The Spirit Behind the Spirit of the Age – Exposing Satan’s Lie

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By Sjirk Bajema

[This article is republished with permission from the February 2021 issue of Faith in Focus, which is published monthly for the Reformed Churches of New Zealand (www.faithinfocus.org.nz), and is taken up with articles related to making a stand for the King of kings in amongst the many earthly potentates strutting about on this world’s stage – especially in our day they are this world’s competing philosophies with their attendant lifestyles. But lest we become too subsumed with what confronts us here below let’s not forget that this is ultimately the war against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, as the apostle outlines in Ephesians 6:12.]

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Dear Reader – your life is in great danger! In fact, you must be utterly convinced of exactly how perilous your position really is! You must know the terrible power that is against you. You have to see how horrible it is, and how very cruel!

But you can also be in peace, for even now you could finish this article depending that much more on the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s the Saviour. You cannot manage – but he will for you! You fail – but he’s your success! You fall – but he picks you up!

There is an enemy out there. He can even creep right in – right now!

The war that was in heaven is being fought on earth as well. That vivid imagery of Revelation 12 pictures the intense battle which continues. Notice what the apostle John says after the woman has been taken out of the reach of the dragon: “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring – those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus (v17).”

This is where matters stand now. The dragon – who symbolises the devil – rages against the brothers and sisters of the Christ-child who was born. He is going to get at all those who by faith are part of the Body of Christ – the Church. He gathers together all the forces of evil into battle against the Lord God.

Let us not forget whom we are up against. In the words of Ephesians 6, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (v12).”

The devil is the prince of this world; he is “the god of this age.” And so he’s called ‘Beelzebul’! ‘Beelzebul’ literally means ‘fly-lord’. No wonder William Golding titled his book of human depravity as “Lord of the Flies.” That reflects the evil the devil is.

Let no-one misunderstand. It was the devil who incited David to sin in 1^st Chronicles 21:1. This was the Satan who dared to challenge God to let him test Job (Job 1:11). Then he even asked God for more power to reduce that godly man to the most impoverished physical state (Job 2:6). And he was the arch-enemy who stood there by Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 3, accusing him.

These are the few times Satan is mentioned in the Old Testament. But he’s always there!

The Devil is their leader

Right throughout the development of the line of salvation leading up to Christ, Satan hovers in the background. He is always there, directing his forces from a distance at every turn.

On the rare occasion he’s there at the front, yet not so much as to give anyone else a start on him. He’s not going to give himself away. Especially in the New Testament he is personally attacking the Saviour. Then, of all times, he shows himself most of all!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle must have had Satan’s character in mind when he described the worst arch-enemy of Sherlock Holmes.

In one scene Holmes asks Watson, his trusted companion, if he had ever heard of that most evil man. Watson replied in the negative, “Never.” “Aye, there’s the genius and wonder of the thing!” Holmes cried. “That man pervades London, and no one has heard of him. That’s what puts him on a pinnacle in the records of crime. I tell you, Watson, in all seriousness, that if I could beat that man, if I could free society of him, I should feel that my own career had reached its summit.”

Watson asks further, “What has he done, then?” And Holmes replies: “His career has been an extraordinary one. He is a man of good and excellent education, endowed … with a phenomenal mathematical faculty.

He described the man’s achievements, and then said: “But the man had hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind. A criminal strain ran through his blood, which, instead of being modified, was increased and rendered infinitely more dangerous by his extraordinary mental powers.”

He moves on to describe what this man has become: “For years past I have been continually conscious of some power behind the criminals, some deep organising power which for ever stands in the way of the law, and throws its shield over the wrongdoer. Again and again in cases of the most different kinds – forgeries, robberies, murders – I have felt the presence of this force, and I have deduced its actions in many of those undiscovered crimes in which I have not been personally consulted.

“He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organiser of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows every quiver of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organised.”

This is an apt description for the devil. And doesn’t this bring out a little of the terrible evil he is? For he is still far worse!

