Satan
We are often deceived by the world with the thought that when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, then we are OK and we can continue to live our old ways. We even get ideas that as long as we are good to our standard, then it is good enough. This is a sugar coated lie from Satan.
Perhaps, at this point, many will ask who is this Satan that people often talk about. He is often associate with evil and deceit and rightly so. Let us go back to what The Bible say about Satan / Devil origin and what he did and still does HERE.
Perhaps, at this point, many will ask who is this Satan that people often talk about. He is often associate with evil and deceit and rightly so. Let us go back to what The Bible say about Satan / Devil origin and what he did and still does HERE.
Here, we explore the following topics about our enemy Satan:
- Who is Satan?
- What Satan & his demons do?
- Do we have power over Satan and his demons?
- What happened to Satan & his demons when Jesus came?
- How do we overcome him & his demons?
- Is it possible we may have demons in us?
- How do we cast out the demons in us?
Who is Satan?
(1) Devil was created as Angel called Lucifer by God and fall of Lucifer
We know that Lucifer was created by God to be the leader of Angels like a supervisor to the lower angels of God.
Lucifer was created Beautiful, Bright & Perfect to serve God and God's Kingdom but Lucifer was not created to be a direct child to God. Angels are NOT created in the Image of God. They are workers for God and God's children.
Isaiah 14:12–18 describes the fall from heaven of one called “Lucifer,” a name that means “morning star,” “son of the dawn,” “Day Star,” or “shining star.” The description of the one referred to shows us it can be none other than Satan. We know from Jesus’ own words in Luke 10 that Satan fell from heaven. So, when Isaiah refers to Lucifer (In Hebrew, helel) being cast down to earth (Isaiah 14:12), it can be none other than Satan. The reason for his fall is found in verses 13 and 14: “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” This has always been Satan’s desire—to be God—and it is the very temptation he used in the garden of Eden to get Eve to disobey God: “You shall be as God” (Genesis 3:5).
We know that Lucifer was created by God to be the leader of Angels like a supervisor to the lower angels of God.
Lucifer was created Beautiful, Bright & Perfect to serve God and God's Kingdom but Lucifer was not created to be a direct child to God. Angels are NOT created in the Image of God. They are workers for God and God's children.
Isaiah 14:12–18 describes the fall from heaven of one called “Lucifer,” a name that means “morning star,” “son of the dawn,” “Day Star,” or “shining star.” The description of the one referred to shows us it can be none other than Satan. We know from Jesus’ own words in Luke 10 that Satan fell from heaven. So, when Isaiah refers to Lucifer (In Hebrew, helel) being cast down to earth (Isaiah 14:12), it can be none other than Satan. The reason for his fall is found in verses 13 and 14: “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” This has always been Satan’s desire—to be God—and it is the very temptation he used in the garden of Eden to get Eve to disobey God: “You shall be as God” (Genesis 3:5).
(2) Angels created by God are to follow God's order.
Angels are NOT created in the Image of God. They are workers for God.
God does work through angels and it is God who makes the decision to direct an angel to do His bidding, not an angel’s decision to act independent from God:
We can see that in some royal families with many servants and maids hired are supervised by 1 or 2 servants or maids supervisors. These supervisors are just head of servants or maids. They are not sons or daughters of the owners who hired them.
Same as God and His Kingdom. God created the angels as servants for Him and His Kingdom. We know that God will create everthing before God create us. Creating angels to attend to the work in Heavens and to baby sit God's children are the objectives in our morden english language today.
Angels are NOT created in the Image of God. They are workers for God.
God does work through angels and it is God who makes the decision to direct an angel to do His bidding, not an angel’s decision to act independent from God:
- Angels carry out God’s judgment;
- Angels serve God;
- Angels praise God;
- Angels are messengers;
- Angels protect God’s people;
- Angels do not marry;
- Angels do not die;
- Angels encourage people.
We can see that in some royal families with many servants and maids hired are supervised by 1 or 2 servants or maids supervisors. These supervisors are just head of servants or maids. They are not sons or daughters of the owners who hired them.
Same as God and His Kingdom. God created the angels as servants for Him and His Kingdom. We know that God will create everthing before God create us. Creating angels to attend to the work in Heavens and to baby sit God's children are the objectives in our morden english language today.
(3) Devil and his fallen angels were casted out of Third Heaven by God
According to The Bible, Satan was originally an angel of God. God created an angel named Lucifer and he was very very beautiful, very bright with light and very intelligent. He was supposed to be the leader of angels, took lead in Heaven worship and was given great powers. We know that Jesus was there when Lucifer was created. Like all God’s creation, Lucifer was also created with free will to choose. Lucifer’s pride became an issue thinking that he should be above all and should be God-Head himself. With his intelligence, he was able to be crafty and tell the first lie in heaven to all the angels in Heaven conspiring against God. Before Lucifer, Heaven has never heard of any lie before. Unfortunately, Lucifer was able to convince one third (33%) of heaven angels to be on his side against God. Heaven (or called Third Heaven) is God’s dwelling place and God will not allow that. Hence, God casted Lucifer and his 200 fallen angels with him out of Third Heaven. When Lucifer was casted out, he lost his beauty and light. Hence, God often call him Beast and we name him Satan/Devil. Satan and his team are in First Heaven (Earth) and Second Heaven (a holding place like hell). When Satan was casted out of Third Heavens, he was fumed with furry of revenge that he will get mankind (God’s precious creation) to worship him, bring mankind down with him and torture mankind.
Isaiah 14:12 (KJV)
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Luke 10:18 (KJV)
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Revelation 12:4 (KJV)
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Isaiah 14:12 (KJV)
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Luke 10:18 (KJV)
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Revelation 12:4 (KJV)
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
What Satan & his demons do?
(1) Objectives of Satan or Devil
Satan has only 2 objectives for his demons:
- Keep us from God or Jesus Christ (by distracting us, feeding us lies & counterfeiting God, etc)
- If not, then keep us from serving God or Jesus Christ effectively
The Bible clearly states that Satan is only here to steal, kill and destroy. Satan has nothing so he tries to steal our blessings, to kill us or destroy us. John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
Satan is the father of lies. So, he will feed the world lies that hell does not exist or devil does not exist or God does not exists.
Hell is created by God for His fallen angels and not for us humans. For those who are not saved, it will be terrible reality when they get there because the fallen angels there hate God and since humans are made in the image of God, the fallen angels will be happy to torture those unbelievers.
Satan has only 2 objectives for his demons:
- Keep us from God or Jesus Christ (by distracting us, feeding us lies & counterfeiting God, etc)
- If not, then keep us from serving God or Jesus Christ effectively
The Bible clearly states that Satan is only here to steal, kill and destroy. Satan has nothing so he tries to steal our blessings, to kill us or destroy us. John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
Satan is the father of lies. So, he will feed the world lies that hell does not exist or devil does not exist or God does not exists.
Hell is created by God for His fallen angels and not for us humans. For those who are not saved, it will be terrible reality when they get there because the fallen angels there hate God and since humans are made in the image of God, the fallen angels will be happy to torture those unbelievers.
(2) What Devil has done throughout our human History?
We see Satan's crafty ways to lure mankind into disobeying God, then worship him and then torture mankind. He has been counterfeiting God’s word, God’s law, deceiving mankind and then tries to shorten lives of mankind to win soldiers for himself in Second Heaven. Throughout the history of mankind, we see the trend of Satan demanding for absolute obedience (including no asking questions) and focus on multiplying children for themselves via mankind.
We see Satan's crafty ways to lure mankind into disobeying God, then worship him and then torture mankind. He has been counterfeiting God’s word, God’s law, deceiving mankind and then tries to shorten lives of mankind to win soldiers for himself in Second Heaven. Throughout the history of mankind, we see the trend of Satan demanding for absolute obedience (including no asking questions) and focus on multiplying children for themselves via mankind.
2.1 First Lie and create Doubt in humans
We know that God put a tree of knowledge of good & evil in Garden of Eden which Adam & Eve cannot eat from.
Genesis 2:16-17 (KJV)
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Immediately, Devil goes to work to get Adam & Eve to break the law of God. So, Devil lied and created doubt in Eve even after Eve told Devil that she is not to eat from this tree.
Genesis 3:4-5 (KJV)
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Lies and creating doubt worked, so Devil will continue what works with humans....
Devil & his demons will Lie and create Doubt in humans !!!
We know that God put a tree of knowledge of good & evil in Garden of Eden which Adam & Eve cannot eat from.
Genesis 2:16-17 (KJV)
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Immediately, Devil goes to work to get Adam & Eve to break the law of God. So, Devil lied and created doubt in Eve even after Eve told Devil that she is not to eat from this tree.
Genesis 3:4-5 (KJV)
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Lies and creating doubt worked, so Devil will continue what works with humans....
Devil & his demons will Lie and create Doubt in humans !!!
2.2 First move to undo God's punishment to Devil
After the fall of Adam & Eve, we know God pronounced the sentence or punishments to all 3 parties, namely Adam, Eve and Devil. To devil inside the snake, God said in Genesis 3:14-15 (KJV):
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Devil knows that a child from Eve will come to bruised the him. So, devil goes to work to contaminate human genes to manipulate and reverse God's curse on the devil. We now know after almost 6000 years of human history, Jesus was the child from the line of Adam and Eve to bruise devil's head.
During the time at Garden of Eden, the Devil did not know how God's plan is going to be planned out. So, he got his fallen angels of 200 to get children from Adam's daughters. The Bible tells us that the fallen angels were procreating with daughters of men making an entire hybrids called the Nephilim who were mostly giants. Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. The Nephilim creation is an abormination to God. The strange species of fallen angel-mankind or fallen angel-animal combination created terror to mankind.
After the fall of Adam & Eve, we know God pronounced the sentence or punishments to all 3 parties, namely Adam, Eve and Devil. To devil inside the snake, God said in Genesis 3:14-15 (KJV):
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Devil knows that a child from Eve will come to bruised the him. So, devil goes to work to contaminate human genes to manipulate and reverse God's curse on the devil. We now know after almost 6000 years of human history, Jesus was the child from the line of Adam and Eve to bruise devil's head.
During the time at Garden of Eden, the Devil did not know how God's plan is going to be planned out. So, he got his fallen angels of 200 to get children from Adam's daughters. The Bible tells us that the fallen angels were procreating with daughters of men making an entire hybrids called the Nephilim who were mostly giants. Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. The Nephilim creation is an abormination to God. The strange species of fallen angel-mankind or fallen angel-animal combination created terror to mankind.
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2.3 Devil coming back to humans after God clean out human genes with Noah & his family.
The Bible tells us that God wiped out all the wicked and giant fallen angel children with flood.
Earth seemed to never had rain before until Noah's Ark was finished and loaded with Noah and his family with the animals.
The flood was a worldwide event as stated in Genesis 7:21-22. After the flood subsided, Noah and his family started all over again with 8 people.
After a few generations, we know that giants came back genetically but based on scientific findings, they were no longer as big. Perhaps up to 5 meter and not bigger. We saw that in Nimrod, giants in Canaan and Goliath with King David.
The Bible tells us that God wiped out all the wicked and giant fallen angel children with flood.
Earth seemed to never had rain before until Noah's Ark was finished and loaded with Noah and his family with the animals.
The flood was a worldwide event as stated in Genesis 7:21-22. After the flood subsided, Noah and his family started all over again with 8 people.
After a few generations, we know that giants came back genetically but based on scientific findings, they were no longer as big. Perhaps up to 5 meter and not bigger. We saw that in Nimrod, giants in Canaan and Goliath with King David.
2.4 Devil contaminate humans with self pride to go against God.
When giants resurfaced like Nimrod, they were often agressive and create fear in the normal sized humans.
These giants were under the influenced of Devil and pride often contaminate these giants.
We know that statues were created called idols for worship. Perhaps to avoid looking obvious, many idol statues were created including themselves. Thus, easier to deceive the people to pray to these other idols including their statues. It was really pride of wanting to make a name for themselves.
When giants resurfaced like Nimrod, they were often agressive and create fear in the normal sized humans.
These giants were under the influenced of Devil and pride often contaminate these giants.
We know that statues were created called idols for worship. Perhaps to avoid looking obvious, many idol statues were created including themselves. Thus, easier to deceive the people to pray to these other idols including their statues. It was really pride of wanting to make a name for themselves.
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2.5 Devil deceived us into idolatry from pride.
From self pride to wanting to be famous, the people wanted to be worshipped and not forgotten. Statues of themselves were errected. This agenda led to idolatry before the time of Tower of Babel. That way, the devil started the proganda of worshipping wrong gods amongst the children of God on earth. So, we found evidences of statues carved or made years after the Noah's Flood. The picture of a stone found near Iraq depicting Nimrod and the Tower of Babel. |
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2.6 Devil creating doubts in us about God's promise.
The project of Tower of Babel was the classic showing how devil putting doubts in humans about the promise of God.
God said that He will no longer bring flood to wipe out humans again but the devil incite in the people during that time that flood may come again. So, getting them to build a tower high enough to escape the future floods and to go to heaven. Building high tower will also injure humans with thin oxygen level at high altitude. But, the devil only wanted to deceive and kill humans. So, that was his perfect plan to get us to doubt God and kill us.
God stopped it by removing our original language and giving us many languages. After that, humans left the building of Tower of Babel and scattered or migrated to different regions.
The project of Tower of Babel was the classic showing how devil putting doubts in humans about the promise of God.
God said that He will no longer bring flood to wipe out humans again but the devil incite in the people during that time that flood may come again. So, getting them to build a tower high enough to escape the future floods and to go to heaven. Building high tower will also injure humans with thin oxygen level at high altitude. But, the devil only wanted to deceive and kill humans. So, that was his perfect plan to get us to doubt God and kill us.
God stopped it by removing our original language and giving us many languages. After that, humans left the building of Tower of Babel and scattered or migrated to different regions.
2.7 Devil try to confuse and create doubt in us about Noah's Flood
The Bible tells us that God wiped out all the wicked and giant fallen angel children with flood.
Earth seemed to never had rain before until Noah's Ark was finished and loaded with Noah and his family with the animals.
Genesis 7:11-14 (KJV)
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
The flood was a worldwide event as stated in Genesis 7:21-22 (KJV)
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
Generations after Noah, not all raised Godly children. Some probably did not pass down Godly teaching to their children. After sometime, the knowledge will be lost in some groups. So, with time, the devil will take advantage of this process. When that happens, the devil could easily start to create doubts in those ignorant children. He might just easily tell them that all the bible stories are just made up stories. This happened to Noah's Ark and Noah's flood.
The Bible tells us that God wiped out all the wicked and giant fallen angel children with flood.
Earth seemed to never had rain before until Noah's Ark was finished and loaded with Noah and his family with the animals.
Genesis 7:11-14 (KJV)
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
The flood was a worldwide event as stated in Genesis 7:21-22 (KJV)
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
Generations after Noah, not all raised Godly children. Some probably did not pass down Godly teaching to their children. After sometime, the knowledge will be lost in some groups. So, with time, the devil will take advantage of this process. When that happens, the devil could easily start to create doubts in those ignorant children. He might just easily tell them that all the bible stories are just made up stories. This happened to Noah's Ark and Noah's flood.
