Scouting Report
TCF Sermon
July 6, 2003
2 Cor. 2:10-11 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive--I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake,
in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
The context of this passage is a man in Corinth who was under discipline, who had apparently repented. Paul was concerned that if this man wasn’t openly forgiven, Satan might use that lack of forgiveness on the part of the local church, to plant a spirit of bitterness in him.
Paul knew that nurturing bitterness over how we’re treated is one of the schemes, one of the tactics, that the enemy uses, to draw us away from God, and that’s the enemy’s primary goal in trying to utterly defeat us – to draw us away from our Creator.
Can’t you picture Satan at first, trying to keep the Corinthians from disciplining the man at all...now we don’t know what the sin was – there’s speculation among different scholars.
But we do know that Satan is not omniscient. While God literally knows our every thought, Satan, in a sense, might know what we’re thinking, too, but that’s only from thousands of years of observing human nature. And in those years, Satan probably observed that, first of all, many people have a hard time imposing discipline. Sometimes it’s just easier to let things go. Discipline, and not just parents toward children, but especially among adults, is not a pleasant task.
So, the enemy’s first scheme here was probably to whisper to the Corinthians something like, “Well, it’s really not that bad, and he probably won’t do it again, and besides, he’ll just be mad at us if we discipline him.”
When that didn’t work, Satan just went with the flow. When the Corinthians decided to discipline the man, Satan worked to make the pendulum swing all the way to the other extreme... from no discipline, to too much, and too harsh.
That’s what Paul feared, that’s what prompted his remark “that Satan might not outwit us, for we are not unaware of his schemes.”
I believe an illustration from the sports world will help us begin to see what Paul is writing of here when he writes in verse 11:
“in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”
Who knows what a scouting report is? That’s the title of this morning’s message: Scouting Report. A good scouting report in sports reveals the
- tendencies
- strengths
- weaknesses
of an upcoming opponent. It tells the strategies and tactics of the opponent. These strategies may be inclined to capitalize on your tendencies, strengths and weaknesses, to your opponent’s advantage.
In football, for example, if a team runs the option, you prepare your defense to handle that offense. If a team passes more, you prepare your defense to deal with passing. If a team has a particularly talented running back, you might look for his tendencies and prepare a strategy to stop him.
In basketball, which I know better, let’s look at the same kinds of scouting reports.
If a player can’t use his left hand in play, you might encourage the defender to overplay him, that is, make him have to go left. If a player is a good shooter, but doesn’t drive to the basket well, you’ll play him up tight, forcing him to drive to the basket. I coached with a man once who really knew his hoops – a great basketball coach. Ken Brannon, who went to be with the Lord a few months ago, came up with some good scouting reports when we would see a future opponent play. I remember scouting this one team that had a great shooter. Ken noticed as we watched him play that when he was dribbling the ball before a shot, he always took two hard dribbles just before he stopped dribbling and went up for a jump shot. We told the defenders that, and they harassed him mercilessly when he’d take those two hard bounces.
These things are all part of a good scouting report. In our Christian faith, our battle against a very real enemy is a lot more serious, and a lot more important, than this sports analogy, which is helpful to a point. In fact, scripture draws a clear comparison to warfare in many places -
Ephes. 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
2 Cor. 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
Now, we do war against our own human nature, but our enemy takes advantage of that, too, as we noted a few minutes ago, he’s had thousands of years to observe us, and he’s an ally with that human nature to bring us to defeat.
Rev. 13:7 says, speaking of the devil, He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
So, while the enemy has a well-worn scouting report on us, Paul says we have a scouting report on Satan, too.
If you know your enemy has stones, knives and swords, your tactics will be very different than if you know your enemy has rifles, grenades and tanks. If you’re a man, and you know that men are visually oriented in terms of their sexuality, you know that you should avoid visual stimulation.
This is but one example of understanding the enemy’s strategies. The enemy is a deceiver, enticing us into thinking “hey, I can handle this!”
“Just a little bit won’t hurt. I can dance close to the edge without falling off.
We probably never think this as I just stated it, because we deceive ourselves,
but we act like we believe this:
“Just a little bit of the devil in my life can’t possibly hurt.”
When we believe that, or when our actions reveal that we believe that, the enemy has us right where he wants us. He has capitalized on our weakness of self-deception, and used his number one strategy or scheme for our destruction.
A Haitian pastor was illustrating to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ. His parable: A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn’t afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.
After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.
The pastor’s conclusion: "If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation." Dale A. Hays, Leadership, Vol X, #3 (Summer, 1989), p. 35.
There are many strategies of the enemy we could put in our scouting report for believers, but this morning, we’re going to look at just a few of his most prevalent schemes. Then, we too, can say with Paul, “that Satan might not outwit us, for we are not unaware of his schemes.”
In other words, we’ve read the scouting report. We know what to expect. And we, too, have a plan to deal with his schemes.
I first began thinking about this message when I read in my daily devotional back in May, and this passage of scripture from 2 Cor. was used. The writer of this devotional, William McDonald, wrote about the devices and schemes of the enemy, and listed several.
