Satan

I my youth group, we talked about the Islamic State and their vicious behavior. Someone suggested that they are under the control of Satan. That led to a question about the nature of Satan.

Turns out that none of us know anything about the standard view of Satan.

So what is the accepted view? Does Satan know he is evil? Does he know he has gone to the dark side, like Darth Vader knows the he uses the dark side of the Force?

Or is Satan like the ISIS Jihadists? Does he think he is acting in a proper manner?

Or is there some third possibility?
 
I my youth group, we talked about the Islamic State and their vicious behavior. Someone suggested that they are under the control of Satan. That led to a question about the nature of Satan.

Turns out that none of us know anything about the standard view of Satan.

So what is the accepted view? Does Satan know he is evil? Does he know he has gone to the dark side, like Darth Vader knows the he uses the dark side of the Force?

Or is Satan like the ISIS Jihadists? Does he think he is acting in a proper manner?

Or is there some third possibility?
The world we live in is opposition to God and has been since the fall of man. satan is the ruler/ prince of this world, as children of God we have to live in this world but we are not to be part of it. satan's primary goal fueled by his hate for God and all that be long to God Ie God's children << us you and me his plan is to steal kill and destroy all that belongs to God. No third option God or the world ... Your choice..Just my 2 cents worth.
 
the devil our enemy knows exactly who he is. he knows what he is and he knows what he is doing. There is no better deceiver of the word and camouflager of the word. The great lying imposter and fallen angel wants to keep you from God .

He comes to kill, steel and destroy. All he wants is to hurt God. The devil knows his past and he knows his future and with much shame knows the word of God better then some believers.
 
I my youth group, we talked about the Islamic State and their vicious behavior. Someone suggested that they are under the control of Satan. That led to a question about the nature of Satan.

Turns out that none of us know anything about the standard view of Satan.

So what is the accepted view? Does Satan know he is evil? Does he know he has gone to the dark side, like Darth Vader knows the he uses the dark side of the Force?

Or is Satan like the ISIS Jihadists? Does he think he is acting in a proper manner?

Or is there some third possibility?
Be careful. Do NOT NOT NOT study him. Only know that he's evil and leave it at that. Even Jesus' own interactions with him involved only quoting scripture to him. Study the Holy Spirit and get close to Him, He'll show you all truth:

1 John 2:27 (KJV)
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.​
 
I my youth group, we talked about the Islamic State and their vicious behavior. Someone suggested that they are under the control of Satan. That led to a question about the nature of Satan.

Turns out that none of us know anything about the standard view of Satan.

So what is the accepted view? Does Satan know he is evil? Does he know he has gone to the dark side, like Darth Vader knows the he uses the dark side of the Force?

Or is Satan like the ISIS Jihadists? Does he think he is acting in a proper manner?

Or is there some third possibility?
It is very easy to "detect" the false when you know the truth, and not the other way around.
 
I my youth group, we talked about the Islamic State and their vicious behavior. Someone suggested that they are under the control of Satan. That led to a question about the nature of Satan.

Turns out that none of us know anything about the standard view of Satan.

So what is the accepted view? Does Satan know he is evil? Does he know he has gone to the dark side, like Darth Vader knows the he uses the dark side of the Force?

Or is Satan like the ISIS Jihadists? Does he think he is acting in a proper manner?

Or is there some third possibility?


Something that i learned a long time ago....i only had ever seen real money, so when i saw a fake, i knew it right away. Just as others have said, study Jesus, and when you come across something that does not seem like Jesus you will know that it is the master deceiver, the devil. Because Jesus is so huge that you will see through the devils falseness, that he tries to convince people is real.
Praying God's wisdom and truth be made very real in your life !
 
Be careful. Do NOT NOT NOT study him. Only know that he's evil and leave it at that. Even Jesus' own interactions with him involved only quoting scripture to him. Study the Holy Spirit and get close to Him, He'll show you all truth:

1 John 2:27 (KJV)
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.​

I just wanted to add one thing to what Abdicate said. To know your enemy is a good thing as LONG AS IT IS NOT DONE OUT SIDE THE WORD OF GOD.. We must know his way so we don't get tricked into carrying some kind of yoke again....BUT please just as ABDICATE SAID.
 
