Right. Like I said, we're looking forward to dealing with this study further, and I thought I was going to go into a bunch of detail, but I really felt like it's best to kind of lay a foundation in terms of, as we move from more of the Satan strategies And we focus more on the Savior's sureties. But we'd like to look at 2 Corinthians 2.11, which was one of the texts we used and one we're going to primarily deal with in the next week or two or so, however long the Lord leads. But in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 11, it says, lest Satan should get advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. We began with the Savior's sureties, as we said, and as we deal with the Satan's strategies, we notice, first of all, that down through church history, much persecution and intimidation via physical harm, imprisonment, torture, fines, and threats to loved ones, and even death was often, and more likely, more probable in days gone by. But in other countries, that's still something that is Satan's strategy. But we need to look also that Satan has always used deception. In time of war, there's always the physical. And then there is those things that are more covert. those things that are undercover and there's always deception. He's always used deception and he's willing to pull the wool over our eyes and he's using various means to destroy people's lives, to deceive and to destroy. He is the great deceiver that deceiveth the whole world, according to Revelation chapter 12 verse 9. He is also the great destroyer, as mentioned by the word in Revelation 9, 11, Apollyon, which means destroyer. So he's a deceiver and a destroyer. We cannot forget that. You know, as we go through life, it's so easy to forget those things. We just kinda, well, I gotta do this, and we, and that's okay, but we have to have in the back of our minds, at the very least, that Satan is seeking to deceive us and destroy us. As in war, and as in war with Satan, You not only watch out for the bullets flying and the bombs exploding, but you look for the intelligence reports in which the enemy seeks to distract us and to deceive us and by those means destroy us. It is a lot wiser in the military warfare to use those various means of deception and destruction so that you will destroy them more effectively and with less loss involved on your side. So that is a common thing and of course these aren't scare tactics anymore than in battle. It's a life-saving information from God's Word for our good, for our even enjoyment as we would experience the victory as opposed to being defeated. If you're in danger of war or a hurricane or whatever it is, you can appreciate or should appreciate any safety measures. or means of defense that you could use or obtain. And so it is for us as a child of God, when God's word informs us of these things in our spiritual battles and difficulties, we appreciate what God has given to us in his word. He has given us a degree of discernment You know, we live in a different kind of world, but there are certain principles that are used throughout time as far as the enemy is concerned, the enemy of our souls. Now some people may call it psychological warfare. Some people may call it the battle for the mind, but either way, it is a warfare that is often overlooked because it's not in your face, right? It's something that operates in the background, and so you're not going to be as likely to perceive it unless you have biblical discernment and you exercise that biblical discernment. And so, either way, it's a warfare that is often overlooked and when the results of that neglect comes to fruition, it is often too late and the damage is already done. And we would need then the restorer and reviver of our souls after much pain and regret to restore us and to revive us. To put the pieces back together or maybe a person discovers And in all of this they need a new heart and they need to be saved by God's grace. But Satan is called the prince in power of the air in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2. And for good reason. He seeks to invade the mind. To get in our head, if you will. in our thoughts. He can't mess around with our hearts because our hearts and our soul is sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise according to Ephesians 1 13. But our minds are open game for the enemy. So what we want to look at to begin with is first of all we'll look at three different categories and strategies that Satan uses and we, of course, offer also the Savior's surety in each one of these to combat these things. First thing we want to look at is the strategy of subtlety. The strategy of subtlety. In Genesis chapter 3 and verse 1, it says, now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden. Now he uses the same old tricks, maybe with the different, maybe it's wrapped in different gift wrap, but it's the same basic kind of strategy. The word subtle here in Genesis chapter 3 verse 1 is the Hebrew word arum, and it means shrewd, crafty, or sly. In other words, in our vernacular, sneaky. And so the devil does not approach Eve with a direct attack like, OK, I'm the devil, and I'm going to come here and make you miserable, and I'm going to destroy your life and this paradise that you enjoy. He doesn't come like that, does he? He comes subtly, in a subtle way, sneaking around, taking her unawares. He rested in her answer so much as he was just to question things. He seeks whom he may devour, our adversary, the devil. And he begins oftentimes by merely questioning God's Word. That's one way. He questions God's Word. The other way that he does it is he questions our interpretation or our understanding of a very clear Bible passage. And so, well, maybe he didn't understand it right. Or, did you hear that right? Did he really say that? Is that what you really read? Those kinds of things he will use to throw us off course. The Bible tells us in a number of occasions, we look over there in Luke chapter 21, we find that Jesus speaking here in Luke 21, and let's look there at verse 34. Notice it says, Jesus answering said unto them, No, this is not the right one. Luke chapter 21, okay I was on 20, 34. Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life. People get so caught up in the cares of this life. What am I going to eat? What am I going to wear? Should I get this or should I get that? It just consumes them. It clutters their minds and sets them up for Satan's advantage. Cares of this life and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, be watchful, be alert, and pray always. So here's the solution, you pray, you're watchful, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all those things which shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. Now we understand that we're talking about the coming of Christ, But we can apply this across the board as far as dealing with what's happening in the world and the way that Satan does in this world to throw us off track. We find another passage in the book of Galatians, chapter 2, verse 4 and 5. Galatians 2, verse 4. And that because of false brethren unawares. They're sneaky. You're not aware of it, maybe right away. Brought in who came in privilege to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. So these were legalists trying to say, you got to do this, this, this, and this, and this, and you don't have any Bible to back it up. And to whom we gave, now what did they do in response to that? To whom we gave place by subjection, know not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. In other words, they stood their ground. That's what we must do. We must stand our ground. Don't be intimidated. Don't be deceived and talked into, you know, some easier way for us or whatever on the outside. And then finally in Jude chapter 1, only chapter, and we look over in verse 4, Jude 1, 4, where it says, for there are certain men crept in, unaware. Enemy Larsa used E-bolt. His children sometimes, sometimes those like Saul before he was converted. Sometimes even you will use even us as God's people, as we'll find a little bit later. But it's that for certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, only godly men turned the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denied the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance Though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, after were destroyed them, that believed not." Of course, this encourages us to believe, to trust, to exercise our faith as a uh... combative measure of the safety against uh... of the savior sureties against satan's strategies and of course we recognize that we to not be caught unawares by satan's questioning his skepticism and so forth we must not be ignorant of the devices of the devil and be ready to stand as paul was we mentioned against a legalist, but we know that that very same kind of language is used in Ephesians chapter 6 a few times in regards to the armor of God. What do you put armor on for? You put it on just to be decorated and let everybody ooh and aah over you? No, we don't do that. But when you put the armor on, you are intending to engage in battle. That's why you put it on. And so that is how we combat the subtlety is that we We don't allow the enemy to catch us off guard because of his deceptive ways. And we're less likely to be deceived if we recognize the second strategy. Number one, the strategy is subtlety. Number two, the strategy is The strategy of 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 says this, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. So we see the origin of all this. Satan's behind it. It's his strategy to seduce. And this particular word means to, seducing spirits are wandering, roving spirits, misleading spirits that lead into error. It's also used as those who are vagabonds, tramps, and impostors, and corruptors, and deceivers. But they are seducing spirits. We see not only are they sneaky, but they are deceptive and corruptive. In 2 Timothy 3 in verse 13, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. This has a reference to an enchanter. Someone who doesn't just simply seduce us but enchants us, like casts a spell on us as it were. that kind of thing. So we have to be careful because of the seductive nature of those kind of people. Some people can do that whether it's the way the words they use or whether it's their appearance or whatever it might be the way that they speak would maybe seduce us and enchant us. March 13, 22, for false tries and falsehoods and wonders to seduce, if possible, even the elect. The last days, and I believe we're living in the last of the last days, is one of the signs of those that is characterized by seduction. by Satan's pawns, his false prophets, his false Christ, the Antichrist, and false teachers and preachers. So we have to be aware Christ warns us during those