Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Satanic Wiles Pt.4

Let’s turn to Ephesians. We want to continue our study on the armor of God. What we’ve been looking at is that the armor is not just specific aspects of faith or doctrine of imputed righteousness. The armor of God really is a reflection of our character, and the armor of God is a continuous lifestyle. To be prepared with the armor of God, that we can stand in the evil day, is going to have to do with a lifestyle of obedience, of recognizing the tactics of the enemy, and not only the tactics of the enemy, but the tendencies of our own flesh. And so, as we continue in the study of spiritual warfare and this dealing with principalities and powers that we might be able to affect the kingdom of God, we have to see it as the preparation of a life, and not just preparation for an incident or a battle.

Let’s look at Ephesians again. Chapter 6. We’ll read through this passage beginning at verse 10. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." We talked about the fact that those "wiles" are the "cunning devices." The Scripture says we’re not ignorant of his devices, and yet many of us live like we are. We say, "Oh wow! The devil is making this opportunity available at this particular junction." You should have known it going in. You should know clearly where all of the areas of danger are that you’re going to face on a daily basis. If you haven’t figured it out yet, then you need to spend a little more time understanding your adversary. The sad thing is (and that’s what we’ve been spending a lot of time learning in this particular study) that we need to realize also that the devil is not our main problem; our flesh is, our lack of character. The sin that’s in our members is what we really need to understand and prepare ourselves for. The armor not only protects us from the devil’s attack; the armor holds in all that natural depravity so that it can’t get out and express itself. And so, it’s very important that we see the depravity of man being recognized clearly, and the sin that’s in our own members, and see it put under. Paul said, "I put my body under on a daily basis; I take up the cross daily in my pursuit of Him."

And so, it talks about the wiles of the devil and how we can’t be taken by surprise. We’re not to be ignorant at all of his devices and understand that our war is against principalities and powers (Verse 12). And because of that, verse 13 says, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour..." There it is again; both times, the expression is "the whole armour." It’s not talking about any one segment of the armor. But we’re to realize that we are vulnerable if every aspect of the armor isn’t in place at all times—the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, loins gird with truth, feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God. And so, we stand adorned in this armor. This passage tells us then that when we are adorned in the armor of God, there will be a natural consequence of that, and it’s going to be a withstanding—or we saw in the Greek that it’s an active aorist, "a setting out against." You’re going to know how well you’re dressed by how militant you are against sin. You’re going to know how much armor is in place by what you’re doing to oppose sin—both satanic and indwelling. You can gauge it according to your withstanding (or your setting out against), how zealous you are to deal with sin as you encounter it externally or internally. You cannot have on the armor of God and be neutral toward sin. You can’t placate others that are around you and just let it slide because they’re a buddy or whatever. You can’t casually give place to disobedience in your life and involve yourself with things in the world. The Scripture says, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." (II Cor. 6:17) You can’t involve yourselves in those things if the armor of God is in place. When we’re aware of that, we can very easily judge our response to sin in us and in those who are around us, and be able to tell whether the armor is in place.

As you take the whole armor of God, the Scripture says that we’re to then become active, militant, because we’re in the evil day. And having done all (and we tried to emphasize this), then you stand. We’re talking about going and taking back those areas that Satan has come and taken in our lives. Every one of us here this morning has experienced the battle, and then battling again to re-take the land. There’s not a person in here whose life is on a constant plane of growth. Every one of us in this room—our spiritual lives cycle, don’t they? Hopefully, you’re cycling and spiraling on an upward plane. Every one of us experiences that. We have times that we’re more excited and zealous for the things of God, and then we realize that our lives have been affected by the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things. And we find ourselves like Lot, vexed, and we find ourselves like Peter, needing our feet washed. And if we don’t have our feet washed by the Master, we can have no part of Him, the Scripture tells us. You get defiled walking in this life; there’s no way to get around it. But the Word washes us, the Scripture says, and the presence of the Spirit of God, that fire, refines our hearts and makes us into the image of Jesus. Every one of us is going to be affected by our life in this world, and it’s going to pollute us to one degree or another. And so, there needs to be that cleansing. But until you recognize the need for it, the enemy has taken advantage of you. Every one of us this morning has land to be taken back. Every one of us this morning has ground to be recovered. And the Scripture says here in Ephesians that if we’ll set out against the enemy, having done all, stand. Having done all what? Having done all to recover that area of your life where Satan’s taken advantage of you. The areas where you used to be zealous for the Lord but now you’re apathetic. Don’t settle for anything less than that which belongs to you—those areas that His Word promises us.

