If you have your Bibles, turn to Ephesians chapter 6.
Ephesians chapter 6, at the end of World War II,
there was an unusual period that followed.
The bombs had been dropped, Japan had surrendered,
a treaty had been signed, and the Pacific was at peace
in most places.
However, on the islands of the Pacific,
there were pockets of battles that were still raging.
The outcome of the war had been determined,
but some of the Japanese fighting units hadn't heard of that.
For those who hadn't heard of it and the opposition,
nothing seemed to have changed.
The battle was just as real for them.
They were still hiding in hopes of conquering
through guerrilla warfare.
The outcome had been settled,
but too many died after the victory.
had been obtained.
That historic picture is an illustration
of what we're experiencing today
in the spiritual climate in which we live.
Since the death and resurrection of Christ,
the war, the spiritual war has been won,
but battles continue to be fought.
The outcome's settled, yet guerrilla warfare
from the enemy continues on,
just as real as before,
and it's a spiritual war of terror
with landmines and booby traps.
The enemy will hit you when you do not expect it.
It's a full-blown war,
but surprisingly,
I want you to hear me,
it's not with other people.
It's not with political parties.
It's not with deviant ideologies.
All of that stuff is evidence
of something much larger,
much bigger than that.
And I want you to see today
what all that's about.
I'm going to begin in Ephesians 6,
verse 11 through 12,
because it's just a statement
of what we're dealing with.
It says,
put on the whole armor of God
that you may be able to stand
against the schemes of the devil.
This is the verse.
For we don't wrestle
against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers,
against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers
over this present darkness,
against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly places.
I believe that we need to understand
this war that we're in.
I want you to understand
the war where it started.
I want you to understand
what in the world's going on now
and where all this is going.
And so to begin that,
I want to first look
at the origin of Satan.
There's no particular passage
that tells us
the whole story of Satan.
However, when you check
the landscape of Scripture,
it becomes quite clear
what is going on.
And a great summary
of the origin of Satan
is in Revelation 12,
verse 7 through 9.
And it says in Revelation 7 through 9,
Now war arose in heaven,
Michael and his angels
fighting against the dragon.
And the dragon and his angels
fought back,
but he was defeated
and there was no longer
any place for him in heaven.
And the great dragon
was thrown down,
that ancient serpent
who is called the devil
and Satan,
the deceiver of the whole world.
He was thrown down
to the earth
and his angels
were thrown down with him.
So he was an angel.
Job chapter 1, verse 6
calls him one of the sons of God,
which is a reference to,
an Old Testament reference
to angels.
Jesus referred to him
as an angel
in Matthew 25, verse 41.
And this Scripture tells us
that he wanted to replace God
in heaven.
He caused havoc in heaven
wanting to replace God.
He wanted to receive
all the beauty,
all the glory,
all the wisdom
and power of God.
Revelation 12 also tells us
kind of cryptically
that he took a third
of the angels with him
and those angels
would now be called demons.
There's more about that
in prophecy
in Isaiah chapter 14.
And Isaiah chapter 14
in its first audience context
speaks of an earthly king,
the king of Babylon.
But if you know anything
about Babylon,
you know that Babylon
is a symbol
of Satan's empire on earth.
And the parallel of that
cannot be mistaken.
As this king's life
is described,
it becomes a window
of this true spiritual force
that is behind him.
Isaiah chapter 14,
verse 12 through 15
says this,
Oh, you are fallen from heaven,
oh, day star, son of dawn,
how you are cut down
to the ground,
you who laid the nations low.
You said in your heart,
I will ascend to heaven
above the stars of God,
I will set my throne on high,
I will sit on the mount
of assembly
in the far reaches
of the north,
I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds,
I will make myself
like the most high,
but you're brought down
to Sheol,
to the far reaches
of the pit.
That's Isaiah speaking of it.
Ezekiel speaks of it as well.
And Ezekiel's a tough book now.
I mean,
it is filled with
grandiose imagery,
detailed and weird
kind of prophecies.
It's filled with
apocalyptic literature,
which has a lot of symbolic
and image-filled
type of writing going on.
