Back to Previous Page

Back to Previous Page

Announcer (00:00:00): It's time to think about the Bible like you never have before. This is Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com. Today's topic is, "How Do Satanic Demons Influence Our World?" Satanic influence is real. It is alive and well in our world right here and right now. Not only is it present, but its power is also significant. To make matters worse, much of its influence grows through subtlety and deceit. Well, that's just great! What do we do now? First, don't panic because God's got this! Here's Rick and Jonathan.

Rick (00:00:38): Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over 25 years. Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

Jonathan (00:00:48): Ephesians 6:12: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

Rick (00:01:03): We live in a diverse world, and that can be a really wonderful thing. To observe and embrace the positive differences in our cultures, our backgrounds and our characters is worthy of celebration. Appreciating the immense differences we see in nature due to geographic locations is a fascinating journey through God's creation. But here's a problem. Diversity, just like most anything else we as imperfect humans celebrate, can go to extremes that take the basic principles of godly righteousness and corrupt them with darkness and evil. This inevitably leads to the destruction of that which is good. What does all of this got to do with Satan and demons? Everything! Satan and those who follow him are masters of subtlety and can easily, they can easily make darkness look like light.

Jonathan (00:01:58): Many times we've discussed how Satan posed as a serpent and used doubt, subtlety and half-truths to deceive Eve. We continually go back to this experience because it represents humanity's first experience with disloyalty to God and the sinfulness that follows it. As we establish the biblical history of Satan that leads us to this first encounter, as well as the biblical history of mankind that followed it, we are going to be quoting from a satanist website as a stark contrast to biblical teaching.

Rick (00:02:36): Yeah, that will be--and you'll see very, very shortly--this is going to be a very stark contrast. Before we start this quoting, Jonathan, I just want to put a disclosure out there. Folks, it is my personal, deeply held opinion and conviction that you should not go looking out of curiosity, because darkness is dark and darkness is subtle, and the only reason we're doing this is to put it on the table as the opposite side of things. Having said that, let me begin the quote from this particular satanic website, and it's very openly satanic. "Exposing Christianity;" that's the beginning of this very prominent writing on this website. "Exposing Christianity. Because of being steeped in, believing in and living a lie, in the advanced stages of Christianity, the Christians take on an artificial appearance and begin to look like the lie: The well-known pasty look with the smiley mask. The lie emerges in the physical self."

Jonathan (00:03:42): When I hear this, Rick, it sounds exactly like what we see happening in politics. They accused their opponents of doing the very thing that they are guilty of. This is an outgrowth of satanic thinking.

Rick (00:03:57): When you think about how they're painting those of us who are serious Christians, it's like, okay, you know that "pasty look with the smiley face, the smiley mask." The bottom line of this comment is that it's all put on, it's all just an act. We'll leave it there for this. We're going to come back to this writing several times throughout this episode. But Jonathan, what we want to reveal as we go is the strategy that we are observing in how this is written and what they're trying to accomplish. What's the first Satanic Strategy here with just these few lines?

Jonathan (00:04:40): Completely reverse roles and accuse the light of actually being gross darkness.

Rick (00:04:47): That's the strategy. You turn the tables and all you need to do is say it. We'll expand on that as we go. You have to ask yourself, well, wait, wait, how can this happen? If light is light and dark is dark, how can this happen? Well, let's look at how it did happen. All angels and demons originated from God. You go, "Whoa, wait, wait. That doesn't sound right." This might sound unreasonable and needs to be put in its clear and appropriate context. As we trace the origins of demonic beginnings, we know that it all started with Lucifer, all started in Lucifer. Lucifer became Satan. On our last episode we referenced Ezekiel 28, where Lucifer is allegorically described as the king of Tyre. We just referenced it in that last episode because we were talking about angels, and we were talking about Lucifer as a very high and mighty angel. Now we want to go into it because how do Satan and satanic demons influence our world? It all started with what we're about to read. Here's how the influence began to grow. Ezekiel 28:13-17; Let's start with 13-14:

Jonathan (00:05:57): "You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering...You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire." Lucifer was in Eden. Here's how he is described; first, he was covered by "precious stones."

Rick (00:06:21): This is symbolic language, and perhaps we'll suggest that it means that he was one who had matchless and varied and enduring value. These precious stones, they don't ever lose their value. If he's covered with them, it's matchless, it's enduring, and it's very, very, very high, high value.

Jonathan (00:06:42): Next, he was the anointed cherub placed there by God.

Rick (00:06:46): This is important. "Anointed;" this is not the word for pouring oil on your head, but it does come from that word. This word "anointed" means in the sense of "expansion; outstretched." It talks about "with outstretched wings." He's called a cherub. Now remember in our last episode, we talked about the fact that cherubs are powerful, big, strong representatives of God. He is a mighty representative of God and His will. Because this earthly creation that he was involved in was an expansion of God's power, Lucifer was appointed. He was chosen, anointed to powerfully oversee and protect its vulnerability. His anointed position was to do exactly the opposite of what he inevitably did.

Jonathan (00:07:39): Next, he was on God's holy mountain amidst the "stones of fire."

