SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: February 2003
Date Preached: February 2003
Church: BBC (PM) Wednesday
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Series: What the Bible Says About…
Title: Satan
Text: Matthew 4:1-11
Introduction:
Did you know that Satan does NOT want any of us to know about and study his characteristics? He does not want us to know about or study about the tactics he is using in this world today.
Satan would rather be working in the background and keep the world in the dark and believing that he is just a hokey Halloween character who walks around this world in his cape, red horns and tail.
With the world believing that this is an accurate picture of satan means that the world believes he is NOT a real person, but some sort of mythical figure or fiction character that only ‘represents’ the evil influence in the world. But, as believers, we must know and realize that the Bible clearly describes the devil and carefully outlines his strategy for derailing all Christians and their witness.
First of all tonight, I want us to take a look at the origin of the devil. Now when it comes to the Devil most people do not realize that the Devil is a created being… he is NOT a god.
For us to know this and understand this we can go to Scripture in Colossians 1:16 which reads, “…for by Him (Jesus) 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 by Him and for Him…”
So we know that Satan or the devil is NOT a god but merely a created being like all the angels in heaven. But as for when they were created the Bible gives us no real way to know WHEN that occurred. But the Bible DOES state the God created the angels. Let’s go to John 1:1-3 and read…
“…In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the word Was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him NOTHING came into being that has come into being…”
And when it comes to angelic beings being created we find that the devil, Lucifer, the angel of light, or Satan (those are just a few names) we find that he is the only angel in which the Bible records any information about their creation.
Let’s go to Ezekiel 28 and read a few passages about the devil. In this passage the writer of Ezekiel was speaking of the King of Tyre who was a despicable and terrible ruler. Many believe that Satan himself had possessed this King to try and establish an earthly kingdom.
In v.15 we find Ezekiel writing the words of God in saying, “…you (the devil) were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you…”
Satan was created a perfectly innocent and blameless angel, but then unrighteousness crept in and we know the story of Satan trying to take over heaven and how God kicked him out of heaven along with all his angels.
We can find that the Bible refers to the devil as the “angel of light.’ These facts suggest that Satan at one time was highly regarded in the heavenly realm. He was banished and became a strong force against all of God’s desire!
If we look closer at v.11-19 we can see that these verses are a symbolic representation of the devil. Starting out in the Garden of Eden thru his destruction in the end of time.
Now we know that the devil is a created, angelic being whom God exiled for all eternity out of heaven. But let’s also look at the personality of the devil.
We can see that the devil exercises all the functions of a ‘real’ person. Isaiah describes the devil as having completed his course and having been judged at the end of time.
Isaiah addressed him as “Lucifer, son of the morning. But he also referenced the devil as a fallen creature and that he takes a firm aim at spoiling God’s plans and purposes.
In the garden of Eden we find Satan portrayed as the evil ‘serpent’… now Moses did not write this story this was simply b/c he did not like the devil.
We can see that Moses was merely revealing to his readers and to the world the true nature of this created, angelic being who had been evicted out of heaven for trying to take over. He was evil, sinister, and a liar… that is how he is introduced into human history and that is how he has stayed…
We find his strategy revealed in the garden as he challenges God’s authority and commandments from the very beginning. And we can find in the NT how Paul reveals that strategy to the Corinthian believers. Let’s read 2 Cor 11:3, 13-15.
“…but I fear that somehow you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to Christ, just as Eve was deceived by the serpent (in the Garden of Eden)…”
“…these people are false apostles. They have fooled you by disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder his servants can also do it by pretending to be godly ministers…”
We can also see that even upto the very end that Satan will not change, he will hold fast to the strategy that can only end in defeat, but it will take many people with him b/c of his deceptive powers. Turn with me to Rev 12:8-9 and 20:2.
“…and the dragon lost the battle and was forced out of heaven. This great dragon – the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world – was thrown down to the earth with all his angels…”
“…He (Jesus) seized the dragon – that old serpent, the devil, Satan – and bound him in chains for 1000 yrs. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore…”
Another thing about Satan that really troubles a lot of people is that Satan has access to God, and the heavenly realm. If we look at the story in the book of Job we see that Satan was having a discussion with God.
In the book of Luke, chptr 22 we find Luke revealing that when Jesus shared that he had to be taken away, that Peter objected and vowed his loyalty. Jesus speaks to Peter and tells him that Satan has informed God that he is going to seek out all believers and the Bible says, ‘sift them like wheat’ … in other words put them through the thrasher!
