Satan is not in hell today, and neither is he down at the bar trying to get people drunk. So, what is he doing?
God took the wise in his own craftiness (Job 5:13; 1 Cor. 3:19) by causing Satan to defeat himself when he had Christ crucified (1 Cor. 2:8). The mystery of the Body of Christ (formed on basis of the cross, Eph. 2:16) is a great demonstration of the wisdom of God (Eph. 3:9-10).
Those who saw Christ on the cross considered Him to be a victim, but there was an unseen spiritual battle raging and we know through the word of God that He was actually the VICTOR (Isa. 50:5-8; Col. 2:15).
Through the cross and the revelation of the mystery God made a FOOL out of Satan and he is very angry about it because he prides himself on being wise. So, what do you think is his focus of attack in this present age? It is on the “preaching of the cross” and “the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery.” Knowing who God is and what He is doing is the most important thing to know, but knowing who Satan is and what he is doing is the next most important thing. We can’t know what Satan is doing if we don’t know what God is doing because Satan is all about opposing what God is doing. The Devil gets blamed for many things he is not responsible for (so does the Lord). If we don’t know what he is really up to it will give him a great advantage over us (2 Cor. 2:11).
I think we can sum up Satan's activities today under three main categories.
1) Politics – Christ called Satan “the prince of this world” (Jn. 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). There are invisible principalities and powers working through the visible world leaders (Eph. 6:12). Satan is at work preparing the nations for his reign in the coming tribulation period. The world (including the USA) is primed and ready to accept his counterfeit Christ (2 Thess. 2:3-12).
2) Religion – The apostle Paul called Satan “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4) and warned that he transforms himself as “an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). Satan is the god of all the world’s religions including the so-called Christian religion of Catholicism. So, the liberals are actually right when they say that all religions have the same god, but he is not the true and living God! God has a mystery of godliness (1 Tim. 3:16). Satan has a mystery of iniquity (2 Thess. 2:7) that is at work now and will culminate in the tribulation period when the world worships him as God.
One of Satan’s primary activities today is seeking to blind the lost to glorious gospel of Christ (2 Cor. 4:1-6). He does this through religions that preach counterfeit gospels. He has counterfeit apostles, ministers, and churches that propagate counterfeit gospels (2 Cor. 11:1-4, 13-15). For example, the Catholics preach “another Jesus” and the Charismatics “another spirit.” Both preach “another gospel.” How can we identify a perverted gospel? When any human works are added to the finished work of Christ as requirement to receive salvation, it is a perverted gospel (Gal. 1:6-12). Satan will even use BIBLICAL gospels that are for other dispensations. For example, he enjoys hearing preachers misuse Acts 2:38 as the plan of salvation for today!
3) Church – Those that believe the gospel of Christ are delivered from the power of darkness and become partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light (Col. 1:12-13). We are in the light, but we must grow as we learn to walk in the light (Eph. 5:8). Satan is working to keep the saints blinded to who we are in Christ (which is why Paul prayed what he did in Eph. 1:15-23) and thereby hinder us from walking worthy of our high and holy calling as members of the Body of Christ. Spiritual understanding precedes and produces a fruitful WALK (Col. 1:9-10). Satan knows this, and therefore he is after our MIND (2 Cor. 11:3). By faith we must put on the new man and the whole armour of God in our daily walk (Eph. 4:17-32; 6:10-20). Failing to do so is to give place to the devil and allow him to set up a strong hold in our mind and life (Eph. 4:27; 2 Cor. 10:4-5).
1) Politics – Christ called Satan “the prince of this world” (Jn. 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). There are invisible principalities and powers working through the visible world leaders (Eph. 6:12). Satan is at work preparing the nations for his reign in the coming tribulation period. The world (including the USA) is primed and ready to accept his counterfeit Christ (2 Thess. 2:3-12).
2) Religion – The apostle Paul called Satan “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4) and warned that he transforms himself as “an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). Satan is the god of all the world’s religions including the so-called Christian religion of Catholicism. So, the liberals are actually right when they say that all religions have the same god, but he is not the true and living God! God has a mystery of godliness (1 Tim. 3:16). Satan has a mystery of iniquity (2 Thess. 2:7) that is at work now and will culminate in the tribulation period when the world worships him as God.
One of Satan’s primary activities today is seeking to blind the lost to glorious gospel of Christ (2 Cor. 4:1-6). He does this through religions that preach counterfeit gospels. He has counterfeit apostles, ministers, and churches that propagate counterfeit gospels (2 Cor. 11:1-4, 13-15). For example, the Catholics preach “another Jesus” and the Charismatics “another spirit.” Both preach “another gospel.” How can we identify a perverted gospel? When any human works are added to the finished work of Christ as requirement to receive salvation, it is a perverted gospel (Gal. 1:6-12). Satan will even use BIBLICAL gospels that are for other dispensations. For example, he enjoys hearing preachers misuse Acts 2:38 as the plan of salvation for today!
3) Church – Those that believe the gospel of Christ are delivered from the power of darkness and become partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light (Col. 1:12-13). We are in the light, but we must grow as we learn to walk in the light (Eph. 5:8). Satan is working to keep the saints blinded to who we are in Christ (which is why Paul prayed what he did in Eph. 1:15-23) and thereby hinder us from walking worthy of our high and holy calling as members of the Body of Christ. Spiritual understanding precedes and produces a fruitful WALK (Col. 1:9-10). Satan knows this, and therefore he is after our MIND (2 Cor. 11:3). By faith we must put on the new man and the whole armour of God in our daily walk (Eph. 4:17-32; 6:10-20). Failing to do so is to give place to the devil and allow him to set up a strong hold in our mind and life (Eph. 4:27; 2 Cor. 10:4-5).
When Christ was physically on the earth offering the visible kingdom to Israel, Satan used visible means to oppose it (much devil possession). In this present age Christ is working on this earth spiritually through His spiritual Body and so Satan’s attack is spiritual. Our spiritual weapon by which we can fight the devil is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17; 2 Tim. 3:16). We must believe and rightly divide the word, or Satan can even use the sword against us!
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