Scripture Reading

2 Corinthians 2:1-11

Introduction There is a constant struggle between

good & evil, right & wrong. On one side we have God, and all that

is good. On the other side we have the devil

and all that is evil. The Christian is in a war, a war

against Satan (Eph. 6:10-12).

We Must Know The Enemy In order to fight any war, we must

know who the enemy is. I am concerned that some may not

take the devil and his devices seriously.

1 Peter 5:8 Satan is our enemy (Mt. 13:39).

Descriptive Terms of Satan Tempter (Mt. 4:3; 1 Thess.3:5). The evil one (Mt. 13:19,38). Deceiver (Rev. 12:9). Father of lies & murderer (Jn. 8:44). Sinner (1 Jn. 3:8). We can see there is nothing good at

all about Satan.

The Character of Satan Satan is the enemy of God & man. Satan is active (1 Pe. 5:8) in

misleading humanity. Jesus describes Satan as the wicked

(evil) one (Mt. 13:19, 38). Isaiah describes Jehovah as the Holy

One (Is.1:4). Moral evil seems to be his controlling

attribute.

Satan is at work Satan has only a short time (Re. 12:7-

9; 12) in which to do his work. He is limited in what he is able to do. But he uses every tool in his arsenal to

achieve his goals. Satan often uses human agents to do

his bidding (Jn. 6:70; 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:13-15).

The Christian must be armed To be forewarned is to be forearmed. As children of God, Satan wants to

defeat us in everything that is right and good.

God has given us the proper armor to stand against Satan.

Ephesians 6:10-18.

Satan is doomed We know that in the end Satan will be

defeated & God, and the faithful will be victorious (Re. 20:10).

All the evil, including Satan, himself will be cast into the lake of fire (Re. 21:8).

To know that Satan will be defeated is certainly good news for the child of God.

We haven’t won yet Since we are still at war, we need to

be on constant guard. We must continue to resist (Eph. 4:27;

James 4:7-8). The devil will not give up and neither

can we.

Conclusion The next three days I would like for us

to consider some of Satan’s devices. On Friday I would like for us to look at

how to overcome Satan. Remember “if God is for us who can

be against us” (Romans 8:31). We truly can “do all things through

Christ” who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13).