God of this World
Neil
Not Ignorant of his Devices • Sermon • Submitted
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· 42 viewsThe last theme we want to investigate is the massive failure of the devil's devices. We will investigate the reach of the devil's power, and show how this kingdom is defeated by the simple cross of Jesus Christ.
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7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 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.
The most obvious question that is often asked concerning the devil is of his backstory; yet a backstory simply is not given in scripture. He just exists in scripture, and even then, he exists more in the New Testament than in the Old.
But that is not to say that we can know nothing about him.
This passage links the dragon with the serpent in the Garden (though how closely, who can say?), and identifies this dragon as the devil, or Satan. He has angels, and his influence over them caused them all to be thrown out of heaven, although people can’t agree on when this happens.
So, rather than dig into the mysteries of what is difficult to know about the Devil, we should focus on what we can know, and what we should know, in order to catch up with what Paul told the Corinthians in his second letter:
11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
We are, obviously, quite a bit behind on our theology; worse, we are behind Corinth, and Paul lamented that they were still learning the basics!
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,
So we will focus on the necessary doctrine of the devil in this study, learning the scope of his influence and the condemnation he gained for his efforts. The goal of this study is to see the hope and the joy of our salvation more clearly.
His Places of Power
His Places of Power
We have seen in past studies various tactics he has used, various roles that he has filled, and so this section may well seem familiar to us. We have even studied human depravity, and have taken note of his sway on the lives of all humanity.
But in past studies, we have surveyed his tactics; in this study, we will look at where he has worked, and see the magnitude of our enemy.
He serves in Heaven as an Accuser before God.
He serves in Heaven as an Accuser before God.
In Job 1, we have already seen that Satan has a role to fill in the presence of God, a tactic that he uses in order to cause us trouble. But there are some things that we need to understand about the setting of this passage.
The first thing we need to pay attention to is that there is a day when the sons of God present themselves to God.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.
There is very little information about this day of presentation, but the questions that God asks reveal a little bit more.
7 And the Lord said to the Adversary, “From where have you come?” Then the Adversary answered the Lord, saying, “From roaming on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the Lord said to the Adversary, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, who fears God, and avoids evil?” 9 Then the Adversary answered the Lord, saying, “Has Job feared God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.” 12 The Lord said to the Adversary, “Look, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against his person.” So the Adversary departed from the presence of the Lord.
These angels (more correctly, these sons of God) present themselves before the Lord in order to give account of their actions and missions. This shows us how much interest God takes in the events of the world.
We see another occasion of this kind of event occurring in 1 Kings 22.
19 And he said, “Hear, therefore, the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside Him on His right hand and on His left. 20 The Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab so that he will go up and die at Ramoth Gilead?’ “And one said this, and another said that. 21 Then a spirit came forth and stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ 22 “The Lord said to him, ‘How?’ “And he said, ‘I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ “And He said, ‘You will be successful and persuade him. Go forth, and do so.’ 23 “Now therefore, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all your prophets here, and He has spoken evil concerning you!”
In the presentation event in Job, Satan only says that he has been walking around on earth, but God’s question is, “have you considered Job?”
God anticipates the fact that Satan inspects the righteous.
This is the first ominous reality of the Devil.
It is his right to inspect us, and he had a place before God in order to present our failings.
The question that naturally arises is, to what end?
9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
4 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
The accusations of the devil are of our own insincerity and unworthiness. His goal is to show God how unrighteous we are.
For additional evidence of this, we turn to the passage we studied last time, Zechariah 3.
1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
Again, we have the devil standing beside the righteous one, accusing him before the Lord.
Here, the devil’s accusations are not revealed, but we can see the nature of the accusations in the verses that follow.
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.
So it is, again, the high priest’s unworthiness to serve in his office before God and the people.
The response of the angel of the Lord in his defense was a short appeal to the Lord’s rebuke of him, for he had accused someone of sin, yet the Lord had already been aware of his unclean state, and had already chosen to act.
Thus the Devil’s accusation was less about Joshua and more about God who had chosen him.
