Satan Is Looking For A Place To Stay

Put Out Your No Vacancy Signs

Published on November 29, 2007 By KFC Kickin For Christ In Religion

Today I was musing over this one little verse in Eph after hearing a Pastor preach on it a few weeks ago:

"Neither give place to the devil." 4:27

I've already mentioned that sometimes we can give Satan a place. Sometimes we put out a welcome mat for him. He wastes no time coming in either. He'll come in and just take over quicker than a speeding bullet. We need to learn to keep the "no vacancy signs" handy.

When he comes in, after the welcome party we give him, he pays us back by putting a stronghold on our lives. Many don't even realize that Satan has a stronghold on their minds, on their hearts, on their lives contaminating all those around them. Their families, their co-workers, their church are all affected by one's Satanic influence. Think about that.

Sometimes we create a cozy climate, a nest for Satan. We give him a nice warm place. He only takes the ground we give him. So how do we dislodge him? Using the same scripture passage only looking back at v22-26 we see there are three steps to getting him evicted for good.

The first is to repent, acknowledging what we've done, by allowing this nasty tenant into our lives. The second thing is to resist him always. James tells us to resist the devil and he will flee. Jesus gave us this example when he resisted the devil in the wilderness during his temptation. Christ used scripture quoting the OT at every attack. The third thing we need to do is take place in renewal. I liken this to taking off dirty, filthy clothes and putting on new clean ones.

So how do we give place to the devil? Well we see by looking at v25 that living a life of a liar is giving him a room. If we live a life not based on absolute truth we are giving the devil a place. When you read about Jesus exercising demons out of people you notice they refer to these demons as "unclean spirits."

Satan is a dirty, filthy liar and if you're living that type of life, you've created an environment for the devil to be very comfortable in.

Another way to give place to the devil is by certain types of language. Do you have speech that tears down, others? Destroys? Dececrates? If so, this is coming from a dirty heart that needs cleansing. Satan is dwelling there. Jesus said "out of the abundance of your heart the mouth speaks."

Bitterness creates a climate for the devil. Christians should not have bitterness in their heart. Did you know the devil is bitter? Did you not know he has a vendetta against God's people? Are you bitter? If you're not careful, you could very well be full of the devil.

If bitterness is there, there is no joy in your life. You will contaminate those around you. Bitterness often leads to slander. If you slander, if you evil speak in any way you are literally doing the devil's work.

How about malice? Malice seeks to harm and is just another way to give a place to the devil.

So, you may start out bitter. You feel wounded and you feel you have a right to your bitterness. Then this bitterness turns to wrath. Wrath is likened to a slow internal heat that burns inside. If you don't deal with bitterness you get this slow burn that will eventually burst into flame. After that comes anger and what was internal is now external.

Clamor is mentioned next in this passage and gives us the idea of speaking loudly, louder and louder. So we start with bitterness that turns to wrath, anger and then to clamour. Clamour starts us to evil speaking saying things we don't really mean. By now we are out of control. We say things like, "I hate you," or "I wish you were dead."

So when we go thru these emotions we are giving the devil a place to go to war against God. Jesus said the fruit of a Christian's life is love, peace, patience, joy, kindness, goodness, self-control etc. Quite a difference from the alternative.

So when we go the way of the devil by listening to what he has to say we grieve the Holy Spirit. We've only ourselves to blame . We opened the door. When this happens, the Holy Spirit is heartbroken. The Holy Spirit is weeping.

We were saved, redeemed, born again, and now the temple of God has become a nest of Satan making a mockery of the things of God.

All because you opened the door and let him in.

Shut the door quickly and don't let him in.

Comments

Ayreon5

on Nov 29, 2007

So Satan is daily trying to get into the souls of 6.8 billion people?

A lot of places to be at once. That's a freakin' truckload of power.

If he's not omnipresent, he's gotta be dang close. I don't recall angels (fallen or not) having this much power. Of course I don't know for sure, but still.

Did God give Satan extra power (over standard angel power) once Satan became head Evil guy so he could do his job properly?

Just askin'.

lulapilgrim

on Nov 29, 2007

"Neither give place to the devil." 4:27

I've already mentioned that sometimes we can give Satan a place. Sometimes we put out a welcome mat for him. He wastes no time coming in either. He'll come in and just take over quicker than a speeding bullet.

You know until I read your article which is very good btw, I never gave this particular verse much attention. I always thought of Eph. 4:25... as regarding the Christian virtues..and it is, but this short passage is fit in there after, "be angry but do not sin".

EVERY ONE OF US gets angry...and that in and of itself is not a sin...but how hard it is to be angry and not sin!! This is prime opportunity time for the devil to get in.

But here it is, v 27, in my edition, "and give no opportunity to the devil". St.James 4:7 is also referenced. "Be subject therefore to God, but resist the devil, and he will fly from you."

Nowadays, many deny sin, many deny the devil is around influencing us to act sinfully in thought, words and actions. Being insincere and hurtful to one another is a form of the devil's influence. It leads us to sin against charity (love) which is exactly what the devil has in mind when he tempts us, since as the father of lies he is the enemy of ALmighty God and of those who stay true to God's commands.