Rick (00:07:45): Lucifer on God's holy mountain was part of God's holy governance because mountains represent governments in scripture. He's part of God's holy governance amidst these "stones of fire," and perhaps that means amidst the stars. In any case, it's indicating the magnitude of his power and glory under God. He's high, high, high up in the whole scenario. Let's go to the next verse, Ezekiel 28:15:

Jonathan (00:08:12): "You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you." Okay, let's go over this. He was blameless until unrighteousness grew.

Rick (00:08:25): Blameless. He was complete, he was sound, he was full of integrity until something changed. That something was pride, it was ego. It was that internalization of things that ought not to ever, ever, ever come. Let's continue with this, with the first part of verse 16 of Ezekiel 28:

Jonathan (00:08:45): "By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence, and you sinned..." Our next lesson: his "abundant trade" resulted in violence and sin.

Rick (00:08:56): Okay, "abundant trade." It's easy to see how the King of Tyre would've been literally physically abundant in trade in the earth. Let's look at it from a spiritual perspective. The eons and eons of time that Lucifer stood in an authoritative position before God, serving God, caused him to see himself as the object of loyalty rather than as a tool of loyalty to God. There was that shift. He became the object of what he believed was loyalty instead of being a tool of loyalty to the Almighty Father.

Jonathan (00:09:34): Pausing with Ezekiel for a moment, we see this horrendous sin verified in Isaiah. Satan's fall; actually, it's more like Satan's calculated steps of ego and pride out of God's grace. Isaiah 14:12-14; let's start with verse 12: "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations!"

Rick (00:10:02): You were high, you were lofty, you have fallen, you were a star of the morning, and you have been cut down and you have done great damage.

Jonathan (00:10:14): Verses 13-14: "But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."

Rick (00:10:31): Those are all the reasons why Satan fell. I-I-I-I-I-I-I..."I will make myself like the Most High." Here's the thing. God would not allow such a sin to go unanswered, but as usual with many of God's answers, the final outcome is not in place for a long time. God has a timeframe that's much bigger than ours. We have to accept that. But we also see that there was an immediate consequence in place, and it was mentioned in Isaiah 14, and now it's going to be again mentioned in Ezekiel 28, the first part of verse 16.

Jonathan (00:11:10): Rick, these two prophecies work very well together. Their messages harmonize but with different words.

Rick (00:11:16): Yeah, yeah.

Jonathan (00:11:17): Now verse 16: "...Therefore, I will cast you as profane from the mountain of God." The point here is, cast off "as profane from the mountain of God."

Rick (00:11:29): Being "cast off," you're no longer allowed to be there. God removed him, as he was now a desecration and a polluting influence to the holiness of God's governance. Jonathan, you think about that, and you look at world history; when there's pollution inside of a government, what happens? It has such far reaching implications.

Jonathan (00:11:53): It does.

Rick (00:11:53): God says, "I am removing you because you are desecrating my governance of all things." What happens? Let's continue with another part of Ezekiel 28; the last part of verse 16, and then verse 17:

Jonathan (00:12:10): "...And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground..." The main points are "destroyed" as a covering cherub from "the stones of fire."

Rick (00:12:29): Not only was he removed, not only was he shown the door essentially from God's lofty position of heavenly governance, but he's also removed from all heavenly places, destroyed as a covering cherub. He lost that power as well. It's a tremendous fall here.

Jonathan (00:12:54): Heart and wisdom corrupted by beauty and splendor.

Rick (00:12:58): Jonathan, this is one of those things that we look at when we say, we have to all be careful of this. Because when we've got it going, we can feel like, "Hey, I've got it going." But that's not what it needs to be. Here Lucifer perceived his personal beauty as an entitlement. His wisdom succumbed to the brightness of his glory. He felt entitled to being THE man, THE being; (can't say the man) THE spirit being. It corrupted everything else about him. The loyalty to God was lost.

Jonathan (00:13:36): The last point; "cast to the ground."

Rick (00:13:39): He was no longer holy before God. He was cast down from the lofty places to the lowlier places away from God's own immortal power. Both in Isaiah and in Ezekiel, it says, "You have fallen from heaven. You've been cut down to the earth." That's what it said in Isaiah. Here, "You've been cast down to the ground." You have this verification that you were up high and you are now out, completely out of the light of God's governance.

Jonathan (00:14:08): It's the way of the world. Now, no wonder Satan is called the "god" of this present, evil world. Rick, Satan started off so lofty and important in heaven. He was well-respected in the spirit realm, but the depth of his fall was an unprecedented event. At no time prior had any being ever rebelled against God.

Rick (00:14:31): This is truly remarkable. When we ask the question, how do satanic demons influence our world? This is how, this is where it all got its start. We have to understand its beginnings because then we can understand how to be forewarned and forearmed against those things. Jonathan, Revealing Satanic and Demonic Origins and Influences, what have we begun with?

Jonathan (00:14:55): The arrogance and treachery of Lucifer created a spiritual subculture of power and dominion over the lesser creation, the physical earth. While Satan's original responsibility was to cover and protect the Garden and all in it, he would now twist that position of protector to one of dictatorial ruler.

