Satan’s Strategy Attacking at the Perfect Moment

Go ahead and turn in your Bible to Luke 4. Luke 4. I want to specifically look at recognizing Satan's tactic and specifically the timing of his attacks. The timing. Satan being an adversary who looks for an opportune time.

Right? And so we're going to read Verses 1-13. And focus on verse 13. It wasn't too long ago, Tim did his sermon on the anatomy of temptation.

Then not too far before that, Craig did his message from Mark on the temptations of Christ. And so I'm not aiming to cover all of the temptations of Christ. I want to hone in on verse 13.

Verse 13 has been a verse that has really stood out to me over the years. And I trust we'll have some thoughts there that will be helpful for you this morning. So let's read this section and then we'll pray.

Luke 4, starting in verse 1. And Jesus, full of the Holy Ghost, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, He was hungry.

The devil said to Him, if You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. And Jesus answered Him, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone. And the devil took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

And said to Him, to You I will give all this authority and their glory. For it has been delivered to me and I will give it to whom I will. If You then will worship me, it will all be Yours.

And Jesus answered Him, it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve. And Satan took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, if You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written..." We've got Satan misinterpreting Scripture.

"...He will command His angels concerning you to guard you. And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." Verse 12, "...Jesus answered Him, it is said, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." And then verse 13 which will be the text. "...And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time." Let's pray.

Father, Lord, we thank You for this glorious example of the last Adam, of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the Son of God facing these tests and these trials in the garden. Not in the garden, Lord, right here. In passing the test, unlike the first Adam in the garden who failed.

Lord, unlike Israel who failed for 40 years and they tested You. Here, Your blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, He doesn't fail the test. He continues to live this one perfect life.

He continues down the path to obtain a salvation for us. And Lord, that's why we're here today. Because Christ did say it's finished.

And Father, we recognize Your Son. It wasn't a walk in the park. He walked a life full of battles and wars.

And Lord, as His followers, if the head of the house has suffered, Lord, how much more are we going to have to endure trials? And through much tribulation, we will enter the Kingdom of God. And Lord, here we've got a comment here at the end of this passage about our adversary. And Lord, we don't want to overly focus on the devil.

No way, Father. But at the same time, Lord, I just pray as we consider some of the tactics, the schemes of the enemy, Lord, that we would not be ignorant, Father. If there's any here being taken advantage of by the one who disguises himself, by the one who's looking for opportune times.

Lord, we know people in the world, they blame the devil for a lot of stuff when they don't take their own personal responsibility. Lord, we get it. There's that ditch.

But Father, at the same time, we're here today and we recognize there really is an enemy. Some want to say He doesn't exist. Some want to say demons don't exist.

But Lord, we trust Your Word and we read these things and we recognize we have an adversary who prowls around. And so, Father, would You help us, Lord, to be on guard even today? And Lord, would You get the brethren here safely in this bad weather this morning? Protect everyone on the road. And so, Lord, here we are.

Meet with us now. Help enable me to have clarity of mind and the power of Your Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Amen. Well, brethren, I trust you realize if you've studied any history of the world, you go through world history, you find military leaders many times have been naive to the tactics of their enemies. And that has costed them greatly.

They might have had outdated information on how their enemy doesn't attack. And so they perceive the enemy is going to attack in a specific way and it doesn't happen in that way. And they're not prepared and it leads to their defeat.

And here in Luke 4, in the context, we've got Christ being tested, being tempted by Satan. We've got God's Son passing all of those tests. I mean, it is absolutely glorious to see the Lord Jesus just pulling out Scripture to defend and destroy the lies of the enemy.

Even when the enemy himself seeks to pull out Scripture. And this reminds me just of James 4.7. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil.

And what's the devil going to do? The devil's going to flee from you. Flee from you. Does that mean the war's over? I resisted Satan.

I resisted these temptations. I resisted this assault of the enemy. Does that mean the battle's over? Just like that? No, not at all.

We see v. 13. When the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time. And if you look at v. 2, he was being tempted by the devil for 40 days.

This suggests a continuous period of temptation throughout his time in the wilderness. They highlight three specific temptations. Three specific attacks that Satan made towards the Lord Jesus Christ.

But this is a continuous period of temptation. And when it ends, when Christ resists the devil, when Christ quotes Scripture, when Christ thinks about the truth, when Christ takes every thought captive to obey God, to not give in to any lies of the enemy, it says Satan departed from Him until an opportune time. Satan had a strategy to return.

He was scanning for a vulnerable time that he could take another strike. Satan was bidding for the perfect moment to strike the Lord in the future. In a way, you could say, Satan is hoping that some future time he could catch Christ off guard and it would be more favorable to his plan to make it work.

In these 40 days of temptations, and here three are highlighted, it didn't work. It didn't work. And the devil is a persistent enemy and a foe.

He doesn't just retreat and say that's it. He's looking for another opportune time. And brethren, this is very relevant for you and I, because the enemy who's after our Lord is after us.

If you say, well, Satan was out to get Christ, but it's not us. Remember Hebrews 4.15. It's interesting how it not only reveals Christ was tempted in every way, but it says He was tempted just as who was? We are. It actually puts us as the basis.

