online community and I trust that you're doing well and walking in the joy of our Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you again for your faithfulness to this training. I trust that our study has been a blessing to you and we just look forward to a wonderful time tonight as we study the next topic in the ACBC counseling exams.

Tonight we're looking at counseling exam number eight which is an exam question on the operations or the activities of the devil. And I'm not sure why this question is under the heading of the counseling exams rather than the theology exam questions. I do think that this particular question would have fit in nicely with the theology exam questions, but it is a good question and one that we need to think through.

What are the activities of the devil, the demonic realm, how do they show up in a counseling situation, and how do we as counselors engage in spiritual warfare in the true biblical sense? For those of you who are with us in the online ACBC national conference held this prior year, you know that the theme of that conference was spiritual warfare, destroying strongholds.

And we were looking at what is true spiritual warfare and how do we as counselors, how are we to be aware of the spiritual warfare in our counselees hearts and how are we to engage in that warfare. We do want to strike a balance in this discussion. On one hand, we don't want to underestimate Satan's power and activity in this world.

We want to be aware that the Bible teaches us that Satan is real, the devil is real, that Satan is very active in this world. 1 Peter 5 verse 8 says, "Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." So we do want to be watchful and aware of the activities of the devil.

Satan is a real personal being who exercises great influence in this world. On the other hand, we don't want to overestimate Satan's abilities either. Not every temptation to sin comes directly from Satan. You can't blame a demon for every temptation to sin. Sometimes, in fact, it is just the counselee's own flesh or it is the own sinfulness of the counselee's heart that is drawing the counselee to sinful behavior.

And so, while on the one hand, we don't want to ignore the fact that Satan may have an influence and an activity that will show up in counseling situations, we don't want to, on the other hand, overestimate Satan's influence. We don't want to fall into the mistake of blaming Satan for everything when, at times, it is the counselee's own heart that he or she needs to deal with.

If a counselee says to you, "Well, I'm being mean to my wife because it's Satan's fault. Satan's making me do it," or "I have the demon of anger," you may want to ask the counselee to re-evaluate that assessment. It's probably that this person is just being selfish and needs to repent and submit his heart to the lordship of Christ.

The Bible teaches that Satan is not omnipotent. James 4 verse 4 says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Satan's influence is not greater than the influence of the Holy Spirit, and the Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit lives in the true believer in Christ, that our bodies are literally temples of the Holy Spirit, that we've been baptized into the person and into the power of the Holy Spirit, and so we don't want to be overly intimidated by Satan's activity.

So, how is it that we come to a biblical view of the operations of the devil? How can we be equipped to counsel well? How can we be wise in our understanding of this topic and its application to counseling ministry? And that's what we're here to study tonight, so let me pray for us, and we'll devote this hour to the Lord in prayer.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you have sent your Son to die on the cross, to rise again from the dead, and Lord, we thank you that through Christ's power that we are no longer under the power of the evil one. We thank you that you've given to us your Holy Spirit who lives in us so that Satan can tempt us from without, but he cannot indwell us from within.

He cannot take power over our bodies because our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and we just pray that you would make us wise as we look at this topic. Thank you for each of my brothers and sisters joining us tonight in this online class, and I pray that this will be a blessing and a benefit to each of their lives, and we ask this and pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen. Well, let's look at the counseling exam question together. The question is this. Describe in biblical categories the operations of the devil. Is there a difference between believers and unbelievers regarding the activity of the devil? What is a biblical methodology for responding to the demonic in the context of counseling?

And the short answer is that it isn't really that complicated. We'll see how that works out in just a moment. Just a technical note, I have been asked on this question what does the word "operations" mean, and I would just take that to mean what it says in the next sentence.

Is there a difference between believers and unbelievers regarding the activity of the devil? And so, "operations" would just be another word for "activity." We're asking the question, how does Satan operate in the world today? What are the activities that he engages in? And we will see in our study, Satan is a very busy character who does a lot of things in the world today.

