Satan’s Battle Strategy, Part I
Theme: Strategy #1:Keeping the believer out of the Word.
Text:
I Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour."
John 10:10, "The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy, but I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly."
Matthew 12:43-45, "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith, "I will return unto my house from whence I came out." And when he is come he findeth it empty , swept and garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be to this wicked generation."
James 4:7, "Submit yourself therefore unto God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
Introduction:
As you can see from these Scripture references about Satan and his activities, he is the adversary of every believer. As such, he is committed to doing all he can to discourage, disarm, and defeat us in our Christian walk.
There are five things mentioned in the Scriptures of our teaching text that Satan is intent on doing in our lives, if he can.
(1) He said he would return to his house." He calls our body "his house."
(2) He will come to steal.
(3) He will come to kill.
(4) He will come to destroy.
(5) He will come to devour.
When we are born again, Satan immediately launches a strong counter attack to violently oppose what God is doing in our lives. He will camp at your doorstep and everything God gives to you, Satan will try to take away from you. He will actively challenge every step of faith you endeavor to take, and he will openly contest you in your spiritual growth every day you live.
Our Scripture texts also tell us some good news. Satan can be resisted. He can be forced to flee from us. Here’s some truth to live by.
No one can steal your victory in Christ - if you don’t let them.
No one can take your joy in the Lord - if you don’t let them.
No one can take God’s peace from you - if you don’t let them.
No one can take your songs of praise - if you don’t let them.
No one can hinder your spiritual growth - if you don’t let them.
As believers, we need to remember that the devil is not going to give us up without making a strong effort to get us back. We also need to remember that he has had several thousand years of practice in doing what he does and in that time he has gotten quite good at it.
In this two part teaching, I want us to look at two areas of our Christian walk that Satan has made a battleground to come against us in:
Area #1 is the Word of God.
Area #2 is the Prayer Closet.
In part one of this study, I want to suggest to you three reasons why Satan’s strategy is to keep us out of God’s Word.
Point I:
Reason #1 - Satan knows what the Word of God is capable of doing in the believer’s life once they have been introduced to its truth.
II Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness."
II Timothy 2:15, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth."
After a number of years serving the Lord and doing spiritual warfare with the devil, I have come to some conclusions about our adversary and one of them is this: I really don’t think the devil gets overly worked up or too concerned when church people get those little religious "spasms" every now and then. By religious "spasms" I mean those little bursts of spiritual fervor that is usually brought on by a small crisis or the result of the last 3 or 4 day revival the church experienced. By now, Satan knows those "spasms" usually don’t last long because they were generated, in most cases, by feelings and not faith. He knows that when they pass, everything will return to the same old routine of life again. What really grabs his attention is to see a believer come into the presence of God with an open Bible and an open mind saying, "Lord, I want to learn what Your Word teaches."
What really snaps him into action is to see the believer not only get into the Word but to see the Word get into the believer. From experience Satan knows that the Word will bring changes for the better in the believer’s life, so he will do anything it takes to keep us from hearing, reading and meditating in the Word of God. If we do get into the Word, he’ll do all he can to try to steal the Word of God that is being planted in our hearts.
Mark 4:15, "When they have heard the truth, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts."
God’s Word is truth and God operates by that truth. Satan, on the other hand, operates by lies. Satan knows God’s Word will bring truth to people’s minds and those Bible truths have the power to set people free from bondage and mental captivity that Satan’s lies have produced.
John 8:32, "And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."
Psalms 119:130, "The entrance of they Word giveth light.: When the Word enters our hearts it gives light. We are illuminated and enlightened in our minds.
Hebrews 10:32, "But call to remembrance the former days in which after ye were illuminated ye endured a great fight of afflictions." In this verse Paul is telling us that when we receive the Word of God in our lives, we should expect a fight from the enemy.
Jesus said in Mark 4:17, "afflictions come for the Word’s sake. The word "afflictions" in the Bible sense means: to be troubled to suffer antagonisms from people to face persecution and calamities of war.
This is what is referred to in Mark 4:17, Mark this down because you can depend on it happening when you receive the Word of God into your heart. Satanic attacks against you begin. The fight is on. You are engaged in spiritual warfare with Satan. He is trying to take the Word from you. You are battling to keep the Word.
Satan wants to keep the believer out of the Word because it reveals God and his ways and exposes Satan and his ways. The Scripture tells the truth about everything because God cannot lie. The devil can lie, but God can’t. Before we were born again, the devil had us believing that he was for us and God was against us. He had us blame God for many bad things that happened in our lives. But after we were saved, God’s Word revealed the truth to us and we saw Satan for the liar he really was and is. John 8:44, "..he is a liar and the father of it." God was the one who was for us and Satan had been against us all the time.
There are three little words Satan does not want you and I to quote to him. Those three words are, "it is written." He remembers only too well what they did to him when Jesus used them against him in the wilderness temptation confrontation. When Jesus spoke them, Satan had to retreat in defeat. He could not stand against them. Satan knows he cannot defeat the believer who will use the Word of God to resist his attacks. Satan has no defense that can withstand God’s Word when it is spoken, believed and acted upon in faith in the name of Jesus Christ.