As informed Christians, we need not be in a position to be caught off guard. Satan’s advantage is based, at least in part, upon us being "ignorant of his devices."
But if we are aware of the methods Satan uses to lead people astray, we can resist him successfully!
Satan, first and foremost, is a liar and deceiver. In John 8:44, Jesus said of the devil, He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
2 Cor. 11:14 ...Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
2 Thes. 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,
In fact, I’d say that many if not most of his other schemes are related to, or rooted in, his lying and deception. Without the lying and deceiving, many of the other schemes would have no teeth – they wouldn’t be effective against us.
Again, using a sports analogy, if a basketball team has a really good big man at the center position, the whole offensive scheme revolves around that man’s size and skill. The offense will start with trying to get the ball to the big man in a spot where he can score. If the team adjusts by doing something to stop it, for example, by double-teaming the big man and making him give up the ball, the offense is prepared to adjust with another tactic, for example, by positioning a good shooter in a place for an easy shot, so the big man can easily pass the ball to the shooter, making the double-team ineffective.
But the point is, the whole strategy of the offense relies on the big man and his skill. Lying and deception is the equivalent of the “big man” of Satan’s offense.
Remember, Jesus called Satan the father of lies. Isn’t it interesting that we tend to think of lying as one of those little sins. But the father of lies is the enemy of our souls, He’s Satan, the enemy of God.
So, lying is the focal point of most of his schemes. Let’s think how the enemy lies to us, in the day-to-day of our existence.
One is a way we’ve already looked at briefly. Either we think, and he nurtures that thought, or he suggests to our thoughts, “I can handle this.” He appeals to our inborn pride.
Whether it’s something on the slippery slope toward sin, or even something that’s not sinful in and of itself. When he lies to us, telling us we can do something on our own, apart from God, he’s beginning the process of deceit, the process of lying to us, that keeps us from wholehearted devotion to Christ.
That keeps us from relying wholly and completely on God. So, what we see, with our spiritual eyes, as illuminated by Scripture, is this constant battle.
God wants us to surrender completely to Him. He promises to provide everything we need, physically, spiritually, emotionally.
But the enemy of our souls says, “Hey, you can handle this.” Remember, Satan’s a liar and deceiver.
But he says, “you can do this,” and then he watches us often actually experience some level of success, in handling some details of life.
That only reinforces Satan’s lie to us. Because every good and perfect gift is from our Heavenly Father. But Satan says we’ve earned it, we’ve done it ourselves. Satan deceives us into thinking we can go it alone.
He lied to Eve, telling her she could be like God, knowing all that God knows.
We’ve been falling for some version of that big lie ever since the fall. This big lie of Satan’s is why we push the boundaries of sin...while the Word of God clearly warns us about this, giving example after example of the subtle, and some not so subtle dangers of sin and our own pride.
Instead of heeding those clear warnings, and staying as far from edge of sin as we can, we listen to this big lie of Satan.
He says, “you can handle it!” Dance close to the edge! What’s the harm!
Just because so and so can’t handle it doesn’t mean you can’t!
The truth is, God wants us to rely wholly and completely on Him. God has given us His very reliable Word for instruction, and told us as clearly as can be – our hope must be completely in Him.
The big lie of Satan is that we can do it on our own. And when we succumb to that scheme, believe that lie, we place ourselves on the road to destruction.
These lies are so effective that they can literally corrupt our minds.
2 Cor. 11:3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
The enemy lies to us when he tells us that devotion to Christ doesn’t matter. He lies to us and corrupts our thinking, our minds. The context of this passage we just read is false teaching, which is a subcategory of the enemy’s lies, and a dangerous scheme.
Jim Garrett and I were talking this week about a new paper he’s getting ready to write, and it’s been made necessary by a lie of the enemy. He’s hearing that more and more in the church, universalism –
the idea that all are saved, that we needn’t receive the free gift of God’s grace through Jesus, that it doesn’t matter who we trust for salvation, because all will inherit eternal life –
is infecting the church, and leading people astray. Of course, this isn’t the only false teaching that leads people astray. Satan has a huge bag of lies about God, about His plan of salvation, about His mercy, and about His judgment, that lead people astray.
Here’s another scheme of the enemy we’ve all experienced, and again, it’s rooted in his lying and deception.
He is a discourager.
in fact, that’s one of the things Paul was warning against in our opening passage this morning. He knew that overbearing harshness in the Corinthians’ discipline of this man would eventually discourage him, and cause him to lose hope, and cause bitterness to rise.
NAS Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
NIV Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Notice it relates a root of bitterness to missing the grace of God. One of the ways we miss the grace of God is when the enemy lies to us and tells us we’ve blown it, that the grace of God isn’t sufficient, that Jesus’ sacrifice for us isn’t enough.
Paul was concerned that this man would miss the grace of God, grow discouraged, would not be able to experience God’s forgiveness, because the Corinthians wouldn’t let him. He would then grow bitter, lose hope, become discouraged.
