STUDIES ON SATAN

THE PRESENT WORK OF SATAN

In our last study on this subject we considered the origin of Satan and found that he was originally an exalted angelic creature, “the anointed cherub that covereth.” Ezek. 28:14, but that he fell from his first estate because of a proud ambition to ascend to the very throne of the Most High, Isa. 14:13-14. We considered also that together with his sin of pride there was also the sins of murder because he hated God in his heart when he was caught in his sin, and lying, when he tried to cover up his sin of ambition, John 8:44.

By his rebellion, this one fell from his first holy estate, and became the malignant spirit of darkness that we now know as the Devil and Satan. He now walks to and fro in the earth endeavoring with all his might to thwart the plan of God, but we know that he shall never be able to accomplish this. Nevertheless, we must not delude ourselves into thinking that Satan is a non-entity, nor even that he is a being of little power or influence. His great power and influence are manifest when we remember what is said of the Antichrist, Satan’s representative. “From him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,” II Thes. 2:9.

Satan is known by some twenty-five different names and designations in the Scriptures, and these, in themselves, reveal somewhat of his work to us, for these names and designation are given to him in respect to his work. These names and designations are as follows.
 

With this enumeration of the names and designations behind us, we are now ready to consider the present work of Satan, which falls into a six-fold category. The first of these is---

I. THE WORK OF TEMPTATION.

We take this work up first because it was that which was first in time relative to both the first and second Adams. Satan’s first encounter with the human race is set before us in Gen. 3 where he comes insinuating untruths and slanders against God. He insinuated that God withheld Adam and Eve from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil simply out of a spirit of jealousy. “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods (Hebrew Elohim), knowing good and evil, V8.

And his work of temptation has been thus directed against the human race ever since as Paul intimates in II Cor. 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.”

The second Adam likewise was tempted by the devil as we have related to us in Matt. 4:1-11, but in this instance, the devil suffered a signal defeat, for every temptation was answered from the Word of God, and no chink was found in the armor of the Son of God. Unfortunately this is never so in the case if us mortals, for Satan too often finds our weaknesses and exploits them.

The very fact that he is called “the tempter” is an evidence of his work in this way, but more than this, we find numerous instances of his work in which the word “tempt” may not even be employed yet the fact of it is there nonetheless. Such an instance is I Chr. 21:1: “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel”

It is a fact that Satan is not so much interested in the form of sin that a person indulges so much as he is in the fact that man does indulge some form of sin. This is the reason why he will approach one person with a different temptation than he will another. What may have no appeal to one person may be a great temptation to another and Satan fully realizes this and works at the weakest point. This is why believers need to realize and acknowledge their weaknesses and shortcomings so as to be constantly on their guard against that weakness. When believers learn what their weaknesses are and learn to shy away from any circumstances that might tend to cause temptation they have won half of the battle already. From I John 2:16 we learn that the three main avenues of temptation are “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” These were the three forms of temptation that were brought to bear upon Eve, Gen. 3, as they were in Achan’s case, Josh. 7:20-21, and were also faced by Christ, but were all defeated by Him, Matt. 4:1-11.

Peter’s brash self-confidence was his great weakness, and when he once fully realized this and learned to beware of confidence in the flesh, he became a changed man. Ananias and Sapphira’s weakness was a desire for the acclaim of the other members of the Jerusalem church, yet they were not willing to do that which would merit their acclaim and respect, Acts 5:1-3. Consequently they lied to the Holy Spirit about giving all of their possessions to the Lord and it cost them their lives. A weakness that is unacknowledged and unconfessed is an open door for the Tempter.

Temptation can come even through something that is otherwise right and good. In fact, most sin results from a misuse of that which is good in its own right. It was for this reason that Paul warned married couples about the danger of one or the other withholding marital privileges from the other. The Twentieth Century New Testament gives a more literal rendering of the Greek text of I Cor. 7:5 as follows. “Do not deprive each other of what is due - unless it is only for a time and by mutual consent, so that your minds may be free for prayer till you again live as man and wife - lest Satan should take advantage of your want of self-control and tempt you.”

