[0:00] I hope that you get to see what heaven is. I think it's a wonderful opportunity just to get to even talk to people. God privileges us just to be able to say something, anything, for the glory of God.
[0:20] All right, I'm going to preach today from the 10th chapter of the book of Luke. The Gospel of St. Luke chapter 10. Let me say welcome to our visitors that are here.
[0:35] We're glad that you're here. And we want you to enjoy yourself. If you're saved, just get in it with us. If you're unsaved, just get in it with us.
[0:48] We need everybody. We want all the help we can get. In Luke chapter 10, if you have your Bibles, I'll start reading at verse 16.
[0:59] Before I do, I will announce the subject of this sermon. The title of this sermon would be, The Devil Went Down to Georgia.
[1:12] The title of this sermon would be, The Devil Went Down to Georgia. There's quite a few things that are theologically correct with that sermon.
[1:23] There are quite a few things that are theologically in error with that sermon. Number one, it said the devil went down to Georgia. That teaches that he is not omnipresent.
[1:38] He cannot be in West Virginia and Georgia at the same time. You realize that? He is not the only omnipresent being in, I'll say the world, but I'd be anywhere, is God.
[1:54] The Trinity of God. And then I think the next line of the song said he was in a bind. Amen. We don't realize it, but he was really, been in a bind ever since he rebelled against God.
[2:13] He's been a loser from the stock. He'll continue to be a loser, and one day he'll wind up in the lake of fire. Then it said that he was willing to make a deal.
[2:27] I'll say this about the devil's deals. Every deal he ever made was a sham. Every deal you ever made with him, you come up on the losing side.
[2:39] And then before I read, let me say one more thing. You're not talented enough. I don't care how good a fiddle player you are. You're not talented enough to get in any kind of a contest at all with the devil.
[2:54] The devil is superior to us in everything. We cannot beat him at nothing if it is not for the Lord Jesus Christ. But through Jesus we can beat him.
[3:05] So let's look then here at Luke chapter 10. I'll start reading at verse 16. Luke chapter 10, verse 16. He that heareth me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me.
[3:19] And he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me. And the seventh he returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
[3:33] And he said unto them, I'll start reading after a while and quit stuttering. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
[3:50] Behold, I give you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
[4:02] Notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
[4:14] I want to call your attention there to verse 18 where Jesus said, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
[4:26] Now the scientists tell us that lightning and thunder occur simultaneously. That is, whenever the lightning strikes, the thunder strikes at the same time.
[4:41] But if you are away from that particular place, you'll see the lightning first, and later on you'll hear the thunder. But just as sure as you see the lightning, that's how sure the thunder's coming.
[4:56] I mean, it's simultaneous. Whenever Satan fell, he was defeated immediately. Since we live in time, we don't see that defeat right away.
[5:08] But that doesn't mean it isn't already accomplished. He's a loser. Amen. From the beginning, he'll continue to be a loser. If I was today to look on, say I was standing in eternity, and looking back at Satan, I could see this same thing that he fell.
[5:26] The description that he gives us in the book of Revelation, he falls, if you will, several times. Number one, he fell from his authority and position that he had as the archangel of God, as the chief angel of glory, the protector of God's throne.
[5:46] He fell from that position, and he no longer occupies the protection of God's throne, but he is in our day, in our time, the prince of the power of the air.
[5:57] But he's not going to stay there. I read in the Bible where one day he'll be thrown out of there, and he'll come down to earth, having a great wrath, for he knows he has but a short time.
[6:12] And then I read he doesn't get a rule on the earth very long, until an angel comes from glory, and wraps a chain around him, and casts him into a bottomless pit.
[6:23] But then I realize that after that, he's not through falling. One day he'll come out of the bottomless pit, and one day he'll have to stand before the judgment bar of God, and wind up in a lake that burns with fire and brimstone.
[6:37] That's his destiny, and that's the destiny of everybody that will believe the lies that he puts out to us today. The medieval description of the devil with the color of red and the horns and the tail, actually that's not far off.
[6:58] Sometimes we want to think it is, sometimes the little cartoon character, but if you'll read in the book of Revelation, his color is red. He does have a long tail.
[7:08] That tail does drag the third part of the angels of God with him, and so that description of him is not as far off as we'd think. So I want to preach today on this subject, the devil went down to Georgia, the devil went down to Georgia, and other misconceptions about Satan.
[7:30] Amen. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you today for the privilege to pray. Lord, it's our opportunity to stand in this pulpit, our Father, and represent you to these people at Esther Baptist Church and to those folks that would get this sermon wherever it may go.
