2 Timothy 3:7
King James Version
7 Ever learning,
and never able to come
to the knowledge of the truth.
One would think he's smart.
The once beautiful cherub.
But no, he was too proud.
That was his downfall.
As is the downfall of all men.
And all women.
Pride, vanity, ego.
PVE.
Sure, Satan knows Scripture.
But he keeps trying to get around it.
Making sure he confuses us.
Twisting it to conform to his devious intentions.
Remember the FIRST incident?
Genesis 3:1-5
King James Version
3 Now the serpent was more subtil
than any beast of the field
which the Lord God had made.
And he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree
which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said,
Ye shall not eat of it,
neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman,
Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil.
Well, you know what happened afterwards.
No wonder, JESUS warns, and admonishes sinners:
John 8:44-45
King James Version
44 Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own:
for he is a liar, and the father of it.
45 And because I tell you the truth,
ye believe me not.
Satan even had the nerve to "tempt" JESUS.
Taking advantage of the fact JESUS was deeply hungered.
The LORD had fasted 40 days, and 40 nights.
Thinking the LORD greatly weakened, he pounces:
Matthew 4:3-4
King James Version
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said,
If thou be the Son of God,
command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said,
It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:5-7
King James Version
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city,
and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him,
If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down:
for it is written, He shall give his angels
charge concerning thee:
and in their hands they shall bear thee up,
lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him,
It is written again,
Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Matthew 4:8-11
King James Version
8 Again, the devil taketh him up
into an exceeding high mountain,
and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world,
and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him,
All these things will I give thee,
if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him,
Get thee hence, Satan:
for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil leaveth him,
and, behold,
angels came
and ministered unto him.
What Satan didn't know is that it was all by GOD's design:
Matthew 4:1
King James Version
4 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit
into the wilderness
to be tempted of the devil.
Such is the enemy's delusion of power.
He is not privy to GOD's plan.
Which has always been SALVATION.
Satan may know Scripture.
But he doesn't have the heart for it.
Such is his pride.
Tempting the SON of GOD.
Tempting the LORD of ALL.
What was Satan thinking?
Tempting Scripture Himself?
Even I, a five-year-fresh born again, could have admonished this ancient, willful enemy,
"Doncha EVEN think about it!"
Satan forgot a HUGE number of things.
Or perhaps, in his delusion, he remains in DENIAL.
He refuses to acknowledge the following striking examples.
Which stuck to my head right away.
Making me realize the power of GOD's GLORY.
Consider the LEGIONS of angels JESUS could have called upon:
Matthew 26:53
King James Version
53 Thinkest thou
that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and he shall presently give me
more than twelve legions of angels?
Did you say, more than 12 legions of angels??!!
At the moment before His crucifixion?
Yes, dears.
At the LORD's immediate disposal.
Should He have wanted to.
Wow, really boggles my mind.
That's all a childlike heart needs to know.
How many angels sit at the LORD's feet.
Waiting for His command.
I tremble at my LORD's power.
To have an idea, here's what a Roman legion looks like:
"The size of a typical legion varied throughout the history of ancient Rome, with complements ranging from 4,200 legionaries and 300 equites (drawn from the wealthier classes – in early Rome all troops provided their own equipment) in the Republic,[1] to 5,500 in the Imperial period, when most legions were led by a Roman Imperial Legate."
-- Wikipedia
Now, I wonder what GOD's heavenly legion would be like.
But here are a couple of concrete examples.
Showing the power GOD gives ONE angel alone.
What ONE angel can do to a human army:
2 Kings 19:35
King James Version
35 And it came to pass that night,
that the angel of the Lord went out,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians
an hundred fourscore and five thousand:
and when they arose early in the morning,
behold, they were all dead corpses.
What ONE angel can do to Satan:
Revelation 20:1-3
King James Version
20 And I saw an angel come down from heaven,
having the key of the bottomless pit
and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon,
that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan,
and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit,
and shut him up,
and set a seal upon him,
that he should deceive the nations no more,
till the thousand years should be fulfilled:
and after that he must be loosed a little season.
And that's only part of it.
"All power" was given unto JESUS.
Matthew 28:18
King James Version
18 And Jesus came
and spake unto them,
saying,
All power is given unto me
in heaven and in earth.
GOD put "all things under" JESUS' feet.
Ephesians 1:19-23
King James Version
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ,
when he raised him from the dead,
and set him at his own right hand
in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power,
and might, and dominion,
and every name that is named,
not only in this world,
but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet,
and gave him to be the head
over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body,
the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
JESUS is head of all "principality and power".
Colossians 2:10
King James Version
10 And ye are complete in him,
which is the head of all principality
and power:
He holds the keys to "hell and of death".
Revelation 1:18
King James Version
18 I am he that liveth, and was dead;
and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;
and have the keys of hell and of death.
We have no idea the complete works of JESUS.
John 21:25
King James Version
25 And there are also many other things
which Jesus did, the which,
if they should be written every one,
I suppose that even the world itself
could not contain the books
that should be written.
Amen.
As we say in our local language, "Tapos na ang boksing!"
Figuratively meaning, "The fight is finished!"
Well, JESUS did finish the fight.
By this very statement:
John 19:28-30
King James Version
28 After this, Jesus knowing
that all things were now accomplished,
that the scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst.
29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar:
and they filled a spunge with vinegar,
and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar,
he said, It is finished:
and he bowed his head,
and gave up the ghost.
By this very act:
Hebrews 2:14
King James Version
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;
A childlike heart is wowed by GOD's power.
An evil heart resents GOD's power.
Which kind of heart do you have?
What part of JESUS doesn't Satan get?
EVERYTHING.
P.S.
This article must have greatly peeved Satan.
He put all kinds of blocks to my writing.
Again, mostly technical issues.
Erratic wi-fi connection.
Still, this article goes to "press".
It's here for you to read now.
GOD's will be done!
.jfif)
Related material:
On Knowing the Enemy of Christ
.jfif)