Know Your Enemy -- He Hates You

The Bible refers to Satan in many ways using many metaphors to give us an idea of his base character.

He is known as: the Tempter (Matthew 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:5); Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24); the Enemy (Matthew 13:39); the Evil One (Matthew 13:19, 38; 1 John 2:13-14; 3:12, 5:18); Belial (2 Corinthians 6:15); the Adversary (1 Peter 5:8); the Deceiver (Revelation 12:9); the Dragon (Revelation 12:3); Father of Lies (John 8:44); Murderer (John 8:44); Sinner (1 John 3:8); the Serpent of Old (Revelation 12:9; 20:2); the Prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30); the Prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2); the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4); the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2); the roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

The distinct personality of Satan and his activity among us should be obvious by this list of names/titles. So when Jesus said that the devil does not stand in truth for there is no truth in him and when he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature for he is the father of lies, you can understand why we have a serious problem. Can you imagine that for ages the devil has been perfecting his ability to deceive mankind; he has tried every sort of lie and knows exactly what works.

2 Corinthians 4:4 says that he has blinded the eyes of unbelievers so they cannot see the truth. This should not surprise any of us. But what is surprising is the work of deception that he does in and amongst believers. In 2 Corinthians 11:14, we are told that he disguises himself as an angel of light, as do his servants who disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. This is why I believe that his favorite and most cunning deed is to invade the church and speak his lies so loudly into our being that he literally prevents us from hearing or receiving the truth. And, if he can keep believers fixated on believing and living a lie then he succeeds in neutering the power of the gospel of Christ.