[7:52] I pray, Lord, that we'd be able to unmask that old serpent called the devil. Father, we could pull the false face off of him and reveal exactly what he is to people.
[8:05] God, help us use the sermon in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Satan rebelled, or he was Lucifer at that time, and Lucifer rebelled against God, and the moment that he rebelled against God, the moment that he sinned, he became a defeated, amen, a defeated but not useless character.
[8:33] A defeated but not a useless character. If you could understand the position of Lucifer in his free agency, he was ultimately, he is going to wind up being the servant of God.
[8:49] Unwillingly, but a servant nevertheless. God is still on the throne, and prayer still changes things, and the devil can't touch us unless he gets permission from Almighty God.
[9:02] You see, his problem is he's an unbeliever, and being an unbeliever, and he promotes unbelief, and he actually activates unbelief in unbelieving people, but he's self-deceived.
[9:17] He thinks that he's got enough power or can gain enough forces to overcome Almighty God, but in God's foreknowledge, he has a process called the determinate counsel, and God sat down and figured this thing out before Lucifer ever fell, knows all about it, and God is not surprised at one thing that happens to us today.
[9:42] Acts chapter 2 verse 23 explains, it says the wicked hands crucified Jesus Christ, but by that Satan inspired act, God used that most wicked act that's ever been to accomplish my redemption.
[9:59] Understand that, that God uses Satan to accomplish his ends. It was said by Brother Joseph that you meant this for evil, but God meant this for good.
[10:13] There are things that we look at that we think are evil, but I've got more news for you. Romans 8 28 is still in the book, and there's nothing.
[10:24] I'm not saying that everything is good, but I'm saying that everything that happens to us happens for our good, and for God's glory. God meant it for good.
[10:35] God created all things for his glory, and we will bow now, or we'll bow later, but we will bow, and so will Satan under the mighty hand of God.
[10:47] The misconceptions that we have about the devil. Here's one of them. People think, the devil is going to be the one that runs hell. No, he's not going to reign in hell.
[10:58] He's not going to reign there at all. I remember a story. Most people remember story number two, but whenever I was a kid, there was a song out, they called the Hot Rod Race.
[11:09] Then there was a song come out about, do you remember the Hot Rod Race? That Hot Rod Race number two, let me see your hands. How many of you backslidden Baptists have heard that song?
[11:22] You heard the story about the Model A when the kid in the Mercury went out to play? I'm here to tell you I was a kid driving that Model. Well, anyway, they had a Hot Rod Race number three, and here's the way Hot Rod Race number three went.
[11:34] Now, this is real spiritual. Hang on to this. My poor old pappy said he'd start drinking but didn't quit riding that Hot Rod Lincoln, so I wound her up and I let her go. Now I'm with the devil down here below.
[11:45] The devil stands there with a fork and tail and cracks that whip. It's worse than jail. Got a little black horn on top of his head and his teeth are green. His eyes are red. Things really jump in this lower level joint. You didn't understand.
[11:56] You soon got the point. The idea is that Satan is running hell, but that's a false conception, brother. He won't be running nothing when he gets there. He'll be in torment just like everybody else is in torment in hell.
[12:11] Number two, the devil is supposed to be in equality with God. You know, they'll say things are eternal, that there is an eternal darkness that's opposed to eternal light, but I want you to know that the devil is not eternal, that Lucifer was made by God, created by God.
[12:32] He'll serve the purpose of God. He wasn't here all the time, but thank God he won't be ever bothering us again once we get to the glory land.
[12:43] And then, of course, the subject of our sermon, the devil going down to Georgia. If we're smart enough, we think. Amen. If we're smart enough, or if we're talented enough, we can outsmart the devil.
[12:57] The truth is, you're not that talented. Amen. Charlie Daniels is a far better fiddle player than I am, but the way I understand it, Johnny was a better fiddle player than Charlie, and Johnny was sitting on his stump, and he was outfiddling the devil.
[13:13] Don't kid yourself, brother. Nero of Rome can't outfiddle the devil. You are not talented enough. You are not smart enough. You are not intelligent enough.
[13:24] You have no plan that'll defeat him. But, brother, I know one that's got a plan that was smart enough, was intelligent enough, and was able to beat him at his very own game.
[13:37] Amen. The truth is, Satan is the unwilling servant of Almighty God. Our conflict with him is completely supervised. That helps.
[13:51] Amen. That's somebody ought to say hallelujah right there. Our conflict with the devil is completely supervised by God Almighty, the sovereign God, who loves us too much to hurt us, too wise to make a mistake.
