Beware of Satan

Richard Thetford

I n the past I have written several articles on the blessings of being a Christian and the wonderful love of God. But there is another force that we need to be seriously aware of and that is Satan himself. Matthew 4:1 says "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil". It is Satan that temps us and every day that goes by we can see the hand of Satan somewhere in it. That is why the Apostle Paul wrote "Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control" (1 Cor 7:15). Paul was giving this advice to those that are married because he knew that Satan is always standing ready to tempt all with fleshly desires. One must understand that Satan is a very strong force and we cannot let our guard down for an instant because if we do, we will be tempted by him in an instant. Peter stressed this in his writing of 1 Peter 5:8 when he said "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour". Brethren, we must see Satan as an active force just waiting for us. Satan has been called a "murderer from the beginning" and "does not stand for truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). Not only is he a murderer and full of lies - the father of lies, but he is a sinner, John says "the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).

Don’t Give Satan the Advantage

We can see from all the above passages that Satan is "no good" and we need to be very cautious of him. At this point you may be asking "what should I do with him?" First of all, don't give him the advantage. Paul said "...that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes". Once he gets the advantage it becomes harder and harder for us to overcome him. We must continually watch out for him (1 Pet 5:8), and resist him as James says in James 4:7 "Submit therefore to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you". As Christians, we should be confident that when we do resist Satan that he will flee from us.

Put on the Armor of God

So how do we keep from giving him the advantage, to watch for him, and to resist him? By living a life that is sober as mentioned in 1 Pet 5:8. Another way to do this is to put the armor of God on us. Paul told the Ephesians "Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Eph 6:11). We need to study the Word of God and dwell on Godly things while practicing a life of Godliness all the time. When we do so, there will be much less opportunity for Satan to tempt us.

Satan - The Great Deceiver

Here are just a few things that Satan does that hasn't been mentioned earlier. He entraps (1 Tim 3:7; 2 Tim 2:26), blinds (2 Cor 4:4), takes the truth away (Luk 8:12), resists good (Zech 3:1; Rev 2:10; 1 Thes 2:18), promotes evil (Luk 22:3; Acts 5:3), transforms himself (2 Cor 11:14), and he deceives as stated in the book of Revelation 12:9 "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him".

There will come a time when Satan will cease to exist. "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Rev 20:10). Do you know when that will occur? When this world comes to an end. Do you know who will join him? All mankind who have not believed and have not been baptized into Jesus Christ (Mark 16:16). In addition, those who are in the church who have not remained faithful to the end (Rev 2:10). BEWARE OF SATAN and BELIEVE IN JESUS - Our eternity with God depends on it!