Satan, the Destroyer

By Dr Warren W. Wiersbe

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 3:8

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat.’ Luke 22:31

They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon [Destruction], and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon [Destroyer]. Revelation 9:11

Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. Matthew 12:22

So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he [Job] is in your power, only spare his life.” Job 2:6

1. SATAN’S TARGET—YOUR BODY

If Satan cannot defeat you by deceiving your mind, he will then try to destroy your body. As the serpent, he deceives; as the lion, he devours. If we believe his lies, then we will destroy our­selves. As I write this chapter, authorities are investigating the mass suicide of members of the People’s Temple in Guyana. Over 700 people died because they believed Satan’s lies.

But if we resist his deceit, then he will attack our bodies. Job is the prime illustration of this kind of attack. He lost the fruit of his body—his children. He lost the means to sustain his body — his flocks and herds and wealth. And he lost the health of his body when he contracted a loathsome disease. His friends sat in silence for a week, for they saw that Job was in great agony. Even Job’s wife was so overwhelmed by her hus­band’s trials that she suggested, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Satan did a through job of attacking Job’s body and all that related to it.

When you read the Gospel records you dis­cover that Satan, through his demonic helpers, attacked and sought to destroy the bodies of various people. He caused one man to be dumb (Matthew 9:32, 33), and a woman to be bent over and disabled (Luke 13:11-17). He even attacked a child and tried to get him to destroy himself in the water or the fire (Matthew 17:14-18). There is no escaping the awesome fact that Satan wants to attack and destroy your body.

Why does he want to do this? For several rea­sons. To begin with, your body is God’s temple.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corin­thians 6:19, 20

…according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Philippians 1:20

God is invisible; the world cannot see him. Jesus Christ has returned to heaven and cannot be seen. But we Christians can be seen, and it is our conduct in the body that glorifies and exalts the Lord.

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glori­fy your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

God wants to use your body as a vehicle for re­vealing him to a lost world. Unconverted people are not likely to read the Bible to learn about God, nor books of Christian theology; but they will read our lives.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own posses­sion, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

This means that when Satan attacks your body, he is attacking the one means God has of re­vealing his grace and love to a lost world. Crea­tion reveals the power, wisdom, and glory of God; but Christians reveal the grace and love of God. Not only is your body God’s temple, but it is also God’s tool.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteous­ness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Romans 6:12, 13

When God wanted an ark constructed, he used the skill of Noah and his family. When he wanted the tabernacle built, he used the hands and minds of Bezalel and Oholiab and their helpers (Exodus 36:1 ff.). Jesus used the hands of his disciples for the distributing of the bread and fish. He used their lips and tongues for the preaching of the gospel. If God is going to get his work done in this world, he must use the various members of our bodies, empowered by the Spirit of God.

Satan knows that he can hinder God’s work by attacking God’s workers and putting their “tools” out of commission. The Greek word translated “instruments” in Romans 6:13 can be translated “tool” or even “weapon.” Just as God the Son had to take on a body to accomplish his work on earth, so the Holy Spirit needs our bodies. The members of your body are tools in the Spirit’s hands to help build the Church here on earth. Never underestimate the importance of your body. Never minimize the care of your body. The Christian who is careless about his health or safety is playing right into the hands of the destroyer.

The third reason Satan attacks your body is because your body is God’s treasury. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. 2 Cor­inthians 4:7

When God saved you, he put the treasure of eternal life within your body. You have the very life of God within you! God did not give you this great treasure simply to protect it—an earthen vessel is not the safest place for a treasure! He gave you this treasure that he might invest it through you in the lives of others. For example, God deposited this spiritual wealth in the Apostle Paul

according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. 1 Timothy 1:11

Paul invested this treasure in Timothy.

O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. 1 Timothy 6:20

Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
2 Timothy 1:14

Timothy, in turn, was to invest this treasure in the lives of others.

And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:2

In other words, the safety and success of this spiritual investment is in the hands of weak human beings! The treasure is in an earthen vessel! Satan can rob the world of spiritual wealth by attacking the bodies of believers.

