::Satan's Strategy::

I ran across this article on a board that I frequent. I thought it was appropriate, after the V-Tech Tragedy that occured on Monday.

http://www.horizonsnet.org/sermons/satans.html

Satan’s Strategy
2 Corinthians 2:11
March 20, 1994
By J. David Hoke

. . . in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:11)

In 1972, Hal Lindsey wrote a book that would sell over a million copies. It is called, Satan Is Alive And Well On Planet Earth. It certainly struck a cord in our culture, and it sold to a wide audience of Christians and non-Christians alike.

There is no doubt that we are engaged in a struggle between good and evil. All you need to do to confirm this is to read the daily news. The pages of our papers and the screens of our televisions are filled daily with graphic accounts of violence and human depravity of every horrendous kind. Why is this true? What is wrong?

The simple answer to the question of what’s wrong is that we are wrong. Within humankind there is a propensity to do evil. The Bible calls this sin. We all struggle with sin.
But there must be more. Surely there must be a driving force behind the intensity of sin that we see in society. There must be some power pushing this culture toward destruction. Could it be that there is a Dark Side of the Force as was depicted in the movie Star Wars? If so, what is it? To quote the "Church Lady" from Saturday Night Live, "Could it be . . . Satan?"

Well, when the laughter dies down—we must soberly say, "Yes!"—and it’s no joke. Satan is indeed alive and well on planet Earth and he has a strategy for his goal of destroying you! What is that strategy? Can we know it? Yes. We are told in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that we can be aware of the schemes of the devil. The devil has an MO (Modus Operandi) which has been the same since the beginning of time. We can become aware of how he works and how we can combat his activities in our lives.

You see, through temptation Satan seeks to draw us away from God and to destroy us. Therefore, we must be thoroughly familiar with how the tempter uses temptation to defeat us. Let’s study how he works. Let’s examine his strategy during the first temptation recorded on the pages of Scripture.

Satan’s Strategy

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, "You shall not eat from any tree of the garden"?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die."’ And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate." (Genesis 3:1-6)

There is much we can learn from this first temptation recorded in Scripture. It reveals to us many clues concerning how Satan works—what his schemes really are.
We see that Satan is very crafty. He is not some dumb creature bumbling his way through history. He is certainly not some creature dressed up in a red suit with a pointed tail. His attack will be sophisticated and subtle. Notice how he approaches Eve.

The first thing which should be obvious is that his attack was directed primarily to the mind or intellect. He began by sowing doubt. It was doubt concerning God’s Word. God had given His Word to Adam and Eve. His Word was their guidance. Indeed, His Word could have been their only defense in this situation, but it became the object of Satan’s attack. Satan desires that we begin to doubt God’s Word.

He attacked God’s Word in three ways. the first was that he challenged the authorship and hence authority of God’s Word. The first words Satan uttered were, "Indeed, has God said?" "How do you know that God really said it? Were you there when God gave this Word?" When Eve replied, she misquoted the Word of God and, in fact, added to it. Satan probably knew then that he was on the right course.

By questioning the authorship and authority of God’s Word, he also questioned its accuracy. In other words, if she couldn’t be sure God really said what He had said, then how could she trust that it was true? Perhaps something had been lost in the translation when Adam had communicated that word to her.

Finally, he questioned the acceptability of the Word which God had supposedly given. He sought to appeal to her selfish desires and focus her gaze, not on the goodness of God, but rather on her own self-interest. In doing so, he attacked the integrity of God. He boldly declared that God had an ulterior motive for what He had said and that God was trying to keep them from something which would make them happy. He said, "You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
So, we see that Satan was not only sowing doubt concerning God’s Word, he was also issuing a denial that God’s Word was true. Doubt and denial are always a part of Satan’s strategy. Indeed, denial follows closely upon doubt.

His goal, of course, is delusion. He desires to bring a delusion to God’s people. In this case, he told Eve that she and Adam would be like God. But he will tell us anything we want to hear. He doesn’t care what the delusion is, as long as it draws us away from God’s truth.
Do you see what happened in this first temptation? What happened there still happens today. His plan was to turn a look into a lust, a desire into a decision, a choice into a chain, and a sinner into a seducer. Each was another step away from God.

