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In the late 1860s in the United States, shortly after the Civil War, which abolished slavery, a former slave owner is loading sacks of vegetables onto his wagon near the town square. Across the street he sees his former slave and yells out to him, “Get over here and load these bags onto my wagon now, boy!”
The former slave, with flashbacks of being beaten and abused for disobeying orders in the past, runs over to the wagon and starts loading the bags.
The former slave master has no power over the slave now. Yet the freed slave has become a slave again, only because he believes a lie. There is no power or authority behind the former master’s threats or commands. Truth is, the slave is free now, if only he will stop believing in lies.
The former slave should not feel stupid. For 1260 years a religious organization manipulated and controlled most all of Europe, only because the ruling monarchs fell for the lies of this organization.
“If you do not give us your offerings you will burn in hell for all eternity.”
Lie!
“If you do not do what we tell you, you will not go to heaven.”
Lie!
Yes, this organization used force and it tortured and burned people at the stake, but it was only possible because the rulers fell for these lies! Fact is, they had no authority, and thanks to the Reformers, the truth set them free even amidst the torture racks and the stakes.
Satan had to lie to Eve because lies are all he has. He can’t force us to do anything. First he suggests that God has said they could not eat from any tree. “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Genesis 3:1 Even today, Satan always suggests that God is very strict and won’t let us do anything.
“You can’t have any fun” is what Satan likes to suggest. This is a lie.
Jesus says, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
Satan goes on to suggest that they will not really die for eating the fruit. This is a twofold lie. Not only does his suggestion lead to spiritualism, it also suggests there are no real consequences for disobedience. Yet Satan’s biggest lie was when he told Eve, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods…” Genesis 3:5 Here Satan suggests that God is withholding something from them which would enhance their happiness. The lie implies that God does not really care for their welfare, and maybe Satan cares more about them than God does. That is why he is so “kindly” offering them this forbidden fruit.
If you think about it, most all of our sin and disobedience is motivated by this one lie, that God does not really care for us.
When you really believe God loves you, Satan’s lies have no power!
Let’s take a brief look at the Ten Commandments in the light of God’s love.
“I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Exodus 20:2”
Fact is we are free. Just like the former slave who fell for the lies of his former master, we are free unless we believe Satan’s lies.
- When we believe God really loves us, we will have no need for any other god. We believe God loved us so much He gave us His only begotten son. No rock star, sports team, girlfriend or boyfriend has ever loved us as much as God does.
- When we really believe in God’s love we will worship Him. We don’t need to worship anyone or anything else. We don’t need to worship money or a PHD degree. My sense of significance does not come from worldly accomplishments or honors. I am significant because God loves me!
- When we really believe God loves us, we will not be Christians in name only, thus taking His name in vain. We will be true Christians.
- When we really believe God loves us, we will rest our faith in God’s love and not try to save ourselves by our own works. I don’t need to work on the Sabbath to put bread on my family’s table. God loves me and my family, and He will not let us go hungry.
- When we really believe God loves us we will love those who represent God to us. Once when I was ten I was at my grandmother’s house. While there I back talked to my mother. My grandmother told me never to talk that way to my mother, not because she was bigger than me, or the boss of me, but because she would die for me. My grandmother said, “you don’t talk that way to someone who would die for you.”
I honor my parents because they love me. They may not always be right, but they always love me, so they always have my respect. - When we really believe in God’s love we won’t be threatened by other people or feel the desire to eliminate them. Daniel did not need God to kill the lions or even remove them. He just needed God to close their mouths. God loves and protects us just like He did Daniel. There was no reason for Daniel to hate the lions or the men who threw him in the den, when he knew God loved him and protected him.
- When we believe in God’s love we will be happy with the family God gave us. Just because God gave my friend a beautiful wife does not mean He loves me any less. If God thought a beautiful wife would truly make me happy He will give me one. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalms 84:11
- When we believe in God’s love, we won’t need what is not ours. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Psalms 23:1
- When we believe in God’s love we won’t be afraid of the truth. We won’t feel the need to live a lie, when we find that the truth is, God loves us unconditionally, and everyone who is of God loves us unconditionally. We won’t feel the need to be something we are not.
- When we believe in God’s love we won’t want what other people have. We will want other people to have what we have which is Jesus! When Paul stood in his chains and prisoner clothes, before King Agrippa, in all his worldly splendor, Paul told him I wish you could be like me, except for these chains. (see Acts 26:29) Paul did not need what the king had. The king needed what Paul had which was Jesus!
