Stop talking about the devil! I’ve heard that for most of my ministry. I will stop talking about the devil when I’m dead or when the Lord comes. Why am I so adamant about this? For most of my ministry, I’ve been told that I give glory to the devil by talking about him too much. My response has been, “I have to talk about the devil a lot because most preachers say so little about Satan.” I have to make up the theological deficit of information about the devil and his demons because Satan is such a neglected topic in most churches. But my thinking is much deeper than that. Here are some reasons I refuse to be quiet about exposing the devil and demons.
First, the Bible isn’t silent on this subject. In the nearly fifty books I’ve written I often refer to Scripture regarding the devil so I’m not going to duplicate that in this short blog. But consider this. No one talked more about the devil then Jesus. The instances in God’s word are too many to cite but consider these passages:
MATTHEW 16:33 – “Get behind me Satan!”
LUKE 10:18 – “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
JOHN 8:44 – “You are of your father the devil.” (Speaking of the Pharisees.)
JOHN 10:10 – “The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”
JOHN 8:44 – “He (Satan) was a murder from the beginning.”
Second, from Genesis to Revelation, the devil and his demons are the subject of Bible writers:
MOSES – Genesis 3:1-15 (“the serpent was more crafty than any of the beasts of the field”)
UNKNOWN WRITER/BOOK OF JOB – 1:6-12 (Satan came before the Lord to tempt Job)
THE APOSTLE PAUL – Romans 16:20 (“the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet); 1 Cor. 7:5 (“so that Satan will not tempt you”); 2 Cor. 11:3 (“Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning”); 2 Cor. 2:5-11 (“Satan might not outwit us”)’ 2 Cor 12:7 (“messenger of Satan”); Ephesians 6:11-16 (putting on the armor of God against the devil); 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (“the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works”)
THE APOSTLE JAMES – James 4:7 (“resist the devil”)
LUKE IN ACTS – Acts 5:3 (“Satan has filled your heart”)
THE APOSTLE PETER – 1 Peter 5:6-9 (“the devil prowls about like a roaring lion”)
THE APOSTLE JOHN – 1 John 3:8 (“the devil has been sinning from the beginning”); Revelation 2:8-17 (the angel to the church of Smyrna about the “synagogue of Satan”); Revelation 12:7-9 (“Michael and his angels fought against the dragon [Satan]”); Revelation 20: 1-6 (“He [the angel Michael] seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil, or Satan, and threw him into the Abyss”).
Third, Satan and his demons are more active than ever. Revelation 12:12 is a precursor of our times:” Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” There is more, much more, in Scripture about the devil, including all the synoptic Gospel instances in which Jesus cast out demons. My message to pastors and seminaries is this: Don’t blame me for an over-emphasis on speaking about the victory of Christ over Satan. Up your own game. It’s my critics who are imbalanced when it comes to neglect of the subject of Satan. I will not stop talking about devil until the Lord takes me home or Satan is sent one last time to the pit!
