- [Narrator] Welcome to a Grace Digital presentation,
in this video, we discuss the Christian's number one enemy.
Martin Luther once said,
"For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe.
"His craft and power are great,
"and armed with cruel hate on earth is not his equal.
"The devil is making his last attempt to seize planet earth.
"One of the great needs of our time
"is a defense against that evil, which we call the devil."
Satan, the prince of this world, the number one enemy,
the best defense of the devil
was his successful deception of humanity
to believe that he did not really exist.
When we accept this lie,
we are simply proving how clever he is
and how gullible we humans can be.
Satan is mentioned directly over 200 times in the Bible,
in Genesis 3, he enters into the realm of human activity,
a tormentor of the upright in Job 1,
and in Matthew 4, he boldly tempts Jesus.
His final imprisonment and eternal incarceration
are described in Revelation 20.
We have the complete story of the fall,
works and fate of the devil in Ezekiel 28:12-19,
"Son of man, take up a layment concerning the King of Tyre,
"and say to him,
"this is what the sovereign Lord says.
"You were the seal of perfection,
"full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,
"you were in Eden, the garden of God,
"every precious stone adorned you,
"carnelian, chrysolite, and emerald,
"topaz, onyx, and jasper,
"lapis and lazuli, turquoise and baril.
"Your settings in mountings were made of gold,
"on the day you were created, they were prepared.
"You were anointed as a guardian cherub
"for so I ordained you.
"You were on the Holy Mount of God,
"you walked among the fiery stones,
"you were blameless in your ways
"from the day you were created
"to the wickedness was found in you.
"Through your widespread trade,
"you were filled with violence and you sinned,
"so, I drove you in disgrace from the Mount of God,
"and I expelled you, guardian cherub,
"from among the fiery stones.
"Your heart became proud on account of your beauty,
"and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.
"So, I threw you to the earth,
"I made a spectacle of you before Kings,
"by your many sins and dishonest trade,
"you have desecrated your sanctuaries,
"so I made a fire come out from you and it consumed you,
"and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
"in the sight of all who were watching.
"All the nations who knew you are appalled at you,
"you have come to a horrible end and will be no more."
Satan was created as an archangel,
one of the supreme orders of God's creation.
The description in Ezekiel
can only be applied to a super being,
not to a man who ruled Tyre.
Isaiah the prophet describes the actual fall of the devil
from his status of honor and glory as one of the archangels,
"How have you fallen from heaven?
"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 the heavens,
"I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
"I will sit enthroned on the Mount of assembly
"on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
"I will ascend above the tops of the clouds,
"I will make myself like the most high," Isaiah 14:12-14.
The apostle Paul describes the fall of Satan in more detail:
"Then war broke out 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.
"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say,
"now have come the salvation and the power,
"and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah
"for the accuser of our brothers and sisters
"who accuses them before God day and night
"has been hurled down.
"Therefore, rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them,
"but woe to the earth and the sea,
"because the devil has gone down to you.
"He is filled with fury
"because he knows that his time is short,"
Revelation 12:7-10 and 12.
Satan was not satisfied
with being the beautiful
and intelligent creature of God's creation,
and the highest order of angels,
but sought a position of equality with God.
His competitions seems to have been
particularly directed against Jesus Christ,
even though the entire deity was challenged.
This conflict has lasted all ages and will not be complete
until Satan is cast into the lake of fire forever and ever.
Satan's power, the title, abilities,
and areas of dominion of the devil are clearly established.
In the tabernacle and temple of Jerusalem, in Ezekiel 28:14,
he is described as a guardian cherub.
The cherubim were in the Holy of Holies
during the days of the Old Testament.
Two cherubim with golden wings
formed a part of the mercy seat,
or covering of the Holy Ark of the covenant,
which was the symbol of Israel's holiest worship of Jehovah.
Guardian cherubs had to do with the very holiness of God.
Satan was beautiful.
Satan was beautiful
and was perhaps the most magnificent creature ever.
His figure was covered with gold and precious stones,
Ezekiel recorded that he was perfect in beauty.
Verse 12, "Melody and music."
The description in Ezekiel 28:13
refers to musical instruments, such as tablets and pipes,
which indicate that he had the ability
to create beautiful music.
It is believed by some that before his fall,
he led musical praise and worship to God,
the devil certainly creates tremendous music today.
From an angel to a devil.
"Satan first fell out of pride
"in his personal beauty," Ezekiel 28:17.
His greed for both physical and material things
displaced his spiritual ministry to Jehovah.
He is said to have committed many sins
that led him to be filled with violence.
Perhaps this is an indication
that he is looking for all things,
regardless of who he hurts in his search.
These elements, pride and greed,
have since become important tools for tempting man to sin.
A good number of people sin out of pride,
in possession and pride in physical beauty.
If they could bring about sin in the guardian cherub,
how easily they would bring about sin
in sinful flesh like ours.
