Satan

 

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WE BELIEVE THAT SATAN IS REAL, THE AUTHOR OF SIN AND THE CAUSE OF THE FALL OF MAN; THAT HE IS THE OPEN AND DECLARED ENEMY OF GOD AND MAN; AND, THAT HE SHALL BE ETERNALLY PUNISHED IN THE LAKE OF FIRE.

I. We are going to be studying this subject under the following headings.A. Satan is real.B. Satan is the author and cause of sin.

C. Satan is the enemy of God.

D. The final end of Satan.

One thing I need to say at the very beginning: Our problem with sin is not so much caused by Satan as it is caused by our own sinful natures. It is wrong to say, “Satan made me do it”, when the truth is we are deceived into sin by our own lust. There is no doubt Satan influences us into sin, but when we blame him, we do not blame ourselves.

II. Satan is shown by to real by the following scriptures.A. Job 1:6-7 – Satan was real when he appeared before God to ask the favor of tormenting righteous Job.B. Isaiah 14:12-17 – Satan was real when he aspired to sit on the throne of God.

C. Matthew 4:2-11 – Satan was real when he tempted Christ.

D. Revelation 20:10 – Satan is real when he is thrown into the Lake of Fire.

E. God created everything, including Satan. Everything, including Satan is real.

1. God created all things.a. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.b. Psalm 89:11-12 – God has created the north and the south.

c. Isaiah 45:7 – God forms the light and the darkness. God makes peace and creates evil.

d. Isaiah 54:16 – God has created the waster to destroy.

2. Colossians 1:16 – Everything has been created by God and for God.

3. Revelation 4:11 – God has created all things, and for his pleasure they are and were created.

F. God did not create Satan to be evil, but God did create Satan.

1. Satan has free will and became evil.2. Compare the various creatures God created – some with no will, some with will, but no redemption, and us with free will, plus he would redeem us.

a. God created objects that have no life at all. These are planets, suns, moons, stars, rocks, minerals, etc.b. God created plants, which have life, but have no feelings.

c. God created animals, which have life and feelings, but no eternal soul.

d. God created the living creatures of Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4:6-9, which are descriptive of Christ and have no will of their own. They are designed by God to give him glory 24/7.

e. God created the Seraphims of Isaiah 6, which are so holy they burn in their own holiness, yet they give continual glory and honor to God.

f. God created angels with a free will, yet never offered them salvation or redemption.

g. God created humans with a free will, yet offers eternal redemption to them.

3. Exodus 9:16 – God raised up Pharaoh for the sole purpose of showing the power of God.

a. God can raise up Satan to show his power forever.b. God did not create Pharaoh evil.

c. Pharaoh was already evil.

III. Satan is the author of sin and the cause of the fall of man.

A. Satan is created upright.1. Genesis 1:31 declare that God looked on his creation and saw that everything he had made was very good.2. This statement includes Satan, who had not fallen as yet.

3. There was no sin or death in the world in Genesis 1:31.

B. Between Genesis 2:25 and Genesis 3:1, pride drives Satan into rebellion.

1. The time of his fall is after creation, not before creation or during creation.a. Genesis 1:31 – When God finished creating, he said everything was very good.b. When Jesus said this, there was no sin, no wickedness, no rebellion and no death in the world.

c. Satan had not fallen as yet.

2. Genesis 3:1 – Satan came to the woman to deceive her.

a. At this point, Satan had fallen.b. Ezekiel 28:12-19 and Isaiah 14:12-14 were being set in motion, although the secondary prophecies of these verses will not take place for a long time.

3. Ezekiel 28:12-19 – This passage is double prophecy.

a. The primary prophecy is concerning the king of Tyrus.b. The secondary prophecy is concerning Satan.

1) Verse 12-15 refers to the condition of Satan before his fall.2) Verse 16-19 refers to the reasons Satan fell and the consequences of his fall.

4. Isaiah 14:4-23 is another double prophecy.

a. The primary prophecy is written to the king of Babylon.b. The secondary prophecy is written to Satan.