The question is asking you to describe in biblical categories the operations or the activities of the devil. If you look at your handout, I've listed some good resources that will help you in your study of this topic. As I mentioned, this is more of a systematic theology question, and so some good selected readings from the systematic theology books will help you in your study of this topic.

If you haven't written the theology exam questions yet, you will want to purchase Paul N's The Moody Handbook of Theology, Charles Ryrie Basic Theology, and Wayne Grudem Systematic Theology. You will need those resources to help you for each of the 24 theology exam questions. Those are very standard works, very reputable works, and they will serve you well in your study of this topic, as well as in every other topic as it relates to systematic theology.

There's a very good systematic theology textbook dealing specifically with the issue of angelology and demonology. That is C. Fred Dickinson's Angels, Elect, and Evil. That's a standard theology textbook on the subjects of angelology and demonology, and there's a good section on the subject of Satan in that textbook, and I would recommend that resource for you.

And then, as I mentioned, anything by David Powelson is worth reading, and the last book that he wrote before he went to go be with the Lord is on the subject of spiritual warfare. It was entitled Safe and Sound, Standing Firm in Spiritual Battles. I haven't read the entire book yet, but I've gotten a start, and it is just a very good biblical wise treatment of the subject of spiritual warfare.

I believe Powelson's last book was the inspiration for the theme Destroying Strongholds at the ACBC National Conference, and I would also recommend that you look up the audio for that conference from the ACBC National Conference Destroying Strongholds in year 2020. Many good lectures and main sessions devoted to the subject of spiritual warfare from a biblical perspective and how it relates to the counseling ministry, and I would encourage you to make use of those resources.

Well, with that said, let's look at page two of your class notes, and I like to begin with this statement. I can bring it up on the slide here that Martin Luther has said that the devil is God's devil. I like that statement. I like Martin Luther's perspective on Satan and spiritual warfare.

The devil is God's devil. If you read Luther's works, you will see that Luther saw the Christian life was a great spiritual battle with Satan himself. He said this in one of his commentaries that Satan is by nature such a wicked and poisonous spirit that he cannot tolerate anything that is good.

It pains him that even an apple, a cherry, and the like grow. It causes him pain and grief that a single healthy person should live upon the earth, and if God would not restrain him, he would hurl everything together in ruin. But to nothing is he a more bitter enemy than the dear word, because while he can conceal himself under all creatures, the word is the only agency that can disclose him and reveal to everyone how black he is.

If you read Luther's works, you will see that Martin Luther struggled greatly in his spiritual life. He wrote, "When the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this, I admit that I deserve death and hell. What of it? For I know one who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf.

His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where he is, there I shall be also." Luther understood the spiritual battle with the enemy, but he also understood that the Christian could be victorious in his or her own battle with Satan and demonic realm. You remember the great stanza of Luther's hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," where he wrote, "And though this world with devil's fill should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us.

The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him." So Luther understood that Satan is influential in this world. Luther understood the great spiritual battle against Satan and the demonic realm, and yet he also understood that a mighty fortress is our God, that God is sovereign, not Satan.

God is the authority over Satan. Satan cannot act one inch outside of what God has sovereignly prescribed for him, that the devil is God's devil. When Satan does his worst, God accomplishes his best. At the cross, Satan thought that he was nailing the Messiah to the cross and putting him to death, and at the same time, God was using the activities of Satan to accomplish salvation for the world.

William Gurnall has written, "When God says, 'Stay,' Satan must stand like a dog by the table while the saints feast on God's comfort. He does not dare to snatch even a tidbit, for the master's eye is always upon him." This is why I would think that Satan is probably the most frustrated character in the world today.

Every time he thinks he has accomplished evil, God uses that to accomplish something good. Satan is always scoring goals only to find that he is racking up points for the other team. The devil is God's devil. Erwin Luther has said this, "Let us boldly affirm that whatever mischief Satan is allowed to do, it is always appointed by God for the ultimate service of a benefit to the saints.

Satan always loses even when he wins. The greater our God, the smaller our devil." So, there's a balance here, and I understand the grief of a pastor or the grief of a parent who sees a sheep or sees a person who once professed the name of Christ go astray and go into the world.