And I want you to notice
what happens
when Ezekiel warns
the king of Tyre.
Tyre was an enemy
of Israel,
and he warns that king,
and I believe you'll quickly see
that this king is a mere puppet
for the evil one himself.
He serves as a window
to the true spiritual force
behind him.
Like much of prophecy,
there's, I guess,
what you'd call
the first audience meaning,
which means that he's speaking
to the king of Tyre,
like Isaiah was speaking
to the king of Babylon.
But then in an inspirational sense,
through the Holy Spirit of God,
it speaks to much more than that.
There's a then and now
in prophecy.
Speaks to the audience
at the time,
and then it continues
to speak throughout history.
And you see both
of those things
kind of come together
in both of these passages.
Ezekiel 28, 12 through 19
says this.
Remember, he's talking
to a king,
but I want you to listen
to what he says.
Son of man,
raise a lamentation
over the king of Tyre,
and say to him,
thus says the Lord,
you were the signet
of perfection,
full of wisdom
and perfect in beauty.
You'll see that
we're talking about Satan here,
but the point of that
is perfect in beauty.
Satan is attractive.
Be warned, he's attractive.
You were in Eden,
the garden of God.
Now listen,
the king of Tyre
was not in Eden,
the garden of God,
but Satan was.
So you see
the double parallel there.
Every precious stone
was your covering,
and it goes on
to mention nine jewels,
I believe,
all of which
I'm pretty sure
are part of that description
of heaven
that mentions
12 different jewels.
So in other words,
he's saying he's heavenly.
You were anointed
guardian cherub.
No earthly king
is an angel,
and a cherub,
also called cherubim,
which is the plural form
of cherub,
was the inner circle
of angels,
those closest to the Father,
guarding his holiness.
It's the cherubim
that are the angel images
that were on the Ark
of the Covenant
in the Holy of Holies,
the innermost holy chamber
of the temple.
He goes on to say,
I placed you,
you were on the holy mountain
of God,
in the midst of the stones
of fire you walked.
Zachariah speaks of how
God protects us
through a wall of fire,
and so this is related
to that kind of talk.
You were blameless
in your ways
from the day you were created
till unrighteousness
was found in you.
In the abundance
of your trade,
you were filled with violence
in your midst,
and you sinned.
So I cast you
as a profane thing
from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you,
O guardian cherub,
from the midst
of the stones of fire.
Your heart was proud
because of your beauty.
You corrupt your wisdom
for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground.
I exposed you before kings
to feast their eyes on you
by the multitude
of your iniquities.
In the unrighteousness
of your trade,
you profane your sanctuaries.
So I brought fire
out of from your mist.
It consumed you,
and I turned you
to ashes on the earth
in the sight
of all who saw you.
All who know you
among the peoples
are appalled at you.
You've come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.
In other words,
he was a top angel,
one of the cherubim,
and placed on the pinnacle
among them.
He was in the glory of heaven,
and he was righteous
at first.
And then pride took over.
Why?
Because of his beauty.
After pride,
violence followed.
Sin took over,
and God cast him out.
Now, listen,
if all that seems wild
and willy to you,
it should,
because it is.
But it's true.
And that's where
all this began.
But more than just the origin,
more than where it all began,
I want you to also see
what in the world's going on.
And that's in the effort
of Satan.
Because we can see
the origins of his efforts
here as well,
because his efforts
are led by pride.
We'll just go back
to Isaiah chapter 14.
It mentions five
I wills of Satan
in Isaiah 14.
I will ascend
to heaven
above the stars
of God.
In other words,
he wanted to be equal
with God.
Reach his level.
And by the way,
stars there,
metaphorically,
is often spoken of,
it often speaks
of angels
in prophecy.
And so what he's saying
is,
I will ascend to heaven
above the other angels
of God.
He wanted to be equal
with God.
He goes on to say,
I'll set my throne
on high.
He wanted to be number one.
He goes on to say,
I want to sit
on the mount of assembly.
That's the authoritative
position.
I want to ascend
to the heights
of the clouds.
The clouds represent
God's glory.
He wanted the glory
that only comes to God.
He goes on to say,
I'll make myself
the most high.
