Part Two
by
Finis Dake
7. THE CHARACTER OF SATAN.
The names of Satan in Point 2, (11) (previous study - Keith
Hunt), and his low, degrading tactics and enmity manifested in
innumerable ways as seen in his work in Point 6 (previous study -
Keith Hunt) reveal his true character.
(1) He is the enemy of all good and the accuser of God and man
(Matt.13:28; Rev.12:9-12; Ezek.28:11-17); the father of lies
(John 8:44); a murderer (John 8:44); a sower of discord (Matt.
13:39); an adversary (1 Pet.5:8-9); the first sinner, the
first rebel, and the first to consecrate himself to
self-gratification and to wage war against all society (Isa.
14:12-14; Ezek.28:11-17; Rev.12:9; 20:7-10).
(2) He is cunning (2 Cor.2:11; 11:14; Eph.6:11-12); wicked
(John 8:44; John 3:8; 5:18; Matt.13:19,38); malignant (Luke
8:12-12; 1 Pet.5:8-9; 2 Cor.4:4); and cowardly (Jas.4:7). He is
the tempter(Matt. 4:1-11); a thief (John 10:10); and is without
principle in taking advantage of men in their weak moments 2 Cor.
2:11; 11:3; Matt.4:1-11; Luke 22:40); in tempting men after great
successes (John 6:15); in suggesting the use of right things in
a wrong way and at a wrong time (Matt.4:1-11); in slandering
God to man and man to God (Gen. 3: 1-10; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7); in
appearing as an angel of light to deceive (2 Cor.11:14); and in
deluding his followers as to their end (2 Thess.2:8-12; Rev.
12:9; 20:7-10).
(3) He is presumptuous (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7); proud (Ezek.28:17;
1 Tim.3:6); deceitful (2 Cor.11:14; Rev. 12:9; 20:10); fierce
and cruel (Luke 8:29; 9:39; 1 Pet. 5:8-9); and aggressive (Eph.
4:27; 6:10-18; 1 Pet.5:8-9). He has never been known to be
merciful, good, loving, kind, gentle, pitiful, patient, or to
have any of the graces of God since he became the enemy of God
and man.
(4) He is compared to a fowler (Ps.91:3); fowls (Matt.13:4,
19); a wolf (John 10:12); a destroyer (John 10:10); a roaring
lion (1 Pet. 5:8-9); a serpent (Rev.12:9; 20:3); a dragon
(Rev. 12:3-12); and other things in Scripture that prove his
mean and unprincipled disposition. In spite of all this,
men - seemingly intelligent men, who would not keep company with
any other thief, murderer, liar, enemy, and wicked person-will
love and court his company and favor, knowing all the time that
he is committed to the damnation of their souls and the souls of
all their loved ones.
8. METHODS OF SATAN.
He uses every conceivable method and means to keep men from God
and in subjection to himself. If he fails to do this, he tries to
kill the believer's testimony and ruin his influence for God. If
one falls he tries to cause him to commit suicide or stay fallen.
He tries to get others in a lukewarm condition and make them live
there so that God will cut them off in the end.
He brings in damnable heresies to lead men in rebellion against
God (2 Pet.2:1-2; 1 Tim.4:1-8). He preaches sermons and uses
all the influences possible through fallen men, fallen angels,
and demons to get men to stay away from God, or cause them to
backslide and live in sin. He is the author of all false
religions and never discourages men in following them, for he
knows this is one way that is sure to damn their souls.
He tries to cause men to end their lives by making them think
that is the best way out.... He dares men to do many things that
they would not do under ordinary circumstances, and men are
foolish enough to think they are not brave if they do not accept
his dares. He makes the young people think they are not brave if
they do not accept his dares. He makes the young people think
they are missing everything in life if they do not go into all
kinds of sins that will damn their souls. He points out to them
the glamour of sin and pleasure. He stirs unholy passions in them
and causes them to throw away all restraint and live a life of
revelry. He makes them think there is no joy in serving the Lord.
This is one of his greatest errors. Serving Christ and winning
souls that will be thankful forever pays the greatest dividends
and affords the greatest pleasure of all existence. Young people
should get right with God and taste the glories of salvation;
then they will not listen to Satan; they will not go into sin and
shame.
Satan preaches to the businessman that he needs to take all his
time to get rich before serving the Lord, while the fact is that
if any man will truly serve the Lord, he can be abundantly
prosperous by God's help. He tries to get churches and their
leaders to make religion a paying proposition and appeal to the
rich and the influential people, to make salvation easy for all,
to lower the standard of the Bible on holy living, to become
formal and outward in Christian worship and living, to compromise
the essentials of the faith, to preach current events and have
book reviews in the pulpit instead of preaching the gospel that
will save the soul, to justify the sins and unholy lives of
church members and to be as much like the world as possible in
order to attract the world.
There is no realm which Satan does not seek to control, and he
will never be satisfied until as many of his dupes as possible
are in eternal Hell and God is defeated in blessing all men
everywhere with all the good things of life. He has greatly
succeeded in getting men in all walks of life to give up Christ
and the Bible by the excuse that there are so many religions that
one cannot tell what to do or which one is right. (I will add
here that he gets as many as possible to look to "men" and
"organizations" - to put their trust in physical humans, and when
they fall and fail, to give up on God and Christ and to turn
their back on the Bible, and go back to the ways of the
unconverted world - Keith Hunt).
