Satan

My Advocate

I sinned. And straightway, post-haste Satan flew
Before the presence of the Most High God,
And made a railing accusation there.
He said, “This soul, this thing of clay and sod
Has sinned. ‘Tis true that he has named Thy name,
But I demand his death, for Thou hast said,
‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die!’ Shall not
Thy sentence be fulfilled? Is Justice dead?
Send now this wretched sinner to his doom.
What other thing can righteous ruler do?”
And thus he did accuse me day and night,
And every word he spoke, O God, was true!

Then quickly One rose up from God’s right hand,
Before Whose glory angels veiled their eyes.
He spoke, “Each jot and tittle of the law
Must be fulfilled: the guilty sinner dies!
But wait. Suppose his guilt were all transferred
To ME and that I paid his penalty!
Behold My hands, My side, My feet! One day
I was made sin for him, and died that he
Might be presented faultless, at Thy throne!”
And Satan fled away. Full well he knew
That he could not prevail against such love,
For every word my dear Lord spoke was true!

Martha Snell Nicholson, Treasures, (Moody Press, Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, 1952)

Survey

Nearly two out of three adults—62%—agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” This response has remained relatively consistent throughout the Nineties. Among the more surprising findings, however, are that a majority of born again Christians deny Satan’s existence (52%); nearly three-quarters of Catholics say the devil is non-existent (72%); and women are more likely than men to reject Satan’s existence (64% vs. 59%).

Barna Research Group, Ltd., Oxnard, CA

Spiritual Warfare

Because the New Testament writers assumed that most readers were already familiar with spiritual warfare, only occasional exhortations are given to encourage the churches in it. Today we can make no such assumption, so a brief summary of some of the main principles of spiritual victory and freedom may be helpful.

1. Know your enemy. Speaking of Satan, Paul said, “We are not ignorant of his designs.” We should be well acquainted with the character and strategy of the Evil One, neither dwelling on it too much nor ignoring his active and destructive work: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation,” said Jesus to his sleepy disciples; and in the Lord’s Prayer we say, “Deliver us from evil” or from the Evil One.

2. Keep yourself in the love of God. Jude, writing about worldly people devoid of the Spirit who in the last days would scoff and divide the church, went on to assure his readers that God “is able to keep you from falling”; on their part they were to build themselves up in their faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, and keep themselves in the love of God. It is sometimes said that the Christian who sins is a fool because, if he abides in Christ, he need not sin. In the same way, although we must recognize Satan’s power, we are not to be frightened of it. If we walk in the light with Christ, we have nothing to fear from the powers of darkness. Paul knew that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers...”absolutely nothing, could separate a Christian from the love of God in Jesus Christ. Therefore if we keep ourselves in that love, we are perfectly and eternally safe. The Evil One will not touch us.

3. Be strong in Christ. Paul instructed the Ephesian church: “Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.” Christ is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named...all things [are] under his feet” and “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” In particular, our victory over Satan is to be seen in the cross of Christ, for it was there that God “disarmed the principalities and powers,” and it is “by the blood of the Lamb” that we are able to conquer the accuser of the brethren.

The power of the cross can dramatically release people from satanic bondage. Reading verses and passages about the cross are powerful weapons in spiritual warfare, especially in the most severe expressions of it. Generally speaking, a prayerful and confident trust in God’s power over Satan through the cross of Christ is all that is required. We should exercise caution about “deliverance ministries” and indiscriminate exorcisms. Not every malaise can be ascribed to satanic oppression or possession and to do so may create serious disorder. The less sensational principles described in this section will be effective in the vast majority of cases. Christ has won the victory for us. We are to stand firm in it, proclaim it and rejoice in it. That is the way to resist Satan.

4. Be filled with the Spirit. Paul, having warned the Ephesians about “the unfruitful works of darkness” and the days “that are evil,” urged them to continue to be filled with the Spirit. All the gifts of the Spirit were needed to equip them for effective warfare. He told Timothy to be inspired by the “prophetic utterances which pointed to you,” so that “you may wage the good warfare.” Repeatedly, and perhaps painfully, God will remind us of our own utter weakness without him. Pride, seen in self-confidence and self-reliance, so easily dominates our thinking. Like Simon Peter, we think we can do it ourselves: others may fail, but we shall stand firm. We are shocked by the sin of another Christian, but blind to our own weakness. We need to come to that point, in every area of our lives, where we have to depend on the Holy Spirit. Unless we are daily cleansed from our sin by the blood of Jesus, and daily filled with the Spirit as we yield to him, we shall never overcome the Evil One.

