SATAN IS ALIVE BUT NOT WELL
1 John 3:8
INTRO: In recent years through magazines, movies and music there has been renewed emphasis on the subject of the devil and the powerful forces of evil which exist in our world. The secular press has noted a revival of interest in witchcraft, the occult and in Satan worship itself. This renewed interest by the media has encouraged Bible-believing scholars to again restate what the Word of God says on the subject of the devil. Many books have been written on this subject in the last few years. This message is not intended to give undue emphasis to the subject of the devil, but to deal with it as it is dealt with in the Word of God.
I. THE ORIGIN OF THE DEVIL.
This verse suggests to us something of the origin of the devil. Who is the devil and where does he come from? As you study the Bible you will observe that nowhere in the Bible is there any attempt to prove the existence of the devil. It is assumed that there is an actual personality known as Satan. To learn something of the origin of this creature we need to look at Ezekiel 28.
A Created Being (Ezekiel 28:12-15). — This passage is primarily a reference to the King of Tyre. But the verses obviously go beyond the man to the motivating force and personality who was impelling him in his opposition to God. The prophet saw the work and activity of Satan, who the King of Tyre was emulating in so many ways.
ILLUS: The words of Jesus to Simon Peter in Matthew 16:23. Notice what this passage says in v. 15, “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created...”
We are taught in this passage that the devil is a created being. V. 14 teaches he was created as an anointed cherub. A cherub in the Word of God seems to have been the highest order of angelic beings in heaven. Look at v. 14 again, “thou art the anointed cherub that covereth...” The word covereth could be translated “that guardeth.” This anointed cherub was set aside for the specific purpose of guarding access to the throne of God.
A Corrupted Being (v. 15). — The devil became a corrupted being. One of the age old questions of theology is presented here. What is the origin of evil? We know that Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan. Who tempted Satan? From whence did the first unholy affection he had come from? We can discover what his sin was, but we are left to conjecture where the desire came from. From these verses and from the passage in Isaiah 14:9ff, we can discern that the reason for Lucifer’s fall was pride.
The Bible says, “Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall.” The moment we allow pride to come into our heart God says we are headed for a fall!
Luke 10:18 makes mention of this when Jesus says, “I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven.” We are given indication in other verses in Revelation 12, Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4 that the devil carried with him a third of the angels of heaven in his fall. They make up a vast horde of demons, devil angels, if you will, that do the devils bidding.
A Condemned Being. — God has pronounced His condemnation upon the devil and declared that eventually he will be cast into hell. The devil has retained some authority and power. Jesus said in John 12:31 that the devil is the prince of this world. Again in Ephesians 2:2 Paul tells us that the devil is the prince of the power of the air. But in Genesis 3:15 we have the first gospel message preached to man and it pronounces condemnation on the devil.
II. THE OPERATION OF THE DEVIL.
It is very important for us to understand how the devil operates. We are warned in 1 Peter 5:8. Notice from the Bible how the devil would devour us.
Mentally. — The devil wants your mind. He seeks to destroy the minds of men through error. God confronts the mind of man with truth. In John 17:17 the Bible says, “Thy word is truth.” If the promises and truths of God’s word can be absorbed in your soul, your life will be different; you will never again be the same.
In John 8:44 the Bible tells us that the devil is a liar from the beginning. There is no truth in him; every time he speaks, he speaks a lie for he is a liar and the father of lies. The ultimate source of all untruth is the devil. If the devil can cause you to believe his lies he has gone a long way toward wrecking your life.
Morally. — The devil attacks us morally. He wants the heart as well as the mind. He wants us to love the things we ought to hate and hate the things we ought to love. The heart of man was made to love the Lord Jesus, God made man that way! That is why children instinctively love Jesus.
But the devil seeks to replace that love with the love of sin. He does it by making sin attractive and alluring. He uses the pleasures of sin to enslave us morally. Look at the more obvious examples in this world and how they are glorified: drinking; sex; gambling. If the devil can get us to love sin he gains a foothold in the heart and before long we are morally enslaved.
Motivationally. — The devil wants to take our will. In 2 Timothy Paul talks about the snare of the devil and being taken captive by him at his will. We fail to understand that the devil has a will for our lives just as God does. His purpose is to trap us and bring us into absolute subjection to his will. All sin is addictive. All sin is habit forming. We can see this in any sin you care to name: alcohol, drugs, lying, gossip, the love of money. All of these will possess you if Satan takes over your will.
III. THE OVERTHROW OF THE DEVIL.
The Commencement. — This was commenced by the Lord Jesus Himself. The devil tried to have Jesus killed when He was born. He sought to take over Jesus mentally, morally, and motivationally when he tempted Him in the wilderness. Yet the Lord Jesus met the devil head on.
The final decisive battle was fought at Calvary, the devil thought he had won but Jesus did not say, “I am finished,” but “It is finished!” Twice in relationship to the devil the word “destroy” occurs. In Hebrews 2:14 it says, that Jesus Christ through death might destroy him that had the power of death. And then in our text says he was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil. Two different Greek words are used. The first in Hebrews means to put out of operation or to put out of business. In 1 John 3:8 it is a verb which means to disassemble or to disintegrate.
ILLUS: When treasury agents find a moonshine still, they put the man out of business and then they destroy the still.
The Continuation. — The overthrow of the devil is continued by the child of God. Romans 16:20 says, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” You can have victory over the devil. James 4:7 says, “resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
The Consummation. — One of the great misconceptions of this day is that the devil is in hell. He is not in hell and has never been there. But it is absolutely guaranteed that he is going there. Revelation 20:10 makes that promise. Then the overthrow will be complete.
CONC: ILLUS: Three sweet Christian ladies were talking about the body of Christ and the part they wanted to be. One wanted to be the head so she could know Him more. One wanted to be the heart so she could love Him more. One wanted to be the foot because Bible says, “God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”, and “I want to be there when it happens.” All the children of God will be there!
NOTE: This message is a revision of a sermon preached by my late father Ted Wood. It appears (though I can’t be certain) that he may have used Warren Wiersbe’s book "Be Real" for some of his inspiration.