How obvious is that?
That's his goal.
He wants to replace God.
He wants to receive
all the beauty,
the glory,
the wisdom,
the power of God.
I'll tell you
what his effort is.
He wants to dethrone God.
Now,
he can't take
the place of God.
He can't defeat God.
If he thought he could
in his heavenly conflict,
he knows better now.
The cross changed everything.
The war's been won.
So now he knows that.
So he will try to
take the place of God
in individual lives.
Now,
how does he do that?
He tries to convince us
to be our own God.
He tries to convince us
to rule our own lives
or to be like God.
That was his strategy
in the garden.
Still strategy today.
It's all about pride.
Every sin,
no matter what it is
that we involve ourselves in,
comes from the base
of pride.
You know why?
Because sin is putting
yourself before God.
Saying that your judgment
is better than God's judgment.
It was prideful rebellion
that marked his fall
and he still prides himself
on filling us up
with pride
and rebelling against God.
He wants to dethrone God
in our lives.
Second,
he wants us to think
that he's equal with God.
Now,
I want you to hear me
because I'll refer to this often,
but I'm not going to talk
about it a whole lot.
But you'll see it.
He is not equal with God.
He was created.
He was the head angel
that rebelled.
He is not God's counterpart.
When you say,
you know,
I feel God on this shoulder
and Satan on it
and they both tell me
I don't know what it is.
They're not equal.
God is omnipotent.
It means he's all-powerful.
God's omniscient.
It means he's all-knowing.
God's infinite.
He's limitless.
Satan knows a lot,
but he don't know all.
He has power,
but he's not like God.
He's not limitless.
God put limitations on him.
As a matter of fact,
the book of Job tells us
about the limitations
that God puts on him
because we see Satan
ask God to prove
that Job is a fake.
He asked him if he could prove it
and God allowed him
to disrupt the world of Job
but told him,
don't touch his health.
And so Job endured horror,
horror,
the worst nightmare
you can imagine.
But he didn't get sick
and he held fast
to his faith in the Lord
and Satan came back to God.
Job tells us this.
Satan came back to God
and said,
let me hit his health
and if I hit his health,
he'll turn his back on you.
And so God let him hit his health.
He became very sick
and Job stayed,
just stayed faithful.
He proved he was faithful.
Now, let me just say,
I don't know why
God allows Satan
to do what he does.
I don't understand it.
I don't.
But this I know
that you can rest in.
God uses our struggles
to build our faith.
If you never had a struggle,
you'd never build faith.
God uses our struggles
to build faith.
Second thing is,
nothing comes
that God has not allowed.
Now, there's a lot
we don't understand.
And by the way,
if you're one that says,
you know,
when I get to heaven,
I'm going to ask God,
I don't think you are.
I don't think you will.
I think you'll be so amazed
in his presence
that your questions
will be answered.
You'll see it all
in a different light.
You can beg to differ,
you've got a right to be wrong.
But I don't think you'll ask.
Nothing comes
that God has not allowed.
Satan
is not an equal counterpart.
Job teaches us
he had to ask.
He had to ask
to do anything.
In other words,
he's on a leash
firmly held
by the hand of God.
So he wants to dethrone God.
He wants us to think
that he's equal with God.
But he also wants
to corrupt us.
And I'll share with you
more about how he will
in coming days,
but I just want you
to see the origin of this.
In Ezekiel 28, verse 16,
he says,
by the multitude
of your iniquities
and the unrighteousness
of your trade,
you profaned your sanctuaries.
Now let's think about this
a minute.
Your sanctuaries.
What is his sanctuaries?
Well, listen,
I know what we call this room,
but I want to be clear
about something.
This is not a sanctuary
in a scriptural sense.
Because scripture tells us
if you're a child of God,
you are a temple
of the Holy Spirit.
That's in 1 Corinthians 6, 19.
Because God dwells in us,
we're sanctuaries
in the Lord.
And Satan prides himself
on profaning us.
The significance
of this building is
that the saints of God,
that God lives within,
come together
for one purpose,
and that's to uplift
the name of Christ,
where two or three or more
are gathered in his name.
