Nor Give Place To The Devil - Lake Forest church of Christ

Ephesians 4:25-27 (NKJV) Therefore, putting away lying, Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 25

Nor Give Place To The Devil EPHESIANS 4:25-27 Nor Give Place To The Devil Opportunist One who takes advantage of any opportunity to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences Do you know someone who could be

described as an opportunist? By most definitions, it seems like a bad trait Nor Give Place To The Devil There are certainly ways in which this can be good As Christians, we should be opportunists

We should always look for opportunities to help others and teach the lost Nor Give Place To The Devil Then there are those who look for opportunity to do evil The devil is one such character Satan looks for every opportunity

to do damage in our lives (I Pet. 5:8) Let us heed our warnings Satan - The Opportunist Satan has always been an opportunist Satan will use every advantage and every tool at his disposal He will deceive us and lie to us Jesus called Satan a murderer, a

liar, and the father of lies (Jn. 8:44) Satan - The Opportunist Paul says that Satan will even transform himself into something he is not (an angel of light II Cor. 11:14) Again we think of the picture of Satan as a roaring lion, looking for one to devour (I Pet. 5:8)

He is always on the prowl Satan - The Opportunist Satan will always look for opportunities to catch someone when they are weak Satan came after Jesus following a 40 day fast (Matt. 4) He was hoping to catch Jesus in one of His weakest moments here upon

the earth Satan - The Opportunist Satan took opportunity to attack Job and weaken him enough to try and turn him against God (Job 1-2) Satan knows our weaknesses and will come after us He is a relentless opponent that will not give up and pounce on our

weakness Seeing The Opportunities There are certainly times in the scriptures where we are told that opportunities are given to Satan Our text for the lesson gives us an example of this Ephesians 4:25-27 Seeing The Opportunities

In this case, letting our anger stew inside of us instead of handling the issue A further example of this comes from Cain in Genesis 4:2-7 Cain was angry and God told him that sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you Seeing The Opportunities

Cain was giving Satan an opportunity by being angry with his brother for no (just) cause Jesus preached strongly against giving Satan an opportunity in our lives Matthew 5:21-48 Seeing The Opportunities The point Christ wanted to make is

not to give Satan an opportunity to tempt us to sin James tells us that sin begins when we lust after things (Js. 1:13-14) Satan uses the cares of the world for opportunity (Matt. 13:22) Seeing The Opportunities He also uses riches to tempt us and pull us away from God (Matt. 13:22;

I Tim. 6:9-10) Paul speaks to this also in Ephesians 5:3-7 He says not to even let those sins be named among us (no opportunity) Overcoming The Wicked The good news is that we do not have to succumb to Satans tricks We can overcome them because

God is greater than Satan (I Jn. 4:4) Since we have that assurance, we must look for ways to overcome temptations Overcoming The Wicked We can avoid giving Satan opportunity through: Prayer

(Matt. 6:13; 26:41; II Pet. 2:9) Study of Gods word (Matt. 4; Rom. 10:17) Good works (Phil. 4:8) Putting

on armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18) Overcoming The Wicked We can avoid giving Satan opportunity through: Fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) Looking for the way of escape (I Cor.

10:13) Be sober & vigilant (I Pet. 5:8) Resist him (Js. 4:7; I Pet. 5:9)