C. The result of Satan’s rebellion.

1. Satan is given dominion over the world.a. Job 9:24 – “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?”1) Job is speaking, therefore we can know this is correct.2) God owns the world (Ps. 24:1 – “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”) but, as we read in Job 9:24, the world has been ‘given into the hand’ of Satan temporarily; and Satan dominates it, subject to such limitations as God is pleased to impose.

b. Matthew 4:8,9 – “Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”

c. Luke 4:6 – “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.”

d. Ephesians 2:2 – “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”

e. Psalm 76:10 – “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.”

1) Satan is the prince and power of the air, but just as God restrained Satan from killing Job, so Satan is restrained in the evil he is allowed to do.2) Revelation 9:4,5 – When these demons are released from the bottomless pit, they are restrained from hurting the people of God, but they are allowed to hurt the people who have not the seal of God in their foreheads. God restrains these demons from killing people, but allows them power to torment for the limited time of five months.

3) Note the power of God over Satan, and that power continues today and will continue for all eternity.

2. Satan was given authority to sow tares in the world, which are his children – the non-elect.

a. Matthew 13:25, 13:38-39 – Satan sowed tares in the world when he deceived the woman.b. The tares are mixed in with the wheat.

c. There can be saved people in every family, even though they are born of lost parents.

d. There can be lost children in every family, even though they are born of saved, Godly parents.

3. God’s people will wrestle against spiritual wickedness as long as we are in this world.

a. Ephesians 6:12 – “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”b. When this world is over, or our time on this earth is over, our personal battle against Satan will also be over.

4. Satan is given authority to accuse God’s children.

a. Revelation 12:9,10 – “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”b. Job 1:6 – “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.”

c. Job 1:9 – “Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?”

d. Job 2:3-5 – “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. 4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. 5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.”

5. Satan begins accusing God’s children with the wife of Adam.

a. Genesis 3:1 – “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”b. The accusations by Satan continue to every child of God.

IV. Satan is the open and declared enemy of God and man.

A. Matthew 13 – Concerning the sowing of tares, Jesus said, “…an enemy hath done this…”B. II Thessalonians 2:4 – “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”

V. Satan shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire.

A. The demons know they are awaiting the judgment of God.1. Matthew 8:29 – “And, behold, they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?”2. It is very clear that these demons know they have torment coming, but they do not repent of any of their evil doings.

B. Satan knows he has but a short time.

1. Revelation 12:9 – “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”C. Satan knows he is under the continual authority of God because he always has to get permission before he can do anything – see Job.

D. Satan is cast into the bottomless pit, which is his abode.

1. Revelation 20:1-3 – “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, 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.”2. At the end of the 1,000 years, Satan will be turned loose on the earth once again.

3. He will go out and lead a great multitude against God.

4. Then cometh the end.

E. Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire.

1. Revelation 20:10 – “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”2. Satan never stands before God in judgment as saved and lost people will stand before God. I personally think God has already judged him and he knows his condemnation is at hand.

VI. The present abode of Satan.

A. The following scriptures indicate that Satan’s present abode is the bottomless pit, of which he is king.1. Satan’s present throne is in the bottomless pit, and he goes out into the world and into heaven.2. The throne of Christ is in the sides of the north, and he sits upon the circle of the earth.

B. The bottomless pit is in this world, actually in the center of this world, and will, during the millennium reign of Christ come to the surface, where all people will be able to see the suffering of all the people in that place.

1. While Satan’s abode is in the bottomless pit, he has been granted authority to move about in his dominion (this earth), where he is the prince and power of the air.2. Satan will be locked in his own home for 1,000 years, then the bottomless pit and death and all hell, and every unbeliever, including Satan will be finally cast into the Lake of Fire forever and ever.

C. Scriptures showing the present and future abode of Satan.

1. Revelation 9:1 – “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.”2. Revelation 9:2 – “And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.”

3. Revelation 9:11 – “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.”

a. The word “king” means leader, just as Jesus Christ is the king. The demons take all their orders from Satan and worship him as their king.b. The word “Abaddon” means destruction.

c. The word “Apollyon” means destroyer.

 

4. Revelation 11:7 – “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.”

5. Revelation 17:8 – “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”

6. Revelation 20:1 – “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.”

7. Revelation 20:3 – “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.”