He influences, he has the power of death (Heb. 2:14) over the wicked, those that will die in their sins, not over those who are in God through Christ, and not the lost, those who have been predestined before the foundation of the world.
Satan is allowed to do only what the Lord God allows him to do to those who are heirs to the Kingdom of heaven. How those who are still lost yet are indeed our brothers and sisters in Christ I cannot say, mankind is not allowed to look into these Spiritual matters, but their lives as much as ours are safe in the arms of Christ. Satan influences, he whispers as it were in the ears of those who no longer live for this world, but he cannot force any born-again believer to do anything against their will, he has no power of death over us, and much of what many profess are attacks from him are no more than their own frailties coming to light, the darkness that is still within them being brought to the forefront.
We are accountable to God for our actions, whether they be by our own free will, with or without Satanic influences, no less then we will be held accountable to the Lord God for either obeying or disobeying His commandments.
I offer you these points of contemplation, the one who is born blind, how is he tempted by the lust of the eyes, where does that sin reside in one who cannot see, or the one who cannot hear, how does Satan whisper in the ear of those that are deaf to the sounds of the world, its enticements cannot be heard, nor can they be seen by the blind. Here is the question you must ask yourself, even if Satan himself were to entice you, and you fall to that temptation, whose fault is it?
If you know for a fact the truths of the Word of God and do not obey them, whose fault, is it?
Satan cannot read your mind, he is well versed in the ways of man, but he cannot hear you think. You may as well believe that he can influence your dreams as you sleep, which in a way that we do not understand he may be able to do to the wicked, but darkness cannot enter into the light, and those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit will never have this occur in their lives. How are the blind and deaf enticed? “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:16) Sin, the sin we are born with is covered by the grace of God until we reach a certain age, and for each that age is different, but nevertheless it is there.
The one who is mentally retarded, who does not know his right hand from his left has placed upon them a grace that few will ever realize, but for others this is not so, there may indeed be nine-year-old children in hell.
Contemplate this if you will, when you are praising and praying to the Lord, can Satan hear those prayers if your lips do not move, can he see into your heart the blessing that you are offering to God? I leave many of the questions that I pose in these letters to you open ended, without answers for a reason, one is because I do not know the answer, but the second reason is the most important, because the Word of God does not give us the answers either.
We are to live by faith, not sight, (2 Cor. 5:7) living by faith means that we do not have the answers to many of our questions, that our response is to be “Thou knowest Lord, Thy will be done.” Faith submits to God even when we do not know, in fact if we did know, it would not be faith.
The place we are attempting to reach is where our faith is a fact, where the verse in Hebrews 11:1 stands as unquestionable truth in our lives. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” There is a reason that our faith is to be firmly planted in our minds, with no doubts as to the promises of God. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:6)
I do know one thing for a fact, unless your works for the glory of God are visible to the outside world, Satan’s world, that old dragon will never pay any attention to you at all.
