The Schemes of The Devil Part 1
Scripture: Ephesians 6:11-12; Jude 9; Daniel 10:12-13 ; John 8:34-36; 44
Introduction:
You have heard me teach in the past about the devil and how he spend time doing whatever he can to hinder us from doing what God has instructed and empowered us to do. I have taught you that we have an enemy who is very good at his job and therefore we should not be taken lightly. While I was on vacation, I had a lot of time to think and meditate. As many of you are aware, we are beginning to move into a time of rededication and focus around what God has called this Church to do. As we move into this time, we can expect that our enemy will do whatever he can to hinder us. Satan does not mind you doing anything in Church, but he does mind if you are committed and dedicated to it because then you start to put God first. Through this series of messages and also through some of our bible study lessons (as I cannot get into the depth of everything in the sermons) we will examine some of the tactics that Satan uses to hinder us. It is time for all of us to start standing firm.
I. Satan
There is a lot of information in the bible on our enemy the devil. The Scripture tell us in Ezekiel 28:14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there….” Notice that it did not say that he was “one of the anointed cherubs” it says that he “was the anointed cherub.” In this position, Satan was the one who led the worship of the universe. This group of angels (cherubim) also had the responsibility to guard and protect and he was apparently over them. He was an angel who had authority and rank. The Scripture tell us that Satan was so exalted that even Michael, the archangel, did not dare to bring a railing judgment against him. Jude 9 records “But Michael, the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said “The Lord rebuke you.” (Railing judgment is to speak judgment in a bitter and violent manner.) This reference and others seem to indicate that Satan was actually ranked higher than Michael. Ephesians 2:2 references him as the “prince of the power of the air.” The reason that I bring this up is that there are those that believe that Satan is weak because Jesus stripped him of his power. Jesus stripped Satan of his authority over us, yet he remains very powerful. As Rev. Welcome pointed out last week, God has no adversary, but we do. Satan cannot compete with God, yet he is more powerful than we are. We cannot play in his realm and expect to not be influenced. God has no adversary for no being is His equal, however we have an adversary and if we are not walking in nor relying on the power of God to be operating in our lives then we too can fall victim to this adversary.
Satan Has A Kingdom
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:11-12 NIV)
Satan has far greater power than men, in our flesh and blood. He has under him beings so great in power and dignity as to be spoken of as “principalities, the powers, the world rulers, and spiritual hosts (spiritual beings) of wickedness in the heavenly places.” The conflict we have on hand is frightful, we must not underestimate it. When Jesus was casting out a devil in Luke 11:14-18, he spoke of the kingdom of Satan. Satan’s kingdom and his power is for real.
Satan And/Or His Subordinates has Power To Resist Angels
The book of Daniel records the incident of Daniel receiving a revelation concerning a great war. Daniel went into prayer seeking clarification to the vision and the answer to his prayer was delayed. When the answer finally came, Daniel was told why his answer was delayed. Daniel 10:12-13 records “Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.” Some believed that these verses are actually talking about a king that was a man, but I cannot accept this. No man will be able to fight with one of God’s angels and hold the angel hostage for twenty-one days. Satan, or one of his subordinate, stood in the way of this angel getting Daniel’s answer to him. Again, I point this out so that you will understand that this battle that we are in is nothing to take for granted.
Satan has so many cunning wiles that we need to put of the whole armor of God just to be able to stand against him. This was not written because it sounded nice, it was written because it is the absolute truth. Remember when Satan tempted Jesus? Those were example of his cunning devices. He offered Jesus everything that a man would want and all he requested was for Jesus to worship him. There have been many good Christians who have fallen into Satan’s trap because they gave in to something he set before them that was more pleasurable than their relationship with God. This is my focus in this series. We will examine some areas where we actually open the door to Satan and invite him into our lives.
II. Intruder and Trespasser
There are two ways that Satan affects us, he is an intruder and he is a trespasser. Let’s examine some differences between an intruder and a trespasser.
Intruder: An intruder is one who “forces their way into something without permission or without being welcomed.” When we think of an intruder our minds often focuses on our homes, someone breaking in or intruding into our homes. They violate our personal space. This intrusion can happen when we are home or when we are not there – hence the reason why many of us have an alarm system. Satan is an intruder. He tries to enter our lives without permission and without being welcomed. He uses his schemes to try and get us to open our door so that he can get a foot hold into the doorway. Imagine yourself sitting in your home having some quiet time. It is 9 p.m. and the door bell rings. All of your windows are locked and your door is bolted. You look through the peephole and you recognize the person as someone who is up to no good. You tell the person to go away but they begin to plead with you to open the door so that they can talk with you. Since you recognize the person as being up to no good, you inform them that unless they leave your property you will call the police. They finally leave. What saved you? The fact that you recognized the person as being someone who was up to no good. What would have happened had you not made this identification? You could have unlatched the door, opened it slightly and they could have busted in. This is how Satan operates. He does not want us to recognize how he is coming at us so often times he disguises himself and his schemes so that we do not see that it is really him. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:14 “…..for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” If we do not recognize him or his tactics, we will open the door and allow him to get a foot hold in our lives. By the way, a foot hold is a secure spot for your foot like when you’re climbing a rock wall. When you open the door to Satan by giving in to one of his tactics, he immediately looks for a secure spot to remain in your life. All he needs is a very small crack to set up a secure position. As I mentioned earlier, Satan is also a trespasser.
