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The word of God is a powerful tool in the hands of the believer both for their own protection from the Devil as well as for the unbeliever to turn away from death into life.

Some people conflate the Bible with the divine word. Devil means slanderer, to resist the devil is to resist slander. Truth is an effective defence against allegations of slander.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Psalm 91:4

Do you believe in the existence of Satan and his demons?

Do you believe in the existence of Satan and his demons?

What I believe isn't important. There's plenty of evidence of Satanism in today's world. Likewise there's a theological theme relating to a lying spirit (daemons are described as attendant spirits).

Quote from: truthjourney on October 23, 2018, 09:50:55 am

Do you believe in the existence of Satan and his demons?

What I believe isn't important. There's plenty of evidence of Satanism in today's world. Likewise there's a theological theme relating to a lying spirit (daemons are described as attendant spirits).

Yes indeed there is plenty of evidence of Satanism in today's world. More than plenty. I've seen more of that than I care to see and experience in one lifetime. But I won't go into all that. I'll just say that we need to know who the real enemy is and his tactics and prayer is powerful against this. Strong faith and prayer.

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I'll just say that we need to know who the real enemy is and his tactics and prayer is powerful against this. Strong faith and prayer.

One way of looking it is truth vs lies. In this context the devil/slanderer is the enemy.

"resist the devil and he shall flee from you" ~ James 4:7 Interestingly  this verse also talks about submission to deity, which is the central tenet of Islam.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth [shall be thy] shield and buckler.
Psalms 91:4

I think we agree that Satan is the enemy. Although some Satanists prefer to be called Luciferians. I see no difference between them. They're the same and equally evil.

Blindness…

   In scripture there are two different deaths that are talked about, the physical death of the flesh and the spiritual death that is that death that is eternal separation from God.  Likewise there are two different blindnesses talked about in scripture, that of physical blindness of the fleshly eyes and that blindness of the spirit in which our spiritual eyes see only darkness as if there is a veil over them preventing us from seeing the things of the spirit.  Acts 26 tells the story of Paul’s conversion.  Paul was a persecutor of the brethren.  Then one day as he and his companions were walking along when a bright light brighter than the sun shone and a voice asked Paul why he was persecuting Him.  The voice was Jesus calling Paul to a life of following Him rather than the life of persecution and sin that was currently living in.  Verses 17-18 (HCSB) I will rescue you from the people and from the Gentiles. I now send you to them 18 to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that by faith in Me they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified.’  Jesus is sending Paul to the Gentiles so that the veil might be lifted from their eyes, so that the spiritual blindness that they were living in might give way to the light of the Living God.  So that they were no longer living in spiritual darkness which is the power of Satan but now they might live in the power of the light, the Christ whose love is one of forgiveness and sanctification, a setting apart as holy or without sin.  Satan can blind our spiritual eyes but Jesus can give us spiritual sight.
   Let’s first look at what spiritual blindness really is.  We talked about it being like a veil that covers our eyes so that we cannot see the things of the spirit.  Exodus 26:31-33 tells us about the curtain or veil that was to separate the holy of holies from the rest of the temple.  In Biblical times this curtain or veil was a very real thing which separated sinful man from a very Holy God.  The holy of holies was the throne room so to speak for God and contained the Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Mercy seat of God.  Because of man’s sins he is separated from God and the curtain or veil in the temple is today a symbol of this separation.  (Isaiah 59:2) Our sins blind us from God or separates us from God whichever way you want to look at it.  There is a curtain or veil between us and God and that is a veil that Satan wants to remain there.
   Matthew 27:50-54 tells what happened when Christ hung on the cross and finally gave up the ghost or in other words, died.  At Christ’s death, the curtain or veil was torn from top to bottom giving us direct access to God.  There was an earthquake, and those who were already dead but served God were raised and taken to their heavenly home.  The account in Mark 15:33-41 tells us that before this moment, darkness covered the earth.  Those who are blind live in a darkness void of light.  Spiritual blindness is like a veil over our hearts (II Corinthians 3:15-16) a veil that we need to have removed so that we can see with spiritual eyes. 
   Spiritual blindness is not reserved only for the unchurched in fact, Matthew 23:23-25 calls the scribes and Pharisees, religious leaders of the day, blind guides.  Those that are spiritually blind are those that are unbelievers or those that have not believed unto salvation.  It is possible to be in the church even a church leader and still be spiritually blind.  (Zephaniah 1:17; Matthew 15:14; Matthew 23:16; Matthew 23:24-26; Luke 6:39; II Corinthians 4:4)
   Christ alone can restore our vision, remove the veil, give us spiritual vision.  Like the curtain that was torn when He died, it is Christ that gives sight to the blind even those with spiritual blindness.  He is the light that shines into the darkness and gives sight to the blind. (Isaiah 9:2; Luke 1:79; Matthew 4:19; John 1:5; II Corinthians 4:6; I Peter 2:9; Ephesians 5:8; John 8:12; Acts 26:18; Colossians 1:13; Isaiah 42:7; Isaiah 42:16) The believer that is set free from the darkness of spiritual blindness is also called to live in the light rather than turning back to the darkness from which they were set free.  (Acts 26:18; Isaiah 42:16; Luke 1:79; Ephesians 5:8; I Peter 2:9; Isaiah 29;18; I Thessalonians 5:4-5; I John 1:6)  Spiritual blindness is from within a man not from outside. (Matthew 6:23)  With spiritual sight comes peace. (Luke 1:79)  This blindness is one that man seems to love (John 3:19) and can be deceiving. (Luke 11:35) Whereas Jesus is the one that gives sight to the blind, we contribute by casting off the works of darkness and putting on the armour of light. (Romans 13:12; Ephesians 5:11) In other words, we turn away from our sins and turn to the Christ who clothes us in righteousness.  It is often easy to see the flesh as the biggest problem we have.  Physical blindness seems to be such a horrible thing for many, so much so that they fight it and pray about it and come to despair when it doesn’t go away.  But Ephesians 6:12 tells us that it isn’t the things of the flesh that are our enemy but rather the power of the enemy is the one that brings spiritual blindness.  It is the spiritual battles that are the ones that can bring blindness to our spiritual eyes and that is much worse than anything the flesh can know.  The defense against spiritual blindness is Christ Himself and the power of Christ to give sight to the blind.

