“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.” (2 Thess. 2:7)
The Holy Spirit is the only person who can hold back evil, you cannot do so, no man has ever been able to do so. These are not the sins of mankind that we willingly and of our own free will commit, we have been blessed with free will, and rarely does God hinder our free will. He may at times intervene, put up roadblocks if you will, to attempt to assuage our desires and lusts of the flesh, and always for His glory, but He does not always hinder us from performing that which we know to be displeasing in His eyes.
The evil I speak of here is most generally termed Satanic, brought about by Satan and those who fell with him from glory, devils, demons, our adversary and accuser. You cannot stop him of anything that he does, you cannot hinder him, you cannot loose him, you can resist him and he will flee from you, (James 4:7) but you hold no power over his advancement. He does not need mankind’s approval or assistance to do as he pleases, only the Lord can inhibit him, and He does, more than perhaps we will ever know.
Good, the actions of good men, cannot stop Satan.
Abraham, the friend of God, Moses, the servant of God, David, a man after God’s own heart, none of these or any other man ever born can stop this evil. The terminology is in a sense even foolish, the saying of good and evil, for it portrays in the mind some form of battle, some contest, when there is no contest, there never has been, the Almighty reigns in heaven and in the earth, He has always been completely and totally in control, He alone is Sovereign in all of creation.
A better phrasing of this would be righteousness and unrighteousness, holy and unclean.
Anyone who believes that the goodness of mankind, of deeds done to thwart Satan’s advancements by their own power or by a consortium of good men can in any way hinder his work is a fool, we are not to assume any power within our selves in this area of Spiritual warfare, God alone reigns, His Holy Spirit is the only One who has ever been able to say to the devil, “This far, no further.”
You hold no power over Satan, none of your good deeds, your good ideas, your good actions are even noticed by him.
“Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.” (Mark 1:24) Jesus cast out devils, He withstood Satan himself in the wilderness, He will cast him into hell, bound in chains, and one day into the Lake of Fire for all eternity. No good man could do that, only the Holy, Righteous and pure Lamb of God.
“And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” (Luke 10:17) Why? “And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.” (Mark 3:15) If the Most Holy God decides to give you the power to cast out a demon, then that is His will, and by His power alone, your goodness cannot do that. If you attempt to stand against the wiles of the devil without your armor on, the armor that was given to you by the Lord, you will fall defeated.
Good men have no power of any kind over Satan, born-again believers cannot stop his work, no man, saved or lost, holds any power over our adversary, only the Holy Spirit does.
What is approaching cannot be stopped, the Tribulation period is coming, not all the prayers of the saints of God will stop it. For good men who do not fear the Lord, who have not bowed the knee to Jesus Christ and called Him Lord and Savior to believe they can do so is not only ludicrous, but beyond sad, for they are being deceived by the very one they hope to stand against.