I don't want to underestimate Satan's influence. It's a grievous thing that Satan does in snatching away the Word of God from the soil, as it were, in Mark chapter 4. It is a grievous thing that Satan does in blinding the minds of unbelievers, and yet we understand that Satan is not sovereign.

God is sovereign, and God uses Satan to accomplish God's perfect and holy will. So, we see on your handout there that Satan is a real, personal, living being who is active in the world today. We see Satan's activity in the Garden of Eden, do we not? In Genesis chapter 3, verse 1, "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, 'Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'" I mean, right there you see one of the primary activities or operations of the devil today, which is to cast doubt on the truthfulness of the Word of God. Satan is crafty, but he is doing the same thing today that he did in the Garden of Eden.

He hasn't changed his tactics from that day when he came to Adam and Eve all the way to the United States of America in 2021. Satan wants to cast doubt on the truthfulness of God's Word. Did God really say that? Now listen to Martin Luther commenting on this passage.

Luther says this, "Therefore Satan here attacks Adam and Eve in this way to deprive them of the Word and to make them believe his lie after they have lost the Word and their trust in God. Unbelief is the source of all sins. When Satan brought about this unbelief by driving out or corrupting the Word, the rest was easy for him.

The chief temptation was to listen to another Word and to depart from the one which God had previously spoken." I'll end Luther's quote there. Oh, the implications of this truth for counseling ministry. One of the primary ways that Satan is going to show up in the counseling room in your meeting with a counselee is not by so much possessing the counselee and making the counselee speak demonic voices, but one of the primary ways that Satan is going to show his influence is that the counselee will be tempted on a daily basis to doubt the authority and the truthfulness of God's Word.

And I know we need to talk about the issue of demon possession, and I know we need to talk about how does a Christian respond to demon possession, and can a believer be demon possessed, and what to do if there are demonic influences in that way showing up in a counseling situation.

That is a legitimate topic in this field of study, but in 24 years of pastoral ministry, I can tell you that I have yet to deal with a person in my church who comes to me and says to me in a demonic voice, "I am of Satan," or "I am of a certain demon." I know that may happen.

I'm not saying that never happens, but it's not the primary way that Satan works today. I believe that Satan is a little too intelligent for that. He knows that if people were showing up in every church today speaking in demonic voices and saying that they are of the devil, then that would simply serve to wake churches up to pray and to read their Bibles and to see that the spiritual battle is real, and there would be churches spending all night in prayer and fasting for the souls of people in the communities because there would be a reminder of the great spiritual battle that is all around us.

Satan doesn't want to do that. He wants to lull us to sleep so that we become complacent and comfortable. He wants to work with subtlety and craftiness. He disguises himself as an angel of light. And so the primary way that Satan works, or at least one of the primary ways, is he tempts the counselee to doubt God's Word.

And in 24 years of pastoral ministry, I haven't seen someone come to me and speak in a demonic voice, but I have had plenty of counselees and plenty of members in my churches who have said to me, "Did God really say that?" Or, "I don't really believe that God would actually call me to do that." Or, "Is this truth in the Bible really true?" I've met with plenty of counselees when we open the Bible and I give them God's Word, that they are resistant to the truthfulness and the authority of God's Word.

Satan is pretty crafty, but he's also very consistent. His primary tactic is to cause people to doubt the truthfulness of the Word of God. Genesis 3, verse 2, "And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die.'" So, Eve responds, "Yes, God did actually say that.

That is the Word of God. God said, 'You may not eat of the tree that is in the midst of the garden.'" Verse 4, "The serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die.'" Satan goes from casting doubt on the truthfulness of God's Word to blatantly contradicting the truthfulness of God's Word.

Now, brothers and sisters, I hope you see this is nothing new. This is what's going on in the world today. What is Satan doing in the world today? He casts doubt on the truthfulness of God's Word. He says to our culture, "Did God really say that?" And then he moves to blatant contradiction.

