A Real Devil

The existence of a personal devil is scoffed at by many, and doubted by more.  The Bible clearly teaches the existence of a personal, pernicious, evil one - the Devil.   

Modernists believe evil exists, but not an "evil one." Satan is often regarded as an impersonal force, an imagination, a medieval invention designed to scare people into the "Church," or an excuse on which to blame our shortcomings.

None of these are true, for the Bible clearly teaches the existence of a personal evil one - the Devil.

It is the duty of each Christian 'soldier' to know as much about his or her adversary as possible. Ignorance on this subject is dangerous.

In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul says, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

That’s right the Devil is not a joke!  He is very real, and he is extremely dangerous. We are already defeated by Satan if we adopt the common idea that Satan is a little red guy with horns and a pointed tail that sit on people’s shoulders whispering naughty things in their ears. These false perceptions of Satan will hinder your effectiveness in Christian living. SATAN WILL ENJOY AN ADVANTAGE OVER YOU IF YOU ARE IGNORANT CONCERNING HIS PERSON AND PRACTICES! In this article we want to explore the reality of Satan based on the Scriptures.

LESSON:

SATAN WAS A COMMENDABLE BEING

He Was the Sum of Wisdom, Beauty, and Perfection. Of course he no longer is.

Ezekiel 28:12, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

Ezekiel 28:15, Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

He awoke in the first moment of his existence in the full-orbed beauty and power of his exalted position; surrounded by all the magnificence which God gave him. He saw himself as above all the hosts in power, wisdom, and beauty. Only at the throne of God itself did he see more than he himself possessed, and it is possible that even that was in some sense not fully visible to the eyes of the creature. . . . Before his fall he may be said to have occupied the role of prime minister for God, ruling possibly over the universe but certainly over this world" (Donald Grey Barnhouse, The Invisible War [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1965], pp. 26-7).

Unfortunately, the story of the devil does not end with him continuing as an incredible and delightful creature. I want to draw attention to Satan’s deceptions and “wisdom” in this article. These make him dangerous to every believer.

     

Satan Was Beautiful in His Appearance

He was perhaps the most beautiful and intelligent of all the celestial beings. The description of Lucifer's beauty is given in verse 13. He was covered with every precious stone conceivable.

Ezekiel 28:13, Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Satan Made His First Appeal to Humanity By Using the Power of Appearance; Deception is One of His Primary Maneuvers Against Mankind. Satan makes his appeal to humanity through the ‘eye gate’.  He seeks to give us a false impression through what he flashes before our eyes.  Everything that appears good isn’t!

Eve In The Garden Of Eden Was Deceived Through Appearances! Gen 3:1, Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Gen 3:6, And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

2 Cor 11:3, But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

(Satan’s deceptive attack upon Eve cause her to Doubt God’s Word (vs 3), Add to God’s Word (vs 3), Question God’s Word (vs 5), Reject God’s Word (vs 6) as a result she trusted the devil, believed his lie, fell in sin because of deception.  If Satan can get us to reject God’s word then sin will have its way in our live, families, churches, country. The results will be lives filled with Sin, Shame, Depression, Guilt, False Religions, Fear, and Blame Shifting (vs 7-13). There is nothing left for God to do but judge such a state and condition (Gen. 3:14-24).  

This is one of the primary reasons we must live by faith and not by sight.  Satan works through the principle of sight, but God works through the principle of faith!

2 Cor. 5:7, (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

2 Cor. 4:18, While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.  (1 Pet. 5:8-9)

Romans 10:17, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Satan Is Still a Master of False Appearances With the Purpose of Deception

2 Cor 11:13-15, 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.

Rev 12:9, 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.

As a result we have false gods, false Christs, another gospel, phony churches, false preachers and teachers, and fake Christians! Satan is very busy with lying and deceiving.  Some of his greatest lies to the lost are, “A good and loving God will not sin people to Hell.”  Another lie is, “The Bible was written by men, you can’t really trust what it says.” Another lie he tells young people is “You have your right to do with your life and body what you want to.”   Satan will not tell you that 4,219 teenagers contract sexually transmitted diseases every day in America. He does not tell you that over 20 million people will be infected with the deadly AIDS virus this year. The best defense against a lie is to be well acquainted with the TRUTH—God’s Word!

Modernism basically rejects the supernatural aspects of the Scriptures (Noah’s Flood, the Red Sea Crossing, and Other miracles in the Bible.) Applying human rational to Spiritual matters is rather inconsistent. They would have us all to become skeptical doubting the Bible and questioning its authenticity. They would be pleased if we criticize its claims, and receive it like a natural book written by mere men.  They reject the Scriptures for the humanistic ideas of Carl Marx, Charles Darwin, and Modern Science.  As a result every country and culture that has embraced these lies and deceptions of the devil have been plunged into sin, shame, fear, guilt, depression (psychological problems), merely religious powerless churches, and blame shifting (godless psychology).  The last recourse of God will be to judge them except they repent and be saved.

Satan Was Literally Full of  Wisdom

Ezekiel 28:12, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

The Wisdom that was in Satan originally was pure heavenly wisdom. It means that he was skillful, full of wit, and endowed with special abilities. He was a Master at his office! His wisdom was characterized by making the right choices at the opportune time. Like us at times, he possessed divine wisdom, but refused to heed it.  

Satan’s Wisdom Was Corrupted by Pride

But this Heavenly Wisdom became Worldly Wisdom because it was corrupted by Satan’s prideful and self-centered attitude.

Ezek 28:17, Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. (Isa. 14: 12-17)

As a Result, His Wisdom Was Changed To Wiles

His skill has become schemes and craftiness, his wit has become wiliness, and his special abilities have become evil devices.  His mastery is that of evil; today he is a scheming opportunist!

                         1)  Eph 6:11, Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (“Wiles”: Methods of  Trickery, Cunning, Crafty and Deceitful)

                         2)  2 Cor 2:11, Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. (“Devices”: evil thoughts, perceptions, mind; it refers to that which is thought out; a purpose or plan of action. The saint cannot afford to be ignorant of  Satan’s evil plans.)

                         3)  II Th 2:9-10, Even him, whose coming is after the working (operation, energy, power) of Satan with all power ( force, miraculous power, violence, mighty (wonderful) work ) and signs and lying wonders,  [10]  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

                                (a) Signs (“Signs”: to signify, to give a sign, to indicate; signs are intended to appeal to the understanding/ intellect).

                                (b) Lying Wonders (“Lying Wonders”: calculated wonders with the purpose of deception; falsehoods coupled with strange events that cause people to marvel; wonders are intended to appeal to the imagination.) 

It is obvious that our arch enemy is after the way we think.  If he can influence our thought life then he can control our way of life.

As a Result, He Was Judge by God

Ezek 28:17, Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

Isa 14:15-16, Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.  [16]  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

The rebellious child of God can expect the chastening hand of a righteous Father in his life for deliberately disobeying the Lord. God does not tolerate rebellion of any kind, whether it is from a wayward husband & father, a contentious wife & mother, or a rebellious and defiant young person. Just as He judged Satan, God will deal with our rebellion in the home life. The Lord commands submission in every facet of family and social life! One of the main problems with young people is they are disrespectful and think they know it all. Though many are largely inexperienced and naive, the view themselves as the exception. Modern youth feel they have a perspective on life that their parents are oblivious of, but this simply is not the case.

                                                                                      

As a Result, We Must Be Careful About the Wisdom Governing our Decisions

James 3:13-18, Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. [14] But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. [15] This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. [16] For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. [17] But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. [18] And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Not all “wisdom” is from God; there are other sources…all of which are frightful. To be filled with bitterness, jealousy, bickering, strife, pride, self-sufficiency, hypocrisy, favoritism, and sensuality is to be under satanic influence; it is to walk in satanic wisdom. 

When We Retaliate Because Of Rejection Or Frustration We Reveal The Kind Of Spirit That Is Influencing And Controlling Us!  Luke 9:51-56,  And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,   [52]  And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.  [53] And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. [54] And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? [55] But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.  [56] For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

The Counsel Of Our Lord Is Submission, Forgiveness, and to Overcome Evil With Good!

Romans 12:21, Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Matthew 5:39, But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

James 4:7, Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Envy, strife, pride, rebellion, and retaliating have no place in the life of a genuine disciple or a Christian family. Challenging circumstances are a part of life for everyone; difficult choices are forced upon all of us at times. Enduring unpleasant conditions is all a part of life. We must learn to handle these things with godly wisdom and not devilish wisdom. This truth can be applied to every relationship we have: Husband & Wife, Parents & Child, Christians, Church Family, Pastor & Church, Boss & Worker, and any other personal relationship we might have in which we could be rejected!

Beloved, the devil is a formidable foe and we must not cherish misconceptions about his person or practices. A part of a winning strategy against him is a biblical understanding of his ways, wiles, and works. Without such perspectives, he can trick us, take advantage of us, manipulate us like poppets, and render us ineffective for the Lord Jesus. No, the devil is not a little guy in a red suit running around with a pitch fork. He is not the equal of God; he is merely a creature who must answer to God for his sins and rebellion. This article is just one attempt to expose him as a liar, deceiver, and manipulator or people. Remain alert refusing to fall prey to his tricks and tactics.