Skip to content The Strategy of Satan Oct 14 · 49 min ...more
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Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies.
665K followers
0:00 Let's assume that you are going on a journey. You're going on a trip. It's a journey that you have to take. You you don't have a0:12 an option not to go on this journey. You are informed when you begin the process of entering this journey that this will be a0:24 a dangerous trip. There will be land mines that you will not be able to see, explosives that0:36 you will not detect, quicksand that will be covered over. There will be pits that you'll be able to fall0:47 into, and they are all through this journey. But they will not be obvious to you, but they will be there0:59 throughout the journey. But after being told this disappointing, discouraging news about this journey you must take,1:11 The person speaking to you gives you a map. And on this map are all the places where the dangers lie. It's it's written on the1:23 map. It shows you where every land mine is, where every explosive is, where every pit is, where every every place that would seek to bring you harm,1:35 do you in, and destroy your life. They're all laid out on the map on the journey you must take. So the question I want to pose to you today is, how are you gonna treat this map?1:50 Given the fact of what it has on it and the journey that you must take. Will you ball it up and put it in your pocket? Will2:02 you ignore it? Will you read it once a week? Will you reference it occasionally?2:14 Probably not because your life depends on it. Because you gotta take this journey, and there are minefields. So2:26 that map is gonna become the most precious thing in your life because you wanna make it to the other side. We are all on a journey called life.2:40 Once you were born, you started this journey, and it's a journey you must take. You do not have another option. If you are alive, you've2:52 gotta take this journey called life. In this journey called life, there are minefields. There are explosive devices,3:04 pits with sharp edges at the bottom, all designed to destroy your life from completing your journey.3:18 God has given you a map. His word and his word is designed to reveal to you the pitfalls so that you can make the journey.3:32 What you think about the map will affect how well you do on the journey. You might decide to ball it up and put it in your pocket and ignore that it's3:44 there. Or you might decide to look at it, but not pay attention to it. You might decide a weekly visit to it is is enough. I'll take my chances the rest of the week on3:56 my own. Or you can decide that this map is absolutely essential because I wanna complete this journey, and I don't wanna be killed4:08 by what's on the road undetected. Now I understand that all of us have faced consequences at some level.4:20 That there would be hardly a person in here who hasn't made a decision that turned out to be unwise that you have paid for or are still paying4:32 for. I've had more than 1 inquiry, tell me what to do. Because I'm bleeding with the consequences of4:43 whatever the decision was. But I would like to suggest if you will stay with this, you will view consequences differently and more deeply.4:57 You will stay away from future ones and learn how God meets you in the ones that you may be dealing with currently.5:12 In Genesis chapter 3, we have the strategy of the devil to bring consequences into your life. Negative5:24 consequences. Now I've been running into men, and the first thing that comes up is what? Football.5:39 And I can assure you, every single team has been watching game film all week. They've been watching game film of the enemy,5:51 of the team they're gonna play. They wanna learn their tendencies. They wanna learn what their movements have been, the personnel. They wanna become fully6:02 acquainted with the group they want to destroy. Satan has game film on you. They got game film. You've been assigned6:14 a demon. And that demon knows your every move. He knows your every moment. He knows your orientation. He knows your sensitivities. He knows your6:25 inclinations. That demon understands you. And so there is a report on you, me and us. So there is6:37 a tailor made strategy to do you in. Even as a believer, to defeat you6:49 and to bring negative consequences into your life. You're on tape, spiritually speaking. So today, I want you to7:01 understand the strategy. Because if you know the strategy, you can better see the landmine and7:12 handle it more appropriately. Let me say it in a more raw term, there is a contract out on you. Me, us.7:27 To bring about your inability to finish the journey. Understanding this, however, will help7:39 you, me, us, to move forward differently than we perhaps have come to this point. Because there's no use in7:51 continuing to step on land mines that you don't have to. So let's look8:03 and see how the enemy to your journey is working. In verse 1, now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the8:15 field which the Lord God had made. Crafty means sneaky. Crafty means clever8:27 or shrewd. The snake, the serpent, was more crafty, sneaky, slithery than8:39 any of the other creatures God had made. So when Satan wanted to make his move, he chose something8:51 that would be consistent with what he wanted to achieve. He wanted to achieve craftiness, so he chose a crafty creature.9:06 Satan knows what to choose and who to choose