He goes from saying, "Did God really say that marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman? Would God really be so restrictive?" And then he moves to blatant contradiction. "God didn't say that. Why would He say that?" And he says, "Marriage is not a covenant between one man and one woman." You can draw out the applications from there.

You understand what's going on in the world today, from casting doubt to blatant contradiction. Verse 5, "For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate." What a sad narrative and what a sad state of affairs.

Sad for Satan, who, if we piece the accounts of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 together, we learn that Satan was once an anointed cherub who fell from heaven. He who once was a beautiful angel is now filled with hatred and rage toward the living God and God's people. Satan knows that his doom is sure.

Romans 16, verse 20 says, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." Satan knows that his future eternity is to spend all of eternity in the lake of fire, and he opposes God's people. He operates by casting doubt upon the Word of God. We see Satan's activity in the story of Job in the Old Testament.

This account is sobering. It also gives us assurance that God is sovereign over Satan. Satan's activity was limited in the life of Job. God set the boundaries for Satan's influence. Job 1, verse 6, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

The Lord said to Satan, 'From where have you come?' Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it.'" So you see that Satan here is a very busy character, moving to and fro on the earth, and yet we also see that Satan is not omnipotent.

Satan is not omnipresent. He is not everywhere at one time. Job 1, verse 8, "The Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil?' Then Satan answered the Lord and said, 'Does Job fear God for no reason?'" The name "Satan" actually means "adversary." The name "devil" literally means "slanderer." So we see that the devil is always accusing God's people.

This is another one of the operations of the devil. He accuses God's people. Verse 10, "Have you not put a hedge around him in his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land.

But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has and he will curse you to your face." Satan says to the Lord, "The only reason why Job loves you is because you are nice to him and you give him good things. If you take away his blessings, he will curse you to your face." Verse 12, "The Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your hand.

Only against him do not stretch out your hand.' So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord." And you know the story from there. Job endured a season of great suffering. Never did Job curse God to his face. Instead, Job said, "Naked I come from my mother's womb and naked shall I return.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." And all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. So here's the main point. Satan's activity, where Satan sought to do Job evil, only ended up in producing this good. Job's testimony of godly faith is recorded in scripture now as a testimony to the world throughout centuries of time.

That the true saints of God love God for who he is, not only for what God gives to them. When Satan was seeking to do his worst, God was working to accomplish his best. God used Satan's activity to bring about this amazing testimony of godly character that is still impacting lives today.

We see in the gospel records, Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22, verse 31, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat. But I prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." God can use the activity of Satan to strengthen the testimony of a believer.

We see this happen in the life of the apostle Paul, where Paul was given a thorn in the flesh in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, literally a stake that was ran through his flesh. And he called this thorn, this painful trial, a messenger of Satan to harass me, literally to beat me black and blue, to keep me from becoming conceded.

And Paul pleaded with the Lord three times that the thorn in the flesh would be removed from him. And God essentially said, "No." He said, "My grace is sufficient for you." God sovereignly allowed this messenger of Satan to beat upon Paul, causing him painful affliction in order to produce this good end in Paul's life.

Paul needed to be rescued from being conceded. Paul needed to be rescued from spiritual pride. He'd been given all of these great privileges as an apostle, and he had a temptation to exalt himself because of his great privileges. And so God sovereignly allowed this messenger of Satan to harass him in order to keep Paul humble.

Now the point is that Satan was seeking to beat Paul black and blue. Satan thought that he was causing Paul pain, but all that he was accomplishing within God's sovereign plan was to produce this good end in Paul's life, to keep him humble so that he could continue to be in the place of God's blessing and God's grace.

God limited the activity of Satan. He didn't remove it, but he did use it in order to produce the fruit of godly character in Paul's life. Going back to your handout, we see that Satan was active in the life of Jesus. I mean, the audacity of Satan to seek to tempt the Son of God himself, the temptation to be self-sufficient.

Matthew 4 verse 3, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." The temptation to be spectacular. Verse 5, "The devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" The temptation to shortcut God's plan to go to the cross.

