Satan is Smiling posted by jwatson on Feb 04, 2016

I think I see Satan sitting in the back pew of the church with a smile on His face.

Notions of the appearance and identity of Satan have long been driven by the sensational and the grotesque.  One sad result of such representation is the tendency for many to view this arch-enemy as a sort of caricature of evil.  He is delighted when Christians act as though he really does not exist.

Satan is a created being who revolted against his Creator, becoming His main antagonist in the unfolding of God’s plan for His creation.  It is so important that we know about Satan and his identity, that the Lord has included some clear information in the Bible regarding Satan’s identity, character and disguises.  He appears as an angel of life.  He masquerades as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Here is why I think I see Satan with a smile, or maybe more of a smirk.  One of his names in the Bible is Anti-Christ.  “Anti-“ means opposite or against.  Satan is “opposite of and against Christ.”  Christ is the Champion of Truth – Antichrist is the champion of falsehood, error.  Christ is the Champion of righteousness – Antichrist is the champion of evil.

Christ commands us to “speak up” in witnessing and sharing the Gospel.  Antichrist tells us the opposite – “shut up” about Jesus in your family, with your friends, where you work.

Now for the uncomfortable questions.  In this area of your Christian life, are you obeying Christ or antichrist?  Are you speaking up or shutting up?

This is why Satan is smirking.  The vast majority of people who gather in evangelical churches Sunday after Sunday will sit with one another and talk about how important Jesus and the Bible are for their lives.  Yet, many of us will live in this increasingly ungodly culture, year-in and year-out…never even attempting to engage a person in a Gospel conversation.

The only way this is going to change in your life or my life is through a decision of our wills.  This decision of our will only becomes reality with our commitment to act.  If we are serving Christ we are obeying Christ.  If we are obeying Christ, we are witnesses for Christ.

I don’t want Satan smirking at me.  I want Satan to be afraid of me.  That will take place only when I avail myself of the weapons of spiritual warfare the Lord provides.   After all, in the Bible, it is not Christians who should be fleeing from Satan.  Rather, it is Satan who should be fleeing from Christians!

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).