Genesis 3:1-5 Satan made a seemingly gentle suggestion against God's word and work, first by presenting them in a negative light. God had spoken to Adam and Eve, giving them His word. They had gathered much about the mind and personality of God because of what He said. In addition, they could see with their own eyes a great deal about God's person, personality, and mind by what He had made. They were in a beautiful garden, which reflected the mind of God. They could see the beauty of His mind, and how His mind provided things beautiful and delightful to enjoy. They knew a great deal about the mind of God simply from what they were able to observe. By making the challenge the way Satan did, he first made them mildly skeptical about God's love, asking them, Does God really love you? Second, he made it seem as though obedience to God was, in reality, servility. He made them begin to feel as though God's way was restrictive; that He was holding back good things from them. This thought naturally led them to think much more could be obtained from life if they just followed their body's and mind's natural inclinations. Third, he played his trump card: Not only would they not die, but they would be in control, free to determine right and wrong. In short, they would be equal to God! Satan successfully brought them into a spirit of competition against God, resulting in the enmity described in Romans 8:7. He indirectly lied about God Himself, and he directly lied about the penalty, giving them misinformation about the reward. He did tell them the truth, that their eyes would be opened and that they would not immediately die. Their eyes were opened, and they now looked at things through the twisted perspective, seeing evil in everything. From innocence, they became ashamed of their nakedness. The effect began immediately. This is important because right thoughts precede right actions; right thoughts determine the release of proper emotions. Our thoughts express themselves even in our most casual relationships, in daily work, and most importantly, in our intimate relationships in our home and family. Most of all, they express themselves in our relationship with God. False beliefs about God and His purpose for man are far more destructive than alcohol and drugs. They confuse, divide, and bring on warfare. Satan's lies, his counterfeits, and his devices are usually so subtle that only a trained mind can discern them. God teaches us to be able to see. He trains us to be able to spot the ploys, contrivances, and stratagems of our enemy so that we can overcome and defeat him. Genesis 3:5 The Devil asserted that by taking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, human eyes would be opened—implying wisdom and enlightenment—to allow a person to know good and evil as God does. Immediately, Satan places the emphasis on knowing, but it is contrasted with living eternally. Satan proposes that mankind should be like God in taking to himself the knowledge—the definition—of what is right and wrong, asserting that this is a good thing! In contrast, the Tree of Life represents a way of living in which the meaning of good and evil already exists, and eternal life involves submitting through the Holy Spirit to that definition and the Sovereign who is its source. Likewise, the Gnostics are those who know—who pursue mystical knowledge that they believe holds the key to eternal life through advancing beyond the physical and into the spiritual realm. Gnostics believed the key to eternal life was contained in right interpretation—knowledge—of those esoteric sayings. The book of Revelation expounds on the Tree of Life in two places: · To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7) · Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into [New Jerusalem]. (Revelation 22:14)
The Tree of Life, then, is associated with a way of life—one that requires overcoming (growth against a standard of righteousness) and keeping (doing) God's commandments. The only ones who are allowed to partake of the Tree of Life are those who have changed themselves (with God's help, by His Spirit) to begin living in the same manner as He does. To those who submit to His standard of righteousness, then, He grants life that is both endless and of the same quality that He enjoys. Satan, though, in addition to casting doubt on what God plainly says, and implying that God is unfair by withholding good things, offers a shortcut. He says, "You do not need to follow God's way, for it is obviously unfair and far too stringent. You can follow your own way. You can take knowledge to yourself of what is good and what is evil. You can be just like God in determining what is right and wrong." Adam and Eve took the bait, and ever since, man has rejected God's standard of righteousness in favor of his own. This heresy is easily seen in the antinomianism (literally, "against law") of the Gnostics, who may not have been against every law, but were certainly against any law that impinged upon their standard of conduct. Thus the ascetic Gnostics who grieved the Christians in Colossae held to manmade regulations of "do not touch, do not taste, do not handle" (Colossians 2:20-21), while rejecting the command to "rejoice" with food and drink during the God-ordained festivals. Similarly, mainstream Christianity will (rightly) use portions of Leviticus and Deuteronomy to point out God's abhorrence of abortion and homosexuality, but will claim that the same law is "done away" when it comes to the Sabbath and holy days. They have taken to themselves the knowledge of what is good and what is evil, establishing their own standard of righteousness. A core issue of the Bible is whether we submit to God's governance or try to form a government based on our own perception of what is good or what works. God's way results in eternal life, but it comes with the obligation to submit ourselves to God. It requires keeping all of His commandments and overcoming our human weaknesses that do not rise to that standard. Satan, conversely, seeks to persuade us to do our own thing and to usurp God's prerogative in defining right living. He encourages us to be enlightened, to have our eyes opened, by doubting God and rejecting His way. Deuteronomy 13:1-5 The first factor added here is that God recognizes that false prophets, through the power of Satan, can accomplish signs and wonders. The magicians of Egypt imitate Moses' staff-into-a-serpent miracle before Pharaoh (Exodus 7:8-12). The end-time False Prophet will do similar signs as the Two Witnesses, causing most of the world's population to worship the Beast (Revelation 13:11-15). Paul warns in II Corinthians 11:13-15 that Satan's servants are clever counterfeits of Christ's. Signs, wonders, and miracles, then, are not conclusive proof that a prophet is from God. The second factor Deuteronomy 13 adds is our need to recognize the spiritual message accompanying the prophet's signs and predictions. This is the essence of the apostle John's admonition, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (I John 4:1). No matter how impressive or accurate a prophet's miracles or prophecies, his credibility hangs on whether he leads people toward or away from God. The following questions, then, must all be answered before we judge a person as a true or false prophet: 1. Does he claim to prophesy in God's name or in a false god's name?
