He begins by acknowledging that Scripture does not contain a description of Satan’s origin (11) nor his activity directly, but that the Bible does deal indirectly with Satan as he relates to the overarching scriptural theme of man’s redemption (13).  In the Bible there is enough information “to light the unseen world, its persons, places, facts and history, not. . .in minute detail, but full enough to provoke thought and reflection, and to create and inspire faith” (14).  In spite of myths which are commonly believed concerning the devil, Bounds counsels that there are truths which can and should be known pertaining to him.  Furthermore, Bounds accepts that demonic possessions occur, and that mankind is under assault by fallen angels who with Satan “are ready . . . to hurt man and defeat God’s Kingdom on earth” (17).

Two characteristics of Satan are brought into focus by Bounds.  First, is the ability of Satan to conceal himself and his work, and second, the personhood or personality of Satan and his demons.  Of Satan’s ability to conceal his activities Bounds writes that a person would have to exercise a “breach of logic and faith” not to believe in the existence of the devil.   “To Christ the devil was one of the most real persons” (29).  Satan “infuses thoughts, makes suggestions and does it so deftly that we do not know their paternity” (35). Bounds also points out that Christ reacted personally to the devil during exorcisms.  Christ “makes a clear distinction between the human personality possessed by the devil, and the personality of the devil who holds possession.  The two are to his eye two persons” (28-29).  According to Bounds Christians must recognize the work of Satan and his forces as that of personal beings who are organized, methodical, and hard working.  Jesus’ example in relating to Satan should be followed by all Christians, “he recognized his person, felt and acknowledged his power, abhorred his character, and warred against his person and kingdom” (29).

Bounds perceives Satan through his position as “prince of this world” (31) more than any other of his agencies.  As one who rules Satan is involved in all of the activities of the world, and Church.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit to execute the ultimate breaking of Satan’s power which has already been adjudicated by Christ’s work on the cross.  Since Satan’s sentence has not yet been administered he is enabled to continue to usurp God’s authority, for a time, on the earth (30-31).  During this time man must respect the position of Satan, because  “man’s words are not to be victors in this conflict.  God’s words . . . broke the power of his assault and defeated his fell intents”(32).

Bounds next discusses the activities and methodologies of Satan.  Satan’s activity is constant, “he is a very busy character.  He does a big business a very mean business, but he does it well” (34-35). “There is no greater worker than he.  His inveterate industry and tireless perseverance are the only things in him worthy of imitation” (99).  “His method is to assume that shape which will suit his purposes at the time” (98).  “He makes people sick . . . entices men to do wrong, and inflames. . . them to do evil” (99).

By him sin loses its sinfulness, the world is clothed with double charms, self is given a double force, faith is turned into fanaticism and love into hate. . . Goodness is the point of his constant attack.  He says nothing good about the good, nothing bad about the bad.  He is always at church before the preacher is in the pulpit or a member in the pew, to hinder the sower, to impoverish the soil, or to blast the seed, that is when courage and faith are in the pulpit, and zeal and prayer in the pew. (35-36)

Another method of Satan is “to establish a wrong estimate of church strength” (44).  His goal is to make the church “become thoroughly worldly while boasting of her spirituality” (45).  Churches must be taught that “the strength of the church lies in her piety.  All else is incidental.” (46) Bounds concludes that the church is influenced far more by evil through the world and desires of the flesh than she is attacked by demons.

Unwittingly Christians display common weaknesses that enable Satan to gain the upper hand in spiritual combat.  “Heaven’s trinity of foes are the world, the flesh, and the devil” (72).  These three align themselves against the Christian.  “The world is first, most powerful and engaging” (72), receiving from Satan “a beauty and seductive power as the rival of heaven” (72).  Money, fashion, and education, are often used as weapons against the Christian.   An “unforgiving spirit” (114) will also open the way for Satan’s attack.  “As soon as a spirit of unkindness possesses us for the wrong done, Satan has the upper hand” (115).  Finally, Satan will seek to use “lust, strong natural desires” (127) against us.  In order to succeed as a Christian these lusts must be “banned and reprobated” (128) from the life of God’s children.

