Last week, I shared with everyone on the relationship between man and Satan. We mentioned that Satan works in two ways: Firstly, I will give you what you do not have; secondly, I will take away what you already have. All these tactics scare people but also cause people to have admiration.

Satan uses his ability and sorcery to expand his work, display his power.

In this present generation, in what ways and forms does the devil continue to use for the expansion of his work and the display of his power? According to Deuteronomy 18: 10 till12 in the ESV Bible: “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you.” It also means that the devil still uses sorcery, interpretation of omens, telling fortunes and means of medium to confuse people till this day. Ezekiel 21:21 in the ESV Bible: “For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver.” This is also a form of sorcery, that is, to know the devil’s guidance through sorcery. This is the work of the evil spirit today so people are under its control. Not only the ordinary people but also many politicians and country leaders who seek guidance through divination and inquiries.

It is written in Mark 1:23-24 in the ESV Bible: “And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are —the Holy One of God.” After a person has been possessed, he will seek help from other gods to drive out the spirit. As a result, he falls into the devil’s trap. This is one of the devil’s means to drive out the evil spirit with another spirit. At the end of it, it is still the devil’s work. When a person is sick and seeks for healing from the spirit, he seems to be healed but his heart condition will deteriorate. In other words, his physical illness becomes a condition of the heart. After that, he will be more superstitious and will not listen to the gospel.

In 2 Corinthians 12:7 from the ESV Bible: “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.” A messenger of Satan wanted to attack Paul so he had “a thorn” in his flesh. The Bible did not say what this thorn was. It was very likely to be sickness. In other words, the devil will use sickness or “a thorn” to attack people. It is unbearable for people and will cause them to despair or be driven to seek help from him.

1 Corinthians 7:5 in the ESV Bible: “Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” The devil will tempt us with our fleshly desires. As a result, we will lose self-control and commit adultery inevitably, causing the family to break up. This is very scary.

Revelation 13:15 in the ESV Bible: “And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.” On one hand, he let those who worship the image of the beast to see that it can do miracles, “Even the image of the beast can speak, this is incredible!” Thus, people will be more convinced and obey it. On the other hand, it will persecute the Christians who do not worship the image of the beast. Such simultaneous use of “hard” and “soft methods are the works of the devil – I will take away what you already have and give you what you do not have.

How do we see our relationship with Satan?

Since we have understood so many of the devil’s means of doing things, how do we see our relationship with Satan according to the truth in the Bible?

First of all, from the view of epistemology, we must not fall into Satan’s trap and say that he is omnipotent. In reality, Satan’ ability is limited as only our Jehovah God is omnipotent. The devil is definitely not omnipotent. In present times, some movies have portrayed the devil to be omnipotent. Even the pastors and priests are demon possessed after driving out the evil spirits. Such movies blaspheme against God. There are definitely no such things. Brothers and sisters, we must not see that Satan has infinite power and deify him because his ability is limited. He is not a god. Therefore, from the point of epistemology, we are certain of such truth.

We have to stay away from things that are related to Satan and resist them. For instance, worship of idols, astrology, interpretation of omens and birthday character, fortune telling, watching astrology, horoscopes, palm reading and others. We need to avoid such things and do not believe in them. Do not use the devil’s power to work for you, for example divination, witchcraft and sorcery. Do not believe in such things. It is clearly said in James 4:7 from the ESV Bible “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” On one hand, we need to submit to God. “Submit to God” means to hear the Word of God, but not the devil’s words. We do whatever God tells us to do. When He commands us to do it, we will act on it. On the other hand, we must resist the devil. We have to abandon, stay away and discard anything that are associated with the devil or superstition. This is wisdom.

A person lived in the village where I once came from. He went for fortune telling. The fortune teller said to him, “You will not live beyond forty years old.” As a result, he was worried. He was only thirty years old at that time. By the time he reached 39 years old, he had severe depression. At the age of 40 years old, he jumped down from the building and committed suicide. Why? It was because he could not live past 40 years old. He fell into the devil’s trap. The more you believe in it, the more superstitious you are. Thus, there will be more disasters. Dear brothers and sisters, we must not let the devil control our fate. We should commit our lives to God who controls our destiny. This is wisdom.

On the other hand, from a more positive perspective, we must put on the spiritual armour of God. Ephesians 6:14-17 in the ESV Bible tells us that: “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” We need to put on the belt of truth which increases our strength. A person needs to gird his loins before he displays his strength.