Finally, Satan attacks your body because it is God’s testing-ground. But I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:27

The image here is that of the Greek games. Each participant had to qualify and keep the rules or he was not allowed to compete. If after he won a prize he was found guilty of breaking the rules, his prize was taken from him. Jim Thorpe, one of our greatest American athletes, had to return his Olympic medals because it was discovered he had earlier played sports for money, which is against Olympic rules. Satan can rob you of your rewards by attacking your body and getting you to break the rules. It is not a matter of salvation, but of rewards for faithful service. The athlete did not lose his citizenship if he broke the rules; he only forfeited his reward, a shameful experience indeed.

And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confi­dence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 1 John 2:28

I cannot emphasize too much that your body is important to God. As God’s children, you and I must care for our bodies and use them for God’s glory. Anything in our lives that keeps us from doing our best must be abandoned. Just as the mechanic takes good care of his tools, so the be­liever takes good care of the “tools” of his body.

I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Romans 12:1

2. SATAN’S WEAPON—SUFFERING

Satan wants to control the circumstances around the body so that the believer will suffer. He wants to touch the body and create suffering. All of this is illustrated in the story of Job. First, Satan attacked Job’s body through the circum­stances around him, and Job lost his children, his wealth, and the favor of his wife, friends, and neighbors. Then Satan attacked Job’s person with a horrible disease. When Job looked around, his situation was painful. When he looked with­in, it was even more painful. And when he looked up, it seemed that God had forsaken him, although Job maintained his faith in God and was honored at the end.

It is important to note that God was always in control. Satan could not attack Job’s possessions until God gave him permission. Satan could not attack Job’s person until God allowed it. This reminds us of our Lord’s words to Peter.

‘Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission [literally “obtained by asking”] to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.” Luke 22:3 1, 32

Satan cannot touch the child of God without the heavenly Father’s permission. This is a great encouragement to us, for we know that whatever suffering may come to our lives, God has or­dained it and is in complete control. The one thing God will not control is how we respond to this suffering, and it is here that Satan can gain his purpose.

Note, too, that there is more than one kind of suffering in the life of the Christian. There is natural suffering that we experience simply be­cause we are human. We cannot prevent the gradual breakdown of the body as we grow old, though we can seek to delay it. We are subject to sickness and injury; we lose loved ones and friends as death claims them; we find ourselves slowing down when we wish we could speed things up. The inconvenience, and even the pain, of being a weak human being in a dangerous world cannot be blamed on the devil. All of crea­tion is groaning because of the bondage of sin, and we Christians are groaning with it (Romans 8:18-23).

God sometimes sends (or permits) his children to suffer that he might discipline them. Our heavenly Father loves us too much to permit us to be rebels, so he chastens us that we might conform to his will.

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. Hebrews 12:5, 6

The word translated ‘discipline” in Hebrews 12 simply means “child-training.” The purpose of discipline is the maturity of the son. God’s pur­pose is not to persecute us, but to perfect us. Chastening is not the work of an angry judge as he punishes a criminal. It is the work of a loving Father as he perfects a child.

This chastening is not always because we have sinned. True, God does “spank” his children if they rebel and refuse to repent. David sinned against God and tried to hide his sin for a year or more. Read Psalm 32 and discover what David suffered physically, emotionally, and spiritually because he would not submit to God. But some­times God permits suffering in our lives simply to build us up and help us mature.

Two storms in the Bible illustrate this truth. Jonah disobeyed God and refused to go to Nineveh. He found a convenient ship to take him to Tarshish, but God interrupted Jonah’s escape by sending a storm. When the mariners threw Jonah into the stormy sea, the prophet was swallowed by a great fish. He describes his “living death” in the stomach of the great fish in Chapter 2 of his book. God had to chasten Jonah and almost take his life before the prophet would confess his sins and surrender to God. This storm came for the purpose of correcting God’s servant who had been disobedient.

But there are storms that come because we are obedient! One such storm is recorded in Matthew 14:22-33. Jesus had fed more than 5,000 people and they wanted to make him king. He sent the crowd away, and also sent the disci­ples across the Sea of Galilee in their boat. He went up to the mountaintop to pray. When the disciples got away from the land, a fierce storm arose and almost sank the ship. Please note: they were not in the storm because they disobeyed the Lord, but because they obeyed him. He was testing and perfecting their faith. Later he came to them and stilled the storm; but the entire experience revealed to the men how weak their faith really was.