And so, we saw that there’s a need to active in that evil day. Look at what it says. It says, "...that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day." The Bible says in the last days iniquity is going to abound, and the love of many is going to wax cold. Where are you today in your love relationship with the Lord? Is it waxing cold, or can you say that you’re more in love with Jesus than you’ve ever been, that He is truly occupying that area as first love? Are there some things vying for that place in our hearts, the idols that this world throws up against us? That’s what we’re talking about here in recognizing our lack of armor.

We began to look at the tendencies that are in man and those things that we have to recognize that are going to hold us down. We talked about the fact that every one of us contends with the same things in this world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We’ve all seen that the bottom core, the root—beloved, every area in your life where you lack the presence of Jesus is caused by pride. Pride is the root of everything. All pride is, is that force that governs us by self-will. Pride is the force that’s expressed in self will, the self-life (me, mine). It’s the need, as we saw in an Esau, to have his appetite fed immediately and was willing to give up his birthright for it. It’s that self-life, as we saw, of Eve, who partook of the fruit in the midst of the garden because she wanted to be as God. The devil convinced her that there was something being withheld from her that would be good to experience. Every one of us has that tendency to be governed by the forbidden fruit. Just tell somebody they can’t have it, and it’ll make them want it. "You can’t do that; you can’t have that; that’s not good for you." The natural man is going to want to taste it for himself and it’s the consequence of Mother Eve, and it’s in every one of us.

And so, when we begin to see the war that’s going on, when we saw the fall of Adam—the Bible says clearly in Timothy that the woman was deceived, not the man. Eve was deceived, not Adam. We studied Adam’s life, and we saw what it was that caused him to partake of that fruit. It’s that natural tendency in man to assume responsibility upon himself and to somehow think that he’ll fix it. We saw the need of depending solely upon the Lord and the finished work in Jesus Christ. We studied the avarice of Achan and his lust for that which belonged to God, his lust to be satisfied before God. You see, the problem with Achan was this. Remember, they were forbidden to take any of the bounty of Jericho because it belonged to the Lord. All of the goods of Ai and the conquest of the land was going to come to the people of God. God was going to bless His people, and we know that’s the Biblical principal. The problem with the spirit of Achan, this avarice that was expressing itself was that it took before God—not that it had, not that the Babylonish garments were bad, not that the wedge of gold or the silver was bad. The problem was that it belonged to God. God said, "That’s Mine." The tithe is the Lord’s; the first fruits belong to God. The moment you start having to take what belongs to God, you’re being dictated to by this power of the enemy. Then it expresses itself in an appetite that is insatiable, and now we battle with the power of lust, and greed, and covetousness. Those begin to be the consequences of taking from God. But it all comes down to one thing, doesn’t it? The self-life. The vaunting of self, whatever it is that makes life comfortable for me, the easy path—those are all the natural tendencies of man. And you have to understand that’s how the devil works.

We just had to make a decision as it pertains to Africa with one of the men we were dealing with over there, Juma, who, as things began to unfold, we saw many areas in his life that were lacking. We just went through this thing with Japheth. The decision from the government is imminent right now (it’s still imminent!), and we had to make a decision to take this man, Juma, and let him know that he was being cut off at this time because there were many areas in his life that were lacking. Ron and the others, of course, are under the pressure of wanting to get the registration finalized there in Kenya. To make a decision now that could cause more letter writing and complaints to the government… People asked, "Why don’t you just wait until registration is through?" And we shared that if you’re talking about waiting two or three days, and the motive is not, "Let’s compromise so we can get a registration;" if the motive is, "This thing is going to work itself out any day," but the day led into another day, and another week, and another month. And so, I finally called Ron and said, "We’re not waiting any more. Let him write all the letters he may want to write; God is the One who is going to open doors." When we first allowed this to ride, it was not compromise; it was just a prudent thing that said, "Hey, let’s let the thing work out here in the next seventy-two hours or whatever it is." It was not death to us; it wasn’t going to cause us any problem in the spiritual realm. Now it’s come to the place so long that it can cause us a problem in the spirit realm. We don’t know what the consequences to that are going to be, and it doesn’t matter. We’ve done what the Scripture requires of us. All of us are faced in life with those kinds of decisions. And there can be no place of that wedge of gold in our lives for personal ease and personal gain.

