Satan His Origin and Activities: March 2025
Table of Contents
Satan - His Origin and Activities
Jesus does not reason with Satan. A single text silences when used in the power of the Spirit. The whole secret of strength in conflict is using the Word of God in the right way. One may say, I am not like this perfect Man: It might be so with Christ, but how can I expect the same result? True, we are ignorant, and the flesh is in us, but God is always behind, and He is faithful. He will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able. Temptation may be simply a trial of our obedience, as in Abraham’s case, not a snare to lead us astray. Satan presents what has no appearance of evil. The evil would be doing one’s own will. Now it solves every difficulty to ask — not, what harm is there in doing this or that, but — why am I doing it? Is it for God or myself? What, am I to be always under this restraint? Ah! There the secret of our nature comes out: We do not like the restraint of doing what God will approve of. It is restraint to do God’s will! We want to do our own will. To act merely because one must is law and not the guidance of the Spirit. The Word of God was the motive of Christ and such is Christ’s guidance. Not fencing the old man, but the new man living on the word is our defense against Satan.
The Remembrancer, 1897
What Is the Origin of Satan?
The fullest light on this mysterious subject is presented to us in highly symbolical language in Ezekiel 28, where we read of the Prince of Tyrus and the King of Tyrus, the latter very definitely being a description of Satan, the former his human understudy. Satan ever seeks expression through human agents, hence the connection between the Prince of Tyrus and the King of Tyrus in this chapter.
So we find the Prince of Tyrus using very extravagant, blasphemous language. This is seen in the rebuke administered to him: “Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God” (Ezek. 28:2). This is what Satan aimed at, to be God and to sit in the place of supreme power, and this is what his human understudy aims at.
The Prince of Tyrus was clearly a man, but when we come to the description of the origin of the King of Tyrus, we can only come to the conclusion that it describes the origin of Satan himself.
“Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 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 emerald, and the carbuncle and gold; the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day thou wast created” (Ezek. 28:12-13).
This is a highly symbolic description of a creation of wondrous power and beauty. Tabrets (timbrels) and pipes (flutes) — musical instruments commonly used in the East at weddings and feasts — show this creature was created to utter God’s praises. Note too how the precious stones are more or less identical with the gems that glittered on the high priest’s breastplate (Ex. 28:17-21).
Then we are told he was the anointed cherub that covers, a word used for the cherubim covering the mercy seat. He walked upon the holy mount of God. He was perfect in all his ways till iniquity was found in him. “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee” (Ezek. 28:17).
Could this be a description of anything but the fall of Satan? He was evidently the highest creature that God in His wisdom created. Alas! Pride was his ruin, and pride is designated in Scripture as “the condemnation of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6).
This then we believe is the Scripture revelation to us of the origin of Satan and his fall. The details are few and scanty, but what we do know is very impressive and awe-inspiring. For such a wonderful creation of God to fall from his high estate, carrying with him a mighty following of angels, is terrible to contemplate.
J. Pollock (adapted)
The King of Babylon
In like manner the king of Babylon, who is described in Isaiah 14, is but Satan’s instrument, only the human agent is not so distinguished from the source of his power as in Tyre. In the judgment on Babylon, we do not have the distinction between the city and the judgment on its king: “The golden city ceased,” and the king who said, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds” yet is to be “brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isa. 14:4,14-15). He is also called Lucifer — (daystar) or son of the morning. And when he is laid low, the earth is at rest. Does not this look onward to millennial rest when Satan will be bound for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3)?
The king of Babylon and the prince of Tyre use similar language. The king of Babylon said, “I will be like the Most High,” and the prince of Tyre said, “I am God.” But why the distinction between the king and the prince in the judgment on Tyre? And why is there the blending of Satan with his human agent in the judgment on Babylon? Perhaps because idolatry and persecution which were developed at Babylon are more Satanic, and the human instrument more completely in his hand. Another reason might be that the riches of Tyre will one day be used for the Lord, whereas the judgment on idolatrous Babylon is that it will never be restored.
Thus we see Satan using all the forces of this world — its rule and order, its religion and its commerce — to blind the eyes of the lost to their ruin. Only the grace that came by Jesus Christ can open the eyes of the blind. Infidelity and the absorbing power of riches are leading men on to destruction. But the worst form of idolatry is yet to be developed. The world is preparing for the man of sin. By means of commerce evil spreads, and the great manipulator of this world’s forces brings all together and mixes or crystallizes them in the golden cup of great Babylon.
R. Beacon (adapted)
Satan's Work Today
In a previous issue of The Christian (“The Spirit World,” June 2012), we have discussed the devil and some of his activities. However, much has happened in the world during the past 10-15 years, and we feel compelled to address the subject once more. In a certain sense it is certainly true that in the realm of Satan’s activities, “There is no new thing under the sun. ... It hath been already of old time, which was before us” (Eccl. 1:9-10). Most of Satan’s ways and means have had their origin thousands of years ago, and his modes of behavior today are simply reruns of what he has done in the past. However, his methods do change with the times, and souls can easily be seduced by “wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:11) with which they are not familiar.
We would point out, first of all, that man does not need Satan to incite him to do evil. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, he has had a sinful nature that is prone to every kind of evil, and as God could say of man before the flood of Noah, “Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Man’s heart has not improved since then; it is the same today. Also, we know that during the millennium, with Satan bound in the bottomless pit and under the most favorable conditions possible on this earth, sin will still occur. Nevertheless, we do know that Satan is behind much of the evil in this world, and he is perhaps becoming more active as God and His claims are being given up. We are clearly in the last days of 2 Timothy 3:1-9, and not only are all these things coming upon this world, but they are coming at an increasingly rapid pace. A warning is in order, for this description depicts Christendom, not the heathen world. Inevitably, it has an effect on us who are true Christians.
Situational Ethics
First of all, absolute truth is being given up, and relativism has largely taken over. “Situational ethics” are used to decide how to handle a problem, with little regard for right or wrong. The easiest solution is applied, even if morality must be sacrificed. Sadly, this goes on among true believers too. I remember two cases in which I was involved where dear brothers in Christ were spoken to about what they had done contrary to Scripture in their personal lives. Neither one disputed the meaning of the scriptures quoted, but neither confessed to doing wrong either. Both, on separate occasions, simply said, “You don’t realize the stress I was under at the time.” A stressful situation was used to justify disobeying the Word of God. Satan is behind all this, for he has sought to corrupt the Bible for thousands of years and to persuade man that he (Satan) is wiser than God.
Second, we are seeing an increasing lack of discipline, whether self-discipline or in the discipline of others, particularly young children. In the last 20-30 years, we have seen the rise of a whole generation of parents who were raised without proper discipline, and they in turn are now raising children. The result is that often there are no firm consequences for bad behavior in children. Then there is an outcry when the police occasionally must be called in to deal with children who are out of control. However, the root of all this is a lack of self-discipline, for if we cannot discipline ourselves, we cannot discipline our children.
God’s Claims
However, there is an even deeper root to this lack of discipline, and that is, a throwing off of God’s claims. All authority ultimately is derived from God, and if I deny God’s authority over me, then I will not obey other authority unless compelled to do so by superior force. The giving up of God is the real root of a lack of discipline.
Exacerbating all this is increasingly bad behavior by governmental officials and others in positions of administration and responsibility. Some years ago, the Canadian government declined to prosecute a large company for well-documented corruption and wrongdoing because they felt that the resultant fallout from an almost certain conviction would result in the loss of too many jobs. The incidence of corruption, sexual misconduct, blatant lying, and other crimes among those in high places and so-called “influencers” tends to make others say to themselves, “If they can do it, why shouldn’t I?” It is no longer a matter of right and wrong, but what I can get away with. These things happened in the past, to be sure, but they are happening with increasing frequency today. Those who once stood for truth and uprightness are now often using their positions for illegal activities and personal gain. As another has aptly remarked, “In the history of this world, God has often accomplished His purposes by allowing the basest of men to rule.” But we know that Satan has a strong influence among those who govern this world, although he can go only as far as God allows.
Reckless Behavior
Another area where Satan is having a strong influence is in the area of reckless behavior. He is persuading young people that since the world is in such terrible shape with the threat of war, along with such things as wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes and floods, there is no real future for them. The attitude of “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:32) has taken over the lives of some, so that the thrill of some dangerous experience outweighs the threat of serious injury or death. Satan blinds them to the solemn truth that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). The only future becomes that of this world, with no regard for what will take place after death.
There are several other areas where Satan has a large impact, and they are potentially even more dangerous than what we have already mentioned. The first one is the Internet. When it was first made available, some thought that it would be used very little. How wrong they were! As with almost every other invention of man, the Internet has many good uses, and communication with those in some areas of the world is possible only by this means. However, we all know that every kind of wickedness and sin can now be accessed on the Internet, and by any age group. Without proper parental care and guidance, this has resulted in the loss of innocence in young children and has promoted the committing of serious crimes by those still in grade school. Children have been robbed of their childhood and given knowledge that they are not ready to process and deal with properly. In addition, this knowledge is often presented in a perverted way.
Sexual Perversion
This brings us to the matter of sexual perversion and the explosion of every deranged way of thinking imaginable on this subject. We know from Romans 1 That when man gives up God, God allows him to see the full effect of his choice. First comes sexual immorality between men and women, then the sordid uncleanness of homosexual relationships and ultimately same-sex marriages. These “vile affections” (Rom. 1:26) have once again become common in so-called Christian lands today and are causing terrible confusion, especially in young children who are affected by all this. Recently a young boy (about seven years old) was featured on the Internet, heading off to school wearing a skirt. His mother’s comment was, “My son is being very brave”!
Social Media
Finally, there is the subject of social media. Entities like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others allow a literal avalanche of personal information to be traded across the globe. Some of this doubtless is beneficial and, as with the Internet itself, allows easy communication between individuals who are widely separated by distance. However, we must all remember the injunction Paul gave the Ephesians: “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16). If the days were evil in Paul’s day, what would he say today? We are all given the same number of hours in a day, but what do we do with that time? Are we redeeming it or wasting it? The addicting quality of social media is well-known, and some of us are more prone to this addiction than others. Again, it is a work of Satan to rob us of our time, which God has given us to use for His glory.