The devil possesses power, great power, power that is “far greater than that of God’s highest and saintliest earthly ones” (89).  Satan is able to neutralize the word of God (98), cause suggestions of evil to arise within people, even godly people, and possess the body of an individual.  We may take comfort, however, from the fact that “the power of Satan is not supreme” (94), it is limited by God.  For example Satan did not have the power of death over Job (86), and the ultimate limit to Satan’s power comes from the cross of Christ through which God “gave a shock to Satan and his power” (94)

In order to protect oneself from Satan wiles, defenses are necessary.  Greatest among these for Christians is to renounce the world which “is to renounce Satan.  This is the deadliest blow at his rule.  The friendship of the world is violative of our marriage vows to heaven” (73).  Another defense against the devil which Christians must employ is to rid themselves of what Bounds calls “a paralyzing attitude” (114).  The lingering to listen to what one knows as the voice of ruin and not truth is fatal to anyone who is serious about living purely before the Lord.  Bounds further suggests that a growing piety and spiritual development (135) through which one learns to depend solely on the power of God’s Word is the comprehensive strategy one should utilize against Satan’s attacks.

Bounds purpose in writing Satan is disclosed as he writes;

Nothing advances Satan’s work with more skillful and readier hands than to be ignorant of Satan and his ways.  To escape his snare, we must not only have a strong faith in the fact that Satan is, but also must have a most intimate knowledge of him and of his plans and many-sided ways. (112)

E. M. Bounds was a quiet and reserved man who was thoroughly Western in his mindset, meticulous in his lifestyle, and strictly biblical in his approach to doctrine and church practice.  A serious man, marked by his experiences in revival and war, he viewed prayer as a weapon.  He prayed often and understood prayer and encouraging others to pray as major components of his ministry.  These factors may bias him against many of the conclusions reached by contemporary warfare writers.  One could imagine Bounds retiring to his west Georgia home to pray down power rather than provoking a power encounter himself.

This work has many strengths, and should be read by those who are interested in a prayer centered view of spiritual warfare.  Bounds affirms at least two positions advanced by the contemporary warfare movement.  Evidence exists in his writing that he recognized at least in part the concepts of territorial spirits, and legal rights of access.  He would accept potentially at least the need for power encounters, as in the case of demon possession, but Bounds would not favor the boisterous manner utilized by some deliverance ministries.  Instead he observed that Jesus was quiet in the presence of Satan, and “awed into silence at the devil’s approach” (32) One might summarize Bounds strategy in a power encounter to be defensive rather than offensive.  While Bounds would not understand the concept of territorial spirits in the same way as Peter Wagner or Bob Beckett, he does acknowledge that Satan may also work beyond the level of persons and seek “to direct the policy and sway the scepter of nations”(43).  He realizes that “there are special seats or headquarters of his power, places where the devil makes his home and rules with an absolute sway” (90).  In these bastions the power of Satan is magnified by pagan worship and the lifestyle of the unregenerate.  Bounds writes that;

The devil’s power is greatly enhanced by his system of worship… pagan worship and devotion is very powerful.  It is not a work of chance, neither does it spring from native religious instincts.  It is a system of rare power and of rare skill, constructed by a graduate in the craft of seduction and delusion.  Satan’s hand and head are in it, all planning, ordering, and inspiring it.  It is this fact which gives it strength and influence. (91)

Although Bounds does not use the vocabulary of the proponents of a legal access theory of spiritual warfare he does suggest that Christians make themselves easy targets, occupying exposed spiritual positions, by living worldly lives.  By willingly allowing lusts of the flesh and worldly desires to remain within ones heart one gives a mighty tool to the enemy with which he may attack again and again.

One weakness of this work is its lack of biblical references in its numerous scriptural quotations.  Since most of Bounds writings are compilations he often makes similar points from many different passages of scripture.  While the passages are familiar it would be very helpful to follow his arguments if the references were cited.

Satan is a powerful book for those who are seeking information about the enemy, however, this work would be ill-fitted for one expecting a treatment of spiritual warfare in contemporary terms.  This work examines Satan from a Biblical, and conservative point of view.  Bounds emphasis on personal piety is helpful also, particularly today, in calling all Christians to a deeper spiritual life.  In Satan he identifies the drastic consequences for failing to heed this call.

We would all do well to heed the lessons taught in the poem Bounds uses in the beginning of chapter 2.

Men don’t believe in a devil now,
As their fathers used to do;
They’ve forced the door of the broadest creed
To let his majesty through;
There isn’t a print of his cloven foot,
Or a fiery dart from his bow,
To be found in earth or air to-day,
For the world has voted so.