"The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, 'All these I will give you if you fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan, for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.' Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him." Jesus fought every temptation using scripture.

He used a different passage of scripture for each specific temptation. And here I just want to plead with you to not make this whole subject of spiritual warfare overly complicated. This is all we're trying to do with our counselees. We are seeking to equip them to use scripture to fight temptation, to battle for sanctification.

We want them to use different passages of scripture for specific temptations, for specific seasons of life. And we just want to bring people to use the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and to enter into this battle for sanctification and holiness. It really isn't any more complicated than that.

We want to use the Bible to fight our spiritual battles. Some other passages there, John 8, 44. Satan was active in the life of the Pharisees, the religious leaders. Now that's interesting because the Pharisees didn't look like Satan worshipers. They didn't dress in black and have pitchforks and have horns on their heads.

These were religious people. They were clean-cut. They were moral externally. Yet Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires." He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.

We see Satan's activity in the life of the early church, Acts 5, verse 3. Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of this land?" 2 Corinthians 11, verse 14. "No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." Satanic activity shows up at your door.

It will most likely not look like a person dressed in black with a pitchfork, but it will mostly look like the form of a clean-cut person who is wearing a tie and holding a Bible and yet preaching a false gospel of works salvation. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

So Satan is very active. We see that both in Old Testament and New Testament scriptures. We see that in the world and the church today. Moving to page 3 of your handout, and let me find myself where I'm on the screen here. Ian Bounce has written this, "That the devil is a very busy character.

He does a big business, a very ugly business, but he does it well. That is, as well as an ugly business can be done, he has lots of experience, big brains, a black heart, great force, tireless energy, and is of great influence and great character. All his immense resources are used for evil purposes." Satan is indeed very busy.

What are his activities or his operations? Number one, he's active in deceiving the nations. Revelation 20 verse 2 says that he sees the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and drew him into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer.

Implication, what is Satan doing when he is not thrown into the pit? He is active in deceiving the nations. He is the father of lies. Satan speaks lies. 1 Timothy 4 verse 1 says, "The spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." Just note there that on the surface that may look really spiritual.

Asceticism, denying yourself from that which God has declared to be good. These people aren't speaking in demonic voices. They're saying if you have a really, really strict diet, then you will be really, really spiritual. Now just be balanced with that. I'm not saying all diets are wrong or all diets are evil.

I'm saying a diet that is used as a means of works righteousness to make yourself acceptable to God is a form of satanic influence, a form of works righteousness. And it looks really spiritual, but this is the activity of demonic influence. Paul says in verse 5, "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God in prayer." 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3 says, "I'm afraid that as a serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ." So just to be clear, if someone in the church says, "I'm going to go on a diet because I think that diet's going to improve my physical health," then that may be a way of expressing your worship and obedience to the Lord, of exercising self-control, of manifesting the fruit of the Spirit.

And there may be something that is very good in that. But if a person is teaching a form of legalism, that we must eat only certain foods because by denying ourselves from all that God has given to us, we will somehow make ourselves more acceptable to God, then that is a form of a works righteousness system.

Satan loves to deceive others into thinking that because they are adhering to a works righteousness system, they have made themselves acceptable to God when Scripture says that it is only through Christ and it is only through His perfect work on the cross, His life, His death, and His resurrection that we are made acceptable to God and that God has given to us all things to be enjoyed and to be received with thanksgiving.

Everything is created by God is good. But you see, when you adhere to a works righteousness system, that system will become the focus instead of Christ. And you will be led away, led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. Thought life is where you see satanic influence in the counseling room.

What a Christian thinks about, how a counselor thinks about himself, about the world, about the truth, about Christ. Thoughts that lead away from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. This is the pastoral heart that I hope will characterize every biblical counselor that's trained in our ministry. The pastoral heart just to pray for our counselees, that they would love Christ, that they would have a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

In their hearts, there would not be the worship of Christ plus something else, and that we would labor and work with our counselees to experience the purification of their hearts that comes through the Holy Spirit's work in their lives. That if their joy is tied to anything else other than Christ, that the Holy Spirit would purify them and lead them to a pure and sincere devotion to Christ.

