Admittedly, it’s my opinion, an opinion born of observation.
The Church (by that I mean people as a whole professing to be Christians) has forgotten we have a real enemy.
The church at large, for a way long time now, conducts business as though Satan is dead or at the most just a little cartoon character with neither power nor gumption to pay us any mind.
How about this?
1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV) 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. source
Or this one?
John 10:10 (NKJV) 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. source
And this one?
Job 2:7 (NKJV) 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. source
Does this sound like someone we should just ignore, pretend he does not exist?
Let’s look at another one.
Mark 4:15 (NKJV) 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. source
Shall we ignore this? If we do, he is well at work just as described in Mark 4:15.
Am I suggesting we live in mortal fear of him? Hiding in our homes refusing to venture out, afraid to open our mouths?
Nope. Just cultivate a healthy respect for a deadly enemy and a passion to abide in an intimate fellowship with our Father Who can right today send him cowering in mortal fear and eventually to the Lake of Fire forever.
Here. Read this from Revelation 20 and have a delightful day!
Revelation 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. source
7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. source
How’s that for encouragement?
The White Stone 