An ancient teacher of correct speech was interviewing a prospective student. At the early age of six, the boy continued with constant talk, telling the Master all about his life. The tutor turned to the mother and said,"Madam, I will have to charge you twice the normal tuition!"
She exclaimed, "Why is that true?" To which he replied, "Not only must I teach your boy how to speak, I must first teach him how to shut up!!"
How many of you have a relative that just will not shut up? I know this very well In my family.
Well my hope is that today you will not be wishing that I sit down and shut up before I get done.
Today I want to go back to our subject of spiritual warfare and spend one more week on our adversary the Devil.
Peter tells us that he is our adversary and that he is like a lion going about looking to devour.
Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6 of the reality of spiritual warfare.
We are in a battle that is greater than any other that we could imagine.
A few summers ago we took a trip to Richmond, VA. Allison’s brother was in the Sudan with the Darfur people as a missionary and he came home for a few days.
We went to meet him and we learned a lot about Richmond and the Civil War.
We learned a lot about the battle of Richmond and other battles that took place that lead up to it.
One such battle that I loved to learn about is Gettysburg and I loved the movie Gettysburg.
General Lee expected his officers to make quick and good decisions when needed.
. Decisiveness can spell the difference between victory and defeat.
General Robert E. Lee, one of the greatest military strategists to ever wear an American uniform, knew this well.
He was fond of saying that “battles neither turn on a division or a brigade let alone a company or a squad. Rather, battles turn on the will of a man holding a rifle who takes aim or takes to heel.”
Battles turn on individual decisions. Such was the case of the battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863.
Lee, with a force of several hundred thousand Confederate troops, had marched through Maryland and into the lush Pennsylvania countryside.
With surprise and speed on his side, Lee took to the offensive and pushed into the city.
He knew that the Union army was to his rear and that by the morrow he would be facing them.
Nonetheless, there was high ground just outside of the city, a hill called Culp’s Hill.
With the city under occupation and his artillery on that hill, Lee could command the approach of the Union army and put them on the defensive.
However, everything hinged on taking that hill.
The hill was on Lee’s left flank directly in the path of General Richard Ewell’s corps.
Lee sent a message to General Ewell directing him to “take that hill if feasible.”
As Ewell’s corps advance through Gettysburg and over the field leading to Culp’s Hill, the Union Army began to pour into the Gettysburg countryside.
Elements that had been routed earlier in the day were streaming eastward toward General Meade’s Union army encampment on Cemetery Ridge just to the east of Culp’s Hill.
If Ewell could take that hill, his guns would be trained right down upon them.
Ewell paused his forces. What should he do? Should he attack with full force and push them off the hill?
Should he take a small detachment and engage the enemy for strength?
Should he stop his advance and wait until the next day’s light? Ultimately, Ewell decided to do nothing.
Two days later the Confederate Army, defeated, straggled back toward the Potomac River and the safety of Virginia.
The moment had been lost. The day had been lost. The battle had been lost. And, ultimately, the war had been lost. For the sake of a moment’s indecision, all had been lost.
Ewell risked failure because he couldn’t make a timely decision.
Only one decision, but so much depended upon that moment’s value.
When you think about it, our lives are like that terrible battle. Satan’s army lies before us waiting to destroy us. God is behind us, though.
He tells us to take the high ground and put the foe on the defensive. We can either advance or retreat. But, remember, this battle hinges on your ability to be discerning.
Delay can be costly when you are fighting the good fight. Every moment has its value.
IN Matthew 16 Jesus says that He will build His Church – and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
We for so long have misread this passage as a defensive posture of the Church.
Jesus is not saying that we should build a wall and hide behind it, but the Church is an offensive weapon against Satan.
We take the fight to him but to do that we need to know something about him.
The last two weeks we have talked about Satan’s origins and last week we talked about his plan to deceive us.
We talked about How Satan deceives through:
False Philosophies of this world
False religions
False Ministers
False Doctrine
False Disciples
All of these are areas of Satan’s deceptions:
Today we will bounce around in the Bible but our goal is to be equipped to take on Satan and know his plan.
Satan attacks by…
1) Bringing sickness.
If your remember the story from the book of Job we see a man that was upright in every way and was so blessed.
The book of Job is a theophany – which basically asks the question, Why do you serve God?
Do you serve God because he blesses your or do you serve God because He is God?
Satan asks permission from God to attack Job with all types of problems and also asks to take his physical health away from him.
Job 2:4-6
“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
In this story we see that God is still in control and it must go through God before Satan can do these things to Job.
In Luke’s gospel we meet a woman that was totally dominated by arthritis. She can’t even straighten up and Jesus heals her.
He heals her on the Sabbath and the Jews were indignant about it because they felt he was breaking Rabbinic Law.
Jesus says:
Luke 13:16
Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
Even if Satan does not intentionally make people sick physically many of the attitudes and things that he fosters can make people sick because of the hatred that they have in their heart for other people.
In his book, None of These Diseases, Dr. S.I. McMillen says,
"Medical science recognizes that emotions such as fear, sorrow, envy, resentment and hatred are responsible for the majority of our sicknesses. Estimates vary from 60 to 100 percents."
One patient was told by his doctor, "If you don’t cut out your resentments, I may have to cut out your intestinal tract."
It is good to know that the one who created these bodies of ours is simply in control.
We need to see sickness and disease as a bad thing and hate it but also see that through these things God’s power can be made manifest.
Paul speaks of these physical infirmities:
2 Corinthians 12:7-9
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me-to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me
2) Persecuting the saints.
Revelation 2:10
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
What Satan intends for evil, God can turn to great good. The early Christians would say that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church.
Persecution is alive and well today and you could rest assured that Satan is still at work trying to attack God’s people.
What Satan intends for Evil God can use for His Good.
John Rucyahana, the Anglican bishop of Shyira, Rwanda, served as a preacher in Uganda during the brutal reign of dictator Idi Amin.
Amin targeted 200,000 political opponents, Christian leaders, and members of certain ethnic groups for extermination.
One day the government soldiers came for John.
He remembers, "One put the cold barrel of a gun against my ear and held his finger on the trigger.
They put me in a vehicle and made me sit on a sack of explosives. As we began moving, I thought, Even the slightest jolt, and I’m dead."
The soldiers finally released John, figuring they had successfully intimidated him and that he would no longer speak out.
What the oppressors (and Satan) meant for evil, though, God used for good. Two days after John’s harrowing brush with death was Sunday.
That day, John walked into the cathedral to find it packed—people were standing in the aisles.
People had heard what happened and had come to find out what he would say. Would he speak out for Christ?
Preventing service.
1 Thessalonians 2:18
For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us.
Many scholars believe that a massive persecution had broken out to prevent Paul and Silas from visiting the church at Thessalonica.
They wanted to check on the brethren there but Satan prevented it and most folks think it was a persecution at Berea that slowed them down.
So what do we draw from this? Is Satan powerful enough to just stop the gospel from going to Thessalonica.
No, Timothy was sent instead and the work continued.
Here is the neat thing – God works it out for His glory – We get the book of 1 Thessalonians in our Bibles because of this,
In the same way Paul had intentions of Going to Spain to preach the Gospel but we know from history that he never got to go.
He was killed in Rome by beheading.
When Paul wrote Romans he was building up the church at Rome to be his base of operation to take the Gospel to Spain.
What was intended to be a letter to a church that was struggling to build them up to base mission operations turned into one of the greatest books of our bible and greatest works of literature of all time.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon had this type of experience.
Even as a young lad he was conscious of sin, but couldn’t find peace.
It so happened under the providential over-ruling of God that one Sunday morning he was prevented from attending his usual place of worship because of a snowstorm.
He was obliged to stop on the road because of the weather conditions.
Rather than not go to church at all he went into a little Methodist chapel that happened to be near by.
The service began but no minister appeared - he’d been delayed in the same way as Spurgeon.
At last one of the church officers came to the pulpit and opened his Bible and read the words: "Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 45:22).
Spurgeon recorded in later life that he saw at once the way of salvation.
He said, "I’d been waiting to do fifty things, but when I heard this word ’LOOK’, what a charming word it seemed to me."
Spurgeon would become one of the greatest preachers of all time and that idea of simply looking to the Lord and Him alone totally transformed his life and his path to ministry.
One can look at that day as a hindrance to being able to get to worship that Sunday but he saw it as a blessing.
Even if Satan means these things for harm, God can use it for good.
Planting doubt.
Genesis 3: 1-5
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ “ “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”
Satan wanted to plant doubt in the mind of the woman.
Satan wanted to muddy the waters. He wanted to make what was God’s clear teaching and make gray area.
Does not Satan do the same thing today?
Does he try to plant doubt in our minds. Does tempt people to neglect the clear teaching of Scripture to event doctrines by twisting the Bible completely out of its context.
I would say the answer to this is a resounding yes.
A worker asked for a pay raise and got this note back from his supervisor:
"Because of the fluctuation predisposition of your position's productive capacity as juxtaposed to standard norms, it would be momentarily injudicious to advocate your requested increment."
The puzzled worker went to the supervisor and said,
"If this is about my pay raise, I don't get it."
"That's right," said the supervisor.
Some of us see life as clearly as this note to this worker. We don’t know which way to turn or what to do.
1 Corinthians 14: 33
33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
It is God that brings about Clarity in all situations – whenever we are confused about God’s will we can see that this comes from Satan and not God.
Satan wants to confuse you and throw snares in your path.
Destroying lives.
Hebrews 2:14
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil…
Satan wants to destroy lives, Satan wants to get people so entangled by sin that they cannot function.
The fear of death dominates those that are under the curse of sin.
The fear of death is held over them by the Adversary Satan because they have no assurance of eternal life.
Satan also ties them up with guilt – people that are living in sin are dominated by guilt to the point they are paralyzed.
Many years ago I remember studying about the great king of the Ostrogoths, Theodoric.
He reigned for decades over the fading splendor of the Roman empire and was known for his great bravery and cunning.
During his reign the empire, or what was left of it, experienced a very rare period of peace.
Yet in his last years, Theodoric disrupted that peace with a brutal act that would affect the remainder of his reign and his life.
He put to death two men, Symmachus and Boethius.
Both these men were honorable men but posed what Theodoric believed was a threat to his reign.
Both were brutally killed. This was an act that haunted the emperor for years to come.
He experienced difficulty making decisions and often awoke in the middle of the night in a sweat and great fear.
Remorse had closed itself upon Theodoric.
His conscience pestered and plagued him mercilessly to the point of distraction.
Finally, one evening at a feast Theodoric beheld the head of a fish that had been served on a platter and it instantly become the visage of the brutally murdered Symmachus.
Theodoric removed himself to his bed chamber and became very ill.
Trembling with fright and regret, he finally fell to his knees and repented to his physician of his great guilt. Three days later he died calmly and in a peace with His Lord.
The way to counter act Satan’s scheme that leads to death is lock people up in sin so much that they cannot function properly.
Conclusion:
Take the attack to Satan:
Paul Harvey said, "Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium."
The Romans were really good at scaring the populations that were under their control with very gruesome ways to kill people.
One such way was to chain a prisoner to a dead corpse.
He was forced to drag the putrefying corpse with him.
In the Aeneid, Virgil accuses the Etruscan king Mezentius of inflicting this macabre punishment upon some captives (viii. 485).
Eventually this punishment would kill the victim also and was a terrible way to die.
That might sound terrible but today there maybe people in this room that are experiencing something far worse that this.
Paul in Romans 7 talks about warring with the flesh. He talks about how he wants to do right but the flesh gets in the way.
