INTRO.- ILL.- Two boys were walking home from Sunday School one Sunday morning. THEY DIDN’T STAY FOR CHURCH! Shame on them. Their SS lesson had been on the subject of the devil. One boy said to the other, "What do you think of this devil business?"
"Well," the other boy replied, "You know how Santa Claus turned out - THE DEVIL MUST BE EITHER YOUR MOM OR YOUR DAD."
Brethren, I don’t believe than anybody’s mom and dad is the devil. Although I admit that some moms and dads act like the devil occasionally! But don’t we all?!
Today, I want us to realize who the real enemy is! I want us to recognize who we’re up against!
ILL.- On their way home from church, the couple were discussing the preacher’s sermon. The wife said, "It seems to me he didn’t put enough fire into his sermon."
The husband said, "Well, in my opinion, he didn’t put enough of his sermon into the fire."
Brethren, for many, many years I have heard about all kinds of preacher-problems in churches: The preacher didn’t do this or the preacher did this. Or the preacher got into a fight the board, the elders or the women of the church, or the young people, or the youth director, and so on.
I have known of some preachers who were liars, greedy cheats, lustful, boasters, thieves, controllers, and a few other things.
I could tell you some stories that you might find hard to believe. And then again, you might not.
But contrary to what some church members might think, the preacher is the not the real enemy! He may play into the enemies’ hands occasionally, BUT HE IS NOT THE REAL ENEMY!
ILL.- While preaching in Iowa many years ago there was an older gentleman in the church who always called me, "Bub." And that kinda of worried me, because I didn’t think he even knew what he was saying. So one day, I just told him, "Hey! I am not beelzebub, meaning the devil. I just wanted you to know that."
That old brother never meant anything by calling me "Bub." But I sure wanted him to know that I was not the devil nor was I in league with him.
Brethren, there are times in life when we think some people are the devil! It may be some leader like Adolf Hitler or Saddam Hussein. Or a criminal like Charles Manson. Or some TV personality like Shirley MacLaine who has practices spiritualism, which according to Scripture, does have something to do with Satan.
But the devil is none of these people. Nor is he your mate. Nor your boss. Nor that person who irritates the daylights out of you at work! Nor that strange person who lives down the street from you.
Satan is none of these people. Satan is Satan and HE IS OUR REAL ENEMY IN LIFE. People are not our enemy. But make no mistake about it! We do have an enemy! We do have an opponent in life who is called Satan.
ILL.- In 1966 A man submitted a manuscript to a well-known publisher. It was rejected, however, with the explanation that the subject was a dead issue and no one believed in that sort of thing of any more. The book was entitled THE DARK PRINCE and presented the spiritual being called Satan.
Is Satan a dead issue? Do people not believe in him any more?
ILL.- Someone said "The devil’s cleverest trick is to make people believe that he does not exist."
ILL.- Bible teacher, William Evans, wrote, "It is popular in some circles today to spell the word ’devil’ with the letter ’d’ left off. This reduces the idea of an actual person called the devil to a mere influence called evil."
ILL.- Someone else said, "The devil may be out of fashion for some, BUT HE’S NOT OUT OF BUSINESS."
Is there a real evil person called Satan or the devil?
ILL.- American preacher Billy Sunday who lived from 1863 to 1935 said, "I know that the devil is real for two reason. #1, because the Bible says so. And #2, BECAUSE I’VE DONE BUSINESS WITH HIM."
WE KNOW THAT THE DEVIL IS REAL BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS SO! And we believe the Bible is the Word of God.
Job 1:6-7 "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord AND SATAN ALSO CAME WITH THEM. The Lord said to Satan, ’Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ’From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.’"
Brethren, the angels came and presented themselves to the Lord. WHY? Probably because they were accountable to Him. Satan also came into the Lord’s presence. DOES THIS TELL YOU ANYTHING ABOUT SATAN? Surely it says that Satan must also give account of himself to God!
Someday Satan is going to give account of himself in a big way and he’s not going to like the end result of that accounting time. Because then he will be thrown into lake of fire where he will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Revelation 20:10.
God conversed with Satan. And so did Jesus. Remember Matthew 4 after Jesus had fasted for 40 days and nights? Satan came to him and said, "Command these stones to become loaves of bread?" And Jesus answered him back.
Personally, I don’t think Jesus was talking to himself or some figment of his imagination. He was talking to a real live spiritual being.
Satan is a real being! He is a real spiritual being! He has intelligence and power and influence!
If God says He’s real then we ought to believe it!
Billy Sunday also said, "I know the devil is real because I’ve done business with him."
As much as we might not want to admit it, we’ve all done business with the devil in some form or another.
