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You may not want to hear this but there really is a devil--Satan…and he is out to make life as difficult as possible for you. He hates your guts and wants your soul. That’s the bad news. The good news is this…we have the power to defeat him.
Have you ever wondered why life is so difficult, why so many of your desires are thwarted, why trouble seems to follow you around like a dark cloud? There's a good reason for this. Much of the New Testament is written against the backdrop of a fierce war raging between two kingdoms--Christ's kingdom of light and Satan's domain, the kingdom of darkness.
That's what this message is about...to learn about our spiritual adversary, Satan -- the devil, so we may know how to defeat him and enjoy a good life now and for eternity.
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Satan is the DEVIL - - The Age Old Dragon --Your Worst Enemy! He roams about the earth like a roaring lion seeking to devour your soul! |
Jesus said he was a liar and the father of lies. He is a murderer. The truth does not dwell in him. He may only use the truth to teach a lie. There is a saying that says that Satan will use 99% truth to float one lie. Many preachers don’t like to preach on Satan, but I am here to tell
you that Satan is constantly attacking people, and he must be disclosed for what he is.
"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" John 8:44.
Two Old Testament passages (Isaiah 14:12-15) and (Ezekiel 28:11-19) provide a picture of Satan's original position and the reasons for his loss of that position. They tell of an exalted angelic being, one of God's creatures, who became too proud and ambitious. He determined to take over the throne of God for himself. But God removed him from his position of great dignity and honor. As a result of his original status and authority, Satan had great power and dignity. So great is his strength that Michael the archangel viewed him as a foe too powerful to oppose (Jude 9).
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Satan is known by several names in the Bible. Satan seems to be his proper name, while other names seem to be more nicknames or titles. |
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Satan comes in like an angel: an innocent and gentle spirit. -- He appears like a lamb, and he uses people and things to get to you. Tantamount to someone using another, he comes in sweet and innocent, yet conning and beguiling to mislead and fool you. Satan is so cleaverly sneaky, people do not even know he is using them.
He is at work in the earth's atmosphere, causing chaos, deceiving, tempting, and harming people. The devil wants the destruction of all people. He wants people to die in their sins and go to hell. He is utter hatred and complete evil. He hates God and hates all that He created, and he is dedicated to suck the blood and life out of us.
Paul tells us that we are fighting not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Yes, we are fighting for our lives, for our souls. We are fighting against a spirit who has demon followers set out to devour everthing good in our lives. Satan and his followers are after your family, friends, money, good health, mental stability, and joy. Satan knows that his time is short and that he is going to a fiery hell throughout eternity, and he wants to take you with. He is working harder than ever these days to destroy everything good and right.
Satan is an angel. Contrary to popular belief, all angels are not good angels. There are demonic angels who inhibited the world and are out to defeat and deceive you into doing things you would not normally do. They will use you to destroy the power of God in you.
The Bible says that the presence of evil is due to the spiritual component of our nature - something the animals do not possess. God endowed His spiritual creatures (humans and angels) with free will to love God or oppose Him. The most powerful created being (the angel Satan) rebelled and led one third of the angels into opposition against God. Those humans who oppose or ignore God follow Satan into rebellion - either consciously or unconsciously.
THE SCRIPTURE: Revelation 12:7-9
"There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Now Satan and his angels run loose in this natural, carnal world in which we live who will continue to attempt to choke God's word from your life by planting bad seeds through wrong thinking and deception so you'll fall into temptation. Matthew 13:24-25.
Satan brings us thoughts of doubt and unbelief to sever our relationship with God, now we distrust Him and His Word. With this disconnection we became impulsive and unruly, and we learned to love evil. The good news is, Jesus came to correct these deceits, by showing us the truth.
Has this belief prevented you from a life of peace, joy and happiness. Do you doubt God and His Word, now you cannot expect that your greatest hopes and desires will become your reality. Do your suspicions prevent you from relating to God, now you cannot receive His guarantee of health, wealth and prosperity? Has satan deceived you and you fell for it.