There he is
in the midst of it.
But listen,
we didn't come into this room
to get in the presence of God.
If you're a child of God,
he came in with you.
And so we have the opportunity
to worship with him alone.
We also have the opportunity
to do corporately.
Both of them are scriptural.
Both of them are required by God.
Now, but understand,
let's take it a step further.
If Christians are sanctuaries,
temples of the Holy Spirit of God,
what are those people housing
that don't have Christ?
The devil is having a way
profaning his sanctuaries.
And his effort is not aimed at us.
It's aimed at Christ.
I've told you that before,
but I want you to get that.
It's aimed at Christ.
And if people can be hindered
from coming to Christ,
Satan wins a battle.
If Christians are hindered
from walking with Christ,
Satan wins a battle.
He's lost the war.
Let's just make sure
we win the battles.
Because he'll war on us
as long as he can.
You need to understand
where it began,
the origin of Satan.
You need to understand
what in the world's going on now,
the efforts of Satan.
But I also want you to see
where all this is going.
And that's the ruin of Satan.
Let's go back to Ezekiel 28 again.
He prophesies of what's going to happen.
He says,
By the multitude of your iniquities
and the unrighteousness of your trade,
you profane your sanctuary.
So I brought fire
from out of your mist.
It consumed you,
and I turned you
to the ashes on the earth
inside of all who saw you.
What this speaks of
is the future demise of Satan
as if it's already happened
because friend is settled.
Satan's already defeated,
and he knows it.
I want you to understand
what's going on.
I want you to think about
something for a minute, okay?
If your team is playing a sport,
it's football season,
so forgive my football illustrations,
but I lean on them pretty heavy, okay?
Your team is winning,
and the losing team
gets tired of losing,
and they get angry about it.
And they realize
they're not going to win.
There's no way
they can come back.
An old boy's been running
on them all night,
and they're tired of that.
Some old boy's been
hitting on them all night,
and they're tired of that.
And so that coach
grabs some scrub
by the shoulder
and says,
listen,
you see that kid out there?
Knock him out.
Take him out now.
Go in there
and get him out of the game.
Grab somebody else.
Get him.
Get him out of the game.
That ain't the way
you play the game.
That's dirty,
and it's wrong,
and that's not the way
you play the game.
That's exactly
what Satan's doing now.
That's exactly
what he's doing.
He just wants
to take you out.
That's what he wants to do.
Just not make,
if you're a child of God,
he wants to not
make you productive
for the Lord.
And if you can just
sit on the sideline
for the rest of your life,
he can't take your salvation,
but you're not going
to tell anybody else
about it.
You're not going
to live it out
before others.
God's not going
to use you
to reach others.
And so he's,
he's one half
his battle with you
because he can't
have his soul.
So he'll just try
his best to take your life
and what it's for
for the Lord.
And if you're here
this morning
and there's never
been a time
when you've asked
the Lord Jesus
to forgive you
of your sins,
to come into your life
and to change you
and to save you,
I want you to know
all that hell
don't want you to do it.
And they'll fight you
for everything they can
because they want you so.
They're not after you,
they're after Christ.
They want to make him
look bad
so if they can keep you
from committing
your life to Christ,
Christian,
if they can keep you
from committing
your life to Christ,
then they've won the battle.
And all they're doing
is just sending
dirty players out
to just make a mess
until the game's over.
That's all,
that's all they're doing.
So it's not a game.
This is what Jesus said.
And I just hope and pray
because as I was preaching
this a little while ago,
it just,
it just all came to light
while I was standing here.
So I'm going to try
to be a hold of myself.
But John 10, 10 says this.
I want you to listen
to what Christ says.
The thief comes
only to steal
and to kill
and to destroy.
I've come that you
might have life
and have it more abundantly.
Killing,
stealing
and destroying
is what Satan does.
So
what happens
when difficulty comes
and people start
looting stores
or what happens
when they just walk
in a store,
a mass burglary
in the middle of the day
and just start
yanking iPhones
off the shelf
and just taking them out
and people just
watching them do it,
just taking what's not theirs
and just do what they want to do.
That's the evil ones
what that is.
