Satan’s Devices

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” 1 Peter 5:8-9.


In 1 Corinthians chapter 5 the Apostle Paul is speaking of a brother in Christ who was living in open sin in the church, the church was told to cast him out for doing so, which they did.

“I wrote you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner – not even to eat with such a person.” 1 Corinthians 5:9-11.

In time the brother repented and had forsaken this sin and Paul now urged them to forgive him and receive him back into the church.

He tells them to forgive this man, “…lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” 2 Corinthians 2:11.

What Satan would have accomplished is a split in the church over this man; some thinking he was not punished enough, and some thinking he should not have been punished.

While the man himself would have been embittered over the matter, since he had repented; forgiveness neutralizes all of this. This is why we have to be aware of Satan’s devices.

While they are many and subtle, a few examples should help tell us if it is him or just our own flawed thinking, constant awareness and knowledge of Scripture will keep anyone out of trouble.

Just as understanding a problem is perhaps 80% of solving it, so recognizing the hand of the devil is the best way of avoiding his entrapment.

There are three ways in which Satan tempts men, and they are the same for everyone. His first victim was Eve and that affected us all (read Genesis 3:1-7), watch how he approaches her in the Garden of Eden while she is looking at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

It began with the devil’s lie, then her acceptance of it:

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6.

The first temptation, “the woman saw that the tree was good for food”, this is the lust of the flesh.

She had an entire garden filled with food bearing plants of the finest quality, but she wanted this one. We have always got to have more.

The second temptation, “it was pleasant [a desirable thing] to the eyes”, this is the lust of the eyes.

This will set us apart, make us important, a new car, chic clothes, “I want to be a rock star!”

The last door of temptation is, “a tree desirable to make one wise”, this is the boastful pride of life.

Who needs God when you have a PhD, or any of a string of letters after your name, you can write your own ticket anywhere.

The promise of temptation is that with any of these things, you will be independent of God. For instance this is what is wrong with witchcraft it is an attempt to control one’s own destiny.

Ironically though you have to enslave yourself to Satan to gain the power to control your own life (can a slave control their own life?) instead of following God. The question is whom will you serve? And who would be the better master?

If you study the temptation of Christ in Matthew 4:1-11, you will find the same sequence of events as in the Garden of Eden.

After He fasted 40 days and 40 nights Satan the tempter came to the Lord Jesus and brought three temptations before Him.

“If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Matthew 4:3b.

We know that He can do this for later on He changed water into wine (John 2:1-11). Just as Eve saw that the fruit of the tree, “was good for food”, so steaming hot loaves of bread would have appealed to One who had not eaten in 40 days and nights.

However Jesus did not come to minister to Himself it would have been against the Father’s wishes for Him to do so. This would have been the sin of making Jesus independent of the Father.

“Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28, KJV.

The devil then took Jesus into the holy city and set Him on the very pinnacle of the temple and said:

“If You are the Son of God, throw yourself down.” Matthew 4:6a.

He then misquotes Psalm 91:11-12, the devil’s partial lies are the most destructive, watch for them.

“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 4:6.

What a temptation, here it is the lust of the eyes, think of the “oohs” and “ahhs” of the crowd below! The Man of sorrows, despised and rejected of men, would now be a great celebrity. But this is not the way of the cross.

He then showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and said:

“All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Matthew 4:9.

Satan had robbed Adam and Eve of their rights to the world by causing them to sin in the garden. He is now giving all that back to Christ without a fight if only He would worship him, independence from the Father’s will.

Even though I believe Satan was blindsided by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and through it he was defeated; the temptation here was that Jesus would have circumvented death on the cross.

The Lord’s answer to all of these temptations was to quote Scripture, and upon the final temptation He said this, “Away with you, Satan!”

Some wonderful day the glorified King of kings and Lord of lords will say that to Satan one last time then he will be cast into the lake of fire.

“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Matthew 4:10.

The last phrase above is important, “and Him only you shall serve”, because it tells us that we serve whomever or whatever we worship.

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” 1 John 5:21.

To clarify the phrase, “If you are the Son of God”, keep in mind that Satan knew that Jesus was the Son of God; he had seen Him before He was born as a Man.

So the word “if” is not used here as a question but a statement, like this, “[Since] you are the Son of God.”

In the second temptation above Satan misquoted Psalm 91:11-12 which shows that Satan can quote Scripture and use it to his own purposes. Do not think someone is godly just because they quote Scripture.

“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.” 2 Corinthians 11:13-14.

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:8.

Guard yourselves, know your Scriptures!

“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” Colossians 2:6-10.

“Let no one defraud you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head [Christ], from whom all the body [all those belonging to Christ], nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase which is from God.” Colossians 2:18-19.

Having seen that all are susceptible through the three doorways of temptation, let us understand temptation. First, concerning Christ, the Scripture has this to say.