Satan tempts a person by playing upon their desires and misdirecting them to that which is not a legitimate object of desire for that person at that time. The temptation is not of itself evil, but to yield to it is evil. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is fmished, bringeth forth death,” James 1:13-15.

The devil is a wily creature, and he always makes the temptation appropriate for the purpose. He works from a two-fold standpoint in temptation as A. H. Strong says.

Because of this, believers need to realize that the Word of God should have first place and first consideration in their lives so as to be able to counteract the temptation of the devil. We have the great example of our Lord in this matter. A second thing needs to be realized also, namely, when we find tares cropping up in our lives, there can be no doubt as to their source and purpose. To illustrate: this writer once found a very small patch of unusual grass near his garden, and not being familiar with it, it was left alone as an apparently harmless variety. However, in a very short time this grass had so spread as to endanger the whole garden, and what could have been easily eradicated in the beginning, took several days of hard labor to remove. Temptation, if recognized and resisted in the beginning, seldom remains to cause trouble. For this reason Satan tries to camouflage it so it will appear only as a harmless pleasure and nothing to get alarmed about. But this is to encroach upon our second division, which is—

II. THE WORK OF DECEIT.

This work of the devil is no little work. In fact, it is of such an extent as to have to do with the whole world. “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world,” Rev. 12:9.

This work of Satan is basic to his very nature and character as our Lord Himself declared. “He was a murder 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,” John 8:44.

It is very common today for even religious individuals to disclaim belief in a personal devil. Many declare that Satan is no more than an ancient “myth,” a carryover from times of deep ignorance and superstition. But this is, in itself, a manifestation of the devil’s work as a great deceiver, for what greater way to destroy the defenses than to convince people that there is no enemy? Very pointedly has Dr. Lange said:

Every thing that is said in the Scripture about Satan points to the fact that he is a real creature, and that he is bent on destroying as many souls as he can. But a horribly ugly creature could never have any influence except fear upon those he would ensnare. But he does not appear in the form that he is generally pictured, but rather his appearance is such that it will appeal to the fleshly mind of man. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” II Cor. 11:14. He has the ability to make himself very alluring, even as an angel from the very throne of God, and those that desire to have visions of angels rather than to take the bare word of God leave themselves open to a great and possibly damning delusion.

Not only is Satan himself deceptive in his appearance, but so also are those who are his followers. “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness whose end shall be according to their works,” II Cor. 11:15. This explains the multiplicity of religions in the world. Only a comparative few would be deceived were Satan to deny the reality of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Gospel, salvation, true Christianity, etc., so he does not deny these, but he substitutes falsehoods for the truth in each of these cases. Multitudes of false ministers throng this globe, each of them putting out a different brand of spiritual poison, but all with one purpose for their existence—to deceive unwary souls, and to lead them into systems of false doctrine and false worship.

Wherefore it is obvious that if there are false ministers put into the world to deceive the unwary, there will also be false churches that will compete with the Lord’s churches, and will, indeed, endeavor to falsify their proper claim to being the Lord’s churches. These false churches are declared to exist, being called by the Lord Himself “synagogues of Satan,” Rev. 2:9; 3:9.

But the world is blind to this truth, and to even intimate that any religious society is a “synagogue of Satan” is to drawn down upon one’s head cries of “bigotry,” “religious intolerance,” “hate monger,” and other such unflattering titles. The present blindness of the world in this matter can only be accounted for by the fact that Satan has deceived the majority of the religious world, and made it believe that there is really no devil, no falsehood, no spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies.

This blindness to the truth is brought about by unbelief of the Word of God, for when any person refuses to believe the Scriptures, he leaves himself open to Satan’s deceitfulness, as the apostle declares. “But if our gospel be hid, it is bid to them that are lost: 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,” II Cor. 4:3-4.

“Blindness of the mind” incapacitates a person from coming to right conclusions in the spiritual realm, and so it is no wonder that we find such incongruities in the religious world today. It is simply because Satan has put a blinding veil over the minds of those that refuse to believe the truth.

