“Since the Bible is God’s Word, we shouldn’t be surprised if Satan tries to convince us otherwise.” – Billy Graham1
“If you are paralyzed by your past, if Satan is destroying your gifts and your calling by his incessant replaying of old tapes, you’re actually being hit by a double whammy. The original damage in the past is one thing – but now you’re letting yourself be hurt and sidetracked again by the memory of what happened… We should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices, and these ugly memories are one of the main weapons in his arsenal.” – Jim Cymbala
“The devil will let a preacher prepare a sermon if it will keep him from preparing himself.” – Vance Havner
“In contradistinction to the Gospel of Christ, the gospel of Satan teaches salvation by works.” – A. W. Pink
“The enemy uses all his power to lead the Christian, and above all the minister, to neglect prayer. He knows that however admirable the sermon may be, however attractive the service, however faithful the pastoral visitation, none of these things can damage him or his kingdom if prayer is neglected.” – Andrew Murray
“The first step on the way to victory is to recognize the enemy.” – Corrie Ten Boom
“If you are not careful you will find yourself actually in the employ of the devil. He is powerful, slick, crafty, wily, and subtle.” – Billy Graham
“Satan rules all men that are in his kingdom. Some he rules through lust. Some he rules through covetousness. Some he rules through appetite. Some he rules by their temper, but he rules them. And none will ever seek to be delivered until they get their eyes open and see that they have been taken captive.” – D. L. Moody
“The devil divides the world between atheism and superstition.” – George Herbert
“Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God. and a scourge for Satan.” – John Bunyan
“Satan’s greatest success is in making people think they have plenty of time before they die to consider their eternal welfare.” – John Owen
“The devil abhors light and truth because these remove the ground of his working.” – Watchman Nee
“As Christ has a Gospel, Satan has a gospel too; the latter being a clever counterfeit of the former. So closely does the gospel of Satan resemble that which it parades, multitudes of the unsaved are deceived by it.” – A. W. Pink
“I do not deny that the Devil has some pretty apples; I just say that all of them are fakes and that after you bite into them, you will find they have worms. All Satan’s apples have worms.” – John R. Rice
“It strikes some as odd to say that Satan has a strategy. They mistakenly conclude that because our Enemy is atrociously sinful he must be equally stupid. Such reasoning has been the downfall of many in the body of Christ.” – Sam Storms
“Satan doth sow most of his seed of temptation in hearts that lie fallow. When he sees persons unemployed, he will find work for them to do.” – Thomas Watson
“We see now why the great target of Satan is to break down our faith. He knows all too well that the righteous live by faith, so he aims at cutting our lifeline to God. Faith is like the hand that reaches up to receive what God has freely promised. If the devil can pull your hand back down to your side, then he has succeeded. All of God’s intended supply will just stay where it is in heaven.” – Jim Cymbala
1 All of these quotes are from the websites below:
The enemy and the clock he Loves……….by m.r.neveu
Curt’s Archenemy piece does what good devotional work is supposed to do. It stops treating Satan like a Halloween mascot and puts him back where Scripture puts him: active, strategic, deceptive, and very interested in your prayer life, your mind, and your timing.
In previous posts for this website, I’ve made two points about the enemy:
(a) God does not waste the enemy’s punches (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28).
(b) Hell is not mainly an information problem, but a submission problem.
Put together, my theme is clean. The enemy lies, delays, and drains. Christ answers with truth, prayer, and obedience now.
Ethyll – time ta fly, by the numbas.
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1) Satan’s favorite move is not always temptation. It is counterfeit.
Curt’s quote stack keeps circling the same target: deception. Not just raw wickedness, but fake versions of real things. A fake gospel. A fake urgency. A fake spirituality. A fake comfort.
That matters because most people do not get taken out by horns and fire. They get taken out by substitutes.
• Works instead of grace
• Activity instead of prayer
• Shame loops instead of repentance
• Religious language instead of surrender
That is why Scripture keeps pressing truth, not feelings (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Galatians 1:6-9). Satan does not need to make evil attractive if he can make falsehood sound close enough to truth.
Nitty and gritty: Hell is truth known too late. People often do not reject truth because they never heard it. They reject it by postponing it, editing it, softening it, and eventually calling the edited version “wisdom.” We are amazingly creative when we want a god who charges less.
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2) The enemy attacks the hidden places first: prayer, faith, and the inner life.
Curt’s quotes from Havner, Murray, Bunyan, and Cymbala land like hammer blows. The enemy is content to let ministry look impressive if prayer is dead. The enemy is content to let a Christian stay busy if the heart is unfed. It is content to replay old failures in your mind if it keeps you from present obedience.
That is not random harassment. That is strategy.
I previously wrote “When Hell Throws a Punch” and threw a right cross that says it right: name the war, or you become a casualty with opinions. That line should be printed on church walls and maybe on coffee mugs for ministry teams that are one meeting away from burnout. Free of charge, they can have the ®.
Cuz if we misname the fight, we fight the wrong thing. Then we call the wreckage “stress” when it was spiritual erosion all along.
The answer is not drama. The answer is armor (Ephesians 6:10-18).
• Truth when lies replay the past
• Confession when shame tells you to hide
• Prayer when distraction says “later”
• Service when despair tells you to fold
That last one is especially effective in production settings – you know, to reproduce the tonic for the afflicted areas – like our hearts, and sprinkle liberally for relevant applications. When the enemy drives you inward, grace drives you outward. Hand somebody water while your hands are still shaking. That is not performance. That is war.
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3) Satan’s most successful sermon is one word: “Later.”
Curt includes the line about people thinking they have plenty of time before death. That one should make everyone sit up straight. The enemy does not need immediate rebellion if he can secure indefinite delay.
Later to pray.
Later to repent.
Later to forgive.
Later to get serious.
Later to think about eternity.
And “later” is how people drift into hardness (Hebrews 3:13-15). Not by one giant denial, but by a thousand polite postponements.
I wrote about the psychology of it in “truth known too late”: alarm fatigue, self-justification, and the fantasy that being “basically decent” is the same as being reconciled to God. It is not. Scripture never says “decent people are safe.” It says sinners need a Savior (Romans 3:23-24).
Curt’s quotes also expose another ugly trick. The enemy divides people between atheism and superstition. That is brutal and accurate. One side denies the spiritual world. The other invents one. Both routes keep people from the Lord of truth.
So the Christian response is not panic. It is not weirdness. It is sober clarity. Resist the enemy. Submit to God. Stay awake. Pray. Walk in the light (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8-9; 1 John 1:7).
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Curt’s Archenemy commentary is a warning. It is also a mercy. It reminds the church that the enemy is real, but not ultimate. The enemy is active among us, but not sovereign. The enemy is strategic, but not omniscient. The enemy can wound, accuse, tempt, and delay, but he cannot rewrite Calvary.
The enemy’s blow can become a testimony in God’s hands. Truth delayed becomes judgment. Put together and the application is simple and sharp:
Do not romanticize the war. Do not underestimate the enemy. Do not postpone obedience. Christ is not merely your comfort after the fight. He is your Commander in it.
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The enemy wins cheap victories by renting your attention and postponing your obedience. Grace breaks his lease the moment you tell the truth, kneel to pray, and move while your knees are still shaking.
Gilt-edged, Mr. Blattman