2. Do his prophecies come to pass?
3. Does he do signs and wonders?
4. Does he teach the truth based on God's Word?
Job 41:34 This verse portrays God speaking of Leviathan, which clearly represents a being of awesome power and influence over mankind. God's description of Leviathan must not be misunderstood by focusing merely on its monstrous physical appearance, but rather on its reality as a living being, possessing strong leadership qualities and powerful influence. Leviathan strikes fear into men to bring about submission to him and thus control of them. He is the king of pride, and he rules "the children of pride," who are the overwhelming masses of unconverted people, those not submissive to God. They, like their king and spiritual father, are enemies of God. Whether his mass of followers is aware of it or not, they have been forcibly inducted into his service. This is the same being of which Jesus informed the Jews in John 8:44: You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
The one who became Satan is a powerful and dominating creation of Almighty God. He was created, not as an enemy of God and His purpose, but as a powerful cherub to serve Him in His purpose by leading other angels in their service to God. Jude 6 discloses that the place of their service was on Planet Earth before mankind was created. But, as Ezekiel 28:14-17 shows, he turned his heart against God to become an enemy, influencing the angels under his charge to rebel with him to fight against God (Revelation 12:9; Isaiah 14:12-14). God defeated them, and they were cast back to earth. Satan and his minions are still here, continuing their war against God and His creation—man. Ephesians 2:1-3 informs us about how this warfare is being carried out: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Satan's influence is worldwide: "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (I John 5:19). His ultimate object is to destroy God, but along the way he also strives to destroy any aspect of God's creation, most especially man. He is doing this through inducing human beings to sin in order to bring upon them the wages of sin—death. His basic tool for accomplishing this is by means of his spirit. The driving forces of his prideful, deceitful mind and those of his demon companions are deceit, hatred, anger, competition, and destruction, all encompassed within an overweening pride. People absorb them into their thinking processes, becoming like him in attitude and conduct. These characteristics lodge into human hearts and generate resistance to God, His law, and His purpose. John 4:23-24 Several years ago, WorldNetDaily published a controversial exposé that spotlighted one of the more frequent skirmishes in our current culture war. Written by Joe Kovacs, "Christmas in America becomes battleground" reveals the pagan origins of this esteemed tradition and demonstrates why increasing numbers of "fundamentalist Christians" are realizing that one cannot "put Christ" back into something in which He never was. Apologist C.S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, asserts that one of Satan's most common ploys is to "send error into the world in pairs"—pairs of opposites—"and then he encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking, Which is the worst?" Satan persuades us to argue over two options, or two points of view, neither one of which is true. Regardless of which side carries the argument, Satan wins the day. In the current war over Christmas and religious symbols, Satan has pitted the secular humanists, who want to blot out Christianity and encourage almost any other form of worship, against mainstream Christians, who are fighting for the right to worship as they see fit by putting evergreen trees in schools per Jeremiah 10:2-5. Atheists and agnostics arrayed against Christmas-bent "Christians"—for whom do we root? The truth of the matter is that Satan is the real winner regardless of the outcome. As Mr. Kovacs' article shows, the truth about the pagan origins of Christmas is easily researched. Any good encyclopedia will show that the timing and trappings of this celebration long predate Christianity. December 25 has been a focal point of sun-worship for millennia. The pagan origins of this day are so well-documented that the real question is, "What business do Christians have in trying to "Christianize" something that has been blatantly anti-God from the very beginning?" Is this worshipping God in spirit and in truth? God was so concerned that ancient Israel would begin adopting the pagan ways of the Canaanites—even under the auspices of worshipping the true God—that He gave the children of Israel a categorical warning: When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, "How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise." You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it. (Deuteronomy 12:29-32)
God is very specific in the way that He wants to be worshipped! He has not given us permission to worship Him in just any way that seems right to us. He warns His people specifically in these verses, as well as in Revelation 22:18-19, not to add to His instructions, nor to take away from them, and this is clearly within the context of adopting pagan practices in conjunction with worshipping Him. Christmas may not involve physical child-sacrifice—although in spirit millions of children are being sacrificed on the altar of materialism—but the stench of this celebration is odious nonetheless because it is still idolatry: replacing the true worship of God with a false one. The Bible does not specify when Jesus Christ was born (although the best deduction is that it was in the autumn—see "When Was Jesus Born?" Forerunner, December 1994). More importantly, the Bible does not give any instruction in celebrating His birth, nor any example of the first-century church doing so, nor any indication that the celebration of birthdays is pleasing to God at all! Even this idea has come from paganism, rather than from God's Instruction Book for mankind. Is this, then, worshipping God in spirit and in truth? Is it any wonder that our Savior says, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:8-9); and "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition" (Mark 7:9); and "[you make] the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do" (Mark 7:13)? Human nature has the rebellious proclivity to do only what it wants to do, even when told by God Himself to do things differently (Romans 8:7)! We see, then, that on one pole are the secularists, who believe the lie that God should not be a part of their lives. On the other pole are mainstream Christians, who believe the lie that syncretism is an acceptable form of worship. But in either case, the trail of lies indicates who the real "holiday spirit" is.
|
|
Genesis 1:2 Verse 2 pictures the earth as a cold, dark, uninhabitable place covered with water: "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep." Why would this be? Other scriptures indicate that God originally created the earth perfect and beautiful and ready to be inhabited (Job 38:4-7; Isaiah 45:18). And since the sun had already been created, why would the earth be dark? The best explanation for this condition is that a great destruction had occurred when, sometime in prehistory, Helel (who became Satan) and his angels rebelled against God's authority and tried to overthrow Him (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-16). This great war (Revelation 12:7-8) apparently caused an enormous amount of destruction to occur in the solar system. The resultant interplanetary debris and dust, some of which descended into earth's atmosphere, prevented the light from the sun and moon from reaching the earth. Romans 1:18-19 Not only does Satan's deception play a part in man's separation from God, but God's Word also shows that there is a willfulness involved in man's choice of the direction in which he is headed. Men "suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest to them"! In his deception, Satan has been so forceful, his argument so "good," that sincere men will argue and fight against God, thinking they are serving God. Jesus prophesied that people will kill in the name of God and think, sincerely, that they are doing God a service (John 16:2). How effective Satan has been—and is—with his deceptions! If he has been that effective in deceiving people, how wide is the gulf that separates mankind from God? It is so wide that in the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man in Luke 16, it is described as "impassable," and so it is. Sin brought death, and for humans to bridge the gap to eternal life is impossible. Mankind is in a horrible state when one looks at it from the evidence that God has on His side. We deserve every bit of pain, torment, hurt, and anxiety that might come our way. We have no basis at all for complaining to God that we deserve His mercy and forgiveness. God has every right, based on our sinful activities, to do what He could do, but in His mercy, will not do. Ephesians 2:1-3 In this chapter's first ten verses, Paul is showing that the children of God—us—who were once objects of God's wrath, are by His grace legally and spiritually freed from the clutches of Satan's dominion. However, the influences of the world Satan has fashioned remain to be dealt with and overcome. Satan is described as a spirit who is "prince of the power of the air." This phrase has a familiar ring to it, but alternative translations may be better suited to understanding. The New English Bible calls him "commander of the spiritual powers of the air now at work among God's rebel subjects." The Concordat Literal New Testament renders it as "chief of the jurisdiction of the air, the spirit now operating in the sons of stubbornness." Webster's gives as one of the usages for jurisdiction, "the limits, or territory within which authority may be exercised." This particular jurisdiction is where air exists, tying in with the word "heavenly" in Ephesians 6:12: "[We wrestle] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Here, "heavenly" refers, not to the place of God's throne, but to the first heaven, the air surrounding the earth in which birds fly. This also links with Revelation 18:2 and its "unclean and hated birds," symbolizing demons. Birds operate in the same heaven Satan commands. Prior to the rebellion, God gave Satan and his demon assistants substantial authority over everything from the earth's atmosphere on down to the earth itself, which includes us, its inhabitants. We must never forget that, in large part, our wrestling, as Paul terms it, is with these spirits. We inhabit the same space they do. These evil spirits indeed use deceived people to carry out their plans to destroy those in whom God lives. These people are likely under the strong influence of those spirit authorities, and because they are deceived, they are unaware that they are being used! They are not necessarily possessed, as the Bible shows some are, but influenced by demons to act against our best interests. A factor God wants us to realize more completely and fully is that we are not alone in this ocean of air. Even as vicious sharks and barracuda prowl the water, their demonic counterparts, symbolized as foul and unclean raptors and carrion-eaters, inhabit the ocean of air right along with us. It is essential to our spiritual well-being to heed Paul's warning in Ephesians 6:10-12 that our battles are against these creatures, and they are fighting tooth-and-toenail to hang on to what they believe is theirs by first-occupancy rights. Earth, the Bible plainly tells us, was "their first estate" (Jude 6, KJV). They hate us because we are becoming like the Father and Son, and because they know this earth, our inheritance, will be taken from them and given to the sons of God, those who are in His image. On the surface, they have advantages over us because they are invisible to our eyes. In addition, they can, without our even being aware, communicate their thoughts and attitudes to our minds through the very air that supports our lives. Most people in this world do not know they are deceived or how they became deceived. Satan and his demons have not sat us all down to tell us, "We are here to deceive you." We know only because God's Word reveals this truth to us, and we believe it. Despite this happening in our lives, deception can still be communicated to us unless we are astute enough to take care that it does not happen again. Nevertheless, deception and its resulting behaviors have been communicated to us through the culture we were born into. The culture, the world around us, is the medium of this corrupting communication. We have been freed from deception by God's revelation of Himself, but the urgent admonition from our Lord and Savior is, "Don't be passive concerning the responsibilities your liberation has imposed. Take action because the communication can be reabsorbed, enslaving you once again."
