0768. Satan Subtly Places His Snares
Satan Subtly Places His Snares
"And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will" (2Ti_2:26).
Satan is an adept in deceptive snares. He does not come out in the open and reveal his purpose. He is a deceiver. He promises, but he never fulfils. He is a liar and the father of lies. There is no trickery too base for his employment. There is no deceit too dark. He is willing to say and do anything in order to ensnare the race. When the antichrist comes, he will come with "all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish."
The trapper knows well how to place his traps. The hunter knows well how to place his decoys. No traps, no decoys were ever more deceptive nor more enticingly, arranged, than are the snares of satan.
1. The devil particularly magnifies the pleasures of this world in order to ensnare the people of the world. He does this in order to blind the eye to coming glories. Satan knows that if he can fill the mind with the pleasures down here, he will blind the mind to the pleasures over there.
It is wrong to say that the pleasures of this world have no appeal; that there is nothing in the moving picture show, or the theater, or the dance, or the card table, which allures and satisfies.
Of course, the pleasures of this world are effervescent and for the most part they have their sting. But, man lives on the surface of things; he does not go to the bottom; he does not stop to consider the finality. He is led away with the present fascination of pleasures. He forgets that the wages of sin is death. He forgets the pleasures that are for evermore.
2. The devil uses the business cares of this world to ensnare the people of the world. He magnifies the value of money. He creates within men a lust for gold. Many a man is lost to God and to Heaven because He has become entangled in the net of the cares of this world. He is too busy to think; he is too busy to pray; too busy to consider.
Business is all right. We love to see a man who is active in applying his trade, in selling his goods, in running his factory.
The Bible tells us to be "diligent in business," but it also says, "serving the Lord." It is all right for a man to make money and to make lots of it, if he makes it honestly, by honest toil, and by honest methods. But it is all wrong for a man to love his money. It is not money that wounds. It is the love of money. Love of money is the root of all evil. Some coveting it, have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. One may make all the money he can, but he must not "can" all the money he makes, for the Bible says, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth."
3. Another snare of satan is the fear of man. Differently stated,–the love of honor. There were many among the chief priests who believed on Christ, but they would not confess Him, for they "loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."
To follow Jesus Christ fully it may be necessary to leave father or mother or brother or sister. Satan, however, is forever holding forth this fact as a big bug-a-boo. He seeks to scare one by reminding them that the way of eternal life is traveled by a very few. He uses that argument to urge men to stay with the crowd, to follow the multitude. It was the popular appeal that led Pilate to deliver Christ. He could not face the cry of the multitude, nor could he face the possible displeasure of Herod, and so Pilate, as recorded, washed his hands and delivered the Lord. On the one hand, he loved the praise of men; on the other hand, his fear of man became his snare.
This was also the trouble with Herod. He knew that he had wrongly promised Salome the head of John the Baptist; but, for the sake of them who were present at the feast, he delivered him. Herod feasted on the applause and dreaded the displeasure of the people.
The fear of man is one of satan’s greatest snares.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR