Satan's Tactics

Satan
Am I Insignificant? - Part 5

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! . . . Isaiah 14:12

Continued from the document "Satan's Tactics - Part 4"

Am I Insignificant?

I recall being in a Bible Study and the subject of Satan came up in the passage. In the discussion one brother said: “We have nothing to worry about for we are too small, Satan only goes after those who are doing a major work for God”. To me, such a comment begs the question: “Is there any work for God that is not major?” There is not a saint in the world who is insignificant in the economy of God, and if Satan had the ability He would devour every saint (1 Pet. 5:8). The following illustrations show this clearly.

	1.	Job was a family man, a business man, a God-fearing man, but Satan was interested in him. (Job. 1:8)
	2.	Joshua was a man about to become a priest, about to be saved, but Satan was interested in him. (Zech. 3:1)
	3.	Judas was a man who would never be saved, but Satan was interested in him. (Jn. 13:27)
	4.	Peter was a disciples whom Satan was about to put under pressure, but Satan was interested in him. (Lk. 22:31)
	5.	Paul was a missionary, involved in the Lord's work, but Satan was interested in him. (2 Cor. 12:7)
	6.	Eve was a housewife, doing life's everyday chores, but Satan was interested in her. (Gen. 3:1)
	7.	David was a saintly man but away from God, and Satan was interested in him. (1 Chron. 21:1)
	8.	Ananias and Sapphira were a married couple, trying by deception to make a good impression, but Satan was interested in them. (Acts 5:9)
	9.	Man of sin will be an intellectual giant, and Satan will be interested in him. (Rev. 13:2)
	10.	Christ was the very Son of God, and Satan was interested in him. (Matt. 4:1-11)
	11.	The disciples in the boat, and Satan was interested in them. (Mk. 4:39)
	12.	A lady whose name is not even mentioned, whether a widow, spinster, or having a husband, we do not know, but Satan was interested in her. (Lk. 13:16)

The fact is that whether an individual or a collective group, every individual fits into all of these, except for two, the Lord and the man of sin. No mistake must be made about it, Satan is interested in each one of us and his intention for every saint is to prevent them from living lives which bring glory to the Lord by devouring them (1 Pet. 5:8). To devour means more than to kill. It means to make it as if the individual never existed, and he will seek to curtail my spiritual activities by using my emotions, influencing my thinking, and physical weaknesses. He will influence me by taking advantage of:
	1.	External circumstances. The cold night, and Peter at the fire. (Jn. 18:18; 25)
	2.	External stimuli. David and Bathsheba. (2 Sam. 11:2)
	3.	By internal appetites. David and his numbering of Israel. (1 Chron. 21:1)

As much as Satan desires to nullify us in every way, neither he nor any of his demons can indwell me. Make no mistake, the believer can be influenced by Satan and his demons but he or she can never be in dwelt by him or them. Judas was a disciple, but was never a saved man, and “Satan entered into him” (Lk. 22:3; Jn. 13:27). Never in the scriptures do we ever find a believer under demonic control, or in dwelt by one. When an individual receives Christ as Saviour, at that moment the Spirit of God begins to indwell them, and all old things are passed away. They have become a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). This was exemplified by the men at Gadara (Mk. 1:23) and the man with the demon in the synagogue (Mk. 5:1).
	1.	Like David, I have a God who can deliver and has delivered me from the mouth of the lion. (1 Sam. 17:34-36).
	2.	Like Peter, I have a High Priest who is praying for me. (Lk. 22:32)
	3.	I have the Word of God to instruct me in Satan's tactics. (all the above list of tactics)
	4.	I have a resurrected Saviour who has defeated Satan, and gives that victory to me. (Heb. 2:14)
	5.	I have the knowledge that I am one of God's peculiar people, so nothing from Satan can touch me unless by divine permission. (Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:9)
	6.	We have the full armor of God. (Eph. 6:11)

His Limitations

Some might get overwhelmed by the ways of Satan, but God also wants us to know and live in the reality of: “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 Jn. 5:4). The Lord said: “I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33), and to us He says: “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 Jn. 4:4). Whatever powers Satan has he is not omnipotent; whatever presence he has he is not omnipresent; and whatever knowledge he has he is not omniscient. He is a created being, and despite his great position at the moment as “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), or the sphere in which he now officiates (Eph. 2:2), it will come to an end for in the purposes and promises of God, he has already fallen and is doomed (Lk. 10:18; Jn. 12:31; 16:11; Rev. 12:8-9; 20:10).

The Assurance Of Satan’s Defeat

There are few people more despised in life than deceiving proud bullies, and Satan is the leader in that. Such rebellion against God and His people will not go unnoticed or ignored and when Adam sinned in the garden of Eden, immediately the Lord told Satan of his ultimate defeat (Gen. 3:15). In the opening the pages of the New Testament, it is to be observed that it begins with God making two major broadside blows at Satan. There is the reminder that Jesus is the “Son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matt. 1:1). God was saying The Son of David is His anointed king (1 Kgs. 8:25), and as the Son of Abraham, He would be God’s channel of conquest of Satan (Heb. 2:14) and universal blessing (Gen. 12:3; 28:14). It was a clear reiteration to Satan of His defeat.

Christ is God’s appointed King, and He will bring about the conditions for the kingdoms of this world being subservient to God. They will become the kingdoms of God and His Christ (Rev. 11:15) and He will overthrow every satanic scheme. He will enter the strong man’s house and bind and defeat him (Matt. 12:29; Mk. 3:27). He will remove Satan’s king and annihilate the world's satanically instigated military (Rev. 19:19-21) destroying the center for satanic worship (Rev. 18:1).

As Satan has his dupes stand in rebellion against the Lord, He will laugh (Psa. 2:4) at the foolishness of man’s imagination. This is a truth precious beyond words: “God will bruise him under our feet shortly” (Rom. 16:20) and the king who made men tremble will be “brought down to Hell to the sides of the pit” (Isa. 14:15-16).

If there is any church gathering Satan must hate, it must be the Lord’s Supper. At that holy Feast there is a constant reminder of his defeat by the death and resurrection of the Lord and that which inescapably lies ahead of him for eternity.

His satanic majesty sees the individual not just as a unit, but a person who has a number of areas where he can make a frontal attack or a pincher attack; when he will use several forces at work at once, or come in from the back in an unsuspecting way seeing our spirit, soul, body, heart, mind, and environment as open areas for attack.

In the light of these truths, it is no wonder that we are told: “the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8) and to “put on the whole armour of God” (Eph. 6:11), always depending on God for preservation (Eph. 6:18).

Praise God we are on the winning side!

May God grant us good understanding as He, by His Holy Spirit, deigns to guide us into all truth.
John 16:13

Rowan Jennings, Abbotsford, British Columbia