And then we left off Wednesday—and this will finish the review for us—with one of the most dangerous areas in the self-life. We talked about how many men were brought down through womanly wiles. We’re going to talk, men, about how to recognize that and, women, how you can recognize these things working in your life and realize that if they are, they’re satanic. It’s not wisdom; it’s not natural. It’s demonic. We talked about some of the great men that fell and, of course, father Adam, that one who affected all humanity. Adam was the one in authority. I think it’s very easy to recognize that humanity did not fall under the curse and become totally depraved because Eve ate. It was when Adam ate. The man is the head of the woman, we know the Scripture says very clearly. We’ve taught many times on that relationship between husband and wife, and the value of the woman, and her great role, and how important it is that it’s fulfilled to the biblical standard. We see that women are not inferior to men; they’re just diverse in their role of representing the kingdom of God—subordinate, but not inferior. It’s just as the Godhead, where the Son has willfully subordinated Himself to the Father, the Holy Spirit under the directives of the Son of God, and yet They are equally God; there is no inferiority. The responsibilities of a man and a woman are diverse, and the woman is subordinate. Because of that, she’s called the weaker vessel—not because she’s less capable, but because she’s willfully subordinate. And because she’s the weaker vessel, the man in no way is to abuse or take advantage of her subordination, but to love her as Christ loved the church and to do everything to protect her. And so, there are those relationships that are biblically ordained.

And then there’s the lust factor. We saw Wednesday that phrase that was used by Samson. "I have seen a woman!" he told his dad. Oh, that he had followed the advice of Job to make a covenant with his eyes that he would not look upon a maid! In II Samuel 11 we saw David walking, and from his balcony, he saw a woman. And so, we see that men are so dictated to by what their eyes do when they look upon a woman. Jesus said be careful to understand that to look upon a woman to lust after her is to commit adultery. In other words, once you’ve looked and been seduced to the place where you would act if you had opportunity, it’s sin. I’m not going to get into the fine line of when looking becomes lusting. I don’t know that; each one has to deal with his own heart. We’ve heard it said many times, "You can admire without lusting." Yes, you can.

I’ve shared the story about one time when we were up at Carlisle. This girl who was picked "Miss Carlisle," and our car was in the building for "Chip’s Choice," a featured car, and there were hundreds and hundreds of people around. This girl was getting pictures with different cars, and we told them that we didn’t want her to have her picture taken with our car. She was over at the next place getting her picture taken. This woman was a looker! I mean, she was one of those who would knock your shoes off and curl your hair! I want to tell you, I looked at her, and I appreciated what I saw. I said, "Good job, Lord!" As they were taking the pictures, and we were handing our literature out to different people, I handed some literature out to this one man. He said, "Man, look at that girl over there!" I said, "No; I’ve already looked." He said, "What do you mean?" I said, "Well, I’m a Christian." He said, "Well, so am I. There’s nothing wrong with looking." I said, "No; I told you that I’ve already looked; anything else would become lust." He had done more than his share of looking already. He was convicted by that and hung his head and said, "You’re right," and walked away.

It’s natural. What are you going to do with the hour that we’re living in? How are you going to protect yourself? Will we justify our lust by saying it’s a natural tendency? Of course, it’s a natural tendency! And I want to say again; there will be the fact that these who are attractive are going to catch your eye. What are you going to do at that point? How much discipline is there in you and preparation of knowing your own heart, and knowing the frailty of natural man, and knowing the sin that’s in our members, that you’re going to protect yourself? We talked about the little flirting that goes on at work. I want to tell you something, men, husbands, and wives; listen to me: you’re in dangerous territory if you’re going to flirt around and receive some kind of satisfaction from a relationship with somebody else that is not your husband or your wife. If he makes you feel good about yourself, better than your husband makes you feel; if she kind of pumps you up on the job and tells you how great you are, and bats her eyes, and she’s the little damsel in distress, and you have to fix her computer, and do all these things for her, then you are in trouble! Your armor is not on. The satanic wiles are already moving in your life, and you’re not aware of what manner of man you are. Beware when you think you stand, lest you fall!

