MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2016)
(PowerPoints used with this message are available at no charge. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request #294.)
TEXT: Ezekiel 28:14-17; Isaiah 14:12-14
A. This morning I'm starting a short series of sermons about Satan & Satanism, & it is proving to be a difficult series to prepare. The reason it is difficult is because I am wondering just how to get us to realize the importance of understanding who Satan is & how he works in our lives; for Satan is real, & his followers are many!
ILL. Back in 1989, Mark Kilroy, a college student, went with his buddies to South Padre Island, TX for Spring Break. Along with thousands of others, he crossed over into Mexico to spend a night drinking & partying in Matamoros.
But he never came back into the United States. His buddies reported his disappearance to the police & soon an intensive manhunt began on both sides of the border. But for 2 months there were no leads at all.
Meanwhile the Mexican police were also trying to break up the Hernandez crime family that was heavily involved in drug-smuggling. They set up roadblocks trying to catch the smugglers.
One night a smuggler, Serafin Hernandez, ignored a police roadblock, driving right through it & was then chased & arrested. When questioned about why he had driven through the roadblock without stopping, he told them a horrifying story.
He & his fellow drug-smugglers were Satan worshippers, in particular an Afro-Caribbean form of what is called "Santeria." Their worship of Satan involved voodoo, the casting of spells, blood rituals, & human sacrifices.
They believed that one of their most powerful spells would grant them special protection by Satan & provide them supernatural powers, including the power to be invisible to their enemies. This spell required human sacrifices & the cooking & eating of parts of the bodies of their victims.
He told the police that Mark had been specifically chosen because their leader, Constanzo, wanted to sacrifice an American college student for this ritual. Serafin participated in this voodoo ritual, & had ignored the road block because he thought he was invisible & they wouldn't see him.
Well, there is a lot more to this that I don't want to mention. So let me just say that when the Mexican police raided their rural hideout, called "The Devil's Ranch", they found parts of 15 bodies, men, women, & children who had been sacrificed in their Satanic rituals, plus evidence of the killing of nearly 60 more victims.
We're horrified to hear about such things. And there have been all kinds of TV programs & newspaper/magazine articles about Satanism & some of the terrible things that are done in the name of Satan.
But outside of being horrified, it really doesn't affect us much, does it?
After all, we're Christians, we're church going people, so Satan doesn't have any influence or affect upon us. Or does he?
B. Actually, there are many who think that there isn't any such being as Satan that he is a product of our imagination, sort of like Santa Claus, only evil.
Such people would say that any evil in the world arises out of our own animal instincts that we inherited from our ancestors who swung through the trees by their tails.
And they utterly reject as "religious mumbo jumbo" the idea that there really is a Satan who is alive & powerful, & deliberately trying to wreck us & this world that God has given us.
ILL. Let me tell you about an experience in C.S. Lovett's life when he suddenly realized that Satan really lives & works in us. He wrote:
"He lives . . . Satan lives! I saw the devil at work & it shook me. The occasion was at a meeting of a well known Christian Foundation. Momentous decisions were before the Foundation's directors.
"And then, at a crucial moment in the meeting, a person present spoke words which filled the president of the Foundation with anguish. I saw the hurt of his soul rise to his face. The spirit of the meeting changed instantly.
"Now the one who made the comment was a friend of mine. He is as gracious a man as you'd hope to meet. Those words from his lips didn't sound like him at all. When I beheld the great damage his words had done, I was perplexed 'How could such a thing happen?'
"I sank into my chair to reflect on this amazing disruptive spirit. What in the world possessed my friend to say such a thing? It sounded like someone else. But who? Then the Holy Spirit moved within me. Indeed, someone else had authored that comment SATAN!
"The instant that truth struck, I trembled. The palms of my hands became sweaty. A dreadful awareness swept over me. I experienced something about Satan I had never realized before.
"No one heard the tune that rang within me, but it echoed again & again "He lives, he lives. Satan lives today. He walks with me & talks with me, along life's narrow way!"
"I heard those words over & over, & they began to haunt me. For the first time in my life Satan was actually real. He lives, & we're all in danger because of him!" [Adapted]
C. But folks, it is one thing to discover that Satan is real, & another to know what to do about it. So during these next few weeks we're going to learn about Satan & what to do about him in our own lives.
And I plan to preach sermons with titles like these, "It's Not My Fault!," & "Power Over Satan."
PROP. But today's sermon is more like laying a foundation. "Who is Satan?" "Where did he come from?" "What is He trying to do?" To answer those questions we need to go back & review some basics in the Word of God.
We'll begin at the beginning, in Genesis. Then we'll look at several more passages in the O.T., & also turn to the N.T.
I. IN THE BEGINNING
A. First of all, Genesis 1:1-2 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens & the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, & the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."
Notice the words used to describe the beginning of creation, words like, "formless, empty, darkness." But God continues creating, & the first 2 chapters of Genesis pictures God as bringing order out of chaos.
God takes a formless mass & shapes it into a globe. Then He causes it to begin to spin on its axis & rotate around the sun. So now there is day & night, changing of the seasons, & measurement of time. Out of the chaos God has made a world of order.
B. Finally, at the end of the process, God creates man. And man has an unique function. In Genesis 1:26 God says, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, & let them rule over the fish of the sea & the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, & over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God did it, & vs's 28-29 tell us, "God blessed them & said to them, 'Be fruitful & increase in number; fill the earth & subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea & the birds of the air & over every living creature that moves on the ground.'
“Then God said, 'I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whole earth & every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.'"
SUM. So in those first few chapters we see perfect order. Here is man, & God gave him the power & authority to rule over the world.
