18-Your Adversary, the Devil - The Believer's Authority Over Satan
Ephesians 2:1-10
It is quite common to hear Satan referred to as His Majesty, the Devil.
But if we so refer to him, we are ascribing to him an authority which is
not rightly his, for any authority that Satan has was usurped from God.
Should a child of God attribute authority to Satan, he certainly will
submit to the authority that he recognizes and will be brought under
Satan's sway. We have been developing the biblical teaching concerning
our adversary, something of his methods and his purposes. If we are to
defeat our adversary it is also necessary for us to recognize the
authority God has given us over Satan because we are related to Jesus
Christ.
The Word of God makes it clear that Jesus Christ is the Creator of all
things. It begins with a simple statement, "In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth." As Scripture unfolds, it continually
attributes the creative work to the Son of God. In Colossians 1:16, Paul
very clearly asserts, "For by him [that is by Jesus Christ] were all
things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers; all things were created by him, and for him." And when the
Apostle refers to thrones, dominions, principalities and powers, he is
referring to the hierarchies of created angelic beings referred to so
frequently in the Word of God. These angelic beings were created by God.
In John 1, the Apostle asserts that "All things were made by him, and
without him is not anything made that was made." Jesus Christ is the
Creator, not only of this material universe, but of the angelic realm as
well.
Lucifer was one of God's created beings, and he, as it is recorded in
Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, rebelled against the Creator. He withheld the
submission that was required of him as a created being. He declared
himself to be independent of God, and he led an innumerable company of
angels in his revolt against God. These angels who followed him became
the demons who opposed the ministry of Christ during Christ's earthly
sojourn.
We find in the gospels that Christ was in almost continuous conflict with
demons. These demons were spirit beings; they possessed personality.
Acknowledging Satan as their ruler they resisted God, God's program, and
they opposed Jesus Christ. It is not without significance that many of
Christ's miracles were performed in the demonic realm. He delivered men
from bondage to Satan, from the physical infirmities and afflictions that
were the result of Satan's control, or demonic control of the
individuals. At the outset of His ministry, it was stated that Jesus
Christ healed and cast out demons.
This is significant because Jesus Christ came not only to redeem, He came
to reign. He came not only to be Saviour but to be sovereign. He came
that He might wrest from Satan the scepter which Satan had taken from
Adam, and that He might institute a kingdom on this earth. And if Jesus
Christ is to reign on this earth as King of kings and Lord of lords, He
must be able to subdue the usurper. Every miracle in the demonic realm
was an attestation of Christ's authority over Satan. It was a
demonstration of Christ's right to rule.
When Christ confronted the demons, they acknowledged His authority
without any question. The Apostle James (James 2:19) asserts that the
demons believed and trembled; or, as it would better be translated, the
demons believed and shuddered. While men may give way to unbelief and
skepticism concerning the person of Christ, no demon from hell has ever
yet questioned the absolute deity of Jesus Christ. No demon has denied
Christ's right to rule as King and His right to judge. And the demons
anticipate a judgment yet to come. That is why James says the demons
believe and shudder. They anticipate the manifestation of the authority
of Jesus Christ.
When we turn to the gospels, we can select several examples of demons'
submission to the authority of Christ, and their recognition of His
absolute right to rule.
In the fifth chapter of Mark's gospel is recorded Christ's confrontation
with a demon-possessed man whom we refer to as the maniac of Gadara.
Beginning in the ninth verse, Christ asked the demon occupying this mad
man, "What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is legion, for
we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away
out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great
herd of swine feeding. And all the demons besought him, saying, Send us
into the swine that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them
leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine; and
the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about
two thousand;) and were choked in the sea." Sufficient demons to occupy
and to indwell a herd of 2,000 swine occupied the body of this one man!
But as we read this record, we note that the demons could not make a move
without permission from Christ, and when Christ gave a command, they
responded immediately to the authority of Jesus Christ. They recognized
His authority and were submissive to it.
In Mark 1:23, 24 we have another instance of this same thing. As Christ
came into the synagogue in Capernaum, ". there was in their synagogue a
man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, Let us alone, what
have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy
us? I know thee, who thou art, the Holy One of God." Notice that when
Christ stood in the presence of this demon-possessed man, the demons
recognized first of all the person of Christ. They acknowledged that He
was the Holy One of God. They also recognized the right of Jesus Christ
to judge demons for they asked Him, "Art thou come to destroy us?"