That's the evil one.
What about when people
just want to burn
something down
or paint all over
a monument
or do whatever?
Why in the world?
What about their cause?
It ain't got nothing
to do with their cause.
It's the evil one
doing that mess.
What about when
there's a drive-by?
What about when
somebody takes
a pop shot
at somebody?
A closet
coward
that shoots
when nobody sees.
What's that?
That's the evil one.
That's what he's doing.
He wants to steal
and kill
and to destroy.
We need to understand,
folks,
our battle's
not against
flesh and blood.
It's the evil one.
And he's raised
his head
and we've become
so self-confident
and so prideful
that I believe
I'm off script
and it's dangerous.
I believe
God's lifting
his hand on America.
He's dropping
his hedge of protection
and let us live
with what we live with.
And there was
no king in Israel
and everyone did
what was right
in his own eyes.
Check that out
in Kings.
See how that went
for him.
Okay?
I'm telling you
the evil one
is at work
killing
and stealing
and destroying
as much as he
possibly can
because he knows
his demise
is coming
so let's just
make a mess of it.
This is also
explained in the
curses in the
Garden of Eden.
The ancient serpent
as Revelation 12
calls him
lied to Eve
and Adam and Eve
into sin
and led Adam and Eve
into sin
and in that
he was cursed
and our present battle
with the enemy
was mentioned.
In Genesis chapter 3
verse 15
it says
I will put enmity
between you
and the woman
and between your offspring
and her offspring
he shall bruise your head
and you shall bruise
his heel.
That is a prophecy
of the carnage
of the war
that began
when Satan
was cast
out of heaven
and like so much
of prophecy
it's a two-fold
prophecy.
It speaks of the
battles that began
the day
between humanity
and Satan
and it speaks
of the conclusion
of the war
through the cross
as well as
through the events
that are still to come.
With this sin
will come enmity
between man
and serpent.
Enmity
is a deep-seated
ill will
an ongoing
battle of hatred
is what that's
talking about
and that is
talking about
humans and serpents.
Okay?
To me that's
the first meaning.
I ate them.
But much more
importantly than that
this speaks
of the war
of the offspring
of woman
and the evil one.
Now I want to be
clear about something.
Satan has no offspring.
He did not
create the demons.
He's not equal
with God.
He didn't create
anything.
They were angels
remember
and now they're
fallen angels.
We call them demons.
They influence
people
into being
sinners
and then they
became the
children of the
influence of the
evil one.
And Satan
and his army
work hard
to draw us
and to draw
all as far
away from God
as possible.
Satan is
to use the term
used here.
He is biting
at our heels
and we too
often are
poisoned by it.
Satan has
way too much
influence on our
lives.
He wins way
too many battles
in our lives
but he knows
and this may be
why he wears
us down so
that he will
not win the war.
He knows that.
He'll bruise us.
He'll scar us.
He'll wound us.
He'll strike our heel.
However,
the passage
is much bigger
than that
because it also
speaks of
messianic prophecy.
It speaks of
what Christ will do
and it's kind of
odd the way
it says it here
because when it
says in
between you
and the woman
and between
your offspring
and her offspring
offspring,
that word for
offspring means
seed.
Literally in the
Hebrew it is
seed and
normally in
scripture
offspring or
literally seed
speaks of a
man.
Abraham's offspring
is often spoken
of and it's his
seed.
That's the word
that's used.
The man
provides the
seed,
the woman,
the egg
but here
it says
the seed
of a woman.
Why is that?
This is a
prophecy
of the
virgin born
Christ.
There was
no seed
of a man
in the
virgin born
Christ.
This is
the first
prophetic
proclamation
of the gospel
is what this
is.
Satan's
efforts are
rough on
us but
it's not
near as
strong and
rough as
it was on
Christ.
He was
hated by
religious leaders.
He was
mocked by
those that
followed him
days earlier.
He was
nearly beaten
to death,
hung in
agony on a
Roman cross
that took
his respect
and his
dignity and
his life.
It was a
rough strike
of the heel
but I want you
to understand
something today.
It was only a
strike.
It was not
a defeat.
