In The Screwtape Letters, a little book written by C. S. Lewis, a demon by the name of Screwtape writes letters to his nephew, Wormwood, on how to be more successful at tempting human beings.
In one letter, Screwtape advises Wormwood that if he wants to keep his assigned human on the road to hell, the best method is not through tempting him to do the big sins like murder and adultery, but with small little sins or even actions which are not sin themselves, but which are of eternal insignificance. Things that are not sin, in and of themselves, but which simply don’t matter for eternity.
"To do its worst, evil needs to look its best,” Plantinga, Jr. says. Satan doesn't come to us with horns and a pitchfork lest we recognize him for who he is. Rather, he "disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14).
Our sin disguises itself as good and only asks for small compromises. Just one more glance, one more “harmless” flirt, one white lie, or one more high. Inch by inch, our sin leads us down a path of destruction.
It doesn't require big steps. The small steps are much easier to justify. However, a thousand small steps will lead you into the same dark pit as a few big steps. Don’t let the subtlety of sin deceive you into believing your sin is “no big deal.”
Once we are saved and in Christ, devil cannot walk into our lives directly because we are shielded by the blood of Jesus. However, he seeks to enter somehow.
1 Peter 5:8 - The devil roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour.
If he finds a door open, we walks in.
One such door is – Anger
Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. (Ephesians 4:26-27)
Be Angry – it may surprise us
Does it mean we can be angry?
No. Biblically, there are two kinds of anger.
This is the kind of anger we can have toward sin and evil that is in the world. Righteous anger is the response that is natural and normal when confronted by unrighteous actions and attitudes.
Righteous anger is the kind of anger God has. Many times Scripture speaks of the wrath of God.
What kind of anger is God-like or Christ-like?
So when God gets angry at the damage and destruction caused by sin, this sort of anger is not sinful in itself.
Mark 3:4-5 - And he [i.e., Jesus] said to them [i.e., the Pharisees], “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. [5] And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man [with a withered hand], “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
The kind that's informed by righteousness and justice and a divine love that grieves over the hardness of human hearts.
Eg: Parents getting angry with children. We get angry but deep within that anger, we love them. So we scold them if they do not do the right thing.
But there’s a danger with this type of anger, especially when we humans try to have righteous anger.
What Is Sinful Anger?
In general, all anger of men. - the anger of man is more concerned with man than with God (James 1:20). -
We tend to get angrier over our slighted pride than over the marring of God’s glory. We tend to get angrier over a minor inconvenience than a grievous injustice.
Prodigal son - We are often self-righteously angry like the older brother over his prodigal sibling (Luke 15:28),
If we do not control these kind of anger, it will lead to bitterness and unforgiveness.
So, our anger should not lead us to sin. Some ppl, angry no control over words and actions; show enmity and bitterness, wait to take revenge…
Do not let the sun go down on your anger,
Maximum time duration to control anger – 12 h
Do not let the sun go down on your anger" is a call to manage anger quickly to prevent it from turning into bitterness, sin, or a stronghold for the enemy. It does not necessarily mean resolving all conflicts by sunset, but rather releasing the anger to God and refusing to let it fester overnight.
Do not give the devil an opportunity
Means we can give devil an opportunity
Devil – Once we got saved and are washed in the blood of Jesus, the devil cannot enter our lives without we giving an opportunity.
He can enter only if we open the door for him.
An old Arabian fable:
One cold night in the desert, a man was resting comfortably inside his tent. His camel was tied up outside. The camel, shivering in the cold, poked his nose through the tent flap and gently said, "Master, it is very cold out here. May I please put just my nose inside the tent to stay warm?"
The man felt sorry for the animal and agreed. "Alright, only your nose," he said.
A little while later, the camel asked, "It is still cold. Can I bring in my head too? Just a little more space." Again, the man agreed.
Slowly, throughout the night, the camel continued to ask for more space: his neck, then his front legs, then his chest. Each time the man agreed, thinking it was only a small amount of space.
Finally, the camel asked to bring in his whole body, claiming it was too uncomfortable to stand. The man agreed. However, because the tent was small, the camel now occupied all the space. The camel then told the man, "There is no room for both of us in here. You should step outside," and pushed the man out into the cold.
It is true of the devil. If we give him a small space in our lives, he will begin master over us.
If we allow our anger to turn into bitterness and unforgiveness we give opportunity to the devil
Story of Cain
Gen. 4:1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.
The firstborn child of the first man and woman – Adam and Eve
2 Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Notice Abel was a keeper of flocks and Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Gen. 4:3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; 5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.
Why was Cain’s offering rejected?
Was it because it was fruits?