Trespasser: A trespasser is someone who “enters your property uninvited. They are also someone who commits a transgression against another.” Both of these definitions apply to Satan. A trespasser, in our normal way of thinking, is someone who comes onto our property uninvited. A trespasser is not always someone trying to do harm to your property, but it could be someone who is soliciting something from you or even someone who is lost. By definition, anytime that we come onto the property of someone we do not know or have a relationship with we are trespassing and must leave immediately when asked. The second definition focuses on someone who actually does something against you, they trespass against you. Maybe they said something about you or did something to offend you. In this case, the trespasser is the offender. Satan is a trespasser. He and/or his subordinates are always seeking a means by which to gain access to you and yours illegally. The Scriptures tell us that Satan is also our accuser, always shining a light on our flaws and sins. When that does not get him anywhere with God, he brings those same accusations to us and once accepted, we begin to live our lives as one not worthy of doing anything great for God. The point that I am trying to make with this is that the devil cannot intrude or trespass in our lives unless the door is open. If we do not open the door, he’s locked out and he’s bound. All he can do is bug us from the outside. But once we open the door, then he can come in and have a negative influence on our lives. He is a worthy adversary that should not be taken lightly. He cannot be trusted and we cannot let our guards down.
Having given you that background, I want to focus on how we open the door to allow Satan to come in. All of us understand sin, but sin is the result of Satan getting a foothold. What I will be focusing on is a little deeper than our committing sins. I will be examining some of the things that lead us into sin without our ever knowing that is where it is headed. Let me start with the first one, our family history.
III. Our Family History
One of the ways that the door is open for Satan to enter our lives is through our family history. Let me tell you right now, right here, today that “It does not matter how messed up your family is or how bad your situation was when you were growing up, You Are Not Cursed!” There are many people living today under what they believe to be a “generational” curse. My great-grandfather was an alcoholic, my grandfather was an alcoholic, my father is an alcoholic and therefore I drink and am an alcoholic. I am curse and destined to be an alcoholic. That is a lie from hell and one of the strongest tools that Satan uses to get a foothold in our lives. The Scriptures says in John 10:10 that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. Satan operates as a thief and everything that he does will ultimately lead to death and destruction. John 8:44 says “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature for he is a liar and the father of lies.” This verse gives us a deeper insight into the personality of Satan. Jesus, who knew Satan from the beginning because He was there when Satan was kicked out of heaven, said that Satan was a murderer from the beginning and that there is no truth in him. If there is no truth in him, why do we, as Christians, believe what he tells us? Do you understand what it means to be the father of something? It means that you were involved in its creation, whatever that “it” is. Jesus said that Satan was the father of lies, meaning that before Satan started with his lies, lies did not exist. Satan lied to the angels that rebelled with him, telling them that they could rule heaven and he is lying to us today. If he is a liar and you know this, it stands to reason that if he is whispering anything to us it has to be a lie. It will contain just enough truth to try and convince us to accept it, but ultimately it is still a lie.
Satan has lied to many of us and have told us that we are cursed. He has told us that the sins of our parents will be our sins also. He has told us that we have no choice but to walk in the sins and flaws of our parents. If in the past you have believed this lie, today is your day for deliverance. In Jesus’ name I tell you that you are not cursed! Regardless of your past, today you can be free. Satan cannot tell you the truth so if he told you that you were cursed you know it is a lie. If you are not cursed, what are you? You are blessed. If your family members have a history of alcohol abuse, drug use, unfaithfulness to spouses, the desire for personal fame and glory at the expense of the family, whatever it is, you do not have to follow that path. You are not cursed. If Satan can get us to believe that we have no choice but must follow in the footsteps of our parents and grandparents and their failures, then he will not only have a foothold in our lives, but also in the lives of our children. You see, when we walk in the sins of our forefathers, we are teaching our children to do the same thing. Christ came to deliver us, to set us free.
Jesus said in John 8:34-36 “…..Truly, truly I say unto you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever, the son does remain forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” Jesus has set us free, not only from our sins, but the sins of our forefathers. The term “generational curse” does not apply to us because when we were saved, all things became new. When we accepted Christ and were saved, our whole lives changed. Our history was wiped clean and God gave us a new look. Yes on the outside we looked the same, but we were changed immediately on the inside. Even though it may take a little time for the change on the inside to show up on the outside, it is there nonetheless. Although we are the product our parents bodies and ultimately their teachings, God has planted within us the seed of deliverance via His Holy Spirit. Freedom is available for those who desire it.
Let me share this with you before I close part one of this series. When we grow up in a household and are consistently witnessing things that are not right, although we may know these things are not right, our living environment becomes what is natural and comfortable for us. If we grew up with parents who were alcoholics, our chances of becoming an alcoholic is increased because we grew up in that environment. If we grew up with abusive parents, again, we have a greater chance of being an abusive parent because that is what was in our environment. If we become what we saw in our families, it does not mean we are cursed and therefore everything that we do is cursed. What it means is that we will have to fight harder to allow the Spirit of God to bring us beyond our past. Satan and/or his subordinates watch closely what will affect a family. If the head of the family gives in to one of his schemes and he has success with that scheme, he will use it for the lifeline of that family, from one generation until the next, until someone stands up and says “No, no more!” Until that happens, Satan will continue to use the same on schemes within a family. We are not cursed! We do not have to walk in the footsteps of those that came before us. We can be free. Jesus has given us life and that life allows us the opportunity to step free of all bonds that have held us captive. Do not give in to this scheme of Satan. Shake off the sins of your past and those of your forefathers and walk in a newness of life. I will continue this message next week. God bless.