If man needed something, God gave it to him. He needed a place to live, so God gave him the Garden of Eden. He was lonely & needed company, so God gave him Eve. He needed food, so He gave him food in the Garden to eat.
There was perfect order. The one time in all the history of the world that perfect order existed.
II. SATAN CAME TO BRING CHAOS INTO OUR LIVES
A. But it didn't last long. Into the Garden of Eden came Satan to bring chaos into our lives, & sin entered our world.
There are a couple of passages in the O.T. that tell us more about Satan. In Ezekiel 28 & in Isaiah 14 we find the account of the fall of Satan from heaven.
Although 2 earthly kingdoms are mentioned, many Bible scholars believe that these words also describe the challenge of Satan to the authority of God.
Listen to Ezekiel 28:14-15, "You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
"You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you."
Now turn to Isaiah 14:12-14 & listen to these words, "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!"
"You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
'I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit."
Now turn back to Ezekiel 28:16-17, "… you were filled with violence, & you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, & I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
“Your heart became proud on account of your beauty & you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor; so I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings."
Satan originally was a cherub, an angel, beautiful, sinless, a magnificent example of the angelic world. But pride entered his heart.
He decided that he wanted to dethrone God & raise up his own throne & power & authority. And chaos in heaven is the result. But chaos cannot exist in heaven, so God evicts Satan & casts him down to the earth.
B. Into the Garden of Eden comes Satan. Satan has learned a lesson. He can't dethrone God because God is all powerful. So he decides that the next best thing is to dethrone the one who has been given authority over the earth, & that is man.
So Satan attacks mankind. Satan refocuses his energies & centers in on the human race. First, Adam & Eve, & then all their descendants. And his goal is to spread chaos in our world once again.
Every temptation of Satan is designed to bring chaos into our lives, to wreck us in the sight of God. He can't get at God because God is too powerful. So he is focusing all his attention on us.
C. When we look at our world we see chaos, don't we? We see it in the rebellion against authority in society. We see it in the violence in the streets.
We see it in the turmoil that destroys our homes. We see it in the rebellion of children against parents. Rebellion & chaos everywhere.
Which is evidence that Satan is winning the battle, right? Wrong. Satan is not winning the battle. It may appear that way, but Satan is not winning the battle.
III. VICTORY CAN BE OURS BECAUSE OF CHRIST
A. In Ephesians 6:12-13, Paul writes, "For our struggle is not against flesh & blood..." Most of us think that it is. But Paul said that it is not against flesh & blood. It is not against guns & bombs. It is not against ISIS or Iran.
"For our struggle is not against flesh & blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world & against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, & after you have done everything, to stand."
The Bible teaches that God wants to bring His order, His peace, His tranquility into our confused, chaotic lives. When we sin we contribute to the chaos. But when we accept Christ as Lord & Savior we contribute to the order. Inside we are renewed, made new all over again.
B. Satan is our enemy. There is no question about that. He is constantly waging war against us. He is constantly bringing temptations your way & mine. Maybe a temptation as innocent as the temptation to eat a hot fudge sundae when you shouldn't.
Or it might be a temptation as severe as to lust after someone you know. It might be a temptation to pick up the magazine on the rack where you shop. It might be a temptation to go to the bar one more time. It might be a temptation to leave your wife or your husband, or to forsake your family.
You see, what Satan wants is to spread chaos in our world, to destroy the guidelines God has given in His Word, & to create chaos in our lives.
But God says to "put on the full armor of God" & "stand your ground." And when we do, Satan doesn't have a chance.
C. That is why what we do here on the Lord's Day is so important - the time of worship, the time of meditation & prayer, the time of having our spiritual batteries recharged.
Those are the most important things we'll do all week long, because here we are putting on our armor again, getting ready to go out into another week, to face the temptations, & the deceiver who wants to bring chaos into our lives.
CONCL. Earlier in this sermon I told you of the time when C.S. Lovett suddenly realized that Satan was real & active in this world today. Now let me tell you a little different kind of story.
ILL. Josh McDowell, once an atheist but now a dedicated Christian speaker & author of a number of best-selling Christian books, said, "I was invited to speak in a university in South America.
"Because of the university's Marxist leanings, I was the first American to speak there in 4 years, & it was a tense situation.
"Big photographs of me had been posted all over campus, & the Communist students, trying to influence the other students to stay away from the meeting, had painted ‘CIA Agent' in red letters across the posters.
"But it backfired on them. Most of the students had never seen a CIA agent, so they came to the meeting to see what one looked like, & the room was packed.
"However, as is often the case when someone speaks in that part of the world, professional Marxist agitators had also come, & their intent was to disrupt the meeting. And what happened next was horrible.
"One after another, these agitators would jump up & throw accusations at me, call me ‘a filthy pig,’ & hurl words at me in their own language that I didn't know.
"Right in front of the audience they twisted me around their little fingers. I couldn't answer them; I didn't even know what they were saying.
"After 45 minutes of this heckling, I was ready to give up. Every time I even mentioned the name of Jesus they laughed. And I thought, ‘God, why aren't you doing something? Why are you letting Satan win?'
"Well, evidently, I wasn't walking by faith. You see, God works to bring the greatest honor & glory to His name, not to ours. And then I saw God work.
"The secretary of the Revolutionary Student Movement stood up, & everyone else became silent. I figured she must be someone important & I didn't know what to expect.
"But this is what she said, ‘Mr. McDowell, if I become a Christian now, will God give me the love for people that you have shown to us tonight?'
Dr. McDowell ends by saying, "Well, I don't have to tell you what happened. Hardened hearts were broken that night, & we had 58 decisions for Christ."
INVITATION: How about you? If you have a decision to make this morning, I hope that you will make it. I offer to you the invitation of Christ as we stand & sing.
