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Articles
The Devil
The word Satan means opponent or adversary. Every verse that speaks of or describes the person or character of the devil, whether in the Old or New Testaments, displays before us a person who is evil and dark, not someone many of us would choose to be around.
There are 26 different names used to name or define the devil, which include Satan, used 52 times; son of the morning; the devil; tempter; ruler of demons; the evil one; enemy; liar, or father of lies; murderer; ruler of this world; adversary; dragon; serpent; deceiver; accuser; and the list goes on.
We can see read in the scripture how the Devil is described. Here are just a few verses….
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, “You will not eat of any tree in the garden?”
Rev. 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
II Cor. 11:14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
II Cor. 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
I think a lot of us pass by the fact of Satan with very little thought. We don’t stop to realize that Satan is a person and that he is really involved in our lives, and in our church, and he is really involved in our world in a personal aggressive way. The Spirit of God is endeavoring to enable you as a Christian to live for Jesus Christ, so the devil Satan is endeavoring to destroy your testimony, to sidetrack you, to derail you from serving Christ in any capacity that is in any way effective. Satan is a reality. And if nothing else this morning, I want you to see something of the strategy of Satan. Satan really is a very obvious character, painted to us explicitly in terms of Scripture, and we need not be in the dark about him.
Christ came for the purpose of putting it to an end because the Bible says that Christ came to destroy the works of the devil.
Satan is the ultimate enemy. He is the ultimate enemy from which we must reckon, and the Bible never underestimates his power, and the Bible never mistakes his intentions. Satan knows that if he can create an atmosphere of joking about the reality of his person, it’s going to do him a lot of good in the long run. We’ve come to the place where we kind of joke about the idea of who he is. He’s nothing to joke about. He’s no impersonal influence. He’s no mask. He is a living, active, violent, anti-God personal being. And he’s running this world, in case you didn’t know it. He is the prince of this world, he is the god of this world he is the ruler of this present world. The whole world lies in the personal Christ and the Holy Spirit is a personal Spirit, so Satan is a personal reality. And as God is for you, Satan is against you. That’s his job.
The devil is not a human being, he is a spirit. The devil being a spiritual reality just as real and existent as God is, as Christ is, as the Holy Spirit is. He personally walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
In Revelation chapter 12 he appears in heaven personally to accuse the believers.
Hebrews chapter 2 says he is the personal power of death.
In 1 John 5 when John says, “The whole world lies in the arms of that wicked one.
He is a personal reality. The person and personality of Satan is revealed in Scripture as distinctly as the person and personality of Jesus Christ and to deny one is to deny the other.
Let us all be aware and have our guard up against Satan.
Robby Cable
Providence Church of Christ
606-308-8452