to slither into your world in order9:18 to get your undivided attention. He knows how to maneuver. Slick knows how to wine and dine in order to9:31 cause you to have a conversation with him. Has it ever bothered you that this woman is talking to a talking snake? We got a9:43 talking snake. Not only do we have a talking snake, we got a talking, walking snake. Because the snake now is walking because the curse was that from then on, it would have to crawl on its belly, which means it didn't9:55 have to crawl on its belly prior to that. So we have a walking, talking snake. And this walking, talking snake is not a shock to this woman as well. She's carrying on10:07 a normal conversation. The very first conversation between a human being and a person is10:18 about God. Kinda sorta. Because we read in verse 1 that the serpent was more crafty and the10:30 serpent said, indeed has God said, you shall not eat from any tree of the garden. Please notice a missing word.10:42 The serpent was more slithery than any other beast the Lord God had made, but then the serpent said, half God said, not half the Lord God. Now that that missing10:54 word is on purpose. The word God, Elohim, deals with God's power. The word Lord deals with our covenantal relationship with God.11:06 So the serpent is basically saying, let's talk about God, but let's leave out relationship. We can be religious, but not be relational. So the11:18 first conversation between a snake and a human being wants to bring up religion but leave out relationship.11:30 Let me explain something. The devil doesn't mind that you in church as long as you don't have a relationship with the Lord. He don't mind God talk. He doesn't mind invocations11:41 and benedictions as long as there's no relationship with God in between. Doesn't he doesn't mind that. The creature that11:53 Satan used to bring death and consequences to Eve and then Adam and then the human race12:04 was a creature over whom man and woman were to rule. And watch this. And the creature was good. Because the12:16 Bible says, whatever God created in chapter 1 was good. So at this point, the snake's not bad, which means12:29 that the strategy is to use something good to create something bad. He doesn't go find something bad because there's nothing bad to find other than him. So Satan12:41 finds something good that men and women should have been over, and he uses something good to bring something bad. And ain't that how it works in our lives? It starts off looking12:53 good. But once infiltrated with his purposes, then what was good, even that included God, became bad.13:05 So his strategy, first of all, is for you to miss him. So if you're looking for somebody with horns, a red jumpsuit, and a pitchfork,13:20 You're looking for the wrong creature. He's going to use something that is good to create something that is bad13:32 so that you can have consequences, negative repercussions, like an illusionist at a magic show. Some of these things13:44 these guys can do are just spectacular. And 1 of the main reasons that they are able to cause us to go, oh, wow, is because they do something over here to get our13:56 attention while they're doing something else over there. In other words, they distract us from what they're really about. Now, Satan is not gonna tell you upfront, I'm here to14:08 destroy your future. You know, he ain't not gonna tell you that. He's going to be crafty, sneaky, slithery. And we we know14:20 what that means. So a subordinate creature the bible calls Satan a counterfeiter. It says he has counterfeit doctrine, counterfeit miracles, counterfeit spirits, counterfeit teachers. In14:32 order to do 1 thing, deceive. Suicide bombers dress up like normal people, go in the shopping places and explode things and bring about14:43 death looking normal carrying death in order to deceive. It's all about deception. We know what that looks14:55 like to have been duped, tricked because it didn't look like deception. Some of some of you have gotten what I've recently gotten in my mail from a credit card company.15:07 Congratulations. Congratulations. You have been awarded a 5000 dollar increase on15:19 your credit limit. You are now, because they wanna make you feel good, platinum. Who doesn't wanna be platinum? Who doesn't wanna feel platinum ish?15:35 You are a preferred customer. So they've made me they made me feel good about me. They tell me that I'm worthy to have a higher credit15:47 limit. But behind all that. Behind all that. And the reason I know what's behind it is because I pay15:59 consequences. Some of you know what it is to be paying on something minimum amount year after year after decade after16:11 decade after decade. All because they made you feel good. Gave you a platinum sense of yourself. You started smelling yourself. So16:30 he wants you to miss him. And so he uses something that's crafty and will make even God part of the conversation.16:42 What's the second thing he does? That's in verse 1 2. Indeed, has God said, you should not eat from any tree of the garden?16:56 He wants you to think God is holding out on you. He never references all the trees she could eat from.17:08 He wants to talk about the 1 tree that you got a no no on. He doesn't talk about all the freedom that you have from every tree of the garden you may17:20 freely eat. He wants to talk about well, let's let's talk about what God said relative to what you can't do. He says, you shall not17:32 eat. He wants to paint God as