11. The Devil and the Fallen Angels First of all, Lloyd Jones talks about the names of the Devil: Satan (Adversary), the devil (slanderer), Beelzebub (he is the prince of the devils), Apollyon, the angel of the bottomless pit, the prince of this world, the god of this world, “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), the dragon, a lion, Lucifer, that old serpent, the evil one.
Secondly, the devil is a person (117). Please see the Gospels of the temptations of our Lords (Luke 4:1-13), and Satan in Job 1 and in Genesis. Lloyd Jones wants us to realise that “apart from the sin that is in us, and the evil of our nature as the result of the Fall, we are confronted by a person outside us who is tracking us down, a person who has a kingdom, of which he is the head, and which is highly organized, and his one great concern is to destroy the work of God” (118). In Ephesians, it warns us that “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” (Ephesians 6:12).
Satan was created: “On the day that you were created/ they were prepared” (Ezekiel 28:13). And he is the highest form of being, the head of all created beings, and that his function is to worship God, and to present to Him the adoration of the entire universe: He was anointed guardian cherub (Ezekiel 28:14). He was blameless in his ways from the day he was created, till unrighteousness was found in him (Ezekiel 28:15). It is because his heart was proud due to his beauty (28:17). (See also Isaiah 14:12-15).
The power of Satan is even greater than the power of archangel and the power of man (See Jude 9; 2Peter 2:10-11). He is a “roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8), “leviathan” (Isaiah 27:1), and “dragon.” Through reading the Book of Job, we also know that “the devil can affect and influence our bodies” (121). (See also 2 Corinthians 12:7).
What is the status of Satan?
He is “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 12:7), the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), the “ministering spirits” (Heb. 2:14). Satan’s power is limited because he must work under the control of God; it is God’s permissive will that allows it (122). However, Lloyd Jones constantly reminds us that “we should never speak loosely or flippantly about the devil” (122).
Where does the devil exist?
Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it’” (Job 1:7). Satan is not omnipresent; he is finite and limited. But he can deceive humans in thinking that he is everywhere at the same time through sending his emissaries and agents (122).
What is the character of the devil?”
The things that characterise him are pride, then malignity, subtlety, and finally deceitfulness (122).
What are the works of the devil?
The answer to this question is very definite: “his one great objective always is to destroy the work of God and to set himself up as God” (123). He controls the power of death (Hebrew 2:14) only when “the moment man listened to the devil he put himself under the power and under the dominion of the devil, and thereby the sentence of death was pronounced upon him” (123). It is “because ultimately the power of death is in the hands of God” (123). Those unbelievers are the children of the devil (John 8:44), and Satan controls them and controls their lives and activities.
How does he do this?
The “first thing he does is blind them the truth” (124). (See 2 Cor. 4:3-4). The “second thing the devil does is to order and control the lives of these people” (124).
What are his activities with respect to believers?
First, “he resists our works and our activities” (124). (See Zechariah 3:1; Daniel 10:13;1 Thessalonians 2:18). He also “discourages us. He is always waiting to devour us (1 Peter 5:8), to try us and to deceive us” (124). (See also Luke 22:31). When we feels moody, depressed, hopeless, and despair, we are looking at our weakness, failure, or disability, etc, and we must know that it is always the work of the devil. Finally, “He even affects our bodies” (125). (Job 2:7; 2 Cor. 12:7).
How does the devil do this work?
Satan does his work by himself or through his angels.
Finally, “the devil’s power is limited; it is under God. Christ in His life, His death and His resurrection, has already vanquished the devil”; “the power of the risen Lord we can resist, knowing that we can defeat him, we can withstand him” (125). (1John 4:4).
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