Think about a submarine. What does it do most often?
It studies.
It tracks.
It targets.
A submarine learns its enemy.
its patterns, its defenses, its captain’s habits and reflexes.
Then it attacks where the ship is weakest.
Satan does the same thing.
He studies our patterns and normal routines.
He knows our strengths, and especially our weaknesses.
He targets them one by one.
But remember: Satan can only do what God allows.

Satan: The Ruler of This World

John 12:31  “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”
John 14:30  “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”

Satan idolizes that title “Ruler.”
He exploits it like any tyrant would by targeting weakness.


David’s Example: When the Ruler Attacks
Many call David’s greatest sin his adultery with Bathsheba.
It cost the lives of Uriah, their child, Amnon, and Absalom.
But there was another sin, one that cost 70,000 lives.

1 Chronicles 21:1–2, 7–8, 14–19
Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel…
David said, “I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing.”
And the Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men fell.

Why was this sin “great”?
Because it was a sin of the spirit, rooted in will, pride, and independence from God’s will.

“Surrender to me!”

Satan wants control of your will so that your life becomes out of control.
That’s how he moved David to number Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:1–2 “Satan moved David [his will] to number Israel.”

Only God had the right to command a census (Exodus 30:12).
David counted what did not belong to him.
And God was displeased.

Exodus 30:12 God told Moses, “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.”

We belong to God, body, spirit, and purpose.
When we assert our own will above His, we drift into deep danger.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20
“You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”

The Will of the Christian
Developing spiritual willpower means:

• Pray whether you feel like it or not.
• Obey God’s Word regardless of emotion.
• Acknowledge Him in all your ways (Proverbs 3:6).

Satan’s first rebellion was the sin of “I Will.”
(Isaiah 14:12–14 five times Satan declares, “I will.”)
And he still tries to duplicate that sin in our lives today.

“Come on, you’re stronger… you can do it on your own!”

David had won twenty (in 1 Chronicles alone) great victories.
Satan whispered, “You’ve got this. Count your army. Look what you have built.”
And David’s ego took the bait.
Adultery was a sin of the flesh, but numbering Israel was a sin of the spirit.

2 Corinthians 7:1 — “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.”

Churches are quick to condemn the sins of the flesh, but slow to confront the sins of the spirit: pride, stubbornness, gossip, jealousy, competition, bragging, etc.

Remember: Pride enters into almost every temptation.
It’s the same lie that caught Eve: “You shall be as God.”

1 Peter 5:5–6 “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

When Jesus was tested:
Matthew 4:8-9 Satan tried Jesus with Pride
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
This shows . . . If Jesus would have followed this asking . . . Self would have been glorified and God Not!

That is why Peter writes
1 Peter 5:5-6
5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud,But gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.

• Joseph's Brothers Genesis 37 'Envied Joseph' and sold him in to slavery telling their father Jacob, He had been eaten by a wild beast. 
• Solomon Son Rehoboam . . .  allowed Pride 2 Chronicles 10 . . .  and a nation turned against him.
• Pharisees and Sadducee constantly Envied and with Pride filled hearts their position among the people was being put to the and this drove them to Crucify Jesus. 

When David numbered the people

• He did for his own glory! 
• No redemption money was collected.

 . . . It was his word not God's . . .

“Don’t wait. Don’t listen. Do it your way!”

Man loves the words “I did it.”
But Scripture reminds us:

Acts 17:28 “In Him we live and move and have our being.”
Romans 11:36 “From Him and through Him and for Him are all things.”

When we start acting independently of God’s will, we move outside His protection.
David had ten months to repent before the census was complete but his independence persisted.
He wanted to use God for his own purpose.
Many of us do the same:
We want God in our lives, but not in control of our lives.

A Christian woman once married an unbeliever despite every warning of Scripture.
Now her atheist husband decides where they go to church because he feels “comfortable” there.
Independence from God’s will always leads to compromise.

No Christian can work independently of God’s will.
We need His provision physically and spiritually.
We need His Word to stay the course.

When Satan fires his torpedoes, our defense is the Holy Spirit within us.

Philippians 2:12–13
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

The Holy Spirit is not just a helper, He is the living presence of God within us,
shaping our hearts to align with His will.

What It Means to Work Out Your Salvation
The phrase “work out” means to bring something to completion, to live in obedience.
We do this by pursuing holiness with reverence and awe.

Romans 12:1–2 “Present your bodies a living sacrifice… be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Psalm 2:11 “Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.”

We are not working for salvation, we are working out the salvation God has already placed within us.

Practice:

• Put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11–17).
• Speak the Word as Jesus did: “Away from me, Satan!” (Matthew 4:10)

Memorize:

Galatians 5:25 — “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”