Today, we will explore the topic on the relationship between man and Satan or the relationship between man and demons. If you browse at the bookshop, you will see numerous books about the spiritual realm. Today, it is not true that people do not believe in gods, demons and ghosts. On the contrary, they believe too much in it. Therefore, many people inevitably fall under the control of demons and their curses. As Christians, we need to know the demons and ways to deal with them. Today, in this course, I will help us know Satan and his schemes clearly.

First of all, let us comprehend what “Satan” means in the Hebrew language. According to Zechariah 3:1 from the ESV Bible: “Then, the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.” In other words, Satan means to “accuse”, “oppose”. “Satan” in the original Hebrew language means to oppose God and is the one which is enmity against God.

The book of Job in the Bible has clearly written Satan’s accusations against Job before the presence of God. He said to God, “God, Job obeys and fears you today because you have put a hedge of protection around him. If you remove this hedge of protection, will he still fear you?” He slandered and accused Job of fearing God because God had protected him and such fear did not stem from a willing heart. Therefore, according to Revelation 12:10 from the ESV Bible: And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.”, Satan is the one which accuses our brothers day and night before God. In other words, the demon, Satan, means “the accuser”. He opposes God. He accuses our brothers and sisters. He complains against God’s sons and daughters.

From the name “Satan”, we know his nature and work. Ephesians 2:2 from the ESV Bible tells us: “in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Who is he? He is the prince of the power of the air. It also means that he has authority and is at work in the sons of disobedience. He has the ability to influence the hearts of those people who oppose God and control them. This is very scary.

When it comes to John 14:30 from the ESV Bible, Jesus said: “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me.” The demon is called “the ruler of the world”. The world refers to the evil world. In other words, he reigns in this world that is full of evil and sin, yielding authority and power. He has the ability to control and influence people and even direct and make use of them.

In 2 Corinthians 4:4 from the Bible: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” He is not only “the ruler of the world”. He is also called “the god of the world”; for god is greater than the ruler of the world. The god of this dark world, that is full of evil and sin, is the demon. The demon will blind the spiritual eyes of the people so that they cannot see the true God but can see the work of the devil. As a result, they worship Satan like god, being cheated by him.

1 Peter 5:8 from the ESV Bible tells us that: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Satan is the roaring lion, the demon prowling around to devour people. It also means that if I get near his vicinity, I will be eaten by him. Therefore, brothers and sister, even though the demon has authority and power, the Lord has placed a restriction on his ability. However, if we venture to his area of authority, we will be swallowed by him. We need to be extremely cautious.

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 from the ESV Bible tells us: “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.  So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” It is written here that Satan disguises himself as a servant of righteousness and an angel of light. He deceives people. Therefore, Jesus said in John 8:44 from the ESV Bible that: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” He disguises as an angel of light because he is the father of lies. He tells lies. The one who sells herbal plasters will definitely say that his herbal plasters are good so the one who sells flowers will also say that his flowers are fragrant. Satan is likewise. He disguises himself to be kind, loving, protective and caring towards you but in reality, he wants to harm you. He devises a trap and gives you nice sweets but there is hidden poison in them. It will be too late when you discover it.

Once, I went to a mountain named Gunung Kawi (means fairy mountain) in Indonesia. A lot of people went to worship there. When I reached the mountain top, someone told me that there was once a businessman who went to the mountain and prayed to the gods. A medium said to him, ‘If you wish your business to turn for the better, I can give it to you!” Why did the medium say this? It was because this businessman was on the verge of bankruptcy and had reached the dead end so he came to pray to the gods on this fairy mountain. This medium said to him, “I can make your business turn for the better and even prosper but I have a condition. I want your two children.” This guy’s mind was so preoccupied with money that he got carried away and acceded to the request because he was possessed with money. Strangely, after he had returned home from the fairy mountain, his business started to improve. Not only that, it became more and more successful. However, misfortunes came one after another. His two sons – one of them was knocked down in a car accident and the other was swept away by the seawater while he was swimming. Do you think that all these occurred by chance? I studied religion. Let me tell you, these are the consequences as a result of having a deal with the demon. The demon disguises as an angel of light and wants to give you some benefits. He gives you money so that your business can improve but at the back of his mind, he wants your children’s souls. He wants people to drift far away from God! Here, we need to recognize clearly how evil the devil is.

Let us recall – how did Satan tempt the human ancestors, Adam and Eve, so that they sinned? After that, how did he also tempt Jesus Christ, the second Adam? From Genesis 3:1-5 and Matthew 4:1-11 from the ESV Bible, we had a glimpse of the demon’s tactic, that was to tempt people – he wanted you to gain what you did not possess. “Adam and Eve, don’t you know good and evil like God does? Let me tell you, you only need to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in order to be like God, knowing good and evil.” This is the promise of the devil.

When Jesus was fasting in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights, he did not eat and was hungry and cold. At that moment, Jesus saw that the stones in the desert looked like bread. Then, the devil told Jesus an easy way out, “Don’t you have it? I will give it to you! You only need to use your ability and authority to turn these stones into bread! Jesus, you are a pauper. You don’t even have a place to rest. Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the Son of God has nowhere to lay his head. I tell you, if you worship me, I will give you the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” The devil said this to Jesus while he took Jesus to the mountain top and looked at the kingdoms of the world and their glory. This is also the devil’s means of tempting people today: “Don’t you have money? I want to give it to you. You only need to bow down to me.” Satan instigates people to sin and break the law – drug trafficking, smuggling, turning what is fake to real things and using all kinds of means to let you possess what you desire to have and to gain what you do not have.

Dear brothers and sisters, Satan has another tactic, that is, intimidation. “I will take away what you have.” This is extremely evil and scary. He used such means to intimidate Job so that Job would drift away from God. He took away all that Job had. His motive was for Job to abandon God. Satan challenged Jehovah and said: “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” (Job 1: 9-11 from the ESV Bible) 

You see, this is the devil. Today, a lot of people do not dare to believe in God because they are afraid that the devil will snatch away their business, property, children and all other good things. This is the devil’s means of deception.

Thus, the devil constantly uses two tactics, that is, “I will take away what you have; I will also give you what you do not have.” However, as people who believe in Jesus Christ, we have to be victorious over Satan’s temptations of giving you what you do not have. Also, we must not be fearful of the devil’s threat – to take away what you have already possessed. It is because everything that comes from God is good. If it is not from God, taking it away is also a blessing.

How does the devil have the ability to give you? He does not create everything and also does not possess everything. How does he have the wealth to give you? These are filthy goods, stolen goods. He steals them from God and then, gives them to you. This is illegal so we should not own them. We need to let go of things that we do not own. We also should not attempt to desire to have them. In the same way, for the things that we have, he said “I want to take them away!” However, you and I must believe in God’s omnipotence. Since God has given them to you, they cannot be taken away. The blessing of God is eternal and we believe that God cares for us

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, we must come before God and rely on Him. Satan continues to be at work in this era but Jehovah God is with us. You and I need to have faith and look up to him wholeheartedly without any fear and worries in our hearts. The most effective way to have victory over Satan is having no anxieties in our hearts and relying on God. We need to believe in the Word of God as His promises are true.

Let us pray together.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you. We know the devil’s true colors from the Word of God. The devil constantly deceives people in this generation. It was like that in the past and is still the same presently. However, we know from your Word that we have to trust in you wholeheartedly and use the shield of faith to resist the devil. We persevere in following you according to your promises in the Word of God. Lord, be with us so that we feel secure in our hearts. May you reduce our desires so that we do not fall into the devil’s temptations. May the Lord continue to be glorified in our inner lives. In the holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

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