He talks about the grip and slavery of sin.
He cries out in this passage – Who will save me from this body of Death
We are walking around carrying around this dead body of sin if we are not renewed in Christ.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Satan's plan of Deception
A mother told her son that he was not allowed to go swimming that day. However, when he returned home that afternoon his mother noticed that his hair was wet and that he carried under his arm a wet bathing suit.
“Johnny!” his mother scolded, “I told you not to go swimming today.” “I couldn’t help it, Mom. I walked by the lake and it looked so clear and inviting. I was just going to stick my feet in it for a minute, and the water was so warm and felt so good on my legs. I just couldn’t resist!” he said with a big wide smile.
Mom looked at Johnny and said, “One question son, why did you take your bathing suit with you when I had told you that you couldn’t swim today?” “I didn’t trust myself Mom, so I took it with me just in case I was tempted.”
Webster’s Dictionary tells us that temptation is “the act of enticement to do wrong by the promise of pleasure or gain.”
Now isn’t that just like the Devil, getting us to do something wrong by promising us something good?
Some people look at Satan that way today. The Devil made me do it is an adage many people use as a mantra.
I believe that this is a false view of Satan and what he is about. The believer in Christ is never powerless before Satan but is powerful because of who is in us.
Last week we talked about Satan and his origin. We went over some basic information about Satan and we showed the Scripture teaches that he is the true enemy of the believer of Christ.
We learned that he was created, and was perfect and beautiful at one time.
Because of his arrogance he fell from grace and wanted to make himself like God.
We determined from the Bible that Satan is on the earth today. He has been kicked out of Heaven and is here until God throws him into Hell for eternity.
While he is our adversary we need to prepare to do battle with him.
Today we will look at many Scripture references. Because of that I printed them off for you to look at so you will not have to flip back and forth.
1 Peter 5: 8-9
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Experts say that a lion will roar to bait prey into a trap.
A lion will go out alone in front of the trapped prey and roar to scare the animal into the pride of lions waiting behind him.
I believe this is the type of cunning that Satan has.
What is unbelievable is that the Bible gives us all the information that we need to know about his schemes and what he is trying to do.
This morning and next week, We are going to talk about two main strategies of Satan and then break those into smaller categories.
This morning we will talk specifically about how Satan is here to Deceive people –last week we learned that there is no truth is Satan - he is a liar and has no truth.
He wants to deceive you, just sit back and don’t think much about your faith or consider anything critically.
Satan wants you to sit back and not think too much about your faith.
He wants you to just show up on Sunday and go through the motions and
2nd Satan is out to attack us.
He is here to Deceive and Attack us.
If he cant deceive you then he will attack you and try to demoralize God’s people.
I. Satan deceives through…
1) Satan Deceives through False philosophies.
Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
Satan deceives men by trying to entice people to believe in foolish philosophies of man.
In our world this would the talk show-Dr. Phil – Oprah Winfrey – New Age psycho babble of today.
This becomes evident with slogans like:
Have confidence in yourself - We should never say that –
As Christians we don’t have confidence in our selves – We have confidence in Christ.
The human heart can be full of deceipt and we should never forget that – we have confidence in Jesus
Also, we should never be caught telling people – You have the right to be happy.
Now you have the right to be happy in Christ but that doesn’t mean – it is all about my happiness.
I hear parents say – I need my time and I need my space.
I worked with a lady at a school who would drop her kids off at day care, leave school go to workout and then many times go out with the other ladies at school.
She would not see her son until 8pm and basically put him to bed and not have anything to do with him and what she told me was - I need ME time, I have to be happy or I would not be a good mother.
I work with men that basically have nothing to do with their kids because they are so caught up in their career that they really don’t care.
They are about the false philosophy of this age that I must get ahead with my career and my contribution to this family is the income.
That is also a false philosophy that Satan is serving up to our culture in huge doses and he is taking captive an entire generation of little children because the fathers have abdicated spiritual responsibility of teaching their kids about Jesus and many mothers are not mothering their children.
The results are disastrous and we are reaping the whirlwind today and I am afraid to tell you folks that this great country that we love and the way of life that we live is in peril in large part because of this philosophy of ME FIRST.
2) Satan Deceives through False religions
1 Corinthians 10:20
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God,
and I do not want you to be participants with demons.
In the villages of Northern India a missionary was preaching in a bazaar. As he closed, a Muslim gentleman came up and said, "You must admit we have one thing you have not, and it is better than anything you have."
The missionary smiled and said, "I should be pleased to hear what it is."
The Muslim said, "You know when we go to Mecca we at least find a coffin. But when you Christians go to Jerusalem, which is your Mecca, you find nothing but an empty grave."
But the missionary just smiled and said, "That is just the difference. Mohammed is dead; Mohammed is in the coffin. And false systems of religion and philosophy are in their coffins, but Jesus Christ, whose kingdom is to include all nations and kindreds and tribes, is not here; He is risen. And all power in heaven and on earth is given unto Him. That is our hope."
Satan has done his best to provide man with false systems of religion and philosophy.
Much of these false systems are operating here and now in our own community.
I don’t want you to think that these falsehoods do not find a home right here in our little town.
Think about how some of the false philosophies of self-help have corrupted people even around here.
We have become a consumer driven society that has put man in the center.
Here is the way to know if a system or philosophy is false-
DOES THAT SYSTEM EXALT GOD OR DOES IT EXALT MAN
GOD IS TO BE EXALTED IN ALL THINGS – IT IS GOD FIRST AND THEN ME.
I LOVE THE ATTITUDE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST – I MUST DECREASE AND HE MUST INCREASE
THAT SHOULD BE OUR LIFE MANTRA – HOW WE SEE THE WORLD –
Satan would like nothing better than to infiltrate God’s people and make us selfish and create a church that fits my own wants and needs.
When we come here into this house of worship it should be about one thing and that is the celebration of God as Sovereriegn of the universe and the Enthronement of Jesus.
We serve a risen Savior that is not in the Grave but is alive and wants to be active in your life.
3) Satan deceives through False ministers.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Satan is also deceiving people through charismatic teachers that spew false doctrine and then scandalize people with their terrible life.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that Satan can pose as an angel of light
Satan’s minions can also pose as servants of righteousness
IN our time we have seen an explosion of false teachers and religious leaders.
You can see folks like Joel Osteen that have totally ripped the Cross and Sinners guilt from the Gospel message of salvation.
You have these ministers of unrightousness going on CNN and telling folks that all you have to do is live right and God will give you the desires of YOUR heart.
I listened to one preacher on Trinity Broadcast Network a few weeks ago give a lesson on how God helped him purchase 2 leer jets.
I tend to remember a place in Luke’s Gospel when John the Baptist – a true minister – told people that if you have two cloaks to share one with the poor.
You see these ministers claim to be about Christ and His kingdom but then teach things totally contradictory to God’s word.
4) Satan deceives through False doctrine.
1 John 2:18
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
In Matthew 24: 24, Jesus provides a stern warning that
"false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible..."
In the old "To Tell the Truth" game show, you had to question three contestants to determine the true identity of the person who would then stand up to be recognized. Unfortunately, if you're looking for the true Jesus these days, you have more than three "contestants". The cults and false religions of the day have produced some such as these --
Jesus #1: Jesus was Michael the archangel, the first being created by Jehovah God, "a god" but not Almighty God, was invisibly raised from the dead as a "spirit being" and has already invisibly returned to earth.
Jesus #2: Jesus was the "spirit brother" of Lucifer, a man who evolved to godhood and was married to more than one woman while on this earth.
Jesus #3: This is a Jesus who never came in the flesh, but is simply a divine idea or principle inherent in every person.
Jesus #4: Jesus is one of many great prophets but has since been superseded by a greater prophet. He did live a sinless life but was not crucified nor did he die to pay the penalty for anyone's sins.
All of the above are the creations of men although they bear the same name as the true Jesus revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
However, as eternally dangerous as all of the above "Jesuses" are, there may be some that are even more dangerous.
There are many people, some even sitting in church week after week, who have created a Jesus in their own minds with whom they are comfortable.
He may be a Jesus that is all "love" but no judgment. He may be a Jesus that tolerates all lifestyles and life choices even though they conflict with His Word. But, he is not the true Jesus revealed in the entirety of God's Word.
In 2 Corinthians 11: 4, the apostle Paul warned the believers at Corinth, "For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough."
There are other Jesuses, other spirits and other gospels.
Are you "putting up" with a false Jesus, one that cannot save?
At one point while Jesus was walking this earth, He turned to His disciple Peter, and asked, "Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, answered boldly, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God."
There is only One Jesus who is God in the flesh, only One who died on the cross for your sins, only One who rose physically from the dead and is alive forevermore, only One who sets you free from the bondage of sin, only One who grants eternal life to those who believe.
We are dealing with a time when religion is coming more and more man-centered and less and less about God.
We are seeing a gospel preached that puts man at the center and takes God out of the center.
We need to understand that if it weren’t for grace and God’s actions first, there would be no faith or obedience.
In other words, God is the very author of our faith, God is the center.
Religion has taken a very dangerous man-centered approach.
Christianity itself because muddled and corrupted when we preach man-centered Gospel that does not accept that GRACE is the sole means to God.
God’s ACTS first and that is what we need to remember.
5) Satan Deceives through False disciples.
Matthew 13:24-30
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ “
Do you notice in this passage that Jesus is referring to the Church – we walk around and we fret about sinful and hypocritical people in the Church.
How many times have you heard people say, I don’t want to go to that church because they are hypocrites!
Well Jesus told us it would be that way – that is not a legitimate excuse for us.
The enemy – SATAN – uses that as his plan. The enemy has planted weeds even within the Church - Jesus tells us that even within the church there will be evil people that are there to serve Satan and not God.
Consider that sitting in a briar patch makes you no more a briar than sitting in a Church on Sunday makes you a follower of Jesus.
For one to please God they need a heart Transformation – they need a relationship with Jesus Christ.
I once heard the story about a small village in Africa where the water was supplied by a well in the middle of the town.
One day, the water from the well grew stale and diseased, and many people got sick. But they weren’t sure why.
They tried boiling the water (to no avail).
They cleaned out their hot water boilers and they boiled the water again, but nothing worked.
Then specialists from the UN came in and inspected the well. They found that the pump was cracked and that surface water was seeping in and contaminating the supply.
When they installed a new pump, the water was again pure and diseases stopped.
In order for the water to be pure, something had to change in the heart of the well.
The pump needed to be changed. Then the water became clean.
So also - in us - something has to change in our hearts, or our deeds will always be tainted.
We have to be true disciples with a heart transplant
6) Satan Deceives through False morals.
2 Thessalonians 2:7-12
For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not
believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
What a powerful passage – Satan will display a deception through false miracles.
I always think about the magicians of Egypt that tried to counter Moses miracles with the black arts of Egypt.
This type of deception has been around a long time.
A minister once told his congregation that there were 700 different sins. That afternoon he received 46 requests for the list.
Everybody wanted to know what they were missing out on!
It is something in our human nature to cling to the sensational. Sometimes we cant just be ok with the sufficiency of Scripture.
We want bang and pop instead of thus says the Lord. If anyone comes along and could even work miracles we still defer to the word of God.
If they say one iota that is different from that which is written they should be anathema.
Conclusion:
What do we do about all of this?
There was a set of movies that came out a few years ago that Allison absolutely hated but I loved because I saw a parable at work in these movies.
The movie was called the Matrix- Now my theological mind got to turning when I watched this movie and let me use this example to help you see how we should see the world.