We are thankful for every Christian who is able, with the Lord’s help, to “use the world, as not disposing of it as their own” (1 Cor. 7:31 JnD). There are many things in this world that we can use for God’s glory. However, we must remember that for the moment, this world is Satan’s world, and we must have our guard up, lest his wiles overtake us.
W. J. Prost
The Work and Way of Satan
Satan is a fallen creature and he does not possess either omniscience or omnipotence. John 8:44 is a distinct testimony. Many Christians believe that Satan is represented under the figure of the king of Tyrus in Ezekiel 28:17, and I think they are right. But Satan has a whole multitude of demons under his authority — so much so that in the poor Gadarene there was a legion. He is the prince of the demons. With respect to the knowledge of thoughts, he does not know them intuitively, as God does. But as a spirit full of intelligence and subtlety, he discerns with the greatest clearness the motives of the heart. He has gained experience by the practice of thousands of years, but I believe that he understands nothing of the power of love. He was able in his malice to raise up the Chaldeans against Job through the desire of plunder, but not in any way knowing the purpose of God to bless him by this means, he did nothing but fulfill it. He did all that he could to get Christ put to death, but he only fulfilled the wonderful purpose of God for our salvation.
The Heart of Man
However, when he has to do with the evil heart of man, the case is different. He can present objects to awaken lusts. If we reckon ourselves to be dead, dead to sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord, he is not able to tempt us; at least, the temptation remains without effect. But if the flesh is not held as dead, then he can present objects which the flesh likes and suggest to a man the means of satisfying his lusts. Thus he put it into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus for a little money. But man is responsible, because without lust Satan could do nothing. He has nothing to offer to the new man, or if he offers anything, it only produces horror in the soul; the soul suffers as Christ suffered at the sight of evil in this world, or else it overcomes as Christ overcame in the wilderness. But when the soul is not set free, Satan can indeed insinuate wicked thoughts and unbelieving thoughts and words of blasphemy, in such a way that these words and thoughts seem to proceed from the man himself. Nevertheless, if the man is truly converted, we always find that he has a sense of horror at the things that arise in his mind, and we see that they are not really his own thoughts. If he is not converted, he does not distinguish between the demon and himself, as we find in the Gospels. But also when he is converted, it is proof that he has opened the door to the devil by sin — hidden sin it may be — or by negligence. Further, Satan is the prince of this world and its god, and he governs the world by means of the passions and lusts of men, and he is able to raise up the whole world against Christians, as he did against Christ, and so try their faith.
The Deceiver
Satan can seek to mingle truth and error, and thus deceive Christians if they are not spiritual. He can, as did the demon at Philippi, get Christians mixed up with the world in order to destroy the testimony of God; he can change himself into an angel of light, but the spiritual man discerns all things (1 Cor. 2:15 JND). He has little power over us if we walk humbly, close to the Lord, following faithfully the Word of God, having Christ as the only object of the heart. Satan knows well that he has been conquered; therefore it is said, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). His influence in the world is very great through the motives of the human heart, and he acts on men through each other. Likewise, from the rapidity of his operations and actions, he appears to be everywhere, and then he employs a great multitude of servants who are all wicked. But in fact he is not present everywhere. Now God is really present, and if we are under the influence of the Spirit of God and the conscience is in the presence of God, Satan has no power. “He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (1 John 5:18). However things may be with us, if we are truly the children of God, he will fulfill the counsels of God with respect to us; it may be, if need be, by chastisement. But God knows all things; He in the most absolute sense penetrates everywhere. He orders all things — Satan’s efforts even — for our good. If we are armed with the whole armor of God, the darts of the evil one do not reach the soul.
J. N. Darby
Satan and Sin
The sanctity in which we hold God’s Word is shown not only by our response to it in our lives as we are taught within its pages, but also in our willing defense of its truth. This, however, must be done with humility, admitting to any lack of understanding we may have, or which we have not actually been given to know.
Why God allowed Satan and/or sin is not directly stated in Scripture. The simplest answer one might offer is that Satan and sin were allowed that God may give the whole of His creation not simply a greater example and understanding of His holiness and sovereignty, but also of His love in grace. It is an answer that is found throughout Scripture, whether being given by example or by inference (1 John 4:9-19; Luke 22:31-32; James 1:2-7).
The Rebellion of Satan
But let us look a bit closer at Satan to see more of what we are given to understand of his rebellion. Returning to Ezekiel (28:11-19), there are a few things to point out in Satan’s position as the anointed cherub: “I [God] have set [made/appointed] thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire” (vs. 14). The first and most obvious point is that God had appointed Satan to his position, even knowing what would come (Psa. 147:5; Isa. 46:9-10).
In Scripture, especially in the aspect of prophecy or parable, a mountain is typically symbolic of governmental authority and rule. This has its meaning here not only in the idea as being the “place” of God’s abode, but of the authority Satan was given as guardian cherub. It was his duty as such, in type, “anointed” as being a head angel, to make sure God’s glory as being Sovereign was upheld — both through seeing God’s will upheld in obedience by others, and in being obedient to it himself.
