Satan's Devices - Part 1

This time, let's turn in our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6 for our scripture reading, and we will read from verse 10 through verse 18. I'll read the 10th and the even-numbered verses, and Pastor Brian will lead you in the reading of the odd-numbered verses, and shall we stand as we read the Word of God? Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and having your feet shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all of the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Let's pray. Lord, even as Paul encourages us here, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. And so, Lord, we do pray that even this day, that our hearts will be open and that you will speak to us, Lord, through the Word. But help us, Lord, that we will not just be hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word. And so we pray your blessing today, Lord, upon your Word as it goes forth. Feed us, Lord, and may we respond in Jesus' name. Amen. Lord bless you. You may be seated. Good morning. Let's open our Bibles now to 2 Corinthians. And as was mentioned this evening, Pastor Chuck will be taking the third and the fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians, one of the great letters of encouragement here in the New Testament, one of my favorites, actually. We're going to be looking this morning, we're going to go back to chapter 2, and I'd like to read to you verses 10 and 11 of chapter 2. Paul, of course, is writing, he says, Now, whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. Here the Apostle Paul speaks of Satan's devices and assumes the Corinthian Christians know something of what he is talking about. But do we, today, know what he is talking about? Are we aware of the fact that we are in a spiritual battle and that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world? Do we know something of what the Apostle was talking about when he referred to the wiles of the devil or the fiery darts of the wicked one? You see, we must know these things lest we find ourselves being taken advantage of by Satan, lest he somehow get an edge on us, so to speak. So, what are Satan's devices? What are the wiles of the devil or the fiery darts of the wicked? As Paul referred to in the Ephesians passage. What is he talking about with these things? Well, first of all, we have to understand that the world that we live in is a world that is greatly influenced by the invisible realm. And in that invisible world, there are these principalities and powers. This is a way of referring to the demonic world. But the principalities and powers are references to spirits who are controlling the affairs of the world to a large degree. The Bible teaches us that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle as Christians. And we are the subjects of the attacks of Satan. But quite often, we live in ignorance of these things. And because we're ignorant of these things, the enemy gets the upper hand on us in certain areas. And it's vital to our spiritual well-being and to our success as servants of Christ to understand what the enemy is up to so we can know how to overcome him and how we can be victorious against him and his attack against us. I believe that one of the primary targets of Satan is the mind. He spends much of his time attacking us in the realm of the mind. And I believe that although the wiles of the devil, the fiery darts of the wicked, although this might be describing a broad range of Satan's activity, it definitely includes Satan's attack upon our minds and upon our emotions. Now, how it is that the enemy has access to my mind, I do not know. This is a mystery. We can't really figure it out. But yet, it is a reality. We know it by experience. We know it from the experiences of God's people throughout the ages. But most importantly, we know it's true because the Bible teaches us that it's true. The Bible gives us examples of Satan influencing the thinking process of people and God's people at times. A great example of this is found in the life of David, David, the great king of Israel. There's an interesting statement in 1 Chronicles 21, and it says this. It says that Satan rose up against Israel, and he moved David to number the children of Israel. Now, it was strictly forbidden by God for the king to count his subjects. But there was David one afternoon, perhaps, thinking about his realm, thinking about his kingdom and his subjects. And suddenly, a thought comes into David's mind that he ought to number the people. Now, I am pretty sure that at that moment, David had no idea that that thought was planted in his mind by Satan, but that's exactly what the Bible tells us happened. And I think that you will discover...