Satan’s greatest weapon may not be the power he possesses, but the power he convinces people he possesses.
Pastor Jack Hibbs says the enemy works to imitate three attributes belonging to God alone. When Christians believe those lies, fear can replace faith and the dark realm can appear far greater than it truly is.
“Satan will do everything he can to get you to think that he’s omnipotent,” Hibbs said during the fourth installment of his “Into the Dark Realm” series.
But omnipotence is only the first illusion.
The Lie of Unlimited Power
Satan possesses real authority within the fallen world, but Hibbs emphasized that his power remains limited under the sovereignty of God.
“He’s not all-powerful, but he wants you to believe that he is,” Hibbs said.
Believing otherwise can cause Christians to approach spiritual warfare from a position of fear. Every temptation, hardship or cultural crisis can begin to look like evidence that Satan is winning and God has lost control.
Hibbs warned that Christians can inadvertently magnify the enemy by focusing more on demonic power than the authority of Jesus Christ.
“We have a tendency to glorify the demonic realm and make it bigger than what it really is as Christians,” he said.
Jesus provided the answer in John 16:33, telling His followers that they would experience tribulation but should remain encouraged because He has overcome the world.
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The Lie That Satan Knows Everything
The second lie is that Satan possesses complete knowledge of people, their thoughts and the future.
“Don’t think that Satan knows everything,” Hibbs said. “He knows more than us. He’s been around a long time.”
Satan has observed humanity for thousands of years. That experience allows the enemy to recognize patterns, exploit weaknesses and create convincing counterfeits.
Hibbs warned that demonic spirits can imitate deceased relatives and use personal knowledge to draw people toward occult practices or false religions. Such encounters may feel authentic because the spiritual forces involved know details from a person’s history.
Still, Satan does not possess the omniscience of God. He can observe, calculate and deceive, but he cannot search every heart or know all that lies ahead.
The Lie That Satan Is Everywhere
The third lie is that Satan is present everywhere at once.
“He’s not omnipresent,” Hibbs said. “Satan is localized. He can only be in one place at one time.”
Satan, fallen angels and demons are created beings. They may operate through an organized spiritual kingdom, but they do not possess God’s unlimited presence.
Ephesians 6:12 describes this opposition as principalities, powers and spiritual forces of evil. Hibbs said those passages reveal different ranks and levels of authority within the dark realm.
He also distinguished fallen angels from demons. While acknowledging disagreement among biblical scholars, Hibbs argued that demons seek human bodies, animals or objects to inhabit, while angels do not require physical hosts.
Hibbs pointed to the account of Legion in Luke 8. The demons possessing a man immediately recognized Jesus and His authority over them.
“The demons living inside those guys, they knew who Jesus was,” Hibbs said.
The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss and asked to enter a herd of approximately 2,000 pigs. Jesus permitted it, and the animals rushed down a steep bank and drowned.
Hibbs connected the account to Christ’s description in Matthew 12 of unclean spirits traveling through “waterless places.” He also presented his belief that demons could be the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim who died in Noah’s flood.
Under Hibbs’ interpretation of Genesis 6, the Nephilim were produced through an unnatural union between fallen angels and human women. He connected that passage with Jesus’ warning that the last days would resemble the days of Noah.
Yet Hibbs’ central message was not that Christians should become consumed with the demonic. It was that they must understand the enemy’s limits and remain secure in Christ.
“If things fall apart seemingly, know this: It’s actually all falling together,” Hibbs said.
Satan may deceive, intimidate and organize spiritual opposition, but he cannot be everywhere, know everything or exercise unlimited power. Those attributes belong to God alone.
Christians must take spiritual warfare seriously without granting the enemy a status Scripture never gives him.
“Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world,” Hibbs said.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