In this position which God had appointed him, Satan rebelled in an attempt to exalt himself above God. He sought not simply to take the “balance” (act of judgment) into his own hands, but to overthrow God’s very authority of rule and the design of His creation in challenging what measure of balance was to be: what God had set forth, or what Satan himself desired. This is exemplified in his method of temptation towards man in the Garden of Eden: first, questioning God’s purpose in His provision and command over Adam; second, directing man to the exercise of his own will in the desire presented by the fruit to “be as gods” (Gen. 3:1-10).
All that God had designed, Satan meant to call into question in order to promote his own desire to be worshipped in God’s place. Thus, the glory he was meant to protect, Satan tried to take for himself in exercising his own willful desire to be as God. In this, Satan was brought fully under the effect of God’s sovereignty in judgment by his very act of disobedience in his rebellion. This is also typified in the first Adam. Adam was meant to have fellowship in obedience to God’s single command, honoring God in His sovereignty in setting things by His will, but he rejected it by the exercise of his own will instead. Like Satan, man through Adam now stands under judgment.
In the exercise of choice beyond what had been given of God as right, judgment and death passed onto man. Simply put, our demand of our own way over what God has meant for our protection to guard us has brought us before Him, not in fellowship, but under sentence as being condemned.
Why God Would Allow Sin
This, however, raises other questions many struggle with as to sin itself: “If God is all knowing and all powerful, why would He even allow a being of His own creation to have the ability to rebel and sin against Him? If God is love, how can He allow evil (sin) even to exist?” Whether it is Satan or man, the question is the same.
Yet it could also be asked: If man insists in his own freedom to choose, should he not stand accountable for his choices? This is not with a desire to enter into the discussion of “free-will”; it is just an illustration to point out the hypocrisy in our wanting to hold God accountable to our own simplistic understanding of any given situation.
When everything is to our liking, of our desire, we rejoice in the pleasures of the day. But when some action or consequence arises that our conscience testifies to the injustice or immorality surrounding it, we demand God to be accountable that evil exists. Instead of admitting to the results of our own actions, or inaction, we want to blame God for all which is wrong. We even question His existence and love, in that things are not the way we would think they should be (Rom. 2:15).
The debate has been carried on for centuries, but for a believer, however, our understanding can only come through God’s revealed Word in what He has given us to know. We own, as believers in Christ, that greater glory and joy await us than what we would otherwise have been given to know, without such a gift of grace in Christ being shown (Col. 3:1-4; Rev. 21:1-22:7).
Satan’s Deceits
Many unfortunately think of Satan as presented to us in Hollywood movies, or as depicted in books like Dante’s Inferno. Yet he is even more powerful in his masquerade as an angel of light. In this way, his beauty is presented to suggest his “inner goodness” and is ample proof of the power of his deceits in the world around us. Satan’s beautiful and precious stones of covering are now part of his ability to deceive — making the most subtle of temptations seem the more beautiful and inducing us to think they cannot be wrong (Ezek. 28:16-18).
As to his ministers (generally, fellow fallen angels), they are just as able to transform themselves into ministers of righteousness in order to suit their purpose. These are not crude distortions of a make-up artist, nor that of a poet’s fanciful imagination, but beautiful and charismatic creatures. They are powerful in both their use of God’s Word and in the riches and worldly entertainments of all that which delights the eyes and flesh of man. Even in stroking a person’s ego, puffing up one’s pride in what they believe should be theirs, there are few more able. This is demonic — the perversions the enemy brings before us of what life was never meant to be, but which they present should be ours of necessity (2 Cor. 11:3,13-15).
Neither Satan nor his ministers are to be pitied or romanticized in any form, though they are often idolized in both aspects in today’s culture of entertainment and sin. But they are not the believer’s only enemy. One does not need to be of the supernatural to be a minister of Satan’s merchandise. There are mortal men and women, given to deceit and corruption, who are fully capable, in their use or rejection of God’s Word, of deceiving others as well (2 Tim. 3:1-7; 4:3-4; 2 John 7).
Christ’s Superiority
Satan possesses a number of stones of beauty, but there is a single Stone greater in brilliance and value than all of Satan’s combined. For those who believe on Him, He is the most precious of all. Jesus Christ is both the Foundation (the Rock) and Capstone of the grace and judgment of God (1 Peter 2:4-8; Isa. 28:16-17). When He returns in judgment, He shall turn and fall upon those who stumble and fall in rejection of Him (Matt. 21:44; Isa. 8:14-15; Rev. 20). For those faithful to His call, they are the children of God (Rom. 8:14-17).
To God’s children, Satan and his ministers are all defeated foes who have no real power over us unless we give in and allow them so (Eph. 6:10-18; James 4:7-8). This does not mean we cannot be tempted, nor that we may not suffer persecution at the hands of another, but that our life and strength are in Christ — as is our eternity. The battle is not even ours — it is the Lord’s, and He has already won!
Though God may allow Satan his operations, he can only go to the extent which God allows. If we reach out in faithful trust to God our Father, Satan has no force, and we are blessed in the outcome God would have for us. If we recoil in fear, God is just and will remain faithful unto the end: He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:11-13). Even if it occasions our death in this world, the greater glory and honor will be to God in a believer who dies according to His purpose in the witness given (Acts 7:54-60; 2 Cor. 5:2-11). However, we need not fear — nothing can separate a child of God from His love (John 10:27-30; Rom. 8:31-39; Rev. 22:1-5).
