Satan‘s dirty tricks and God’s remedies (part 1)

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Ephesians 6:11 (ESV)

1. “Christ, the Scripture, your own hearts, and Satan’s devices, are the four prime things that should be first and most studied and searched. If any cast off the study of these, they cannot be safe here, nor happy hereafter. It is my work as a Christian … to do my best to discover the fullness of Christ, the emptiness of the creature, and the snares of the great deceiver,” says the Puritan theologian and writer Thomas Brooks (1608-1680).¹ The apostle Paul also warns us of the schemes and dirty tricks of the devil.
2. The devil is generally underestimated, especially his power, malice and deceitfulness. This once supreme angel has rebelled against God and lost, just as anyone who rebels against God or His order loses. Satan has since cultivated an abysmal hatred for God and man. Already his name Satan (adversary) reveals very accurately his evil nature, attitude and goals. Jesus calls him the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). He is the great dragon…, that ancient serpent, … the deceiver of the whole world (Rev. 12:9). Revelation here draws a line from the fall of man to this day. Satan has not changed at all!
3. The devil uses schemes, clever and mean methods, trickery and deception. He attacks when we don’t anticipate it and always from the side from which we least expect it. “Whatever sin the heart of man is most prone to, that the devil will help forward.”² He pretends to be an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14) and disguises himself as a messenger of truth and yet he is the prince of darkness. Satan works subliminally. He does not come through the door, but burrows under the threshold into our consciousness in order to influence us, as unrecognized and unnoticed as possible (cf. John 10,1). His eloquence and power of persuasion are unsurpassed.
4. Satan cannot take away our salvation, but he is always out to rob us of our peace and joy in the Lord. He tries to make us useless for the ministry of God or at least to take away all joy in it. Since his own condition is already eternally miserable, distressful and despairing, then he also wants to draw all others into his misery forever. That is his ultimate goal!

As Christians, our task is to stand against or to resist (1 Pt 5:9). Satan may be strong, Christ is stronger! The devil is incomparably more powerful than we are, but infinitely weaker than God. Satan is only a creature and therefore limited in every way. As Christians, we stand at the side of the Victor over Satan! He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). In the power of Christ this strong enemy can be overcome!

¹Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices (Kindle-Position 171-174), Monergism Books, Kindle-Version. The book is a classic on this subject. A number of thoughts of this and especially of the following parts were taken from it.
² ibid, Kindle-Position182