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”, Hebrews 4:14-15.

The reason Jesus is described here as having been tempted, yet without sin, is that temptation is not sin.

“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:14-15.

We see or conceive of something, we dwell on it, we then do it. Money, drugs, alcohol, short skirts or hunky men, are continually before us as temptation, but we do not have to dwell on them.

Notice that in the temptation of Christ above the answer was immediate, not, “Let Me think about that”.

Some commentators rightly state that, Jesus was so holy and sinless that He was grieved by these temptations; whereas we enjoy them.

Finally, a good rule is this, “You can’t stop a bird from landing in your hair; but you can stop him from making a nest.”

Have you ever heard a boxing trainer saying to his boxer, “Okay, your opponent has a glass jaw and a cast iron stomach. I want you to pound on that stomach until he falls down.”

Probably not! Good sense tells us to know and to work on our opponent’s weaknesses, not his strengths and our ultimate opponent, Satan, knows this.

I like what Dirty Harry says in one of his movies, and you have to hear this through those gritted teeth, “A man’s gotta know his limitations.”

This is good advice, we need to know our limitations, that is to say, our weaknesses, both to work to correct them and to keep from falling into the devil’s trap. Caution though, it is easy to get a little arrogant here, Scripture says this.

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” 1 Corinthians 10:12.

1 Corinthians 10:13 which follows this is the cure.

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13.

The ability to really stand; “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” as in 1 Corinthians 10:12 comes through a constant walk in the light that Jesus provides us.

“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12.

This walk in the light comes from abiding in Christ.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5.

The “He who abides in Me, and I in him” phrase above means that Jesus is talking to those who have received Him as their savior and thus have His Spirit within them.

This salvation is open to all, and I mean to all who will have it. If you think that you are too awful a sinner to be saved from hell, you have underestimated the power of the shed blood of Christ; another of the devil’s lies.

Returning to walking in the light, try this, wherever you are, whatever you do today, ask the Lord to help you to be kind, loving and wise.

Wise because I still want you to be careful who you let into your car or into your home; especially you ladies. Jesus tells us:

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16.

Today of course, we would say, “wise as an owl and harmless as a dove”.

Take this further, “Lord help me drive through traffic safely”, or “Help me pick out the best grapes at the store, or get the best buys”, “help me deal with this difficult customer”, even “Dear God, help me make it through the minefield of life!”

God loves you and listens to you whether you are frustrated or want help in the most trivial things; do not allow yourselves to be cut off from this wonderful person.

Even Job in all his pain, after telling of God’s majesty, concluded with this.

“Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?” Job 26:14.

God wants us always to abide under His wing, not just to show His love for us, but also because the warfare with the devil is continual and unrelenting and when we get separated from Him we become vulnerable to attack.

If we neglect to study the Bible the devil can begin to confuse us with a constant barrage of disinformation from the media, various philosophies or religions.

Soon moral lines become blurred and we become lax in both our actions and beliefs, spiraling ever downward into the muck of despair.

This is the error of modern Christianity; we have gone from listening to God and sought out the opinions of godless men who pervert the word of truth.

Dividing Christians is another of Satan’s methods, he constantly divides us one from another; he does this because it works.

He divided man from God, man from woman, man from nature, and man from eternal life, see Genesis Chapter three.

And with the killing of Abel, man became separated from man, Genesis chapter 4.

Men were separated from animals in Genesis Chapter 9.

And with the tower of Babel in Genesis Chapter 11, language is separated from language and nation from nation.

God pronounced some of these divisions but it would not have happened at all if it were not for the direct meddling of Satan in man’s affairs.

And the litany goes on, the church is divided, marriage is in a shambles, children are estranged from families.

There have been more wars in the 20th and 21st centuries than in all the centuries before them.

Satan controls the hate, bigotry, murders, rapes, thefts, ungodly, atheistic, communistic, Islamic rivers of the blood of innocent women children and peaceful men.

There are warehouses full of food in the midst of starving people, this horrific hell on earth is caused by men but they are led and divided by Satan.

Finally if you decide to live a life for the Lord you are going to find something out, there are times when you are going to fall flat on your face.

When you fail the Lord the correct thing to do is confess your sin and get up and move forward in Christ.

You may fail again, what to do? Well, you confess your sin get up and move forward in Christ. Yet, again and again you fail; the strong Christian may fail many times, what to do? Well, you confess your sin get up and move forward in Christ.

Eventually something will happen, Satan will come over, kick you in the side, and say, “That is it, you have bagged your limit, God is tired of your failure, just stay down.”

Exhausted and beaten the Christian gives up and just lies where he has fallen. Always remember this; the humble and contrite heart cannot exhaust the grace of God.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.

Satan’s Devices taken from godisrevealed.com, posted on 8-3-15, updated on 6-15-19.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.

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