Quote: “The devil has no authority over us other than that which we give him.” Whether it be preached from church pulpits or declared in home Bible studies, Christians have been listening to that statement, or similar, for decades. And for the last 30-plus years that I have heard it, “Amen,” has always been the collective response. It’s an easy response to make in a church setting when everything runs smoothly; the moment it doesn’t, the devil will take full advantage. How does that work? Does he walk into a church dressed in red carrying a three-pronged fork in his right hand and throw his weight around? If only!!
No, similar to the Wizard of Oz, the devil’s preference is to hide behind a curtain and pull some strings. Take a church setting of a dozen or less people for example: he knows which are the most vulnerable among them and so these are his target. He loves the emotional and the sympathetic; unlike the spiritually stable and empathetic, they are no threat to him because they have an on-going inability to spiritually discern him. Increase the church setting now to one hundred or one thousand-plus people and the same truth applies. And yes, unless there is little respect for the Bible, for the most part such people are familiar with, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour 1 Peter 5:8.
But they limit the interpretation of the above Scripture to the devil’s crowd outside the church – the liars, the thieves, the drunkards, the profane and the perverts. And because they are none of those, they do not for a moment give thought to the reality that the devil goes to church with the sole purpose of using them. How does he use them? One answer only, today: Human reasoning. This is their approach to all things biblical, not God-given faith. The result? They dismiss any Scriptures deemed offensive, insulting or not relevant, “in this modern day.” For example, the Holy Spirit of God, speaking through the apostle Paul with reference to the church when it is assembled said, And I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man ….. 1 Timothy 2:12.
Authority is the issue here. The devil’s lie to Eve in the Garden caused her to overlook Adam’s God-given authority. And instead of sticking to the word God had earlier given him, Adam stayed silent Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-7. It could be said the devil silenced him or his wife silenced him, but the reality is, by not standing up in his authority and declaring the known will of God in that situation, he silenced himself. The same is happening today. The devil’s lie is causing women in the church to overlook the God-given leadership authority of men, elevating themselves to such. And like Adam, the men have stayed silent. Has the devil silenced them? Have the women silenced them? No. They have silenced themselves.
In passing, women are not restricted in the assembled church from praying, prophesying or from exercising any gifts of the Holy Spirit. But they are restricted from exercising spiritual authority over men. Whether Christians like it or not, God has given the primary teaching authority to men. All Scripture used by both women and men to argue and deny this reality changes nothing. Whatever leadership Old Testament Miriam, Debra, Hulda and New Testament Priscilla and Phoebe engaged in it was not that of having spiritual authority over men. This has nothing to do with inferiority or superiority; it has everything to do with God’s created order. But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of every woman is man, and the head of Christ is God 1 Corinthians 11:3.
It was human reasoning of the Scriptures that gave lesbian and homosexual practitioners their foothold into church leadership. The emotional and the sympathetic church people won the day because most of the men and women who knew God’s word on the matter stayed silent. The odd brave person stood up and spoke out against this; they always do. But when looking around them for support, they found none! Again, it was not the devil and it was not the lesbian and homosexual practitioners who silenced the rest of them, they silenced themselves. Their collective “Amen” of earlier times to, “The devil has no authority over us ………” turned out to be a mere platitude when serious pressure was put upon them to accept these people into positions of leadership.
It is human reasoning that has caused the emotional and the sympathetic people in the church to compromise the Scriptures. That’s why divorce, same-sex marriage, abortion and other forms of worldly practice and culture have such strong acceptance in churches today. “God is love,” declares the preacher and the teacher. That’s true, but so is, “God is holy; God is righteous.” The church’s concept of God’s love will always be faulty in the extreme if His holiness and righteousness are overlooked – and they certainly are! Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry Colossians 3:5 ESV. The Church that doesn’t speak out against Scripture compromise has silenced itself.