But who is mixing the fatal draft
That palsies heart and brain,
And loads the earth of each passing year
With ten hundred thousand slain?
Who blights the bloom of the land to-day
With the fiery breath of hell,
If the devil isn’t and never was?
Won’t somebody rise and tell?

- Alfred J. Hough ²

End Notes

1. Edward McKendree Bounds.  Satan: His Personality, Power and Overthrow. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1922

2.Edward McKendree Bounds., Satan: His Personality, Power and Overthrow (Edited by Homer W. Hodge. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1922), 18.

2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners.     Exodus 6:2–4 (ESV)

God is telling Moses that He has revealed something about Himself to Moses which He had not revealed to Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. Think about that!  Would it not be incredible to know God so well that He would tell you things about Himself which He had told no one else.  We all have friends in whom we confide, but we only confide our secrets to close personal friends.

Moses was so close to God that God would tell him what he did not tell His other friends.  Abraham was His friend but God did not disclose to Abraham what He was telling Moses.

and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. James 2:23 (NASB)

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew two of the three names.  In the passage above the word translated God in Hebrew (the original O.T. language) is “Elohim.”  The word translated Almighty in Hebrew is “Adonai.”  The word translated Lord in Hebrew is “Yahweh.”  This is the personal name of God.  The word is the “to be” verb in Hebrew.  It literally means “He is.”  In other words God’s name means, I Am or I exist.  This name “Yahweh” is the name of God which the Hebrew people knew as the ineffable name of God.

They took the commandment not to take Yahweh’s name in vain so seriously that they refused to speak His name at all.  Their rationale was that if one never uttered His name then they could never take His name in vain.

You do not have to be able to read Hebrew to find God’s name in the O.T.  Look in your O.T. and find the word “Lord.”  Look closely and you will most likely discover that the word is written LORD.  When the “ord” are written in small capital letters “ORD” then the word which is being translated into English is “Yahweh” the personal name of God which the Hebrew people considered to be to sacred to speak.

Do you consider God’s name sacred?  How do you show your respect for His name?  Taking God’s name in vain can be done through our speech, but there are other ways in which His name may be taken in vain that do not involve speech.

Perhaps the greatest way we take His name in vain is when we profess to know Him but live a lifestyle which is at odds with His word and does not honor or acknowledge Him. I want to so live that I know, honor and obey!

McDill believes that “preachers can significantly improve their preaching by strengthening twelve specific skills used in the preparation of sermons” (2).  McDill does not accept that effective preaching is an endeavor which only the most gifted can pursue.  Rather, he believes that “anyone can learn the methods used in the preparation of good sermons” (13). McDill does not often use the term expository preaching preferring instead to discuss biblical preaching; however, it is clear by his definition that expository preaching is what he has in mind. He defines biblical sermons as those “in which the text shapes the sermon.  The purpose, the theme, the structure, and the development of the sermon are to reflect the text” (14).  Unlike many preaching texts this book seeks to deal with this single approach to preaching alone.

Following the introductory chapter, McDill works out his thesis through twelve chapters that each develop one of the skills for great preaching.  Each chapter contains exercises which are designed for self study so that the reader can improve this skill in preaching on his own.  The books seems to be directed toward the beginning preacher or the bi-vocational preacher who desires to engage in a directed self study.

The first three chapters deal with the skills necessary for inductive Bible study.  McDill posits that “a growing number of preachers are finding that the best approach to their text study is inductive” (21).  The first skill necessary for inductive study of the text is learning to see the structural relationship within the text.  In order to accomplish this skill, McDill introduces the reader to an exercise in developing structural diagrams.  His approach rests on the assumption that main points will be those with the most supporting ideas.  He also discusses the importance of discerning the connectives used by the author in assisting to determine his original intention.  In the next two chapters McDill provides guidelines for making observations about the text and asking the questions of the text which assist in discovering the  meaning of the author.

The next three chapters explain how one should contextualize the ideas of the biblical text and place them into the contemporary world of the audience.  McDill suggests the best way to determine the idea being put forward in a biblical text is to ask and answer the question, “What is the writer talking about?” (89), and that one should seek to obtain a one-word answer.  This subject should then be limited by identifying how the biblical writer limits the scope of the subject within the text itself.  According to McDill, this exercise will assist one in clarifying his thinking so that he will not become guilty of “the great fault of preaching is fuzzy thinking” (94).  McDill realizes that the biblical text must be understood on an emotional and personal level.  He offers that, by identifying the symptoms, assumptions, consequences and feelings of those in need of the text’s message, one can apply the biblical truths to the congregation.  McDill concludes this section by leading the reader across the application bridge.  He assists the reader in developing the textual and sermon ideas and relating these to the audience by means of an interrogative that is answered by means of the predicates which will serve as the divisions of the sermon.

