The Serpent Series

Who is this serpent?

Revelation 12:9 “The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan.”

Adam and Eve were face to face with Satan.

We don’t know if this was merely an appearance of a serpent or a real serpent possessed by Satan. The passage only tells us he is crafty (cunning, shrewd, sensible) and created by God. We don’t know how it’s possible for a serpent to communicate and reason with Eve; she didn’t seem surprised. Scripture doesn’t explain these things, so I won’t take time to speculate. It’s ok not to know everything! Only God is all-knowing! It keeps us humble.

Many people don’t believe there is a Satan, like one little boy…

Two 6 year olds struggled with the problem of the existence of the devil. One boy said, "Oh, there isn't any devil." The other, rather upset, said, "What do you mean, there isn't any devil? It talks about him all the way through the Bible!" the first replied, "Oh that's not true. It's just like Santa Clause, the devil turns out to be your dad."

The Bible does indeed talk about Satan, and it’s not your dad! If God saw fit to include teaching about the devil in his Holy Word, we ought not ignore it.

Two Biblical truths I would like to remind us of:

God is truth; there are no lies in him

Satan is a liar; there is no truth in him

There are only two camps in this world: God’s or Satan’s.

1 John 5:19 “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”

1 John 3:8-10 “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother.”

Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me.” (Luke 11:23)

You are either walking in God’s truth or Satan’s lies.

God is truth; there are no lies in Him

Hebrews 6:18 “…it is impossible for God to lie.”

Deuteronomy 32:4 “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”

2 Samuel 7:28 “O Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your words are trustworthy…”

Titus 1:1-3 “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness – a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.”

John 14:6 “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

1 John 2:20-21 “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.”

Satan is a liar; there is no truth in him

I’ve come across people who get too cocky when dealing with the devil. “I’m gonna be the devil’s worst nightmare!” Jude warns us…

Jude 1:8-9 “In the same way, these dreamers (false teachers who have slipped into the church) pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’”

When I call Satan a liar I am only quoting our Lord Jesus from John 8:

John 8:42-44 “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.