Topical Bible: The Devil: Saints: Afflicted By, Only As God Permits

◄ The Devil: Saints: Afflicted By, Only As God Permits ►

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The Devil, also known as Satan, is depicted in the Bible as the adversary of God and His people. He is a fallen angel who opposes God's purposes and seeks to lead humanity astray. However, Scripture consistently affirms that the Devil's power is limited and subject to God's sovereign will. This is particularly evident in the affliction of saints, which occurs only as God permits.

Job's Trials

The Book of Job provides a profound example of a saint afflicted by the Devil, but only with God's permission. Job is described as "blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil" (Job 1:1). Despite his righteousness, Satan challenges Job's integrity, suggesting that his faithfulness is due to God's protection and blessings. God permits Satan to test Job, saying, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself" (Job 1:12). This narrative illustrates that Satan's ability to afflict is contingent upon divine permission, and even then, it is bounded by God's sovereign limits.

Peter's Testing

In the New Testament, Jesus forewarns Peter of Satan's desire to test him. Jesus tells Peter, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail" (Luke 22:31-32). Here, Satan's request to test Peter underscores the necessity of divine permission. Jesus' intercession for Peter highlights God's protective oversight and the assurance that, even in testing, the faith of the saints is upheld by God's grace.

Paul's Thorn in the Flesh

The Apostle Paul speaks of a "thorn in the flesh," which he describes as "a messenger of Satan to torment me" (2 Corinthians 12:7). Paul acknowledges that this affliction was allowed by God to prevent him from becoming conceited due to the surpassing greatness of the revelations he received. Despite Paul's pleas for its removal, God responds, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). This passage illustrates that while Satan may be the immediate cause of affliction, it serves a divine purpose, ultimately working for the spiritual benefit of the believer.

The Limitation of Satan's Power

Throughout Scripture, the Devil's power is portrayed as real but restricted. He is described as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8), yet believers are assured of victory through faith and divine protection. James 4:7 instructs believers to "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." This command underscores the believer's ability to overcome Satan's schemes through submission to God and reliance on His strength.

God's Sovereignty and the Believer's Assurance

The affliction of saints by the Devil, as permitted by God, serves to refine and strengthen their faith. Romans 8:28 assures believers that "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." This promise encompasses even the trials instigated by Satan, affirming that God's sovereign purposes prevail. Believers can rest in the assurance that no affliction occurs outside of God's permissive will and that He remains faithful to sustain and deliver His people.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Job 1:12
And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power; only on himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Job 2:4-7
And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has will he give for his life.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Twenty Sixth Sunday after Trinity God's Judgment when Christ ...
... you, 7 and to you that are afflicted rest with us ... he shall come to be glorified in
his saints, and to ... persecuted, tormented and assailed by the devil with all ...
/.../luther/epistle sermons vol iii/twenty sixth sunday after trinity.htm

The Being of God
... in heaven.' Now, if there be a devil, there is a ... who wept for sin, and served God,
are afflicted. ... as pollute God's Sabbath, oppose his saints, trampling these ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a body of divinity/1 the being of god.htm

Of Certain Outward Temptations and Appearances of Satan. Of the ...
... water; and they who came in after the devil had gone ... of the life of Christ and of
the Saints, and then ... suffers, and though I am in other ways afflicted, that I ...
/.../teresa/the life of st teresa of jesus/chapter xxxi of certain outward.htm

Whither Goest Thou?
... the very brightest of the saints have been afflicted. ... If the saints of God confessed
that theirs was a ... The devil actually wrought the trouble; but the Lord not ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 35 1889/whither goest thou.htm

Gratitude for Deliverance from the Grave
... a circle so complete that even the devil, malicious as ... When saints are apparently
laid in the earth, they ... Such persons despise the afflicted, and suspect the ...
/.../spurgeons sermons volume 38 1892/gratitude for deliverance from the.htm

This HomilyWas Delivered in the Old Church of Antioch
... but men [1025] ministering for the devil, the unbelievers ... be too easily exalted;
and as saints more than ... such persons to be continually afflicted, from not ...
/.../chrysostom/on the priesthood/homily i this homily was.htm

That Love is Exercised in Penitence, and First, that There are ...
... to weep bitterly, being sorrowful and afflicted for not ... associate and subject ourselves
to the devil, making ourselves ... it by the example of the saints; for who ...
/.../francis/treatise on the love of god/chapter xviii that love is.htm

This HomilyIs Intended to Shew that the Fear of Magistrates is ...
... they who live virtuously, and are afflicted, receive a ... occasion also, He permitted
the devil to manifest ... others constantly elsewhere), for the saints and angels ...
/.../chrysostom/on the priesthood/homily vi this homily is.htm

V. ...
... only attained to imagine how the curse afflicted Christ our ... Scripture says not much
of the saints that have died ... as the Christless, and even the devil, is afraid ...
/.../the epistles of st peter and st jude preached and explained/chapter i v .htm

Spiritual Culture.
... to strive earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. ... Thus God may permit
us to be afflicted or to be ... Matthew tells us that the devil is the tempter. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/orr/the gospel day /chapter xi spiritual culture.htm