APOSTOLIC ACTING OUT

BIG BAD WOLF

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JOHN 10:10-12, 27-2910The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

How to avoid the Big Bad Wolf.  We are not talking about a fairy tale, a children’s story, or a myth tonight. This is going to pertain to people of all ages. If you think that this is a fairy tale, you are sadly mistaking. This is not Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny; this is not something to scare you like Freddy Kruger or the boogey man; this is the real thing. This is life or death. This is happiness or sadness. This is no pain for eternity or eternal punishment. Everyone knows that heaven is real. I am here to tell you that Satan and hell are also real.

Let’s remember the story of the Big Bad Wolf. I think there is more than one story about the Big Bad Wolf. One is with 3 little pigs, and one is with Little Red Riding Hood. The 3 Little Pigs is the story that I want to look at. It starts out with the 3 pigs building a house of their own. 

The first pig decides that straw is the best material to build a house with since straw is what is used to make bricks. So he builds his house with straw.

The second pig decides wood is the strongest material to use since a lot of houses are made of wood. So he builds his house with sticks.

The third pig decides that brick is the strongest material to build a house with because he believes that anything that is as hard as a rock has got to stand. So he builds his house with bricks.

So the 3 little pigs finally finish their housing projects and suddenly the Big Bad Wolf, who had not eaten in three days, just long enough for the pigs to build their houses, was looking for some food.

The first house the Big Bad Wolf came to was the straw house. He could smell the pig inside of his straw house, so with hunger overtaking him, he huffed and puffed and blew the house down and devoured the pig with ease. Well, that was only enough for one of the three days that he hadn’t eaten and he was still hungry.

So he came to the second house built with wooden sticks. Smelling the pig through the wood, he huffed and huffed and puffed and blew the house down and devoured the second pig. Well, he had a big stomach and was not satisfied because that only took care of two of the three days he had not eaten.

He saw on up the mountain the third pig’s house. So he climbed up the rocky mountain and finally reached the third pig’s brick house. He could not really smell the pig inside through the bricks but he had a good feeling he was in there. So with his little bit of energy he had left he huffed and he puffed and he blew and he huffed and he puffed and he blew but all he could do was make himself dizzy. He started making a hoot and a holler outside and finally the pig heard him, grabbed a rock, opened the door and threw the rock at the Big Bad Wolf and the wolf went flying down the rocky mountain into the pit below, and as the wolf was tumbling down the pig cried, “You will never prevail against this house, you Big Bad Wolf!”Is it not funny how that a lot of children’s stories relate to the Bible in some way? Many parts of this story are found in the Bible. For example, the parable of the builders in MATTHEW 7:24-2724Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. 25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Is it not also funny how the Big Bad Wolf reminds us a lot of the devil like it says in 1 PETER 5:8 – “8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

The third pig also kind of reminds us of another story. The third pig built his house out of bricks but he also built it on a ROCKY mountain. No this does not mean that it was necessarily in Colorado, but here is what it really means: MATTHEW 16:1818And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

So we have 3 different stories from the Bible that the 3 Little Pigs teaches us and now we have 3 different ways on how to avoid the Big Bad Wolf, or Satan, or the Devil, or Lucifer, or the Fallen Angel. We are not here to glorify the devil; we are here to glorify Jesus Christ. But we are going to find out how to avoid the devil so we can get to Jesus Christ.

The first step is found in EPHESIANS 6:11-18 – “11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;


This first step is how you prepare. It is not a hard step because you are just putting your battle uniform on. In Afghanistan, I had to do this everyday, both physical armor and spiritual armor as we find here. But you are fortunate enough to just have to put on the spiritual armor. 

So we will start with the first part of the whole armour of God, your loins girt about with truth. This will protect your reproductive organs so if you reproduce truth then it is an army of truth against the devil. The devil is the father of lies so if you are girt about with truth, he can’t stand that. 

Then it is the breastplate of righteousness. In the U.S. Army, the breastplate is really a vest called an IBA. It protects your heart most importantly but it also protects your lungs, and all of your other vital organs in your chest. So if your heart is filled with righteousness, just like it pumps the blood through your body, your whole body will be pumped with righteousness and you will be against all wrong doing. 


Then you put on the preparation of the gospel of peace on your feet so that everywhere you march, you are spreading the gospel of peace. 

Next is the shield of faith that quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked. Just know that your faith that you can defeat the devil is enough to make his power useless against you. 

The helmet of salvation will save you and protect your head which is what helps you see, hear, smell, and taste which without just one of those you would be miserable. Just imagine if you did not have any of those and all you could do was touch. That is what it is like spiritually when you are not saved. You can feel God, but you can not taste and see that He is good and hear Him speaking to you and smell the sweet aroma that comes from serving Him. 


And finally you can not forget your weapon. In Afghanistan, if I forgot my weapon to go anywhere, even to go to the bathroom, I would have been in huge trouble. My weapon was an M16 Rifle. Our spiritual weapons are much more powerful and do a lot more damage than any gun. It is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, or the Bible, which I have always believed stood for Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth and also the inspired Word of God as it says in 2 TIMOTHY 3:16 – “16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Well, that is the first step, putting your spiritual uniform on. Here is the second step: JAMES 1:2-3 – “2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” As we said before that the shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the devil, when you put your faith into action it works patience. Many people do not like to have patience nor do they want patience prayed over them because of the trials and tribulations that they have to go thru to get it. But this is the second step in how to avoid the devil, so this is vitally important and without this you can not accomplish the third step. You have to put your faith to the test. When the devil puts you through temptations that you think that you will never handle or make it through, put your faith down, speak to your mountain, give God the reigns and conquer the enemy and you will be prepared to go into enemy lines and accomplish this next, third and final step.


Third step: JAMES 4:7 – “7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” You are probably wondering why I did not just tell you this to begin with. Because without step one and two, you CANNOT submit to God completely. You can not skip submitting to God before you can resist the devil. Notice that it did not say “resist temptations”. You can not resist temptations; neither can prayers be answered for resisting temptations. But if you pray to resist the devil, he will flee from you. Temptations will come, but you have to have the full armour of God on before you can defeat those temptations.

Last thing: JAMES 2:19 – “19Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” I have two things to say about this. 1. The devils believe that there is one God and they tremble. You say the name of that one God, Jesus, they flee. 2. The devils believe in God, but they are not saved nor will they ever be saved. That is proof that just believing in God will not get you saved. Here is what will and here is God’s will: 2 PETER 3:9 – “9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness: but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

What is the Lord’s promise that He is not slack in? This is God’s promise to us: ACTS 2:38-39 – “38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.