On Militancy Against Satan

[SpiritLedEd]

Over the years, I've heard many well meaning Christians rebuke Satan in Jesus' name and confidently believe they've chased him away. Yet many of them were rebuking him over and over for the same issue. I found myself wondering why the rebuking hadn't worked the first time. The problem was not lack of faith. I'd known many of these people for some years; long enough to believe that their faith was strong. I found the answer in the Epistle of Jude and subsequently in other Scriptures. The issue wasn't faith, it was the believer's prideful approach (sorry if this offends you, but pride often sneaks into our attitudes and actions).

There is a pecking order in God's Kingdom where power and authority is concerned: God>archangels>angels>humans. Satan is an archangel - a prince of the heavenly host. Though he's been ejected from heaven, he still holds that rank and has great power. In verse 9 of his epistle Jude writes: "But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said "The LORD rebuke you!"

Jesus taught us by His example how to defeat the devil. Nowhere in Scripture does it ever say that Jesus confronted the devil with a combative attitude. He was keenly aware of (and respectful of) Satan's position as an archangel. His tactic was to take a defensive stand armed with The Word and not move from it and, as Scripture testifies, it was awesomely effective. That is to be our tactic, as well.

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist (stand against) the devil and he will flee from you." (Jas 4:7 NIV)

"Stand firm then, ....(Eph 6:14 NIV)

"Resist him (the devil) standing firm in the faith." (1 Pt 5:9 NIV)

SLE

 

[HisFollower]

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:
Matt 4:10
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me:
Matt 16:23

Perhaps we, and the archangel Michael cannot and should not dare to bring a railing accusation; but Christ can and does, seeing that He is the Son of the living God, on the right hand of God in heaven.

 

[Boanerges]

Like your name Ed we are to be Spirit led on this (as with all things).

Jesus gave us power over the enemies of our soul but not even the archangel Michael would have cross words with Satan (Jud 1:9 ) except at the Lord's leading.
Jesus was our example, doing only the Father's will in the Spirit's power. I personally believe that folks make trouble for themselves when they take it on themselves to attack Satan.
I do not speak out of fear but out of experience, the battle is the Lord's, we joyfully and fearlessly do His will.
We do not presumptuously try to take the Holy Spirit's place and set our own agenda but we gladly lay down our lives preferring His will.

 

[SpiritLedEd]

He is the Son of the living God, on the right hand of God in heaven.

"Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Php 2:6-7 NIV)

Of and by Himself, Jesus did not use divine power on earth. We need to remember that he came here as man, not as God. He was totally dependent on the Father for the miracle-working power of His earthly ministry. He had humbled Himself, temporarily and voluntarily vacating His position as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.

He was not seated at the right hand of the Father during His earthly ministry. He came to earth as a lowly human baby. He will return as the conquering King (see Rev 17:14). In my opinion, this means that He followed the Father's instructions on earth and set the example for us as to how we are to deal with the devil.

SLE

 

[benfaust]

Whether Jesus was at the right hand of God at that time really doesn't affect what HisFollower quoted, which was during Jesus' walk on earth:

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:
Matt 4:10
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me:
Matt 16:23

I don't see any place in Scripture we're told to have respect for satan (I won't even capitalize his name). When we see him at the end, the Bible says we'll marvel that this little thing caused so much trouble.

I also don't see anywhere in Scripture where it says satan is still an archangel. He's called the prince of the air, but has been cast down to the earth.

Angel or no angel aside, we've been placed lower than the angels, and yet we have authority over demons and can cast them out. The demons were all once angels, and yet we now have authority over them, while we don't have authority over angels. This would suggest the angels (including satan) lost their angelic status when they rebelled against God. Why would satan be an exception, retaining his angelic status? Would God show favoritism to the devil?

In Luke 10:19, Jesus says, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

Jesus has given us authority over all the power of the enemy. So saying, as Jesus did, "Away from me satan! (In Jesus' name!)", seems to be perfectly in line with Scripture.

 

[Veracity]

Whether Jesus was at the right hand of God at that time really doesn't affect what HisFollower quoted, which was during Jesus' walk on earth:

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:
Matt 4:10
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me:
Matt 16:23

I don't see any place in Scripture we're told to have respect for satan (I won't even capitalize his name). When we see him at the end, the Bible says we'll marvel that this little thing caused so much trouble.

I also don't see anywhere in Scripture where it says satan is still an archangel. He's called the prince of the air, but has been cast down to the earth.

Angel or no angel aside, we've been placed lower than the angels, and yet we have authority over demons and can cast them out. The demons were all once angels, and yet we now have authority over them, while we don't have authority over angels. This would suggest the angels (including satan) lost their angelic status when they rebelled against God. Why would satan be an exception, retaining his angelic status? Would God show favoritism to the devil?

In Luke 10:19, Jesus says, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

Jesus has given us authority over all the power of the enemy. So saying, as Jesus did, "Away from me satan! (In Jesus' name!)", seems to be perfectly in line with Scripture.

For sure.

I personally get rather ill when satan gets spoke of in church more than Jesus. Somewhere along the lines people have promoted satan into an omnipotent being, which I am sure thrills him, but he is not. satan gets credit for everything that comes into peoples lives that is negative, sickness, deaths, poverty, lost my keys, can't find my shoes...etc.

God is in control!! Christians are being rather careless if they go about casting demons out of people who do not have a relationship with the Lord, because when the house is swept and clean, they will come back bringing seven each with them and then that person, who is not covered is worse than he/she was to start with.

Bind them up in Jesus name, rather than cast them out. When the person then comes to the Lord and repents, they will be healed.

 

[SpiritLedEd]

Somewhere along the lines people have promoted satan into an omnipotent being, which I am sure thrills him, but he is not. satan gets credit for everything that comes into peoples lives that is negative, sickness, deaths, poverty, lost my keys, can't find my shoes...etc.

This reminds me of a quote from C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. I can't quote verbatim, but he wrote that there are two things the demons like - people not believing in their existence and people obsessing over their existence.

SLE