SERIES: ANGELS and DEMONS
(adapted from a series of the same name by James Merritt)
“THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY”
SELECTED SCRIPTURE
OPEN
This morning, we start a new sermon series called, Angels and Demons. Over the next four weeks, we’re going to look at what the Bible has to say about this subject – are they real and if so, why do they exist? What role do they play in our everyday lives?
What is now a classic western movie was released in 1966. The main characters were played by Clint
Eastwood, Eli Wallach and a little known character actor with a menacing evil look by the name of Lee Van Cleef. This particular movie propelled Clint Eastwood to stardom. It was titled, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
The movie’s setting is the wild west during the Civil War. Each character is a gunman. Clint Eastwood was a bounty hunter by the name of Blondie who only took money in the pursuit of justice. He was the good guy, stamping out evildoers and bringing them to justice. Occasionally, and for mutual convenience, he teamed up
with a wanted criminal with an endless record by the name of Tuco, played by Eli Wallach. He was the bad guy but he has some redeemable qualities.
Such was not the case for the third main character – Angel Eyes Sentenza, played by Van Cleef. He
was the “ugly” in the movie, a paid killer with a menacing evil look whom no one could possibly ever love. He
was wicked to the core, the kind the old movie audiences would hiss at when he came on screen. He was a classic villain — black hat and all.
This morning, we’re going to start off this series by looking at the good, the bad, and the ugly in a spiritual sense. We’re going to take and overview of the unseen spiritual world. We’ll talk about where angels and demons originated, why they’re here, and what you should know so that you can deal with them in your life.
. Sherlock Holmes used a method of solving crimes called deductive reasoning. You can pick up clues from one small piece of evidence and deduce things that are bigger in scope than just that small piece of evidence. For example, if you find a few crumbs of bread, somewhere out there is a whole loaf of bread. In one of his stories, Holmes made this statement: “From one drop of water, anybody can infer there’s the possibility of an Atlantic Ocean or a Niagra Falls without having seen or heard of one or the other.”
We can use deductive reasoning to determine the cause behind evil. We can look at what’s happening in our world by reading newspapers, or watching news programs on televisions, or getting on the Internet, wherever you get your information and we can know that something is causing the awful things going on in our world.
We’ve suspected that at one time or another that with all of the evil and wickedness in this world, there’s something more than people behind it. We’ve had the suspicion back of what is visible and tangible that there is something sinister that is invisible and intangible There is some kind of unseen wicked spiritual powers.
You’ll hear people that don’t even go to church say something like this, “That’s just demonic.” Where do they get that idea from? There is something inherent in us that says there is something more to evil than evil people doing evil.
The apostle Paul tells us in Eph. 6:12 – “For our struggle is 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.” Paul is saying behind all the evil – the murders, the rapes, the child molestations, whatever. – is the work of dark, demonic forces.
These spiritual beings are not just some kind of science fiction story. They’re the real deal. These dark forces are involved in your life at a level you’ve probably never considered. And I’m not saying this just to scare you but you need to understand that devil and his demons are after you. They’re after your marriages, your finances, your relationships, your children, your businesses, and your spiritual peace.
What I want to do today is to answer some questions that have been asked concerning angels and demons. We’re going to look at the three most important questions along this line.
WHERE DID ANGELS AND DEMONS COME FROM?
We go back to the first chapter of the Bible. Gen. 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And we follow that chapter through and find out that everything comes from God. God is the source of everything. Everything you can touch, see, feel, hear, experience is made by God.
And as we read through the Bible, we see that God created heavenly beings. Some of you are under the mistaken belief that God and the angels have always existed. You’re only half-right. God created the angels when he created the universe. God has always existed. Angels have not
In Neh. 9:6 – “You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” The words “the starry host” and “the multitudes of heaven” are references to angels.
Ps. 148:2 – “Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.” Then in Ps. 148:5 – “Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.” Angels are created beings.
When were they created? Somewhere between the first day of creation and the third day of creation, the angels came into being. We deduce this knowledge from an encounter between God and Job after job has made his complaints known to God.
Job 38:4-7 – “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”
Okay. Now we know where the angels come from. They are created beings brought about somewhere between the first and third days of creation. So, where did the devil and his demons come from? That leads us to question 2.
WHY ARE ANGELS AND DEMONS HERE?
Again, we play the role of Sherlock Holmes. We go back to creation. After God creates everything, He evaluates everything. Gen. 1:31 – “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.”
What can we deduce from that statement? Everything was “very good.” So, there is no devil and his demons as of yet. We continue our deductive sleuthing.
Something happens between Gen. 1:31 and Gen. 3:1. Gen. 3:1 – “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?’”
Stop right there. This serpent tempts Eve to rebel against God. Who was this serpent because he was “more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.” And where did he come from?
What we find out from other parts of scripture is that somewhere between Gen. 1:31 and Gen. 3:1 there’s a rebellion in heaven. One of the angels decided that he could do a better job as God than God. This angel said to himself: I think I know more. I think I’m greater. I want to take over. And he found some angels who would follow him.
2 Pet. 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…” Jude 6 – “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” We’ll talk more about these scriptures in a later message. But what see is that there were angels who sinned and who abandoned their heavenly home. These angels rebelled against God and he kicked them out of heaven to deal with them at a later time.
One of the most interesting passages in the Bible that tells us about this rebellion is in the book of Revelation. Rev. 12:7-9 – “And 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.”
The phrase, “war in heaven”, really intrigues me. I’m a fight fan. I love to watch a good boxing match and I really love to watch UFC. But a “war in heaven”? I would have loved to have been on the front row for that one. One preacher said that this passage proves there are married couples in heaven but I’m not sure about that one.
There was a time in eternity in which the angels were all together – sang together, served together, stood together. We go back to the passage in Job 38:4-7 where God says, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” “Morning stars” refers to the angels.
But Satan leads a rebellion. Rev. 12:4 tells us that 1/3 of the angels went with Satan. “Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.”
There is kind of good news in that passage. Even though Satan was strong enough and influential enough to take one-third of all the angels with him, we need not fear. Not only is God more powerful than the devil, we see that every bad angel – for every demon – there are two good angels.
But this rebellion changed things. Ever since that time God has had his angels and the devil has had his angels. And the Bible tells us that ever since that time, the world has been under a dark, demonic influence.
You have to ask yourself at this point in the message one great big question. Here it is. Why would anyone be dumb enough, stupid enough, foolish enough to take on the God of this universe?
Is. 14:12-14 – “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 sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”
You see, God reveals through the prophet Isaiah what happened. He placed one angel in charge of the others. He was commander in chief of the forces in the field. He was called “morning star”. The Latin word is Lucifer which means “light bearer”.
But Lucifer developed what could be called a Muhammad Ali complex. He began to think, “I am the greatest.” I deserve to be the greatest. I deserve to be sitting where God is sitting. I deserve to be the master and you the servant. When Satan looked at God and say, “Not your will but my will be done” all hell broke loose. He was not content to be commander in chief in the field. He wanted to be commander in chief over everything.
Why? The only answer the Bible gives is pride. In the sixth chapter of the book of Proverbs, it list seven things that God hates. And one of those things is pride. There is nothing God despises more than a proud heart.
And pride caused the demise of one of God’s greatest angels.
Notice something else, too. The devil was not content in going down alone. He was determined to take others with him. And he does the same thing today. He wants to take you with him. He wants to pull you in with him.
When he fell he changed his name. He’s now the devil – the deceiver. People play into the hands of the devil every day and don’t even realize it. What’s it going to hurt if I have a fling with her even though she’s married and I’m married? And you just walked into the devil’s hand I know that I need to investigate this Jesus stuff and I know that I need to get ready for eternity. But I’m only 28 years old and I work out and I’m in good shape. I have plenty of time to make that decision. And you just walked into the devil’s hand.
WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ANGELS AND DEMONS?
C.S. Lewis said, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”
Don’t make either mistake.
Most of us probably do not take an unhealthy interest. Most of us tend to just ignore them. We put them in the category of fantasy characters like Barney or Mickey Mouse. “I don’t think they’re relevant.” “They don’t seem real to me.”
You might have someone in your life that you can’t figure out why they do what they do. Why are they hooked on alcohol or drugs or pornography? Why can’t they get their lives together? And you’ve never considered demonic powers are behind their struggle.
Here’s what you need to know about angels and demons. The devil and his demons are real. Angels are real. They are active. They’re still functioning. They’re very powerful. They’re not to be laughed at or trifled with or ignored.
CLOSE
We see spiritual influences all over the place. Walk into any secular bookstore. The majority of titles in the Young Adults section have occult themes. They range from tales about werewolves and vampires to ghoulish ghastliness. One of the biggest series that has now been turned into box office smash movies has vampires falling in love with humans. And I know plenty of ladies well over the Young Adult classification of teenager who are into these stories. It doesn’t matter how much you cried your eyes out as you read or watched them fall in love. We’re still talking about characters long associated with demonic powers.
It seems that these spiritually dark forces are ever powerful and influential. But we have a Savior who has overcome the devil and his demons.
We read in Mt. 8:16-17 – “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and
he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the
prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.’”
Did notice what happened? Those whose lives were controlled by demonic influence had their lives changed because Jesus was stronger than the devil and his demons. Our Jesus is also the God who created the universe. And because Satan is a created being and not the Creator, he and his demons cannot defeat Jesus the Christ. Do you know Jesus as Lord and Savior today?
