Marina was a teenager when she became a spiritist medium. When I met her, she was 25 and already bound by Satan and evil spirits. The first three weeks of those months that several other believers and I lived with Marina and her husband were a time of terrible spiritual battle.
Every evening we laid hands on Marina, praying for her deliverance. The evil spirits tried to kill her and also to harm us, but they couldn't. We resisted the Satanic forces and pleaded the protection of the blood of Jesus. Slowly the evil spirits left. The power of God was greater and soon Marina was completely free! She could tell everyone, "Greater is God that is in me, than Satan or any evil spirit in the world!"
Marina became a member of God's family, part of the church that we have just studied about. Only God controlled her and only the Holy Spirit lived in her.
Perhaps you. too, have seen the power of Satan working. But you don't have to be afraid. The power of God is greater! In this lesson we will learn about the forces of the spirit world and the protection that we as believers have in Christ.
SATAN AND EVIL SPIRITS
Satan is a wicked angel who was cast out of heaven because he wanted to exalt himself above God. Isaiah 14:14-15 says, "You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead."
The bad angels who followed him met a like fate: "God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell" (2 Peter 2:4). Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18). Satan (sometimes called Lucifer or the devil) tries to turn men and women away from serving the living God. First Peter 5:8 warns us, "Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour."
Evil spirits work with Satan to hurt and destroy people. Matthew 8:28-34 tells of two men who were driven insane because they were possessed by evil spirits or demons. But the power of God has always been greater than the power of the devil. Jesus showed that power by casting the demons out of the men.
"When evening came. People brought to Jesus many who had demons in them. Jesus drove out the evil spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. He did this to make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said, 'He himself took our sickness and carried away our diseases'" (Matthew 8:16-17).
When Christ comes to set up His kingdom on earth, Satan will be cast into hell.
"Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20:10).
When you are faced by temptations from Satan or are in danger because of evil spirits, you can stand against him. James 4:7 says, "Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you."
One way to resist the devil is to say it out loud. You could say something like this: "I resist the devil. He has no power over me because I am a child of God. I am covered and protected by the blood of Jesus that has overcome Satan and all his evil angels."
"Our brothers won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed" (Revelation 12:11).
As we will study in the next section, God sends His angels to be of service to you. You have nothing to fear if you are a child of God!
VERSE OF THE DAY
Our brothers won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed.
- Revelation 12:11
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