During the Dark Ages, a religious leader who claimed to represent God on earth made a German ruler stand out in the cold three days, begging his forgiveness before the religious leader finally forgave him. (See Great Controversy, pp. 57-58) This was a gross misrepresentation of God. In Luke 15:20 we see what God is really like, as represented by the father who runs out to greet the prodigal son, while the son is still far away. This religious leader’s claim to represent God, while making it hard for the German ruler to find forgiveness is the greatest of Satan’s lies during the Dark Ages.
Satan’s biggest lie is not about the immortality of the soul. It is not about the change of the Sabbath to Sunday. Satan’s biggest and deadliest lie is that God does not love you and will not forgive you. This is why the first angel takes the everlasting gospel into all the world, and breaks the spell of this terrible lie. Every lie of Satan is founded upon the foundation of the lie that God does not love you. Once this lie is exposed every other lie of Satan falls, which is seen in the second angel’s message “Babylon is fallen!” All of Satan’s other lies collapse when we realize we are loved.
After the three angels comes a fourth angel in Revelation 18:1. When this angel comes the whole earth is lightened with his glory. It is the light of God’s love. Satan’s lies which have caused the world to experience the Dark Ages, have been removed and the world is lightened with the truth that God is love.
25 comment(s) for this post:
- Siddell Bloodsaw:
07 Feb 2013 William, i love your posts! they are always so insightful and so helpful and timely! thank you so much for all that you do! simply amazing :D - PRISCY:
08 Feb 2013 Hi, thank you so much for the post. I never knew Satan's biggest lie. through this post have come to the realization that God loves me so much that in-spite of my sinful nature He still loves and cares for me and He is ever ready to forgive me of all my iniquities and draw me closer to Himself if only I will listen to His voice and obey His commandment. Heavenly Father please help me to love you so I can obey your commandment in Jesus name. - Thomas Matheza:
08 Feb 2013 Former slaves are no longer slaves. Glory be to God for rescuing us from satan. - Jennifer Andres:
08 Feb 2013 Thank you for this thought provoking and wonderful confirmation of God's love and how it frees us from Satan. I can't wait to share this with my family, friends, and church members. - John H Nichols:
08 Feb 2013 Amen - Bothwell Watadza:
08 Feb 2013 Amen. Even though we live in a society where nothing is free and everything has a price. We must beleive that grace is FREE and God will deliver us, through faith from the jaws of death. - gary campbell:
08 Feb 2013 The other lie that satan is spreading today is that people dont have to keep the commandmets of god, just believe but can I believe in God and not keep his commandments? The commandments are covered in our love to god and love to our fellowmen. - William Earnhardt:
08 Feb 2013 Gary you are exactly right. Revelation 14:12 tells us those who have faith in Jesus keep the commandments. As you pointed out, this post mentions that Satan's lie, "Ye shall not surely die" was a twofold lie. Not only did it open the door for spiritualism, his lie also implies you can keep on sinning and not pay the wages of sin which is death. A very deadly lie if one believes it, which sadly many do. I am glad your eyes are open to those lies. Happy Sabbath everyone, and thank you all for being a part of this discussion, and for you prayers and encouragement as we all share the gospel with the world. - Jane Sirignano:
08 Feb 2013 Hi William, I hadn't thought of all the connections of lies as you have posted. Sometimes lies are told to hurt someone and I think this is true in your post. All Satan wants to do is hurt us, make us lose our faith and destroy us. Your version of the ten commandments is a gem and I am deeply touched by your personal approach. Many people aren't aware of the fourth angel so I am glad you wrote something about that angel. - Jane Sirignano:
08 Feb 2013 I agree Siddell! - Kyndahl:
08 Feb 2013 I thoroughly enjoyed this post. May I add that the "former" slave obeyed because he knew that there would be a price to pay if he did not. The former master and his buddies would make sure the "newly freed" man's existence would be miserable. Fear had been instilled into his very existence. So it is with being "freed" from Satan's snare. Satan and his cohorts try to make the freed man's life miserable. There is the fear of Loss: friends, lifestyle, position, health and sometimes even family members (remember Job). The main objective though is KNOWING that GOD LOVES and Cares for You. When you KNOW someone loves you, greater than you love yourself, you find comfort in believing that all of life's experiences are given to enhance your being in every possible way. The top "10" as you have so aptly pointed out is all about a love that overcomes all fear. - JEROME HARVEY:
08 Feb 2013 God loves us all and all that he has created. Does God love Lucifer whom he created as well? - Jacob Conteh:
