Straightforward

Hello Everyone.

Does Satan really exist or is he just a myth perpetuated by religion down through the centuries in an attempt to scare people into obeying God? Was he created? Did God create this evil being? Where did he come from and what is he doing now? What does the Bible actually say about Satan the devil?

Please go get your Bible and let’s find out, and let’s start by turning over here to Ezekiel 28:12. It says in Ezekiel 28:12:

12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus says the Lord God; You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

Now here we see the duality you find in the Bible quite often. You see a type and anti–type here. This chapter starts off by talking about a man, the King of Tyrus, and then it shifts over to talking about a great spirit being. And the analogy is drawn there, but focuses really on this great spirit being for several verses and then it shifts back to talking about the King of Tyrus.

So let’s get this in context and keep that in mind. Notice what it says here in verse 12.

12 — Thus says the Lord God; You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

That cannot be talking about a man, of course.

13 You have been in Eden the garden of God; —

Well, the King of Tyrus was never in Eden. So we just have to read the Bible and keep it in context. And then we can understand the duality and the type and anti–type and the example and analogies that it draws from time to time.

So it says here, there is a being here that has been in Eden, the garden of God.

13 — every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, —

Or the turquoise.

13 — and gold: the workmanship of your tabrets and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created.

So we are talking about a being here that has been in the Garden of Eden and then had beauty and glory and perfection, and a being that was created.

14 You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

When you study about the throne of God, you will find that there are three powerful angels that were there and those were Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer. Well, Gabriel and Michael are still loyal to God. But this great anointed, covering cherub by the name of Lucifer who was created and was the sum of perfection and beauty is not still there.

Let’s continue, verse 15.

15 You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you.

So he turned. His attitude changed. He began to think in a different way. He had free moral agency and his choices began to be bad choices that led him away from God and into evil and iniquity.

15 — till iniquity was found in you.

16 By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy you, O covering cherub

It is not talking about the King of Tyrus here. It is talking about a covering cherub.

16 — I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness and splendor: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you.

You are going to fail. You are going to fall. I am going to boot you out of my presence because you have rebelled, you have sinned. Vanity and pride have lifted you up and iniquity has corrupted you and set in to your way of thinking. Therefore you will no longer be the covering cherub that you were before, Lucifer––and it might have been for billions of years.

You have made the wrong choices. You had free will, you took it the wrong direction and now you have become an adversary of mine. And I will dismiss you from my presence.

When you read this example and when you read these verses and this passage of Ezekiel 28, that gives a sense and the meaning of what you are going to be reading there.

Now, let’s turn over here to Isaiah 14:12. And we’ll see another passage that ties in with the one we just read. We have to put all the scriptures together on the subject or at least enough of them together on the subject, so that the Bible is clear on any one topic that we want to cover. That is certainly what we are doing here on this subject of Satan the devil.

It says here in Isaiah 14:12:

12 How art you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!

See, that ties directly in with what we just read in Ezekiel 28. He is talking about Lucifer here, and that he fell from heaven.

13 For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: —

Stars quite often in the Bible are just symbolic of angels.

13 — I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

15 Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

You are going to be cast out of heaven. You are going to be put in a place where you are restrained from just going anywhere you want to go and doing whatever you want to do. You are going to be limited in what you can do. And that is what God did.

But look at the attitude of Lucifer.

13 — I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

This is what he thought he would do and wanted to do. He became an egotistical maniac. Delusions of grandeur twisted his judgment and perverted his thinking and he became a rebel. He became an enemy of God. And he had so much power, so much splendor, so much greatness, he thought he could just put it all together and, with one–third of the angels, take over God’s throne and become the god of the universe. He actually started to think that way and set in motion a plan to accomplish that. And of course, this all then led to his being repelled from God. And he no longer was Lucifer, the covering cherub. Now he became Satan the adversary, Satan the devil, the destroyer. That’s where he came from.

