look at the strategy of Satan again today, don't give Satan a beachhead. And if the believer cultivates in their life any known sin, we give Satan an opportunity to get a foothold or a beachhead in our lives. Here in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 25 through verse 32, it says, Wherefore put away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Let neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying. that may minister grace unto the hearers, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. And let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath Satan uses opportunities to invade our mind and take over the areas that are spoken here. In verse 27 it says neither give place to the devil and the word place here is kind of like you'd have a city or a building or you know kind of even a beachhead. In the language of warfare, we would say, don't give the devil a beachhead. And as we read this passage of scripture, we're going to look at several things today in the sins that are mentioned here in verse chapter four of how to prevent Satan from really getting a place in our life. And so before we go any further, let's ask the Lord for his blessing upon this time. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I do thank you for this day. I thank you for your goodness and grace. Father, I thank you for the opportunity I follow you, Lord, I thank you for your word. And Lord, I pray that you just help us to apply to our hearts and minds and God that you'd be lifted up and glorified. Lord Jesus, I thank you for all that you've done and how you've helped us and guided us and Lord will guide us moving forward. Lord, we need you and Lord, we need your help. Father, I pray that you just guide my thoughts my lips and everything that I say that it would be pleasing on that side Lord I really do need you and the Lord I just asked you to go before us this day in Jesus precious name I pray amen chapter 4 here verse 25 particularly it says first of all put away lying. And Satan is the master liar, no surprise. He opens up an opportunity for him to work in our lives. And that's the first sin that is mentioned here in the idea of giving place to the devil. In John 8 44 we learn that Satan, year of your father the devil, and the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and a bow not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Wherefore, when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it." So when we believe the truth, we can allow the Holy Spirit of God to work in our lives. when I believe a lie. And as we had gone through several months ago, the whole finding help out of the hole of no hope, when we believe these lies of Satan, we begin to go down the wrong paths. And Paul gives us some good reasons here. We are, you know, the idea that we are members one of another. He says, putting away lying, speak every man truth of his neighbor, for we are members one of another. So God, truth, builds up the body, whereas a lie tears it down. And if there's a seed in our life, I will influence others as a member of his body. Since God is the God of truth and his word is truth, here in John 17, 17 lets us know that. It says, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. But in we also understand in first John 5 6 It is impossible to be in fellowship with God if I'm committing the act of lying whether I mean there's things that go on in our lives right and if I'm harboring a lie The fact is in first John 5 6 This is he that came by water and blood even Jesus Christ. I not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth." If we go back to the lies of Acts chapter 5 verses 1 through 11 with Ananias and Sapphira, they sold some property, they got some money, and the amount of money that they were going to give, they kept back some of it for themselves, but they told the apostles and the church, we've given all of it. So Ananias comes in to offer some money to the church and Peter asked him, is this all of it? And he says yes, and he dies right there. And then the men carry him out. A couple hours later his wife goes and she says the same thing. Peter asks her the question, have you lost, you know, is this all of it? Yes. Boom. She dies and the men carry her out. And great fear came upon the church. Their sin was not keeping back the money because it was theirs, you know, they had sold the land. The truth was they were trying to make people think they were more spiritual than what they truly were. In fact, they were hypocrites. And hell is prepared for the devil and his angels. We understand that there in Matthew chapter 25 verse 41. It is also in Revelation chapter 21 verse 8, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So we understand from Revelation that hell is also prepared for those who are liars. And just one lie is, you know, obviously we have committed a sin in an offense against God. Then also Revelation 22 15, for without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. So again, the idea here of giving way to a falsehood or deception. It is not possible, you know. In other words, a person who may occasionally lie, they don't lie a lot, but just ever so often they kind of sprinkle it here and there. Abraham did that right he lied about his wife. He said she's my sister but as a person who's making lying the love of his life and the entire and you know the entire life is characterized really by deceit and Here's an individual that's giving themselves over into Satan. They continue this perpet, you