lairs, page-6

"Shaytaan is more patient than us. He has waged his unseen, subtle and massive war against mankind since the day he rebelled. His army grows stronger... it is we who are joining and strengthening his army and war against Islam - through our sins, our misdemeanours and our moving away from ALLAH (swt). It's time for us to become true Muslims - are YOU ready to fight Shaytaan?"

So Shaytann=Satan I guess?

"He has waged his unseen, subtle and massive war against mankind since the day he rebelled."

Ok

"it is we who are joining and strengthening his army and war against Islam - through our sins, our misdemeanours and our moving away from ALLAH"

Fair enough, good advice.

So how do we tell when we are 'serving Shaytann'? Obviously it's not as simple as following this religion or that religion, even 'Christianity' was it's idolatries and falsehoods. (Though Christ and the Bible when properly understood do not IMHO). I guess the best we can do is to look at the nature of Shaytaan and see if we are acting like him or not. Not sure about the Koran but the Bible says that Shaytaan is a liar and father and lies, so when one lies one is following Shaytaan (see previous posts re. lying). Shaytaan seeks to kill and destroy. What large group is obsessed with death and violence generally speaking?

Some stuff about Shaytaan:

http://studygodorg.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/characteristics-of-satan-by-david-buck.html

"Satan is a person. As stated above, Satan is a fallen angel. Angel’s possess personality, intelligence, will, and emotion. Satan has all of the properties of personality, he has the ability to plan (2 Corinthians 11:3), communicate (Matthew 4:1-11, Genesis 3:1-6), and make choices (Matthew 4:8-9).2 He is held accountable for all of his actions by God.

Satan has twenty two names in the Bible. His names are:

1. Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12). This is Satan’s name prior to his fall, it means “star of the morning” and “shining one”.

2. Satan (Mark 4:15). This name simply means adversary. An adversary is an opponent, rival, or enemy.3

3. The devil (Matthew 4:1-11). This name means slanderer. A slanderer is someone who makes a false, malicious statement, especially one which is injurious to one’s reputation.4

4. The prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). This refers to Satan as he dominates his worldly human subjects.5

5. The god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4). This is simply a reference to Satan, revealing his rule over the present darkness of this world.

6. The king of death (Hebrews 2:14). This means that Satan has the power of death.

7. The prince of this world (John 12:31). This means that Satan is the ruler of this world.

8. The ruler of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). This name reveals Satan’s rule, authority, and cosmic power over the present darkness of this world.6

9. Leviathan (Isaiah 27:1). This name is a description of a powerful dragon-like creature.7

10. The dragon (Revelation 12:7). This is another name used for Satan, the accuser.

11. The deceiver (Revelation 20:10). This name reveals Satan as one who lies to trick or mislead.

12. Apollyon (Revelation 9:11). This name means a destroyer. A destroyer is someone who causes damage beyond use or repair.8

13. Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24). This name for Satan means “the lord of flies,” or “the lord of dung,” or “the dung god.”

14. Belial (2 Corinthians 6:15). This name is the personification of all that is evil.

15. The wicked one (Matthew 13:38). This name reveals that Satan is evil or mischievous by nature.

16. The tempter (1Thessalonians 3:5). This name reveals that Satan does provoke to cause people to do wrong.

17. The accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). This means Satan charges or places blame or fault on a follower of Christ.

18. An angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). This name reveals Satan as a deceiver.

19. A liar (John 8:44, Genesis 3:4-5). This name reveals that Satan intentionally gives false information.

20. A murderer (John 8:44). This name reveals that Satan deliberately kills.

21. The enemy (Matthew 13:39). This name reveals that Satan is hostile towards, feels hatred towards, opposes the interests of, and intends to hurt God Himself.

22. A roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). This name describes Satan’s destructive threat.9 "

Satan is an accuser. The Bible is clear that Satan is an accuser. Revelation 12:10 says, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. Satan absolutely loves accusing God’s children of sin. Before the throne of God, Satan tells of our sin. He tells of his reign in the hearts of all sinners and tells of his rightful claim to the souls of all who have sinned against God.13

Satan is a deceiver. He will do anything in his power to blind the mind of the unbeliever so that they do not believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4). This includes changing the gospel so that people who think they are believers such as, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormon’s, are really deceived and blind to the real truth. Often times a false belief is more damaging than no belief at all. Along with deception, the Devil will come and take away the Word so that people who have heard it do not believe. Only the power of God can remove the blinders put on by Satan, allowing one to believe.

Satan is an imitator. He has always wanted to be worshipped just as God is, thus he strives to imitate his Creator. In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 you can read that Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. He is a deceiver who masks himself as a messenger of God.14 He is not likely to reveal his true self to anyone.

Ponder this, if Satan displayed himself by openly showing his true character than it would be obvious for all to stay away. Instead he makes himself look as though he portrays good attributes in order to lure you in, therefore, he imitates both God and the church. I believe that this is why you see so many heretical religious groups, because Satan has imitated God and led the religious group into the worship and following of a made up God. Thus they are in the hands of Satan and not God.

Satan is a liar. The Bible tells us that Satan is the father of lies and a liar by character (John 8:44). Therefore, he is never trust worthy or believable. To believe anything that comes from him is reckless and irresponsible.

Satan has lied since the beginning when he instructed Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, telling her that she surely would not die. Satan told Eve this, knowing very well the consequences of eating from the tree. Therefore, he lied to her as well as he lied about God by insinuating that God had lied to her.

Satan is a murderer. Since the very beginning he has had this attribute according to John 8. For in Genesis chapter two, the Lord told Adam and Eve that they should not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that the consequence for eating from that tree would be death. In Genesis chapter three, Satan told Eve that surely she would not die if she ate from the tree. Here, Satan not only lied to Eve to get her to disobey God, but also attempted to murder her by knowing the consequence while yet trying to convince her to eat of the tree.

Satan is an oppressor. 1 Peter 5:8 says that he is “like a roaring lion walking about, seeking who he may devour.” It is Satan’s goal to hunt down the believer and pin him down in sin. After becoming a child of God, Satan becomes your adversary. He takes your faith in God as a personal act of opposition toward him and therefore takes it upon himself to hunt you down and trap you in sin, as a form of warfare. Although he knows that the believer’s salvation can not be lost, he find’s some satisfaction in tormenting the saint for their allegiance to the Lord.

Satan is a perverter. To pervert, is to distort or change something from its original or intended use. Satan distorts what has been given by God to man for his blessing and benefit.15 There is no blessing from God that Satan does not distort. Many times Satan distorts the truth of God’s word so that man has a misunderstanding of some important attributes of God or His glorious gospel. This is one of Satan’s top goals. He hopes that he can lead someone astray rather than them submitting to the authority of the most high God.

Satan is a sinner. He is so involved in sin that he habitually sins. He is nothing less than addicted to sin. Sin is in his very nature. He is also the very foundation of sin. Therefore, the Bible tells us that Christ came into this world, not just to destroy sin, but also to destroy Satan, himself.16

Satan is a tempter. He tempted Christ Himself in the wilderness as recorded in the book of Matthew chapter 4, so be sure that he will try to tempt you. One of Satan’s goals is to tempt the believer, to pull him or her away from God, causing the Christian to commit idolatry by holding some other person or thing higher than God himself. This attribute of Satan causes many to sin in this current age."



Now take a look at all of the competing ideologies and ask the question "Who teaches things along these lines and who teaches the opposite"? Then you'll come closer to finding the true path.