We're getting tempted. And Christ takes on humanity and He suffers the same sorts of temptations that we do. The same sorts of attacks even from the enemy.

And obviously, you go back all the way to the garden. You've got the enemy right there. And he's attacking and twisting truth.

Or creating lies and speaking them to Eve right there in the very beginning of existence. And so there, Eve and Adam face temptation. So it's no surprise that we come along as humanity and we're going to face the exact same temptations that even our Lord did.

So this teaches us the enemy who's relentlessly tempting Christ is retreating for an opportune time. And if He's going to do that for the Savior, He's going to do that for you and me. He's looking for opportune times to strike in your life and in my life.

And I trust, if you've been a Christian for not too long, you've felt that reality happen. And remember, it's not a sin to be tempted. It's a sin to sin.

Right? It's not a sin to be tempted. It's a sin to sin. And as Tim dealt with in James 1-4, it says each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

The Bible talks about fleshly desires and those waging war in our souls. But the Bible also talks about an enemy, the devil. And it also talks about the devil having demons.

And it also talks about them being on the attack. And so we've got an enemy without, Satan. And we've also got an enemy in the flesh and these fleshly desires.

We're in a war. We're in a war. And Satan isn't passive and his demons are not passive.

Now, here's a question I have for verse 13. Who recognized this strategy of Satan waiting for a more opportune time? Who? Who recognized this is how Satan operates? Okay, yes, ultimately the Spirit. But who as a human recognized that? Luke.

Luke recognizes this. This isn't the devil. The devil didn't just finish these temptations.

You can get it in your mind. The devil finished these temptations and as he's leaving, he breathes under his mouth, you know, I'm just going to wait for a more opportune time. That's not what happens here.

Luke recognizes this is how the enemy operates. This is an observation Luke makes. Mark does not make this observation.

Matthew does not make this observation. Luke makes this observation. He adds this detail here confidently speaking about Satan's plan.

He doesn't say the devil might go look for an opportune time. He says that the devil does. And you could say, well, you know, he's recording this account after all has happened and thus he already knows the ending.

Sure, that could be part of it. Or you could say the fact is he's not ignorant of the devil's tactics, right? And that's what I don't want you or myself to have is ignorance about the schemes of the devil. And specifically on this topic of him looking for an opportune time to strike.

So are you like Luke? Can you record or see a situation in your life and when it ends, you think, you know what? The devil departed. This temptation departed. But he's going to look for another time to strike.

Those air raid sirens are going to come back on. You know, those bombs, they got pretty close. The Lord protected me.

I trusted the Lord in the midst of that. But there's another wave coming. I mean, Luke's got that type of a mindset.

He's got that type of awareness here as he writes this. It's almost like you could look at Luke's life and possibly he could say, oh, this looks like an opportune time for the enemy. Do you think like that? As you're living a Christian life, as a certain day starts and you have certain trials and as it builds up, have you ever found yourself just thinking, you know what? If I was the devil, there's really an opportune time for a strike right now.

This would be the perfect time for the enemy to attack. Do you ever think like that? Because that can help you actually be prepared if you're aware of the fact this would really be a good opportunity for the enemy to strike. To strike.

And this isn't just Luke who has this wisdom. Paul has this exact same wisdom as well. Turn to 2 Corinthians 2. Look at 2 Corinthians 2. Paul makes an observation as well.

2 Corinthians 2.11. In the context, he's talking about the devil could keep the church weak by them not having a forgiving spirit towards certain individuals. And he says, verse 10, anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ.

Now look at Paul. This is Paul stating this to the Corinthians. So that we would not be outwitted by Satan.

And then look, Paul says for we. Him, Titus, those laboring among the Corinthians, and maybe he's even including them here possibly. He says we are not ignorant of his designs.

That means there is a category of person who is ignorant of the designs of the devil. Ignorant of Satan's tactics. They've not looked at the reconnaissance report in the Bible.

They're unaware of the fact of how the enemy attacks. Or they've misinterpreted Scripture. In the same book Tim referred to at the conference, John Nebius, I remember reading that entire large book dealing with demons, and Nebius was a Presbyterian minister who went to China thinking that demons didn't even exist.

That that wasn't even real for today. And all of that changed once he started to see these realities over there. And he recognized how duped he was here in America to not recognize there really is an enemy.

And so here Paul, Paul's like Luke. We could be outwitted by Satan. We could be ignorant of his designs.

Peter, same thing, 1 Peter 5. Peter talks about the devil. These are God-inspired men describing the adversary. Yes, the Spirit of God is guiding them and giving them the words to say.

But you see my point? Luke makes an observation. Paul makes an observation. And then Peter makes an observation about the enemy.

It's okay to talk about the enemy with the church, and it's not overly focusing on the enemy because they're doing that very thing to prepare people for the battle. You're kind of pulling up the map on the screen and you're looking at some of the enemy's positions. And there might be someone who they never recognized the enemy had those sort of positions or those sort of designs.

And they're more equipped to not get taken out by the enemy. 1 Peter 5. Peter, he says, verse 8, be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

And then he gives a solution. Resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by the brotherhood throughout the world. There, Satan is likened to a lion who prowls around.

