If we are going to be successful in this battle for our soul, which is your mind, your will and your emotions, we have to understand how our enemy works. If we don’t understand how he is working to influence our minds, we won’t recognize his attack when it comes. Jesus prayed: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”. Simply put, Satan’s goal is to stop God’s will from being done on the earth. 2 Corinthians 4:4 “4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” John 12:31 “31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” Satan has been given rulership over the earth. He was given this rulership when Adam rebelled against God and handed his authority over to Satan. And now, he is working to be sure his will is done on the earth. Satan hates it when his authority is threatened. And it’s threatened when Believers do God’s will.
When the kingdom of God is expanded in the earth, Satan’s will is abandoned in exchange for God’s will. So, in order for Satan to stop God’s will from being done, he has to stop the kingdom expansion. But how does he try to stop the kingdom expansion plan? There are lots of tools in his tool bag. One of the oldest and most effective is discouragement. If he can get the wedge of discouragement in between your armor, its easy for him to put anything else into your mind. After discouragement, comes doubt, then worry and anxiety. Have you ever experienced that pattern in your life? Today we will focus on Satan’s overall plan for the destruction of nations. His job is to steal, kill and destroy. He is able to steal, kill and destroy...what he controls. He controls a nation by controlling its citizens. And the best way to do that in mass is to win their hearts and minds with a simple message. In order to do that he must tear apart the individual’s support system. We call it a family. Satan’s main effort has been the destruction of the family. But how did he get multiple generations to throw away the idea of family? In our lifetime, he’s been successful, through the use of divorce and abortion. Let’s look back for a minute to see how he has accomplished this. When I was just a kid in the 70’s there was a movement that had started taking hold in the US. It was called the free love movement and it began in the San Francisco area of California.
The perceived target was women, who needed to be set free from the constraints of a more conservative society. It was a movement against family values. It was an idea of sexual freedom and the simple message told women “you’re number one, so do whatever makes you feel good” because “there are no moral absolutes”. That was a message that not only allowed sex without the commitment of marriage, but actually encouraged it. Now which group is benefitted more by that message, men or women? Who is more motivated by sex, men or women? Do you still think women were the intended target of this movement? No, they were just the bait. A man will more easily accept a message, even if it’s a lie, as long as it comes through the temptation of a woman. Has that not been Satan’s tactic from the very beginning with Adam and Eve? Yes, the true target of the free love movement was men. Because as the father goes, so goes the family. This movement told us that we can do anything we want and there is no one who can tell us it’s wrong. It fought against traditional Christian marriage values and everything the Word of God tells us is right. Today the movement goes by different names, but its message is the same. That message has had a devastating affect on our country that can still be seen. The Pro-Choice movement is responsible for 50 million abortions worldwide every year. That’s 125,000 a day. The divorce rate rose to about 50% in the 80’s, but is now on the decline. But that’s not great news, because the divorce rate is
lower because younger people are just not getting married. They just live together without the marriage commitment. 19.7 million children live in Fatherless homes. These children are at 4 times greater risk of poverty, the girls are 7 times more likely to become pregnant as a teen. And the likelihood of substance abuse, committing crime and dropping out of high school is at least double. But how did Satan accomplish this take over of our society? This coup of God’s original system didn’t happen overnight. It took planning and strategy. And that’s what we as christians have to be aware of...Satan’s strategy for control of people’s will. After the strategy is determined, any successful coup needs to have three basic things in place for each generation, to ensure the success of the message. The music, the media and the military. Music and fine arts reflect the desired culture, which molds and frames the message. Just like in an ad agency, the creative department creates the messaging. I worked in ad agencies for about 10 years in creative departments. And how do they do it? By picking an emotion to play on. Anytime you need to soften a message, you just play the right music behind it. Music sets an atmosphere and opens you up to whatever is put into that atmosphere. It was said by Andrew Fletcher in the 17th century “Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.” The idea behind this is that music is more effective than legislation at changing a person’s heart, mind and behavior. Mass Media Communications proclaim and promote the righteousness of the message. If you hear a message enough
times your natural response bends toward that message. The emotion of pride and our desire to fit in make us want to conform to a popular message that has been promoted as “the right way to think”. You’d have to be stupid to vote for that guy, right? Insurance commercials use the emotion of fear to make you worry about the “what if”. You want to be prepared, right? Just look at how “happy” those people at Disney are. Don’t your kids deserve that? Pick your emotion, happiness or jealousy, whichever triggers you to buy into the message. Military force, through fear, protect and assure obedience to the message that has been broadcast through the media. If the media has not convinced you to obey the message, then perhaps some persuasion through the threat of force will do the trick. This is the last step to ensure adherence to the message. Let’s examine these things from the perspective of the enemy, so we can discover his methods. It’s not like he’s trying to hide. His methods have been on display from his beginning. Ezekiel 28:13 “13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The sapphire, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings (tambourines) and sockets (flutes), Was in you.” Lucifer was the most beautiful cherub, and apparently the lead worship artist. Music is his thing, and he’s good at it. Look at how he is described. He’s covered in jewels and has musical instruments built into him. He sounds like the original rock star. Lots of flash and dazzle. Does he remind you of our current rock and pop stars that we have worshiped for decades?