days in which we live. And then Ezekiel we find in chapter 13 and verse 10. Because even because they have seduced my people saying, how'd they do it? Peace! And there was no peace. And one built up a wall and the other is dogged with an untempered mortar. What you talking about here? What does the enemy do? We all want peace, don't we? We don't like to hear there's war, that they're going to come over here and bomb us or something like that. We wouldn't like to hear that. We want to hear it's OK. But the seducers will say, this is one of their tactics, is that, oh, there's no war to worry about. You know, just kick back and relax. You know, lighten up. Have some fun. You know, chill out. Take your armor off and just enjoy life. That's what they'll say. There's nothing wrong with enjoying life. Understand. I'm simply saying we can enjoy life and still have your armor on. And so we have to recognize that. It even happened to Israel. We find in 2 Corinthians 21 and verse 9, But they hearkened not, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel. This particular word, Torah, in the Hebrew means to err, to go astray, to wander, to stagger out of the way and to be intoxicated and the wandering of the mind. Now I thought that was interesting that that was one of the meanings behind it. A wandering mind is a mind that's going to be vulnerable to the attack of the enemy. What are we to do? As opposed to a wandering mind, we ought to have our minds on our Lord Jesus Christ. To, as Philippians 4.8 says, it tells us there clearly Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things be of good virtue and that there be any praise, think on these things. Our minds need to be focused and stayed on Jesus Christ. Now how can you do that? One of the greatest ways you can do that is to pray throughout the day. Praise throughout the day. Thank God throughout the day. And you know, memorize, quote scripture, that's how you do that. And it's a discipline that we have to day in and day out have to remind ourselves of. It's just like somebody who is get slack in their training, whether it is football, or whether it's a soldier, or whatever it might be, a teacher. If we don't continue to discipline ourselves in our training, we're going to get slack. And we're going to get lazy. And we're going to get weak. And therefore, we'll become vulnerable to our adversary. Now this particular example here, and I mentioned too, of course, the Prince of Power there, we need to help him to salvation on our heads, Ephesians 6, 17. But in the particular example of Manasseh here, here we have Manasseh. He had a dad that was just a great dad, Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a great king of Judah, and yet we see that He didn't follow what his dad taught him. And he ended up sinning wickedly, even worse than the nations that were before them while they were kicked out. And this is what's scary. You know, sometimes with Trump, and again, I pray for him. I hope he's saved. I like a lot of things he does. But he's not my savior. And my trust is not in him. That's why we need to be very, very careful that we be commiserum-ized by political leaders or we get to the point where we fear to, they tell us, to do something that is disobedience to God. So these are things we have to remember as we think about the enemy. But even in churches, we see the church of Thyatira in Revelation 2 and verse 10. Now I will stand up a few things against thee, because thou sufferest the woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Now whether you look at that spiritually or whether you look at that physically, either way it's sin. And whether it's spiritual fornication or physical or spiritual, that is with false doctrines and false teachings. There were those in churches that seduced people to go down the wrong way, to lead them astray. 1 John 2 says in verse 26, These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. Talk about God's people amongst the assembly of the saints. But the anointing, what's the solution? But the anointing which ye have of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teach ye do of all things, and is truth. Talking about the spirit of truth, speaking of the word of truth, and is no lie, even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. Stand your ground. Don't be unwavering, steadfast, always abounding in the work of the Lord. We see the warning in the book of Well, verse 26. The righteous are more excellent than his neighbors. The way of the wicked seduceth them. We have to be careful. It can seduce us. We might see, you know how it is on television or on a commercial, they look to these people who are just great looking and, you know, all happy and everything else, or Hollywood and everything's wonderful, we think. All we do is see the show. We don't see the real life. Always remember that. Because, you know, what do you hear about some of these people? Married, you know, all these multiple times and engaged in all kinds of wickedness. So we know that there's something wrong with that picture. But then we, and as we see there in Genesis chapter three, as we saw in verse one, how the serpent was more suddenly a beast of the field which the Lord thy God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, have God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest ye die. So she kind of adds a little bit there. And so that's a good idea to not even