a God who's trying to keep you from having a good time. And he does it,17:44 oh, magnificently. He reduces a command and makes it a question. See, when we started, God said, I command you not to eat.17:56 He says, k. Let me let me just ask you a question. Tell me what you think about this. See, when we reduce God's command and turn it into a question, we've lessened its impact. Because you18:08 did. He just asked me a question. Can somebody ask me a question? God's no's are so we can enjoy his18:19 yeses. Did did you hear that? God's no's don't eat from that tree, it's so that you can eat from all the other trees. What they're gonna find out is when you eat18:31 from that 1 tree, you lose all them other trees. His no's are to protect his yeses. Every tree of the God you may freely eat. God is a big big God on freedom.18:43 They got freedom. But when he puts that no in, a lot of he tells singles, okay, I don't want you to have sex outside of marriage. Okay? That's what he tells singles. And18:55 Satan says, God holding out on you. I mean, why would he created you this body with these desires if he didn't want you to knock boots? Why why would he19:08 why would he do that? Why? So you get all these messages bombarding you all the19:20 time. And it looks like God is not fair. You've done a number on us. And so what he does in doing that is to not only bring consequences, but keep us from ever19:31 getting around to all the stuff. That's the free benefits that he wants to bring into your life by getting you stuck in this 1 tree. In19:43 fact, you let the New Testament tell it, first Corinthians 7, the single should be a lot happier than the married folk. That19:57 that's what Paul says. Paul says, singles should be singles should be shouting. If you don't believe me, ask the married folk you're sitting next to.20:18 It's like the child that complains at Christmas about the 1 toy they didn't get, so they don't even get to enjoy the toys that they did have.20:30 Satan is saying, God is trying to hold out on you. He doesn't want you to enjoy everything that's out there to be enjoyed. Now, let me explain something at this point that20:42 a lot of people are confused. I I know Flip Wilson made it famous, the devil made me do it. So let's get something corrected. The devil cannot make20:54 you sin. He doesn't have that kind of juice. He can't he can't make you sin. Why? Because Colossians 2 says that the death of Christ defeated him. So he cannot21:06 force you to sin. Since he can't force you to sin, he makes you want to. Because he can't impose sin on you,21:18 he starts messing with your mind. And so the way he does that is deceiving the thought pattern so that we begin to think21:29 differently than we ought to, so it becomes our decision influenced by him, not enforced by him. So that means we can't blame the21:41 devil any longer. Not from the force standpoint. What he does is he plants his thought into your mind until it becomes your thought.21:54 And so then it influences your action, my action, our action. So the second 1 is God is holding out on you. He's keeping that tree from you.22:08 When God's whole point of restriction was to enhance freedom. The third strategy.22:23 The woman responds, from the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but from the fruit of the tree, verse 3, which is in the middle of the garden, God said, you shall not eat it or touch it or you're gonna die.22:37 He said to the woman, you surely will not die. There will be no consequences. So what is he getting at here? What God22:49 said is not gonna happen. I know God told you that, but don't buy it. Strategy. God's word cannot be trusted. You can't believe23:01 that bible. You can't act on that bible. You can't you can't trust that. That was written 2000 years ago, 4000 years ago. If you're going into the Old Testament, they they don't know what you're dealing23:12 with. They they didn't have all this technology. They you can't buy that. God's word cannot be trusted.23:25 The Bible says in Romans 3 verse 4, let God be true and every man a liar. Let God be true and everybody who disagrees with him23:37 is lying, even if they a good liar. The bible says in John chapter 8 verse 44, Satan is a liar and he's the father of lies. Well,23:49 there's a couple of things there. Number 1, he's a born liar. Anybody know any born liars? Born liar. They've been lying since not only not only is24:02 he a born liar, but he's the father of lies, which mean he got chillings. If you're a father, you got children. So he spawns24:14 deception. He replicates deception. He says, God's word cannot be trusted like Don Cornelius and the24:25 soul train scramble board. He gets all the words out of order, and you can't buy that. It's all you can't24:37 buy that. That's not real and ripe for the day. So skip his no trespassing sign. You're not going to die. This is not gonna hurt24:49 you. You're not gonna get into trouble. You're not gonna catch a disease. You're not gonna live a lifetime in debt. You're not gonna become emotionally unstable. You're not. You're25:01 not. You're not. It's okay. You gotta check out whoever's talking to you, whether they're a child of the father of liars. Alright.25:11 Don't worry. It's it's not gonna be that bad. And probably enough folk in the audience today who know, yeah, it can be that bad.25:23 It really can be that bad. You talk about deception. It reminds me of the story of the banker who25:35 was duck hunting. The banker