THE DEVIL’S DEVICES:
Today we’ll talk for a little while to do with the fact that Satan is the greatest enemy of the saint.
2 Corinthians 2:1-11
"LEST SATAN SHOULD GET AN ADVANTAGE OF US: FOR WE ARE NOT IGNORANT OF HIS DEVICES."
"Satan" means "adversary, which is an enemy " our KJV, the Bible refers to the devil by a number of names and descriptions. He is seen as "the anointed cherub"
(Ezek. 28:14- 15 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. Satan protected God’s throne. He had the highest position a created being could have, until pride brought him down, he thought he could over throw God & become god himself.),
Another description of Satan is "the ruler of the fallen angels, demons" (Luke 11:15 15But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.
Satan is also called "the ruler of this world" (John 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. [Prince] means a first (in rank or power, ruler)
Satan is also called, "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4 4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,),
And also Satan is called "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph 2:2 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:).
And among other things Satan is identified as a great dragon, a roaring lion, the vile one, the tempter, and the accuser.
He is cunning, and powerful. Paul writing to the Corinthian church realized that Satan was working overtime in the church and emphasizes that we are to be vigilant and alert to his subtlety. Satan’s advantage is based upon a person being ignorant of his devices or his methods.
What are some of the devil’s devices by which he tries to deceive God’s children, defeat God’s church, destroy God’s work, and denigrate God’s Word?
~~His methods include distraction, discouragement, disillusionment, discontentment, discord, and disassociation.~~
1st of all; Distraction
1 John 2:15-16 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
Satan tries to distract us by getting our mind and our attention on the material things instead of the spiritual, on methods rather than the message, on men rather than God.
2 Timothy 2:4 4No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
If Satan can he will get us to major on the minors and to minimize the majors.—ill-
It was a really hot day in September in San Antonio, when a woman accidentally locked her 10 month-old baby niece inside a parked car. Frantically the mother and aunt ran around the car in near hysteria, while a neighbor attempted to unlock the car with a clothes hanger. Soon the baby was turning purple and had foam on its mouth, and now it had become a life-or-death situation.
And then another man came rushing up with a tire tool and smashed the back window of the car in order to free the little girl, this actually saved the little girls life, but then the lady was mad because he broke the window. ---
So here is a good example of choosing between what is important and what is not, in this case the baby or the window. Sometimes priorities get out of order.
Satan seeks to get our priorities out of order.
Colossians 3:2 "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."
And then another good tool of Satan’s is Discouragement
One of Satan’s most powerful weapons is trying to get us into a feeling of discouragement, so that maybe we’ll give up.
Discouragement is a lack of hope usually after a major victory.
Many times discouragement comes not long after we’ve had a good church service.
The Devil wants us to believe that things are worse than what they are and that you are the only one who really cares. That is how Elijah felt after his victory on Mt Carmel.
. Sometimes it is people that discourage us - Deuteronomy 1:28 "Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, ’The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there’." [Giants]
some time a person who is continually criticized becomes good for nothing; the effect of criticism knocks all the gumption and power out of him.
Sometimes it’s circumstances that discourage us - Numbers 21:4-5 4And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. 5And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
We’ll become discouraged if we listen to the lies of the devil
Galatians 6:9 9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
And another device of the devil is Disillusionment
Disillusionment is state of being disappointed by unfulfilled expectations.
Proverbs 13:12 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life."
It may be that God is allowing certain things to happen in our life that will change the direction we might be headed in.
1 Corinthians 11:1 "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."
Philippians 1:21 "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
And then another tool of the devil is; Discontentment
Numbers 21:5-6 5And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
The children of Israel didn’t find in the manna all the sweetness and strength they thought they ought to; not because the manna didn’t contain it, but because they longed for other meat.
1 Corinthians 10:10 "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer."
Some folks are unhappy because they can’t have the things that are making the other folks unhappy. It seems that their glass is always half empty and never half full.
One man said; “if Christians spent as much time praying as they do grumbling, they would have nothing to grumble about.”
Philippians 2:14 "Do all things without murmurings and disputings"
James 5:8-9 "Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is drawing nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge stands before the door."
Colossians 3:17 "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."
And then another device of the devil is Discord (division)
1 Corinthians 1:10-11 "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe,[cloe] that there are contentions among you."
There are four ways the devil brings about division in the church. He uses Selfishness, Favoritism, Narrow-mindedness, and Lack of Fellowship
Selfishness says do it my way or no way. Favoritism says our way is better than your way. Narrow-mindedness says we’ve never done it that way. Lack of Fellowship says you go your way and I’ll go my way.
Romans 12:3-5 "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another."
Just about every discord in Christian homes and communities and churches is that some individual wants his own way for his own glory.
A. W. Tozer said, “It is too bad that anything so obvious should need to be said at this late date, but from all appearances, we Christians have about forgotten the lesson so carefully taught by Paul: God’s servants are not to be competitors, but co-workers.”
Philippians 1:27 "Only let your conversation be as it becomes the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;"
and then Disassociation is another tool of the devil
Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
The devil loves it when believers don’t fellowship with other believers
1 Corinthians 12:18-21 "But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body.
1 Corinthians 12:25 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you." "That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another."
Communion is strength; solitude is weakness.
Alone from a heard of sheep, the one sheep is an easy target for the stalking lion. The devil would like to isolate believers just like predators separate their prey from the herd in order to weaken it and easily kill and devour it.
1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:"
in a way Churchgoers are like coals in a fire. When they cling together, they keep the flame aglow; but when they separate, they die out.
Satan has been working overtime in many peoples life?
Ephesians 4:27 “Neither give place to the devil."
Each one of have situations come into our lives that is a hindrance to us and is a stumbling block as for as keeping us slowed down in what we could really do for God, but let us be encouraged in knowing that all these different things that may be bogging us down is a good sign that the devil is up set with us, and he’s trying to hinder us. Maybe this is a good sign that we are doing something for God after all.
