This evening, with the Lord's help, we undertake
the beginning of a new series that will probably
last for the most of the summer on Sunday evenings,
dealing with our adversary, the devil. I don't
undertake this series lightly. It is a significant
one, an important one, because whether we like
it, whether we admit it, whether we realize it
or not, we... are involved in a spiritual struggle
with an enemy whose determined aim is to destroy
us and to render us ineffective for the glory
of God in this life. For us to experience victory
over this enemy, we have to be aware of him and
have some knowledge of him. Pity the army that
is ignorant of its enemy. that does not know
the enemy's size or its aims or even its identity,
which does not know its enemy's strengths and
weaknesses. In order for us to have victory over
the enemy, we must have some knowledge of the
enemy. I recognize that this area of study, like
few others, has about it a certain curiosity.
And there's a danger in that because it's possible
for us to sort of get trapped in our thinking
on this kind of a subject, and we don't want
to do that. We want to study it and then allow
God to cause that knowledge to make us enlightened
and stronger to face the enemy, but we don't
want to get sucked into it so that that's all
we think about. That can lead to depression and
spiritual problems. So as we undertake this study
tonight, I'd like for us to bow together in prayer
right now at the beginning and ask the Lord to
enlighten us and to protect our minds and enable
us to study in a balanced way. Father, that is
our prayer, and we ask it so that we might be
victors and not victims of our enemy. and clever
he is. And it's our prayer that we might learn
about him without becoming morbidly curious.
And I pray that as we learn about him, we will
also understand more fully, perhaps, the victory
that we have over him in Jesus Christ. And this
we pray through our Lord and in his name. Amen.
I'd like to begin this evening by turning to
1 Peter chapter 5 and reviewing with you what
is probably a familiar verse. The Apostle Peter,
in closing the book, reminds us of the importance
of humility. And it is interesting in the light
of that particular injunction in verse 6 where
it says, humble yourselves, that he goes on to
talk about our enemy, Satan. And as we begin
to understand Satan, we know why in the context
of humility he suddenly thought of Satan. Of
course, the Holy Spirit was directing his writing.
But there's a reason why humility and Satan should
be tied together. But he says in verse 8, Be
of sober spirit beyond the alert. Your adversary,
the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion seeking
someone to devour. The devil is the adversary
of God and of God's people. Tonight I'd like
for us to think first regarding the reality of
the devil. Is there any proof that he actually
exists? The concept of a personal devil fell
on hard times in the last 200 years. Intellectually,
the idea that the devil was a personality and
not just an evil influence, was rejected after
the Renaissance. The reason for that is because
the knowledge that came with the Renaissance,
the increase of science, dispelled many of the
superstitions and the myths that came out of
the Dark Ages about the devil. And because of
that, many threw, as it were, the baby out with
the bathwater and said, well, the whole idea
of the devil is ridiculous. It is not intellectual.
It is not rational. And so belief in the supernatural
in general and belief particularly in an evil
supernatural power was rejected until, interestingly,
about the last 20 years. In the last 20 years,
there has been a real upsurge in writings regarding
the supernatural and regarding the realm of evil.
And there has been an explosion in religion relating
to it, even so much that Satan is worshipped
by some people. As you may or may not know, even
the Twin Cities area is quite caught up in this,
for I have been told... that this area is one
of the leading areas, of the United States at
least, in the practice of witchcraft. There are
many covens of witches which practice their particular
religion in this area, and all of that is involved
in this matter of evil. What evidence is there
that the devil really is, though? I'd like to
talk first and briefly about the evidence of
rationalization. Observation. an interpretation
of the facts about us in the world. The world
we know from the Bible was created by a perfect
and almighty creator. Therefore, we would expect
that in this creation of his there would be harmony.
But that is not the case, at least in this world.
For alongside of the happiness, the wisdom, the
intelligence that is in the world, There is unhappiness
and sorrow. There is foolishness and ignorance.
There is lack of intelligence. The lack of harmony
in mankind suggests that there is another personal
being involved, encountering God's plan and God's
program. Eric Sauer, in his book, The King of
the Earth, says, The existence of sorrow and
evil throughout the world proves the existence
of a transcendental, real, dynamic, hostile power
not willed by God. The fact is that the devil
is a spiritual being, he says, whose existence
cannot in any way be assailed by philosophy or
natural science. Since it is just in our world
and in the universe immediately surrounding us
that we observe disharmony, death, destruction,
even a purely speculative contemplation of nature
focuses on the conclusion that this world and
presumably the solar system connected with it
are the domain of this world ruler and potentate.
