Satan

Satan A Letter from Satan to His 'Friend'
Dear "Friend,"
I visited your Sunday school service and was overjoyed to see that many of your class members were absent. I was thrilled to see that those who came were late, or tired and sleepy during the Sunday School lesson and also the sermon.
I rejoiced in hearing some of the lessons that were not well-prepared, and that many of you just did not care. Of course, it is devilish to see some of you leave after Sunday school and not get your souls fed in the worship service.
Sunday is always one of my favorite days because that is the day I do some of my best work-getting Christians to stay home and watch television, or getting involved in sports and all sorts of "recreation."
I howl with laughter each time I see many of you fail to give much of your tithes and offerings; you make the board and minister squirm and fret over tight budgets and this takes away some of their effectiveness for the Enemy.
I hope you will miss services again this Sunday. Stay home where it is warm, and it will help you get used to the future climate. And one thing more-do not let them get you to become a "born again" Christian!
-Satan

Know Satan's Moves
If you have ever seen a wrestling match, you know it is not pretty. It is sweaty, sticky, dirty, and painful. When you wrestle, you get down and get dirty. There is no half-hearted involvement. You give it everything you've got, or you lose.
Anthony T. Evans wrote: "I know a bit about wrestling because my brother, Arthur, was the Maryland state wrestling champion in his weight class. At his championship match my brother weighed in at about 230 pounds and was going up against the three-time Maryland state champion who out-weighed him by 35 pounds. Before the match, a reporter asked, 'Who is the toughest wrestler in this room?'
"My brother, humble fellow that he is, said, 'You are looking at him!'
"The reporter looked at him and asked, 'What makes you think you are so tough? You are about to fight the man who has won the state championship three times in a row.'
"My brother replied with a very insightful comment, 'I know. He is bigger and perhaps stronger than I am, but I know his methods.'
"We are in a similar fight against Satan. Just as my brother needed to learn his opponent's moves, we need to understand Satan's moves. We need to know how he operates, so that we can prepare ourselves 'to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm' (Ephesians 6:13). No place in Scripture reveals Satan's schemes better than Genesis 3, which records Satan's initial contact with man. As the story unfolds, we clearly see Satan's strategy to ruin the human race." Do Not Laugh at the Devil
Have you heard about the fellow who was seriously ill? A visitor asked him if he was willing to turn his life over to God and renounce the devil. "I am willing to give my life to God," he said, "But a man in my condition should not be making any enemies."
We may laugh, but we must not forget that the strength and influence of the devil is real. In fact, the number of his followers is increasing. Satan's church is growing and new groups are beginning. Satan's Bible is available in many bookstores. More and more signs of devil worship are now appearing in graffiti.
Never forget that the devil has one goal. He wants your soul. His desire is for all men to be in hell for eternity. He is the embodiment of evil. Twelve times the New Testament calls him "the evil one." He has the power to enter a person (Luke 22:3). With his craftiness, he can use even the best of people to achieve his ends (Matthew 16:23). He can trap man and take him captive (2 Timothy 2:26). He can fill the heart of man and lead him to death (Acts 5:3).
It is not old-fashioned or anti-intellectual to believe in a living, powerful person of evil. Perhaps we need to see more vividly the contest in which we are participants. "I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Me" (Acts 26:17-18).
Instead of joking about him, perhaps we need to restore a custom of the early church. Tertullian, (A.D. 155-222) recounted how converts not only confessed the Christ, but also said, "I renounce you Satan and all your service and all your works."
We may not be a member of Satan's church but we can still be his follower (1 Timothy 5:15). This is because we serve him by default. If we do not totally and wholeheartedly serve the Lord, we automatically become servants of Satan. "Do not you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16).
The old dragon, the serpent, is not all-powerful. In fact, we can fight against him and win if we will seek divine assistance (Romans 8:13, Romans 8:26). We can resist him and flee his influence (James 4:7). Our weapons and strength are mighty, and we can fight against him and triumph (Ephesians 6:13-18).
With such strength, we need not fear the devil. Yet we must constantly be alert to his schemes and devices. He wants us, he is powerful, but he can only win if we let him. "For we are not unaware of his schemes" (2 Corinthians 2:11). Do You Know the Devil?
That is a pretty unusual title for an article that is designed to uphold the Christian faith. Why would we ever want to know the devil? Because we will never overcome him unless we know something of his sinister purposes, his devious tactics and his universal influence.
George C. Scott portrayed George Patton in the film biography of the World War II general's career. There is a scene in which Scott as Patton reflects on the defeat of the German field Marshall, Erwin Rommel. He said something like, "Rommel, I read your book."
We have to read the book on our enemy, the devil. Among the things we need to know about him are the following:
1. He controls people. He has even been able to control people who walked in the physical presence of Jesus. Near the end of our Lord's earthly ministry, he predicted His own death. Peter resisted the thought that such a thing could happen. Even with the passing of nearly 20 centuries, Jesus' reaction to Peter is a shock. "Out of my sight, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men" (Matthew 16:23).
2. He lies. He is the father of lies (John 8:44) and he "masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). He can start with a premise or a practice that is clearly the opposite of what God wants and put a spin on it that makes it sound like you have God's backing for the most evil deeds imaginable.
3. He has universal influence. In Job 1, God asked Satan where he had been. In arrogance Satan shot back, "Ranging over the earth from end to end" (NEB). You cannot go anywhere on this planet where Satan does not go.
This is not said to make you paranoid about Satan, but so that you might be better prepared to resist the devil and force him to flee from you.