So, we sometimes suffer simply because we are human. We suffer, too, because we disobey the Lord and need to be chastened. We also suffer that God might perfect our faith and help us ma­ture. Not all suffering is Satanic in origin. But there is a kind of suffering that is Satan’s weapon, and that is what Job experienced. It seemed that all of the calamities in his life had perfectly natural explanations: the Sabeans took the oxen and donkeys; fire from heaven (perhaps light­ning) burned the sheep; the Chaldeans took the camels; and a great wind (a tornado?) wrecked his oldest son’s house and killed all of Job’s chil­dren. But Satan was behind all of them! When God gives him permission, Satan can use people and the forces of nature to accomplish his pur­poses.

As believers, we have this confidence: God is always in complete control. When God permits Satan to light the furnace, he always keeps his own hand on the thermostat! Job did not know what was going on behind the scenes. He had no idea that God was permitting him to suffer so that Satan might be silenced. The real battle was “in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Job’s home and body were only the arena in which the two combatants—God and Satan—were strug­gling against each other. Satan wanted to use Job’s body to defeat God, and God wanted to use Job’s body to defeat Satan.

When you find yourself in difficult circum­stances, seek to discern through the Word and prayer whether your suffering is from nature, from God, or from Satan. Is God perfecting you? Is he disciplining you? Is Satan seeking to hinder your ministry or even destroy you? You cannot control the origin of your suffering, but you can control the outcome. How? This leads us to our next section.

3. SATAN’S PURPOSE— TO MAKE YOU IMPATIENT WITH GOD’S WILL

The only place in the New Testament where Job is named is James 5:11:

Behold, we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

This verse indicates that Satan’s purpose was to try to get Job to be impatient and give up. Job did become impatient with himself and his critical friends, but he never lost his faith in God. Though he did not understand what God was doing, Job knew that he could trust God and that God would vindicate him in the end.

Patience is an important Christian virtue. Un­less we have patience, we can never learn many of the truths that God wants us to learn, truths that will lead us into a deeper life and a more fruitful ministry.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

Children are usually impatient; they cannot sit still long enough to get the things done that need to be done. “How long do we have to wait?” is the stock question of the child. Impatience is a mark of immaturity.

But impatience is also a mark of unbelief. “He who believes will not be in a hurry” (Isaiah 28:16, literal translation). When you find yourself rest­less and nervous, anxious to ‘‘do something,’’ you can be sure you are not trusting God to work. You and I need to be

imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:12

Faith and patience go together. If we really trust God, then we will wait on him to accomplish what he has promised. Impatience is not only a mark of immaturity and unbelief, but it is a mark of fleshly living. The flesh (the old nature) is always impatient, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Gala­tians 5:22, 23

By nature, we are impatient; but the new nature within can produce patience as we yield to the Holy Spirit. Whenever you find an impulsive, impatient believer, you can be reasonably sure that that person is not walking in the Spirit, but is living by the energy of the flesh.

Impatience always leads to costly mistakes. Abraham became impatient with God and “married” Hagar, his wife’s handmaid, in order to bring a son into the world and fulfill God’s promise. A son was born, but he caused nothing but trouble! Abraham had to wait another four­teen years for Isaac to be born, and Isaac brought joy and blessing to the home.

King Saul became impatient and would not wait for the prophet Samuel to come. He rushed ahead of God’s will and offered the sacrifice, and this was the beginning of the end of his kingdom.

Peter became impatient in the Garden of Geth­semane and tried to kill a man with his sword! Instead of cutting the man’s throat, Peter only severed his ear; and Jesus, to save Peter’s life, healed the wound. Peter’s impatience almost cost him his life.

Satan knows that if he can make us impatient, he can lead us to do something stupid and get ourselves and others into trouble. I recall a friend who became impatient in his ministry, hastily resigned from the church, and accepted a church that was supposed to be “heaven on earth.” It turned out to be just the opposite, and within a year my friend was moving again. I remember another friend who thought he found a “get rich quick” job, jumped into it, and almost lost everything he had. Fortunately his old boss took him back, but my friend had to start on a lower rung of the ladder. Impatience is costly.

But patient endurance is enriching. Satan tempts us that he might bring out the worst in us, but God permits it that he might bring out the best in us. Job knew this; therefore, he said:

But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job 23:10

God will never permit the enemy to put us through the fire without his having a definite purpose in mind. God wants to make you pa­tient. We cannot learn patience by reading a book or hearing a lecture. The only way we can learn patience is by going through the trials that God assigns to us. The trials of life are the tools God uses to mature us, to build our faith, and to get us to trust the Spirit and not the flesh.

