- [Narrator] The scriptures give immeasurable evidence
of the personality of the devil and his activity
in the affairs of men.
During the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth on this planet,
He referred to Satan at least 25 times
and the scriptures referred to him 114 times.
Surely, Christ was not dealing in imagination,
nor trading in fairy tales.
Jesus exposed the arch deceiver to all mankind,
so that men might know the truth and be free
from the power of the devil.
All through the scriptures, from Genesis through Revelation,
is very careful to explain
the power and the works of the devil.
Satan's existence is taught in seven Old Testament books.
Genesis, 1 Chronicles, Job,
Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah.
Every New Testament writer speaks of his existence
and 29 passages in the gospels refer to Satan.
The devil works through nature.
In the book of Job, which is known as the oldest book
in the world, we observe the power of the devil
in several strange manifestations.
In chapter one, Satan went forth from the presence of God
and caused lightning to destroy Job's herds and flocks
for the express purpose of destroying
his faith and confidence in God.
When this failed, he sought God's further permission
and directed a dreadful wind, like a tornado or hurricane,
to sweep down on Job's children and kill them
in another attempt to break Job's faith in God.
The devil used nature and its power against Job.
The devil is a tempter.
The New Testament reveals that the devil has power
to offer kingship, dominion, and even dictatorship
to those who bow down to him and obey him.
In Luke 4:3-4, "And the Devil said unto him,
'If thou be the Son of God,
command this stone that it be made bread.'
And Jesus answered him, saying,
'It is written that man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word of God.'"
Satan offered Jesus the rulership
of all nations on Earth and their riches
if Jesus would but bow down to him.
In this great confrontation,
known as the Temptation of Christ,
the Lord Jesus replied Satan by saying,
"it is written that man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word of God."
Further tempting Christ's faith,
in verses five through eight.
In Luke 4:5-8,
"The devil led him up to a high place
and showed him in an instant
all the kingdoms of the world and he said to him,
'I will give you all their authority and splendor.
It has been given to me,
and I can give it to anyone I want to.
If you worship me, it will all be yours.'
Jesus answered, 'It is written, worship the Lord, your God,
and serve Him only.'"
It is truly astonishing that Jesus did not call
the devil a liar when he said that all nations were his
and that he would give the authority and power
of these nations to whomever he wanted.
It is clear from this passage that the devil
has the power to govern human society in certain areas.
In this video, I will describe these areas.
Number one, the prince of the power of the air.
In Ephisians 2:2, the devil is designated
as the prince of the power of the air.
Prince speaks of the exalted position of his rulership.
Air means the sphere of his dominion,
which is probably the area above and around the Earth.
Since Satan is a spirit, he can move through space
at an incredible speed, as can other spirits.
Number two, a deceiver as the angel of light.
In 2 Corinthians 11:14,
the devil is called an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:14,
"And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed
into an angel of light."
This has to do with his deception of mankind.
In the Garden of Eden, for example, he appeared to Eve
as a very kind and wonderful creature.
Only after Eve had sinned and fallen
from the grace of God did she discover.
Genesis 3:13, "Then the Lord God said to the woman,
'What is this you have done?'
The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me and I ate.'"
Number three.
Number three, the prince of this world.
John 14:30.
"hereafter, I will not talk much with you,
for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me."
John 16:11.
"Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged."
John 12:31.
"Now is the judgments of this world.
Now shall the prince of this world be cast out."
In John 12:31,
14:30, and 16:11,
Satan is described as the prince of this world.
This means the unregenerated world.
It means the world which has fallen from grace.
The world that follows him to perdition.
Number four, the prince of darkness.
Ephesians 6:12.
"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."
Here, Satan is described as the prince of darkness.
This reveals his dark nature,
his total disregard for light and holiness.
All his works are dark, for indeed,
He is the prince of all darkness.
Number five, the god of this world.
2 Corinthians 4:4.
"In whom the god of this world
hath blinded the minds of them, which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ
who is the image of God, should shine onto them."
Here, he is referred to as the God of this world,
which means that men and women worship him.
In the heathen countries, people worship a spirit
that they do not know.
We know that it is Satan,
because he is the God of the pagan people.
They have many strange manifestations
in their worship of idols, but ultimately,
it is the devil they serve.
It is important that the name prince
is a name in the Bible that is given to deity,
as to Jehovah in Daniel 8:11.
"Yeah, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host
and by him, the daily sacrifice was taken away
and the place of his sanctuary was cast down."
Prince is a designation given to Christ in Isaiah 9:6,
Acts 3:15, and Revelation 1:5.
It is a name given to the chief priest of the temple
in Isaiah 43:28.
Prince is a name given to noblemen and kings
in Isaiah 10:8 and Numbers 17:6.
Numbers 17:6.
"And Moses spake onto the children of Israel
and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece,
for each prince won, according to their father's houses,
even 12 rods, and the rod of Aaron was among their rods."
This shows the strength, power, and position
that the devil possesses,
because he has been an arch angel in heaven.
God solemnly warns us in 1 Corinthians 10:20
about worshiping devils.
"But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to devils and not to God
and I would not that he should have fellowship with devils."
God refuses to permit his followers
to have fellowship with the devil
or with any of his demons or works.
A warning, beware of Satan's snares.
The warning is intended for all soldiers of Jesus Christ.
There is a terrible truth that Paul wrote to Timothy,
his son in the faith, in 2 Timothy 2:26.
"And that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil
who are taken captive by him at his will."
There is a sense of strong caution here.
Paul refers to the snare of the devil.
As you know, a snare is a trap,
a contraption you set for an animal.
The animal thinks it is finding food to eat
and when it falls into the trap or snare, it is apprehended.
In this way, the devil deceives the whole world,
the pagans and even the Christians by a trap.
He is deluding them that they will have pleasure,
but they will not get joy.
He fools them into believing that if they follow him,
everything will be right, but it is not right.
The scriptures also say that he takes them captive
in order to do his will.
That is a dreadful statement that the devil
willfully and deliberately sets snares
to capture human beings.
How glad am I to know the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was able to set mankind free from the devil's power.
I hope that is your experience, but if not,
this video will warn you,
it will make you alert and cautious,
so you will not become an unsuspecting victim
caught in Satan's snares.