Reading St.James sent me searching for more on the devil's influence and I found this commentary from the "SHepherd of Hermas" from the 2nd century.

When someone resists the devil's temptations, the devil leaves him alone. He has no power over us to commit sin. He can't force us. The Shepherd of Hermas wrote, "Be coverted, you who walk in the commandments of the devil, commandments that are hard, bitter, cruel and foul. And do not fear the devil either, becasue he has no power against you. The devil cannot lord it over those who are servants of God with their whole heart and who place their hope in Him. The devil can wrestle with, but not overcome them. So, if you resist him, he will flee from you in defeat and confusion."

hamartanō

on Nov 29, 2007

I don't recall angels (fallen or not) having this much power. Of course I don't know for sure, but still.

In fact they do Ayeron5... one angel slew 185,000 Assyrians in one night. These were not only members of the populace, but men of war- the Assyrian army, they were. That is if you believe the Word of God?

Peace
hamartano

KFC Kickin For Christ

on Nov 29, 2007

Reply By: Ayreon5

Great questions Ayreon.

Satan's enemy is God. He want's to be God himelf. He wishes to be worshipped as God.

He's a liar, a murder, an adversary and one not to fool around with. His goal is to amass his own army, and wreak havoc upon the earth. While he cannot possess a Christian he can take up residence in an unbeliever and he can wreak havoc in a Christian's life if we're not careful. He wants nothing more than to destroy our testimony so others won't see Jesus. He can be a very clever devil in that he's very good at putting obstacles in one's life so we turn away from where we should be going.

He's not omnipresent but has many demons working overtime in his service. Have you ever heard or read "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis? He kind of gives us an idea as to what it could be like in the spirit world with demons as his main subject.

Have you ever felt the presence of evil? Have you ever seen Satan? I have. In some countries I've heard the evil is so thick you can cut it with a knife. One country that comes to mind right off is Somalia. And when you visit Poland and see the gas ovens and the mountains of hair and shoes, I've been told you can actually feel an evil presence. I mean, com'on if the Holocaust wasn't evil, what else could it have been? Satan's motive has always been murder...death...... and his method is lyiing.

For a Christian, we need not to be afraid tho. Satan is powerless and has no hold on us as long as we don't give him any room. If we keep our focus on Christ we have nothing to worry about. "Greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world."

KFC Kickin For Christ

on Nov 29, 2007

I never gave this particular verse much attention.

You know Lula, me neither. Really. Until I started studying this I usually just kind of skipped over this little obscure verse. But then it just jumped out at me. Usually Eph 4:29 gets quoted all the time.

EVERY ONE OF US gets angry...and that in and of itself is not a sin...but how hard it is to be angry and not sin!! This is prime opportunity time for the devil to get in.

I guess we have to ask ourselves why the anger? Examine ourselves and see where it's coming from. Quite often our anger is selfish. We're angry because we didn't get our way, we've been wronged or ignored etc. We need to get angry over what angers God. We need to get angry over sin . That type of anger isn't selfish. It's anger against the evil one who wants nothing more than to try and lure others from the grip of God.

I'm afraid not too many people get angry over sin anymore.

Ayreon5

on Nov 30, 2007

I guess I'm just confused as to where Satan's powers end and God's powers, um, keep going.

Are you saying Satan just has the standard angel powers, and just uses them in an evil way?

It would be helpful if someone could list:

God's powers
Satan's powers

in a manner where they can be distinguished and compared.

Ayreon

hamartanō

on Nov 30, 2007

I guess I'm just confused as to where Satan's powers end and God's powers, um, keep going.Are you saying Satan just has the standard angel powers, and just uses them in an evil way?It would be helpful if someone could list:God's powersSatan's powersin a manner where they can be distinguished and compared.

Greeting Ayreon, Satan does have power…. but it is important to remember Satan’s power is limited by God Himself. A good example of this is found in the Book of Job: reference the first 2 chapters. We should not misunderstand that the spiritual realm (angles both good and evil) has powers that the physical cannot contend with.

A good example of this is the previously referred truth is found in 2 Kings chapter 19. Hezekiah is king in Judah. Hezekiah was a good king. Sennacherib, king of Assyria comes against Jerusalem using strong-arm tactics. Left to fate, Sennacherib would have annihilated Jerusalem. God intervenes in answer to Hezekiah prayer. 2 Kings 19:34-35 God sends an (good) angel in to the Assyrian camp and in one night he smites 185,000 men of war. Imagine “Thinkest thou that I cannot pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legion (36,000-72,000) of angles. That’s a lot of horsepower…. eh?

One thing that we do find from the scriptures Ayreon is that Satan, or Lucifer did have a position of authority ‘the anointed cherub’ when he was created. But it is important to remember he is a created being. He is not omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, etc… only God is. Isaiah 14:4-16 Ezekiel 28:11-19 With this position of authority he is entitled some measure of respect.; but it is short lived… eternity is a long, long time.

To answer your question Ayreon, there is no comparison to the power that God possesses and any other created being whether it be spiritual or physical. Satan shall be bound for eternity. He and his minions know this and the tremble.

hamartano

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