5. Be active in Christian witness and service. In the same context of being filled with the Spirit, Paul urged his readers to “make the most of the time” and to wake out of sleep. Jude, too, exhorts Christians to convince those who doubt and to snatch others out of the fire. In other words, in view of the cosmic struggle in which we are engaged, there is not a moment to lose. Every day we need to know what the will of the Lord is, and do it. Isaac Watts was right when he said that “Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do,” which must be balanced with Carl Jung’s comment, noted earlier, that “Hurry...is the Devil.” In the Gospels we see Jesus maintaining this balance—working to the point of exhaustion, yet calm and at peace in his spirit, busy but not rushed, alert but not tense. He perfectly accomplished the work that God had given him to do, and Satan had no foothold in his life.

6. Be quick to put right your wrong relationships. Every church is a fellowship of sinners. Inevitably we shall hurt others and feel hurt ourselves. Jesus knew the need for an emphasis on forgiveness, seventy times seven, if need be. Paul knew that we would at times be angry, justly or unjustly. But unless we deal immediately—before the sun goes down—with our anger, and with the problem that prompted it, we will give “opportunity to the devil.” If we go to bed angry, we may be sleepless; and find ourselves both depressed and irritable in the morning. If there is any break in fellowship between two Christians, the Devil will be quick to exploit it.

We also need to keep our lives constantly open to one another in love and thus help each other in the spiritual battle. If I don’t know what is happening in your life,. and you don’t know what is happening in my life, how can we help when either of us is in trouble? However, if we are genuinely sharing our lives, when you are down I may be able to lift you up, and when I am down you may do the same for me. “Two are better than one...For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up...And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not easily broken.” Paul’s instructions about the battle were written to a church, not just to individual Christians, and they could stand together, pray together, lift each other up only as they were genuinely united in love.

7. Put on the whole armour of God. God gives us all the protection that we need. But we must make sure that we are walking with the Lord, that our lives are right (“righteous”) with God and with one another, that we make peace wherever we go, that we lift up that shield of faith together to quench all the flaming darts of the Evil One, that we protect our minds from fears that easily assail, and that we use God’s Word to good effect in the power of the Spirit. Remember, it was by the repeated sword thrusts of God’s Word that Jesus overcame his adversary in the wilderness.

8. Be constant in prayer. “Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.” If, through prayerlessness, we lose our close contact with God, we can never stand firm in the battle. We need daily his “marching orders.” We must come to him, wait upon him, renew our strength in him, listen to him, trust in him, and then go out into the world to face the enemy. If Jesus knew the constant need of this for his own ministry, how much more should we acknowledge our weakness by humble, persistent prayer?

9. Use the festal shout. “Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,” sang the psalmist. Through the centuries, God’s people were often encouraged to shout praises to God, particularly in battle. Joshua told the people: “Shout; for the Lord has given you the city...So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people raised a great shout, and the wall fell down flat...and they took the city.” When Jehoshaphat faced a powerful enemy, he called God’s people to prayer and fasting. The Lord spoke to them through prophecy, promising them victory in the battle. They fell down to worship, and the singers stood up to praise the Lord “in a very loud voice.” As they went into battle, the singers went ahead of the soldiers, singing praises to God. And the Lord gave the victory. “Shout to God with loud songs of joy!” sang the psalmist. “God has gone up with a shout.” In Acts 4 when the believers were faced with a powerful conflict against the rulers who had murdered their Master, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord...” and they praised him with a loud voice that he was in control of everything, and asked merely for boldness to speak his Word. No wonder they were filled afresh with the Holy Spirit; and no wonder the powers of darkness were driven back!

In Festivals of Praise around the world, I have encouraged many thousands of Christians to give the festal shout, “The Lord reigns!” As large congregations have joined together in “loud shouts of joy,” many have told me afterwards what an encouragement this simple act had been. We need to strengthen each other’s hands in the Lord. When people all over the world are stirring up each other with shouts of hated, shouts of violence, shouts supporting this political candidate or that football team, surely we ought to follow this biblical principle and shout praise to God. After all, “if God is for us, who is against us?” Let us proclaim together that Jesus Christ is the Lord who reigns.

