Sin and Evil Spirits – Do Not Give Satan a Foothold

God Sent Evil Spirits in response to Sin

1) Judges 9:22-25 – Abimelech and the People of Shechem

2) 2 Chronicles 18:1-35 – King Ahab and his false prophets

3) 1 Samuel 16:14 – King Saul had rebelled for 25 years

4) Mark 5:1-16 – The demons Legion and the pigs

5) Matthew 26:1-5; Luke 22:3; John 13:21-30 – Judas and Satan

6) 1 Corinthians 5:5 – The immoral man in Corinth

7) Revelation 16:13 – The three demons from the dragon, the false prophet and the anti-christ sent to lead the kings of the earth to their slaughter at Armageddon

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Satan’s schemes and strategies against us:

• Satan can “outwit” or “overreach us”. (“pleonektathomen” means to take advantage of, to outwit. The word refers to the arrogant, greedy defrauding of someone, often through trickery and treacherous means). Satan outwits us by:
• Causes us to be unforgiving as is seen here. This brings about unnecessary division in the church
• Accuses us to God and to ourselves for our failures and sins. This then neutralizes us in our own minds and we quit
• Fear Death (Heb. 2:14,15)
• Persuades people to rebel against the Word of God by:
• Disobey it
• Worry and fear instead of trusting it
• Ignore Word
• Ignore God’s will (Gal. 5:7)
• Run from God’s Word and his plan
• Focus on self
• Focus on other people (Gn. 19:28)
• Focus on things and material (Heb. 13:5-6)

James 1:14 – We are tempted by our own evil natures

Three enemies of the believer:

1) The World

2) The Flesh (sin nature)

3) The Devil

Ephesians 4:25 –

1) Do not sin

2) Do not give the devil a foothold