And so, we become aware of what’s taking place, and we see these men that were destroyed—Samson and David. When I say "destroyed," I don’t mean to the point of losing their salvation. But there were consequences in their lives. Oh, God’s grace is sufficient, and Samson killed more in his death than he did in his life. David, the type of Christ, the man after God’s own heart, retained the kingdom. But because of that murderous spirit to fulfill his own lust, to destroy his faithful servant and steal his wife from him, and have him murdered to cover his own sin, he was a bloody man. And because of that, he wasn’t able to build the temple of God. There are consequences to our sins, and we need to keep this armor in place and realize what’s there. If Esau, a man who wasn’t disciplined, could so easily give up his birthright for some stew, there are some plates being offered up that can have a greater effect on you. What are you willing to pay for your momentary gratification? What are you doing to feed those things? How do you justify your ability when God says, "Take heed when you think you stand?" We’ll refer to this a little bit more as we talk to the ladies here in just a moment.

There is one last thing I want to deal with as it pertains to men. It has to do with that ambitious spirit, even spiritual ambition. Of course, one of the great examples of that is what we talked about in Luke 22. The disciples reasoned among themselves who would be the greatest among them. A couple of individuals were pointed out in Mark 10:35. It says that James and John came to the Lord and sought from Him the right to be seated, one at His right hand, and one at His left. The Lord had spoken and said, "The greatest among you is going to be servant of all." The Bible makes it very clear that God is going to place us into the body of Christ or into the ministry as it pleases Him. There is no place in the body of Christ for spiritual ambition. You don’t try to get ahead in the body of Christ; you serve. You serve where you are, and you let God place you as it pleases Him. Spiritual ambition in the body of Christ is satanic. You don’t try to "get ahead" in the body. You’re content, and you’re satisfied, and you serve where you are; and you let God, by gifting you, make room. That’s how we keep strife out of the body of Christ. That’s one of the ways of being able to keep Satan from coming into our midst and causing conflict and strife, and people who want to exalt themselves. But without the armor in place, it’s going to be the natural tendency because that’s what’s in man.

Now, let me segue from that over into what caused James and John to go approach Jesus. Do you want to know what it was? It was a woman. Ladies, let me share something with you right now; get it in your notes. If you feel the need, through your ambition for your sons, to try to always be promoting them (when I say "sons," I mean "children"), you need to realize that this is a natural tendency within you, ladies—working behind the scenes, that ambition to get them ahead.

You can read it very clearly; turn over to Matthew 20 for just a second. We’re talking about how to war against the enemy, that we’re not ignorant of his devices, that we recognize our own natural tendencies. "Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children [Salome] with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him." (Verse 20) Salome was a good woman. The Scriptures tell us that this woman was one of the main supporters of the Lord Jesus. This was a woman that was given some great preeminence in the Scriptures of her pursuit of God. And yet, here’s a tendency that’s showing itself. She comes and says, "Lord, there’s just one thing I want to ask You. Now, don’t let it in any way influence You that I’m one of the biggest contributors." She was; if you read the Scriptures, Salome was one of the big money people backing Jesus’ ministry. Zebedee had a fishing business that was obviously very successful. "Now, we wouldn’t want this to influence You, but Lord, there’s one thing that I’d like to ask You." These people had His ear (they were part of the inner circle) and, because of that, opportunity to have access to the Master. "There’s something I desire of You." He said to her, "What do you want?" And she said, "Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on Your right hand, and the other on Your left in your kingdom." And Jesus said, "Ye know not what ye ask."