Supposedly aliens or robots or something had taken over the earth and they had put humans into some type of deep coma or sleep and used human beings as their energy source to survive.
The programmed these sleeping humans to dream these programmed thoughts that they were really living with a job family etc when in reality they were in a coma being used for fuel.
Some of these humans woke up the reality that they were really hooked up and came out of the coma and disconnected from this Matrix and fought against these robots or aliens.
The point I am making is this – many people are walking around asleep – they are deceived – they see what is on TV as the reality – they see this fallen world with its greed and selfishness as the reality.
No – the reality is Jesus and His kingdom – He has called you to disconnect from the deception and wake up to reality.
Paul phrased it as WAKE UP O SLEEPER –
So practically how do you wake up:
1) Turn off the TV
Simple – enough said turn off the conduit of garbage
2) Now with the extra time that you just gained by turning off the TV we can pick up our Bibles and plug into the life giving, all sufficient word of God.
This book has the very words of life and hope and it will very hard for Satan to deceive us or pull the wool over our eyes if we are engaged with God’s Holy Word.
3) Develop a relationship of God that is based on prayer.
This spiritual battle will be one waged on your knees.
We should spend time in prayer – praying for each other, for our country, for our children.
4) For those of you that have children my challenge would be this family devotional time.
Make sure that every night you take out God’s word and share a few verses of life with your children- get down and pray with them.
Pray over them – are you praying today for God to prepare for them a godly mate – are you praying that they will be followers of Jesus –
I would say these are eternal priorities that take precedence over everything else.
INVITE:
If you are here today and you are not a Christian – we ask that you consider God’s gracious act
The cross is God’s action of Divine Love for you – what will you do? Jesus died for you so what will you do with God’ Son.
I would consider that question carefully today because God is not mocked and is not one to be trifled with
“Johnny!” his mother scolded, “I told you not to go swimming today.” “I couldn’t help it, Mom. I walked by the lake and it looked so clear and inviting. I was just going to stick my feet in it for a minute, and the water was so warm and felt so good on my legs. I just couldn’t resist!” he said with a big wide smile.
Mom looked at Johnny and said, “One question son, why did you take your bathing suit with you when I had told you that you couldn’t swim today?” “I didn’t trust myself Mom, so I took it with me just in case I was tempted.”
Webster’s Dictionary tells us that temptation is “the act of enticement to do wrong by the promise of pleasure or gain.”
Now isn’t that just like the Devil, getting us to do something wrong by promising us something good?
Some people look at Satan that way today. The Devil made me do it is an adage many people use as a mantra.
I believe that this is a false view of Satan and what he is about. The believer in Christ is never powerless before Satan but is powerful because of who is in us.
Last week we talked about Satan and his origin. We went over some basic information about Satan and we showed the Scripture teaches that he is the true enemy of the believer of Christ.
We learned that he was created, and was perfect and beautiful at one time.
Because of his arrogance he fell from grace and wanted to make himself like God.
We determined from the Bible that Satan is on the earth today. He has been kicked out of Heaven and is here until God throws him into Hell for eternity.
While he is our adversary we need to prepare to do battle with him.
Today we will look at many Scripture references. Because of that I printed them off for you to look at so you will not have to flip back and forth.
1 Peter 5: 8-9
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Experts say that a lion will roar to bait prey into a trap.
A lion will go out alone in front of the trapped prey and roar to scare the animal into the pride of lions waiting behind him.
I believe this is the type of cunning that Satan has.
What is unbelievable is that the Bible gives us all the information that we need to know about his schemes and what he is trying to do.
This morning and next week, We are going to talk about two main strategies of Satan and then break those into smaller categories.
This morning we will talk specifically about how Satan is here to Deceive people –last week we learned that there is no truth is Satan - he is a liar and has no truth.
He wants to deceive you, just sit back and don’t think much about your faith or consider anything critically.
Satan wants you to sit back and not think too much about your faith.
He wants you to just show up on Sunday and go through the motions and
2nd Satan is out to attack us.
He is here to Deceive and Attack us.
If he cant deceive you then he will attack you and try to demoralize God’s people.
I. Satan deceives through…
1) Satan Deceives through False philosophies.
Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
Satan deceives men by trying to entice people to believe in foolish philosophies of man.
In our world this would the talk show-Dr. Phil – Oprah Winfrey – New Age psycho babble of today.
This becomes evident with slogans like:
Have confidence in yourself - We should never say that –
As Christians we don’t have confidence in our selves – We have confidence in Christ.
The human heart can be full of deceipt and we should never forget that – we have confidence in Jesus
Also, we should never be caught telling people – You have the right to be happy.
Now you have the right to be happy in Christ but that doesn’t mean – it is all about my happiness.
I hear parents say – I need my time and I need my space.
I worked with a lady at a school who would drop her kids off at day care, leave school go to workout and then many times go out with the other ladies at school.
She would not see her son until 8pm and basically put him to bed and not have anything to do with him and what she told me was - I need ME time, I have to be happy or I would not be a good mother.
I work with men that basically have nothing to do with their kids because they are so caught up in their career that they really don’t care.
They are about the false philosophy of this age that I must get ahead with my career and my contribution to this family is the income.
That is also a false philosophy that Satan is serving up to our culture in huge doses and he is taking captive an entire generation of little children because the fathers have abdicated spiritual responsibility of teaching their kids about Jesus and many mothers are not mothering their children.
The results are disastrous and we are reaping the whirlwind today and I am afraid to tell you folks that this great country that we love and the way of life that we live is in peril in large part because of this philosophy of ME FIRST.
2) Satan Deceives through False religions
1 Corinthians 10:20
No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God,
and I do not want you to be participants with demons.
In the villages of Northern India a missionary was preaching in a bazaar. As he closed, a Muslim gentleman came up and said, "You must admit we have one thing you have not, and it is better than anything you have."
The missionary smiled and said, "I should be pleased to hear what it is."
The Muslim said, "You know when we go to Mecca we at least find a coffin. But when you Christians go to Jerusalem, which is your Mecca, you find nothing but an empty grave."
But the missionary just smiled and said, "That is just the difference. Mohammed is dead; Mohammed is in the coffin. And false systems of religion and philosophy are in their coffins, but Jesus Christ, whose kingdom is to include all nations and kindreds and tribes, is not here; He is risen. And all power in heaven and on earth is given unto Him. That is our hope."
Satan has done his best to provide man with false systems of religion and philosophy.
Much of these false systems are operating here and now in our own community.
I don’t want you to think that these falsehoods do not find a home right here in our little town.
Think about how some of the false philosophies of self-help have corrupted people even around here.
We have become a consumer driven society that has put man in the center.
Here is the way to know if a system or philosophy is false-
DOES THAT SYSTEM EXALT GOD OR DOES IT EXALT MAN
GOD IS TO BE EXALTED IN ALL THINGS – IT IS GOD FIRST AND THEN ME.
I LOVE THE ATTITUDE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST – I MUST DECREASE AND HE MUST INCREASE
THAT SHOULD BE OUR LIFE MANTRA – HOW WE SEE THE WORLD –
Satan would like nothing better than to infiltrate God’s people and make us selfish and create a church that fits my own wants and needs.
When we come here into this house of worship it should be about one thing and that is the celebration of God as Sovereriegn of the universe and the Enthronement of Jesus.
We serve a risen Savior that is not in the Grave but is alive and wants to be active in your life.
3) Satan deceives through False ministers.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Satan is also deceiving people through charismatic teachers that spew false doctrine and then scandalize people with their terrible life.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians that Satan can pose as an angel of light
Satan’s minions can also pose as servants of righteousness
IN our time we have seen an explosion of false teachers and religious leaders.
You can see folks like Joel Osteen that have totally ripped the Cross and Sinners guilt from the Gospel message of salvation.
You have these ministers of unrightousness going on CNN and telling folks that all you have to do is live right and God will give you the desires of YOUR heart.
I listened to one preacher on Trinity Broadcast Network a few weeks ago give a lesson on how God helped him purchase 2 leer jets.
I tend to remember a place in Luke’s Gospel when John the Baptist – a true minister – told people that if you have two cloaks to share one with the poor.
You see these ministers claim to be about Christ and His kingdom but then teach things totally contradictory to God’s word.
4) Satan deceives through False doctrine.
1 John 2:18
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
In Matthew 24: 24, Jesus provides a stern warning that
"false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible..."
In the old "To Tell the Truth" game show, you had to question three contestants to determine the true identity of the person who would then stand up to be recognized. Unfortunately, if you're looking for the true Jesus these days, you have more than three "contestants". The cults and false religions of the day have produced some such as these --
Jesus #1: Jesus was Michael the archangel, the first being created by Jehovah God, "a god" but not Almighty God, was invisibly raised from the dead as a "spirit being" and has already invisibly returned to earth.
Jesus #2: Jesus was the "spirit brother" of Lucifer, a man who evolved to godhood and was married to more than one woman while on this earth.
Jesus #3: This is a Jesus who never came in the flesh, but is simply a divine idea or principle inherent in every person.
Jesus #4: Jesus is one of many great prophets but has since been superseded by a greater prophet. He did live a sinless life but was not crucified nor did he die to pay the penalty for anyone's sins.
All of the above are the creations of men although they bear the same name as the true Jesus revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
However, as eternally dangerous as all of the above "Jesuses" are, there may be some that are even more dangerous.
There are many people, some even sitting in church week after week, who have created a Jesus in their own minds with whom they are comfortable.
He may be a Jesus that is all "love" but no judgment. He may be a Jesus that tolerates all lifestyles and life choices even though they conflict with His Word. But, he is not the true Jesus revealed in the entirety of God's Word.
In 2 Corinthians 11: 4, the apostle Paul warned the believers at Corinth, "For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough."
There are other Jesuses, other spirits and other gospels.
Are you "putting up" with a false Jesus, one that cannot save?
At one point while Jesus was walking this earth, He turned to His disciple Peter, and asked, "Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, answered boldly, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God."
There is only One Jesus who is God in the flesh, only One who died on the cross for your sins, only One who rose physically from the dead and is alive forevermore, only One who sets you free from the bondage of sin, only One who grants eternal life to those who believe.
We are dealing with a time when religion is coming more and more man-centered and less and less about God.
We are seeing a gospel preached that puts man at the center and takes God out of the center.
We need to understand that if it weren’t for grace and God’s actions first, there would be no faith or obedience.
In other words, God is the very author of our faith, God is the center.
Religion has taken a very dangerous man-centered approach.
Christianity itself because muddled and corrupted when we preach man-centered Gospel that does not accept that GRACE is the sole means to God.
God’s ACTS first and that is what we need to remember.
5) Satan Deceives through False disciples.
Matthew 13:24-30
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ “
Do you notice in this passage that Jesus is referring to the Church – we walk around and we fret about sinful and hypocritical people in the Church.
How many times have you heard people say, I don’t want to go to that church because they are hypocrites!
Well Jesus told us it would be that way – that is not a legitimate excuse for us.
The enemy – SATAN – uses that as his plan. The enemy has planted weeds even within the Church - Jesus tells us that even within the church there will be evil people that are there to serve Satan and not God.
Consider that sitting in a briar patch makes you no more a briar than sitting in a Church on Sunday makes you a follower of Jesus.
For one to please God they need a heart Transformation – they need a relationship with Jesus Christ.
I once heard the story about a small village in Africa where the water was supplied by a well in the middle of the town.
One day, the water from the well grew stale and diseased, and many people got sick. But they weren’t sure why.
They tried boiling the water (to no avail).
