But What About Satan?

It has been said, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Truth is reality. It is the manifestation of God and godliness. To become victorious against the adversaries of God, we must walk in the truth of God. Many of the saints in the Body walk in fear of the devil and all that they think he is able to do to them. Others walk in denial of his existence. Then too, there is a set who are constantly doing what is called spiritual warfare against him.

They cast him out of their house, the engine of their cars; some even cast him out of other saints. Yes, it is evident that this creature has caused a lot of confusion in the Body of Christ. But all the glory belongs to God, for He has exalted truth and it is truth that will dispel the lies and bring clarity to the subject. Jesus walked with His disciples three and one half years, preparing them to go forth and preach the gospel to every nation. I am certain that He would have informed them of the presence and power of any enemies they would encounter. Therefore, it is expedient for us to go back to the teachings of Christ to see if He in fact made mention of this Satan.

During the first twelve years of my salvation, I learned spiritual warfare from one of the most prominent leaders of that era. I subscribed to his library and received monthly publications, the highlight of which was spiritual warfare. Well it was not hard to believe this evangelist, seeing that he had the highest funded ministry of that day. He attributed his success to knowing how to do battle with Satan and other principalities and take back from them the things they had stolen. He taught us to take houses, cars, land and money from the devil. His ministry was financially successful and he promised the same for us. But no one noticed that you do not have to fight the devil or anyone else when you have millions of followers who are pouring millions of dollars into your ministry daily.

If there was any spiritual warfare involved, it was directed at getting the money out of the pockets of the saints. But where does Satan appear in all of this? I think the best way to answer this question is to discover first where God is in all of this. In doing so, you must get your head out of the sand and put it in the clouds. We are about to go on a journey to the throne of grace. For just a few moments I need you to forget all that you thought you knew about salvation and the Kingdom of God and consider what I am about to say.

Our God is an awesome God. He is all seeing, all knowing and all powerful. There is none like Him in the entire universe. He is a God of Truth and Light. He created a world that was full of light, which simply means the absence of darkness. He is the supreme authority and all creation is aware of it. The plant and animal kingdom all know that God is God. He created thrones and dominions in the heavens to be inhabited by the angelic host. He developed highways and turnpikes for the angels to travel back and forth to the earth. He assigned them territories and made them watchers over His Word. The words He spoke were ordained in the hands of angels. But one day, the wisest angel of them all decided to defect. He rebels against God and persuades others to do the same.

But this Cherub had his eye on controlling the kingdom of men. Thus, this is the beginning of the kingdom of darkness. Now was God aware of all this? Did God realize Satan was going to take over the world He had given to man? I think so. Through the eye of foresight, the Lord knew iniquity would fill the heart of Satan. He also knew that Satan would come after his man and his earth.

God spoke through the prophet Moses saying, Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:9-10).

Therefore, before He ever made the world, He prepared a sacrifice that would save His man. The apostle Peter declares boldly that we were not redeemed with corruptible things, “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,” (1 Peter 1:19-20).

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” Paul made us to know that darkness cannot comprehend the light. In others words, darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. The same is true when you walk into a dark room. If you turn on the light, the darkness disappears. Therefore, the passion of Christ had to be ordained by God before the foundations of the world were ever laid. There is no way Satan, the prince of darkness, or death, which is the strength of darkness, could have possibly killed Christ.

He is the Light and the Life. There is no power greater than the Light of God or the Life of God. Thus Jesus could boldly state, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father (St. John 10:17-18)

If you can comprehend the life of Christ, you will begin to understand that which has apprehended you. He is our example in every sense of the word. I want you to begin to see Him as a forerunner who goes on a journey through the valley of the shadow of death, but by commandment from God fears no evil. Jesus enters the domain of Satan, whom He acknowledges as the god of this world. Listen closely as He attempts to explain His plight.

Mark 12:1-11

1 And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man (God the Father) planted a vineyard, (the Nation of Israel) and set an hedge (a fence or enclosing barrier) about it, and dug a place for the winefat, (a receptacle or vessel underneath the winepress, used to catch and hold the juice of the grapes, depicting the righteousness of God that is manifested after going through the press) and built a tower, (the temple at Jerusalem) and let it out to husbandmen, (the Sanhedrin Council, Scribes and Pharisees, workers in the vineyard) and went into a far country.

2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, (a prophet) that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.

3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.

4 And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.

5 And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.

6 Having yet therefore one son, (Jesus Christ), his well beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.

7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.

8 And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.

9 What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. (The grafting in of the Gentile Nations). Jesus then uses another scripture or word of a prophet to explain the essence of the parable.

10 And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:

11 This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

The essence of this parable is that all things happened by the design of the Father. Through the supernatural power of foresight and foreknowledge, the Lord is able to know the disposition of the hearts of men before they are ever faced with any situation. He knows their intent and what they will do before they were ever born. Therefore, He is able to use their decisions which He is privy to beforehand inside predestination to work His plan and purpose. The bottom line is that the path each of the prophets and Christ walked was set by the Father. Jesus sums it up by saying, “For this cause I came into the world.”

Mark 12:12

12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.

It is the same today, many will hate those who will dare to tell them the truth. You too must allow the mind that was in Christ to be in you. If so you will have the same attitude toward Satan and his devices as Jesus did. The paths we walk are designed by the Father. But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold (Job 23:10).

Job understood this so well. He knew God had put him in the hand of the devil to try him. The apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthians by making them mindful of the fact that there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (1 Cor 10:13).

The conclusion of the matter is; there is nothing Satan can do to the saints God has not permitted.