How Powerful is Satan?

At this time of celebrating Halloween I think it's a good idea to consider the being behind the holiday.

Yes, I know that kids don't know any better and are merely dressing up in scary costumes to get candy and have a good time. But let's at least admit that it isn't the Lord Jesus Christ we celebrate, but all things dead and scary.

In light of that I thought it would be instructive for us to consider Lucifer, Satan, the Accuser of the Brethren.

Satan does have some power, but it is only power that God allows, and it is evil restrained. God will only allow him to do so much, and no more. Check out the beginning of Job to see this in action. That little bit of power, though, Satan has used to great effect, mostly in getting people to fear him.

Don't get me wrong. You do not want to go up against Satan by yourself. Even his minions are a force to reckon with. Check out Acts 19:14 and beyond to see this in action. It is only by your place in Jesus that you can stand against him. See Ephesians 6 to see this in action.

But I thought it would also be good to look at his motivations and his destiny. We find that buried in a prophecy about Babylon in Isaiah. Here it is:

Isaiah 14:12-19

12 Shining morning star,
how you have fallen from the heavens!
You destroyer of nations,
you have been cut down to the ground.
13 You said to yourself:
"I will ascend to the heavens;
I will set up my throne
above the stars of God.
I will sit on the mount of the gods' assembly,
in the remotest parts of the North.
14 I will ascend above the highest clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."
15 But you will be brought down to Sheol
into the deepest regions of the Pit.

16 Those who see you will stare at you;
they will look closely at you:
"Is this the man who caused the earth to tremble,
who shook the kingdoms,
17 who turned the world into a wilderness,
who trampled its cities
and would not release the prisoners to return home?"
18 All the kings of the nations
lie in splendor, each in his own tomb.
19 But you are thrown out without a grave,
like a worthless branch,
covered by those slain with the sword
and dumped into a rocky pit like a trampled corpse.




It was pride that made Satan into the evil we know, and the sworn enemy of God and anything that is His. But in the end, he will be unmasked for what he really is, a weakling that will end up like a dried up branch.

On Halloween, let's remember who really wins!

Pastor Tom