Alan Yerkey (adapted)
Satan's Specific Methods
Satan has many methods of carrying on his evil work in this world, and it is beyond the scope of this article to describe all of them. It would require an entire book to do so. However, it might be helpful to our readers to mention some of the ways that Satan works, so that we may be on our guard.
First of all, Satan is a great imitator. Whatever work the Lord may do, Satan often seeks to imitate it, and then, if possible, to pretend that it is really the Lord’s work. In this way unbelievers and even true Christians are often caught off guard. Only later does the real character of the devil appear. One example of this is in healing. In the early church, divine healing was often done by the apostles and others, to authenticate the gospel as being of God. Satan too can appear as “an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14) and sometimes empowers his followers even to perform miracles of healing as a “false front.” Only later does the sting attached to it appear. Consider the following incident as an example of this:
“A woman who was seriously ill was given no hope of recovery by her doctors. She, along with her family, consulted an occult medium, and the woman’s condition immediately improved. Within a short time, she was completely healed. However, she later made three attempts to commit suicide. Because of this, she eventually sought the help of a Christian minister, who in turn helped form a prayer group to pray for her. By the grace of God, she turned to Christ and was completely freed from the awful temptation to try and kill herself.”
In cases like this, two things are almost always present. First of all, the subsequent sting after the initial healing is far worse than the original medical problem. Second, there is almost always some use of a Christian symbol in the healing process, such as an appeal to the Trinity, the symbol of the cross, or the use of the Bible.
Amulets or Charms
In the New Testament we find that healing was done through Peter’s shadow (Acts 5:15), and also through Paul special miracles were performed by the use of handkerchiefs and aprons (cloths) from his body (Acts 19:12). Satan also uses such things, sometimes referred to as amulets or charms, and even pieces of cloth. But again, there is always the thread of evil and tragedy in the wake of these types of healing, when Satan is involved. I knew of a Christian family who innocently bought a pretty second-hand quilt for their young daughter to use at night. Almost immediately the girl began waking up every night crying for no apparent reason. She had always been a sound sleeper and had never done this before. Eventually they realized that the blanket had probably been originally used in occult practices. When they got rid of the blanket, the episodes of crying immediately stopped.
There are several other areas where Satan sometimes manages to work his way into the Western mind. In the West, we are accustomed to looking at things rationally and materialistically, so that our minds are programmed to dismiss that which cannot be understood in this way. But just as there is much in the Word of God that cannot be explained in human terms, so Satan and his demons are connected with much that man’s logic cannot explain. Those in the other parts of the world have recognized this for hundreds of years and sometimes have a perception of things which is stunted in the West. We will mention three areas where this is true.
Yoga
Yoga is widely practiced in the West, especially in areas such as gymnastics, breathing exercises and relaxation exercises. Many do not realize that this is only the first stage of yoga, and once again may be Satan’s “false front” in order to attract people. But yoga has several higher stages, and ultimately involves the mastery of so-called magic and cosmic forces. It eventually involves pure demonic practices.
Yoga has its origin in a Far Eastern or Hindu system of thought, and it is atheistic in nature. It stands behind magic, mysticism and occultism, and it is impossible to harmonize with Christianity. While Christians may involve themselves with the first stage and get some benefit from it, it may be the front door to other stages which are more serious. Again, we do well to be our guard.
Speaking in Tongues
Another area which has gained ground in Western countries is the phenomenon of speaking in tongues. While this experience is by no means always connected with the occult, yet it certainly can be, and many have been able to attest to this. We hasten to say that many experiences of speaking in tongues are likely the product of excitement of the autonomic nervous system and have nothing to do with the occult. However, some who have become involved in tongues movements have found themselves falling unconscious and filled with terrible fear afterward. One woman who was a true believer went through this experience and reported that she lost her assurance of salvation and her peace with God. Only later were these restored to her with help from others who prayed with her. What she had experienced was not from the Holy Spirit but rather from the pit.
Finally, we feel compelled to mention the heresies that are becoming increasingly common in Christendom today. We do not wish to accuse any falsely, yet we must be faithful and say that the increasing incidence of serious bad doctrine concerning the Person and work of Christ, along with the toleration of immorality such as fornication, homosexual practices and same-sex marriages, has certainly opened the door to Satanic influences. Much of modern theology wishes to do away with anything that cannot be explained in human terms, claiming that Christians should accept only what their intellects can grasp. This eventually includes unbelief in the existence of Satan and his demons. Acts that are often the work of Satan are written off as merely psychological phenomena or flights of imagination. Satan then takes words from Scripture such as “forgiveness,” “the cross,” and “new birth,” empties them of their real meaning, and then fills them with new rationalistic ideas. People can believe that they are “born again” when they have merely had an experience which caused them to take a major turn in their life. Deluded souls can persuade themselves that they are truly saved, when they have merely an intellectual belief in the way of salvation.