Paul wrote the Corinthians earlier in this passage:
2 Cor. 2:6-7 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. 7Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
So, whether it’s related to some failure of our own, followed by church discipline, or if it’s something completely different, how many times have we heard the enemy say to us,
“What’s the use? What’s the point of this effort?”
He’s whispered to us, “things will never get any better, it will always be like this.”
He’s whispered to us, “there’s no hope...you might as well give up.”
It doesn’t matter what the situation is. Satan is a discourager.
While the Word of God clearly calls on us to persevere, while the Word of God says,
1 Cor. 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.
Ephes. 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
2 Tim. 2:1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Our enemy says, “give up!” He says “your faith is useless.” He says God’s grace is not sufficient.
I’m here to tell you this morning that this is one of those schemes of the enemy.
Our scouting report tells us this in advance. Expect it, remember it, and deal with it accordingly.
A related tactic we’ve seen little of here, but are aware of around much of the world, is that Satan is a persecutor.
Rev. 2:10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
I believe that again, the enemy’s lies are at the root of persecution. Not his lies to believers, necessarily, though I’m sure in the midst of persecution, he tells believers that God has abandoned them.
But they’re persecuted because the enemy tells the persecutors that somehow, Christians are a threat to them. The truth is, Christians are a threat to Satan. That’s why he persecutes, that’s why he lies to get people to do his dirty work of persecution, because Christians are a threat to him.
Another tactic of Satan is that he is an accuser of the brothers. That is, he accuses those who are of the faith. He does this before God, and to our own minds.
Rev. 12:10 talks of Satan, and it says he’s “the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night...”
What Satan apparently does is go before God, constantly, and point out how weak and worthless we are. He tattles on us before the throne of God, tlling God, as if God doesn’t already know, that we’re sinners!
He comes before our heavenly Father and tells Him, “did you see how miserably Bill failed when he lost his temper in traffic!” “Did you see how Bill blew it when he had a chance to bring your love to that person and instead passed right by!”
“Did you see how selfish Bill was in that situation?!!”
Related to accusing us before God, is accusing us in our own minds.
“How can you call yourself a pastor and act like that?” “How can you call yourself a Christian and do that, or think that, or behave that way?”
Our enemy takes what he observes about our character, about our sin, and not only tattles before God about it, but rubs it in our noses!
And the sad part of it is, some of it is true. That’s what makes most of Satan’s lies so effective.
There’s an element of truth. Though it’s not the whole truth and nothing but the truth, there’s enough truth to make it effective with us.
I do blow it. I know that may come as a shock to some of you. I do sin. We all do.
The Word of God not only gives us a good scouting report on these tactics of the enemy, but makes it clear how we’re to respond to these tactics.
Rev. 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
The word of our testimony is this: “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.”
Here’s an example where the enemy mixes truth with lies: Satan points out to God, and to us, our sin.
And it’s true.
But then he mixes in the lie...he adds: “you’re doomed...”
“you’re a miserable sinner and there’s no hope.”
That’s where he blows it – we’ve discovered his weak spot.
Because while we are sinners, we do have a sure and certain hope...in Christ.
As Christians, we are under the blood of the Lamb of God, who takes away those sins. So, how do we respond to the enemy’s accusation?
Remember, Satan’s chief weapon is lying and deceiving. The best response to lies is the truth.
John 8:31-32 Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
What’s more, Jesus said that He is the truth.
Satan is the father of lies.
Jesus is the truth.
The scouting report says our best defense against lies is the truth.
The whole truth – Jesus, the embodiment of the truth. And the scouting report also includes our playbook in
Ephes. 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Of course, these tactics on the full armor of God are a sermon in themselves.
But this passage addresses clearly each of Satan’s primary schemes, the ones we’ve mentioned, and the many we haven’t, such as:
- how Satan tries to keep us from doing God’s will (see Mark 8:31-33)
- How he divides and conquers.
- How he blinds to the light of truth (see 2 Cor 4:4)
- How he typically attacks after great spiritual victories or mountaintop experiences.
- How he uses the “grass is always greener” thought, sowing in our hearts dissatisfaction with our circumstances, so we look elsewhere for our hope and satisfaction.
But still, the best defense is the full armor of God, using God’s truth to fight the enemy’s lies.
Finally, it might seem so obvious we needn’t say it, but a key element in beating an opponent in sports, or in war, or in our spiritual lives, is that we cannot do their work for them.
If we want to win, we can’t help them out.
I remember in 8th grade, a friend of mine took the tipoff in a playoff basketball game, and promptly took the ball right to the basket and scored, for the other team.
It demoralized us, and though we might have lost anyway, we were done – we never recovered.
James 4:4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
When we’re friends with the world, Satan doesn’t need too many schemes to defeat us. We’re all but beaten before we start. A few verses later, it says,
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
I pray that in reading the scouting report, we would first submit ourselves to God,
knowing that then, when we resist the devil, He will flee...... we are not unaware of his schemes, and God has provided the weapons of our warfare...
Pray.