[14:07] Romans 8, 28. Oh, you say, preacher, don't you ever lose battles? Oh, yes. I've lost battles with the devil, but I'm telling you what, brother, I've won the war.
[14:19] Whenever the Lord Jesus Christ saved my soul, the war was over, brother, and I became victorious. The angel Lucifer was glorious until iniquity was found in him, and when that iniquity was found in him, he became a loser that day.
[14:36] He became a loser that day. God gave him his back. He told him, said, I allow you to be the protector of the throne. I allow you to be the anointed cherub that covers, and God gave him his back, and what did he do?
[14:50] He stabbed him in the back. That's exactly how he became the devil. You ever hear somebody say, I got your back? I wish they had my back. Most of the time I look around, they're way back.
[15:02] They're both hands on the wheel and shoulders right back, and looking at me, and I'm standing out there all along. But God gave him this position as the anointed cherub that covered, and self-deceived, Satan thought, well, I'll just get rid of him, then the vineyard will belong to me.
[15:21] If I can kill the heir, then the vineyard will be mine. And so he miscalculated. He miscalculated on his ability, and he miscalculated on God's ability.
[15:34] He said, well, I'll do it, but it didn't come to pass. I read one time in the Bible where it said that they accused Jesus of doing his works by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.
[15:51] And the scholars make much of the fact that there's just one devil. And they'll tell us, they'll say there's just one devil, but there's a whole lot of demons.
[16:04] Now this old King James book says they're all devils. And I want to say this. We had one enemy. I believe I could say this. In World War II, Adolf Hitler was our enemy.
[16:19] Is that right? He was the guy running the show. But Adolf Hitler wasn't near as dangerous to the American soldier as them little imps that had their loyalty to Hitler.
[16:30] You understand what I'm saying? What I'm saying is we're worried about trying to prove there's only one devil. And we got a whole bunch of little devils out here on the front line shooting us down.
[16:42] We need to worry about them. The devil's down in Georgia, the way I heard it, so he can't bother us. But don't you worry. He's got somebody. He's got something that'll be right here with us.
[16:54] But he's self-deceived in his calculation to destroy Almighty God. If Satan cast out Satan, his kingdom will fall. Let me help you.
[17:05] Let me help you. I don't want to sound like a hyper-Calvinist, which I'm not. But I believe in the sovereignty of God. And I don't believe in luck. Amen.
[17:15] You're going to be a loser. Are you listening to me? Whenever you count up how many dollars you put in that machine and how many stuffed animals you took home, you're going to wind up the loser, friend.
[17:27] You'd be better off not to put your dollar in there. I see that they've opened the casino. Did y'all see that? Bragging about it on the news.
[17:38] And they said this. First day, the casino made $10,000. Amen. And they'll continue to make money. And everybody that goes out there, they're going to lose money.
[17:51] That's the way the devil works. Amen. There's things that we can do that the devil can't do.
[18:03] Number one, we can repent. You know, people say, well, I'll repent. No. You won't repent. Acts chapter 2, or Acts chapter 11, verse 18.
[18:14] You won't repent until God grants you repentance. Amen. And God's not going to grant the devil repentance. He's not redeemed by blood.
[18:24] Number two, God gives us the ability to suffer in His name. Philippians chapter 1, verse 29. We've got people today, and I believe we're living in the end time.
[18:37] I believe we're living in a time when we'll all see a mighty persecution against the church. But I want to tell you, the same God that stood by those first century Christians when they were fed to the lions is the same God that'll stand beside of us regardless of what the government wants to do to us.
[18:56] Listen, God, whenever the hour comes for us to have to suffer, God is able to give us the ability to suffer in His place. The devil will try.
[19:08] The devil will try to destroy us, but he can't do nothing with us until God's finished with us. I think about some preachers that I know of down south. The devil come to them with this deal.
[19:21] You say, you sure he was the devil? Yeah, I sure he was the devil. He looked like a preacher. Amen. Had that one guy said, well, I don't believe no talking snakes.
[19:32] I said, you ain't been around them preachers. Amen. Amen. Well, he come up with this deal. I think they were doing foreign exchange or something, and he come up with this deal that if you just invest your money in this, you know the American dollar is going to do this and the American dollar is going to do that.
[19:49] If you invest your money wisely, you invest your money, give it to me, and I'll give you back ten dollars for every dollar you give me. One preacher was foolish enough to go borrow a hundred thousand dollars and give it to him just because, hey, would you do that?