2.8 Devil try to deceive us into questioning God's creation
The history of Evolution came 1000 years after Hebrew Torah written by Moses.
So, the devil had to wait quite long about 4000 years before he could start this deceiving questions and creating doubt in humans.
The devil influenced the Greeks to think that way since they were pagans.
The proposal that one type of organism could descend from another type goes back to some of the first pre-Socratic Greek philosophers, such as Anaximander and Empedocles (about 450 BC) . Such proposals survived into Roman times. The poet and philosopher Lucretius (around 99 BC) followed Empedocles in his masterwork De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things).
The history of Evolution came 1000 years after Hebrew Torah written by Moses.
So, the devil had to wait quite long about 4000 years before he could start this deceiving questions and creating doubt in humans.
The devil influenced the Greeks to think that way since they were pagans.
The proposal that one type of organism could descend from another type goes back to some of the first pre-Socratic Greek philosophers, such as Anaximander and Empedocles (about 450 BC) . Such proposals survived into Roman times. The poet and philosopher Lucretius (around 99 BC) followed Empedocles in his masterwork De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things).
2.9 Devil try to deceive us into thinking we are lower than God's children
The devil still create doubts in us throughout the human history with ideas like Evolution from monkeys. Beware that coming from monkeys means humans are not created in the image of God but we are lower than that. The devil became more bold in his proposal.
The Evolution theory was first proposed in about 450 BC by Greeks was later popularised by Charles Darwin in 1859.
The Evolution Theory by Charles Darwin by his publication of a book called On the Origin of Species in 1859 suggested that we evolved from monkeys. Perhaps Darwin would withdraw his proposal if he had found out about the giants skeletons which proved the validity of the Bible.
The devil still create doubts in us throughout the human history with ideas like Evolution from monkeys. Beware that coming from monkeys means humans are not created in the image of God but we are lower than that. The devil became more bold in his proposal.
The Evolution theory was first proposed in about 450 BC by Greeks was later popularised by Charles Darwin in 1859.
The Evolution Theory by Charles Darwin by his publication of a book called On the Origin of Species in 1859 suggested that we evolved from monkeys. Perhaps Darwin would withdraw his proposal if he had found out about the giants skeletons which proved the validity of the Bible.
2.10 Devil try to deceive us into diluting God's commandments
The devil dilutes God's commandments slowly...bit by bit and eventually when we call evil good and good evil, then we have become evil like the devil. Let us see now how this strategy is executed throughout the history of mankind.
God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.
I am the LORD thy God
Thou shalt have no other gods
No graven images or likenesses
Not take the LORD's name in vain
Remember the sabbath day
Honour thy father and thy mother
Thou shalt not kill
Thou shalt not commit adultery
Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not bear false witness
Thou shalt not covet
As soon as the laws are clearly stated, the devil and his demons goes to work to get God's children to break it.
The most Top 2 will be their first target to contaminate God's children:
Thou shalt have no other gods
No graven images or likenesses
Pride is probably the starting point because it means the desire of being worshipped or remembered.
Resurgence of giants is the easiest because it will get genetic contamination to prevent Jesus from coming and these giants are easily coerced to want fame and desire to be worshipped. It is like shooting 2 birds with 1 stone effect.
(a) Resurgence of giants after Noah (around 2500 BC or 4500 years ago)
The resurgence of giants was an opportunity for the devil and his demons to influence the people with pride.
From the pride of wanting to make a name for themselves, statues of themselves will be errected for worship.
To avoid looking too egotistical, other statues were probably made.
Hence the immergence of idolatry of worshipping other gods or images amongst God's children
(b) Jews during Exodus (around 1500 BC or 3500 years ago)
Although many groups of God's children on earth were affected by idolatry of worshipping other gods after Tower of Babel, the chosen nation would be an agressive target. The devil and his demons did not know God's plan but they would go after God's chosen nation and God's chosen locations. Anything God chooses, they will also choose to attack.
We saw that the Jews delivered out of Egypt with major miracles shown to them, immediately were influenced to worship idols.
Being slaves to the pagan Egyptians modified and influenced the jews to easily adopt idolatry. So, the Jews did and got Moses really mad about it.
(c) King Solomon were influenced by his wives or concubines (around 939 BC or 2939 years ago)
We saw idolatry crept into the life of King Solomon slowly as he married all the foreign pagan wives.
It did not start that way for King Solomon but with him living with company of pagans influenced him.
So, we learn that bad company corrupt good character.
(d) Emergence of Hinduism in India (around 600 BC or 2600 years ago)
The cotton trade between India and the Akkadians in the babylonian areas infused the idea of idolatry into India.
In the Akkadian tongue, Indian cotton was expressed by ideographs meaning "vegetable cloth." Assurbanipal (668-626 B.C) cultivated Indian plants including the "wool-bearing trees" of India.
Hence, we saw the emergence of locally adjusted religion called Hinduism in india after that.
(e) King Nebuchadnezzar II (around 600 BC or 2600 years ago)
to be updated
(f) Emergence of Buddhism in India (around 5 BC or 2020 years ago)
to be updated
(g) Spread of Hinduism and Buddhism to China (around 300 BC to 5 AD)
to be updated
The devil dilutes God's commandments slowly...bit by bit and eventually when we call evil good and good evil, then we have become evil like the devil. Let us see now how this strategy is executed throughout the history of mankind.
God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.
I am the LORD thy God
Thou shalt have no other gods
No graven images or likenesses
Not take the LORD's name in vain
Remember the sabbath day
Honour thy father and thy mother
Thou shalt not kill
Thou shalt not commit adultery
Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not bear false witness
Thou shalt not covet
As soon as the laws are clearly stated, the devil and his demons goes to work to get God's children to break it.
The most Top 2 will be their first target to contaminate God's children:
Thou shalt have no other gods
No graven images or likenesses
Pride is probably the starting point because it means the desire of being worshipped or remembered.
Resurgence of giants is the easiest because it will get genetic contamination to prevent Jesus from coming and these giants are easily coerced to want fame and desire to be worshipped. It is like shooting 2 birds with 1 stone effect.
(a) Resurgence of giants after Noah (around 2500 BC or 4500 years ago)
The resurgence of giants was an opportunity for the devil and his demons to influence the people with pride.
From the pride of wanting to make a name for themselves, statues of themselves will be errected for worship.
To avoid looking too egotistical, other statues were probably made.
Hence the immergence of idolatry of worshipping other gods or images amongst God's children
(b) Jews during Exodus (around 1500 BC or 3500 years ago)
Although many groups of God's children on earth were affected by idolatry of worshipping other gods after Tower of Babel, the chosen nation would be an agressive target. The devil and his demons did not know God's plan but they would go after God's chosen nation and God's chosen locations. Anything God chooses, they will also choose to attack.
We saw that the Jews delivered out of Egypt with major miracles shown to them, immediately were influenced to worship idols.
Being slaves to the pagan Egyptians modified and influenced the jews to easily adopt idolatry. So, the Jews did and got Moses really mad about it.
(c) King Solomon were influenced by his wives or concubines (around 939 BC or 2939 years ago)
We saw idolatry crept into the life of King Solomon slowly as he married all the foreign pagan wives.
It did not start that way for King Solomon but with him living with company of pagans influenced him.
So, we learn that bad company corrupt good character.
(d) Emergence of Hinduism in India (around 600 BC or 2600 years ago)
The cotton trade between India and the Akkadians in the babylonian areas infused the idea of idolatry into India.
In the Akkadian tongue, Indian cotton was expressed by ideographs meaning "vegetable cloth." Assurbanipal (668-626 B.C) cultivated Indian plants including the "wool-bearing trees" of India.
Hence, we saw the emergence of locally adjusted religion called Hinduism in india after that.
(e) King Nebuchadnezzar II (around 600 BC or 2600 years ago)
to be updated
(f) Emergence of Buddhism in India (around 5 BC or 2020 years ago)
to be updated
(g) Spread of Hinduism and Buddhism to China (around 300 BC to 5 AD)
to be updated
(h) Romans just replaced their idols
The Romans worshipped a main pantheon of 12 Gods called Dii Consentes: six gods and six goddesses: Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Vesta, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercurius, Neptunus, Volcanus, and Apollo.
The transition of Romans from worshipping their deities/idols to worshipping God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost was really interesting. It seemed that they merely replace their gods.
The Romans worshipped a main pantheon of 12 Gods called Dii Consentes: six gods and six goddesses: Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Vesta, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercurius, Neptunus, Volcanus, and Apollo.
The transition of Romans from worshipping their deities/idols to worshipping God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost was really interesting. It seemed that they merely replace their gods.
Greek Name Roman Name Description
Zeus Jupiter King of Gods
Hera Juno Goddess of Marriage
Poseidon Neptune God of the Sea
Cronos Saturn Youngest son of Uranus, Father of Zeus
Aphrodite Venus Goddess of Love
Hades Pluto God of the Underworld
Hephaistos Vulcan God of the Forge
Demeter Ceres Goddess of the Harvest
Apollo Apollo God of Music and Medicine
Athena Minerva Goddess of Wisdom
Artemis Diana Goddess of the Hunt
Ares Mars God of War
Hermes Mercury Messenger of the Gods
Dionysus Bacchus God of Wine
Persephone Proserpine Goddess of Underworld
Eros Cupid God of Love
Gaia Gaea Goddess of Earth
Zeus Jupiter King of Gods
Hera Juno Goddess of Marriage
Poseidon Neptune God of the Sea
Cronos Saturn Youngest son of Uranus, Father of Zeus
Aphrodite Venus Goddess of Love
Hades Pluto God of the Underworld
Hephaistos Vulcan God of the Forge
Demeter Ceres Goddess of the Harvest
Apollo Apollo God of Music and Medicine
Athena Minerva Goddess of Wisdom
Artemis Diana Goddess of the Hunt
Ares Mars God of War
Hermes Mercury Messenger of the Gods
Dionysus Bacchus God of Wine
Persephone Proserpine Goddess of Underworld
Eros Cupid God of Love
Gaia Gaea Goddess of Earth
2.11 Devil changes God's calendar
to be updated
to be updated
2.12 Devil changes Jesus birthdate
to be updated
to be updated
2.13 Devil deceives us into becoming ignorance of God's word
to be updated
to be updated
2.14 Devil distracts us from God's word
to be updated
to be updated
2.15 Devil distracts us with Self idolatry
to be updated
to be updated
(3) Experience of Rev. Howard Pittmann with Territory of Devil
Our next video (Duration: about 1 hour ) describes in quite detail by Rev. Howard Pittmann on Satan and his demons. How they are organized, what they do and how they do it.
Our next video (Duration: about 1 hour ) describes in quite detail by Rev. Howard Pittmann on Satan and his demons. How they are organized, what they do and how they do it.
Do we have power over Satan and his demons?
Yes. According to The Bible, Satan is already defeated when Jesus sacrificed himself. The Bible states that we as children of God have power over Satan and his demons.
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
We have a video here shared by a brother named John who got involved with Satan and his team. This video did not start out like what we expected and after 7:17 minutes, John came into the scene showing us the principalities of demons exist in our realm and how they operate.
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
We have a video here shared by a brother named John who got involved with Satan and his team. This video did not start out like what we expected and after 7:17 minutes, John came into the scene showing us the principalities of demons exist in our realm and how they operate.
What happened to Satan & his demons when Jesus came?
The video (Duration: about 55mins) below from the sermon The Fourth Man by Jerry Savelle many years ago about faith answers also questions about
- what happened to Satan and his demons when Jesus came?
- How do we overcome Satan and his demons?
Is it possible we may have demons in us?
Yes. According to Pastor Derek Prince, it is possible for Christians to have demons in them. The animation video below tries to demonstrate to us both the unseen world vs the seen world.
Yes. According to Pastor Derek Prince, it is possible for Christians to have demons in them. The animation video below tries to demonstrate to us both the unseen world vs the seen world.
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How do we cast out the demons in us?
For those who are already plagued with demon troubles, going through some material from Pastor Derek Prince might help.
This video (Duration: about 1 hour) introduces us on how to recognize and expel demons.
This video (Duration: about 1 hour) introduces us on how to recognize and expel demons.
Why so few will enter Third Heaven?
Indeed, Jesus tells us that the path to Heaven (Third Heaven) is narrow. Rev. Howard Pittmann told us that in his Near Death Experience (NDE) in 1979, only 50 out of 2000 souls made it to Third Heaven (2.5%). We also have people in Korea experiencing Near Death Experience (NDE) reporting 1 out of 1000 souls entered Third Heaven in 1988 (0.1%). We already have so few in 1979 and about 10 years later, our rate dropped 25 times. Why this is so???
To elaborate this point on why so few going to Heaven, we will use an example of house rules. We often have house rules for our children living with us at home. If our children disobey the rules, they will get punished as a consequence. Just because our children rebel against one or more of the rules we set, it does not mean that we will remove the rules to fit our children if they cannot follow them by lowering our standards. For example, no drugs or no smoking at home literally means NO DRUGS and NO SMOKING at home. Hence, we as children of God must follow God House Rules which God has written in The Bible. God will not lower His standard because we have a hard time following.
The Bible says that our names will be written in the Lamb's Book of Life when we are born again. Born again is when we realized that accepting Jesus Christ is the only way for our souls to live on in Third Heaven when we our bodies die physically on earth (First Heaven). If not, our souls will be sent to Second Heaven where Satan has his dominion. Souls going there will live in a place where there is no love and have to work for Satan or get tortured by him. After a certain time as appointed by God, all the souls, demons, devils and Satan in Second Heavens will be sent to Eternal Hell. Please note that Satan and his demons has access to First Heaven (Earth) and Second Heavens at the moment.
Also, The Bible informs us that names can also be removed from the Lamb's Book of Life if we do not live our lives according to what Jesus commands. Our lives after the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Saviour will require us to put away our old life and live the life for Jesus Christ. Jesus promised us that we can overcome that with His help. It is important to know that the Deceiver / Devil / Satan will work against God to deceive us. Satan and his team is actively working to distract and contaminate us from finding our way back to God and living a God pleasing life. That is the reason why we are struggling with crafty temptations by Satan and his team.
To elaborate this point on why so few going to Heaven, we will use an example of house rules. We often have house rules for our children living with us at home. If our children disobey the rules, they will get punished as a consequence. Just because our children rebel against one or more of the rules we set, it does not mean that we will remove the rules to fit our children if they cannot follow them by lowering our standards. For example, no drugs or no smoking at home literally means NO DRUGS and NO SMOKING at home. Hence, we as children of God must follow God House Rules which God has written in The Bible. God will not lower His standard because we have a hard time following.
The Bible says that our names will be written in the Lamb's Book of Life when we are born again. Born again is when we realized that accepting Jesus Christ is the only way for our souls to live on in Third Heaven when we our bodies die physically on earth (First Heaven). If not, our souls will be sent to Second Heaven where Satan has his dominion. Souls going there will live in a place where there is no love and have to work for Satan or get tortured by him. After a certain time as appointed by God, all the souls, demons, devils and Satan in Second Heavens will be sent to Eternal Hell. Please note that Satan and his demons has access to First Heaven (Earth) and Second Heavens at the moment.