They cleaned out their hot water boilers and they boiled the water again, but nothing worked.
Then specialists from the UN came in and inspected the well. They found that the pump was cracked and that surface water was seeping in and contaminating the supply.
When they installed a new pump, the water was again pure and diseases stopped.
In order for the water to be pure, something had to change in the heart of the well.
The pump needed to be changed. Then the water became clean.
So also - in us - something has to change in our hearts, or our deeds will always be tainted.
We have to be true disciples with a heart transplant
6) Satan Deceives through False morals.
2 Thessalonians 2:7-12
For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not
believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
What a powerful passage – Satan will display a deception through false miracles.
I always think about the magicians of Egypt that tried to counter Moses miracles with the black arts of Egypt.
This type of deception has been around a long time.
A minister once told his congregation that there were 700 different sins. That afternoon he received 46 requests for the list.
Everybody wanted to know what they were missing out on!
It is something in our human nature to cling to the sensational. Sometimes we cant just be ok with the sufficiency of Scripture.
We want bang and pop instead of thus says the Lord. If anyone comes along and could even work miracles we still defer to the word of God.
If they say one iota that is different from that which is written they should be anathema.
Conclusion:
What do we do about all of this?
There was a set of movies that came out a few years ago that Allison absolutely hated but I loved because I saw a parable at work in these movies.
The movie was called the Matrix- Now my theological mind got to turning when I watched this movie and let me use this example to help you see how we should see the world.
Supposedly aliens or robots or something had taken over the earth and they had put humans into some type of deep coma or sleep and used human beings as their energy source to survive.
The programmed these sleeping humans to dream these programmed thoughts that they were really living with a job family etc when in reality they were in a coma being used for fuel.
Some of these humans woke up the reality that they were really hooked up and came out of the coma and disconnected from this Matrix and fought against these robots or aliens.
The point I am making is this – many people are walking around asleep – they are deceived – they see what is on TV as the reality – they see this fallen world with its greed and selfishness as the reality.
No – the reality is Jesus and His kingdom – He has called you to disconnect from the deception and wake up to reality.
Paul phrased it as WAKE UP O SLEEPER –
So practically how do you wake up:
1) Turn off the TV
Simple – enough said turn off the conduit of garbage
2) Now with the extra time that you just gained by turning off the TV we can pick up our Bibles and plug into the life giving, all sufficient word of God.
This book has the very words of life and hope and it will very hard for Satan to deceive us or pull the wool over our eyes if we are engaged with God’s Holy Word.
3) Develop a relationship of God that is based on prayer.
This spiritual battle will be one waged on your knees.
We should spend time in prayer – praying for each other, for our country, for our children.
4) For those of you that have children my challenge would be this family devotional time.
Make sure that every night you take out God’s word and share a few verses of life with your children- get down and pray with them.
Pray over them – are you praying today for God to prepare for them a godly mate – are you praying that they will be followers of Jesus –
I would say these are eternal priorities that take precedence over everything else.
INVITE:
If you are here today and you are not a Christian – we ask that you consider God’s gracious act
The cross is God’s action of Divine Love for you – what will you do? Jesus died for you so what will you do with God’ Son.
I would consider that question carefully today because God is not mocked and is not one to be trifled with
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Spiritual Realities - Satan
2 Corinthians 4: 3-7
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves ;
From the very beginning this morning we need to feel the weight and importance of this text.
This morning I want to start right of the bat savoring this passage.
There is a battle that is waging between the god, little G, god of this age, who is blinding the minds of unbelievers, and God, big G, God, over heaven and earth, who is shining light into hearts.
Feel this. There is a true God of light who desires people all over this world to be saved. And there is a false god in this age of darkness who desires people all over this world and in this room to burn in hell.
REALITY of the BATTLE that is taking Place:
1) God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. It is Satan that blinds those to the Gospel.
This is a reality, We are at war. It is funny but many Christians are acting like we are not at war.
Once In college we played in a big football game. We were a smaller program and played in the same division that teams like Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State play in and we got to play a big 10 school.
WE got on our plane, flew to the city, went to the big ole stadium, got the police escort.
The stadium was filled to the brim and many of my teammates were acting like we were on a field trip.
Someone forgot to tell us that the package deal was we had to play this Big 10 school and they took us to the woodshed.
Our team did not have the right mentality, We were not ready, We were in denial.
Folks, many Christians are living like that. Paul tells us is in this passage unequivocally that we are in a battle. Satan or the god of this age is blinding people from being saved.
In fact According to the latest poll conducted by the George Barna, 60 % of Americans believe that the devil, or Satan, is not an actual living being but is simply a symbol of evil.
Someone once said, "The devil’s cleverest trick is to make people believe that he does not exist." Someone else said, "The devil may be out of fashion for some, BUT HE’S NOT OUT OF BUSINESS."
Which reminds me of something Billy Sunday, an Evangelist of the early 20th Century, once said. He said, "I know that the devil is real for two reasons. #1, Because the Bible says so. And #2, BECAUSE I’VE DONE BUSINESS WITH HIM."
Paul Goes on to tell us more about this battle in Ephesians 6
Ephesians 6: 10-13
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore , take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm
Paul gives the illustration that we are in a battle, we are fighting against Spiritual forces.
This is not a fleshly battle.
Paul if anybody could say that this battle is physical because he was beaten so many times, he was stoned, beaten with rods, left for dead, shipwrecked, and desolate.
Paul could say, look at these scars on my body – this is a physical battle, but he doesn’t, he KNOWS the truth – this battle is Spiritual. It is the spiritual forces that bring about the great evil that we see on EARth.
Satan is a spiritual being.
Now this morning if we knew we were in a PHYSICAL BATTLE – A MAN WAS TRYING TO TAKE OU THE CHURCH AND THAT WAS IT, WE WOULD GUARD OURSELVES PHYSICALLY. WE WOULD HAVE A STANDING ARMY OF CHRISTIANS AND PHYSICAL ARMED GUARDS AT THE DOOR.
Here is the fact – our battle is against a spiritual foe that must be fought in a spiritual way.
Now realizing this fact will change how we look at our selves, the church, and our mission.
Remember last week I told you about the SS United States – an advanced troop carrier, was made for battle and war, sleek fast, efficient,
Was converted to a luxury liner for heads of state.
Which one are we as the Church? Are we a luxury liner that exists just for us or are we a troop carrier going into a spiritual battle with Satan?
There are two kingdoms at work in this world today.
The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Darkness.
They have been in constant battle since Genesis 3 and are doing battle today.
Colossians 1:13- Speaks of A Domain of Darkness – and the Kingdom of God
This is a reality of what we are in.
So what do we do? Some would say that studying about Satan and his minions is not important.
I hear people say just study the real thing, just learn about Christ and it doesn’t matter if you know anything about the Devil.
That is a naïve and foolish idea. Even the Bible warns against that way of thinking.
In 2 CORINTHIANS 2: 11 Paul talks about not being taken advantage of by Satan, Paul states that He is not ignorant of Satan’s Schemes.
Paul knew about the Schemes that Satan threw into his path.
We need to know our opponent.
So this morning we, we will ask the question WHO is SATAN?
What does the Bible teach about this subject.
WHO IS SATAN? HOW DID HE COME ABOUT?
In the Creation story we read where God said: “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”
But then they had become evil – evil by Genesis 3:1 when the serpent comes into the garden and tempts.
So, something happened between Genesis 1:31 and Genesis 3:1 when a number of angels and the devil
rebelled against God. Scripture leaves a gap here.
Now this idea of a gap is believed by many good Bible commentators to be the time of the Fall of Satan and his minions.
I tend to agree with them based on the evidence.
I believe that the Rebellion of Satan began at the Garden and part of that Rebellion was the deception of Adam and Eve. We will look at that possibility this morning because it tells us a bit about our struggle.
First of all, I want to go to a passage that many overlook when studying about Satan and his origins.
It is found in the book of Ezekiel chapter 28 and we can learn something about Satan’s origins.
It is actually a lament against the King of Tyre but in the process of this prophetic lament God is comparing the King to the fall of Satan.
In other words the King’s insolence and arrogance is compared to Satan’s fall. From this we can learn something about Satan and his origins.
The first 10 verses of this passage of Ezekiel 28 are clearly speaking about the King of Tyre but around verse 12 the transition occurs and now the lament takes up this comparison of Satan and this King.
Ezekiel 28: 12-19
12 "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 "You were in Eden, the garden of God ; Every precious stone was your covering : The ruby, the topaz and the diamond ; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper ; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald ; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. 14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God ; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 "You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. 16 "By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned ; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire. 17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty ; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground ; I put you before kings, That they may see you. 18 "By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you. 19 "All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified And you will cease to be forever
What can we learn from the passage?
1) He was perfect, No Sin – at one point Satan was a sinless obedient Angel of God.
2) Full of wisdom and beauty – Satan at one point was something to behold.
3) We find that He was in the Garden of Eden- the Jews through the ages have always believed that Satan was one of the guardian cherubs over the Garden
We see in this passage we are told that he was in Eden and he was an anointed Cherub.
In the OT to be anointed meant you had authority – Kings were anointed.
Remember last week we talked about orders of angels and Cherubs being one of the highest classes of angels.
We also see that Satan was a covering Cherub – a covering Cherub that was from the midst of the stones of Fire.
Many times this meant straight in the presence of God – God’s presence is a consuming fire.
Remember the one of the types of angels is a Seraphim which means burning ones.
Also, Satan was a created being. Remember last week we discussed how angels were created by God – just like we were created Angels are created.
Remember humans are different in that we are created and then we can procreate – this makes us very different.
Angels cannot procreate but are created beings alone. We alone are special in that we are able to Pro-Create – along with God. - That should change your entire view on life issues but that is for another day.
TURNING POINT – VERSE 15 – UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IS FOUND IN HIM
He falls from grace – we find out in verse 15
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty ; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor
Satan fell because of his vanity and Conceited Heart, He was full of Pride and the brought about his own fall.
He became selfish in his beauty and wisdom and wanted to elevate himself to a level with God.
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty ; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground ; I put you before kings, That they may see you.
Let us now turn to another passage that speaks about Satan and his fall.
Isaiah 14
12 "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn ! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations ! 13 "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven ; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I will make myself like the Most High.' 15 "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit. 16 "Those who see you will gaze at you, They will ponder over you, saying, 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, 17 Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not allow his prisoners to go home ?
Here in Isaiah we see the following:
He fell from Heaven – He was the Star of the morning.
He wanted to take the place of God and ascend into Heaven.
Satan’s big Sin – He wanted to make Himself like the Most High God.
He would weaken the nations but will be judged decisively.
His other negative attributes come through in the NT
1 John 3: 8 – Sinner from the Beginning
John 8: 44
44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The Devil, Satan is a liar and a murderer – He cannot tell the truth, he lies
So what are the results of this. We learn from Ezekiel that the Covering Cherub was cast to the ground He was cast from the Holy Mountain and will eventually suffer a type of destruction.
Jesus tells us in Luke 10 when his disciples cast out demons he says metaphorically that He saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightening.
Now let us compare this passage with another one found in the New Testament and you will notice some similarity.
Just before we pick up this with this passage we notice that a Woman appears in Heaven that is with child, this will be the male child that will come to rule – This is Christ.
The Dragon – Satan wages war on the woman child and tries to destroy the child.
Now in verse 7 we are going to see Michael the archangel again. He is the one we met last week in Daniel 10 that waged war with the Prince of Persia
In the book of Jude we see that it is Michael the archangel that squares off with Satan again for the body of Moses.
