Devices of the devil
1 Peter 5:8-5:9
Satan’s presence in our world is real. The Bible clearly teaches that our struggle to live righteously is a struggle against the dark forces of Satan that seeks to rule us. It is a struggle against the powerful rulers of darkness.
Our enemy is not merely desiring to frustrate us or make us miserable. He wants to devour us, to devastate our lives. Jesus stated the matter this way. "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (John 10:10).
Who is Satan?
Satan is known by several names in the Bible. Satan seems to be his proper name, while other names seem to be more nicknames or titles.
He is called Beelzebub and the prince of devils:
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges." (Matthew 12:24-27)
He is known as Belial:
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" (II Corinthians 6:14, 15)
Paul called him the "prince of the power of the air":
"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" (Ephesians 2:2)
He is a murderer, a liar, and the father of lies:
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts 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." (John 8:44)
He is the great dragon, that old serpent, the Devil:
"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:9)
He is the adversary, stalking us like a lion:
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" (I Peter 5:8)
What Does Satan Look Like?
How many ways have you seen the devil pictured? Some times he is pictured as a man with a man with a Van Dyke beard, evil eyes, and wicked little smirk. He is also pictured the same way except with red skin, horns, a pointed tail, and carrying a pitch fork. Now add the feet of a goat and you have another picture of the devil. And finally, he is sometimes pictured as a creature with the head of a goat, the arms and torso of a man, and the legs and feet of a goat. These images are from legend and imagination, but what does the Bible say that the devil looks like?
He appeared to the woman as a serpent in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). But other than this account, we are not given a description of what the devil may look like. Since Satan was an angel, he is therefore a spiritual being like an angel. Being a spiritual being would allow him to appear as anything he wanted (a serpent for instance), or not be seen at all.
Paul said that Satan can appear as an "angel of light"
II Corinthinans 11:
13: For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14: And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15: Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
I. The Danger of the Devil
A. Your Personal Enemy
Satan tells us to sacrifice duty to self-interest, the cause of Christ to personal convenience. He tells us to substitute God’s plan with our plan.
B. A Powerful Enemy
(1 Peter 5:8-9)
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith.
(Ephesians 6:12).
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places
II. The Desire of the Devil
A. Deceive You
"Jesus came seeking sinners... the Devil seeks saints. He looks for Christians with their guard down. He could not keep Christians from becoming Christians, now he wants to make them ineffective Christians. He will do everything in his diabolical power to render them ineffective. He wants an impotent Christian and an impotent church. He will slander, hinder and handicap you. He will do everything in his power to keep you from sharing Christ with a non-Christian. He lost you but now he seeks to make sure that no one around you will come to Christ. The Devil is not interested in nibbling on us, he seeks to gulp us down. He looks for those who play into his clutches. He lurks in the spiritual bushes waiting for the Christian to come along.
B. Disgrace You
The devil seeks to fill our hearts with evil.
Acts 5:3 (NIV).
"Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?’"
C. Destroy You
He insinuates doubt (Genesis 3:1). Does God really mean what he says? Surely not, Satan says. Believe
He snatches away God’s Word (Matthew 13:19; Mark 4:15) and turns men from the Truth (1 Timothy 5:15). He often does this by misusing Scripture (Matthew 4:6). Whenever the Word is being preached, he is ready to turn our attention from it by the crying of a baby or the color of the preacher’s tie. Concentrate
He traps (1 Timothy 3:7). Paul speaks of his snare (pagis), which is literally a “trap fastened by a noose or notch” (2 Timothy 2:26). Tries to get us in a compromising situation
He wants to control the mind (1 Chronicles 21:1ff; Acts 5:3). Books, magazines, radio, television, the Internet and conversation are all used as tools. Discern
He attacks bodies. He did Job’s (2:4-7). Paul called his “thorn in the flesh” a “messenger of Satan to buffet me” (2 Corinthians 12:7; cf., Matthew 17:5-18; Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38). At least we may safely say that he used normal body afflictions to tempt us.
{Worry us sick}
He destroyed Job’s possessions (Job 1:13ff). He can at least use normal disasters to tempt us. Trust
He hinders our spiritual work (1 Thessalonians 2:18, hinder, egkopto. “to cut into, impede, detain.”) Galatians 5:7 uses the root (anakopto) which means a “roadblock” (the KJV margin has “who did drive you back”). Persevere
He seeks to make you proud (1 Timothy 3:6-7). Resist
He persecutes (Revelation 2:10). God’s people are soldiers on the battlefield, but sometimes they are the battlefield.
III. The Defense Against the Devil
1. Resist Him
God’s gracious remedy is simple and effective. "Resist him" We are to oppose him. We are to stand against him.
How are we to accomplish this? Are we to pit our own strength against his? Never! We effectively stand against him by being "steadfast in the faith."
We simply continue trusting in the great truths of God’s word, which declare Christ as victor over our foe.
"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil . . . Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it [the cross] " (1 John 3:8 and Colossians 2:15).
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you"
2. The Armor of God.
Eph 6:10-18 NIV
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Conclusion:
Throughout the Bible the Christian’s struggle is seen as a battle against the power of Satan.
Victory over Satan begins when I understand that victory can only be had in Jesus Christ.
When God places raises us up in Christ he clothes us with Christ’s righteousness.
When he looks at us through the righteousness of Christ he doesn’t see us as bad people because we have failed. He sees us as victors because we have accepted Christ’s victory over Satan for ourselves.
