One of the darkest subjects and least attractive being
to consider is SATAN! His name means
“adversary,” and he is called by at least 26 names
in the New Testament alone. Even more, all his names
denote deception, evil and/or danger. Satan is no laughing
matter! As Christ ever lives to make intercession for His
followers before God (Heb. 7:25), the devil lives to make
iniquity reign in our mortal bodies! He deals in deceit and,
as one man noted, deserves a D.D degree! In order to be
more aware of his devilish dealings, let’s study some of his
“Devilish D’s” today.
His first Devilish D is DIVERSION. Satan longs to divert
the minds of God’s people away from their service to the
King. Satan blinds their minds so that their faith will waver
and their belief will diminish. It is for this reason that Paul
warned Christians not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices.
Second Corinthians 4:4, “In whom the god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them.” And, 2
Corinthians 2:11: “Lest Satan should get an advantage
of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” Being
aware of his desire to divert will aid us on our daily spiritual
battles.
Second of all is DELUSION. A delusion is a false belief of
assumption. We know that Satan is bad; therefore, he
transforms himself into things that appear to be good (2
Cor. 11:4). To the disobedient are sent “strong delusions”
(2 Thess. 2). One might question God’s sending these
delusions when comparing this verse to James 1:13-16. The
truth of the matter is that God does not tempt man, but
rather He allows man to be tempted by the delusions. Those
with a strong faith in God will rise above the delusion and
be delivered from the temptation (1 Cor. 10:13).
Satan also has DOUBT as one of his Devilish D’s. In
reading Romans 14:23, we can conclude that the doubter is
damned if he eats. Satan tempted Peter with the seeds of
doubt in Christ (Luke 22:31; Matt. 14:31). Thomas doubted
the risen Savior until Christ reassured him (John 21:14-21).
Will doubt ever arise? Will my faith ever tremble? Most
certainly! It will be during these occasions that our faith
will be made stronger for the next occasion.
Last, but certainly not least, is the “D” of DARKNESS.
While the Scriptures clearly teach that as children of God
we have been delivered from darkness (Col. 1:13), you can
be sure that many find pleasure in the uncertainty of sin
and its temporal pleasure on earth. The Scriptures teach
that this “darkness” is ruled by none other than Satan himself
(2 Cor. 5:14; Eph. 6:12)!
As the old saying goes, “knowing is half the battle.” Maybe
with some of Satan’s Devilish D’s presented here we can
be better able to have victory over his trickery.
(From The Southwesterner, Aug 2008)
Braggs Church of Christ 