Continuing in the 25th verse, "Jesus rebuked him, saying, hold thy peace,
and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried
with a loud voice, he came out of him." The demon resisted leaving the
body that he had been occupying. He fought against submission to Christ
by tearing at the man, but he was not able to resist the authority of
Christ. These are only several of many instances that could be presented
to you from the gospels to show that Christ had absolute authority in the
Satanic realm.
In Colossians 2:15, Paul makes a statement to which we have referred
before but which is of utmost importance in this consideration. Jesus
Christ on the cross spoiled or robbed principalities and powers of their
assumed authority, and He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Up to the time of the cross of Christ, Satan had claimed
absolute authority in this earthly realm. He had set himself tip as the
prince of the powers of the air, as the god of this world, and he had
claimed absolute authority. Jesus Christ in delivering man from demonic
control during His earthly life had challenged Satan's authority. But it
was not until Jesus Christ went to the cross that He joined battle about
this question of authority, and by His death and resurrection
demonstrated incontrovertibly His absolute authority over Satan. The
cross of Christ is God's answer concerning the authority of His Son. The
death and resurrection of Christ reveal that Satan is a usurper. The
cross of Christ stands, then, as God's basis of deliverance from Satanic
power.
As we carry this a step further, we find that, after the death and
resurrection of Christ, the absolute authority of Christ was established
by the Father. In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul writes: "God also hath highly
exalted him [that is the Son] and given him a name which is above every
name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father." There has been question concerning the three realms of authority
mentioned in verse 10. It seems that the things in heaven refer to the
sphere of God; things in earth refer to this natural realm, the human
sphere; things under the earth refer to the Satanic sphere or the demonic
realm. In these three spheres there is only one individual who is
recognized as Lord, One who has absolute authority, and that is Jesus
Christ.
Satan does not have absolute authority; Jesus Christ is Lord and beside
Him there is no other. This same truth is given to us in Ephesians
1:19-22 where Paul prays "that they might know what is the exceeding
greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of
his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the
dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places [now notice],
far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every
name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to
come; and hath put all things under his feet. ." Now Paul is affirming
there what we saw stated in Philippians 2, that, at the resurrection of
Christ, God demonstrated that all authority belongs to His Son, and that
all others who claim to have authority are making a false claim.
Jesus Christ, when He came into the world, challenged Satan. He
challenged Satan's right to be worshiped; He challenged Satan's right to
be believed; He challenged Satan's control. When Jesus Christ went to the
cross, He entered into combat with Satan and, by defeating Satan through
the resurrection, He authenticated His authority. And God, by receiving
Him up into glory, demonstrated that He was enthroning Jesus Christ in
the place of authority and that men were obligated to obey Him, to
believe Him, to trust Him, and no other. When we continue into the second
chapter of Ephesians, we find the authority of Christ now belongs to the
believer because the believer is associated with Jesus Christ. We, of
ourselves, have no authority over Satan. The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 8
that in God's order of creation angels are on a level above men. Men were
created a little lower than the angels if you were to stratify God's
creation.
God as Creator, the untreated one, is of course the apex. Under God were
the angelic beings, then lower than the angels the human race. Then under
the human race, animal creation. Below that the vegetable creation. Man
does not and cannot have authority over the angels, because man was not
put in superiority over angels at the time of his creation. The point,
then, is that as a human being we can have no authority over an angel,
nor can we have authority over fallen angels, over demons or over Satan.
By creation we are a lesser grade of created being than angels. If man is
to have authority over Satan and the Satanic realm, he must be given an
authority that is greater than man's authority invested by creation.
This is important because, until we realize that we have no authority of
ourselves or as human beings, we will live a continuously defeated life,
subject to the authority of Satan because we have not appropriated that
which has been given to us by Jesus Christ. Christ by His resurrection
was placed in authority over every realm.
