Common Areas In Which Satan Will Work Hard To Trip Up Christians (Part I)

Eph. 6:10-13 - 10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the

Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole

armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the

wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle 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.

13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may

be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to

stand.

We should know that satan hurls his fiery darts at us on a

regular basis.

A. I am sure that we understand that those darts are

not physical arrows.

1. If we understand that, we need to understand

just what they ARE.

The arrows that can kill us, spiritually, if we don’t use the

armor which God has given us......these arrows are the

many areas in which we are susceptible to temptation.

A. Understand that satan will, most likely, not tempt

any one of us to take drugs, get drunk, commit

suicide, kill someone else, etc., etc..

We need to be prepared for reality.......for that which we

could, very probably, be tempted.

A. The best way in which to be prepared is

KNOWLEDGE AND RECOGNITION!!!

1. We must know where the attacks will come

from.

a. We’re in the army of God........an army

will never win a battle if the enemy has

the advantage of surprise.

Let us take a look as some of the areas in which satan will,

quite often, tempt and trip us up.

I. We are susceptible to doubt........doubt is the opposite of

faith.

Heb. 10:22-23 - 22let us draw near with a true heart in

full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an

evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

23Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without

wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

A. Doubt is an attack, by the devil, upon our belief

structure....upon our trust in the unseen and

that which we have not physically experienced.

1. Doubt......if allowed a foothold......can and

often does produce a defeating attitude.

2. Doubt can cause one to resist the truth.

a. satan will work in traditions......those

things or habits that are already familiar

to us.

1.) Doing something differently or

something that challenges our

strongly held beliefs, can lock us

up in fear.

a.) This fear will cause us to not

step out on faith.

EXAMPLE: There are many examples......in physical

realms, where a person has died.....rather than

do what is necessary to live.

a. Won’t jump into a net from a burning

building.

b. Won’t make a leap to a rope to escape

a raging flood.

c. Won’t jump from a crashing plane even

though he has a perfectly good

parachute.

** Doubt produces fear..........fear incapacitates a person

so that he/she won’t act in his/her best interests.

b. There are times when we must throw off

the shackles of traditions, previously held

beliefs, and doctrines of men.

1.) Resisting the truth as we can know

it from God.......locks us in our

prejudices, false beliefs, and

traditions of destruction.

a.) Just because we have “always

believed something”.......this

should not be the validation

of that belief......God’s Word

may....and often does.....

challenge our pre-formed

ideas...........WE MUST BE

ABLE TO STEP OUT, ON

FAITH AND REJECT

ANYTHING THAT GOES

AGAINST THE WORD!!

B. Doubt will block God’s blessings that He has in

store for the person of faith.

James 1:2-8 - 2My brethren, count it all joy when you fall

into various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith

produces patience. 4But let patience have its perfect work,

that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5If

any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to

all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to

him. 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he

who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by

the wind. 7For let not that man suppose that he will

receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded

man, unstable in all his ways.

1. God only blesses in proportion to our faith.

a. More specifically, we can see....over-and

-over again that God blesses in

proportion to OUR MEASURE OF

FAITH.

** Doubt will block some or all of the blessings that God

has in store for us.

C. Doubt will block our hearts best impulses......

doubt will hold us back from doing the right thing.

1. The Holy Spirit cannot work, in an effective

way, in the heart of one who has little or no

faith.

a. Our doubting limits or rejects the Holy

Spirit working in our lives.