SATAN'S METHODS OF WORKING

     It is important for Christians to understand the different methods Satan has of working. To know how he is going to work gives us an opportunity to be ready for dealing with him when he starts to oppose us.  

     It is a good thing to expect that whenever a real work of God is being done, Satan will oppose it in every way possible. Zechariah 3:1: "And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him." In the days of Zechariah the work of rebuilding the temple and later the task of building again the walls of Jerusalem was definitely hindered by men who were influenced by Satan. Some Christian workers grow discouraged when they begin to see evidences of Satan's working, but this should not be. Charles Spurgeon used to say: "The best evidence that the Lord is on our side is the devil's growl."  

SATAN LEADS MANY ASTRAY THROUGH FALSE TEACHING  

     A favorite device of the devil is to lead men astray by means of all sorts of false teachers. 1 Timothy 4:1: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons." Many doctrines taught by men have their source in demons. A good question to ask about any group of people with strange doctrines, is, "What is the attitude of this cult toward the Blood of Christ?" Satan hates Christ's blood because he knows that it spelled his doom.  

     There is an old story about St. Martin in his cell being visited by one who said: "I am the Christ." But St. Martin was suspicious of him and so asked him the question: "Where is the print of the nails?" When the man could not show his hands with the print of the nails in them then Martin knew he was a fraud.  

SATAN CAUSES MANY TO DOUBT GOD'S WORD  

     There are some whom Satan could never persuade to accept the doctrines of modern false cults, but he influences them to have doubts about God's Word through the preaching or teaching of modernist preachers or teachers who are in evangelical churches. The method is the same he used with Eve in the beginning. Genesis 3:1: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said?" The devil put a question mark over what God had said. And ever since then the devil has been busy "explaining away" the real meaning of Scripture and thus robbing the Bible of its true import.  

     Satan and those who teach or preach his doctrines, hold that the Bible contains the Word of God, whereas actually we ought to know that the Bible is the Word of God. He advocates that Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the sense that all men are sons of God. But the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God in the unique sense in which nobody else is. Satan teaches that Jesus had a natural birth, but any careful student of the Word knows that His birth was supernatural (i.e. by virgin birth)". The devil teaches that the death of Jesus was only exemplary, whereas the Bible teaches clearly that it was expiatory. Satan tells men that man is the product of evolution, but the Scriptures make it plain enough that he is the product of special creation. The devil holds that man is the unfortunate victim of environment, but through self-culture can make good, but those who teach the unadulterated Bible maintain that man is a sinner, fallen from righteousness, and apart from God's redeeming grace is hopelessly lost. Satan's idea is that man is justified by works in following Christ's example, but gospel preachers teach that man is justified by faith in Christ's atoning blood. The devil advocates natural self-development, but the Word of God teaches the necessity of supernatural regeneration from above.  

SATAN CAUSES MEN TO DISOBEY GOD'S WORD  

     Satan is willing for men to read the Word of God as long as he can persuade them to disobey its teachings. Genesis 3:2-4: "And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." Eve had to choose between God's Word and the devil's lie. What Satan said to her was to influence her to disobey the Word of God. He succeeded in his efforts, and he has been in that business with men and women ever since.  

     A subordinate officer came to Lord Kitchener one day making all sorts of excuses for failure to obey orders. Lord Kitchener listened to what he had to say and then said to him: "Your reasons for not doing what you were commanded to do are the best I have ever heard; now go do what you were ordered to do." We wonder if God must feel that way about us when we make so many excuses for our failure to obey His Word. AH these excuses are of the Evil One. Let us fling them away and go immediately and do what God's Word orders us to do!  

SATAN SPOILS MEN'S LIVES THROUGH WRONG THOUGHTS  

     A clever way Satan has of entering the lives of men to cause damage is by his entrance into the castle of their thoughts. 2 Corinthians 2:11: "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices (Greek: "thoughts"). 2 Corinthians 11:3: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." Small thoughts of evil if tolerated have a way of growing into enormous evils.  

