1Peter 5:8
Satan’s Tactics: Discouragement and Beyond
I started a series of messages some weeks ago entitled, Satan’s
Tactics. In the last message, we noted that Satan does not use new
tactics when the old ones are working. Satan is old fashioned. He
sticks with what he knows will work and while he has many lures in
his tackle box, he favors some because they are the tried and true.
I also told you that I would discuss with you five of his lures,
those that he merely reloads and repeats. Perhaps it will make it
easier for you to remember them by remembering that all five start
with the letter ‘D." The first lure that Satan uses to tempt people
and pull them away from righteousness is DESIRE. Satan uses the
desires that we have within us to cause us to hurt ourselves.
This evening, I would like to share the second lure that Satan uses.
He uses DISCOURAGEMENT.
I. Elijah was a man with discouragement.
1Kings 18:22 Then said Elijah unto the people,
I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD;
but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty
men.
A. I don’t mean to throw off on Elijah. He was a great man of
God living in a very difficult time, but the devil almost got
Elijah with discouragement.
1. Notice the phrase, "I only remain."
2. Elijah repeated a similar phrase in \\#1Kings 19:10, 14\\,
"I, even I only, am left."
3. It seemed to Elijah that all the prophets and all the
people had turned from God, and that he was the last one
holding out.
a. He was not; There were 7,000 that God had reserved for
Himself; but even if he was the last, that would not
have given him permission to quit.
b. Yet, he almost did because he was discouraged!
4. No one can doubt Elijah’s walk with God.
a. Just read the Bible.
(1) The man talked to and heard from God on a regular
basis.
(2) He performed 8 miracles in the Bible.
(3) He prophesied future events that came true.
b. Yet, he became discouraged enough to almost quit on
God.
B. Understand what these means. Anyone and everyone can be
discouraged and even depressed.
1. Discouragement and depression are not signs of weakness.
2. They do not mean that you are not a Christian.
3. They do not mean that God has forsaken you.
4. They do mean that you are a human being with a sinful
nature, experiencing a human condition.
5. However, Christians can defeat discouragement.
6. Christians can even defeat depression.
1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and
have overcome them: because greater is he that
is in you, than he that is in the world.
a. Who is "them" in that verse?
b. "Them" is anyone or anything, including the devil,
that wants to attack you.
C. We need to understand some truths about discouragement and
it’s bigger brother, depression.
1. Both are battles of your spirit.
a. Discouraged comes from the prefix "dis" and the root
word "courage." To be discouraged means that your
SPIRIT lacks courage or zeal or zest.
b. Depressed is discouragement on steroids.
(1) The word comes from the prefix "de" and the root
word "pressed."
(a) The prefix "de" means down.
(b) The word "pressed" means to be put under
pressure, to be pushed upon.
(2) The two together mean your SPIRIT is being pushed
or pressed down.
(3) These are attacks against your SPIRIT. They may
have physical or mental causes, but the battle
will produce either a spiritual victory or a
spiritual loss.
c. A tire or balloon can illustrate the effect of both of
these attacks on our spirit.
(1) Discouragement is a like slow leak in a tire,
Your spirit is gradually losing courage,
strength, zeal, zest.
(2) But at some point, the tire has too little air in
it to carry the automobile. Now you are not
just discouraged, but you have lost so much
courage that you cannot function.
2. You can be discouraged and depressed because of physical
reasons.
a. Being excessively tired, a tired that reaches beyond
the body all the way into the spirit, can cause
discouragement and depression.
(1) Some think that is what happened to Elijah.
(2) He had been fighting the devil and all of his
forces and he was tired through and through.
(3) What’s the cure?
(a) It’s actually very simple. Rest.
(b) It may not sound spiritual but it is for
God commanded man to rest one day out of
every seven.
(c) \\#Ex 20:8-11\\ That’s one of the Big Ten.
b. Mental and physical problems can cause discouragement
and depression.
(1) Chemical imbalances and physical failings and
breakdowns of the body can cause them.
(2) There are medications, diets, and supplements
that can correct or at least help most of these
conditions.
(3) Whether there are cures or treatments for our
bodies, we must still do what we can to conform
the flesh into the image of Jesus Christ.
(a) Every human being has three enemies, the
world, the flesh, and the devil.
