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SATAN
AND WORLD GOVERNMENTS
In
Daniel
10:12-13 we read:
Fear
not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to
understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I
am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one
and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me;
and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
This
is the satanic prince ruling the kingdom of Persia for Satan who is recognized
in Scripture as being the god of this world, having usurped man’s dominion (Mt. 4:8-9; 12:24-30; Jn. 8:44; 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 6:10-18; 1 Jn. 3:8; Rev. 12:7-12;
16:13-16;
20:1-10).
Satan
has trusted angels over all the governments of this world. They are responsible
to him for carrying out his will in those governments. He seeks to hinder God’s
plan in the fulfillment of prophecy regarding world kingdoms. God also has
trusted angels who carry out His will concerning what He has predicted to take
place in the kingdoms of this world (Dan. 10:11-21;
11:1; 12:1). Hence, there
are wars between these two groups of angels in the heavenlies (Dan. 10:13,20-21; 11:1; 12:1; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7-12).
All wars lost or won on earth are results of wars lost or won by these heavenly
armies.
Similar
to this conflict over governments, there are good and evil spirit beings seeking
carry out the will of their masters in the lives of individuals as well (Mt. 18:10; 2 Cor. 10:4-6;
Eph. 2:2; 6:10-18; Heb. 1:14; Jude 9). Satan
himself is active in seeking to defeat God’s purpose in the lives of His
children (1 Chr.
21:1; Job
1:6; 2:1; Zech. 3:1; Mt. 4:1-11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 6:10-18; 1 Jn. 3:8; Rev. 12:12).
In
Daniel 10:20
Gabriel told of the satanic prince over the Grecian Empire that caused Alexander
the Great to be so successful as to destroy the Medo-Persian Empire completely
in thirteen years. This prince of Grecia is the spirit now confined to the abyss
who will come out in the last days and cause the human Antichrist to revive the
old Grecian Empire, so they can all oppose Jesus Christ at Armageddon.
In
Revelation 17:8
the beast out of the abyss is a satanic angel—not the human spirit of a dead
man. He does not incarnate himself in the human Antichrist or beast out of the
sea, but merely uses him as a tool to revive the fifth or Grecian kingdom as the
eighth and last kingdom in the times of the Gentiles. This spirit ruled the old
Grecian Empire, the fifth of the five kingdoms that fell before John’s day (17:10). When his
kingdom fell he was confined to the abyss where he remained during the sixth
kingdom (the Roman Empire, which was the one in existence in John’s day) and
ever since. He will be confined to the abyss until the ten kingdoms are formed
inside the Roman Empire to make the seventh kingdom of 17:10. He will
then be loosed and use the Antichrist to revive the old Grecian Empire as the
eighth kingdom of 17:11. This is
what the angel meant when he said the beast was (had existed on earth
before John’s day), and is not (on the earth in John’s day), and shall
ascend out of the abyss and go to perdition (17:8).
Kingdoms
of this world have always been controlled by godly or satanic angels and wars on
earth are lost or won as a result of battles in the heavenlies between the good
and bad angels. God plans the rise and fall of certain kingdoms and Satan seeks
to keep the prophetic Word from coming to pass (Isa. 24:21-23;
25:7; Dan. 10:13-21;
11:1; 12:1; Eph. 6:12; Rev. 12:7-12;
16:13-16).
SATAN’S
WAR ON THE SAINTS
The
most important work of Satan among men now is to counterfeit the doctrines and
experiences of God as revealed in Scripture, in order to deceive saints (2 Cor.
11:14-15; Eph. 6:10-18;
1 Tim. 4:1-7;
Rev.
12:9-12). Men are commanded to prove and test all doctrines and experiences
in the supernatural realm to see if they are of God or Satan (1 Cor. 2:12-16;
Phil. 1:9-10;
1 Th.
5:21-22; 1 Jn.
4:1-6).
It
is certain that not every religion, doctrine, and experience among men is of
God. We must, therefore, judge them by the plain written Word of God. The
knowledge of truth is the first essential in warfare against demons and error.
