👋 Welcome back to this series on Spiritual Warfare.

Maybe a slight apology—I said when I started this course with you that sometimes I would revert to a preacher. And as I was just reflecting on that last session that I recorded, yeah, I came off as a preacher.

But I hope you take that in the spirit that it’s given.

I feel like a watchman in this situation.

  • I want to give you truth.

  • I want to give you reality.

  • I want to give you some insight.

So as you’re standing on the city wall, looking out there and saying, “Where is the enemy?”—you’ll be able to see him more clearly.

📖 Continuing with Session Nine: Knowing Your Enemy

We’re continuing with session nine, as we continue to explore the names of our enemy—so that we can get insight into his tactics, his being, and strategies that might characterize him:

The devil.

The word devil means:

  • Slanderer.

🗣️ What Is Slander?

Here’s the definition of slander:

  • Words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another.

  • An abuse or attack on a person’s character or good name.

  • To defame, which means to charge falsely or with malicious intent, attacking the good name and reputation of someone.

Slander is:

  • Saying something untruthful.

  • Falsely spoken.

  • Damaging the reputation of another.

Usually, it’s very subtle.
It’s a kind of whispering of what goes on.

📚 A Personal Reading Habit

Now, I try to read novels regularly, too.

Here’s one of my favorite Christian authors. I don’t always read Christian authors, but Robert Whitlow is one of those people who writes books from a Christian point of view.

One of the things he often tries to do in his books is:

  • Give that significance of what’s going on,

  • As well as insight into what’s going on beyond what’s going on.

And so he gives real-life situations.

🖋️ My Writing Journey and Whitlow’s Story

Now, you know, I—once upon a time—thought I was going to be a writer.
So, I began studying the process of writing novels.

There is a process to doing that, and usually, you write from your own experience.

So what you find in Whitlow's stories are people who are pastors, who are lawyers, and how they handle various situations.

📚 In the Book Double Indemnity

The plot is this:

  • There’s a pastor in town.

  • He hadn’t intended to become a pastor—he wanted to become a seminary or college professor.

  • But he went through seminary, ended up with a call to this little, tiny church.

As he serves there, he does some dumb things:

  • He chooses to counsel a couple in their marriage.

  • In the process, the woman exhibits some attraction to him.

  • He handles that as best he can, with the help of other people.

Then, her husband is murdered.

  • At first, it looks like an accident—he’s in a hunting group with his company, and he’s shot.

  • It looks like it may have just been an accident.

  • But the clues start coming out that this was likely murder—and who murdered him?

There are certain things said by certain people that make the authorities arrest this pastor:

  • They think he was attracted to the man’s wife.

  • Somebody saw them—somebody saw them sitting in a car together downtown, at a restaurant.

  • Somebody heard the woman say something to a friend.

It’s all kind of said, going around.
The town is abuzz with the idea that the pastor of this church could have killed someone.

🗣️ The Idea of Slander

That’s the idea of slander:

  • Bringing a false reputation to somebody.

And of course, it’s a novel, so everything turns out pretty good in the end.
But in the process, it’s a scary time as a reputation is destroyed.

Even after he’s proven to be innocent and released, it’s debatable whether he will return to be the pastor of his church.

  • Whether people will have him back.

  • Because, as the saying goes: “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” kind of thing.

That’s a life situation of how it might work.
It’s a novel—it’s not true—but novelists usually get their ideas from what happens in real life.

🌿 Where Does It All Begin?

We’ve looked at Genesis 3 before.
It begins in the Garden of Eden—that’s where we see the slanderer show up.

Let’s share this passage again from Genesis 3:

📖 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

And you know, the implication there is—what?

  • Why would He say something so crazy?

📖 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

So the slanderer comes.

  • The devil comes with slander, saying: “God is not as good as you think He is.”

The woman buys into this.

  • They knew they were not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—that was the tree they were referring to.

  • But the woman adds to this: “God said you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”

Now, God didn’t say that thing about touching it.

  • He didn’t say that.

So there’s a kind of picking up, trying to extend impure, wrong motives to God.

Then Satan flat-out says:

“Come on, you will not certainly die! For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you’ll be like God, knowing good and evil.”

🗣️ The Core of Slander

So the slander is:

  • “God’s just trying to keep you down. God’s just trying to keep you back.”
    That’s what’s going on here.

📖 The Temptation of Jesus in the New Testament

In the New Testament, the Gospels record the temptation of Jesus.