All These Things I Will Give You
Jesus had been in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights without food. He must have been extremely hungry when Satan approached Him! Always expect Satan to tempt you in your weakest moments. He said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread" (Matthew 4:3). Jesus failed to respond to this temptation, so Satan attempted pride (Matthew 4:6). With another failure Satan "upped the ante" and offered Jesus greater THINGS than food; He offered the world. He said, "all these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me" (Matthew 4:9). With this statement, Satan finally arrived at the real issue: "Fall down and worship ME." All sin stripped of its glamour and laid bare is the dethroning of God to make some THING (living or non-living), a god.
Satan can offer you only THINGS; nothing more. Jesus offers you abundant life; life to its fullest (John 10:10). The life Jesus offers you has promises for both the present life and the life to come (1 Timothy 4:8).
People are foolish. They look for life and peace in THINGS, but Jesus says that you can have life and peace and joy with or without things (Matt. 5-7). Paul accepted what Jesus had to offer and said of himself, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:12-13).
THINGS cannot bring life and happiness because they are temporary. Only a foolish person spends his life acquiring THINGS to the neglecting of the life Jesus offers. Jesus once told of such a man (Luke 12:16-21). The man acquired so many "things" that he had to tear down his barns and build bigger ones. With a sigh of relief, he said, "Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years; take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry" (Luke 12:19). "But God said of you: then whose shall those THINGS be which you have provided?" (Luke 12:20). THINGS have an end but ETERNAL LIFE is forever.
The THINGS Satan offers you are in no way certain because he is a liar. Jesus says, "There is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). Satan cannot offer you anything without telling a lie. On the other hand, Jesus is TRUTH (John 14:6). Jesus cannot promise you anything that He will not or cannot fulfill.
Just as Satan offered Jesus ALL THESE THINGS, he offers them to you today. Are you accepting his offer? If your day-by-day life is consumed in acquiring THINGS, you have accepted. Satan is saying to you, "ALL THESE THINGS WILL I GIVE YOU" but I believe Jesus' estimation of Satan. You are being lied to!

Hostages in the Pew
Satan is not warring over those who are in the world, for he already has them in his grasp. His war is to conquer those who are sitting in the pew. Those who have been reconciled, he longs to take hostage once again. His strategy is deceptive, because he uses them to hinder the work of the church.
First, he deludes them with other goals in life which soon take priority over the work of the church and personal involvement. They become members of the body which become dysfunctional. Hands that will not work. Feet that will not travel to God's appointed place. A mouth that will not confess Jesus to others. Ears that soon fail to listen. A brain that refuses to think and dwell on things above. Lame, blind and deaf, the church struggles to fulfill its purpose.
Second, he lures them into complacency. Having become satisfied with less than God's desire for their lives, they settle for adolescence rather than maturing to adulthood, while at the same time believing they are adults. They fail to meditate upon God's Word, except while sitting in the pew. They give token gifts instead of a sacrifice. They listen to lessons with change or repentance far from mind. Maturity is not even in view, because their eyes have been blinded. Eventually, they find themselves attending but not involved.
Third, he tantalizes their sense with false teachings with the purpose of taking others off course. Having become numb, new sensations must fill the void. Having not understood God's purpose they change their attitude from not wanting to go beyond what is written to stretching the limits as far as they can. Deluded themselves, they delude others to a false sense of security. They now must seek bigger, greater sensational things to keep the momentum going so their individual spirits can feel fulfilled. The appearance of great things happening blinds their eyes to the fact they have been taken hostage, and pride keeps them from being set free.
Fourth, he stalemates their vision with past accomplishments. Boasting in the glory of a successful past program they fail to launch out into new, more productive, fruitful efforts. They might even nurture a program long after its death. Individuals stop teaching and serving others after just a few victories. They fail to dream of God's use of their lives and God's vision for the church.
If the church and we as individual members are ever going to be what God desires, the hostages in the pews must be freed. The only thing that can set them free is the truth. No mystical, sensational experience, just reasonable, plain truth. Only the Bible can reveal if we are held hostage. Only the Bible can set and keep us free. Read it, study it, and make it yours, that you might heed the warnings and not be taken hostage. On Being Deceived
A man is DECEIVED if he is a hearer and not a doer of the Word (James 1:22).
A man is DECEIVED if he says that he has no sin (1 John 1:8).
A man is DECEIVED when he thinks himself to be something when he is nothing (Galatians 6:3).
A man is DECEIVED when he thinks himself to be wise with worldly wisdom (1 Corinthians 3:18).
A man is DECEIVED when he seems to be religious and does not bridle his tongue (James 1:26).
A man is DECEIVED when he thinks that he will not reap what he sows (Galatians 6:7).
A man is DECEIVED when he thinks that evil company will not corrupt good morals (1 Corinthians 15:33).
A man is DECEIVED when he thinks that the unrighteous will inherit the kingdom of God (heaven) (1 Corinthians 6:9).
Now Satan will try to DECEIVE you to not pay attention to the above. Will you let him? The "Orphan"
A young man, under the influence of drink, stood on the outside of a crowd and boasted that he would make the open-air preacher stop preaching. He shouted: "Hi, Mister, you can go home; you don't need to preach any more-the devil's dead!" The preacher looked at the young man sternly and replied, "The devil's dead? Then you are an orphan!"

Satan Defeated
Dwight L. Moody said that one of the happiest men he ever knew was a man in Dundee, Scotland, who had fallen and broken his back when a boy of fifteen. He had lain on his bed for forty years and could not be moved without a good deal of pain. Probably not a day had passed in all those years without acute suffering. But day after day the grace of God had been granted him, and when Mr. Moody was in his room it seemed as if he was as near heaven as he could get on earth. When Mr. Moody saw him, he thought he must be beyond the reach of the tempter, and he asked him, "Doesn't Satan ever tempt you to doubt God and to think that He is a hard master?" "Oh, yes," he said, "he does try to tempt me. I lie here and see my old schoolmates driving along, and Satan says, 'If God is so good, why has He kept you here all these years? You might have been a rich man, riding in your carriage.' Then I see a man, who was young when I was, walk by in perfect health, and Satan whispers, 'If God loved you, couldn't He have kept you from breaking your back?' " "And what do you do when Satan tempts you?" "Ah, I just take him to Calvary, and I show him Christ, and I point out those wounds in His hands and feet and side, and say, 'Doesn't He love me?' The fact is Satan got such a scare there nineteen hundred years ago that he cannot stand it; he leaves me every time." That bedridden saint of God did not have much trouble with doubts; he was too full of the grace of God.

Proof of Conversion
Dwight Moody used to speak of a miserly farmer recently converted, to whom a neighbor in distress appealed for help. The miser decided to prove the genuineness of his conversion by giving him a ham. On his way to get it the tempter whispered, "Give him the smallest one you have." A struggle ensued and finally the miser took down the largest ham he had. "You are a fool," the devil said. And the farmer replied, "If you don't keep still, I'll give him every ham in the smokehouse!"

Later, but Lost
There is a story that Satan once had a conference in order to devise some effective method to harm the Lord's work on earth. One demon suggested, "Let us go down and persuade men that there is no God." This, however, was rejected by the majority of the demons and by the archdemon, Satan, who stated that it was impossible for any intelligent man not to believe in the existence of God. How could they persuade men of the non-existence of God when they themselves believed that there is a God? Another demon proposed that they should tell the people that Jesus Christ never really existed. This also was rejected since historical facts are historical facts, and Jesus Christ as a historical figure could not be denied. Then another demon suggested that they persuade everyone that death ended it all and that they should not worry about life after death. But this also was rejected because man would conclude that God must be a fool to have created man for this earth only. Finally the most intelligent of the demons got up and said, "I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll go down and tell everybody to believe that there is a God, that belief in Jesus Christ saves, but you can get by just by professing faith and go on living in sin as you used to." Immediately this proposal was unanimously acclaimed, and ever since, the demons, Satan's agents, have been telling people to believe, but to live the way they want.

God Has the Keys
When the devil came to Martin Luther and asked him to open the door of his heart so that he could come in and discuss some very important matters with him, he said, "I don't have the keys to the door; God has them. Ask Him if you wish." Needless to say, Satan took to his heels.

Resist Satan
Billy Bray, the Cornish miner, whose rugged piety has been a blessing to many, says that one year his crop of potatoes turned out so poorly that, when he was digging them, Satan, at his elbow, said, "There, Billy, isn't that poor pay for serving your Father the way you have all the year? Just see those small potatoes!" He stopped digging and replied, "Ah, Satan, at it again; talking against my Father, bless His name! Why, when I served you I did not get any potatoes at all. What are you talking about?" And on he went digging and praising the Lord for small potatoes.

Satan Is Real
A man came to Charles Finney, the well-known evangelist, and said, "I don't believe in the existence of a devil." "Don't you?" asked Finney. "Well, you resist him for a while, and you will believe in it." That's what the second commandment of James is: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). A godly life is characterized by its conflicts with sin. The place most frequented by Satan is where holiness dwells.

Empty Houses
Suppose you had been house hunting in a development of new homes, and when you found an empty one you tried to get into it. If the house was full, occupied by people, you wouldn't dare try to get in. That's exactly what Satan does. He looks for vacuums. He looks for empty houses. They may be clean, but if God is not within you, having made you His temple, you can be sure the devil is going to occupy you. Be filled with the Spirit of God. That's the admonition and meaning of this parable of our Lord in Luke 11:24-26.

Satan's Big Trick
Luther says in one of his sermons: "The devil held a great anniversary at which his emissaries were convened to report the results of their several missions. 'I let loose the wild beasts of the desert,' said one, 'on a caravan of Christians, and their bones are now bleaching on the sands.' 'What of that?' said the devil. 'Their souls were all saved.' 'I drove the east wind,' said another, 'against a ship freighted with Christians, and they were all drowned.' 'What of that?' said the devil. 'Their souls were all saved.' 'For ten years I tried to get a single Christian asleep,' said a third, 'and I succeeded, and left him so.' "Then the devil shouted," continues Luther, "and the night stars of hell sang for joy." One of the tricks of Satan is to make us believe that submission to God means a spiritual stupor. Far from it. It is a battle; it is resistance and first of all to Satan himself.

Satan's Tools
An old fable says that the devil once offered his tools for sale, intending to give up his business. He displayed these tools-malice, hatred, jealousy, deceit, and several others, with the prices marked on them. One of them was set apart, marked with a higher price than the others. When the devil was asked why this was, he said, "Because that is my most useful tool; it is called depression; with that I can do anything with people." How true! Let us watch, therefore, when it makes its appearance and take our stand against depression; it is often from the devil.

Fighting the Forces of Evil
Animal trainers say that the secret of handling lions, tigers, and leopards is to keep them constantly afraid of you. The instant they get over their fear, they will attack. They are treacherous beasts and often gather courage for an attack when the trainer's eyes are turned away from them. One never knows when they will spring at their keeper if they have a chance to do it from behind. Our fight with the forces of evil is like that. Satan is always seeking to attack us from the rear or in ambush. He goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, but he is a great coward when faced with courage. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" is as true today as it was when the Apostle James first made the declaration (James 4:7). The Cleansing Blood
It is related that once the devil came to Luther and tried to use the biblical truth of the fallibility of the Christian to create in him a defeatist attitude. He presented Luther with a long list of sins which Luther was guilty of; sins of commission and sins of omission. Then Luther with his characteristic wit turned to the devil and said, "No, you must have forgotten some, for sure. Think a little harder." Sure enough, the devil thought of some more, and he put them down. "That's very fine," said Luther. "Now write with red ink across them all, 'The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin' (1 John 1:7)." There was nothing the devil could answer to that.

Self-reformation
A bent bow springs back, not merely to the perpendicular line, but bends to the opposite direction. A pendulum that is set swinging not only returns to the place from which it started but also swings as far in the other direction, and this is true of every great effort in life, whether intellectual or moral. After great intellectual strain, the mind returns, not to the condition of repose in which it was before, but to a condition of weariness. After great moral effort, there is danger of reaction, and this is especially true of penitence. After a great act of penitence there is a sense of joyous freedom from sin. The soul has been swept and garnished, swept by confession, garnished by the relief of knowing that it is not burdened any more. Yet this is only the negative side of spiritual life and is in itself a condition of peculiar danger. The old tenant has been driven out of the house. The house has been cleansed and prepared for a new tenant. But, alas, it is still empty. A great victory has been won, but there is often a tendency to exaggerate the results of the victory, let down the defenses and think the war is ended when only one battle has been fought. The enemy may have been routed, but if we give ourselves up to mere rejoicing, the enemy may return with recruited forces and fall upon us while we are feasting upon the memories of our first victory, and so we may become an easy prey.

Spiritually Dead
A young Christian who worked for a rich man was always telling his employer that Satan was constantly battling with him, but he always won over Satan. The master made fun of him, telling him that Satan never bothered him. How was that? The young Christian could not answer him. One day, however, they went hunting together. The employer shot at some wild ducks. Some he killed, and some he just wounded. "Run," the employer said, "and catch the wounded ones first before they run away." The young Christian came back laughing. He had the answer to the big question. "You know, sir," he said, "why Satan does not tempt you? Because you are spiritually dead, just like those ducks. He goes after the live ones, ones like me."