It could be said that political correctness has silenced the church, but once again based on the God-given authority it is in possession of, that is not so. It has certainly silenced the unbelieving world but not the church. There is not a devil or demon from hell with authority enough to bring that about. The church has silenced itself! To the degree that the church caves into this devil-inspired, Globalist, Communist, Cultural Marxist bully weapon, does it relinquish its spiritual authority and power. “Jesus Christ is Lord,” the silenced may well proclaim within its four walls, but the Lord won’t honor their proclamation. It will take a deep and genuine repentance from the church before God will honor that. I, the LORD, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right Isaiah 45:19.
Linked with political correctness, is same-sex marriage. In spite of its ever-increasing legitimate standing throughout Western nations, it remains totally illegitimate in the eyes of God. The church has always known God’s definition of marriage; it’s been in writing ever since the book of Genesis was published, not to speak of other books of the Bible. Has the LGBTI crowd silenced the church? Have the governments silenced her? The Christ despisers? The Bible mockers? No, none of these. The church has silenced itself! Am I suggesting the church stand on the street corner and denounce this? Not at all. I am suggesting the church “un-silence” itself in prayer then go and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. ‘Gospel’ means “Good News.” People could do with some of that!
A shameful silence: End-times Bible prophecy. The church has definitely silenced itself here. Numerous books of the Bible contain prophecy regarding the end times. Why is this not spoken of? At the very least, all people should know Jesus Christ is coming to remove all born-again believers off the earth, in an event known as the Rapture 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54. People should know that after that world-shattering shock the Antichrist, the son of perdition comes to rule the world for 7 years. This time is known as the Tribulation and during such, dreadful wars, famines, plagues and natural disasters are prophesied. This is God’s wrath being poured out against all sin, evil and wickedness. If ever there was a time for the church to speak up, now is the time.
At the end of the Tribulation the Antichrist will launch an attack on Israel, culminating in the battle of Armageddon. Jesus Christ will return to earth to strike the nations and rule them with a rod of iron. He will destroy the beast (Antichrist) and the false prophet and cast them into the lake of fire Revelation 19:11-21. Birds will feed on the dead bodies of the Antichrist army. He will then lay hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan and bind him for a thousand years, casting him into the bottomless pit…… After all of that, Jesus will rule the world from Jerusalem for 1000 years Revelation 20:1-6. At the end of those years, the devil will be released, defeated again some time later, then cast into the lake of fire for all eternity Revelation 20:7-10.
Following that comes the great white throne judgment upon all unbelievers both dead and alive Revelation 20:11-15. By choice, all of these people lived in denial of Christ, His deity, His death for their sin, His mercy, His forgiveness and His gift of eternal life with Him. So, He grants them their choice – eternity separated from Him in the lake of fire, ….. the second death. What is the good news in all of that? someone asks. Plenty! People don’t have to go through any of it except the Rapture. But that is only for born-again believers. People who become born again will be with the Lord Jesus when He ushers in a new heaven and a new earth and a New Jerusalem, the eternal dwelling place of all believers Revelation 21:1-2. The church has silenced itself! Time to speak up! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord Romans 6:23.
It has often been said that born again Christians are among the most obsessed disciples of Christianity and if any more proof was needed of that assertion, one only has to read your latest epistle Roger in which you wrongly claim that where biblical Christianity is concerned men are deemed to have spiritual superiority over women. What absolute, unadulterated, fundamentalist rubbish!
Hello, Michael
Thank you for your comment.
“It has often been said that born again Christians are among the most obsessed disciples of Christianity……..”
There is no other kind of Christian except the one born again; no other kind of Christianity either, except the biblical kind – never to be confused with human-centered religiosity.
“……in which you wrongly claim……”
Where is your biblical evidence to support that charge?
“……men are deemed to have spiritual superiority over women.”
Spiritual superiority is not mentioned or implied. With reference to the spiritual realm, there is a grand difference between that and spiritual authority.
Unless one is born again, the Bible, for the most part, is a closed book and no amount of human reasoning can ever open it up. It’s a spiritual book, which is why Jesus said we must be born again.