Spiritual Warfare: Satan's Schemes #1 (unbelief, sin, fear)
Ephesians 6:11: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."
Satan and demons can cause a lot of trouble (just look at the world!). They can hurt people's bodies, minds, relationships, futures, etc. They delight in causing people to hurt others, self-destruct, commit crimes, or engage in any of "the acts of the sinful nature ... sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like" (Gal. 5:19-23).
They incite "wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity ... murder, strife and malice," and tempt people to become godless, truth-suppressors, thankless, foolish, dark-hearted, idol/nature-worshippers, perverted, depraved, gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of new ways to do evil, disobedient, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless, and approvers of evil (Romans 1:18-32).
Demons can cause an enormous amount of trouble, and always with the goal to "steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10).
So let's consider some their tricks... "in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes" (2 Cor. 2:11).
First Attack: Unbelief, Rejection of Jesus
Satan's primary goal - his most passionate scheme - will be to destroy as many souls in hell as possible. If he can keep people from turning to Jesus, he can keep them from being saved.
"... the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." (2 Cor. 4:4, KJV)
When someone chooses to resist Jesus (to "believe not"), Satan can blind them to spiritual truths to prevent them from understanding the gospel - that they are sinners on their way to hell who need to be saved from their sins and that only Jesus can save them. When people reject the truth, he can lock them in their deceptive thinking and hardened hearts. (No wonder the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, 1 Cor. 1:18.)
And he'll use any number of tricks to do it, often by distracting them with attractive or destructive alternatives, like money, power, control, success, fame, entertainment, sex, addictions, human wisdom, self-reliance, false religions, New Age, the occult, heart idols, lies, anxiety, despair, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, etc. He obscures, twists, and blurs the truth, making evil look good and good look evil, in order to confuse people, to trick them into focusing on the wrong things, following the wrong paths, searching for answers in the wrong ways, or finding fulfillment in (putting their faith into) everything and anything but Jesus.
Romans 1:18-21,28: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened... Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind...”
God wants all people to be saved. He's put enough evidence of Himself in nature so that all people can see His handiwork, turn to Him, and believe. Acts 17:27: "God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." And so no one will have an excuse for why they didn't believe.
But He lets us choose. He won't force us to believe in Him, to want Him, to acknowledge Him. He will let us ignore Him, reject Him. If we want a life without God, He will give us what we want. And the consequences that go with it.
[Do you ever wonder how people get locked into such crazy, backwards, completely immoral/ungodly thinking and behavior? It's demonic. They wanted to believe/do backwards, immoral, ungodly things ... and so God lets them. And then Satan was allowed to lock them into their depraved thinking even more, to blind them to the truth.
John 12:37,39 says “Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.... For this reason, they could not believe.”
"Would not" led to "could not." Not the other way around.]
Satan's first scheme will be to try to use whatever he can to prevent people from turning to Jesus, to get them to trust in any other "god" (money, people, themselves, success, etc.) but the Lord. Regardless of what form our "god" takes, if we're not on Jesus's side, we're against Him. If we're not following Jesus, we're following Satan.
John 3:18: "Whoever believes in [Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
1 John 5:12: "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."
Matt. 12:30: "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."
When that fails...
But when that scheme fails, when we turn to Jesus and put our faith in Him ...
... the blinders come off (2 Cor. 3:16: "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.")
... the Holy Spirit indwells us to seal (guarantee) our salvation and help us grow in the faith (Eph. 1:13: "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.")
... and our souls are saved forever (Acts 16:31: "... Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.")
Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6)
And so when we turn to Him, we will "know the truth, and the truth will set [us] free." (John 8:32)
At that point, our souls are securely saved, and Satan cannot blind us anymore to the truth of Jesus ... and so he switches tactics. He can't destroy our souls anymore, and so he tries to destroy our lives - the peace, joy, security, and hope we find in Jesus.
When Satan can't cause us to stay unbelievers, he will try to get us to think and act like unbelievers - so that we make a mess of our lives. He will try to lure us away from God, His truth, and His Will in some way, usually by infecting our thinking... which affects our feelings... which affects our actions... which puts a wedge between us and God and gets us off-track in our spiritual lives, preventing us from having the kind of life (and eternal rewards) God wants us to have.
