Angels of God IV

Lucifer/Satan the Devil
Michael Heiss—October 8, 2012

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Good morning, everyone, for the final day, this Last Great Day! We are going to sum up our discussion of angels today with the one being who started out as perhaps the most glorious and powerful of all of God's angels; and wound up the most vial, vicious and rebellious creature of all—the one we call Lucifer/Satan the devil!

• How did he get that way?
• What happened to him?
• How does he work?

We're going to start out with the traditional Scripture that describes him, and I'm sure we're all familiar with that one.

Ezekiel 28:12: "Son of man, lift up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You seal up the measure of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty…. [What a way to begin a description of this being—glorious] …You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the turquoise, and the emerald, and gold…. [What may be missing here is silver, but this is glorious!] …The workmanship of your settings and of your sockets was prepared in you in the day that you were created. You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I 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. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you"'" (vs 12-15).

Let's back up and see if we can understand the significance of this, v 14: "You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I set you so…" Remember, we discussed cherubim in part 3. There was one Scripture that I didn't bring out about cherubim, and actually it was a replica of a cherub.

In Exo. 24-31 we have a description of what God gave to Moses for the building of the tabernacle. The furniture, equipment, pertinences, everything there is a replica of what God has in heaven. But notice what God says:

Exodus 25:10: "And they shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide and a cubit and a half high. And you shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall overlay it inside and out, and shall make on it a crown molding of gold all around the top edge" (vs 10-11).

The next several verses talk about the staves and rings and shows how the tabernacle is to be carried—transported properly—by the Levites. Unfortunately, in the days of David they didn't quite obey that and one man lost his life as a result of that. God said, 'Don't put it on a cart. Don't anybody else carry it, just the Levites are to put the poles through the rings, and that's how it's to be transported.

Verse 17: "And you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of beaten work you shall make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end. From the mercy seat you shall make the cherubim, on the two ends of it. And the cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, and -their faces, each toward the other; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat" (vs 17-20).

We can get this picture: You had this ark, rectangular, a mercy seat on top of it, a cherub on one end and a cherub on the other, their wings stretched out to cover it. And above and slightly to the rear is where God speaks. He spoke that way to Moses.

Remember, going back to what God said Ezekiel: 28:14: "You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I set you so..." We're not talking about the cherub on the mercy seat, we're talking about heaven a long time ago. God anointed Lucifer as a special cherub to cover a magnificent position, and he blew it! He just couldn't follow through with it.

Verse 15: "You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you" The question arises: How could someone be perfect and, yet, iniquity be found in him? You have to understand, when God says Lucifer was perfect, He meant this: I created you, designed you and you were perfect; your eyes, your body, your frame, your wings—everything—was done perfectly!Your mind I created; it was perfect.

But you know there's one thing that God cannot create perfectly at once; there is one limitation to Him: He cannot create perfect, righteous character instantaneously! Otherwise He would have automatons and robots. God doesn't want robots. He could make them by the trillions if He wanted to.
He wants loyal beings serving Him enthusiastically. But that means they have a choice to make. Lucifer made the wrong choice! He indulged with what we call the five 'I's'!

This is the other chapter that describes Lucifer. Isaiah 14:12: "How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart, 'I#1 will ascend into the heavens, I#2 will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I#3 will also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I#4 will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I#5 will be like the Most High'" (vs 12-14)—I will be God!

Remember the old saying: Familiarity breeds contempt! Here was this glorious being and he got to be thinking at some point in time—don't know when, don't know how—'You know, I'm as good as God is. I'm powerful. Look at my glory, what do I need Him for, I'm as good as He is.' Wrong thinking! Just what prompted it we don't know, but it festered and this is what prompted him to do what he did.

God gave him Earth, but Lucifer was a megalomaniac. He had delusions of grandeur, and his servants on Earth had delusions of grandeur. In fact, two the servants in a way—the beast powers… If you ever get a chance to read Napoleon and Hitler written by an historian Desmond Seward. What he wanted to do is show the two men that most thoroughly dominated the continent of Europe over the last 500 years or so. No two men dominated the continent they way they did, albeit for short periods of time.

There were dissimilarities but some similarities—both were megalomaniacs, just filled with their lust for power; both Napoleon and Hitler. They didn't know when to stop. Napoleon led France to its greatest glory. When he finally overreached himself, went into Russia, the War of 1812, came back into France, the British, the Dutch, the Russians of Prussia didn't want to invade France. We'll let you keep some of this conquered territory. What was Napoleon's response? Not one inch of conquered territory! He couldn't stop and led France to ruin.