When you find yourself impatient, you can be sure that Satan and the flesh are at work, and that you are in danger of making a wrong decision. When the circumstances of life are irritating, that is the time to beware! When family prob­lems, friends, finances, or feelings are making life uncomfortable, then you can be sure Satan is near, waiting for an opportunity to attack.
But God has given you a defense!

4. YOUR DEFENSE— THE IMPARTED GRACE OF GOD

Job is not the only saint who felt Satan’s attack against his body, for the great Apostle Paul had a similar experience.

And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficul­ties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

We do not know what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was; but whatever it was, it buffeted him enough to make him pray three times for healing. (You will recall that our Lord prayed three times in the Garden that the cup might pass from him. When difficulties come, it is not wrong to pray for deliverance.) God did not answer Paul’s prayer, but God did meet Paul’s need. “My grace is sufficient for you.” It is the imparted grace of God that gives us victory when Satan attacks the body with suffering. Only by the grace of God can we have the patient endurance that we need as we go through the furnace.

And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10

Our God is “the God of all grace.” The Holy Spirit who indwells us is “the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29). God’s throne is a “throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16), and his Word is “the word of His grace” (Acts 20:32). It is grace from start to finish! God’s grace is God’s provision for our every need. Grace is not a “mystical substance” that God pours into us when we have a need. Grace is God’s bountiful supply of our every need. “Law” means that I must do something for God, but “grace” means that God does something for me. Grace cannot be deserved. Grace cannot he earned. Grace can only be given.

To begin with, you were saved by God’s grace.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. Ephesians 2:8, 9

This means that “the riches of His grace” are now available to you (Ephesians 2:7). God can give you grace for serving (1 Corinthians 15:9, 10), for sacrificing (2 Corinthians 8:1-9), for singing (Colossians 3:16, margin), and even for Speaking (Colossians 4:6). It also means that God can give you grace for suffering, as he did with Job and Paul.

What steps, then, should you take when Satan attacks your body with suffering and tries to make you impatient with God’s will?

(1) Immediately submit yourself to God. If you rebel, you will give Satan another foothold in your life. Tell God exactly how you feel, but also tell him that you love him and will trust him, come what may.

Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Job 13:15

(2) Thank God for the trials.

Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. Ephesians 5:20

In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

This does not mean you enjoy the suffering, but only that you rejoice because you are suffering in the will of God and you know that he is in con­trol. Satan hates it when believers thank God in their trials. When Paul and Silas sang and praised God in that Philippian jail, they completely ruined all of Satan’s plans! (Read Acts 16:14 ff.)

(3) Spend much time in the Word of God. It is the “word of His grace” (Acts 20:32), and the gracious promises of God will strengthen you. Remember: we do not live on explanations; we live on promises. God did not explain to Abra­ham everything that he was doing, but he did give Abraham all the promises he needed to keep going.

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Thy word.... It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Thy statutes. Psalm 119:67, 71

You will discover in God’s Word the promises and encouragements that you need for each day.

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4

(4) Look for ways to glorify Christ. Remem­ber, God wants to use your body to glorify him; Satan wants to use your body to disgrace the Lord. Patience in suffering always glorifies God. Unconverted people cannot understand how Christians can suffer and not complain or rebel.

For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. 1 Peter 2:20

But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God. 1 Peter 4:16

In the midst of shame and suffering, Paul and Silas glorified God by singing and praising his name. While he was being stoned to death, Stephen glorified God by praying for his murder­ers. Many of David’s psalms record the fact that he could praise God even when persecuted and rejected. Paul’s most joyful letter—Philippians—was written from Roman imprisonment when his life was in the balance.

As you follow these instructions, you will dis­cover the Spirit of grace working in your life and imparting to you the grace of God. You will grow in patient endurance! You will experience God’s love and grace within, and this experience will more than compensate for the inconvenience and suffering without. God may not change the circumstances, but he will change you so that the circumstances will work for you and not against you. As I said before, you and I cannot control the origin or the operation of suffering, but we can (with God’s help) control the out­come.

Most gladly. therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

If you live to please yourself, then Satan will win. If you live to glorify God, Satan will lose. The imparted grace of God is the only weapon that can defeat him, and that grace can be found only in “the God of all grace.”