     An English officer in India took a tiger's cub for a pet. The baby tiger finally grew to be of large size, but was still treated as a pet. One day the officer was letting the young tiger lap his hand with his tongue, when the rough tongue tore a bit of the flesh of his hand. Upon tasting blood, the beast was just ready to pounce upon his master and would have killed him had he not had a gun handy with which he killed his would-be pet. Even as it is dangerous to keep a young tiger near you as a pet and allow it to grow into a large beast, so is it dangerous to tolerate in your mind at Satan's suggestion an evil thought which if it tarries may grow into a terrible deed that will mean your undoing.  

     Furthermore Satan has a way of suggesting to us thoughts that seem innocent enough, but actually they are very harmful because of what they lead to. We are apt to treat them as quite respectable, when as a matter of fact they are really traitors. Thoughts of doubt, fear, discouragement, and worry are particularly harmful to the Christian life. All such thoughts come from Satan and must not be tolerated for a single minute. The chief harm which this sort of thoughts causes is to kill faith in God. Anything that does that is certainly to be treated as a real enemy of our souls.  

SATAN SOMETIMES OPPRESSES MEN'S BODIES BY PUTTING SICKNESS UPON THEM  

     Satan not only attacks the minds of men, but he also attacks their bodies. Acts 10:38 speaks of Jesus "healing all that were oppressed of the devil." Christians who are engaged in a- really worthwhile service for the Lord and are getting results, are often the special targets of Satan who attacks their bodies and attempts to set them aside and thus keep them from doing what God wants them to do. Numerous consecrated Christians workers could testify that this was true in their own experience. But exercising faith in Christ and bringing to bear the name and blood of Christ, will give victory and bring deliverance.  

     Rev. J. Arthur Mouw, pioneer missionary to the Dyaks on the Island of Borneo, had secured a place for his family to live which would be nearer the place where most of his work was to be. He promised the natives there that he would go to get his family and be back in four days. But Satan knew that it would be a serious thing for a missionary to break a promise made to the natives, and so he did everything possible to hinder the return on time. The launch by which he travelled was almost destroyed first by the rapids of the stream, and then by a fire which broke out on board. But a prayer to God in this emergency brought quick deliverance. Then when they arrived home they found Mrs. Mouw and the children sick with fever. Would Satan succeed in his efforts to defeat the missionaries? In the natural it certainly looked that way. At 2 a.m. the group of faithful native Christians gathered with the missionary and called on God for Christ's sake to come to their rescue. The power of Christ came down and health was restored. At 6 a.m.. Mrs. Mouw was up and busy packing ready for the trip. On the appointed day the arrival was made where the new home was to be. Satan had been unusually busy, but God had displayed His power in answer to believing prayer.  

SATAN CAUSES DIVISIONS AMONG CHRISTIANS  

     Satan does not like to see churches where there is a spirit of real Christian unity. He knows such a church has real power. Therefore it is his purpose to endeavor by whatever means he can to destroy unity among Christians. So he causes strife and divisions. James 3:14-17: "But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie hot against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish." To start a spirit of bitterness and strife between Christians, is Satan's way of killing the spiritual life and power of any church. What a need for revival there is in church circles to-day!  

     The devil had been busy in the church at Corinth, for Paul tells us of divisions among them. 1 Corinthians 3:3: "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men?" Allowing the Holy Spirit to rule in our midst is the solution to the problem. Ephesians 4:3: "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Either Satan or the Holy Spirit will rule our lives. If Satan does, there are apt to be division and confusion. If the Holy Spirit rules, there will be real Christian unity.  

SATAN CAUSES THE BREAK-UP OF HOMES  

     The Christian home is the greatest spiritual force in the land. Satan will go to any lengths to break up a home that would otherwise be a power for God in a community. Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 7:5 to follow a certain course "that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency." Lust is one cause of broken homes, and discord is another, and back of it all is a lack of real love between husband and wife. Let us pray for homes that have professed to be Christian and yet^have been broken up by the devil. God grant that something might be saved out of the wreckage! Someone has well said, "If a child of God marries a child of the devil, he can certainly expect trouble from his father-in-law."  