Hitler was the same way. He came into power in 1933 and did glorious things for Germany until 1939. He had is Nuremberg rallies, but the interesting thing is that Hitler was taken over by Satan. One of the men that I knew at Ambassador College had come from Germany; was alive at that time and went to some of those rallies in Nuremberg. He said that his words were so slurred that they didn't even know what he was saying half the time. They had to read the newspapers the next day to figure out what he said. I didn't know that, but he did. Hitler didn't know when to stop, because their spiritual father Satan doesn't know when to stop. It wasn't enough for Satan.

Jude 6: "And the angels who did not keep their own original domain, but deserted their habitation, He is holding in eternal bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Lucifer figured that he was going to take God on in heaven. Up they went, leaving their own estate!

Peter, of course, talks about the angels who sinned. This was their sin. Lucifer wanted what he could not have. What did he want? He wanted to be worshiped! He wanted to be God! This caused frustration. A wise man was taught years ago and defined frustration like this: thwarted self-will! When you want something, but can't have it, frustration sets in. This is what Satan wants; he wants to be worshiped.

Matthew 4:8—one of the accounts of the temptation, where Satan tempted Jesus in three different ways. "After that, the devil took Him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to Him, 'All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me.'" (vs 8-9).

To have the Son of God worship him would be the ultimate, a 'feather in his cap.' Of course, Jesus was not about to do that. But that's what Satan wants. He wants to be worshiped. Spirit is different from flesh. We, as humans, can change; we can repent; we can go one way or we can go the other way. We heard about Solomon and what happened to him. God said:

• Don't multiply horses. Solomon did!
• Don't marry foreign women. Solomon did! He built temples to them!

I want to point this out to you—maybe you know this—that there is a frightening warning from his father David. I don't know how far Solomon went, but let's take a look in 1-Chronicles 28:9—David talking to Solomon: "And you, Solomon my son, acknowledge the God of your father and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever."

That is a frightening admonition! How far did Solomon go? I'd like to think by incrementalism! I'd like to think that. 'Horses aren't so bad, I'm a good king, I should have this glory and so forth. I'm not really disobeying God. And women, well, I need for my officers and for the court and foreign dignitaries. You come on in and spread the women around and that type of thing. I can do that. The temples are for my wives, they're not for me. I'm not going down and worshipping; it's okay.' I'd like to think that that's the way it happened. I don't know.

But if that's the way it happened he can repent later on. But did he cross the line? There was one young man at Ambassador College who I think did cross the line. I never met him, but one of the ministers was talking to us was just trembling. It was in 1960-61, and it had to do with liquor, sex and the ministers were trying to counsel him. Some of them told me that he said, 'Look, I want my wine, women and song now, and I don't care what happens.' This minister who told this was just shaking. He'd never seen that.

Humans can go just so far until they cross the line and they can't turn back. Most of the time we can. The difference with spirit is, they can't turn back. We're flesh and blood, but if we go so far, and if someone wonders: 'have I committed the unpardonable sin; I don't want God to cast me off.' Believe me, if you think that, don't worry, you haven't done it.

This guy said, 'I don't care! And you don't understand me, do you?' NO! I didn't understand him and I don't want to understand him. I don't want to be anywhere near him. Yet, that's an example of somebody who might have crossed the line.

Spirits, apparently, once they make a decision to go a certain way, they can't change it. It's 'written in stone' as it were. The angels made a decision when Lucifer rebelled. Some rebelled with him; others remained loyal to God. They made their decision. The angels who are loyal to God are set; they're not rebelling against Him at all. Those angels who went with Lucifer, they can't.

I've often wondered, can God forgive Lucifer? Could He forgive Satan? Maybe! But you don't have to worry about that, because Lucifer is not about to repent. He can't repent. He's so twisted in his way that God used him to bring about the true conversion of a man named Job. I don't think Lucifer ever got it. I don't think Satan ever got it how God used him.

It took me several readings before I finally caught on as to what's going on here. Job 1:1: "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. And that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and turned aside from evil." And how righteous this Job really was.

We're going to pick up the story in v 6: "Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD. And Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' Then Satan answered the LORD and said, 'From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.'" (vs 6-7). Yes, he was, but he wasn't having a walk in the park, saying, 'Oh what a beautiful day this was.'

Do you want to know what he was doing? Peter confirms that this being is diabolical. 1-Peter 5:8: "Be sober! Be vigilant! For your adversary the devil is prowling about as a roaring lion, seeking anyone he may devour." That's what he was doing walking up and down through the earth, trying find anybody he could get his hands on.

Job 1:8: "And the LORD said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job… [notice that God is bringing up the subject, not Satan] …that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil?' And Satan answered the LORD and said, 'Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him… [no calamity ever happens to him, but You just let me get my hands on him; just let a calamity happen] (v 11): …and he will curse You to Your face'" (vs 8-11). This is what God wants, although Satan doesn't know it.

