The Strategy of Satan
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About this ebook
Warren W. Wiersbe
Warren W. Wiersbe, former pastor of the Moody Church and general director of Back to the Bible, has traveled widely as a Bible teacher and conference speaker. Because of his encouragement to those in ministry, Dr. Wiersbe is often referred to as "the pastor’s pastor." He has ministered in churches and conferences throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Central and South America, and Europe. Dr. Wiersbe has written over 150 books, including the popular BE series of commentaries on every book of the Bible, which has sold more than four million copies. At the 2002 Christian Booksellers Convention, he was awarded the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement Award by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Dr. Wiersbe and his wife, Betty, live in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Reviews for The Strategy of Satan
14 ratings4 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be an excellent and useful book on spiritual warfare. It is well-written, founded on Scripture, and provides detailed explanations. The book helps readers see through Satan's lies and offers edification and enjoyment of God. Highly recommended for those seeking to understand spiritual warfare."
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warren Wiersbe writes an easy to understand book about Satan and the strategy he uses in the world today. He backs up his thoughts with scripture, which is always a plus. He starts his book by using key characters in the Bible and showing us how Satan works as a deceiver, a destroyer, a ruler and an accuser in people's lives. He finishes his book showing us how to live by faith in God, giving us things to look for in our lives and in our churches where Satan can have an influence, and how to fight against him using our spiritual warfare. I took lots of notes and have reviewed them and have a wealth of practical knowlege that I need to remember and use in my everyday life. Satan is alive and well and working, but I need not fear because I have the power of my triune God who goes before me, beside me and behind me. But I do need to be on my guard against "The Strategy of Satan". A book I highly recommend.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is very simple but so full of detailed explanation on spiritual warfare
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I have recently "discovered" Warren Wiersbe and I absolutely love this Bible preacher and writer. The Strategy of Satan is a book I will keep close at hand -if the Lord should tarry. It is a very smooth read, well-written, and founded on Scripture as any book ought to be. Excellent, I would highly recommend this short read for your edification and enjoyment of God.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very useful. Helped me to see Satan’s veil above my eyes for what it is - lies
1 person found this helpful
Book preview
The Strategy of Satan - Warren W. Wiersbe
Introduction
What This Book Is About and How You Should Use It
This book is about Satan and the strategy he has to wreck your Christian life and (if possible) destroy you.
Four persons in the Old Testament had a direct confrontation with Satan. From their experiences we will learn
the targets Satan aims at in your life;
the weapons he uses to attack you;
the purposes that he wants to achieve; and
the defenses God has provided for you.
Please keep in mind that this book is a manual of arms for the Christian soldier. It is not a devotional reader for the believer who has gone AWOL. It is a deadly serious guidebook for the dedicated Christian who is on the battlefield and wants to know how to win.
Please do not speed-read these pages. Read them carefully, especially the many quotations from God’s Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand and assimilate these truths. There is no padding
in these chapters. These studies represent the essentials—the rock-bottom fundamentals—of what God has taught me about the Christian warfare through many years of studying and battling. I have proved these truths in my own life and ministry.
No doubt Satan will do everything he can to keep you from benefiting from this book. He will distract you and detour you. He will seek to confuse you, or perhaps make you critical. He will arrange interruptions. I suggest you ask the Lord for his help and protection as you study these pages. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world
(1 John 4:4). Positionally, you are in Christ and delivered from the power of Satan.
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Colossians 1:13
My aim in this book is to help you experience this victory practically.
The truths in these pages will do you no good unless they are put into practice. Satan enjoys seeing Christians get a head knowledge of victory without a heart experience, because this lulls believers into a false security, and Satan finds them an easy prey. It is not the reading of truth, or even the enjoying of truth that brings the blessing. It is the doing of the truth. Therefore, determine with the Spirit’s help to put these truths into practice.
Remember: you are not fighting for victory, but from victory, for Jesus Christ has already defeated Satan!
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities [Satanic powers], He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him [Christ]. Colossians 2:15
Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out. John 12:31
And they overcame him [Satan] because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. Revelation 12:11
Now, on to victory!
The DeceiverOLD TESTAMENT EXAMPLE: EVE
1.1 SATAN’S TARGET: your mind
1.2 SATAN’S WEAPON: lies
1.3 SATAN’S PURPOSE: to make you ignorant of God’s will
1.4 YOUR DEFENSE: the inspired Word of God
One
The Deceiver
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
JOHN 8:44
And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. REVELATION 12:9
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 2 CORINTHIANS 11:3
For many deceivers have gone out into the world. 2 JOHN 1:7
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?
The woman said to the serpent, From the fruit of the trees of the garden, we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’
The serpent said to the woman, You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. GENESIS 3:1-7
1.1 Satan’s Target
YOUR MIND
When Satan wanted to lead the first man and woman into sin, he started by attacking the woman’s mind. This is made clear in 2 Corinthians 11:3.
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
Why would Satan want to attack your mind? Because your mind is the part of the image of God where God communicates with you and reveals his will to you. It is unfortunate that some Christians have minimized the significance of the mind, because the Bible emphasizes its importance.
Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. Colossians 3:9-10
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:17-24
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2
God renews our lives by renewing our minds, and he renews our minds through his truth. This truth is the Word of God.
Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth. John 17:17
If Satan can get you to believe a lie, then he can begin to work in your life to lead you into sin. This is why he attacks the mind, and this is why we must protect our minds from the attacks of the wicked one.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8
If it is not true,
Paul writes, do not let it enter your mind.
In recent years, science has discovered many fascinating things about the human mind. Like a computer, your mind can store facts and impressions—and even emotions—and recall them years later. Your mind can reach into the past through memory, or it can reach into the future through imagination. Your thinking affects your feeling and your willing.
For as he thinks within himself, so he is. Proverbs 23:7
The doctor says, You are what you eat.
The psychologist says, You are what you think.
Satan knows the tremendous power of your mind, and he tries to capture it for himself.
The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6
Your mind affects your whole being. While I do not totally agree with the success psychology
and healing psychology
of our day, I must admit that attitudes are important to health and success in life. The exciting new field of holistic medicine
draws upon the influences of the mind to help the patient cure himself. Sales managers psych up
their salesmen with thoughts of accomplishment and success, just as coaches do their football teams. While thinking alone does not make it so, it certainly helps!
1.2 Satan’s Weapon
LIES
Satan came to Eve as the serpent, the subtle deceiver.
[This is] the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. Revelation 12:9
There is no truth in him . . . for he is a liar and the father of lies. John