David Watson, Called & Committed: World-Changing Discipleship, (Harold Shaw Publishers, Wheaton, IL; 1982), pp. 134-138

Satan Can Bring Sickness and Suffering

I believe that Satan works in three major ways to bring sickness and suffering on people:

1. Satan causes sickness directly. An obvious tactic is demonization. For example, approximately 25 percent of Jesus’ healings as recorded in the Gospel of Mark involve demons. The direct influence of the devil is explicitly demonstrated when Jesus healed a crippled woman and was scolded by a synagogue leader for doing it on the Sabbath. Jesus said, “Ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” (Luke 13:16). Satan’s direct role is also explicit in the case of Job. What percentage of sickness is directly caused by Satan we do not know, but unquestionably much is.

2. Satan indirectly uses the natural results of the Fall to cause sickness and suffering. He uses bacteria, viruses, malnutrition, accidents, fights, poison, old age, rapists, murderers and on and on. In all probability most sickness falls into this category.

3. Satan tempts people to fall into sin, and God at times uses sickness to punish them for it. There are many examples in the Old Testament of plagues, which God sent on His own people to punish them for sin. When some Israelites rebelled against Moses and Aaron, God sent a plague and killed 14,700 (see Num. 16:45-50). Then God killed another 50,070 Israelites at Beth Shemesh when they disobeyed him by looking into the ark of the Lord (see 1 Sam. 6:19), just to cite two examples. In the New Testament, God made Elymas the sorcerer blind as part of a power encounter (see Acts 13:6-12). In Corinth some believers were sick and some had died as a result of abusing the Lord’s supper (see ! Cor. 11:30).

No matter what the immediate cause, the usual outcomes of sickness are pain, suffering and death, all the works of Satan.

C. Peter Wagner, How to Have a Healing Ministry Without Making Your Church Sick!, (Regal Books, Ventura, CA; 1988), pp. 109-110

The Devil’s Strategy

His overall strategy is to supersede and overthrow the kingdom of God. It is a strategy of destruction. If he was too clever for man in his perfection in Eden, he has a much greater advantage over man in his fallen state.

It has been said that he plans to destroy human government through anarchy. Any student of history can trace this stratagem of the devil, the pervading activity of a malign power, poisoning the stream of human history. He is the mastermind behind the present world system with its lust for power and its political and economic intrigue.

He purposes to destroy human society through debauchery. Any student of sociology can trace a similar pattern in the cycles of human history. In our own day we have seen the world flooded with moral filth to a degree inconceivable fifty years ago.

He aims to destroy true religion through apostasy. Any student of theology and church history can discern recurring heresies and apostasies through the centuries. And in our own day there has been a widespread recrudescence of many of the old heresies in the heretical cults which have been spawned and are now encircling the globe.

As the god of this age, he has set up a complete counterfeit of Christianity. Not without reason did Augustine term him Simius Dei, the ape of God. He has his own trinity—the devil, the beast, and the false prophet; his own church—the synagogue of Satan (Rev. 2:9); his own ministers—ministers of Satan (II Cor. 11:15); his own gospel—another gospel (Gal. 1:6); his own theology—doctrines of devils (I Tim. 4:1); his own sacrifices—sacrifices offered to demons (I Cor. 10:21); his own table and cup (I Cor. 10:21-22).

Everything about him is false. He uses false and counterfeit instruments to achieve his purpose. He employs false teachers (Acts 20:30; II Peter 2:1) who specialize in his theology and “bring in damnable heresies.” They “creep in privily” into the churches and subtly mix truth with error. He enlists the support of false prophets (II Peter 2:1; Matt. 24:11). Professing to have a message from God, they in reality draw their inspiration from hell. He promotes false Christs (Matt. 24:4-5), self-constituted messiahs and deliverers. He [is] aided by false apostles, deceitful workers (II Cor. 11, 13), and false brethren (Gal. 2:4-5) who steal in to spy out the liberty of believers, in order to draw them back into legal bondage.

Paul sums up this aspect of the devil’s activities in these words: “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (II Cor. 11:14-15).

J. Oswald Sanders, Cultivation of Christian Character, (Moody Press, Chicago; 1965), pp. 81-83

Satan’s Power is Permitted

Lest we be “terrified by our adversaries,” it is well to remember that Satan’s power is not inherent but permitted (Rom. 13:1). It is not unlimited, but controlled (Job 1:12; 2:6). It is not invincible, but broken (Luke 11:21-11). It is not assured of success, but is surely doomed (Rev. 20:2-3). Satan knows well that there is no ultimate victory for him. The pronounced sentence has only been postponed. But he works to hinder and postpone Christ’s final triumph. We can rejoice in the certainty of John’s assurance: “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4).

J. Oswald Sanders, Cultivation of Christian Character, (Moody Press, Chicago; 1965), p. 86

Barna Survey

Even those who claim to be Born Again are not necessarily firmly grounded in the truths of the Bible. In his book which provides a statistical analysis of religious beliefs in America, George Barna cites several fascinating statistics which are based on a national survey.