Satan had access to God there but we can also see in Rev 12:10 where the Bible tells us that Satan had been in heaven accusing us before God of all that we have done wrong. Kind of like a great big, cosmic tattle tale.
But not only does he have access to the heavenly realm, Satan has full access to all humanity. Let’s look at Ephesians 6 and see what Paul said about this particular subject. “…put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the devil…”
In 1 Peter 5:8 we find Peter describing Satan and his personality like this, “…be careful! Watch out for the attacks of the devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour…”
We can see more insights into his personality and how he holds himself up above God by looking at Luke 4 during the temptation of Jesus Christ in the wilderness.
So far tonight we have looked at the devil’s personality and his origin, but I want us to go little further than that. I also want us to look at how powerful this angel of light can be. Let’s take a look at the power of the devil.
Now in John 12:31 and 16:11 tells us that only judgment awaits Satan as he has been defeated. But although the devil has already been judged, his final judgment and punishment is going to happen in God’s timing and until then we have to be on the watch for him b/c he is still powerful and he is still out to get us.
There are many people in the world today that believe they can handle the devil. There are many believers who feel the same way… they believe that they can take anything the devil can throw at them.
To do so as a believer, or to do so as a non-believer is a very foolish thing to do as the power of the devil is something that we ourselves cannot estimate. Only God really knows how powerful Satan really is, so we must never underestimate Satan and we must never believe we can handle him on our own.
The Bible tells us in Heb 2:14 that the devil used to have the power unto death, that meant he COULD take your life. However now we know b/c of Rev 1:18 that Christ has taken that direct power from him, but we do need to realize that he still can lead us down a path that ultimately leads to your our own physical death.
We see in the story of Job that he has the power to inflict sickness and disease into a person’s life. We can see in 2 Peter that his ultimate goal is to sift us as wheat… literally strain us thru his nets and destroy us!
Satan has been known to weaken nations, has been known to shake kingdoms, he has been known to make the very earth tremble… But the one thing that the devil does NOT have the power over is Jesus Christ and in fact he is powerless in the presence of Jesus Christ.
As powerful and deceitful as Satan is, Christians must know and realize that we can and do have power over Him through the presence of the HS in our lives.
Satan is very powerful and we can never underestimate him, but we also need to look at the handiwork of the devil… we need to know what his work is and then using the Holy Spirit and the power God gives us… we can stop Satan and his advance.
When we look at the book of Isaiah we can find that it is one of the places in God’s word that bear a lot of passages that have to deal with the work of Satan.
This particular passage in Isaiah (14:12-17) reveals the hideous plan that Satan had for destroying God’s creation and taking over control for himself.
The ulterior motive for Satan was to be GOD and he passed this thought along to Adam and Eve and down thru the rest of humanity. There are many religions today who make the claim that we are going to become our own god.
Satan is going to do everything in his power to keep the unsaved from coming to know Jesus Christ as Savior, and keep those who are still seeking in the dark about His love, faith and mercy towards His greatest creation.
Satan will use religion to delude our minds and efforts for the Cross, so we must ‘test’ any religion who issues statements that Jesus Christ is NOT who the Bible says he is.
The devil is always at work trying to destroy the lives of those who have come to believe in Christ, and also to those who have also turned their back on Jesus.
But finally tonight, I want to get around to where the devil is going to end up… As the word of God tells us we can know that judgment has already been passed on him and simply must wait on God’s timing for that sentence to be put into place.
We see in the book of Revelation that the devil is thrown out of heaven and locked in a great abyss for a period of time where he cannot bother anyone.
Finally we can see that his ultimate destination is going to be the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Created to be an archangel in heaven this created being has rebelled and ultimately will end up serving his sentence of an eternity of pain and torment…totally separated from God.
There are many who believe that Satan does not really exist and that he is merely the evil influence this world has due to the evil in people.
We can know that this assumption or belief is wrong for there is an abundance of proofs that tell us that the devil is a created being… just as there is evidence that Jesus was a man and walked this earth.
God’s word is our foundation and authority when it comes to all matters of faith, and if we use the Bible to give us the authority of the life of Christ we must also look and see that it also speaks of the devil and how powerful and evil he is and that ultimately he will be defeated.
