Satan Our Enemy!

Satan's Tactics to Destroy Believers

Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said,

    "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep then from reading their Bibles and knowing the Truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values. But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."
    "So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ."
    "This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"
    "How shall we do this?", shouted his angels.
    "Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent un-numbered schemes to occupy their minds", he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then, borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work and the husbands to work 6 or 7 days a week, 10-12 hrs. a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work."
    "Over stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, the VCR, and their CD's going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ. Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hrs. a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes, mail order catalogues, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering, free products, services, and false hopes."
    "Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotion."
    "Let them be involved in soul-winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family unity for the good of the cause."

It was quite a convention in the end.

And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there.

Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge.

Author Unknown

Pretty impressive stuff, isn't it? My thanks to Johnny for sharing this with me. I'm not sure it went exactly this way, but it does sound plausible and the story serves to illustrate Satan's intricate and insidious plan to catch and hold us in his power.

So who is this "Satan" anyway?
Our enemy goes by many different names and many different disguises. He is known as Satan by some, Lucifer by others. He is The Liar, The Deciever, The Devil, amongst many other names. But whatever he is called, he is our enemy. The Bible teaches us that Satan is our enemy and as with any battle, it is wise to know your adversary’s tactics and strategies. To understand how our enemy operates, we must search the Scriptures to see what God has to say about him.

Is Satan real?
    Yes he certainly is. In both the Old and New Testaments Satan’s existence is taught and talked about. Seven old Testament books tell us about Satan (Genesis, 1 Chronicles, Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah) and in the New Testament, Satan is mentioned thirty-seven (37) times. Jesus Himself teaches us about Satan’s existence in the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John.

Where did he come from?
Satan was part of the original creation. the two Scriptures that talk about the origin of Satan are Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-18. In Isaiah 14 we learn about the desire of Satan (Lucifer) to be like God. And Ezekiel 28 describes Satan's original position and his sin and subsequent fall.     In Isaiah, the Bible explains the desire of Satan (Lucifer) to be like God. These are known as the seven “I Wills” of Satan. “For thou (Satan) hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars oof God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the most high.” Isa. 14:13-14     The book of Ezekiel describes Satan’s original position and his sin. Satan was part of the original Creation and had a position of prestige and glory before he fell. His very name Lucifer means “the bright one” or “the shining one”. Ezekiel 28:13 describes Satan as having a beautiful jeweled covering. Satan was one of God’s chief angels and was perfect in God’s creation. “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Ezek. 28:15 How was Satan perfect? How could God create Satan, knowing that he would sin? God could have created Satan without free will, just as he could have created us in the same manner. But God wants us to love Him by choice, not by force. And that goes for Satan and the angels as well. God allowed Satan the choice to love Him or not. Sin was “found” in Satan – it was not put there by God.

"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."
                        James 1:13

God created Satan as a perfect being, just like Adam and Eve were perfect in creation, but Satan chose to sin and in so doing, he fell from grace.

What was Satan's sin?
    Although we know very little concerning the circumstances surrounding Satan's original sin, Jesus gave us an insight into the iniquity that was found in Satan:

    "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it."
                                                                                                                        John 8:44

Satan, the father of lies, originated in his heart the first lie in the universe: that he could be like God.
    Satan then believed his own lie that he could be like God, thus exhibiting an attitude of pride. Pride is believing something untrue about yourself. And Satan, after telling himself that he could be like God, turned his false thinking into action by rebelling against God and he convinced one third of the heavenly hosts to join in with him (Rev. 12:4). Because of this sin and rebellion, heaven could no longer be home to Satan or the hosts that rebelled with him and so God cast them down.

Why didn't God take away Satan's power?
    Why God didn't strip Satan of his powers when He cast him down is not known. But for whatever reason, God has allowed Satan to be the "god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4) and the "prince of power of the air"(Eph. 2:2) But what exactly are Satan's powers?

1. Satan is able to work miracles.
    Many unsaved people today are tricked into following Satan because he can work miracles and make them appear to have been done by God. In Biblical times, Pharaoh's magicians were able to duplicate what seemed like "miracles" in order to trick Pharoh's people into believing that he ruled "by Divine appointment".

2. Satan is able to blind the eyes of the ungodly.
    Have you ever tried to present the Christian view of an issue to an unbeliever only to have him ignore all you have to say - so stuck on his own beliefs that it's like talking to a wall? This is because his mind has become so affected by Satan that he cannot see the truth. You wonder how anyone could believe such things. And you see the truth of Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

3. Satan is very subtle.
   One of Satan's most dangerous powers is his subtlety. He can transform himself into an angel of light(2 Cor. 11:4), He has many "wiles" or ways of deception (Eph. 6:11). He comes to man most often in the guise of spirituality. (see my page on cults to find out just how many ways he tries this tactic!).
   Satan's subtlety is seen most plainly in his tempting of man when he is weak. Christ was tempted by Satan not when He was powerful such as on his return to Jerusalem to be crucified, but when He had been fasting for forty days. Today Satan often tempts man after a great sucess, when he feels invincible and is off-guard.

4. Satan is powerful, but not omnipotent.
   The power that Satan has now is by God's permission. God has allowed Satan to keep what powers he has. In the first two chapters of Job, God allowed Satan to test Job. That fact should give the Christian man or woman the confidence that nothing will come into their life that God has not allowed. The fact that Satan is not omnipotent is seen in Jude chapter 9 when Michael says "The Lord rebuke thee". Satan's final doom shows his lack of omnipotence also as he is first cast into the bottomless pit (Rev. 20:3) and a thousand years later, into the lake of fire and brimstone - his ultimate and eternal destination.(Rev. 20:10)

5. Satan is intelligent, but not omniscient.
   Satan does not realize the futlity of his schemes. He does not realize the battle has been lost for him and his destiny has been already written. During Christ's crucifixion, Satan entered into Judas in order to turn Him into the authorities, but he didn't realize that by doing so, he was playing right into God's plans. God knew that Calvary was necessary, but Satan seemed unaware of what the consequences of Jesus crucifixion would mean to him.

6. Satan is influential, but not omnipresent.
   "And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." (Job 1:7)
This passage clearly shows Satan is not omnipresent. He is able to influence a great many people but he can't be everywhere at once. Only God is able to do that. 1 Peter 5:8 paints another picture of this fact:"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour."


The character of Satan

1. He is the adversary.
   An adversary is one who takes up a position against another. From the opening pages of Scripture, Satan is seen as the main opponent of everything that is righteous, good, and holy. He is the archenemy of God and His children.

2. He is the accuser.
   Satan is known as "the accuser of the bretheren" because one of his tactics is to use past mistakes to make the Christian man or woman feel that they are not worthy or righteous enough for God to care about. If he can get you feeling guilty of past mistakes you have made, he can make you feel as if there is no hope of your going to heaven and if that happens he has won. But Scripture clearly sates that God forgives, then forgets your past sins. "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalms 103:12)
   My friend, do not fall for Satans tactic of a guilty conscience. Once you accept Jesus into your heart and become saved, you are washed clean; there is no more sin. you are justified (an old axiom is it's just-as-if-I'd never sinned) God does not remember your past sins. And if He can forgive you of them, why must you beat yourself up over them?

3.He is the tempter.
   Of all of Satans character traits, the one that describes him best is his primary job - as the tempter of man. He is continually tempting you and I to do things we shouldn't and to follow his evil ways. It is important for us to know and understand his methods for tempting us so that we can be prepared to defend ourselves (with God's help, of course)against him.
   1 John 2:16 shows us the three methods the Devil uses to tempt us - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
"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." 1 John 2:16

Each one of these temptations arises out of a God-given desire, but then is expanded beyond what God intended and is taken beyond Scriptural meanings and limits. Satan uses the same methods on Jesus and on Eve as the following chart shows:


Three Areas of Temptation
Area Temptation of Eve Temptation of Christ
Lust of the flesh "Eat the fruit." "Turn stones into bread."
Lust of the eyes "Your eyes will be opened." "All the kingdoms will be yours"
Pride of life "Ye shall be as gods "God won't let you die."


   Christ's victory over the Devil's temptations gives us confidence that we too can overcome his temptation. Remember, the battle is already won. It's up to you to join the winning team. It's like going to the racetrack to bet on the outcome - if you already know who is going to win, why put your money on the loser? By submitting to God's authority we can overcome the temptations of the Devil. We need not fear what he can do to us, because he can do nothing that God will not allow.

1 John 4:4 says, "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."








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