Also, The Bible informs us that names can also be removed from the Lamb's Book of Life if we do not live our lives according to what Jesus commands. Our lives after the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Saviour will require us to put away our old life and live the life for Jesus Christ. Jesus promised us that we can overcome that with His help. It is important to know that the Deceiver / Devil / Satan will work against God to deceive us. Satan and his team is actively working to distract and contaminate us from finding our way back to God and living a God pleasing life. That is the reason why we are struggling with crafty temptations by Satan and his team.
Let us now review the work of Satan on our human history from the beginning. To be updated.
WHAT SATAN CAN AND CANNOT DO
By Steve Van Nattan
This study is a plain talk attempt to help you understand what
Satan is like and what he can do and cannot do to you.
We are not told to feel sorry for Satan.
But, I have thought that Satan gets a bad rap sometimes. You see, sinners like to blame Satan for their sins. Adam, in the garden, blamed Eve for his sin of eating the forbidden fruit, and then Eve blamed Satan.
Sure, Satan helped her, but the final verdict was Eve's. If you like to blame Satan for the wicked things you do, you might as well stop reading right now. This study will only make you mad.
We will not be doing a theological study here. We will simply discuss a rather complete list of questions about the person and activities of Satan. We will discover that he is indeed a deadly force in the world, and he is a personal adversary to us all.
This applies to both the Bible believer and to the unbeliever. No one person in this earth is immune from the attacks of Satan and his imps.
Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
SATAN CANNOT DEFINE HIMSELF
There is no Scripture to indicate that Satan contemplates his own condition. He seems to be totally convinced that he is God, in spite of the fact that his fallen state is a result of trying to be God when he was in his perfected condition.
Satan must be defined by God. If you allow ANYONE to give you defining information about Satan which cannot be found in the Word of God, you have been deceived by Satan and the person teaching the heresy about him.
There are no scripture references for this point. The fact is, nowhere in the Word of God does Satan describe himself. Perhaps he would just as soon not think about what he is, for that would remind him of what he was before he fell from heaven.
WHERE DID SATAN COME FROM?
In the Bible text in the next topic below, you will see in verse 13 that Satan was created. The commentary was addressed by proxy to Satan in the name of the king of Tyre. [ Please scroll down slightly to read the text. ]
Satan was created. This sets to rest several in-church urban legends. Satan is not omniscient, knowing all things, like God himself. Created beings do not have the ability to know things that are not revealed to them by some outside source. God is a self-contained source, so he knows all.
This means that Satan does not know what you are thinking. God has reserved that for himself:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Satan will never know you as God knows you:
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
Satan was never, and never will be, like God, but you will:
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
So, why does Satan hate you? Answer: You know more than he does regarding the deeper things of the Lord and his work.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Satan will never again be "with" the Lord, but you will. Satan hates it that mortal beings like you can be forgiven (he cannot) and be like God in some way that we do not fully now understand.
SATAN CAN REMEMBER
Ezekiel 28:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Thanks for photo from MShades at Flickr
Hell is a place to remember. The rich man in Jesus' parable was invited to remember:
Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Like the rich man, Satan made his choices in his first estate, and he fell. He is now bound to the earth, and after one last verdict from God, he will be bound in the Lake of Fire. He is reminded in the Ezekiel text above of all that he has lost, just as the rich man was invited to remember all that he lost.
2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Why does Satan hate you? Answer: You are forgiven, he is not. You will one day forget your fallen state, he is doomed to his fallen state forever.
Psalms 85:2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
Ezekiel 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
IS SATAN THE BROTHER OF JESUS,
OR SO THE MORMON CHURCH TEACHES?
I have no scripture texts with this discussion. I can only tell you that Mormons claim, by the Mother Goose revelation of their tin horned prophet Joseph Smith, that Jesus is the brother of Satan. They teach that Satan was the preferred one in eternity past, but Jesus started a war in heaven to take over the top Son of God office, and Jesus won. Satan tried to take his original office back when he had Jesus crucified on the cross, but Jesus was too tricky for Satan.
Mormons need to be asked a blunt question: "Who is to say that Satan will not try to defeat Jesus again and win? If he does, he will then massacre all those who follow Jesus." The ONLY way to get a Mormon saved is to make him mad by driving his stupid teachings to their logical end, which the Mormons do not want to do.
WHAT IS SATAN'S M.O.? THAT IS,
HOW MAY WE EXPECT HIM TO BEHAVE?
It is all very simple. Satan cannot have his office in heaven back, and he cannot stop Jesus from doing his work:
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
So, all Satan has left to do is to destroy people by tying them up so well in sin that they cannot reason and understand the Gospel.
If he loses someone to Christ, he then attacks them to destroy their Christian victory.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
We will consider all the ways Satan tries to devour you near the end of this study. But, you must be very careful to stop talking about Satan as if he has great organizational and governing latitude. The earth is still the Lord's, and Satan has very limited options in what he can do in this world.
Further, Satan rules the kingdoms of the world for now:
Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Does he really own those kingdoms, or was he again lying?
Ephesians 6:12 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.
Ephesians 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:
Revelation 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Satan today is in control of the world's kingdoms by aiding and comforting their sin and corruptness. The way he tempts good leaders of the nations to make war and do evil to other nations is by the same temptation he offered Jesus. If a world ruler will sell his soul to Satan, he will find his power increase and his borders expanded, with geographically, or, as in the present USA regime, in economic power.
This greed for a larger kingdom has then resulted in these power greedy rulers being destroyed personally, as with Adolph Hitler, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon Bonapart.
We must not miss one last thought. Jesus was destined to die a cruel death on the cross to save fallen man. Was there a shortcut to become Messiah and rule the world? Could he avoid the pain? He certainly was moved by the prospect in the Garden of Gathsemene where he asked, if it were possible, that the cup of suffering be removed. Satan will also offer you shortcuts to Christian victory, to wealth, to power among your associates, etc. Will you stay on the course God set you on, or will you bow to Lucifer and receive the rewards the easy way?
CAN SATAN BE IN TWO PLACES AT THE SAME TIME
There is a Mother Goose teaching in Christendom that says that Satan and fallen devils can connect to two or more places by some sort of silver cord connection and dominate people all over the world. This is hog wash. Jack Chick Publishing went for a alleged convert from witchcraft named Rebecca Brown who taught this. She also taught that devils could become wolves. Such teachings are more than folly, they are paganism in the church house.
The only Scripture I can find that hints of Satan and fallen angels being stuck to deal only with the geographical point in the world where they are, is this:
Daniel 10:10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Daniel was praying and fasting, and an angel, probably Gabriel, came to him and explained why he could not get there quicker. So, what do we learn here?
1. Good angels are bound in some way to points where they are until they move on. So, Satan was a created angel, though a powerful one, and nowhere in the Word of God are we told that Satan had greater intrinsic power than any other angel. He had greater talents, but not the license to operate outside the angelic limitations.
2. Also, if this Prince of Persia was able to link to more than one point or person, why did he not chase the angel sent from God to Daniel's home and link to him? Answer: Satan and his imps have no more ability to occupy more space than you or I. They may move faster because they are spirits, but they DO have limitations.
HOW CAN SATAN DO YOU HARM?
Satan can devour people
Psalms 22:11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
It is thought that Jesus used these words, or at least the Psalmist used them in a prophetic sense, to describe the manner and hate of those who attacked Christ and crucified him. The bulls of Bashan were from the north of Israel, and they were famously fierce. It must be assumed that every devil in the world gathered in Jerusalem to surround the cross, and, with Satan, celebrate the destruction of the Son of God, their creator.
Acts 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
This also is a classic example of the fellowship between Satan and humans. It is never based on love, constructive activity, or on redemptive actions. It is all about hate, lust, and murder. Here is the great devourer:
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
This text comes up over and over in the study of Satan and evil spirits. This is because it answers so many questions.
1. Those who are not vigilant may well be devoured.
2. Satan is an adversary, never an associate to any useful purpose.
3. He is like a roaring lion. This is unnatural. When a lion hunts, ordinarily the lion is absolutely quiet, like your cat stalking a mouse. Lions never roar when they seek some victim to devour. But, there is one exception. On rare occasions, a lion will roar just as it springs if the animal being stalked is known to freeze even for a couple of seconds before bolting. The roar terrorizes and paralyzes the animal. Only a very confident lion would roar as it attacks. Satan KNOWS he can defeat you. The good news is, Satan is wrong. This discussion of the nature of a lion is based on my years living in Africa.
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
4. There is no option to run or make a deal with Satan. Verse 9 or the text above COMMANDS us to resist Satan. When Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus quoted the book of Deuteronomy in each case to resist Satan. Jesus would have the authority to blast Satan with anything he wanted to say to the tempter. But, Jesus used only the Word of God.
If we start memorizing magic prayers, using formulas given us by some alleged expert, or any other trick, we may be consumed by Satan. Let us use the Word of God to resist Satan when he tempts us. If you were to say to Satan, "Get thee behind me, Satan," we would assume that Satan would know where we got that quote. Personally, I like to quote the verses about the Blood of Jesus or perhaps a verse from Psalm 91. I don't have a patent on how to resist the devil. I use the Word of God.
Satan can possess the wicked
John 13:21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
John 13:26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
Judas was a thief from the beginning according to another passage in the Gospels. He was called the son of perdition, which means he was never converted. So, in his rebel state, he opened the door to be possessed of Satan personally.
1 Corinthians 5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
In this case the man was not possessed by a devil because he was a believer in the local church. Because he was a believer, but also because he was living very wickedly, Paul told the church leaders to set the man outside the door to suffer attacks from Satan. This was torment by a devil, but the man could not be damned by decree as the blasphemous Pope and his boys think they can do.
But, if you arrive at the same state this man was, you are in big trouble. Satan has open season on you, and the sooner you repent, the sooner you will be back under the full protection of God. Let us be careful about assuming a brother is unsaved because Satan is troubling him. He may be soundly saved, but God is allowing him to be chastened by being attacked by Satan. Be eager to welcome him back into fellowship when he repents.
Satan can tempt you
1 Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
David was not to number the people. Kings number their subjects and become proud of it. Preachers measure their success and power by counting attendance. What folly. It is all about nickels and noses and a butt every 24 inches.
The Lord giveth the harvest, what business do we have numbering his harvest which is not ours? The first thing I did when I pastored any church was to remove that stupid board up front listing last Sunday's attendance and the record of giving. Both statistics are not my business, nor are they yours.
Satan knew the power of counting noses, so he inspired David to call a census. Many people died for this one man's sin and doing what Satan suggested. And, David was a mighty servant of the Lord. He wrote many songs into the canon of the Word of God. This tells me that the best of us, whatever that means, can listen to Satan and do great evil.
Acts 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
As with David, Satan was the one who initiated these thoughts of pride. Satan was the first sinner in all time when he announced to heaven that he would be like the Most High God, and for that he fell. Satan is a expert at pride. Never forget that.
So, what is the net result if we act in pride at Satan's suggestion? Answer: Our labor for the Lord will be a big zero.
1 Thessalonians 3:5 For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.
Or..... we, or someone else, may suffer because we acted upon Satan's suggestion.
Satan can make you feel good
It is a lie to say that Satan always makes people feel bad. Satan is the master of flattery. Flattery feels good, and Satan knows that we crave approval.
"Pastor, we have visited all the churches in this area, and you are the first one we have found who really teaches the Bible." Now, preacher, you love to hear words like that, right? Frankly, when I have been told anything like that I know that the person in front of me is possessed of devils, or like Peter, is speaking for the devil.
Matthew 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Satan moved Peter, one of Jesus best friends, to actually rebuke God the Son. Satan makes good people into devils, at least figuratively, and nothing assists Satan more than your good friend telling you that you are too good to suffer or live out the destiny which God has chosen for you.
"Brother, I feel you are wasting your life on those rebel heathen in the Congo. You have done your best to convert them during your missionary days in Africa, and you have only one convert. I believe you can do a lot more by getting a church right here in Nebraska and teach Christians who really want to learn the Bible."
These people are using Satan's most powerful tool. Here is his flattery right from the start of human history:
Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
"You are worthy of being a goddess, Eve, and all you need to do is disobey God and eat." "Preacher, here is $100. Take your wife to dinner-- you two work so hard, and you deserve a break." Inhale, sir, and you are dead.
Here is Satan in his final big act as Antichrist:
Daniel 11:21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
Daniel 11:32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
Flattery corrupts food people. When you disobey God, and when you venture into license and depravity for a moment, Satan will send his little helper to tell you you have become very special. "Preacher, I appreciate you coming to our Masonic breakfast. The preacher before you refused, and he never got anywhere with us Masons." You are getting your praise from Satan, preacher.
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
If you crave flattery, I can promise you, you will get it. Satan cannot read your thoughts, but he sure knows that glow on your face when his servants flattery you, and he loads it on you more and more.
I am convinced that men like Jack Hyles responded in their early years to flattery, and so Satan sent them a flock of silly ass male flappers who danced a jig around Jack Hyles everywhere he went. I saw this in action when I wen to hear him at a preachers rally. At the noon break, Jack went with a group of preachers to lunch, and they left the church house with a flying wing of preachers spread out on each side of Jack like an old fashioned Communist May Day event. You could tell who was next in rank to Hyles and on down the line by their placement in the wings. It was enough to make you puke. And, all the while the preachers were shining on Jack Hyles and saying flattering things about him. Every one of those preachers, even though they were Fundamental KJV only blah blah, were devils.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and 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.
For the record, virtually all Charismatic pastor use flattery to build a following. When some gullible soul comes to meet one of these Charismatic gurus, the guru will suddenly gush, and he will tell them that God has just shown him that the gullible idiot in front of him will soon do some mighty works for God. They also gush back and forth and flattery each other at large gatherings and tell the mob that they other one is about to have a mighty breakthrough of power and glory flowing around his priceless person.
Satan can watch you and tell if you are righteous or sinful
Job 1:7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
When Satan was asked what he thought of Job, Satan came right back fast. He knew about Job. Satan had probably given up on Job because Job would not give place to Satan, let alone his own flesh. Here is the degree to which Job went to keep his mind clean in a day when there was no law officially given:
Job 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.
Job would have had quite a time moving about in modern society with the undressing of 99% of all the maids in Wal-Mart and in public.
What a statement of zeal from Job for the godly life. Satan almost sounds offended because God has such a godly man in the earth. Understand this, Satan cannot read your mind, but he sees your actions, and he sees if the eyes are diverted from the half naked maid or not, even if you think no one saw. God may not be the only one watching you and me.
Satan will lie about you to God
See also the above text regarding Job. Satan lied about Job being soft and claiming Job would curse God if he suffered. Do not be surprised if a sinner or saint accuses you and lies about you. Satan has entered the mind and heart of many saints in these last days, and he loves to inspire them to accuse one another.
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and 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.