Of course, there are those who believe that only big sinners have done business with the devil. People who have stolen, murdered, raped, etc.
Brethren, donât you dare believe that you haven’t done business with the devil! WE ALL HAVE IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!
Eph. 2:1-2 "As for you, you were dead (past tense) in your transgressions and sin, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world AND OF THE RULER OF THE KINGDOM OF THE AIR, THE SPIRIT WHO IS NOW AT WORK IN THOSE WHO ARE DISOBEDIENT."
At one time, before we gave our lives to Christ we followed the ruler of the kindom of the air. And just who do you think that is? That is none other than Satan!
Big or little, we all have followed Satan in the path of sin.
ILL.- Rochester Hills, Michigan. Rumors had circulated for some time that there was money at Steven Jones’ house. When two robbers couldnât find the money, police said they tortured the boy with a knife and a meat fork, then beat and stomped him to death.
Fourteen-year-old Steven Jones was the only one home that early Sunday morning when the two men arrived, looking for anywhere from $2000 to $20,000 that two teenagers told them was there.
Prosecutor Richard Thompson said, "Steven Jones was prodded and poked with a meat fork and knife on the neck -- in other words, tortured. His head and chest appeared stomped on. He kept on asking, ’Why are you doing this?’"
Steven Jones was stabbed 20 times and hit or kicked 20 times.
BRETHREN, DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE DEVIL NOW?
ILL.- Here’s one more but there are thousands. Chicago. Police say it was a carefully planned crime. 5-year-old Eric Morse was lured by two boys, ages 10 & 11, to a vacant apartment high in a housing project. He was dangled from a window, and then dropped 14 floors to his death. Kids killing kids!
DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE DEVIL NOW? And the horror stories go on and on.
Brethren, we know that the devil is real and is our real enemy in life.
PROP.- In the remainder of this message I want to talk about Satan in several ways:
1- His origin
2- His business
3- His end
I. HIS ORIGIN
Did you know that the stars are falling? They are falling all the time.
ILL.- In 1990 the popular movie actor, Kevin Costner, made the movie ROBIN HOOD. At that time a female London model claimed that she had an affair with him. And others said that Kevin Costner was involved with a hula dancer on the set of his movie called WATERWORLD. And during both those times he was married to his wife, Cindy. BUT HE’S NOT ANYMORE!
Kevin Costner apparently fell! He fell out of marriage and into lust, which he thought was love. Anyway you look at it, he was, in a sense, a fallen star!
Brethren, the stars are falling all the time. Practically every week we hear about another movie star falling out of marriage and into the arms of someone else. Or we hear of stars falling in other ways.
ILL.- For example, movie star Robert Downy Jr. has lost a lot of his stardom in recent years because of his drug abuse and trouble with the law. He’s been in and out jail numerous times on drug charges.
THE STARS ARE FALLING! And when a person is sold on themselves they will fall! Who knows? Perhaps both Kevin Costner and Robert Downy Jr. thought nothing could happen to them!
Now there is another star who fell a long time ago. AND HIS NAME IS SATAN. He was formerly called "Lucifer" or "the shining one."
II Peter 2:4 "For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned..." Let’s stop right there. Angels can sin? Apparently so.
Many Bible scholars believe that Satan was a beautiful angel who sinned against God and got kicked out of heaven. SATAN IS A FALLEN STAR!
Isaiah 14:12-15 "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.’ But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit."
Isaiah introduces us to a supernatural person who cast down to earth. He is called the "morning star." He was a star in God’s eyes! He is called Lucifer in the KJV. Apparently, he was so beautiful that he had a shining appearance.
Five times he said in his heart, "I will." His heart was filled with rebellion against God. He did not want God to be over him or to rule over him.
Essentially, he was saying, "Since I am so magnificent, so beautiful, so filled with power, why shouldnât I have some of the worship of the universe for myself?" He was saying, "MOVE OVER GOD, HERE I COME!" He wanted to be God!
Someone said that the shortest definition of sin is, "I WILL." AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT SATAN SAID!
Any time we want to do our thing and live for ourselves, we have sinned! And we are headed for big trouble!
Ezekiel 28:1-2 speaks of the ruler of Tyre but then in V. 12 the "king" is Tyre is introduced who is the real power behind the ruler of Tyre.
Ezek. 28:12-13 reads, "You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God."
Ezek. 28:15 "You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created TILL WICKEDNESS WAS FOUND IN YOU."
What wickedness is God talking about? It was this "I will" business. Satan, the star, the shining one, the beautiful one, sinned in his heart against God. And apparently, God cast him out of heaven.
