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Ephesians 6:10-12
“What Satan Doesn’t Want You to Know”
Part 3
We’ve looked at 4 weapons…•Persecution, Infiltration/compromise, Counterfeits, Fear•Today we’ll look at the last three; Discouragement, Temptation, Deception•Again, I’m sure there are many more in his arsenal, but these seven are the most prevalent•Today is Easter– and the last weapon we look at Satan uses to diminish Easter to all
“10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:10-12, NASB
A. The 5th weapon: Discouragement•This is exactly what happened to Elijah•Remember the story in 1 Kings 18•450 prophets of Baal, 400 of Asherah, 1 for God•After a 20 second prayer---•Elijah had the Israelites kill all 850 false prohets
A. The 5th weapon: Discouragement•At the height of victory in the Lord, discouragement buried him like an avalanche
Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
1 Kings 19:2-3, NASB
A. The 5th weapon: Discouragement•At the height of victory in the Lord, discouragement buried him like an avalanche•Notice anything missing between verse two and three?•Prayer! In a moment of fear, he ran instead of praying first•That’s what happens to us when fearful– discouragement takes over
B. Temptation•Martin Luther said this:• “You can’t stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop him from building a nest in your hair .”•‘A bait’ is not a sin, but ‘a bite’ of it is•There are four major misunderstandings about temptation that I want you to be free from:
B. Temptation1. We fall into temptation out of the blue.•FALSE. We fall into temptation, because we set ourselves up for that trap
2. God is disappointed and displeased when we are tempted•Wrong again. Jesus was tempted, yet He didn’t fall for it. God isn’t disappointed by temptations that come our way. He still loves us even when we sin. We need to make ourselves right with the Lord by repenting from our sins and turning from them.
B. Temptation3. We overcome all temptation by isolating ourselves from it•Nope. Look at monastery monks. They are isolated, but still struggle with mental temptation. Isolation isn’t the answer: submission to God is
4. When I am spiritually mature, I will no longer be harassed by temptation
B. Temptation•No way. As we grow in the Lord, temptation doesn’t go away; it just gets easier to resist– the default is running to God•Think about how the spiritually mature King David failed when he saw Bathsheba•Even he messed up, but strength come from daily studying the Word
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12, NASB
C. Deception•This is one of the greatest…
C. Deception•Easter Bunny; one of the greatest…•Satan started using deception in Eden•The ways he deceived Eve, is how he keeps people from knowing what today is really all about•The following three ways…
C. 3 ways of Deception1. Questioning God’s Word•Satan did that with Eve, and with us about Easter•“He didn’t die, just swooned…”•“His boys stole His body…”•“He wasn’t God, just a nice guy…”•“If He’s dead, it’s still a good story…”
45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACH-THANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” 47 And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a
drink. 49 But the rest of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and
appeared to many. 54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”55 Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. 56 Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Matthew 27:45-55, NASB
C. 3 ways of Deception2. Denying God’s Word•Satan did that to Eve, telling her she wouldn’t really die•For us now they say He didn’t die•They say, eye-witness testimony is fallible•They say, just words written by men
C. 3 ways of Deception3. Substitutions for His Word•He told Eve she would be like God•Today we have Mormon substitutions, JW subs as well•Completely false claims that Islam’s god is our Elohim, Yahweh God•Lies that try to blur religious lines
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.”
Matthew 28:5-6, NASB
Take Home…1. Fear and discouragement are the
evidence we should pray more!2. Temptation will come: learning the
Word helps us deflect and strike out!3. The only way to survive in a world of
deception is by trusting the One who will never deceive us. He is RISEN!!!!