We read:

The tempter came to Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

There’s a bit of slander there, saying:

  • Come on, I’ve heard that you’re the Son of God—is that so? But no, that can’t be true. Prove it. Prove it.

Or this passage:

The tempter came to Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Then again:

The devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

🗣️ The Slander Behind the Temptations

In there, there’s all that slander going on:

  • That implication, that innuendo of:

    • You can’t be who people say you are.

    • You can’t be who you’ve been announced to be.

    • That just can’t be true.

📚 A Story from the Book of Acts

Here’s a story from the Book of Acts.

They were in Crete—this is at the beginning of the first missionary journey (Acts 13).

It’s that wonderful passage where, while they were worshiping and fasting—(we’re going to talk about fasting later as one of the tools we have for offensive battle against the enemy)—the Spirit said:

“Set apart Paul and Barnabas for the work to which I’ve called them.”

And so, with prayer and fasting, they sent them off.

The first place they go is the island of Crete.

  • They’re going through the island, telling people about Jesus.

  • They came to Paphos.

There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus (which means son of Jesus), who was an attendant of the Proconsul Sergius Paulus.

The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the Word of God.

But Elymas the sorcerer—for that’s what his name means—opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

🗣️ The Implied Slander

Now, it doesn’t list the slander there, but it’s implied.

This man, Bar-Jesus, is likely saying to the proconsul:

  • “Don’t believe this. This is a bunch of poppycock. What a weird story. What kind of God would send His Son to die in the world? For what? Sins? You’re not a sinner. I’m not a sinner.”

There’s this opposition that borders on slander.

🗣️ The Sermon on the Mount and Slander

In the Sermon on the Mount—you know, the greatest sermon that Jesus preached that we have a record of (chapters 5–7 of Matthew)—this principle of slander is mentioned again.

Jesus is talking about you and me as followers of Jesus, and this is the disturbing thing He says:

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. For in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

In other words, this whole idea of slander goes back a long, long way.

Blessed are you? Because that’s how people treat the people of God.

  • They come with slander against them.

  • Particularly if you’re a Christian leader, you can expect at some time somebody to speak up in a slanderous way about you.

📚 Rick Warren’s Example

One of the people who’s helped me understand a great deal about the Christian life is Rick Warren.

  • He was the founder of Saddleback Church, one of the largest churches in our country.

During his time pastoring there:

  • He wrote books like The Purpose Driven Life, which was a best-seller and a really good book to look at the question: “Why are you on planet Earth?”

  • He also wrote The Purpose Driven Church, trying to help churches become more effective in reaching the lost and doing mission.

As a result—most likely—he became the object of slander, because he was building the kingdom, and so our enemy began to slander him.

📝 Frank Viola’s Blog Post

I’m going to read from a blog post by a man named Frank Viola, just about Rick Warren’s experience.

  • Frank is writing in defense of Rick Warren—but not just in defense—to look at how this works within the church.

He wrote:

“Why do so many people not want to have anything to do with Jesus? Is it because of the cruel, harsh, self-righteous, and judgmental attitude that some professing Christians level against their fellow Christians?
‘Why would I want to be part of that bunch?’ is the common response by so many non-Christians today.”


💔 A Tragic Loss: Rick Warren’s Son

Yesterday, I got the sad news that Rick Warren’s youngest son committed suicide.

Here’s a short explanation with quotes from Rick himself:

The 27-year-old son of Pastor Rick Warren has taken his own life after a lifelong struggle with mental illness.

The internationally known Christian leader at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, made the announcement about his son early Saturday morning in an email sent to his staff:

“No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now. Our youngest son, Matthew, age 27, and a lifelong member of Saddleback, died today,” wrote Warren.
“Over the past 33 years, we’ve been together through every kind of crisis. Kay and I have been privileged to hold your hands as you faced a crisis or loss, stood with you at gravesides, and prayed for you when ill. Today, we need your prayer for us.”

Warren described Matthew as:

  • An incredibly kind, gentle, and compassionate man.

  • As those who grew up with him would also say, he had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room.

  • He’d then make a beeline to that person to engage and encourage them.

Warren continued:

  • “But only those closest knew that he struggled from birth with mental illness, dark holes of depression, and even suicidal thoughts. In spite of America’s best doctors, meds, counselors, and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided. Today, after a fun evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life.”

Warren said he and his wife often marveled at Matthew’s courage to keep moving in spite of relentless pain.