He came from being Lucifer the covering cherub to turning his approach into rebellion. He became corrupted. He became vile and despicable, and therefore he then turned into Satan the devil, the adversary of God.

Let’s turn over here now to Luke 10:18. Notice what Jesus Christ said.

18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

See, he was Lucifer the covering cherub. Now he had become Satan the devil and he was repelled and repulsed and he fell from his position in heaven to this earth to become the god of this world. And to become Satan the adversary. That’s where he came from.

He came from being Lucifer, the great, beautiful, magnificent, created covering cherub to, by choice rebelling against God, and developing into and turning into Satan the devil, the arch enemy of God and of mankind. He was booted out of heaven to this earth. And Christ said I saw him fall as lightning out of heaven. He took some of the angels with him.

Let’s notice over here in Revelation 12:3.

3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; —

Or another sign in heaven.

3 — and behold a great red dragon, —

There is only one, and that is Satan the devil, speaking spiritually here.

3 — and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

So he was over one–third of the angels and they all rebelled with him against God. And they became demons when he became Satan the devil. They were all cast out of heaven, along with Satan the devil, to this earth. Then that kingdom of Satan’s has been setting about trying to destroy everything that God created and made, including mankind, ever since. Here he was going to try to destroy Jesus Christ as soon as he was born. Of course he failed miserably.

Let’s turn now to Genesis 3 and see where he makes his entrance as Satan the devil on this earth––in terms of finding it mentioned in the Bible. Right away he shows what his character is like. It has become twisted and perverted and defiled.

Genesis 3:1

1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die:

You see, God laid down clear instructions to Adam and Eve and He told them what they could eat and what they could not eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden.

Well, here is Satan coming on the scene and contradicting what God says and beginning to lure and tempt and persuade and influence them to rebel against God. And he makes it sound so good. And that’s what he does. He makes sin sound enticing. He makes wrong sound so nice. And that’s what he did here, and Adam and Eve took the bait and bought the lie.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die:

C’mon. You know, you and I both know better than that.

5 For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

And you can read the rest of the story. So there he is, right from the get–go, rebelling and teaching others and luring others to be rebellious as well. Now it does not seem like that is what he is doing unless we are alert and unless we are watching carefully.

Let’s turn now to 2 Corinthians 11.

You know the old silly fairytales that are perpetuated or that are taught about Satan the devil and his demons. It’s just all twisted and turned. He appears like some cackling idiot and clown with a pitchfork and tail and a red suit and horns. He’s ridiculed and made fun of and pictured as some kind of demented weakling or some kind of clever alluring personality. He is completely and totally misrepresented in books, in religion, and in the teachings of the day. You have to go to the Bible to really find out the truth about Satan.

Satan is a powerful, brilliant, magnificent, clever, gorgeous, beautiful being that is twisted and perverted and polluted and evil and vile to the core. But he does not appear that way. He appears as an attractive, warm, friendly, personable, harmless, kind, intriguing, interesting being. That’s what it says right here.

Notice 2 Corinthians 11:13.

13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

The apostle Paul writes this here; warning Christians. Be careful about false ministers and false apostles.

14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed —

Or transforms himself

14 — into an angel of light.

He comes as if he’s an angel of light, here to help, a warm, friendly, kind, concerned being. That’s how he puts himself over on people.

15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

So that tells us right there that Satan has ministers. He has churches. Don’t blame me for reading that. Don’t blame me for seeing that in the Bible. What does the Bible actually say about Satan the devil and his demons? It says he has ministers and he has churches. And they come as ministers of righteousness, but they’re not. They ’re wrong. You have to double check and prove whether or not they are teaching the truth. You have to look for the fruits.

Satan does not come like some evil, marauding, vicious being. He comes as an angel of light. But you have to check and try the spirits and prove all things, and look for the fruits or you can be taken in. You can be charmed. You can be deceived. You can be led into a trap and misled down the wrong path to destruction. Let’s be aware. Let’s be alert.

Now let’s go over here in the same book to 2 Corinthians 4:4.

What is Satan doing right now? We know he has been cast to the earth. But what’s he doing? Is he off somewhere curled up in a dark corner licking his wounds? Is he just kind of furtive and flitting about not able to do much? No, he’s on the job and he’s able to hold sway over this entire earth and over its institutions. He would destroy the whole earth if God let him, but God will not let him. That is what he would like to do––and every human being on it.

He hates everything God has done and he hates everything God is going to do. He hates every man, woman, and child—because they are made in the image of God. He despises Almighty God and His truth. But you see God holds him in check. Because even though Satan has tremendous power and brilliance and splendor, he’s no match for God or Jesus Christ.

Notice here in 2 Corinthians 4:4.

4 In whom the god —

Little “g ”

4 — the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

So it says right here, he’s the god of this world. This world is his kingdom. This world is his realm. He holds sway over this world. This world has his mark, has his footprint. This is his kingdom and this is where you find his values, his standards, his ethics. All of which are twisted and perverted and wrong and full of vileness. Because he is the god of this world and he’s the one who holds sway.

Let’s see an example of the way he operates. Let’s turn over here to Matthew 4:1. He came up against Jesus Christ, and let’s notice what happened.

1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward very hungry.

3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you be the Son of God, —

See the way he twisted that? Tempting Christ, provoking Him, pushing Him, kind of picking and testing Him.

3 — If you be the Son of God, —

And He knew He was the Son of God. If you be who you say you are.

3 — command that these stones be made bread.

You’re really hungry now. You would like to have some bread. Well, turn these stones into bread and have a feast!

4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

That was the answer that Jesus Christ gave him.

5 Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6 And said unto him, If you be the Son of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning you: and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone.

Did you notice that? Satan can quote scripture, you know. He knows about the things of God, except he is twisted and perverted in his understanding and in his explanation of it. But here he quotes a scripture to Jesus Christ Himself.

Notice the answer Jesus Christ gave here in verse 7.

7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God

8 Again, the devil took him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

And they’re his kingdom and the glory is his, in terms of this world and its passing glory. And its wrong way of doing things—because he is the author of it. He is the god of it. Look what he said in verse: 9.

9 And said unto him, All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me.

And they were his to give to Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ didn’t take the bait.

10 Then said Jesus unto him, —

Get out of here. Away with you.

10 — Get you hence, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.

11 Then the devil left him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

So you see Satan’s modus operandi right here in this confrontation with Jesus Christ, which he lost totally and completely.

Let’s go over here now to Revelation 12:9, continuing to read about Satan the devil.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

See, that sums up what we have been talking about regarding where Satan came from and where the demons came from. They used to be angels and Satan used to be a mighty archangel. But now it’s Satan and the demons and the kingdom of Satan on this earth. And what does he do? He’ s going about deceiving the whole world. It says that right here in Revelation 12:9.

He deceives the whole world. They don’t know they are deceived. If a person is deceived, he does not know that he is deceived, but he is and she is, and they are. And who is doing it? Satan the devil is doing it.

Well, what should we do about that? The apostle Peter tells us, under inspiration of God. Let’s notice here in 1 Peter 5:8. Peter says:

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:

He is just walking to and fro. He’s invisible. He’s a spirit being. His demons are invisible. They are spirit beings. They cannot be seen or felt or discerned by the five senses. But they are moving about this whole earth, wreaking havoc, causing all kinds of destruction, suffering and mayhem, horrendous disasters and catastrophes. And loving every minute of it, enjoying the suffering and the pain that mankind is undergoing right now, and perpetuating it every chance they get—just like a roaring lion walking about seeking whom they may devour. That’s what they are doing and that’s what Satan is doing.

Notice what Peter said we ought to do in that case.

9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

So we don’t need to be afraid of him. There’s nothing to be afraid of. We don’t need to be running scared. We don’t need to be paranoid. That’s not necessary. Satan can’t do a thing to any of us unless we allow it to happen, and neither can his demons.

