The power of the Dark Side is a sinister force that cannot be used for anything other than evil. Yet even despite that great power it is limited, it's limited in the sense that it cannot overcome someone unless they succumb to it, unless they give into it, such as Anakin did.
There is the ability for everyone to resist the power of the dark side.
And we know, we can see that there is evil all around us ( terrorism, violent crimes, to even slander, or a plain lack of all morals in an individual) we see it – There is a real leader of all evil here on Earth, & it's not Darth Sidious, The Evil Emperor, but Lucifer, & he is bent on hurting & destroying & separating man from God. His agenda is laid out in John 10:10,
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..."
- that's his agenda, to deceive and ultimately destroy God's people.
Billy Graham, Angels:
'Satan has great power. He is cunning and clever, having set himself against God and His people. He will do everything in his power to hold people captive in sin and drag them down to the prison of eternal separation from God.'
I. The Nature of Evil
Lucifer is the epitome of evil –
One of the metaphors given to Satan is that of a roaring lion – 1pt. 5:8
"Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up." (message)
"Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour." (NLT)
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
Satan and demons are not just something from scary movies. They exist in the spiritual realm that we cannot see w/ the naked eye. And their goal is to harm us by enticing us to sin and that sin eventually destroys our lives.
This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared.”
Ephesians 6:12 (message)
The good news is that God has not left us defenseless. He has the strategy to overcome the enemy. I'm going to use a sports analogy today to set this up.
II. The Tactics of the Enemy
In preparing to compete against another team in athletics it's good to know, 'what is their game plan?' How do they operate? Their strengths, their weakness' – what are their tactics?
That being the case, let's look at the tactics of the enemy – our enemy –
what's his gameplan?
Satan is a deceiver, he is a master deceiver, however, he is not very original.
His strategy is the same today as it was w/ Adam & Eve in the garden.
He has only 1 battleplan & 1 strategy –
Adam & Eve were told by God to have a ball in the garden, He said, be fruitful and multiply, have fun but dont touch this tree, the tree of good and evil.
Satan shows up and asks Eve what did God tell you, why do you think He said that? He doesnt want you to become like Him does He?
Look at her response in Genesis 3:6
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some
and ate it."
He's tricky like that. Look at 1 John 2:16
"For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world."
Again showing the tactics of the enemy.
Satan targets our desires!
That's what he's done from day 1, that's his scheme, that's his gameplan
“A man's temptation is due to the pull of his own inward desires, which greatly attract him. It is his own desire which conceives and gives birth to sin.” James 1:14
also
"but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." v.14-15
Greek for dragged away: fishing term, to hide the hook in bait, so the next
thing you know you're hooked. The harder we fight or struggle, the deeper the hook sets.
Satan goes after a legitimate desire in an illegitimate way.
TEMPTATION IS: A battle for your heart
That is what he is after – he sets up these emotional traps all over just
hoping we'll be enticed enough to fall for it. Why does he do that?
B/c so often we make the mistake of basing our decisions off of our emotions. What happens when we base a decision off of our emotions? We get hurt,
more often than not we get hurt or hurt someone.
Here is a truth we all need to understand:
Our thoughts determine our emotions and our emotions determine
our actions.
Although it's a battle for our heart, the battle is won in the mind.
TEMPTATION IS: A battle for your mind
“...but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2
This is what we need to know – we need to know the enemy's tactics. We need to know what to look for – he's going to target our desires, wanting us to make decisions based on emotions.
Now that we know that what do we need to do?
Back to the sports analogy – we've heard it said, the best offense is a good defense. It applies to sports like basketball really well (both teams in NBA Finals are real good defensively which sets up their offense) It's also said the best defense is a good offense. Football is a good example this – FB being a time managemnet game, if the offense is at one end of field and they drive down the entire length of field and score, it was good for that teams defense, who rested that entire drive which strengthens their defense.
This same approach can work for us in preparing and battling temptation.
The best defense is a good offense.
What then is our offensive strategy in preparing for temptation...
III. Preparing for Temptation
Stay connected to God
You may thinking right now, “Wow, thank you bible scholar, I need to stay connected to God, wow, I would have never thought of that, you're amazing”
I know it's easy to say, but are we truly walking the walk? Yea, I'm connected
to God, I'm walking in the light, but are we really doing it?
"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5
This is what it means to stay connected. We will bear fruit.