  • “I’ll never forget how many years ago, after another approach had failed to give relief, Matthew said, ‘Dad, I know I’m going to heaven. Why can’t I just die and end this pain?’

  • But he kept going for another decade.”

📝 Frank Viola’s Response

Frank Viola now writes:

  • “If you are a Christian and your heart doesn’t go out to this brother and his family, something’s wrong with you spiritually. I don’t care what you think about Warren’s theology, his books, or how he combs his hair—the fact is, he lost a child. Few things can be more painful or nightmarish in this life.”

😔 Cruel Comments from Fellow Christians

To add insult to injury, just take a look at some of the comments by fellow Christians—professing ones, at least—on the Warren article:

“Train up your children in the way. Live a godly example with right priorities. Care enough to homeschool despite the great sacrifice of all. Don’t let them date unchaperoned. Have family devotions. Turn off the one-eyed idiot. Truly have a purpose-driven life, and your children will not commit suicide. Nor will they be involved in homosexuality, nor fornication.”

Wow. The slander.

  • Do you read it?

  • Hear it?

Another comment:

“He killed himself. It’s much worse than fornication or homosexuality or onanism or even pork. He denied himself a chance to get better.”

“If your kids need a chaperone to date, why do you let them date? They shouldn’t be dating if they’re not mature enough to control themselves. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Suicide happens soon after you’re stupid enough to read The Purpose Driven Life.”

“Poor Matthew denies God’s love with suicide.”

“He could not save his own life because Mr. Warren does not truly understand how his own heart works, how it is broken, and the mechanism by which Jesus laid out the example of how to fix it. Matthew killed himself because he did not understand, either. He was a victim of his own ignorance and the ignorance of those family, friends, society, and Christians around him.”

😔 Man, really. That’s sad slander.

📖 A Bible Search on Slander

I’m just—I’ll go to full camera here, just so you can see this.

This is my listing, as I did a Bible search of everywhere slander is mentioned in the Scriptures.

📖 Look at the number of pages.

You know Proverbs says:

  • “He who conceals hatred has lying lips, and he who spreads slander is a fool.”

📖 Matthew 12:26:

  • “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they’ll give an account for it in the Day of Judgment.”

🗣️ The Point Is This

He’s called the devil, the slanderer.

  • We can expect this.

  • Jesus said, “Rejoice and be glad when it happens.”

But you’ve got to know what’s behind it.

  • It’s not necessarily that person who said something negative about you—although that’s where we tend to express our wrath.

  • Rather, we should express it to the one who’s behind it all, the one who’s whispering to someone:

    • “What about if you said this?”

🏛️ Personal Experience in Ministry

I was blessed to pastor some churches that were able to do some wonderful things.

  • I got to see many people come to faith.

When I retired from full-time ministry, it was such a joy to get emails from people who came to faith in churches I was privileged to be part of pastoring.

But I had to take some steps at times that caused slander.

  • People would say about me:

    • “He’s trying to build his own kingdom.”

  • Or, when I had sinned and it became a public sin, people said:

    • “Who is he? Who is he that he should lead this place? We’ve got to get rid of him.”

This is the kind of thing that is destroying so many people.

💔 Slander Outside and Within

When it happens outside—when non-Christians say that we’re hypocritical, judgmental, and they say slanderous things about us believers—that’s one thing.

  • That’s the enemy as well.

But as that article showed, it comes from within so often, within the body, our fellow believers.

🗣️ Where Does It Come From?

Ultimately, it comes from:

  • The devil.

  • The one who slanders.

That’s his character.
That’s his tactic.

When you’re looking as a watchman—when you’re watching to see:

  • Where is the enemy at work?

  • Where is he attacking?

  • What is he doing?

Look for those places of slander.

  • Pray against them.

  • Pray against people who are questioning the motives of Christian leaders around you.

Because this is your enemy.

🙏 Closing Prayer

Let’s close this time of prayer:

🙏 Lord, forgive us for the times we have participated in slander—of Your people, of leaders within Your church. And God, we recognize now this is a tactic of Satan as he tries to destroy Your kingdom on this earth. We pray for opportunities to go to battle in Your name and for Your glory. Lord, equip us with courage and strength. And then remind us—prompt us by Your Spirit—anytime we say something that becomes slanderous. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

👋 We’ll see you next time!

آخر تعديل: الخميس، 29 مايو 2025، 8:43 ص