Devices of the Devil

Satan is busy trying to get to you, are you ready for him?

Did God Create a Devil?

Lucifer – the Epitome of Perfection

Ezekiel 28:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezekiel 28:12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. [You were the consummate creation].
Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
Ezekiel 28:14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
Ezekiel 28:15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.

Originator and Purveyor of Sin

1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Ezekiel 28:16 “By the abundance of your trading [trade; work;] You became filled with violence [unrighteousness; wrong; injustice; cruelty] within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.
Ezekiel 28:17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.

Isaiah 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
Isaiah 14:13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars [angels; his throne was on earth which is why he was cast back down] of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

Satan Cast Down to Earth

2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

Revelation 12:8-9 …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.

He Has a Throne on Earth

Revelation 2:13 “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.

Ruler of this World at this Time

2 Corinthians 4:4 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.

John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

He is Worshipped

Revelation 13:4 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 13:5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.
Revelation 13:6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.
Revelation 13:7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
Revelation 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Romans 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

2 Corinthians 11:14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

[Ties into deception].

Destroyer

Revelation 9:11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.

Abaddon and Apollyon mean Destroyer.

Death of mankind

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.

Satan has asked for you… you is plural; y’all; all of them – as well as us today.

Spiritual Death is His Ultimate Goal

Revelation 12:9-11 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives [from before] 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.

Influences Mankind

He Moves Us

1 Chronicles 21:1-2 Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.”

persuade, move, provoke, stir up, incite, entice, urge

John 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,

Satan wants to make us in his image [contrast with what God is doing Genesis 1:26].

He Works in Attitudes

Ephesians 2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

Ephesians 6:11-12 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Imperceptible

We cannot feel it with our five senses (touch, taste, hear, smell, see)

But when we are aware of how he works we can discern the influence he is trying to exact upon us.

Example of these Attitudes

James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.
James 3:14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
James 3:15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
James 3:16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

Devices

2 Corinthians 2:11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices [purpose and thoughts].

Deception

2 Corinthians 4:4 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.

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Genesis 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
Genesis 3:3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
Genesis 3:4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
Genesis 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Tempter

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Resistance is Not Futile

God is in Control

Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
Job 2:2 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
Job 2:3 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited [same word as “moved” from above] Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”

Job 1:11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

Job 2:4 So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
Job 2:5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
Job 2:6 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”
Job 2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
Job 2:8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
Job 2:9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
Job 2:10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

God can use Satan for our good

By the Power of God

Zechariah 3:1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.
Zechariah 3:2 And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

Luke 10:17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
Luke 10:18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

We Must Do Our Part

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Satan is the one that gets the ball rolling, are we going to be the one that takes it and runs with it.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

As we go though notice how these things show us what the nature of our fight is

Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Ephesians 6:15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Ephesians 6:16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
Ephesians 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

Follow Christ’s Example

Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
Matthew 4:3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ”
Matthew 4:5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
Matthew 4:6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘HE SHALL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER YOU,’ and, IN THEIR HANDS THEY SHALL BEAR YOU UP, LEST YOU DASH YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’ ”
Matthew 4:7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘YOU SHALL NOT TEMPT THE LORD YOUR GOD.’ ” [God’s will and not our own].
Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. [he was the true power behind them].
Matthew 4:9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HIM ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE.’ ”
Matthew 4:11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Satan is real and is alive and well and working at 100% 24/7/365

We are not to fear him, but to know what he is capable of and to always be diligent, aware and on guard.