1 Corinthians 10:20-21 To use Paul's analogy, our spiritual diet must not be a mixture of true and false doctrines. In this area of life, a mixture produces nothing good (James 3:11-12). We must make every effort to separate the true food from the false if we are to grow and qualify for the Kingdom of God. This is a responsibility that falls on each of us—we cannot leave it to others! We must acknowledge the source of the false teaching—Satan, his demons, and his false ministers—to truly appreciate the seriousness of heresy. Like Peter, Paul warns about heresies within the church: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons" (I Timothy 4:1). The Greek word planos, translated as "deceiving" (NKJV) or "seducing" (KJV), is the same word from which we derive the English word "planet." It conveys the idea of wandering. To the astronomers of ancient Greece, the planets appeared to wander in a heaven populated by other, relatively fixed lights. Thus, evil spirits induce people to wander from the true path of God's Word. These are the principalities and powers against which we wrestle (Ephesians 6:10-12). Heresy is not always easily detected because Satan usually camouflages the lie with a large measure of truth. He is a master of deceit. Because the people of the world are so ignorant of God, Satan can tell them virtually anything, and they will believe it. But with us he generally does not directly challenge or obviously and blatantly misquote Scripture. His confrontation with Jesus, beginning in Matthew 4:1, is a classic example. He subtly twists the intent of a scripture to bend it into a wrong application or understanding. At other times, he will appeal to our vanity to get us to react to his suggestions without thinking. The Bible gives only a few specific doctrines with which seducing spirits, heresy or false ministers are directly associated. However, do not be fooled that so few doctrines are directly mentioned with the word "heresy" attached. No doctrine is sacrosanct to demons. They will attack the people of God in any spiritual area. The Bible makes it very clear that demons are our major, major enemies, and deception that leads us into sin is their game!
When Lucifer, or Satan, as he is now called, was cast out, he realized that he had lost heaven forever. His nature was now changed completely, and his heart was filled with anger and hatred toward the entire government of God. His history shows that from that time his motto was, in the language of Milton, “Evil, be thou my good.” His change of name indicates his change of character. Lucifer means light-bearer. The word devil means the opposite—darkness. He is now the prince of darkness. Revenge now filled that heart where once the love of God abode, and all his powers were exerted against God and His work. Every artful device of Satan and the evil angels has since been used to lead men to follow them in sin and rebellion against God. It is well for man to know the strength of the foe he has to meet. Satan and his angels have on earth the same wisdom, and much of the power, which they had in heaven before their fall. To this is added six thousand years’ experience in their terrible work. In heaven Satan’s influence was so great as to deceive and lead into rebellion a vast number of the holy angels. If his influence in the very courts of heaven was so great, can we not readily understand how it is possible for him to lead mankind astray? With such power and influence as he has at his command, we can never overcome Satan in our own strength. If we let go our hold upon God, we step onto the enemy’s ground, and he will always be there to meet us. Under such conditions we are sure to be “taken captive by him at his will” (2 Timothy 2:26). But we need not be overcome by the enemy. Christ has twice conquered this foe—once in the battle in heaven, when Satan was cast out; and again as a man on earth when He met all his temptations, and came off victorious. Hence Satan is to Christ a conquered foe. If we trust our Lord fully, He will give us strength in every hour of need, and thus we may become “more than conquerors through Him that loves us” (Romans 8:37). Not only does Satan seek to draw man away from his allegiance to God, but he uses also the elements of the earth, sea, and sky to work his destruction. Paul calls Satan “The prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). The name is well applied; for it is he who causes the terrible cyclones, the tidal waves, and other awful disasters. Only the restraining hand of God prevents him from bringing devastation to the whole world, more awful than has yet been known. The experience of Job, as recorded in the first chapter of that book, is evidence that Satan controls, not only the hearts and actions of wicked men, but also, as far as permitted, the very elements. When God allowed him to afflict Job, four great calamities came upon him in such quick succession that one bearer of evil tidings could not finish his report before another was waiting with his account of disaster. They were as follows: First, a band of Sabeans fell upon the servants who were plowing, and slew them, and took away the oxen, and the asses that were feeding beside them. It was Satan who stirred up these wicked men to do this deed. Second, fire from above burned up the sheep as they were feeding, as well as the servants who were caring for them. This storm of fire was brought down by Satan for the purpose of causing this very destruction. The text reads, “The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them” (Job 1:16). This was the language of the messenger, giving an account of the disaster as he understood it. By a reading of the twelfth verse we can not avoid the conclusion that these calamities were not sent by God, but were the means the Lord permitted Satan to use in his effort to destroy the integrity of Job. Third, three bands of Chaldeans fell upon the camels, and carried them away, and slew the servants who were keeping them. These Chaldeans were idolaters, hence were servants of Satan, and were led and influenced by him in this raid upon the property of Job. Fourth, a wind from the wilderness smote the house where the sons and daughters of Job were eating and drinking and killed them all. This awful bereavement was the last of the four great calamities brought upon him at this time. In this instance the winds obeyed the will of Satan, so justifying the statement made by Paul, that Satan is “the prince of the power of the air.” Awful disasters and terrible calamities are abroad in the earth to-day. As wickedness is increasing in the land, God is removing His restraining power, and Satan is having a freer hand to do the work in which he delights. Satan is a hard master, for he takes pleasure in bringing disaster and suffering and misery upon even his own subjects. This is in sharp contrast with the loving, tender care which God delights to manifest toward His people. When Israel was in bondage in Egypt, and that land was afflicted because of the hardness of the heart of the Egyptian king, God preserved His people; the plagues did not come near them, and there was peace in their homes in the land of Goshen. As we near the close of probation, a short time before Christ comes, awful plagues will be poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth, of which the plagues upon Egypt were only a shadowy type. (See Revelation 16.) These plagues will be visited upon those who have stubbornly refused the offers of God’s mercy. The prophet Daniel speaks of this as “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time” (Daniel 12:1). But during this time God will protect His people as He did Israel in Egypt. Daniel 12:1 reads further, “At that time Thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” And David says of the righteous in this time, “Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. … There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling” (Psalm 91:8, 10). God’s care is ever over His people for good, for He loves them, and they are to Him as “the apple of His eye.” As we near the end, Satan will become more and more active in bringing disaster upon the world. The apostle-prophet John says of this time, “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12). As the coming of Christ draws near, the deceptions of Satan will increase in power, and become more startling and convincing. Christ said that “great signs and wonders” shall be shown; “insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). It is only by being firmly and thoroughly grounded in the Word that we shall be able to detect those deceptions, and be saved from their evil consequences. The “working of Satan” is to be “with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish” (2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10). “And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven [the atmospheric heavens, which surround this earth] on the earth in the sight of men” (Revelation 13:13). Satan brought fire from heaven, and burned the flocks of Job for the purpose of destroying his confidence in God. In the latter days he will repeat such miracles for the purpose of establishing confidence in himself. “And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do” (Revelation 13:14). Christ pointed to His miracles as evidences of His divinity. (See John 10:38; 14:11). Satan ever seeks to counterfeit the work of God. In the last days he will support the claims of his apostate church by the evidence of miracles. In the last days “the spirits of devils” are to “work miracles,” and “go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14). In Hebrews 2:14, we learn that the devil has “the power of death.” This is true, because sin brought death, and Satan is the author of sin. He claims all who die as his own. Death is not a friend, but a deadly foe. Paul says, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26). Death is the child of sin, and Satan is its father. Only the power of God can bring the dead from “the land of the enemy,” at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:22–26). But some glad day sin and death and Satan will be destroyed together. Paul declared that Christ, by His death, opened the way by which He “might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). The Lord, speaking of Satan through the prophet Ezekiel, says, “Therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee … and never shall thou be any more” (Ezekiel 28:18, 19).
