Spiritual Warfare: Lesson 2 ? The Strategies of Satan...Continued from page 1
Satan is described in Revelation 12:9 as “the great dragon [who] was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” His name is Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12) and his original home was heaven. However, Satan did not remain in heaven as the beautiful angel he was created to be. The Bible tells us that he was cast out due to his rebellion against the Lord. Behind rebellion lies pride.
Question 1: Look up Isaiah 14:12-15 and write out the 5 “I will” statements that illustrate Lucifer’s pride in rebelling against God.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
“I will” always stems from a heart of pride. When the words “I will” or “I will not” quickly come out of our mouths, we must recognize the pride that is behind the words and the attitude. Once we begin to acknowledge the pride within us, we can then begin to recognize how Satan uses it to strategize against us. Why? To try to destroy us. The Bible warns that pride comes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). One of his main goals is to lead us into temptation, to get us to fall. Satan loves to see us fall.
Satan’s strategies are all aimed at trying to kill, steal, and destroy us. Satan hates us. He hates God. His hatred is manifested through his schemes to destroy God’s people. Satan will use every tactic possible to get our focus off of the Lord and onto ourselves. One of Satan’s greatest tools is deception. When we least expect it, we can be lulled into a trap set by the enemy. We must become more aware of Satan’s schemes and take the steps to fight back.
Let’s go back to the beginning and see how Satan first appeared.
Question 2: Read Genesis 3:1-8 and answer the following questions.
What words describe the serpent?
What tactics did he use against Eve?
Eve’s choice reflected her heart. Describe her sin.
Discuss a situation when you were tempted in a similar way.
Satan knew the weaknesses of man better than Adam and Eve knew themselves. Satan’s objective was to make Eve think that God was withholding from her. He challenged God’s commands by twisting His words to cause Eve to doubt God. When Eve tried to clarify God’s one, single command, Satan challenged God’s reasoning. Eve’s pride got the best of her as she wanted to become wise in her own eyes, so she ate the fruit. Pride means to lift one’s head above another, to hold contempt for another, to compare oneself with others. Pride can be hidden in the heart as well as openly displayed. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; Proverbs 3:24). So if Satan can get us into pride, we will make choices against the will and ways of God. Additional descriptions are self-exaltation, being puffed up; arrogance, haughtiness, insolence, putting oneself above others, looking down upon others, scorn, contempt. None of us are exempt from this innate human trait.
Question 3: Let’s take a lesson from Genesis about Satan’s use of the eyes to bring
temptation into our lives. Read Genesis 13:5-17. When Abram and Lot returned from
Egypt, the land was too crowded with both of their flocks. So, Lot’s men started a fight
with Abram’s.
When Abram suggested they part, what did Lot do to make his decision? See Genesis 3:10.
What did Lot choose and Why?
What were the consequences? See Genesis 13:13, 19:1-29.
How did Abram choose (or “get”) his land? See Genesis 13:14-18. (Who gave Abram the instructions on where to look?)
Lot, like Eve, saw Sodom and Gomorrah as “good to look at.” Their lusts of their eyes was looking at the fruit (and the land) and seeing how beautiful they looked. Sadly, both followed Satan’s deception. Clear consequences resulted in their lives, as they do in ours when we follow Satan’s deceptions.
Satan cannot force us to sin. He cannot control the behaviors of a believer but he can place thoughts into our minds and lead us into temptation as a powerful strategy to lure us into sin. The enemy uses temptation as a strategic tool “to entice to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain” (Merriam-Webster). Our flesh loves pleasure. Our flesh loves to feel good and feed its desires. No one knows that better than Satan, which keeps him actively seeking ways to tempt us.
Question 4: How does Satan work to effectually tempt us? Look up 1 John 2:16 and list the three ways:
a.
b.
c.
d. Which one are you the most vulnerable to temptation? Why?
Pride opens the door for temptation and Satan uses lust as part of the strategy to lead us into temptation. Lust is an overwhelming desire or craving; thus, lust gives Satan a foothold to tempt our flesh. We are born as a natural man, with specifics needs to be met. The natural man has three major components: the body, the soul and the spirit. The body “needs” to be touched, fed, to be free from pain, to rest, and to work (or exercise). The soul is made up of our mind, emotions and will. The soul has needs that are controlled by what we think, how we feel and what we want. These things motivate us and/or affect the decisions we make on a daily basis. That’s why lust is such an effective tool of the enemy. Satan knows how to use lust to play on our body and soul. If we know Jesus as our Savior and Lord, our spirit is awakened to understand the conflict between how we were born (the natural man) and how we are to be as the spiritual man. Lust affects both the natural and the spiritual man. The only difference is that the Christian senses the conviction greater and has the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome it more easily. And understand that conviction is a good thing…not bad. Without conviction, lust would continually lead us into sin and sin causes death. As we said before, for the natural man, it is an eternal death, separation from God. For the spiritual man, it is a death of all that God has for you here on earth.