Point 2:
Reason #2, Satan know the Word of God builds the believer’s faith.
Romans 10:17, "So then, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."
Our enemy is very much aware of the truth given to us in Hebrews 11:16, "But without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh unto him must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
Satan knows a person cannot doubt God’s Word and still get benefits they need from God. God demands faith from you and I concerning His Word before He obligates Himself to meet our needs and to fulfill certain promises to us. Knowing this, Satan works at trying to keep our faith level as low as he can so that we will have a difficult time receiving anything from God.
A good definition of biblical faith is this: "to rely on; to believe or take one at their word; to rely on the promise of another and to put absolute trust in a person without any questioning or doubt as to their faithfulness in doing what they said, so much so that one is willing to act on their word alone."
The Bible talks about different levels of faith.
(1) A weak faith, This is the kind of faith that limits personal benefits and privileges that are in the Bible that a believer could enjoy. The people at this level believe they are saved, but usually get hung up on what they may or may not eat, drink, wear and do in life and still be a Christian. If the devil cannot get people to commit sins that are forbidden in Scripture, then he will urge them to go to the extreme in condemning personal liberties that are not condemned by God. Romans 14:22, tells all believers, "... happy is the person that does not condemn themselves in the things they allow."
(2) A temporary faith, This is the kind of faith that is based more on emotion and feelings than on an understanding in God’s Word. It springs up for awhile and then because of shallowness of root in God’s Word, it fails in the time of trouble. Someone has said, "tie your faith to feelings and they will drag you to death."
(3) A mental or historical faith, This is the kind of faith that believes that the Bible is the Word of God. It does not deny any part of it. It believes all the truths about the blessings of God. It believes God has promised to do certain things and it believes God is fully able to do them all. But there is merely mental assent to truth without active faith in it. It believes but neglects the doing of it. This kind of belief will not dare act upon the promises of God. This kind of faith is like believing that food is good for you and will sustain you without ever eating it to get the benefits from it.
(4) A wavering faith, This kind of faith has often been called "double mindedness." It is having an uncertainty of the mind as to whether the thing was really wanted or not. It is an attitude of yes--no--yes--no until God himself cannot tell whether it is yes or no. One minute it has decided something is wanted and the next minute it doesn’t seem to be important. That person just can’t seem to make up their mind.
These are the faith levels Satan wants to keep us at. At these levels, the believer becomes like the Oklahoma Indian that motivational speaker Zig Ziglar talks about in his book, See You at the Top.
Oil was discovered on some Oklahoma property belonging to an elderly Indian. All his life he had been poverty stricken, just eking out a living. But the discovery of oil had suddenly made him a very wealthy man. The first thing he bought was a very big Cadillac. He wanted the longest car in the county, so he added four spare tires on the trunk. He would dress up in his new clothes and everyday he would take his Cadillac into the hot dusty little town nearby. He wanted to see everyone and he wanted everyone to see him. He was a friendly old soul. so when he was riding through town he would turn in all directions to wave at all the people as he rolled by. Interesting enough, he never ran into anybody nor into anything. The reason for this was that directly in front of that big beautiful auto was two horses harnessed to it and pulling it. There was nothing wrong with the car’s engine. It was because the old Indian had never learned to drive it. He had never learned how to insert the key into the ignition switch and turn it on. Under the hood was 100 plus horsepower ready and willing and raring to go, but the old Indian was content to use the two horsepower hooked to the front of the car.
The devil gets really happy (or as happy as a devil can get) when he can keep the believer chugging along in their Christian life on a two horse power faith level. At that rate, the spiritual progress is slowed down to a crawl, and this is what the devil is after in his warfare with us.
Now the Bible also speaks of:
(5) A strong faith, This is the kind of faith that refuses to be defeated. It refuses to take no for an answer. It laughs at symptoms and circumstances and all outward appearances that are contrary to the Word of God. Romans 4:18-22, "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief: but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able to perform."
(6) An unwavering faith, This is faith refusing to doubt, to wonder, to question or to reason about anything God has said or promised. It counts the thing God has promised as already done regardless of all outward evidences to the contrary. Hebrews 10:23, describes it as "...holding fast the confession of our faith without wavering."
(7) An active faith, This is the kind of faith that acts upon the Word of God as it is made clear. It is stepping out on what God has said and doing it and not just talking about it. Luke 5:5, "Nevertheless, at thy Word I will let down the net."
These last three levels of faith are the faith levels that Satan will fight to keep the believer from attaining. Don’t let the enemy keep your faith life in bondage by your being too occupied by other things so you can’t get into the Word of God like you should. As believers, we can cry, plead and pray for faith until the cows come home or until we are blue in the face, but the simple truth is, faith will not come that way. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The Word of God builds the believer’s faith.