John 10:10: "Jesus said, ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; but I have come that [you] may have life, and have it to the full.’"
Jesus came not only to give sinners eternal life, but to give believers abundant life - not necessarily in a physical sense, like an abundance of material blessings or earthly successes or anything like that, but in a “spiritually full” sense because that's the only thing that will last when the temporary, physical things burn up.
Since Satan can't destroy our souls anymore, he will try to ruin our lives and eternities in any way he can - by twisting, contaminating, or counterfeiting whatever God says and does, by interfering with His plans and purposes, and by tempting us to listen to him instead of to God, to follow his ways instead of God's ways, and to bring him glory instead of bringing God glory.
He will tempt us to sin, to believe lies, to neglect or twist or water down God's Word, to feel afraid or anxious or discouraged or hopeless, to feel ashamed or unforgiven or unloved or worthless, to pursue pleasure instead of pursing God, to put our happiness over God's truth, to put ourselves over others, to trust in our own wisdom and power, to grasp for control, to doubt God and run ahead of His leading and timing, to be prideful, to think too highly of ourselves, to think we know better than God, to feel smug and judgmental and critical of others, to desire the wrong things, to clean up the outside of the cup instead of the inside, to give God lip service instead of our hearts, to keep some doors of our hearts (or our past) closed to God, to excuse small sins, to have unreasonable or unbiblical expectations of God and faith so that we're crushed when those expectations aren't met, etc.
[Fill in the blank for yourself: "Satan tempts me (or has tempted me) to _______." And then confess these to God and ask Him how you can avoid these temptations in the future. 1 Cor. 10:13: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."]
Satan will try to distract us from doing what God wants, to keep us focused on earthly pleasures instead of heavenly treasures, to keep us busy with the lesser temporary things instead of the better eternal things, to get us focused on frivolous or worthless or negative goals instead of focusing on spreading the gospel, to gain money and possessions instead of gaining souls for the Lord, to build our kingdom instead of God's kingdom. He will tempt us to panic about things instead of praying about things, to grumble against God instead of being thankful, to climb up on God's throne instead of humbling ourselves under His mighty hand, to worry that God might not come through for us instead of praising God for all the ways He already has. (If Satan can’t have our praise, he doesn’t want God having it either.)
He will do all he can to get us off-track, to interfere in our relationship with God and with others, to confuse/damage our views of God, ourselves, faith, etc., in order to ruin our peace, joy, hope, focus, future, witness for Christ, family, stability, sound mind, trust in the Lord, eternal rewards, etc.
He can't destroy our souls anymore, but he will try to “steal, kill, or destroy” whatever else he can to ruin the abundant life God wants us to have, the life Jesus came to earth to give us.
[Fill in the blank for yourself: "Satan has interfered in my life, faith, relationship with God in these ways: __________." List them one by one. And then humbly confess them to God in prayer and ask for His help in overcoming them, in getting back on the right path. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness,” 1 John 1:9.]
Fear
Besides pride (which was Satan's downfall, as well as many people's - the higher we think of ourselves, the lower we think of God and the less we obey Him), I think one of Satan's most common and effective schemes is fear. (Why do you think God has to tell us so often in His Word to not be afraid?)
At least it is for me. Fear of the future, of bad things happening, of making the wrong decisions, of screwing things up, of letting God down, of letting others down, of being let down by God, of cracking under the pressure, of not being strong enough or smart enough or capable enough to handle what comes my way, of the many terrifying "what ifs", etc.
Even when things are good, I'm always afraid of the moment things go bad. Little troubles make me flinch, make me panic, because it always feels like a build-up to bigger troubles. Like pain is always right around the corner. It always feels like I'm either coming out of, going into, or in the midst of a difficult trial. (Is that just the way life is?) And when times are hardest, it can often feel like God is distant, like He isn't listening. What if He doesn't come through for me when I need Him most? What if He abandons me, leaving me to handle my problems myself? I'm not strong enough. I can't do it. And so even when things are good for the moment, I'm not sure how to relax and enjoy it because I'm bracing myself for when the other shoe drops. It's been a battle.