Satan will bring this work of deceit to its consummate fullness in the end of this age, for the incarnate Satan, the last great final Antichrist, will be revealed. “With all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie (literally the Lie, for as God incarnate is “The Truth,” John 14:6, so will Satan’s man be “The Lie); That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness,” II Thes. 2: 10-12.

Satan’s work of deceit is going on at a fearful rate, and more and more people are being swallowed up in error simply because they refuse to believe the truth of God. Nor is this to be unexpected, for it was foretold in the Scriptures. “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many... And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many “... For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect,” Matt. 24:4-5, 11, 24. “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived,” II Tim. 3:13.

Yet in the face of such plain passages as these men have the gall to deny the Word and say that the world is getting better, and that man is approaching the time when there will be world unity and peace brought in by man’s efforts. Men are now working fervently to bring to pass a universal and unified church, and they shall accomplish it, but it will be unified primarily in defiance of the Lord. Satan is well on his way to deceiving the whole world. But parallel with this Satan has another work.

III. THE WORK OF HINDRANCE.

Satan works both negatively and positively. He works to cause delight in sin, and he works to hinder all efforts toward spiritual truth and good. It is to the shame of many Christians that they allow themselves to be made the tool of Satan in this devilish work, for a backslidden Christian is the greatest hindrance to the Gospel that exists.

The great parable of the sower in Matt. 13 sets before us Satan’s work of hindrance in a three-fold way. In the explanation of the parable in Vv. 18-23 we are told that he hinders by: (1) Taking away that which was sown in the heart of careless hearers, V19. These hearers are those that make no effort to understand the Word, but are content to just listen and then go on their way the same as before. “And, lo, thou are unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not,” Ezek. 33:32. Alas, how many hearers are like this. (2) Causing offense at, and dissatisfaction with, the Word. This is only possible in the shallow hearer, who is unstable and easily blown about by every wind of affliction or doctrine, Vv. 20-21. (3) Choking out the effectiveness of the Word by sowing the cares of the world, V22.

But it will be noted that in each case Satan’s hindrance was possible only because of the cooperation of the individual. In the first case, the man was careless, in the second, he was shallow and unstable, and in the third, he coveted the things of the world. Satan doesn’t care how much a person comes to church and hears the Word of God, just so long as he doesn’t do what the Word commands. In fact, the ones that have furthered Satan’s cause the most, have been those that professed to be Christians but who didn’t live like it.

Satan does not confine himself to any one method of hindrance of the Gospel, but varies his methods as the situation may demand. He works in lost persons to blind their minds, to blunt the conviction that is wrought, to delay their coming to Christ. He works about believers to destroy their testimony, to deaden their sense of responsibility, to make them careless about the life they live before the world. He works in the world to create amusements and diversions that will keep people from the House of God where the Word of life is preached. He often works various ways about the ministers of the Gospel to hinder their ministry, as even the Apostle Paul declared. “Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us,” I Thes. 2:18. “Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let [hindered] hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles,” Rom. 1:13.

However, God often overrules the hindrance of Satan and makes it work out to His own glory. This does not, however, excuse man for his carelessness in allowing Satan to use him as a hindrance. Such a case of hindrance being overruled was that of the Apostle Peter. The Lord Jesus had said: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,” Luke 22:31-32.

Satan tempted Peter to deny his Lord three times, that he might hinder the Gospel thereby, for who could have confidence in Christ when one of the chief apostles had set the example of denying Him in times of danger? But Christ overruled this to His own glory. T. P. Simmons says:

Satan often tempts believers in an endeavor to cause them to sin and thereby to hinder the cause of Christ in the world. But if we recognize the temptation for what it really is, and resist it, we can “count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of our faith worketh patience,” James 1:2-3. We need to recognize that: (1) Temptation is from the devil. (2) It is for the purpose of causing reproach and hindering the cause of Christ. (3) Temptation does not become sin unless we yield to it. (4) God will give a “way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it,” I Cor. 10:13, if we will but look for it. (5) God is glorified, and our faith is increased every time that we resist temptation.