In Ethiopian culture lying is an art. When you are talking with someone, you try to understand their feelings about life and other people. Then, when some person is mentioned in the conversation whom you detest, you set your feelings aside, and you agree with the other person you are talking to. You speak highly of the third party under discussion so that your friend will feel comfortable about things. This may not be YOUR lie, but it is a lie. The motive does not baptize the sin. The Ethiopian church has particular teachings for new believers to help them drop this cultural evil and learn to speak only the truth.
My point is this-- lying is endemic in human nature, and it is one of the last sins of the Great Tribulation that men would not give up. The lie today is accepted as normal. All politicians lie. Presidents lie. People of all walks of life lie to each other, and it is passed off as necessary to avoid trouble. We are even coached in how to lie legally as we pay our taxes. This is the fruit of 6000 years of teaching by our adversary. By now it seems we would all earn a PhD in lying if Satan opened a university.
Satan can obstruct your progress
Zechariah 3:1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
Joshua was standing before God, perhaps in the past, but probably to prepare him for the future and his place in the Kingdom of Messiah. Satan was standing by to make trouble. Joshua's robes were filthy with sin, and God changed his clothing to glorious robes to make him ready to serve as a priest. Satan was eager, we assume based on the story of Job, to accuse Joshua of being too sinful to serve God. God was under no obligation to hear Satan's accusations. If you are a born again believer in Jesus Christ, God will not discuss your destiny with Satan. You are in God's perfect plan which he will not alter.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The text from Daniel is again in order:
Daniel 10:10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
The Prince of Persia was not a man. Men do not hinder angels, for they move in the spirit, not in flesh and blood. So, some high powered fallen angel was ruing in Persia, and somehow that devil hindered the progress or Gabriel (probably), and God sent Michael to deliver Gabriel from that devil.
Satan can control you from the outside:
Matthew 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
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.
The key word here is "empty." If you are a born again believer in Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit dwells in you. You will never be empty of the presence of God. Satan and his devils can offer you suggestions from the outside, and they can lead you into deep sin, but they cannot enter and possess you. God the Holy Spirit will not leave you according to the promise of Jesus, and God will not give up possession of you.
Now, if you are not born again, and if some Catholic priest or some medium manages to exorcise a devil from within you, you are in deep trouble if you do not at once confess faith in Jesus Christ so that he takes possession. Otherwise, the devil will return with a bunch of demonic friends and make your end worse than before.
Here is a video of a young man mocking the Gospel. We cannot give up on him, but we also understand that he may have crossed the line and made the deadly choice to be the habitation of devils until he dies. How tragic.
Satan can rob you of the truth:
Matthew 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
This results in no fruit unto righteousness in your life. To the unsaved, the end is spiritual blindness:
2 Corinthians 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.
There can come a point where a person who rejects the Gospel will become blind to all truth from the Word of God. This is a pitiful state, and it is usually impossible to reason with these people. This state is often the work of "the god of this world," that is, Satan.
I pastored a church in which we had a lady and her children attending who was a real believer and living for the Lord. Her husband refused to confess Christ as Savior, though he came from time to time, and in a worldly way he liked our company. But, he was blind to the Gospel. You simply cannot force the Gospel past that barrier. You can pray, and you can coax and weep over them, but they never see it.
In fact, some of these people are fully possessed of devils, and they come to your assembly, and they may come to your home, to find refuge from the devils. I have seen this graphically in Ethiopia and in our home in the California desert. We never turned them away in the hope that they might finally seek Christ and deliverance. But, we always kept our guard up in the Holy Spirit because this sort of thing is total spiritual warfare.
Satan can hinder you and the work of God:
1 Thessalonians 2:18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
Hinder is not defeat. And, this hindrance was not spoken of as if Paul lacked faith or was in sin. It is simply how the battle goes at times. Get that straight. God will finish his work, and if you are his worker, he will make sure you get the help you need to do it. We may lose a battle, but we win the war.
Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
You never know who that is who dropped in-- it might be an angel of the Lord who is there to make sure you win the battle. Do NOT get all spooky about this. I know of VERY FEW accounts of faithful saints being helped by angels and knowing they were angels. Angels ALWAYS appear as men in this life, as they did with Abraham.
Here is an account that includes a discussion of angels protecting me and some other kids. We did not know about it until long after the crisis was over.
But, when some famous Amos on TBN, or at some other notable ministry, claims to have seen angels, or that some Archangel you cannot find in the Bible came to them and told them this or that, they are liars. This is meant to give the Charismatic guru credibility.
The point is, we may be helped by angels God sent, but the angels will remain unknown.
Satan can and will create FALSE REVIVAL to deceive stupid saints
or Christians who are nothing but an empty profession.
(This item suggested by Pastor Art Barton)
The Brownsville/Toronto debacle comes to mind.
When I did research for my Master's degree thesis at PBI, I dug up accounts given by Peter Cartwright that he wrote during the Cumberland Valley revivals of the early 1800s. They did the barking like dogs and twitching and running around screaming and flopping around on the floor, like they did at Brownsville and in Toronto.
Cartwright said that they called the twitching "the jerks", and the running around and yelling and hollering, they called the "running, jumping, barking exercise." He gave accounts of women who would be taken with the "jerks", and (because of their very long hair which was common back then) they would twitch so violently that their hair would literally make the noise of a whip cracking. He told of one man who got taken with these "jerks" whose head snapped so violently that his neck broke and he died. Somehow, that doesn't remind me very much of the Holy Spirit.
I have John Wesley's journals (and I think I may have read something about this on your journal also) and he wrote of women who were seized with the "holy laugh", and laughed hysterically during the preaching and afterward, and then progressed to screaming obscenities and blaspheming God.
None of these accounts from Wesley to Cartwright to Toronto to Brownsville resembles the descriptions of the Holy Spirit given in
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
But they DO describe the works of the flesh in
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
These manifestations caused so much havoc back in the 1700s and 1800s, when they were having REAL REVIVAL and not the false revival of today, that it had to be a fulfillment of II Cor 11:14.
2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Satan showed up to COUNTER the work of God---(for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction type of thing)---to take the steam out of the revival. Wesley and Cartwright saw this for what it was----a move of Satan. Today, Christians are so dumb that they will accept Satan's movements as a movement of God.
By the way, both Wesley and Cartwright said that the only solution to these "manifestations of the Holy Spirit", as the Charismaniacs refer to them today, was PRAYER.
Satan can accuse you
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
We mentioned this above with Job, but more is needed here. Satan's most brazen "ministry" is to accuse you before God. This he does night and day. I thus assume that he is back and forth from earth to the throne of God to throw new accusations at God about you and me. If it were not for the Blood of Jesus Christ, God would seem to be at some disadvantage in answering Satan. But, because of Christ, God can send Satan packing every time. Does this make you a bit more thankful to Christ for his work on your behalf as he shed his precious blood for your cleansing?
Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Satan accused Job before Job was even tested. Satan BELIEVES you will fail when tested. Will you? You are expected to have victory, and all power if available to you to have victory.
1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Satan can teach you the Bible (falsely of course)
What Satan taught Eve in the Garden of Eden is the same message today. Satan stays with what works. He tried to make himself God, and when he was tossed out of Heaven for that rebellion, he then became the spiritual teacher of man.
Man is a co-creator with God, for God ordained that the man and woman would make new life by procreating. So, Satan can depend on man to take the message of man's potential godhood, and man will fill in the details very well. Man has the imagination, and Satan has the story line. The movie of the results since Eden would be a box office winner to the masses of humanity, a monument to "human potential."
Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
The message of Satan today, that message that teaches you that you are great and have tremendous potential, comes not from nasty greasy gurus in India. It comes from Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Rob Bell, and a thousand other devil possessed men who are preaching the message of That Old Serpent.
Satan can give you light which complicates the simple truth
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Subtle-- Satan, and his gurus and preachers, are clever at twisting the truth around. Satan's favorite man is a Fundamental Baptist preacher in a pulpit of a big church, with a King James Bible in his hand, teaching verse by verse a mixture of truth and Mother Goose doctrine.
2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 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.
Do you think that the fact that
Mitt Romney is a Mormon preacher,
and that he thinks he is going to be
a god in eternity, is not important?
This man is an angel of light in the true sense.
But, he is the Satanic variety.
Just because you think your guru, prophet, or mega church preacher is giving you light does not mean it is God's light. Even nature tells us there are two kinds of light. There is the warm light of the sun and fire burning, and there is the cold light of phosphorescence and radiation. Both are light, but only one warms you and preserves life.
Just so, there is the light of the Gospel in Jesus Christ, and there is the damning light of Satan. Which light are YOU getting?
2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Now, what will we say about these modern prophets who claim that God gave them a vision, a sign, or a prophecy "by revelation?" Here is the vision of Eliphaz, one of Job's lousy friends who tormented him for many days:
Job 4:12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
You see, Eliphaz was NOT hearing from God. He was hearing from a devil. The proof of that is there is NO hope in the message. Read it again. It is true up to verse 21, but when God speaks of the horrible condition of sin in which we find ourselves, God always gives the option of restoration and mercy if we meet his conditions.
This Eliphaz was the preacher of cold light, dead light, damning light. He got it from Dr. Lew Siffer.
So, when some Christian guru claims to have a revelation, you are really looking at a devil in the man. It matters not whether he is really born again or not-- flee from the rascal. He is wicked. He is a Balaam.
How can I be so sure of that? Answer: It is not my idea, it is God's Word.
Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
I just ordered a book called Temple at the Center of Time by David Flynn. It sounded good because he was trying to show that the temple in Jerusalem is at the center of time. Fair enough, there may be something to that notion. But, he flunked with me on two counts. First, he used biblical evidences to prove that the Washington Monument in Washington DC fit some biblical numerological calculations.
But second and worse, Flynn accused King James II of England of forcing errors in translation to secure himself as King of England. That was a bold lie, for the truth is, King James purposely selected both Church of England and Puritan translators to make sure such tricks in translation did not happen. They were told by the king to watch each other to make sure they did not color the Bible with personal bias. Flynn lied about King James in order to retranslate some word he needed to fit his metanarrative.
I pitched Mr. Flynn's book into the round file at once. The man is playing very close to the edge of God's wrath and eternity in hell if we are to believe the Revelation text above. Flynn is peddling Satanic light.
Satan can produce FALSE SIGNS AND WONDERS.
(This item suggested by Pastor Art Barton)
2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Satan can show you a shorter or longer way to do everything
Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
I ask you to read all of the above. You will see that Satan suggested to Jesus that he do things he already could do. The whole point was that Jesus would avoid going back down the mountain, finding bread, and eating like we do. He would thus use his power selfishly and take a divine shortcut.
He would also take an immense short cut to fame by landing in the temple courtyard where the people would then exalt him for being a great showman.
Again, he would gain the kingdom of the whole world and avoid the agony of the cross by simply taking a shorcut and bowing to his fallen created angel.
What short cuts are you taking? Why did you abandon the longer route to God's will for you? Perhaps a couple of days of fasting and prayer would be in order to examine the Word of God and your own heart.
Satan can help you become
physically dirty and sicken
yourself
Matthew 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Flies, in all cultures are associated with filthy places and stench. Satan was called Beel-zebub, or the Lord of Flies. The Jews recognized that Satan made things dirty.
Sin makes people dirty. Some people today even come to think being filthy is cute, as the group at the right.
The more pagan a culture, the more filthy they are, and the more naked they are. Those who have been raised culturally to the heights because the Gospel had free reign in their culture, and who then fall, start taking off their clothes and get down and dirty again.
Missionary doctors can vouch for this truth.
Lepers in Africa who came to the leper clinic of the missionaries were given treatment to arrest, and more recently, to completely cure the leprosy. If they received the Gospel and were born again, once they left the leper colony cleansed, they never relapsed. If they rejected the Gospel, they later became infected again and had to return for treatment.
Why? Leprosy is a disease of filth and dirty living. It is a known medical fact. We do not have leprosy in America now, not because we lack the ability to get it. We have been clean of leprosy for a long time because we practice the sanitation principles set forth in the law of Moses.
You find that when Jesus helped a leper, he "cleansed" the leper. It is never said that he "healed" them.
Mark 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
Ironically, as America retrogresses to become a vile and fallen culture, physical filth is returning, and so is leprosy returning. As Liberals cry out for illegal immigrants to be given citizen status, no questions asked, the scourge of leprosy is being imported to the tune of 9000 cases during the last three years. The Bible makes is very clear that guaranteeing is absolutely essential to control leprosy, but the same Liberal mindset that gave civil rights to the AIDS virus is now doing the same for leprosy.
With our burgeoning American ghettos, and with public funds slowly drying up, the filthy environment is coming into being in which leprosy will thrive. Cholera and typhoid will be next. I learned about leprosy while living in Africa. I think I have some valid observations. Liberalism is founded on license, lust, and denial. Satan loves filth, and so do Liberals, both morally and physically.
If your children are allowed to be dirty all the time, and you instill in them no self-consciousness about being dirty, they will be sick more, and they will become dirty morally a lot easier than kids who crave to be clean at the end of the day. Lazy slobs of parents think dirty kids are normal. Satan loves the doctrine that dirty is beautiful.
Satan can be wonderful (Rajneesh video- see video below this article)
In this regard, Satan recalls when he was wonderful as an angel. He craved to become "wonderful" as God is wonderful.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Satan, spoken of as Lucifer, was amazing and a master work of creation by God until he fell:
Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
So, it is no wonder that Satan and his servants produce a vision of wonder to the gullible fools who fall under his spell. Be careful my friend, evil is pretty on the outside, but deadly inside. I have driven along the main drag in Las Vegas. The outside of those casinos is amazing with lovely granite, gilding, and shining lights. But, inside the poor suckers are relieved of their life savings with impunity. That is a good model of Satan's beauty.
Satan can send you little green men
(See our article about the Roman Catholic saboteurs-- Opus Dei)
Jude 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
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.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
We have had to deal with these people.
The problem is, they can come into our fellowships "unawares". They are sometimes on their own, but we know that Satan and devils can possess ungodly people. Thus, since Satan is mentioned in verse 9 and 10 in the contest of this struggle, we must realize that Satan may well have an agent IN these people directing them.
In fact, I know from experience that these little green men sometimes do not know they are agents of destruction. They think they really like your local church, but their very presence is a continual agitation and distraction.
Here is Paul warning the elders in Ephesus of the same thing:
Acts 20:25 And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
26 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
These sort will come to every church that is sound and teaching the whole counsel of God. So, Paul tells church leaders to "watch" and "remember". This web page is worth remembering, and so is every sound Bible teaching you have received from faithful men about Satan and attacks on the local church.
If you think you can sift out the little green men by writing up a doctrinal statement, a confession of faith, or a church covenant, you are a fool. If you cannot use the Word of God alone to examine all who come your way, then your man made devices will totally fail you. Little green men are great at extolling and embracing any man made thing you present to them. Only the Word of God is promised to have supernatural power, and only the Word of God finds these people so that you can confront them.
