Legend has it that in one of his darkest hours, Satan appeared to Martin Luther, and in a rage Luther threw his inkwell at him.  Luther penned the words, The Prince of Darkness Grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure;”

His doom is sure, but in the mean time he rules the earth as “the god of this world” (II Cor. 4:4).  Don’t kid yourself: his agenda is carried out in different facets by every political party, major religion, and country on Earth.  The only resistance, the only insurgency, to this great enemy of the faith and all mankind is biblical Christianity.

Who is this individual that is “wiser than Daniel” (Eze. 28:3)?  Who is this creature, this fallen cherub, who was second in command over the entire universe (Eze. 28:12-17)?  The Bible says that he is a musical creature (Eze. 28:13), that he is a great red dragon (Rev. 12:3), and that he has no fear (Job 41:33-34).

Everything that we can legitimately and truly know about the Devil is found in the Bible.  His end-times plan of a false and deceptive religious unity (Prov. 11:21) is is in the Bible (Rev. 17-18). His goal for a centralized power system is shown to us in the Bible (Rev. 13).  The Bible commands us to be sober and vigilant concerning this foe (I Peter 5:8), and understanding three of the major roles of the Devil can help us have discernment during these times of deception and fierce opposition.

So who is this Prince of Darkness grim?

1) The Adversary.

Revelation 13:4, “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”

Satan, as the Adversary of the Christian, is the great red dragon in all his fierce wrath.  He is a roaring and fearsome beast with his fangs bared.  There is no hiding, there is no subtly, there is only pure unadulterated evil and hostility towards the things of God.  We see it today in Islam with the beheading of Christians, we see it in the history of the Roman Catholic Church with the burning of Christians at the stake, and we see it in dark pagan lands where people worship the devil directly.

As the Adversary, Satan desires to devour (I Peter 5:8). 

As America distances itself from its biblical foundations, it is becoming more and more hostile to the things of God.  Sin will be blatant and proud, a characteristic of one led by Satan (John 8:44, I John 3:8).  We must understand that more and more we will see direct and completely undiluted attacks upon all we hold dear. 

As the adversary, Satan desires to devour his foes, and directly oppose and discourage the people of God (Dan. 7:25).  We must not be ignorant of his devices (II Cor. 2:11) and we must not let it discourage us from doing what God has told us to do (Matt. 28:20, Mark 16:15).  

2) The Deceiver. 

Revelation 20:8, “And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

Prophecy tells us that after having been locked up for 1,000 years, Satan will be released for a short period of time.  The very first thing he will do is fly off to all the nations and deceive them.  He will be successful in turning the world, once again, against God.

Why is that?

Because there’s nobody better at deception than the Devil (John 8:44).

For every tendency, there is a belief system or distraction that will pull someone away from God.  In these last days, they will be ever learning (II Tim. 3:7) and never able to come to the truth.  The distractions (James 1:8, 24), philosophies (Col. 2:8), and damnable heresies (II Peter 2:1) are unprecedented.  As the deceiver of this world Satan’s goal is two-fold:

Convince and harden.  He wants to fool, deceive, and convince people of something (anything!) other than the salvation and freedom that is found in Jesus Christ.  And he wants to harden their hearts through the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13).  It is tragic how so many are proud and arrogant, thinking they have it all under control, but their own hearts are fooling them (Jer. 17:9).

I don’t write this to discourage you, dear brother or sister who may be reading this.  I write this to embolden you.  We have a wicked enemy who wants to steal, kill, and destroy everything in his path (John 10:10), and it is only the grace and mercy of God that holds him back (Job 1:9-10). 

This foe can be defeated!  Never underestimate the power of the gospel (Rom. 1:16), and power of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11) against the devil.  While we are not to be arrogant and haughty against Satan (Jude 1:9), we are called to stand and resist him (James 4:7), not to hide or be intimidated (I John 4:4).

We are the pesky resistance, the defiant insurrection against the satanic rule of this world, and we can win in the battles that we face.  The problem is, the Devil doesn’t just fool the lost world, he also fools us.    

3) The Impostor.

II Cor. 11:14, “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

Until Jesus Christ comes back at the Battle of Armageddon and defeats the Antichrist in military combat (Rev. 19), the only threat that Satan faces is Christians like you and me.  He has so many systems in place that operate independently of his direct hand that it stands to reason that Satan’s focus is attacking Christianity.  There are his direct attacks as the Adversary, but there is also his much more sinister role as the Impostor.