The next two chapters are concerned with properly organizing one’s thought for the sermon.  McDill offers an exercise for clarifying the transition statements which will serve to bind the sermon together while also moving its argument along.  McDill suggests that the form of the sermon should consider the text’s form but not necessarily be constrained by it.  Instead he suggests that Alan Monroe’s motivated sequence outline be used as a template for insuring the communication value of sermons.

The next three chapters deal with finishing the sermon so that its thought will be easily understood by the audience.  McDill proposes that each division of the sermon undergo careful development of its “explanation, illustration,  argumentation, and application” (197), and that natural analogies be brought out that will enable the listener to understand that the truth of Scripture is like some particular from his own life experience which he both understands and to which he can relate.  This section is closed with a discussion of how the preacher can use figurative language and stories to drive his point home in the heart of his audience.

The last chapter reminds the preacher that he is preaching for the purpose of eliciting a faith response from the listener. Particularly helpful in this chapter is McDill’s reminder that the preacher must not use words like ought or should, but must boldly proclaim, “Because of all we have said about God, ‘You can’” (255).  The entire process will fail if the preacher faithfully prepares the sermon but does not seek to cause those who listen to him to be convinced of the rightness of God’s cause and the need of everyone to place their own lives before Him.   The principle strength of this book is the practical step-by-step approach employed by McDill.  He does not loose his reader in discussion of Greek tenses or hermeneutical minutia but instead supplies a simple, clear approach to preaching.  For example, his discussion of the distinction between biblical hermeneutics and other interpretative exercises is wonderfully simple.  He states that three reasons that distinguish biblical interpretation from that of other things are: “the Bible is old . . .the Bible is fixed and stable as a written document . . . [and] the Bible . . . is about God and his dealings with mankind” (60-61).

Another strength is the clarity with which McDill presents his discussion of the textual and sermon ideas.  His treatment is simple and effective. He shows his reader how to bridge the gap between the author’s intended meaning and the sermon idea by way of an example based on the story of the fall of man in the garden of Eden (126).  In this example he shows how other Scripture can be used to limit the author’s idea and that the goal of the sermon is to present the timeless principle to a contemporary audience.

A weakness is the false distinction which McDill raises between inductive and deductive study.  His claim is that those who practice deductive study bring their own or another’s ideas to the text while those who study the text inductively are guilty of bringing presuppositions to the text. He states, “If [one] examines the text inductively . . . [one] suspends [one’s] own conclusions to let it speak, opening the way for the Spirit to disclose its meaning” (24).  This is an overstatement of his argument because the inductive method cannot in and of itself prevent one from bringing presuppositions to the text, nor can it be stated that the deductive method necessitates one bring presuppositions to the text.  Taken to its extreme this line of reasoning could be used to justify all manner of eiseigesis.  Many well-meaning Christians read the texts of Scripture and, waiting for the Spirit to tell them what it means, are lead astray by false teaching.  J. I. Packer points out that one danger of inductive study is “that [it] tells you to ‘observe’ without giving you any theological orientation to help you do it.”

Another weakness is McDill’s incorrect assumption that delivery of the sermon is not a “critical factor in what we recognize as great preaching” (10).  Many well-reasoned, clear arguments have been lost by the lack of pathos of the speaker.  Preaching involves persuasion, and if one will be successful in causing his audience to accept his position, one must prepare and concentrate both on the logic of his argument and on the methods of the delivery of his argument.

Yet another weakness is McDill’s proposition that Alan Monroe’s motivated sequence be utilized as the rubric through which all sermon forms must pass.  While McDill’s premise is sound in preaching from didactic texts and communicating truths to an audience, he has not engaged those who propose a narrative style of preaching.  To be fair, however, to engage the narrative preaching movement would be beyond the stated scope of this book (15).

The simple but thorough process described by McDill will assist anyone who reads this text.  In particular, this book would be excellent for bi-vocational preachers who will be unable to attend seminary or for those whose preaching has become dull and lifeless.  With so many books on preaching being written as surveys of various sermonic forms McDill has performed a service for those who seek to learn how to simply write a clear and effective sermon.

End Notes

1. Mcdill Wayne, The 12 Essential Skills For Great Preaching. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994.