What sets Baptists apart from all other Christians? Many might get very angry with me for this – it’s certainly not politically correct – but what sets us apart from everyone else is our relationship to, and acceptance of, the Word of God. We believe the Bible, all the Bible, and that’s why we are Baptists, while others are Methodists, Lutherans, Catholics and interdenominationalists.
And because we accept what the Bible says, it means that we believe in an actual, personal living devil. We know that there is a literal Hell and a Lake of Fire, because the Bible talks about them – while many Episcopalians reject the idea or don’t know for sure. We believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, because the Bible says that He was. We know that God is in sovereign control of all things, including salvation, because the Bible teaches it. The Bible says it, we believe it, and that settles it. Or to be more exact – the Bible says it, and that settles it.
Do you think that Lord Jesus, after weeks of fasting, was surprised when the devil appeared before Him? Laying aside the fact that Christ was probably expecting a visit from Satan, even if he wasn’t, He should not have been surprised. Not only did Christ know the Word of God, but those two had been combatants before. One of many cases was that of Job. You could say that in Jesus’ expectation of attack, Christ was a Baptist. He believed in a literal devil, just as all true Baptists do.
Do you have a Baptist Devil?
C.S. Lewis was a very real person; a writer, and a very smart person – as far education goes. Sadly, he was so smart sometimes that he sometimes pictured his genius above that of the Lord Himself. I mean that sometimes he laid aside the obvious words of God because he couldn’t understand them. His books on philosophy and theology have be read with caution and with an open Bible. But his books of imagination, his fiction are sometimes delightful. And one of his more imaginative and delightful books is “Screwtape Letters.”
The Screwtape letters are imaginary messages from an esteemed and influential demon to his neophyte nephew. They are designed to show young “Wormwood” how to get the best of his “patient” – his assignment. In the process, these letters cryptically reveal the wiles of the evil one. In one letter Screwtape writes: “My Dear Wormwood, I wonder you should ask me whether it is essential to keep the patient in ignorance of your own existence… Our policy, for the moment is to conceal ourselves. We are really faced with a cruel dilemma. When the humans disbelieve in our existence we lose all the pleasing results of direct terrorism… On the other hand, when they believe in us, we cannot make them materialists and skeptics.”
Most people do not believe in a real personality called “Satan,” or in the work of demons. They are skeptics and materialists. Some people believe that evil and the Devil are a part of the refuse of evolution. Some believe that they are just the backside of goodness – making goodness complete. Some deny that there really is anything evil in this world. Some make believe that demons are aliens from other planets. Hollywood often makes them into unbelievable but scarey works of fiction, which further confuse people and makes our neighbors into disbelievers.
But let me assure you – on authority of the Bible – that Satan is real and demons are real. What do these eleven verse teach us? It was an intelligent, wicked personality who spoke to Eve there in garden and to Jesus in the wilderness. In Job 1:12, Satan, the rebel being, spoke to God, the holy Being. Jesus later called Satan the “prince of this world” (John 14:30). John tells us that the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of a very real Devil. If Satan is nothing but a power, why does Acts 26:18 speak of the power of Satan? That is like speaking of the power of the power. II Corinthians 4:4 says that the person of Satan blinds men’s minds. Zechariah 3:1 shows Satan standing at the right hand of the Lord resisting and accusing the saints. Satan is real, a being with personality, intelligence, guile and lust for the things of God.
There are millions of people who deny the reality of Satan, but who confidently affirm that Jesus of Nazareth was a good man, who was trying to guide us into moral and positive living. But if what Christ teaches us about Satan, and what He reveals about the Devil is not true, then that would make him a liar. Like every other Bible doctrine, if this isn’t true, then none of the Bible is true.
But then why is the Devil described as a dragon, as a serpent, as a lion and such things? Only to illustrate certain of his malevolent characteristics. He is a dragon in brutality, a serpent in craftiness, and a lion in strength, etc.
Satan is a very real being, because the Bible says that he is – and this temptation shows that he is.
The Bible clearly shows the great physical power of this creature. He whisked Christ Jesus out of the wilderness and into Jerusalem. From there he carried Him to some far off distant mountain, and then he some how revealed to Him all the kingdoms of the earth. It is a mistake to make Satan equal to God in anything, but it is a greater mistake to make him merely equal to man. He was able to bring Job to the brink of the grave, after he took everything the man possessed.
All we must do is look at the power of his lesser associates. Mark 5 describes man called “Legion,” who couldn’t be bound even with chains. Acts 19 tells us about a demon-possessed man who had strength to overcome seven able-bodied men. If the Devil of your theology and the demons in your doctrine are not mighty in power then you aren’t really a Baptist.