know, they perpetuate lies They perpetuate this deceit and hypocrisy it could even be someone who says that they're a Christian, but they're not you know, they said I prayed a prayer and I'm saved but in their heart they know that they're not and eventually they will end up where Satan is we see something else here verse 26 another area that gives way to Satan is anger verse 26 be angry and sin not So Satan can be angry. Revelation 12, 12, Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And then in Revelation chapter 12, verse 17, he's angry at the woman, the woman being Israel. He's just angry and the fact is suggest that anger in our heart gives Satan really a foothold in our lives Just as lying and murder go together. We have another thing here anger and murder go together. Someone gets so angry They act out they lash out and they murder someone obviously someone who's maybe under the influence of an intoxicating substance, alcohol, drugs, or something else, if they get angry and their inhibitions are lessened, they begin to move forward potentially in areas that are not helpful and potentially kill someone. Matthew chapter 5 verses 21 through 22, you have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother Raka shall be in danger of the counsel. But whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hellfire. So again, we understand that Satan is very angry. It talks about God in scripture as getting angry, but yet God has a righteous anger. In Psalm 711, God judged the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day. So again, there's an expression of anger, but the expression of anger doesn't have to manifest itself in a way that is giving Satan a place in our lives. Matthew chapter 21 verses 12 through 16 Jesus goes into the temple and let's read this Matthew chapter 21 verse 12 let's look at this Matthew 21 12 you Verse 12 of Matthew 21, And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer. ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore displeased. And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto him, Yea, have ye never read out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? So obviously, yes, Christ Jesus expressed anger. He overturned the money changers' tables, because he said, listen, you are corrupting the house that ought to be a house of prayer. It is not enough to love the good. We must also have a hatred for evil. And so Jesus had, he loved the good, he loved the temple, but he hated the fact that these guys were making merchandise out of those who were going really ideal you know if you want to think about it kind of going to church but they're making a merchandise out of them they're fleecing them in psalm 97 10 it gives us the principle here ye that love the lord hate evil So there is a hatred of evil. We talk about a hatred of evil, and I can hate the industry of abortion, or I hate the alcohol industry, and I do hate them. I loathe them because they destroy, one, murders right off the bat, and the other one, oftentimes, is a slower death, but it's still a murdering of, but it's got a larger impact. I mean, alcohol has killed millions. Destroyed families and the collateral effects are far-reaching You that love the Lord hate evil. He preserved the souls of his saints. He delivered them out of the hand of the wicked and The Bible also tells us in Proverbs 8 13. The fear of the Lord is to hate Evil then he begins to describe what evil acts pride arrogancy and the evil way in the forward mouth do I hate. So God again gives us a further understanding of things to hate. The problem is, is we as humans, it's difficult to separate the carnal side of us and when I do get express anger or a heightened sense of frustration, which is anger still, It's hard to remove from the emotions of the anger in a righteous sense from My own self my sinful nature polluting that And Aristotle said it perfectly centuries ago not a an endorsement of him, but he said it very well He said anyone can become angry that is easy But to be angry with the right person to the right degree at the right time for the right purpose and in the right way This is not easy Sinful anger leads to more sin. For instance, I can become angry as an emotion of strength, but as a result of my anger I begin to say things and I begin to give Satan a place in my life. And we say things for which we're sorry later on. Often we make decisions that turn out to be very hurtful, maybe to ourselves or to others. Satan knows this and he encourages us to get angry. He says, be angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. We need to deal with that anger right then and there, if we've allowed it. Going on here, verse 28, let him that stole steal no more. Now we understand in John 10 10 the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they might do they might have it, excuse me, have it more abundantly. So you have the two demoniacs there in the country of the Gergesenes. A vivid example, Satan steals from his servants. Satan robbed these men of their sanity, their liberty, their homes, their jobs, their joy, their effective work and life, their reputation, their health. I mean, these guys were cutting themselves with stone. Satan's okay. I mean, that's, again, the industry, as I had mentioned, the alcohol industry, Satan makes it look good, but he has no problem stealing everything from you as a result of being ensnared in a particular bad course of life. For instance, someone that does go down that way, they get ensnared. I was