There is a liar. His name is Satan. Of course, he does not like us to know this. If we should find out that he is a liar, no one will believe him; and if no one will believe him, he becomes powerless and ineffective. He is powerless anyway; but to those who do not know this, he is very effective. However, this does not change the fact that he is a liar.
This Satan subtly hid his motive from the eyes of Adam and Eve one day causing them to fall into utter spiritual darkness. He told them they would learn good and evil if they would obey his words. They learned, but Satan never told them that when they did they would also die (spiritually) even as God had said. Adam and Eve became captives of the liar. Satan slew them through their minds. Adam’s mind became blinded by the god of this world. By the way, Satan never told Adam and Eve who he was. He didn’t want them to know. That’s why he was successful at taking them captive.
Now there is one called Christ who exposed the liar. He equips you so that you are not ignorant of the devil’s devices. There is an example in the Bible of how this Christ uncovered Satan and showed men where sin, sickness, infirmity, insanity, and the like came from. He said it this way, “Ought not this woman whom Satan has bound be loosed?”-- Luke 13:16. And another time, He said, “If I with the finger of God cast out Satan...”--Luke 11:20. Again he exposed the liar. Man, blinded by Satan, thought his trouble was what his mind classified as sickness. Jesus had Spiritual knowledge and called it what it really was--THE WORK OF SATAN. Jesus exposed the source again.
This Christ (Truth) stops the mouth of the liar. This is because Christ reveals the truth about God, the truth about man, and the truth about Satan. This truth cancels all lies--erases them from the library of Christian memory and their existence becomes no more.
The mouth of the liar becomes silenced because the ear that is filled with truth dwells in a realm where error cannot be heard. Satan cannot speak in the presence of the truth. In fact, he cannot even exist!
Satan looks upon being known or recognized as the liar with much distaste. When one is brought to the realization that Satan is a liar and he recognizes (discerns) his lies, Satan’s potency is swept from his hands. Actually, he doesn’t have any, but he doesn’t like us to know that.
You see, the instrument used by the liar is the carnal mind. That’s something that man has never been told. He has never known that it even existed. Satan doesn’t want him to know either ( Rom. 8:6-7, II Cor. 4:4).
Satan does not like the truth to be told about himself, for he refuses to believe it. He doesn’t want you to either.
Satan just won’t face up to it. He realizes that it is so much his nature to lie, that if he
were to make a promise to himself, he could not keep it. That, you see, is because he was made to do nothing but lie.
Satan has a complete lack of integrity. There is no truth in him! Satan doesn’t like us to know this, but he does not really have anything true to back up what he says. For instance, he has been the accuser of the brethren (Rev. l2:10). Because of our justification (righteousness) in Christ, he has nothing LEGAL against us--only his lies.
God’s Word reveals Satan’s avenue of approach (the mind) when He says, “I fear lest by any means as the serpent (Satan) beguiled Eve through his subtlety so too your minds might be corrupted from the freedom and simplicity that is given you in Christ.”--ll Cor. 11:3. He is the one that lies to our mind and then we allow our imagination to run rampant and wild, pushed and driven by those lies. He is the one who is responsible (the source) for all sin, worries, sicknesses, cares, and anxieties. He will never tell you this so don’t bother to ask him. You can believe God’s Word though because it came from the mouth of the Christ-- “SATAN IS A LIAR...”--John 8:44
Satan is the one that goes about LIKE a roaring lion seeking whose mind he may devour (I Pet. 5:8). The Bible uses the word like a roaring lion. He is not a roaring lion. This is just to show you his eagerness to devour your mind. But you can remember one thing-- he is defeated and Christ holds the chain that harnesses him (1John 3:8, Col. 2:15).
You see, Satan’s lies are the absolute sum total of nothing. When he suggests to you defeat, that’s a lie. When he tells you that you are not righteous, that’s a lie. Everything he suggests is a lie. Everything he gives birth to is a lie.
Satan is just a talker. He’s the master salesman in a crooked department store. You must first buy his product. He sells cares and perplexities for your peace and joy. He thinks it’s an even exchange. He needs you in order to be effective and to get rid of his merchandise. You have to watch him because you can’t trust him and you always end up being shortchanged. A lot of times this salesman brings something to your attention when he really has in mind selling you something else. Maybe he will offer you thoughts of pleasure and care when really he’s dipping deeper into your pocket for your soul. Yes, Satan is a talker; but if you don’t have a mind to listen, he speaks into the air. (We have the mind of Christ. See 1Cor.2:16.)
He knows that the success of his influence is dependent upon how well he can convince someone of the truth of what he says, while all the time he knows that he cannot tell the truth. He’s like a confidence man and he wants your confidence; he wants to seduce you into the realm of reason and encourage you to reason things out. He can put up a pretty good argument as long as he can keep you within the realm of materialistic thinking.
The success of Satan’s efforts depend wholly upon deception, deceit, and subtlety. He hides behind a cloak of unrighteousness fearing to be exposed.
This is why Jesus came--to unveil God and in the Light of His prsence shove Satan out in the open. Jesus came and pointed out with the finger of God the source of all man’s trouble. Satan knew if he were to work effectively, he must not make himself obvious; he must remain incognito (hidden).
The Spirit of Truth came and is here to reveal good from evil--(God from Satan). Man for the first time can see the difference with the eyes of the Spirit and exercise proper judgment. Satan is exposed and the man in Christ can recover himself from the devil’s snare, because he can now see the way out--he can see Christ. The man of faith, in Christ, has a Spiritual eye to see the source of trouble because he has an eye to see God. The man in Christ now knows what Satan promised him and then hid from him (ll Cor. 4:4). He is now equipped to shun the appearance of evil, resist the devil, and walk in the confidence of his God.
Warren D. Rogers