His death
was a strike
but Paul
tells us
what's coming.
Romans
chapter 16
verse 20
says the
God of
peace will
soon crush
Satan under
your feet.
I was
recently told
one of the
most horrific
things I've
ever been
told that
if you
chop a
copperhead
snake's head
off that
you need to
bury it because
it'll still
bite you even
with venom.
If that
don't keep
you up at
night I
don't know
what will
but anyway.
But you
know what
that reminds
me of?
It reminds
me of
Satan.
He's running
around like a
chicken with
his head
cut off and
the war's been
won my friend.
He's lost.
Christ defeated
Satan on the
cross and
through the
resurrection and
now he empowers
the Christian.
I told you
last week James
4 and it stuck
with me this
week.
James 4
7 resist him
and he'll
flee from
you.
Resist the
evil one he'll
flee from
you.
1 Corinthians
10 13 tells
us God will
provide a way
out.
Every time
you're tempted
he'll provide
a way out.
And I want
you to hear me
this morning and
I'll close.
I want you to
hang your hat on
this as you
leave.
1 John 4 4
Little children
you're from God
and have overcome
them but he
who is in you
is greater than
he who is in
the world.
Satan is mad
Satan is
manipulative
Satan is
mean but I
want you to
keep it all in
perspective because
he's just a sore
loser.
That's what he
is.
He's just a sore
loser.
He knows he's
lost the war and
so he wants to
win the battles in
your life.
When I was
growing up there
was a
an evangelist
youth evangelist
that rode around
in a custom
band named
Billy Mayo.
He's fighting
rock and roll
music with all
he could.
He's of the
devil.
They were
breaking records
you don't even
know what that
is.
Anyway they're
back but
crushing
cassette tapes
telling all the
stories about how
they wrote these
songs and how
they were but he
said a phrase that
always stuck out in
my mind and it's
true.
somebody's messing
with your mind
and you don't even
know it.
We're in a war
that's already been
won.
The cross of Christ
and the empty
tomb signed the
treaty.
It's done.
And he's still
winning battles in
our lives.
Shame on us.
May we live
victorious for the
Lord Jesus Christ
because he who is
in us is greater
than he who is in
the world.
With every head
bowed and every
eye closed I ask
you today have you
ever given your
heart and life to
the Lord Jesus
Christ?
I didn't ask you
if you was a
member of this
church.
I didn't ask if
everybody thought
you were saved.
I didn't ask you
any of that.
I ask you have you
ever given your
heart and life to
the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Have you ever
said Lord I'm a
sinner.
I need salvation.
Lord I want you to
come into my life
and change me.
Empower me dear
God.
Give me victory in
the midst of the
battles in which I
face.
And if you've never
done that I promise
you today is the day
of salvation.
He'll meet you where
you are and he'll
change your life
forever.
We're going to
stand in a moment
and we're going to
sing and if God's
leading you you just
obey him.
Just do exactly what
he tells you to do.
Maybe you're here
this morning and you
have done that but
you've never publicly
acknowledged that at
all and Jesus by his
example and by his
commission tells us we
follow that with
baptism.
A public proclamation of
what's already happened to
us in our lives.
If you've never been
baptized I encourage you
to come.
Be obedient to God.
It's a first step of
obedience.
You don't do that it'll
hinder your walk with
God.
If you're wondering
what's hindered you
check your baptism.
It makes a difference.
I promise you.
Maybe you're here and
God's leading you to
be part of this church.
You've visited us.
You feel like you're a
part of us.
You feel like God's
leading you.
I'd love to guide you
in that process.
Or maybe you just need
to do business with God
because I'm going to
tell you something.
We're in a battle folks.
We need to give that
battle over to the Lord
and we need to make
commitments before we
leave this room that
we'll keep when we leave
this room.
And you can do that
where you'll stand.
You can do that at this
altar or you can do it
with a pastor praying for
you.
You just obey God
and do exactly what
he'd have you to do.
Lord Jesus I ask right
now that your sweet
spirit will lead us
right now.
Just simply be obedient
to follow you and to
walk out of here stronger
and better than we were
when we came in Father.
In Jesus precious name.
Amen.