Know Your Enemy Part 1: Satan Himself
If you deny God’s Word about Satan, and you will deny it on salvation! My purpose in this series is to tell you what the Word says about Satan as the god of this world, because what we know about Satan is revealed in God’s eternal Word, the Holy Bible, which is the only true source of the revelation of SATAN HIMSELF. I had spent years in charismatic churches that developed a theology about Satan and how to fight him. All sorts of extra-biblical practices were developed, e.g., naming demon spirits not in the Bible, telling people that deliverance is found in giving offerings to pastors, etc. When we study our enemy, we want to focus on, “Thus saith the Lord.”
Part 1: False Concepts of Satan
We are living in a day when the VERBAL INSPIRATION of God’s Word is belittled, ignored, and disbelieved, when it is looked upon only as fiction or fairy tale. I want to emphasize at the beginning of this series, that the Bible, which is the Word of God, is inerrant, absolute, eternal, unbroken and verbally inspired, and I want us to keep this fact clearly in mind in our study of Satan. The Bible is the final authority for me in all areas of faith and practice.
There are many false concepts held regarding Satan, or the devil. Many people think that Satan is just a figment of the imagination, just a fantasy to scare children into obedience. On the other hand, multitudes think of Satan as a big red man with horns, forked tale, and a pitchfork going about throwing people into hell if they fail to live a certain type of life. These are products of man’s imagination, which has no Biblical foundation. Others think of Satan as only an influence, or an evil, and not a living personality. The Word of God makes it very plain that Satan, the devil, is a LIVING PERSONALITY, and not simply an evil influence.
There are four great personalities in the Bible:
God the Father,
God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, and
Satan.
As the Triune God is set forth in the Scriptures as a Living Personality, so is Satan. Over the years of church ministry, I have found three extremes in the American church, both in error:
Some believe that Satan is the cause of all evil that occurs. These people believe that Satan is everywhere and personally attacking them every day and hour. WRONG! Satan is not omnipresent. He is limited by time and space.
Some believe that Satan is very limited today and that we make our own evil. Satan is almost non-existent and not at work at all. WRONG! Satan is a living personality with a plan that includes taking as many people to hell with him that he can. He is actively at work to destroy souls with a hierarchical structure of demons to do his work.
There is a third group that is so afraid of Satan that they do not want to even mention his name much less his tactics. They are afraid that any mention of his name will bring him to attack them. “Don’t say that, Satan will hear you.” WRONG! Satan is a totally defeated foe. The Lord Jesus Christ through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, has defeated Satan. We don’t battle Satan, we resist him and he will flee in terror.
We see Scriptures that show he is a living personality:
Job 1: 6: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came among them.”
Zechariah 3: 1-2: “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 unto Satan, the LORD rebuke thee, O Satan.”
Matthew 4: 10: Christ, addressing Satan, said, “Get thee hence, Satan.” Do you think Christ would speak to an evil influence and address it as a personality? The clear answer is NO.
My friend, the Word of God teaches that Satan is a living personality. If your mind is not sunken in the darkness of unbelief, you will have no trouble believing God’s Word.
Part 2: Who is Satan?
Let us begin by asking two questions: WHO IS SATAN and WHERE DID HE COME FROM? There are two Scriptures in the Word of God we will use to answer our questions:
Ezekiel 28: 12-15: “Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say to him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of they pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou was created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”
In this passage of Scripture, which at first refers primarily to the “king of Tyrus,” we also have expressions which refer to no mere man. God takes the king of Tyrus as a type of Satan and gives us a definite revelation of the origin and the fall of Satan. We find frequently in prophecy that the prophet under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is borne on from speaking of an earthly character to a spiritual being, or from a present existing event to some event of the last times. The language of the prophet goes beyond the king of Tyrus and speaks of Satan. Therefore, this passage from God’s Word teaches us much about SATAN, WHO HE WAS and HIS POSITION IN HEAVEN BEFORE HE FELL.
The first thing we notice in this description is that Satan is a spiritual being created “full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty,” until INIQUITY WAS FOUND IN HIM. He was not born, but created. There were three outstanding cherubs: Michael the archangel, Gabriel who seems primarily connected to the Jews, and third was Lucifer, the “morning star,” the “anointed cherub that covereth.” It is Lucifer, who in his fall became Satan. We can conclude that Satan was the highest of all the created beings in the angelic hosts. In Jude 9, Michael is quoted as saying to Lucifer, “The Lord rebuke thee.” This shows that Michael, the archangel (chief angel), regarded Satan, or Lucifer , as a higher creation than himself, and who had no one in authority over him but the Lord Himself! We need to realize that we are dealing with the arch-enemy of God, and that only God can rebuke him.
Ezekiel 28: 14: “Thou art THE ANOINTED CHERUB that covereth; and I have set thee so.”
Notice the words, “the anointed cherub,” not “a” cherub, but “the” cherub. He was one of a kind, indicating that he was the highest and greatest angel that God created. What a majestic being clothed with all the beauty and glory that God could heap upon him in his original creation! But notice the word, “THE ANOINTED CHERUB.” The word “anointed” refers to priesthood. Before the fall, Lucifer was the PRIEST-CHERUB; priest refers to worship. Lucifer, before the fall, led the worship of the universe. In other words, the anointed cherub was appointed to lead the created hosts to worship the Triune Holy God. The word “covereth” means to guard. As priest, he was to protect the throne of God from discretion and disrespect by leading all creation to its proper attitude to the Majesty of God, that is, worship and adoration to the Creator and Governor of the Universe. “I have set thee so,” reveals the fact that God appointed Lucifer for that particular task and service. Notice this as well: He says, “Thou ART the anointed cherub,” and “I HAVE SET thee so,” which are in the present tense, which indicates his great power, even in his fall, over the hearts of men. Do you see the power he still exercises over the minds of men?
I want you to see the PRESENT TENSE of these statements, because I now I want to call your attention to the tense of that phrase, “THOU WAST upon the holy mountain of God; thou HAST WALKED up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou WAST PERFECT in thy ways…till iniquity was found in thee.” (Ezekiel 28: 14-15) This reveals the fact that before his fall this anointed cherub lived close to the throne of God and walked up and down in the midst of the presence of God, and that he was looked upon as a guardian angel of the throne of God and the one to lead all others to bow in submission to the LORD God in adoration, worship, and praise. We don’t know how long Lucifer maintained this position, but that one day “iniquity was found in thee.” Verse 17 reads and explains why: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy BEAUTY, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy BRIGHTNESS.” The “beauty” and “brightness” (glory) of this majestic being led to his undoing. PRIDE got to Satan and Proverbs 16: 18 reads: “Pride goeth before a fall” (Proverbs 16: 18). No doubt, pride is among the greatest sins set forth in the Word of God. It leads to self-righteousness, which is the essence of iniquity and the sum total of all sin.
Pride led to the fall of Lucifer, let us guard against pride to prevent our fall.
Part 3: Satan’s Heart
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