Going Stealth

Matthew 16: 13 - 15, When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" NKJV

There is a very good reason why Jesus commands us to keep His sayings. Our heavenly Father wants us to be protected from our adversary, the Devil. You may be thinking, "Doesn't Psalm 91 teach us that God protects us from the enemy by keeping us under the shadow of His wings?" Yes, He does; however, if you read that psalm, you will learn that there are a few things you and I have to do in order to bring God's protection on our lives.

The Lord wants us to follow His leading so that He can give us wisdom from above. When we speak according to God's will, and then obey the instructions of the Holy Spirit, God empowers us with the ability to outsmart the enemy, who by-the-way is invisible to us. We are given several examples in the gospels of when either Satan or people tried to figure out who Jesus was... even though they knew He was the Son of Joseph and Mary. There was something very special about Jesus that caused His enemies much discomfort and curiosity.

There were also times that both Satan and men tried to "trip or tempt" Jesus. Nevertheless, He ALWAYS outwitted them. He never fell prey to their deceptive and manipulative lies. Whenever the scribes and Pharisees felt their power was threatened by the miracles and wisdom of Jesus, they would devise plots to destroy Him. However, He would mysteriously escape from their trappings. What made Jesus "stealth" or undetectable to the enemy?

In Luke 4, we see that Satan is tempting Jesus. Satan was trying to discover Jesus' spiritual identity; he wanted to know if Jesus was the Son of God. However, because Jesus didn't give into Satan's seductive offers, the enemy left in defeat; he didn't learn anything that gave away Jesus' identity.

There are two points that you must take away from today's word: Number 1, Satan and the enemies of Jesus didn't know Jesus' identity; and Number 2, they couldn't form any weapon or trap that could stop or kill Jesus. (Until it was time for Jesus to die on the cross) Even then, they still didn't know who Jesus was. Even so, why is this important to you as a believer in Christ? When you and I operate under the direction and authority of God's Word, and His will, we are shielded from the weapons of Satan. Neither Satan nor the religious rulers could apprehend, prevent, or distract Jesus from doing God's will. Because Jesus did only those things that pleased the Father, He couldn't be detected on the enemy's radar.

Likewise, when we only do those things which please the Father, we, too, become stealth. No weapon that is formed against us shall be able to prosper; and every tongue that rises up against us in judgment, we will condemn by our righteousness in Christ. Now let's compare Jesus' ability to overcome all that the adversary plotted against Him with what happened to Adam. Adam didn't obey the commands of God; neither did he choose to obey God's purpose for placing Adam in the garden. Consequently, it wasn't hard for Satan to figure out a way to get to Adam. Through Adam's disobedience to God's commands, Satan was able to lock on (radar term) Adam in the natural. In other words, Satan knew what would work on Adam... what would cause him to sin.

We have a choice every single day of our lives. We can choose to obey the Lord and "fly undetected" by Satan's radar, or we can choose to serve the lusts of our flesh and fall prey to Satan's devises and his arsenal.

Our military in America uses stealth technology on some of their airplanes. These planes have flat surfaces and hard edges. They're not designed with the same curvature as commercial airplanes because they serve a DIFFERENT purpose. When you accepted Christ, you were enlisted into the Lord's service for a specific purpose. The contractors who build the stealth planes also coat the fighter planes with a material that absorbs radar signals. If the enemy's radar doesn't receive its signal back, they will believe that there is no aircraft near a specific area. This technology allows us to hit without being detected prematurely and therefore, escape before the opposition knows what has hit them. In this same way, God has clothed us with the righteousness of Christ; nevertheless, we must choose to walk in the ways of Christ in order to remain undetectable to our enemies in the spirit realm.

If we will choose to live and walk in the Spirit, Satan won't be able to define us by our human identity; and he won't be allowed to keep us from our destiny in Christ. It's time to go stealth on the Devil!

Undetectable in Christ,
Pastor Asa Dockery