Satan is still a dignitary.
We read that the archangel, Michael,
an angel of great power and position in heaven
did not dare to condemn him for slander, Jude 9.
When he argued about Moses' body in the book of Jude,
even in his fallen state,
the devil is one of the most
intelligent beings God has created.
Lucifer, the devil, is a real person,
Satan, the devil, is not an influence, an idea,
or an abstract design,
he is a person,
he is given personal names and titles, Revelation 22.
He is credited
with personal actions and attributes, Isaiah 14:12-15.
Jesus treated the devil as a person, Matthew 4:1-11,
and waged war against him as against a person, Luke 13:16.
In his letters,
Paul described the battle of the believer against Satan
as with a real person, Ephesians 6:10-18.
The devil is said to possess personal qualities
such as heart, pride, language, knowledge, power, desires.
What are demons?
The Bible speaks of angels
that were and still are aligned with the devil.
In the famous passage about the kingdom of heaven,
Matthew 25:31-46,
Jesus speaks of the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels, Matthew 25:41.
The clearest description is found in the book of Revelation,
John sees a vision,
another sign appeared in heaven,
an enormous red dragon, Revelation 12:3.
The archangel Michael and his angels
fight against this serpent.
"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," Revelation 12:9.
The same passage speaks of the devil
sweeping down with his tail,
"A third of the stars of heaven," verse four,
and many commentators interpret the stars as angels
that Satan caused a third of the heavenly hosts
to rebel with him when he hotly tried to be like God.
Since angels are without number,
"Thousands upon thousands
"and 10,000 times 10,000," Revelation 5:11.
The sheer number of angels of Satan
is outside the scope of our imagination,
these angels are the demons, or evil unclean spirits
of which the Bible speaks.
The root of their names is from the Latin word, Daemon,
meaning evil spirit,
and from the Greek word, Daimon, which is divinity.
We know from the Bible
that a great number of demons roam the earth and the air
who have been in the world since the beginning of time,
since they do not die.
Demons are personalities,
demons are bodyless personalities with strong organization.
As fallen spirits,
they want to dwell in a body to manifest themselves,
they are angry with God for their fallen state.
Their main motive is to destroy
that which God loves or creates, primarily man.
They often give the names of people
in whom they have lived before.
When someone dies, who is possessed by the devil,
that spirit immediately seeks a dwelling in another.
A demon spirit cannot simply enter a person's life,
it must find one with an open door.
It seeks a lustful person when it is a spirit of lust,
a spirit of anger
for a person with little control over anger,
and a spirit of insanity to penetrate a person's spirit.
Paul warned of demon power.
The fact that demons are highly organized
can be seen in the closing passage
of the apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians.
"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," Ephesians 6:12.
Satan and his demon angels have their dwelling place,
and their base of action in high places.
Jesus cast out demons.
Jesus took the existence of demons for granted,
constantly dealt with them,
drove them out of the people, Matthew 15:22 and 28.
And gave his disciples the power to set people free,
Matthew 10:1, Luke 9:1, Mark 16:17.
The apostles believed in the existence of demons,
the apostles were firm believers in the existence of demons.
Matthew proposed their organization under Satan,
Matthew 12:26, and spoke of their final destruction, 25:41.
Luke described their nature, Luke 4:33, 6:18,
their expulsion from the people, 9:42,
and their dwelling place, 8:27-33.
John also spoke of their dwelling, Revelation 9:11,
their ministry, Revelation 16:14,
and explained their existence, Revelation 9:20.
Paul wrote to Timothy
warning him against teachings of devils, 1 Timothy 4:1.
Demons name themselves,
demons name themselves every now and again,
the Bible gives several examples.
The spirits in the demon possessed man of Gadara
called themselves Legion, Mark 5:9.
Demons are liars.
It is important to note that demons are liars
and may not tell the truth about their names,
numbers, or strengths,
they tend to differ in their wickedness.
Some may be more evil than others, Mathew 12:45.
Demons vary in power,
they also differ in their power, Mark 9:29,
and seem to know
the names of those who rebuke them and cast them out.
In Acts 19:15,
an evil spirit said,
"I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who are you?"
Demons believe and tremble,
demons believe in God,
and as James says, "They shudder," James 2:19.
Their faith is not one of faith and trust and commitment,
but rather one of knowledge.
Demons have willpower.
Demons have willpower, Matthew 12:44.
They resist saints and have the teachings,
Romans 8:38, 1 Timothy 4:1,
and they do not abide in the truth, John 8:44.
However, the most important thing we must all remember
is that they are subject to the sovereignty
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter recalled this to fellow believers first century
when he wrote of Jesus who came to heaven
and is at the right hand of God,
with angels and authorities,
and authorities in subjection to him, 1 Peter 3:22.
We pray you get a way deeper understanding
as you watch our videos.