Satan can make music for you
Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Satan was an anointed cherub. He sang sweet music, and the text reveals some sort of special gift created into him that made music like pipes and tabrets (tambourines). There was the vocal, the melody, and percussion in one created being. Thus, in his fallen state, what kind of music will Satan bring you? I suspect you are thinking about worldly music. That, of course, is a specialty of his. But Satan makes great music at the church house.
Here is one of the most filthy explicit pieces of music I have heard under the alleged title of "Christian music."
Satan can cause pain
Revelation 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit,
whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Abaddon means "destroyer". Satan is in the business of destroying everything in God's creation that he can. That includes trees, animals, people-- anything God said was "good" in Genesis after he created it.
Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
No doubt about it-- Satan made Job hurt. He can do this to you or me, and we can see that it might well be that God has chosen us to glorify his name in our suffering. If that seems unfair, then was it fair for God to send Jesus Christ to die in our place on the cross? Life is not fair, and whoever told you it was supposed to be is a damned fool. But, life is under absolute sovereignty of one who loves you intensely. That is a lot better than fair!
Satan can learn from you
Satan is finite. He did not come with any baggage except pride and creative talent. Over the centuries, he must have learned a lot from sinners and saints who were backslidden. You may wonder how I could make such a statement. Well, let us see what you and I am capable of:
Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
The people of Noah's day were full of very evil imaginations. Satan must have been an eager student of human nature before the flood.
Ecclesiastes 9:3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
These men Solomon talks about were making up evil on their own. Satan again must be a great learner. He has our modus operandi well in hand by now. You may wonder if this is not giving Satan enough credit for making trouble.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
If we claim to be literalists, then we have a problem. When it comes to the ultimate creativity in doing evil in this world, the award goes to YOU and to ME. Without Christ, all men can do just fine at making wickedness, even without Satan on hand. So, we must assume, because Satan watched Job and knew his way of life well, that he also watches men to see what works best in degrading humanity more and more.
By now, Satan must have a triple PhD in anthropology, the study of man. THAT is your adversary, my friend, and you and I must understand that when we are sinning, Satan may well be taking notes to use on some other saint nearby. That sort of makes you more cautious, right?
What is our solution to deal with what Satan can do?
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
You will either have the mind of Christ in you, or you will be operating under your own steam. The result of the latter will be that you will have opened a seminar for Satan. Satan will start doing everything he can do in order to destroy you. But, in Christ Jesus, and in him only, you can do better than Satan at every turn.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Hmmmmmmmmm
WHAT SATAN CANNOT DO
Satan cannot do everything he wants to do--
He is limited by God's power
Job 1:7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Satan accused Job of being godly only because God blessed him. Satan then suggested that God let him "touch" Job. The first time, God only let Satan take Job's possessions away, including his children. The second time, God allowed Satan to cause physical suffering to Job, but limited it to not include death.
Satan is the universes chief spoiled brat who wants to do evil, and he resents God limiting him. God will never let Satan "touch" you beyond what you can deal with.
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Satan cannot be saved
Jesus did not die on the cross for Satan. Angels had one opportunity in the past to choose the glorify God or to rebel. Once the choice was made, their destiny is fixed.
There have been a number of idiots in cults and fuzzy wuzzy religion who think they can somehow get Satan into the New Covenant. It won't work my friend.
2 Peter 2:4 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 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.
Ephesians 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:
Revelation 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
If there were any time that Satan would be offered redemption, it would be during the Kingdom reign of Christ. Christ will be there in person, and if he had died for Satan's sin, Satan would be invited to come up to Jerusalem to bow to Christ. No, Satan had one chance to go straight, he rejected it, and he is damned forever as he should be. Also, it is way out of line to verbally blast away at Satan. Michael certainly would have had some excuse to tell Satan off. But, he said, "The Lord rebuke thee..."
Satan cannot stop being wicked-- He will never repent
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and 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.
There are only two spiritual forces, one infinitely good, and the other perpetually wicked:
Acts 26:15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Modern Bible teachers play with other spiritual forces. They give the impression there are many varieties of spiritual entities, and they even tell us their names. This is a lie, and Satan loves it because people then fail to see him as evil as he is.
Here are the only two conditions that humans can find themselves in:
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
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:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
There are only two human conditions spiritually, and the condition of trespass and sin is ruled by "the prince of the power of the air." It is folly, after reading the Word of God, to imagine that Satan will ever stop being wicked.
The modern application of this lie is found in alleged "white magic." White witches claim that they only do good, but they use spells, magic, and occult spiritual rituals to do white magic. Satan loves these gullible idiots. They are serving him, the most wicked entity in the universe, yet they believe they can do good.
We also see Roman Catholic priests doing exorcisms with their trinkets-- crucifixes, holy water, and other pagan symbolism. Wickedness, the kind Satan invents, is not changed by sub-Christian practices. Satan also loves these fool priests of Rome. They leave their victims worse of than they find them.
Satan cannot love
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Satan is never satisfied. From his first appearance in heaven where he became dissatisfied with his estate and tried to dump Jehovah off of his throne, to the day the devils begged to enter swine in Gaderra, to the day he is walking this earth demanding worship of himself in the Antichrist, Satan has never been satisfied. This kind of person becomes a Hitler or a Napoleon. Any feeling he has akin to affection is overpowered by lust for more and more.
What does that tell you about the modern lust for more material things? This lust is what displaces true god given love. And, some of you folks imagine the filthy rich of American society love. Come now, get your mind in tune with God.
Satan cannot tell what the Holy Spirit is doing until it happens
John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
You cannot tell. Neither can Satan. There is much nonsense in the Lord's Church about Satan's ability to read minds and know what God is doing. God holds back information until it is needed, and then he only gives it to his children:
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
God nowhere tells Satan some secret he has held back. Satan can expect no new revelation. God only reveals his works in the future to his people who obey and believe his Gospel. Nostradamus is often touted as an accurate prophet. Well, he made many prophecies that are off the wall and have not happened. To exalt a man like that, or even read his prophecies, is practical agnosticism. Satan and the wicked are NOT receiving new information.
Satan cannot understand the teachings of Scripture
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
"Deep things," that is, spiritual truth, is not revealed to the wicked, and that includes all wicked beings. God's revelation is given with the intent that we act upon that revelation. Why would God give spiritually deep things to people who could not act upon them?
Psalms 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
The Psalmist is in motion-- he is walking with God, and God gives him light. Satan does not walk with God, so he does not understand revelation.
John 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
Verse 39 tells us that these Pharisees and Saducees were diligent to search the scriptures, and they THOUGHT that they were finding eternal life. But, they never understood what they read, and Jesus told them elsewhere that they were of their father the devil.
So, since Satan would not repent, indeed, cannot repent, anything he gets from the Word of God is used out of context to tempt the saints to sin and worship Satan.
Satan cannot do anything to you without God's permission
Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Satan did all manner of evil to Job, but God set bounds which Satan could not pass over. In this case, Satan could not kill Job.
Nothing has happened to you, nor ever will, which God did not allow. If Satan attacks you, even if you are partly responsible for bringing on the attack, God has total and complete attention on you, and he will not let Satan tip you over the edge. You may be tested like Job, but God has the final say as to the results:
1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
There is always a way of escape. In Corinth, the issue was idolatry, and we saw that God wanted them to participate in their deliverance. But, God NEVER sets you up for defeat, and he NEVER lets Satan push you beyond the point of deliverance.
Satan cannot force you to sin
Long ago a Black comedian, Flip Wilson, did cute little monologs about a woman named Geraldine. Not only did he cross dress as the character, he promoted the Satanic doctrine, "The devil made me do it." We would all like to blame someone else for our sins and offenses, right? Adam did that when God asked him why he ate the forbidden fruit:
God speaks to Adam--
Genesis 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Then Eve blamed the devil later.
Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
God did not accept that alibi. Both Adam and Eve were held totally responsible for their sin and were driven out of the Garden of Eden.
So, Satan cannot MAKE you sin. Stop listening to these devil possessed Charismatic gurus who teach that your are a victim of Satan-- that you could not prevent your wicked condition. It may very well be that those fallen preachers use that alabi when they are caught in lust and sin, but you cannot.
Satan cannot possess you if you are a born again Bible believer
When Jesus was in Judea and Galilee traveling about, he confronted many devils. We are told in some texts that he cast out ALL devils he confronted. So, this spiritual war is a big one, and it is nonstop until the Kingdom rule of Christ in the future.
But, we hear people talk about being "possessed of devils." These people make a heretical mistake by failing to use the correct pronoun in that statement. Here are several examples. Notice please the pronoun "with" instead of the modern error "of":
Matthew 4:24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
You see, these were children of Israel. Never in the Gospel narratives did Jesus or the Holy Spirit indicate that the victims of possession were damned to hell sinners. They may have once been very devout Jews keeping the law.
What happens is that we can give a devil an open door to hang around WITH us. This can be as bad a situation as being unsaved and being possessed OF a devil as far as I can see. There is no biblical distinction in the amount of evil that can be done in and around a believer who is WITH a devil.
So, the door can be opened to Satan and his imps:
Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Notice that verse 27 is nestled right in the middle of the list. Violating any of the admonitions Paul gives is an open door to possession WITH a devil or Satan.
From experience of missionaries and godly saints we also know that some sins open a door to Satan. Adultery, idolatry, blasphemy, crime, pornography, occult curiosity, on and on..... Satan and his devils watch for open doors. If you have the door open, would you please close it.
You are letting flies in:
Matthew 12:22 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.
23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Beelzebub means "lord of flies." This was the name Jews in Jesus' day called Satan. Flies and bugs in the Bible are associated with devils. They go buzz buzz. This brings us to a conclusion:
You can have flies, fleas, lice, or bed bugs. You are WITH bugs, not possessed OF or BY the bugs. This is a simple truth to hold onto-- Satan does not own you if you are born again. But, he sure can be WITH you.
Is there a solution? Answer: Yes, and cut out all the hocus pokus you read in some pulp trash book from a Christian bookstore..... this is the way to deal with devils:
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
As you draw near to God, God draws near to you. Satan, or his devils, are displaced. Stop talking to devils, and talk to God. Satan loves it when you go chasing after him telling him how nasty he is. You are running away from God when you do that, and Satan is the object of your attention.
Read God's Word, and ask him to cleanse you of sin. Name the sin, and abandon it. It was probably sin that caused Satan to draw near to you in the first place. Keep close to God through his Word, and Satan has to leave.
Whatever you do, DO NOT go looking for one of these specialists in the Church who are exorcists. They have formulas and tricks they use which are not anything similar to Jesus' way of dealing with devils. And, absolutely never allow a pastor or alleged exorcist dig into your subconscious. This gives liberty for devils to play games when, in fact, you should simply be drawing near to God. Going to an exorcist is like going around the world to get to your neighbor's house. Go straight to deliverance God's way, as you saw in James.
If you feel your need help in dealing with devils, find a brother in Christ who has a very close walk with Christ. Ask him to pray and draw near to God with you.
Satan cannot read the Bible believer's mind
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
God is the only one that can search the hearts of believers.
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
This is talking about being known by God. Satan does not know us, nor can he reveal to us anything we need to know about ourselves.
Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
David did not trust his own discernment, and there is no Bible teaching that anyone else can, except God himself.
Psalms 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
It is usually bad to use technology to illustrate biblical truth, but I am thinking of an example of what we are talking about. When a computer is assembled, and the software is installed, the designer will make a "back door" through which only he can enter. This is a last resort in case the user forgets a password, or if the computer malfunctions badly. The designer will enter through a door that only he knows. He may give a disk with the information to use the "back door," but he will try to make the disk hack proof.
God designed us, and especially our minds were mind "in the image of God." It is absolutely inconceivable that God would give Satan access through a "back door" into our minds. Would you give a backdoor key to your house to the most notorious criminal in town? Come on, stop believing these Mother Goose preachers about Satan's power over you.
Satan cannot take your salvation away
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
It is unanimous in the Godhead. God is greater than all (including Satan), and Jesus and God are determined that you will never be taken from their hands. To tell a believer that Satan can cause them to lose their salvation is blasphemy. You must be possessed with devils to teach that.
Matthew 19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
This seems to be an out of context text, but it teaches something universal-- God will not let something be destroyed that he has put together for eternity. If he can be robbed of a saint by Satan, he is NOT God.
Satan cannot send you to hell
Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Only God sends anyone to hell.
Hebrews 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
A judge must have jurisdiction to hear a case. An American judge cannot go to India and hold court in Mumbai just because he is determined to bring justice to India. He does not have jurisdiction in India. Thus, Satan is not the judge. He cannot hold court and condemn anyone, not even rank sinners. All judgment is given to Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
"Quick" means alive-- Christ is appointed as the one and only supreme court justice of the universe. He has no intention of letting Satan climb into the seat of judgment.
Relax, and rest in Jesus.
Satan cannot win-- Ultimately, he is a loser
Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Satan's final end is recorded in the Word of God:
Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Satan does not share your destiny if you are born again. He will never be saved or repent. Jesus died for the sins of the world, not the universe, and not the fallen angels. While we may feel some pity for a being who was at such a glorious beginning in heaven, who rebelled and was cast out of heaven on his way to the lake of fire, nevertheless; there is no worthy emotion that you need to waste on Satan. Also, it is folly to waste any bile on Satan. He is neither instructed, nor is he restrained by your emotional raging at him.
Jude 1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
If Michael the archangel did not rage at Satan, then you and I sure better mind our own business in his regard. There is nothing macho or commendable about a preacher thrashing about the platform cursing at Satan and flailing his fists around as if he could take on Satan in a fist fight. Billy Sunday used to do that, and it was not cute. It was stupid. And, while Billy Sunday raged at Satan all around the USA, his children he abandoned at home to do so all became Atheists. While you waste time raging at Satan someone is being left unguarded.
WHAT IS OUR OUTLOOK REGARDING SATAN?
He is defeated-- We have learned that Satan is defeated. He will not give up in doing all manner of evil, but he is a loser in the end, and he is limited to do only what God allows him to do.
He is deadly-- Satan is a roaring lion, whom resist steadfastly. But, we are to be alert to his devices and ready to put on the whole armor of God to withstand his fiery attacks.
He is damned-- Satan is without hope. In this state he craves company in a morbid bid for revenge. You and I are the top priority in Satan's eyes for attack and conquest. He cannot pass the limits God has set for him, and in the end he will be thrown into the lake of fire.
Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
APRIL 2014 COMMENT ON EXTRA TERRESTRIALS
Are they real?
Answer: If God is who he says he is, and if he gave us everything we need to know about heaven, earth, the universe, and our destiny, then there is nothing real about ET. Well, they may be devils which are allowed to deceive rebel sinners and world leaders who hate God.
2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Most world leaders are now deluded. God wants them to believe lies, and one lie may be devils taking on ET appearances.
If rubber heads do come visiting you, plead the blood of Jesus against them, and they will leave. I may get email about this, but I will say that I have only heard of possibly one true Bible believer being visited by ETs. She plead the blood of Jesus, and the ETs vaporized along with their space ship. I find it highly instructional that ET sightings are reported almost 100% by unbelievers or Whiskeypalians.
