Dealing With The Devil
Part 84 - Luke 22:1-13 (ESV) - Pastor Tim Kroeker
james 4:7:
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
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“The Devil made me do it.” In 1981, Arne Johnson of Brookefield, CT was charged with first-degree manslaughter for killing his landlord. In the first case of its kind, Johnson’s lawyer argued that he was not responsible for his actions due to demonic possession.
Continuing in our salvation story, we begin to read about the events leading up to history’s most heinous crime, the murder of Jesus. The religious leaders were conspiring to kill him. Luke then tells us that Satan entered into one of the twelve, Judas, who willingly went along with these sinister plans.
Their plot was actually part of a larger, cosmic drama between great spiritual forces. Though Satan was actively working to subvert the plans and purposes of God, Jesus demonstrated that he was the one in control. He’d intentionally gone to Jerusalem. He knew that his hour had come and all the arrangements had been made. While Judas followed the influence of Satan, the disciples followed the instructions of Jesus.
So it is for you and me. The Devil doesn’t make us do anything. Satan has no power over us except what we allow. Moment by moment, decision by decision, we choose to either succumb to Satan or submit to Jesus. This is how we deal with the Devil.