The chief difference in these two stories is that God is confident in the integrity of Job, while God had offered an unconditional grace to the unclean high priest in spite of his unworthiness.
The devil even asked for an opportunity to test Peter’s faith, and receives it, according to Luke 22:31-32.
So the devil has a rightful place in the courts of heaven, but we find him going beyond his office and function to lay accusations about God’s grace itself.
In Revelation 12, he is called the “accuser of our brethren,” proving that he still functions in this role, walking about and finding faults in us to bring a charge against God’s elect.
What makes this role of his so evil is that he dares to make an accusation against people to whom God has already decided to show grace.
Anytime someone tries to bring an accusation against a person whom God has already justified is no longer accusing the human of sin, but accusing God of doing something evil when he declares righteous the ungodly.
By contrast, Michael the Archangel, when he was in the right while contending with the devil, said no more than “the Lord rebuke thee,” deferring accusations and condemnation to God who judges righteously.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. 10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Ironically, when God brings the rebuke, even then it is not a railing accusation; it is barely more than what Michael said:
2 And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; Even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
So when Jesus says, “The measure you use will be used against you,” and when Paul says “let us no judge each other therefore,” or when Peter warns us that we should have compassion for one another “not rendering railing for railing,” we should realize that we should be very hesitant to speak evil of God’s children.
For this is what the devil has done from the beginning.
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
He rules in a Kingdom of Darkness as its god.
He rules in a Kingdom of Darkness as its god.
For the next position of power that the devil holds, we turn to inspect his influence upon this world.
In a world as scientific as our own, we easily forget the imagery of the first century. When Jesus wanted to discuss spiritual rebirth with Nicodemus, he makes a comparison with the wind, the air around them.
Spirit means breath, and wind is like a spirit. This comparison was commonplace in those times, as people spoke of unclean spirits (breaths) that would possess people, of spirits (breaths) of the dead as disembodied souls, and demons cast out becoming wandering spirits (breaths) looking for bodies.
The disciples themselves even thought that resurrected Jesus, walking the sea, was his spirit (breath) coming to them, and they were frightened, for to them, this meant that he was not at rest, and was dangerous. Such was their culture, and the choices of words they use reflect this background.
The air was seen as the natural abode of the spirits that were not right with God, that the area between the sky and the land was filled with the workers of the devil. It was his kingdom.
It is to this concept that Paul appeals to in Ephesians 2.
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the age of this world and according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
Paul says that before Christ, even we were blown about by the power of the devil, who rules the spiritual realm of the air. He works his will through those who have given themselves over to disobedience.
Even we have been a part of that kingdom, to greater or lesser degrees.
Paul writes to the Corinthians of the same reality using different language in 2 Corinthians 4.
3 But if our gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are lost. 4 The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
In this passage, his status is elevated to a god, not just served by the world, but even drawing their worship. This is not a new idea. It even exists in Leviticus (Lev 17:7), Deuteronomy (De 23:17), Psalms (Ps 106:37), and even an extrabiblical book the Jews would have been familiar with (Baruch 4:7).
7 And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Thinking biblically on this subject should cause us to realize that though there is no God as great as or even remotely similar to YHWH, there were plenty of evil spirits that accepted the worship offered up to false gods. These are not, by definition gods - they are demons, according to all of these authors.
It is with this in mind that we listen to Paul in Galatians 4:8.
8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
And if you are a slave to demons, you are in the kingdom of the devil, according to Jesus in Mark 3:22-23
22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. 23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
The dark kingdom is massive. It has principalities (as in, states or smaller kingdoms) within it headed up by demons, and it has control over religions, enslaving people to the will of the devil by means of their religions and ideologies.
When we speak of a spiritual kingdom, we should never mean “this is a figurative kingdom, not a literal one, not a real one, it’s only spiritual.”
A spiritual kingdom has a reality; it is far more powerful than a physical one can be, for it is unlimited in the ways it can manifest itself.
In fact, Paul tells the Thessalonians that Satan was active in preventing his visit of them.