Many true Christians today have been persuaded by Satan that they can belong to Christ, yet continue in the same lifestyle that they had before they were saved. This same worldly way of living opens the door to Satan and his influence, for since the Lord Jesus was rejected, Satan is now both the god and prince of this world. To be part of this world — morally the same world that Cain set up thousands of years ago—is to open the door to strong influences that can drag us down. Again, we need to be on our guard.
There are various other Satanic methods that we could mention, such as letters of protection, astrology, blood subscriptions, Ouija boards, black magic, fortune telling, Satanic hypnosis, and many others. However, with all the manifestations of Satan’s power, we can confidently remember that “greater is He [the Holy Spirit] that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The best antidote to falling under the devil’s influence is a walk that is close to the Lord, separate from the world, and obedient to His Word. “He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (1 John 5:18).
W. J. Prost
The Bridegroom Cometh
The day of the apostasy is hastening on with rapid strides, and also the day in which the Lord shall come to snatch His own away. Godly men everywhere, who watch the signs of the times, see the moment approaching which shall terminate the present actings of grace. The time has evidently arrived when one must speak plainly and decisively, and ask you where you are, and what you are about. You have by grace, which has shone brighter and brighter as it has approached its termination, been gathered out of the seething mass of idolatry and wickedness which now threatens Christendom and the world with an overthrow more awful than that of Sodom and Gomorrah of old; the question is whether you are adequately impressed with the responsibility, as well as the blessedness, of the ground you are on, and walking like men and women whose eyes have been opened. Believe me, there has never been in the world’s history such a time as the present, and Satan is occupied with none as he is with you. His occupation with you is the more to be feared because of the subtlety of his operations. His object is to withdraw your attention from Christ, while you suppose you are on safe ground and have nothing to fear. He would destroy you with the very truth itself. For mark the subtlety: you ARE on safe ground but ONLY while Christ is your all in all. Here is where Satan is drawing some away. Interpose anything between your soul and Christ, and your Philadelphia becomes Laodicea; your safe ground is as unsafe as the rest of Christendom; your strength is gone from you, and you become weak, like any ordinary mortal. Some of you are young, recently converted, or brought to the right ways of the Lord, and you do not know the depths of Satan. But you are hereby solemnly warned of your peril, and if mischief overtake you, you cannot plead ignorance.
Satan Has His Eye on You
Again I say, Satan has his eye especially upon YOU, for the purpose of interposing the world in some form between your soul and Christ. He cares not how little, or in what form. If you knew but how little will answer his purpose, you would be alarmed. It is not by that which is gross or shameful; what is gross and shameful is in the DEVELOPMENT, not the BEGINNING of evil. It is not by anything glaring that he seeks to ruin you, but in small and seemingly harmless trifles — trifles that would not shock nor offend anyone as things go, and yet these constitute the deadly and insidious poison, destined to ruin your testimony and withdraw you from Christ.
Do you ask what are these alarming symptoms, and where are they seen? The question only shows the character of the opiate at work. Brethren and sisters, you are being infected with the spirit of the world. Your dress, your manner, your talk, your lack of spirituality, betray it in every gathering. There is a dead weight, a restraint, a want of power, that reveals itself in the meetings, as plainly as if your heart were visibly displayed and its thoughts publicly read. A form of godliness without power is beginning to be seen among YOU, as plainly as in the rest of Christendom generally. As surely as you tamper with the world, so surely will you drift away to its level. This is the nature of things; it must be so. If you tamper with the world, the privileged place you occupy, instead of shielding you, will only expose you to greater condemnation. It must be Christ OR the world. It cannot be — ought not to be — Christ AND the world. God’s grace in drawing you out of the world in your IGNORANCE is one thing, but God will never permit you to prostitute His grace, and play fast and loose, when you have been separated from the world. Remember you take the place, and claim the privilege, of one whose eyes have been opened; and if on the one hand this is unspeakably blessed (and it is), on the other hand it is the most dreadful position in which a human being can be found. It is to be at the wedding feast without the wedding garment. It is to say, “Lord, Lord,” while you do not the things that He bids. It is to say, “I go, sir,” as he said who went not.
Better Things
Beloved, I am persuaded better things of you, though I thus speak; and I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will bless Him for these few faithful words. Nothing can be more glorious than the position you are called to occupy in these closing days. Saints have stood in the breach, have watched through weary days and nights these eighteen hundred years, and you only wait for the trumpet of victory to go in and take possession of the glorious inheritance. Other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors; and yet you are lowering your dignity to the level of the poor potsherds of the earth, who only wait for the rod of the Victor (and yours too) to dash them into pieces.
Oh, awake, then from your lethargy: slumber no longer; put away your idols and false gods; wash your garments, and get you to Bethel, where you will find God to be better than ever you knew Him, even in your best days. Lay aside your last bit of worldly dress; guard your speech, that it be of Christ and His affairs, and not, as you know it now often is, of anything but Him. Let your prayers mingle with those of other saints at the prayer meetings; they never were more needed. Neglect no opportunity of gathering up instruction from that Word which alone can keep us from the paths of the destroyer. Let your life be the evidence of the treasures you gather up at the assembly meetings, or in secret with the Lord. If you want occupation, with a glorious reward from a beloved Master, ask that Master to set you to work for Him. You will never regret it, either in this world or in that which is to come.