Revelation 12: 7-10
7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world ; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
Now notice what happened.
A War – a rebellion against God’s just rule, this is the same dragon the Serpent of Old Satan.
Just as we learned last week from Jude and 2 Peter there were angels that sinned and were cast out.
These angels that sinned were part of this rebellion with Satan. But now Satan has been cast down to earth.
Just as Ezekiel told us, Satan was cast from the Holy Mountain – from Heaven he was cast down. He is cast to earth.
So when we ask where Satan is today. The answer is unequivocally ON EARTH Peter tells us: DEVOURING LION
1 Peter 5: 8
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Satan our adversary is on the prowl, he is like a lion. He is seeking out to devour. Now what does a LION do? A Lion is all about killing and consuming.
That is what Satan is doing today along with His minions. He wants to destroy you.
He is out to destroy your family.
He wants to destroy your marriage
He wants to destroy the joy that you have in Christ
He wants you to doubt if you are even loved by God or even A Christian in the first place.
For our young people here this old deceiver wants to destroy your purity.
When you think of Spiritual warfare don’t think of séances and tarot cards.
Here is spiritual warfare:
1) When a man is alone with his computer – tempted to see and look at things he shouldn’t
2) It is when you are angry at your mate and lash out at them in anger.
3) It is when you are at work and dirty language is used or a dirty joke is told.
This is how spiritual warfare happens – it is everyday struggles that we go through to follow Christ and now the domain of darkness.
Here is the one think we need to let sink in. By our selves we are powerless against Satan, Satan is more powerful than we could ever imagine in our fleshly state.
We don’t stand a chance. So what do we do? If Satan is powerful and is our adversary and wants to devour us what can we do?
First of all we need to understand that Satan is a defeated Foe.
Satan’s name actually means accuser- he stands against us to accuse us against God- Remember when he came before God and wanted a piece of Job. Also Jesus tells us that Satan demanded to sift Simon Peter like wheat. Satan is an accuser that wants to make us stand accused as sinners. I love the story in the Old Testament from the book of Zechariah when Satan comes before God to accuse God’s high priest but God intervenes.
Zechariah 3: 1-4
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan ! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire ?" 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. 4 He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, "Remove the filthy garments from him." Again he said to him, "See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes."
Do you notice Satan’s role in this story,
Satan accuses the high priest of God but God steps in and clothes the high priest with new robes.
I believe this passage is a foreshadowing of the work of Christ to come.
Christ’s work on the cross will be the defeat of Satan.
Satan thought that the cross would be his greatest victory. In John’s Gospel we see that in the last supper when Judas took the bread from Jesus Satan entered into him to bring about the betrayal of Jesus.
Satan’s plan was to destroy God’s Son on the cross but the tables were flipped.
He would bruise Christ’s heal but the cross would bring a crushing blow to Satan.
Colossians 2: 14-15
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
Now see what Paul is saying. The debt of Sin was against us. The Law of God had shut us up in the jail house of sin.
One of the themes of the book of Romans is that the Law shows me how sinful I really am but grace came from Jesus.
Jesus went to the cross, took the curse, and broke the bondage of sin
1 Peter 2:24
24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness ; for by His wounds you were healed.
Satan had the tables flipped on him and the cross made a spectacle of Satan.
Crucifixion was to make a spectacle of the victim but Christ used the cross to defeat sin.
Eastern Orthodox Christians today at Pascha or what we call Easter – tell jokes as an ancient practice because of the joke so to speak that God played on Satan.
What Satan meant for evil God used to save us from the grip of sin and the domain of darkness.
Now as we close I want to leave you with this thought that should get us fired up about our life in Christ.
DEFEATED FOE:
Satan is a defeated foe. Think about it this way on the morning of April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee met with General Ulysses S. Grant to sign an agreement marking the end of the U.S. Civil War.
The morning of April 9th the war had ended. Peace had been accomplished.
But interestingly, just south of where we are today, from Montgomery to Mobile
the battle still raged.
Even though the Civil War was technically over, the battle at Fort Blakely still took place. And the fighting was just as real. Soldiers were just as committed to destroying their foes. The guns and bayonets were just as devastating. And death was just as brutal. The war had been decided, but the fighting was still going on. And the fighting was just as deadly as it had always been, because peace had yet to be enforced to its ultimate end.
Satan has been defeated by the cross but we are still fighting a guerilla war and the end is coming.
Satan’s time is short and he knows it.
His primary mission is to destroy God’s people and try to diminish the Glory of God.
We are here to glorify God and His might but Satan’s purposes are the opposite.
On passage to memorize, keep and cherish is this:
1 John 4: 4
4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
Now let that sink in – remember I told you that just us in our own might have no chance against Satan but with God we have confidence.
With the power of God we have nothing to fear.
We stand from a position of victory – from that position we are willing to risk all for the kingdom.
That is why the Early Christian martyrs were willing to die for Christ because they understood this idea- God
God has won and we have nothing to fear. Christ is victorious over the old Serpent.
Final outcome for Satan: No hope
Revelation 20:10
10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also ; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
How do we overcome – how do we win?
Revelation 12:11
11 "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
The question is to you today – Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
If not you will suffer the same fate as the deceiver and will not stand a chance before God and the accuser of the brethren.
How comforting to know that if you accept the work of Jesus on the cross – Satan can no longer accuse you as a sinner – the cross has broken his hold over our lives.
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves ;
From the very beginning this morning we need to feel the weight and importance of this text.
This morning I want to start right of the bat savoring this passage.
There is a battle that is waging between the god, little G, god of this age, who is blinding the minds of unbelievers, and God, big G, God, over heaven and earth, who is shining light into hearts.
Feel this. There is a true God of light who desires people all over this world to be saved. And there is a false god in this age of darkness who desires people all over this world and in this room to burn in hell.
REALITY of the BATTLE that is taking Place:
1) God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. It is Satan that blinds those to the Gospel.
This is a reality, We are at war. It is funny but many Christians are acting like we are not at war.
Once In college we played in a big football game. We were a smaller program and played in the same division that teams like Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State play in and we got to play a big 10 school.
WE got on our plane, flew to the city, went to the big ole stadium, got the police escort.
The stadium was filled to the brim and many of my teammates were acting like we were on a field trip.
Someone forgot to tell us that the package deal was we had to play this Big 10 school and they took us to the woodshed.
Our team did not have the right mentality, We were not ready, We were in denial.
Folks, many Christians are living like that. Paul tells us is in this passage unequivocally that we are in a battle. Satan or the god of this age is blinding people from being saved.
In fact According to the latest poll conducted by the George Barna, 60 % of Americans believe that the devil, or Satan, is not an actual living being but is simply a symbol of evil.
Someone once said, "The devil’s cleverest trick is to make people believe that he does not exist." Someone else said, "The devil may be out of fashion for some, BUT HE’S NOT OUT OF BUSINESS."
Which reminds me of something Billy Sunday, an Evangelist of the early 20th Century, once said. He said, "I know that the devil is real for two reasons. #1, Because the Bible says so. And #2, BECAUSE I’VE DONE BUSINESS WITH HIM."
Paul Goes on to tell us more about this battle in Ephesians 6
Ephesians 6: 10-13
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore , take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm
Paul gives the illustration that we are in a battle, we are fighting against Spiritual forces.
This is not a fleshly battle.
Paul if anybody could say that this battle is physical because he was beaten so many times, he was stoned, beaten with rods, left for dead, shipwrecked, and desolate.
Paul could say, look at these scars on my body – this is a physical battle, but he doesn’t, he KNOWS the truth – this battle is Spiritual. It is the spiritual forces that bring about the great evil that we see on EARth.
Satan is a spiritual being.
Now this morning if we knew we were in a PHYSICAL BATTLE – A MAN WAS TRYING TO TAKE OU THE CHURCH AND THAT WAS IT, WE WOULD GUARD OURSELVES PHYSICALLY. WE WOULD HAVE A STANDING ARMY OF CHRISTIANS AND PHYSICAL ARMED GUARDS AT THE DOOR.
Here is the fact – our battle is against a spiritual foe that must be fought in a spiritual way.
Now realizing this fact will change how we look at our selves, the church, and our mission.
Remember last week I told you about the SS United States – an advanced troop carrier, was made for battle and war, sleek fast, efficient,
Was converted to a luxury liner for heads of state.
Which one are we as the Church? Are we a luxury liner that exists just for us or are we a troop carrier going into a spiritual battle with Satan?
There are two kingdoms at work in this world today.
The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Darkness.
They have been in constant battle since Genesis 3 and are doing battle today.
Colossians 1:13- Speaks of A Domain of Darkness – and the Kingdom of God
This is a reality of what we are in.
So what do we do? Some would say that studying about Satan and his minions is not important.
I hear people say just study the real thing, just learn about Christ and it doesn’t matter if you know anything about the Devil.
That is a naïve and foolish idea. Even the Bible warns against that way of thinking.
In 2 CORINTHIANS 2: 11 Paul talks about not being taken advantage of by Satan, Paul states that He is not ignorant of Satan’s Schemes.
Paul knew about the Schemes that Satan threw into his path.
We need to know our opponent.
So this morning we, we will ask the question WHO is SATAN?
What does the Bible teach about this subject.
WHO IS SATAN? HOW DID HE COME ABOUT?
In the Creation story we read where God said: “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”
But then they had become evil – evil by Genesis 3:1 when the serpent comes into the garden and tempts.
So, something happened between Genesis 1:31 and Genesis 3:1 when a number of angels and the devil
rebelled against God. Scripture leaves a gap here.
Now this idea of a gap is believed by many good Bible commentators to be the time of the Fall of Satan and his minions.
I tend to agree with them based on the evidence.
I believe that the Rebellion of Satan began at the Garden and part of that Rebellion was the deception of Adam and Eve. We will look at that possibility this morning because it tells us a bit about our struggle.
First of all, I want to go to a passage that many overlook when studying about Satan and his origins.
It is found in the book of Ezekiel chapter 28 and we can learn something about Satan’s origins.
It is actually a lament against the King of Tyre but in the process of this prophetic lament God is comparing the King to the fall of Satan.
In other words the King’s insolence and arrogance is compared to Satan’s fall. From this we can learn something about Satan and his origins.
The first 10 verses of this passage of Ezekiel 28 are clearly speaking about the King of Tyre but around verse 12 the transition occurs and now the lament takes up this comparison of Satan and this King.
Ezekiel 28: 12-19
12 "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 "You were in Eden, the garden of God ; Every precious stone was your covering : The ruby, the topaz and the diamond ; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper ; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald ; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. 14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God ; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 "You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. 16 "By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned ; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire. 17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty ; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground ; I put you before kings, That they may see you. 18 "By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you. 19 "All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified And you will cease to be forever
What can we learn from the passage?
1) He was perfect, No Sin – at one point Satan was a sinless obedient Angel of God.
2) Full of wisdom and beauty – Satan at one point was something to behold.
3) We find that He was in the Garden of Eden- the Jews through the ages have always believed that Satan was one of the guardian cherubs over the Garden
We see in this passage we are told that he was in Eden and he was an anointed Cherub.
In the OT to be anointed meant you had authority – Kings were anointed.
Remember last week we talked about orders of angels and Cherubs being one of the highest classes of angels.
We also see that Satan was a covering Cherub – a covering Cherub that was from the midst of the stones of Fire.
Many times this meant straight in the presence of God – God’s presence is a consuming fire.
Remember the one of the types of angels is a Seraphim which means burning ones.
