From the archives of Oral Roberts – First of two parts
The Bible says the devil is shrewd and subtle. First Peter 5:8 says he is our adversary. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
The apostle Peter warns us against the devil, who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. So we know he is a deceiver. We know he is a tempter because he tempted our Lord Jesus Christ three different times in a major way. And the Lord repulsed him by the Word of God.
Revelation 12:10-12 says: Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
In this period of time, the devil is the tempter, the adversary, the deceiver, the accuser of the brethren day and night. He goes before the Father and accuses us, keeping books on us, listing every shortcoming, every time we step aside, or anything we do that he can try to use against us to tell the Father that we are not what we say we are. He is the accuser of the brethren.