Imagine that you are walking down the path of righteousness when you come to a fork in the road. There is a sign it reads “Heaven that way and “Hell” the other way. You check your map (the Bible), but your map says Heaven is the other way. Someone has changed the signs. It is one of the oldest tricks in the book, yet the Devil uses it over and over again.
Part 1: Character*
1. What is the devil’s character like?
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44
“And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” Acts 13:10 For further study see 1 John 3:8, Matthew 16:23 and 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10.
Note: The devil’s tools of the trade include lying, cheating, stealing, and even murder. He will not have pity on the sick, the young, or the old. Satan is sly and tricky and has a vastly greater store of knowledge and experience then any mortal. We have no hope, through our own power, of overcoming the devil.
2. What is the character of God like?
“And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty;” Exodus 34:6 For further study see John 4:8 and Deuteronomy 32:4.
Note: “God has bound our hearts to Him by unnumbered tokens in heaven and in earth. Through the things of nature, and the deepest and tenderest earthly ties that human hearts can know, He has sought to reveal Himself to
us. Yet these but imperfectly represent His love. Though all these evidences have been given, the enemy of good blinded the minds of men, so that they looked upon God with fear; they thought of Him as severe and unforgiving. Satan led men to conceive of God as a being whose chief attribute is stern justice,–one who is a severe judge, a harsh, exacting creditor. He pictured the Creator as a being who is watching with jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men, that He may visit judgments upon them. It was to remove this dark shadow, by revealing to the world the infinite love of God, that Jesus came to live among men.” {Steps to Christ pg. 10.3}
3. What is mankind’s character like?
“But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” Isaiah 64:8
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 For further study see Job 10:9 and Psalms 103:14.
Note: Perhaps you believe only children are impressionable. Have you ever cried at a movie, been angered by something on the news, or been calmed by music. If you have, then your impressionable. We are like the clay. We can be molded and impressed. If we watch, listen, or do the things that are of satan, we will receive satan’s impress or character. Then it will be said of us “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” John 8:44a. But if we should obey Philippians 4:8 which says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think of these things.”, we will receive the impress of God.