Mentoring Men for the Master

THE ONE GREAT REASON WE NEED TO “INTERNALIZE GOD’S WORD” CONSTANTLY: Satan: Hater of God and Destroyer of Man

The supreme personality of the ages, in eternity and time next to God, is Satan.  The apostle John describes the war he waged in heaven against God in eternity past (Rev. 12).  Just who is Satan?  He is the Hater of God and Destroyer of Man.  The major prophets, Isaiah and Ezekiel, describe the sinister motives and character of Satan in considerable detail (Isaiah 14: 12-15 and Ezekiel 28:13- 19).  Jesus called the devil to his face both a “liar and murderer” (John 8:44).  The Apostle Paul dubbed him “the god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4), and “who masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14).    The Apostle Peter said the devil is like a “roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  The first person Jesus  confronted as He began His earthly ministry was Satan, and Jesus is the only person who could and did defeat him (Matthew 4 and Luke 4).

As we reflect upon Satan our, personal adversary and destroyer, we should ask two questions:

  1. How does Satan Operate SPIRITUALLY to destroy human kind? In a word, he makes sin attractive.  This is what he did in the Garden of Eden.  How?
    1. He rebels against the authority of God. Such was the first sin in heaven and the first sin on earth.  Illus:  You do not have to teach your children to rebel.  They know how when they come into this world.
    2. He repudiates the truth of God.

 

  1. How can we OPPOSE SATAN? We dare not think we can oppose him in our own strength.  Not even the Archangel Michael dared oppose Him alone in his own strength (Jude 1).  If we would oppose Satan and succeed, there are two things we must do:
    1. First and Foremost – Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Jesus is the ONLY ONE  who ever defeated him, and He is the ONLY ONE who can enable you to defeat him.
    2. “You have no chance of defeating Satan without Jesus” (James Merritt).  Therefore, resist the devil in the same way Jesus, in His flesh, resisted and defeated Him:
      • Repeat the Word (Matthew 4:4)
      • Rely upon the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:14). Therefore, “Internalize the Word” for without such you won’t be able to speak it to Satan.