Now watch. Jesus here tells what the requirements are for promotion in the kingdom. It’s not whether you’re personal friends; it’s not whether you’re a big contributor. He said, "You don’t know what you’re asking; you don’t understand how the kingdom works. Are you able to drink of the cup?" That’s the question. Many of us want promotion without drinking of the cup of self-denial, that cup that Jesus had to drink from in Gethsemane, when God became flesh and dwelt among us, when He humbled Himself even unto death, when He was mocked upon the cross for His obedience to Father and His love for you and me. There was no self-promotion in Jesus’ ministry. It was all servanthood; it was service. It was for your good and my good. It was obedience to the Father. He said, "You’re going to have to drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. Can you do that?" And they said, "We’re able!" He said, "You don’t even know what you’re talking about."

How many of us here this morning think we’re able? How many of us here this morning think we’re really fully committed. "It’s all out here, praise God! And I want You to know, Lord, that though everyone else will forsake You, You can count on me!" It seems like we’ve read that somewhere, doesn’t it? Don’t you know who you are this morning? Do you understand how vile you are? Do you understand the murder that’s in your members, the pride, and the hatred? All of those things that were there before you got saved are still there, and only the grace of God and your obedience to His Word have them subordinate. But the moment you and I begin to live for ourselves again, the moment we begin to pick and choose what part of the Word we’re going to obey, the moment we begin to think that we’ve satisfied God, and now we can become lax in our prayer, and in our study, and in our evangelism—I want you to know something—these things will begin to manifest. Be careful when you begin to say like Peter, "Though they all forsake You, don’t worry about me!" "Can you partake of the cup?" "Yes, Lord, we’re able to drink it." I want to tell you something: if you were able to drink of that cup, the response would have been, "Lord, in myself, I can’t do any of this; but by Your strength, and by Your grace, work it in me. Your will be done. I don’t know." Isn’t that what Peter responded finally at the shore of Galilee? "Simon, do you love Me more than these?" "Yes, I love You, Lord." "Feed My sheep." "Do you love Me?" "Yes, Lord, I love You." "Feed My lambs." "Simon, do you love me?" "Lord, Thou knowest; I don’t know. I think I do; I want to, but I can’t without Your help; because without You, I can’t do anything."

Be careful of that ambition, and be careful (moms, ladies) when you begin to have that ambition for your children and for your husband, and you’re back there wanting to motivate them, and pull the strings, and try to get them into positions. "Behind every great man is a nagging woman." Not so in the kingdom of God. I wonder if some of that was in Eve. It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Jacob’s mommy was good at it. She was back there scheming! "Here, take this wool and put it upon your arms. I know how to manipulate Dad—just fix him a good meal! I’ll help you prepare this meal, and we’ll go in, and we’ll satisfy his flesh, and we’ll just go ahead and get this little wool set up on your arm, and we’ll be able to get something here."

That ambition can become so divisive and destructive. Ladies, just knowing a little bit of what’s better because, you know, your husband is kind of simple, and we know that men are basically insane. And because of that, we have to somehow watch out for them. I believe that’s what Eve was doing when she partook of that fruit. I believe that very spirit is what was motivating her. I want you to understand that the moment, ladies, you move into that mode, it’s broken order; it’s the original sin, and you need to see it for what it is. You’re not in charge; you’re not to run the show from behind the scenes through manipulation. It’s not for you to inflict your will upon your husbands. It’s your job to bring them wisdom, counsel, another perspective, and to trust God to direct them. Anything else is satanic; anything else is sin. I don’t care how you sugarcoat it. I don’t care what the methods might be. It doesn’t make any difference to me whether it’s your multiple doctorates, whether it’s crying and doing what Delilah did. "Oh, you don’t love me; if you did, you’d tell me!" I want to tell you something, men: anytime they start whining and giving you that kind of stuff, you’d better let your antennae go up and say, "Speak, Lord; because I’m being manipulated, and I want to hear the truth." "If you loved me, you would..." I love you and that’s why I’m not going to let you manipulate me by pouting and crying and all those different things." Samson was ripe for it anyway. He was being governed by his own lust and flesh. "Yeah, but that’s what we’ve had to do because we have been suppressed for so many years. Women have never had a voice, and finally we’re free. Hear us roar!" What’s that got to do with anything? "Well, women have always been under." Do you mean subordinate? That’s the way it was made. "That doesn’t seem fair to me!" Then, get another god! The God that we serve created it that way. If you’re going to walk in a way that’s right with Him, it’s going to be in true biblical order—biblical order, not what’s been perverted through all of the years of religion—finding out what the biblical roles are. But I want to tell you something: that spirit is strong to move husbands, and children, and try to control everything. You’d better see what spirit it’s of.