Rick (00:15:19): That is exactly what we need to avoid. There's a very simple lesson here. Our first lesson here; loyalty to God and appreciation for His gifts and grace should never waver, ever, and always remain eternal. That's what Satan didn't do. That's what his followers followed him in. That's what we must stay focused on, staying above and away from. It is hard for us to fathom the depth of Lucifer's fall. It really is. What a reminder for us to watch the details of our own lives and stay loyal to God.

Jonathan (00:15:58): Once Lucifer fell from heaven, he became known as Satan. What about his followers? Was their fall just as dramatic?

Rick (00:16:07): As far as the Bible tells us, the heights from which Lucifer fell are unmatched, as you mentioned before, anywhere, as his previous honor and glory were lauded in heaven. This does not mean that any other spirit being who turns away from God's grace is engaging in some small little trivial little event. Oh, no, no. On the contrary, any spiritual rebellion against God at any time is a tragedy beyond our small ability to understand.

Jonathan (00:16:36): You reminded me of last week's episode when we talked about Luke 15:7. There is joy in heaven over one individual who turns from sin and repents and begins following Jesus. Think about the sadness they felt when each spirit being left God's abode and sinned.

Rick (00:16:54): Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because that applies on all levels. It applies on all levels. Like what is happening here? How can you not stay where you are? Don't you? It's so difficult, Jonathan, it's so difficult to look at that and say, "Wow, what really happened here?" Let's put it in perspective. First, just a quick scripture. because we want to remember the right way before examining the wrong way. Quickly, Proverbs 28:10:

Jonathan (00:17:19): "He who leads the upright astray in an evil way will himself fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit good."

Rick (00:17:28): "The blameless will inherit good." That means you start out blameless, you maintain a blameless way of being, and you continue into eternity as blameless. That's what it means. That's what Satan didn't do. He fell in a dramatic way. He actually didn't fall. He stepped off a cliff on purpose. That was his objective. Once Lucifer's example had been set, and once the precedent had been established upon such a lofty stage, it was only a matter of opportunity for others to fall, others to take that same kind of step. Satan had been truly glorious, powerful, and honored. His example would've been a "hard-to-avoid" influence. It was there, it was obvious. Everybody, I imagine, in the heavenly realm would have seen it. Satan's actions and dark leadership did influence other "sons of God," spiritual "sons of God" toward rebellion. Again, in our last episode we touched on these next scriptures. We just want to bring them back up again to put it in perspective because the big question is, how do Satanic demons influence our world? This is how. This is where they got their beginning. Jonathan, Genesis 6:1-2:

Jonathan (00:18:41): This is from the American Standard version: "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they chose." Notice the "sons of God," not angels, were dabbling in the lives of mankind on their own accord and following their own desires as Satan did and were not acting as messengers of God.

Rick (00:19:12): That's the key. They were not acting as messengers of God. They were doing something of their own free will. Everything in the heavenly realm is under God's guidance. When you decide to do it of your own free will, "Hey, I think I'll do it this way," there's that disloyalty, and that's where things begin to fall apart. Let's go back to that Satanic website as it looks to deconstruct Christianity. Let me continue. "Christians incessantly claim that "the devil deceives, the devil deceives." What they fail to see is that everything they accuse the devil of is really the God that they worship, known as Yahweh or Jehovah. Everything that the Christians accuse the devil of is really their own God. This is proven in the biblical scriptures. "A murderer and a liar from the beginning," "human hating," "he deceiveth all of the nations." Jonathan, what they're doing here is they're taking scriptures, they're quoting them, and they're applying them to God Almighty when in the scriptures it's very obvious that these are applied to Satan. Why are they doing this? What's the satanic strategy here?

Jonathan (00:20:25): Misquote and misrepresent God's word, knowing most will accept, but never verify the accusations.

Rick (00:20:32): That's enormous, and that's the truth. Most people are just going to listen, go, "Wow, I didn't know that. That's terrible." It builds a subculture of doubt that's based on a lie, just like Satan from the beginning. That's a strategy. How do satanic demons influence our world? Through this. Through social media where all you have to do is say something and so many people accept it as fact, and they follow along and they just assume that it's true. Most people won't check it out. This is the problem that begins to grow. It's being shown to us right here from that website. Let's move forward. Now, this might sound redundant, but Satan's followers follow Satan. It's really that simple. This means that they adhere to the inherent disloyalty to God that Satan created. This disloyalty is the basis of all sin.

Jonathan (00:21:38): The question is, what happened to those followers of Satan? 1 Peter 3:18-20: "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he also went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water." They were put in prison. The Greek word for "prison' means they are now "under guard." They are limited. These imprisoned spirits are followers of Satan and relegated to the shadows of earth as Satan is. But within this limitation, they have great power.

Rick (00:22:31): There's the paradox, when you look at it from the outside in. Okay, so they're in prison, that's good, right? That means they're cut off. No, it means that they are pushed aside, but it doesn't mean they don't have power. We want to make sure we understand and see this very, very clearly. How do we expand this? Because the scriptures tell us much more detail on this. In the book of Jude--it's that one-chapter book before Revelation in the New Testament--in the book of Jude, he reminds us what those spirit beings did can be easily repeated on a human level. Let's look at Jude again. There's only one chapter; verses 3-4:

Jonathan (00:23:12): "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." Now Rick, "licentiousness" means "a disregard of rules or moral norms." It's lewd behavior.