In chapter four he states, “The Devil, or Satan, is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” Then asking that segment of his survey respondents who have identified themselves at being Born Again, he states, “Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly with that statement?”

The Born Again population reply with 32 percent agreeing strongly, 11 percent agreeing somewhat and 5 percent did not know. Thus, of the total number responding, 48 percent either agreed that Satan is only symbolic or did not know!

Should it then be surprising that a few pages later Barna would receive some very startling responses? His next question, “Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others all pray to the same God, even though they use different names for that God.” Again, the respondents were asked to agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat or disagree strongly.

Of that population surveyed who identified themselves as Born Again, 30 percent agreed strongly, 18 percent agreed somewhat and 12 percent did not know. That is a total of 60 percent! (What Americans Believe, pp. 206-212).

Watchman Expositor, Vol. 10, No. 4, 1993, p. 31

Defeated but Still Standing

A friend and associate of boxers, American writer Wilson Mizner was himself a talented fighter. One night Mizner and boxer “Mysterious” Billy Smith visited a San Francisco bar, where Mizner started a fight with some longshoremen. At the end only one longshoreman was left standing. Although Mizner rained punches at him, he stayed obstinately upright. Suddenly, Smith noticed what was happening. “Leave him alone, Wilson!” he shouted. “I knocked him out five minutes ago.” On investigation it turned out that a punch from Smith had indeed knocked the longshoreman out cold, but had also wedged him vertically between two pieces of furniture.

Here’s an accurate picture of our already-defeated but still standing enemy Satan!

Today in the Word, April 3, 1993

Wildcat

Writing in Moody Monthly, Carl Armerding recounted his experience of watching a wildcat in a zoo. “As I stood there,” he said, “an attendant entered the cage through a door on the opposite side. He had nothing in his hands but a broom. Carefully closing the door, he proceeded to sweep the floor of the cage.” He observed that the worker had no weapon to ward off an attack by the beast. In fact, when he got to the corner of the cage where the wildcat was lying, he poked the animal with the broom. The wildcat hissed at him and then lay down in another corner of the enclosure. Armerding remarked to the attendant, “You certainly are a brave man.” “No, I ain’t brave,” he replied as he continued to sweep. “Well, then, that cat must be tame.” “No,” came the reply, “he ain’t tame.” “If you aren’t brave and the wildcat isn’t tame, then I can’t understand why he doesn’t attack you.” Armerding said the man chuckled, then replied with an air of confidence, “Mister, he’s old—and he ain’t got no teeth.”

Our Daily Bread

Quotes

• Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honor and pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure and pays with pain; he promises profit and pays with loss; he promises life and pays with death. - Thomas Brooks
• The thoroughly evil nature of the devil consists in the fact that here we have spontaneous, self-generating sin expressed in pure defiance and pure arrogance. - The Satan Syndrome, Nigel Wright, Zondervan, 1990, p. 58.

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The Devil Is a Non Person

The devil is not impersonal like stones or bureaucracies; he is a non-person. The Devil has become all that God is not; he is not beyond personality—he is without it. His purpose in creation is not to destroy God; he knows that he cannot do that. He wants to draw us into the vortex of non-personhood that he has become, and the nothingness of non-being that he is becoming. Satan, in short, aims to take as many of us with him as he can.