Now, if we start kind of being allured into being interested in them and if we start being deceived into investigating them and the mystery of their world and how they operate and what they’re doing, we can be taken in.

We don’t want to play around with evil spirits. We don’t want to play around with Satan the devil and his way of life and his world. We don’t want to be delving into all of this mysterious spirit world of sorcery and magic and reading the stars and hearing about how so and so has power to get in touch with the dead, and fortunetellers and all of that. That’s not from God. That’s directly tied in with Satan the devil and his demons and their way of doing things.

Stuff like Ouija boards and weird, strange, paranormal things. We don’t want to be playing around with that stuff. We can open the door for wrong influence and we can open the door for trouble from Satan the devil and his demons.

But if we fill our minds with the things of God and we devote our lives to serving others and doing what God says and we concentrate on productive, positive, wonderful actions and attitudes and accomplishments, Satan the devil cannot do anything at all to us and neither can his demons. Because God will protect us and He will be with us. He will lead and guide us, and He will stop Satan dead in his tracks. He has the power and authority to do that, and Satan knows He does.

Let’s turn over here now to James 4:7. We’re told what to do right here.

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. —

Put God number one in our lives. Yield to Him. Submit to Him. Obey Him. Think about Him. Pray to Him. Study out of His word. Surrender to Him. Do what He says and then He takes care of us. He provides all of our needs. He protects us. He looks after us. He’s our guard and our shield. Satan cannot do one thing to us, to our loved ones, or in our lives. We are in God’s hands. That’s what it says right here.

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. —

There’s what we need to do. You resist Satan the devil and his world and his pull and his way of life and his pleasures—that are only passing pleasures that have a tremendous kickback. Don’t have anything to do with how he does things and how he wants you to do things.

But rather submit to God and resist Satan and his pull and his way. Draw near to God and God will draw near to you. Then you’ll have peace and joy and happiness and you will live the abundant life. And Satan will be defeated as far as you are concerned. He is going to be defeated totally, not only in terms of having any influence on those who resist him and draw close to God. He’s going to be defeated period, when the time comes. And he’s going to be removed.

Let’s just read that as we close. Turn over here to Revelation 20:1. John writes under inspiration of God.

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

See, when God gets ready to remove him and take care of him, He has total power and authority to do so, and Satan cannot do a thing about it. And when God gets ready to do this, he’s going to be totally defeated and totally removed from any influence whatsoever over anybody on this earth. What a wonderful day that’s going to be—and it is coming.

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

And when he’s loosed he’s going to go out and deceive more nations. And then he’ s going to be cast into the lake of fire. He won’t burn up, he is a spirit being. Spirit doesn’t burn up. But as the personification and the epitome of evil and sin, and to show and send that message, he’s going to be put in the lake of fire and then from there cast into outer darkness and bound forever and ever and ever and rendered null and void and not able any longer to harm anything or anybody forever and ever and ever. That will be his fate.

But now he’s very active. He’s totally engaged and he’ s on the job in this world today. We need to be aware of that. We need to be alert to it.

Yes, there is a Satan the devil. God created Lucifer who turned into Satan the devil because of his rebellion and vanity and arrogance and pride. He is now the god of this world. He has one–third of the angels who have now become demons and they hold sway over this world. But we do not have to worry about them having any part in our lives if we simply resist them and resist their way of doing things and draw close to God and yield to Him. Then God will protect us and look after us and lead us. And the time is coming then when He will completely remove Satan not only from us and our lives, but from this world itself and completely and totally shut him down and shut him up for an entire period of time called the millennium or the thousand years. God speed that day.

Well, we have gone through a lot of scriptures on this subject of Satan the devil. What we have done is let the Bible do the talking and put the scriptures together. And when you do that, you can see the clear truth about what the Bible actually says concerning Satan the devil and his demons.

Resist him, he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. That’s what we must do, as we go through our lives wanting to serve God and obey God and live life the way He designed it to be lived—abundantly.

Until next time, thus is Charles Bryce with the Enduring Church of God.