The devil’s fourth weapon
11 January 2010

The devil uses three weapons to destroy men and women of God who serve or have the desire to serve Him on the altar. But there’s one weapon that is the most dangerous, and if men and women of God are not alert, it will knock them down.

1. The devil’s first weapon is to put the temptation of women in the path of a man of God, and men in the path of a woman of God. The devil does this to weaken them.

2. The second weapon the devil uses can even look like a blessing from God, which is prosperity. The devil does this so that the person prospers and loses his fire for the work of God on the altar. He knows that if that person begins to serve God, he or she will set the world on fire. Note: sure, we need to have blessed financial lives before serving on the altar; but we must never lose focus of what we really want, which is to save souls.

3. The third weapon is pride. The devil finds a way to blind the person, making him oblivious to the fact that he is proud. And the proud, for the most part, don’t even know that they’re proud.

Let’s move on to our story and you will learn the fourth weapon that the devil uses to destroy those who do the Work of God.

There was a pastor in a church who succeeded in everything he did. He had communion with God and lived in holiness, praying, fasting and reading the Bible. Wherever he went, the work developed and many people converted, for there were healings and miracles.

Seeing this, the devil held a meeting in hell and sent the first demon, the Sexpot. And she said to the pastor, “I’m gonna take you down!”

The pastor immediately rebuked that demon, prayed, fasted, read the Bible, strengthened his marriage, and the demon went away.

Then, the devil held another meeting and decided to send Greed in order to fill the pastor’s eyes with material ambition. Once again, the pastor prayed, fasted, read the Bible, sacrificed all he had, and the devil was defeated.

The devil was furious, and so he sent Pride to fill the pastor’s heart with a self-centred ego. But the pastor prayed, fasted, read the Bible, and humbled himself before God. And once again, the devil was defeated

The devil saw that all his attempts had failed. Angrily he sent the three demons to the church where that pastor was in order to find whatever flaw they could. The demons went to the church and began watching him closely.

One day, the three demons, still searching for a mistake that could be used against the pastor, saw another demon passing by the church. He was walking with a stick and looked tired. And the three demons began mocking him, “You tired old devil! What are doing here?” And they asked him his name.

Out of the corner of his eye he looked at them and with a sarcastic smile on his face said, “My name? I am TIME. And you, what are you doing here?”

The other demons told him about their mission and how they had failed so far. He said to them, “Just wait and I’ll tell you what to do. Don’t hurry,” he added, “because I know how to work.” And he began his subtle moves.

First, he worked on the pastor’s time, making him busy with many things to do. It wasn’t long until he had no more time to fast, and he became weak. Then he no longer had time to read the Bible, and so he no longer heard the voice of God. Without hearing the voice of God, he lost communion with Him. That was when that demon commanded the others to swing into action. And that was how the pastor who set the world on fire fell.

Time is the fourth weapon of the devil to neutralise the faith of those who do not persevere. Sometimes he makes us busy with many things. Other times, he gives us a false sense of well-being, making things easier for us so that we relax in our faith. And that’s how he strikes us down.

Always remember where you came from and what God has done in your life in order to remain firm in the faith. The overcomer is not the one who starts the race, but the one who finishes it

Bishop Renato Cardoso