04/24/2022 - Part 3- How The Devil Is Using The Pandemic

Grace Place Atlanta COGBF 4700 Mitchell Street Forest Park, GA 30297 Website: atlantacogbf.org Email: info@atlantacogbf.org Phone: (404) 241-6781 Wayne D. Mack, Pastor Pastor Wayne D. Mack Sermon Notes April 24, 2022 How the Devil is Using the Pandemic . . . with the Saints Genesis 3:1-6; John 10 Genesis 3 (NKJV) 3 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 2 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 4 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 9 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 11 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 13 GM GP This morning’s message is a continuation of a message I began prior to Easter Sunday entitled How the Devil is Using the Pandemic . . . against the Church. This message is intended to expose Satan’s deceptive tactics against the church and to slow down, if not crush, the potential infighting and confusion now on the brew in some of God’s Houses – Grace Place included because of his brutal campaign to sift the church. But just as Satan desired to have Peter and sift him, Jesus has prayed for the church that the gates of hell should not prevail against her. So, How is the Devil Using the Pandemic . . . against the Church and the Saints? In general, he has done what he is a master at doing – taking something that God has made and creating a counterfeit; or taking something that God intended for good and turning it into something evil. Satan always works to devise an opposite effect of what God ordains. If God meant a thing for good, then you can believe that Satan is on the other end to twisting it to bring ruin and chaos. If God meant for a thing to have life [bring life], then you can bank on the fact that the devil is cooking up a way to kill it, steal it, and destroy it. This morning, I want to finishing addressing a side of the pandemic that will probably go unaddressed in most Christian Church circles. This is my attempt to provide GP with as complete and as clear a picture of the events of the past two years, so that we’ll experience no blind spots in understanding what might be awaiting the world, America in particular, in the next two years. Given that, I want to expose how Satan has taken the two-year pandemic -- which God has used to bless and mature the church (more than harm the church) – and has turned it into a matter of confusion and unspiritual-like conduct throughout the Body of Christ. That should not be. The pandemic has proven to be more of a blessing and not a curse throughout the universal church – that is, if the churches were attuned to what the Spirit was saying to them. So far in this in this message, we have addressed two of three ways in which Satan is and will continue to use everything about the pandemic to fight against God – in particular His church and His Children. The first way he has used the pandemic against the church is . . . . 1. To Bring Division – Though we are called out to be ONE church in Christ, the pandemic has given Satan a ready platform to divide God’s people. Mark 3:25 says: 25And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Because of the big divide, some churches have split, others closed permanently [sometimes over nothing but selfishness and politics], -- and yet among the church members a lot of love has been lost as relationships have suffered due to hard feelings and disagreements. Satan has and is using the tenacles of the pandemic to divide the church. Despite his attempts to divide the church – especially locally, the Apostle Paul reminds us of what our priority is against any type of division, that is, in Ephesians 4: 3 3 [To] endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The second way the devil is using the pandemic against the church is to: 2. To Create a Distraction within the Body of Christ; It is clear that God used the pandemic to bring an experience of “Divine Intervention” for the church, but Satan made it a Distraction. He is working continuously to draw the church into a secular thinking mode. Among the saints and the church, he has used the pandemic as a diversion to get the Saints off “mission” – mainly to stop focusing on God and making disciples. That brings us to the THIRD way the devil is using the pandemic against the church. It is . . . 3. To Distort the Divine Plan of God; All that God Has Made Clear (or needs for His children to be clear on, the devil is offering a counter perspective.) – For this ploy to be decoded and for the Saints of God to face it head-on, our complete honesty as God’s Children is demanded. Satan’s use of this third scheme is probably his most crippling. That’s because as we stand on the threshold of the current pandemic feeling like less of a threat – especially with the benefit of vaccinations [and for half of the population that the pandemic is OVER or that it never happened] -- he is now running a game on church people and the Saints to make them spiritually unhealthy in their service to God and one another. Right here, let me give the people of God a personal Fact Check: I believe we will never return to doing church as we once did from a traditional perspective; that is, gathering around the four walls every Sunday and during midweek and in between. If we do, it will be awhile, and I believe it’s going to take something as catastrophic as the pandemic to “drive us back or cause us to want to return.” But for right now, let the Saints of God everywhere not make excuses about why they won’t return, or why they’re changing their membership. At GP, let’s be more credible as Saints and embrace the 22 Blessings we have been afforded because of the pandemic. Let’s not curse the 22, but rather courageously stand on them. To ignore them is to buy into Satan’s lie and for each of us to be untrue to God, ourselves, and one another. What will result is the same thing that happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit and they hid themselves from God. They were naked, deceived, and separated from God. They were blind and in the dark. Their fellowship with God had been broken. We’ll be deceived into believing God is with us and He’s not. If we are not honest today, right now, with where we stand with God and His church [HIS Church] – NOT Grace Place Church, Not First Baptist, Not New Hope AME, Not the Potter’s House . . . but God’s House – then our fellowship with God is as 1 John 1:57 declares: 5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Let’s be completely honest, so we can be completely blessed. Let’s hit Satan between the eyes with the truth and with honest living. Let’s not hide behind all types of godless justifications as to why you or I: • • • disconnected from the church, elected to never come back to the physical church, and decided to charge the church with being unresponsive during a time of pandemic. [Fact: The pandemic was/is under God’s divine providence for the Saints [but not the secular world]. Don’t blame the church, the pastor, the elders, the deacon or any of the mothers, saints