Beloved, bear with me; I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. You belong to Christ, and Christ to you. Break not this holy union. Let not the betrothed one be unfaithful to her Bridegroom! Why should you be robbed and spoiled? And for what? Empty husks and bitter fruits, while you waste this little span of blessing! All the distinctions acquired here in the energy of the Spirit will but serve to enhance your beauty and render you more lovely in the eyes of Him who has espoused you to Himself. Can you refuse Him His delights in you? Can you refuse Him the fruit of the travail of His soul, who once hung, a dying man, between two thieves, on Calvary, a spectacle to men and angels? It was for YOU — you who have FORGOTTEN this devotedness for you. He could have taken the world without the cross, and left you out, but He would not. Will you, having been enriched by those agonies and that blood, take the world into your tolerance and leave Him out? Impossible! Your pure mind did but need to be stirred up by way of remembrance.
Let us therefore take courage from this moment. We have lately been offering up prayers, confessing our lack of piety and devotedness. May we not take this word as the answer of our ever-gracious faithful Lord, to arouse us — to reawaken our drooping energies? And then the more quickly He comes the better. We shall not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
J. N. Darby (from an address)
Satan's Accusation of Job and His Role in Job's Sickness
As we consider Satan’s current activity in the world, let us look at an example from the Old Testament of how Satan works in the life of a believer. In Job 1:1, we learn that a man named Job was righteous and feared God. He was greatly blessed by God in his life and had much land, cattle and possessions. In verses 6-8, we are told that the sons of God (angels) came on a certain day to present themselves before Jehovah God, and Satan also came there among them. Satan accused Job before God and said that Job would curse God to His face if all of Job’s possessions were taken away. As a test, God allowed Satan to destroy almost everything Job had. But Satan was wrong, and Job did not sin or curse God (Job 1:22). So, wicked Satan again came into God’s presence to accuse Job and said that if Job became very sick that he would curse God. Again, God allowed Satan to put his hand on Job and his whole body became covered with sore boils. But Job still did not curse God.
Now, before we proceed any further, why did God allow Satan to put his hand on Job in this way? Didn’t God love Job? Yes, he did. Wasn’t Job righteous and God-fearing? Yes, he was. Then, how could God allow such a thing? It was because there was a hidden problem with Job — a problem so difficult that God could not deal with it in any other way. You see, there was a small seed growing deep down in Job’s heart that no one else could see, and Job himself was barely aware of it. Do you remember how that same seed grew in Satan’s heart? God loved Job and did not want it to grow into a tree of rebellion, so he allowed this great trial to come into Job’s life. By the end of the book of Job, he completely repented of this sin (Job 42:6) and God blessed him with far more than he had before (Job 42:10-16).
There is another very important point that we should consider about Job. Who put his hand on Job — God or Satan? Although God allowed it, Satan was the one who caused all of Job’s trouble and sickness. So, if it was Satan putting his hand on Job, should not Job respond to Satan and appease him in order to make peace? Absolutely not! You will never find Job or any other believer dealing with Satan in this way. In fact, Job never communicated with Satan at all. God had allowed the trial, and it was God that Job had to deal with. No one can harm a believer in any way unless our loving God allows it. Just like Job, we must never deal with Satan or demons when trouble comes. Our relationship is with God, and it is with Him that we have to do (Heb. 4:13).
Tim Ruga
Satan Opposes Every Revelation of God
Every revelation which God makes of His mind places man (to whom it is given) in relation to Himself according to it. Therefore, it results in increased blessing because God is good, so that each new revelation improves the position of man in his relation to God. Hence, the more God is revealed, the more is Satan provoked to hinder the effect of it and to deprive man of it, because it is good and is of God. Hence, that which is the highest and fullest revelation at any given time is necessarily the one which he most opposes and against which he exerts his malice.
G. V. Wigram
Death - the Last Weapon of Satan's Power
There is nothing that the Lord has not gone through: Death is the last effort of Satan’s power; it ends there for the sinner, as well as for the saint. Even the unconverted are out of Satan’s power when they die: If they die in their sins, of course they come under the judgment of God, but Satan has no power in hell. He may have preeminence in misery, but no power there. (His reigning is some poet’s dream; it is here he reigns, and that by means of the pride and vanity, the evil passions and idleness, of men.) He is “the ruler of the darkness of this world” (Eph. 6:12), not of the next.
J. N. Darby
What Satan Most Opposes
It is always the present work of God in the Spirit that the devil opposes the most.
