Satan's Tactics

Intro: Just because you are a Christian, doesn't mean that the devil will leave you alone. We who are Christians must fight him everyday. He can't take our souls if we are saved, but he can keep us from living the abundant life Jesus died to give us, and he can keep us from the blessings of God. If you listen to him he will make life miserable for you.

I. First Tactic of the Devil. Genesis 2:15-17 (NKJV)15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. ¹⁶  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Genesis 3:1-5 (NKJV)¹  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" ²  And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ³  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " ⁴  Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. ⁵  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The devil Cast's doubt on God's word. Did God really say? In these verses the devil's favorite tactic is to question what God said and cast doubts in Eve's mind. Then he out right contradicted the truth of God with a lie. He convinced Eve God was hiding something from her that would be good and exciting for her and make her wise.

A. The Devil's Doubt Will Encourage You to Disobey God's Word. Genesis 3:6-7 (NKJV) ⁶  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. Eve made a choice to listen to Satan instead of God. We all have a choice to make when it comes to God's word. We either totally believe God no matter what the situation looks like or we can listen to the devil and lose the fellowship and blessings that God has for us. Disobedience has consequences.

B. The Result of Disobedience. Disobedience causes spiritual and physical death. Adam and Eve's choice to disobey God resulted in a threefold death 1. It brought about spiritual death; at that instant they were dead in trespasses and sins according to Ephesians 2:1. 2. It brought about physical death of the body, which right then begin to age, decay, and deteriorate. 3. It brought death to their relationship with God. Their sin had separated them from God. Genesis 3:8 (NKJV)And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. They tried to excuse their disobedience by covering themselves with leaves. But their sin caused them to be afraid of God and so they hid from Him. They didn't walk with God anymore. They were banned from the garden. Genesis 3:24 (NKJV) So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. People today are still trying to excuse their sin and hide from God and are under God's condemnation according to John 3:18 (NKJV) He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

II. Second Tactic of the Devil. Matthew 4:1-11 (NLT) ¹  Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. ²  For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. ³  During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴  But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁵  Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, ⁶  and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” ⁷  Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’” ⁸  Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the kingdoms of the world and all their glory. ⁹  “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” ¹⁰  “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the LORD your God and serve only him.’” ¹¹  Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus. The devil will try to undermine what God has said about you. Jesus had just been baptized by John in the Jordan river. As Jesus came up out of the water God said “Matthew 3:17 "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Then the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. The devil tried to undermine the identity God had just given Him. The devil said twice “If You are the Son of God.” When the devil couldn't undermine what God had said about Jesus, the devil tried to get Jesus to avoid the cross and worship him to gain authority over all the kingdoms of the world. But Jesus did not let Satan undermine His identity or get Him to avoid going to the cross. He clung to the word of God and that is what we must do to be victorious in this battle against Satan. God's word confirms we are His children if we believe in Christ as our Savior. 1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. The devil will also try to discredit God's word to us. Did God really mean that? That sounds to easy. He will cast doubts on your salvation. Are you truly saved? After what you have done can Jesus really forgive you for that? He will tell you that you can get away with sin, no one will ever know. If God loves you why is this happening? Satan doesn't want you and I to know that we have power over him. But Jesus tells us Christians we have authority over all the enemy? Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. The devil will laugh at your situation and discredit what God has said. That's when we should be like Jesus and cling firmly to what God has said in His word. God's word is true! Faith in God's word will help us overcome the devil's temptations. The devil will always try to undermine what God has said about us and what He has blessed us with. God says We have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:3 (NKJV) ³  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. We have been blessed with everything we need for this life and the life to come. [Eph. 2:6] says we have been raised up together with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly realm. In God's eyes it is already done. Satan will try to convince you that you are hopelessly earth bound. But God counts the Christian as having already died to sin and has been raised with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly realm. The believer physically lives on earth, but spiritually he has already been placed "in the heaven realm together with Christ."

Conclusion: All God's word to us will be brought to pass. In the intensity of the battle, never let go of what God has said about us and promised us. Every day We should resist the devils attempts to discredit God's word and not let him get a foothold in our lives. God's word assures us in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37

Invitation: Has there been a time in your life when you stopped and confessed your sins to Jesus and asked Him to forgive you for those sins and save your soul from hell? If not you really need to do it now before it's eternally too late! Please for your sake do it now!