and friends. There’s no reason to do that. But there’s every reason for the Saints to be honest about whatever they will do or have already chosen to do. Be upfront with God and yourself. To not be upfront is to be deceived by Satan into feelings of abandonment, isolation, disappointment, and aloneness, . . . All these emotions are real, but they’re from the devil. The devil intended the pandemic for evil, but God meant it for the good of His Church and His people. Satan is the master distorter. Listen to words that are synonymous with the word Distort: • • • • • • • • Twist Alter Change Falsify Mislead Warp Disfigure Deform These are tactics Satan has employed during the pandemic against God’s plan for His Church and the Saints over the past 24 plus months. All of Satan’s schemes lead away from God -- and to a response of: Isolation; Disconnection; Desperation; and Dead Ends. Without a keen sense of spiritual discernment, he will continue his assault to move on the Saints in a stealthy, undetectable way. He is at work, right now, attempting to blind Believers from seeing and being about God’s plan for the “pandemic persevering” church. What is God’s plan for His church despite pandemic? To make the church even more impactful in our hearts, as well as in our communities and the world. But Satan’s plan is to use anyone who will listen to him. He only wants to distort God’s deeper plan to mature His Church in these unrestrained times. He’s been at this game since he was given the name Satan. Listen Matthew 16:21-23 21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” 22 But [Jesus] turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense [a stumbling block] to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” 23 When it comes to the pandemic and the church, Satan’s distortions and stumbling blocks are in full force. If he can get the Saints to act immaturely, then he’s got us. He is beside himself when we crave milk instead of meat; and when we act like babies in matters related to God and the church – instead of mature Sisters and Brothers. When we act out of immaturity, then we do things and believe things that contradict the heart of God and undermine conduct we are supposed to model as [growing] followers of Christ. Our behavior is supposed to bring Glory to God in the Church -- NOT finger pointing, blame, discord, accusations, and unreasonable demands. Because of Satan’s distortions of God’s plans for the church – many churches will suffer their share of whiplash and membership loses. [All because Satan is believed and God is NOT]. Let’s not let the devil get the best of us here at GP through distortion. Let’s give one another and the church, the benefit of the doubt and charge all shortcomings to the head and not the heart. Let’s not take the “low road” over a document concocted by Satan, but that you expect God to co-sign with you on. What does that look like? Rather than seeing, understanding, and thinking like an adult, you drop your guard and begin seeing, understanding, and thinking like a child. Apostle Paul said in 1Cor. 13:11 & 12 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. If we never act maturely in the things of God – especially when it comes to church, but rather from a position of distortion – then it’s no wonder everything about church and everyone affiliated with church is pre-judged as wrong. Satan feeds you bad stuff and you start to feel sorry for yourself or abandoned by everyone. Bitterness, unforgiveness, and isolation sets in. Distortion amplifies the situation 10 times larger than it really is. Yet, you refuse to tell Satan to get thee behind you. That’s where God steps in and admonishes us to check ourselves before we get dupped by distortion. The danger here is that your emotions, and irrational thinking can eclipse God’s voice, His care, and His loving promises toward you. Instead, we conclude that everything is wrong – the church, the pastor and all the members. Distortion handicaps us and deceives us into blaming God, the Saints, and the church. So, at this point, we must check ourselves to ensure we aren’t being unreasonable. Galatians 5: 13-15 (English Standard Version ESV) warns all Saints of this one thing: 13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. Here is one final test verse of Scripture I need Grace Place members to apply when faced with any type of distortion from Satan: Matthew 11:16-18 NKJV “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, 17 and saying: 16 ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ This passage is about discernment. More! As believers we must fight hard not to let Satan distort our view of what we know is from God and what we understand to be firmly right. In cases like this, Satan starts to play with the mind by distorting the truth. Stern warning to the Saints: For such a time as this, God has given us a season to make a Year of Jubilee-like rest and reset. In that time, it would have behooved us, and still behooves us to take advantage of recharging, reassessing, and repenting. These three will put us on the right path to experiencing our greatest Joys, our closest walk with God, and our healthiest dispositions as God’s children in His Glorious church. We should not take the last 2 years for granted. None of us can afford to let God’s window of generosity and wisdom close on us. If we do, then it would be the equivalent of Jeremiah 8:20 and Numbers 13. These passages warn us to embrace what God is doing right early, because later on will be too late. Here's the first warning: Jeremiah 8:20 says: “The harvest is past, The summer is ended, And we are not saved!” 20 Now the second; a paraphrase: Numbers 13 is about the 12 spies God sent up to survey the Promised Land; a Land that He promised to give to the Israelites. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” 13:1 21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin . . . 25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. 26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” 30 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 31 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Why is the devil interested in using the Pandemic to discredit the church and the Saints: Because the church is Satan’s biggest threat in the world. It doesn’t answer to him; it can’t be touched by him; it is his biggest embarrassment because he has no power over Her, nor any authority equal to Hers. Satan craves giving the church a bad name and a dysfunctional look in the earth. He’d love nothing better than to get the Saints off their game and act independently of God (Just as Adam and Eve did; Just as five of the seven churches in the Book of Revelation did. (Laodicea, Sardis, Thyatira, Pergamos, and Ephesus – not Smyrna or Philadelphia). All of his schemes are contrived to divide, distract, and distort the church from being God’s refuge of hope in the world and to crush the spirit of the Saints. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%END%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%