Verse 11: "But put forth Your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.' And the LORD said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only do not lay your hand upon him.' And Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD" (vs 11-12). Notice that God says, 'Satan, don't you touch him.' Satan can only do what God allows.

Livestock, sheep, goats, everything was taken away from Job; his sons were killed; but, v 22: "In all this Job did not sin, nor charge God foolishly."

Job 2:1—repeat performance: "And again it came to pass on a day that the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD. And Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' And Satan answered the LORD and said, 'From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.' And the LORD said unto Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil? And still he is holding fast to his integrity, although you moved Me against him to destroy him without cause'" (vs 1-3).

You did that, Satan. I listened to you. Job was walking blameless in the Lord. Just like another couple: Zacharias and Elizabeth, parents of John the Baptist (Luke 1). It says that they were 'walking blameless in the Law.' Job was, but the problem was that Job didn't realize he desperately needed God. Job was doing this on his own strength, by his own moxie. Job was keeping the Law! Job was doing this, ticking off everything he had to do. But he didn't realize how desperately he needed God! Satan could not see this, because that's Satan's way. He's blind to it! He didn't get it!

The rest of the book of Job to chapter 38 there are the discussions between Job and his three friends. 'Job, you must be doing something wrong, because this doesn't happen unless you do.' Job says, 'I maintain my integrity; I maintain my righteousness, if I just had an advocate with God He'd see how right I am.'

Finally, God has enough. Humans can change, but it's very difficult for spirits to change; almost impossible.

Job 38:1—God begins to unload on Job. "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now, gird up your loins like a man; for I will demand of you…'" (vs 1-3)—and He let's Job have it!

Job 40:1—Job begins to get it: "And the LORD answered Job and said, 'Shall he who contends with the Almighty instruct Him? He who reproves God, let him answer it.' And Job answered the LORD and said, 'Behold, I am vile! What shall I answer You? I will lay my hand on my mouth. Once I have spoken; but I will not answer; yea, twice, but I will proceed no further'" (vs 1-4).

No more justification from Job. He is being hammered and he's beginning to see it. Finally, Job 42:5: "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear… [I knew You, God; I knew about You; I was taught You; I know how great You are.] …but now my eye sees You."

Verse 3: "…Therefore, I have spoken that which I did not understand; things too wonderful for me; yea, which I did not know."

Verse 6: "Therefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

God then blessed Job and gave him back everything that he lost. But you notice, a human being can change, Lucifer can't change. He won't change. He is so set in his way.

God made provision for humans. God became a man and died for the sins of the world. How do you die for the sins of an angel? How do you do that? I don't know! I don't think it's possible; I'm not sure! But even if it were possible, Satan is not about to do that. He's set in his way.

Let's look at his attitude. These admonitions were given to humans, but nevertheless, but it comes down from Satan. Here John is speaking to the Christians of his day: 1-John 2:15: "Do not love the world, nor the things thatare in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because everything that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pretentious pride of physical life—is not from the Father, but is from the world" (vs 15-16).

• Who is the 'god of this world'?
• Who is the 'prince of the power of the air'?

All comes from Satan! Satan suffers from two deadly sins:

1. covetousness
2. pride

He coveted the throne of God; he wanted what God had and couldn't get and he couldn't take it.

Proverbs 16—again, this is referring to human beings, but humans have a spiritual father, the wrong spiritual father! There is a lot of sound wisdom in these Proverbs.

Proverbs 16:18: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Lucifer certainly fell from heaven—didn't he? Jesus said he saw Lucifer fall down, because Satan had pride beyond measure and a haughty spirit. He's the author of all this and he will not change!

He is constantly fighting God. Remember the Garden of Eden—Gen. 3—he's subtle. He asked Eve, 'Did God say you can eat of all the trees of the garden?' Well, we can eat of every tree but the one in the center, we cannot eat that one. Satan says, 'No, come on! That's not true. God knows better than that.' Satan the serpent got Eve to doubt God! This is what he does. He gets people to doubt God! Not only doubting that, he gets people and scholars to doubt the veracity of God's Word.

We have the Received Text that has gone down to the Masoretic Text among the Jews to the Greek Text at St. Stephens, then along comes some of these 'discoveries' in Egypt. We've got Nag Hammadi Library, uncovered a whole slew of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Thomas written in the 1st century and 2nd century and some in the 3rd. These were equal Christianities, just as good as we have in the Bible. NO, they're not!God had them buried for good reason! But you see, doubt God!Doubt the veracity of God's Word! He always gets subtle doubts in there. He's continually fighting God.

Let's look how he did that in 1-Chronicles about the angel that almost destroyed Jerusalem; was about to destroy Jerusalem. 1-Chronicles 21:1: "And Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel." Satan knew God told David not to number Israel. He's going to get his dig in. He's somehow going to get David to mess up and cause trouble, and there he was!

