Generally across the board, Satan's works are misunderstood as to what his overall goal is in relation to his prideful ambition. Many people surround his purpose around being some out-of-control wrecking ball without a plan. That he is simply here to knock-off mankind one by one as an angry response for being evicted from heaven. However, Satan's purpose is not so much centered on destroying the world as it is getting the world to worship and follow him (v.14). Remember that he is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). God has allowed Satan to reign on earth, that is until His second coming where He will bound Satan for 1000 years (Rev. 20:1-3), in which during that time God will reign in His Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20:4-6), release Satan for a little while to deceive the nations some more (Rev. 20:3,7-9a) before destroying him once and for all (vv. 9b-10). Satan and all the fallen angels with him are aware of this destiny (Matt. 8:29). So until that time, Satan is going around promoting himself to be worshipped as God, developing as many followers as possible. His strategy is cleverly parallel to many of God's methods in accomplishing his purpose. For instance, just as God has ministers ordained to preach the Word (Rom. 10:14-15; 2 Tim. 4:1-2), Satan also has ministers to distort the Word (2 Cor. 11:14-15; 1 Tim. 4:1) which indicate that demons have doctrine as well. It's not sound doctrine of course, but nonetheless, it is doctrine. God teaches believers not to conform to the world (Rom. 12:2; 1 John 2:15), Satan has teaching for man to conform through indulging in the flesh, USING THE BIBLE to prey on the weak and naive (Rom. 16:17-18; 2 Tim. 3:5-7). God demands that He be the only God worshipped because He is the only God (Ex. 20:3-5; Isa. 44:7-8) and during the Tribulation Satan will require that same level of worship, killing those who refuse to do so (Rev. 13:11-18). Satan's campaign banner does not say "I'M THE DEVIL, FOLLOW ME TO HELL"- maybe to those who blatantly are "devil worshippers" that don't need any cunning methods to be deceived. But Satan's banner says "I'M GOD, FOLLOW ME TO HEAVEN," and he is unfortunately leading the strong majority of mankind down the wide road to Hell (Matt. 7:13-14). Examine yourself as to the doctrine you receive and your lifestyle which is a by product of what you truly believe. This will determine if you are following the true God of the Scriptures, Jesus Christ, or Satan whose desire is to make himself LIKE the Most High God.
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