Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.  And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 

1 Peter 5:7-11

Dear Believer, 

The Apostle Peter, as described by the Scriptures, could be impulsive, protective, and driven by emotion. But his life experiences and personality were used by God to be just the right person to write letters to Christians experiencing suffering in the early church. Peter impulsively cut off a guard’s ear to “protect” Jesus, then denied him soon after.  Jesus even tells Peter that Satan had asked to “sift him like wheat”. In other words, the enemy wanted to shake his faith to break him down. And not just Peter, but all the disciples. So when Peter writes, he writes like one who has been through spiritual attack and warfare, but also as one who has learned through Christ’s example firsthand.

The sufferings of a believer are part of the requirements of following Christ. But it doesn’t make it easy, does it? You may have suffered terribly, or are going through some trials right now. Be encouraged, dear Believer. Christ, our High Priest has gone before us in victory, and His love has given us hope in His Word. 

Part of gaining victory in hard times is by understanding how the enemy of God works. The Bible has revealed much information about the character and consequently, the behavior of our enemy, the devil. Knowing his tactics and schemes is necessary to be watchful and prepared during our ongoing spiritual warfare. 

Scripture wants us to know:

1.He is a created being.  God is the Creator of all things (Col. 1:15-17). And everything God makes is good, to be consistent with His character.  Ezekiel 28:15 speaks of the beginning of Satan as a “guardian cherub” who was “blameless in  [his] ways from the day [he] was created”. Yet, his heart was “proud because of [his] beauty” and was “cast to the ground”.  Like all creation, he must submit to the God of the universe (Job 1:6-12). So although he is indeed powerful, he is still under the ultimate authority of Almighty God, who is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. The devil is NONE of those things. 

2.He is an expert in human behavior. We know this ancient serpent tempted the first man and woman in human history to sin (Gen.3:15).  We also know that he has been sinning from the beginning (1 John 3:8). So, he has had a lot of knowledge, experience, and practice in dealing with humanity. He knows humans, all our flaws and weakness, desires and tendencies. With his cunning and craftiness, He will exploit all of these human traits and use all his power to corrupt. 

3.He is seeking to destroy. In the above scripture, he is portrayed as a lion, prowling, roaring, and seeking. If you’ve ever seen lion predatory behavior, it is slow, calculated, and focused. The lion or lioness stalks its prey sometimes for hours. Quietly, carefully and single-mindedly waiting for the clueless prey to get closer and alone from its pack. At just the right time, it pounces. The poor animal is, most of the time, doomed. The lioness goes for one of three attack points on its prey- the spinal cord, the throat/jugular, or the snout; to weaken, render powerless, and suffocate. Once she attacks this part, there is not much hope for the prey. The devil, likewise, has many strategies to destroy us. The Bible tells us he lies, deceives, tempts, steals, kills, accuses, and inflicts us with “thorns of the flesh”. Similar to a predator, Satan will do his utmost to weaken our faith, render us spiritually ineffective and attempt to suffocate us with the cares and worries of this world. 

3.He uses a variety of tactics. Because the devil has been around for so long, knows humanity, and his time limited, he is on a desperate mission to do as much damage as possible. He hates God and hates God’s children. If you are a true believer and saved by God, there is nothing he can do to take that away. So, he will do everything in his temporary power to make us (or make us feel) ineffective, unfruitful, weary, confused, or discouraged. But knowing his strategies can arm us against them. He is crafty (Gen.3) and his tactics are many, using countless avenues to achieve his evil goal. As we will see, he even pridefully uses these against the Lord Jesus, to no avail. Here are a few to consider:

• Twisting/challenging Scripture. The enemy wants to confuse, cause doubt, and misapplication of the truth of God. Remember, he knows Scripture backward and forward. He uses this knowledge to influence and cause misunderstanding in the minds of believers. This is especially true in regard to those believers who neglect their study and meditation on God’s Word or who are not thoroughly convinced of the inerrancy of Scripture. Peter warns of those false teachers used by the devil that will, “exploit you with false words” by “secretly bringing in destructive heresies”(2 Peter 2:1-3).

“It is written…” and “Did God actually say…?” (Luke 4:10-11, Gen. 3:1-7)

• Temptations. Thomas Brooks shares, “Whatever sin the heart of a man is most prone to, that the devil will help forward”. Although we are God’s, we are still prey at times to the foolishness of sin. “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire” (James 1:14). The enemy knows those things that are most attractive to you, that most entice you. He will not only exploit healthy desires, but will deceive believers into thinking sinful desires as normal, unharmful, or minor. However, James continues, “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death”. No sin is ever small, dear Believer. No matter how the enemy may present it. But when he tempts, he cloaks sin in light, beauty, intelligence, and freedom.

“At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” Matt.4:1-11

“For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.” 1 Thess. 3:5

• Uses signs and wonders. The enemy has much power given to him. He will then use it to ‘wow’ and ‘amaze’ the senses. By employing signs, wonders, and “miracles”, he deceptively draws the weak to believe these come from a benevolent supernatural source when in fact are shiny distractions to get the naive to shift their focus away from God.

“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false sign and wonders”. 2 Thess. 2:9 (see also: Rev. 13:13, 16:14, 19:20)

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” Matt. 24:24

• He imitates and masquerades. Part of the cunning character of Satan is that he is the great pretender (as well as his servants). Because it would not be so effective to come as the obvious evil monster he is, he must put on costumes and characters to disguise his true nature.

“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” 2 Cor.11:13-15

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

• Hindrances. The definition of a hindrance is a “thing that provides resistance, delay, or obstruction to something or someone”. The enemy of God is always in opposition to God’s plan. He then opposes all that God loves and approves of. All things that are in accordance with God’s will, he will resist, delay and obstruct.

“But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Matthew 16:21-23)

“Because we wanted to come to you- I, Paul, again and again-but Satan hindered us.” 1 Thess. 2:18

• Unforgiveness. Being or feeling hurt, and its aftermath is a powerful tactic the enemy uses to keep us from experiencing the freedom Jesus came to give. As mentioned above, he uses feelings of unforgiveness and vengeance to obstruct the relationship between a believer and God. When we do not forgive, we give the devil an open invitation to hinder us from an abundant life with God.

“Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” 2 Cor. 2:10-11

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” Eph. 4:26-27

• Causing disunity. One of God’s desires for His people is unity. Scripture gives numerous references of being of the same mind, being united in spirit, having one purpose, being of one heart and soul, preserving the unity of the Spirit, etc. This is a place the enemy of God has a field day. He relishes in causing conflict, dissension, and arguments within the people of God.

“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. ” Rom. 16:17-18

“For you were called to freedom…But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” Gal. 5:13-15

• Diminishing our understanding of God’s power in the life of a Believer. As mentioned earlier, the devil does not have the power to take our salvation or any spiritual blessings we have by being united with Christ. So what is the next best thing? He tries to make God’s power and all of the riches in Christ Jesus that are ours by right as heirs seem weaker or less impactful in our lives. Jesus told his disciples when he ascends, they would receive “power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8). As believers, we also receive power from the Holy Spirit at our conversion. We have been given the power of the gospel, the power to be strengthened, renewed, endure, and live a godly life. We have the power to live a victoriously abundant life!

“For God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Tim. 1:7

“Being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy..” Col.1:11

4.His end is sure. There is no question, Satan is alive and well in the world today and in world history. But we must remember, he is a created being, given temporary and limited power. One day, Revelation 12:12 says, “Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

His time here is limited, but his time in torment will be forever. “And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10).

In short, 1. Our enemy is strong and powerful, but submissive and subservient to Almighty God 2. Our enemy is on a single-focused mission to destroy us and 3. It is temporary. 

Dear Believer, these are only a few of the destroyer’s methods. Guard yourself carefully! Daily put on the armor of God! Be watchful! Be alert! Study Scripture! The devil has one job and he will not give up until his time is up, so be sure of this: we are in this fight until the end. But we are strengthened by the power of God and therefore, we will be victorious.

I will end with this: knowing what we know about our enemy we can compare it to what we know about his enemy, our God. When we truly know God, there is no doubt, we are on the winning side. Be strong in the Lord, dear one, and in his mighty strength (Eph.6)!

We are foolish to expect to serve God without opposition:the more zealous we are, the more sure are we to be assailed…Glory be to God, we know the end of the war. The great dragon shall be cast out and forever destroyed, while Jesus and they who are with him shall receive the crown. Let us sharpen our swords to-night, and pray the Holy Spirit to nerve our arms for the conflict. Never battle so important, never crown so glorious. Every man to his post, ye warrior of the cross, and may the Lord tread Satan under you feet shortly!

C.H Spurgeon

The Lord be with you,

Bianca