The actual problem was something different. When we look closely at this verse, we see what the real problem was. It says that Cain brought an offering (4:3); whereas, Abel brought the first things of his flock and their fat portions. (3:4)
Heb. 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain
Abel brought his best. He brought his first. Cain simply brought an offering. Perhaps Cain brought his leftovers. Because of that, Yahweh had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain.
Always learn to give the best for God. God is not a beggar. He is the King of kings. He deserves the best!
We see at the end of the verse that Cain was angry and his countenance fell.
He was angry with whom? With Abel because his offering was accepted.
Gen. 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” 8 Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
We see the question why. God asked, “Why are you angry? Why has your countenance fallen?”
Then we have this interesting statement in verse seven. Godsaid to Cain, “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?” Hewas trying to get Cain to focus on himself and his own actions. God was trying to get Cain to do well, and that would result in his countenance being lifted up.
God also issued a warning. He said, “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
God warned Cain that his anger would open the door to sin which was crouching at the door. Cain had the chance to address his anger and keep the door to sin closed but that is not the choice he made. He allowed the enemy in.
Cain opened the doors to sin and sin eventually got him to the point where he murdered his brother.
So if Cain did not do well, then he would be taken over by sin. Indeed, we see that is what happened to Cain. We see in verse 8 that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Abel did not do anything wrong. Cain is the one who did not offer a proper sacrifice. However, instead of dealing with his own shortcomings, Cain took action against Abel and eliminated the person that was making him look bad.
He killed Abel and the first murder took place.
What made Cain allow the devil to walk into his door?
Anger
God tried to get Cain to release his anger and focus on doing what was right. He tried to get Cain not to open the door because sin was crouching at it waiting for an opening.
Likewise, we have the Holy Spirit guiding us to do the right. Cain, like so many of us, did not listen.
If sin was waiting for Cain, trust me, it’s waiting for us too.
Anger opens a door as it gives the devil an opportunity just like we saw with Cain. Look at Psalm 91:1, 9-10.
"Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden" (Gen. 4:16). Instead of fulfilling him, sin separated Cain from the Lord’s fulfilling presence. Instead of bringing Cain joy and satisfaction, sin isolated him from the Giver of joy, severing his connection to what is good and beautiful.
Quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19).
Jude 1:11 - "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain..."
The word “woe” is a warning. It means that some harm is going to happen to them.
When do we say Woe?
Don’t go the way of Cain – uncontrolled anger
Uncontrolled anger leads to bitterness and lack of forgiveness.
Anger, bitterness and forgiveness – they are of one kind; one door for devil to enter…
You Must Forgive
But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11)
1 Peter 5:8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Lions seek wounded prey, and that is exactly what the enemy of your soul does. When he finds a person who has been wounded, he quickly moves in to take advantage of them.
You have to be careful when you feel someone has hurt you because that is when it is easy for many people to give place to the devil.
Anger, bitterness, revenge and despair are prime avenues through which the devil can work his wiles; so you have to get rid of them.
The Bibles says, Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath (Ephesians 4:26). When you get angry, keep it under control and get rid of it in a hurry because if you let it stay, it will ruin you.
An unforgiving spirit allows Satan to get an advantage over you – also cause disease, take our peace and control our lives.
Satan has no chance of getting his foot in the door of your heart if you forgive and close the door on the past. Some people hurt their faith by not forgiving and it weakens them with God and hinders their prayers from getting through.
Matt 18:21-22 – asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”. Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (NIV) or “seventy times seven” (other translations), emphasizing unlimited forgiveness
If anybody offends us, we are to forgive them. How many times? Seventy times seven — that is, an endless number of time
We forgive doesn’t mean we do not have boundaries or go back to abusive relationship,
But remove the hatred and bitterness in our heart.
Scripture notes that after failing to tempt Jesus, the devil departed "until an opportune time" (Luke 4:13), implying he waits for moments of human vulnerability (such as exhaustion or isolation) to strike.
John 10:10 (NIV) states: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy
It is easier to stop him for entering is easy. But once he has entered, it becomes difficult. Again, once he has entered, immediately if we act – casting out bitterness, forgive – he close the door. But if we do act immediately, he give him a stronghold in our lives.
Once he gets the stronghold, he starts working in our lives – takes away our peace, gives diseases, controls our lives.
If you have ever come under spiritual assault and found the devil in the middle of your affairs, you know it’s much easier to stop the enemy at the doorway than to try to extract him once he has found an access point to worm his way into your life.
That is why Paul so urgently warned in his writings to give the devil no place. In other words, you should always be on alert so the enemy can’t freely access you because the devil will linger for a long time to see if you’re truly serious about keeping him out of your life.
James 4:7 – Submit to God, resist the devil
Sin is always knocking at our doors, but we must not answer it. We must resist it. We must master it. James said to submit to God and then resist the devil.
Don’t try resisting the devil without fully submitting to God. You will fail.