Look into the Scriptures and you will see that God said, "I will not forsake you, I will not leave you in any way shape or form." Cast not your beliefs to the world, cast them to God and receive the truth of your salvation. God's desire is not that man fall, for His love is deeper than the ocean and higher then the sky, His desire is that man rises ultimately to the top.
Satan is your personal enemy.
Satan is slick -- Satan is “enlightened” -- like all liars he tells us what we want to hear. He'll snuggle up to you and gently say, "Go ahead do it -- you deserve it -- look out for number one -- you are the master race -- you can get away with it, you should rule the world -- go ahead everybody cheats -- Jesus is not the only way -- God keeps score, do some more good deeds and you will make it to heaven etc., etc.
Satan tells us to sacrifice duty to self-interest, the cause of Christ to personal convenience. He tells us to substitute God’s plan with our plan.
The enemy has a method of bringing us away from trust in God’s word. First, he gets you to doubt God’s word:
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?" (Gen. 3:1).
SATAN APPEALED TO HER PHYSICAL NEEDS - her appetite. She listened to Him. Her first mistake.
Second, after the enemy has brought doubt upon God’s word, he then contradicts it:
And the serpent said to the woman, "You surely shall not die! (Gen. 3:4).
SATAN APPEALED TO HER PERSONAL GAIN in that he was trying to convince her that she could have it all: what her eyes desired and eternal life.
Third, He reinterprets God’s word.
"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3:5).
Within this last comment of Satan, we see the heart of Satan: He wants to be like God and he uses the deceptions of self-will, self-sovereignty, and self-rule to replace God’s word with his lies. In those lies is an appeal to the person to be like God, to be independent of God.
SATAN USES AN APPEAL TO PERSONAL POWER AND/OR GLORY.
So, the first thing that Satan does is go against God’s word. Why? Because the Word of God is true. It reveals wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, and God Himself. It also exposes the darkness and the evil of Satan’s methods. The Devil doesn’t want that.
The devil wants to bring Unnecessary Confusion, Misery, and Death.
"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Pet. 5:8).
The devil uses anything he can to get people to disobey God and bring destruction.
The apostle Paul wrote, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (I Cor. 14:33). While widespread confusion surrounds the devil’s identity, you need not be confused!
The Bible is the foundation of all knowledge. You have often heard a minister say, “Blow the dust off your Bible! Examine it carefully and see the real truth that has always been on its pages. Don’t believe something just because we say it, but rather believe it if you see it proven in your Bible.”
The Bible contains the answers to all of life’s biggest questions! It has the answer to who satan and his following demons are. As we delve into the revealing of satan, you will find the origin of Satan the devil will surprise you. We must let the Bible reveal him for what he is.
Paul also wrote, “PROVE all things; hold fast that which is good” (I Thes. 5:21), and “PROVE what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
As you learn of your enemy satan, don't take my word for it, delve into the scriptures, ask God for answers, then take them into your heart and don't let go.
Satan attacks us in our areas of weakness.
He attacked Jesus after Jesus had fasted 40 days and had become hungry and was in need. Then Satan came in the hour of Jesus’ weakness and tempted Him. Satan even tempted Jesus by using God’s own word, the same thing he did to Eve in the garden. Notice how Satan’s methods are predictable.
1. Appeal to Physical Appetite
A. You may eat of the tree (Gen 3:1).
B. You may eat by changing stones to bread (Matt. 4:3)
2. Appeal to Personal Gain
A. You will not die (Gen. 3:4).
B. You will not hurt your foot (Matt. 4;6).
3. Appeal to Power and Glory
A. You will be like God (Gen. 3:5).
B. You will have all the world’s Kingdoms (Matt. 4;8-9)
I John 3:8, NIV. "He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work."
Where did Satan come from?
