Satan's Strategy - Part 2

What is our intent? We want Christians to understand Satan’s strategies, how they affects us, and what we to do about it.

What are the obstacles? The main obstacles are ignorance, deceit, apathy.

What is the plan? Our plan is to identify Satan’s specific schemes.

What is the result? We will be able to recognize them and respond appropriately.

Introduction:

Review

1. Territorializing

The battle in the unseen realm between God and His good spirit-beings and Satan and evil spirit-beings for control of physical places in the seen realm. Daniel 10:11-13

2. Blinding

The flooding of the minds of non-believers by Satan and his spirit-being followers with deceitful thoughts to prevent them from seeing, understanding and believing the truth of Gospel and keep them in his dominion. 2 Cor. 4:4

3. Teaching

The communication by evil spirits through humans to control them by instructing them in ungodly religious practices to purportedly make them happy, healthy and successful and to prevent them from following God’s teaching. 1 Timothy 4:1-3

The next aspect of satanic schemes is

4. Enticing

We see this described in Acts 5 when Satan attacked Ananias and Sapphira.

Acts 5:1–3 ESV

1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

Here is a definition of enticing spiritual warfare:

Enticing spiritual warfare involves satanic attacks on the minds of Christians by putting speculative, deceptive or untrue thoughts in our minds to attempt to lead us from our devotion to Christ, to entice us to sin, and to destroy us and our lives. Acts 5:3

This is the primary strategy Satan uses against Christians. We know this because

A. Paul expresses concern about it. 2 Cor. 11:3

2 Corinthians 11:3 ESV

3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Paul was concerned because this kind of attack has the potential to sidetrack our faith.

One might expect expressions of concern about the other aspects of Satan’s strategy, but we don’t see them in Scripture. I suggest this is because this is the main strategy Satan uses against Christians. In addition to expressing concern,

B. God warns us about it. 1 Peter 5:8, Eph 4:26-27, 2 Cor. 2:10-11.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

This is the most well-known warning, but there are others. There are no biblical warnings about the other kinds of satanic attacks. God warns us because He loves us and doesn’t want us to be spiritually harmed by Satan. The warnings lead us to realize

C. God expects us to recognize enticing attacks 1 Peter 5:9, James 4:7.

1 Peter 5:9 ESV

9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

We have read this verse so many times we don’t think about what it says. Peter tells us to resist Satan. So does James. In order to resist Satan we have to recognize his attacks.

We are all trying to resist the covid-19 virus. How are you doing with that? What is the best way to resist it? No one knows! No one expects you to recognize it, we just hope we can.

God would not tell us to resist Satan unless we could recognize them. Some of the other aspects of Satan’s strategies are recognizable, but this is the only one we’re expected to recognize. We will learn how to recognize enticing satanic attacks in a future message.

D. God gives us examples of it. Acts 5:1-10

There are multiple biblical examples of enticing satanic attacks. We’ll look at them later in more detail because they are helpful in learning how to recognize them. The attack on Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 is one example of enticing attacks.

In this attack, Satan successfully enticed Ananias and Sapphira by putting a thought in their mind to lie. The most famous satanic enticing attack was on Jesus.

Another reason we know this is Satan’s key strategy against us is that

E. God gives us a defense to defeat it. James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:9; Ephesians 6:10-18

James 4:7 ESV

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James and Peter tell us to resist Satan James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:9 but they don’t tell us how. Paul explains how when he described the armor of God.

Ephesians 6:10–13 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 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 firm.

There is an aspect of our defense that people often overlook. The proper use of the armor of God results in an immediate end to the attack. When we put on the armor and stand against the devil’s schemes , James says Satan flees from you.

Some Christians feel like they are under attack all day, every day. If that is true, they aren’t putting on the armor and aren’t resisting Satan.

The Bible doesn’t explicitly give us a defense for any of Satan’s other strategies. I suggest that is because those aren’t our primary concern. We need to be aware of them but not as the primary way Satan attacks us.

Perhaps you’re thinking the defense is to pray. Well yes, of course we should always pray. In the Lord’s prayer Jesus says to pray, “deliver us from the evil one,” but this is to pray Satan doesn’t attack us. The Bible doesn’t delineate a specific way to defeat any of Satan’s other strategies.