And so Sauer's opinion, at least, is that God
in some way has given this world and its immediate
planets, our solar system, as the domain of Satan.
I don't know that that could be precisely proved
in the Word of God, though he is called, as we'll
see in a little while, the God of this world.
But it is true, and even our probes to the immediate
planets around us show that there is destruction
and disharmony. there as well as here in the
world. We have no way yet to observe beyond this
solar system, but as we observe the stars, it
would seem that out there, there is harmony.
And so as we reasonably approach the situation
of the world, the disharmony, the decay, the
death, the sorrow that is here, it would seem
only reasonable that there is a power base that
is opposed to the Lord God Almighty who created
the world in perfect harmony. But then there
is the most important proof of Satan's existence
that is beyond man's ability to observe and reason,
and that is the evidence of revelation. For the
Word of God declares that there is a personality
in the spirit realm who is called the devil.
Not just an influence, but an actual personality.
We see this early in the biblical record in the
book of Job. I would ask you to turn there with
me. We will on another occasion look in the book
of Genesis, but tonight I want you to look with
me at Job. Now when this man lived, is really
unknown, but it's thought that he probably lived
in the days of the patriarchs, that is, Abraham's
general time frame. Therefore, he was a contemporary
of that man. There was not any written revelation
at that point. And yet Job had the true knowledge
of God and was a believer. In Job chapter 1,
we have an incident recorded in which Satan came
with the sons of God, which in the Old Testament
was a reference to angels, before the Lord to
present himself. And in verse 7, the Lord said
to Satan, From where do you come? Then Satan
answered the Lord and said, From roaming about
on the earth. and walking around on it. That
seems to tie together so well, doesn't it, with
Peter's words. And the Lord said to Satan, Have
you considered my servant Job? For there is no
one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright
man, fearing God and turning away from evil.
Then Satan answered the Lord, Does Job fear God
for nothing? Hast thou not made a hedge about
him and his house and all that he has on every
side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands,
and his possessions have increased in the land.
But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that
he has. He will surely curse thee to thy face.
Then the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that
he has is in your power, but only do not put
forth your hand on him. So Satan departed from
the presence of the Lord. Now, without going
into detail as to what happened here, let's just
notice several things regarding the evidence
from the Bible regarding Satan. In the first
place, you will notice the personal pronouns
regarding him. Not only here in this text, but
in other texts that talk about him. He is not
referred to as an it, as some kind of an impersonal
force, but a personal pronoun is used of him
in the masculine sense. Furthermore, you will
notice that he expresses intellect. He is able
to converse with God and respond to him. He is
an intelligent being. He has emotions. For we
see here that he disdained Job. He disliked Job
because he was the object of God's favor and
blessing. And for a cross -reference on this,
you might consider Revelation. Chapter 12, where
it talks about Satan being angry because God
cast him down to the earth. And so he has emotions.
And then he has will. For we see here that Satan
purposed to destroy Job. And he was able to plan
and to scheme to accomplish that. And so we see
that he has the attributes of personality. He
has will. He has intellect. He has emotions.
And then we notice also that he has a sphere
of activity described as the earth. As we said
before, that seems to be the realm where he is
somewhat limited, though at least on this occasion
he was able to come before God with the other
angels to present himself in some sense. Furthermore,
we observe here that he has power to achieve
his objectives within the limitations set by
the omnipotent God. And so not only is he able
to will something and able to scheme it out so
that it will come to pass, but he has powers
within the limitations set by God to accomplish
what he wants. Does this not tie together with
Ephesians chapter 2, where it speaks about the
course of this age, which is according to the
prince of the power of the air. In other words,
Satan has schemed out a course for the age in
which we live. He knows where he wants history
to go. And within the boundaries set by God,
God gives him the power to achieve that. And
so we learn a great deal from this reference,
one of the oldest references in the Bible relating
to Satan and his reality. But let's go into the
New Testament, to Matthew chapter 4. And here
we see that the Lord Jesus Christ affirms the
personality of this evil one. Then Jesus was
led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil. Notice that the devil did
not trap Jesus in the wilderness. Notice that
it was not the devil who led him out into the
wilderness to be tempted, but it was the Holy
Spirit. I have said several times, and maybe
you've heard me say it, that I believe that Satan
would like to have avoided this conflict recorded
in Matthew chapter 4. He would like to have avoided
this direct confrontation with the Son of God.