The connection of the "world" with the Evil One as its "prince" is not uncommon in Holy Scripture (see John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11); and the power of this passage is exactly that which Satan claims as "committed" to him in Luke 4:32. But the phrase "the power of the air" is unique and difficult. We note(1) that this phrase signifies not "a power over the air," but "a power dwelling in the region of the air." Now, the word "power," both in the singular and the plural, is used in this Epistle, almost technically, of superhuman power. Here, therefore, the Evil One is described as "the prince," or ruler, of such superhuman power — considered here collectively as a single power, prevailing over the world, and working in the children of disobedience — in the same sense in which he is called the "prince of the devils," the individual spirits of wickedness (Matthew 9:34; Matthew 12:24). Next(2), Why is this spoken of as ruling "in the air"? There may possibly be allusion (as has been supposed) to the speculation of Jewish or Gentile philosophy; but it seems far more probable that the "air" is here meant simply to describe a sphere, and therefore a power, below the heaven and yet above the earth. The "air" is always opposed to the bright "ether," or to the spiritual "heaven"; the word and its derivatives carry with them the ideas of cloudiness, mist, and even darkness. Hence it is naturally used to suggest the conception of the evil power, as allowed invisibly to encompass and move about this world, yet overruled by the power of the true heaven, which it vainly strives to overcloud and hide from earth. In Ephesians 6:12 the powers of evil are described with less precision of imagery, as dwelling "in heavenly places," the opposition being there only between what is human and superhuman; yet even there the "darkness" of this world is referred to, corresponding to the conception of cloudiness and dimness always attaching to "the air." Proverbs 21:4 The relationship between pride and sin is easily seen, but none seems to exist between either pride or sin and plowing. However, there is a link. Solomon is saying that just as surely as plowing precedes the produce of the earth, so does pride prepare the way for the produce of sin. In some Bibles "plowing" may be translated "lamp." In this case, pride is depicted as a lamp that guides or lights the way into sin. In his poem, The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri listed pride among the seven great sins. In fact, he lists it first because, he concludes, it is the father of the others. Because of what the Bible reveals of Satan and his rebellion, he is probably correct. Isaiah 2:7-11 Everywhere, the Bible shows the same principle: Pride has its roots in a feeling of wealth or accomplishment, which is then used to compare. We can tie this to Satan and what is written about him in Ezekiel 28, how pride arose within him because of his beauty. He had something to brag about that made him feel good. But his vanity, developing into outright pride, began to get to him. He began to feel better than the other angels, and eventually, in his own eyes, he equated himself with God. In time, he thought of himself as greater than God—a very perverted comparison. It does not have to be intelligence or beauty or power as it was with Satan. It could be things like money, position, social position, natural ability, social status, knowledge, strength, hair, clothing, a house, furniture, automobile—the list is virtually endless. In the New Testament, the Greek is huperephania, which means "to show oneself above." It does not imply one who others look up to, but one who stands on his own self-created pedestal. Psychologists tell us that pride is actually a mark of inner inferiority and uncertainty, and such people compensate by over-emphasizing and flaunting the qualities that they think they possess that will make others think well of them. This feeling of wealth is highly relative because each person is capable of setting his own standards of comparison, regardless of his real accomplishments. Proverbs 26:16 speaks of the sluggard who is wiser in his own eyes than all others, who can render more answers than seven wise men can. Although he is virtually devoid of anything that anybody would consider worth bragging about, the sluggard has created his own set of standards. He thinks he already knows the answers. He has a feeling of wealth, of prosperity, of power, or of security in whatever standard he in his own conceptions has set. He is so sure that he knows the answers that he is undeterred by facts and continues then in his ignorance. He is self-sufficient. Isaiah 66:1-2 Humility is what impresses God. Pride gets between us and God, and without realizing it, we actually shut Him out of our lives. The Bible clearly shows that our spiritual well-being is dependent upon acknowledging, with our lives, our reliance upon the revealed will of God—His Word. Pride results from arrogating to oneself something for which one is indebted and would not even have except for God's benevolence. Who gave Helel (commonly mistranslated as "Lucifer," who became Satan) his beauty? his intelligence? his position of power from which he operated? Pride perverted Helel's thinking into rejecting his dependence, and he elevated himself above God. Now what do we have that we did not receive? Did we create ourselves? Did we create the great goal in life to be in the Kingdom of God and to be born into His Family? Did we reveal God to ourselves? Did we die on the stake for the forgiveness of our sins? Did the gift of the Holy Spirit come to us through our own agency? Did we lead ourselves to repentance? Who gave us the power to believe in the true God and in His Son Jesus Christ? It is interesting to reflect on Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan comes along and says to them, "You will be as God." What entered into Adam and Eve at that moment? The pride of life. The result? They rejected the revelation of God. They rejected His Word and sinned. Pride subtly elevates a man to the same level as God, which results in him rejecting the very gifts God would give him for his salvation. So, consciously or subconsciously, the proud man—us (hopefully not as much as it used to be)—is saying that he already knows better, or has the power and ability within himself by nature, thereby subtly turning salvation into something God owes him. It becomes earned.
SATAN'S ATTACKS: - Condemnation – Perhaps you cannot seem to escape the feeling of shame and condemnation over your past. The Lord says that you are a new creation in Christ and that all things are new. If you are having thoughts of condemnation and feeling like you are unloved by God then you are under attack.
- Accusations – Satan is the accuser of the brethren. In the book of Job it says that the enemy patrols the earth, watching and waiting to find someone to accuse. When someone accuses you of wrongdoing and you are innocent it may cause you to doubt, fear, and cower. Those accusations can cause you mental defeat and lead to things like depression. Are you letting false accusations hinder your purpose?
Satan is described on several occasions as a prince (John 12:31, John 14:30, Ephesians 2:2), and he is called Beelzebub, a name of doubtful origin, but which means the prince of demons (Matthew 12:24); in addition he is the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4). Thus he is in a position of considerable power and authority with a kingdom that was attested by the Lord Jesus, who said "if Satan... is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand" (Luke 11:18). However Satan is never called a king, because nowhere is his authority absolute. His kingdom is not hell, as many have popularly supposed (Dante, Milton), but it is the kingdom of darkness (Collosians 1:13), which is in opposition to the kingdom of God. Satan thus rules over both unregenerate mankind and the multitude of demons. When certain angels revolted against God they were cast down to hell, that is Tartarus, and they remain there in bonds until the day of judgement (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6), so they are restrained from further evil activity. Many other spirits have rebelled, but God in His wisdom has allowed them to retain their freedom, and to act as minions of Satan and assist in his nefarious activities. John 12:31
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. John 14:30
30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Matthew 12:24
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 2 Corinthians 4:4
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Luke 11:18
18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. Colossians 1:13
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 2 Peter 2:4
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; Jude 1:6
6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. "The prince of the power of the air" is a unique expression (Ephesians 2:2), and the form of the language in the original Greek is unusual. The phrase is therefore rather difficult to interpret, and various explanations have been given by commentators from the early Church fathers onwards. It would not be profitable to reiterate all these opinions, as many can only be described as ingenious and fanciful. One common interpretation is based on the word used here for air (Gk. aer), which means the lower air or mist, as opposed to the upper clear air (Gk. aither); thus the lower air has been equated with the darkness, but the usage seems more specific. The air does not here mean the ordinary physical atmosphere, nor does it imply that the earth is literally surrounded by the hosts of Satan. "The power" (Gk. exousia) it should be noted means a delegated authority; Satan is not omnipotent. The preferred meaning of the expression 'the power of the air' would be the authority over the sphere of activity where the hosts of wickedness operate. This corresponds to the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). Thus the air is parallel in thought to the world (Gk. kosmos), with air representing the spirits, as the world represents unregenerate mankind, both of whom are under the power and influence of the evil one. The prince and all his demons are totally united in opposing the purposes of God, and directing against Him the affairs of the sons of disobedience. The tragedy is that mankind is naturally blind not only to the light of the gospel, but also to the existence of demons and their evil influence. Demons are also called evil, unclean or familiar spirits, and sometimes incorrectly called devils. Since there is no reproduction among spirits it would seem that each one had individually rebelled against God and given his allegiance to Satan; or, it has been suggested, they may have originally been subject to Satan and then defected together at his fall. Ephesians 2:2
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Ephesians 6:12
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. The kingdom of Satan seeks to copy the universal kingdom of God. For as the latter has a hierarchy of thrones, dominions, principalities and powers (Colossians 1:16), the former seeks to imitate with a rival organization of principalities, powers, world rulers and spiritual hosts of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12). It would be difficult and highly speculative to define each of the above terms separately, or even to differentiate precisely their functions, but it is evident that there are two great forces working in opposition, one for good and one for evil. While God has provided the highest good for mankind, Satan is deploying his forces to hold down fallen mankind and encourage men in selfish greed, ambition and the other works of the flesh, and indeed all that is hostile to the will of God. Colossians 1:16
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: Ephesians 6:12
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Nature of Demons --They are spirits, having no material form, but they seem to desire physical contact, perhaps to give them greater means of expressing themselves (Matthew 12:43, Matthew 8:31).