If you say all we have to do is to resist Satan, I would agree that is certainly true but how can we resist satanic territorializing? The Bible doesn’t say. We can develop our own strategies from scripture, but God doesn’t give us the kind of guaranteed defense for those other strategies like for enticing attacks.

We have to make a distinction between describing and prescribing. The Bible describes how Jesus and Paul cast demons out of people, but it doesn’t tell us how to do that.

We see the unique priority of watching out for enticing attacks. The armor of God is not for defeating Territorial spiritual warfare or Blinding spiritual warfare or the Teaching of demons. It is given to us for the specific reason of resisting satanic attacks on our minds, which is enticing spiritual warfare.

The fifth kind of spiritual warfare is

5. Oppressing. Job 1-2, Luke 13:10-17, 1 Thess. 2:18

The most famous example of this is the story of Job.

Job 1:6–12 ESV

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Oppressing spiritual warfare involves the satanic interference in our lives by manipulating circumstances, weather, other people or our physical and mental health to lead us to sin. Job 1-2

This is the kind of satanic attack that many Christians fear. May I comfort you by suggesting there was only one Job? Here’s what God said about him.

Job 1:8 ESV

8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

As much as I’d like God to say that about me, I don’t think I am so godly that there is no like me in all the earth! If you are, then maybe you might become Job the second.

Along those lines, be comforted that there is no one else in the Bible that came close to experiencing what Job did. There is a woman described in Luke 13 who suffered with bent back for 18 years whom Jesus said suffered because of Satan, but even that wasn’t as bad as Job.

Oppressive spiritual warfare is usually hidden, at least regarding Satan being the source of it and it is more intense than the other strategies of Satan we seen.

Satan can interfere in people’s lives, but frankly he doesn’t need to. We live in a fallen world where things break, accidents happen and people get sick, all without Satan doing anything. We need to stop giving Satan credit for doing something unless we’re sure it’s him.

Satanic oppression can be mental or physical. There is no indication that the woman with the back ailment knew it was satanically caused. She did not manifest the kinds of symptoms we will see in the Satan’s final strategy.

Oppressive warfare isn’t common for most Christians. There are not many examples of this in the Bible , no warnings or teaching about how to recognize it and no specific defense for it. Prayer and resisting always help, but it is likely that binding the demon causing the oppression and loosing the person being controlled, as Jesus did with this woman (Luke 13:16), may be required.

The sixth and final aspect of satanic spiritual warfare is

6. Demonizing Mark 5:1-20

This has traditionally been called demon possession and is what most people think of first when you say spiritual warfare. Yet, as we’ve seen, it is only one of Satan’s six strategies and is not the most common. I don’t believe this is even possible for Christians.

Demonization is the control by evil spirits of willing and at times unwilling non-believers to destroy them and to produce supernatural manifestations through them to try to instill fear and prevent others from believing in Jesus. Mark 5:1-20

There are a number of examples of this type of spiritual warfare, we will consider just one, a well-known story in Mark 5.

Mark 5:1–20 ESV

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. 14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

The characteristics of demonization in this story.

Indwelling of an unclean spirit Mark 5:2

Unusual physical strength Mark 5:3

Fits of rage Mark 5:4

Splitting of the personality Mark 5:6-7

Resistance to spiritual things Mark 5:7

Excessive sensibility, such as clairvoyant powers Mark 5:7

Alteration of voice Mark 5:9

Occult transference Mark 5:13

Since we define demonization as the control of a person, it is not possible for a born-again Christian. It is possible for Christians to allow demons to influence them, but that would be better described as a person having a demon rather than a demon having a person.

The defense against this is what is called an exorcism. The Bible doesn’t teach us how to cast a demon out of a person, which is why there are so many different views about how to do it.

It’s safe to say we need to pray and bind and cast the demon out of the person. We only know this defense by description, reading what Jesus did and what Paul did. Nowhere does the Bible tell us what to do, step by step, to deal with a demonized person.

Satan’s six strategies in spiritual warfare.

Territorializing

Blinding

Teaching

Enticing

Oppressing

Demonizing

We’ll be looking in more detail at these in a future messages. For now, the most important thing for us to realize is that we have everything we need to recognize and resist the Enticing satanic attacks.

Ephesians 6:10–11 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.