I hate the Devil! As a believer, we are often told not to hate. Hate is a strong emotion that is often carnally misdirected against people. It can be an emotion that leads to sin, bitterness, and destruction. However, there is allowance for hate when directed in the way of God. That is why I tell you today that I hate the Devil!
I hate the Devil! He was created as the most exalted of God’s angels, but he was soon dissatisfied with his God appointed place. He wanted more. He wanted to be like God. He wanted to be God.
I hate the Devil! Created in holiness, he chose wickedness. Created in beauty, he chose depravity. Created in worship, he chose rebellion. Created in peace, he chose destruction. Created in light, he chose darkness.
I hate the Devil! Not content with his own ruin, he led many of the Angelic host in rebellion against God. And when cast down to the earth, he immediately sought the corruption of those created in the image of God.
I hate the Devil! For when he spoke with Eve, he created within her, doubt about the goodness of God. He tempted her with desire for the forbidden and to her wounding, he wove truth into a lie. His goal was to destroy the very good creation of God, and to ensure that the man and his wife would surely die. He succeeded and they did die, and their children died, and we all die.
I hate the Devil! For since the beginning, all his power and wicked works have been turned to the destruction of men. He masquerades as an Angel of light to draw men into false hope and religious bondage. He manipulates thoughts and emotions to blind men to truth. He offers men and women lies, in place of truth, for the purpose of obscuring the one true way through the one true door of Jesus Christ.
I hate the Devil! He drives men as a slave master to abominable acts of depravity. Behind every mother or father who abuses and even murders their children, you can see his face. In every monstrous, unspeakable act, he is there. When men destroy the innocent and persecute the just, he is their driving force. When men perpetrate cruel tortures, and heinous murders the devil rejoices. When whole populations of people are destroyed through bitter prejudice or for earthly power, you can hear his laughter.
I hate the Devil! He has had much success in falsely portraying himself as the champion of fun, maybe a little wicked, but mostly harmless. He’ll gladly show a group of attractive people enjoying an alcohol fueled party at the beach, while rejoicing at the reality of the man and woman whose lives have been ruined by alcohol. He hypes the pleasures of sin, but revels in its misery. The devil is no harmless, playful imp. He is in deadly earnest to destroy men, body, and soul.
I hate the Devil! He has continuously been in active warfare against God’s revelation of truth to men. For every prophet, there have been a hundred false prophets. For every God called pastor there are a multitude of false shepherds. In place of the blood bought church of Christ he has sent his pretend ministers of light to preach a myriad of false doctrines that confuse the lost soul. Instead of the pure and preserved Word of God, he offers a watered-down substitute that instead of building up the faith, whispers subtly, “Yea, hath God said…”?
I hate the Devil! For he hates the people of God. He has been behind every occurrence of persecution against the people of God. He has been instrumental in depriving the saints of God of their lives and liberties. His attacks have not only been from without, but also from within. He diligently seeks out every crack in the unity of God’s church to gleefully insert a wedge of mistrust, suspicion, and selfishness. He seeks to turn members against their pastors and pastors against their churches. He plants the tares among the wheat to sow confusion and to distract the church from its Christ ordained mission.
I hate the Devil! He is vile beyond imagining. There is no good thing in him. He is abominable in the sight of God and the enemy of all that it pure, just, holy, and peaceable. He seeks only to destroy and devour every good thing of the Lord. He is our bitter enemy. There can be no compromise with him or his ways.
I hate the Devil!
I HATE the Devil!