The bible is very clear as to where Satan came from. He was a created being, an angel, who was judged because of his rebellion, which the New Testament hints was sparked by his pride (1Tim.3:6). He is the one responsible for introducing evil to this world. Now he desires to devour God's creation by tempting man to reject his Creator.
Satan--an angel created by God--was given the free will to choose whether or not he would obey God. He disobeyed, and that disobedience was evil.
Satan made himself evil by choosing to do evil.
In the same way, humans may choose to do right or wrong, and through their choices, evil flourishes.
So... it was choice that caused Satan to be evil, not an act of Creation.
A part of Satan's continuing ambition to replace God is his passionate yearning to have others worship him (Matthew 4:8-9; Revelation 13:4,12). Since God has frustrated this desire and put down Satan's rebellion, he has become God's exact opposite. He is "the wicked one” (Matthew 13:19,38), while God is "the Holy One” (Isaiah 1:4).
Satan's nature is malicious. His efforts in opposing God, His people, and His truth are tireless (Job 1:7; 2:2; Matthew 13:28). He is always opposed to man's best interests (1 Chronicles 21:1; Zechariah 3:1-2). Through his role in introducing sin into the human family (Genesis 3), Satan has gained the power of death-- a power which Christ has broken through His crucifixion and resurrection (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Satan also delights in deception (1 Timothy 3:6-7; 2 Timothy 2:26). His lying nature stands in bold contrast to the truth for which Christ stands (John 8:32,44). The great falsehood which he uses so frequently is that good can be attained by doing wrong. This lie is apparent in practically all his temptations (Genesis 3:4-5). As the great deceiver, Satan is an expert at falsifying truth (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
In Ezekiel 28:12-17 it is written, "Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty".
We see here that satan has high intellgence and beauty, he was God's most beautiful angel. His cleverness enables him to carry out his deceptive work almost at will. His power is subject to God's restrictions (Job 1:12; Luke 4:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8). The reins of God on his activities are illustrated by Satan's request to God for permission to afflict Job (Job 1:7-12).
"Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created".
His evil nature started before the garden of Eden and is more rampant today for he knows his time is short. (Rev.20:1-3). As stated in Isaiah 14:12, his name was Lucifer. He was the highest of the archangels and as Ezekiel 28:12 states, he was Gods main one.
"Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Was Satan created sinful? No, he was created perfect, with freedom to choose. It's in the Bible, Ezekiel 28:15, TLB. "You were perfect in all you did from the day you were created until that time when wrong was found in you." Yes, although Satan was an anointed cherub, the model of perfection, he wanted more. He wanted his throne to be higher than God's. A fierce war in heaven resulted. Satan's big head got him kicked out of the kingdom and cast down on the earth.
What led to Satan's downfall? It's in the Bible, Ezekiel 28:17, TLB. "Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor".
Satan, known as Lucifer before he sinned, wanted to be equal with God. It's in the Bible, Isaiah 14:12-14, TLB. "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! …For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and rule the angels. I will take the highest throne… I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High."
Satan was so full of pride, hate and revenge he will do anything he can to get mankind to rebel against Holy God. As we see in Isaiah, Satan wanted to be better then God. He still thinks he will win and those of you who are following him are doomed to the same fate....... A burning hell.
As we see from Ezekiel 28:13, Satan was in the garden of Eden as the serpent.Gen.3:1 He is the reason for the fall of man and will continue to deceive until he is cast into hell.(Rev.20:1-3)
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
As you can see demons are angels that satan deceived in heaven and God cast them out with him. A word to you people that believe that God does not exist. The demons are smarter then you!!! Listen to what James 2:19 says...You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder". Of course if you don't believe in God you will not believe that Satan or demons exist either.
