What Power Does Satan Possess? A Bible Study

How much power does Satan possess?  Are there dangers that Christians face from him?  What about demons, what kind of power do they possess?

An Angel of Light

I believe that Satan’s greatest danger and the ultimate in power that he has is when he preaches behind the pulpit.  When you hear sermons that never mention the wrath of God, the sinfulness of sin, the blood of the Lamb of God, the cross, Jesus Christ being the central focus of praise, worship, and preaching, and that the Bible is never preached out of, especially verse by verse, but instead sermons are topological messages, then you are not hearing a preacher from God. If he is not from God, what other agenda could he possibly be speaking from?  What I mean by topological is that topics are the focus of the messages; how to have a happier life, how to improve your financial standing, how you can improve relations with others, etc.  These are not bad in themselves but if they become the focus, then sin, repentance, the cross, Jesus Christ, and the authority and the inerrancy of the Word of God will be missing and the church will not be fed.

Some sermons do not teach about submission to Christ, obedience to God’s commands, repentance, confession, and salvation by grace alone.  If a pastor is not preaching these essentials and the ones I previously mentioned, then that church doesn’t have a pastor.  They have a people pleaser that is more interested in tickling ears rather than using the Word of God to help believers live lives that are being sanctified, pleasing to God, and growing in grace and knowledge.  Satan doesn’t come up to us with a pitched fork, horns, a pointy tail, wearing a red suit.  No, “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14).  If you are not hearing the gospel then you are hearing from “false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ” (2 Cor 11:13).

Beware of Exorcisms

Do you remember reading the story of some men trying to cast out a demon in the New Testament?  The account is recorded in Acts 19:13-16: “Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”  They had no idea who they were messing with because demonic power is dangerous stuff to try and confront.  When people take part in séances, play with Ouija boards, and search for ghosts in haunted areas, they don’t have any idea about the risk they are facing when confronting the powers of darkness.  The Jews that jumped on these demons in Acts 19 were easily overcome by the powers of darkness who have supernatural strength.  Who do we think we are that we can go up to Satan or the demons and rebuke him because even “when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you” (Jude 1:9).  It’s one thing to rebuke another human, but Satan?  Not even Michael the archangel did that!  Nowhere in the Bible is it taught that we can rebuke Satan or the demons.  Only Jesus Christ or an angel from God has the authority to do that.

The Demon Possessed Man

Talk about the powers of darkness!  When Jesus confronted a demon, or really a “demons” possessed man, just read about the power that he had which is recorded in Luke chapter 8 where “Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places” (Luke 8:29).  The strength of these demons was enough to break iron chains! Jesus asked what his name was and the demon said “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him” (Luke 8:30).  Now if you don’t know how many a legion is, it is likely referring to the number that a Roman legion had which was up to 5,400 soldiers.  Imagine the power of a Roman legion (up to 5,400 rock-hard, iron-fisted, rugged, battle-tested Roman soldiers) and you can imagine the power that these demons had.  Naturally, they were no match for Jesus Christ Who is God and as Creator, had the power of the Creator over the created.

When Daniel had prayed for three weeks and received no answer but his answer finally came he discovered that the reason it was delayed was due to spiritual warfare.  The angel came to Daniel and said, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them “But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia” (Dan 10:12-13).  It took three weeks for the angel with Daniel’s answer to his prayer to get through and the angel needed some backup.

Satan’s Power

Paul warned of “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders” (2 Thess 2:9).  So Satan has power and he can empower the “coming of the lawless one” so apparently, he may be able to transfer or share some of his power with others who are doing his evil work who are in cooperation with him.  In fact we know that “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19).

In the vision of John in the Book of Revelation he writes that he “saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty” (Rev 16:13-14).  This shows that demonic spirits and naturally, Satan, can perform many signs and wonders, so that means that they must have great power.  We cannot forget that Satan is craftier than any other created being (Gen 3:1).

Conclusion

For the believer, they have no fear of Satan because Jesus has defeated the Enemy at the cross, however we should be putting on the armor of God every single day (Eph 6:10-18).  John assures us that “you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4) and since this “he that is in the world” in the context of this chapter is Satan, we can rest assured that “he who is in you is greater” and that “He” is the Spirit of God.  Satan and the Spirit of God cannot occupy the same space for God, as Creator, has infinitely more power than anything that He has ever created.  That doesn’t mean that the believer cannot be under spiritual attack but defeat or possession?  No.   The fact is that “the prince of this world now stands condemned” (John 16:11).  Obviously, the “prince (or ruler) of this world” is Satan (1 John 5:19) but he “now stands condemned,” but if you have never repented and trusted in Him who defeated the Devil, he is still your father (John 8:44-45).  Repent or you will have to pay for your own sins.  Read Romans 10:9-13 and see that you must be saved and that Jesus is the one and only way (Acts 4:12).

Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book  Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon