   
CAN THE DEVIL READ OUR MINDS?
   
Turn to Revelation chapter 12, and get Revelation 12:9.  And, with the 
other hand, get Luke 22 and Job 2.  All right, Job 2, Luke 22, and 
Revelation 12.
   
All right now, first of all, in Revelation 12, about the devil, in 
Revelation 12:9:  "And the great dragon was cast out, that old 
serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:  
he was cast out into the earth." "And the great dragon was cast out, 
that OLD serpent."
   
All right now, the statement is, "The devil deceives the whole world." 
Nobody's big game for him; they're all small pickin's.  The next thing 
is, he's old; he's been around a long time.  He's been around for six 
millenniums.  When you read your Bible, did anybody ever get in the 
ring where the devil got knocked out?  He got Moses to kill a man; he 
got Moses to lose his temper and hit a rock; he got David to commit 
adultery and murder; he got Simon Peter to swear; he got Daniel to let 
a king bow down and commit sacrilege in front of him; he got Joseph to 
lie about the silver cup; he got Paul to lose his temper when the 
fellow hit him in the Sanhedrin.  Anybody he deals with in that Bible 
messes up--except Christ.
   
So the first thing about the devil is that he's been around a long 
time, and he's able to deceive anybody.  That's the first thing.
   
All right, the next thing--Luke 22:31:  "And the Lord said, Simon, 
Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as 
wheat.  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:  and when 
thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."
   
All right, Satan wanted Peter.  And He said, "Satan wants to sift you 
and work you over." And when you study what the devil did to Simon 
Peter, if he didn't read his mind, at least he knew him better than 
his mother knew him.
   
For example, in this chapter you're reading, look at Luke 22, the same 
chapter, look at this thing on the sword with Simon Peter.  Verse 33:  
"I'm ready to go...to death." Verse 36:  "Get you a sword." Verse 38:  
"Two swords...it's enough." Now what did Simon Peter do this same 
night we're reading about here?  Didn't he draw a sword in the garden 
and hack off a guy's ear?
   
Now, do you realize the devil had that thing all worked out?  And, 
when the devil had that thing, he knew Simon Peter.  And he said about 
Simon Peter, "Now, Simon Peter's trouble is, he's impetuous.  He likes 
to fight.  And the Lord said to him, `Get you a sword.' So now Peter's 
got a sword.  Now I'm going to fix Simon Peter!"
   
And he gets out there in the garden, and they come in there, and the 
devil says, "OK.  Action!" And he draws the sword.
   
And the Lord says, "Put it up."
   
And Peter says, "What do you mean, `Put it up'?  You said get one 
(Luke 22).  You said get one (Luke 22)!"
   
And Christ said, "If you live with the sword, you're going to perish 
with the sword.  Put it up!"
   
And Simon Peter put it up, and then he was mad with the Lord!  The 
reason why Simon Peter denied the Lord was not because he was afraid; 
he was mad at Him!  And, when he got down by that fire, and they said, 
"Are you one of them?  Are you one of them?" he said, "Blank blankety-
blank blank, NO, I'm not one of them!"
   
Do you know what was wrong?  He was mad at the Lord!  And he was mad 
at the Lord because the Lord said, "Get you a sword," and he got him a 
sword--and then the Lord wouldn't let him use it.  "Put it back up!"
   
Now, you've got to admit that's a pretty carefully wrought-out thing 
the devil worked out with Simon Peter.  He knew his mind.
   
Turn to Job chapter 2.  And in Job chapter 2, at verse 9, look what 
Job's wife says to him, when he finally winds up smitten with leprosy, 
or whatever it was, from head to foot.  Look at Job 2:9:  "The said 
his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity?  curse God, 
and die."
   
Where did his wife get that from?  Look at verse 4, up in heaven:  
"And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a 
man hath will he give for his life.  But put forth thine hand now, and 
touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face."
   
Verse 9, down on the ground:  "Curse God, and die."
   
Now, do you know what that means?  That means that Job's wife had a 
direct hotline right to the devil.  And down there on the ground, she 
was saying what the devil wanted Job to do, and the devil was using 
her to get Job to do it.
   
So, I'm saying, in view of that and some others, the answer to the 
question is this:  That, although the devil can't read your mind, he 
at least could know you better than your mother or father knows you.  
And your mother and father know you pretty well!  I'd say, since the 
devil has six thousand years of experience in dealing with people, he 
certainly knows anybody here better than their parents know them.  And 
he wouldn't have to do much reading by them to mess us up.
   
And then again, we do things to betray what we're thinking when nobody 
else is around.  The devil sees that.
   
So he's pretty well prepared, and we're pretty unprepared.
   

   

 