“But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23
If I am connected to God, if I am walking w/ Him what's going happen?
I will bear this fruit of self-control. What is self-control?
It's simply holding in passions & appetites. So when the enemy tries to attack, and lays out those traps, I'm connected to God, and self-control rules.
Basically God rules. He rules my life and it shows.
Two ways to stay connected...
Read and meditate on God's Word
"How can a young person stay pure? By reading your word and following its rules. I have tried my best to find you-- don't let me wander from your instructions.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
I will meditate upon them and give them my full respect."
Psalm 119:9-11,15
Hey this is not difficult stuff – it's just a matter of doing it. Of opening my bible before I go to work or when I get home. Taking some time in His word, & asking the Holy Spirit to open my eyes. The bible also says that God's Word will not return void, “what can I get out of this today?
There isn't a set time when you have to sit down a read – if you wake up later than usual and cant read in the morning it doesn't mean your day is wasted –
it can be done later, in the evening, whenever –
Hey, just do it – hang out with God.
"live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Galatians 5:16
Stay connected and you can avoid falling into temptation.
Resource – The Secrets of the Vine – Bruce Wilkinson
Find close friends who share your same values
We talked about this 2 weeks ago – developing real friendships, true authentic community. It's getting connected to other believers – best way is in small groups. We have a ladies group every other Wed. and guys every other Thur.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time here – you can go online and get in depth info www.experiencefocusonline.com - "The Jedi Council"
but look at this scripture:
“Bad company corrupts good character” 1 Corinthians 15:33
Who are you hanging out with? Who are you spending most of your time with? Is it the office gossip? Is it the guy with low morals?
The person who's lifestyle is equal to Snoop Dog?
Who you hang out with you become like. They rub off. Good or bad.
"Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. Follow anything that makes you want to do right. Pursue faith and love and peace, and enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts."
2 Timothy 2:22
Hang out w/ those who want to do right.
I am saying don't hang out at all w/ someone who doesn't follow God whole-heartily – they live a life outside of God – am I saying avoid them all together – NO WAY! It's our job to reach out to those who do not know Christ – you just shouldn't spend the majority of your time with that crowd.
Don't place yourself in compromising situations
How easy it is for us to place ourselves in these compromising situations.
"The prudent carefully consider their steps. The wise are cautious and avoid danger" Proverbs 14:15-16
We have to be able to look at the situation and ask is this really something i should be a part of? Is this really somewhere I should go? Is this really someone I should be spend this must time with? And we allow ourselves to get into compromising situations. It is in these scenarios where the enemy comes in attacks, he attacks our desires, and we find ourselves in a pickle. A battle has begun in the heart and mind. We need to avoid those situations all together – and we know, we get that Holy Spirit check of this may not be a good idea.
"But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it."
1 Corinthians 10:13
Beyond the Holy Spirit check, how do we know we shouldn't go down that road – it is probably wrong path or a compromising situation?
The 1st clue is it's done in secret. We hide it from others. If it's something you are hiding from others, more likely than not it's a compromising situation and it only leads to temptation and pulls us away from God's desire for us.
And we dishonor God.
What do we always say when we've gotten in a bit to deep, found ourselves in trouble, “How did I get here? How did this happen?
We did it to ourselves - we lost the battle of the mind and we went for it – am I hittin home here w/ anyone or is this just for me?
Exercise yourself spiritually
“Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness.”
1 Timothy 4:7
We need to develop spiritual habits in our lives.
“Bodily exercise is all right, but spiritual exercise is much more important and is a tonic for all you do. So exercise yourself spiritually and practice being a better Christian because that will help you not only now in this life, but in the next too.” 1 Timothy 4:8
How many of you, if you tried, could run a 5k marathon tomorrow?
What if you tried really hard? What if you tried really, really hard?
No way, we have to train. I just recently started running. But for me to run a
5k I would need to train and work at it to get into the shape needed to run.
There's an enormous difference between trying to do something and training
to do something.
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
To train means: To arrange my life around the activities I need that
I cannot do now.
I need to arrange my life around certain practices to develop the strategy to avoid temptation
I need to arrange my life around certain practices to stay connected to God that will produce that self-control needed.
I need to arrange my life around...
Time spent in God's Word
Time spent with God in prayer
Time spent with other believers
Time spent giving and serving - go to series: 'At Your Service'
"live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Galatians 5:16
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