Okay, let's stop right here for a moment...
Can you see how easily our thoughts and self-talk can hurt us? "I'm always afraid... things go bad... panic... it always feels like... pain around the corner... difficult trials... the way life is... God isn't there... What if... He won't come through... abandons me, leaves me... I'm not strong enough... I can't do it... I can't relax... the other shoe drops..."
Can you hear it? "Me, me, me, I, I, I."
Can you see how easy it is to focus on what we think instead of what God thinks? To focus on what we can't do instead of on what God can do?
Our self-talk and the thoughts we dwell on can drag us down and shrink our faith. They can actually stoke our fears or even cause what we fear, talking us into anxiety, doubt, depression, panic, bad circumstances, etc. (Seriously, write down some of the things you say to yourself over and over again. Are those godly thoughts or are they lies from Satan? And what does God say about it in His Word?) Not to mention that the negative or destructive words we speak and thoughts we think and feelings we entertain can attract demons. It can give them something to feed on and make them feel at home in our lives and show them how they can best attack us, tempt us, or defeat us.
No wonder God has to tell us “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things…" (Col. 3:2) and “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things” (Phil. 4:8).
No wonder He has to remind us “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7) and “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength… My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:13,19) and “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6-7).
Yes, sometimes emotional struggles stem from physical sources, chemical imbalances and such. (We may need to see a doctor and get medication if this is the case.) But sometimes we talk ourselves into it. Sometimes we get into emotional ruts by ruminating on our fears, anxieties, frustrations, negative thoughts, or on all the bad things that have happened or that might happen. (Most of the things we worry about won't happen, but we apparently still find it fun and rewarding to waste our time stressing about how upset we'll be if they do happen. And if we don't have something real to worry about, we make something up. Or is it just me?) Sometimes, we make worry and pessimism our "second nature," so much so that it takes a lot of thought and effort to change it.
When we focus on how big our problems are, we forget how big our God is.
If we allow Satan to use our minds as his personal playground, we can't be surprised when he trashes the place.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10).
If you've gotten into an emotional rut and don't know how to get out, pray and ask God to help correct your thinking habits and your thoughts. Ask Him if there's any lies from the Enemy you've been listening to, that you need to get rid of, and ask which biblical Truths you need to cling to instead. And then immerse yourself in the Word to learn God's perspective on things. Because what He says trumps what anyone else says, including Satan and yourself.
Psalm 56:3: “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.”
Psalm 55:16-17,22: "But I call to God, and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning, and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice… Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall."
Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 119:9: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word."
Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
I'm learning to do this myself, to fight fire with fire, to use God's Word as a weapon against evil. When Satan's whispers, "What if ..." and my heart starts pounding in fear and my mind starts swirling in anxiety, I say out loud, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7).
I say “You will keep in perfect peace he whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).
I say “… the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).
I say “I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – He who watches over you will not slumber… The Lord will keep you from all harm – He will watch over your life…” (Psalm 121:1-3,7).
Satan can't be defeated by our own ideas of things, our own efforts. But he can be defeated by what God thinks about things, by God's Word and Truth.
"The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who hope in Your name will trust in You, for You, O Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You." (Psalm 9:9-10)
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Cor. 10:3-5)
When Satan whispers his lies that God doesn't care, that He isn't listening, that He can't be trusted, that everything will go wrong unless we take control and do things our way (and yet how often are our efforts to control things on our own great successes anyway?), then we need to remind him (and ourselves) of what God says. And God says ...
Isaiah 41:10,13: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand… For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you.’”
Psalm 33:18-22: "The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, who hope in His unfailing love... We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You."
Proverbs 28:25-26: “… he who trusts in the Lord will prosper... he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.”
Oh how rich and beautiful God's Word is, His wonderful promises!
And yet how little we trust Him, how little we take Him at His Word, how seldom we search His Word for Truth! (No wonder we fall so easily for Satan's tricks, traps, and lies.)
Two great songs:
My God by The City Harmonic
And some great sermons by Tony Evans (all of his sermons are great):
Reversing Anxiety Consequences
Keeping the faith when life gets hard
How to have strength in your struggles (he talks about his wife dying at the beginning of this sermon)
