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[0:00] Well, welcome. We're on Satanology tonight. And so it's one of the major Bible doctrines.! People can make a couple of mistakes. Some, they can be ignoring Satan, or they can be magnifying! So we don't want to do either thing. So not being ignorant of his devices, we're told to not be ignorant of his devices, and we're not to magnify him in the sense that we know that he's a defeated foe. We don't have to be alarmed or fearful of him because he's defeated by Christ at the cross.

[0:35] So as our Lord says, for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Some are ignorant of his existence. They try to pretend he's not there, or they caricature him with horns and a tail. We don't want to make either of those kind of mistakes there, not to ignore him, not to magnify him. So we're going to go through basically a bit of an overview of what the Bible tells us about Satan. Firstly, about his existence and personality.

[1:04] Satan exists. He's real. He's a real being. The Bible talks about him as the scriptures show us here. It talks about how Satan stood up against Israel as Satan came before God, as he tested Job in Job 1, verse 6. It talks there about how he was standing at his right hand. It tells how in Ezekiel 28 that he was created. And of course we know that our Lord was tempted by Satan as well. The Lord Jesus dealt with him as a real being, as did the apostles as well. As Peter addressed Ananias, that Satan had filled his heart to lie. And then we see right at the end of the book, of course, Revelation. It tells how the devil, Satan, deceives the whole world. So I know there's some who would deny that Satan exists, but clearly he was a real being. So Satan exists. Secondly, Satan is personal. And there's a particular false cult around called the Christadelphians. They deny that the devil is personal, that there is a personal devil. They think he's just a force, as they do with the Holy Spirit too. They deny the person of the Holy Spirit. They deny that Satan is a person. But right through the Bible, Satan's talked about with personal pronouns. For example, there as the Lord addresses him, hast thou considered my servant Job?

[2:33] He's addressed with personal pronouns. And then we see there, it says, not ignorant of his devices. So obviously he's a person. He is a person. And it says there, standing against the wiles of the devil, that he's got wiles. He's got basically strategies. He's got memory. As Matthew 4 verse 6, it says that he quotes the scripture. He obviously had memorized the scripture there. It is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee when the devil was tempting Christ. So it tells us that he had memory there to be able to recite scripture. It says that he has knowledge as well. Revelation 12, it says, He knoweth that he hath but a short time. And it says of the devil, he takes some people captive at his will. So again, it's talking about the characteristics of a person. He's got intelligence, memory, knowledge. He's got a will. And he's got emotions as well. So he knoweth that he hath but a short time. He knows that. He's got that awareness of that. He's only got a certain time limit. And he acts like a person. As it says in our notes here, he speaks, he tempts, he accuses, he makes war. And he can be treated like a person as well. He can be rebuked, as we are told to. He will be punished.

[3:56] And his name implies that he is a person. So the very names of Satan argue that he's got a personality. So Satan is personal. He's not just some impersonal force. He is a person.

[4:08] Next, Satan's origin and fall. And there's a couple of main scriptures that talk about Satan's origin. They're veiled references to the origin of Satan and the fall of Satan in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. They're warnings to some earthly kings, the earthly kings of Tyre and Babylon, who'd exalted themselves as gods before their people. And these words are also applicable to Satan himself, the unseen power behind those kings. So in Ezekiel 28, you can read the whole list of verses there, but just some salient ones. We see that Ezekiel 28 verse 12, it talks about Satan's original state. So when Satan was created, he was created originally with perfection, and he had this vocation, he had a job to do for God. And then it talks about his sin.

[5:06] So in the context of Ezekiel 28, it's like a lamentation. So it's really a tragic tale here of sin's entry into the universe, and really the great fall of Satan, one of the most beautiful and exalted of all God's creatures. So it tells us here about Satan, that he had a perfection in beauty.

[5:31] You see that one there, Ezekiel 28, 12, that he was full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Verse 15, it says, perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. He was full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, blameless in conduct. So originally he was perfect.

[5:53] And then we see what happened as his role was to be a cherub. So it was this high angelic rank, and it was associated with God's presence and glory. And he was called the anointed cherub. So anointing speaks of being appointed to an office of authority. And he was the anointed cherub that covers. So we see that there. And this word cover means to lead. So Satan had this preeminence, over the angelic host. And God placed him there. God placed him in that role. So we read on there of the anointed cherub that covereth. We see that he had all these coverings of precious stones.

[6:40] And it talks about the tabrets and pipes. So like musical instruments, it says that they were in him. It says that he had this important role. And he was on the holy mountain of God. So another picture of power, of government, of a throne. He had a position of great authority. So he was highly elevated.

[7:04] authority that was delegated to him by God. It says he walked in the midst of the stones of fire. This could refer to the throne room of God, where it talks about various stones, beautiful stones.

[7:19] And so he had this free access to God's throne, to God's presence. He had great favour and privilege, and a great position of government and authority. So that was his original vocation as this anointed cherub that covers. So he had a role to somehow guard and protect the throne of God. And it seems like he had some role in leading worship of sorts as having these instruments there, as it talks about tabrets and pipes or tambourines and flutes. It says that he himself was an instrument of praise.

[7:56] It talks about how these instruments were in him. He did not need an instrument. He was, in effect, an instrument of himself. And then we see his sin, as it reads on in Ezekiel 28.

[8:10] It talks about how he was there, blameless, till iniquity was found in him. So he was this created being, in that he is finite. He's got limited ability. He was not created evil, but he'd became evil through his own choice. And so sin began in his heart as he got prideful. It says, iniquity was found in him. By the multitude of thy merchandise, they filled the midst of thee with violence, and they have sinned. Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will destroy thee. It says, verse 17, thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty.

[8:53] Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. His heart was lifted up. He got prideful. Ezekiel 28 talks about how now we see him. He's profane. He's totally evil. He's a fallen creature.

[9:09] And because of his sin, it tells us there that he was cast down. He was the ruling angel of the Lord, but this pride overtook him. So Ezekiel 28 talks about the origin of Satan. And another key passage is in Isaiah 14, which also talks about Satan and his original sin. So Isaiah 14 there, from verse 12 to 17, talks about his original sin. And I like to the Ezekiel 28.