PUBLIC ENEMY #1 – Message Two: The Deceiver
Our Invisible Foe Whose Existence Most People Deny
Last week I began this new series with the question, “What the hell is going on?” It represents thoughts and feelings of people today in and out of the church. The focus is to educate you about the most powerful enemy of Christians who began his onslaught at the dawn of mankind: satan.
To learn about the origin of angels, evil, satan, and demons, here is the link to a five-part series of messages I did last year: Deliver Us From the Evil One
Review Message 1 – The Tempter
I began with this descriptor because the Bible does in both Testaments. In Genesis 3, satan made his first appearance in the form of a serpent, at that time a beautiful creature. (Ezekiel 28:12b-17a) His means of attack was temptation.
The first New Testament appearance of satan held the most potentially dire consequences. Again his approach was temptation; this time of Jesus. The timing was interesting. It occurred immediately after Jesus’ baptism and the first simultaneous appearance of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Matthew 3:16-17).
We learned that Jesus resisted the temptations of satan by quoting Scripture back.
Deceiver.
Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:13
“And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him…” Revelation 12: 7-9
It is interesting that the first use of the word deceiver is found in the same place as temptation; the conversation with Eve in the Garden. It continues throughout human history to the end. From the Revelation 12 passage, we learn this about satan:
- The Apostle John told us the serpent in Genesis 3 was indeed satan.
- satan not only deceived Eve, he deceives the whole world.
- satan and his angels (who are the demons on earth) were cast out of Heaven.
Recognition of the deceiver in the times of the patriarchs (Job)
The book of Job begins with God allowing satan access to Heaven and engaging in a conversation about Job. We know God allowed satan to mercilessly test Job. Yet we read the following words from Job; notice he speaks of “the deceiver”.
“With (God) is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are His.” Job 12:16
While this verse confirms the work of the great deceiver, we know he is under the power of God. There are limits to the control and power of satan; however times of testing, affliction, and suffering like Job experienced make us wonder or even doubt that (if we are honest).
The presence and deceptive work of satan in the first century.
Judas the disciple.
“So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.’” John 13: 26-27
A strong warning to be aware of and looking for false prophets and teachers. Following is the Apostle Paul’s warning to Timothy, a young pastor:
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come…evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:1,13
The deceptive work of these men is clearly of satan and demons.
The deceiver and You
As we did with temptation, we bring this to a personal level—your life. Can you point to times when you were deceived, and you felt strongly it was the work of satan or demons? That may sound spooky or foolish to some. I hope the examples above clearly show you it is not. Three questions arise: How do we know? How do we avoid it? How do we recover? As always, we begin with prayer; going to our Father for answers. From my own experience and study of Scripture, I suggest four things to ask for:
Protection. Wisdom. Discernment. Strength.
Protection from the wiles and onslaughts of demonic forces. (John 17:15)
Wisdom to understand truth – recognize false teachers/prophets. (Matthew 10:16)
Discernment to choose or respond wisely when confronted by the enemy. (Proverbs 3:21)
Strength to resist satan and his demons. (James 4:7)
Invitation: For those who continue to reject all that I have taught you today concerning the Deity of Christ and what He did for sinners like me and you, I close with these words of hope and warning. Your temptations are not unique! All of us have given in to sin, but the Good News is this: Jesus came to die for our sins. As I said above, His refusal to give in to the temptations of satan, qualified Him to die for all who repent, confess their sins, and receive Him as Savior.
I plead with you not to close this message without confronting yourself in light of these truths. I may be the last evangelist or Bible teacher the Lord puts before you to beg you to respond to Jesus in the only way that will secure your salvation.
The only difference between you and me is that, by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, I surrendered my life to Jesus and never looked back! This decision is a matter of life and death. Those who believe/receive Him gain eternal life. Those who reject Him will spend eternity suffering in Hell, wishing they had not refused His love, mercy and grace. Will you humble yourself and receive Him today? I pray you do.
For Christ’s sake,