[20:05] Are you that stupid? Or you think the devil would have something to do with that? Amen. Whenever he got that hundred thousand, put his home up. Got that hundred thousand dollars, put his home up and said, well, man, I'm going to be a wealthy man and I'm going to be able, I'm going to be able to help God.
[20:24] Let me tell you something, pal. God don't need your wealth. God don't need some scheme that you come up to make you a millionaire so you can help God.
[20:35] If God needs help, he wouldn't ask you. If he is hungry, he wouldn't ask you. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He's not interested in your help.
[20:45] Brother, we need him. He doesn't need us and he doesn't need the devil's schemes. The devil started this thing by saying, I will ascend into heaven.
[20:58] And then I like what God said. God said, I'll do a little I wills myself. There in the garden, he said, I will put enmity between thy seed and the serpent seed and he'll bruise his heel but he'll bruise your head.
[21:13] Those two wills met in Gethsemane and met on Calvary and Satan is a guaranteed, guaranteed defeat. You bet on him, you're gonna be defeated.
[21:25] Amen. Are y'all hot? Well, let me rest a minute. Bobby, check him out, will you?
[21:38] Yeah. How does God use Satan? How does God use Satan? Look at me, I'm preaching.
[21:49] All right? Number one, and I think this is something that people need to know. God uses Satan.
[21:59] He uses him when unsaved people spurn the love of God.
[22:10] Amen. God uses Satan to judge those people. Amen. It's a very serious thing to reward God's love with hatred.
[22:24] Amen. It's a very serious thing for God's good to be rewarded with evil. Whenever you as an unsaved person, whenever you reject the gospel of Jesus Christ, you're getting in very serious trouble.
[22:43] Let me show you something from the book of Psalms chapter 109. Psalm 109. If you have your Bibles, I want to read something there to you.
[22:57] Psalm 109. Let me start at verse 4 or 5.
[23:10] We'll start at 5. They have rewarded me evil for good and hatred for my love. All right?
[23:21] Consequence. Set thou a wicked man over him and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned and let his prayer become a sin.
[23:39] That's serious, friend. You do despite to the spirit of grace and Satan is allowed to manipulate you. You see, whenever you come to the age of accountability, Satan is allowed.
[23:56] If you reject the gospel because of man's rejection, God, well, I think Romans says it this way. When you are exposed to God and when you knew God and refused to glorify God, there is a seed planted in your soul, but yet the fowls of the air come and devour that seed.
[24:21] And if you refuse the truth, the Bible said you will believe a lie, a love, darkness rather than light and you'll be blinded by the God of this world.
[24:35] I'm saying it's a very serious thing and God uses Satan to blind the minds of those that will not receive the truth of Almighty God.
[24:48] If I was unsaved, I wouldn't wait till altar call. I'd come now. If I was unsaved and I was watching by TV or some other medium, I wouldn't wait till I got to church, but I'd come right now.
[25:03] I'd say, God, please don't turn Satan loose on me. Please don't let me be deceived into believing his life. You'll hear this response.
[25:14] Are you a Christian? Well, I believe in God, but I won't go to church. You're probably not a Christian, honey. How many times have I told you this? If you don't have enough religion to take you to church, you probably ain't got enough to take you to heaven.
[25:30] And that's coming from an eternal security preaching Baptist, thank you. Amen. Well, I hear it all the time. Well, I would like to serve God, but I can't stomach them church people.
[25:41] Amen. Let me help you. Sometimes I can't stomach them either. But I'm not here for them. I'm here because God called me to preach. Amen.
[25:52] Thank you. Satan is allowed by God. God uses him to judge people who reject the gospel. And let me say secondly, God uses Satan to cause growth in the believer.
[26:08] In Job chapter 1 and verse 11, you know Satan's will, his desire was to discredit Job. That was his desire. Amen. But his end was he actually helped old Job.
[26:21] After everything was said and done, Job had more than he started with, twice as much as he started with. Glorifying God was a better Christian for going through the experience than he would have been.
[26:33] God allowed Satan to get at us just to cause us to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord. And I'm saying if you remember reading Job chapter 1, he could only act, amen, with permission granted by almighty God.
[26:53] granted, and then God only granted him a limited destruction. That's all he can do. Amen. He can't, yeah man, stick your tongue out at the devil.
[27:06] He can't do nothing that God doesn't allow him to do. I know preachers that are afraid to preach this subject because they're afraid the devil will jump on. Well, come on pal.
[27:17] Listen, I'm not afraid of him, not because I've got the ability to beat him, I'm too smart for that, but I'm not afraid of him because my elder brother can handle it. And I get real brave around my elder brother.
