Although Lucifer was created with a free will, he used that freedom to oppose the will of God, and thereby lost it (no longer free to do whatever he wants—NC). From Satan’s fall from heaven, until his final fall into “the lake of fire,” the Enemy is enslaved and controlled by our Father. Although a terrible antagonist, Satan is nonetheless a defeated foe. His doom was pronounced in Eden (Gen 3:15); his doom was sealed at Calvary (Col 2:15; Heb 2:14); and his doom will be realized in the lake of fire (Rev 20:10).
Through the years it has been sad to see so many otherwise gifted leaders attempt to lock horns with Satan in a so-called “deliverance ministry.” In time, they invariably go down into ignominious and crippling defeat, whether it be physical, mental, moral or spiritual. Well-meaning as some of them would seem to be, they are nonetheless attempting to function in the wrong manner, whether past or future. Today, the believer is to rest in his position in the ascended and glorified Lord Jesus Christ, and resist Satan, by faith in His finished work.
Our scriptural instructions are to “be sober, be vigilant, because you adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist steadfast in the faith.” “Neither give place to the devil.” “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (1Pe 5:8, 9; Eph 4:27; Jam 4:7).
Our Lord Jesus is our impregnable armor against the wiles of the Enemy. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power.” “Let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light” (Col 2:9, 10; Rom 13:12).
Satan can create nothing, nor can he perpetuate any evil, physical or moral, without God’s sanction. His purpose in the divine program is outlined, the span of his perpetuation is set, and his inevitable doom is sealed.
Not a hair of the child of God can fall without the Father’s permission (whatever happens God works it for your good - Ro 8:28—NC). Satan is but the unintentional instrument to accomplish the Father’s will; he can do no more than he is allowed to do. If trials come as a host against us, we know that the Almighty is between us and them. They will but work for us His own purposes of love.
We are to “resist the devil and he will flee form you” (Jam 4:7).
Satan is never so defeated as in his apparent victories!
— Samuel Ridout (1765-1840)
MJS daily devotional for December 1
“We dare not deny God’s Word. He says we died with Christ. We can cry triumphantly, when we know: ‘I died unto sin with the Lord Jesus on the Cross, two thousand years ago! I reckon myself what the Father says I am in His Son—dead unto sin and alive unto God. Sin has no claim on me in the Lord Jesus, and cannot have dominion over me, as I yield myself to my Father in this wonderful new revelation of yielding myself to God, as one who is alive from the dead’ (Rom. 6:13). Thus will we begin to find how true and how tremendous is the deliverance that is in the Lord Jesus for us. And thus alone will we really honor the grace of God.” –William Reed Newell (1865-1956)
Through the years it has been sad to see so many otherwise gifted leaders attempt to lock horns with Satan in a so-called “deliverance ministry.” In time, they invariably go down into ignominious and crippling defeat, whether it be physical, mental, moral or spiritual. Well-meaning as some of them would seem to be, they are nonetheless attempting to function in the wrong manner, whether past or future. Today, the believer is to rest in his position in the ascended and glorified Lord Jesus Christ, and resist Satan, by faith in His finished work.
Our scriptural instructions are to “be sober, be vigilant, because you adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist steadfast in the faith.” “Neither give place to the devil.” “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (1Pe 5:8, 9; Eph 4:27; Jam 4:7).
Our Lord Jesus is our impregnable armor against the wiles of the Enemy. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power.” “Let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light” (Col 2:9, 10; Rom 13:12).
Satan can create nothing, nor can he perpetuate any evil, physical or moral, without God’s sanction. His purpose in the divine program is outlined, the span of his perpetuation is set, and his inevitable doom is sealed.
Not a hair of the child of God can fall without the Father’s permission (whatever happens God works it for your good - Ro 8:28—NC). Satan is but the unintentional instrument to accomplish the Father’s will; he can do no more than he is allowed to do. If trials come as a host against us, we know that the Almighty is between us and them. They will but work for us His own purposes of love.
We are to “resist the devil and he will flee form you” (Jam 4:7).
Satan is never so defeated as in his apparent victories!
— Samuel Ridout (1765-1840)
MJS daily devotional for December 1
“We dare not deny God’s Word. He says we died with Christ. We can cry triumphantly, when we know: ‘I died unto sin with the Lord Jesus on the Cross, two thousand years ago! I reckon myself what the Father says I am in His Son—dead unto sin and alive unto God. Sin has no claim on me in the Lord Jesus, and cannot have dominion over me, as I yield myself to my Father in this wonderful new revelation of yielding myself to God, as one who is alive from the dead’ (Rom. 6:13). Thus will we begin to find how true and how tremendous is the deliverance that is in the Lord Jesus for us. And thus alone will we really honor the grace of God.” –William Reed Newell (1865-1956)