So, Satan is active in deceiving the nations. Number two, Satan is active in opposing Christ. 1 John 2, verse 18, "Children, it is the last hour, and as you've heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come." The word Antichrist literally can be translated against or in the place of Christ.

1 John 2, verse 22, "Who is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ, this is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son." Chapter 4, verse 3, "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." So, let's again not make it any more complicated than it is.

Satan's influence is to oppose Christ, is to diminish Christ. How will you see satanic influence in the counseling ministry? As you meet with a counselee, you will see it in the counselee's diminished view of Christ, or the removal of Christ as the center of the counselee's life. So, Satan's influence is to oppose Christ, this spirit is the spirit of the Antichrist.

So, if Satan's activity is to oppose Christ, then how do we as biblical counselors combat satanic activity? Isn't it very simple? We are to make much of Christ. We are to make Christ the center of our counseling. Biblical counseling is Christ-centered counseling. We want to lead our counselees to Christ, that they would love Christ, that they would see that Christ is better than their marriage being the way that they want it to be.

Christ is better than their children turning out the way that they want it to be. Christ is better than their business succeeding in the way that they had planned. Christ is better than all of these things. We want our counselees to treasure Christ. As A.W. Tozer has well said, the best way to keep the enemy out is to keep Christ in.

Many of our counselees are allowing satanic influence to be brought upon their lives because they are not worshiping Christ. They are not making much of Christ. They are not dwelling upon Christ and all that he is. And so, the tactic of spiritual warfare is very simple. If you make much of Christ, then you keep satanic influence out.

In Paul's letters, Mark Hitchcock has observed the word Satan is used 10 times, the word Devil is used 6 times, and the name Jesus is used 291 times. The title Lord is used in 272 verses, and the name Christ is used in 389 verses. He observes that clearly we are to focus on Christ, not Satan.

We are to be Christ-centered, not Satan-centered. So, we see that Satan is active in opposing Christ. Let me move you to the fourth page of your handout. A third activity is that Satan is active in ruling over this present world system. John 12, verse 31, "Now is the judgment of this world.

Now will the ruler of this world be cast out." 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, "In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 1 John 5, verse 19, "We know that we are from God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." The world system referring to the orderly system that functions apart from God.

As Charles Rowley writes, "The world is that system organized by Satan, headed by Satan, and run by Satan, which leaves God out and is a rival to him." Satanic influence will be seen in a counselee's doubting the truth of God's word, in a counselee's distraction from devotion to a pure and sincere devotion to Christ, and satanic influence is seen in a love of the world.

1 John 2, verse 15, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world." The world system, which is opposed to the will of God, and the scripture says you cannot love God and love the world at the same time.

Number four, Satan is active in blinding unbelievers to the truth. That's 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, "The God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers." And this is why Paul says in 2 Timothy 2, verse 24, "That the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness." Why?

God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will. How do you and I as biblical counselors engage in spiritual warfare? How do we engage in a battle against satanic influence in our counseling ministry?

Here it is. If we are to fight the influence of the devil, we must be kind, we must be patient, we must be gentle, we must have compassion and mercy to know that if the counselee is being resistant to God's word or being resistant to biblical counsel, that it may be that he or she is being captured by him that is Satan to do his will.

The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Listen, biblical counselors in training, your sinful anger against your counselees will be of no help in this spiritual battle. Your impatience with your counselees will be of no help in this spiritual battle. You raising your voice in a counseling session because you want to hammer home a truth so that a counselee will really get it will be of no help in producing the fruit of righteousness in that counselee's life.

If we are to engage in the spiritual battle, we must engage in the character qualities of gentleness, patience, kindness, must be in prayer, we must patiently endure evil, we must turn the other cheek when we are wronged, the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome. Lastly, Satan is active in opposing believers and this is adapted from Dickinson's work, Angels Elect and Evil.