was duck hunting. The banker this duck comes across, the banker takes up and go, bam. Shoots the duck out the sky. The duck falls into25:47 a farmer's land. The banker who was on doing the duck hunting goes to get the duck, but the farmer's standing out there. The farmer said that ain't your duck. What do mean that? It's not my25:59 duck. I shot the duck. Yeah. But it fell on my property. So that's my duck. Oh, the banker said, oh, no. It's not. I shot the duck. That's my duck. My farmer said, oh, no. It's not. That26:10 duck is on my property. This is private property. You can't have that duck. Banker said, well, I tell you what. There's a way we can resolve this. Tell you what, I'm a let you26:22 hit me as hard as you can. You hit me as hard as you can. Throw your fist and hit me. Then you let me hit you as hard as I can. And whoever26:34 screams the least gets the duck. Of course, the bankers are younger than the farmer, you know, he's in shape. So he's feels like, uh-huh. This is gonna be my duck because because I'm26:46 a hurt this man. So farmer, you go first. Farmer cocks back. Bam. Hits the banker. The banker falls to the ground26:58 with a little groan. Gets up after a moment. Gets himself together. Okay.27:10 Now it's my turn. Farmer said, that's okay. You can have it done.27:29 Satan just wants to hurt us. You're not gonna die. 1 1 of the things most of us have learned on some level is when we play with sin, then sin27:41 winds up playing with us. You're in charge of it 1 moment, and then it's in charge of you the next. A moment, months, years, decades.27:56 And this is a challenge because we are being bombarded in our world today on every level. This leads him to another28:07 strategy. Verse 5. For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good from evil.28:20 He says, look, let me explain why God does not want you to eat from this tree. God is selfish. God doesn't want28:32 anybody to be like him but him. And because God is selfish and knows if you eat this tree, you're gonna know as much as God knows, being smart as God is.28:44 He wants to keep you from being like him. He doesn't want you to be his equal when he knows you could be his equal. Of course, that was Satan's whole goal, to be God's equal in Isaiah 14. So God doesn't28:56 want you to be his equal. And to keep you from being as equal, he doesn't want you to get that tree because then you won't need him anymore. Because you're gonna know it all yourself. You29:10 will be like God. And what was the 1 thing Satan wanted more than anything else when he rebelled against God? He wanted29:22 his independence. He did not want to have to answer to God anymore. And our rebellion is a desire for our29:34 independence. Because if I'm like you and if I'm equal to you, I don't have to submit to you. If we're on the same level at work, you don't get to boss me. Not29:46 if we're on the same level. If you can become like God, if man can become like God, if governments can become like God, they don't29:58 have to answer to God because they are like him. Wants to be this super duper guy who's in the class all by himself. You all30:09 remember during Michael Jordan's heyday. Everybody wanted the commercials. You wanna be like Mike. Remember? Everybody wanna be like Mike.30:21 Superstar Michael Jordan. So folks wanting to be like Mike went out and bought Jordans. They30:33 Jordans. Parents went into debt to get their kids Jordans because30:46 they wanna be like Mike. Buy jersey number 23 because they wanna be like Mike. I got news for you.30:58 Putting on Jordans don't make you like Mike. Wearing a jersey with number 23 doesn't make you fly. You don't become like31:10 Jordan simply because you got a phrase or you like basketball. There must be an ability that matches your shoes.31:22 You just can't look the part and be like Mike. And you just can't act the part and be God. He is in a class by himself, and he will always31:34 resist anybody who seeks to be independent of him with the consequences of your rebellion.31:46 God so much doesn't want man to try to be like him, which he could never be, but even to carry that thought, he told Israel, you can't even31:57 take a picture of me. You can't take a picture of me. Make no graven image in the 10 commandments of me. Don't you create something you think might coulda looked like32:09 me. Because anything you come up with is gonna be a bad photograph. You remember how they used to have those photograph machines in the mall? And you go put your little money in and32:21 you sit in that seat, you pull that curtain, and then you sit down, and then they take a picture and 4 little pictures come out. And you take those pictures, don't show nobody them pictures.32:35 Those are my ugly pictures. In fact, we apologize for our picture. That's not a good that's not a good picture of me. Yeah. It is. You32:47 just don't like it, bud. God said, don't photograph me. Don't create an image of me. Why? Because I'm in a class by myself. And anything you come up with is gonna make me look bad.33:00 So he says, I am who I am. I'm not who you want me to be. God is selfish. Okay. Let me let me talk about33:12 this tree. God knows if you eat from this tree, you will have the knowledge of good and evil. So let's let's look at this tree. This tree has 2 things on it,33:23 good and evil. But it's a Google tree. It's a Google tree because it's information, knowledge, the knowledge of good and evil. So you will be able to Google33:38 