Satan and His Gospel by A.W. Pink
Who is Satan? Does Satan really exist? How does Satan deceive men and women?
Satan is an enemy of God's people. He is an intelligent and powerful being who opposes God and God's Church. One of his devices is to keep people in darkness as to his existence and his activities: "An intelligent enemy always keeps in the background and remains hidden out of sight. It is an important consideration with him that his identity should be concealed." When he deceived Eve, it was through a serpent concealing his true identity.
Some believe that Satan is just a concept or a term for the incarnation of evil. No. Satan is a being and, "personal names are ascribed to him." . . . Satan, the Devil, the Prince of this World, Beelzebub, and Lucifer are some of them. The Bible declares him to be a liar and he is in fact, the father of all lies. "Satan refers to his character: The malignant adversary of all good——in God or his creatures."
God's Word reveals to us that there were angels that rebelled against God-—"For if God spared not the angels that sinned . . ." 2 Peter 2:4a; "and the angels which kept not their first estate . . ." Jude 6. Satan was the first angelic being that rebelled against the Lord and a number of the angels followed him in that rebellion.
Some have questioned if God is the author of evil, for ". . . He created the one who subsequently became the devil." Similar to the man who was created upright but rebelled against his Maker.
One of Satan's gospels is, ". . . justification before God on the ground of human merits." Any system of teaching that holds to the possibility of anyone being just before God on the basis of their own works or the admixture of their own works with the work of Christ, is another gospel. Anyone who embraces that gospel is lost, and they cannot know God in truth. Another gospel that Satan has used to deceive many is", ". . . that they have accepted Christ as their personal Savior, who have first not received Him as their Lord." Christ is the Prophet, Priest, and King of His People. Anyone who believes that they can have Christ as their Priest (He sacrificed Himself for their sins) but rejects Him as their King (that is, they still live in rebellion against His authority) has believed in "another gospel."
"Satan And His Gospel" is among Pink's earliest published works. I believe it was first published around 1916, prior to "The Sovereignty of God" and "The Divine Inspiration of the Bible." Yet, it is as relevant today as it was when it was first published.