It made me think, I don't know why my parents showed this movie to me as a kid, but Ghost in the Darkness. I mean, that terrified me for years. But you know what? That movie displayed a lion prowling around.

Now, those people were terrified because it was a physical lion who could kill a physical body. We shouldn't have the same fear because we've got the Lord Jesus Christ. We've got the Spirit of God.

But that's what Satan does. He's prowling around. He could hop at any moment.

It could even be in the middle of the day. Yeah, you know what? You could make all manner of provision and stay up really late and be scrolling on your phone and no doubt you're giving all this provision for the flesh and no wonder that's an opportune time for the enemy to strike. There's stuff that's obvious like that.

But here, Christ didn't just make provision for the flesh. Christ resisted and did not sin and still the enemy is on the hunt looking for an opportune time. He came out and he prowled and he attacked and he retreated and he's not given up with the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, this is not Satan describing himself as this. It's the believer recognizing these realities. And brethren, no wonder Peter could say this, right? Peter, you know, where did Peter get this exact imagery of Satan? I can't be certain, but you know what? If you're Peter and you've denied Christ three times and that servant girl comes up and asks you, do you know the Lord? And I mean, could you look back as Peter and just think, man, I thought I was safe there, but the enemy was prowling around like a lion.

I just got put, it was such an opportune time. I mean, you know what made it such an opportune time for Peter to deny Christ because he had already emphatically boasted in the fact that he would not deny the Lord. So anytime we become self-confident and inflated with pride, that's a really good opportunity for the enemy to strike.

Have you ever felt that? Someone makes a flattering comment to you about something. Do you ever go away thinking, oh man, they just laid a net for me. It's like, this is a vulnerable time.

I got to process this flattery in a right way. Not indulge in it, but look at it as the net that it is and not get caught. There was an opportune time for Satan to test Peter.

So one question to ask, is there any area you are overconfident in and have a degree of pride? I mean, look at your life. If there's any area, there's an overconfidence, there's a pride. I'll tell you, that's not the way Paul thought, right? Paul goes on a few chapters later and he boasts in his weakness.

And he looks at that's when the grace and the power of Christ is sufficient for when I'm weak, then I am strong. So Peter, Luke, Paul, they recognize Satan is prowling around like a lion, seeking to whom he may devour. He has schemes that we could be ignorant of and he's looking for an opportune time.

That's Christian believers recognizing these realities about the enemy. They don't brush it off and say it's irrelevant. They actually look and say some are ignorant.

They better not be ignorant because they could be duped. So Satan waits until the conditions are right. In one way, look, we should always have our air defense systems ready for incoming fiery darts from the enemy, right? In a way, it's a war that never ends.

But it's interesting, the text says Satan departed. Satan left. And I don't just take that as figuratively he left.

Satan is not everywhere all at once. Satan and his demons, they roam the earth. But there can be an intensity of Satan drawing near and him leaving.

And that might be something you felt in your life at times. There's times you have a sense, I'm really under an attack and you're enduring the attack, you're trusting the Lord. And then it's almost like the enemy departs.

He leaves. I mean, that's what we see pictured here in Luke 4. There's a time he arrived and there was a time that he departed. So this reminds us periods of peace are not permanent.

A ceasing of conflict, but it's pauses that the adversary uses to plan his next move. And that made me ask this question. When did Satan return to challenge Christ after these initial temptations? And I realize I can't be dogmatic on what the very next, the opportune time was, because if everything that was written was contained in the books, the world couldn't contain it.

But what's one of the next things that happens in Luke? Where it seems like is Satan looking for an opportune time to strike? Anyone have a thought? Luke 9, go to Luke 9. Just a few chapters later. It's possibly, though Luke himself does not mention the enemy. Luke 9.22, Jesus saying here, He strictly commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests, scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Now where else does another writer record Christ stating this and what is someone's response? Go to Matthew 16. Matthew 16. Yeah, Peter doesn't want the Lord to die.

Matthew 16.21, from that time, Jesus began to show His disciples He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. I mean, basically the same statement and then Matthew records something here in verse 22. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, far be it from me, Lord, this shall never happen to You.

Don't die, don't go to the cross, which is interesting in the very temptations in Luke 4. I know the goal wasn't to examine those, but it's interesting. That's one of Satan's aim in all of that. Take a way out.

Get the kingdoms now. Take the kingdoms of this world now without suffering and dying. Have something now without actually going to the cross.

And guess who has this same mindset not too far off in the distance? Peter. Verse 23. How does Jesus look at a born-again believing Christian telling Him He's not thinking correctly? How does Jesus look at this believer? Verse 23.

He turned and said to Peter, He's talking to Peter, right? Get behind me, Satan. You're a hindrance to me. You're being the mouthpiece of the devil.

Now that's an interesting opportunity in time, right? Satan himself seeks to test Christ, to lure Christ, to deceive Christ, to get Him to presume upon God, to get Him to fall like Israel fell, and to test the Lord. Christ does not fall. And then not too long later, you've got the devil in some way impacting and influencing a well-meaning Christian, and he thinks incorrectly and actually says doctrine of the devil.

He actually says something that is completely satanic. And Jesus looks at that and says, get behind me, Satan. He recognizes this is the devil.

The devil is using a believer to speak something to me that is completely satanic. And he describes the problem at the end of the verse. For you are not setting your minds on the things of God, your mind, on the things of God, but on the things of man.

And we're going to look at that in a moment. That shows there's something here in the mind. There's a battleground right here in the mind.

And Peter, his mind got impacted with some sort of thought that Christ shouldn't go and suffer. So when Jesus talks about going and suffering, bam, the enemy strikes. That's an interesting attack from the enemy.

Who would have thought maybe the next opportune time for Satan to strike was to use Peter in order to seek to lure Christ into not going on with the mission of the cross. And brethren, that's a painful reality in the Christian life, right? To recognize I could be the mouthpiece of Satan in someone's life. And you recognize that's a possibility? I could say something to someone.

Well-meaning counsel. And they actually could turn around and say, get behind me, Satan. And is that even a category? Like you could recognize, you could do that by giving a hasty answer when someone makes a statement about, in this case, suffering, and you have an incorrect understanding about the Messiah.

And you might still have this idea of an earthly kingdom and you say something that this, Jesus didn't just look at this and say, don't discourage me. Jesus looked at it and said, you're being the devil. Get behind me, Satan.

Satan is speaking through you, Peter. That's an incredibly sobering reality. And so this might very well have been the next opportunity.

The devil's looking for an opportune time. Maybe this was one of those opportune times right here. And Peter got to that point by not setting his mind on the things of God.

And you should remember that. If you or I are ever going to be used by the devil to speak something to someone that's well-meaning, that we think is truth, but it's actually demonic error, it's going to be because our mind, we're not correctly understanding God's Word. So this is important.

And so this turns us now to 2 Corinthians 11 again. Go to 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11.

We've got an enemy. He's looking for an opportune time to attack. Peter gets used in his schemes here because Peter is not watching over his mind.

His mind isn't set on the things of God. Right? You see that happen to Peter and then 2 Corinthians 11. This hits home for Paul.

Paul in verse two, he's expressing his jealousy for these believers that they would make it, that they'd be pure virgins presented to Christ. And then the well-known verse three, he has a fear for them. He says, I'm afraid that it's the serpent, it's Satan, deceived Eve by his cunning.

So he's a cunning enemy. And what's his fear there? It's the same thing that happened to Peter. Your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

And remember, he's saying this to those at Corinth who have false apostles there teaching errors. This isn't people who are not attending church, it's people who are attending a church. And even in that context, the emphasis from the pulpit, the emphasis from the ministry could be such where people's minds are led astray from Christ.

Whether it's into being a Judaizer, whether it's into licentiousness, whatever it might be, the enemy's seeking to pull our minds away from the Lord. And he says that's exactly what happened in the garden. Daniel Rowland, he said, Eve saw God's doctrine hard and the fact the Lord said you'll die.

But Satan's doctrine sounded sweet, saying you will not die, but live if you eat and shall be as God's. All right, the enemy wants you to have a harsh thought towards the Lord. God help us.

Now, if you flip 2 Corinthians 11 through Eve, if you reverse it, if he's afraid that your thoughts will be led astray from the simplicity of Christ, then what does Paul want you to do in a positive way? Where does he want your mind to be? He wants your mind to be on Christ, on the Gospel, on the simplicity of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You want a safe protection to not fall in to the attacks of the devil and his opportune strikes? Have your mind much on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Paul goes on here in this chapter.

Look at verse 13. Verse 13 in 2 Corinthians 11. He mentions he's describing something about not exactly his work, but these false teachers.

He says, for such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. Huh, they put a disguise on. And you know what? That shouldn't surprise you.

It better not surprise you. That's how the Bible starts. It's the devil disguising himself as one offering wisdom to Eve.

So it shouldn't surprise you. And Paul goes on to say in the very next verse, and no wonder. So there shouldn't be a shock.

No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, so he's deducing, you know what? If the devil does it, obviously those under him are going to do it. So it's no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

And then he says their end is going to correspond with their deeds. It doesn't matter what they claim to be right now. Their end of judgment, their works are showing that's what's going to be their end.

Their end, as Jeremiah said to the false prophets, what are you going to do when the end comes? They're going to be destroyed. But there you see a tactic of the enemy. He puts on a disguise.

He refashions himself. He changes the appearance of everything to make it appear as if he's an angel of light. So Paul says it shouldn't be a surprise attack.

You should expect it. Do you expect Satan to disguise himself as an angel of light? Paul's saying you should expect that's going to happen. You should expect when there's a young believer who's making too much out of emotional experiences in the Christian life, I expect they're going to have an experience.

But 99% of the time, it's an angel of light and they're being deceived. I expect that to happen. Because it's an opportune time.

They're setting themselves up by an imbalanced desire that forms into an idolatry. The devil looks at that and it comes in many shapes and sizes and forms. And he knows exactly how to strike.

He's not ignorant. And we shouldn't be ignorant of his schemes. Especially now that our mind is off of the work and the person of Jesus Christ.

And it's now over on this other thing over here. And this other thing has become the big thing. No longer Christ is the big thing.

So Paul says it shouldn't surprise you. Not just that the devil's going to disguise himself. It shouldn't surprise you that his ministers do that.

