You can accuse the devil of every other thing but you can never accuse him of laziness. He is very actively at work keeping sinners from being saved and saints from being sanctified. He keeps saints from growing in grace. One person put it this way: “the devil is as busy as the bee except that he never produces honey.” The devil is busy in all sectors – towards God and also towards man. He has never left any fallow ground.
He imitates God: The Bible tells us that God is a Trinity. The devil also has his own trinity made up of the dragon, the Anti-Christ and the false prophet. “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
He has his own synagogues: Today, there are many Churches and congregations where people gather to worship the devil. Some of the people may not know that they are in the synagogue of Satan, just as the people in the Church in Smyrna did not know; but God knows: “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”"' (Revelation 2:8-9)
The devil has his own doctrines: First Timothy 4:1-3 states: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” Can you now understand why so many “issues” have entered the Church and many are breaking apart? Some are preaching the doctrines of Satan.
The devil has his own throne and moves his headquarters quite often: Once it was in Babylon, then in Rome and later in Pergamos. “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, ‘these things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.” (Revelation 2:12-13) Where is Satan’s throne now? Sure, if the devil has a throne, he has a kingdom and it was this he was trying to offer Jesus Christ in Luke 4:6. Jesus however, rejected his offer.
The devil has his own worshipers: Man cannot be neutral. He must worship something. Some worship football, like was widely reported in our Newspapers recently; some worship man, still others worship idols, trees, iron – whatever. Some worship the sun, moon, stars; some worship God and some others worship Satan. “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4)
The devil has his own Angels: “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:7-9)
The devil has his own ministers: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (Second Corinthians 11:13-15). Someone has said, “When you are looking for the devil, do not forget to look behind the pulpit, he might be preaching there.” Many of the strong statements in support of the devil are not made by Communists but most often they come from behind the pulpits. It was a Methodist minister who said that God is dead!
The devil has his own miracles: the Bible warns in Second Thessalonians 2:9-12: “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” See also Revelation 13:11-14: “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.” Today many people are running after miracles and signs and wonders. Some now question the validity of the message if no signs and miracles follow; and hail anyone who performs miracles. Beware; it may be the devil for there are many wolves in sheep’s clothing!
The devil has his own sacrifices and fellowships: “What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s Table and of the table of demons.” (First Corinthians 10:19-21)
The devil has his own armies: “It shall come to pass in that day that the LORD will punish on high the host (army) of exalted ones and on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; after many days they will be punished.” (Isaiah 24:21-22) The Devil spends a lot of time and energy trying to imitate God to deceive people into mistaking him for God, and thus giving to him the honour that is due to God. Many have been deceived. He is not God and should not be worshipped.
The devil sows tares among God’s wheat (Matthew 13) Any time you hear of internal problems and agitations amongst God’s children, be sure the devil has planted his men in the group to cause unrest and lack of progress.
The devil instigates false doctrine: The Church today has a great battle in hand. There are so many false teachings and false doctrines that many are led astray by the seducing teachings. The Bible warns in First Timothy 4:1-6: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth; For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused, if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.”
The devil perverts the Word of God: the devil has probably read all the 1, 189 chapters and 31, 173 verses in the Scripture. He probably believes the Bible and reads through it even though he does not love the Bible. He perverts the Word in two ways; By quoting it out of context. This is what he did in the Garden of Eden in his encounter with Eve, and also in the wilderness during his temptations of Jesus. He succeeded in the former and failed in the later. He perverts the Word by causing it to be misinterpreted and misunderstood. How much anguish, frustration and confusion has the devil wrought simply by causing Christians and non-Christians alike to misinterpret God’s Word. There are today thousands of sincere, but mistaken Bible readers who believe the Scripture teaches the lies that the devil peddles. The point I am emphasizing here is simply this: All misinterpretations of the scripture come from either human error or satanic influence, and, perhaps more often than not, the latter is involved.
The devil causes overstressing one side of a doctrine and ignoring the other side or sometimes under-stressing certain doctrines. Let us quote from the Article “If I were the Devil” in the Baptist Bulletin, 1971 p.13“Perhaps the one great Biblical truth down-played today more than any other is that precious and vital doctrine of the local Church! If I were the Devil, then I would turn to that most despised and deadly institution of all – the local Church. I would continue to attack it from the outside, just to keep in practice, but would concentrate the bulk of my evil efforts from within. ‘The Church is dead’ would become my creed and cry. If I were the devil, I would do my utmost to convince professing Christians that the local Church is finished! Not weak, not ineffective; but dead and decaying! I would encourage them to dig a hole, carve an epitaph and bury it as quietly and quickly as possible. Christianity could then proceed to new glories where cell groups would replace Sunday night fellowships and Sermons would be set aside for buzz sessions.”
The devil blinds men to the truth: Have you ever wondered why people appear so ignorant and daft when you discuss the word of God? It is the devil at work. The Bible describes this activity of the devil in the following words: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”(Second Corinthians 4:3-4)
The devil steals the word of God from the human hearts: I have met a number of people who listen intently to the word of God, but minutes later remember nothing of what they heard; but tell them something else, they remember them correctly. It is not because they are suffering from insomnia; it is because the devil is at work in them. Jesus made this plain when He explained the parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:18-19: “Therefore hear the parable of the Sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.”
The devil Accuses Christians before God: The story of Job aptly illustrates this point. See Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:3-6. Later in the Book of Revelation, we read of his overthrow from the presence of God, where he is constantly accusing the brethren. The Bible records this downfall of Satan in these words: “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” (Revelation 12:7-12) Thank God that Jesus sits at the right hand of God to counter every accusation of the devil.
The Devil lays snares for men: Many people have fallen victim of the snares of the devil. He can come through our lusts, our pleasures and many other seemingly harmless habits and actions. Before we know it, we are trapped in his snares. In outlining the qualifications of leaders in the Christian Church, Paul said: “Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he falls into reproach and the snare of the devil.” (First Timothy 3:7); and in his advice to Timothy, the Pastor of the Church in Ephesus he wrote: “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” (Second Timothy 2:22-26)
We shall continue the discussion on the activities of the Devil, God willing, next Sunday.
God bless you all.
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