PRAYER IN ITS RELATION TO SATAN AND HIS KINGDOM
The Bible reveals Satan as a person with marvelous powers and far reaching plans. He has been pictured as a person with hideous form. Mr. Gordon says he is a person of remarkable beauty. This is all speculation and the latter we very much doubt. Sin paints its hideous visage on men here, and it would seem strange if the arch sinner of the ages should retain his once beautiful appearance.
However, the Bible does reveal Satan as a being with marvelous power and with cunning, crafty plans for the ruin of the human race. Satan is neither omnipotent, omnipresent nor omniscient. He appears to approach all of these attributes of deity. He is in control of legions of subordinates all ready at his command. He is the "prince and power of the air." His restless legions are everywhere ready and awaiting his orders. I presume he is an expert at telepathic communication. Doubtless this is the explanation of many of the occult associations and communications so common in our day.
And it is not at all strange that many of these occult associations deny his existence. His hand is very clearly seen in their denials. He can the better carry out his plans under the cover of darkness and obscurity.
That all men who live in sin are deluded by, and are under the control of, this prince of darkness is a statement confirmed by the teaching of the Scriptures with all but monotonous repetition. 2 Timothy 2:24-26: "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, — apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
Ephesians 2:2, "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."
2 Corinthians 4:3, 4, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
1 John 3:8, "He that committeth sin is of the devil for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."
John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it."
All of these Scriptures confirm the foregoing statement. Men in sin are controlled, blinded, deceived, dominated and ruled by the devil. Go back to Genesis for the explanation. God created man a free moral agent, gave him dominion of the earth where he walked with the tread of a
conqueror. Man by yielding to the solicitation of Satan broke with God, turned his God-given dominion over to the devil, became the slave of Satan and from that time Satan became the prince and ruler of this world, and this Satanic dominion will continue so far as the wicked are concerned, until He shall come whose right it is to reign.
However, this dominion over individuals can be broken, this darkness can be dispelled, this moral insanity can be relieved, men can be brought into a condition of mind and heart where they become as rational about spiritual things as they are about temporalities. This is conviction for sin. To produce this normalcy relative to spiritual things is the prerogative of the Church of Christ.
John 16:7-11, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." This is the meaning of this marvelous but little understood statement of Jesus.
Matthew 16:19, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Matthew 18:18-20, "Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."
There are three weapons that Jesus put into the hand of the Church by which they can produce this conviction for sin. The first is the preaching of the Word. Not defending the Word, though that has its place and is important, not playing to the galleries or pleasing the crowd, though certainly a sensible minister will endeavor to make the message attractive to the populace. Jesus did. But
"Whether men will hear or whether they forbear" preaching the Word will have weight with men and help produce conviction for sin. God wrote the Word. Preach it.
The second weapon is a definite, clean-cut testimony. The expression of a definite experience backed by a holy life always has great weight in producing conviction for sin.
The third and most important of the three, because it underlies both of the others, is prayer.
Preaching can be given pungency and be made to stick and sting by the prayers of the preacher and his congregation. Testimony soon becomes vapid and dry, a mere perfunctory performance when the individual neglects prayer. Sameness, dryness, staleness are the earmarks of a testimony meeting where the secret place of prayer has been neglected. But more than this, praying saints can prevail with God, until individuals become strangely restless and alarmed, prevail until angelic hosts are sent to the rescue, Satanic hosts are driven from communities, the spiritual atmosphere clarified, the power of the enemy broken, men become rational about their souls' interests, and multitudes seek God. Acts 4:23-33, "And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the
chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings; and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word; by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all."
Such supernatural manifestations were common in Bible times and for the deliverance of Israel in times of war. Shall we expect less in times of great spiritual conflict? Were not these things written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come? Such manifestations of God's power were frequent in the days of Wesley, of Fox, of Asbury, of Abbott, of Jonathan Edwards, Charles G. Finney, and many others too numerous to mention. Why are they not more common in our times? Why? Because we are too weak and sickly in our lives, too inane and faltering in our prayers. We would rather suffer defeat than to stir ourselves up to bombard heaven and move the heart of God with our importunity. His power is omnipotent, His skies are full of pentecosts. "Ye have not because ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss that ye may consume it upon your lusts." O God, how long shall Satan triumph? O God, when will Thy Church see her privilege and feel her responsibility?
Pentecost, Its Scope, Power and Perpetuation By
W. G. Bennett