He wages warfare, he accuses and slanders, he plants doubt, he attempts to sin. You know the great lyrics of that great praise song, "When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look him there who made an end to all my sin." That's a wonderful statement on how we are to fight the influence of Satan.

It is by looking to Christ that we combat the influence of the evil one. So, the question would be this, and I think this is on your last page here on page five. The exam question asks the question, "Is there a difference between believers and unbelievers regarding the activity of the devil?" Is there a difference between believers and unbelievers regarding the activity of the devil?

Now, I hope if you've been with me up to this point that you understand that the answer is very simple. The answer would be yes. It has to be yes, right? Why is there a difference between believers and unbelievers regarding the activity of the devil? Because a believer has been filled with the spirit.

A believer has been redeemed by the sun. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 13 says that the believer has been transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The believer can be tempted from without but cannot be possessed from within.

1 Corinthians 6 verse 19, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God? Greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world." And so, an unbeliever can be possessed by a demon.

We see that in the gospel records. We see that in Mark chapter 5, there was a man who was possessed by a legion of demons. There's no guarantee for an unbeliever that a demon would not be able to come into that person's life and take complete control of that person's body.

As I mentioned, I believe that Satan probably doesn't act in that way in a general sense because it would just awaken people up to their spiritual condition. But that's possible, demon possession. By the way, in the Greek language in the New Testament, there really isn't a difference between the word used for demon possession and a word used for demon influence.

The Greek term demazomai refers to both possession and influence, and so there isn't this sharp distinction of internal possession versus external oppression or external influence. But we do see descriptively in the New Testament that there were some who, in the gospel records, were possessed in the sense that a demon took complete control over their bodies.

Now, we would just argue from Scripture that if the Holy Spirit dwells permanently in the body of a believer, that it would be impossible for a demon to come and take control of that body. But we do see demonic influence in a believer's life. Scripture even promises that in Ephesians chapter 6.

It describes Christian life as a wrestling, as a hand-to-hand combat with the demonic realm and calls us to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, and to put on the armor of God, and to pray, and to wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and to engage in this great spiritual battle, and to be engaged in praying for other believers as they engage in the spiritual battle.

But there's no secret passage in the New Testament that tells us how to cast out a demon. There's no specific instructions, step-by-step how-to manual. If you come across a demon-possessed person, this is how you cast out that demon. So, we just want to strike a balance with this. Some related questions would be, "Can a believer be demon-possessed?" I believe that believers can be accused and tempted by Satan from without, but cannot be indwelt or possessed by Satan or demons from within.

"What should a counselor do if a counselee appears to be demon-possessed?" As I mentioned, Scripture does not give us step-by-step instructions on how to cast out a demon. But I would just give this perspective. If a counselee appears to be demon-possessed, it would be likely that that counselee is an unbeliever.

And if a counselee is an unbeliever, then what do they need more than anything else? They need the gospel. Romans 1, verse 16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." So, while there is not a step-by-step instruction manual on how to deal with demon possession, I would say a good general tactic would just be preach the gospel to that unbeliever.

The same thing you would do to any unbeliever. "What should a counselor do if a counselee who is a believer appears to be in conflict with a demon?" My answer would be, don't be surprised. We're not surprised if counselees are engaging in intense spiritual warfare with demons because that's what Ephesians 6, verse 12 tells us is going on in our lives, whether we know it to be true or not.

Paul says, "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." If a counselor says to me, "I don't know what to do. My counselee appears to be in a conflict with a demon." My response would be, read Ephesians 6.

That is exactly what Paul tells us is happening in every believer's life. Tell that counselee to put on the armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication, and tell that counselee to stand firm and be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

And tell that counselee that even if that person is like Paul, being beaten black and blue by a messenger of Satan with a painful stake or thorn in the flesh, that God will give sufficient grace to endure that trial and will sovereignly use even the worst that Satan can bring to bring about the good and holy purposes that God desires.