9. GOD'S PURPOSE IN ALLOWING SATAN TO CONTINUE.
God has several purposes, as can be seen by the following points:
(1) To develop character and faith in the believer (Jas.1:12; 1
Pet.1:7-13; 5:8-9; 2 Pet.1:4-9; Jude 20:24).
(2) To keep him humble (2 Cor.12:7).
(3) To provide conflict that saints may be rewarded through
overcoming (1 John 2:13; 4:1-6; Rev. 2:7,11,17,26-28; 3:5,12,
21).
(4) To demonstrate the power of God over the power of Satan
(Eph.2:7; 3:10; 1 Cor.4:9; Mark 16:17-20).
(5) To use him in afflicting people to bring them to repentance
(1 Cor.5:1-6; 2 Cor.2:5-11; Job 33:14-30).
(6) To purge man of all possibility of falling in the eternal
future (Rev.21)....
10. THE DOOM OF SATAN.
There are many Scriptures revealing the complete defeat of Satan
and all rebels and of their eternal confinement...
(1) His defeat and doom are prophetically foretold. The first
prediction is the first prophecy in the Bible: "I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it
[the Messiah, the seed of the woman] shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15).
Isaiah predicted that when the Messiah shall come the second
time, Satan will be defeated and he and his hosts put in the
abyss: "And it shall come to pass IN THAT DAY [a phrase referring
to the Millennium or the day of the Lord], that the Lord shall
punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings
of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together,
as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the
prison, and after many days [1,000 years according to Rev.
20:1-10] shall they be visited. THEN [in that day] the moon shall
be confounded, and the sun ashamed, WHEN the Lord of hosts shall
reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients
gloriously" (Isa.24:21-23; 25:6-8)..... that he will cause the
greatest trouble that ever has been on the Earth (Rev.12:13-17;
Matt.24:15-31); that he will give his power to the Antichrist for
forty-two months (Rev.13:1-7); that he will mobilize the nations
at Armageddon to fight against Christ at His second advent (Rev.
16:13-16); that he will fight against Christ at Armageddon and
will be taken bodily and be bound with a chain and cast into the
abyss for 1,000 years (Rev.19:11-20:3); and that at the end of
the 1,000 years he will be loosed out of the abyss and will lead
one more rebellion in the Kingdom of God, and then he will be
cast bodily into the lake of fire forever (Rev.20:7-10; Matt.
25:31).
(2) The defeat of Satan and his hosts was accomplished by Christ
at the first advent as far as redemption of the race and the
Earth is concerned, and this defeat made possible the final
suppression of all rebellion and the final defeat of Satan's
kingdom at the second coming of Christ. Paul says that Christ on
the cross "spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Col.2:14-17). Christ
on the cross said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), that is, the
work that God had given Christ to finish at His first advent
(John 17:4). This work was the actual work of atonement and of
completing the redemption for all who believe, but the final work
of Christ is yet to come at the second advent. At that time God
will send Him from Heaven with an army from Heaven sufficiently
large enough and powerful enough to seize the kingdoms of this
world in one day and set up a righteous government on the Earth
for the purpose of ridding the Earth of all rebels (Zech.
14:1-21; Rev.11:15; 19:11-20:10; 1 Cor.15:24-28; Jude 14; 2
Thess.1:7-10).
(3) All that remains to be done is the suppression of all
rebellion on the Earth. The purpose of the thousand-years reign
of Christ is to suppress all rebellion (1 Cor.15:24-28); and the
final defeat of Satan and his hosts at the end of the Millennium
must be accomplished before the Earth is rid of all rebels. They
must be confined to the lake of fire forever before rebellion is
finally and eternally overcome. This is predicted in the
passages cited above and it shall be fulfilled in due time.
Then the Earth will be purified by fire and made perfect....and
the kingdom of God will be universal over all .... as it was
before rebellion was started by Lucifer and Adam in their
respective Kingdoms ... God has defeated Satan and his angels and
demons in all past conflicts and it is certain that He will
defeat them in the final conflicts, as predicted in the
Scriptures cited above.
11. THE DUTY OF SAINTS REGARDING SATAN.
Saints are to put on the whole armour of God (Eph. 6:11-18); know
his devices (2 Cor. 2:11); give him no place (Eph. 4:27); resist
him (Jas. 4:7; 1 Pet.5:8-9); be sober and vigilant in waging war
against him (1 Pet.5:8-9); overcome him by the Word (Matt.
4:1-11; 1 John 2:14), by the blood of Christ and their testimony
(Rev.12:11), by Christ and His name (Eph.1:19-22; 2:6; 2 Cor.
2:15), by the birth of the Spirit and their faith (1 John 2:29;
3:9; 5:1-4,18), and by the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:1-13; Gal.5:16-26)
.................
Entered on Keith Hunt's Website,August 2003
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