I really hate satan...

WEll,
we are protected from Satan by Jesus's blood. There is no reason to fear him. Anyway, never give in to Satan. I hate Satan,too.

I agree with you Martin. I get sad when i attend some church services where more than half of the time the prayers and sermons are focused upon Satan. Not in the worship sense, of course but in terms of rebuking etc.. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it. But to spend so much focus on Satan is not good.

The devil is not omnipresent like God. As you said, he is not God's equal, only a created being, albeit powerful, and can't be compared to Him.

Cheers,

YM

BTW, I can't remember whether I welcomed you to the forum. But in case I haven't - WELCOME! I hope you'll get some benefit and also be able to bless other people with your Christian insight.

Originally posted by Martin
I think satan gets far too much coverage.....

He would like for you to think of him more highly than you ought. Comparing Him to God is like comparing a grain of sand to the size of the universe - there is no comparison.

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Originally posted by Yauming
I agree with you Martin. I get sad when i attend some church services where more than half of the time the prayers and sermons are focused upon Satan. Not in the worship sense, of course but in terms of rebuking etc.. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it. But to spend so much focus on Satan is not good.

The devil is not omnipresent like God. As you said, he is not God's equal, only a created being, albeit powerful, and can't be compared to Him.

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This is where the great hymns of old can teach us some practical biblical theology about these matters. I love the Martin Luther hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." The words ring true here:

"A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal."

Here we see Satan's power is indeed great and without equal on the earth.
Verse 3 is the exclamation of victory:

"And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us: The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him."

Praise God for His deliverance!

God Bless

It is true that Satan is not omniscient nor omnipresent, but this scripture proves his power:

Jude 1

8 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.

9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke you!''

10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.

This shows that even an archangel who is far more powerful than we are needs to call on God to deal with Satan. He is a very dangerous being of darkness not to be trifled with.

I have never attended a church where half the sermons were about satan. That indeed would be odd.
Some of us are compelled to teach christians about spiritual warfare. That does not mean we dwell on satan or are concerned about his influence in our lives. Being aware of spiritual warfare is helpful in our daily walk in Christ. Any Christian whom is unaware is in danger. I find that Christians who object to discussing satan's tactics are those who believe in "once saved always saved" and preterists, who think satan is bound. There is much in the Bible, NT included, which speaks of spiritual warfare, so why people don't want you to discuss it is unknown to me. You can't be a good soldier if you don't know your enemy. You are not safe from danger if you don't believe any danger exists. We discuss it for other's safety, with love.

Debbie, just because someone believes in Perseverance of the Saints doesn't mean that he isn't aware of spiritual warfare. In fact, being a Reformed thinker, I am HIGHLY aware and cautious concerning the spiritual battleground. There are some that pervert Perseverance of the Saints, taking it as "fire insurance", thinking they can do anything because they think they are shielded from Hell. But when someone continues in habitual sin, thus abusing the concept of Perseverance of the Saints for selfish gain, they are most likely not a truly regenerated, reborn Christian.

Saying "half of the sermons are about satan" would be an incorrect claim.

Nonetheless, it does happen from time to time, that the preacher or prayer goes overboard about satan and the saying "I rebuke you satan this.... satan that .... and ..... satan ...." I don't fellowship with those sort of people nowadays.

I think we need to be aware of satan and his power, ie that "he prowls around like a roaring lion". But at the rate some people are talking about satan, you would think incorrectly that he was the equal of God.

As for those people who think that satan is a figment of someone's imagination- they are equally wrong too.

Cheers,

YM

Originally posted by Debbie
I have never attended a church where half the sermons were about satan. That indeed would be odd.
Some of us are compelled to teach christians about spiritual warfare. That does not mean we dwell on satan or are concerned about his influence in our lives. Being aware of spiritual warfare is helpful in our daily walk in Christ. Any Christian whom is unaware is in danger. I find that Christians who object to discussing satan's tactics are those who believe in "once saved always saved" and preterists, who think satan is bound. There is much in the Bible, NT included, which speaks of spiritual warfare, so why people don't want you to discuss it is unknown to me. You can't be a good soldier if you don't know your enemy. You are not safe from danger if you don't believe any danger exists. We discuss it for other's safety, with love.

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Rom 16:20
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
(NAU)

1 Pet 5:8-11
8 Be of sober {spirit} be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 But resist him, firm in {your} faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen {and} establish you.
11 To Him {be} dominion forever and ever. Amen.
(NAU)

We are more than coquerer's but we are in a fight that will not end till God crushes satan under Our feet. The Holy Spirit in us gives us all the power we need but I will be the first to admit that sometimes demonic power can oppress us for a time. This is temporary and the most certain thing about a dark stormy night is that the sun will rise and the dark clouds turn a brilliant color.....and oh yes, the birds do sing again.

satan was created for a purpose and God knew what he was doing befor he ever did it. But that would be another thread.

Minor correction to a misunderstanding. Satan is a title, meaning enemy, and can be applied to any of the fallen angels/unclean spirits. Lucifer is the name of the leader of these fallen angels. Lucifer the individual is limited, ie not omnipresent. But Satan (the enemy) is always present.

I would agree that Satan's influence is overrated. He is definitely a force in this world, and it's his, but he isn't omnipotent, and he isn't omnipresent. His strength is limited. Oftentimes things that are blamed on Satan or demons are merely due to our selfish and greedy nature.

-JeTmAn

Hmm....I see.

>>)! Don't you know that Satan "tinkers" with anything that is productive for God??

Jesus defeated Satan and so can we. When our church goes to Africa as many as 250,000 people will show up for a crusade. Now to be sure, those people are under heavy bondage to witchcraft. The pastor has to take on every one of those demons. Now to be sure, he is getting help from the Angels under the command of Micheal. But still if he can take on that much, I am sure you can I can handle the little tiny bit the enemy may throw our way, with God's help and the Blood of Jesus of course.

It is only going to take one angel to bind satan and throw him into the bottomless pit. It could just as easily be a man who binds the enemy, because the power comes from God. Yes, it takes holy, sanctifed living, but it can be done. Satan is not going to "go away" because once we learn how to be free, then we will need to go and help others learn how to be free. Thanks, johnR7

dont we all????

When you first become a Christian you have made Satan mad. You were doing his bidding before , now thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we are now doing (as best we can) His wishes. Satan will do everything in his power to foil this. We must not underestimate him. We just need to ask the Lord to help us and He will. Smiles

Yes. I agree that Satan loses themoment you becomes Christians, and that often, he is portrayed to be more powerful than he really is.