[27:31] You understand what I'm saying? You get there in the schoolyard and some bully is picking on you. You go get your elder brother and watch that bully melt away.
[27:42] Amen. Number three, God uses Satan to discipline the wayward children. How many times you read in the book of Judges where God delivered Israel over to their enemies?
[28:01] Wasn't the apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 20 that he delivered Hymenaeus and Alexander over to Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme?
[28:13] I'm saying discipline of the wayward. Look at her, pal. You better quit. You better quit those ideas. Well, I don't think it's important to go to church tonight.
[28:24] It is important for you to go. And listen, if God turns Satan loose on you, you'll be wishing that the church was there instead of the doctor.
[28:34] Amen. Peter was told Satan desires to have you that he may sift you as wheat. You ever been in that sieve and he's just shaking that thing backwards and forwards.
[28:48] Hey, hello. Is it? Amen. I know you're there. Amen. I can hear you breathing. Amen. He sifts us as wheat. He disciplines us.
[29:00] And then let me say that a lot of us, a lot of Christians are too big for their britches. Amen. God will give them a little ability. God will give them the ability to maybe preach or sing or just have the ability to encourage people and we'll make a whole bunch out of ourselves.
[29:21] We'll think ourselves to be something when there are no one or nothing. Well, let me tell you about a fellow that got a real exaltation from God. In the 12th chapter of the book of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul or 2 Corinthians 7, the apostle Paul was caught up to the third heaven and man, you're talking about a sightseeing tour.
[29:42] You say, you've been to Paris, you've been to London, you've been to Rome. How many of you can say, I've been to Jerusalem and I saw what's going on up there.
[29:53] When old Paul hit back down on the earth, brother, he would have been exalted above measure except for one thing. The Bible said that God allowed Satan to have him a thorn in the flesh so he wouldn't be exalted above measure.
[30:10] We get too big for our britches and Satan's turned loose on us. Just kind of cut us down to size. Amen. What we need to do as God's people, we need to say, Lord, we're here for your service.
[30:26] What you want for us is what we want. And Lord, I couldn't do nothing without you. And Father, whatever I can do, I want to do it for you.
[30:37] I want to glorify your name. I don't want any praise for myself because I don't have anything that you didn't give me. Amen. I ain't got a thing that God didn't give me.
[30:48] You say, I work for it. Well, who gave you the bread? Well, you was working. God gave it all to us. And then let me say, let me say, I'll probably preach tonight on the subject of the churches.
[31:01] more, I'll deal with it more tonight, but let me say that God uses Satan to allow us to earn our rewards.
[31:14] That's how we earn our reward. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 10. Let me go over there. I won't preach much longer. I'm wore out than you are too.
[31:28] Revelation chapter 2 and verse 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
[31:43] Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried. And you shall have tribulation ten days.
[31:55] Be thou faithful unto death and I'll give thee a crown of life. You see, crowns in the Bible are earned. And they're earned.
[32:06] The crown of life there is earned by people who love not their life unto the death. Who had the testimony of Jesus Christ and who said, I will not deny his name.
[32:22] I think about folks like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were told, if you'll bow down and worship at the sound of the music, you'll not have to go to the furnace.
[32:35] But they said, we're not bowing. Amen. I kind of like that. I think I come from that line. Amen. The people that had no desire to bow to the things of the dead.
[32:47] I'm thinking about Daniel. They said, Daniel, if you'll just do what we tell you, stop at praying. Daniel, we'll see to it that you don't go to a lion's den.
[33:00] But Daniel said, before I'll be a partaker of your sin, I'll spend the time in the lion's den. I'm thinking about God uses Satan to give us opportunity to shine his lights and earn our reward.
[33:17] If we've got to die for the cause, let's stay faithful and God will reward us for that cause. The devil cast the church at Smyrna into prison, but that gave them opportunity to gain their reward.
[33:34] Well, the devil went down to Georgia. He was looking for a soul to steal. He was in a bind because he was way behind. He's in a bind, all right.
[33:49] But it's not because he's behind. Look around. I think he's running ahead of the game on my side. But I'll tell you what, we need no misconception.
[34:03] He is our enemy. We need no misconception. If God turns him loose on us, we'll not be able to make it. But we also need to know that God has allowed only so much.
[34:21] And like he told the sea, you can't come no further than there. Amen. I'm glad there's a line drawn there. I'm glad that the devil can't go past that line.
[34:34] And I'll just run over there and I'll be in the shelter of my big brother. Let's bow for prayer. Heads