The devil is an impulsive lier.
As Abdicate said, under no circumstances, do not delve deep into the devil....that's one trick he has pulling people in.
The devil is cunning, he will quote scripture and twist it's meaning.

Always allow Satan to be the furthest from you - once he has hold, he won't want to let go.
 
I my youth group, we talked about the Islamic State and their vicious behavior. Someone suggested that they are under the control of Satan. That led to a question about the nature of Satan.

Turns out that none of us know anything about the standard view of Satan.

So what is the accepted view? Does Satan know he is evil? Does he know he has gone to the dark side, like Darth Vader knows the he uses the dark side of the Force?

Or is Satan like the ISIS Jihadists? Does he think he is acting in a proper manner?

Or is there some third possibility?
The devil knows exactly who he is and what he did. God does not hate the devil. God hates what he does. What he does is crystal clear in scripture. Sure we don't need to learn much about the devil, but we can learn a lot about sin from considering his fall and what he does now.

He fell because of pride. An ant wanted to remove God of the universe from His throne. That tells us God of the universe is incredibly humble to His creation. Think about an ant wanting to sit on your chair. So the devil had pride and arrogance. Most ungodly accuse God of pride....an expected accusation as God is .....God...but incredibly ignorant when we consider that pride would never send Him to the cross to be Lamb to the slaughter for...even smaller ants.

Pride / selfishness causes us to be consumed with ourselves. The devil is consumed with his plans, his desires, his will. There is a scripture that is very interesting ''1 John 3:8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

It seems that the devil is so consumed with himself that he has got no intentions of turning the left cheek, repenting, helping others. He can never be trusted. Which is why God removed him from heaven. What is clear from that scripture is that God did not make a mistake removing him from heaven. That scripture does not say the devil had a change of heart. Which means, God knows when someone is ''beyond hope'' of truly changing. That should tell us all we need to know about the devil and all those humans that accompany him one-day to hell.
 
I agree do not study Satan!. It is condemned by Jesus.
Rev 2:24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.
As for religious fanatics, they are pawns of the enemy, but they are not the whole compliment of chess pieces.
 
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The devil knows exactly who he is and what he did. God does not hate the devil. God hates what he does. .

I think it is safe to say God does hate the devil...being the chief doer of iniquity .... It is a popular saying that He hates the sin and not the sinner but that is not biblical....... it is the way the world deals with their sin...........an attempt to remove accountability



Psalm 5:5 (NASB)

5 The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;
You hate all who do iniquity.
 
Satan is aware of himself. He's aware of who he is, what he was, and what he is doing. In fact, he isn't just aware of what he is doing, but he is good at it.

Satan is not the opposite of God (St. Michael the archangel is the opposite of Satan). God is the source of goodness and love. Satan is not the inventor of evil and fear and hate, but he resides within these things and uses them as his tools (along with lying).

Satan is aware of what is good and loving. He knew it first-hand. In fact, that's one of the reasons why he is so cunning in keeping souls aware from God. Groups like ISIS believe they are acting devoutly in the name of Allah, and to them, Allah is the source of all that is true. The teaching of Islam, they believe, is all that is good. They are indirectly committing acts of tremendous evil. Satan, however, only commits evil in a very direct way -- he knows precisely that what he is doing is wrong. He does not believe that he is doing God's work, he doesn't believe he is doing anything for the good of mankind -- he despises mankind. He couldn't stand the idea of serving God through service to man -- he believed he has always been above that.

ISIS's fault is falling for lies while Satan is the one actually spreading lies.
 
Satan’s goals: Satan wants to replace God

Isaiah 14:12-14 lists five "I wills" of Satan

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!#
O Lucifer: or, O day star
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
(KJV, bold typeface for "I will" is my embellishment)

Satan will fail -- Isaiah 14:15
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
(KJV)

Satan is a deceiving tempter. In Luke 4, he tempts Jesus.


2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:

11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
(KJV)

Notice several things: The devil offered Jesus things that were not the devils’ to give. They were things that were at Jesus’ command if He so chose. Notice that Jesus answered with scripture. Notice that the devil did leave, but was not necessarily done tempting.

The Bible teaches that there are three sources of temptation: The flesh (our self centered desires), The world (teachings of mankind in general), and the devil. Although the devil can and does use flesh and the world to advance his goals, we are two of the three sources of temptation. As we resist temptation, we resist the devil. Our most critical eye, when assessing sin and spirituality should be used when looking in the mirror. This is the front lines in battle with Satan.