09 Feb 2013 Today, when many artists depict Satan, they paint him with dark or red clothes with horns and a scary face. However, that was not how Satan presented himself to Eve. He presented himself as a gorgeous intelligent creature that seemed to care for the affairs of mankind. Like an expert salesman who strikes a conversation with potential customers to sell his products, Satan started the conversation in a friendly manner, and as they say, the rest is history. Satan uses the same tactics he used in Eden to deceived mankind today. For those of us who do not have a problem with alcohol, Satan may not use alcohol to entire us to sin. He looks for areas where we are already vulnerable: The Internet, phone, work, family, food, relationships and a host of other areas. Once he gets our attention, he then uses his charm to entice us to sin. Interestingly, many of these sins may appear to be trivial. Eve never really thought in her mind that just eating a little juicy succulent tasty fruit could change her entire life and that of generations to come. But sin, any form of sin, is not trivial. It is a transgression of the law whose wage is death. So as we go about our daily chores, let us remember that the devil is ever ready to lead us astray. Let us stay focused on Paul's admonition in Philippians 4:8: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things (NIV). - Whitney Champagne:
09 Feb 2013 What a blessing. My mom was reading this Friday night but I fell asleep midway through. I decided to read it again especially since service is cancelled today, due to the blizzard. This is such a great post. I love that you explained his lies using the ten commandments. Sometimes it's hard being a young person in these times but the assurance that God loves us and the fact that we are not missing out on anything in the world but following Christ is such a sweet feeling. :) - John Herscher:
09 Feb 2013 The truth is Jesus saves those who turned Him. " The hand of God is upon all them for good who seek Him." His has predestined you from the foundation of the world if you so chose life. Ezra 8:22. Sin is doing what you are told by God not to do. If you have sinned you have an advocate before the Father. 1John 2:1. Your advocate, if you chose Christ, was sent into the world not to condemn, but to save you, and me. John 3:17. - Gladston Wilson:
09 Feb 2013 I totally agree with post. It soooo good to comeback to this realization, it's an eye opener at the right time. - william adika:
09 Feb 2013 innocently with primitive and hopeless mind we believe in our so called scholars. Thank God that today we or the greatest population of the world can read and discern about God. Glory be to his name. if you can be deceived, I cannot. - Mathilde Bajard:
10 Feb 2013 You hit the nail right on the head, because knowing this; Jesus said in John 12:32; And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. Why? Because He knows the power of love and His death on the cross would demonstrate this love. The father of lies knows this truth also. Therefore he tries to counteract it with deceptions. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who guides us to all truth. I pray that God will continue to give you wisdom as you share vital biblical truth with the world! God bless! - Victoria Batiste:
10 Feb 2013 Thanks William for such a thought provoking post. I think that it is imperative for us to study God's word for ourselves so that we will not become a victim of Satan's lies. Exodus 20:2 states that the Lord our God has brought us out of the house of bondage. It is up to us to accept our freedom, and not place ourselves back in bondage. I love the analogy of the interaction between the slave and the former slave owner. Until we believe that we are free from Satan's bondage, we will continue to believe the lies that he tells us. Thanks again for the message. Grace, and peace. - Jolene:
10 Feb 2013 This article was insightful, well written, down to earth so that youth could relate and benefit. The citations were well linked to the point. I gained spiritually from reading this article. God is stumbling over Himself to show how much I am loved. Praise God! - Ken Mindoro:
11 Feb 2013 People often regard the Ten Commandments as a code of rules first handed down at Mount Sinai. They are actually a timeless love letter from God to all His creation: "(1) I want to be the most important love of your life because (2)nothing I have made can equal the love and happiness I can give. (3)I want you to love Me for who I am, (4) because I made you and showed you how best to enjoy life by setting aside a special time for us to be together. (5)You are My child (6)and I want you to value all my children as I do. (7)I will provide for all that you need physically (8)and emotionally. (9)I want you to be so happy that you'll tell everyone the truth about me (10) and not worry about lacking anything. Trust me." It saddens me to think that anyone would wish to nail this love letter to the cross. - William Earnhardt:
11 Feb 2013 Beautiful Ken I love it! And I agree. who would want to nail that to the cross? - Ebenezer Lucamba:
12 Feb 2013 William thank you very much for ur inlightful comment. Since Iam passing in a very difficult situation Ur words of comfort, through God love contributed more in my spiritual life. God bless u Nd all our brothers Nd sister in christ. - Juan:
12 Feb 2013 This is simply awesome it gives me another tool to fight Satan's lies. - Oscar Moreno:
15 Feb 2013 Thank you guys for taking the time and effort to explain details about our loving God the way that He really wants us to be free when we obey His commandments what a wonderful savior. May God keep on blessing Ur Ministry
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