get close enough to touch it. I get that. But what is he doing now? He is subtle, and then he begins to seduce. And the serpent saith unto woman, you shall not surely die. Why? He says, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. He's holding back on it. So he's tempting here and seducing Eve. And when the woman saw the tree, was good for food, using just reasoning abilities, as far as, you know, looking at something, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, outwardly, and a tree desired to make one wise, she took the fruit thereof, violated first her statement about, then, it says, and did eat. and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat. He held the companionship of his wife higher than his companionship with God. And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons and there Now notice how Satan doesn't stop with questioning God's Word or our true understanding of it. He's just putting out the bait then. He's putting out the bait and like a master fisherman, he feels a nibble and he gets a little jerk. And then if that fish will continue to nibble, And then he's on the road to catching them a fish. And that's what Satan does. If we don't flee from it or resist, then we're setting ourselves up by continuing to pursue. And that's what he does. And that's what he did with Eve. He begins, and then it becomes a seduction. You know, she's tasted it in her mind. Oh, yeah, that sounds good. It looks good. And then Satan pulls a line, if you will, and then on the hook. And we get hooked. And we're in for the fight of our lives. And so Deuteronomy says, again, In chapter 11, you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. The thoughts and intents of our heart, of our minds, so that we are not going to be taken aback. Job warns us in Job 15 verse 31, let not him that is deceived trust in vanity, for vanity shall be his recompense. That's a deterrent, if you will, to help us to avoid that kind of situation. We find that Luke chapter 21 verse 8 in Jesus speaking and he said take heed that you be not deceived because of last day for many shall come into my name saying I am Christ and the time draweth near go ye not therefore after them. Don't follow after them. 1 Corinthians 6, 9, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abuse of themselves mankind. None of them are going to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And so people have to recognize that those who practice those kinds of things will not inherit the kingdom of God. And so, and we can go again and again as we think of seduction and deception in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 33, be not deceived, that statement again. Evil communications corrupt good manners. Our communications are two way. You have a communication where you are the one that's speaking or you're listening or you're reading something, it's like listening. Or you're looking at something. And so we have to be careful that evil communications, they won't be harmless, they will corrupt good network. And then another be not deceived in Galatians 6, 7, be not deceived that shall, that shall he also reap. No question about it, it will happen. We may not notice it at first, but it's going to happen. So this tells us how serious it is and how serious we need to take it. It's just like, you know, go to the doctor. The doctor says you've got some serious disease. If you don't take it seriously and he's a good doctor and he's right, then you're just shoot yourself, not in the foot, but shoot yourself in the head. It's going to kill you. So, let's look thirdly now, and lastly, at the strategy of sensationalism. Now, that's where God is sensational, in a way. I mean, he's just amazing. But, I'm talking about the way Satan uses that kind of thing. not God of course, but sensuality is that which appeals to the fleshly senses, to the feelings and sinful desires. We can say the sensational, the signs, the wonders, The razzle and the dazzle, the glitter and the glamour, the bells and the whistles that mesmerize the masses like a carrot, you know, on a string there in front of a beast that just keeps on going and it leads them to destruction. James chapter 3 and verse 14 says this. And again, we dealt with a little bit of this last week, but how that our fellowship together affects us. It will either weaken us or help us. It says there, but if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, Somebody may not show it, you know, just right off the bat. You might not notice it. But strife in your heart's glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descended not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. Once more, we have that same kind of principle in the last days. In Jude chapter 1 verse 18, how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves sensual, not having the Spirit. In these last days, we are being prepped, the world is being prepped, if you will, before Christ's return for the Antichrist. As referred to in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 8. And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. So that's the good news. Even him who's coming is after the working of Satan. Speaking of the Antichrist. How is he coming? How is this working of Satan? How does he anti-operate? And what is being laid as a foundation as far as these operational procedures are concerned? With all power and signs and lying wonders. The mind being focused on sensationalism. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness and them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth. How do you combat it? Love the truth. Embrace it. that they might be saved, and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned to believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." We see the sensuality there, the pleasure, the whole idea of the lust of the flesh. I mentioned this last time, this passage of scripture, But that's the thing about God's Word, there is a depth in every different angle of the jewel of truth. It says in Hebrews chapter 5 verse 11, something else I saw that I had not seen before. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when the time ye for the time you ought to be a teacher. You've been saved long enough or whatever the case might be, been taught enough. You ought to be teachers. You have need that one teach you again. You need remedial courses, which be the first principles of the oracles of God are become such as have need and not of strong means. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason sin. Now, compare the sensual with senses here. Exercised to discern both good and evil. Knowing and doing exercises our senses so that we are not overcome by Satan's sensationalism. We won't be bamboozled by his sensationalism because our spiritual senses have been exercised And we exercise them because we come to the point in our study and in our knowledge and in our doing that where we can discern both good and evil and we have our senses exercised. Now, we take technology in many ways. In some ways, if you grew up with technology, you might think, well, that's just the way it is. And you kind of take it for granted. But those of us who are older, if we look back and we think about when we first saw the technology, maybe for those younger, you never really were exposed to it too much. And you thought, wow, this is sensational. This is amazing. This is really cool. And we can get that way. Kind of leave a hint of where we're going next is that It is, I guess a way we should look at it is the way it talks about there in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Let's turn there for a minute. 1 Timothy chapter 6. Technology is something we have to be careful with. It is a tool, a great tool. It's a great servant. But it is an awful, cruel master. And so we have to be aware of that. We can't think, oh, I got it. Am I worried about it? Don't be like those who say, peace, peace, when there's no peace. Because then you leave yourself open. Pride will say, I don't have to worry about it. I'm good. No, there's none good. No, not one. But notice there in 1 Timothy chapter 6, it says, in verse 10, for the love of money, is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. That's what Satan wants. You know, these movers and shakers in the world, they don't care about whether their technology, really whether it makes you happy or not, They don't really care if it entertains you that much. They don't care that it might hurt you, or hurt your family, or hurt your spirituality especially. All they want is the money. They're going to get out of you. Some way, shape, or form or another. That's what's behind it. Now there's other things too, but the love of money is the root of all evil. And so we have to keep that in mind as we are careful with technology. We got technology here, it's a great tool, but again, a horrible master. We find in closing to encourage our hearts as we deal with these things, the subtleties and the seduction and the sensationalism. It says in Jude chapter 1 verse 20, but ye beloved, remember we're loved of God before time, building up yourselves, edifying yourselves, And, you know, you're fortifying yourselves, okay? Why do you got fortifications? For protection. Well, protection from the enemy. How do we do that? Well, how do you? By, on your most holy faith. Walk by faith, not by sight. Like Eve did. Praying in the Holy Ghost. That is, not talking about tongues, it's talking about praying, number one. And when we're praying in the power of the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Spirit would lead us, which would be always scripturally, then we're in communion with God. We're not allowing ourselves to be distracted because we are in the spirit of prayer. What's the other way? Keep yourselves, I've mentioned many times the word keep, just like those towers there on the corners of the castles a lot of times, is a place of fortification. Keep yourselves in the love of God. When you love someone, they're on your mind. And when we love God and we realize He loves us, It's gonna be on our mind that we love him because he first loved us. And that love will motivate us. As Paul says, constraineth us so that we will be able to meet with what the enemy may throw at us. And of course he says, lastly, in the last part of this verse in Jude, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, remembering this life isn't all there is. I look at some of those preachers at the conference, and Carol and I was talking about, you know, we used to be the younger ones. Now we're part of the older ones. It just happens, you know. It really, and it's humbling, it's exciting in some ways. This life will be over. May God help us to be faithful to the end. Well, thank you for your attention to the Word of God. We want to go ahead and begin our season of prayer.