Thatâs where Satan came from. He is a fallen star. He has lost his star status. Heâs nothing but a bum now.
II. HIS BUSINESS
What’s the devil up to? What is his business now, since he is no longer in heaven and serving the Lord?
ILL.- An old story is told about a man who was going to Halloween party dressed in a devil’s costume; horns, forked tail, pitchfork in hand, etc.
On the way to the party it started to rain and rain hard. Since the man was walking he made a mad dash into the nearest building for protection which happened to be a church where a revival meeting was taking place.
At he walked through the door everyone turned to see who had come in late. And when they saw him, they became to scatter and run out of the building like snakes out of a burning barn.
One lady got caught in her pew in the midst of all the confusion and fear and as the man came closer to her, she said, "Satan, I’ve been a member of this church for over 30 years, but I’ve really been on your side all the time!"
Brethren, what is Satan’s business? His business is to give us the business! His business is to get us on his side! Satan’s business is to trick us, to deceive us, to lure us away from Christ and the church, to make us hypocrites, to cause us to fall and sin any way he can!
II Cor. 4:3-4 "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing (who is that? Those outside of Christ). The god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ..."
Satan is an artist. A con-artist. He blinds the minds of people who do not believe in Jesus as the Christ with anything and everything he can.
He blinds people’s minds with such things as: atheism, evolutionism, materialism, heathenism or playism! (I made up that word.)
ILL.- I went to the First Baptist Church of Webb City, MO, when I was a youngster. It’s a Southern Baptist, conservative, Biblical, Christ-believing church. Mom used to take us children when we were small and I probably quit attending when I was 15-years-old.
I always went to Sunday School, VBS and some youth meetings and sometimes, mom made me go to church, which I tried to sleep through if I could get away with it. I heard the Word of God and the message about Christ in those meetings and classes. But I never did make a decision for Christ, not until I was 20 years old.
Why not before that? I think it was because Satan blinded my mind with various things, such as: work, having fun, working on cars, racing cars, chasing after girls (racing and chasing), drinking beer, etc.
Brethren, the devil will use anything and everything to get people from believing the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ!
WE ALL NEED TO WAKE UP TO THIS TRUTH!
The devil doesn’t just work on unbelievers. HE WORKS ON BELIEVERS TOO!
I Thess. 3:5 "For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I WAS AFRAID THAT IN SOME WAY THE TEMPTER MIGHT HAVE TEMPTED YOU AND OUR EFFORTS MIGHT HAVE BEEN USELESS."
II Cor. 11:3 "I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpentâs cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ."
The devil is out to tempt you and deceive you anyway he can!
ILL.- Let’s think of it this way. In the days of the Civil War it was illegal to trade in cotton, but many unscrupulous people tried to buy cotton in the South, run it through the Union lines and sell it at great profit in the North. One of these guys approached a Mississippi steamboat captain and offered him $100 if he would run his cotton up the river for him. The captain declined, reminding him that it was illegal.
Then the cotton runner said, "I’ll give you $500." "No!" answered the captain, "I won’t do it." The cotton runner made another offer, "I’ll give you a $1000." "No," answered the captain once again.
The cotton runner countered and said, "I’ll give you $3000." At that point, the captain drew his pistol, pointed it at the man and said, "GET OFF THIS BOAT! YOU ARE COMING TOO NEAR MY PRICE!"
Brethren, every person has their price. And the devil seems know exactly what your price is!
What’s your price when it comes to turning away from Christ, from denying Christ?
For Judas Iscariot, it was money. Is that your price? Gotta make that money. Whatâs your price when it comes to denying Christ? Money, sex, lust, pleasure, having fun, laziness, fame, popularity,?????
You’ve got a price and the devil probably knows it. BEWARE!
I Pet. 5:8 "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around (or roams around) like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
ILL.- One time a black slave was heard by his master, groaning and weeping and praying to God for deliverance from the devil. "Pompey," said his owner, "You seem to have a good deal of trouble with the devil, and he never bothers me at all. Yet you are a good praying man and I am not a Christian. Why is that?"
The slave replied, "Master, it’s like this. When you are out shooting ducks, which do you send the dog after first? The ones that fall dead or the the ones that are wounded a little and are trying to get away?"
"Why, Pompey," he said, "the wounded ones, of course. The dead ones we are sure of and we can take our time to pick them up."
The slave replied, "And so it is with Satan. He already has those who are not Christians. SO HE SETS HIS DOGS AFTER THOSE WHO ARE CHRISTIANS, TO TRY AND GET THEM ANYWAY HE CAN."
