WHAT SATAN CAN NEVER DO
Job 1:8-12 (ESV), “And the Lord said to satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?' Then Satan answered the Lord and said, 'Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.' And the Lord said to satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.' So satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”
Although these verses have been used many, many times to tell about Job's story, I want to draw something out of them that are a little bit different. And that is, there are certain things that satan can never do. Just like God placed limitations on satan during Job's day, He has also placed limitations on satan in our day.
Verse 12, here, clearly says that satan can be limited by God on what kind, and how much, affliction he is allowed to dish out. The Amplified Bible states verse 12 even more clearly, when it says, “Then the Lord said to satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.”
There are in fact, four different things that I want to tell you satan cannot do. I'll talk about the first three then come back to these verses to show you the fourth.
1- He cannot keep you from being saved, if you want to be saved. Some have argued that Luke 8:12, in the parable of the sower, states that satan can indeed stop a person from giving their life to Jesus Christ, but this is not what it is saying. Here is how it is stated in the King James; “Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.” Notice here that it does not state that he can STOP a person from being saved, but only that he attempts to steal/take away the Word in an effort to prevent them from accepting Jesus as their Savior.
2- He cannot understand the heavenly prayer language. I know that satan used to live in the 3rd heaven with God, and I would be remiss if I tried to explain exactly how this all works, but obviously since Lucifer was in heaven, God must have changed the heavenly language in order that satan could not, in the future, know what is going on. Hallelujah!
3- He cannot hinder you from praying in the Holy Ghost. He may try to throw everything at you imaginable to bring discouragement, heartache, and trouble your way, but that only causes the Holy Spirit inside you to rise up that much stronger on your behalf. That's why it is so important to be baptized in the Holy Ghost! Romans 8:26 tells us, that when we are going through things that it is He (the Holy Spirit) that will intervene and pray through you to the Father in a heavenly prayer language that has a direct line to the throne of God. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
4- He cannot cross the bloodline! - Satan was absolutely belligerent on this point as he almost yelled at God; “You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property!” (Job 1:10). Now, if God had that kind of a wall of protection around an Old Testament saint, can you just imagine the power of protection that the blood-line now affords to us? Praise God! We have been saved by the Blood, and now we are protected by that same Blood! Satan CANNOT cross the Blood of Jesus Christ! Jesus defeated him on the cross of Calvary. Victory is ours today and every day forward because there is a hedge of protection around us. Learn to appropriate that hedge. Call upon Yahweh to make that hedge strong around you, your family, your home, your property, your coming and your going!