Keeps Us From Forgiving Others…
   Sometimes our own feelings can be used against us by Satan.  He doesn’t have to do anything but take advantage of our emotional weaknesses.  Such is the case in II Corinthians 2:5-11 (Luke 11:4) in the body of Christ pain inflicted upon one is inflicted upon all which makes sense if we do back to the teaching of the body.  (I Corinthians 12:26-27)  When we belong to Christ we are never suffering alone.  Because we are never suffering alone it is important for us to forgive those that commit sins against us.  It isn’t just for ourselves that we forgive it is for the entire body of believers that we forgive for.  If we don’t forgive we give Satan an opportunity to take advantage of our hurt, pain, and anger and exploit it in an attempt to draw us from Christ into death. 
   In some of our previous books we dealt with forgiveness in some depth here we want to talk about how Satan exploits our unforgiveness more so than how to forgive.  It is no secret that we need to forgive.  (Matthew 6:12-14; Matthew 18:21; Matthew 18:35; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 6:37; Luke 17:3-4; II Corinthians 2:7-10; Colossians 3:13)  God alone has the power and authority to forgive sins. (Matthew 9:6; Mark 2:7-10; Luke 5:21-24; Luke 23:34; I John 1:9)
   Unforgiveness breeds things like anger, vengeance, hostility and bitterness.  These things can if not dealt with lead to sin.  (Leviticus 25:17; Proverbs 20:22; Ephesians 4:26-27)  In anger we can hold grudges (Genesis 27:41) we can become separated from our brothers and sisters in Christ as well as from God. (Genesis 27:43-45)  Anger can and sometimes does lead to murder even if that murder is only in our thoughts. (Genesis 49:6-7; Deuteronomy 19:6; Job 5:2)  Instead of allowing our anger to escalate into acts of vengeance we need to let go of our anger and allow God to avenge the evil for His judgments are just. (II Chronicles 16:10; Esther 7:6-10; Job 10:17; Job 40:11; Psalms 37:8; Psalms 55:3; Proverbs 30:33; Hosea 7:6; II Corinthians 12:20; Galatians 5:20) Forgiving so that our anger does not turn to sin is an act of the new man, a pleasing aroma to God as we live in and serve Him. (Job 36:13; Proverbs 14:16; Proverbs 29:11; Ecclesiastes 7:9; Ephesians 4:30-32; Colossians 3:7-9; I Timothy 2:8; James 1:20)
   Vengeance is something that we should leave up to God. (Romans 12:19; Deuteronomy 12:35; I Samuel 24:12; Hebrews 10:30)  Likewise hate which often accompanies unforgiveness has no place in the believers heart. (Psalms 81:15; Matthew 5:43-44; Matthew 6:24; Matthew 24:10; Mark 13:13; Luke 6:27; Titus 3:13; I John 2:9-11; I John 3:15; I John 4:20)  Hate causes many problems for the believer as does bitterness. (Ephesians 4:31; Acts 8:23; Hebrews 12:15)  Even hostility causes problems for the believer. (Romans 8:7; I Thessalonians 2:14-16)