Dealing with Temptation- The Devil CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

We have waited until now to address tje sunject of the devil and his involveement in temptation because often he gets blamed for every temptation, when in reality he is rarely to blame.  As Bob Jones, Sr, used to say, “No doubt the trouble is with you.”  So, now we turn our attention to the devilto see what part he has in temptation.  The more you know your enemy, the more likely you wil be able to recognize his attackes and the more prepared you ewill be to deal with them.

Notice what the devil does:

He tempts – Matt 4:1 – he waits for a time when you are particularly vulnerable in an area of your weakness and then he tempts you to sin.

He possesses – Mk 5:15 – there is far more devil possession in the world today than many people realize – this fellow, after the devil had been cast out of him, was sitting, clothed and in his right mind – there are a lot of Americans who are more like this fellow was before the devil left him than after he left – that ought to tell you something.

He deceives- Rev 12:9, 20:10 – in the same way that a deer hunter wears camouflage and feeds his prey in order to kill it, the devil will deceive you – you will believe that you are right and you will be absolutely wrong.

There are other things, but in order to end this study on a good note, we need to see one thing you can do if you find that you have been deceived.  You should:

Repentantly acknowledge the truth – 2 Tim 2:24-26 – the way to free yourself from the snare of the devil is to repent and acknowledge the truth, since failure to believe the truth in the decption is what ensnared you in the first place.