“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27)
When it comes to exposing Satan and his many schemes, many Christians lose interest. However, the Lord is providing this message with a purpose, since understanding how the enemy operates will arm us with knowledge to overcome Satan's schemes. While we may sound repetitive here, the Lord has impressed upon us to draw our attention away from any evil or selfish behavior. The Lord says that He desires one identity in His children: that of truthful, humble and holy living (Matthew 7:16; 1 Peter 1:16). The Bible warns us that in these last days, people will not endure sound doctrine, and teachings on Satan’s schemes and deceptions may not tickle the ear and be appealing to the flesh (2 Timothy 4:3). However, in a clear message to me (Brother Glenn), the Lord said that teachings like these purify the conscience and create a desire for holy living and friendship with Him (Hebrews 12:14; James 4:4).
Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all have a connection with the devil through sinful behaviour, thoughts, and other acts of disobedience (John 8:41-44; 1 John 1:10). It is important for us to understand that the message about God, Christ and Satan is supernatural and revealed by God in order to give humanity the understanding that there is another form of life beyond the grave. This life is in the spiritual realm, and it is directly influenced by how we lead our lives here on earth, whether good or bad (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Daniel 12:2; 1 John 3:9-10).
This past week, the Lord revealed to me, that if people know and understand Satan’s subversive, undercover activities, they would be better equipped to resist the evil he presents and represents (James 4:7). In turn, we would be able to experience Jesus’ truth setting us free (John 8:32; 36). Brethren, we are not trying to commend ourselves here, and what we are sharing in this article is not a figment of our imaginations or false claims. What we are sharing are true experiences that we have received from the Living Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and we have shared some of these with you in our Visions section. Instead of just taking our word for it, we strongly encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit for discernment (Proverbs 2:3-5), and “…search the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things [are] so” (Acts 17:11).
Human Choice Vital to Outside Influence
In the Bible, Paul makes a statement of faith, expressing a choice we formerly followed: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Ephesians 2:1-2). When we make certain choices, we often express consent and satisfaction in our decision, hoping to have favorable outcomes or consequences. However, the spiritual element of sin living in us often hinders us from making perfect choices (Romans 7:15-17)! The force that motivated us into our choice of action receives the honor of our decision: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want (Galatians 5:17).
With regards to the Christian message, the Bible makes it clear that our wrong choices are influenced by the “…prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience…” (Ephesians 2:2). Since the Bible is our source of faith, we accept its warnings and teachings as true concerning the unseen world of the spirit realm (2 Corinthians 5:7). As we express our faith and interest in what the Bible presents, we also develop discernment.
Before this understanding, we oftentimes guess and imagine until we can match our experiences with the revealed reality. In the Christian context and by faith, we have seen the consistency of what the Bible teaches about demonic activity in our everyday lives.
Differentiating Between the Voice of God and the Voice of Satan
The Bible tells us that the sheep know the voice of their shepherd and follow him, while they will flee from a stranger, because they do not know the voice of strangers (John 10:1-5). Unlike these sheep, many Christians unfortunately do not know the Voice of the Good Shepherd, and oftentimes get confused and heed the voice of the devil. Why is this the case? Because they have not taken the time to know God’s voice through His Word and be led by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16; Galatians 5:16-18).
Below are a few thoughts to help you differentiate between the voice of God and the voice of Satan. This list is by no means exhaustive, and we encourage you to keep seeking the Lord in prayer and studying His Word, and the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth (John 16:13).
- The voice of God affirms and upholds Jesus Christ as Lord (Luke 3:22); the voice of Satan denies Christ (1 John 2:22).
- The voice of God uplifts the Lord (Exodus 20:4-6) and appeals to the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12-14); the voice of Satan elevates man and appeals to the flesh (Daniel 4:28-30; Daniel 5:2,4; 2 Kings 18:19-22).
- The voice of God convicts (John 16:7-11; Luke 5:7-8); the voice of Satan condemns (John 9:16; Romans 8:1-2)
- The voice of God strengthens our faith (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:6); the voice of Satan causes fear, anxiety, and doubt (2 Timothy 1:7; Philippians 4:6-7).
- The voice of God is consistent with Scripture and promotes truth (Luke 24:27; John 18:37); the voice of Satan twists Scripture or promotes lies and unscriptural things (Matthew 4:6-7; Genesis 3:4-5; Acts 19:24-27).
- The voice of God speaks with genuine love (Exodus 34:5-7; John 7:37-38); the voice of Satan is false and seductive (Genesis 3:1).
- The voice of God promotes love while giving insight, knowledge, and revelation (1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 24:45); the voice of Satan causes confusion and yields works of the sinful nature (1 Corinthians 14:33; Galatians 5:19-21).
- The voice of God brings genuine peace (Judges 6:23-24; John 14:27; Galatians 5:22); the voice of Satan troubles the soul (Genesis 27:21-24; 1 Samuel 16:14).
- The voice of God promotes holiness and obedience of God's commands (Jonah 3:4-10); the voice of Satan promotes wickedness and disobedience to God's commands (Deuteronomy 13:1-5).
- The voice of God affirms the truth of Jesus' imminent return (Revelation 3:11, 22:7, 22:12, 22:20); the voice of Satan mocks or downplays Jesus’ second coming (2 Peter 3:4).
- The voice of God gives you choices and consequences (Deuteronomy 11:27-28, Deuteronomy 30:19); the voice of Satan forces or coerces you to do things against God’s will (Matthew 4:3; Acts 4:18).
Also, have you experienced intending to have well-meaning communication with someone, but the person receives the opposite message from what you meant? For example, a husband may say to his wife, “Darling, can we eat salad today?” and the message his wife may get is “he thinks I’m fat and he’s trying to control what I eat”. Thoughts like these lead to works of the flesh such as discord, dissension, and strife (Galatians 5:19-21). The devil is called the prince of the air and as the Lord showed us in the
The Holy Spirit Exposes Satan’s Identity
The best way to expose darkness is through light (John 12:46), and likewise truth is identified through the Holy Spirit (John 16:13). Nowadays we have almost every kind of gadget to measure materials in the natural. However, in the spiritual realm, true faith and evil are identified and exposed through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14). Like we explained in our Discerning of Spirits article, in addition to the Scriptural prophecies, Jesus Christ was identified and revealed to the world through John the Baptist’s evidence of seeing the Holy Spirit descending upon the Lord in a physical manifestation in the form of a dove (John 1:32). The apostle John also said:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already” (1 John 4:1-3 ESV).This is very true when identifying erroneous conduct vs. truthful conduct. In Christ, the reality of truthful living has the absence of sin. The above verse presents the absolute purity of truth. Given the brief explanation above, we will now turn to actual experiences we had which might help you overcome in your struggle with certain bad habits or traits of behavior you might have developed.
A few years ago, I attended a home church service with some believers who invited me. Just as a brother started to preach, opening with the words, “test all spirits”, the man in whose house the service was hosted got a seizure, his eyes turned red and big, his body stopped moving, and his hands became stiff. We started rebuking the demons in that man in the name of Jesus, and after about 20 minutes he started vomiting and got delivered. This man became possessed with demons as a result of smoking, swearing and having a violent temper. This brother got delivered because he accepted the Lord into his life. However, a few days into his deliverance, the Lord showed me in a vision that those spirits went back into him because he returned to his old habits. The Lord Jesus warned:
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation” (Matthew 12:43-45 ESV).In a vision to Charis recently, the Lord showed her that the cause of anger in somebody was directly from a demonic spirit. The spirit manifested and confessed that he was responsible for the cause of fierce anger in that person (Mark 5:1-10). All wrong-doing in humanity receives it root in the devil (1 John 3:8). Previously, we also shared a few visions of how Satan influences children and people into wrong doing – see article on Demons and their Influence on Mankind, as well as the
Finally, while it is impossible to list every kind of sinful human behaviour, we leave the decision to you to judge your every motive in accordance with the Scriptures every time you are presented with choices: an option to obey the Lord in doing right or obey the voice of the Satan (working through the flesh or otherwise) in doing wrong. Rememner that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). In His Word, the Lord encourages us to make a wise choice:
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15).Have you been captive of Satan’s influence, and would you like to be free? If so, please accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and learn to gain victory in His Name. Please start by praying this
Grace and peace to you!
Brother Glenn and Preparing for The Kingdom Ministry Team.