--They are personal and have names (Mark 5:9).
--They are intelligent and possess powers of thought, speech and action, and they can distinguish between true and false (Acts 19:15).
--They believe in God, but show no repentance, and they also recognize the deity of Christ (James 2:19, Luke 4:34).
--They have some knowledge of the future as they are aware of their destiny (Matthew 8:29).
--They exhibit degrees of wickedness, since some are described as more wicked than others (Matthew 12:45).
--They are able to enter human beings and animals, but the mode of access is unknown.
--They can voluntarily leave a possessed person and later return (Luke 11:24).
--They can afflict both physical and mental disabilities on their victims (Matthew 12:22, Acts 16:16).
--They are powerful and can exert supernatural strength in their victims (Matthew 8:28).
--They can be exorcised by the power of God, however some are more difficult to expel than others (Mark 9:28), but in any case only a minute fraction of His power is needed, as is expressed by the finger of God (Luke 11:20).
--They can influence people without possessing them (1 John 4:1). Matthew 12:43
43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Matthew 8:31
31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. Mark 5:9
9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. Acts 19:15
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? James 2:19
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. Luke 4:34
34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. Matthew 8:29
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? Matthew 12:45
45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. Luke 11:24
24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. Matthew 12:22
22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. Acts 16:16
16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: Matthew 8:28
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. Mark 9:28
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? Luke 11:20
20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. 1 John 4:1
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Activities of Demons These activities consist of both opposing the purposes of God and extending the authority of Satan. The scope of their work has varied from time to time depending on the strategy of Satan, who can assume many guises from that of a roaring lion to an angel of light. Perhaps deceit is the most common characteristic. While these activities reached unprecedented levels in New Testament times, as Satan mustered all his forces to oppose Christ, there is ample evidence of the work of evil powers in the Old Testament The evil practices of the Canaanites were fostered by the powers, and no doubt Satan specially directed his forces to corrupt the Israelites as they came to possess their promised land. There were severe warnings in the Mosaic Law against evil practices and also making sacrifices to idols, which were effectively offered to demons (Deuteronomy 32:17, Psalms 106:36). For though the idols were nothing in themselves and completely powerless, they became potent through the demons. Later Paul confirms that offerings to idols are sacrifices to demons (1 Corinthians 10:20). The corruption was very extensive involving human sacrifices, soothsaying, sorcery, spiritualism, divination and necromancy; those who practiced these things were to be cut off from the people, and sometimes condemned to death (Leviticus 19:1-37, Leviticus 20:1-27). Deuteronomy 32:17
17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Psalms 106:36
36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. 1 Corinthians 10:20
20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Leviticus 19:1-37
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.
3 Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.
5 And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will.
6 It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire.
7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.
8 Therefore every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
11 Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.
15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.
17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
19 Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.
20 And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
21 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering.
22 And the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the LORD for his sin which he hath done: and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him.
23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.
24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withal.
25 And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the LORD your God.
26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
29 Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.
32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.
33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.
36 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD. Leviticus 20:1-27
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
3 And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
4 And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:
5 Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
6 And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
8 And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.
9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
11 And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
12 And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
15 And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
16 And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
17 And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.
18 And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
19 And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister: for he uncovereth his near kin: they shall bear their iniquity.
20 And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless.
21 And if a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; they shall be childless.
22 Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out.
23 And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.
24 But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.
25 Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean.
26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them. King Saul, who had previously removed those with familiar spirits and wizards from the land, turned in desperation to the witch of Endor when pressed by the army of the Philistines, after Samuel was dead and Saul had lost contact with God. The woman, under pressure from Saul, sought her familiar spirit, but she was terrified when instead the spirit of Samuel appeared. This clearly shows that the spirit of a deceased person does not normally appear at a seance even though this may be claimed to take place. The sentence on Saul is a solemn warning to those who would indulge in the occult. (1 Chronicles 10:13). Evil spirits were sometimes used by God for His own purposes, which demonstrates His overall power; for instance God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem (Judges 9:23), and a lying spirit was used to punish king Ahab (1 Kings 22:23). All departure from God led inevitably to idolatry, as shown by Jeroboam, who ordained priests for high places and for demons (2 Chronicles 11:15). Evil spirits were much in evidence in the occult practices of the wicked king Manasseh (2 Kings 21:6). The continuation of these practices led some of the prophets to give specific warnings against spiritism, as they looked forward to the future cleansing of the people and the day when all evil would be banished from the land (Isaiah 8:19, Jeremiah 27:9). 1 Chronicles 10:13
13 So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; Judges 9:23
23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: 1 Kings 22:23
23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee. 2 Chronicles 11:15
15 And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made. 2 Kings 21:6
6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. Isaiah 8:19
19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? Jeremiah 27:9
9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: The Gospel records present a very clear exposure of the activity of demons, with many references to the healing of those possessed by demons. The effect of demon possession is manifested in different ways as the victims variously exhibit insanity and mental disorders (Matthew 8:28), or blindness, dumbness, epilepsy and other physical afflictions (Matthew 17:15). Some victims appeared to recognize that they were possessed, but they were in fact only acting as instruments of the spirit. Sometimes the evil spirits overruled the whole personality to produce complete mental confusion, as in the case of the Gadarene, who said "my name is legion; for we are many". The legion represented a considerable number of spirits, who changed the man into a maniac, but when they were expelled by Christ the man became completely normal; while the spirits in requesting entry to the swine seem to have vainly hoped to escape their coming judgement (Mark 5:1-20). It is most important to realize that not all sufferings were due to demons, for we are told that the Lord cast out demons and performed cures (Luke 13:32). Matthew 8:28
8 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. Matthew 17:15
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. Mark 5:1-20
1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.
15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.
17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel. Luke 13:32
32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Demon possession was very wrongfully attributed by the Jews to John the Baptist because of his ascetic habits (Matthew 11:18), and to Jesus also when He said "If a man keep My word he shall never see death" (John 8:51), which they considered to be absurd. Some expositors have maintained that demon possession required at least the initial consent of the person involved, (e.g. A. H. Strong); but while this may sometimes be true it will not always be the case, since young children have been affected (Mark 7:24). While the death of Christ on the cross marked the sentence on the powers of evil (Colossians 2:15), God has still permitted them to operate until the future day of judgement. The practice of the occult was shown to be a lucrative occupation by three cases in the Acts.
1. Simon the sorcerer, who offered money to the apostles for the gift of laying on hands to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:9-24),
2. The girl of Philippi, who brought much gain to her masters by soothsaying (Acts 16:16),
3. Those who practiced magic arts at Ephesus, and whose books were valued at fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19:19). Since New Testament times there have been many references to the activities of demons by early Church teachers, such as Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Augustine, but some of the cases seem to be exaggerated. At the time of the Reformation there was a surge of demonic activity, which both Luther and Calvin recorded, and Calvin's treatment of the subject is particularly instructive. The current increasing fascination with spiritism and witchcraft is very disturbing. Matthew 11:18
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
John 8:51
51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Mark 7:24
24 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. Colossians 2:15
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Acts 8:9-24
9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.
12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
24 Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. Acts 16:16
16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: Acts 19:19
19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. We are told that "in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Timothy 4:1). There can be no doubt that seducing spirits are behind many modern cults, as they were behind the idols of old, so that these cults not only deny the existence of evil spirits, but they also attempt to refute many fundamental Christian doctrines. As Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light, so his minions can appear as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14), to corrupt the truth and produce most palatable teachings, which are in reality doctrines of demons. The deceit knows no limits for even the fellowship of the Lord's table is counterfeited by the fellowship of the table of demons (1 Corinthians 10:21). For believers possession by demons is impossible, as regenerated persons are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). Though we are not immune from the attacks of the evil one, who is ever seeking to bring discredit on the work of God. God has provided us with a defense, and this is the subject of a later article in this series. Paul could write "we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11), and we would pray that we all might be the same. 1 Timothy 4:1
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Corinthians 11:14
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 1 Corinthians 10:21
21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. Ephesians 1:13
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 2 Corinthians 2:11
11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. SNARES OF THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR Part 1 of 2 (52 Minutes, 11 Seconds)
"Snares Of The Prince Of The Power Of The Air, Part 1!"