18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
This is because the whole world is influenced by his power, unconsciously doing his will.
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
So after seeing all of this, the devil’s temptation of Jesus has a far more ominous flavor.
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 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. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
The kingdoms of the world belong to the devil, and he elevates himself above God before them. They will refuse to listen to God, but they so easily bend to the devil’s will.
This is a tremendous usurpation of God’s authority.
He operates as an agitator in the sacred spaces of God.
He operates as an agitator in the sacred spaces of God.
And in that same period of forty days, the devil exerts his power in his third realm of influence, his third priority.
12 The Spirit immediately drove Him into the wilderness. 13 And He was there in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts. And the angels ministered to Him.
Satan can be seen attempting to bring ruin to the holiest people of God, the temples of the Holy Spirit.
His purpose? To cause the images of God to choose the things that defile and shame what is holy instead of the things that glorify God.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
The tactic may have been deception, as we have discussed previously, but his purpose is to turn those who represent God against him.
And to do this, he must enter into the sacred places himself, whether the presence of Jesus himself (who is the first temple of the Holy Spirit, by the way), or the garden of God, recognized by scholars as the first temple.
But the list doesn’t end here.
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
This temptation was successful, causing Ananias and Sapphira both to attempt to get praise from the church or from Peter using deception. God aborted this activity, so there’s no way of knowing what the devil’s endgame was here, but we see our point revealed clearly.
It is not a rare event for the devil to work to bring God’s people to utter ruin.
2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;
10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
14 And no wonder! For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
And certainly others.
The point is simple. The devil is not only interested in the world, but in the destruction of Christ’s churches. If he can accomplish their apostasy and departure from Christ, that is great - but he is satisfied to use saints as tools to destroy the faith of others.
It is because of this that Paul speaks to the Ephesians concerning their anger:
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil.
The Devil's Condemnation
The Devil's Condemnation
There are, of course, many sins attributed to the devil, but there are three sins that he does repeatedly that most exemplify who he is in scripture. We have seen them in our study, but we will put names to them, and reveal his condemnation:
First, Satan accuses those whom God justifies.
Second, he elevates himself above God before the world.
Third, he attempts to cause God’s people to come to ruin.
But in all of these efforts, Satan cannot succeed.
His attacks on the church cannot prevail
His attacks on the church cannot prevail
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
By its very nature, the holy temple of God is well fortified against the prince of the power of the air, and against the kingdom of hades. And God himself fights for us, in the Spirit which he has given us, the God of peace.
His kingdom on earth is brought to shame in the cross
His kingdom on earth is brought to shame in the cross
15 And having disarmed authorities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them by the cross.
31 Now judgment is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
6 Yet we speak wisdom among those who are mature, although not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
The ruler of this world is shamed by the cross, for it was in losing that Jesus defeated the devil’s kingdom, and the grave couldn’t hold him. It is because of this that the accuser of the saints stands accused. The king is judged, the kingdom is doomed, and all his loyal subjects are brought to an open shame.
He lost or is losing his authorized place in Heaven
He lost or is losing his authorized place in Heaven
18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Upon preaching the gospel, Jesus declared that Satan had been thrown out of heaven. Their preaching the message of repentance toward God is seen as such a witness of their faithfulness that Satan’s accusation is not even worth listening to.
10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
Through the activity of the church, the glory of the wisdom of God is proclaimed far and near throughout all heavenly places, leaving no opportunity for doubt. We see a stability forming in heaven that has not been there.
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was there a place for them in heaven any longer. 9 The great dragon was cast out, that ancient serpent called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
And why has the accuser of the saints been thrown down?
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—
25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Satan has no place in the courts of heaven as an accuser, because Jesus never leaves, and he bears an everlasting witness for us, the substitutionary atonement that reconciles God and man. Jesus has stepped into the devil’s position of power, and promised salvation for us instead of judgment.
This he did once, and for all time.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes, who is risen, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, neither things present nor things to come, 39 neither height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
4 for whoever is born of God overcomes the world, and the victory that overcomes the world is our faith.
4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.