all the information necessary for you to know what God knows because you're gonna be like God. So you have this comprehensive knowledge33:50 without God. Okay? Now you stick with me here. You will be like God, but you won't need God. You34:03 will be able to determine and discover good and evil, but you can leave God out of the equation of the discovery.34:17 There is good and evil information, but evil has not entered into the world yet other than the presence of Satan. There is34:29 no evil. So what he is saying is there is an information base of knowledge that will discuss things you don't know anything about, and you can get that34:40 without God because you will have become your own God, because you will be like God. Therefore, you won't need God to discover your own truth.34:53 As I tell you often, many of you living with people who wanna be like you, parent. They're called teenagers. Who think35:05 they know what they're talking about. They talk like professionals. They talk like experts. The reason35:17 why you've got this teenage strife in your home or you may have had it, gave it to your parents, given it to your parents, you have that strife is because they want to be like you.35:29 They want to be parent. So there's a conflict. You say in a moment, it ain't but 2 grown folk in this house. You create a distinction right35:41 away. The problem is they want their independence while still depending. Oh, you you ain't missed that. See,35:55 they want their independence. Don't tell me what to do, just feed me. Don't tell me what to do, but you gotta get me some clothes. Don't tell me what to do, but you gotta take me where I need to go because I don't got my36:06 driver's license yet. So so I want to be independent, but I still want you to cover me. No. You wanna be that36:17 independent. Why don't you cover yourself and see how that goes? See, what we are doing with is we're living in a world now who has insisted on independence, and God has36:29 said, you got it. And the result of consequences. What was the consequence? He says, you're gonna die. Because36:41 remember, death is not cessation of life, cessation of life. Death is a illegitimate separation. So when a body dies, it's only dead because there's a soul left. There was a separation which made36:53 the body inactive. But you're gonna discover there are different kinds of death. There's economic death, social death, environmental death, relational death. There's all kind of deaths.37:04 But a lot of us in here this morning are dying or dead in a certain category because we ate from the independence tree. I want37:16 my data without God, and I will determine truth, right, and wrong. And I will do it independently of God Cause I wanna be like God. I wanna be my own God.37:29 Reminds me of Muhammad Ali. He's on an airplane. True story. Muhammad Ali is on the airplane during his heyday. He's sitting on the plane. The stewardess comes by and says, mister Ali, will you buckle your seat belt? We37:41 we're getting ready to take off. She comes back down the aisle. Ali has not buckled his seat belt. Said, mister Ali, I really do need you to buckle your seat belt. We we need to take off. Muhammad Ali says,37:54 Superman don't need no seat belt. Stewart has said, Superman don't need no plane. You need to buckle your seat belt.38:05 You ain't all that. I don't care how much education you have, what degrees you have, what notoriety you have, what success you have, what money you38:17 have, where you live, what car you drive, what clothes you wear, you cannot be like him. He's in a class by himself, and you are to submit all of those categories to38:28 him. When you don't, consequences. Says you're gonna die.38:42 And so so many of us are dying. Dying with regret, dying with debt, dying with relationships. We're just38:54 dying not knowing that's a consequence. Not just something that happened, bad bad luck. It is a no. It's consequence of sin,39:07 which we've all faced on various levels. Finally, verse 6, his final move. It39:18 says, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was desirable to make 1 wise, she took from its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with39:30 her, and he ate. If it feels good, do it. When she saw that the tree was39:42 good for food, that tree was always good for food. That's why he told him I eat it. But here's what he did. He let her see39:54 the tree through his eyes. Because she's now looking at this tree different than when she talked about it earlier. When she saw the tree was good, she'd been passing that tree in the middle of the living room of their40:04 house every day. But when she saw the tree was good for food, why did she look at the tree differently? Because now evil has been dropped from the conversation. See, was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But40:15 now she's only seeing the good part of the tree. And isn't that how deception works? You only see the good part. You don't see the outcome. If they told you that hit with that40:27 marijuana or that crack is gone a few years from now, have you an addict needing to get the monkey off your back.40:40 If you could see you in that condition with the evil, it would change how good that hit is upfront. If you could see yourself with 3 children40:52 out of wedlock and a single parent on welfare trying to make it, if you could see that in advance, then all of a sudden, sexShow more
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