Schemes of Satan
Notes
Transcript
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
I want us to think for a few moments this morning on the concept of “the wiles of the devil”
Or as I have titled this “Schemes of Satan”
The word “wiles” is probably better understood as “deceptive stratagems” or”strategies”
Wiles are tricks or manipulations designed to deceive someone.
During the Gulf War back in the 90's our Government and military did something that was very interesting, really quite effective, and yet disturbing. Now Psyops or psychological warfare has been used for many years,
"One of the earliest applications of psychological warfare was by Alexander the Great. Pursued by an enemy far larger in numbers, Alexander instructed his armorers to construct oversized breastplates and helmets that would fit men 7 or 8 feet tall. He left these items for the pursuing army to discover; when they did, they assumed that Alexander’s men were giants and they abandoned their pursuit.
During WWII our PsyOps forces sometimes stuffed the bodies of dead rats with explosives and left them for the enemy to find. Soldiers would throw them into the furnace to dispose of them, setting off an explosion. When word of this practice spread, soldiers would no longer burn the rats, allowing disease to spread. " Tim Down - Head Games
But probably one of the most effective Psyop happened during the Gulf War… Tim Down's who was here in Wichita a few years ago wrote a fictional book on the event called "Head Games" He actually had one of the leaflets with him when he spoke, but he tells …
"During the Persian Gulf War, the 8th and 9th Special Operations Squadron dropped nearly 29 million leaflets from their MC-and HC-130s. A typical leaflet drop utilized between 24 and 40 boxes, each containing as many as 50,000 leaflets per box. The largest drop ever made was on the very first night of the war, when 2 million leaflets were dropped on frontline Iraqi soldiers along the entire southern Kuwait battle front. 87,000 enemy soldiers surrendered during Operation Desert Storm; 75% of them were carrying one of our leaflets when they did. During Operation Desert Storm, ”
One of my favorites is made to look like money, the front looks fairly convincing but on the back it said this in Arabic;
"Type 2. The back features a large "?". The 14-line black-and-white text in vertical format is framed by a black border and reads:
Saddam’s daily ration for you is ? The daily ration for coalition soldiers is: Breakfast: eggs, bread with butter, meat, two fruits, juice, milk, coffee, and tea. Lunch: meat, beans or potatoes, biscuits with cheese, candy, juice, and coffee. Dinner: meat, bread with butter, vegetables, cake, milk, juice, coffee, and tea. Prisoners are fed the same meal as coalition soldiers."
I know many other tactics have been used not only by our Government but by many countries. But you know, "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." Eph. 6:12
We have a foe, that "Wicked One" The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, whatever you prefer to call him, he has many tactics and strategies, is known as the father of liars, a thief, a murderer, an enemy of God, the great deceiver.
And he has wiles - schemes, strategies to attempt to mess you up to entrap you.
The Bible infers that the devil is after us in an effort to get to God.
I see two reasons Satan’s schemes target us
To mess up the life of believers
To render service ineffective and nonproductive.
Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that we are not ignorant of Satan's devices.
I would like to take this time to remind you of a couple of wiles or schemes of Satan he may use against you if he hasn’t already.
Challenging God’s Word
Genesis 3 gives us a detailed look into this tactic of our enemy. It led to the first human sin, and Satan still uses it because it works so well.
The first recorded words of the devil, through the serpent, were these: “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1). With those words, the devil invited the woman to reconsider what she understood God to have said. By adding her human interpretation, she convinced herself that God’s Word was far too restrictive.
By suggesting that we should reexamine the clear teaching of God’s Word, Satan invites us to add our own interpretation and thereby nullify God’s stated will.
Satan’s Scheme suggests “Did God really say that marriage is between one man and one woman?”
or “Did God really say there are only two genders?”
or “Did God really say I need to stay pure until marriage?”
Satan’s Scheme challenges our identity-
. Luke 4:1–13 gives insight into several of the devil’s wiles. Satan came against Jesus to tempt Him in the wilderness. On two different occasions, Satan began his temptations with these words: “If you are the Son of God.” Satan knew exactly who Jesus was (Mark 1:34). Jesus was there when Satan fell “like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Significantly, the devil chose a time when Jesus was physically weak and hungry to attack His identity.
Satan does the same with us. To make his wiles more effective, he hits us during a crisis or a spiritual struggle and suggests, “If you were a child of God, this wouldn’t happen. If you were actually a Christian, God would help you right now.” Again, we need the “helmet of salvation” firmly in place to withstand such attacks against our identity and God’s character (Ephesians 6:17).
Another scheme of satan is to offer a tempting alternative to obedience
Caden spoke clearly about this recently in his sermon -
Someone has said, “One of the most sinister wiles of the devil involves his ability to offer a religiously tainted compromise.”
The Scheme of Sinful or I think even more deadly spiritual pride
Pride makes us feel self sufficient - we don’t need God
Feeling as though I can stand on my own - we have to realize if we don’t have the Holy Spirit we aren’t going to stand. If haven’t put on the whole armor of God we are not going to stand -
If we don’t put on the armor of God we may substitute with something else and that is usually a form of pride.
A last scheme of Satan is that of masquerading as a messenger of light.
It looks good and wholesome - but underneath is deadly poison
Rat poison is made up of 99.9% of good healthy stuff - but then there is that little percent of poison - that what we take in is all truth, all God’s word, not just light and appearances.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
