Category: Satan
Satan: The Consummate Schemer
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
The apostle Paul writes: “Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven — if I have forgiven anything — it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ, so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:10-11, emphasis added).
And: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11, emphasis added).
In each of these passages, Paul points to the evil one’s schemes. First, as believers, we are to educate ourselves about Satan’s plots so we may prevent him from gaining an advantage over us. The Greek word translated “schemes” in 2 Corinthians 2:11 is noemata and basically means “thoughts,” “purposes,” or “designs.” No doubt, these are malicious schemes intended to cause harm.
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The Deceiver’s Quiver
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
The Book of Revelation identifies Satan as “the deceiver,” or “the one who leads astray” (ho planon; see Rev. 12:9; 20:10; cf. 20:3, 8). The idea behind this term is to entice someone to wander, like the sheep in Jesus’ parable (Matt. 18:12-13) or the saints of old forced to wander through a world not worthy of them (Heb. 11:38). As Peter Bolt writes, “The title ‘deceiver’ reflects Satan’s endeavors to lead people away from the love and security of our holy God.
Satan’s role as deceiver is grounded in his character as the father of lies (John 8:44; see Chapter 5). His nature – his every tendency – is to distort the truth so that people made as God’s imagers miss the very purpose for which God designed them. But how, exactly, does the evil one accomplish this? He sports a quiver of fiery darts and launches them strategically. Let’s briefly examine eight arrows the evil one hurls to deceive us.
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Satan the Deceiver
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
He was known as The Great Impostor and inspired a 1961 film by the same name. Ferdinand Waldo Demara began his nefarious career during World War II. He borrowed an Army buddy’s name, went AWOL, and then faked his own suicide. A string of pseudo careers followed in which Demara portrayed a sheriff’s deputy, a doctor of applied psychology, and a child-care expert.
But Demara reached the pinnacle of his quest for fame during the Korean War, when he masqueraded as a surgeon aboard a Canadian Navy destroyer. There, he successfully completed a string of major surgeries before it was discovered that he was no more qualified to gut a fish than to cut open a human. Drummed out of the military but undeterred, Demara moved on to other mock roles. His final gig: a Baptist minister.
Demara’s life is a fascinating tale of one man’s hunt for genuine status in a make-believe world of his own creation. His success as a deceiver also exposes the soft underbelly of a society whose people are easily duped by one who talks smoothly and claims to serve the greater good.
For Christians, Demara’s story is a teachable moment. We are to guard against those who disguise themselves as “servants of righteousness” and infiltrate the church (2 Cor. 11:15). Even more important, we are to be ever vigilant concerning the greatest impostor of all: Satan.
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Temptation, Testing, Trial
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
What’s the difference between a temptation, a test, and a trial? It may help to briefly examine these English words as they appear in Scripture. New Testament writers use the Greek verb peirazo and the noun peirasmos nearly sixty times in a variety of ways. English translators render these words “tempt / temptation,” “test / testing,” or “try / trial,” based on the context.
For example, peirazo may refer to a temptation to think or do something contrary to God’s will (Gal. 6:1; Jas. 1:13). Both times Satan is called the tempter in the New Testament, that’s the meaning we should take away (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thess. 3:5). Because he is the father of lies, a murderer from the beginning, and the unbowed enemy of God, Satan always tempts people to sin. However, God has armed us with everything we need for life and godliness, as Peter writes:
Continue readingHis divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.
2 Pet. 1:3-4; cf. 2 Tim. 3:16-17
The Thessalonians’ Tempter
The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.
The apostle Paul is deeply concerned about the Thessalonians. Not that long ago, he and Silas led a missionary team westward out of Philippi on the Roman road known as the Via Egnatia. They came to Thessalonica, the strategic capital city of the Roman province of Macedonia. This large port city on the Aegean Sea was populated with idol worshipers, as well as those devoted to emperor worship.
In typical fashion, Paul and his comrades located the city’s synagogue and began reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jews, many of whom believed Paul’s bold declaration, “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah” (Acts 17:3). Some devout Greeks who worshiped at the synagogue also were persuaded, along with several prominent women. The church at Thessalonica was established.
But many Jews in the city rejected Paul’s message and became jealous of Paul and Silas. They stirred up an angry crowd that invaded the home where the missionaries resided. Unable to find Paul, they dragged the homeowner (Jason) and other new believers before city authorities, who demanded a security payment to ensure against further disturbances. That night, the Thessalonian believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea, where they continued their missionary work (Acts 17:1-10).
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