You must be aware! If you can learn to see him at work he cannot work! Watch out! He’s the top hidden persuader. He’s the master of subliminal motivation. The very smoothest and inspiring commercial has nothing on him! He leads the whole world astray.

The devil is their leader. That’s what we read in Revelation 12 verse 9. He’s on this earth leading all those other fallen angels. He is dead-set on being the prince above all princes. Thus he is seeking to establish his rule up on high, as Isaiah 14:12-14 alludes to. Don’t become his slave!

The Devil is your deceiver

But not only is Satan their leader – he is also our deceiver. After all – where did sin come from? What was its origin?

Jesus tells us. In John chapter 8 he shows us through making an awful charge against the disbelieving Jews. He declares in verse 44 there, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

What’s Jesus talking about? How was Satan the instigator of sin? Which way was he the deceiver?

We only need to turn to Genesis chapter 3. There we read the account of the fall into sin of Adam and Eve. Verse 1 says, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

“Did God really say…?” Ah, that’s deception. You know, you can’t be too sure … you wouldn’t want to be black and white about things … I’m comfortable with it … God gave it to us after all … caught! He’s got you – hook, line, and sinker! You try getting out of that now. The sinful trap has been cleverly laid. We become so quickly fixated in that sin.

But isn’t this especially shown as he tried to use all his deceitful wiles against our Lord himself? There at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry he brought it all on! (Matthew 4 & Luke 4.)

Now, did you notice how he did that? Satan did it by going against the Word. He’s not going to be so stupid as to say it plainly, yet if he attacks the believer it’s the same way we see him doing it in the temptation of the Lord out there in the desert. He attacks to interrupt our communion with God. He’s trying to cut off our supply lines. So he goes against God’s Word to us. And that then also affects our prayer to the Lord. In our day he’ll make us think that the quick smart phone devotional based on a slender, out of context text, with that elaborate but oh so captivating experiential illustration, which really touches you,is enough. 

To say that ‘the devil is our deceiver’ is to understand that deceiving someone is to persuade them about something which is false. It’s misleading. So what he’s doing is really a distraction. He’s the master of that. Satan deals with confusion and lies. Put the truth in front of him and he’s gone!

When we become caught up in sin we live a lie and this is a falsehood which takes us over. And how intricate is the web of deceit we spin around it! You will go to extreme lengths to avoid any accountability. Even to say “the devil made me do it” is to deceive ourselves. I did it! I should have followed the words of the Lord in James 4:8! I should have resisted the wiles of the evil one by submitting to God!

However, there is yet another angle to this deception which Jesus was tempted with and so are we. For we noted that Eve allowed herself to be seduced by the question, “Did God really say?” But the temptation was made that much stronger when the devil told yet another lie to her. He said to her, “You won’t surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Gen.3:4-5).”

You will be like God! Again we have the rationale behind Isaiah 14 as Satan draws us into his sphere. And so we have here the philosophical rationale for the way of the world today. Everywhere we see the growing signs of man worshipping himself. It’s in the jingle of a song, “They said you’d never make it…” You hear it in the slogan of the commercial, “For the most important person in the world – YOU!” It’s in the no-blame provisions of present divorce laws, where it doesn’t matter what you do because you’ll get the benefits.

And how much we see this with feelings dominating the current moral debate? Because you certainly cannot say that facts come into the picture with such issues as homosexuality and trans-genderism! Each of us has become a god unto himself. A god like the ancient pagan god’s, full of their selfish passions and ambitions. And how quickly don’t today’s gods turn on each other in this soap opera they call reality?

With this kind of influence from society, we shouldn’t be surprised that this fixation on self has touched Christians. But then it is a surprise as to how much it has hit the Church!

Or is it? The great deceiver is at work. Even in books written to warn believers about the work of Satan and his forces, there’s also been the teaching that people have the power in themselves. One example is found in the novels of Frank Peretti. Two of his books, ‘This Present Darkness,’ and ‘Piercing the Darkness,’ have promoted the prayer warrior movement amongst Christians.

So, what is it about these books and others like them? Aren’t they right to warn us against the forces of evil? Isn’t prayer vitally important? We cannot disagree with that. But there’s this error. For while there is in those books a brief paragraph about the saving work of Jesus Christ, there’s much, much more about the prayer support that angels need from believers.

Yes, you heard me right! Before forces of good can come down and fight the bad there has to be something you’re doing.

There is an illustration of this with what one angel said to another in ‘This Present Darkness.’ He replies to him, “You mean he could lose? Let’s hope someone is praying (p.102).” Further on it comes up again. The angel says, “we won’t fight, not yet. Not until the prayer cover is sufficient.”

Now, it could be said that this is an encouragement to pray. Though, for what reason are you praying? How can you be the one to defeat Satan?

The Devil is in Christ’s power

It is Jesus alone who has brought the devil and his forces of evil under control. He won the Great Battle. There on the cursed cross at Calvary he offered himself as the once-for-all sacrifice for our sin. When he cried out, “It is finished,” all was done that needed to be done. He paid in himself the complete price.

To dare hint now that something is needed besides that; to relegate the turning point of divine history to a mere paragraph in a novel about the struggle between good and evil; that’s devilish! Then we are falling for that old temptation, “You can be like God.”

We must take Satan seriously. The apostle Peter says in his first letter: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (5:8).” Malice and cunning make him pretty scary! But then Peter continues, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith (v9).”

Call upon the name of Jesus! After all, Satan is in Christ’s power. Jesus beat him! And we will beat him too if we resist with the resources our Lord supplies, in the strength of the Holy Spirit and the Word. In the words of 1^st John 4:4, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Martin Luther said the same in the words of his famous hymn, ‘A Mighty Fortress is our God.’ In one of those lines he sings about Satan, “One little Word shall fell him.”

So, what word could that be? How could the one who directs that massive operation of manipulation against the coming of God’s Kingdom ever be stopped like this? Well, exactly the way Jesus did it. He quoted Scripture. He spoke his own Word – the Truth – against the lie. Then the result was clear. Three times Jesus pointed Satan back to the opposite of what he is (Luke 4:1-12). And all that the evil one could then do was go – he didn’t belong!

In the same way, each time you depend on God’s Word you are blessed. The devil’s power is limited, and his end is destruction. For now, the struggle may be long. And it may be very fierce. This world under Satan has developed the sophistication of evil into an incredibly elaborate attack. Which other age in human history is there when what is right has become wrong and what is wrong has become so right!

As Luther also wrote in his hymn, “For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.” But then the next stanza sings, “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing; were not the right man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing.”

All power has been given to Jesus! He has bound Satan over to eternal condemnation. The judgment has been made, the sentence passed, and now the punishment is due.

Revelation chapter 20 is so graphic in its symbolism about this: “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it (vv10-11).”

Look to Jesus! “Fix your eyes on him, the Author and Perfector of your faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and who sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” These are the words of Hebrews 12:2. They state emphatically the triumph that is Christ’s, which we celebrate in his ascension and soon-coming return.

But then that writer brings it home to you. In Hebrews 12:3 he declares, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Let’s not be in any doubt. Satan is their leader, and he is your deceiver, but how much is he not in Christ’s power! It’s your Lord and Saviour who’s got it all in hand. It’s working out according to his plan. And so, in the words of Romans 8:28, all things will work for the good of those who love him.

Let’s then not become those who dismiss the evil one, as though he were some fancy fairy tale. And neither let us become over-obsessed with living in fear of him. But let’s pray that we will be very much aware of what he does and how he does it. And so let’s analyse the spirit of this age by very much recognising the spirit behind it still.

Mr Sjirk Bajema is the minister of the Reformed Church in Oamaru, New Zealand, and is the former editor of The Presbyterian Banner, the official
magazine of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia. 

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