The belief that Satan is in Hell is a product of cartoons and movies rather than the reality portrayed in the Bible. The Bible states that he still roams heaven and earth. Job 1:6 states that Satan appeared with other angels "before the Lord." Presumably in heaven. When God asked Satan where he had been, Satan replied, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Satan has not been and is not in Hell. 1 Peter 5:8 declares, "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
It is clear from passages such as these that Satan is not in Hell and probably spends most of his time on earth, seeking to destroy the lives of human beings and to keep them separated from God.
Originally Satan was an angel in Heaven, he was an archangel. There were three such archangels: Lucifer, Michael, and Gabriel. Each of these three archangels had his own regiment of angels!
Lucifer had one-third, Michael had one-third, and Gabriel had one-third. Lucifer decided to rebel and try to conquer Heaven!
He gathered his angels about him and caused war in Heaven. God took Lucifer and his angels and expelled them from heaven, and from that day to this, they have been doing their work on earth! Satan’s headquarters is on the earth!
Growing Fascination with the Devil
One can scarcely turn around without hearing and seeing references to the devil or demons. Pause for a moment and think about how often this happens.
Turn on the television. Go to the movies. Visit a bookstore. How often is the subject of the devil, demons, angels or the spirit world in general spoken or written about? Whole television series are dedicated to these subjects, with more appearing all the time. Movies have focused on the devil for many years. But now they come more often—and are more odd, bizarre, strange, macabre and frightening than ever before!
Consider the “Harry Potter” phenomenon. Some authors write almost exclusively about the spirit world, often mixing a false understanding of prophecy into the plot line—and legions of fans purchase their every book.
Satanism and witchcraft are practiced more openly now than ever before!
Millions spend vast sums on psychic hotlines, palm readers, astrologers, crystal ball gazers, witches, wizards, channelers and a host of other mediums, to find out what the future has in store for them.
The devil sells—and people are buying as never before!
Scriptures On Satan's Origin
We will examine the verses that explain Satan’s origin and who he is. To do this, we must abandon man’s ideas and only accept what can be proven from the Bible!
In Matthew 4:9, Satan offered Christ rulership over “all things” if He would “fall down and worship him.” Christians are promised rulership over the same “all things”—but only on the condition that they worship the true God!
Psalm 140:3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.
Romans 3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
James 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and above all power over the enemy; nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Satan is an immitator -- a copy cat. He has no ideas or characteristics of his own. He trys adopting the appearance and behavior of Christ.
Not to worry, Satan is destined to fail in his continuing rebellion against God. His final defeat is predicted in the New Testament (Luke 10:18; John 12:31; Revelation 12:9; 20:10). The death of Christ on the cross is the basis for Satan's final defeat (Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 Peter 3:18,22). This event was the grand climax to a sinless life during which Jesus triumphed over the enemy repeatedly (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). The final victory will come when Jesus returns and Satan is cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:1-15).
How long has the devil been a murderer and a liar? It's in the Bible, John 8:44, NIV. "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
To learn about his origin ,
it is necessary to go back to the Old Testament. THE SCRIPTURES: Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-19.
"How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God'...'I will make myself like the Most High';... 'You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty;...You were anointed as a guardian cherub.... You were on the holy mount of God;...You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you....You were filled with violence, and you sinned....Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom....I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings."
You see God is good. You'll know satan and his demons have possessed you when a series of bad things happen...however, bad things DO happen to good people too.
Jesus said that in the world you will have suffering and distress, problems of every kind. He warns us that we must go through much tribulation to enter the kingdom of God because the enemy will fight us tooth and nail. With God we can enter, without God we can't. "But be of good cheer", Christ said, "because I have overcome the world".
The final victory was already secured for us By Jesus on the Cross -- but there will be many casualties between now and until Jesus returns. Woe for those who do not receive Jesus into their hearts.
Prayer
Another powerful weapon against evil is Prayer. Second to Bible study, prayer is the most neglected - even amongst professed believers. It has been said that 'Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his/her knees.' The Bible says: 'Pray without ceasing.' In other words never give up the habit of prayer. Make it a constant attitude of mind.
