Be Aware of Satan’s Devices
Introduction:
We are at war with Satan!
(Ephesians
6:12)
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
places.”
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He
has an arsenal of weapons at his disposal. He uses a variety of
tricks and traps to try and defeat us. (II
Corinthians 11:3, 14)
“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his
craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that
is in Christ.
14
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel
of light.”
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We
must not be ignorant of his devices. (II
Corinthians 2:11)
“lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant
of his devices.”
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So
what are these devices and how can I defend myself.
Body:
I.
Satan’s Arsenal
·
Pride
(Proverbs
16:18)
“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a
fall.”
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Satan can use a person’s pride to bring about his downfall.
An
Old Testament example:
Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17-19 “Beware that you do not forget the
Lord your God by not keeping His commandments. His judgments, and
His statutes which I command you today, lest – when you have eaten
and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them, and
when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your
gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your
heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you
out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
17
then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have
gained me this wealth.’ And you shall remember the Lord your God,
for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may
establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this
day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your
God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I
testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.”
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Pride
may keep one from admitting wrong and therefore losing one’s soul.
(I
John 1:9-10)
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that
we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
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·
Envy and jealousy
(James
3:13-16)
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good
conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if
you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast
and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above,
but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking
exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”
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An example of where this may lead is Cain and Abel. (I
John 3:12)
“not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother.
And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his
brother’s righteous.”
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·
Division in the church
(I
Corinthians 1:10-13)
“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in
the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to
me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that
there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you
says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or
‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?
Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
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Strife is indicative of carnal behavior. (I
Corinthians 3:1-4)
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people
but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and
not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it,
and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For
where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not
carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, ‘I am of
Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?”
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Satan loves strife in the church and those that cause it.
·
Family/Self
(Luke
14:26-27) “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and
mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own
life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his
cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
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One’s family can be used by Satan to lead him away from Christ.
Solomon’s wives caused him to sin against God.
(I
Kings 11:1-4)
“But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the
daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites,
Sidonians, and Hittites – from the nations of whom the Lord had said
to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not intermarry with them, nor
they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their
gods.’ Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred
wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives
turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that
his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not
loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.”
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·
Time
(Ephesians
5:15-16)
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
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Satan can tempt us to use our time for evil, not good. (Psalm
90:12)
“So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of
wisdom.”
(John
12:35)
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘A little while longer the light is
with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake
you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.’
”
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·
Itching Ears
(II
Timothy 4:3-4)
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,
but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears,
they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their
ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
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Satan deceives people by tempting them to think the Bible’s truths
are boring. So they always want to hear new things, teachings
contrary to God’s Word. (Acts
17:19-21)
“And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ‘May
we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are
bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know
what these things mean.’ For all the Athenians and the foreigners
who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell
or to hear some new thing.”
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·
Doubt
(II
Corinthians 4:3-4) “Satan can cause
doubt of God’s Word by having “experts” claim that the earth is
billions of years old, that man evolved from lower forms of life,
that man is just an animal with no soul, that Noah’s flood never
happened, etc.
·
Note
I Timothy 6:20-21.
“O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the
profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely
called knowledge – by professing it some have strayed concerning the
faith. Grace be with you. Amen.”
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Evolution and such like is science [knowledge] falsely so called.
While Satan has more weapons in his arsenal, these demonstrate some
of his schemes and traps.
II.
Our Defenses
·
Grow up and be an
adult – mature and sober. (Ephesians
4:14-15)
“that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men,
in the cunning, craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the
truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head –
Christ” –
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·
Be constantly on
guard. (I
Peter 5:8-9)
“Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him,
steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are
experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
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·
Be regular in
prayer. (Colossians
4:2)
“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with
thanksgiving;”
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·
Stay in the Word.
(Psalm
119:11)
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin
against You.”
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·
Put on the whole
armor of God. (Ephesians
6:10-11)
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of
His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil.”
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Conclusion:
Always remember that God is
greater than Satan. (I
John 4:4)
“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because
He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
NKJV
Bobby Stafford
October 25, 2015
The
church of Christ