SATAN HINDERS THE PRAYER LIFE OF CHRISTIANS  

     An incident in the prayer life of Daniel is an illustration of the efforts of the devil to hinder the prayers of the saints. Daniel 10:12-13: "Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. . . . Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me." Daniel prayed, and God sent an angel with the answer to his prayer, but this angel withstood by the prince of Persia, an angel of Satan, and so the answer was delayed 21 days until reinforcements arrived. Satan will endeavor to hinder the answer to prayer that will glorify the Lord Jesus. But let us learn the secret of prayer warfare against him, and persevere until the victory arrives.  

     Another way of working is for Satan to keep Christians from praying, or if they do pray to spoil the time of prayer or at least cut the time thus spent to a pitifully small period. A missionary had a sad look on his face as he left one morning to engage in his service for Christ. His wife said to him: "Much work and little prayer make a hard task." He turned around and reentered his room and spent the entire morning on his knees in prayer. Then that noon he left with joy written on his face and the afternoon was spent in victory over Satan.  

"Satan trembles when he sees  

The weakest saint upon his knees."  

SATAN ENDEAVORS TO KEEP THE SEED OF THE WORD FROM BEARING FRUIT

     In the parable of the sower the Lord Jesus tells about some of the seed falling by the way side where the birds of the air devoured it. Matthew 13:19 applies the meaning of it thus: "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart." Whenever the Word is preached or taught to either the unsaved or the Christian, the devil is on hand to try to snatch it away and thus keep it from germinating into life. It is tragic to think about how many people listen to the Word of God and then nothing is done about it! Of what value is the Word to us unless it becomes a living thing in us! When anybody listens to the Word and then straightway does nothing about it we can know that the devil has been on the scene—snatching away the seed of the Word lest it bear fruit. How busy he is, doing this. Why should we let Satan rob us of this precious seed that has -power to grow into fruit that will please God? James 1:22: "Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only."  

SATAN HINDERS SOUL-WINNING WORK  

     Satan always does everything possible to hinder real soul-winning work. Acts 13:7-8: "Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer . . . withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith." Elymas the sorcerer was Satan's tool to try and hinder the salvation of this deputy. Paul dealt very severely with Elymas. In verse 10 Paul calls him: "thou child of the devil." It is well for us to realize that back of all hindering of soul-winning work is the devil inspiring it.  

     Spurgeon told about a Christian business man who finally made up his mind to talk with one of his regular customers about his soul's salvation. He decided to do this the next day. But the next day was too late, for the man never came into the store again. He died before that day arrived. It was Satan who caused that business man to keep on postponing the doing of what God wanted him to do.  

SATAN CAUSES CHRISTIANS TO FALL THROUGH PRIDE  

     Pride was the cause of the original fall of Satan. And Satan uses pride in his efforts to get Christians to fall from a place of usefulness in God's service. 1 Timothy 3:6: "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil." Many a Christian worker has been used of the Lord, and then because of pride has been set aside. How careful we all should be to give the glory to God for anything worthwhile which we accomplish in His service. If v/e fail in Christian wcrk it is because we depend upon self and not the Lord. If we really succeed it is because the Lord works in and through us and surely He^ deserves all the credit for it. There is no ground whatever for pride.  

SATAN TRIES TO CHEAT CHRISTIANS OUT OF REWARDS  

     Colossians 2:18 says: "Let no man beguile you of your reward." It is Satan's business to do this with all the Christians he can. A young man heard ah old man tell the following legend. An angel was talking with a old Christian worker and going into a vault he brought back with him a crown of incomparable beauty blazing with diamonds. Lie said to the worker: "This is the crown I designed for you when you were a youth but you refused to surrender yourself completely to God; and it is gone." He went again to the vault and returned with another crown still beautiful but plainer and with far fewer jewels. Lie said: "This is the crown I designed for your middle age, but you gave that age to a luxurious, indolent discipleship; and it is gone." He then went once again and this time brought out a crown which was a plain gold circlet. He said "Here is your crown for your old age. This is yours for all eternity." When the young man heard this legend he was greatly impressed by it. He went home and opening his Bible he read this verse: "Behold I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." He made up his mind that he would not allow Satan to cheat him out of his crown. So he surrendered his life wholly to the Lord and became an evangelist who was greatly used of the Lord