This past week, I came across two distinct topics impacting me and leaving me feeling angry, grieved, thankful, and joyful. I know. That is an array of emotions to have, seemingly contradicting one another. It all began when I was sent a video containing a teaching about the name of the LORD. Now, you would think this would be a straightforward teaching with understanding about the Hebrew name (Yahweh) for LORD and how there are correlations in the New Testament pointing back to Yahweh being Jesus Christ, ever more solidifying Him being God. It was not.

As this confusing teaching progressed from a self-professing prophet, it became clear where it was headed when stated that when the LORD is said to be speaking in the Bible, God is not speaking but rather it is the soul of God breathed into Adam and the government of God, which are his prophets. He stated that the name of the LORD is about seed and harvest and the angels come before the LORD to reap a harvest for us, referring to Matthew 13. If I may offer a friendly suggestion: when someone notes a passage of Scripture and its suggested meaning without going to it, open your Bible and read it for yourself. When they refer to it with an open Bible, open your Bible and read it for yourself. You are responsible for how much you understand God’s Word, and a reading of Matthew 13, particularly 36-43 in context would greatly benefit in this matter. I will not spoil it for you. Also, consider investing in a concordance and/or a Lexicon. This will be of assistance in understanding the actual meaning of LORD.

Perhaps you are beginning to see now where there was anger and grief. It was difficult listening to something pointing away from Christ, taking His name in vain and ascribing it to those who see themselves as modern day prophets going to the courts of heaven and serving as God’s government. It was angering to hear God being shown irreverence, and the lack of acknowledgement in the personal name of God chosen by Him in relation to His covenant people. It was grieving to hear people being awed by the teaching, amening his points. It was humbling yet again to be thankful to the LORD, who is Christ Jesus, for salvation, eternal life, and for the gift of repentance and mercy only He can extend. I rejoice in His Word because it is truth, and times like this remind me from where I had once fallen. When confusion and error abound, the Word is the beautiful plumbline setting things in proper order.

But there was something else this individual stated within this same teaching, and it alluded to those who would accept sickness or difficulties in life as God allowing it, telling them to believe such a thing would mean you could not seek medical attention as this would place the doctor in eternal judgment. Frankly, it was an erroneous conclusion. The sovereignty of God is Biblical, and it brings freedom. To dismiss God’s sovereignty brings a trade-off, the sovereignty of Satan.

I cannot take credit for this term, but it would be the second thing grabbing my attention this week as I read an article from John MacArthur about Charismatics and the Sovereignty of Satan. In this article, he shared excerpts from a letter written to him by a lady who had attended Grace Community Church. She had come from a large, prominent Charismatic church, and here are some of the things she told him,

You know we lived all our life in this movement and one thing dominates that movement, and it is that Satan is sovereign. If you get sick, it was the devil. If your child gets sick, it was the devil. The devil made your child sick. And even if your child dies Satan somehow got the victory. If your spouse, your husband or your wife gets cancer, that’s the devil that did that. If you had an accident, the devil did that. If you lost your job, the devil did that. If things didn’t go the way you wanted them to go in your company or your family and you wound up with a loss of job or a divorce—the devil did all of that. The devil has to be bound and so you have got to learn these formulas, because you have got to bind the devil, or he is really going to control everything in your life.

She went on to talk about how it physically and emotionally affected her, and she spoke of hearing a teaching at Grace on the subject of God’s sovereignty, leaving a powerful and life changing impact for the better.

I could not deny the content of what she stated, thinking of times past when I had personally, without realizing it, placed Satan as sovereign in the world. There is so much emphasis on the devil and the demonic in areas of the charismatic movement. This does not mean Satan does not exist. He simply does not have as much power as we believe him to possess. There is even a condemning teaching presented in a subtle yet not so subtle way that to believe in God’s sovereignty is without faith and power. It seems at times much more is made of Satan than God, even when that is not the intended desire and motive.

It is possible to rest in the sovereignty of God and to thank the Lord in the midst of suffering in a fallen world that He provided a means to care for our bodies via medicine. It does not negate His sovereignty to seek medical care. God can most certainly use trials in our lives to glorify Him in conforming us into His image. In times when He sovereignly heals, He is also glorified. Our faith is not in the human physician, and to tell others their faith is lacking in such matters by trusting God’s sovereignty while seeking medical care condemns believers. It causes them to question their faith and to question the truth of His Word. It questions who is in control and who has supreme authority.

Satan is not sovereign. He is bound by what Christ did on the cross. He cannot do anything of his own volition. He is a defeated foe, not because of someone thinking they can go to the courts of heaven and speak the word of the LORD and be His government while completely missing Christ being LORD. He is defeated because of Christ’s finished work on the cross, and it is here I end with great joy.

Listen to this episode of The Lovesick Scribe podcast as we go into greater detail about the teaching mentioned in this blog post and what Scripture truly has to say on the matter: The Dangerous Belief that Satan Is Sovereign and the Lord Is Not God – The Lovesick Scribe Podcast | Podcast on Spotify