Pastor Troy Clemens, Berean Bible Study (Theodore, Alabama)
From (Troy Clemens) of YouTube, Published on August 22, 2016 Part 2 of 2 (55 Minutes, 5 Seconds)
"Snares Of The Prince Of The Power Of The Air, Part 2!"
Pastor Troy Clemens, Berean Bible Study (Theodore, Alabama)
From (Troy Clemens) of YouTube, Published on August 22, 2016 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One of Satan’s strongest weapons is pride. Pride is always a danger, especially when things are going well, such as in times of peace and prosperity (Deuteronomy 8:11-17). Perhaps the best example would be Lucifer himself, the one who became Satan. From the time of his creation, he had always lived under God’s perfect rule. Yet eventually his heart was lifted up with pride, and he rebelled (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-17; 1 Timothy 3:6). He uses that same device on us now. Pride is the opposite of the godly love the apostle Paul described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Pride does “parade itself” and is “puffed up.” When we think more highly of ourselves than others, it is easy to become impatient, unkind, rude and self-seeking. When we give in to our natural selfish motivations, we naturally treat others and their needs as less important. Anything that doesn’t go our way leads us to believe we are being treated unfairly. Ultimately this leads to narcissistic thinking and behavior. We can even fall into the trap of being proud of doing good things, as demonstrated by the Pharisee in Jesus Christ’s parable of the Pharisee and the publican. He gave the parable as a warning to those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others” (Luke 18:9). The self-righteous Pharisee prayed “thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all I possess’” (verses 11-12). Jesus emphasized that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” and extolled the humble, repentant tax collector (verses 13-14). (Read more about this important example in the article “The Pharisee and the Tax Collector.”) Paul warns that in these perilous “last days … men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy” (2 Timothy 3:1-2). Tool of Satan: EnvyAnother powerful device of Satan is envy—specifically, the kind of envy that is a distorted, selfish sense of fairness. This goes all the way back to Cain’s envy of Abel, when Abel was blessed for his offering. Cain thought it wasn’t fair. God knew the attitude of both Cain and Abel, so in His eyes it was totally fair. We know that, because of Satan’s influence, people don’t like to be told what to do. The “forbidden pleasures” grab people’s attention and focus. Satan makes them seem somehow more enticing and pleasurable than the true pleasures God wants us to have. So what does envy produce? “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there” (James 3:16).
Tool of Satan: AngerPaul warned about the dangers of anger. “‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). The New International Version says, “Do not give the devil a foothold.” When we allow anger to have the upper hand, we don’t think clearly and we often act rashly. Don’t give Satan that foothold to making further inroads in your life. See “A Foothold for the Devil” for helpful advice for avoiding this device of the devil. Tool of Satan: Lust for forbidden pleasuresAnother tool that Satan uses is the lust for forbidden pleasures. We know that, because of Satan’s influence, people don’t like to be told what to do. The “forbidden pleasures” grab people’s attention and focus. Satan makes them seem somehow more enticing and pleasurable than the true pleasures God wants us to have. See more about this in the articles “Temptation” and “Desire.” Tool of Satan: Itching earsPaul warned about another device of Satan: Itching ears. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Paul was warning Timothy of a natural tendency of human beings to want to hear new things, smooth things, things that appeal to us. Satan creates or exploits a quirk of human nature that allows even the amazing truths of God to seem boring! We must not fall prey to this weapon of Satan. The four Ds: disappointment, discouragement, doubt and divisionThere are many other devices Satan uses. For example, Satan has been very effective with what have been called the four Ds. The devil’s four Ds are: - Disappointment. Any time we look to people as our standard, we can be disappointed. But if we trust and have faith in God, we won’t be put to shame.
- Discouragement. When we dwell on disappointments, it often leads to discouragement. But God has given us the Holy Bible, His plan and His promises to encourage us.
- Doubt. Discouragement left unchecked leads to doubt.
- Division. Doubts and worries can lead to division of our loyalties. These can also lead to divisions between people and distancing from God.
We must be aware of these and the other weapons in Satan’s arsenal. Then we must combat them. The whole armor of GodThe apostle Paul also explained how to defeat our enemy. God provides the ultimate protection from Satan’s devices and schemes and deceitful traps. Paul said, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). This spiritual armor includes the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. We encourage you to study the article “Put on the Armor of God,” which focuses on these defenses our great and loving God gives us. There you will also find links to articles about each of these powerful pieces of armor. Don’t try to face Satan without God’s armor!
The Corinthians had failed to excommunicate a fornicator from their midst (I Cor. 5:1,2), evidently feeling proud of the liberty to sin they thought they enjoyed under grace. Paul’s words in the first Corinthian epistle so shamed them that they proceeded to put the man out of the assembly—but then another problem arose. After the fornicator repented, they refused to let him back in! Thus the specific Satanic device that Paul is warning us about in this context is extremism. First they were too permissive, then they were too strict! Examples of extremism in Christianity abound. The Corinthians were too carnal, but the Galatians were too legalistic. Some husbands fail to accept their God-given role as head of the home, while others take headship too far and become abusive tyrants. Some fathers discipline their children too little, some too much. Extremism even affects our Bible study. Some Christians don’t take the Bible literally, but others take it too literally, refusing to allow God the right to use figures of speech, as when the Lord said, “This is my body” (Matt. 26:26). Some believers don’t rightly divide the Word at all, while our Acts 28 brethren divide it too much. Finally, some of our grace brethren seem to be saying that God is not intervening in our lives today, but this too is taking things too far. As dispensationalists we know that God will not part the Red Sea for us, feed us with manna from heaven, or preserve us alive and unharmed in a burning fiery furnace, as He did in time past. But, while God no longer intervenes in our lives in this overt manner, He is still active behind the scenes, as He was in the Book of Esther. God’s name is not even mentioned in Esther, but His providential work in the background is unmistakable. In Esther 3, a wicked man named Haman rose to a position of power in the kingdom of Persia (3:1). When a Jew named Mordecai refused to bow to him (v. 2), Haman was enraged, and determined to slay all the Jews (v. 5,6). He convinced the king to send out a letter to the remote corners of the kingdom, ordering the extermination of all Jews on an appointed day (v. 13). What was God to do? The answer is, He had already done something about this. God had worked providentially in Chapters 1 and 2 to oust the former queen and replace her with Mordecai’s cousin Esther. As we can now look back and clearly see, God had worked in advance to place a Jewess in a position of influence so that she might be firmly in place in the palace, ready to oppose this perilous threat before it even materialized. God had not caused the king’s drunkenness (Esther 1:10), nor the former queen’s disobedience to her husband that led to her divorce (1:12), but He was able to work with their sin to bring about His purposes (cf. Ps. 76:10). The only question was: would Esther use her influence to save her people? When Mordecai begged her to intervene (Esther 4:7,8), she explained that to do so would endanger her own life (v. 9-11). Her cousin then responded to this excuse with a remarkable statement of faith: “…if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place…” (v. 14).
Mordecai is so confident in God’s ability to work behind the scenes, he tells her that God will somehow manage to save Israel with or without her. But then he waxes philosophical and says, “…who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (v. 14).
Mordecai thought he saw the hand of God in Esther’s ascension to the throne, but he couldn’t be sure, for God was not speaking audibly to those dispersed Jews at that time. And this is precisely our situation today. As God works in the background rather than the foreground of our lives, we too think we see God’s hand at work in a given circumstance, but we can’t be sure, for God is not speaking audibly to us either. But there is something that Paul says in the Book of Philemon that assures us that He is at work amongst us just as surely, and in the same manner, as He was in the days of Esther. The Book of Philemon concerns a slave named Onesimus who ran away from a Christian slave-owner named Philemon, only to meet up with the Apostle Paul and get saved (Philemon 10-12). As Paul returned this slave to his master, he too waxes philosophical and writes to Philemon: “For perhaps he [Onesimus] therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever” (Philemon 15).