just speaking with someone recently, and they were in that very predicament where Satan had robbed them, really, of almost their entire life. and even their souls had they not been set free by Jesus Christ, you know, for these demoniacs speaking of. Maybe an employee borrows things from their employer's office, and it's inviting to do such. And Satan wants to get a foothold in our lives, we begin to borrow or take things from our employer, maybe saying, you know, I deserve it. A person who's willing to steal a 15 cent pencil has also the potential of stealing a $15 book or, you know, later on a $150,000 payroll. It starts off in the little things. And I imagine those demoniacs, if you, what was it? I don't know what was it that eventually brought them to that place. You find someone that's, You know maybe living on the streets, and they don't want to be there You know and you talk to him. How'd you get there? You know and they're gonna give you a whole bunch of things Potentially that brought them to that place, but a little sin and just Satan stole stole stole stole And Luke 16 10 he that is faithful and that which is least is faithful also in much And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much so Note the tense of the verb. He is already unrighteous And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also there's one that's already unjust or unrighteous And we can try to excuse it every man, you know, we know our hearts to some degree not to the full depth like god does Some people may steal time others rob god by unfaithful giving and others, you know may hold back Malachi 3 8 will a man rob God yet yet you have robbed me but you say wherein have we robbed thee in tithes and offerings God says and then James 5 would also talk about verses 1 through 6, he said, go to, here in James chapter 5, go to now ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered and the rest of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have reaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the higher of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you, is kept back by fraud, crieth, and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed the just, and he doth not resist you. So again, here's either an employer stealing from his employee, an employee stealing from his employer, or a believer stealing from God, that which rightly belongs to God. So there's a working, and you work for it, and you earn it. There's also others that would rather take it. So in the truth here, verse 28, let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. So we find a kind of a, you work hard, and if there is a need, you have the ability to help someone else. And so there's that, you work hard, you give, rather than I don't work hard and I steal. Maybe you work hard to steal. Someone may do that. But if I'm doing that, what I'm doing is the opposite of what God wants me to do. Again, Satan always works, he mirrors in an opposite way of what God wants. You work hard, you'll be able to get something that you need, your needs, God provides. And should there come a need in someone else, you have the ability to assist as necessary. Now, he then says something else here with respect to allowing Satan, if you want to think about it per se, an area into my life, verse 29, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. He says, but that which is good to the use of edifying, and here is the speech when I'm talking, it ought to have the ability to lift up, to encourage. Ephesians 5, 4, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of things. Obviously there is not a forbiddance of holy or healthy humor. Sometimes laughing is a mark of maturity and our ability to discern things. This author, he says, a leading missionary executive once told me I will not send a missionary to the field if he doesn't have a sense of humor. Obviously being able to laugh at some of the things. Paul is condemning a humor which is inappropriate, a speech which is potentially dirty, corrupt. This kind of person here, let no corrupt communication. This kind of person tears other people down. And God wants our speech, as it says, that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace into the ears. So when you're talking, is your speech helping someone else? Is it lifting them up? Because what comes from our heart, right? Proverbs 4.23, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. And it tells us also, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. So, impure speech, humor, and inappropriate comes from an impure imagination and a bad heart. A person doesn't have to read inappropriate books and magazines of bad images But if Satan can get us to just think a sin and then talk about it, we're gonna have an easier time in the future committing sin. So again, David, when he was up on the rooftop, he looked out and he saw a woman, he pondered on those thoughts, and then he asked his servants about her. And then that, I mean, it was just this spiral downwards. And that digression, regression, excuse me, He began to really make one after another in mistakes, but he began with the thoughts that he would not get rid of. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. If there's bad thoughts that come, stop it there. If Satan can get us to think about a sin and talk about it, he's going to have an easier time getting us to commit it. When I am able to freely talk about filthy things, It takes the edge off of my conviction that it's wrong. We get accustomed to it, and soon our barriers are down. We can say, well, it's not as badass. If someone begins to watch a particular show, and the first time you watch it, there's a few things that it bothers you. and then you watch it again and you watch it again the first those things that were bothering you at the begin with the spirit of god was showing you were wrong that bothered you when you keep on watching it it's not going to bother you anymore because you've said no to the things of god and yes to the things of satan so this whole idea i can become very critical in my my speech And it may bother me at first, but if I continue to do it with a great amount of, you know, continuance, it is going to, you know, the conviction is lessened. It doesn't mean it's any less wrong. It just means what you're doing is you're giving Satan a position in your life to have a speech that is not edifying. It's supposed to lift up. It's supposed to encourage your hearers. But if our speech is not encouraging, not lifting up, then our speech is not appropriate. We find something else here, another way that Satan gets into our lives in verses 30 through 32. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. The next way Satan gets away into our lives is through an unforgiving spirit. Malice in your heart. These attitudes hinder the Spirit of God from working our lives as we learn from Hebrews and the very truth is the root of bitterness that defiles many. The only remedy to an unforgiving spirit is forgiveness. You have to forgive from the heart. Let's look at Matthew chapter 18 verse 15. Matthew chapter 8, verse 15. We'll read through verse 17 and then we'll go back to Matthew 5 after this. Matthew 18, 15. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established and if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the church but if you neglect to hear the church let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican and the truth here is again god's telling us you need to try to seek for reconciliation verse 5 chapter 5 excuse me chapter 5 verse 23 This is what, you know, obviously there in chapter 18, Jesus is already mentioning the church. The church is already in existence prior to, as some people may state, there at Pentecost. But here in Matthew chapter 5, verse 23, Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him. Lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost marthing. God is telling us, listen, don't harbor an unforgiving spirit. The more territory I give to Satan in my life in this area of unforgiveness and lacking to someone does wrong against us and to forgive it, I'm going to let Satan get in further and ultimately breed a lot of bitterness. The author here, he says, in my pastoral experience, I've seen homes, Sunday schools, and whole churches weakened, in some cases destroyed, by Christians who will not forgive one another. But even if someone doesn't forgive you, I still need to forgive them. I cannot force someone else to forgive me, but I can forgive them. And I can see to it that Satan is defeated in my life by the fact of not harboring this unforgiveness. This allows Satan, again, that anger or the frustration over a particular incident, it breeds this unforgiving spirit, I will not. And then in that act of unforgiveness, Verse 31, as we find here, going back to Ephesians 4, anger and clamor and evil speaking, or you want to think about that as slander. You realize in 1 Timothy 3 11, even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Talking about a deacon's wife. She's not a slanderer. Or how about Titus 2, 3? The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviors, becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. So again, false accusers, slanders, maligning the character of someone else. And so Paul gives an admonition to the deacon's wives. He said, listen, they ought not to be a slanderer. They ought not to be one there criticizing others, the malicious gossip. You find really when you think about the word here, like the gossip is a Greek word diabolos, which is translated evil or a slanderer, an accuser. And the word devil is a slanderer and accuser. And as we have this here, when believers share in gossip and slander, what we are doing is the devil's work for him. And we give him the ability, we say, you know what? You can have a little bit of territory on my land. But his little bit of territory in our land does not stop there. It's like you put a little drop on a piece of cloth, a little water on a piece of cotton cloth, that water over time is going to spread out. It doesn't just stay in that little spot, it spreads out. And it begins to affect and wet the other parts of that cloth. And you think about that and much like in our own lives. Exodus chapter 20 verse 16, thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. So God again is saying, if false witness or speaking of lies, sowing of discord, this is what God prohibits. Proverbs 25 18, a man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a maul and a sword and a sharp arrow. Flandre hurts a person up close, as a club does, like if you go up and you hit them over the billy club or something else like that. Many of the men of the Bible would suffer of this very truth, where they were slandered. I mean, you think about Joseph, and David, and the Lord Jesus Christ, Jeremiah, others in the Bible, the Apostle Paul, that were slandered. John himself, you know. Or Demas, you know, in the idea of diatrophies, loved to have the preeminence among them, and receive