Historically, we see this in Rome.  Pagan Rome did everything they could to squelch Christianity.  Paul they beheaded.  Polycarp they burned.   Ignatius shook his fist at the hungry lions in the Coliseum, daring them to grind his bones to fine powder.

That was the Adversary.  But, praise the Lord, the Adversary could not stop them. 

Then came in the Impostor.  Under Constantine, Rome became “Christianized,” and of that counterfeit Christianity the Roman Catholic Church was born.  It claims to worship the same Jesus of the Bible, but it mixes paganism and works with salvation leading millions to Hell.  Today, over a billion people profess to be Catholic, and most would consider themselves Christians.  But according to the Bible they are not saved; they have been tricked by an impostor. 

Satan, as the impostor, seeks to do two things: 

Discredit Christianity and counterfeit Christianity.

In Acts 16:16-18 a well known demon-possessed woman followed Paul and Silas through the city of Thyatira, proclaiming that these men are “the servants of the most high God.”  She was speaking the truth, but because of who she was she was discrediting them.  Paul rebuked her, and that was the end of the story.  Satan, as an impostor, seeks to discredit true biblical Christianity by claiming the title of Christianity (II Cor. 11:13-15).  Many of the wild and outlandish things that are done in the name of Christ, but are not biblical, are done under the influence of Satan in his ongoing effort to discredit Christianity. 

As far as counterfeiting Christianity, the passages are astoundingly numerous in the New Testament.  Every single New Testament author warned of false prophets.  It is a constant reoccurring theme for the Christians to not be deceived by false prophets and to warn other against them (I John 4:1, II Peter 2:1, Matthew 7:15, Rom. 16:17-18, Jude 1:4, I Tim. 6:3-5). 

If God had every single New Testament author repeat this warning over and over again, it’s because it’s a really big deal to Him and it’s a really big threat to us.

Why do so many not take this seriously?

I believe the answer is because while there are several different denominations and different strands and stripes of Christians out there, that philosophically there are only two types of Christians.  One type of Christian will take the warning seriously, the other will not.

Philosophically, there are biblical Christians, and then there are mystical Christians. 

A biblical Christian is a Christian that puts the authority of the words of God above all things (Is. 8:20, Heb. 4:12).  He esteems the precepts and principles we learn from God’s word to be paramount in day-to-day living and discernment for life, and attributes the curse of God to be from not following them (Ps. 119:104, Dan. 9:5). 

I have met many Christians from many different denominations that I would say had the mindset of a biblical Christian.  They may not be correct in all doctrinal areas, but they all recognize the Bible as the primary authority for truth and that is the basis of any discussion I’ve had with them. 

They are becoming fewer and fewer.

A mystical Christian puts intuition, experiences, and feelings above all else.  When presented with scripture or biblical principles, a mystical Christian will present his or her own experience as primary evidence.  At this point, there is no basis or foundation for any discussion.  It’s pure postmodernism, truth is all relative, no one knows anything for sure, and the Bible is given lip-service and only used to support the experience.  Under this sort of mindset, truth is deemphasized and unity is overemphasized.  The basis for unity is no longer truth or the Bible; the basis for unity is a mutual experience or cause.

Under a mystical mindset, a Christian is wide-open for any and all forms of deception.  Rick Warren, who signed a document of unity with Muslims and Catholics and consistently works towards that end, is a perfect example of this mindset.  From all indications, he is not interested in winning souls to Christ. Jesus told us to observe and teach all things that He said (Matthew 28:20).  This would include the depravity of sin (John 8:34), the reality of Hell (Matt. 5:30), the need for repentance (Luke 13:3), the reality of Satan (Luke 22:31), and most importantly that there is no other way to Heaven other than Jesus Christ himself (John 14:6).  Rick Warren will occasionally give lip-service to these things when speaking with Christians, but he will turn around and deny them when dealing with people of other faiths.  

A biblical Christian will recognize the above mentioned things that Jesus said as being vitally important.  A false prophet such as Brian McLaren will mock the holy atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, saying “And there’s a certain sense that, a common understanding of the atonement presents a God who is incapable of forgiving