The DeGRAFF FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH
State Route 235/ 100 East Miami Street
DeGraff, Ohio 43318
Phone: (937) 585-4463
James R. Roby, Pastor
WHAT SATAN CAN AND CANNOT DO
by Pastor James Roby
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith..." (1 Peter 5:8-9). As a child of God, you need to know that Satan is your adversary! He comes to steal, kill and destroy. The Word of God says he is a liar, a murderer, and a thief. (John 8:44, 10:10). Being the chief enemy of the true Christian, he will do everything in his power to cause you to stumble and fall. It is his intention to ruin you and everything that you care about. Satan's greatest weapon, however, is the weapon of bluff. He is a deceiver, and would like to convince us that he is far more powerful than he really is! He will boast that he can do anything, when in reality, he is very limited. We should not be ignorant of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). We need to know, from the scriptures, what he really can and cannot do!
HE CAN CAUSE YOU TROUBLE. In 2 Corinthians 12:7, we are told exactly what Satan did to the Apostle Paul...providing him with a thorn in the flesh. This "thorn" was not a disease, as many modern Bible scholars teach, but was a MESSANGER OF SATAN... a demon spirit sent to buffet Paul. While this spirit certainly could have brought a disease, as some teach, it was much bigger than that. This foul spirit had a mission... to buffet (attack, trouble, bring problems to) the Apsotle Paul with the intention of hindering his walk with the Lord and his ministry. A list of the troubles caused by this demon is given in 2 Corinthians 11. (Paul was beaten, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked, in perils continuously, weariness, pain, hunger, thirst, etc.).
Satan attempted to stop the Apostle Paul by causing conflict in his life. HE WILL BRING THE SAME KIND OF OPPOSITION TO YOU! He will place every possible obstacle in your path in an attempt to defeat you. In fact, the closer you get to God, the more Satan will try to stop you. BUT GOD WILL ALWAYS GIVE VICTORY, if you will keep trusting in what Jesus Christ did for you at the cross. Satan can trouble you, but thanks to the blood of the cross, the trusting believer will emerge triumphant every time! "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ..." (2 Corinthians 2:14).
"And they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb..." (Revelation 12:11).
Secondly,
HE CAN TEMPT YOU. There are those who teach that a person can get to the place spiritually where Satan can no longer bother him with temptation. This, however, is a lie. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself was tempted while on this Earth. (Hebrews 4:15; Matthew 4). As long as a Christian lives in this world, Satan will tempt him to do wrong and to go the wrong way. The devil will plot, scheme, and probe for some area of weakness, some place of coldness in the heart, that he might exploit. BUT, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO YIELD TO HIS TEMPTING! Jesus Christ, though His shed blood and work on the cross, has provided for you everything you will ever need to live in victory over temptation and sin! Satan can tempt you...but he cannot force you to yield. He can entice, lure, plead, threaten and seduce; but he CANNOT violate your free will! When he comes "seeking whom he may devour," through Christ we can resist him and say no to his pressure to transgress. God has given us mighty weapons (the blood of Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Ghost, the Word of God, the Whole Armour, etc.) so that we can win every battle! Satan is defeated, and sin shall not have dominion over you! (Romans 6:14).
SATAN CANNOT STOP A SINNER FROM BEING SAVED, IF THAT SINNER DESIRES TO COME TO JESUS CHRIST! If a lost person wants to come to Jesus Christ for eternal life, there is not a thing that the devil can do about it! If he could...the devil would have stopped every man in history from ever being saved. , But, the price has been paid and the Way has been provided. God will not allow the devil to keep someone from being born again if they truly want to be. "And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17).
SATAN CANNOT CONQUER THE CHRISTIAN WHO WILL AVAIL HIMSELF OF GOD'S POWER. "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4). Jesus Christ (Who lives in the believer) is stronger than the devil (who is the god of this world)! If the believer will be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, by trusting exclusively in the provision of the cross...he will be victorious. Satan's most horrible attacks will crumble before the mighty power of Jesus Christ! Satan's best laid schemes will fail as the believer is led each step of the way by the precious Holy Ghost! Remember, Satan's greatest weapon is BLUFF. He would like to make you think that he is as powerful as God. But he's not! He is defeated! Jesus Christ won the victory over him on the cross. We partake of that victory by being born again and trusting in the savior every step of the way. Are you battling today? Keep your eyes on Jesus and He will see you through! "...we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." (Romans 8:37). "...nailing it to His cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:14-15).