But it was the Holy Spirit, by the will of God,
who led Jesus into the wilderness and there forced
the confrontation to prove the Lord Jesus Christ
to be sinless. and therefore worthy to be the
Savior. And it says, After he had fasted forty
days and forty nights, he then became hungry.
And the tempter came and said to him, If you
are the Son of God, command that these stones
become bread. And he answered and said, It is
written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but
on every word that proceeds out of the mouth
of God. And their conversation continues for
several verses. Was Jesus talking to something
that was impersonal? Was he relating here to
just a force in the world? Not at all. He was
speaking to a personality, how be it a spirit,
yet a real personality. He was directing his
comments to one being, and then through him,
of course, to his whole army of angels. John
chapter 12 was another reference. Of course,
Jesus spoke regarding Satan a number of times,
but in John 12, 31, as it came close to the time
of his death, it says in that verse, Now judgment
is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world
shall be cast out. And so he refers to Satan
here, calling him the ruler. of this world. Again
in John chapter 14 in verse 30, he says, I will
not speak much more with you for the ruler of
the world is coming. He was talking about Satan
and that climactic battle which involved his
suffering, his death and resurrection. And he
says the ruler of the world is coming. He has
nothing in... In other words, there was nothing
in the person of Christ that allowed Satan to
possess him or to have any power or control over
him. There was nothing of sin within Christ to
respond to any allurement or temptation that
Satan could throw at him. Jesus said, he has
nothing in me. And then chapter 16, verse 11,
where Jesus says, and concerning judgment, because
the ruler of this world has been judged. And
he's speaking here as though he's beyond the
cross, which is coming the next day. But he says
in that act at the cross, the ruler of the world
is judged. The authority which he usurped from
Adam was regained by the Lord Jesus Christ when
he died and rose again. So the usurper has been
spoiled as well as defeated. Now we find some
words in 2 Corinthians 4 from the Apostle Paul.
In verse 3 he says, Even if our gospel is veiled,
it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose
case the God of this world has blinded the minds
of the unbelieving. that they might not see the
light of the gospel, of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God. And so he tells us that
upon the unsaved there is a supernatural blindness,
and Satan has caused them to be blinded so that
they might not see the light of the gospel in
Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul affirms the reality
of Satan. What about the Apostle John? We'll
go back to 1 John 3. We've read his record of
Jesus' words, but let's see what he himself says
by the inspiration of the Spirit regarding the
reason for Jesus' coming. 1 John 3 .8. He says,
The one who practices sin, that is, as a way
of life, as a lifestyle, is of the devil. For
the devil has sinned from the beginning. The
Son of God appeared for this purpose that he
might destroy the works of the devil. Did Jesus
come just to destroy some imaginary works of
an impersonal force? Not at all. He came to crush
a specific rebellion of a personality in the
spirit realm. He came to destroy the works. the
devil we've read a verse from the Apostle Peter
back up a page or two to the book of James James
chapter 4 and verse copy down the wrong verse
Do you see it? 4 verse 7? Yes. Somehow I got
verse 16. Well, I must have meant to add the
1 and the 6 and get the 7, huh? Typewriter is
very smart. Submit therefore to God, resist the
devil, and he will flee from you. So is James
exhorting us here to resist something that doesn't
exist? Of course not. He is telling us that we
must resist the devil. Why? Because he is personally
opposed to every one of us. Then let's go to
the book of Hebrews. I won't even tell you what
my typewriter did on this one. Hebrews 2, verse
14. At least I know the verses right. Since then
the children share in flesh and blood. He, Jesus,
himself, likewise, also partook of the same,
that through death he might render powerless
him who had the power of death, that is, the
devil. And so whoever the writer of Hebrews is,
and there are many opinions on that, whoever
this writer is, by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, he mentions the devil. take from him
the power of death, which in some sense he exercised.
And then I would have you turn to one other writer
in the New Testament, and this is Jude. And in
the ninth verse of this little book, he says,
But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with
the devil and argued about the body of Moses,
did not dare pronounce against him a railing
judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke you. And
so Jude, again confirms the fact that the devil
exists and that there was some time when he and
Michael, the archangel, were in a dispute. And
that time was when Moses died and it was over
the body of Moses. And so is the devil a reality?
