an absolute statement which says there are no absolutes!

God is a moral Being. He created man in His own image as a moral being. He has revealed His moral absolutes to us in His Word.

Every commandment of God is an expression of His love for us to keep us from making mistakes which can have lifetime consequences. This wonderful God desires a personal relationship with you. If you want proof of His love for you, look at His Son dying on the cross.

Satan’s lie to Eve was, “You don’t have to live by what God said. When you eat the forbidden fruit, you will be as gods. Then you can make your own decisions about what is right and what is wrong for you.”

Satan’s tactics have not changed. His lie to us today is: “There is no truth greater than you. You can make your own decision about what is right and what is wrong for you. When you believe something, that makes it true for you.”

Believing a lie does not make it true. In His Word, God has revealed His truth. Our salvation depends on our believing God’s truth. The Bible says,

“…God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

There is only one true and living God, and the only way we as sinful creatures can approach Him is through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

Peter said,

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

It was not a spirit that died on the cross for us, and it was not a spirit that rose from the dead. Jesus appeared to His disciples and said, “Behold My hands and feet, that it is I myself: handle Me and see: for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see Me have” (Luke 24:39). Jesus sat down and ate fish and honey with them.

Christ’s resurrection proves that He is who He said He was. The Bible says,

“[Jesus Christ was] declared to be the Son of God with power…by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).

The Bible makes it quite clear that death is not the end of a person’s existence. Every person will live forever in either Heaven or hell. The Bible says,

“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

An atheist was on his death-bed. His friends tried to cheer him up by telling him that he did not have to be afraid of death. He said, “It is not death that I am afraid of; it is resurrection!”

Jesus said plainly that He is God. He said, “I and My Father are one,” and “He who has Me has seen the Father” (John 10:30, 14:9). Three times the Jews took up stones to kill Him. They said,

“For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, because You, being a man, make yourself God” (John 10:33).

Do not be deceived!

We live in an age of great deception. Satan has many deceivers in the world doing his work. The Lord Jesus said, “Take heed that you be not deceived…” (Luke 21:8). The question we have to ask ourselves is this: Am I going to believe this person’s word or believe God’s truth?

Don’t let anyone deceive you with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense! The Bible says,

“They promise freedom while they themselves are slaves of sin…” (2 Peter 2:19).

God has spoken in His Word. Those who reject Jesus Christ and do not receive His words will be judged by God’s Word and consigned to the lake of fire. The Lord Jesus said,

“He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

Picture a circle and let it represent your life and the circumstances God has arranged for you. Inside that circle that is yours, God has provided all that you really need.

Things are not perfect in your little “circle,” nor will they ever be in this life. We live in a world that is under the curse of sin. Therefore we will face many troubles and trials of our faith.

God has not promised us an easy time in this life, nor has He promised to give us everything we want. But He has promised to be with us always and to meet our needs. You can truly say, “God and what God provides for me is all I need.”

Satan is the great deceiver, and he will seek to put wrong thoughts into your mind. He will point to something outside your “circle,” and suggest to you, “You really need this. In fact, you cannot be happy unless you have it.” If you accept a wrong thought, it becomes a wrong belief, and wrong beliefs lead to wrong actions and wrong feelings.

“You must have the approval of your peers to feel good about yourself.”

Often, gaining the approval of your peers means compromising your beliefs and lowering your standards. If pleasing your friends means displeasing the Lord, choose to please Him. Christ is your Beloved—the One who loves you with all His heart.

“God has not given you the best.”

Resentment comes when you think what God has provided for you is not best. You may not understand your situation, but you must not be offended by what God does or does not do. What God has provided for you is best for you even though you may not understand it.

“You must have this person’s love. Without it, your life will be miserable.”

God has promised to meet all your needs. The fact that He has not provided you with that person’s love means that you do not really need it. It is not wrong to love someone and to be grieved when that person does not respond to your love. But you can truly say, “I don’t have to have that person’s love. God and what He provides for me is all I need.”

“You must do what this person wants you to do to keep from losing him.”

Every romantic relationship in which you are involved will one day come to an end—except for one. The only one that will last is the one that leads to marriage. If you give away your priceless virginity in one of those other relationships, you will regret it.

If it is God’s will for you to get married, He will bring the right one into your life. Until then, keep yourself for the right person, the one you marry, and the right time, your wedding night!

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Israel’s army was facing their enemy, the Philistines. The camp of Israel was on one mountain and the camp of the Philistines was on another mountain. In between them was a valley.

One of the Philistine warriors was a giant named Goliath. He was over nine feet tall, and probably weighed at least 600 pounds. He also wore a lot of armor. He had a helmet of bronze to protect his head, and an armored coat to protect his chest. He even had armor to cover his legs.

Goliath strutted into the valley and yelled to the Israelites, “Send your best man to fight me. If he can kill me, we Philistines will be your slaves; but if I kill him, you must be our slaves!”

David, now seventeen years old, volunteered to fight Goliath. He took his shepherd’s staff and his slingshot and started toward Goliath. When Goliath saw David, he did not think David was worth fighting.

Then David said, “You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”

Goliath had never seen such courage and faith in a man! David said,

“This day will the Lord deliver you into my hand; and I will smite you, and take your head from you…that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel…for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:46-47).

When Goliath started lumbering toward him, David did something surprising. Trusting in his God, David ran right toward Goliath! Then he stopped, put his hand into his bag, and took out one stone. David put it in his sling and sent it flying toward Goliath.

The stone from David’s sling hit Goliath squarely in his forehead. It broke his skull. Goliath fell down on his face. So David defeated Goliath with his sling and one stone.

God gave David a mighty victory over the dreaded giant because David was trusting in his God and fighting for the honor of his God. David had no sword, so he ran and stood on the giant’s body. Then he took the giant’s sword and cut off his head.

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they ran for their lives. The men of Israel gave a great shout of victory and started after them. They chased them, killing many. When they returned to the camp of the Philistines, they took all the gold, silver, and clothing as the spoils of their victory.

David took the head of Goliath and brought it to Jerusalem. In one moment David became Israel’s greatest hero. The nation of Israel had not defeated the Philistines in battle for a hundred years. Throughout his life, David trusted in the Lord and he never lost a battle.

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