Because of the gullible fools who lead the thinking in this modern world, and because of Star Wars and such rubbish fiction, the masses are ready to believe devils are from outer space. So be it. Let the fools play with their dollies. But, a Bible believer knows there are no warnings or accounts of beings other than God, you, good and bad angels, and your pet poodle.
Let's keep it that way.
http://www.blessedquietness.com/journal/housechu/what-satan-can-and-cannot-do.htm
By Steve Van Nattan
This study is a plain talk attempt to help you understand what
Satan is like and what he can do and cannot do to you.
We are not told to feel sorry for Satan.
But, I have thought that Satan gets a bad rap sometimes. You see, sinners like to blame Satan for their sins. Adam, in the garden, blamed Eve for his sin of eating the forbidden fruit, and then Eve blamed Satan.
Sure, Satan helped her, but the final verdict was Eve's. If you like to blame Satan for the wicked things you do, you might as well stop reading right now. This study will only make you mad.
We will not be doing a theological study here. We will simply discuss a rather complete list of questions about the person and activities of Satan. We will discover that he is indeed a deadly force in the world, and he is a personal adversary to us all.
This applies to both the Bible believer and to the unbeliever. No one person in this earth is immune from the attacks of Satan and his imps.
Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
SATAN CANNOT DEFINE HIMSELF
There is no Scripture to indicate that Satan contemplates his own condition. He seems to be totally convinced that he is God, in spite of the fact that his fallen state is a result of trying to be God when he was in his perfected condition.
Satan must be defined by God. If you allow ANYONE to give you defining information about Satan which cannot be found in the Word of God, you have been deceived by Satan and the person teaching the heresy about him.
There are no scripture references for this point. The fact is, nowhere in the Word of God does Satan describe himself. Perhaps he would just as soon not think about what he is, for that would remind him of what he was before he fell from heaven.
WHERE DID SATAN COME FROM?
In the Bible text in the next topic below, you will see in verse 13 that Satan was created. The commentary was addressed by proxy to Satan in the name of the king of Tyre. [ Please scroll down slightly to read the text. ]
Satan was created. This sets to rest several in-church urban legends. Satan is not omniscient, knowing all things, like God himself. Created beings do not have the ability to know things that are not revealed to them by some outside source. God is a self-contained source, so he knows all.
This means that Satan does not know what you are thinking. God has reserved that for himself:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Satan will never know you as God knows you:
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
Satan was never, and never will be, like God, but you will:
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
So, why does Satan hate you? Answer: You know more than he does regarding the deeper things of the Lord and his work.
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Satan will never again be "with" the Lord, but you will. Satan hates it that mortal beings like you can be forgiven (he cannot) and be like God in some way that we do not fully now understand.
SATAN CAN REMEMBER
Ezekiel 28:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Thanks for photo from MShades at Flickr
Hell is a place to remember. The rich man in Jesus' parable was invited to remember:
Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Like the rich man, Satan made his choices in his first estate, and he fell. He is now bound to the earth, and after one last verdict from God, he will be bound in the Lake of Fire. He is reminded in the Ezekiel text above of all that he has lost, just as the rich man was invited to remember all that he lost.
2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Why does Satan hate you? Answer: You are forgiven, he is not. You will one day forget your fallen state, he is doomed to his fallen state forever.
Psalms 85:2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
Ezekiel 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
IS SATAN THE BROTHER OF JESUS,
OR SO THE MORMON CHURCH TEACHES?
I have no scripture texts with this discussion. I can only tell you that Mormons claim, by the Mother Goose revelation of their tin horned prophet Joseph Smith, that Jesus is the brother of Satan. They teach that Satan was the preferred one in eternity past, but Jesus started a war in heaven to take over the top Son of God office, and Jesus won. Satan tried to take his original office back when he had Jesus crucified on the cross, but Jesus was too tricky for Satan.
Mormons need to be asked a blunt question: "Who is to say that Satan will not try to defeat Jesus again and win? If he does, he will then massacre all those who follow Jesus." The ONLY way to get a Mormon saved is to make him mad by driving his stupid teachings to their logical end, which the Mormons do not want to do.
WHAT IS SATAN'S M.O.? THAT IS,
HOW MAY WE EXPECT HIM TO BEHAVE?
It is all very simple. Satan cannot have his office in heaven back, and he cannot stop Jesus from doing his work:
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
So, all Satan has left to do is to destroy people by tying them up so well in sin that they cannot reason and understand the Gospel.
If he loses someone to Christ, he then attacks them to destroy their Christian victory.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
We will consider all the ways Satan tries to devour you near the end of this study. But, you must be very careful to stop talking about Satan as if he has great organizational and governing latitude. The earth is still the Lord's, and Satan has very limited options in what he can do in this world.
Further, Satan rules the kingdoms of the world for now:
Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Does he really own those kingdoms, or was he again lying?
Ephesians 6:12 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.
Ephesians 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:
Revelation 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Satan today is in control of the world's kingdoms by aiding and comforting their sin and corruptness. The way he tempts good leaders of the nations to make war and do evil to other nations is by the same temptation he offered Jesus. If a world ruler will sell his soul to Satan, he will find his power increase and his borders expanded, with geographically, or, as in the present USA regime, in economic power.
This greed for a larger kingdom has then resulted in these power greedy rulers being destroyed personally, as with Adolph Hitler, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon Bonapart.
We must not miss one last thought. Jesus was destined to die a cruel death on the cross to save fallen man. Was there a shortcut to become Messiah and rule the world? Could he avoid the pain? He certainly was moved by the prospect in the Garden of Gathsemene where he asked, if it were possible, that the cup of suffering be removed. Satan will also offer you shortcuts to Christian victory, to wealth, to power among your associates, etc. Will you stay on the course God set you on, or will you bow to Lucifer and receive the rewards the easy way?
CAN SATAN BE IN TWO PLACES AT THE SAME TIME
There is a Mother Goose teaching in Christendom that says that Satan and fallen devils can connect to two or more places by some sort of silver cord connection and dominate people all over the world. This is hog wash. Jack Chick Publishing went for a alleged convert from witchcraft named Rebecca Brown who taught this. She also taught that devils could become wolves. Such teachings are more than folly, they are paganism in the church house.
The only Scripture I can find that hints of Satan and fallen angels being stuck to deal only with the geographical point in the world where they are, is this:
Daniel 10:10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Daniel was praying and fasting, and an angel, probably Gabriel, came to him and explained why he could not get there quicker. So, what do we learn here?
1. Good angels are bound in some way to points where they are until they move on. So, Satan was a created angel, though a powerful one, and nowhere in the Word of God are we told that Satan had greater intrinsic power than any other angel. He had greater talents, but not the license to operate outside the angelic limitations.
2. Also, if this Prince of Persia was able to link to more than one point or person, why did he not chase the angel sent from God to Daniel's home and link to him? Answer: Satan and his imps have no more ability to occupy more space than you or I. They may move faster because they are spirits, but they DO have limitations.
HOW CAN SATAN DO YOU HARM?
Satan can devour people
Psalms 22:11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
It is thought that Jesus used these words, or at least the Psalmist used them in a prophetic sense, to describe the manner and hate of those who attacked Christ and crucified him. The bulls of Bashan were from the north of Israel, and they were famously fierce. It must be assumed that every devil in the world gathered in Jerusalem to surround the cross, and, with Satan, celebrate the destruction of the Son of God, their creator.
Acts 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
This also is a classic example of the fellowship between Satan and humans. It is never based on love, constructive activity, or on redemptive actions. It is all about hate, lust, and murder. Here is the great devourer:
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
This text comes up over and over in the study of Satan and evil spirits. This is because it answers so many questions.
1. Those who are not vigilant may well be devoured.
2. Satan is an adversary, never an associate to any useful purpose.
3. He is like a roaring lion. This is unnatural. When a lion hunts, ordinarily the lion is absolutely quiet, like your cat stalking a mouse. Lions never roar when they seek some victim to devour. But, there is one exception. On rare occasions, a lion will roar just as it springs if the animal being stalked is known to freeze even for a couple of seconds before bolting. The roar terrorizes and paralyzes the animal. Only a very confident lion would roar as it attacks. Satan KNOWS he can defeat you. The good news is, Satan is wrong. This discussion of the nature of a lion is based on my years living in Africa.
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
4. There is no option to run or make a deal with Satan. Verse 9 or the text above COMMANDS us to resist Satan. When Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus quoted the book of Deuteronomy in each case to resist Satan. Jesus would have the authority to blast Satan with anything he wanted to say to the tempter. But, Jesus used only the Word of God.
If we start memorizing magic prayers, using formulas given us by some alleged expert, or any other trick, we may be consumed by Satan. Let us use the Word of God to resist Satan when he tempts us. If you were to say to Satan, "Get thee behind me, Satan," we would assume that Satan would know where we got that quote. Personally, I like to quote the verses about the Blood of Jesus or perhaps a verse from Psalm 91. I don't have a patent on how to resist the devil. I use the Word of God.
Satan can possess the wicked
John 13:21 When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
John 13:26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
Judas was a thief from the beginning according to another passage in the Gospels. He was called the son of perdition, which means he was never converted. So, in his rebel state, he opened the door to be possessed of Satan personally.
1 Corinthians 5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
In this case the man was not possessed by a devil because he was a believer in the local church. Because he was a believer, but also because he was living very wickedly, Paul told the church leaders to set the man outside the door to suffer attacks from Satan. This was torment by a devil, but the man could not be damned by decree as the blasphemous Pope and his boys think they can do.
But, if you arrive at the same state this man was, you are in big trouble. Satan has open season on you, and the sooner you repent, the sooner you will be back under the full protection of God. Let us be careful about assuming a brother is unsaved because Satan is troubling him. He may be soundly saved, but God is allowing him to be chastened by being attacked by Satan. Be eager to welcome him back into fellowship when he repents.
Satan can tempt you
1 Chronicles 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
David was not to number the people. Kings number their subjects and become proud of it. Preachers measure their success and power by counting attendance. What folly. It is all about nickels and noses and a butt every 24 inches.
The Lord giveth the harvest, what business do we have numbering his harvest which is not ours? The first thing I did when I pastored any church was to remove that stupid board up front listing last Sunday's attendance and the record of giving. Both statistics are not my business, nor are they yours.
Satan knew the power of counting noses, so he inspired David to call a census. Many people died for this one man's sin and doing what Satan suggested. And, David was a mighty servant of the Lord. He wrote many songs into the canon of the Word of God. This tells me that the best of us, whatever that means, can listen to Satan and do great evil.
Acts 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
As with David, Satan was the one who initiated these thoughts of pride. Satan was the first sinner in all time when he announced to heaven that he would be like the Most High God, and for that he fell. Satan is a expert at pride. Never forget that.
So, what is the net result if we act in pride at Satan's suggestion? Answer: Our labor for the Lord will be a big zero.
1 Thessalonians 3:5 For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain.
Or..... we, or someone else, may suffer because we acted upon Satan's suggestion.
Satan can make you feel good
It is a lie to say that Satan always makes people feel bad. Satan is the master of flattery. Flattery feels good, and Satan knows that we crave approval.
"Pastor, we have visited all the churches in this area, and you are the first one we have found who really teaches the Bible." Now, preacher, you love to hear words like that, right? Frankly, when I have been told anything like that I know that the person in front of me is possessed of devils, or like Peter, is speaking for the devil.
Matthew 16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Satan moved Peter, one of Jesus best friends, to actually rebuke God the Son. Satan makes good people into devils, at least figuratively, and nothing assists Satan more than your good friend telling you that you are too good to suffer or live out the destiny which God has chosen for you.
"Brother, I feel you are wasting your life on those rebel heathen in the Congo. You have done your best to convert them during your missionary days in Africa, and you have only one convert. I believe you can do a lot more by getting a church right here in Nebraska and teach Christians who really want to learn the Bible."
These people are using Satan's most powerful tool. Here is his flattery right from the start of human history:
Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
"You are worthy of being a goddess, Eve, and all you need to do is disobey God and eat." "Preacher, here is $100. Take your wife to dinner-- you two work so hard, and you deserve a break." Inhale, sir, and you are dead.
Here is Satan in his final big act as Antichrist:
Daniel 11:21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
Daniel 11:32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
Flattery corrupts food people. When you disobey God, and when you venture into license and depravity for a moment, Satan will send his little helper to tell you you have become very special. "Preacher, I appreciate you coming to our Masonic breakfast. The preacher before you refused, and he never got anywhere with us Masons." You are getting your praise from Satan, preacher.
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
If you crave flattery, I can promise you, you will get it. Satan cannot read your thoughts, but he sure knows that glow on your face when his servants flattery you, and he loads it on you more and more.
I am convinced that men like Jack Hyles responded in their early years to flattery, and so Satan sent them a flock of silly ass male flappers who danced a jig around Jack Hyles everywhere he went. I saw this in action when I wen to hear him at a preachers rally. At the noon break, Jack went with a group of preachers to lunch, and they left the church house with a flying wing of preachers spread out on each side of Jack like an old fashioned Communist May Day event. You could tell who was next in rank to Hyles and on down the line by their placement in the wings. It was enough to make you puke. And, all the while the preachers were shining on Jack Hyles and saying flattering things about him. Every one of those preachers, even though they were Fundamental KJV only blah blah, were devils.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and 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.
For the record, virtually all Charismatic pastor use flattery to build a following. When some gullible soul comes to meet one of these Charismatic gurus, the guru will suddenly gush, and he will tell them that God has just shown him that the gullible idiot in front of him will soon do some mighty works for God. They also gush back and forth and flattery each other at large gatherings and tell the mob that they other one is about to have a mighty breakthrough of power and glory flowing around his priceless person.
Satan can watch you and tell if you are righteous or sinful
Job 1:7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
When Satan was asked what he thought of Job, Satan came right back fast. He knew about Job. Satan had probably given up on Job because Job would not give place to Satan, let alone his own flesh. Here is the degree to which Job went to keep his mind clean in a day when there was no law officially given:
Job 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity?
4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.
Job would have had quite a time moving about in modern society with the undressing of 99% of all the maids in Wal-Mart and in public.
What a statement of zeal from Job for the godly life. Satan almost sounds offended because God has such a godly man in the earth. Understand this, Satan cannot read your mind, but he sees your actions, and he sees if the eyes are diverted from the half naked maid or not, even if you think no one saw. God may not be the only one watching you and me.
Satan will lie about you to God
See also the above text regarding Job. Satan lied about Job being soft and claiming Job would curse God if he suffered. Do not be surprised if a sinner or saint accuses you and lies about you. Satan has entered the mind and heart of many saints in these last days, and he loves to inspire them to accuse one another.
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and 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.
In Ethiopian culture lying is an art. When you are talking with someone, you try to understand their feelings about life and other people. Then, when some person is mentioned in the conversation whom you detest, you set your feelings aside, and you agree with the other person you are talking to. You speak highly of the third party under discussion so that your friend will feel comfortable about things. This may not be YOUR lie, but it is a lie. The motive does not baptize the sin. The Ethiopian church has particular teachings for new believers to help them drop this cultural evil and learn to speak only the truth.