Rick (00:23:50): This is the basis where Jude is saying, "You have to avoid these things. You can't go down these roads no matter what you do." He then mentions different examples. He mentions Israel after the deliverance from Egypt and how some of them were destroyed for unbelief. He also mentioned Sodom and Gomorrah and their destruction as a result of their immorality. Then he also points to spirit beings who rebelled, as an example. We've got the Peter example of "in prison." Now let's look at Jude verse 6, as he uses this as an example as well of the things that we need to avoid.

Jonathan (00:24:26): "And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day." The imprisonment of 1 Peter is described as "bonds of darkness" here in Jude. Jude also adds that there is a lack of light.

Rick (00:24:45): That's really, really important because when you've got this lack of light, you're understanding what the imprisonment is actually looking like. It's a darkness, it's a limitation. Where there is no light, the light of God, there is no truth. All there is is the ability to twist and turn pieces of truth. That's where they are, that's what's happening to them. We're beginning to develop a description, but it doesn't mean they don't have power.

Jonathan (00:25:18): In 2 Peter, Peter, like Jude, uses several examples of sin and disloyalty to God while he warns against false prophets. We will focus only on the example of what happens to spirit beings when they become disloyal to God. 2 Peter 2:4: "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell (the Greek word is "tartaroo") and committed them to pits of darkness reserved for judgment..."

Rick (00:25:47): There's yet another description of what happens to the followers of Satan. Folks, as we unfold these descriptions, we want you to understand we're dwelling on this so we understand the context from which the evil comes. Peter here calls their imprisonment "tartaroo." That's the Greek word. That's that you said, Jonathan, was translated "hell" in this verse. What is "tartaroo?" Is it a place where demons live? Is it a condition? What does that word mean?

Jonathan (00:26:19): "Tartaroo," often translated "hell," sometimes translated "tartarus," is only used once in scripture. The scriptures actually describe what it is, the deepest abyss. The word is a verb; therefore, it is not a place, but rather more of an action.

Rick (00:26:36): That's an important distinction. The word's a verb. They were cast into a deep abyss. They were cast into a condition of restraint. That's what the scripture's saying. It's a condition of restraint. A recap of what we know about tartaroo and what leads to it; let's look again, 2 Peter 2:4. Jonathan, just a quick, quick moment here.

Jonathan (00:27:01): Yeah. Sinful angels sent to this place of being, "chains of darkness" "reserved for judgment."

Rick (00:27:07): Okay, so it's not actually a physical place, but it's a state. They're not going to the prison house on Main Street. Rather they're going into a state of darkness and restraint. It's not a place, it's a state of being. Again, Jude 1:6 that we just read a few minutes ago;

Jonathan (00:27:29): Sinful angels forsook their proper rank; now in perpetual bonds, in darkness.

Rick (00:27:35): We keep dwelling on the fact they're in darkness. Why? Because in darkness there is no light. Doesn't mean they don't have power. It simply means they don't have godliness to drive that power. If you have power without godliness, what do you end up with? It's never good. The disloyal and evil actions of these fallen spirits led to the action of God, which was to cast them out of His light and out of His heavenly abode into a condition of restrained darkness and limitation. God essentially said, "You are no longer welcome, allowed here in the light. You are powerful. I will allow that to be, but it will be in a condition of restraint from what you gained from me." It's really putting them out of the presence of God. Who are they in the presence of? Satan. When you've got the "father of lies" with his followers present with him out of God's light, you have a really, really bad equation here. It spells darkness, evil, and it spells anything contrary to who and what God really is. As we're looking at how the demons became demons, Jonathan, Revealing Satanic and Demonic Origins and Influences, what do we add?

Jonathan (00:29:07): Satan's dark leadership brought sweeping consequences from those spirit beings who followed him. They all are out of God's light and in darkness of their own choice. While this may sound like a time to be relieved, it is actually a time for vigilance. For their darkness does not mean that they are without great power and influence.

Rick (00:29:30): That's the thing. They do have great power and influence. It's just godless power and influence. So when we look at this, the lesson number two, if you will, disloyalty to God brings separation from God. This separation reveals any being's true character. If you're going to be disloyal, it's going to bring separation, and that's going to reveal true character. That's a dangerous equation to work with. But it's so easy to follow the subtlety of Satan and his followers. That's the challenge that is in our world today. This can all get really complicated really quickly. Satan and his demons are stifled and yet powerful. We are so glad that God, not me, God has this all in hand!

Jonathan (00:30:21): Satan and these demons are basically stuck with earth as their place of influence. Why would God allow such a thing to happen?

Rick (00:30:30): That's a really good question. God allows it because it's the direct result of sin and disobedience. The whole penalty of "dying thou shalt die" given to Adam was not a consequence of just dropping dead after sinning. That's not what the consequence was. On the contrary, it was the consequence of having the experience of sin and death fester and grow and undermine God's righteousness as Satan and his followers drove their own agenda. That's where we are sitting now.

Jonathan (00:31:08): Adam made a loyalty decision. Now let's begin to establish what Satan and his demons do and how they affect our lives.

