AT WAR WITH DEMONS
Satan’s Attack on the West
By Gary Ray Branscome
“That they may… escape from the devil’s snare, having
been taken captive by him to do his will” (2Timothy
The
words, “Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for
someone to devour,” tell us that the devil is our enemy, and that he is
very dangerous, and much stronger than we are
(1Peter 5:8). While the words, “Why
has Satan filled your heart to lie,” tell us that whenever people
choose to do what they know to be wrong (even telling a lie) Satan is behind
their choice, and in control of them (Acts 5:3). That raises three questions:
1) How does Satan get control over people? 2) How can
anyone escape from his power? And, 3) how can Christians deal with the evil
delusions and behavior being promoted by those under his sway?
In
answer to the first question, the words, “Truly, truly, I tell you, Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin,”
// “when you yield yourselves to
someone to obey him… you are the servants of the one you obey; whether of sin
to death, or of obedience to righteousness,” tell us that whenever
we do what we know to be wrong we are serving Satan (John 8:34, Romans 6:16). And, without the
forgiveness that is ours in Christ Jesus, that sin would give him total control
over our lives. However, even with forgiveness, the more that we rationalize
and excuse wrongdoing (instead of repenting and turning away from it) the
harder it is to resist sin, and the easier it is for Satan lead us into
wrongdoing. Moreover, the fact that Judas was a thief, and that Jesus called
him “a devil,” tells us that a long habit of hardening his heart and
rationalizing sin had placed Judas fully under Satan’s control (John 6:70 and
12:4-6). We should never take sin lightly!
The words, “God will give them
repentance bringing them to a realization of the truth, that they may come to
their senses and escape from the devil’s snare,” tell us that it is only
through God’s gift of repentance and faith in Christ that anyone can be
delivered from Satan’s control (2Timothy 2:25-26). While the words, “Walk in
the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh; for the flesh lusts
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and they are opposed to each
other: so that you cannot do the things that you would,” tell us that even
after we have been delivered from Satan’s power there will be a struggle with
the flesh, as the satanic nature in our own heart tries to bring us back into
bondage (Galatians 5:16-17).
That brings us to the third question.
How can we deal with the evil delusions
and behavior being promoted by those under Satan’s power? And, the answer to that question is, “Through
the Word of God and prayer”. As it is written, “Is not my word like a fire? asks the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in
pieces?” // “The word that goes out of my mouth… will accomplish what I
want, and it will achieve what I sent it to do,” // “For the word of God
is alive, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,” // “For
the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world, but through God
they have the power to break down strongholds,” and “This is the man to whom I will look, even to
him who is humble and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word” (Jeremiah 23:29,
Isaiah 55:11, Hebrews 4:12, 2Corinthians 10:4, Isaiah 66:2).
Recognizing
the Hand of Satan in Our Society
While many in our society deny
that demonic influence exists, others think of it only as physical control –
The kind described in Mark 5:1-15. However, the Bible describes a different
kind of demonic influence, a mental control that drives men to harden their
hearts, and rationalize sin, while using lies and even murder to achieve their
own ends – the kind of control described in the words, “You are of your father the devil, and you will do what your father
desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and did not abide in the
truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his
own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John
The passage just quoted leads
us to ask: Where do we see lies and murder in our society? And the most obvious
answer is in the abortion lobby. People murder babies, and devise lies to
rationalize their crime. They convince themselves that evil is good and that
good [i.e. denying them abortion] is evil. To all of them God says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good
evil” (Isaiah
If Satan is behind lies and theft, can anyone deny
that he is behind rape, child molestation, sexual perversion, adultery and
murder? It is only because of satanic influence that some people claim to have
a gender other than the one they were born with. And, it is only because of
satanic influence that some teachers and doctors would (without parental
knowledge) mutilate children with chemicals or surgery in a vain attempt to
change their gender. By any rational standard of right and wrong, the people
who do such things belong in prison, not in positions of authority. What would
happen if Christian lawyers searched out people whose lives were ruined by such
mutilation and sued the teachers, schools, and doctors who were responsible.
During the turmoil of the
1960s I was told that
While the communist movement
is clearly satanic, their plan from the beginning has been to infiltrate and
use other groups (often groups that seem harmless) to promote their agenda. One
example is the way they infiltrated the civil rights movement. I am not saying
that movement was bad, or that it was controlled by them. All I am saying is
that they joined it. And, while its legitimate members were marching along,
singing “We Shall Overcome” the communist infiltrators were inciting some of
the protestors to vandalize property, start fires, and riot while yelling for
changes in legislation. At the same time, the communists infiltrated the KKK
[That fact was documented by the FBI.] and used it to stir up strife and hatred
between the two groups, while portraying anyone who opposed the legislation
they wanted as a racist.
We saw the same tactics in
2020, as they started riots in one city after another, claiming that they cared
about black people, while calling for legislation that would do nothing to save
black lives, such as defunding the police. In fact,
the hypocrisy of that movement was revealed when some “Black Lives Matter”
rioters beat up four black women who were carrying signs saying, “Black lives
matter, stop abortion”.
At the same time, the media
recognized spokespeople for the left, were loudly accusing the right of doing
the very things they were doing. The people on the left were the ones working
to stir up hatred between the races. If you fail to see it, consider this. A
woman whom I know told me that while she was caring for two six-year old boys,
three other boys from the neighborhood came over to play with them. The five
boys laughed and played together for much of the day, and when it was time to
go, they were “high-fiving” one another, and talking
about what great friends they were. She then said that the boys were of
different races, yet were blind to skin color because they had not yet been
exposed to the woke ideology – a leftist ideology
designed to infuse young people with racial resentment and hostility. Ask
yourself: Is racial hostility what godly people want, or what demons want?
In the
Garden of Eden, Satan, through the serpent, accused God of lying in order to
cover up the fact that he was lying, and those under his control do the same
thing today. The abortion lobby yells that abortion is a right in order to
cover up the fact that they are denying babies their right to life. The
transgender lobby accuses all who condemn their wicked behavior of promoting
hate, in order to cover up their own hate program which is directed at anyone
who disagrees with them. The hate program they call “canceling”.
In his book, “The Return of
the Gods,” Jonathan Cahn lays out a case for demonic
influence in our world. While some of his evidence is circumstantial, he quotes
a number of ancient pagan hymns and writings which describe the very things we
see today in the transgender movement. And, the case he builds agrees perfectly
with the words, “When they knew God,
they did not glorify Him as God… For they changed the truth
of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creation more than the
Creator… For this cause God gave them up to vile affections: for even
their women exchanged the natural use for that which is contrary to nature. And
likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their
lust one toward another; men with men doing what is shameful” (Romans
What Can We Do?
In the
beginning of the book of Job we are told that Satan could not bring evil into
Job’s life because God had “placed a
hedge around him, and around his house, and around all he” had (Job
As I
have pointed out, the Word of God has power, and if we want to turn things
around we need to proclaim that Word boldly! I am not talking about sticking
tracts in people’s face, but condemning sin, and condemning it without
compromise – the kind of compromise that wants to act sweet and accepting to
the wicked instead of condemning their sin. And, we need to get rid of the
lukewarm Christianity that is willing to tolerate pagan ideas such as evolution
and millions of years. When real Christianity is confronted with the false
science of evolution, it does not compromise, but boldly says, “We know evolution
is a lie because it contradicts God’s Word”. In contrast lukewarm Christianity
just rolls over and says, “Well maybe we can say God used evolution” [which
would be lying in God’s name].
And,
while proclaiming the Word of God we need to ask God to place a hedge of
protection around this nation, a hedge that will shut out satanic influence. We
also need to ask God to place a hedge around our nations’ schools, churches,
halls of government, and even places of entertainment. And, get rid of this
wimp idea that things are just going to get worse and worse. The fact that
“evil men and seducers will grow worse and worse,” does not mean that they will
triumph (1Timothy
The
book, “An Evangelical Orthodox Guide to Christian Theology,” by Mr. Branscome
is available online.