We will see Satan is right there trying to wreck God's plan with Joshua, Zechariah 3:1 "And He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said to Satan, 'May the LORD rebuke you, Satan! May even the LORD Who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked out of the fire?'" (vs 1-2)—talking about Joshua.

Satan's in there trying to mess up Joshua with God. He's always at us. Satan does not give up. If there is anything that you can say about Satan it is that he's persistent. This being is oh so subtle, and Paul warns about it:

Ephesians 6:10: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (vs 10-11)—or his subtlies. Be careful! Watch out! You never know when he's going to put a thought in your mind you don't realize comes from him. After all, how does he do this?

2-Corinthians 4:3: "But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing; in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (vs 3-4). Here he is the 'god of this age' and he controls and he is subtle.

Another reference to that, notice what Jesus says about Satan just before the crucifixion, John 12:30: "Jesus answered and said, 'This voice did not come because of Me, but because of you. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out'" (vs 30-31). Jesus is going to be crucified, He's going to rise into the heavens, His Church will be built, and the process to remove Satan will be under way.

He is the 'prince' of this world and he controls what goes on. He always resists God. But he's going to have an end. Let's take a look at what Jesus says about the end of Satan. Then we'll follow through and see that end actually take place.

Matthew 25: 41: "Then shall He also say to those on the left, 'Depart from Me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.'"

Let's see where that actually happens, Revelation 20:1: "Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. And he took hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent who is the Devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years" (vs 1-2). This is upon the return of Christ to setup the Millennium.

Verse 3: "Then he cast him into the abyss, and locked him up, and sealed the abyss over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were fulfilled; and after that it is ordained that he be loosed for a short time."

The thousand years are now complete, v 7: "Now, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison; and he shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog…" (vs 7-8)—he saw them encircle Jerusalem.

Verse 10: "And the Devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet had been cast; and they, Satan and the demons, shall be tormented day and night into the ages of eternity." That fire is going to last just so long. It's a physical fire, and physical fire cannot kill or annihilate angels or spirit beings. Can't do that!

You will remember in Ezek. 28 where God says, 'I will destroy you.' Understand the Hebrew meaning of the word 'destroy.' It can mean annihilate and kill, but it also has the meaning of simply removing. In other words, God is going to 'destroy Satan' by removing him from the scene, banishing him into outer darkness. That is really going to be the ultimate fate of this diabolical being.

Jude is a most interesting book. There's only one chapter, but there's an awful lot packed in there. Talking about those who attack God's Church, leave God's Church, subtly condemn:

Jude 11: "Woe to them! For they have walked in the way of Cain; and for gain, they have wholly given themselves up to Balaam's delusion, and haveperished in the rebellion of Korah. These are subversive stains in your love feasts, feasting in person together with you; fearlessly they are feeding themselves. They are clouds without water, being driven by the winds; trees of late autumn, without any fruit, uprooted, twice dead; raging waves of the sea, casting up like foam their own ignominious shame; wandering stars… [the demons, Satan with them] …for whom has been reserved the blackest darkness forever!" (vs 11-13).

That is going to be the end of this vial, vicious being who started out so beautiful, perfectly formed by God Himself! The anointed cherub who covered!

• How closer to God can you get?
• How glorious can you be?

He just wasn't satisfied with what God gave him! 'I want more'—that was his attitude! Somewhere, somehow in the vast regions of the universe there's a section—where it is I don't know, I don't pretend to know—where God is going to lock them up. Put them in the outer regions of darkness.

Maybe, just maybe in the future, God may have use for him. I have no idea, I'll leave that to Him. Until, and unless He does—maybe, not a definite—he is preserved into the darkness of outer darkness, outer space. Our warning and admonition today is: remember the warning of David to Solomon: Do not forsake the Lord our God lest He forsake us forever.'

Let us not wind up the way Satan did!

Scriptural References:

• Ezekiel 28:12-15, 14
• Exodus 25:10-11, 17-20
• Ezekiel 28:14-15
• Isaiah 14:12-14
• Jude 6
• Matthew 4:8-9
• 1 Chronicles 28:9
• Job 1:1, 6-7
• 1 Peter 5:8
• Job 1:8-12, 22
• Job 2:1-3
• Job 38:1-3
• Job 40:1-4
• Job 42:5, 3, 6
• 1 John 2:15-16
• Proverbs 16:18
• 1 Chronicles 21:1
• Zechariah 3:1-2
• Ephesians 6:10-11
• 2 Corinthians 4:3-4
• John 12:30-31
• Matthew 25:41
• Revelation 20:1-3, 7-8, 10
• Jude 11-13

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Exodus 24-31
• Luke 1
• Genesis 3

Also referenced: Book:

Napoleon and Hitler by Desmond Seward

MH:bo
Transcribed: 10-28-12

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