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Satan, Our Enemy
Fundamentals of Christianity 2
Lesson 5
Just as God and angels are real, Satan and demons are also real. Most people believe that other people are their enemies. The truth is that Satan is the one that works through people to fight against us, therefore; he is our true enemy. Because he is our enemy and constantly wars against us, it is very important to make ourselves experts at his ways, just as an military unit carefully studies their enemy. Not to do so makes us an open and easy target, sure to be defeated. To learn about our enemy we must go to our source of truth, God's word.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood ( man), but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (demons). Ephesians 6:12
…..lest Satan should take advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Corinthians 2:11) Satan will for sure take advantage of us if we are ignorant of his devices.
Satan and his demons were at one time God's angels in heaven. Satan was the most beautiful angel. Pride filled his heart and he thought he could rise above God. He convinced one third of heavens angels to follow him in a war against God. Satan and his angels lost and were thrown out of heaven. They are destined for eternity in the lake of fire along with everyone who rejects God's plan of salvation for man.
War broke out in Heaven. Michael and his angels fought the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but were no match for Michael. They were cleared out of Heaven, not a sign of them left. The great Dragon-ancient serpent, the one called devil and Satan, the one who led the whole earth astray, thrown out, and all his angels thrown out with him, thrown down to earth. Revelation 12:7-9
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Revelation 20:10
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15
Because Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden and Satan is the father of sin, Satan became the father of fallen man. He became the god of this world. (2 Corinthians 4:4) Every person born thereafter was born into sin, and was separated from God. God made a way that man could choose to have his sins forgiven and become children of God, thereby rejecting the god of this world.
Satan had an agenda then, and he still has one today. He still fights against God and he still does it through God's beloved creation, you and me! Satan is still trying to build an army for himself. He wants to use as many people for his evil purposes as possible and keep as many of God's creation from entering God's kingdom as possible. Some people know they follow Satan, however; most are clueless. They just know they live their life doing exactly what they want to do, with no regard for God or His ways. Whether this person realizes it or not, they have made a decision to keep Satan as their lord and will inherit the same end that he does.
Satan hates God's creation, especially those that have inherited eternal life. When he sees God's children, he sees God Himself. He works to destroy us. Satan is a murderer, a liar and a thief. He seeks to kill, steal and destroy everyone he can. He also seeks to take as many souls to hell as he can. If he cannot kill or destroy us, he will work to inhibit us and press us down as much as possible so that we will not get in the way of his evil plans. At a minimum, he wants to keep us from doing the works of God because when we do the works of God, we are pushing back the forces of darkness in the earth and we are advancing God's kingdom. Satan doesn't want us to do this for sure.
The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, I have come in order that you might have life, life in all its fullness. John 10:10
Satan cannot do anything to us without God's permission or our permission, because through Jesus, he has been striped of any real authority. He must have an invitation or a right to work in our life. He normally does not have a hard time gaining that right. We give him permission with our mouth and with our deeds many times without even knowing it. Not many people would knowingly give Satan permission to destroy them. Sometimes other people open the door to demons on us.
Sin is the key that unlocks the door to demonic activity in our life. It even allows demons to gain entry to our body.
Sin always gives Satan and his hordes of demons the right to work in our life. Temptation to sin is Satan's bait. Every sin has a hook in it. When we take the bait, we get hooked by Satan. Those hooks are designed to destroy our life. You may already be full of Satan's hooks and not even realize it. If you fail to get them removed by God's forgiveness and healing, one day they will destroy your life. That is Satan's plan for your life and he is very patient in seeing his plans fulfilled, if he can get you to take his bait. He will wait as long as it takes to hook and destroy you. God loves us so much this is why He does not want us to sin. He doesn't want us to give Satan the ability or the doorway to destroy us.
On your own time, study Samson's life in Judges chapters13-16. It tells of how one small compromise led to another in Samson's life until finally Satan had him right where he needed him in order to steal the plan that God had for his life. Satan stole Samson's anointing, destroyed his health and everything that he held dear and eventually killed him. Samson is one of the saddest stories in the Bible of how Satan will work in a child of God's life if is able to gain entry.
