“It is not by the obvious works of evil that Satan perverts the church, but by quiet displacement and unnoticed substitution.”― E.M. Bounds, Guide to Spiritual Warfare
As you will see in the first scripture I quote below, the apostle Paul learned to be very alert to Satan’s schemes – “….so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan,…”. Paul was not afraid of Satan, but he greatly respected his power, cunningness and ability to mess with believers. He never let his guard down with the evil one. I submit this post that you and I might walk as he walked – overcoming the evil one at every point, never letting our guard down.
His Activities/Works
He causes people to hold grudges or not forgive people – II Corinthians 2:10,11 “But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”
He deceives – Gen. 3:13 “Then the Lord said to the woman, “what is this you have done? And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Cf. II Cor. 11:11
He steals the seed of God’s word – Matt. 13:19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart….”
He sows tares or impostors in the church – Matt. 13:36-43 “…and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, ….” Vs. 38,39
He lies and incites others to lie – John 8:44 “You are ofyour father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” cf. Acts 5:3
He possesses or oppresses adults/children via his demons – Matt. 9:32,33 “As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”Cf. Matt.12:22, Mark 9:14-19, etc.
He tempts people to doubt & twist God’s word & to abandon God’s way- Gen. 3:1f “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”; cf. Matt. 4:6,7
He causes some sicknesses– Job 2:4-7 “Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. “However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.” So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”; cf. Luke 4:40, 41; Luke 13:16
He spiritually blinds unbelievers – II Cor. 4:4 “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” He physically abuses people via his demons–Matthew 17:15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.” Cf. Mark 9:14-18
He hinders believers from carrying out God’s work/will – I Thess. 2:18 “For we wanted to come to you-I, Paul, more than once- and yet Satan hindered us.”
He prowls around seeking someone to devour – I Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
His demons write/inspire false doctrines – I Tim. 4:1 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,”
He rules a kingdom of demons – Matt. 12:26 “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?" Cf. Acts 26:18; Eph. 6:12
He tempts us to pursue sexual pleasure illicitly – I Cor. 7:5 “Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”
He can affect the elements/nature – Job 1:16, 18, 19 “While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them,… and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people…”
He destroys – Rev.9:11 “They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.” (In the margin of reference Bibles we are told that “Apollyon” means “destroyer”.
He accuses the brethren – Rev. 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”
He causes people to do horrible things for the love of money – Luke 22:3-5 “And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. They were glad and agreed to give him money.” Cf. Acts 5:1-5
Perhaps based on this last scheme or work of the evil one, I will finally finish a post I’ve worked on from time to time over the last year or more regarding money. God bless you dear readers and may He keep you from the evil one until your last breath!