Satan’s tools

1. This past week while thinking about a lesson on “the devil’s tools,” I noticed something.

2. The words “Santa” and “Satan” are very close in how they are spelled.

3. If the “n” in Santa is removed, and the final two letters are reversed, the word Santa becomes Satan.

4. Santa is a fictional character but the devil is not. God says Satan is real.

5. Not only does God say the devil really exists, the Scriptures says he wants us.

6. Satan seeks people in various ways, and he has a wide variety of tools.

7. 2 Cor. 2:11 refers to Satan’s “devices” (some translations say “schemes”).

THIS EVNEING WE WANT TO CONSIDER SOME OF SATAN’S SCHEMES AND TOOLS.

a) One of the devil’s most striking techniques is lying.

b) In Jn. 8:44 Jesus said Satan is a “liar.”

c) In the past year and even in the past years we have seen scheme after scheme that was based upon lies.

d) In fact, lying seems to be almost a necessary ingredient in many schemes.

e) Jesus came right out and said Satan lies.

f) Not only does he lie, he is the “father” of lying.

g) Lying can come in many forms—it may be direct, indirect, a half truth, or something similar.

h) A common thread in every lie is the intent to deceive, and this is what Satan does.

i) In fact, Jesus said the devil is a deceiver.

j) Rev. 12:9 says he is the “deceiver of the whole world.”

k) Liars might also be classed as occasional, frequent or habitual.

l) There are natural and professional liars. Satan is the best of the best.

m) He is good with popular lies and unpopular lies.

n) He can be involved with lies that are reasonable or unreasonable.

2) Many of Satan’s lies are subtle and so convincing.

3) He may, for instance, let people think they can serve more than one master.

4) We can have a foot in the church and a foot in the world.

5) A lot of people believe that and believe they are living their lives in this manner.

6) Jesus said that is a lie; according to Mt. 6:24, we cannot serve two masters.

7) A related lie is an incorrect faith.

8) Acts 9:1 is really the basis for tonight’s material.

a) Saul was on the way to Damascus; he was carrying letters to persecute Christians.

b) Paul was absolutely convinced he was doing the will of God.

c) He must have felt good about all the things he had done against Christians and all that he had planned.

d) Paul (who at this time was known as Saul) eventually learned the truth – he was going the wrong way.

e) We are not specifically told that Satan somehow lied to him.

f) We can say with full assurance that Saul was doing the will of the devil and not the will of God.

g) Being on the wrong spiritual road is to one degree or another living a lie and in harmony with the devil’s will.

9) Peter once said that Satan prowls the earth like a hungry lion (1 Pet. 5:8).

10) If false religions and one foot in the world and one foot in something religious doesn’t work, he has other tactics.

11) One of his tools is words.

a) God wants words to do certain things.

b) God has asked for “sound speech” in regard to what we believe and teach (2 Tim. 4:3).

c) Satan wants unsound speech (lies) when it comes to the gospel.

d) God is interested in speech that is like “grace seasoned with salt” (Col. 4:6).

e) Satan likes something else.

f) He wants a tongue that will kindle a fire (Jas. 3:5-6).

g) God is interested in speech that will built up; Satan wants a tongue that will bite and destroy.

h) It is the devil that wants a tongue that will curse men (Jas. 3:9-10).

i) When Satan uses the tongue as one of his tools, he can affect our assemblies our or families.

12) When the Corinthians came together long ago, chapters like 1 Cor. 14 shows there was disorder.

13) Several Christians were trying to use their supernatural gifts all at the same time.

14) Who was behind that kind of thing? Was it Satan or God?

15) It was certainly not God because 1 Cor. 14:33 says God is “not a God of disorder.”

16) The devil was able to use good gifts from God to create chaos even in the first century church.

17) Many have said that men “like their tools” (or toys).

18) As much as that may be true, Satan seems love his tools a whole lot more.

19) When it comes to Satan, he has many tools.

a) Would we not agree that Satan has in his arsenal the tool of anger?

b) Col. 3:8 implies this is true. There Paul told the Colossians to “put away anger.”

c) The kind of anger we typically see is not righteous anger, it is not something good and honorable.

d) Anger has destroyed many lives in many ways.

e) People have gotten angry and broken things, hurt people, damaged property and taken lives.

f) Anger alone is enough to control a person’s life. Anger can be a sole motivating force in a person’s life.

g) Along with anger is hate. Often anger comes first and hate is a later consequence.

h) Hate can be a difficult thing to overcome.

i) Tit. 3:3 is directed to Christians; there it is said Christians were “once hateful.”

j) When people were servants of the devil they were hateful. This is still true.

k) People on Crete had succumbed to one of Satan’s tools, but they got out from underneath his rule.

l) When we are tempted to hate someone, it is wise to remember that the temptation is in Satan’s bag of tricks.