with us not diatrophies, is preaching bad things in the church. painful experience when we are slandered and things are said against us, it's hurtful. But, I mean, the slander can sometimes even come from a professing believer. One who says they're of the Lord and doing the Lord's work, and yet in the same way they can come after us. Satan rejoices to get Christians to slander each other. They want to slander each other in print. The Word of God tells us how to deal with saints. And here in Galatians chapter six, verse one, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. So again, someone else, rather than slandering them, give them an opportunity. I mean, there are some of those charlatans out there. And give them an opportunity to force someone else, maybe they're going down a wrong direction, chat with him. 1st Peter 4 and above all things have fervent charity among yourselves for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. So there's an aspect of this meekness here in Proverbs 10 12. Hatred stirs up stripes. Love covereth all sin. Now, there is not to be an ignoring of sin, obviously, if there is contention within the church to be dealt with, but not to, you know, don't hang dirty wash out in the public, right? A wise saying is, and loving the brethren, exposing sin for what it is, if there's sin in the church, it needs to be dealt with. Don't believe everything you hear about a particular person, and I You know, there's things that I've heard sometimes and then upon further inspection realized that what I had heard was inaccurate or partial truth. And 2 Corinthians 13 1, the Apostle Paul says, this is the third time I'm coming to you in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. There needs to be some credibility to the witnesses that are giving evidence of someone's wrongdoing. You know, in Deuteronomy 17, 6, it discusses at the mouth of one witness, he shall not be put to death. You can't put someone to death just upon the witness of one person. It had to be two or three witnesses to validate, again, and then Deuteronomy also discusses that very same thing. Satan here in Revelation chapter 12, verse 10, let's look at this. Satan loves to slander the brethren. If we are slandering one another, then we don't have to, then Satan doesn't need to slander us because we've already done his work for him and he can put his energies on something else. Here in Revelation chapter 12 verse 10, and I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. So again, when we slander one another, as here Ephesians 4 is discussing, Satan is accusing us day and night, but he doesn't need to accuse us if we're already accusing each other. The sin that we harbor in our lives and yet refuse to acknowledge and confess gives Satan a position and place in our life with which to attack us in the future. This can include material objects, definitely related to Satanism and the occult. I mean, the way that Satan works to harbor, get a place in our life, he'll use anything, whether it could be a satanic thing, a spiritistic thing. We do not have a right to possess of those objects. And even playing video games with magic and other sorts of things in them is inappropriate. The movies with the magic in them is inappropriate. I mean, there's a whole bunch of stuff. Even a lot of Disney movies have magic, and they make it seem very innocent or innocuous, but yet it's not. It's very demonic, and it's softening us up little by little to say, hey, it's okay. Realize in Acts chapter 19 verses 18 through 20, and many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also, which used curious arts, brought their books together and burned them before all men. And they counted the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. Here in Acts chapter 19, the believers had objects Satan demonic spell books and all sorts of things curious arts so the things of Satan and They burned all these books and what happened when they got rid of it The Word of God prevailed the Word of God prevails as we get rid of sin in our lives and in conclusion here I must never look upon sin or questionable objects as a little thing Nothing is a little if Satan can use it to attack you and I Here's a story here. The author says, I recall counseling a Christian student who had an obsession for food. She was ruining her health and her studies, and her anxiety was only making the problem worse. He says, I asked her if she had anything in her possession that was related to the occult. She confessed that she did. And I urged her to get rid of it. Confessed her sin to the Lord and claimed the victory of Christ over whatever demons were using that object as a beachhead. She did all this, and the Lord gave her a glorious and wonderful victory. Illustrations can be, you know, of this are multiplied by number of pastors have dealt with and confronted occultic powers and demonic powers. But the fact is, if Satan gets a place in our life and I give in to any one of these points today, I allow Satan a position in my life to continue to attack at other places. I give him an advantage. We don't want to do that. Our goal as Christians is don't give Satan a beachhead. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I do thank you for this day. Father, I thank you for your grace and your mercy. Father, I thank you for the Word of God, which gives us warnings, and Lord, I need you, and Lord, I pray that all that goes forward will honor you. Thank you for your grace in Jesus' precious name, I pray. Amen.