The miracles of Jesus were relevant to the people back then. But what about now? Adoption and Spiritual Warfare. Russell Moore. There seems to be an orphan-making urge among us, whether we see it in the slave culture of centuries past or the divorce culture of today. But where does it come from? How to Deal with Dark Times. Sign In. Are Demons in the World Today? Consider several preliminary, general observations: We affirm the historical reality of Satan and demons, both in the past and in the present, as verified by the Bible.
We affirm that the Bible admonishes Christians to expect Satan and demons to operate now much as they did in both Old Testament and New Testament times 1 Pet. A mascot? A movie star?
Satan is real. The Bible calls Satan a fallen angel. At first there were only good angels. God gave them a choice to serve him or serve themselves. Some of them rebelled against God and decided to serve themselves. Satan was a leader of this group and he led a large number of angels in a rebellion against God. Satan and the evil angels rejected God, hate him with a passion, and serve themselves. See 2 Peter and Jude 6. As an evil angel, Satan is pretty powerful, but not nearly as powerful as God.
Jesus is proof of that. It turned out just as God said it would. Satan bruised the heal of Jesus, but got his head crushed in the process. The amazing thing is that Jesus crushed all our sins in the process. Like Satan, the bad things we do are real. Yet the cross is also real. And that is where Christ defeated Satan and won real life, real hope, real forgiveness.
You ask important questions. Satan is a formidable enemy Ephesians Satan has been defeated. While the Bible does describe Satan, a fallen angel, as having powers and abilities greater than ours, it does not give us many specifics. Satan certainly knows our weaknesses and can use that knowledge to his advantage in ways we can only imagine. In your first question you mention our sinful natures.
That is an area of our lives that certainly deserves attention. It is so easy for Christians and the televangelists you mentioned to blame Satan for all their sins and troubles. I sometimes get the impression that people think that locking up Satan somewhere right now would eliminate their struggles with sin. That kind of thinking fails to realize how thoroughly corrupt the sinful nature is.
The sinful nature is an ally of Satan. It is hostile toward God Romans It is the place where evil thoughts originate Matthew It wants nothing to do with God or godliness.
It continually wars against our new self Romans The sinful nature is an enemy that needs our continual attention. At the same time, we build up the new self through the use of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christians long for the day when they no longer fight against the ungodly trio: the devil, the world and our sinful flesh.
That day is when our earthly lives come to an end. Faustus made such a deal with the devil. At the heart of such a concept is some truth and lots of error. The truth part takes Satan seriously. He is powerful, deceptive, and constantly seeking to lead people away from revealed truth of Scripture and saving faith in Jesus Christ. This is their own fault. They really sold their soul to wickedness and forfeited divine blessing.
General word of wisdom: Neither underestimate nor overestimate the power and deceptive nature of the devil. Be alert to his working yet never forget he is already defeated and not an independent agent who enjoys freedom to work evil. And never neglect or underestimate the power and comfort of the gospel of Jesus Christ for ourselves and the world!
Revelation chapter 13 speaks of two beasts. Lutheran commentators have seen the first beast representing secular governments that are anti-Christian in nature, being in league with Satan. How do we recognize these beasts, you wonder? Today, this video seems laughable, but the humor fades when we consider just how many real people were persecuted due to these brazen stereotypes about devil worship.
In fact, although most satanic ritual abuse cases eventually resulted in overturned convictions , at least three people are still serving prison sentences for crimes that most likely never happened.
In , Cuban immigrant Frank Fuster was accused , along with his undocumented wife , of molesting eight children, despite coercive interview sessions and a lack of physical evidence. Fuster was sentenced to six consecutive life terms, or a minimum of years in prison. As of , he has been imprisoned for over 35 years and will not be eligible for parole until He reportedly has no legal representation. North Carolina inmate Patrick Figured is, at age 72, still serving time for a conviction due to coerced allegations of ritualistic abuse.
And Joseph Allen, age 63, has been serving time in Ohio since for a highly bizarre case in which he was convicted of ritualistic child abuse along with another woman, even though the two had never even met. She was later exonerated.
The list goes on and on. One Florida school principal spent 21 years in prison after being convicted of false SRA claims ; he was released at the age of 80 and ordered to move to another country. In El Paso, two preschool owners each spent 21 years in prison. In , three members of the Amirault family of Malden, Massachusetts, were convicted of false child molestation charges, following yet another pattern of false memory coercion from children.
Two of the defendants spent 10 and 20 years in prison before being paroled in and , respectively. The third defendant died of cancer in prison before her conviction could be overturned. She was exonerated in — the year after she died. In , four lesbian women who became known as the San Antonio Four were targeted and wrongfully convicted for child molestation claims.
Their trial played out against a resurgence of Satanic Panic tied to homophobia in a conservative state, and their fight for justice lasted nearly two decades. All four women spent 15 years in prison before having their convictions overturned in and ultimately expunged in But by far the most notorious criminal case of the Satanic Panic era was that of the West Memphis Three. In , three teenagers in West Memphis, Arkansas, were accused and later convicted of the horrific sexual assault and murders of three young boys.
The teens were accused primarily based on hearsay surrounding their goth lifestyles and rumors that they worshipped Satan, despite a lack of any physical evidence.
The famed documentary Paradise Lost publicized the case, and the three men were ultimately freed in , after new DNA evidence showed them to have no connection to the killings. They entered Alford pleas , which commuted their sentences to time served: 18 years in prison, each. Because of the high profiles of such over-the-top cases as the McMartin trial disaster and the West Memphis Three, the public gradually became skeptical of satanic ritual abuse claims. But despite the debunking of myths, Satanic Panic continued to sweep the globe and impact the lives of innocent individuals.
And in , the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, led to the infamous trial and conviction of her flatmate, Amanda Knox. The most damaging effects of Satanic Panic were felt within the legal system, but there were broader ramifications, too — and many of them linger today. Whether we like it or not, every Christian must come to terms with the fact that there is a real enemy.
When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. In other words, there is no truth, no good, no love, and no hope that can come from the devil. To this day, the enemy has convinced people to doubt the inerrancy of the Bible and even the promises that are listed in His Word. By doubting even one word of what God has spoken, we start to second guess all other things that have been said and that will be said. Just like faith can move mountains, one seed of doubt can spread like an infection across entire families, causing many to stumble, just like we see in the Garden of Eden.
Above all else, we must remember that God does not lie. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
Fear is another tactic of the enemy. Fear will keep us from taking a step of faith into a new career, praying for a friend who may reject us, and even being able to rest. God does not give us fear.
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