A Sermon
Delivered on Wednesday Evening, February 11th, 2026, by
Evangelist PAUL ACQUAH,
Live on MZ Radio London, London UK.
In a world full of noise, opinions, and competing truths, not every voice deserves your trust. Some sound wise. Some sound comforting. Some even sound spiritual. But behind many of them is a subtle danger – deception. The Bible tells us that Satan is the prince of this world, and his greatest weapon is not force, but lies. He does not always come as evil; he often comes as logic, culture, and “reasonable” thinking that slowly pulls hearts away from Christ.
The Apostle Paul warns believers not to be misled by fine-sounding arguments or taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophies. If we are not watchful, Satan’s lies can shape our thinking, weaken our faith, and capture our hearts without us even noticing. Today’s message by Evangelist Paul Acquah, titled “Guard Against Satan’s Lies,” is a call to spiritual alertness. A call to truth, and a call to stand firm in Christ. Be blessed as you listen!
The apostle Paul, writing to the Colossians church said I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments, (Col 2:4). In verse 8 he said “Beware lest anyone [e]cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ “.
“The basic principles of this world.” This is a system of thought based on worldly principles instead of godly principles. Many people are being taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits[a] of the world. All of these things deal with words and thoughts. Many people think Satan is endued with supernatural power that he uses to overpower us and force us into obeying his desires. This is not true. Satan’s only power is deception, and that’s what Paul was warning the Colossians against. Satan’s only power over your life is deception, and once you know the truth, his power against you totally evaporates. Once you base your knowledge on God’s Word, the enemy will have no power to force you to do anything! Satan’s strongest attack is not a frontal assault against the truths of the Gospel; rather, he uses subtle deception. Perversion of the truth has captured more people than an outright denial of truth.Paul was warning against the enticing words that the Enemy was using to turn their hearts away from the Truth.
In Genesis 3:1, the devil didn’t choose the most powerful creature to come against Eve. Satan didn’t use the biggest, most powerful animal to approach Eve and tempt her; he used the most cunning. “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’?” (Genesis 3:1). Satan chose the subtlest. That’s because he had no power or authority to force Adam and Eve to do anything. He had to deceive them and get them to destroy themselves. Satan uses the same tactics on us. That’s the way it is with us. The Gospel of Christ is so simple that someone has to help you to misunderstand it. The sad fact is that there are more than enough people who are willing and able to help us confuse the issues. In the instance of the serpent deceiving Eve, Satan took a simple truth and complicated it. God said, “Don’t eat or you die.” Satan made it much more complicated and deceived Eve through his sophistication.
Today we can identify with Adam and Eve’s experience in the garden. If you could convince perfect people living in paradise with no physical problems whatsoever to think they didn’t have it all, to doubt God’s Word, and to question His goodness, then I guarantee you can convince people living in a fallen world, who can look in any direction and see pain, tragedy, lack, and need, that they don’t have it all. But not having it all wasn’t true for Adam and Eve before the Fall, and it isn’t true for born-again believers now. The truth is, if you’ve been born again, you have everything. You are complete in Christ (Colossians. 2:10.). Everything you’ll ever need has already been given to you. All you’re doing is combating Satan’s lies and deceptions. Many have adopted a mentality of being without. Without identity, without authority, without value, without enough. They are convinced they don’t have what it takes to succeed—whatever “it” is. like Eve, they’d been deceived into thinking they are missing something. But the bible says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”,
Here, Paul was at the heart of the reason he wrote this epistle. He wanted the Colossians to be so grounded in the truth that no one could move them from their faith in Christ. He did this not so much by attacking all the potential errors but by expounding on the truth–specifically the truth of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Once we get the revelation that Christ is in us in His fullness and that we are complete in Him, how can we ever move away from this truth? To what can it compare? Those who have left their faith in Christ for something else never fully appreciated what they had. As David said, “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalms 34:8). Once people have truly “tasted” the goodness of the Lord, nothing else will satisfy. The Christian life is a constant struggle against Satan, who is trying to corrupt us. Most Christians are aware of the warfare, but they are mistaking about where the warfare is occurring.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not [a]carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). The weapons of the Christian’s warfare that knock down the devil’s strongholds are not “carnal” (2 Corinthians 10:4). To be canal means being governed by human nature and strength as opposed to being governed by God’s Spirit. Satan and his forces of darkness can’t oppose the power of God on which we rely. The Bible makes it clear that the battle is in our minds. Just as the serpent didn’t come against Eve with brute force but rather used words to deceive her, likewise he tries to corrupt us through thoughts contrary to the Gospel. Satan’s original tactic was deception, and that is still his method of operation today.
The apostle Paul said to the Corinthian church, “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). We must constantly be on guard against the deceit of the devil. Satan can’t force any one of us away from the Truth. He has to deceive us, and he uses words to accomplish that. We need to be aware of this and protect ourselves by diligently guarding our hearts against any words that oppose the truth of God’s Word. We can’t do that if we are not thoroughly acquainted with God’s Truth. Therefore, as Paul was arguing here, we need to be grounded in the foundational principles of the Gospel. The battle against the devil is waged in your thoughts. That’s why God’s Word is so essential! Satan’s only power is deception. He lies and represents himself as more powerful than he is. But truth is the antidote to deception. Apart from the power you give him through believing his lies, Satan can’t steal anything from you.