Like Mordecai, Paul thought he saw the hand of God in the events surrounding Onesimus, but he couldn’t be sure. But these words of the apostle of grace, which so remind us of the words of Mordecai, teach us that God is working today under grace in the same way that He worked in Mordecai’s day. Now we must pause here to emphasize that God did not make Onesimus run away, for this was a sin (Col. 3:22), and God never causes any man to sin. But we know from the Old Testament story of Joseph that God is able to work with the sins of men to accomplish His purposes. Joseph’s brethren envied him, hated him, and sold him into slavery (Gen. 37:4,8,11,28), but God was able to work with these sins to save Abraham’s seed from the famine that He had foreseen (Gen. 41:29,30; 50:20). We cannot understand how God is able to work this way any more than we can understand how God worked when He made Joseph a type of Christ. Joseph and the people around him simply lived their lives, making innumerable free choices and adult decisions. Yet through it all God worked to create well over a hundred types of Christ. How did God accomplish this? We don’t know. But whenever God touches man, there is an element of mystery involved that we cannot explain. For instance, we cannot explain how Christ could be fully God and fully man, yet we believe this to be so. Neither can we understand how the Bible was written by men, but also by God, yet we believe this too to be the case. Nor can we explain how the men surrounding Joseph made decisions based on their own selfish interests, yet their countless decisions combined to make Joseph a type of Christ in so many ways. In much the same way, God considers believers today to be adult sons (Gal. 4:7), and as such expects us to make intelligent decisions based on His Word as we react to the decisions of those about us and the circumstances that present themselves in our lives. Yet somehow God is able to work through it all to accomplish His purposes. We can see this illustrated in the way that God accomplishes His most basic of purposes today, His will that all men be saved (I Tim. 2:4). Our understanding of God’s providential working today vitally affects our understanding of how God gets the gospel to men who want to hear and believe it. Romans 1:19,20 declare that unbelievers are “without excuse” as to knowing about the existence of God, but this knowledge is not enough to save them. However, when a benighted soul in a primitive land responds favorably to the witness of Creation, God then works providentially to get the gospel to him. A missionary just starting out makes a free choice as to his field of service, but God has worked through him to get the gospel to the far-away man who wants to hear and believe it. Since there aren’t enough missionaries to reach all men, God cannot leave all this to chance. We know that this is how God worked in Old Testament times because of Psalm 25:12,14: “What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way that He shall choose.” “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will shew them His covenant.”
Here David explains how in his day, if a man feared the Lord, God would show him His covenant—and the covenant was the means of salvation in that day. We know that this is also how God works today from the example of Onesimus. Did you ever wonder why this slave ran away from a believing master? Evidently Philemon had not shared Christ with Onesimus so God worked with the slave’s disobedience to get him to someone who would. This explanation of God’s providential working in our day is the only one that leaves the unbeliever who never hears the gospel “without excuse” at the Great White Throne of judgment. God will simply remind him that he and all other men heard the witness of the stars, for “there is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard” (Ps. 19:1-3). The unbeliever will then have only himself to blame for rejecting this testimony, the acceptance of which would have initiated a sequence of events on God’s part that would have brought him the gospel. God’s providential work in getting the gospel to would-be believers proves that His direct involvement in our lives did not cease once the transition to the dispensation of Grace was complete. While other examples of God’s intervention in even Paul’s latest epistles might be viewed as the last examples of a transitional period, the need to get the gospel to willing souls is a need that has continued throughout the dispensation. We can only conclude from this that if the need for God’s intervention continues throughout the dispensation, then the providential means by which God gets the gospel to men must also be continuing to function throughout our dispensation. But, if God is working behind the scenes today, how can we be sure what He is doing in any given circumstance in our life? The answer is, we cannot. If even Paul couldn’t be sure of what God was doing in Philemon 15, surely we cannot. What then should we do? We can only determine to be faithful to the revealed will of God in any given situation, as did Paul. And what happens if we don’t? Then “enlargement and deliverance” shall arise “from another place.” But, like Mordecai, we should ask ourselves in any given situation, “Who knows whether I am come to this situation for such a time as this?” It is a blessed truth that, while God would delight to use us, He doesn’t need us. But He needs somebody. Why not determine to be the person that God can use to bring salvation and a knowledge of the truth to those who so desperately need it? God providentially places all of us in positions where we can be used of Him. The only question is, as it was with Esther, will we use our position of influence to serve Him? While Esther feared for her life, we just fear that people won’t like us! God help us to have the spiritual fortitude to overcome our fears and live for Him.
We are told in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that true Christians are not ignorant of the devil’s devices. Timothy was to teach in such a way that his listeners might “recover themselves out of the snare of the devil” (2 Timothy 2:26). In Ephesians 6:11 we are told to put on the whole armor of God that we might be able “to stand against the wiles of the devil.” The word “wiles” is sometimes translated “tactics” or “schemes” or “strategies.” Strategy is the carefully arranged plan to deceive and outwit others. The devil’s primary work is deception, and thus the words wiles, tactics, schemes, and strategies are all appropriate. 1. The Personality of the DevilOne of Satan’s cunning schemes is to try and convince people that he does not really exist. A spokesman writing in one religious magazine says, “If when I die, I am met by someone with horns and tail, calling himself the Devil, I hope that I shall not be frightened—but reassured—knowing that I am having my leg pulled, and that there is humor also in the hereafter.” In other words, the writer of those words hopes that the idea of “the devil” is just a joke. Satan is often made out to be a joke, but in reality, he should be feared. The devil is a person just as real as God. He is not as powerful as God, but he is just as real. D. L. Moody used to say that there were two reasons why he believed the devil exists as a real being: (1) The Bible says so. (2) I’ve done business with him. When Jesus spoke of the devil, He used personal pronouns. Jesus said to Peter, “Behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31). Later, the Apostle Peter said, “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). According to the Bible, the devil is a created, personal, spirit being. And just because we cannot see him does not mean that he is not real. The air about us is filled with strange voices and musical sounds even though we cannot see or hear them. If we had the proper electronic devices, such as those used in a radio or a television set, we could hear the sounds and see the pictures without any difficulty. When I was very young, I used to think there was a man inside the radio, or that the noise came out of the receptacle in the wall and up through the wire. Later, I learned that the radio has an electronic gadget which collects noises that are transmitted from various stations throughout the countryside. The noises are real even though we cannot hear them. And just so, Satan is a real person even though we cannot see him. The Bible indicates that Satan was one of the most magnificent creatures ever created; he was the climax of God’s creative wisdom; he was not always the vicious character we know him to be today; he was once a beautiful angel. The Scriptures say (of Lucifer), “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee” (Ezekiel 28:15). Those who believe the message of the Bible believe that there is a real, created, personal devil who is the enemy of God and the enemy of God’s people. We don’t understand all there is to know about the devil, but the Bible says he has his own synagogue (Revelation 2:9), his own gospel (Galatians 1:6-9), his own ministers (2 Corinthians 11:14-15), his own doctrines (1 Timothy 4:1), and his own communion service (1 Corinthians 10:20-21). 