Satan, being the “prince of this world,” often uses the things of this world, and the governmental agencies of this world to hinder the preaching of the Gospel. Doors are often closed to missionaries, as they have been closed in the past in China, Russia, Cuba, etc., all of which brings us to consider yet another of Satan’s works, which is—

IV. THE WORK OF WORLD CONTROL.

Several of the titles that Satan bears are indicative of his work. For he is called “the prince of this world,” John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11, “The prince of the power of the air, Eph. 2:2, and “the world-ruler of this darkness,” Eph. 6:12 (literal rendering), “the god of this age,” II Cor 4:4 (literal rendering). And we are also told in the literal rendering of I John 5:19 that, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the evil one.”

Therefore we can come to no other conclusion than that Satan presently controls this world, and makes it do service for him. This fact is obvious, not only from the Scriptures, but also from observation. E. H. Bancroft says concerning this:

 The only intimation given as to how Satan came to be in control of this present world is that which we read in Job 9:24. “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.” The word for “wicked” here is singular, which might have reference to the wicked considered generically, as a specific genus of beings. But when we consider the circumstances under which Job spoke, we find it much easier to see a reference to Satan, the ultimately “Wicked One,” to whom the Lord had said, “Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand,” Job 1:12.

The fact that this present evil world is under the control of Satan is also declared in Matt. 4:8-9. “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; and saith unto him. All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Some have assailed this statement by Satan, and have declared it untrue, but this is groundless for the following reasons. (1) Jesus gave no indication that this statement was not true. (2) Jesus would certainly have known whether Satan really had possession of the kingdoms of this world. Indeed, in Luke 4:6, the parallel account adds, “...for that is delivered unto me: and to whomsoever I will give it.” Nor did Jesus dispute this claim, and who could give the control of the world to Satan but God the creator and owner of all things. (3) It would not have been a temptation to Jesus unless Satan could actually have delivered what he promised. (4) Sin results from the wrong use of a right thing, and Satan knew that ultimately the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of the Lord and His Christ, Rev. 11:15. And so he endeavored to tempt Christ to take what is His by right, but to do so at a wrong time and in a wrong way. That is what sin generally consists in—misuse of a right thing.

It is intimated in Dan. 10:13, 20-21 that just as Michael the archangel is a prince that “standeth for the children of thy (Daniel’s) people,” Dan. 12:1, so there are wicked angelic beings that ally themselves with the pagan governments of the world to help them against the Jews. Concerning this W. E. Blackstone says:

 Satan’s control over the whole world is a necessary prerequisite to the accomp­lishing the things that are to come to pass upon the earth—the universal reign of the Antichrist, the Lawless One, in all realms of life, religious, economic and political—but which things the saints will be delivered from at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We will be delivered from the time of the Great Tribulation, “the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth,” Rev. 3:10. Yet nevertheless we must be on our guard against the subtle snares that Satan sets in the way of believers by means of his present control of the world.

It is because of Satan’s control and manipulation of this present world that believers need to be grounded in the Word, so that they will be prepared to meet the subtle onslaughts of the devil. Paul declares: “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. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand,” Eph. 6:12. Satan does what he does that he might have whereof to accuse the brethren before God, which brings us to consider yet another work—

V. THE WORK OF ACCUSATION.

The very title which is most commonly applied to Satan, expresses this meaning from its root form, for “devil” means “one that slanders or accuses another falsely.” And the Scriptures declare that this is his constant work. “For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night,” Rev. 12:10. A. H. Strong observes that, “The word ‘Satan’ means ‘adversary’—primarily to God, secondarily to man; the term ‘devil’ signifies ‘slanderer—of God to men, and of men to God.”—Systematic Theology, p. 454.