Some time ago I read the account of Mexican woman named Pachita. Pachita was a demon-possessed woman, posing as a servant of Jehovah in Mexico City. She has counterparts in many places throughout the Roman Catholic world – the Philippines, South America, Spain, etc. The book that I read was written by a woman assistant and a full believer who worked with Pachita for fourteen years. During that time she witnessed and participated in over 200 operations, including – the removal of brain tumors, hernia operations, serious cancer operations, caesarean sections, heart surgeries and more. This woman testified that every one of those was done without anesthetics and usually with a rusty knife or ordinary scissors. Rarely was there any kind of pain at all – only the sensation of Pachita’s hands digging into the flesh. And often the patient was awake watching the surgery, and among them were medical doctors. Together Pachita and this woman removed apparent curses, things like: handfuls of live worms from a woman’s stomach, a white arrowhead from someone’s heart, a black furry rock from singer’s throat, and yards of hideous rags stomach. This was done in the name of Christ and under the blanket of Roman Catholicism, but Christ had nothing to do with it.
You may choose to scoff at these things, perhaps justifably, but you need to know that Satan has great power. Have you ever heard of the 1972 Philip experiment? The Toronto Society of Psychical Research made up the story of a ghost named Philip. They created a completely imaginary person who died a violent death. But they gathered together over a period of several weeks, with the intention of concentrating and visualizing on this imaginary person. To their horror – and delight – one day as they did their best to invite demonic visitation, the room in which they were meeting was torn apart by invisible spiritual forces.
Before her death in 1970, Eileen Garrett was known as “The greatest living medium.” Many demons spoke through her to such well-known people as G. B. Shaw, H.G. Wells, and Carl Jung. Those Demons gave her the ability to speak and to write fluently in Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Greek, Latin, Coptic, French, German and Italian. It is said that Mrs. Garrett hated her possession and begged someone to prove that she was merely crazy. Every kind test possible was given to her, but she failed them all – or passed them all – according to the administrator’s point of view. When she was possessed, she became a different person – her blood count, clotting time, respiration, pulse, heart pressure and EEG were all that of a different person.
Satan and his demons have incredible miraculous abilities, but we don’t have to rely on the reports of the demon possessed. We have the account of the devil’s temptation of Christ.
Do you have a Baptistic Devil?
Through some work that I was doing, I learned about the psychic healers of Philippines. The Catholic people there are convinced that some miracles are actually those of Christ. But they are clearly the miracles of Hell. I read of woman rescued from demons, after being led into it through the pseudo-science of “mind-control.” She asked that her spirit guide be Jesus himself, and sure enough Jesus appeared. But that Jesus sometimes appeared as a horrible werewolf creature with blood dripping from his mouth. The explanation given to her was that good and evil are not that much different. This woman’s demon was not afraid to pretend to be the Son of God Himself. But of course, that day in the wilderness, Satan couldn’t hide himself from the Saviour.
II Corinthians 11:14 tells us not to be surprised if Satan appears as an angel of light. These are not parabolic or allegorical words – words without meaning. A Scotsman saw a Catholic painting of the temptation of Christ, and he knew that the Lord was victorious in that confrontation. This picture had Satan depicted as a hideous monster, with a terrifying appearance. The Scot said: “If that chiel cam’ tae me in such an ugly shape, I think he’d hae a teugh job wi’ me too.”
Ugly or terrifying is not the way he comes to us; he puts on his best suit and disguises. When Satan did his deadliest work with Eve in the Garden, he didn’t come as a hideous monster, but rather as most beautiful thing world. The serpent of that day was not the creature that he is today. Perhaps Satan’s best disguise can be seen in mirror. He is most effective when he comes in the disguise of your own flesh.
Your devil is not Baptistic, if he comes easily recognizable.
Why else would Paul tell us to put on the armor of God? “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
Satan can be beaten as we see in this chapter. But let me assure you that you will be whipped every time, if you attempt to face him alone. The very first time you pull out a Ouija board you are asking for demon possession or oppression. If you play the Mind-Control game you’re inviting spiritual disaster. Thousands of people have permitted themselves to be hypnotized and have become demonized. There are seemingly innocent games which open doorways to Satan and his demons. You cannot play with the occult without some serious repercussions.
I don’t care if you’re a Christian, a Catholic, a Mormon or a Muslim – Satan and satanism is not a toy. But if we draw nigh unto God, and then resist the Devil, there is victory. When we come back to study our Saviour’s response to Satan, I think that you’ll see how even He drew closer to His heavenly father. Even Christ Jesus turned to His Father and to the Word of God to thwart Satan’s attacks.