1. 1 In 2Cor 2 we have the issue of forgiving a brother in Christ who was guilty of sexual sin who was put out of fellowship of the Church. After he repented, Paul gave the following advice. “But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” 2 Co 2:10-11 Paul wasn’t – but I think a lot of Christians ARE ignorant of his schemes, and we had better take advantage of the education!

2. 2 Let me begin with a list of concepts that we will study and grasp in this lesson on Satan’s strategy. The strategy of turning attention from God to self was a brilliant strategy that worked remarkably well on two perfect, innocent humans who were not hampered by fallen flesh. How much more successful might it be in us who have fallen flesh?

3. 3 Let me begin with a list of concepts that we will study and grasp in this lesson on Satan’s strategy. If there is a hunger for, and a confidence in God in the heart, the result will always be unquestioned obedience and resulting life. If there is a hunger for, and a confidence in self, which is caused by egocentrism, the result will always be independence, disobedience and loss.

4. 4 As a beginning point for today, let’s understand how selfishness, or egocentrism, works. Generally speaking, egocentrism takes for granted what it has since it already possess it, and because the appetite for self constantly searches for more, it turns its focus on what it does NOT have, and wants! The power of this addiction and insatiability of the flesh is the notion that it should have all that it desires, and at least the opportunity to possess what others have. If someone else has something, why can’t I?

5. 5 Unfortunately this attitude keeps the mind focused on the seeming infinite supply of what is actually impossible for a finite being to possess. While we grasp at the wind and try to lay hold of the empty promises and illusions of the world, we forfeit two very important things to sanity. While we chase the wind, we cannot enjoy what we already have, and more importantly, we forfeit a thankful heart, which is an amazing spiritual power, while we exacerbate and nurse our implacable and impossible ambitions instead.

6. 6 Unfortunately this attitude keeps the mind focused on the seeming infinite supply of what a finite being can NEVER possess. While we chase the wind and try to take hold of the illusions of the flesh, we forfeit two very important things. “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools,” Rom 1:21-22 While we chase the wind, we cannot enjoy what we already have, and more importantly, we forfeit a thankful heart, which is an amazing spiritual power, while we exacerbate and nurse our implacable and impossible ambitions instead.

7. 7 A man may determine that he is going to shoot the moon with an arrow. He may invest his life in increasing his strength and producing more powerful bows. He may even be able to produce constant and measurable advances toward his goal. But after an entire lifetime invested in that project, in spite of all the measured success of his improvements, the impossibility of his goal never changed, and was never even remotely threatened. His lofty goal remains always an absurd, impossible dream – like peace in the Middle East apart from Christ – just like so many ambitious goals of men. You might not be foolish enough to believe you can shoot the moon, but know that it is absolutely as absurd to believe you can achieve fulfillment in life on your own terms apart from Jesus!

8. 8 A man may determine that he is going to shoot the moon with an arrow. He may invest his life in increasing his strength and producing more efficient bows. He may even be able to produce constant and measurable advances toward his goal. But after an entire lifetime invested in that project, in spite of all the measured success of his improvements, the impossibility of his goal never changed, and was never even remotely threatened. His lofty goal remains always an absurd, impossible dream – like peace in the Middle East apart from Christ – just like so many ambitious goals of men. What man, driven by his flesh, has ever achieved, acquired, earned or accomplished “enough”? Do you realize that in order for you to have all that you desire, enough to fill what you think would make you happy and content, that God would have to cease to be God? That is, in order for you to possess more than God has determined for you to possess today, (from the foundations of the world Eph 1:4ff ) He would have to cease to be God, and you would have to take His place to gain what He hasn’t given you. Why do we want more for today, or tomorrow, than what God, in His infinite wisdom, has decreed that we should have? Have you ever stopped to consider your “short list” of things, which when finally gained, will grant you the peace and sense of rest you are seeking? The long lost love of a parent, a mate, a child – those things which caused us such anguish of heart, are easily added to a list, which when it is finally fulfilled, we tell ourselves that we will be at peace – but it never happens, and we spend our lives waiting for a bus that might never come. It is only owing to one thing – EGOCENTRISM – which has disposed and replaced THEOCENTRISM!