Rick (00:31:17): Yeah, I just want to pick up on that first comment you made. Adam did make a loyalty decision, and we are living in the results of that loyalty decision. Satan made a loyalty decision, and he became loyal to himself. Adam became loyal, essentially, to Satan's word over God's word. Now you have his followers who are loyal to Satan over God. Now, what do we have as a result? Well, we have Satan as a ruler of this world. Being the ruler of this world, he poses as something that he is not. 2 Corinthians 11:14:

Jonathan (00:31:48): "No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."

Rick (00:31:54): We all know that those who serve him, both human and spirit, will do the same. He disguises himself as light. Now, how can he do that if he's in darkness? Because you take the shreds of things and you put them together and you create a fictitious picture and people look at it. All you have to do in this day and age is put it on Facebook, put it onto your Instagram post, put it in a headline, and everybody's going to swallow it. That's how it works. He is the king--or the prince, I should say--of doing such things. We've got him doing that, and we all know that those who serve him, both human and spirit, are going to do the same thing. 2 Corinthians 11, next verse, verse 15:

Jonathan (00:32:40): "Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds." There are three primary things that Satan and his demons want: 1) to look good 2) power to rule 3) obedience from those they have authority over. They want to be like the Most High.

Rick (00:33:05): They do because that's what God naturally has, and they're looking to usurp that. I just want to go back to that 2 Corinthians 11:15. His (Satan's) followers, his servants, disguised themselves as servants of righteousness "whose end will be according to their deeds," as "angels of light," if you will. With that in mind, I want to go back to that satanic website and read the next few lines; with that in mind, disguising yourself as an "angel of light." Here's what they say: "The problem is that few people actually really read the Bible. Most just believe what they are told regarding Christianity and the Bible. Few read it and can see it for what it is for. Even fewer would stop to think or even question why the Bible has numbers (I'll come back to that in a moment). Everything in the Bible has been stolen and corrupted, with the spiritual knowledge removed." So "everything's been corrupted, stolen with the spiritual knowledge removed." They're posing as messengers of light. "Learn! Get away from that Bible because it's corrupted." Most people who hear this are not going to challenge it. They just won't. They just won't. You've got this posing as these messengers of light. He says they don't question why the Bible has numbers. Their thought is that the numerology in scripture points to Satan ruling. I don't know how they get there, because the numerology in Scripture is breathtakingly wonderful, okay? Maybe one day we'll do a podcast on that, but not today. But here's the thing, Jonathan; it's suggesting the opposite, it's suggesting that darkness is light. What's the Satanic Strategy here?

Jonathan (00:34:49): Demean God's word to such a point that those over whom you have influence will develop a natural hatred and disdain for it and those who believe in it. Today, Rick, Jews are being attacked in the same way with misinformation.

Rick (00:35:07): Yeah. It's a really sad thing, darkness as light. You have to look at this and say, there's something dreadfully wrong with this picture. What's dreadfully wrong with it is you're following the wrong lead. That's what's happening, and it's subtle and people don't even know it. They just take what's put in front of them. Let's get down to the concrete aspects of how Satan actually works and how his followers actually work. When Jesus was ready to begin his ministry right after his baptism, Satan saw him as a threat and sought to eliminate that threat. How would he do that? Well, Jesus was baptized and went up into the wilderness to fast for 40 days and 40 nights, and to pray, and to be close to his Father, to learn His objectives. The first Satanic Strategy, when Jesus was there by himself, we've got those three temptations. The first strategy is Satan--and we're going to add his followers into this even though they were not there, because they do what their leader does--Satan and his followers tempt based on our human needs. Jonathan, let's go to Matthew 4:2-4:

Jonathan (00:36:10): "And after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that precedes out of the mouth of God." There are two points. First, Jesus did have a human need to eat for he was hungry, a physical temptation. Second, there was also a mental temptation. Satan said, "If you are the son of God;" Satan was trying to rattle him.

Rick (00:36:47): He was, he was. He took the physical, actual human physical weakness, and he built upon it as a way to turn him from the objective. But Jesus answers with Scripture. We don't "live by bread alone." We live by whatever God gives us. The first Satanic Strategy was based on human needs. The second Satanic Strategy here in these temptations is Satan--and again, by extension, his followers--misapply scripture--we just saw that in that Satanic website--for their own gain and power. Let's go to Matthew 4:5-7:

Jonathan (00:37:23): "Then the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you; and on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." He used scripture!

Rick (00:37:44): Yep.

Jonathan (00:37:45): "Jesus said to him, On the other hand, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test." Satan is saying, "Prove it. Show everyone. Do it my way."

Rick (00:37:57): Yeah, "do it my way, and I will guide you." The interesting thing is he's putting things in a perspective to say, "I know your book. I know your book, and here's what your book says." Jesus was wise enough and humble enough to say, "You don't tempt God." Simple. He quoted scripture. He didn't come up with it on his own. He went back to the book that Satan claimed to know. That second strategy is to misapply scripture for his gaining of his own power. The third Satanic Strategy with Jesus in the wilderness is, having already usurped God's authority--that's what Satan had already done, Satan, and again, by extension, his followers--seek loyalty by any devious means possible. Matthew 4:8-11:

Jonathan (00:38:49): 'Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to him, All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Go, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only. Then the devil left him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to him." Satan knew Jesus was coming for a kingdom, so he tried to steer him in a different way, saying, "I'll just give you the kingdoms here and now." Just to be clear, with all three temptations, Jesus is not saying "Worship me." He's saying, "Worship my Father in heaven."