Didn't Jesus say they come in sheep's clothing? But inwardly, there are ravenous wolves referring to the false teachers in Matthew 7. So Satan doesn't present himself as Satan. And sin does not appear as sin when the devil talks. But rather as doing something very virtuous.

Eve, if you eat that, it's a really virtuous decision. You're making a wise decision. That's what the devil does.

So don't be ignorant. He's looking for an opportune time. He disguises himself.

This is the enemy that we've got. And not just the enemy we've got, he has ministers. And they could be under the name of pastor.

And they could be false teachers who are imitating their father, the devil. And so the Bible explains that Satan to achieve his goals must disguise himself as a source of truth. You know what's encouraging about that? There's something really encouraging about Satan having to disguise himself as an angel of light.

You know what's encouraging about that to me? You know what that says about you and I? What are we pulled towards? We're pulled towards light and truth and we want truth. To me, it says we're not as gullible as some people might say. So he's got to disguise himself.

Because we so badly want the truth as Christians. We so badly hunger and thirst for righteousness that in order to be deceived by the devil, it's almost like he has to come in in a sideway and dupe you. So that encourages me.

It says something about a people, Romans 6 says, are obedient from the heart. We're naturally attracted to truth. We're repelled by falsehood.

But our enemy, yeah, he attacks in that way. Ephesians 6, we've got to put on the whole armor of God that we might be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. You hear that? Again, it's the same author, Paul, describing Satan has schemes.

He says in v. 12, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. We wrestle against rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers over this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you might be able to withstand in the evil day.

And then he says an incredible statement, having done all to stand. Not having done part, not having done two thirds, having done all to stand. I mean, we have the responsibility as Christians to take up in the spiritual realm, the full armor of God and having done everything we can to stand.

So our thoughts should be on Christ. That's what Jesus did in the temptations in Luke 4. He responded with Scripture. That's what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11.

We are not to let our thoughts be led astray from a simple and pure devotion to Jesus Christ. I've been reading a book by Parsons and he made the point, our best defense against Satan's disguises is a close relationship with Christ. You know that in the physical realm, right? You know who your wife is.

If you have a close relationship with your wife, you're not going to be deceived by a counterfeit. Doesn't matter if they look like your wife physically, because you know the person. So the more you and I know the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more we know who He is, the more we have good doctrine, we won't be deceived like they were in 1st and 2nd John.

We won't be deceived like they were in 1 Corinthians 15 and denying that there's a resurrection. We won't stray after Satan and his lies. So we've got to have the truth.

We've got to think much about the truth. Let me give you four battle reports that involve Satan. Four battle reports where these were opportune times for the enemy to strike in these situations.

So first, Satan found an opportune time to strike a married believer, a couple, they're both Christians. He found an opportune time to strike one of the spouses. You tell me, what led to that opportune time? What does the Bible say led to it? Anyone know that verse? 1 Corinthians 7? They both decided to pray and fast for a time, it seems.

That's a good thing. But you know what Paul says? He said, you then need to come together again. You need to have intimacy again.

And it's crazy the reason he gives. He says, so that something won't happen. Is this really? I don't know if we even think this way.

He says, so that Satan may not tempt you. He didn't just say the demons. He talks about Satan bringing temptation into your life by not coming together as a married couple after this season of agreed time of prayer and fasting.

He may tempt you because of your lack of self-control. In other words, if they neglect intimacy, they're putting the other spouse at ready disposal of the tempter. And you know what? That's one of the main questions in marriage counseling, right? When you're trying to counsel a couple, that's something you bring up.

Where is their intimacy at as a married couple? And if you all of a sudden find out in that conversation they're rarely coming together, it's often not a surprise that there's a whole lot of other issues that have happened. Paul says that's giving the devil an opportune time. It's no wonder one of them might be falling into lust in some form or another.

And yes, it's because of their lack of self-control. They can't go blame the devil. They lack the self-control, but it gave an opportune time for Satan.

So that's again practical. I could affect or my wife could affect our marriage in such a way by being cold in the area of intimacy where it actually creates an opportunity for Satan to strike. Don't be ignorant of his schemes.

If that's happening in your marriage, if there's some sort of distance there, some sort of coldness there, some sort of unresolved conflict where one is too proud to humble themselves and it's leading to the separation that's happening physically where there's not as much flirting and affection being shown, don't think that's the end scheme for the devil. He's got more plans to attack you with, brother, sister. The second thing, an opportune time for Satan to strike is when you go put money in that box.

When you give to the church, it's an opportune time for Satan to strike. The Bible talks about a family. They sold property and they desired to give what they made.

At some point, they decided to keep back some, which they had every right to keep back some of the money. But they decided rather than let everyone know that they kept it back, they made it appear as if they gave the full amount. That's Acts 5. And what was said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? Isn't that amazing? There's all these opportune times for the devil to strike, for you to worry about your reputation and how people here perceive you, whether it's through finances or anything.

Those are opportune times for the enemy to strike. A third thing, an opportune time for a strike is when you've made a vow, a commitment, and then you've gone back on it. You ever had that happen? You made some sort of commitment and then all of a sudden, you're kind of wavering on it.

You even recognize I shouldn't let my yes be yes. Why did I make that vow? Why did I make that commitment? We find that in 1 Timothy 5. It says, for some of the widows have already strayed after who? Satan. And the thing with this passage, you think, wow, these women strayed after Satan.

What happened and what led to that? It's really not what you would expect. Who strayed? Primarily the widows in the context. They're widows who initially made a vow to dedicate themselves to service in the church, but later they chose to remarry.

And by doing so, they broke their initial commitment. And you're kind of like, wait, is that what Paul's saying? He's defining that as straying after Satan? Paul looks at them abandoning their spiritual pledge and going after personal desires when they've already made this commitment. He views that.

Paul views that. As much as I can understand that text, he looks and he says, they're straying after Satan. They put themselves in a place where the devil has got them.

So that's an opportune time. If you're about to make some sort of commitment, if you're about to make some sort of giving your word about something, you better be very careful because you want your yes to be yes. You don't want to rush into something.

And clearly, this was a problem at the church there where Paul adds in something. If they're not above 60, don't let them join because he saw what was happening. He had women.

So the leadership there in a way was dropping the ball and they were letting these younger women make this commitment to be on the church roll and to go and to help people in the church. And then they started seeing this happen where some would break their commitment and stray after Satan. And so now Paul says, you know what? Unless they're older than 60, don't let them make that commitment.

You see, there's practical things like that in our life and in our church where we want to look at the situation. We recognize this puts someone in a vulnerable situation. Let's not put them in this situation.

A fourth opportunity for Satan to strike is when people turn what should be a matter of personal conscience into law. And this is an opportunity. 1 Timothy 4. You can turn there in your Bible.

1 Timothy 4 mentions the devil's activity in this. It doesn't specifically say he's there to tempt. I trust you'll see it.

Paul makes the statement in v. 1, now the Spirit expressly says, in latter times, some are going to depart from the faith. Man, what's leading these people to depart from the faith? By devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. Wow, they're going to satanic temples? Is that what they're doing? Maybe you should just stop right there.

No, let's read on. Through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, what are these doctrines of demons? What's the first thing in v. 3? Forbid marriage. What's the second thing? Require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth, for everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected.

It is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the Word of God and prayer. So requiring one to abstain from that which is good, but making it not some conscious decision that a believer is having, but a law, Paul says that is demonic. That is demonic.

So Satan, he's looking for opportune times like that. And you know what happens? You get saved. And you want holiness.

And you want holiness so bad, you memorize Hebrews 12.14, strive for the holiness without which we will not see the Lord, and you're gung-ho about being holy. And all of a sudden, Satan looks at an opportune time. Hey, let's get this young Christian imbalanced.

Let's kind of shift him over here. Let's get him to say that this is always a sin, even though he can't really prove it from the Bible. Satan is involved in that.

Satan wants you and I to take unbiblical positions in a dogmatic way and press them on other individuals. And that's Satan being involved in that. Do you guys recognize that? He's looking for opportune times like that.

And you know what? Some young Christians, they fall into that and they don't make it out the other end. So it's very important we seek to win with gentleness those who are being led astray in that way. Conrad Murrell has some articles dealing with our enemy the devil.

He says this, Satan is subtle. That is the first thing we are told about from the Bible. The last thing we are willing to believe though.

He is not obvious. He comes in ways little suspected and most likely to be accepted. To we who believe the Bible and love the truth, he does not come with blatant railings against truth or obvious heresy.

He comes as an angel of light, speaking reasonable, appealing, biblically supported doctrines. He knows the Bible well and uses it skillfully. He speaks portions of it that are truth indeed, but misusing and misapplying it, adding to it, giving to it a faint but fatal twist, warping it so that it becomes a dangerous error.

Do not fancy yourself to be beyond the target for the evil one through his device. He tackled the Savior Himself with it. Though the Lord Jesus did and does consistently see through the devil's subtleties, you are quite vulnerable, regardless of your intellectual power, scholastic attainment, or spiritual maturity.

Listen to this, I love this. No sheep is a match for the wolf. His only refuge is in the shepherd.

That's where we've got to find ourselves. All of this should make you want to all the more cling closely to the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, that's our only hope.

And you know what? As I'm thinking about 2 Corinthians 11 about how the enemy disguises himself, it made me ask this personal question. When was the last time I got duped by one of Satan's disguises? And you know what was interesting? I couldn't exactly think of a time I did, but that wasn't like that was an overly comforting thought. Because what if the disguise is so good I didn't recognize it? Yeah, maybe some things came when I was a new Christian.

I thought of ways I got deceived. I mean, it made me ask this, what if the enemy has a disguise that's presently working and I don't recognize it? Here one question is. Here is a question.

Is there an area of weakness in your life where you strongly desire something in a certain way? You really, really want this whatever it is. If so, I'm telling you, Satan can exploit that desire, making something seem justifiable even if it leads you away from God's truth. That gives you an opportune time.

Anything in your life that you really, really, really, really want and it becomes something that is an obsession and it's not on the altar. It's not like the child on the altar and he's willing to slaughter the child to lose the child, but God says, no, you can keep it. But the heart is the heart in the right place.