Brethren, the devil is after you and me! This is one thing we can be sure of! And he’ll use every trick and every dirty trick to deceive us and try to damn us! BE ALERT! Don’t be ignorant of the power of the devil!
1- His origin
2- His business
III. HIS END
What’s going to happen to the devil in the end of time?
ILL.- The Army staff was planning war games but did not want to use live ammunition. Instead, they informed the men: "In place of a rifle, you go, ’bang, bang.’ In place of a knife, you go, ’stab, stab.’ In place of a hang grenade, you go, ’lob, lob.’"
The game was in progress when one of the soldiers saw one of the enemy. He went, "bang, bang," the nothing happened. He ran forward and went, "stab, stab," but nothing happened. He ran back and went, "lob, lob," but still, nothing happened.
Finally, he walked up to the enemy and said, "You are not playing fair. I went ’bang, bang,’ and ’stab, stab,’ and ’lob, lob,’ and you haven’t fallen dead yet!"
The enemy responded, "RUMBLE, RUMBLE. I’M A TANK."
Brethren, obviously, a rifle, a knife, and hand grenade are no match for a tank. AND LISTEN: NEITHER ARE WE A MATCH FOR OUR ENEMY WITH OUR OWN ARTILLERY! Our own personal weapons are not big enough to fight against Satan and win!
Eph. 6:10-11-12 "Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood..."
We are at war with a powerful and spiritual and evil being called Satan! And we are not going to win this war using our own weapons and ingenuity!
Satan may be powerful, but he is not all-powerful! OUR GOD IS ALL-POWERFUL AND HE HAS ALREADY WON THE WAR!
I John 3:8 "The devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work."
AND HE DID.
When did that happen? At the Cross! Jesus slapped down the enemy when He went to Calvary! The cross was not a matter of defeat, BUT OF VICTORY!
When Jesus died on the cross, He put down Satan, destroyed his work, sealed his doom and paved the way for us to go to heaven!
The devil is on his way out! He’s been served his papers! He’s heading for the deep, dark beyond! But he is going to try to take as many people with him as he can! Misery loves company!
Jesus won the war, but we still have to fight the battle! How do we do this and do it successfully?
Arm yourself with the Word of God. The Word of God is your powerful weapon against Satan.
ILL.- Jesus said to Satan (Matthew 4) when he tempted him, "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone...." After Jesus quoted Scripture several times it says the devil left him. SURELY, THAT OUGHT TO TELL US SOMETHING!
If you don’t fortify your mind and life with the powerful Word of God through study you are going are to have a tough time winning the battle against Satan!
You need to be in Sunday School, in church, and in the Word! Your weapon against Satan is the Word! If you want to put Satan in his place and knock him on his behind, you need to study, memorize and know something of the Word of God!
ILL.- An elderly woman had just returned home from church and found an intruder in the act of robbing her home. She yelled out to the man, "STOP! ACTS 2:38!" (you know, repent and be baptized)
The burglar stopped dead in his tracks. The woman then calmly called the police and explained what she’d done. As the officer cuffed the man, he asked the thief, "Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a Scripture at you."
"Scripture?" replied the thief, "SHE SAID SHE HAD AN AX AND TWO 38’S!"
That’s Acts 2:38. Brethren, there is power in the Word of God even if some people don’t understand it. There is power in the Word to defeat Satan. BUT YOU GOT TO KNOW THAT WORD TO USE IT AS A WEAPON AGAINST THE ENEMY!
CONCLUSION------------------------------------------
ILL.- Recently a new WWII memorial was unveiled in New Orleans. The memorial is housed in a 70,500 -square-foot building. It has about 5,000 artifacts about WWII. Founder and historian, Stephen Ambrose, said, "Nearly every artifact has a story connected to it, whether it be a hole in a helmet or a belt that a medic carried around with him as he treated the wounded on the beach."
Veteran Bob Williamson of New York, who fought with the 4th Infantry Division and was a part of the invasion forces where over 6,000 Americans were killed, said that memories of the war still haunt him. He said, "How would you like to go to bed at night and dream about the war every night? I see dead buddies, I see all those guns going off and everything."
He also said, "I FIGHT THE WAR EVERY NIGHT."
Brethren, there is another war going on every day and every night. And it, too, is killing people by the thousands. Satan is worse than an Adolf or a Saddam Hussein. He is a blood-thirsty, soul-thirsty liar and murderer! And he’ll do every damnable thing he can think of to destroy people’s souls!
As much as we don’t like it, we must fight the war every day and every night! Today, you need to surrender to your commander-in-chief, the Lord Jesus Christ, if you intend to experience victory over the enemy! The real enemy is not people. It’s Satan.
