The devil is an enemy you cannot see but he is working against you. His plan is to cause you to do things that are wrong in God’s sight. It may be that the world may see nothing wrong or harmful in these things, but it will result in the loss of fellowship with God. It may cause you to lose your Christian testimony. But the Son of God was revealed – to destroy his evil work. 1John 3:8, “He that committed sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
- Satan (the devil) IS A CREATED BEING. We learn this truth from Ezekiel 38:14, 15, where he is called “The anointed cherub.” And as such a being, he was in the very presence of God. But through pride, he boasted that he would be like the Most High God (Isaiah 14:12-14). Because of his sin, he was cast out of Heaven and we can find his trail through Scripture beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He is the adversary of God and he hates man that God created in His image.
- HE IS OUR ADVERSARY (our enemy). 1Timothy 5:14b, “…give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” 1Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” He opposes all righteousness and godliness on the part of God’s children. Jesus in John 8:44 refers to him as the devil and then gives us a rundown on his nature. He is in opposition to God and a great counterfeiter of God’s plans and His people. He knows the weak spots in our old nature. 1 John 2:15, 16, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” This is the same way Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. The devil still uses these same three temptations to defeat a Christian by doing evil.
- HE IS CALLED AN ANGEL OF LIGHT.” It is when the devil comes to us as an angel of light that it is hard to detect him. He is not that repulsive figure with hoofs, horns and forked tail. He comes with human solutions for our problems. He questions God’s goodness. Christ faced this at the beginning of His earthly ministry and answered him with Scripture: Matthew 4 Christ presented to us a pattern. 1Peter 2:21 “For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps.” Ephesians 6:16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Zechariah 3:2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” We can pray and ask God to rebuke Satan for us.
- THE “GOD OF THIS WORLD” (age) and “THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD.” These two names describe something of what the devil is today in this age of Grace. Jesus refers to the devil as the “prince of this world” and Paul spoke of him as the “god of this age.” (Jesus) John 14:30, “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” (Paul) 2Corinthians 4:3,4 “But if our Gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
- WHERE SATAN DWELLS. There are many misconceptions of the place that Satan presides over. Paul in Ephesians 6 makes it clear that the heavenlies, the space above the earth is the present location of his base of operations. This gives Satan access to the earth to influence men and nations. Paul describes him as a roaring lion, devouring the unwary. The first two chapters of Job describe in detail how he has free access to heaven to accuse the brethren, but Christ has assured us that He is praying for us. Thank God for the Word and the power of Christ’s precious blood.
- THE FUTURE OF SATAN. Until the rapture, Satan will continue to have access to Heaven. Then, in the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week, he will be cast down to the earth with his fallen angels, to make life on this planet unthinkably terrible. Revelation 12:12, “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” That time will be limited to just three and a half years. (Revelation 12:14 and Matthew 24:22). The devil will be in the bottomless pit during Jesus reign on the earth (Millennium Revelation 20:1-3). After the thousand-year period ends, he will be released and go about on the earth, recruiting an army of rebellious people who hate the Lord Jesus and will lead them in a battle for Jerusalem. God will judge that army in a moment and destroy all of them. The devil and the souls of those wicked people will go immediately to the Lake of Fire forever (Revelation 20:9, 10).
- WATCH OUT FOR SATAN’S WAYS of hindering and defeating the children of God. Common ones are listed below.
- a. His designs. 2Corinthians 2:11, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” These are always evil to defeat God’s children.
b. His strategies. Ephesians 6:11, 12, “Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Don’t underestimate him; he is organized.
c. His traps. 1Timothy 3:7; 6:9, “Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”
d. His counterfeit wonders. 2Thessalonians 2:9, “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan will all power and signs and lying wonders.” Many today claim to be miracle workers, but Jesus said He would disown them. (Matthew 7:21-23).
e. His evil intentions. (1 Corinthians 7:5) John 8:44, “Ye are of your father, the devil’ and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
- a. His designs. 2Corinthians 2:11, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” These are always evil to defeat God’s children.
The devil (Satan) is not just an influence, as so many think. He is real and all his purposes are to thwart what God does and to hinder the Christian in his growth into Christlikeness. His attacks are always at our weak points. It is here that he will marshal all his forces to bring us down to defeat and shame. Victory comes as we obey God’s Word. Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of their testimony; and they loved not their own lives unto the death.” Their testimony: they belonged to God, redeemed through the precious blood of God’s Lamb and now stood fully clothed in His righteousness, knowing that the blood constantly cleanses from sin.
Please look up and read all the Scripture references in the article. More importantly, take these next passages and hide the Word of God in your heart by memorizing the special promises where God has offered His help:
1Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 4:13; Hebrews 4:15, 16; 1John1:7; 2:1, 2; Romans 8:31; Psalms 119:11 and remember the whole armor of God described in Ephesians 6:11-17.
Never attempt to defeat Satan by your own devices. He is way ahead of you and can defeat everything that you can devise. But he cannot defeat the Blood of the Lamb, who is Jesus, and the Word of God. Plead the blood of the Lamb and use the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). Only then will the devil retreat. 2Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” So, be victorious in Jesus!