May we remind you again what Paul says in Ephesians 1:20: "Which he
wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his
own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality and power,
and might, and dominion, and every name that is named. . and hath put all
things under his feet. . [1:22]: And you. . [2:1]" Underline the two
first words in Ephesians 2. He raised him and set him at his own right
hand . and you. Jesus Christ has joined us to Himself so that we were
identified with Him. By the work of the Holy Spirit, when Jesus Christ
died, we died. When Jesus Christ was buried, we were buried. When Jesus
Christ was resurrected, we were resurrected. When Jesus Christ ascended
and was seated at the right hand of the father, we ascended and were
seated with Him.
Christ and the believer can never be separated. We participated in all
that Jesus Christ has done. He has joined us to Himself so that the
Apostle can say, "God raised him . and you." God set Him at His own right
hand . and you. And has put all things under His feet and under yours,
because (verse 5), "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [or
made us alive] together with Christ, and has raised us up together, and
has made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." What is
Paul teaching? That when Christ arose, we believers arose with Him. When
Christ ascended, we believers ascended with Him. When Christ was seated
at the Father's right hand, we believers were seated with Jesus Christ.
And when God gave the Son authority over the angelic realm and over the
realm of Satan, He gave us that authority because we are in Christ Jesus.
Now the believer has an authority over Satan that he did not have as a
natural man. He was under the angels by the fact of his creation, but by
virtue of his new creation in Jesus Christ he is elevated to a position
above angels. He is seated with Christ in the heavenlies, and he has the
authority that belongs to Jesus Christ conferred upon him by God the
Father.
The believer, then, has been given the authority of Christ over Satan.
But as long as you refer to your adversary as "his majesty, the devil,"
you are going to be taking orders from him, submitting to him, because
you are attributing to him the authority that he claims to have but that
Jesus Christ has demonstrated by His death to be an absolute fraud. You
are being taken in by a deceiver. He is the greatest con artist this
world has ever seen. He is deceiving many because they have convinced
themselves they are helpless, that they can't resist him, and there is
nothing they can do against him, and, when he pulls the string, they have
to dance. That is a lie of the devil. As a believer, you have authority
over Satan and over Satan's minions because you have been joined to Jesus
Christ and have the same authority that Jesus Christ has. That is the
grace of God given to us.
What authority did Christ have over Satan? In Matthew 16, Peter had no
sooner spoken his words of confession, "Thou art the Christ the Son of
the Living God," than Satan got busy. Why? The last thing that he wanted
Peter to do was confess that Jesus Christ was Lord. After Peter made his
confession of faith, Christ told the disciples He was going to Jerusalem
to die. And in verse 22, "Peter took him, and began to rebuke him,
saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee." And the
word translated "rebuke" is the word that literally means to take one by
the shoulders and shake him. Peter was trying to shake some sense into
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ turned, and these are His words, "Get thee
behind me, Satan, for thou art an offence unto me, for thou savorest not
the things that be of God but those that be of men." Christ recognized
that Peter was a vehicle being used by Satan to mouth his own philosophy.
And Christ spoke to Satan directly and said, "Get thee behind me, Satan,
thou art an offence to me." He repudiated what Satan had to say, and what
he was trying to do.
What effect did this have? What did Peter learn from this? Turn to 1
Peter 5:8. Peter got an education but the tuition cost was high. This is
what he learned from that classroom experience. "Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking
whom he may devour; whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the
same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the
world." Peter wanted his flock to remember that Satan is stalking their
path every step they take. What are they to do? Run? They can't outrun
him. Hide? They can't hide from him. Peter tells them in verse 9: "resist
steadfast in the faith." Notice that word "resist." That word in the
original text is a word that means to stand against. Now this is not a
defensive word. It is an offensive word. It is important for us to
observe this. When Satan puts some temptation in front of us, we think
the best thing to do is to run, to flee from it. There are some things we
are told to flee from, but we are never in Scripture told to run from the
devil.
God's method of defeating the devil is not to try to outrun him. That
can't be done. After all, when an angel can go from the east to the west
in a moment of time because he is a spirit being, how do you think you
can outrun him? You can't do it. He is there waiting for you when you
come panting in at the end of your flight. No, God's method of meeting
the devil is to launch a counter-offensive, to resist him, or to stand
actively against him. Remember, that is what Christ did at His
temptation. He wasn't out there running in the rocks trying to hide from
Satan, with Satan inadvertently coming upon Him. No. Christ was out there
forcing Satan to meet Him, to join the conflict. Now that is what Peter
has learned. He saw Christ meet this temptation that came to Peter by
actively resisting or standing against, or repudiating Satan. And Peter
said to his sheep: "The only way you can withstand Satan, the only way
you can meet Satan is to oppose him actively, steadfast in the faith."