One can hardly say that he believes the Bible
to be the inspired word of God and say the devil
does not exist. For I think we could say that
every writer of the New Testament, in some fashion
affirms the fact that there is a personal being
called the devil and Satan. And he is found active
as well in the Old Testament. So we have not
only the evidence of rationalization, what we're
able to see around us and conclude by our reason,
but we have the sure evidence of what the Word
of God, the revelation of God gives us. that
Satan is real, that he does in fact exist. Now
let's talk for a moment about his identity. I
want to go through this very quickly. Let me
just list for you at least 14 of the names, titles,
or representations of Satan. We will not go into
detail tonight regarding these. We've already
called him the devil. The word devil means slanderer.
Or criticizer. Do you realize when you and I
fall into the sin of criticism that we are acting
just like the devil? For criticizing or slandering
or blaspheming, that is what the devil is all
about. His very name means it. He is called Satan.
The name Satan means adversary, which he is of
God and his people. He is referred to as the
serpent. probably because of his beguiling nature,
his deceiving character. He is called the dragon,
which may refer to his beastly nature. He is
called the prince of this world, or the ruler
of this cosmos, that is, this order of things.
in the Bible refers to the orderly system which
Satan has put together in this world. It is a
system which holds within its power all of the
unsaved. They are victims of it. It is a system
of evil, and it is cultured, it is educated,
it is scientific, it is even religious, this
world system. But Satan is the one who is behind
it, manipulating it, controlling it. Thus he
is called the ruler of the cosmos. He is called
the prince of the power of the air. That is,
the ruler of the atmosphere, which in some sense
is the realm of his domain, where he has power.
He is called the god of this age. which tells
us that he is the one behind the movements at
any given point in history. He is the one who
brings to pass the fads, the heroes, the struggles,
the lusts of any given moment in history, which
can be described as an age. He is the god of
this age. He is called Beelzebub. Beelzebub is
a title given... by the Jews to one of the gods
of the Philistines. It literally means Lord of
the Flies, and would tie together Satan with
idolatry and the worship of false gods. And of
course, Satan is very involved in idol worship.
He's called Abaddon in the Hebrew, or Apollyon
in the Greek. You may remember that we had the
film Pilgrim's Progress, and that was the name
that was used in that film of Satan, Apollyon.
The name means in either case, either Abaddon
or Apollyon, destroyer. He is the one who destroys.
He is called Belial, which goes back to the Old
Testament and the name there. This name is found
in 2 Corinthians 6 .15 and does definitely in
that case refer to the devil. And it means that
he is the personification of worthlessness and
lawlessness. He is one in whom the mystery of
lawlessness finds its source. And that mystery
of lawlessness in this one who is called Belial
will someday express itself in the man of lawlessness
who is whom? Who is it? Right, Antichrist. He
is called in Revelation 12 .10 the accuser of
the brethren. He is called in 2 Corinthians 11
.15 an angel of light. Actually, he disguises
himself as an angel of light because he is the
head of the power of darkness, but there is some
means by which he is able to come across as a
being of light. And then he is called Lucifer,
which means son of the morning. And the final
name I'll mention is that of the anointed cherub.
Those last two names bring us to the third and
final point of our study for this evening, and
that is the origin of Satan. There are two passages
in the Old Testament which seem to give us some
insight into the origin of this one called the
devil. The first one that we'll look at is in
the book of Ezekiel, chapter 28. We have in this
chapter of Ezekiel a word from God to the leader
of Tyre, one of the powers of that day. Verses
1 through 10 seem to clearly refer to the human
leader of Tyre. But in verse 11, there is a new
tone. And although the leader of Tyre is still
addressed, he is called here the king of Tyre.
And there seems to be a reference to one who
is greater in power and in evil than the human
being mentioned in the first ten verses of the
chapter. We believe... As do most Bible scholars
that beginning in verse 11, we have reference
to Satan. Again, the word of the Lord came to
me, says Ezekiel, saying, Son of man, take up
a lamentation over the king of Tyre. In other
words, this is a dirge. What is said here is
sadness to the heart of God. God does not delight
in recording what is about to be said. It is
a lamentation. It is over the king of Tyre. The
word seal here literally means the pattern of
perfection. In other words, in this one who is
addressed, there was the consummation of created
perfection. There was absolutely nothing about
this one who is addressed here that was imperfect.
He was full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. You
were in Eden, the garden of God. This undoubtedly
does not refer to the Eden of Genesis, but rather
to the true Eden, the garden of God, which is
in the presence of the Lord. Every precious stone
was your covering. In other words, now he's going
to describe the outer covering or garment of
this being. The ruby, the topaz, the diamond,
the beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the lapis lazuli,
the turquoise, the emerald, and the gold, the
workmanship of your settings and sockets was
in you. I think it is the King James translation
that talks about the flute and the lyre, is it,
in this verse? The actual meaning of these Hebrew
words, where my translation says settings and
sockets, is unknown. But probably the meaning
of them is describing the settings where these
stones were. in the garment worn by this being.
