Focus: Satan Revealed

Text: Rev.17:1b

"Come hither; I will SHEW unto thee the judgment of the GREAT WHORE that sitteth upon many waters…"

God will never let Satan hide forever. In Isaiah 14:16, God says, "They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms…" God reveals Satan for who he truly is - the mischief maker and destroyer of men. Christ exposed the Great Whore, the false bride, to John. It is interesting to know that before the end of all things, Christ, through His angel, tells John, "Come hither, I will SHEW thee the BRIDE, THE LAMB'S WIFE" (Rev.21:9). God exposes the false in order for us to be exposed to the true.

All through the Scriptures God has taken time to reveal Satan and his craftiness to us. Paul says, "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices" (2Cor.2:11). The believer should know his real enemy. We can't afford to be ignorant of his tactics, for he uses the truth he knows that we don't know to put or keep us in bondage. We can't afford to let Satan trick, trap, or trip us. We can't afford to let Satan fool us or take advantage of us. Satan has devices, that is, mindsets and ways of perceiving things. He always thinks in the opposite direction of what God's thinking is on all issues.

Now let's see some of the things God has revealed in His word about Satan.

*Satan's identity

John says, "And the GREAT DRAGON was cast out, that OLD SERPENT, called THE DEVIL, and SATAN, which DECEIVETH the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Rev.12:9). Terrible names for our archenemy: Satan, the serpent of Genesis 3, dragon, and devil - author of evil: D-evil. In Eph.2:2, Paul calls him "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience." In 2Cor.4:4, Paul calls him "the god of this world." John tells the Jews, "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" (Jh.8:44). 

He originates and fabricates lies. Lies are homegrown within himself. Truth is not Satan's inward reality. The principles of truth are foreign to him. From this scripture we could see that it is possible to have Abraham and Satan as fathers. But also, the good news is that it is not possible to have God and Satan as fathers at the same time. John writes, "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness" (1Jh.5:19). Satan is wickedness personified. Tragically and sadly, the whole world is lying helplessly and hopelessly on his laps. In fact, the Greek word used for 'lieth' means that the world is lying utterly stretched out horizontally. 

In Lk.10:19, Jesus calls him "the enemy." The word 'enemy' here means one who hates you, and you know that whoever hates you can also hurt you. Satan harbors bitter hatred in his heart against the believer in Christ. In 1Pet.5:8, Peter calls him, "Your adversary," and also one who seeks to devour. The word 'adversary' refers to one who has a case against you in the court of law or justice. Satan is constantly accusing us. In Rev.12:10, John tells us that he is "the accuser of our brethren." The word 'accuser' means a plaintiff or complainant. The Greek word is 'kategoreo.' We derive the English word 'category' from this word, and that means that Satan has categorized us as his permanent opponent, and he keeps bringing up a never ending series of cases against us, and always having something to complain against us. He is always negative, offensive and abusive. He is bitter and dangerous. He never means well for us. He has marked us for dead.

*Satan's power

God gives Paul his job description, one of which is "to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the POWER of Satan unto God…" (Act.26:18). Satan has power. Jesus says to us, "I give unto you power… over ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY…" (Lk.10:19). He has a lot of power. Concerning the AntiChrist, Paul says, "Even him, whose coming is after the WORKING of Satan with ALL POWER and SIGNS and LYING WONDERS" (2Thes.2:9). Satan works wonders that are meant to deceive. His signs and wonders are all lies.

*Satan's throne

Jesus says, "I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's SEAT is…" (Rev.2:13). The word 'seat' is 'thronos' in the Greek, and it tells us that Satan has a throne and rules over his own kingdom. In his kingdom, he has principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places, according to Eph.6:12. He operates by hierarchies and systems. He is highly organized, and he is the mastermind behind all the evil systems of the world. He has his own loyal subjects who do his bidding, both spirits and humans. In fact, the whole world lies in his palms.

*Satan's depths

Jesus reveals to us that Satan has depths (Rev.2:24). Satan is deep in all his tricky moves. He can wait for a long time before striking. He's con artist and highly subtle.

*Satan's assembly

Jesus says, "I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the SYNAGOGUE of Satan" (Rev.2:9). Satan owns synagogues everywhere in the world. He runs his own church. The churches of Satan are founded on lies, deception and corruption. The whole organized religion is largely influenced and superintended by him. Of course, all Bible-based, Christ-centered, Spirit-directed, and love-motivated churches are not part of this whole corrupt religious system.

