Satan's Recycling Program

Satan’s Recycling Program: Recognizing and Resisting His Schemes

Satan doesn’t come up with new plans—he simply recycles and repackages his old ones. His strategies are as predictable as they are destructive. What we see throughout Scripture is the enemy running the same playbook over and over again, hoping to achieve new results.

Using Acts 12, let’s take a closer look at these recycled schemes and discover how we can resist them and live victoriously in Jesus.

Satan’s Recycled Strategy #1: Violence

In both Acts 8 and Acts 12, Satan reuses the same strategy: violence against the church.

 • In Acts 8, he worked through Saul to persecute the church, targeting its members with imprisonment and even death.
 • In Acts 12, he used King Herod to arrest Peter and kill James.

Acts 12:1-2 captures this violent plan:

 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword.

This tactic isn’t new. Satan used violence throughout the Old Testament to attack God’s people:

 • Pharaoh ordered the death of Hebrew male babies to prevent Israel’s growth.
 • Jezebel sought to kill God’s prophets during her reign.

Satan’s method is clear: leverage worldly powers to create fear, disrupt God’s plans, and destroy His people.

But while Satan tries to use violence to stop God’s work, he always fails. In Acts 8, the persecution didn’t stop the church—it spread it:

 Acts 8:4: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.”

Spoiler alert: In Acts 12, we see God’s power overcome again. Peter is miraculously delivered from prison, and the Word of God continues to grow and multiply.

Satan’s Recycled Strategy #2: Bondage (Physical and Spiritual)

Satan doesn’t stop with violence—he often tries to string his plans together, as we see in Acts 12. After James is killed, Herod keeps Peter in prison, intending to execute him next.

Acts 12:6 describes the scene:

 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison.

But look at Peter’s reaction—he rests.

There is a crucial difference between resting in the face of the enemy and passively remaining in chains. Resting means trusting in God’s power to deliver, even in the midst of the enemy’s attacks. However, passively staying in chains allows Satan to keep us bound, leading to destruction.

Satan often recycles the tactic of bondage—sometimes physical, as with Peter’s imprisonment, and other times spiritual, through sin, fear, or oppression. Herod’s chains and guards held Peter, but God broke him out of those chains, just as He promises to do for us.

Acts 12:7 shows this moment of deliverance:

 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.

But here’s the key: Peter didn’t stay in prison—he followed God’s instructions. Acts 12:8-9 continues:

 And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him.

For many Christians, however, we remain trapped in cycles of sin because we refuse to follow the instructions God has already given us in Scripture.

Satan’s Recycled Strategy #3: Division

Even after Peter’s miraculous release, Satan tries to sow confusion among believers. When Peter arrives at the house where the church is gathered in prayer, Rhoda joyfully announces his arrival—but they don’t believe her.

Acts 12:14-15 describes the moment:

 Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!”

This moment of disbelief reflects a subtle example of Satan’s tactic of causing confusion and disrupting unity, even among faithful believers.

Division is one of Satan’s oldest schemes. As the church grew, he sought to divide the early believers by creating complaints and discontent, threatening their unity and focus on ministry.

Satan thrives on division. Whether through confusion, jealousy, or rebellion, he seeks to tear apart the unity of God’s people.

Satan’s Recycled Strategy #4: Pride

Satan also recycles the tactic of pride, and we see this clearly in Herod’s downfall. Herod, in his arrogance, accepts the crowd’s praise when they call him a god.

Acts 12:21-23 recounts this tragic moment:

 On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

Herod’s pride blinded him to God’s sovereignty, and it ultimately led to his destruction. Pride is one of Satan’s most effective tools, and it has been since the very beginning. In the Garden of Eden, Satan tempted Eve by planting the idea that she could be like God.

God’s Victory Is Unchanging

Acts 12 concludes with this triumphant reminder:

 Acts 12:24: “But the word of God increased and multiplied.”

Despite Satan’s recycled tactics—violence, bondage, division, and pride—God’s mission prevailed. No scheme of Satan can stop God’s work.

Two Key Truths

 1. Satan’s Schemes Are Predictable
Violence, bondage, division, and pride—these tactics are as old as time. Recognizing them equips us to resist.

 2. God’s Victory Is Unchanging
The Word of God always increases and multiplies. His sovereignty ensures that no plan of the enemy can prevail.

Living in Victory

As believers, we are called to live in the victory of Christ, resisting Satan’s recycled schemes and faithfully advancing the Gospel. Recognize his tactics, trust in God’s power, and walk in obedience to His Word. In doing so, we can rest assured that God’s triumph is already secured.

Let’s stand united, humble, and bold, knowing that His mission cannot be stopped.