Rick (00:39:32): Right, right. He's going back to God's word. Interesting thing about this temptation though. It says the devil took him to a very high mountain. Symbolically, mountains mean governments in scripture. Perhaps Satan is taking him to a high vantage point to say, "Look at the kingdoms of this world from my perspective, because this is my mountain. I can give them to you. All you have to do, it's really simple. Forget the sacrifice thing. Just bow down and worship me." Jesus' answer was a resounding "Go away! You shall worship the Lord your God only." The loyalty factor is what broke this temptation into pieces.

Jonathan (00:40:13): We know that God bestows His spirit, His power and influence upon His chosen followers. 1 John 4:12-13: "No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His spirit."

Rick (00:40:35): Now we're looking at this and saying, "Okay, Jesus dealt with those temptations. What about us?" Well, God does give His truest followers His spirit, His power, and His influence to work in their lives. God's spirit has worked in the lives of God's chosen throughout the Old and New Testament times. Now, Old Testament was different than the New, but God's spirit was present in the lives of all of them. This gift of the begetting to Jesus' true disciples of God's spirit is evident now in this gospel age. Here's the thing. Satan is always trying to get the upper hand. How do you try to get the upper hand? You look at the person who's got wisdom and might and power and glory and honor and all of that, and you try to copy them. That's exactly what Satan does. Another Satanic Strategy; what he and his evil followers do is, Satan and his demons seek to mimic the working of God's spirit with their own influence.

Jonathan (00:41:38): Demons enter in different ways. First, in the gripping power of their evil suggestions. The word for "entered" is a verb, an action word. It means "to enter; entrance into a condition." Let's read Luke 22:3-4: "And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them." We do not believe that Judas was possessed. Rather, he sold himself over to evil. Anything that lowers pure loyalty to God is sinfulness.

Rick (00:42:19): The "entering" here in this case is Satan and his demons--and folks, listen carefully to this--seek to become centers of influence in our minds. They don't seek to take over everything. They just want to be a center of influence, a place that you stop and consider as you do the rest of whatever your life is. This is one way that they have dramatic influence in our lives. We have to be careful what we allow to be a center of influence and what we say, "Nope, doors closed, completely closed to that." That's one way that Satan enters. There's another way that's much more difficult and much more devious. This next Satanic Strategy is, Satan and his demons enter by overwhelmingly controlling a willing mind. This is deeper, this is bigger. Luke 4:33-35:

Jonathan (00:43:12): This is from the New Revised Standard version: "In the synagogue there was the man who had (which means "to have; that is, to hold") the spirit of an unclean demon (meaning a demonic being), and he cried out with a loud voice, Let us alone! 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. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent, and come out of him! When the demon had thrown him down before them, he came out of him without having done him any harm."

Rick (00:43:49): You have this one example of demonic possession. This is important. This is very different than the previous example. The previous example is, Satan can be center of influence. That can happen in a lot of people's minds. This is not nearly as common, but this is deadly, deadly serious. This man had, he held demonic influence inside of him. He held it and it drove him and it carried him. We want to understand that Jesus came across that and he said, "Be silent. Come out." This demonic influence had to come out, and the first point on this is that Jesus commanded the demon to come out. That word means "to come out from, to separate." Just to be separate from. Then when it says the demon did come out, it's a different word. That means "to go away from." Literally, not only did the demon come out of him, it ran away; not with legs, you know what I mean. It fled because the power of Jesus with God's spirit was too much for him.

Jonathan (00:44:55): Another point, Rick, is the demons are aware of their future destruction if they remain unrepentant.

Rick (00:45:02): They are, they are. Folks, look, demonic possession is a reality. We need to be careful to avoid anything that even remotely gets us to considering such things. If we ever get into a position where we think we're near something like that, get away. This is not something that you have the power or authority to be able to deal with. You have to be very, very careful with these things. Jonathan, let's pull this together now; Revealing Satanic and Demonic Origins and Influences. Where are we now?

Jonathan (00:45:37): Satan and his followers' dark, deceptive, powerful influence can come by way of physical testing, misapplication of godly principles and misapplied loyalty (sentence edited). His influence can manipulate, convince and rationalize one's better judgment. It can also grab hold of and control a willing and unguarded mind.

Rick (00:46:01): That's the thing, a willing and unguarded mind can be controlled. Our third lesson here is to be fearfully, yet faithfully aware of how far and wide Satan and his demons will try and reach.

Jonathan (00:46:15): What are some examples of how we can allow subtle evil influences in our lives?

Rick (00:46:21): When we decide to take anything less than a godly principle and think on it and dwell on it and apply it and "oh, nobody's going to see," or "this is not so bad," or "you know what, this is okay." Whenever we go down the "this is okay" kind of route, maybe what we're doing is we're saying, "I don't need to adhere to godly standards just at this moment. Hey, it's Saturday, it's my day off." We don't have a day off from godly loyalty. Subtlety comes everywhere. You are being bombarded with subtlety every single day through technology. It's everywhere. Examples are: be aware, be on your guard and filter. Absolutely filter and turn things off that are not bringing you higher. That's really how we have to look at this whole perspective here. All in all, this is not a happy message. Because Satan is obsessed with control, we need to be obsessed with godliness.