Great is the danger when believers accept anything and everything in the realm
of the supernatural as being from the Lord. The fact that the believer is a
child of God does not stop the devil from trying in every conceivable way to
imitate God to him. Believers are the ones Satan concentrates on and wars
against.
There
are definite ways outlined in Scripture whereby one can detect what kind of
spirit is seeking to control him. But if one neglects to study the Word he may
fall prey to one of Satan’s demons through ignorance. Ignorance is one of the
chief means by which Satan and his forces try to control men. It accounts for
their widespread success in getting men to accept their suggestions, doctrines,
ideas, leadings, and guidance. Among the guiding principles useful in detecting
good and evil spirits, and their operations and doctrines, the outstanding ones
are these:
- Any doctrine that denies or causes doubt and unbelief concerning anything
taught in Scripture is from Satan and his demons (1 Tim. 4:1-8).
Any religion denying the inspiration of the Bible; the reality of God as a
person; the virgin birth and divinity of Christ; His miraculous power and
supernatural ministry; the death, burial, bodily resurrection, and bodily
manifestation of Christ after His resurrection; the bodily ascension to heaven
and coming again of Jesus Christ to set up a kingdom in the world forever; the
necessity of the new birth, cleansing from sin and living free from sin; and the
numerous other experiences of the Bible—any religion denying these fundamental
truths is yielding to "the spirit of error" and not "the spirit of truth" (1 Jn. 4:1-6).
- Any power, influence, or doctrine that causes one to become passive,
inactive, submissive, and unresisting to the workings of supernatural spirits
seeking to control his life contrary to the teachings of Scripture, is not of
God. The Bible says, "resist the devil" (Jas. 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8-9).
Any inclination to approve of sin or ignore the necessity of repentance and holy
living is promoted by Satan. The same is true for any tendency to lessen the
penalty for sin, or doubt that hell is literal and eternal. Just as God requires
truth in the mind for the working of the Holy Spirit in a life, so the devil
requires the believing of lies to hold men in bondage. See 1 Cor. 6:9-11;
10:12-13;
2 Cor.
11:3-15; Gal. 5:19-21;
6:7-8; Eph. 6:10-18;
1 Tim. 4:1-9;
Jas. 1:22; 2:10.
- The Holy Spirit can be recognized by His fruit: love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Gal.
5:22-23).
Methods
of Satan
Satan
uses every conceivable means to hold men in subjection to himself and keep them
from turning to God. If he fails in this, he tries to kill the believer’s
testimony and ruin his influence for God.
Lukewarmness
Satan
tries to get others in a lukewarm condition and, if he succeeds, urges them to
stay in that condition so that God will cut them off in the end.
Unholy
Passions
He
stirs up unholy passions, causing people to throw away all restraint and live a
life of revelry.
Suicide
If
a saint falls, Satan tries to make him stay fallen or commit suicide. He tempts
men to end their lives by insisting it is the best way out; but he hides the
fact that this will only be the beginning of real torment in eternal hell.
Deception
About Sin
Satan
tries to make people think they are missing everything in life if they do not
engage in all kinds of sins which, in the end, will damn their souls. He also
emphasizes sin and sinful pleasures as innocent enjoyment.
Deception
About Serving God
Satan
tries to make people think there is no joy in serving the Lord. This is one of
his greatest errors. Serving Christ and winning souls who will be thankful
forever pays the greatest dividends and affords the greatest pleasures
known.
Deception
About Wealth
The
devil preaches to the diligent businessman that he needs to spend all his time
getting rich before serving the Lord. The truth is, if one will truly serve the
Lord, he can be abundantly prosperous with God’s help.
Compromise
in Church Leadership
Satan
urges churches and their leaders to make religion a paying proposition by
appealing to the rich through lowering the standards of holy living, making
salvation easy for all, and compromising essentials of the faith; and by feeding
the sheep messages on current events and book reviews instead of the infallible
Word of God.
God’s
Purpose in Allowing Satan to Continue
Duty
of Saints Regarding Satan
When
one is born again he enters the realm of the supernatural and spiritual. He must
study the Bible to learn how he should walk and conduct himself in spiritual
warfare with Satan and demons. Saints are to:
Evidences
of Being Influenced by Satan
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