The Satan Syndrome, Nigel Wright, Zondervan, 1990, p. 163

Acts of Satan

• Gen. 3:1-14 He was disguised under the Edenic serpent
• Gen. 3:15 He is the serpent’s seed
• Isa. 14:12 He was Lucifer, son of the morning before the fall
• Ezk. 28:14 He was the anointed cherub that covers
• 1 Chr. 21:1 He energized David to evil
• Job 1:7-2:10 He accused and afflicted Job
• Zech. 3:1-9 He opposes unbelieving Israel, prefigured by Joshua the priest
• Mt. 4:3 He is the tempter
• Mt. 12:24; Acts 10:38 He is the prince of the demons
• 1 Tim. 4:1-6 He instigates false doctrine
• Mt. 4:4; Lk. 4:10-11 He perverts the Word of God
• Mt. 12:22-29 He works in demon possession
• Zech. 3:1 He is Satan, the Adversary
• Lk. 4:13 He is the devil, the slanderer
• Jn. 13:2,27 He caused Judas to betray Christ
• Acts 5:3 and Ananias to lie
• 2 Cor. 4:4 He blinds people spiritually
• 1 Pet. 5:8 He seeks to harm believers
• Eph. 6:11-12 He heads a celestial hierarchy of evil
• Eph. 2:2 He indwells the unsaved
• Jn. 8:44 He was branded “a liar” and “the father of lies” by Jesus
• 2 Thess. 2:9 He works diabolic miracles
• Jn. 8:44 He is a murderer
• Jn. 12:31; 14:30 He is the prince of this world
• Lk. 13:16 He blinds people physically and spiritually
• Mt. 25:41 He is a fallen angel
• Mt. 13:38-39 He sows tares
• Mt. 13:19 and snatches away the Word
• Rev. 20:1-3 He will be bound during the millennium
• Mt. 13:39 He is “the enemy”
• Mt. 13:38 “the evil one”
• Eph. 6:10-20 He is routed by Spirit-directed prayer
• 1 Pet. 5:8-9 He is overcome by faith
• 1 Thess. 2:18 He hinders God’s will in believers
• Rev. 12:9 He is the deceiver
• Rev. 12:9; 20:2 He is the dragon, that old serpent
• Lk. 10:18 He fell from a sinless high estate
• Lk. 22:31 He viewed Simon Peter as a target
• Rev. 2:9 He has a synagogue of legalists who deny God’s grace in Christ
• Jn. 3:8, 10 His children are unsaved people
• Mt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10 His ultimate fate is Gehenna

The New Unger’s Bible Handbook, Merrill F. Unger, Revised by Gary N. Larson, Moody Press, Chicago, 1984, p. 407

Resources

• Herbert Lockyer, Selected Scripture Summaries from the Whole Bible, Volume One, (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI; 1975), pp. 159ff
• Tales of the Neverending, Mark Littleton, Moody, 1990, pp. 20ff, 30ff
• A Holy Rebellion, T. Ice & R. Dean, Harvest House, 1990, pp. 40ff
• Interpretational options for Isaiah 14:4-21, Exekiel 28:12-19, Satan is No Myth, J. O. Sanders, Moody, 1975, pp. 16ff
• Names for, Satan is No Myth, J. O. Sanders, Moody, 1975, pp. 24ff

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Satan’s Trinity

Satan has his own trinity—the devil, the beast, and the false prophet (Revelation 16:13). He has his own church, “a synagogue of Satan” (Revelation 2:9). He has his own ministers, “ministers of Satan” (2 Corinthians 11:4-5). He has formulated his own system of theology “doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). He has established his own sacrificial system; “The Gentiles...sacrifice to demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20). He has his own communion service, “the cup of demons...and the table of demons” (1 Corinthians 10:21). His ministers proclaim his own gospel, “a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you” (Galatians 1:7-8). He has his own throne (Revelation 13:2) and his own worshipers (Revelation 13:4). So he has developed a thorough imitation of Christianity, viewed as a system of religion. In his role as the imitator of God, he inspires false christs, self-constituted messiahs (Matthew 24:4-5). He employs false teachers who are specialists in his “theology,” to bring in “destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them” (2 Peter 2:1). They are adept at mixing truth and error in such proportions as to make error palatable. They carry on their teaching surreptitiously and often anonymously. He sends out false prophets. “And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many” (Matthew 24:11). He introduces false brethren into the church, who “had sneaked in to spy out our liberty...in order to bring us into bondage” (Galatians 2:4). He sponsors false apostles who imitate the true (2 Corinthians 11:13).

Satan is No Myth, J. O. Sanders, Moody, 1975, pp. 5-36

Stragies of Satan with Unbelievers

1. Blinding the minds of the unregenerate (2 Cor. 4:4).

2. Snatching away the good seed of the word (Matthew 13:19).

3. Lulling the unbeliever into a false sense of security (Luke 11:21).

4. Laying snares for the unwary (2 Timothy 2:25-26).

5. Masquerading as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:13-14).

6. Deceiving those whose minds are not subject to the Word of truth (Rev. 12:9).

7. Mixing truth with error (Matthew 13:25-8).

Satan is No Myth, J. O. Sanders, Moody, 1975, pp. 72ff

Strategies of Satan with Believers

1. Annihilate the church or neutralize its witness from within (Acts 5:1-6).

2. Virulent persecution from without.

3. Smother its witness by according it great popularity.

4. Disturb the unity of the church by creating discord and division

5. Subversion of the church through apostasy and heresy (2 Peter 2:1-2).

Satan is No Myth, J. O. Sanders, Moody, 1975, pp. 72ff

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