Luther says, Erwin Luther, not Martin Luther, spoke of Martin Luther, and he said that Luther points out that the devil is God's tool, like a hoe that is used to cultivate God's garden. Though the hoe might take pleasure in destroying the weeds, it can never move out of God's hand nor weed where he does not wish nor thwart his purpose of building a beautiful garden.

Thus, the devil always does God's work. The devil is as much God's servant in his rebellion as he was God's servant in the days of his sweet obedience. And so, let us take comfort in the truth that Satan is a defeated foe. Colossians 2, verse 15 says, Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

Markitchcock writes that we live today in the interval between the achievement and the announcement of victory at the cross in the empty tomb and the actualization of that victory at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan will be bound for a thousand years at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

He will be judged eternally in the lake of fire. And Revelation 20 says this, that the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. The best way to keep the enemy out is to keep Christ in.

And I think this is just a long way of saying, brothers and sisters, training for counseling ministry, that our approach as biblical counselors is actually very simple. We want to minister the Word of God. We want to make Christ central. We want to pray the Spirit of God would use the Word of God in the lives of our counselees.

If our counselee comes in and that person looks like an unbeliever, then we want to take that opportunity to preach the gospel of Christ, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and Christ's sacrifice, which is sufficient to cover over all of our sins. The counselor is a believer engaging in spiritual warfare.

We want to give that counselee the Word of God, train that counselee to use the Word of God to fight temptation as Jesus fought temptation using the Word in the wilderness. We want to be aware of Satan's activity, but we don't want to overestimate his capability. We want our understanding of the satanic influence in the world today and the demonic realm to lead us to a greater embracing, a greater reliance upon the truthfulness of the Word of God.

We want our understanding of Satan and demons to lead us to a greater study and reliance upon the scriptures. And that's all that we do as biblical counselors. We just minister the Word. We just point people to the scriptures. We just point people to Christ, and we pray that the Spirit would use His Word to do a work in our counselee's lives.

This last week, I received a very sweet note from a counselee who had been ministered to by a biblical counselor in our ministry, and I was overwhelmed by this note. The counselor who was spoken of in this note had been in a class just like this not long ago, writing these essays, laboring in doctrine, seeking to understand the 24 theology exams and the 20 counseling exams, and then got into phase three and just started applying the things and the truths that she had learned, just giving the Word, just giving the truth of scripture, just meeting with a counselee, opening the Word, and to hear this testimony of a counselee who said how much change she had experienced through the Word of God simply being ministered to in the context of a one-on-one one-on-one setting in the counseling ministry.

It was a great affirmation of the simplicity and the power of biblical counseling. Brothers and sisters, you don't need to go chasing down every demon. You don't need to find some manual on how to cast out Satan or all of these. You don't need to find magical words to say in order to be successful in overcoming spiritual darkness.

What you need to do and what I need to do is to get busy studying, learning, obeying, applying, and then communicating the all-sufficient Word of God, the 66 books of the Bible, and I pray that God will be gracious to you and give you His sufficient grace as you do just that this week.

Well, thank you for joining us tonight for the study on the activities or the operations of the devil. I pray that the study would lead you to a greater understanding of Christ and greater understanding of the sovereignty of God. Join us next week on April 18th at five o'clock Pacific Time.

We're going to be looking at counseling exam number 10, which has to deal with such subjects as the chemical imbalance theory, the biogenic theory of mood disorders, the 12-step recovery programs, cognitive behavioral therapy, and electroconvulsive therapy. That's one of the more interesting and complicated questions in the ACBC theology exam questions, but we trust that next week's session will help you and equip you to write a good essay on that topic.

Let me pray for us and we'll be dismissed for tonight. Father, thank you that Satan is a defeated foe, though he is influential, that as Luther said, his doom is sure. We thank you that we can sing with Luther, a mighty fortress is our God, and we can know that as we simply study and learn and communicate the word of God, that the word is powerful, living and active, and able to transform people's lives.

May our study of Satan and the demonic realm lead us to a sobriety and greater understanding and reliance upon the sufficient word of God that you've given to us. I thank you for each of my brothers and sisters here tonight and ask that you would bless them in their studies this week.

We pray all this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.