1. “The whole world lies in the evil one” (1 John 5:19).
All the people in the world today lie in the evil one and are subject to his ruling.
2. “He who practices sin is of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
Everyone who practices sin is of the devil and part of his people.
3. “Children of the devil” (1 John 3:10; see also John 8:44; Matt. 23:33).
All sinners are children of the devil; they have his life and spontaneously are his people. With the exception of the believers, he has all the people in the world. His kingdom is large, impressive, and powerful. It is really something for him to boast of.
1. “The god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4).
In addition to his kingdom, the devil has his own religion. He is not merely the ruler of this world but also the god of this age. He not only governs worldly people but also receives their worship. Man was created to worship God; therefore, he cannot avoid worshipping something. If man does not worship the true God, he will worship a false god. Man worships with gods and worships without gods, he worships with old forms and new forms of worship. Any worship that is not directed toward God, regardless of the object of its worship, is worship that is directed toward the devil. As the god of this age, any worship that is not being given to God is being given to the devil. God can obtain man’s worship only when man worships Him in spirit through the Lord Jesus, but the devil can obtain man’s worship in many ways. He does not care about the manner or method of man’s worship as long as he obtains it.
2. “Fall down and worship me” (Matt. 4:9).
The devil wants man to worship him. He uses fame and power to tempt man to worship him. He even tried to tempt the Lord Jesus in this way, but the Lord Jesus was not tempted. So many people in this world have been drawn to worship the devil for the sake of fame and power. So many worship idols in order to gain fame, power, fortune, and tranquility. Even Catholics worship idols in their cathedrals in order to gain fortune and tranquility.
3. “Worship the demons and the idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood” (Rev. 9:20).
There are demons behind every idol, even the so-called statues of Jesus in Catholicism. Every place that promotes the worship of idols, whether a temple, a chapel, or a home, is dark. The devil receives man’s worship through the demons behind the idols.
4. “What is sacrificed to an idol...Sacrifice to demons” (1 Cor. 10:19-20).
Idols are like puppets that are controlled by demons. Everything that is sacrificed to an idol is actually sacrificed to demons.
5. “Have fellowship with demons” (1 Cor. 10:20).
The devil causes people to not only worship demons but also to contact demons and have fellowship with them. Contacting demons is common in many religions. The devil encourages people to contact demons, thereby making man one with him.
6. “A synagogue of Satan” (Rev. 2:9).
The verse refers to a Jewish synagogue. The devil used Judaism to confuse the church and to lead the believers astray by bringing them back to Judaism. Therefore, shortly after the church came into existence, even Jewish synagogues, which once were used for the worship of God, became synagogues of Satan.
7. “Make one proselyte...you make him...a son of Gehenna” (Matt. 23:15).
The devil causes people to make proselytes of others so that they may enter Gehenna. Proselytizing people is not the work of God. Proselytizing people is the devil’s work. Even in Christianity there are many sons of Gehenna who do the work of the devil and who serve him. The Roman Catholic Church is full of these kinds of people.
8. “An hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God” (John 16:2).
The devil causes people to think that they are serving God by killing the genuine children of God. The devil used this strategy in the early days of the church. Many who were zealous for Judaism and the Old Testament law killed the people of the Lord, thinking that they were being zealous for God. The apostle Paul was such a person in the hand of the devil before he was saved. This kind of work was present not only in the early days of the church but also in the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. The Roman Catholic Church has killed an untold number of true believers who worshipped the Lord and served Him, while thinking that it was safeguarding the truth of the Lord. John Huss, a precursor to the Reformation, was killed at the hands of Roman Catholicism. The author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan, also suffered under the hand of Protestantism. Today the devil is still working according to this principle. He does not cause people only to deny God; he also causes them to oppose God’s will under the guise of serving God. This is one of the most devious and insidious religious works of the devil.
9. “Self-imposed worship and lowliness” (Col. 2:23).
If the devil cannot prevent people from worshipping God, he causes them to engage in self-imposed worship and lowliness. This is worship that is neither according to God’s revelation nor of God through Christ in spirit. Instead, it is a worship that serves God according to worldly philosophy and self-imposed regulations through the efforts of the flesh. Any worship that is not according to God’s Word, through Christ, and in the spirit is self-imposed worship. It is worship from the devil as a part of his religion.
10. “Having an outward form of godliness, though denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5).
In Christianity some have an outward form of godliness but deny its power. This false godliness is another component of the devil’s religion.
11. “False apostles, deceitful workers, transfiguring themselves into apostles of Christ” (2 Cor. 11:13).
Sometimes the devil causes people to kill the apostles and those who work for the Lord in order to destroy the Lord’s work. At other times the devil causes people to be false apostles who pretend to serve the Lord in order to bring in mixture to damage the Lord’s work. Both of these aspects of his work are items in his religion.
12. “The deep things of Satan”; “Teachings of demons” (Rev. 2:24; 1 Tim. 4:1).
On the one hand, Satan causes people to oppose the Lord’s truth, and on the other hand, he causes people to believe his teachings, his deep things. This is an aspect of his religion.
13. “Preaches another Jesus...a different spirit...a different gospel”; “A different gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6).
The devil has many tricks. When he cannot stop people from believing the gospel, believing into the Lord Jesus, and receiving the Holy Spirit, he causes people to preach a different gospel, another Jesus, to make people receive a different spirit. This is a trick of his religion. He can influence people to be false apostles. He can also cause people to speak false doctrines and preach a different gospel, another Jesus, so that they will receive a different spirit. His religion is truly kaleidoscopic and filled with many strange things. He is a rebel against God; he is God’s enemy. He is also evil and devious, without morality or regulation. No amount of evil or deception is beneath him. In order to steal man’s proper worship to God, to confuse and damage man’s reasonable service to God, he will go to any extent and stop at nothing to reach his goal. He can create false religions in order to steal man’s worship, and he can counterfeit Christianity to confuse worship that rightly belongs to God. He can invent regulations related to the worship of God, and he can counterfeit any kind of spiritual service. Invention and counterfeiting are his talents. He can assume a counterfeit identity of Jesus. He can counterfeit the works of the Holy Spirit. He can subvert the gospel with counterfeit truths. There is nothing he cannot counterfeit. As those who earnestly want to serve and please the Lord with a pure heart, we should be wary.