-------------------------------------
An aside: a pastor that truly preferred the King James Version once pointed out that many modern translations replace the name "Lucifer" in Isaiah 14:12 with the literal translation “morning star”. His complaint is that we should know the name of our enemy!
 
In disregard for God' will and His word, Satan preferred to be his own lord deciding good and evil for himself. Against God he decided to do what he willed. God created these angels to minister to and serve those who would be saved. He as easily could have yielded his will to God's, but disobeyed Him...he refused to do God's will.

This also is the fruit of that knowledge called the knowledge of good and evil. It is not knowing the difference between the two, but disregarding God's word and being like a god unto one's self, choosing what WE think/will is good. Eve was beguiled (persuaded) but Adam directly disobeyed the Lord and thus decideed what was good in his own eyes. Read the book of Kings and Chronicles...in every case where a king is called evil it is because they did what was right in their own eyes....this leads to sin and OUR sin separates us from God (not that God separates us from Him)....we do it when we act as our own lords. Think about a relationship....each wants to lord it over the other and get their own way....what happens? Take two nations, each wanting to be lord over the other, what happens? The end thereof is dispute, division, destruction....

The wages of sin, its natural/spiritual consequence is death (eternal separation from God unless we quickly repent) and the healing of this breach is one of the purposes for which Christ died...Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver ( to snatch away, rescue, save) them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage...but the key of appropriating the benefit of this grace is through faith via receiving HIM as Lord. We give up control of our own life and strive to do that which His will not our own.
 
I always feel its important not to give Satan a great amount of our time; we should as ever, always think about Jesus.

If I may play devil's advocate for a moment (har har), while our devotion and time is always best spent on Christ, I think discerning and considering the enemy, how he works, and how he can be avoided, is also beneficial for the glory of God, so long as it isn't done in any twisted fascination with Satan.
 
If I may play devil's advocate for a moment (har har), while our devotion and time is always best spent on Christ, I think discerning and considering the enemy, how he works, and how he can be avoided, is also beneficial for the glory of God, so long as it isn't done in any twisted fascination with Satan.
I agree...we can allow Satan to hold a place in our mind though, unless it's to recognize his deception.
 
In the OT of the KJV the name is found 15 times, but in Hebrew it's found 23 times because his name means "adversary" as in 1 Sam 29:4 speaking of David.

H7854 שָׂטָן satan (saw-tawn') n-m.
1. an opponent
2. especially (with the article prefixed) Satan, the arch-enemy of good
[from H7853]
KJV: adversary, Satan, withstand.

H7853 שָׂטַן satan (saw-tan') v.
1. to attack, (figuratively) accuse
[a primitive root]
KJV: (be an) adversary, resist.

The letters of his name means destroy/consume, snake/surround, seed/life

Literally his name means The snake that consumes life or Surrounding destruction of life.
 
If I may play devil's advocate for a moment (har har), while our devotion and time is always best spent on Christ, I think discerning and considering the enemy, how he works, and how he can be avoided, is also beneficial for the glory of God, so long as it isn't done in any twisted fascination with Satan.

This is one of the big problems for Christians living a defeated life. They have no clue how the enemy the devil works in a believers life. Many dont even believe he is real or can do things against them and many believe it is God who put sickness on them or caused the pastors wife and children to be killed to teach the pastor a lesson...All lies sown into the church by satin himself.

The easiest way to loose a victory is Underestimate your enemy. No knowledge of how your enemy works or conducts his ways shall be the down fall of them.
 
I think it is safe to say God does hate the devil...being the chief doer of iniquity .... It is a popular saying that He hates the sin and not the sinner but that is not biblical....... it is the way the world deals with their sin...........an attempt to remove accountability


Psalm 5:5 (NASB)

5 The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;
You hate all who do iniquity.

It is very biblical. I am amazed that you would serve a God that you believe is on par with the devil. God tells us to love our enemies...because He hates His? Really....? God does not need to hate you for you to be accountable....what is going through your mind to make such a statement?

God does not hate the devil any more then he hated Paul for murdering....or you for your past sin. Have you never read the context on Jacob and Esau? http://www.gotquestions.org/Jacob-Esau-love-hate.html
 
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