In many churches, the devil and his works are no longer mentioned. The majority of Christians bury their heads in the sand and pretend like the devil, who is the enemy of God and therefore also their enemy, no longer exist. They don’t want to speak about the devil and use many arguments to substantiate their decision. Some say, that when you speak about the devil and his works you give the devil attention and power and by doing that you honor and exalt the devil. Some say, that you shouldn’t frighten people, including children, by speaking about the devil, demons, and hell. You shouldn’t sow fear in their lives, because that’s not good. Some consider the power of the devil more powerful than the power of God and don’t speak about the devil because they are afraid of retribution. Others say, that the devil is defeated and is no longer present and therefore you shouldn’t talk about the devil. There are many more arguments about why Christians don’t want to speak about the devil, demons, and hell. But what does the Bible say? Are you allowed to speak about the devil?
How can you win a war, without knowing your enemy?
But how can you win a war, without knowing anything about your enemy? Exactly, you can’t! Do you think that a country would send an untrained army to a war zone? No, of course not!
Every army is trained and well-equipped with the right tools to defeat the enemy. Every army, except…… yes, you might have guessed it already, the army of the Lord.
Nowadays, the enemy doesn’t have to do anything anymore. Because the majority of the army of the Lord has become passive and give themselves to him, without any resistance. They allow him to take them captive and become prisoners of war.
Of course, there are soldiers in the army of the Lord, who know who they are in Christ and are aware that they are in spiritual warfare.
They know their enemy and know how to use the spiritual weapons and discern the spirits and have knowledge of good and evil.
They are seated in Christ and from their position in Christ they attack the devil and his kingdom. They do what Jesus has commanded them to do and keep standing and become victors of the battle(s).
But here we go again, the majority of believers don’t do that. Why? Because they are not born again, but stay carnal and don’t study the Word of God themselves and therefore they have a lack of knowledge.
They are unspiritual and are not aware that they entered a spiritual warfare. They don’t know their enemy and don’t know how to handle the spiritual weapons.
The Church and spiritual warfare
In addition to that, many churches don’t talk about the will of God and spiritual warfare either. They don’t teach the believers, who they have become when they accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord. They don’t teach them, who they are in Christ and about their position in Him.
Why is that? Because the majority of church leaders are not born again or remain carnal and don’t know who they are in Christ and/or do the works of the devil themselves.
They don’t have the mind of Christ, but they are carnally minded and think like the world. Therefore they preach the same message as the world preaches, that is focused on the soul and body (flesh), rather than the spirit.
Although they know the Bible and the scriptures, they don’t do them and don’t live according to the will of God. They don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and lack spiritual insights and wisdom and knowledge of the Kingdom of God. They are not familiar with spiritual warfare. Now, how can you pass on something if you don’t know, possess or see it yourself?
Jesus spoke about the devil and his works
From the Book of Genesis until the Book of Revelations the devil and his works are mentioned. Many people in the Bible spoke about the devil and his works. But there was one Person in particular, who spoke the most about the devil, his works and hell and that Person is Jesus Christ.
Jesus not only spoke about the Kingdom of God and not only made the Kingdom of God known to God’s people, but Jesus also spoke openly about the devil, his works and hell and made his kingdom known to God’s people.
Why do you not understand My speech? Even because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it (Jn 8:43-44).
Even after Jesus His death and resurrection and His ascension, Jesus spoke through the Holy Spirit to the Church about the devil and his works.
When Jesus appeared to John on the isle of Patmos (95/96 ad), He still spoke about the devil, His works and hell.
Although Jesus had defeated the devil and taken the keys of death and hell, the devil and his kingdom were still present. The devil was still going around like a roaring lion, seeking, whom he could devour.
The argument that the devil is defeated and therefore we don’t have to fight against the devil and his army (demons), is not the whole truth, but is partially true and therefore it is a lie.
Because if the devil and his demons wouldn’t be present and active anymore, then Jesus wouldn’t have spoken about the devil. But as long as the devil and his demons are not thrown into the eternal lake of fire, they still go around like roaring lions, seeking whom they can attack and destroy
The sons and daughters of God shall speak the whole truth
The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then comes the devil, and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved (Lu 8:12)
The devil still uses the same arts of temptation as he used in the Bible. He still sows doubt, worry, fear, anxiety etc. He still tries to seduce believers by carnal doctrines of man and doctrines of devils that cause them to doubt the words of God and lead them astray from His will, His way, and His truth. So that the people don’t stay on the way of God, but enter the way of the serpent.
The sons and daughters of God, who are representatives of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God should walk in His will, His truth, and His way and not enter any sideways. No matter how wonderful and promising these sideways may look.
They should stay in the Word and preach the words and truth of Jesus Christ. Instead of becoming partakers of the works of darkness, they shall uncover the works of darkness. They shall not keep silent about the truth, but they shall speak boldly about the devil and the works of darkness and bring them into the light, just like Jesus did.
But as long as the Church keeps silent about the devil and his works, the people will stay ignorant and the devil can continue his destructive work on the earth.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