Also, Satan was a created being. Remember last week we discussed how angels were created by God – just like we were created Angels are created.
Remember humans are different in that we are created and then we can procreate – this makes us very different.
Angels cannot procreate but are created beings alone. We alone are special in that we are able to Pro-Create – along with God. - That should change your entire view on life issues but that is for another day.
TURNING POINT – VERSE 15 – UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IS FOUND IN HIM
He falls from grace – we find out in verse 15
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty ; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor
Satan fell because of his vanity and Conceited Heart, He was full of Pride and the brought about his own fall.
He became selfish in his beauty and wisdom and wanted to elevate himself to a level with God.
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty ; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground ; I put you before kings, That they may see you.
Let us now turn to another passage that speaks about Satan and his fall.
Isaiah 14
12 "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn ! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations ! 13 "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven ; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; I will make myself like the Most High.' 15 "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit. 16 "Those who see you will gaze at you, They will ponder over you, saying, 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, 17 Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not allow his prisoners to go home ?
Here in Isaiah we see the following:
He fell from Heaven – He was the Star of the morning.
He wanted to take the place of God and ascend into Heaven.
Satan’s big Sin – He wanted to make Himself like the Most High God.
He would weaken the nations but will be judged decisively.
His other negative attributes come through in the NT
1 John 3: 8 – Sinner from the Beginning
John 8: 44
44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The Devil, Satan is a liar and a murderer – He cannot tell the truth, he lies
So what are the results of this. We learn from Ezekiel that the Covering Cherub was cast to the ground He was cast from the Holy Mountain and will eventually suffer a type of destruction.
Jesus tells us in Luke 10 when his disciples cast out demons he says metaphorically that He saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightening.
Now let us compare this passage with another one found in the New Testament and you will notice some similarity.
Just before we pick up this with this passage we notice that a Woman appears in Heaven that is with child, this will be the male child that will come to rule – This is Christ.
The Dragon – Satan wages war on the woman child and tries to destroy the child.
Now in verse 7 we are going to see Michael the archangel again. He is the one we met last week in Daniel 10 that waged war with the Prince of Persia
In the book of Jude we see that it is Michael the archangel that squares off with Satan again for the body of Moses.
Revelation 12: 7-10
7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world ; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
Now notice what happened.
A War – a rebellion against God’s just rule, this is the same dragon the Serpent of Old Satan.
Just as we learned last week from Jude and 2 Peter there were angels that sinned and were cast out.
These angels that sinned were part of this rebellion with Satan. But now Satan has been cast down to earth.
Just as Ezekiel told us, Satan was cast from the Holy Mountain – from Heaven he was cast down. He is cast to earth.
So when we ask where Satan is today. The answer is unequivocally ON EARTH Peter tells us: DEVOURING LION
1 Peter 5: 8
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Satan our adversary is on the prowl, he is like a lion. He is seeking out to devour. Now what does a LION do? A Lion is all about killing and consuming.
That is what Satan is doing today along with His minions. He wants to destroy you.
He is out to destroy your family.
He wants to destroy your marriage
He wants to destroy the joy that you have in Christ
He wants you to doubt if you are even loved by God or even A Christian in the first place.
For our young people here this old deceiver wants to destroy your purity.
When you think of Spiritual warfare don’t think of séances and tarot cards.
Here is spiritual warfare:
1) When a man is alone with his computer – tempted to see and look at things he shouldn’t
2) It is when you are angry at your mate and lash out at them in anger.
3) It is when you are at work and dirty language is used or a dirty joke is told.
This is how spiritual warfare happens – it is everyday struggles that we go through to follow Christ and now the domain of darkness.
Here is the one think we need to let sink in. By our selves we are powerless against Satan, Satan is more powerful than we could ever imagine in our fleshly state.
We don’t stand a chance. So what do we do? If Satan is powerful and is our adversary and wants to devour us what can we do?
First of all we need to understand that Satan is a defeated Foe.
Satan’s name actually means accuser- he stands against us to accuse us against God- Remember when he came before God and wanted a piece of Job. Also Jesus tells us that Satan demanded to sift Simon Peter like wheat. Satan is an accuser that wants to make us stand accused as sinners. I love the story in the Old Testament from the book of Zechariah when Satan comes before God to accuse God’s high priest but God intervenes.
Zechariah 3: 1-4
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan ! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire ?" 3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. 4 He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, "Remove the filthy garments from him." Again he said to him, "See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes."
Do you notice Satan’s role in this story,
Satan accuses the high priest of God but God steps in and clothes the high priest with new robes.
I believe this passage is a foreshadowing of the work of Christ to come.
Christ’s work on the cross will be the defeat of Satan.
Satan thought that the cross would be his greatest victory. In John’s Gospel we see that in the last supper when Judas took the bread from Jesus Satan entered into him to bring about the betrayal of Jesus.
Satan’s plan was to destroy God’s Son on the cross but the tables were flipped.
He would bruise Christ’s heal but the cross would bring a crushing blow to Satan.
Colossians 2: 14-15
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
Now see what Paul is saying. The debt of Sin was against us. The Law of God had shut us up in the jail house of sin.
One of the themes of the book of Romans is that the Law shows me how sinful I really am but grace came from Jesus.
Jesus went to the cross, took the curse, and broke the bondage of sin
1 Peter 2:24
24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness ; for by His wounds you were healed.
Satan had the tables flipped on him and the cross made a spectacle of Satan.
Crucifixion was to make a spectacle of the victim but Christ used the cross to defeat sin.
Eastern Orthodox Christians today at Pascha or what we call Easter – tell jokes as an ancient practice because of the joke so to speak that God played on Satan.
What Satan meant for evil God used to save us from the grip of sin and the domain of darkness.
Now as we close I want to leave you with this thought that should get us fired up about our life in Christ.
DEFEATED FOE:
Satan is a defeated foe. Think about it this way on the morning of April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee met with General Ulysses S. Grant to sign an agreement marking the end of the U.S. Civil War.
The morning of April 9th the war had ended. Peace had been accomplished.
But interestingly, just south of where we are today, from Montgomery to Mobile
the battle still raged.
Even though the Civil War was technically over, the battle at Fort Blakely still took place. And the fighting was just as real. Soldiers were just as committed to destroying their foes. The guns and bayonets were just as devastating. And death was just as brutal. The war had been decided, but the fighting was still going on. And the fighting was just as deadly as it had always been, because peace had yet to be enforced to its ultimate end.
Satan has been defeated by the cross but we are still fighting a guerilla war and the end is coming.
Satan’s time is short and he knows it.
His primary mission is to destroy God’s people and try to diminish the Glory of God.
We are here to glorify God and His might but Satan’s purposes are the opposite.
On passage to memorize, keep and cherish is this:
1 John 4: 4
4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
Now let that sink in – remember I told you that just us in our own might have no chance against Satan but with God we have confidence.
With the power of God we have nothing to fear.
We stand from a position of victory – from that position we are willing to risk all for the kingdom.
That is why the Early Christian martyrs were willing to die for Christ because they understood this idea- God
God has won and we have nothing to fear. Christ is victorious over the old Serpent.
Final outcome for Satan: No hope
Revelation 20:10
10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also ; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
How do we overcome – how do we win?
Revelation 12:11
11 "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
The question is to you today – Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
If not you will suffer the same fate as the deceiver and will not stand a chance before God and the accuser of the brethren.
How comforting to know that if you accept the work of Jesus on the cross – Satan can no longer accuse you as a sinner – the cross has broken his hold over our lives.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Spiritual Realities: angels from a biblical perspective
Many of you that have young children can identify with this story.
I preacher shared a story that he awoke one day assured that he had a vision of an angel in his sleep.
He really believed an angel of the Lord had come to him in his sleep and talked to him.
Now this guy was very conservative and for he to share this with his wife was a leap.
He told his wife that the message the Angel gave him in his sleep was profound. It was an amazing message of hope that said something like the following:
“I’m your guardian angel, I’m your special friend."
The wife thought about it for a minute and then started to laugh. The man was outraged, he couldn’t believe it, he felt funny to share this story about the dream and now she was making fun of him.
She lead him into the bedroom and out from his pillow she pulled a stuffed angel bear. When she squeezed the bear’s tummy it said, “I’m your guardian angel, I’m your special friend."
His little girl had left the angel bear in the bed room and under the pillow. Every time the man rolled over in his sleep the angel bear would talk.
Well this morning I want talk to you about the reality of the spiritual realm and what the Bible tells us.
We will examine certain aspects of this spiritual realm and battle taking place for the souls of man.
In the late 1940s, the government of the United States commissioned the S.S. United States.
It was an $80 million troop carrier built for the Navy.
It was designed to carry 15,000 troops into war, the fastest, most reliable troop carrier in the world.
It could go 10,000 miles without having to stop for fuel or supplies. It could outrun any other ship, go anywhere in the world in less than ten days.
The only catch was it never carried any troops.
It was put on standby once during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but it was never used in all of its capacity by the U.S. Navy.
Instead, it became known as a luxury liner for Presidents, heads of state, and celebrities.
Now as a luxury liner it couldn’t carry 15,000 troops just under 2,000 passengers could enjoy the luxuries of 695 staterooms, 4 dining salons, 3 bars, 2 theaters, 5 acres of open deck with a heated pool, 19 elevators and the comfort of the world’s first fully air conditioned passenger ship.
Instead of a vessel for battle used during the trenches of wartime, the S.S. United States became a means of indulgence for wealthy patrons who wanted to coast peacefully across the Atlantic seas.
And I am convinced that we need to answer a central question in the church today, and that question is are we as the church a troop carrier, or are we a luxury liner?
Are we a troop carrier, or are we a luxury liner, because things look radically different on a troop carrier than they do on a luxury liner.
The pace at which a troop carrier moves is by necessity much faster than a luxury liner.
After all, a troop carrier has an urgent mission to accomplish.
The luxury liner is free to enjoy the ride along the way.
I am convinced that in the church in our day we have settled into an understanding of the church as luxury liner.
The church exists to make me feel comfortable, to adjust to my preferences and cater to my
desires.
And in the process, we have lost sight of an eternal battle that is waging around us, and
we have a crucial decision before us, church.
Are we going to indulge ourselves in the peaceful comforts of this world?
What we can touch feel, observe with science, are all things that are only real.
A minister in Denton, TX challenged his church with a study called a Hill worth dying for. His entire emphasis was what are things that they as a church could not negotiate on.
Just like in warfare- is this hill worth dying for.
I would propose to you that a healthy, biblical view of the spiritual realm is a hill worth dying for. It is a non-negotiable.
You cant be a Bible believing Christian and deny that there is a spiritual battle going on between God an Satan, Angels and Demons.
This doctrine is shot all through both the New Testament and Old Testament.
1) A SPIRITUAL REALITY:
One story illustrates this reality of the spiritual battle as well as some folks inability to acknowledge this battle.
And in this text he’s described as the man of God.
And I want you to see what’s happening here. Look at 2 Kings 6
2 Kings 6: 8-17
8 Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel ; and he counseled with his servants saying, "In such and such a place shall be my camp." 9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there." 10 The king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, more than once or twice. 11 Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing ; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel ?" 12 One of his servants said, "No, my lord, O king ; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom ." 13 So he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him." And it was told him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan." 14 He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master ! What shall we do ?" 16 So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw ; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
In this passage, the King of Aram was waging war against Israel.
The king would tell his confidants where he was going to attack Israel.
God would send a message to Elisha and Elisha would warn the King of Israel where the Arameans were going to strike.