Jonathan (00:47:27): This is all quite unsettling. How can we be sure that we will be able to stay far away from Satan and his evil followers?

Rick (00:47:36): The formula, the formula for truly staying away from Satan is to truly stay attached to God, our Lord Jesus and godly righteousness. It's a simple formula. As the Bible directly and plainly describes the true evils of satanic influence, it also plainly and directly describes the power and safety of God's care. Even though Satan is "the god of this world," he is not in any way a god over God's people. Please understand that. Please remember that. Please live in that. The principle is simple. To run away from Satan, you need to be running towards godliness. If you're running away and with no direction, you are not running away. You're just stalling. You need to run towards godliness. Let's focus in on this. New Testament warnings focus us on having an awareness of Satan and his objectives. Jonathan, we're going to look at 1 Peter 5:6-9:

Jonathan (00:48:42): "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." Because we all humble ourselves and submit to something, let us be sure we are submitting to God.

Rick (00:49:00): Where am I running to? What am I running from, and where am I running to? Both questions are equally important. Verse 8:

Jonathan (00:49:10): "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Being humble before and trusting in God brings a higher state of caution against darkness.

Rick (00:49:26): What we need to do is we need to be aware that the condition of our mind to be sober means to be settled and to be focused and to be thinking in a mature fashion rather than reacting. We need to be in that sense of stable walking and understanding that the devil is there and we just need to be aware so we can be away. Then verse 9:

Jonathan (00:49:51): "But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world." We are not alone.

Rick (00:50:01): That's a beautiful thought. We are not alone. We have others that we can rely on. When we are being tried and tempted in these areas, folks, it is so important to find someone who is godly that you can trust and say, "Hey, help me walk through this." Because that's how we stay strong. Let's go to, finally, our final quote from the satanic perspective on things from that website. "Most people, due to being systematically programmed and brainwashed, have misplaced faith, do what they're told and do not question. To fully understand and to prove Christianity is a hoax, one must have personal experience in the powers of the mind and soul and do years of intensive research. This is all beyond the average person. All swindles and scams must have one very important factor for them to succeed, the faith of the victim. The extent of the Christianity hoax is mind-boggling. What is on this website is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. We'll be adding more articles soon." Great. Not going to check to see when they come, okay? Just saying. But here's the thing, Jonathan. What they're doing here is they're saying "This takes years. You have to submit yourself to the powers of the mind and the soul and years of intensive research, and most people aren't going to do this. So what's the conclusion? Trust me, trust me. I'm the one telling you this is good. This may be too much for you, but trust me, I know." That's the subtlety, that's the strategy. Let's take a look at this. How is Satan's Strategy bubbling up in this?

Jonathan (00:51:45): After thoroughly discrediting God's word, destroy the possibility for any Christian to be credible on any level. Then tell those who would follow satanic thinking to submit their experiences and mind to digging into, studying and committing to darkness.

Rick (00:52:04): But don't forget the way they describe it. It's too hard, it's too immense, it's too intense, so just take their word for it. Folks, if you've listened to us for any period of time, our whole point of this podcast is, prove it yourself. Open the scriptures. Study the scriptures. We're not telling you what, we're encouraging you to find out what. It's a very different approach. Why? We don't have anything to be afraid of. We don't have anything to cover or to hide. This is just truth. What they show you is an erroneous way to look at things so they can take you and keep you away from godliness. That's their objective. If that's their objective, how do we set up ourselves to stay as far away from all of this as possible? We're going to suggest five basic points here. Jonathan, what's first?

Jonathan (00:52:53): Know that this battle is much bigger than you or I can fight. Ephesians 6:12: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

Rick (00:53:12): This is too big for me. Say it with me: This is too big for me. Understand this scripture is telling us that this is spiritual witness, spiritual power, spiritual forces, spiritual wickedness, high powers that we don't even comprehend. They can crush us like a little bug. We need to understand it's beyond us. Now that's a little scary, so let's go to point number two:

Jonathan (00:53:43): Arm yourself, realizing that to be partially armed is not to be fully protected. Ephesians 6:13: "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."

Rick (00:54:01): Be armed but understand; be fully armed. Don't mess around, no halfway games. If you want to be sound in your spirituality and your godliness, be fully armed. You know what the next point's going to be, because It's going to be all about all of that armor. Point number three:

Jonathan (00:54:20): Understand how spiritual armor works as a complete unit to withstand spiritual wickedness. Ephesians 6:14-18, starting with verse 14: "Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth..."

Rick (00:54:35): Alright, where does the armor begin? With truth. Truth is what binds our armor together. This girdle of truth, this belt of truth holds everything together. Let truth-- folks, let truth, not desire, not curiosity, not emotion-- let truth hold your armor in place; godly truth.

Jonathan (00:54:59): Continuing: "...and having put on the breastplate of righteousness..."

Rick (00:55:03): This breastplate is the protection for vital organs. Our heart and all that feeds our lives are safe under that breastplate when we stand in and for godly righteousness in the face of spiritual wickedness. Remember, the breastplate is held in place by what?

Jonathan (00:55:21): The girdle.

Rick (00:55:22): Of truth. It's God's truth that holds it in place. Don't fool yourself. Don't settle for anything less. God's truth holds it in place. What's next?

Jonathan (00:55:34): Verse 15: "...and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;"

Rick (00:55:40): The truth of the gospel can and will stand against evil. We need to take it everywhere with us. It's called the gospel of peace. Why? Because Satan is a god of destruction, a god of chaos. The gospel of peace is to say, "I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." It is "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." That's the peace of God. That's what we want driving us to stand against, to stand against the chaos of satanic thought of demonic influence. What's next?

Jonathan (00:56:20): Verse 16: "in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."

Rick (00:56:29): It's strong faith--not credulity, not emotionalism, not "I want it my way," not "well, he said it's okay, so it must be"--but it's strong faith, again, in godly truth in scripture that will protect us from satanic attacks. You notice that this shield of faith will extinguish the arrows of the evil one. It doesn't just block them, it puts them out. You have to just understand what faith in God through scripture can do. We are in a position, folks, now, where Satanic influence is around us. It's everywhere. Face it! We've gone through how did it get there? We've established all of that. This faith--and this is the shield, this is that great big shield of faith--so Jonathan, when you and I stand next to each other and behind our shields of faith, your shield protects me and my shield protects you. Then when Julie stands behind both of us, she can put her shield over us and then the three of us protect each other. That's what this kind of shield does. That's the kind of faith we're talking about. What's next?

Jonathan (00:57:34): "And take the helmet of salvation..."

Rick (00:57:37): The helmet of salvation. This has to do with our heads. Knowing, accepting and dwelling on the salvation of Jesus protects our minds from the power of satanic influences creeping into our thoughts, allowing satanic thinking to become a center of influence and plant itself, maybe when we're not looking. That's what this helmet of salvation can help us stay away from. What's next?

Jonathan (00:58:04): "...and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God."

Rick (00:58:07): Alright, the word of God. How much more can we say it? It comes down to God's word. Fight back! But not in your own power, not in your own emotional reaction. Fight back with God's word.

Jonathan (00:58:23): Just like Jesus did in the three temptations.

Rick (00:58:26): Yes, yes, yes, exactly!

New Speaker (00:58:29): You couldn't get a better example than that. Then finally verse 18:

Jonathan (00:58:33): "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." Pray. Always pray.

Rick (00:58:48): Always, always. All of this is prayerfully done. Gird yourself with the full armor of God. That's point three. What's the fourth point?

Jonathan (00:58:59): Know that the demons know. Act on what you know. James 2:19-20: "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?"

Rick (00:59:16): You have to act on what you believe in. But you know what's interesting? Says "You believe that God is one. The demons also believe and shudder." What does that mean? I think perhaps what it means is that the demons understand that we don't have to have all of these different gods. There is one God, and that means He is impervious to any kind of attack because He doesn't have a weakness here or there. That's what makes them shudder. We have to hold onto that and then act on the faith that we have. Our last point, Jonathan:

Jonathan (00:59:46): Claim God's promises of protection for your own. Psalms 91:3-5: "For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day."

Rick (01:00:11): What a beautiful promise! Jonathan, the Bible is full of these kinds of promises, that if we delve into the scriptures and we live in those scriptures, those promises can really help us to stand on the right kind of ground, not the wrong kind, but the right kind of ground. Claim those promises and allow God's protection to be in us, around us and about us. So these are five really important points for putting the demonic influences that are in our world in their place. Where is their place? Far away from us. One final scripture to encourage us of God's presence in this spiritual battle; let me give you some context. When the Apostle Paul testified before King Agrippa, he told the king of his previous really angry life and his conversion to following Jesus. Remember, he was a Christian killer. In his testimony, Paul expanded on the details of what Jesus told him the day that he was converted. Let's drop in on Acts 26:16-19:

Jonathan (01:01:15): "But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision."

Rick (01:01:53): The last part of that, he's describing what happened, and I love that part because he says, "I was called to open their eyes to the Gentiles who were worshiping paganism and satanic things, to turn from darkness to light, from the dominion of Satan to God." That's the key. You can't have both. If you have one foot in each world, you are in the darkness. Face it. That's the way it is. He says, "I was not disobedient to this vision." Jonathan, wrapping this up, Revealing Satanic and Demonic Origins and Influence, where are we?

Jonathan (01:02:29): Satanic and demonic power and influence are real and prevalent in our world. While this should be unsettling, it should also be motivating. Let us stand for truth, righteousness, godliness and integrity as we resist these influences through God's grace, strength, and armor.

Rick (01:02:50): This, folks, is what we're called to do, to resist such things, but not on our own power, not of our own accord. We have to stand in God through Christ. We have to be armed. We have to be ready. We have to stand together because the battle against satanic and demonic influence is bigger than any one of us. Make sure you stand where you need to stand so you can give God the glory in your loyalty to Him. Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions in this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode, change of tune here. "Are Christians Really Baptized Into Christ?" We'll talk about that next week.

Final Notes (01:03:38): copyright @2023 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.