Turn to James 4:7: "Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil,
and he will flee from you." Now there you have the same word again. It is
translated "resist" as it was in 1 Peter 5:9, and it has the same sense:
"actively oppose Satan and, when you do, he will flee from you." You see,
since Satan is referred to as a roaring lion, we think that Satan has no
fear. But we don't realize that Satan is an abject coward. We talk about
the fearlessness of a lion. But, after a lion has made a kill, he roars
to frighten away the jackals or the other animals that wait for someone
else to do their killing and then rob what the lion has killed. So the
roar of a lion after a kill arises because the lion is afraid of the
jackals. The jackals will come and steal what he has gotten for himself.
The roar of a lion is not an evidence of his fearlessness. It is an
evidence of his cowardice. But Satan has you fooled. You think he is
absolutely without fear and isn't afraid of you or anything you can do.
He wants you to believe that. But James tells us that, if you actively
oppose Satan, he will turn tail and run. This is the authority of the
believer. The believer, because he is enthroned with Jesus Christ, can
exercise the authority of Christ, and Satan can no more withstand the
authority of Christ that you exercise than he can go against the
authority of Jesus Christ that issues from the throne of God.
Consider now Ephesians 6:13: "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." The word "withstand" is exactly the same Greek word used
in 1 Peter 5:9 or in James 4:7 and it means to resist or to stand
against. This is launching the offensive. And what Paul says is that when
you by faith appropriate the whole armor of God so that your person is
protected, you can then launch your offensive. Because Satan is a coward
he will flee when you resist him in the name of Jesus Christ, and with
the authority of Christ you will be able to stand. There is no standing
apart from an offensive, and there will be no victory apart from the
exercise of the authority of Christ.
God has not saved us, made us His children, and brought us into His
family that we should live a life of defeat. He has not brought us into
His family that we should live in a cowering fear of our adversary as
though he were absolutely irresistible and we were utterly helpless, and
every time he pursued us we had to fall. The Word of God declares that
Jesus Christ's victory and triumph over Satan is absolute. God has given
Him all authority, and Jesus Christ has conferred upon us the same
authority. Therefore, we may resist Satan as effectively as Jesus Christ
resisted him when He looked at Peter and said, "Get thee behind me,
Satan."
If you were to hear some friend whom you knew was being subjected to some
Satanic temptation say, "Get thee behind me, Satan," you would probably
be surprised. It shows how little we comprehend the plan of God for our
victory over the evil one. Such a truth is clearly revealed in the Book,
that God has conferred upon you as His child the same authority that
belonged to Jesus Christ. And God expects you to be actually engaged in
conflict, in warring against the adversary, in exercising the authority
that God has given to you so that you are withstanding or resisting or
standing against the attacks of the evil one. We have no rights of
ourselves; we cannot wage a warfare apart from the enablement of the Holy
Spirit. You need not cower, you need not cringe, and you need not try to
run, for you can use the authority that there is in your position as a
son of God. You can use the power that was released at the cross of
Christ to stand against the evil one so that he will flee from you.
Many of us go through constant temptations and subject ourselves to
incessant fears because we have never appropriated and exercised the
authority that God has given to us. The next time you feel your steps
dogged by Satan, exercise your faith in the promise of God and turn to
that one who has been pursuing you and say, "I resist you on the
authority of Christ and by the blood of Christ." Instead of listening to
your own footsteps trying to outrun Satan, you will hear his footsteps as
he runs from the authority that God has given to you. You are God's
child. You have been enthroned. You have been given the authority of
Christ, and God expects you to use it actively and resist, to withstand,
to put to flight the evil one. Would God lie? Would God send you to do
battle with weapons that were not adequate? Of course not. So, if God
tells you to withstand the evil one by the authority of Christ, "Resist
the devil and he will flee from you."
Pentecost, J. D. (1997). Your adversary, the Devil. Originally published:
Grand Rapids, MI : Zondervan, 1969. (156). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel.
.
|