Many of you guys know the mythological story of the Trojan horse. It's a profound example of deception and the dangers of letting our guard down. After a siege of 10 years, the Greeks seem to finally have given up their efforts to conquer Troy.

And they felt comfortable. And here this horse was left. And they let the horse in.

There were men hidden in the horse. They came out. Their guard was down and they got taken out by the enemy.

Brethren, remember, the devil is looking for an opportune time. When he told the disciples to go away and rest in a while, what happened? How long did they get to go away and rest? It wasn't that long until the people were right there following Jesus. Brethren, you and I might want to rest and the Lord might even say, go rest, and your expectation is set there's going to be the season of rest in your life.

That might not be what happens. It might change in a moment because we're in a war. The enemy might come for another strike.

Jesus in the garden, He told them, stay awake and pray and you will not fall into temptation. Prayer is vital. Living a life of prayer, of closeness to intimacy to Christ because the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

We're to be a prayerful people. We're to be a people who deals with... If you look at your life and you say, you know what, there's a vulnerability in my life right now. There's something I'm doing that creates provision and an opportunity for Satan.

Here's my question, are you doing anything about that vulnerability? There's an infamous data breach of a major credit reporting agency in 2017. They were aware that there was a security flaw in their system and hackers exploited this and they stole personal information of hundreds of millions of people. The company was aware of it.

Brethren, if there's a vulnerability, if there's something in your life, an undisciplined area, an area lacking of self-control, disregarding His Word, personal communion with Christ, the conscience isn't clear, you've got some vulnerability there, don't just dismiss that and say, I'm going to worry about that in another week. We've got to be proactive because our enemy is proactive. He's proactive.

We can't sit down and resign and give up. So brethren, the Bible says temptations will come. The Bible even says, woe to you by whom temptation comes.

That's a whole other topic. Like Peter being a stumbling block to Jesus, we too could be stumbling blocks. But you know what? There's a very encouraging Word.

We've looked at it many times in 1 Corinthians 10 and 13. You and I have got an incredibly encouraging Word as the Christian. If you ask yourself the question, is it possible, James, to endure an onslaught every time from the enemy and never give in to temptation? Is that possible for that to be a reality? I would take you to 1 Corinthians 10 and 13 where Paul makes a statement and it's not a half-baked statement where it just kind of slightly encourages you.

It really encourages you. He says no temptation. Whether fleshly desire, whether Satan, whether his ministers, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. And how do we know He won't let you be tempted beyond your ability? Because He's the one who let Job be tried. God allowed this to happen.

God brought it about, as Tim talked about in the Anatomy of Temptation sermon. Brethren, if God gives you the test, you can trust that He's going to give you the answers for the test and you're going to be able to take a way of escape. He's going to provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

I mean, that is incredibly comforting. Romans 8, it says, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. So brethren, for me, this verse, knowing He's looking for an opportune time, it's helped me as a Christian.

It's come to my mind hundreds of times. And in one practical way, just that simple thought, just like Luke is saying, Luke is making an acknowledgement of reality. The enemy will be back.

And there's certain things that happen in my life, I'll even go into the kitchen and tell my wife, I think this is an opportune time. Be watchful. Pray.

And yet, there's always a way of escape. We've got no reason to give in to the schemes of the devil. So do you expect Satan is looking for an opportune time? Do you know there's always a way of escape? And do you know that Satan wants to lead your thoughts away from Christ? Do you recognize that? You might think all is well, but if your thoughts are led astray from Christ, all is not well.

What did Paul say to those in 2 Corinthians 10, when he described how he ministered among the people? He says, we, Titus and Paul, he says, we took every one of your thoughts captive in obedience to Christ. We destroyed every stronghold that was raised in your mind against the knowledge of God. That was how Paul ministered.

Paul came into a church, he saw thoughts that were unbiblical, that were not according to Christ, and he ripped those down out of the sky, and he took their minds captive in obedience to Jesus Christ. That's where we've got to have our mind. We've got to have our mind on the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

And let me offer to this illustration, I know I've shared this multiple times and it's been helpful for me, and I thought it was a Chinese proverb, but apparently, it's something Martin Luther heard from another old guy. So I don't know who actually said this, but this has really helped me, when you think about temptation. Temptation not being sin, but it could lead to sin.

And I realize no illustration is perfect, but this is from Luther's two catechisms. Temptation can be avoided by no one, right? Temptation will come. That's a true statement.

But resistance may be made with prayer. Pray that you not enter into temptation. Matthew 26, so that's right.

And course to divine aid. We can put ourselves in readiness to meet such designs. And then he goes on.

In the book of an old father, we read that a young brother expressed a desire to be rid of his thoughts. Why do I have these thoughts? Should he expect all of them to just vanish? Is that a right expectation? In a sense, never be tempted again? Was kind of what he was getting at? Thereupon, the old father said this, Dear brother, you cannot prevent the birds from flying in the air over your head, but you can prevent them from building a nest in your hair. I don't know what you think about that illustration.

That has helped me so much. Because you know what? I'm like all of y'all. We're all just living this life.

We have passions that wage war against this fleshly body. And you know what? There's birds trying to fly around. It's like, where did those even come from? Crazy thoughts.