Our first contact with the devil in the Scriptures reveals him in this character. For what else did he do but slander God to Eve when he said, “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 God, knowing good and evil,” Gen. 3:4-5. He cast into Eve’s mind the suspicion that God had forbidden the eating of the fruit simply from an arbitrary and selfish whim. As it was then, so now he impugns God’s motives in forbidding certain things to man, as though God were as selfish as man is. One of the most common parodies that Satan slanderously impugns to God is that He is a great cosmic kill-joy that is doing all that He can to make His creatures as miserable as possible. But nothing could be further from the truth.

On the other hand we find the other side of the picture presented in the Book of Job, where Satan is represented as maligning man to God, and as bringing false accusation against that saint. This is the same sense in which he is represented in Rev. 12:10. Satan impugned the reality and sincerity of Job’s godliness when he said, “Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast thou not 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. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face,” Job 1:9-11.

Thus the early chapters of Job set before us exactly what Rev. 12:10 declares of Satan, namely, that he has access into the presence of God where he derides and slanders the saints, and endeavors to impugn their motives for everything they do or say. Satan dealt with Christ in the wilderness in the same way, Matt. 4. He insinuated that God would not do as He had claimed that He would, and he tried to tempt Christ to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple to prove that God was truthful in His declaration. For God had said, “He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone,” Matt. 4:6 (quoted from Ps. 91:11). But Jesus recognized that to do so would have been to tempt the Father, and He rejected the devil’s insinuation. Alas, how many Christians will listen to such subtle slanders against God, and will suspect Him of either selfish or insincere motives.

Only in Jesus’ humiliation could Satan ever have tempted Him in such a way, for the perfection of the Godhead is such that there could be no opportunity to insert such accusation. But while Christ was clothed in flesh, He was necessarily subjected to such temptations that He might manifest His victory over them. But so sinless was His life that Satan could not find the least place to make an accusation to the Father against Him. As Jesus Himself said, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me,” John 14:30.

Therefore, we can see the relationship between the two most common names that this wicked spirit bears. Devil means “slanderer” or “false accuser,” and Satan means “adversary.” In fact, the Hebrew title sotan is generally translated in the Septuagint (Greek) version by the Greek word diabolos—”devil,” and they must be regarded as equivalent terms. See R. B. Girdleston’s Synonyms of the Old Testament, Chapter 25, p. 289.

It has been said that while there are many demons, there is but one devil, and this is true. However, from this statement some have drawn erroneous conclusions, and assumed that therefore the word devil is never applied to any except the creature whom we know as Satan. Moving from this erroneous conclusion some have assumed, because Judas Iscariot is called “a devil” (Greek diabolos), John 6:70, and because he is called “the son of perdition,” John 17:12, that he is to be resurrected in the last day to become the Antichrist, Satan incarnate.

But the conclusion is faulty in its beginning, for the word “devil” is applied at least four times in Scripture to other beings than Satan. It must be noted in the beginning that Judas was not called “the devil,” but “a devil.” In his actions he manifested devilish characteristics. In I Tim. 3:11 the qualifications for the women servants of the church is that they be not devils (A. V. “slanderers”), that is, they were not to manifest the devilish characteristics of slander, false accusation, etc. In II Tim. 3:3, Paul declares that in the last days men will be “devils” (A. V. “false accusers”), and the qualifications for aged women in Tit. 2:3 is that they be not “devils” (A. V. “false accusers”). All of which surely proves that while there is only one devil, there are many that manifest the undesirable characteristics of the devil.

Much of the same can be said for the name “Satan.” For while it is generally used in the New Testament as a proper name and applied only to the prince of darkness, yet in the Old Testament it is often used to describe someone that resembles Satan by being an adversary to that which is good. And remember Jesus’ usage of this name for Peter in Matt. 16:23? But to return to our subject proper, there is yet another major work in which Satan is constantly engaged, which is—

VI. THE WORK OF DESTRUCTION.

This work is suggested by three of the names that he bears. Both the name Abaddon and the name Apollyon (Rev. 9:11) mean destruction or destroyer, and the fact of his being a murderer (John 8:44) reveals his character as a destroyer of the souls of men. However, there is more to this work than the destruction of the souls of men, although this plays a great part in it.

Satan’ work of destruction is sometimes more aptly described as affliction, for we are told that he has the power to afflict the bodies of individuals. “Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?” Luke 13:16. “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil: for God was with him,” Acts 10:38.

From Job we learn that it is only by God’s leave that Satan has this power of affliction of the flesh. “And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. 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,” Job 2:6-7.

This is not to say that every sickness or affliction of the body is caused directly by Satan. Bodily afflictions only come about because of the permissive or directive will of God, but they may be the natural result of the individual’s abuse of himself. The reason for a person being afflicted might be such as would cause the devil to desire not to have a part in that affliction, as in the case of the man that was born blind, John 9. Not because of sin, but that the glory of God might be manifest, was this man born blind. Satan certainly would not desire to afflict a person if it was for God’s glory, for the glory of God is the last thing that Satan wants to promote.

But Satan’s work of destruction goes beyond affliction, and extends even to the power of death. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil,” Heb. 2:14. However, this power is not arbitrary; Satan cannot exercise this power of death except as God grants it in each individual case. Otherwise, he would take the life of every individual that came under conviction of sin, and gave evidence of thinking of repenting and trusting the Lord.

This destructive power of Satan is also declared in I Cor. 5:5, and what we have said above also is manifest, viz., that Satan cannot exercise the power of death except when one is expressly delivered unto him for that purpose. Paul was inspired to say, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 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.”

Perhaps someone says fearfully, “But that sounds like the church has power to deliver people over to death. Surely the Lord would not put such arbitrary power in the hands of mortals.” But this is exactly what He does, but by no means is this arbitrary, nor is it in any sense in the way that Romanism declares. Several things are set forth here. (1) This thing was to be done “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” which intimates that authority inheres in such a transaction. Our Lord Himself declared, “That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them,” Matt. 18:19-20. Such could never exercise arbitrary authority, for such authority is not given except it be both in the name, and in the spirit of Christ. (2) “When ye are gathered together,” intimates that this was only to be done in an official church capacity. That is to say, just a gathering of individual as such would not have such church authority behind them. (3) “With the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,” shows that an official church assembly, when acting scripturally, has power (dunamis) as well as authority to act in such a case. (4) This is not an optional matter. They are commanded to exercise such against willful offenders, and God will honor this when scripturally carried out, and the body of a willful believer will be delivered over to Satan to be destroyed. (5) Such a course of action is not vindictive, but is vindicative, and is actually for the good of the erring saint—that his spirit may be saved though his body is destroyed.

 In some instances, where a church will not exercise a right discipline upon its erring members, God Himself must do so. Such was the case with the Corinthian church in the matter of abuses at the Lord’s Table. “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep,” I Cor. 11:30.

Paul also spoke of having delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander, who had put away from themselves faith and a good conscience, unto Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme, I Tim. 1:19-20. It is implied in I John 5:18 that a godly walk will prevent Satan from being able to lay hold upon a believer. “We know that no one who is born of God makes a practice of sinning, but the Son who was born of God continues to keep him, and the evil one cannot touch him.” (Williams Translation.)

It is certain that Satan has great power, but he is restrained by the Lord, and cannot go beyond His permissiveness in any thing. Such great power has he, and so malignant are his workings that no man alive could overcome him were it not for the mercy, love and grace of the Lord. “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,” Rev. 12:11. Obedience to the will of the Lord is infinitely better than mere physical health.

The evil workings of Satan are discouraging if we look only at them, but when we look up, we see that his power is insignificant as compared with the power of our Christ. And when we listen to the Word instead of the fearful quakings of the heart, we hear the happy word that he hath but a short time and only limited power during that time. “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time,” Rev. 12:12. “And the God peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly,” Rom. 16:20.

How blessed it is to be a child of God, and not a child of the devil, for God’s children have a wonderful hope both now and in eternity. How tragic that so many people allow themselves to be deluded of a future hope in the vain hope of possessing this present evil world.