(b) For each enemy, God has given us a command
on how to defeat it.
i. For the world, God said flee and
separate from it. \\#2Tim 2:22\\
ii. For the flesh, God said to conform and
subdue it.
\\#Romans 12:2, 1Cor 9:27\\
iii. For the devil, God said to resist and
fight him \\#James 4:7\\.
(c) The key to overcoming our bodies is to, as
best as the Spirit of God will empower us,
to make it obey.
(d) That is what good parents try to discipline
into their children when they are young,
and it is what we must discipline into
yourselves after we are grown.
c. Sorrow can cause discouragement and depression.
(1) Sorrow can be caused by loneliness and too many
setbacks.
(2) God has promised to never put more on the
Christian that he can bear, but His confidence
in us often exceeds our confidence in ourselves.
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation
taken you but such as is common to man: but God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may
be able to bear it.
(3) What is the cure? Put some joy into your life.
Pro 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a
medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
d. But the biggest cause of discouragement and depression
is what the devil does against us.
(1) No matter the cause of our discouragement may be,
the devil will make it infinitely worse.
(2) In dealing with causes, we must always deal with
the devil.
II. We Must Defeat Discouragement.
A. Find out why you are discouraged and depressed.
1. I have listed four causes for discouragement and
depression , but I am sure there are probably more.
2. When you are discouraged and especially when you are
depressed, you need to find out why.
3. Three times in the book of Psalms, David asked the
question, "Why are you cast down, O my soul?"
(a) \\#Ps 42:5, 11, 43:5\\
(b) Why did he ask that? Because he needed to know the
answer.
(c) If you do not know why are "cast down" or "depressed,"
you will have a far more difficult time overcoming
it—and it can be overcome.
4. How do I find out?
(a) Pray
(1) Even before you go to the doctor, pray.
(2) Christians need to quit making prayer their last
resort and make it their first.
(3) If there is a God in heaven who died for you,
loves you, saved you, and wants to have a
relationship with you, then He ought to be
willing to at least talk to you.
(4) He can certainly show you whether you are tired
or filled with sorrow.
(b) Assume
(1) In most cases, to make assumptions is dangerous,
but no matter what the root cause of your
discouragement or depression may be, you can
assume that the devil is making it worse.
(2) Why? Because Satan is a roaring lion, walking
about to destroy you!
(c) Treat
(1) Please notice that my most recent thought was,
"Find out WHY you are discouraged and
depressed," and my last recommendation to you
was to "Treat" the problem
(2) You should be asking, "How can I treat a problem
if I do not yet know what caused the problem?"
(3) You need to remember that despite what the
"professionals" may say, dealing with spiritual
problems is not an exact science so try the
process of elimination.
(4) Treat whatever problem and all the problems that
you can even remotely imagine causing your
spirit.
B. Treat all of the possibilities:
1. Rest - Since exhaustion can cause discouragement and
depression, take some time off to rest.
2. Do something different. Do something fun.
(a) This is difficult for people who are discouraged or
depressed; but since being in a rut and being alone
can cause discouragement and depression, change
things up.
(b) Find someone to do things with.
(1) In a church of almost any size, there are others
in the same condition as you, heading towards
your condition, or in worse shape than you.
(2) If everyone would quit hiding what they are
going through, the members of the body of
Christ could actually help one another to deal
with the attacks this world makes on our
spirit.
(3) We need to hold one another accountable to
better thinking and better use of our time; and
the best way to do that is to spend time
together.
Ge 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good
that the man should be alone; I will make him an
help meet for him.
(4) If that were true of the sinless man, Adam, how
much more is it true of the sinful men and
women that we now are?
i. By the way, I am not saying that those who
are desperate to get married should run
out and marry the first thing that comes
along.
ii. I am speaking of friendships to battle
discouragement and depressions not
romantic relationships.
iii. If you are desperate to find romance, you
will likely find that the romantic
process will lead to more discouragement
and depressions instead of less.
iv. Besides that, you don’t want to marry a
person you are not first friends with.
v. One of the most important proverbs in the
Bible is:
Proverbs 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew
himself friendly: and there is a friend that
sticketh closer than a brother.
(aa) Quit being hungry and desperate and
just be friendly.
(bb) Find people that will stick with
you no matter what.
