HOW TO BE VICTORIOUS IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE TWO
1PET 5:8-9, EPH 6:12
1 Peter 5:8-9 (NKJV)
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV)
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.
** PT 2- UNDERSTANDING THE TACTICS OF OUR ENEMY**
MATT 4 VS 1-10
Matthew 4:1-10 (NKJV)
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' "
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "
7 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' "
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."
10 Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "
1. MAKE US DOUBT THE PROVISION(GOODNESS) OF GOD:
Matthew 4:3 (NKJV)
3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
**AFTER FASTING 40 DAY’S JESUS FIRST PHYSICAL NEED WAS FOR FOOD, SATAN TRIED TO GET JESUS TO RELY UPON SELF RATHER THAN GOD- JESUS WAS CAPABLE OF TURNING THOSE STONES INTO BREAD, BUT CHOSE TO RELY ON GOD’S PROVISION AS AN EXAMPLE TO US.
*THE FIRST SIN WAS COMMITTED BECAUSE SATAN CONVINCED EVE THAT GOD WAS “HOLDING BACK” SOME GREAT THING FROM THEM (KNOWLEDGE) AND THEREFORE THE FRUIT WAS EATEN, SIN WAS COMMITTED AND HERE WE ARE TODAY.
**IF SATAN CAN CONVINCE EITHER YOU OR ME THAT GOD ISN’T GOING TO SUPPLY ANY OF OUR “NEEDS” THAN HE HAS SUCCEEDED IN THIS TEMPTATION, BECAUSE WE WILL GO WHEREVER WE CAN TO GET THIS “NEED” MET.
A. IT HAPPENS IN JOBS, HOUSES, CARS, RELATIONSHIPS, THE VERY PHYSICAL THINGS THAT WE NEED JESUS SAID THIS:
Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV)
25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
**Psalm 37:25 (NKJV)
25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.
Psalm 23:1 (NKJV)
1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2. HE MIS-QUOTES THE PURE AND POWERFUL WORD OF GOD TO GET US TO STUMBLE THEREBY:
Matthew 4:5-6 (NKJV)
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "
**A HALF TRUTH IS THE SAME AS A LIE**
SATAN LEFT OUT “TO KEEP THEE IN ALL THY WAYS” – THIS REFERS TO WHEN WE WALK IN THE WAY’S OF OBEDIENCE. GOD’S HAND OF PROTECTION IS ON THOSE WHO ARE OBEDIENT TO HIS PRECEPTS, WHEN WE WALK OUTSIDE OF THOSE PRECEPTS WE ARE WALKING OUTSIDE OF “HIS WILL” AND PROTECTION.
**GOD’S PROMISES OF BLESSING ARE ALWAYS ON THE PEOPLE OF GOD WALKING IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD, IF WE ARE WALKING OUTSIDE OF THE WILL OF GOD, WE CANNOT EXPECT THE BLESSING, RATHER THE OPPOSITE- WE CAN EXPECT THE DISCIPLINE OF A CHILD THAT IS DISOBEDIENT UNTO THEIR FATHER!
3. POWER, POPULARITY AND A PRIZE: THE FIRST TWO SATAN TRIED TO GET JESUS TO ACT TO PROVE/DISPROVE GOD. THIS LAST TEMPTATION IS THE ONE THAT SATAN OFFERS SOMETHING:
Matthew 4:7-9 (NKJV)
7 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.' "
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."
**FROM YOUTH TO ADULTHOOD, PEOPLE TRY TO FILL THE VOID THAT ONLY CAN COME FROM/THROUGH GOD WITH WORLDLY THINGS** THESE THINGS WHEN RECEIVED DOES NOT FULFILL, THEY ONLY ADD TO THE CRAVINGS THAT THE FLESH DESIRES, THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH MONEY, THE HOUSE IS NEVER LARGE ENOUGH, THE CAR IS NOT FANCY ENOUGH, THE WIFE/HUSBAND GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND IS NEVER ENOUGH. THERE ISN’T ENOUGH POWER TO BE HAD- THESE THINGS ARE ONLY TEMPORAL:
Matthew 16:26-28 (NKJV)
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