H. E. Hayhoe
Satan's Temptations of the Lord Jesus in the Wilderness
In the record of the temptations of the Lord Jesus in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11), Satan tries to introduce into His heart a desire which was not in the Word of God. He succeeded in insinuating a lust into the heart of Adam; he fails with Jesus, though He was 40 days exposed to his presence and power. Jesus had to know by experience what it was to be without a single support, without a friend, in solitary dreariness with the devil! Thus He measured the power of Satan. The strong man was there, putting forth all his weapons, but the stronger than he overcame: Jesus binds the strong man. He was abstracted from human condition for 40 days, not like Moses to be only with God, but as the one who was always with God, to be exposed to Satan. None other man needs to be abstracted in order to be tempted; he has only to go on along with men. In this case, this extraordinary separation was to be with the devil. To be with God He did not need anything out of His everyday path, for it was His natural place, but to be with Satan, He needed it. Others are strangers to God and at home with Satan. He, in the most adverse things, is a stranger to Satan and dwells in the bosom of the Father. But He emptied Himself as God to become a servant as man, and there He waits in dependence on the word of Him whom He served. The living Father had sent Him, and He lived by the Father. He was as man under His authority, and His meat was to do His will.
From the Destroyer
“By the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer” (Psa. 17:4).
It is the written word He ever uses, and Satan is powerless. What amazing importance Jesus gives the Scriptures! God now acts by the Word, and Satan is resisted morally in this way. A man cannot be touched by Satan while the Word is simply used in obedience. “He that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (1 John 5:18). It was not as an exercise of divine authority He dismissed Satan, but the enemy is proved unable to grapple with obedience to the Word of God. If he cannot take one out of the path of obedience, he has no power. What could be simpler? Every child of God has the Holy Spirit acting by the Word to keep him.
The Remembrancer, 1897
Giving Place to the Devil
“Be ye angry, and sin not” (Eph. 4:26). Righteous anger is communion with God in His indignation against evil (see Mark 3:5), but even if anger produced in us by the Holy Ghost is nursed, it will soon pass into a natural feeling, and thus we are told, “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” And then the injunction follows, “Neither give place to the devil.” To cherish a feeling against anyone is to give place to the devil.
J. G. Bellett
The Allowed Evil of Satan's Power
As to the Philistines, they came up from Caphtor in the direction of Egypt; they were called Philistines because they were strangers. The Canaanites represent Satan’s power over which the people of God are victorious, as God’s army fighting for God. They were taken as enemies and treated as such — Satan simply in power. The Philistines are the thorns of Satan’s power where he has not been overcome — left and not treated as an enemy. They become an abiding source of distress and perplexity, having more power than Israel, though when God interferes, they may be beaten as by Samuel, or put down when Christ comes as by David. They are the allowed evil of Satan’s power, not the power of Satan banished or overcome by spiritual energy.
J. N. Darby
Satan Acting on the Flesh
This thorn in the flesh given to Paul in order that he should not exalt himself was something that rendered him contemptible in his preaching (Gal. 4:13-14). It was a counterbalance to the rapture with which he had been honored. We may not necessarily have the identical thorn that Paul had; God will always send us the needed one. God sometimes employs Satan against the flesh, and Satan acts on the flesh in four different ways:
1. Before conversion, the flesh is under the dominion of Satan, the conscience being hardened. This was the case with Judas, who loved money and was a thief. When he had taken the sop, Satan entered into him to instigate him to unbridled iniquity and to deliver him afterwards to despair in beholding the result of his crime.
2. Before conversion, the flesh is enticed to act by the seductions of Satan.
3. After conversion, the flesh remains always there and can fall under the direct action of Satan, if the Spirit, the seal of redemption, has not yet been given, or else if He has not yet accomplished the work of deliverance in us. One finds oneself then, like Peter, opposing Christ at almost every turn. Before the transfiguration, when Jesus spoke of His approaching sufferings and Peter, out of affection but in the flesh, wished to dissuade Him, the Lord replies, “Get thee behind Me, Satan” (Matt. 16:23).
4. Satan desires to have us that he may sift us as wheat by means of the flesh. Jesus announces it to His disciples and prays especially for Peter, in whom the flesh was strong.
Peter put himself forward on every occasion and showed each time that the flesh is the exact opposite of Christ. Jesus said to the disciples, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” This is not yet entering into sin. The effect of the Spirit was to incite Christ to prayer, so that when the temptation came, it had no power over Him. But the three disciples, instead of watching and praying, sleep — overcome with sorrow—and when the temptation comes, they are a prey to it. In the moment when all that could break the Lord’s heart was combined against Him and when Judas betrayed Him by a kiss, Jesus remains calm, submits, yields Himself up, undergoes humiliation to the full, but Peter draws his sword. The flesh leads into temptation but sustains no one in it; it leads Peter to the high priest. There Jesus bears a glorious testimony; Peter, incited by Satan, denies Him. In everything, the flesh is opposed to Christ, and yet Peter truly loved the Lord. Even after having received the Holy Spirit, we find Peter still acting in the flesh (Gal. 2:11-21).
J. N. Darby
The Lord Will Provide
“Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
When Satan appears
To stop up our path,
And fill us with fears,
We triumph by faith;
He cannot take from us,
Though oft he has tried,
The heart-cheering promise,
The Lord will provide.
He tells us we’re weak,
Our hope is in vain;
The good that we seek
We ne’er shall obtain;
But when such suggestions
Our spirits have tried,
This answers all questions:
The Lord will provide.
No strength of our own,
Or goodness we claim,
Yet since we have known
The Savior’s great name,
In this, our strong tower,
For safety we hide;
The Lord is our power;
The Lord will provide.
J. Newton