Israel would send out troops and successfully fend off the attack.
The king of Aram was paranoid and wondered who the spy was supplying Israel with the information.
When the King of Aram realized that it was Elisha supplying the information, It is Elisha that is telling the king of Israel the things uttered in the bedroom of the king of Aram.
The king of Aram sends an army to surround the city of Dothan where Elisha is staying one night.
When Elisha’s assistant wakes up and sees the army, he runs to Elisha and asks What are we going to do?
Elisha says something very extraordinary to his assistant:
"Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
With this he prays that the assistant will have his eyes opened to see the spiritual reality all around them.
When does he sees the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire to protect the man of God.
This is one of my favorite stories in the OT because it shows the types of people that we find today.
There are those like Elisha that take comfort to know that God’s spiritual power is greater than anything man can put against us.
His assistant reminds me of the scientific materialistic man of the 21st century that only sees the physical world.
The spiritual man understands that there is a spiritual realm and has a healthy view of it.
At most, the spiritual world – angels and demons – are looked at as religious fancy.
This is one of the great parts of The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis’ classic book.
When an elder demon is speaking to a younger demon and giving advice on how to deceive people. And listen to what he says.
“Wormwood” – this is the elder demon speaking to the younger demon – “I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that devils are predominately comic figures in the modern imagination will help you.
If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, just suggest to him a picture of something in red tights. And persuade him that since he can’t believe in that, he therefore cannot believe in you.”
Modern culture has talked us out of not only thinking about demons and angels, but even talking
about them without thinking, “Is this just a little out there? Are we just imagining this?”
In other words, even if we acknowledge that there’s a spiritual world, oftentimes we begin to think, “Well, that just deals with séances and Ouija boards and occult practices and this or that.”
Or maybe as a Christian we think, “Well, not that happens in many third-world contexts overseas, over there.”
And we just can’t grip the idea that there are spiritual forces all around us in middle-class America.
And this is an extremely dangerous way to think; to think that they are not pervasive.
Even if we acknowledge there’s a spiritual world, in our context, we so disconnect it from the natural world that we think, “Well, they just don’t have anything to do with each other.”
TWO ERRORS THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED:
C.S. Lewis talked about it. There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils.
One is to disbelieve in their existence, and the other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.
They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or magician with the same delight.
Our particular subject matter this morning is one place where the two extremes are alive and well. Some deny the existence of angels all together and others even pray to and worship angels.
So the two extremes are:
1) Empty rationalism.
2) Excessive fanaticism.
The other side, the ones serving Satan either in the Wiccan religion or in the church of Satan believe in the spiritual realm.
A minister as traveling recently by plane.
He noticed that the man sitting two seats over was thumbing through some little cards and moving his lips.
The man looked professorial with his goatee and graying brown hair, and Steve placed him at fifty-something.
Guessing the man was a fellow-believer, the minister leaned over to engage him in conversation.
"Looks to me like you're memorizing something," he said. "No, actually I was praying," the man said.
Steve introduced himself. "I believe in prayer too," he said. "Well, I have a specific assignment," said the man with the goatee.
"What's that?" Steve asked. "I'm praying for the downfall of Christian ministers and leaders."
"I would certainly fit into that category," Steve said. "Is my name on the list?" "Not on my list," the man replied.
IN the past decade we have witnessed an explosion of angel books and prayers and amulets to angels that one could even buy at Wal-Mart.
You would be amazed about how much the Bible talks about Angels and I believe that as Christians we should understand what the Bible tells us about Angels.
ANGELS:
108 appearances in the Old Testament – 108.
165 appearances in the New Testament. They’re all over, Old Testament and New Testament.
Angels have many names.
1) The names of Angels given by the Bible
Psalm 104:4
He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.
MESSENGERS/ SERVANTS
Job 1:6
One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
ANGELS
Psalm 89:5-7
The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD ? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.
HOLY ONES
Hebrews 1: 14
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Messengers, angels, messenger spirits, holy ones.
What are angels?
2) Angels aren’t people
Many people have false impressions of what angels are.
The movie It’s a Wonderful Life introduces us the character Clarence who is trying to earn his wings.
It confuses people and makes them think that angels and people are the same but we are not.
Angels are created beings.
They are spiritual beings created by God but they are not human. They are not people that have died and become angels.
Hebrews 2: 7 and 9
7 "YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS ; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS ;
9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus
When Jesus was incarnated into Flesh he became a little lower than the angels for a temporary time while he was on earth.
This passage just recognizes the order.
Angels are a little higher than humans and are more powerful than we are.
3) Angels are not all powerful like God
But angels are not God, and do not have the power of God.
Colossians 1:16
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -all things have been created through Him and for Him
First of all, they’re spiritual beings. Hebrews 1 talks about how they are ministering spirits.
God created all things – both the spiritual realm was created by God and the spiritual realm.
God created angels just like he created this world and humans.
Psalm 148: 1-5
Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.
The Psalmist tells us that the angels, the heavenly hosts were created by God.
4) Angels are personal spiritual beings that have the capacity to sin and choose to disobey God.
They are not non-personal spiritual forces as some cults teach but are personal and are held morally responsible by God for their sin.
2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment…
God does not spare the angels if they sin.
This tells us that they have the capacity to make moral choices.
5) They have intellectual capacities.
1 Peter 1:12
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by
the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
Angels long to look into the gospel and the mystery of how man would be saved.
It shows that Angels are capable of knowledge and have intellect just as we do as humans. They can make a decisions and learn just like we do.
We also learn that two angels are named in the Bible – Michael and Gabriel which further goes to show that these angels are personal beings even given names.
6) They have emotional capacities.
Job 38:6-7
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- while the morning stars
sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Angels shout for Joy in praise for God – all through the Bible we see Angels praising God as Creator of the universe and for his power.
Luke 15:10
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels
of God over one sinner who repents.”
7) Angels are powerful spiritual beings.
God’s angels are powerful.
One story that I really liked as a kid was found in 2 Kings 19. King Hezekiah is fearful because the king of the Assyrians is going to lay siege to Israel.
He comes and surrounds Jerusalem with 185,000 troops.
Hezekiah prays to the Lord and God sends a message through Isaiah the prophet to the King.
Here is what happens in the story:
2 Kings 19: 32-36
32 'Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, "He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there ; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. 33 "By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,"' declares the LORD. 34 'For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.' " 35 Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians ; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead . 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.
That is one angel and in one night 185,000 people were killed.
Do you think an angel is powerful, do you think they could do some damage if God unleashed them.
In Matthew 26 when Jesus tells Peter to put his sword away in the Garden he tells peter that he could call upon His Father to send 12 legions of angels.
That is roughly 72,000 angels.
Imagine if 1 angel could take out an army of 185,000 men, what could a few thousand angels do?
Something about the power of these beings scares people.
They are not this little pretty child like looking things that we see in popular culture.
In Matthew 28 we see that the soldiers that guarded the tomb of Jesus were so afraid of what they saw that they shook and passed out.
The courageous Daniel of the Lions den fell out when he saw an angel in Daniel 10 and then the Angel picked him off of the ground and he was still shaking in his knees because of fear.
These beings are powerful.
8) Angels are limited spiritual beings.
They are limited in space.
Luke 1:26-27
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.The virgin’s name was Mary.
In Daniel 10 we see an interesting story where Daniel had prayed for God to send an answer to his prayer.
Daniel 10: 12-13
12 Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. 13 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days ; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.
We see in this passage that the angels are limited by space and time. They are not omnipresent like God.
Daniel had prayed and the angel of the Lord was sent to answer that prayer.
This angel was help up in spiritual battle with the Angel of Persia which most scholars believe was a fallen angel that was waging war with God’s angels.
We see that Michael came to help this angel so that he could get to Daniel.
It took him 21 days to get to Daniel.
They are limited in knowledge.
Mark 13:32
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father.”
9) There seems to be orders of Angels in heaven. There is organization in their ranks.
Cherubim… Gen 3:24
The highest order or rank of angels.
Protecting and proclaiming the glory of God.
Seraphim… Literally “ablaze” with adoration of God.
Continually worshiping the Lord. Mentioned in Isaiah 6:2-4
Michael the Archangel
Jude 9
But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
Michael is the archangel who was the protector of Israel and waged war with Persia but was also the one that went to war with Satan over the body of Moses
Gabriel – the messenger of God from the throne of God
Conclusion: So what does this knowledge of Angels help us
1) Not to be worshipped – they never accept the worship of man in Scripture
They serve God just like we do
The observe us and notice our obedience. Paul charges Timothy in 1 Timothy 5 in the presence of Jesus Christ and His holy angels
But here is the most important thing I want you to take today.
1) Angels will take us home to be with the Lord
This comfort for us when we die. A little boy had a grandfather that was terminally ill and he had always told his minister he wanted to see angels.
When the little boy’s grandfather died the preacher lovingly told the little boy that he had been in the presence of angels.
When his grandfather died angels had come to take his soul home to be with the Lord.
Luke 16:22 tells us that angels took Lazarus to Paradise
How comforting to know that these holy, strong warriors of God will be the ones to take us home to the Lord.
I cant tell you exactly what that will be like but we know that Bible says that they are the ones that take us home when we die and they will be the one to take the elect to see Jesus when He returns.
2) Angels have no hope for salvation
We have hope of the Gospel and angels do not. The bible doesn’t give any plan of salvation for the Angels.
We should fall on our knees and thank God for grace through Jesus. God loved us enough to give us a second chance through the Gospel.
Today we want you to obey the Gospel – one day we will judge angels. – we will reign with Christ.
I preacher shared a story that he awoke one day assured that he had a vision of an angel in his sleep.
He really believed an angel of the Lord had come to him in his sleep and talked to him.
Now this guy was very conservative and for he to share this with his wife was a leap.
He told his wife that the message the Angel gave him in his sleep was profound. It was an amazing message of hope that said something like the following:
“I’m your guardian angel, I’m your special friend."
The wife thought about it for a minute and then started to laugh. The man was outraged, he couldn’t believe it, he felt funny to share this story about the dream and now she was making fun of him.
She lead him into the bedroom and out from his pillow she pulled a stuffed angel bear. When she squeezed the bear’s tummy it said, “I’m your guardian angel, I’m your special friend."
His little girl had left the angel bear in the bed room and under the pillow. Every time the man rolled over in his sleep the angel bear would talk.
Well this morning I want talk to you about the reality of the spiritual realm and what the Bible tells us.
We will examine certain aspects of this spiritual realm and battle taking place for the souls of man.
In the late 1940s, the government of the United States commissioned the S.S. United States.
It was an $80 million troop carrier built for the Navy.
It was designed to carry 15,000 troops into war, the fastest, most reliable troop carrier in the world.
It could go 10,000 miles without having to stop for fuel or supplies. It could outrun any other ship, go anywhere in the world in less than ten days.
The only catch was it never carried any troops.
It was put on standby once during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but it was never used in all of its capacity by the U.S. Navy.
Instead, it became known as a luxury liner for Presidents, heads of state, and celebrities.
Now as a luxury liner it couldn’t carry 15,000 troops just under 2,000 passengers could enjoy the luxuries of 695 staterooms, 4 dining salons, 3 bars, 2 theaters, 5 acres of open deck with a heated pool, 19 elevators and the comfort of the world’s first fully air conditioned passenger ship.
Instead of a vessel for battle used during the trenches of wartime, the S.S. United States became a means of indulgence for wealthy patrons who wanted to coast peacefully across the Atlantic seas.