Things that might be outlandish. Things from the past. That doesn't paralyze me.

I expect it's going to happen. You can say that sounds pretty defeat. No, it doesn't.

You know what will defeat you? Is if you don't expect to have attacks from the enemy in the area of temptation and you have some wrong perspective that that's just not going to happen. Then when that starts to happen, you start to crumble with it. Why is this happening? Is something wrong? Am I really regenerate? What's really going on in my life? And you get paralyzed.

But brethren, your responsibility, my responsibility, don't let them land and build a nest. And well, what does that mean? You know, is it there for more than three seconds? Don't even think about that. How many seconds or whatever.

If you're already trying to categorize like that, you're shooting yourself in the foot. So brethren, temptation will come. There's always a way of escape.

The devil is looking for an opportune time. Satan has devices. Satan has schemes.

That's the enemy we've got. He's looking for an opportune time. Luke realized that.

Peter experienced it. Peter realized he's prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. You shouldn't be shocked when the lion jumps out of the bush and his claws are on you and he's trying to devour you.

You shouldn't think, why did that happen? You should expect that's going to happen. And especially if you're on the advance for the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, Satan is going to attack. Satan is going to seek to discourage you and throw you into despair.

Well, one last thought here. I thought, you know what, thinking about how Satan is looking for an opportune time to tempt, what does the Bible say about us? Should you and I be looking for an opportune time to do anything? Galatians 6. 6.10, so then as we have opportunity. No, it doesn't say look for an opportune time.

That's the idea. Do you have opportunity? As you have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, especially to those who are of the household of faith. And so brethren, in the midst of me pointing out to you that Satan is looking for an opportune time in your life to tempt and to try you and to use his schemes, and I don't want you to be ignorant of those.

At the same time, I just want to point you to Christ. Don't let your thoughts be led astray from a simple and pure devotion to Jesus Christ. And one way to be devoted to Christ is to be looking for an opportunity to do good, especially to the household of God, but to all people.

And as you seek to do that, live a life loving the Lord, not looking for a devil under every rock, but your focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ. Your thoughts are held captive by Christ. False doctrines being torn down.

Legalism is being torn down. Imbalances in your life are being destroyed. You're going to find it's all the easier to take the way of escape.

And you know what happens? The more you take the way of escape, it builds your confidence. Not in self, but in Christ's promises. The more you apply a promise and you do it again and again and again, it all the more encourages you.

Whoa, you know, the last 10,000 times I took the way of escape, let's do it 10,001. I mean, it's true. It's a real verse.

He really means what he says. There really is a way of escape. I don't feel like I see how I can get out of this.

That's a lie because I know it's true. And you're building this confidence on the promises of God. Apply them again and again and again.

Let's pray. Father, Lord, we thank You for Your Word that is a double-edged sword that is sharp. That, Lord, that can be brought out.

We don't use weapons of the warfare like a physical sword. But Lord, it's Your Spirit-empowered Word that can just cut down lies of the enemy. And Lord, I pray You'd do that, Father.

I pray that You would help these dear brethren, Lord, if any have Satan disguising himself as an angel of light and luring and deceiving them in any way. Father, I pray You'd expose that. Lord, we know in the Old Testament, Lord, when that king put a disguise on and he thought he was safe, Lord, that arrow got shot and it hit him.

He couldn't hide from You. Lord, we know all the schemes of the devil. We know from Job, Lord, we see the devil is a dog on Your leash.

Lord, we recognize that. And we recognize You're ultimately allowing these realities to even take place in our life to grow our trust in You to strengthen us. Lord, I pray, help us to not stray after Satan in any way.

Lord, help us to not make provision for the flesh, which then could be making provision for an attack of the enemy. Lord, help us to be equipped with Your Word so like Your Son, we could just quote Scripture. Lord, help us to realize this isn't just 40 days of testing.

Lord, we've got 40 years maybe if we live that long. And Lord, we want to be faithful. Lord, we're the true Israel circumcised of the heart.

And so Father, in this wilderness journey, we've got great hope. And You're enabling power to help us to mortify and kill sin and to find victory. Lord, would You clear away anyone who's naive or ignorant? Lord, clear their minds up.

Lord, about tactics of the enemy. Lord, even in this area of temptation, Father. Lord, I know the struggle some have had.

Lord, thinking they should never face any sort of temptation, and then they overly think about it and then it paralyzes them. Lord, I pray You deliver them from that, Lord, that they would recognize, Lord, temptations will come. Lord, at the same time, we don't want to use that as some lame excuse to hold on to known sin in our life and a nest that really is being built in our heads.

Lord, help us to clear anything out, Father. We don't want any nest of the enemy, Lord, to be being built in the mind, Father. Help us to be violent against the fiery darts of the enemy.

Lord, help us to put on the full armor of God. Lord, that we might be able to stand. Lord, we don't want to fall.

With anyone who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. Lord, we are here today to take heed. That's why we're here to hear Your Word.

We want to take heed. Lord, we want to be good soldiers. Lord, help us to not be entangled with civilian pursuits, but to serve You, the one Master.

Lord, You're worthy of everything. Father, thank You for slaughtering Your Son to atone for our sins and washing us in Your blood. In Christ's name, amen.