The Bible tells us many things about the devil. He is old, but not eternal. He is powerful, but not omnipotent. He is intelligent, but not omniscient. The devil, then, has limitations, but he is still a great adversary, and, while he is no match for God, he is an enemy that we should all take seriously.

Even though Satan is our greatest enemy, there are some things that we can learn from him. Oh, in many ways we might say that the devil is ignorant; but there are some things that the devil knows that we should know as well. In this final blog of the week, let us consider three things that the devil knows. Now, before we look at these things, let me say that we should know what the devil knows, and we should act like it. You will know what I mean as you read this blog tonight.

• The Devil Knows Who Jesus Is.

In New Testament times, demons had the ability to possess people. It is interesting that whenever we read of a case of demon possession in the New Testament, the demons knew exactly who Jesus was. They would call Him things like, “Son of the Most High God” (Mark 5:7). In fact, in the case revealed by Mark, the demon caused the man who he possessed to fall down before Jesus, showing recognition of His authority. Now, if these demons knew who Jesus was, so did their master, Satan.

We should know what the devil knows. If his demons recognized the authority of Jesus, we should too. The devil knows that every knee will someday bow to Jesus and every tongue will confess His name. The devil knows that there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. We should know this too. Let us always give Jesus the respect that He deserves as the Son of the Most High God.

• The Devil Knows That His Time Is Short.

This is what Revelations 12:12 tells us about the devil. We know that he is walking about, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). We should also know that he does not rest. He is constantly executing his will in order to get what he wants. Why? Because he knows that he does not have very much time. Now, we should know what the devil knows. We do not have any more time than he has, and, in fact, it is very likely that we have less. We all need to know our time is short (James 4:14; 1 Peter 1:24) and should make the best use of it (Ephesians 5:16), using as much energy doing God’s will as Satan uses doing his own.

• The Devil Knows Where He Will Spend Eternity.

Some day the devil will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). Since Satan knows the Bible, demonstrated by his quoting of it (Matthew 4:1-10), he knows what his final fate will be. We should know this too because we also have access to the Word of God. When it comes to eternity, if you do not know where you are heading, study your Bible. The Bible teaches us how to live (Titus 2:11-12). If you are a Christian, you can rejoice in the hope of eternal life with God (1 John 5:13). Let us not allow the devil to spoil our joy by convincing us that we cannot know where we are heading. More importantly, let us not allow him to influence us to the point where we fall from grace and lose the life that God has given us. We can know where we will spend eternity, but if heaven is to be our home later, we must walk in the light now (1 John 1:5-7).

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.