Let me show you a couple of other things. Turn to Chronicles for just a second; this is kind of cool. We’re looking at tendencies in the flesh. These are things that are in every one of us. We’ve spent three services looking at men; now we’re going to look at ladies. It should take only one service for the ladies. Look at I Chronicles 15; you all remember this story. They’re bringing the ark back to Jerusalem and a celebration is taking place. David is pumped, and he’s thankful to God and worshiping the Lord. The Scripture says in verse 26, "And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams. [It’s not in our strength that we’re able to bring offerings to the Lord; God helps us in His worship.] And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers… David also had upon him an ephod of linen." (Verse 27) It’s interesting that this ephod of linen was a priest’s garment, not a royal robe. [End of side 1] ...isn’t received of God. Those that worship the Lord must worship Him in spirit and in truth. For David to be a worshiper, he didn’t worship as a king; he worshiped as a servant. The Scripture tells us that David was naked. That nakedness was not stark nakedness, as we would think of it. It’s talking about that he took off his garments down to that final ephod, which was a priest’s garment, the linen that was one of humility, and yet purity, and he began to dance before the Lord. He worshiped in spirit, not in regal pomp and circumstance. The Scripture says in verse 29 that "...Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart." What’s the problem with this lady? Well, her husband wasn’t living up to the image that she wanted portrayed in public. "There’s a certain dignity that we’re to have, and there’s a certain image that is to be portrayed." And Michal had that already established.

So many times, women, in their own sinfulness, the sin that’s in their members, will go into a relationship—and, ladies, let me tell you something very clearly. If in your relationship, you’re thinking, "Well, the guy’s not perfect, but it gives me something to work with," then you’re already out of order. In women there is that tendency to want to make things over. Most of the guys are just walking around without a clue, and he gets married, and now all of a sudden, they’re matching! (I won’t mention any names!) That’s not bad in itself; don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m just saying that now there’s other input, and things begin to change. That’s okay if it’s for the better; a lot of the guys need help. But Michal had a spirit of despising her husband because he didn’t meet her expectations. He was pleasing God; he was worshiping the Lord. I want to tell you something, ladies: your expectations are not the final authority. Your little Good Housekeeping, Harlequin Romance, Christian Harlequin Romance little books, all of the dreams of princes on white chargers, and all of that stuff, doesn’t matter. The minute you begin to demand the direction the direction of those things you are being motivated by Satan. The broken order of Eve, the despising of Michal wanting to protect that image—so many ways to try to motivate and get your will done.

Look over for just a second to I Kings 21. I want to talk about Jezebel. What is it with this woman? Everybody talks about Jezebel. "She’s just a Jezebel!" They say that because the woman’s got on about five pounds of Mary Kay. That’s not what makes you a Jezebel—the fact that you’ve got on all kinds of make-up. That’s kind of what’s come into the church. They say, "Oh, that woman’s a Jezebel. She’s a Tammy Faye," or whatever. A lot of this stuff is regional. Our girls ran into one of the girls’ basketball teams down in the Tennessee tournament that I understand were some nice enough girls that were serving the Lord. Yet, some of them had on the typical "southern" make-up (you know—overdone). You all know what I’m talking about; you’ve seen them. It’s all about fads. The fads change, and you have to spend about $800 for this make-up that you put on so that it looks like you don’t have on any make-up! The natural look. If you want the natural look, go natural! Now, for some of you—don’t!

The Jezebel spirit is seen here in chapter 21 of I Kings. Verse 7 says, "And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." "I asked him; he wouldn’t give it to me; I tried to buy it, and he won’t sell it [whining]." "Are you the king or not? Look, just have a burger; I’ll go get it for you!" The emasculation: "Are you in charge or not? What’s wrong with you? How come you can’t do what somebody else is doing? Why can’t you making a living there? How come you can’t do this? You can’t do anything right!" All of the emasculation, all of this moves in and is used as a manipulation tool, again, for self-exaltation.

