II Corinthians 2:10 “To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
Those who read and study the Word of God “are not ignorant of” Satan’s “devices”; they know how subtly enticing he is as he seeks to ensnare us into his web of ruin and destruction. “Satan” is euphemized as a “serpent” because he is sly, deceptive, and cunning; and, his purpose is never good, it is to harm and destroy anything that is good and God-honoring, most especially the lives of God’s faithful people. He first appeared very effectively tempting Eve to take that which God had forbidden (Genesis 3). He slithered in again to tempt David to disobey God and “number Israel” (I Chronicles 21:1). He slithered in again to plague Job with disease (Job 2:7). He perpetually slithers in to catch and remove the blessed Gospel from the Children of God (Matthew 13:19). He slithers in to plant his wicked minions among the Children of God (Matthew 13:38-39). He slithers in to spread and promote lies about God, godliness, the Church, and the Children of God (John 8:44). He slithers in to entice men to sin (Acts 5:3). He slithers in to “corrupt” our minds to move us away from “the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Corinthians 11:3). He slithers in, but hides his wicked nature by making himself appear as an “angel of light” (II Corinthians 11:4). He slithers in to do as much harm as he can because he is like a roaring lion searching for opportunities to pounce upon the Children of God to devour them (I Peter 5:8). He slithers in to tell our children that street drugs are fun and harmless, intimate behavior before marriage is okay, God is not important, the Church is just a bunch of old fools, there are more important things to do than attending Church, Biblical teachings are hard to understand and confusing and a waste of time, and the purpose of the Lord’s Commandments is to keep you from having fun. But, he never tells about the anguish and suffering that people endure who fall into his snares. The threat is ominously great; therefore, we are Commanded to “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:11-12).