And I am convinced that we need to answer a central question in the church today, and that question is are we as the church a troop carrier, or are we a luxury liner?
Are we a troop carrier, or are we a luxury liner, because things look radically different on a troop carrier than they do on a luxury liner.
The pace at which a troop carrier moves is by necessity much faster than a luxury liner.
After all, a troop carrier has an urgent mission to accomplish.
The luxury liner is free to enjoy the ride along the way.
I am convinced that in the church in our day we have settled into an understanding of the church as luxury liner.
The church exists to make me feel comfortable, to adjust to my preferences and cater to my
desires.
And in the process, we have lost sight of an eternal battle that is waging around us, and
we have a crucial decision before us, church.
Are we going to indulge ourselves in the peaceful comforts of this world?
What we can touch feel, observe with science, are all things that are only real.
A minister in Denton, TX challenged his church with a study called a Hill worth dying for. His entire emphasis was what are things that they as a church could not negotiate on.
Just like in warfare- is this hill worth dying for.
I would propose to you that a healthy, biblical view of the spiritual realm is a hill worth dying for. It is a non-negotiable.
You cant be a Bible believing Christian and deny that there is a spiritual battle going on between God an Satan, Angels and Demons.
This doctrine is shot all through both the New Testament and Old Testament.
1) A SPIRITUAL REALITY:
One story illustrates this reality of the spiritual battle as well as some folks inability to acknowledge this battle.
And in this text he’s described as the man of God.
And I want you to see what’s happening here. Look at 2 Kings 6
2 Kings 6: 8-17
8 Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel ; and he counseled with his servants saying, "In such and such a place shall be my camp." 9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there." 10 The king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, more than once or twice. 11 Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing ; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel ?" 12 One of his servants said, "No, my lord, O king ; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom ." 13 So he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him." And it was told him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan." 14 He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master ! What shall we do ?" 16 So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, "O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." And the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he saw ; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
In this passage, the King of Aram was waging war against Israel.
The king would tell his confidants where he was going to attack Israel.
God would send a message to Elisha and Elisha would warn the King of Israel where the Arameans were going to strike.
Israel would send out troops and successfully fend off the attack.
The king of Aram was paranoid and wondered who the spy was supplying Israel with the information.
When the King of Aram realized that it was Elisha supplying the information, It is Elisha that is telling the king of Israel the things uttered in the bedroom of the king of Aram.
The king of Aram sends an army to surround the city of Dothan where Elisha is staying one night.
When Elisha’s assistant wakes up and sees the army, he runs to Elisha and asks What are we going to do?
Elisha says something very extraordinary to his assistant:
"Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
With this he prays that the assistant will have his eyes opened to see the spiritual reality all around them.
When does he sees the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire to protect the man of God.
This is one of my favorite stories in the OT because it shows the types of people that we find today.
There are those like Elisha that take comfort to know that God’s spiritual power is greater than anything man can put against us.
His assistant reminds me of the scientific materialistic man of the 21st century that only sees the physical world.
The spiritual man understands that there is a spiritual realm and has a healthy view of it.
At most, the spiritual world – angels and demons – are looked at as religious fancy.
This is one of the great parts of The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis’ classic book.
When an elder demon is speaking to a younger demon and giving advice on how to deceive people. And listen to what he says.
“Wormwood” – this is the elder demon speaking to the younger demon – “I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that devils are predominately comic figures in the modern imagination will help you.
If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, just suggest to him a picture of something in red tights. And persuade him that since he can’t believe in that, he therefore cannot believe in you.”
Modern culture has talked us out of not only thinking about demons and angels, but even talking
about them without thinking, “Is this just a little out there? Are we just imagining this?”
In other words, even if we acknowledge that there’s a spiritual world, oftentimes we begin to think, “Well, that just deals with séances and Ouija boards and occult practices and this or that.”
Or maybe as a Christian we think, “Well, not that happens in many third-world contexts overseas, over there.”
And we just can’t grip the idea that there are spiritual forces all around us in middle-class America.
And this is an extremely dangerous way to think; to think that they are not pervasive.
Even if we acknowledge there’s a spiritual world, in our context, we so disconnect it from the natural world that we think, “Well, they just don’t have anything to do with each other.”
TWO ERRORS THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED:
C.S. Lewis talked about it. There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils.
One is to disbelieve in their existence, and the other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.
They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or magician with the same delight.
Our particular subject matter this morning is one place where the two extremes are alive and well. Some deny the existence of angels all together and others even pray to and worship angels.
So the two extremes are:
1) Empty rationalism.
2) Excessive fanaticism.
The other side, the ones serving Satan either in the Wiccan religion or in the church of Satan believe in the spiritual realm.
A minister as traveling recently by plane.
He noticed that the man sitting two seats over was thumbing through some little cards and moving his lips.
The man looked professorial with his goatee and graying brown hair, and Steve placed him at fifty-something.
Guessing the man was a fellow-believer, the minister leaned over to engage him in conversation.
"Looks to me like you're memorizing something," he said. "No, actually I was praying," the man said.
Steve introduced himself. "I believe in prayer too," he said. "Well, I have a specific assignment," said the man with the goatee.
"What's that?" Steve asked. "I'm praying for the downfall of Christian ministers and leaders."
"I would certainly fit into that category," Steve said. "Is my name on the list?" "Not on my list," the man replied.
IN the past decade we have witnessed an explosion of angel books and prayers and amulets to angels that one could even buy at Wal-Mart.
You would be amazed about how much the Bible talks about Angels and I believe that as Christians we should understand what the Bible tells us about Angels.
ANGELS:
108 appearances in the Old Testament – 108.
165 appearances in the New Testament. They’re all over, Old Testament and New Testament.
Angels have many names.
1) The names of Angels given by the Bible
Psalm 104:4
He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.
MESSENGERS/ SERVANTS
Job 1:6
One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
ANGELS
Psalm 89:5-7
The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD ? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him.
HOLY ONES
Hebrews 1: 14
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Messengers, angels, messenger spirits, holy ones.
What are angels?
2) Angels aren’t people
Many people have false impressions of what angels are.
The movie It’s a Wonderful Life introduces us the character Clarence who is trying to earn his wings.
It confuses people and makes them think that angels and people are the same but we are not.
Angels are created beings.
They are spiritual beings created by God but they are not human. They are not people that have died and become angels.
Hebrews 2: 7 and 9
7 "YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS ; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS ;
9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus
When Jesus was incarnated into Flesh he became a little lower than the angels for a temporary time while he was on earth.
This passage just recognizes the order.
Angels are a little higher than humans and are more powerful than we are.
3) Angels are not all powerful like God
But angels are not God, and do not have the power of God.
Colossians 1:16
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -all things have been created through Him and for Him
First of all, they’re spiritual beings. Hebrews 1 talks about how they are ministering spirits.
God created all things – both the spiritual realm was created by God and the spiritual realm.
God created angels just like he created this world and humans.
Psalm 148: 1-5
Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.
The Psalmist tells us that the angels, the heavenly hosts were created by God.
4) Angels are personal spiritual beings that have the capacity to sin and choose to disobey God.
They are not non-personal spiritual forces as some cults teach but are personal and are held morally responsible by God for their sin.
2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment…
God does not spare the angels if they sin.
This tells us that they have the capacity to make moral choices.
5) They have intellectual capacities.
1 Peter 1:12
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by
the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
Angels long to look into the gospel and the mystery of how man would be saved.
It shows that Angels are capable of knowledge and have intellect just as we do as humans. They can make a decisions and learn just like we do.
We also learn that two angels are named in the Bible – Michael and Gabriel which further goes to show that these angels are personal beings even given names.
6) They have emotional capacities.
Job 38:6-7
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- while the morning stars
sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
Angels shout for Joy in praise for God – all through the Bible we see Angels praising God as Creator of the universe and for his power.
Luke 15:10
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels
of God over one sinner who repents.”
7) Angels are powerful spiritual beings.
God’s angels are powerful.
One story that I really liked as a kid was found in 2 Kings 19. King Hezekiah is fearful because the king of the Assyrians is going to lay siege to Israel.
He comes and surrounds Jerusalem with 185,000 troops.
Hezekiah prays to the Lord and God sends a message through Isaiah the prophet to the King.
Here is what happens in the story:
2 Kings 19: 32-36
32 'Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, "He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there ; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. 33 "By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,"' declares the LORD. 34 'For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.' " 35 Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians ; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead . 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.
That is one angel and in one night 185,000 people were killed.
Do you think an angel is powerful, do you think they could do some damage if God unleashed them.
In Matthew 26 when Jesus tells Peter to put his sword away in the Garden he tells peter that he could call upon His Father to send 12 legions of angels.
That is roughly 72,000 angels.
Imagine if 1 angel could take out an army of 185,000 men, what could a few thousand angels do?
Something about the power of these beings scares people.
They are not this little pretty child like looking things that we see in popular culture.
In Matthew 28 we see that the soldiers that guarded the tomb of Jesus were so afraid of what they saw that they shook and passed out.
The courageous Daniel of the Lions den fell out when he saw an angel in Daniel 10 and then the Angel picked him off of the ground and he was still shaking in his knees because of fear.
These beings are powerful.
8) Angels are limited spiritual beings.
They are limited in space.
Luke 1:26-27
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.The virgin’s name was Mary.
In Daniel 10 we see an interesting story where Daniel had prayed for God to send an answer to his prayer.
Daniel 10: 12-13
12 Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. 13 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days ; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.
We see in this passage that the angels are limited by space and time. They are not omnipresent like God.
Daniel had prayed and the angel of the Lord was sent to answer that prayer.
This angel was help up in spiritual battle with the Angel of Persia which most scholars believe was a fallen angel that was waging war with God’s angels.
We see that Michael came to help this angel so that he could get to Daniel.
It took him 21 days to get to Daniel.
They are limited in knowledge.
Mark 13:32
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father.”
9) There seems to be orders of Angels in heaven. There is organization in their ranks.
Cherubim… Gen 3:24
The highest order or rank of angels.
Protecting and proclaiming the glory of God.
Seraphim… Literally “ablaze” with adoration of God.
Continually worshiping the Lord. Mentioned in Isaiah 6:2-4
Michael the Archangel
Jude 9
But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
Michael is the archangel who was the protector of Israel and waged war with Persia but was also the one that went to war with Satan over the body of Moses
Gabriel – the messenger of God from the throne of God
Conclusion: So what does this knowledge of Angels help us
1) Not to be worshipped – they never accept the worship of man in Scripture
They serve God just like we do
The observe us and notice our obedience. Paul charges Timothy in 1 Timothy 5 in the presence of Jesus Christ and His holy angels
But here is the most important thing I want you to take today.
1) Angels will take us home to be with the Lord
This comfort for us when we die. A little boy had a grandfather that was terminally ill and he had always told his minister he wanted to see angels.
When the little boy’s grandfather died the preacher lovingly told the little boy that he had been in the presence of angels.
When his grandfather died angels had come to take his soul home to be with the Lord.
Luke 16:22 tells us that angels took Lazarus to Paradise
How comforting to know that these holy, strong warriors of God will be the ones to take us home to the Lord.
I cant tell you exactly what that will be like but we know that Bible says that they are the ones that take us home when we die and they will be the one to take the elect to see Jesus when He returns.
2) Angels have no hope for salvation
We have hope of the Gospel and angels do not. The bible doesn’t give any plan of salvation for the Angels.
We should fall on our knees and thank God for grace through Jesus. God loved us enough to give us a second chance through the Gospel.
Today we want you to obey the Gospel – one day we will judge angels. – we will reign with Christ.
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