One of the greatest examples of this today is in the White House. I want to tell you something: as bad as Bill is, he’s not the real problem. If you were to see him without his shirt, he would have one of those little strings back there. [Pastor makes sounds like a robot] (That’s my opinion. It’s fact!) You’re looking at these tendencies, and that’s fine. But I want you to see something, ladies—don’t sit here this morning and put it off on Eve, and Michal, and Jezebel, and Hillary. Thou art the man! It’s in you; you were born with it. It’s the consequence of being the daughter of Eve. You have to realize all these tendencies, and you can’t feed them. And yet, society is telling you in every secular book you read, how to perfect these things, and how to exalt yourself, and how to move out from under authority, and all of these different things. And you need to guard your hearts and minds if you’re going to be a daughter of Abraham, if you’re going to be one of a meek and quiet spirit that can know the supernatural unction of God to where He can preserve you in the evil day. And so, it’s important for us to look at these things.

Look over at Proverbs 5 for just a second, and let me show you something in Proverbs. (We’ll keep dealing with these things. Some of you will wish you had skipped out for Memorial Day weekend.) Men, this is for you, too. You need to hear this. "For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil." (Verse 3) What is this strange woman that we’re talking about? I was out in public the other day, and I saw some strange women! This is not just talking about those who are outside the covenant. It’s not just talking about the seducers who are on the corner. The term "strange" here is interesting; it implies a "flattering" woman in the context here. You’re going to find out, men, that women have found out a long time ago the great power of flattery. "You’re so strong!" And Don Knotts smiles. It’s amazing that you’re so handsome, and so smart, and so strong until you get married! And then, what happened? You were so smart, and now you have to be told everything! We’ve all heard that, "If a tree falls in the forest, and there’s no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?" "If a man is alone in the forest, and gives an answer, and there’s no woman there to hear it, is he still wrong?" What happened? Flattery. There is a lot in the Scriptures about flattery, and we need to guard ourselves against it. It’s not just a womanly thing. We realize that it’s a sin problem. But women are given to this particular area, spoken of as the "strange" women. Think it strange, men, when some woman is telling you how good you are, because you know you’re not that good. Say, "I wonder what she’s setting me up for?" "Oh, you’re so cute!" "What do you want?" This is part of the system of the world that we’re dealing with.

We talked about the Delilah aspect. Turn over there real quick to Judges, and let’s look at this. This will be our last thing for this morning. In Judges 16:6, Delilah says, "Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth..." Samson was "shining her on," and then it says, "And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; That he told her all his heart…" (Verse 16-17a, emphasis added) Check that wording: "pressed him daily." You know—the woman that’s as a dripping faucet, the Scriptures tell us. Drip, drip—the Chinese torture—drip. [You wonder why, as Bill Cosby says, men develop "the gift." Have you ever wondered, ladies, why your husbands can hear everything but you? "You don’t listen to me!" "What, what? What do you mean? Did you say something?" They can hear the ice cream truck. They can tell when they hit the ball whether their tee broke or not! Bill Cosby calls it "the gift," the ability not to hear. That’s some of the reason.] But she pressed him, and urged him, until his soul was vexed unto death. Ladies, don’t. Men, why? How in the world can you let it get that far? Where did the communication break down that the order of the home was lost? How can this happen in a biblically governed home? It can’t. What part of "No" don’t you understand? Now remember, in this process—and this isn’t what we’re teaching on right now, so I’m not going into all the aspects of it. If you really want to get it real good, there’s a book I’d like to recommend—a great book, the best one on husband and wife relationships in the country! It’s called Adam’s Rib. So, if you want more detail on this subject, it’s available. I’m not saying, men, that you just say, "No! That’s it!" There are times when that might be the case, but you need—if you’re going to make the statement, then you need to have biblical reasons why. There needs to be, other than your whim, a reason governing the action. Many times, those things need to be spoken toward—whether it’s to the wife, or helping children to understand—not always, and you don’t have to answer to them. You’re there because there’s a weaker vessel in their role of subordination, and by being able to speak words of comfort, words of illumination, the fact that you’re moving together in unity so that your prayers are not hindered, because you should both be praying for the same thing. How can two walk together, except they be agreed, the Scripture says. But, ladies, once the decision is made, it’s made. There can’t be anymore of this drip, drip, vexing unto death. The role of being able to believe God. You see, ladies, the bottom line of all this is: the moment you feel compelled to do all of these things, that is the indication that you don’t trust God, period. "I’m replacing God. God can’t do it. God can’t take care of my children. God can’t motivate my husband. God can’t get truth, and prosperity, and peace into our home. It’s up to me." What you’re saying is, "I’ve eaten of the fruit, my eyes have been opened, and I understand." And there is a wisdom in the world, and it’s death.