2. The Devices of the DevilSatan will do all he can to bring defeat into our lives. He is constantly battling for the soul of the sinner and for the life of the saint. The devil’s work is to deceive human beings, and he has many subtle devices and many cunning ways by which he does the job. We do well to take seriously the advice of the Apostle Paul when he says in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that we are not to be ignorant of his devices. Some of Satan’s devices are listed in the paragraphs that follow: a) Satan lies and blinds to the truth.Jesus says that the devil “abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). The devil used the device of lying with our first parents (Adam and Eve), and he has been using it effectively ever since. God told Eve, “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). But in the very next chapter, we read: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” Satan said the exact opposite of what God had said. God said, “If you eat, you will die.” Satan said, “You will not die.” God’s truth is revealed in the Bible. Whenever a person tries to question or to argue away any of the teachings of the Bible, you can be sure that it is the old serpent, the devil, trying to deceive that individual. Often Satan tries to accomplish his goal by taking a passage out of its context. One of the most beautiful promises in the New Testament is found in verse 19 of Philippians 4: “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” But that is not an across-the-board promise. The promise is given in the context of those who are generous financial givers. Those who gave out of their poverty to help with the Lord’s work, were given that special promise. Sometimes Satan quotes from the Bible (he uses Bible verses), but he distorts the truth to try and make the Bible say something altogether different from its plain statements. For example, one church leader was commenting on the teaching about the “Feeding of the 5,000” in Matthew 14. He concluded that Jesus did not perform a miracle and create food on that occasion, but that the five-thousand-plus people simply shared their lunches with each other. He viewed the passage as a beautiful example of how things can work out well if each person is willing to contribute a little bit. The point is that the devil is a liar—and any attempt to play down (or to twist) the Scriptures is definitely motivated by the devil in his attempt to try and dishonor the plan of God. b) Satan puts evil suggestions into our minds.Satan is always on the alert. He is looking for weak places in our defense system; he is eager to take advantage of any opening we might give him through a lack of watchfulness. The Bible speaks of the betrayal of Jesus (just before His crucifixion), and says, “The devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him . . . ” (John 13:2). And at another place, the Scripture says, “Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?” (Acts 5:3). These passages answer some unique questions: Who was it that prompted Judas to betray Jesus? And who motivated Ananias to lie about the donated money? The Bible says it was the devil. If we would only recognize that the evil temptations which we get from time to time are promoted by a real personal devil who is trying to bring defeat to our souls, we would do more to resist his onslaughts! It is the devil who entices us to do wrong. It is the devil who inflames the passions, and stirs the appetites, and awakens old habits. We don’t have to give in to him. We are given the power of choice. But Satan is one who sneaks into the hearts of people and tries to lead all of us astray. The wicked thoughts we contend with from time to time are energized by the devil and empowered by all the forces of evil. The ultimate aim of the devil is to mar us and scar us; to disfigure the image of God in us; to saturate our minds with filth and dirt and moral rot; to wrap us in darkness and lock us forever in the place where there is only weeping and gnashing of teeth. The devil aims to slay everything that is noble and decent and good in our lives. He has energized every rotten deed that has ever been committed by every person that has ever walked on the face of the earth. The devil puts evil suggestions into our minds. The devil has never had a good word to say about God’s people. He dislikes us because we love the Lord, and so he tries his best to get us to ruin our testimony by showing enmity toward our fellow-Christians. The Bible says, “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not . . . this wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish” (James 3:14-15). The Bible says that a bitter and unforgiving spirit among fellow-Christians is demonic; it is of the devil; it is inspired by Satan. Satan delights in hearing us say unkind and critical (and often untrue) things about our brothers and sisters in Christ. Sharpness and contention among Christians does not promote the cause of Christ. Such conduct helps instead to extend the devil’s kingdom. We need to take seriously the admonition of Ephesians 4:32, where we read, “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” The word “kindness” speaks of a generous and thoughtful attitude toward others. The word “tenderhearted” means heartfelt compassion, a sense of sympathy that feels for the needs and the circumstances of others. We should be careful not to quickly clobber others with words of negative criticism. Satan, by way of contrast, stirs up bitterness and envy, and does everything he can to break down a spirit of harmony among God’s people. The devil sows tares of conflict and discontent among believers in order to dampen their testimony. d) Satan tempts believers to commit sexual immorality.First Corinthians 7:5 says that married couples should not withhold their bodies from each other (except by consent), so that “Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” Satan is the one who tempts to sexual immorality. All those men who are running off with other women, and people who are living together without the commitment of marriage, are following the promptings of the devil. The temptation to longingly lust after a person of the opposite sex is a device promoted by Satan. The conduct evidenced by those miserable lust-buzzards who eye every woman they meet and gush over silly females walking down the street, is initiated by the devil in order to break down the sanctity of our homes and to saturate our communities with fornication and incest and prostitution and adultery and all the other ugly sins related to sexual immorality. We are living in the midst of a tremendous moral revolution. Most of our society is pleasure oriented. The mood is permissive and immodest and daring. There is an attitude of irreverence toward God and sacred things. Many consider sexual purity a concept that no longer has validity. Our age is reeking with sexual immorality, and Satan will do his best to get us to become careless about maintaining high moral standards. e) Satan incites persecution against Christians.The devil does his best to discourage disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ by bringing various kinds of persecution to bear upon them. Revelation 2:10 says, “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer; behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison.” For most of us, persecution comes in the form of social pressure. People where you work want you to engage in activities which you believe are wrong—and if you refuse to join them—they make derogatory remarks, or at least laugh at you behind your back. That is a form of persecution, and even though it is a milder form of persecution than the martyrdom of earlier centuries, it is still persecution, and it is the devil who incites it all. When we think about the devices of the devil, we must remember that the devil is a liar; he puts evil suggestions into our minds; he develops a bitter and unforgiving spirit among brethren and sisters; he tempts believers to sexual immorality; and he incites persecution against Christians in order to discourage them. 3. Our Opposition To the DevilEach of us is confronted daily with the snares, the tactics, the tricks, and the devices of the devil. Satan is not in Hell now; he is not locked up in the bottomless pit (as he will be someday). He is the “god of this age,” walking up and down in this world, seeking to drag men and women away from Christ. He has each of our names on his list, and he is doing his level best to drag each one of us down to defeat and destruction. It seems that Satan is working overtime in these days because he knows that his time is limited, and he is aware that shortly he will be cast into the Lake of Fire where he will be tormented day and night forever and ever. See Revelation 20:10. But until that time—how can we overcome his onslaughts? What is our resource against the strategies of the devil? A two-fold answer is given in James 4:7. a) We are to submit ourselves to God.We cannot resist the devil in our own human power. We must be a committed child of God, and have the Lord Jesus Christ dwelling within. The message to Christian believers in 1 John 4:4 is this: “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” (Do you remember the great passage in Galatians 2:20? The Apostle Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me.”) Jesus Christ, who dwells within the body of the believing Christian, is greater than the devil, who is the god of this world! The devil is a supernatural being, and it takes a supernatural power to respond to his devices. Jesus Christ is that power. In order to overcome the devices of the devil, we must surrender our lives to God and receive Jesus into our hearts by faith. When a person takes that step, he becomes a new creature with new desires and with new powers to overcome temptation. b) We are to resist the devil.We can resist the devil in the same way that Jesus resisted him when He was tempted in the wilderness. Jesus resisted the devil by appealing to the Scriptures. When the devil commanded Him to turn stones into bread, Jesus said, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone.” When the devil told Him to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple, Jesus said, “It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” When Satan offered Him all the kingdoms of the world, Jesus said, “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Jesus resisted the devil by appealing to the Scriptures. He could have summoned ten thousand angels; He could have displayed His own supernatural powers, but instead, Jesus used the same weapon that is available to every one of us—the Word of God. All of us must make new commitments to spend more time with the Bible; to memorize portions of Scripture; to study the Word of God—so that we will have a Scriptural dart to throw at the devil every time he comes our way with a temptation. c) We are to put on the whole armor of God.One who takes Christ as his Savior and starts to live and work for Him will soon discover that there is an enemy seeking to destroy his faith and testimony. All of us find that living the Christian life involves an ongoing warfare. But God has provided spiritual armor to protect us, and he has placed in our hands a sword—the Word of God—to help us conquer and overcome evil. We read about the armor in Ephesians 6:10-18. The armor includes a belt of truth (it always pays to be truthful), a breastplate of righteousness (the ability to do the right thing), and a shield of faith (the willingness to trust and believe that what God says is true). In addition, He gives the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. In the Christian life we battle against powerful evil forces headed by Satan. To withstand his attacks, we must depend on God’s strength and use every piece of armor which is provided. All believers are special objects of Satan’s attacks because they are no longer on Satan’s side. We need supernatural power to defeat Satan, and God has provided that power by the Holy Spirit who lives within us, and by the provision of armor which surrounds us. May God help every believer to be alert to these truths.
|
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment