Satan's Scam Series

Several years ago, a middle school in Oregon faced a unique problem. A number of girls began to use lipstick and put it on in the bathroom. After they put on their lipstick, they pressed their lips to the mirrors leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Finally, the principal decided something had to be done. She called the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the custodian. She explained lip prints caused a major problem for the custodian, who had to clean the mirrors every day. To demonstrate how difficult it was, she asked the custodian to clean one of the mirrors. He took out a long-handled brush, dipped it into the toilet, and scrubbed the mirror. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirrors (Brett Kays, www.Preaching Today.com).

Sin looks like fun until you see the real filth you’re kissing. That’s because Satan disguises sin very well. He’s a great scam artist, the father of all scam artists, and if you’re not careful, he’ll scam you before you even realize it.

But the good news is Satan is not very creative. He has used the same scam over and over again ever since the beginning; and If you can learn his scam, you can also learn to avoid it. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis 3, Genesis 3, where God reveals Satan’s scam.

Genesis 3:1a Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

Satan is very subtle here. He uses a serpent to make his first attack.

Now, when we think of serpents today, we usually think of ugly, slithering snakes. They make your skin crawl, and most people can’t stand to be around them. But in the beginning, serpents were beautiful creatures and probably walked upright. According to verse 14, snakes didn’t slither on the ground until AFTER God cursed them.

That’s why Satan uses the serpent to get Eve’s attention. It is not something she loathes. It is something she finds very beautiful. And that’s the way Satan works. He makes himself and sin look so beautiful and right.

That’s why Mel Gibson used a veiled female figure to portray Satan in his Passion of Christ. At a screening near Chicago, he said, “Evil takes on the form of beauty. It is almost beautiful. It is the great aper of God. [I.e., a close, but clumsy copy of God]. But the mask is askew; there is always something wrong. Evil masquerades, but if your antennae are up, you'll detect it” (Christianity Today, March 2004).

In a classic "Twilight Zone" episode from 1960, an American is on a walking trip through central Europe when he gets caught in a raging storm. He Staggers through the blinding rain and comes upon an imposing medieval castle. It is a monastery for a brotherhood of monks, who reluctantly take him in.

Later that night, the American discovers a cell with a man locked inside. An ancient wooden staff bolts the door. The prisoner claims the “insane” head monk, Brother Jerome, is holding him captive, and he pleads for the American to release him.

The prisoner's kindly face and gentle voice win him over. The American confronts Brother Jerome, who explains that the prisoner is actually none other than Satan, "the father of lies," held captive by the Staff of Truth, the one barrier he cannot pass.

This incredible claim convinces the American that Jerome is indeed mad. As soon as he gets the chance, he releases the prisoner—who immediately transforms into a hideous, horned demon and vanishes in a puff of smoke!

The stunned American is horrified at the realization of what he has done. Jerome responds sympathetically. “I'm sorry for you, my son. All your life you will remember this night and whom you have turned loose upon the world.”

“I didn't believe you,” the American replies. “I saw him and didn't recognize him” – to which Jerome solemnly observes, “That is man's weakness… and Satan's strength” (Kevin Stump, "Is the Devil Dead?" The Plain Truth, Mar/Apr 2001; www.Preaching Today.com).

Satan looks good, and He makes sin look good. But once you let him loose in your life, the horrible reality sets in.

J. C. Ryle, put it this way: We are too apt to forget that temptation to sin will rarely present itself to us in its true colors, saying, “I am your deadly enemy, and I want to ruin you forever in hell.” Oh no! Sin comes to us like Judas, with a kiss; like Joab, with outstretched hand and flattering words. The forbidden fruit seemed good and desirable to Eve; yet it cast her out of Eden. Walking idly on his palace roof seemed harmless enough to David; yet it ended in adultery and murder. Sin rarely seems [like] sin at first beginnings (J. C. Ryle, Bishop of Liverpool, England, 1800s, Tony Lane, Timeless Witness, Hendrickson, 2004, p. 392; www. PreachingToday.com).