3. Take better care of the body you live within.
a. Spiritual attacks can come through physical means.
b. Most likely, we could all do a better job in our diet,
exercising, fasting, and taking vitamins and
supplements to make up for what our body doesn’t get
or what our body can no longer pull out for itself.
c. We are living in the 21st century. We should use some
of what is available to us to help strengthen our
bodies and our spirits.
d. Don’t just do and take everything, but try some
healthy alternatives and see if it helps.
4. Listen to good, Christian music.
a. \\#1Sam 16:14-23\\, Saul had an evil spirit afflicting
him.
b. The story is a bit complicated but the short of it is
that Saul was disobeying God so God allowed a demonic
spirit to attack Saul’s spirit.
c. Some wise men near Saul realized what was happening
and advised the king to find someone who could play
the right kind of music to minister to the king.
(1) Through God’s hand, the young man they selected
was David.
(2) Listen to what happened:
1Sam 16:23 And it came to pass, when the evil
spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took
an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was
refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit
departed from him.
(3) Please understand that I am speaking here of
music that drives always demons and draws you to
God not music that drives away God and draws
demons to you.
(4) A lot of what parades even for Christian music
today is nothing but the devil’s music with a
few words changed.
(5) If it was the music you loved when you were lost
and backslidden to God, it must NOT be the right
kind of music to attract God and drive away
demons.
(6) If it didn’t attract God and drive away the
demons when you were lost and backslidden, why
would it attract God and drive away demons now?
5. See a doctor.
a. Everyone needs a doctor who understands that humans
are body, soul, and spirit; but especially those who
are experiencing the spiritual symptoms of
discouragement and depression.
b. Discouragement and depression can be rooted in a
physical problem.
c. If you are praying and the first things have not
helped, it may be time to see a doctor to explore
the physical possibilities.
6. If you have been prescribed medicines by a qualified,
Christian doctor who understand the attacks of the devil
on your spirit, take them.
a. Even until you find such a doctor, I would recommend
you take whatever the doctor you trust has
recommended you take, but Christians NEED to find
doctors that understand that there is a spiritual
warfare being waged against their spirit.
b. Every Christian needs to understand what pills can and
cannot do.
(1) As far as my limited mind can understand,
medications do primarily two things:
(a) They can provide what our body needs until
we and our bodies can heal itself.
i. In some cases, that healing may not be
possible so we may have to take
medication the rest of our lives.
ii. But our goal should be to heal the
body not to medicate it.
(b) They can sedate our spirit. If you need
rest and that is the only way you are going
to get it, medicine can certainly help; but
sedating one’s self through drugs or
liquor is only delaying a problem that is
still going to have to be dealt with sooner
or later.
(2) However, medications also do some things against
us.
(a) They can give us the sense of being healed
when we are not. This can cause us to rely
on a pill instead of helping our bodies to
heal.
(b) Our bodies and spirits can become dependent
upon them.
(c) They can cause unwanted side-effects.
(d) When we sedate our spirit, we just delaying
dealing with hurt, pain, and attacks that
we are going to have to deal with sooner
or later.
7. As you do everything else you can, do not neglect to
resist the devil!
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
a. God does not command us to run from the devil or to
conform him. He commands us to resist him.
b. How?
(1) Memorize, meditate, and mention Bible verses.
(2) Pray
(3) Attend church, listen to sermons and Christian
music.
(4) Contact Christian friends who will pray for you,
with you, and will do things with you.
(5) Don’t give into the abyss.
(a) The tendency of the discouraged and
depressed is to isolate themselves and pull
the cover over their heads.
(b) Fight it.
i. The more isolated you are, the more you
have nothing to do but think on how
bad things are.
ii. The more you think on how bad things
are, the more depressed you become.
(6) Associate new habits with the devil's attacks.
(a) When you feel discouragement and depression
trying to pull you in, find something
physical to do for Jesus.
(b) Pass out tracts; read the Bible to someone
who can’t; visit the hospitals (waiting
rooms are usually always full); write poems,
sermons, letters to others and yourself.
(c) Find something to do for Jesus that will
make the devil regret attacking you.
One of the most powerful tools the devil uses against people is
discouragement and depression. If it worked on Elijah, it can work
on anyone. To save Elijah, God intervened. To save you, you will
have to let God intervene as well. I pray you will allow Him to do
so tonight.
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