That's probably the meaning of it. It does not
refer, most likely, to musical instruments, but
rather to the settings of the stones in this
garment. It was in gold. He says, on the day
that you were created, they were prepared. And
so he describes here a being that is almost impossible
to describe in its beauty. It is a being of,
could we say, psychedelic color. This angel that
is described and called in a moment a cherub
was glittering and dazzling with flashing colors
because of his garment and these precious stones
set in gold. You were the anointed cherub. Let
me say a word for a moment about a cherub. Cherubim,
the plural, seem to be the angels of the highest
rank. There are those that are called seraphim,
and then there are angels. The cherubim seem
to be those that are the very highest of all
of the angelic order. a cherub, but is called
here the anointed cherub. In other words, one
that had a special appointment. And that appointment
seems to be that he covered. God says, I placed
you there. You were on the holy mountain of God.
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
And in the Old Testament language, that means
in the very presence of God's holiness. What
this refers to when it says covers, and then
again in verse 16 where it is translated covering
cherub, means he was the leading cherub or perhaps
the guarding cherub. The idea seems to be that
this being, the anointed cherub, was the leading
angel. and that his responsibility was the guarding
or the covering of the very throne of the holy
God of the universe. No creature in all of God's
creation had a higher, more honored position
than did this anointed cherub. Verse 15, you
were blameless in your ways. From the day you
were created until unrighteousness was found
in you. And so we see his beauty in verses 12
and 13. We see his duty in verse 14. We see now
his iniquity. For it says that there came a point
when unrighteousness was found in this being.
And the penalty for that unrighteousness is found
in verses 16 through 19. It says, By the abundance
of your trade, you were internally filled with
violence and you sinned. Therefore I have cast
you as profane from the mountain of God, and
I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from
the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was
lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted
your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast
you to the ground. I put you before kings that
they may see you. By the multitude of your iniquities,
in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned
your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire
from the midst of you. It has consumed you. and
I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the
eyes of all who see you. All who know you among
the peoples are appalled at you. You have become
terrified, and you will be no more. Now this
prophecy of his penalty is very far -stretching,
and it includes aspects that have not yet been
carried out. But part of it has been. Satan was
cast out of the presence of God. That was the
penalty. immediately to the earth. You'll notice
that he talks here about the unrighteousness
and the abundance of his trade, which seems to
be a reference to the fact that Satan, not only
within his own heart, developed pride and rebellion
against God, but he spread that among the angels
of heaven. And there is the suggestion, at least,
in Revelation chapter 12, verse 4, that a third
of the angels of heaven followed him in his rebellion
and were cast out with him. Now I want you to
go back to Isaiah chapter 14 with me, and we
will probably close with this passage. Isaiah
14, beginning in verse 12. Here is addressed
the nation of Babylon. and its leaders. But again,
there is language here that seems to surpass
a human leader. And most Bible scholars take
the language beginning in verse 12 to refer to
Satan. How you have fallen from heaven, O star
of the morning, Lucifer, son of the dawn. You
have been cut down to the earth, you who have
weakened the nations. But you said in your heart,
and now we have a record, it seems, of his pride.
And you will notice in verses 13 and 14, five
I wills. This is what Satan said in his heart.
I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne
above the stars of God. referring probably to
the angels. I will sit on the mount of the assembly
in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will make myself
like the Most High. And so his pride caused him
in the first place to desire to occupy God's
place. He says, I will ascend to heaven. Secondly,
he desired to rule over the angels. Not just
to be the leading one and the greatest of them,
but to rule over them and to command them so
that they would follow him. The language in the
last part of verse 13 is a little mysterious.
I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the
recesses of the north. That could refer to the
fact that Satan desired to rule over the gods.
When it talks here about the recesses of the
north, there is language that is similar there
to the pagan Babylonian thoughts of that day,
for they looked upon the gods as living in the
recesses of the north, and they felt that the
gods lived on this mountain. the Mount of the
Assembly. I think, though, that a better understanding,
actually, of this is to tie it together with
language found in Isaiah chapter 2, verse 2,
which I'll not take time to read, but where the
phrase refers to the kingdom, the rule of God
on the earth. And what seems to be said here
is that I will be as the Messiah. And I will
rule in his place. He says, I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. The clouds are thought
of as a part of the glory of God. He says, I
will be above the glory of God. And finally,
he says that his desire is to be... the Most
High himself. I will make myself like the Most
High. And his punishment is similar, verses 15,
16, and 17, he has cast down. The Lord Jesus
Christ said, I beheld Satan fall as lightning.
