Your Adversary The Devil

(1 Peter 5:8) “...your adversary the devil…”

These are ominous words, and suggest at once: our privilege    and    our warfare.

              We fight, not against: Flesh and blood           

                            Not with human beings 

              But against

Principalities

Powers

Wicked spirits

All ruling and reigning in the hearts of ungodly men.

I.               THE DEVIL'S PERSONALITY.

A.              He is called 

1.      “that old serpent, the devil,”

2.      “Satan [devil] your adversary.”

B.           The personality of the devil is about as realized by the world;

How real he was to Jesus Christ.  Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

II.              THE DEVIL’S CHARACTER.

                             The devil is described by the unerring Word as:

A.              He Is Most Subtle.

 (Genesis 3:1) “Now the serpent was more subtil than any…”

                             1.           It is a part of his cunning to appear as the

                                           angel of light.

              B.           He Is A Tempter (Matthew 4:1) 

“...to be tempted of the devil…”

                             1.           He puts desirable objects before our eyes.

                             2.           He pumps up our pride,

                                           i.            that we might forget or deny God.

                             3.           He succeeded with Eve: he failed with Christ.

C.           He Is An Adversary

                             1.           He is opposed to:

                             i.            Every holy resolution,

                             ii.           Every good work

                             iii.          Every heaven-born desire

              D.           He Is A Deceiver  

1 John 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

                             1.           His Deceit is the poison of the serpent.

                             2.           He deceives men with pleasures of sin,

                                           i.            Causes nations with the rule of                                                                unrighteousness.

                             3.           We are not to be ignorant of his devices.

E.           He Is A Murderer

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

                             1.           He murdered from the beginning

                             2.           He will continue till the end

                                           i.            All who come under

                                                          a.           His destroying sway,

                                                          b.           Every power, and faculty.

III.            THE DEVIL'S PURPOSE

A.              He Steals 

                             1.           The devil has a purpose, and in his desperation                                     is carrying out his purpose

(Luke 8:14) “…which fell among thorns…are choked… and bring no fruit to perfection.”

                                           i.            He snatches away the Word from our                                                     heart; 

                             2.           The word that is hidden in the heart is beyond                                      his reach.

B.              He Pollutes 

(Matthew 13:38) “…the tares are the children of the wicked one.”

                             1.           The tares are the children of his own heart. 

                             2.           His intention is to spoil the good

                                           i.            By overcrowding the good with evil.

C.              He Suggests

(John 13:2) “..the devil now put into the heart of Judas…to betray Him;”

                             1.           We have seen the devil tempting both God and                                     man.

                             2.           In God the devil made no headway,

                                           i.            However in man, Judas, he set a                                                             damning fire in his heart.

D.              He Devours 

(1 Peter 5:8) “..your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about…seeking whom he may devour:”

                             1.           What a mind boggling thought: to be swallowed by the devil,

                                           i.            Food for a fiend.

IV.         THE DEVIL'S POWER

A.              A Lion

(1 Peter 5:8)  “…as a roaring lion…seeking whom he may devour:”

                             1.           The devil has great power there can be no doubt.

                             2.           The devil is described as:

                                           i.            A stranger to mercy, and

                                                          a.           One whose nature is to destroy.

B.              The God Of The World

2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

                             1.           The object of the worldly folks worship, because it lies in his lap.

Matthew 4:8-9 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;  ⁹And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

V.           THE DEVIL'S DEFEAT

              A.           To The Believer The Devil Is A Defeated Foe.

                             1.           Christ, has destroyed this giants authority by  the power of His own 

                                           sword.

(Hebrews 2:14)  “..that through death he might destroy him that has the power of death…the devil;”    

B.         The Armour Of God

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

                              1.           Put on Christ!!!

C.         The Word Of Truth

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

It is by this power demons are to be driven out of the hearts of men.

D.         The Resistance Of Faith

James 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Have the courage to stand in these backsliding days.

Ephesians 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

E.         The Indwelling Spirit

1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

                             1.           In the face of this there is no excuse for defeat.

VI.         THE DEVIL'S DOOM

              A.           The way of sin is downward.

                             1.           Satan fell from Heaven to the air, from the air to the earth,

                                           i.            soon to the bottomless pit

                                                          a.           Then into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:1-10  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  (2)  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,  (3)  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.  (4)  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  (5)  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.  (6)  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.  (7)  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,  (8)  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.  (9)  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.  (10)  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

                                           2.           Then our enemies will be no more forever.

                                           3.           The way of the transgressor is hard.