WE HAVE AN ENEMY, WE ARE IN A WAR, BUT WE CAN SUCCESSFULLY STAND AGAINST OUR ENEMY.

Ehesians 6:11-12 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

There are things we can do to protect ourselves or to stand against dark forces.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

John 10:10 the thief does not come except to steal, to kill and to destroy.....

2 Corinthians 2:11.....lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Hosea 4:6 says that Gods people perish for a lack of knowledge. Helps us to become sp. mature.

God wants us to understand things, and not be ignorant of Satan's devices otherwise we are a sitting target for him. He is our enemy and we must know our enemy.

I. Satans overall Objectives:

TO BE ABOVE GOD

Isa.14:12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into the heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit.

Revelation 12:7-9 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon: and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon 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.

He is now the god of this world

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God should not dawn upon them. For we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sakes.

1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God ad the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

We know His end!

Revelation 19:11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on him was called faithful and true and in righteousness He judge and makes war. (Johns revelation of Jesus.)

V.14 and the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a shard sword that with it he should strike the nations. And he himself will rule them with a rod of iron.( Jesus)

V19 and I saw the beast the kings of the earth, and their armies, (Satan's) gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. (Jesus)

v20-21 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds of the air were filled with their flesh. (All who reject Gods plan for salvation)

II. His goals (how he plans to accomplish his overall objective)(right now in this age)

1. Satan is gathering an army for himself (advancing his kingdom in the earth) and he tries to prevent the gathering of Gods army. He wants to keep as many people in darkness as possible (without Christ).

We are born into Satan's kingdom. He wants to keep us in darkness.

a. He wants to use those in his kingdom to the most wicked level they will allow him to. (Gods creation has a free will) He accomplishes his evil work through people, just as God accomplishes his righteous work through people. But each to the degree that we are willing to be used.

We have a free will. He cannot make us do his evil work...

Some people in darkness have morals. We are influenced by our surroundings both for good and for bad.

Society keeps a certain amount of moral pressure on people with laws. If there were no laws how would our society be?

2. Another goal of Satan's is to destroy Gods children but he cannot so he tries to get us to destroy ourselves through sin. He is the tempter.

James 1:15 Then when lust has conceived it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Sin has death and destruction built into it. Ex. Ciggerettes/lung cancer, homosexual behavior/aids
Also if Gods kids sinning bring Gods judgment. God disciplines those that belong to Him.
Sin brings a curse on us. It opens the door up for demonic activity.

3. Another goal of Satan's is to hinder Gods army here in the earth from doing damage to his kingdom .
a. He wants to keep us ineffective and weak as Christians, by hindering our spiritual growth.
b. He wants us to remain ignorant of who he is and how he operates. He wants to keeps us ignorant of who we are in Christ.
c. He want to hinder our faith in God.

III. How does he carry out his goals? Tool or tactics of the devil (believers)

He uses our senses to contaminate or pollute us. What goes into us will determine what we do and who we are. What we see and what we hear determines our:

1-Thoughts: Satan works to plant strongholds in our mind: a stronghold is a false ideas, lie, deception. Ex. If I believe I cannot sing, no matter how good my voice is then I cannot sing. He hinders and hold back Gods people and unbelievers alike with lies.
2-words: speaking what Satan says rather than truth. (Our words when mixed with faith has creative power either negative or positive)We either loose the angels of heaven or the demons of hell on our behalf with our own words.) Satan knows this even if we don't.
3-actions: gets us to do evil to hurt or destroy others or ourselves.

He tries to hinder us or destroy us with his works or tools of darkness:

confusion, depression, fear, self condemnation, doubt, distrust, past hurts and wounds, rejection, insecurity

division, strife, unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, hatred, murder

false prophecy, occult, witchcraft

jealousy, greed covetousness, gossip, slander, sexual sins, lust, stealing, lying, other sins against our body, over indulgence, compromise

physical sickness, mental illnesses

curses: our own words, others words, generational sins, our own sin

sometimes he uses other people and circumstances to draw us into these things.

He works his evil deeds through an army of demons that oppresses sometimes externally and sometimes internally.

Satan gains entry through sin, either our own or someone else's. Maybe sins committed against us or maybe the sins of our forefathers.

To the greater degree that he pollutes us he can use us for his evil purposes and the less God can use us for any good purposes. He can render the Christian useless to God or even use us against God.

IV. Standing against the devils schemes (James 4:7-8)

James 4:7-8 Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double minded.

A. Draw near to God. Those who seek him will find him if you seek him with all your heart Duet. 4:29

1-Submission. Obedience to Gods word and His Spirit. Cleanse our hands and our hearts from evil.
2-Develop our Christian life: bible study, worship, fellowship with believers
3-lead a spirit led life: He is our teacher of truth, he is our guide, he convicts us of wrong and lets us know when we are in danger of displeasing God.

B. Resist the devil
1. Refuse his temptations to sin. Don't take his bait!
2 Get Knowledge: know your enemy, know your God, know the word, know who you are in Christ. Study Gods word.

3. Tell him no! Use your authority. Command him to go.
4. Guard your mind...what you think
5. Guard your mouth...don't agree with wrong or evil ideas. Agree with Gods word
6 Guard your senses, what you see and hear. Everything is not good for us...discern and choose.
7 Ask God for help, ask other believers to help in really troublesome areas. Maybe choose a partner of accountability. Someone you can talk to and trust.

Ephesians 6:10-18
Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day and having done all to stand, stand firm therefore having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. In additional to all, take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the spirit and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.

The armor of God: 6 pieces plus prayer

Helmet of salvation: Indicates the necessity of salvation and also protection for our minds. Our minds must be guarded from evil. Sin is birthed in the mind. If we don't think it we won't do it.

Breastplate of righteous: Protection of our heart: our motivations and intentions. Keep our hearts pure before the Lord. Deal with sin in our heart before it becomes actions.

Loins girded with truth or belt of truth: We must be seekers and lovers of truth. If we do not seek and love truth we become victims of all kinds of deceptions of the devil. Truth protects us from deception.

Gospel shoes of peace: We have to walk in the truth of the gospel of Jesus and also be a witness to that truth. Also indicates a necessity to be people of peace. Strife is a major tool of Satan. If he can divide he can conquer. We must walk in love in order to put Satan under our feet.

Sword of the spirit: which is the word of God. Jesus used Gods word to fight Satan with in the garden when he was being tempted of the devil and we are to do the same. The only way we can do this is to know the word. We learn by reading the bible or listening to tapes or videos of good sound teachings.

Shield of faith: it is our trust in God, His word and his goodness toward us that will quench every fiery dart of the wicked one. And again faith comes by hearing Gods word.

Never stop praying. It is here will get discernment of Satan's trick against us and where we will get our help. We should pray for ourselves, our brothers and sisters in Christ and even those that Satan uses against us.