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Did Jesus believe there
was satanic power? Absolutely, for He said, "And fear not them
which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear
him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt.
10:28).
Did Peter believe there was satanic power? Absolutely, for he said,
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter
5:8).
Did Paul believe there was satanic power? Absolutely, for he said,
"And the God of peace shall bruise [to crush completely] Satan
under your feet shortly" (Rom. 16:20).
Did James believe there was satanic power? Absolutely, for he said,
"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils
also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19).
The New Testament writers obviously believed there was satanic action in
the world of their day. They knew the powerful potential for destruction
the adversary possessed. They continually warned of the ever present
temptation that could beset every person.
Jesus and His disciples, however, were not mythological in their belief.
They did not make satanic power into something it was not. They knew
that the enemy of their souls would never come from without. The
temptation to corruption that would destroy them would always come from
within their own thinking. They knew the mind, when out from under the
control of the Holy Spirit, was the adversary that brings death and
destruction to the soul of man.
Satanic activity, the forces of the adversary to God, always come from
the inner working of the mind of man. As Paul warned the Philippians,
"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you
even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose
end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in
their shame, who mind earthly things" (3:18,19). The glory of man
(the intellectual power of the mind under control of the Holy Spirit)
becomes the shame of man (the power of the carnal mind now taking man
down and away from God with every imagination).
In a world created by his fantasies and imaginations, man now believes
he controls the events of his life. God still rules every action of the
universe, but in the make believe world of his mind man thinks he
controls his life. The imagination of man’s mind is the great
adversary to the ways of God.
Dare to Listen to the
Word of God
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