Secondly, to “put on the breastplate of righteousness” is to always have the peace of God and His fairness, righteousness and justice in our hearts. We should not have evil practices and bad motives in our hearts.

Again, “as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace”. The gospel brings peace. It is the gospel of peace. Therefore, we have to bring peace to people wherever we are. When we wear the shoes of the gospel of peace, the peace from the gospel will be with us and our family.

In addition, “take the shield of faith”. Faith is our shield. It can extinguish the flaming darts of the devil. We use our shield of faith to resist the darts of the devil. I should not have faith alone, but also have faith together with my brothers and sisters. This is what we call the formation of our shields. You think about it. When the devil attacks me and throws darts at me, I use my shield to resist him but it comes from my faith alone. However, if the devil not only attacks me from the front but also at my back, how can I protect myself? Thus, I need everyone to gather around so that we will not be hurt by any flaming dart. This formation of shield is very important. Satan cannot harm us anywhere as we protect and take care of one another. All because the brothers and sisters have unity of faith. 

“Put on the helmet of salvation” is about the salvation that Jesus Christ has accomplished on the cross. This salvation protects us from the devil’s attack - the attack of our minds through our thoughts, the area that can result in fatal injury. Since we wear the helmet of God’s salvation on our head, we believe that God has redeemed us. By His grace, I am forgiven. My thoughts must be very clear on this point.

Finally, “take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. We use the Word of God to counter the devil. All the pieces of the armour of God are defensive. Only the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is offensive. When the Word of God is on the offensive against Satan, he is helpless and has to flee.

Join the church and fellowship, protect and keep watch over one another. Other than what was mentioned above, we must remember to join a church when we become Christians. Brothers and sisters often fellowship in the church. They protect and keep watch over one another. Also, pray for God to be with us and be filled with His power to resist the devil. We need to rely on God so that the devil has no power and foothold in our lives. The Holy Spirit is with us. Therefore, as Christians, we have victory over the devil through the power of the Holy Spirit. We not only can declare that: we are not afraid of ghosts, but also say that the devil is scared of us. Brothers and sisters, we need to have such faith because the Holy Spirit dwells in us.

Not long ago, I heard of a testimony in Kuala Lumpur. A sister-in-Christ moved in to a condominium. There were 4 units on that floor. She stayed in the corner unit. After a few months, a resident from another corner unit suddenly went to her place and scolded her harshly. She was baffled with this person’s tongue-lashing and asked him: “Why do you scold me? What’s the matter?” He said: “Ever since you have moved in, all the gods in my house fled.” What was going on? This family was very superstitious and their house was full of idols. However, amazingly, why did all those spirits run away after a Christian had shifted in? We thank God. Today, when we trust in Jesus Christ, we are more than conquerors!

An elder from my church once walked past a place. Someone surrounded it because a medium was trying to get possessed. However, no matter what this medium had done, she could not get the spirit to possess her until she said” “There is a Christian among you all. Don’t stand here. Please leave!” After an elder from my church had departed from the place, that medium was possessed and started her sorcery. You see, how amazing it is!

Our God is omnipotent. His Spirit lives in us so we are more than conquerors! The ghosts are afraid of us but we are not scared of them! It is because He who is in us is greater than he who is in this world – that is the devil. Revelation 12:11 in the ESV Bible tells us: “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…” Hebrews 2:14 in the ESV Bible tells us that: through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, “He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” Also, through the death of Jesus, He has cancelled the curses as a result of sins. “Thank the Lord! Blessed are those who trust in Jesus!”

Let us pray together.

Dear Heavenly Father, when we hear your voice and understand your truth, we are willing to open the door of our hearts to invite you into our lives and let you be the Lord in our lives. Through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, we are cleansed from all our sins and the devil has no opportunity to accuse us. We ask Jesus for the Holy Spirit to enter our lives so that we bear the mark of the Holy Spirit. Hence, from this day onwards, we are under the protection of the Holy Spirit and the devil has no stronghold in our lives. We thank our Heavenly Father as Jesus is our Lord. We are triumphant over evil and the devil through Jesus. Our hearts are filled with peace in your presence. From this day onwards, may you enable us to face tomorrow with peace. There are some families among us with the stronghold of the devil. We implore the Lord to help us so that we can trust you and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to drive out the power of the evil spirits. In doing so, we and our families have peace and joy in our daily lives. We pray this in the holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

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