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 “14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” How about even our christian worship “stars”. Does our current worship stage show look any different than a secular pop concert? I wonder who is influencing the next generation of church leaders? 2 Corinthians 2:11 “11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” Satan works through the flesh to get to the mind. Music is a gateway because it enter through the flesh, but goes right to your emotions, bypassing your thoughts. This is the easiest way for his message to be ingrained into your emotions. Ever heard a song and immediately you were taken back to a point in time when you heard that song a lot? What emotions were instantly flooded back into your heart? What emotional device drove the free love movement? Folk music. The simple melodies and acoustic guitars carried the themes of rebellion and freedom across the nation. And how did it do that...RADIO. The message needed to be carried by the media over the airwaves. It was setting the atmosphere. If you don’t think that is significant, consider this. Ephesians 2:2-3 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,”
Satan is the prince of the power of the air. Broadcast networks began as local “over the air” TV and radio stations. The enemy started tearing away at the fabric of society by using radio first, as a way to get into our homes. Television soon followed and has continued to deliver Satan’s message into our “family” rooms. We seem to have gotten numb to its messages. And if we did wise up to its affects on our thought life all we have to do is turn it off, right? Remember who the original target of satan’s message was? It was men. Who is the person in your house who is the most interested in watching TV...men or women? Who wants the biggest TV Costco sells? But that’s only a problem when we are at home. Satan had a way to deliver this message to our house, but we had to be there in order to receive it. That’s how it was for years. But then something changed. What is it these days that comes over the air and tries to wreck our lives? It tracks us down wherever we go and is relentless in its pursuit of our attention. Could it possibly be our cell signal? It doesn't just wait for us to engage with it. It sends us notifications to make sure we know it has something to tell us. It’s more than just wasting time at home watching TV, it’s a full on addiction. The algorithms that control social media and online content are designed to learn from a person’s search behavior and then send personalized messages, products and people to get you to focus on yourself. Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life are the calling cards of online content. Anything that has the ability to pull you in and capture your emotions can be used against you.
The simple message hasn’t changed. “You’re number one and your happiness is all that matters.” But the delivery method is much more powerful. The amount of easily available deadly content that is streaming towards us every second, vying for our attention, is proving to be devastating to the latest generation. Ephesians 6:12 “12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
You may be tempted to think that Pastor Randall is just a prude who wants to convince you to turn off your TV and cell phone. Not at all, I have the TV on here at the church all day long. And what is on it? Worship music. I’ve been setting the atmosphere in this building for days and hours before you arrived. The air in this room has been saturated with the praise of our King. There is good content out there, but you have to diligently seek it and guard your heart from what the enemy wants to deposit into it. Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the issues of life. What you willingly allow into your heart, is what will grow there. Your heart is your mind, will and emotions...Your soul. And that is where the enemy has you under constant attack. That is always where the battle is won or lost. But now you know his plan of attack.
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