Satan - Our Adversary

-The Devil – Our Adversary

-I Pet 5:8-9

-The devil is the opponent of God and God’s people.

-Parable of the Tares (weeds) – Matt 13:24-30

            -Matt 13:37-39

            -We know the importance (or should know) of sowing the good seed.

            -We need to remember that the devil is sowing the bad seed.

-The devil is the opposite of God.

            -We could use many examples to show the opposites of God and Satan.  We’ll look at just a

         couple.

            -God represents all that is true:  Ps 31:5, Titus 1:1-2

                        -Satan is the father of lies:  John 8:44

            -God represents love and offers eternal life:  I John 4:7-9, I John 2:25

                        -Satan wants to separate us from the love of God and from eternal life:  I Pet 5:8.

-Remember, Jesus died upon the cross of Calvary so that we could have forgiveness of sins.

            -How did sin enter into the world?  through Satan

            -Rom 5:6-12 – Through Adam, sin entered into the world.  Adam sinned due to the temptation of

                                                     Eve who had been tempted and deceived by Satan.

-How Do We View Our Enemies?

-During the Cold War, the Russians were viewed as our enemy.

            -We armed ourselves against them and many people feared them.

            -We watched their every move, took precautionary measures and armed ourselves against them.

            -Do we arm ourselves against the devil, fear his moves and watch for his moves?

-What types of feelings do we have or what types of thoughts come to mind when you think about

  Adolf Hitler?

            -It has been estimated that there were approx. 8.3 million Jews living in German-occupied Europe

              after 1939.

            -Out of these 8.3 million Jews, approximately 6 million were killed.

            -And, the Jews were not the only targets of the Nazis.  In all, it is believed that an additional 16

              million Poles and Russians were killed from 1941-1945.

            -We’ve probably all seen the pictures of people in the war camps:

                        -People looking like mere skeletons with skin.

                        -Piles and piles of dead bodies simply thrown aside like garbage.

            -These types of scenes make our stomachs turn and they should.

-But, this doesn’t even compare to the numbers of people that Satan is leading away to eternal

  punishment, the second death.  This is a far more terrible “death” than what those unfortunate people

  suffered at the hands of the Nazi regime.

            -Rev 20:10, 14

-However, I’m afraid that we don’t have as much of a reaction to the damage inflicted by Satan.

-We must not take his work and efforts lightly.  Souls are at stake – souls that Satan wants to devour.