Sounds like there might be a little lightning
out there right now, doesn't it? Lightning falls
suddenly, and it falls spectacularly. That seems
to be the thought. in those words of the Lord
Jesus. For in that instant of time when that
sin congealed within this anointed cherub, that
fast, he was cast out of heaven like the fall
of a lightning bolt and with that kind of a spectacular
occurrence. He was gone instantly from the presence
of God along with those angels that were a part
of his rebellion. What an amazing spectacle that
must have been. You say, well, where did evil
actually originate? Did God then originate evil?
No. God created Satan, and evil originated within
him. But then we ask the question, then, a holy
God allowed sin to come to pass. That is right.
Why? We don't know. In Deuteronomy 29, 29, it
says that the secret things belong to the Lord.
And frankly, this is one of those secret things.
God created Satan in all of his beauty, giving
him a free will and knowing in advance exactly
what Satan would do. And God being the holy,
righteous God that he is, chose to do that. even
though he knew Satan would bring sin into the
creation. We can say this much, that through
what has happened, God has been able to reveal
his glorious attributes to all of his creation,
both to the angels as well as to mankind. Through
the process of what has happened because of sin
being found in Satan and his bringing it into
the world, God has been able to reveal his mercy
and his grace and his love, his justice, and
all of the other glorious attributes that are
his. Why he chose to do it this way, we do not
know. Another question, and the final one, is
why did God not execute immediate judgment on
Satan? These words, I think, are helpful from
John MacArthur. Now, when Satan fell, we... we
do know that the world wasn't yet in sin. However,
we don't know exactly when this fall took place
or whether the world had even been created yet,
but God had two choices. Once Satan and his demons
fell, God could have just spoken a word and immediately
destroyed his opponents or suppressed the rebellion
until it occurred again, but God didn't choose
to do that. God in his wisdom chose to give the
rebel his full opportunity. to exploit every
avenue of his power, all the way from his fall
to the instigation of his final rebellion, which
is yet to come, isn't it? Why did God allow it?
Though the Bible doesn't explicitly say, I believe
one good reason why God allowed this rebellion
to infest his creation was to let it run out
to its limits in exhaustion so that all creatures
of all time might know that all avenues put together
could never dethrone God. And when it is done,
no one will ever doubt again that God's authority
could ever be usurped. You see, the claims and
I wills of Satan have their complete trial throughout
time. And the entire universe is going to see
once and for all that it is impossible to dethrone
God. I think in conclusion that it's wise for
us to remind ourselves of a couple of things.
In the first place, let's remind ourselves of
the terrible sin of pride. For it is pride that
was Satan's essential sin. And out of that has
come all of the other sins. Dear folks, let us
beware of this condemnation of the devil, as
it is called in 1 Timothy 3 .6. Let us eschew
pride. Let us flee from it. For there is nothing
in ourselves which should cause us to become
proud and puffed up. Beware of pride and its
awfulness. Secondly, I would say, let us also
be aware of the war that we are in. For though
we only live for a few years on this earth, we
are a part of a scheme of things that is far
bigger than that. and in some ways unimportant
creatures. But God has chosen to give our being
here in this world for this little time, and
as insignificant as we are, great meaning. And
he has chosen to be a part of this great conflict
of the ages between good and evil. So let's be
aware of the war. And let's ask God to make us
effective soldiers of Jesus Christ. Let's not
go to sleep in the middle of the battle. Let's
not simply ignore it and think that it doesn't
really exist or it'll go away. For we are involved
as believers in Jesus Christ on the side of right
and light. And let us fight as good soldiers
of Jesus Christ. Would you sing with me? The
little chorus found on page 97, along with the
first verse that goes with it. Greater is he
that is in me than he that is in the world. As
we talk about Satan and his powers, let us remember
that greater is he who is in us, the Holy Spirit,
than he who is in the world. And that ours is
the victory through our faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. As we learn about him, let's not focus
on him, though we must study him to be aware
of what he is and who he is. But let's focus
on our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, in
whom we have the victory already. Would you stand
with me and let's sing together the chorus and
then the first verse and the chorus again.