Some people believe that there is no harm in looking. But temptation comes through the eyes many times. In 1 John 2:16 we are told of "the lust of the eyes." When her look had become a lust, Satan had succeeded in getting her to take the first step.
Then she took from its fruit and ate. Now her desire had become a decision. She had taken the second step. Satan did not force her, she made a decision. He will tempt us, but we must decide.
When she ate, she took the third step. Her choice was turned into a chain and Satan had her just where he wanted her. She had been snared by the devil.

Finally, we are told that she gave also to her husband. The final step was taken and the sinner had been turned into a seducer. Satan desires not only to seduce us, but to make us his accomplice in seducing others.
Notice in all of this that Satan’s strategy was very covert. He almost never mounts a frontal assault, because that would be too obvious. He uses subtlety and entraps us before we know we are snared. He seeks to cause us to doubt the authority, accuracy and acceptability of God’s Word. He seeks to deny the power of God’s Word and to get us to do the same. He seeks to delude us into believing a lie instead of the truth. And he sows all of these seeds in our minds. Our minds become the battle ground where he seeks to defeat us. You see, if he can influence the way we think about God and His Word, then he can influence the way we behave. This is his strategy.

Our Response

How should we respond to Satan’s strategy? Well, we might begin by saying that it is important for us to understand several general truths concerning temptation. Firstly, we must understand that the source of temptation is Satan, not God. James 1:13 says, "Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt any one." God is not the author or source of temptation, Satan is.

Secondly, the power of temptation is found in our desires. James 1:14 says, "But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." If we were not enticed, we would find temptation powerless. The word, "enticed" is actually a fishing term. It means "to be lured by bait." Just for a moment, crawl into a fish’s brain. A worm looks like a porterhouse steak to a fish. The experienced fisherman baits the hook so that the fish doesn’t even know it’s there. The bait is the deception that entices the fish to take hold. And when it takes hold, the angler senses its presence and sets the hook. After that, it’s too late.

Thirdly, and finally, we must understand about temptation that there is a way out. In other words, no temptation is irresistible. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we read, "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it." God always provides the way of escape.

Having said that, let’s look at five ways we can handle temptation and defeat Satan’s strategy.

1. We must be aware of his strategy. Remember, we are told in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that we are not ignorant of his schemes. Although the first half of this message has been devoted to an examination of Satan’s strategy, it is so easy to forget what you’ve heard. Remind yourself to think about how Satan works. Unless you are consciously aware of his strategy you will be caught off guard by his subtlety. A good soldier will study his enemy. Don’t be caught off guard.

2. We must anticipate his attacks. Do you think that you are somehow exempt from the attacks of the enemy because you have accepted Jesus Christ? Far from being exempt, now you are a prime target! Therefore, be ready! 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." The attacks will come. They will come often when we least expect them. They will come when we are weak. They will come when we are down. Be ready for them. In fact, anticipate them. If you do, then you will not be surprised at the attack. And you will recognize it for what it is.

3. We must guard our minds. Since our minds are the area of the enemy’s attack, we must find ways to protect them from his influence. 2 Corinthians 11:3 says, "But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." In 1 Peter 1:13 we read, "Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Our minds must be protected from the influence of the enemy as he seeks to lead us away from the truth of God’s Word.
As it says in Romans 12:2, our minds need to be renewed if we are to be transformed by God. Where we focus our minds will determine how vulnerable we are to temptation. If we allow the devil to influence how we think about God, we will find ourselves taking one step after another away from Him.

4. We must realize our limitations. The quickest way to fall into temptation is to think that you are above it. Immediately before the verse on temptation in 1 Corinthians 10:13 is verse 12, which says, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." We are all made of ordinary stuff, and given the right situation this ordinary stuff can yield to temptation. Many people, who thought that it could never happen to them, have wondered how they got into the mess they are in. If you do not realize your limitations, you will never take the adequate and thorough precautions you need to take to avoid temptation. Know your limitations and stay away from those situations where you will be enticed to sin.

5. We must depend on God’s resources. We are certainly in a warfare. Our enemy is powerful. But we have access to weaponry which is more powerful than he. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 records this concerning our warfare: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every though captive to the obedience of Christ."

God has given us powerful weapons to enable us to bring our minds in line with His truth. Satan attacks us at the point of our intellect, sowing doubt and delusion. But by the power of the supernatural weapons we have been given we can destroy these speculations and anything else that comes against the knowledge of God. We can take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. As we depend upon God’s resources, we can defeat Satan’s schemes.
So, the next time Satan mounts an attack against you, see it for what it is, refuse to be brought low by his trickery. Instead, resist! As it says in Ephesians 6:11, "Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil."