Come, let us reason together
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves
The Enemy Of God
Preface
It has been said; keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Of course this simply means that with those individuals you trust, respect and hold dear in your life, you should cling to them, hold them as cherished to your heart, especially those of the household of faith. But then on the other hand, it's quite a different story when it comes to your enemies.
An enemy is someone who is out to harm you either physically, mentally or spiritually. This individual is not your friend, but is hostile and a foe to be reckoned with. This type person you want to keep close in order to keep a vigilant eye on him and his every motive. You want to be fully aware of his tricks and activities. The more you know this person (get close to), the better off you are. And what or who could be a more vile enemy than that old serpent, Satan himself; the very enemy of God.
I'm sure there have
been many sermons and lessons taught on the specific subject of Satan,
but to my recollection, I have never heard one. Yet this to my way of
thinking is one of the most vital topics in the word of God. If the
subject of Satan wasn't all that important, then why would the Spirit
of God mention him so many times throughout the Bible?
We've
all seen the TV show, America's Most Wanted. There should be a Wanted
Poster posted in every public place saying; The Universe's Most Wanted,
and should contain the following information; --- BEWARE: This
individual is most dangerous, he's sneaky and vicious. He's armed with
all the fiery darts and missiles of hell. He will kill your children
and steal your soul if given the chance.
We're
not talking about a John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, or Charles Manson
here. Not even a Hitler, Mussolini, Saddam Hussein or Ben Laden. Not at
all, these guys are small potatoes compared to their father, Satan.
Lesson
Before
we begin this brief discourse I would like to draw your attention to
what the apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians in Eph. 6:10-17; --- "Finally, be strong
in the Lord and in the strength of His might. --- Put on the full
armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes
of the devil. --- For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against
the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual
forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. --- Therefore,
take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist
in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. --- Stand
firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and
HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, --- and
having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;
--- in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with
which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the
evil one. --- And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
Satan is referred to by various names and descriptions in
both the Old and New Testaments. He is referred to as: Satan, devil
(the tempter), destroyer, adversary, Beelzebub (chief devil), Belial
(personification of evil), father of lies, prince of this world among
others. We
might take just a moment to show a contrast with some of the names or
identifying marks of Satan with those of Jesus:
Satan
--- Lk. 2:11 (Contrast) Savior "for
today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord."
Devil
(tempter) --- 2Ti
4:8
(Contrast) Righteous Judge, "in
the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day;
and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."
Destroyer
--- Rom
11:26 (Contrast)
Deliver "THE
DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS
FROM JACOB."
Adversary --- Jn. 15:13-15 (Contrast) Friend "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends --- You are My friends if you do what I command you. --- No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends."
Beelzebub
(chief devil) --- Mark
14:61-62 -
(Contrast) Son of the Highest One (God) "Again
the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, "Are You the
Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" --- And Jesus said, "I am"
Belial,
father of lies --- John
14:6 - (Contrast)
Essence
of truth "I
am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the
Father but through Me"
Prince
of this world --- Isa
9:6 (Contrast)
Prince of Peace "For a child will be born to us, a son
will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And
His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal
Father, Prince of Peace"
Serpent
--- Gen. 3:15 (Conrast)
Wounder
of Satan "And I will put
enmity (hostility) between you and the
woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise
you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel"
The tempter --- 1 Cor. 10:13 (Contrast)
Temptation's
way of escape "No
temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God
is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what
you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of
escape also, so that you will be able to endure it"
The
god of this world --- Jn. 1:29 (Contrast)
The
Lamb of God "When John the baptizer saw Jesus coming, he said; --- Behold,
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"
The
evil one --- Jn. 10:10-11 (Contrast)
Good Shepherd " I
came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. --- I am the good
shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep"
Just as
there are not enough words in the English language to adequately
describe the awesome splendor and love of our God in heaven, there are
not enough words to begin to describe the vile wickedness of Satan, the
enemy of God.
A reasonable jumping off place to begin this survey from God?s Book would be in the Book of beginnings, or Gen. the third chapter. Here we have the words of Moses as he, by inspiration describes Satan. In Gen. 3:1-7; --- "Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said, `You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'" --- The woman said to the serpent, From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; --- but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, `You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.' --- The serpent said to the woman, You surely will not die! --- For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. --- When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. --- Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. Please note, this is the first recorded lie in the Bible. You surely will not die! Also notice the three sinful attributes Eve demonstrated; --- good for food, lust of the flesh; --- delight to the eyes, lust of the eyes; and desirable to make one wise, boastful pride of life. The apostle John assures us that if we want to overcome the evil one (Satan), we are not to; --- ?love the world, nor the things in the world. (Why so?) If any one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. --- For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but from the world" 1 Jn. 2:15-16.
Then
of course, when God confronted this first couple, they began playing
the blame game or blame shifting. God ask Adam who told him that he was
naked. Adam's response was to blame God, then Eve. (Vs. 12); --- The woman whom Thou
gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate. Then in (Vs. 13), we see
where Eve shifted the blame to Satan; --- The serpent deceived
me, and I ate.?
On
down in (Vs. 14-15), we see God's initial judgment on the serpent and
the first recorded prophesy of the Savior, Christ; --- The LORD God said to
the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all
cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will
go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; --- And I will put
enmity (hostility) between you and the
woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise
you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel. Centuries
later, Paul was to write in Gal. 4:4; --- But when the fullness
of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, Thus, by submitting Himself to
the crucifixion of the cross, the devil bruised Jesus? heel, a trivial
blow. But in rising from the grave, Jesus dealt Satan such a crushing
blow that he was never to recover.
The
remainder of these depictions are not in any specific order, but are
simply meant to bring home the very fundamental nature of evil so as to
bring redemption to good and honest hearts.
1. Satan: Also known as the
dragon and the same serpent which led to the downfall of Adam and Eve
as mentioned above. But in Rev. 20:1-2, John says; --- "Then I saw an angel
coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a
great chain in his hand. --- And he laid hold of
the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil
and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;-- We must keep in mind that
the book of Revelation is written in highly
symbolic language and any interpretation of it is obligated to keep
harmony with all other Scripture, and in the context of the time frame
it was written. John said in the very beginning of this writing that
these things were to "shortly" take place. (Rev. 1:1) For instance, the
"key" would symbolize authority over the abyss, and the "great chain"
in this context, represents the ability to limit the power of Satan to
this bottomless pit. The thousand years is equally symbolic as the
"key" and "chain". Vs 1 is the Spirit?s way of defining a full or
uninterrupted period of time. Satan's power is limited, but he
continues to roam about seeking souls to devour. The apostle Peter
warns in 1 Pet. 5:8; --- Be of sober spirit,
be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like
a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour"
Adam
and Eve were only the beginning of Satan's despicable and evil ways. In
the New Testament among the many atrocities he brought upon God's
people we are quite familiar with his dealings, like with Judas which
we might read about in Lk. 22:3-6 & Jn. 13:2, 27. And let's not
forget how he caused the downfall of a Christian couple by the name of
Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-10. Peter asked Ananias in vs. 3; --- "Why has Satan
filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and keep back some
of the price of the land?" Then down in vs. 9, he asked
Ananias?s wife, Sapphira; --- "Why is it that you
have agreed together to put the Spirit of
the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband
are at the door, and they shall carry you out as well"
2. Devil: the very tempter of
Jesus which we read about in Lk. 4:1-13; --- "Jesus, full of the
Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the
Spirit in the wilderness --- for forty days, being tempted by
the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had
ended, He became hungry. --- And the devil said to Him,
?If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.? ---
And Jesus answered him, "It is written, `MAN SHALL
NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.' "--- And he led Him up and showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. --- And the devil said to
Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been
handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. --- Therefore if
You worship before me, it shall all be Yours." --- Jesus answered
him, "It is written, `YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND
SERVE HIM ONLY.' "--- And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on
the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of
God, throw Yourself down from here; --- for it is written, `HE WILL
COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,' --- and,
`ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR
FOOT AGAINST A STONE.' "--- And Jesus answered and said
to him, "It is said, `YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE
TEST.' When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until
an opportune time"
3. Destroyer: Once more we appeal to John?s writing in Rev. 9:11; --- "
They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon" --- It matters not which term you use, both names mean that the angel of the abyss is the Destroyer, or the Devil himself. He was and still is the most wicked and vile demon that has ever existed; and he wants your soul. BEWARE!4. The Adversary: This
descriptive term pictures Satan as an antagonist who lusts after just
the idea of devouring and consuming every faithful child of God he can
get. Why should he go after those of the world, after all he already
has them in his clutches. This is what we referred to earlier when the
apostle Peter warned in 1 Pet. 5:8; --- "Be of sober spirit,
be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like
a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
5. Beelzebub/Beelzebul: Or
("chief of demons"). In Lk. 11:14-20 we find; --- "And He was casting
out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man
spoke; and the crowds were amazed. --- But some of them said, ?He casts
out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons." --- Others,
to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven. --- But He knew
their thoughts and said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is
laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls. --- If Satan
also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you
say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. --- And if I by Beelzebul cast
out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your
judges. --- But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then
the kingdom of God has come upon you.." --- It should be understood
here that Satan (himself) is described by our Lord as a
real and personal being, and not just some principal concerning evil.
Satan is the very essence of evil. Evil is his fundamental nature, and
that's why he is the enemy of God, who is the essence of good and
righteousness.
Nahum
1:14-15 reads thusly; --- "The LORD has issued
a command concerning you (King of Nineveh): "Your name will no
longer be perpetuated. I will cut off idol and image From the house of
your gods. I will prepare your grave, For you are contemptible."
--- Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, Who
announces peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; Pay your vows. For
never again will the wicked one (Belial) pass through you; He
is cut off completely."
7. Father of all lies:
(murderer) --- In Jn. 8:, Jesus was giving the Jews a tongue lashing
because they were stubbornly resisting all that He had to say
concerning the kingdom of God and truth. They were claiming to be the
offspring of Abraham, and beginning in vs. 37f, the Lord said; --- "I know that you are
Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My
word has no place in you. --- I speak the things which I have seen
with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you
heard from your father." --- They answered and
said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you are
Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. --- But as it is, you are
seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard
from God; this Abraham did not do. (Seek to kill Him) --- You are doing
the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born
of fornication; we have one Father: God." --- Jesus said to them, "If
God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and
have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but
He sent Me. --- Why do you not understand what I
am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. --- You are
of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of
your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does
not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.
Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he
is a liar and the father of lies."
9. Serpent: This description
has already been mentioned in #1 above, but the apostle Paul compared
the serpent's evil and wary ways with Eve in the garden to that of his
ability to lead the Corinthians (or at least some of them) away from
the devotion they had toward Christ and His gospel. He writes in 2 Cor.
11:3; --- "But I am afraid,
lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your
minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of
devotion to Christ."--- But for the most part
Paul says when others being used as Satan?s tools to implement a
different gospel, or preach another Jesus, they bore this beautifully.
Then
comes the third and final temptation according to Matthew?s account in
Vs. 8-9; --- "Again, the devil
took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the
world and their glory; --- and he said to Him, "All these things I will
give You, if You fall down and worship me." --- "Then Jesus said to
him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, `YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD
YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY." (Deut. 6:13) --- In the mind
of Jesus, the devil, the tempter has gone way over the line in making
this sadly pathetic attempt to have the Son of God bow down to him
rather than the Father. This is what might be called "the straw that
broke the camel's back"; so consequently He told Satan words to the
effect, "Get out of My sight!"
This is precisely what the
writer James stated in Js. 4:7; --- "Submit therefore to
God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." --- So when the Lord in no
uncertain terms put the devil in his proper place, the Bible tells us
in Vs. 11; --- "Then the devil
left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him."
11. The god of this world:
The apostle Paul warned about how the gospel was hidden or veiled from
those who had allowed "The god of this world" to blind them from the
truth. In 2 Cor. 4:3-4 he wrote; --- "And even if our gospel
is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, --- in
whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving
so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God." It is most sad to note that
far too many Christians have never come to the knowledge and
understanding that, as the apostle Paul put it in Eph. 6:11-12; --- "Put on the full
armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes
of the devil. --- For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world
forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly places." Thus the god or ruler of
this world has a great opportunity to step right in and cloud the minds
of the spiritually weak.
A dear
friend and sister of mine wrote a wonderful article dealing with the
spiritually weak in general and in particular our sometimes prodigal
children, and in her article she says in part:
"God has children who have gone astray. Was it
God's fault" This is a sinful world and our children are bombarded with
so many temptations that we never faced in our generation.
Satan loves to have us wallow in these
feelings. He can paralyze us, making us useless to our family, the
church and ourselves. Some even leave the faith, judging themselves
unworthy of everlasting life. It is easy to try to blame
others when our child goes astray. We might try to blame the
church--they didn't show love, the elders--they should have exhorted
more; the siblings-- they put their friends before their sister; or our
husband--he wasn't attentive and didn't discipline enough, or he was
too harsh. This is a time we need to be working together on the
problem, rather than looking for someone to blame.
This problem with our child can have a devastating effect
on our marriage. If we become guilt ridden, we might not be able to
function as a wife and helpmate to our husband. But we must not become
withdrawn from him and other Christian friends. We should seek an older
godly person who has gone through this to counsel us (Prov. 27:9).
If we can realize through all of this that we are being attacked
by Satan, with God as our helper, we will overcome the evil one. We
must pray, as we have never prayed before! We must ask for wisdom.
Also, if we can pray with a friend--someone who has suffered this trial
herself--it will help so much.? Jas.5: 16 tells us; --- "Confess your sins to one another, and
pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer
of a righteous man can accomplish much."
12. The
evil one: There are most likely many other references or
descriptions of the enemy of our souls and of God, but this should be
sufficient to get any honest God fearing individual to be on guard and
run for the heavenly protection of God's saving grace in Christ Jesus.
But Jesus Himself gave one other of the prime examples of the evil work
of this wicked one. In Mt. 13: our Lord had been speaking to a great
multitude of people and He was speaking to them in parables and one of
those parables was about the sower and the seed.
He explained to His disciples that the purpose of speaking
in parables was the fact that many of His listeners had hard hearts and
would not recognize the truth if it were to hit them between their
blind eyes. But He told His disciples to count themselves as blessed
because they having open minds and hearts were able to not only hear
His truth, but to understand and apply it. --- Now let's notice
beginning in vs. 19 as Jesus explains this beautiful parable: --- "When
anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil
one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his
heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
--- The one on whom seed was sown on
the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and
immediately receives it with joy; --- yet
he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and
when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately
he falls away. --- And the one on whom seed was sown among the
thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the
world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes
unfruitful. --- And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil,
this is the man who hears the word and understands it;
who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold,
some sixty, and some thirty."
In Mt. 13:24-30 Jesus taught the parable of the tares of
the field, and then we drop on down to vs. 36 where the disciples ask
Him to explain this parable. Vs 37-40 continues; --- "And
He said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, --- and
the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these
are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons
of the evil one; --- and the enemy who sowed
them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of
the age; and the reapers are angels. --- So just as
the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the
end of the age."
--- In the account of John, Jesus sheds a little more light on just who
these "sons of the evil one" are. They are specifically those Jews who
were seeking to have Jesus put to death, but in general one who rejects
Christ and His gospel and chooses to follow after the workings of their
real father, the evil one. One who simply cannot understand truth
because they choose to stop their ears. So we read
where Jesus asked the question In Jn. 8:43-44; --- "Why
do you not understand what I am saying" It is because you cannot
hear My word. --- You are of your father the devil, and you
want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no
truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own
nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
My prayer to the Father is that this little composition concerning the true aspects of Satan, the enemy of Almighty God will give you enough insight as to his evil character that you will constantly be on the alert and abide by the wise admonition of the inspired writer James as he wrote in Js. 4:7-8; --- "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. --- Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded."
Humbly submitted in God's love,
Earl Wilburn
Questions
and comments more than welcomed: ewilburn@austin.rr.com
Please
don't delete this from your files, as who knows that while you may not
at this time be moved by these scriptures, but perhaps in time you
might want to refer back to this and come to know better the love of
the Lord. --- EW