20) A third thing associated with hate and anger is prejudice.

a) In the first century the Disciples of Christ had some problems with prejudice.

b) Contact with the Samaritans was something Jesus had to offer instruction on.

c) There was a prejudice in some respects against women.

d) Certainly there was prejudice against Gentiles.

e) Satan is not above using prejudice if it fits his purposes.

f) The devil has used things like race to put brethren and certainly the world at odds with one another.

g) Even in countries where people are grouped by tribe, prejudice has reigned supreme.

h) God wants this tool to be stripped from Satan.

i) In Christ is “one new man” (Eph. 2:15); the time for prejudice is gone.

21) Theft, greed and jealousy are tools of Satan.

a) In Eph. 4:28 Paul said, “let him who stole steal no more.”

b) While at Hummer I learned of a situation that involved theft.

c) A man was buying recent movies, copying them on blank tapes, and selling them.

d) That is a form of theft. The man owned the movie he bought, but he did not own distribution rights.

e) For various reasons theft can be an attractive thing to some.

f) Satan will use this attraction to ensnare those who find this way of life appealing.

22) Some would never steal, but they would be open to the sin of greed.

23) I once knew a man who spoke about “looking but not touching.”

a) This type of thinking can be directly related to greed.

b) In our culture greed is a very easy sin to become involved with, and not just from time to time.

c) We live in a society that is probably the most papered of all time.

d) We are consumer driven like no other nation on the planet or in the world’s history.

e) Turn on the t.v. or drive down the road, and it is “buy, buy, buy.”

f) If a person can’t afford something on the regular payment plan, a special plan will be offered.

g) Greed is not from God; it is from Satan and he can use this tool to its maximum effectiveness in America.

24) One of the great facts about Satan that many seem to never consider is his keeping up with the times.

a) As people get older they do not always keep up with the latest and greatest things of life.

b) Some seem to think that Satan is somehow still in the dark ages.

c) As our world has evolved, Satan has stayed up with things, and this includes technology.

d) It was not all that long ago that television came along.

25) Someone once defined television as “tell a vision.” Satan has communicated a lot through the television.

a) On the 10^th of this past month there were some stories about Oprah, the talk show queen.

b) One story had this caption: “The divine Miss Winfrey?”

c) Some now see her as a new “spiritual leader” and the “voice of moral authority.”

d) This same article spoke of “the concept of Reverend Oprah.”

e) Without t.v., it is doubtful this woman would have ever reached this point.

f) All of us remember 911, the day America was attacked.

g) Do we know that 13 days after the attacks there was a “Prayer for America service” at Yankee stadium?

h) Guess who was master of ceremonies for the 3-hour event? Oprah.

i) Oprah is not the only one who has affected people’s religious views through television.

j) I recently received some “healing water” in the mail from a well known t.v. preacher.

k) The claim was to say and claim what I wanted and then anoint myself with the healing water.

l) That man is not a spokesperson for heaven; his message is from the devil.

26) Other forms of communication have also been effectively used by the devil.

27) A conservative estimate on Internet pornography puts the rate at a minimum of 10%.

28) A potentially very good tool has in many ways been used for evil.

29) If we really think about the devil, we can say that his devices include almost everything.

a) He uses love, justice and mercy.

b) He twists these items so they are perverted and with the alteration things well suited to his purposes.

c) Satan doesn’t always need to come up with something new.

d) He can take what exists and modify it to meet his own needs and purposes.

e) If Satan cannot modify something, he may use other techniques.

f) Many things are good in moderation, but become bad when they given in abundance.

g) Giving too much of something can be a tool of Satan.

h) Perhaps we have always thought that Satan wants people to be poor and sick.

i) That technique may work well on some.

j) With others, he may want to bless in every possible way so people feel strong and self sufficient.

k) Satan is a master at shifting, changing, re-shaping, and alteration.

30) In Mt. 4 when He met up with the Lord to tempt Jesus, He even quoted from the Bible.

31) One of Satan’s tools is the very book we use.

32) Satan’s tools are so effective they worked on people like Peter.

33) When we look at society, we see lots of protection.

a) We have locks on our doors.

b) Some people use alarm system and security companies.

c) Others install outside sensor lights.

d) I know of homeowners who keep a baseball bat or another type of weapon handy.

e) There are even those who keep “guard dogs” for protection.

34) There is in our world an enemy far, far more deadly.

35) This foe has an arsenal of tools that will be used against us throughout our lives.

36) God says we and our world are under attack. Our only place of safety is in Christ.

37) Have we come to heaven’s place of shelter? Have we entered the fold of safety?