Satan

Lying Wonders

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9)

Paul wrote to the Christians at Thessalonica that in the last days before Jesus Christ returns that great deceiver, Satan, will be as busy as ever trying to deceive people. Part of his repertoire will be “signs and wonders” or miracles. There is sufficient warning in the Bible to make us aware that not all miracles have their origin in God. In Deuteronomy 13 Israel is warned against assuming that all miracles are of heavenly origin; they may have another source. By what measure were they were told to test the author of the miracle? The measure given is the Word of God, the Bible.

On a number of occasions this writer has either heard of or observed events that were miraculous. Many of these carry the mark of God and are not contrary to the Word of God. However, there have been some in which the context reveals that they were not of heavenly origin.

Can Satan originate miracles? The Bible attests that he can. He was able to copy the first three miracles that Moses performed in Egypt (Exodus 7:12 – rods became serpents; v 22 – water to blood; 8:7 – increased the number of frogs). We should not assume that these were the only miracles he originated. Satan performed miraculous feats in the temptations of Christ (Matthew 4) and he will do so in the tribulation period in order to deceive people (Revelation 13:13).

There is every reason in Scripture for us to test miracles against God’s Word just as Israel was commanded to do and not just accept all miracles as being of heavenly origin.

Satan’s purpose in performing miracles is always to deceive gullible unlearned people, including saints, who are not well grounded in the Word of God. We ought not to be surprised when those in religions (even those nominally Christian) with a high degree of superstition in their make up are easily seduced but it is sad when true believers are seduced by a miracle that does not have its origin in God.

How can we discern the origin of a miracle? We may by careful study and comparison with God’s word. The alternative is to be deceived.

Too Much Credit

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4)

In this letter of John he is addressing people who have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. The One who is in them is Jesus Christ as testified in his Gospel (cf. John 1:12, 13). The purpose of this letter is not to save people from sin and death (His Gospel has that purpose (cf. John 20:31)) but that those who are saved may know it and live in the absolute assurance of it.

The one who is in the world is the devil who opposes God and all who would follow Jesus Christ.

It would seem that some Christians give Satan too much credit to the point that it seems that they believe that he is a match for Jesus Christ. The outworking of this is that they live in fear of him. There is a lot more than can be written in this space but here is a starting point if you are at all in fear of Satan:

  1. Satan is not omnipotent (all powerful). He is a created being and has great limitations on his power. His Creator gave him both scope and limitations and he is bound by them.
  2. He is not omnipresent (present in all places at the same time). As a created being he is able to be in only one place at a time. He may give the impression of being every where at once but that is because he is not physically limited as we are and he has hoards of demons who like to usurp his place.
  3. Neither is he omniscient (all knowing). He does not know every thing and he certainly has no more knowledge of the future than is revealed in the Bible. Again, he has limitations.
  4. Satan is not eternal. He has a beginning like all created beings and the Bible reveals his end – the lake of fire forever – and he knows it (Revelation 20:10).

On the other hand, Jesus Christ is all of these things. Being the Creator (Colossians 1:15-18) He created the angel Lucifer in whose heart was found pride and he became known as the devil called Satan.

Who is greater, the Creator or the created being? The gap is incomparably infinite.

Satan is not able to touch the one in whom Christ dwells without the consent of Jesus Christ or that person (through yielding to temptation). If Jesus gives that consent then it will have scope and limitations that are for our good and God’s glory.

We have nothing to fear from Satan because Christ who is in us is infinitely greater. Indeed, Satan ultimately serves Christ’s interests in His people.