The devil is not afraid of your intellect, your talents, your abilities nor your personality. But he is afraid of the Word of God you speak in faith with your mouth. Whatever area the enemy is attacking you in; go to the Word of God and find a promise from God covering that situation. Then speak that word to the situation and to the adversary.
Speak it with conviction.
Speak it with confidence.
Speak it in faith.
You’ll like the results it brings.
Point 3:
Reason #3, Satan knows the Word of God renews the mind.
Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Scripture teaches us that when a person receives Christ into their heart from that moment on that person becomes a child of God. They instantly become a new Christian.
However- although that person has been born again into the Kingdom of God and given their heart to Jesus, their mind and their thinking can still be and usually is not in line with the teachings of God’s Word. It’s possible to love the Lord with your heart and still have a mind filled with wrong thinking. Satan has lost more than one heart to Jesus but managed to keep influencing the mind. Many a Christian (sad to say) received a new heart at conversion but kept their old head.
Moving down the aisle in response to the altar call means we step over to the Lord’s side and our fight with God is over and peace is declared. Although our fight with God may be over, our fight with the devil is not. The battle now rages for control of our thought life. The new life in God requires a disciplined mind. God expects a change in our thinking.
Philippians 2:5, "Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus."
Now Satan works to prevent this from happening. The last thing he wants is for us to have a changed (renewed) mind because it produces a changed life. He hates to let go of a heart, but he is pleased when he can hang on to a Christian’s mind and dominate or influence the thought life.
A mind, we are told, works much like a computer. A computer is programmed with all kinds of information being fed into it. It will only do what it is programmed to do. That’s all it can do because what goes in is what comes out. It responds to what has been fed into it. Feed our mind computer with thoughts on Jesus and out comes his image in our life. Feed on the Word of God and the thought life produces a constant changing person. But if we allow our minds to be filled with thought patterns of this world, a carnal person will be produced.
Since Satan cannot touch our wills, he comes against that which influences our will. A person’s thought life so affects their will they are said to be a product of their thinking.
Proverbs 23:7, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he."
Our minds have been programmed with all kinds of information being fed into it from the time we were born. After we got saved, God started a reprogramming of our mind with the truth of his Word. Our new birth was instantaneous but the renewing of the mind is progressive. As God re-programs our mind with his Word, he is re-educating and training us to think right. When a computer is reprogrammed, the old program is deleted from it’s memory and a new one is installed. It’s out with the old and in with the new. When God saved us he took us out of the world’s manner of living. When God renews our mind, he takes the world’s manner of living out of us.
As we renew our minds with the Word of God, we stop being reactors in the way we respond to crisis situations that come into our lives. With a renewed mind, we now choose and initiate a response based on the Word of God. We now think different. Therefore, we act different.
I learned early in my Christian life that if I’m going to enjoy the blessings and provisions God has promised in his Word, then I’ve got to cooperate with him. Let me give you an example of what I mean by cooperate. I was born in a small town in southeast Missouri. The water supply at our house was an old cast iron hand pump in the back yard. Even yet today, I have memories of how cold that water was and how good it tasted. But to get the blessing of that water, we didn’t turn a spigot on like we do today for water supply. No--We had to grab the pump handle, prime the pump by pouring water down the pump head. We used an old canning jar to pour some water down the pump head. Then we would pump as fast as we could. You see, for us to enjoy the reward of the taste of that water, we had to cooperate with the water producing principles of that pump. That principle was; if you don’t prime and pump then you don’t drink.
Now, likewise, when we cooperate with the principle of renewing our mind with the Word of God, we’ll be rewarded with the flow of spiritual blessings God has promised. That’s why Satan wants to keep the Word on the page and not in your mind. He’s aware, more than some Christians are, that until the Word of God gets off the page and into the mind and spirit, we won’t walk in faith, we won’t grow spiritually, and we won’t have a renewed mind.
Conclusion:
I close with these words:
We’ve got to get as serious about getting into the Word of God as Satan is in keeping us out of the Word of God. I mention three things we are to do with the Word of God.
(1)Learn to feed on the Word of God. Job tells us how we are to esteem the Word. Job 23:12, "I have esteemed the words of thy mouth more than my necessary food. Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
(2)Learn to meditate on the Word you’re feeding on. Joshua 1:8a, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night."
(3)Learn to act on the Word you’re meditating on. Joshua 1:8b, "that thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous and then shalt thou have good success."
If we’ll do these three things, we will discover to our great joy that:
God’s Word is everything God said it is.
God will do everything he said he would do.
You can do everything he said you could do.
The devil is going to try to steal the Word of God from you. He can’t if you don’t let him.
Don’t argue with him--you can’t win.
Don’t ignore him---he won’t go away.
Don’t try to out smart him---he’s smarter.
But you can cause him to flee from you by speaking the Word of God. Let the Word become the sword of the spirit in your mouth. God said if we resist the devil, he will flee. God said what he meant. God meant what he said. Resist with the Word of God. It works!