9. He may invest his life in increasing his strength and producing more efficient bows. He may even be able to produce constant and measurable advances toward his goal. But after an entire lifetime invested in that project, in spite of all the measured success of his improvements, the impossibility of his goal never changed, and was never even remotely threatened. His lofty goal remains always an absurd impossible dream – like peace in the Middle East apart from Christ – just like so many ambitious goals of men. 9 A man may determine that he is going to shoot the moon with an arrow.You might argue, “Mark, that is not true or fair. I would be happy if I could just have this one thing. Then I could finally rest and enjoy the rest of my life.” Really? Is that one goal the only one you have had all of your life? Haven’t you already accomplished a whole string of goals, one after the other, leaving you with the same familiar emptiness since your birth and now you are just on to the next? I have known of so many people who, like Amnon, were focused like a laser on only ONE goal, had to have that ONE goal, couldn’t sleep or eat well until they possessed that ONE goal – and when they finally achieved it, were left with the same emptiness that drove them so hard before they got it. Do we even know what we want apart from God, or is it a pointless endeavor?

10. 10 Egocentrism is deadly poison for man because the only One who possess everything – is God! He possesses everything and needs nothing. We have to remember that desire in us comes from a lack, which God simply does not have. Settle this in your minds and you will live in peace: Those who desire to possess more in a day than what God has determined to provide for that day, along with those who push God out of their will and DO possess more than God determined, consign their hearts to misery, loss and suffering. How do we know that?

11. 11 Egocentrism is deadly poison for man because the only One who possess everything – is God! The only one who can have all is God, and He can do it because He IS God, and He can safely possess everything, because of who He is. Settle this in your minds and you will live in peace: Those who desire to possess more in a day than what God has determined to provide for that day, along with those who push God out of their will and DO possess more than God determined, consign their hearts to misery, loss and suffering. How do we know that? We know that God is good, and that is He is the giver of every good and perfect thing ( James 1:17 ), and if He refrains from giving anything to us, it is always and only for our own good.

12. 12 Billionaire John D. Rockefeller was asked how many dollars it would take to make him happy. His response was “Just one more.” Most of us would say we would be thrilled to have just a miniscule fraction of his wealth! But that is only because we don’t have it, and if we did, we would probably want just one more dollar like he said. Contentment does not come with acquisition of some dream amount or item. Contentment is a choice which should follow God’s provision.

13. 13 So for now, can we at least stop lying to ourselves by saying that we will be happy if... Learn this, that discontentment CANNOT exist in an environment of theocentrism. Theocentrism always produces thanksgiving, contentment, joy, satisfaction, fulfillment, praise, worship and it promotes life as God designed it. Egocentrism creates independence, ambition to possess, frustration, discontentment, and unrest. It consumes all that comes into its path for the pleasure of self and only “invests” in others so that it might receive what it wants.

14. 14 Let’s go back to the Tree of Knowledge. We said last week that the purpose of that tree was to give Adam and Eve a way to demonstrate love, faith and trust in God. To that I am going to add that the purpose of the tree was also to develop and exponentially multiply trust and faith. How could that be possible? Every time they passed by that tree and decided not to eat of it because God had forbidden it, they would have increased their faith in God and made trust more a habit!

15. 15 You and I have no access to that tree, but do you realize that the same benefit of forbidden objects, surrounds you, giving you the same opportunity to demonstrate and multiply your LOVE for God? Forbidden objects don’t exist to cause you to struggle against the appetites of your flesh. Think of the many people who struggle with things like alcohol abuse, overeating, pornography, vanity, self-focus, anger issues, victimization, living in the past … Every time you acknowledge that your Father doesn’t want you to engage those things and you walk away in faith, you grow in love and trust.

16. 16 Every time you embrace your own “wisdom” and fail, you function independently. You have the opportunity to realize that your flesh lied to you again, you believed it again, you fell again, and now you have the opportunity to learn the truth from God and make a better choice the next time. It all really does come down to what you believe; whether God is smarter than you are, loves you and is only capable of speaking the truth, or, that you are a wisdom and power on par with God and can cut your own path in life.