The Strategies of Satan
A vicious battle is being waged for the souls of men and women in the spiritual realm. It is a battle between God and Satan and the outcome will determine whether the truth of Jesus and His Lordship will reign in a person’s life, or whether the deception of Satan will triumph.
Mankind is caught in the midst of a spiritual war with the Kingdom of God and Satan and his demons on the other.
Jesus Christ inspires believing Christians to dedicate themselves to the extension of His Kingdom throughout the world. Satan tries to seduce people to follow him for the extension of his demonic kingdom.
The devil seeks to corrupt and destroy individual believers, churches, and even entire nations. His ultimate intention is to destroy the work of God and lead the whole world in rebellion against God.
Satan goes "to and fro" in the earth and walks up and down in it.
And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” - Job 1:7
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. - 1 Peter 5:8
The earth seems to be the special field of his activity. Satan and his host of spirit beings exercise their activity among people on the earth.
He operates in his own children and he operates against the children of God. These are the two spheres in which Satan functions.
Being destined to eternal hell, the devil wants nothing more than to bring human beings to join him in his own eternal damnation.
Satan offered Christ the kingdoms of the world in return for worship. This was a valid offer as the world was under his dominion.
From the fall of Adam until the advent of Christ, Satan was given a dispensation to bind the nations. That is why Satan was able to offer Christ the kingdoms of the world during the temptation in the wilderness. Jesus did not correct Satan about his offer. He simply refused the offer.
Satan is the god of this world and greatly influences the actions of human beings. Subject to God’s overruling power, he is allowed to strike at nations and influence the behavior of earthly rulers. God clearly shows that Satan sets fallen spirits over various worldly governments who have great influence and power over their activities. The devil also uses civil authority to war against the followers of Christ.
Christians today are indeed engaged in the same manner of spiritual warfare that Jesus and His disciples confronted.
It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. - Revelation 13:7
The Bible shows that God desires all His children to grow in character and power and to conform to the image of Jesus Christ.
Because of their potential to grow more like Jesus and to advance the Kingdom of God, those who follow Jesus are under greater demonic attack than unbelievers.
The following are some of the strategies Satan uses to harm the Kingdom of God:
1. He Tempts
Satan is the one behind the temptations of mankind. Scripture is full of examples of this strategy such as Eve in the Garden of Eden, Judas the disciple who betrayed Jesus, and Jesus Himself in the wilderness.
Believers do not have the power to resist the devil on their own. Although God allows Satan to tempt Christians, He always provides them with a way out.
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13
2. He Deceives
Satan knows that to persuade anyone to walk down the road to destruction with him, he must coerce them to agree with his precepts. He cannot force anyone to enter into a life of evil. He must therefore rely on subtlety and deception.
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. - Revelation 12:9
The devil creates doubts and deceptions in people's minds and twists what God says in order to deceive them and tempt them into sinning.
3. The Counterfeiter
The devil can perform all kinds of counterfeit signs, wonders, and miracles and will use every sort of evil to accomplish his plans.
He is an evil spirit whose number is legion and who has been phenomenally successful in seducing untold numbers from their allegiance to God.
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders. - 2 Thessalonians 2:9
4. Distorts the Word
Satan is clearly an intelligent being who knows the Scriptures and will try to misuse them to suit his own plans. He quoted Scripture to Jesus and knows the future things which God has revealed through His prophets.
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” - Matthew 4:5-6
5. Steals the Word
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. - Luke 8:11-15
Satan does everything in his power to steal the Word away from anyone who may hear it.
There are four responses to the Word of God:
* The unresponsive heart
* The impulsive heart
* The preoccupied heart
* The responsive heart
6. Denies the Authority of Scripture
The basic false doctrine that Satan propagates is that he always denies the authority of Scripture.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. - 2 Timothy 4:3
7. Denies the Deity of Christ
Satan also denies the deity of Christ as do false teachers.
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. - 1 John 4:2-3
8. Denies the Second Coming
Satan also encourages others to deny the second coming of the Lord.
Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” - 2 Peter 3:3-4
9. Promotes Idol Worship
Another thing that Satan has propagated is the worship of idols. The worship of idols is the worship of demons because demons impersonate idols.
Satan and his demonic forces work hard at luring the people who claim to follow Christ to actually practice idolatry.
This can be done openly by practicing pagan rituals or more subtly by placing one's self-centered agendas and goals in higher priority than God in one's life.
The idol itself is nothing but behind the idol or idolatrous practice is a demonic opportunity to establish control over an individual.
They served their idols, Which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons And their daughters to demons, And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with blood. - Psalm 106:36-38
10. Promotes Worship of the Dead
Satan promotes the worship of the dead. People hope to receive information from what they think are the souls of the dead. In reality they are generally no more than tricks which bring them into contact with demonic spirits who pretend to be the souls of the dead.
“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, “or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. “For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you.” - Deuteronomy 18:10-12
Praying to the dead is strictly forbidden in the Bible. Christians are instructed to pray for the living and not one example exists of true Christians praying for the dead. This is a strategy of Satan to steal worship which belongs to the Lord.
The Bible teaches that the eternal state of mankind is determined by their choices and actions during their lifetime on earth. After a person has died it is not possible to change that person’s destiny through prayer.
Many religions in most places around the world practice ancestral worship and encourage contact with dead relatives. Ancestral worship involves religious beliefs and practices consisting of prayers and offerings to the spirits of dead relatives.
Prayers and offerings are made because it is believed the spirits of ancestors live on in the natural world and are thus able to influence the future and fortunes of living relatives. These spirits are also thought to act as mediators between the living and God. The Bible teaches that the spirits of the dead do not remain in the natural world.
Many Christians today falsely believe that the dead act as intermediaries between God and man. This is not Scriptural as the Bible teaches that only Jesus intercedes on the behalf of those who have placed their faith and trust in Him.
11. Promotes Angel Worship
Satan also promotes angel worship. Many people today worship angels with the mistaken belief that they are worshipping God. We see many who focus more on angels than Christ.
Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. - Colossians 2:18
12. Traps People into a Sinful Lifestyle
The demonic strategy is to keep sinners in their sinful state of mind and to keep them from ever repenting of their sinful state.
He traps people into a sinful lifestyle from which they struggle to escape. He drags them into sinful practices which keep them bound.
Satan feeds upon sin. Wherever there is a habit of sin in a person's life there is demonic activity in that area. The sin-habit often becomes the dwelling place for a spirit that robs a believer of power.
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. - Ephesians 2:1-3
He oppresses people through lust, through sickness, through mental disease, and through death.
One of the things Satan loves to do with Christians is to make them doubt so that they struggle with reality. He makes people doubt God, doubt His Word, and doubt His goodness. That is how he brought sin into the world through Eve. He still uses those same strategies today.
13. Hinders Service to the Lord
Satan loves to hinder the believer’s service to the Lord.
Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy. - 1 Thessalonians 2:18-20
Many ministers of the gospel quit the ministry because of this strategy of the devil.
14. Hinders the Church
Satan also hinders the church. He infiltrates the church. He is really good at this. He allows his people to infiltrate the church and cause damage to the ministry.
They do this in a lot of ways. They do it by having a lifestyle that does not match up to what their claim is and thus confuse the world as to what a true Christian is. Pastors also find it difficult to deal with them.
Satan infiltrates the church with hypocritical counterfeit Christians. They infiltrate the leadership allowing Satan to have a say in the implementation of the vision.
The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. - Matthew 13:38-39
The only way the wheat and the tares are ever going to be separated is by God in the end.
15. False Teachers
Not only does he infiltrate the church through false Christians but also through false teachers who have a position of authority in the church.
Satan is also involved in the work of preventing of perverting. He not only desires to prevent the truth but tries to pervert the truth. One of the ways he does this is by teaching false doctrine.
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. - 2 Peter 2:1-3
