#2335 1009 16P

            Compromise on some matter, some issue, or some decision can quickly take us outside the will of God.  To compromise is to concede; to give up; or to forfeit some part of the standard by which we conduct our life.  The devil makes it easy to compromise by offering a substitute, but following any worldly plan can quickly move us away from a position of trust on God.

            The Christian life has always been a spiritual battle with a hateful and dangerous enemy.  1 Peter 5:8 “Your adversary the devil” prowls to catch us off guard and then devour us.  The minute we surrender our life to God, the spiritual battle with Satan begins.  He is out to claim our soul, and he will do anything to get it. 

            Just as there is a living God in heaven—who wants us to do His will, there is a deceiving devil on earth—who wants us to move outside of the will of God by a compromise.  Satan wants to take as many with him as possible, so he uses deception to have us compromise on principles of trust.

            The beginning of compromise is the first cut from the Vine.  It is usually not a complete detachment, but a gradual process.  Moving away from trust on God often begins with a compromising decision to follow a worldly plan, or to compromise our position of faith and trust on God.  We must 1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.”

            Satan will do everything possible to begin a faith-withering process by a small cut of compromise.  Satan suggests that some government welfare; a pill from the pharmacy; or a pension from the company is not that wrong.  He suggests that we take out a loan; hint to someone; or borrow a few dollars from the rent money.  The devil wants to move us outside of God’s will, because a little compromise can take us a big distance away from trust on God.

            Compromise is Satan’s strategy, but it is not always apparent.  Many have met with defeat because of compromising on some spiritual matter.  Satan has devised millions of plans, policies, procedures, pills, and practices that would compromise faith in Christ—things concerning money, healing, wrongs, work issues, relationships, school matters, or home problems.

            When Moses led Israel out of Egypt, God said he was to take them on a three-day journey to a wilderness.  Whenever we want to do God’s will, Satan is right there to suggest a compromise.  Pharaoh would not allow the Israelites to leave, so God brought ten successive plagues against Egypt—each one building in intensity.

            Instead of relenting and repenting, Pharaoh became hardened and calloused.  Satan wants us to be stubborn and rebellious, so we are warned Hebrews 3:13 “lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”  When God’s hand of conviction is placed on something in our life, and we are unwilling to correct it, our heart can become calloused and defiant.

            Hebrews 3:12 “’Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”  And Psalm 95:7-8 “Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness.”

            After seeing many divine miracles, Pharaoh knew of God’s power, but he still became more stubborn.  The soil of our heart must be ready to receive the seed of the Word, so spiritual fruit can grow—we must respond to conviction.  Jesus told the rich man in Hell Luke 16:31 that if his brothers “hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”  It would scare them, but not convert them.

            Pharaoh presents another compromise Exodus 8:25-27 “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land;” to which Moses replies, “That would not be right.  The sacrifices we offer the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians.  And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us?  We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, as he commands us.”

            Pharaoh then offers—28 “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, but you must not go very far.”  Satan wants us to stay close to the worldly ways that we had followed, or to retain the unscriptural attitudes we had kept—he makes it easy for us to go back to them.  God commands the Israelites to travel three days from Egypt to totally separate them from that pagan culture.

            The devil tries to hinder our attending church services, and if we do attend, he wants to fill our mind with something or anything to block out the message.  He wants us to forget what was heard after a service.  Satan always opposes Bible-reading, and wants us to read late in the evening so we fall asleep and forget everything we read.  Even doing right things in wrong ways can include compromises.

            Compromise begins the process of moving away from God.  Once the cutting of the branch begins, the withering process continues.  Satan uses fellowship to have us compromise.  We are not to form close relationships with those who do not trust God in faith for things of this life.

            The devil often tries to have someone compromise on romantic relationships with unbelievers, but God’s Word speaks clearly on the matter—2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.  For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?  Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”

            If we compromise on this issue, we can move away from faith in Christ, by the lack of faith of the nonbeliever. The sin nature is on the side of Satan.  Unbelievers have a nature that does not want to trust God for anything, but a true believing Christian has a divine nature that wants to trust God for everything.  The two natures have nothing in common, because the spiritual light of God’s truth is directly opposite to the spiritual darkness of this world.

            Millions have fallen away from trusting God in faith, due to close relationships with someone who has no desire to trust God in faith.  We cannot be close friends with anyone who is not interested in God’s Truth.  If we compromise on fellowship, our faith will wither.  If the relationship leads to marriage, our eternal life can be at risk.  John 15:6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

            Our responsibility as a believer in Christ, is to stand firm on the principles of God’s Truth, and not compromise on faith issues.  Compromise is deadly, because it undermines the faith of the one who is compromising.  The first consequence is a withering of our spiritual life—we become more tolerant of things that should be offensive.

            Pharaoh’s next compromise was to allow the Israelites to go, but they had to leave the children Exodus 10:8-11.  If Satan can draw the children away, he will have the next generation—that is why he tries to have young people be involved with harmful things—unscriptural relationships, risk-taking, alcohol, drugs, immorality, fornication, or anything that would hinder their preparation for eternal life.

            The devil is determined to have the children, so he has the entertainment industry design programs that will capture their attention and interest—movies, TV shows, commercials, music, sports, and even religious films can include wrong ways, worldly attitudes, anger, violence, alternative lifestyles, or some type of anti-Christian message.

            The devil wants our children, and one way he can get them, is to have their parents to compromise with God’s will on entertainment.  The devil well knows what will influence the minds of children most, so he has most households to accept television.  It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to tell the children not to think like the world, when we just invited the world into our home.

            Anyone who wants to train their children on how to meet things in a scriptural way, must live God’s Truth themselves, because most of what is seen and heard and read on the Internet; on computers; tablets; smart phones, social media; and many other types of communications, is opposite to the message of the Bible.  Worldly attitudes can be seen in just about everything today.  We must personally influence our children by living a godly life ourselves.  John 15:5 “He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit.”

            The devil constantly tries to capture the attention and then the minds of young people, and he knows what will influence them.  To compromise on what we view, listen to, or spend much time on, can quickly begin a faith-withering process.  We must not allow Satan to have our children—as Moses refused to allow Pharaoh to have his Exodus 10:9.

            Satan was not done using compromise as a weapon, and he had Pharaoh say Exodus 10:24 “Go [ye], serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.”  It was another attempt with compromise. 

            Moses was firm and replied Exodus 10:25-26 “Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God.  Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God.”

            Satan wants us to allow him to have one child; but God wants no one to perish 2 Peter 3:9.  Satan wants us to compromise—saying, I’ll just watch sports on my tablet, or smart phone, etc., but soon including other compromising things.  The consequence of any compromise, however, can be a downhill slide to tolerate more and more worldly entertainment and attitudes—things that can lead us far from the will of God.

            The Pharaoh tried to retain hold of something, so he could draw Israel back to Egypt; and the devil wants us to retain wrong media choices, so he can draw us or our family, back to the world.  It is often a gradual fall, by a series of compromises, that lead us away from Christ-centered material.

            Satan is stalking and 1 Peter 5:8 “seeking whom he may devour;” but we are to 9 “Resist him, steadfast in the faith;” so that 10 “the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”

            Moses was firm with his decision, and we must be also.  When Satan tries to have us compromise—where there can be no compromise—whether it be with money, our children, fellowship, healing, avenging wrongs, or anything else—we must say to the devil, what Moses said to Pharaoh—No deals; no compromising—every child, every attitude, and every decision belongs to God and they must glorify Him.