Deception is a major tool of the devil used to destroy us. He is a master liar and he is very crafty. He has been deceiving man since he deceived Eve in the garden. Even before that, he deceived one third of heavens angels and ruined their lives. He wants us to believe wrong things. These wrong beliefs are called strongholds. They can be very powerful. One example of a stronghold is that God does not care if we sin, that nothing bad will happen. There are many lies that Satan brings in various methods in order to destroy us. If he can get us to believe his lies, we will act accordingly, and we play right into his evil hands.
Satan will work through people to bring temptation. These people are meant to separate you from God so that you can be destroyed. These people may or may not know, but probably will not know they are on assignment from hell. People may cause you physical, mental, or spiritual harm. This is why it is so important to be very careful whom you spend your time with. Ask yourself and ask God in prayer if there is anyone in your life sent by Satan to hurt or destroy you. God will reveal it to you and then you must act to severe that relationship and trust God to give you healthy relationships.
Satan also sends many demons on assignment to work against you. These demons will harass your mind. They will tell you many lies. That is why you must go to God's word daily for truth. They will give you tempting thoughts. The bible teaches us to guard our minds and our hearts against wickedness. If we think about bad things, eventually we will do them. Demons also will bring all kinds of mental torments like nightmares, discouragement, fear, worry, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, etc. If we will determine not to think on things that are wrong, we will not do those things. Carefully consider your thought life.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8
Demons may inhabit our body or torment us from the outside. Both ways are bad, but when they gain entry to our body, their torments are stronger and their measure of control is greater. The way they gain entry is through our sin and through sins committed against us even against our will. Sexual perversions and sexual promiscuity is one thing that gives demons the right of entry. Sex is a very physically intimate thing and can easily allow demonic entry when done in a manner not ordained by God. Playing around with the occult in any way opens the door wide to demons. This would include all kinds of witchcraft or anything having to do with the demonic. These things should be avoided at all cost.
We can also have curses on our lives that give demons right of entry. Word curses are one type. This is when we or someone else speaks curses over our life. This is negative and hurtful words spoken to or about us. The Bible gives many examples of both blessings and curses loosed through words. Spiritually, words are very powerful. Remember God formed the world with words.
We can also have much demonic activity in our life as a result of generational curses. Generational curses are the result of sins committed by our ancestors that were not forgiven. It can be the result of family members being involved in the occult or any other sinful practices. Until these sins have been repented of, and the curses broken they can travel down from generation to generation. This is one reason why certain illnesses or addictions travel through families. Most people know nothing about the supernatural, so they are unaware of the root cause of their problems and suffer from them their entire lives.
Satan is the epitome of evil. Our world is full of evil and it grows more evil daily with every form of wickedness. People are becoming more like their father Satan every day. He is gaining more control over man. He knows his time is nearly up and he works harder than ever, especially in our youth, to do as much damage as possible.
Whoever continues to sin belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very reason to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8
You yourselves use to be in darkness but since you became the Lord's people, you are in the light. So you must live like people who belong to the light. Ephesians 5:8
God needs His children to rise up and walk in His light in order to be a light for man. God gave us eternal life and His word for knowledge. We have no excuse for ignorance of spiritual things. God has given us supernatural gifts and abilities. He expects us to, like Jesus, go about destroying the works of the devil. He has equipped us with everything we need to be mighty warriors for him and set the captives free. In lesson six we will begin to learn how to beat the devil at his own game.
Weekly Challenges:Scripture Memorization: The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, I have come in order that you might have life, life in all its fullness. John 10:10
L.O.V.E. Challenge: Spend some time this week thinking about this lesson and the different ways that you feel Satan tempts you to sin. Also think about how you feel Satan works in your life against you and ways he gains entry into your life. Make some notes or write a paragraph and be prepared to discuss it with the group.
Scripture Reading: Read a chapter of the Bible each day working your way through the New Testament.
Prayer: Pray at least 20 minutes daily. Make worship a daily part of your prayer time.