I'm Dealing With The Devil
I should go back to writing about Revelation. We were just getting started but lately I've been feeling some oppression in my life and felt led to write about Satan. I'm starting to wonder if it doesn't have something to do with this Revelation series. Maybe this break is needed to expose him and his ways. I write this and dedicate it to Ruby!
I'm familiar with this feeling. I've felt it before, but it's been quite a while. It's a feeling of dread, darkness and joylessness. He can take the blue out of my sky if I let him. I won't. I refuse to let him. I will continue. I actually feel like I'm fighting a battle here. I get tired sometimes.
As a Christian I know we are not wrestling with flesh and blood but rather spiritual wickedness. Paul wrote in Eph 6:12 :
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
John told us to try the spirits and see where they are coming from in his Epistle 1 John 4:1.
Our battle is not against the abortionists, the pornographers, the homosexuals, the IRS or our mother in laws. It's a battle against forces we can't see and we are losing the battle because we are NOT showing up for the war.
Demons come against humans in different ways. One of these ways is oppression. To oppress someone is to rule over one, to put someone else down or to exercise domion. There's a cosmic war going on daily with spiritual powers all around us. We are too busy in life to even take notice most of the time. In scripture we read of how Jesus came to deliver those oppressed by these powers. It's only HE that can set us free from all of this.
Another way the demons come against humans is obsession. Obsession deals with the mind. Some of the ways we can be obsessed is with with drugs, alcohol, sex, revenge, and pride. I've seen, up close and personal, those obsessed with such things and it can get to the point where they are actually tormented by such things. They are obsessed.
Another way is possessed. Can a Christian be possessed by a demon? No. They can be oppressed and obsessed but not possessed. To be so, the Holy Spirit would have to move out. When we come to God, his Holy Spirit seals and indwells us. There's no room for a demon to live in us. Maybe this is where we get....three is a crowd?
Jesus had all authority over demons. At the cross Satan had been defeated. Jesus has authority over the enemy and has given us this authority. Before we go further check this story out from Luke 4:
32And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. 33Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, 34saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 35But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.
There are at least four things true about demons.
1. Recognition. They recognize Jesus' full deity and authority. It seems these demons are more orthodox than some preachers of today.
2. Hatred of Jesus. Every demon possessed person does not want to hear about the things of God. Just like the demons said in scripture to Jesus "leave us alone" so too do those who belong to Satan. Of course they don't want to hear it. His purity is presented and the darkness doesn't want that light shining on them. The unsaved man may not even realize how deep and where this hatred originates. Those in rebellion towards God, hate those who are close to Him.
3. Fear of Jesus. The demons actually cringe in fear before Him. We need to remember "greater is He in you than he in the world." We need never, never to be afraid. We need to be diligent, watchful, and aware of him but never afraid.
4. Yields to his authority. When Jesus spoke to a demon possessed man in scripture he said, "be still" which literally means to be muzzled. The scriptures go on to say the demons threw him down with force as they left.
Satan never gives up without a fight. It's a battle. The power of the enemy is strong but not as strong as the authority and power of Christ.
Later Jesus gave his disciples power to cast out demons and the great commission He gives them authority as well to go out and preach the gospel in his name.
Now the world has their own answers. They believe the answers fall under the categories of Legislation, Education and Environment.
If we make enough laws we can control mankind. The problem is we can't even build enough prisons to keep up with the demand right now. Laws are ok but they are not the answer. Legislation only deals with the outside and not the heart.
As far as education goes that's not the answer either. Hitler was a demon possessed man from Nazi Germany a most sophistated, educated, learned nation on earth at the time. He ruled over the face of the earth yet his nation was one of gas ovens and other horrors. A man educated and controlled by the devil just knows more how to be evil. I'm sure if we put our thinking caps on we could come up with a whole list of educated evil men.
If you take a common thief who steals and educate him, he just steals bigger things. One preacher said if you take a thief who steals a watermelon off a boxcar and educate him, he'll steal the whole train of watermelons.
Environment isn't the answer either. We say if we change the environment we'll change the man. That's backwards. Where did man first get into trouble? In a beautiful garden. There was never a better environment than that.
There's nothing wrong with Legislation, Education or Environment but it takes more. If that's all you do, you'll never get to the root problem. It's like trying to take an asprin for an infection.
The only answer to what the demons have to offer is Christ. Only he has all the power and authority over the enemy. So for a Christian Satan is no threat. Temptation has no allurement.
For those who are oppressed, obsessed or possessed, there is hope against these things. We need to give God back the ground that Satan has stolen. We need to make no more decisions for Satan. We need to refuse, rebuke and resist Satan and his demon friends and he will flee. In the meantime tho, he's watching and waiting for the opportunity to invade your personality to make it difficult to see Christ. This can be for the Christian or the non Christian.
Martin Luther was asked how he could live victoriously over Satan. He said everytime Satan knocks at his door, he sends Jesus to answer it. He said Martin Luther used to live here, but Martin doesn't live here anymore.
When we come to Christ, Jesus comes in, cleanses us and fills us with his presence and makes us the person we ought to be. Amen for that.