And so, with all of these tendencies—don’t for a moment, ladies, think that I’m minimizing that natural fear and the anxieties of being under (subordinate). Every one of us—man or woman—wants control of their own lives. But you’re never free until Jesus is in control. You’re never in greater peril than when you’re the captain of your own life. And so, when you recognize these tendencies, it’s going to take a process to die to them and to be able to daily rise up and fulfill the Proverbs 31 role of relying on God, representing the kingdom, trusting in the unseen but declared God. For His Word is truth.

Father, we thank You for the Word this morning. As we talk about the armor of God, we see that the armor is not just studying righteousness, but it’s knowing what our character and tendencies are. The armor of God is knowing the wiles of the devil and the weaknesses of the flesh. What protects us is the knowledge of who we are, and what man is around us. Can you begin to discern those who are moving contrary, those who would flatter, and those who would try to buy you out, manipulate you? I want you to understand something, ladies: sex is not a bargaining tool. I’m not just talking about trying to seduce some stupid young man. I’m talking about those of you who are married. There is no defrauding of one another. Sex is not a gift that you give your husband. Your body is not your own; it’s your husband’s. His is not his own. This is waved out by some of the little sweet things on the job that are trying to get your attention. You need to see it for what it is, men. So many times this thing is being used as a bargaining tool. See this power for what it is; don’t be deceived. It’s not acceptable there, and it’s not acceptable in your home and in your marriage. If you see it for what it is, then it has no power. As you begin to understand the tactics of the enemy, and you see how the world—see, that’s the world’s method; that’s the world’s wisdom—that’s not how God set it up. God has ordained that we walk in light and that in our relationships there is total communication and vulnerability. It hinders the enemy from coming in if you’ll walk in the light. Share your hearts with one another, and don’t give any place to the enemy.

We’ll pick it up some more this evening and allow the Lord to speak to us. As Gary plays for us, we’ll just again allow the Holy Spirit to remind us what manner of man we are. It all comes down to one thing doesn’t it? Are we trusting God? It all comes down to recognizing what manner of people we really are. Lest you get discouraged this morning, let me very, very confidently say you’re not the only person in here with that problem. But what are you going to do now to pursue God? Where is your hunger this morning, your appetite for Christ-likeness? Are you ready to empty yourself of the self-life? Do you want to hear His voice? Will you obey it if you do, no matter what the cost? Death to self is an ugly thing; the slaughter of self is an ugly thing; it hurts. It would be great if it were instantaneous and never had to be dealt with again, but it’s a process; it’s a war. The self-man does not die easily; he has to be bludgeoned. But is it your desire to be free this morning and to put on the whole armor of God, that we could confidently go out and speak in His name and see the captives freed, the sick healed? There will be no words of power without the armor of God, and there will be no armor without proper motive of heart.

Let’s stand before Him this morning and sing this together. "Take me into the Holy of Holies." Let Him minister grace to you now this morning. As you come boldly in to the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus, let Him cleanse you this morning. Let Him refresh you this morning; let Him illuminate you this morning with His presence. Don’t get discouraged if you’re here this morning and say, "Pastor, I see so many of those things in my life." We all do; they’re there! That’s not the issue if you see them. Are they controlling you? Are they the dominant forces? It’s in you, and it will always be in you. What are you doing about it, and is it dominant? "Oh, man, I’m thankful I don’t have any of those things you talked about. Can I sit at Your right hand, Jesus?" "Can you drink of the cup?" "Oh yeah, I can drink of the cup." You’re in the worst shape of anybody in here. But, beloved, don’t deny, don’t be ignorant, don’t accept anything less than Christ-likeness, for He’ll work in us to will and to do His good pleasure.

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