My point is this-- lying is endemic in human nature, and it is one of the last sins of the Great Tribulation that men would not give up. The lie today is accepted as normal. All politicians lie. Presidents lie. People of all walks of life lie to each other, and it is passed off as necessary to avoid trouble. We are even coached in how to lie legally as we pay our taxes. This is the fruit of 6000 years of teaching by our adversary. By now it seems we would all earn a PhD in lying if Satan opened a university.
Satan can obstruct your progress
Zechariah 3:1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
Joshua was standing before God, perhaps in the past, but probably to prepare him for the future and his place in the Kingdom of Messiah. Satan was standing by to make trouble. Joshua's robes were filthy with sin, and God changed his clothing to glorious robes to make him ready to serve as a priest. Satan was eager, we assume based on the story of Job, to accuse Joshua of being too sinful to serve God. God was under no obligation to hear Satan's accusations. If you are a born again believer in Jesus Christ, God will not discuss your destiny with Satan. You are in God's perfect plan which he will not alter.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The text from Daniel is again in order:
Daniel 10:10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
The Prince of Persia was not a man. Men do not hinder angels, for they move in the spirit, not in flesh and blood. So, some high powered fallen angel was ruing in Persia, and somehow that devil hindered the progress or Gabriel (probably), and God sent Michael to deliver Gabriel from that devil.
Satan can control you from the outside:
Matthew 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
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.
The key word here is "empty." If you are a born again believer in Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit dwells in you. You will never be empty of the presence of God. Satan and his devils can offer you suggestions from the outside, and they can lead you into deep sin, but they cannot enter and possess you. God the Holy Spirit will not leave you according to the promise of Jesus, and God will not give up possession of you.
Now, if you are not born again, and if some Catholic priest or some medium manages to exorcise a devil from within you, you are in deep trouble if you do not at once confess faith in Jesus Christ so that he takes possession. Otherwise, the devil will return with a bunch of demonic friends and make your end worse than before.
Here is a video of a young man mocking the Gospel. We cannot give up on him, but we also understand that he may have crossed the line and made the deadly choice to be the habitation of devils until he dies. How tragic.
Satan can rob you of the truth:
Matthew 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
This results in no fruit unto righteousness in your life. To the unsaved, the end is spiritual blindness:
2 Corinthians 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.
There can come a point where a person who rejects the Gospel will become blind to all truth from the Word of God. This is a pitiful state, and it is usually impossible to reason with these people. This state is often the work of "the god of this world," that is, Satan.
I pastored a church in which we had a lady and her children attending who was a real believer and living for the Lord. Her husband refused to confess Christ as Savior, though he came from time to time, and in a worldly way he liked our company. But, he was blind to the Gospel. You simply cannot force the Gospel past that barrier. You can pray, and you can coax and weep over them, but they never see it.
In fact, some of these people are fully possessed of devils, and they come to your assembly, and they may come to your home, to find refuge from the devils. I have seen this graphically in Ethiopia and in our home in the California desert. We never turned them away in the hope that they might finally seek Christ and deliverance. But, we always kept our guard up in the Holy Spirit because this sort of thing is total spiritual warfare.
Satan can hinder you and the work of God:
1 Thessalonians 2:18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
Hinder is not defeat. And, this hindrance was not spoken of as if Paul lacked faith or was in sin. It is simply how the battle goes at times. Get that straight. God will finish his work, and if you are his worker, he will make sure you get the help you need to do it. We may lose a battle, but we win the war.
Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
You never know who that is who dropped in-- it might be an angel of the Lord who is there to make sure you win the battle. Do NOT get all spooky about this. I know of VERY FEW accounts of faithful saints being helped by angels and knowing they were angels. Angels ALWAYS appear as men in this life, as they did with Abraham.
Here is an account that includes a discussion of angels protecting me and some other kids. We did not know about it until long after the crisis was over.
But, when some famous Amos on TBN, or at some other notable ministry, claims to have seen angels, or that some Archangel you cannot find in the Bible came to them and told them this or that, they are liars. This is meant to give the Charismatic guru credibility.
The point is, we may be helped by angels God sent, but the angels will remain unknown.
Satan can and will create FALSE REVIVAL to deceive stupid saints
or Christians who are nothing but an empty profession.
(This item suggested by Pastor Art Barton)
The Brownsville/Toronto debacle comes to mind.
When I did research for my Master's degree thesis at PBI, I dug up accounts given by Peter Cartwright that he wrote during the Cumberland Valley revivals of the early 1800s. They did the barking like dogs and twitching and running around screaming and flopping around on the floor, like they did at Brownsville and in Toronto.
Cartwright said that they called the twitching "the jerks", and the running around and yelling and hollering, they called the "running, jumping, barking exercise." He gave accounts of women who would be taken with the "jerks", and (because of their very long hair which was common back then) they would twitch so violently that their hair would literally make the noise of a whip cracking. He told of one man who got taken with these "jerks" whose head snapped so violently that his neck broke and he died. Somehow, that doesn't remind me very much of the Holy Spirit.
I have John Wesley's journals (and I think I may have read something about this on your journal also) and he wrote of women who were seized with the "holy laugh", and laughed hysterically during the preaching and afterward, and then progressed to screaming obscenities and blaspheming God.
None of these accounts from Wesley to Cartwright to Toronto to Brownsville resembles the descriptions of the Holy Spirit given in
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
But they DO describe the works of the flesh in
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
These manifestations caused so much havoc back in the 1700s and 1800s, when they were having REAL REVIVAL and not the false revival of today, that it had to be a fulfillment of II Cor 11:14.
2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Satan showed up to COUNTER the work of God---(for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction type of thing)---to take the steam out of the revival. Wesley and Cartwright saw this for what it was----a move of Satan. Today, Christians are so dumb that they will accept Satan's movements as a movement of God.
By the way, both Wesley and Cartwright said that the only solution to these "manifestations of the Holy Spirit", as the Charismaniacs refer to them today, was PRAYER.
Satan can accuse you
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
We mentioned this above with Job, but more is needed here. Satan's most brazen "ministry" is to accuse you before God. This he does night and day. I thus assume that he is back and forth from earth to the throne of God to throw new accusations at God about you and me. If it were not for the Blood of Jesus Christ, God would seem to be at some disadvantage in answering Satan. But, because of Christ, God can send Satan packing every time. Does this make you a bit more thankful to Christ for his work on your behalf as he shed his precious blood for your cleansing?
Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Satan accused Job before Job was even tested. Satan BELIEVES you will fail when tested. Will you? You are expected to have victory, and all power if available to you to have victory.
1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Satan can teach you the Bible (falsely of course)
What Satan taught Eve in the Garden of Eden is the same message today. Satan stays with what works. He tried to make himself God, and when he was tossed out of Heaven for that rebellion, he then became the spiritual teacher of man.
Man is a co-creator with God, for God ordained that the man and woman would make new life by procreating. So, Satan can depend on man to take the message of man's potential godhood, and man will fill in the details very well. Man has the imagination, and Satan has the story line. The movie of the results since Eden would be a box office winner to the masses of humanity, a monument to "human potential."
Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
The message of Satan today, that message that teaches you that you are great and have tremendous potential, comes not from nasty greasy gurus in India. It comes from Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Rob Bell, and a thousand other devil possessed men who are preaching the message of That Old Serpent.
Satan can give you light which complicates the simple truth
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Subtle-- Satan, and his gurus and preachers, are clever at twisting the truth around. Satan's favorite man is a Fundamental Baptist preacher in a pulpit of a big church, with a King James Bible in his hand, teaching verse by verse a mixture of truth and Mother Goose doctrine.
2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 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.
Do you think that the fact that
Mitt Romney is a Mormon preacher,
and that he thinks he is going to be
a god in eternity, is not important?
This man is an angel of light in the true sense.
But, he is the Satanic variety.
Just because you think your guru, prophet, or mega church preacher is giving you light does not mean it is God's light. Even nature tells us there are two kinds of light. There is the warm light of the sun and fire burning, and there is the cold light of phosphorescence and radiation. Both are light, but only one warms you and preserves life.
Just so, there is the light of the Gospel in Jesus Christ, and there is the damning light of Satan. Which light are YOU getting?
2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Now, what will we say about these modern prophets who claim that God gave them a vision, a sign, or a prophecy "by revelation?" Here is the vision of Eliphaz, one of Job's lousy friends who tormented him for many days:
Job 4:12 Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.
13 In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:
16 It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,
17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?
20 They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it.
21 Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
You see, Eliphaz was NOT hearing from God. He was hearing from a devil. The proof of that is there is NO hope in the message. Read it again. It is true up to verse 21, but when God speaks of the horrible condition of sin in which we find ourselves, God always gives the option of restoration and mercy if we meet his conditions.
This Eliphaz was the preacher of cold light, dead light, damning light. He got it from Dr. Lew Siffer.
So, when some Christian guru claims to have a revelation, you are really looking at a devil in the man. It matters not whether he is really born again or not-- flee from the rascal. He is wicked. He is a Balaam.
How can I be so sure of that? Answer: It is not my idea, it is God's Word.
Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
I just ordered a book called Temple at the Center of Time by David Flynn. It sounded good because he was trying to show that the temple in Jerusalem is at the center of time. Fair enough, there may be something to that notion. But, he flunked with me on two counts. First, he used biblical evidences to prove that the Washington Monument in Washington DC fit some biblical numerological calculations.
But second and worse, Flynn accused King James II of England of forcing errors in translation to secure himself as King of England. That was a bold lie, for the truth is, King James purposely selected both Church of England and Puritan translators to make sure such tricks in translation did not happen. They were told by the king to watch each other to make sure they did not color the Bible with personal bias. Flynn lied about King James in order to retranslate some word he needed to fit his metanarrative.
I pitched Mr. Flynn's book into the round file at once. The man is playing very close to the edge of God's wrath and eternity in hell if we are to believe the Revelation text above. Flynn is peddling Satanic light.
Satan can produce FALSE SIGNS AND WONDERS.
(This item suggested by Pastor Art Barton)
2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Revelation 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Satan can show you a shorter or longer way to do everything
Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
I ask you to read all of the above. You will see that Satan suggested to Jesus that he do things he already could do. The whole point was that Jesus would avoid going back down the mountain, finding bread, and eating like we do. He would thus use his power selfishly and take a divine shortcut.
He would also take an immense short cut to fame by landing in the temple courtyard where the people would then exalt him for being a great showman.
Again, he would gain the kingdom of the whole world and avoid the agony of the cross by simply taking a shorcut and bowing to his fallen created angel.
What short cuts are you taking? Why did you abandon the longer route to God's will for you? Perhaps a couple of days of fasting and prayer would be in order to examine the Word of God and your own heart.
Satan can help you become
physically dirty and sicken
yourself
Matthew 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Flies, in all cultures are associated with filthy places and stench. Satan was called Beel-zebub, or the Lord of Flies. The Jews recognized that Satan made things dirty.
Sin makes people dirty. Some people today even come to think being filthy is cute, as the group at the right.
The more pagan a culture, the more filthy they are, and the more naked they are. Those who have been raised culturally to the heights because the Gospel had free reign in their culture, and who then fall, start taking off their clothes and get down and dirty again.
Missionary doctors can vouch for this truth.
Lepers in Africa who came to the leper clinic of the missionaries were given treatment to arrest, and more recently, to completely cure the leprosy. If they received the Gospel and were born again, once they left the leper colony cleansed, they never relapsed. If they rejected the Gospel, they later became infected again and had to return for treatment.
Why? Leprosy is a disease of filth and dirty living. It is a known medical fact. We do not have leprosy in America now, not because we lack the ability to get it. We have been clean of leprosy for a long time because we practice the sanitation principles set forth in the law of Moses.
You find that when Jesus helped a leper, he "cleansed" the leper. It is never said that he "healed" them.
Mark 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
Ironically, as America retrogresses to become a vile and fallen culture, physical filth is returning, and so is leprosy returning. As Liberals cry out for illegal immigrants to be given citizen status, no questions asked, the scourge of leprosy is being imported to the tune of 9000 cases during the last three years. The Bible makes is very clear that guaranteeing is absolutely essential to control leprosy, but the same Liberal mindset that gave civil rights to the AIDS virus is now doing the same for leprosy.
With our burgeoning American ghettos, and with public funds slowly drying up, the filthy environment is coming into being in which leprosy will thrive. Cholera and typhoid will be next. I learned about leprosy while living in Africa. I think I have some valid observations. Liberalism is founded on license, lust, and denial. Satan loves filth, and so do Liberals, both morally and physically.
If your children are allowed to be dirty all the time, and you instill in them no self-consciousness about being dirty, they will be sick more, and they will become dirty morally a lot easier than kids who crave to be clean at the end of the day. Lazy slobs of parents think dirty kids are normal. Satan loves the doctrine that dirty is beautiful.
Satan can be wonderful (Rajneesh video- see video below this article)
In this regard, Satan recalls when he was wonderful as an angel. He craved to become "wonderful" as God is wonderful.
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Satan, spoken of as Lucifer, was amazing and a master work of creation by God until he fell:
Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
So, it is no wonder that Satan and his servants produce a vision of wonder to the gullible fools who fall under his spell. Be careful my friend, evil is pretty on the outside, but deadly inside. I have driven along the main drag in Las Vegas. The outside of those casinos is amazing with lovely granite, gilding, and shining lights. But, inside the poor suckers are relieved of their life savings with impunity. That is a good model of Satan's beauty.
Satan can send you little green men
(See our article about the Roman Catholic saboteurs-- Opus Dei)
Jude 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
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.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
We have had to deal with these people.
The problem is, they can come into our fellowships "unawares". They are sometimes on their own, but we know that Satan and devils can possess ungodly people. Thus, since Satan is mentioned in verse 9 and 10 in the contest of this struggle, we must realize that Satan may well have an agent IN these people directing them.
In fact, I know from experience that these little green men sometimes do not know they are agents of destruction. They think they really like your local church, but their very presence is a continual agitation and distraction.
Here is Paul warning the elders in Ephesus of the same thing:
Acts 20:25 And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
26 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
These sort will come to every church that is sound and teaching the whole counsel of God. So, Paul tells church leaders to "watch" and "remember". This web page is worth remembering, and so is every sound Bible teaching you have received from faithful men about Satan and attacks on the local church.
If you think you can sift out the little green men by writing up a doctrinal statement, a confession of faith, or a church covenant, you are a fool. If you cannot use the Word of God alone to examine all who come your way, then your man made devices will totally fail you. Little green men are great at extolling and embracing any man made thing you present to them. Only the Word of God is promised to have supernatural power, and only the Word of God finds these people so that you can confront them.
Satan can make music for you
Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Satan was an anointed cherub. He sang sweet music, and the text reveals some sort of special gift created into him that made music like pipes and tabrets (tambourines). There was the vocal, the melody, and percussion in one created being. Thus, in his fallen state, what kind of music will Satan bring you? I suspect you are thinking about worldly music. That, of course, is a specialty of his. But Satan makes great music at the church house.
Here is one of the most filthy explicit pieces of music I have heard under the alleged title of "Christian music."
Satan can cause pain
Revelation 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit,
whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Abaddon means "destroyer". Satan is in the business of destroying everything in God's creation that he can. That includes trees, animals, people-- anything God said was "good" in Genesis after he created it.
Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
No doubt about it-- Satan made Job hurt. He can do this to you or me, and we can see that it might well be that God has chosen us to glorify his name in our suffering. If that seems unfair, then was it fair for God to send Jesus Christ to die in our place on the cross? Life is not fair, and whoever told you it was supposed to be is a damned fool. But, life is under absolute sovereignty of one who loves you intensely. That is a lot better than fair!
Satan can learn from you
Satan is finite. He did not come with any baggage except pride and creative talent. Over the centuries, he must have learned a lot from sinners and saints who were backslidden. You may wonder how I could make such a statement. Well, let us see what you and I am capable of:
Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
The people of Noah's day were full of very evil imaginations. Satan must have been an eager student of human nature before the flood.
Ecclesiastes 9:3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
These men Solomon talks about were making up evil on their own. Satan again must be a great learner. He has our modus operandi well in hand by now. You may wonder if this is not giving Satan enough credit for making trouble.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
If we claim to be literalists, then we have a problem. When it comes to the ultimate creativity in doing evil in this world, the award goes to YOU and to ME. Without Christ, all men can do just fine at making wickedness, even without Satan on hand. So, we must assume, because Satan watched Job and knew his way of life well, that he also watches men to see what works best in degrading humanity more and more.
By now, Satan must have a triple PhD in anthropology, the study of man. THAT is your adversary, my friend, and you and I must understand that when we are sinning, Satan may well be taking notes to use on some other saint nearby. That sort of makes you more cautious, right?
What is our solution to deal with what Satan can do?
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
You will either have the mind of Christ in you, or you will be operating under your own steam. The result of the latter will be that you will have opened a seminar for Satan. Satan will start doing everything he can do in order to destroy you. But, in Christ Jesus, and in him only, you can do better than Satan at every turn.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Hmmmmmmmmm
WHAT SATAN CANNOT DO
Satan cannot do everything he wants to do--
He is limited by God's power
Job 1:7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Satan accused Job of being godly only because God blessed him. Satan then suggested that God let him "touch" Job. The first time, God only let Satan take Job's possessions away, including his children. The second time, God allowed Satan to cause physical suffering to Job, but limited it to not include death.
Satan is the universes chief spoiled brat who wants to do evil, and he resents God limiting him. God will never let Satan "touch" you beyond what you can deal with.
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Satan cannot be saved
Jesus did not die on the cross for Satan. Angels had one opportunity in the past to choose the glorify God or to rebel. Once the choice was made, their destiny is fixed.
There have been a number of idiots in cults and fuzzy wuzzy religion who think they can somehow get Satan into the New Covenant. It won't work my friend.
2 Peter 2:4 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 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.
Ephesians 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:
Revelation 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
If there were any time that Satan would be offered redemption, it would be during the Kingdom reign of Christ. Christ will be there in person, and if he had died for Satan's sin, Satan would be invited to come up to Jerusalem to bow to Christ. No, Satan had one chance to go straight, he rejected it, and he is damned forever as he should be. Also, it is way out of line to verbally blast away at Satan. Michael certainly would have had some excuse to tell Satan off. But, he said, "The Lord rebuke thee..."
Satan cannot stop being wicked-- He will never repent
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and 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.
There are only two spiritual forces, one infinitely good, and the other perpetually wicked:
Acts 26:15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Modern Bible teachers play with other spiritual forces. They give the impression there are many varieties of spiritual entities, and they even tell us their names. This is a lie, and Satan loves it because people then fail to see him as evil as he is.
Here are the only two conditions that humans can find themselves in:
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
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:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
There are only two human conditions spiritually, and the condition of trespass and sin is ruled by "the prince of the power of the air." It is folly, after reading the Word of God, to imagine that Satan will ever stop being wicked.
The modern application of this lie is found in alleged "white magic." White witches claim that they only do good, but they use spells, magic, and occult spiritual rituals to do white magic. Satan loves these gullible idiots. They are serving him, the most wicked entity in the universe, yet they believe they can do good.
We also see Roman Catholic priests doing exorcisms with their trinkets-- crucifixes, holy water, and other pagan symbolism. Wickedness, the kind Satan invents, is not changed by sub-Christian practices. Satan also loves these fool priests of Rome. They leave their victims worse of than they find them.
Satan cannot love
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Satan is never satisfied. From his first appearance in heaven where he became dissatisfied with his estate and tried to dump Jehovah off of his throne, to the day the devils begged to enter swine in Gaderra, to the day he is walking this earth demanding worship of himself in the Antichrist, Satan has never been satisfied. This kind of person becomes a Hitler or a Napoleon. Any feeling he has akin to affection is overpowered by lust for more and more.
What does that tell you about the modern lust for more material things? This lust is what displaces true god given love. And, some of you folks imagine the filthy rich of American society love. Come now, get your mind in tune with God.
Satan cannot tell what the Holy Spirit is doing until it happens
John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
You cannot tell. Neither can Satan. There is much nonsense in the Lord's Church about Satan's ability to read minds and know what God is doing. God holds back information until it is needed, and then he only gives it to his children:
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
God nowhere tells Satan some secret he has held back. Satan can expect no new revelation. God only reveals his works in the future to his people who obey and believe his Gospel. Nostradamus is often touted as an accurate prophet. Well, he made many prophecies that are off the wall and have not happened. To exalt a man like that, or even read his prophecies, is practical agnosticism. Satan and the wicked are NOT receiving new information.
Satan cannot understand the teachings of Scripture
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
"Deep things," that is, spiritual truth, is not revealed to the wicked, and that includes all wicked beings. God's revelation is given with the intent that we act upon that revelation. Why would God give spiritually deep things to people who could not act upon them?
Psalms 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
The Psalmist is in motion-- he is walking with God, and God gives him light. Satan does not walk with God, so he does not understand revelation.
John 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
Verse 39 tells us that these Pharisees and Saducees were diligent to search the scriptures, and they THOUGHT that they were finding eternal life. But, they never understood what they read, and Jesus told them elsewhere that they were of their father the devil.
So, since Satan would not repent, indeed, cannot repent, anything he gets from the Word of God is used out of context to tempt the saints to sin and worship Satan.
Satan cannot do anything to you without God's permission
Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Satan did all manner of evil to Job, but God set bounds which Satan could not pass over. In this case, Satan could not kill Job.
Nothing has happened to you, nor ever will, which God did not allow. If Satan attacks you, even if you are partly responsible for bringing on the attack, God has total and complete attention on you, and he will not let Satan tip you over the edge. You may be tested like Job, but God has the final say as to the results:
1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
There is always a way of escape. In Corinth, the issue was idolatry, and we saw that God wanted them to participate in their deliverance. But, God NEVER sets you up for defeat, and he NEVER lets Satan push you beyond the point of deliverance.
Satan cannot force you to sin
Long ago a Black comedian, Flip Wilson, did cute little monologs about a woman named Geraldine. Not only did he cross dress as the character, he promoted the Satanic doctrine, "The devil made me do it." We would all like to blame someone else for our sins and offenses, right? Adam did that when God asked him why he ate the forbidden fruit:
God speaks to Adam--
Genesis 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Then Eve blamed the devil later.
Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
God did not accept that alibi. Both Adam and Eve were held totally responsible for their sin and were driven out of the Garden of Eden.
So, Satan cannot MAKE you sin. Stop listening to these devil possessed Charismatic gurus who teach that your are a victim of Satan-- that you could not prevent your wicked condition. It may very well be that those fallen preachers use that alabi when they are caught in lust and sin, but you cannot.
Satan cannot possess you if you are a born again Bible believer
When Jesus was in Judea and Galilee traveling about, he confronted many devils. We are told in some texts that he cast out ALL devils he confronted. So, this spiritual war is a big one, and it is nonstop until the Kingdom rule of Christ in the future.
But, we hear people talk about being "possessed of devils." These people make a heretical mistake by failing to use the correct pronoun in that statement. Here are several examples. Notice please the pronoun "with" instead of the modern error "of":
Matthew 4:24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
You see, these were children of Israel. Never in the Gospel narratives did Jesus or the Holy Spirit indicate that the victims of possession were damned to hell sinners. They may have once been very devout Jews keeping the law.
What happens is that we can give a devil an open door to hang around WITH us. This can be as bad a situation as being unsaved and being possessed OF a devil as far as I can see. There is no biblical distinction in the amount of evil that can be done in and around a believer who is WITH a devil.
So, the door can be opened to Satan and his imps:
Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Notice that verse 27 is nestled right in the middle of the list. Violating any of the admonitions Paul gives is an open door to possession WITH a devil or Satan.
From experience of missionaries and godly saints we also know that some sins open a door to Satan. Adultery, idolatry, blasphemy, crime, pornography, occult curiosity, on and on..... Satan and his devils watch for open doors. If you have the door open, would you please close it.
You are letting flies in:
Matthew 12:22 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.
23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Beelzebub means "lord of flies." This was the name Jews in Jesus' day called Satan. Flies and bugs in the Bible are associated with devils. They go buzz buzz. This brings us to a conclusion:
You can have flies, fleas, lice, or bed bugs. You are WITH bugs, not possessed OF or BY the bugs. This is a simple truth to hold onto-- Satan does not own you if you are born again. But, he sure can be WITH you.
Is there a solution? Answer: Yes, and cut out all the hocus pokus you read in some pulp trash book from a Christian bookstore..... this is the way to deal with devils:
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
As you draw near to God, God draws near to you. Satan, or his devils, are displaced. Stop talking to devils, and talk to God. Satan loves it when you go chasing after him telling him how nasty he is. You are running away from God when you do that, and Satan is the object of your attention.
Read God's Word, and ask him to cleanse you of sin. Name the sin, and abandon it. It was probably sin that caused Satan to draw near to you in the first place. Keep close to God through his Word, and Satan has to leave.
Whatever you do, DO NOT go looking for one of these specialists in the Church who are exorcists. They have formulas and tricks they use which are not anything similar to Jesus' way of dealing with devils. And, absolutely never allow a pastor or alleged exorcist dig into your subconscious. This gives liberty for devils to play games when, in fact, you should simply be drawing near to God. Going to an exorcist is like going around the world to get to your neighbor's house. Go straight to deliverance God's way, as you saw in James.
If you feel your need help in dealing with devils, find a brother in Christ who has a very close walk with Christ. Ask him to pray and draw near to God with you.
Satan cannot read the Bible believer's mind
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
God is the only one that can search the hearts of believers.
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
This is talking about being known by God. Satan does not know us, nor can he reveal to us anything we need to know about ourselves.
Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
David did not trust his own discernment, and there is no Bible teaching that anyone else can, except God himself.
Psalms 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
It is usually bad to use technology to illustrate biblical truth, but I am thinking of an example of what we are talking about. When a computer is assembled, and the software is installed, the designer will make a "back door" through which only he can enter. This is a last resort in case the user forgets a password, or if the computer malfunctions badly. The designer will enter through a door that only he knows. He may give a disk with the information to use the "back door," but he will try to make the disk hack proof.
God designed us, and especially our minds were mind "in the image of God." It is absolutely inconceivable that God would give Satan access through a "back door" into our minds. Would you give a backdoor key to your house to the most notorious criminal in town? Come on, stop believing these Mother Goose preachers about Satan's power over you.
Satan cannot take your salvation away
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
It is unanimous in the Godhead. God is greater than all (including Satan), and Jesus and God are determined that you will never be taken from their hands. To tell a believer that Satan can cause them to lose their salvation is blasphemy. You must be possessed with devils to teach that.
Matthew 19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
This seems to be an out of context text, but it teaches something universal-- God will not let something be destroyed that he has put together for eternity. If he can be robbed of a saint by Satan, he is NOT God.
Satan cannot send you to hell
Matthew 10:27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Only God sends anyone to hell.
Hebrews 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
A judge must have jurisdiction to hear a case. An American judge cannot go to India and hold court in Mumbai just because he is determined to bring justice to India. He does not have jurisdiction in India. Thus, Satan is not the judge. He cannot hold court and condemn anyone, not even rank sinners. All judgment is given to Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
"Quick" means alive-- Christ is appointed as the one and only supreme court justice of the universe. He has no intention of letting Satan climb into the seat of judgment.
Relax, and rest in Jesus.
Satan cannot win-- Ultimately, he is a loser
Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Satan's final end is recorded in the Word of God:
Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Satan does not share your destiny if you are born again. He will never be saved or repent. Jesus died for the sins of the world, not the universe, and not the fallen angels. While we may feel some pity for a being who was at such a glorious beginning in heaven, who rebelled and was cast out of heaven on his way to the lake of fire, nevertheless; there is no worthy emotion that you need to waste on Satan. Also, it is folly to waste any bile on Satan. He is neither instructed, nor is he restrained by your emotional raging at him.
Jude 1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
If Michael the archangel did not rage at Satan, then you and I sure better mind our own business in his regard. There is nothing macho or commendable about a preacher thrashing about the platform cursing at Satan and flailing his fists around as if he could take on Satan in a fist fight. Billy Sunday used to do that, and it was not cute. It was stupid. And, while Billy Sunday raged at Satan all around the USA, his children he abandoned at home to do so all became Atheists. While you waste time raging at Satan someone is being left unguarded.
WHAT IS OUR OUTLOOK REGARDING SATAN?
He is defeated-- We have learned that Satan is defeated. He will not give up in doing all manner of evil, but he is a loser in the end, and he is limited to do only what God allows him to do.
He is deadly-- Satan is a roaring lion, whom resist steadfastly. But, we are to be alert to his devices and ready to put on the whole armor of God to withstand his fiery attacks.
He is damned-- Satan is without hope. In this state he craves company in a morbid bid for revenge. You and I are the top priority in Satan's eyes for attack and conquest. He cannot pass the limits God has set for him, and in the end he will be thrown into the lake of fire.
Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
APRIL 2014 COMMENT ON EXTRA TERRESTRIALS
Are they real?
Answer: If God is who he says he is, and if he gave us everything we need to know about heaven, earth, the universe, and our destiny, then there is nothing real about ET. Well, they may be devils which are allowed to deceive rebel sinners and world leaders who hate God.
2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Most world leaders are now deluded. God wants them to believe lies, and one lie may be devils taking on ET appearances.
If rubber heads do come visiting you, plead the blood of Jesus against them, and they will leave. I may get email about this, but I will say that I have only heard of possibly one true Bible believer being visited by ETs. She plead the blood of Jesus, and the ETs vaporized along with their space ship. I find it highly instructional that ET sightings are reported almost 100% by unbelievers or Whiskeypalians.
Because of the gullible fools who lead the thinking in this modern world, and because of Star Wars and such rubbish fiction, the masses are ready to believe devils are from outer space. So be it. Let the fools play with their dollies. But, a Bible believer knows there are no warnings or accounts of beings other than God, you, good and bad angels, and your pet poodle.
Let's keep it that way.
http://www.blessedquietness.com/journal/housechu/what-satan-can-and-cannot-do.htm