*Satan's fall

Jesus says, "I beheld Satan as lightning FALL from heaven…" (Lk.10:18). Satan has suffered a fatal fall and has sustained a mortal wound from which he will never recover. Calvary marks his downfall and ultimate defeat. He cannot redeem himself, nor be redeemed by anyone. And it is because he has fallen that he seeks for our fall. He was the architect of man's fall in the garden of Eden, but in Christ we have been redeemed and restored.

*Satan's works or arsenals

In the Gospels, we read of Satan tempting Christ, and according to 1Cor.7:5, Satan tempts the believer in Christ. In Jh.8:44, Satan lies. In 2Cor.4:4, Satan blinds hearts. He corrupts the human mind. In Lk.22:31, Satan sifts through the believer with the intention to expose him as only chaff and no wheat. In Jh.13:2, Satan throws the darts of evil thoughts and desires into the human heart, even the thought to betray Christ in our own lives. In Lk.22:3 and Jh.13:27, we see that it is possible for Satan to enter into or penetrate a human being. Remember that a legion of demons is recorded by the Gospel writers of having lived in a man, and that resulted in the worst kind of madness! In 2Cor.11:14, Satan transforms self into an angel of light. He hides. He is a behind-the-scene personality. He wants us to see him for what he is not. The word for 'transformed' is not 'metamorphoo,' but 'metaschematizo,' which means to disguise or take up an appearance that betrays an inward reality. That is to say that the external appearance of Satan does not correspond with the his internal nature. He is evil by nature, but parades false identity. It's a feigned appearance. He is slimy and tricky. In 2Cor.12:7, Satan buffets through his messengers. In 2Thes.2:18, Satan hinders. He means for us to fail in our divine mission, and hates to see us succeed. In 1Pet.5:8, Satan roars like a lion and seeks to devour the easy meats. He loiters around, looking for easy preys. Don't fall into his traps, nor into his laps. Refuse making yourself a prey to Satan. I refuse for Satan to eat me as meat. The lions of Babylon found in Daniel the meat they couldn't eat. How could the man who rejected Babylon's most cherished meat be eaten as meat by Babylon's lions? Daniel's God made sure that it didn't happen. The angel of God guarded him, even in the lions' den. 

In 1Tim.5:15, we see that Satan turns hearts away from God and His Christ. In 2Cor.11:3, Satan beguiles and corrupts from the simplicity that is in Christ. He is slimy and subtle. In Act.5:3, Satan fills the heart, causing a Christian to lie to the Holy Spirit. In Lk.13:16, Satan binds. Imagine a daughter of Abraham bound by Satan for years. Satan hates your liberty. He wants you to be bound for life. He loves to see us in chains. Right now, reject Satan's bondage and chains. In Mk.4:15, Satan comes to take away the word of God sown in our hearts. He brings affliction to our lives to make us doubt the reality and power of God. In Mk.8:33, Satan minds the things of man. He knows nothing about what God thinks. In Eph.6:11, Satan has wiles. He is methodical. He has his ways and follows a pattern. He maneuvers and manipulates. He plots, arranges, calculates, prioritizes, and targets. In Eph.6:16, Satan throws fiery darts. He operates weapons of fire that pierce their way into the human soul. He wants to control our thoughts, thinking and feelings, belief and value systems. He's wicked and has evil intentions all the time.

*Satan's undoing

Jesus Christ tells Satan, "Get thee BEHIND me…" (Lk.4:8). Satan's place is behind Christ. For Christ, Satan is only a thing of the past, as history. He's no longer an issue. The cross is Satan's undoing. He's no longer news. Satan can never get ahead of our Lord, the Christ of God. Paul declares, "And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Col.2:15). Jesus Christ ended Satan on the cross. The cross and the resurrection of Christ are a declaration and a celebration of victory over Satan. He was dealt a death-blow by the cross. In his death, death died. In Rev.20:2,7, Satan is bound and put in prison. The binder of men shall be bound. And we are informed in Rom.16:20, that "the God of peace shall BRUISE Satan under your feet shortly…" That is where Satan belongs, under our feet. He will forever remain subjugated. Joyfully and thankfully, we join Paul to say, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Cor.15:57). Satan's awaits final and eternal committal to a place called the lake of fire. Hallelujah!

Tomorrow we shall consider the believer's authority over Satan.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter