Pst. E.A. Adeboye 27 November
EXPENSIVE EXCHANGE
Memorise:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8
Read: Luke 4:1-6
From
Luke 6'38 we understand that it is when you give that something will be
given back to you. This is a divine principle that works for anyone.
The devil knows this and has applied this same principle and obtained
results from it. For instance, when he took the position and authority
of being god of this world from Adam, what did he do? Did he say:
Relinquish your position and authority over the earth to me so that I
can now be in charge of your domain? No! All he did was to offer him the
forbidden fruit. As soon as Adam received and ate the fruit, he sinned
against God. The devil jumped up and started to quote that since he is
now a sinner, he could no longer retain what he got in holiness. And
since he had already given to him, he has a right to receive his
harvest. What could Heaven do about this? The devil had smartly played
his card and so he quietly collected from Adam the authority God had
bestowed upon him. From that moment, the devil began to use Adam's
authority to torment, trouble, terrorise, humiliate and destroy both
Adam and the whole of the human race.
And
the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory
I of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will give
it. Luke 4:6
From
the time of scoring this victory over Adam, the devil has been dangling
Adam's power before men and taking over their souls. The only way that
power could be regained was either forcefully by God, which will make
the devil to accuse God of arbitrariness or by engaging the Devil on a
level playing field and defeating him. This was why Jesus had to come as
a man to rescue mankind. When He came, the devil dangled the same power
before Him and the Lord said, "I have come to recover what you stole
from Adam", but Satan said, "I did not steal it. Adam willingly
relinquished it to me". When did he do that? It was during the exchange -
when he accepted the forbidden fruit. If you don't want to lose
anything, never accept anything from Satan. Anything you receive from
him gives him the authority to take precious things from you in return.
Any exchange programme with the devil will always leave the human side
the worse for it. Have you been receiving from the devil? He will have
his pound of flesh. Be wise.
KEY POINT
If the devil gives you one naira, he will attempt to collect one million naira in return
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