Be Alert to Satan’s Tactics

My pastor is preaching through Revelation this year and as we got to chapter 12, we studied John’s vision of spiritual warfare in the heavens and the earth.

Another quote from my favorites list (see past posts) is by one of my former presidents at LifeWay, Thom Rainer, who said, Satan has a simple agenda…to keep people lost.

But another tactic of his is to keep saved people ineffective as disciples.

Pastor Robby Gallaty recommended a book by C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, and since I hadn’t read it, I ordered a copy. It truly exposes how subtle the devil is and how naive we can be about how he attacks us. We know he goes after those who have no regard for Jesus. But he also goes after believers. We are a greater threat to his schemes than the lost! Even though he cannot change our eternity, he can cause us to doubt and he distracts us from going deeper in Christ, and sharing our faith.

Erwin Lutzer said…

No matter how many pleasures Satan offers you, his ultimate purpose is to ruin you. Your destruction is his highest priority.

Job understood this kind of attack. In Job 1:7 we read…

The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” “From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”

God never told him that He’d given Satan permission to attack. He didn’t know why he’d lost everything important to him, but he knew God differently after this experience. I used this Job 42:5 verse in last week’s post, but felt it was worth repeating: I had heard reports about you, but now my eyes have seen you.

As we face the enemy’s attacks through the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11), we see Jesus differently, our faith grows, and we win our daily battles.