The Devil and Demons (Part 1 of 2)

The Bible makes it clear that this is Satan, the cross of Calvary. He is a vanquished enemy.

So why do we still need to be concerned about him will find out today on Truth for Life weekend.

Alister begs teaching from first John chapter 5 verse eight team. However, he begins with a story from Matthew chapter 4 Matthew chapter 4 verse one then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said if you are the son of God tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered, it is written, man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him to the holy city, and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. If you are the son of God, he said, throw yourself down. For it is written, he will command his angels concerning you and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Notice incidentally how well the devil knows the Bible. He is able to quote the Bible to Christ Jesus answered him, it is also written. Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. All this I will give you. He said if you will bow down and worship me. Jesus said to him away from me, Satan, for it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him, but I pray that as we look again at your word tonight that the spirit of God will be our teacher that you will save us from ever or any kind of wrongful overemphasis or under emphasis that you will help us to be biblical in our grasp of Scripture and in our commitment to that, for we pray in Jesus name, amen.

What we ended up saying this morning was that in relationship to everything and especially to this whole subject of humanism, or to Satan or to the occult to the devil.

It is imperative that we have biblical that demands to be a biblical Christian demands.

Not only that we believe and affirm all that the Bible teaches, but that we also learn to hold what the Bible teaches in the balance, which the Bible gives every so often we meet people who becomes quickly apparent have an emphasis indeed one of the things that intrigued me in coming to America 10 years ago now was to be out with that ministers and have them ask me what you're thinking. I remember the first time I was ever asked. This is playing golf and the man said I what is your particular thing I said I am sorry he said yeah you know your your your your emphasis. What is your emphasis and Annie must've thought I was a crazy person or that I was being rude but I had no clue what the man was on about and that and I nice it will what you say and then as he began to explain to me what his thing was I found out what a laws and then I told him I don't think I have one of the he then suggested that it was really important that I get one because if you don't have one that you love no real reason to love no raison d'être and you will be able to explain to people what you are charging your ministries about having to wait a few more calls and then determined that maybe could the Bible be my thing. He said no, that was not sufficient. It had to be more more specific than that. So for the last 10 years I've been going out around without thing and I and happily so. Indeed, I'm actually on on the reverse of that I'm trying to stamp out thing all over the place and every so often you meet somebody and their thing is demons or their thing is the devil or Satan or whatever it is you haven't spoke to them for more than two or three minutes about any subject under the sun under their the demons arrived on the devil is here and it quickly becomes apparent that this is the framework through which they view just about everything else that takes place in the Christian life and they will say the reason I do so is because I want to be biblical now to be biblical ICG again does not simply mean that we affirm all that the Bible says, but also that we affirm it in the way that the Bible affirms a basic principle of understanding your Bible. This is what happens when you read, for example, the acts of the apostles you read the acts of the apostles and somebody reads this and says oh you know I had the somebody was was as playing with poisonous snakes and and standing on on on dreadful things and so I went out and bought myself a couple of poisonous snakes and began to grab them and you know what I'm so fortunate that we have such a wonderful place as University hospitals, otherwise I'd be a dead man yes exactly you be a dead man what a foolish notion. Where did you get that from all I read it in the Bible were don't you realize that certain things in the Bible RD descriptive, not prescriptive. Will says somebody how do we know which is which. Well, when you read the acts of the apostles in a vacuum. You can come up with all kinds of ideas but when you read the acts of the apostles, in light of the letters that were written by the apostles who appeared in the acts of the apostles. They clarify for us what the main things are and that is why would you read through bags and you find yourself say lightly to emphasize this or I'd like to emphasize that the way we determine what we can justifiably emphasize are not is the balance of Scripture itself. Whenever you find a funny group of people under the name of church. I can guarantee you. They've got a thing and they have determined that this thing is the key and they will ask you whether you also understand this and if you don't, don't worry about it for a minute.

Okay, we need then to be aware of to emphases in relationship to the devil, and the source one. The danger of overemphasis and to the danger of ignoring the idea completely. These are the two extremes that we constantly come up against me was a lie.

Don't bother with any of that stuff at all and then on the other side you have somebody who cannot say a single thing without it emphasizing John Calvin in his institutes says this we have been forewarned that an enemy relentlessly threatens us an enemy who is the very embodiment of rash boldness of military prowess of crafting whiles of untiring zeal and haste of every conceivable weapon skill in the science of warfare. We must then band our every effort to this goal that we should not let ourselves be overwhelmed by carelessness, nor for an heartedness, but on the contrary, with courage rekindled stand our ground in combat, which I've written that don't you. That's terrific. We had all the rest of our lives.

We probably few of us could write a statement concerning spiritual warfare that it is that is Essex St. and helpful as Calvin was able to put it there.

Satan is not a figment of the imagination.

He is real and he is not some vague embodiment of evil.

He is personal and that is why we've read here from Matthew chapter 4 and that is why Jesus speaks concerning him and the way that he does throughout all of the gospel records. For example, Luke chapter 22 in verse 31 Simon Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as sweet but I have prayed for you. Satan, the real Satan.

Satan not some vague embodiment of evil, but a personal Satan says I'd like to take hold of Simon Peter and bring him under my control. And Jesus says Satan has actually been inquiring about you Simon, but I've prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

And when you turn back that you might strengthen the brothers so the introduction of the Bible gives us to the question of Satan Satanism the devil and demons is very very different. As we said this morning from the devil of fiction, the devil of fiction is a creation of the evil one so unbelievable. As for millions of people to reject any notion of him at all and some years ago now, I came across this group or him that was obviously written in an earlier generation because it largely prosaic and I may have quoted it before, but most of you will of forgotten.

In any case, and it is entitled at devil who does the mischief. Anyone remember this point see if I have this is my thing and you would have remembered it could have a coordinate every Sunday alright now.

Here is how it goes. Idling the porch is great but the point is super men don't believe in a devil now as their fathers used to do. They force the door of the broadest creed to let his Majesty through there is no print of his cloven hooves, or a fiery dart from his bowl to be found in Arthur air today for the world is roasted it so but who is mixing the fatal draft that Halsey's heart and brain and loads the earth of each passing year with 1000 thousand slain who blights the bloom of the land today with the fiery breath of hell if the devil isn't and never was. Won't somebody rise and tell dogs the steps of the toiling saints and digs the pits for his feet, who sows the tears in the field of time wherever God so sweet.

The devil is voted not to be in course the thing is true, but who's doing the kind of work. The devil alone should do.

We are told he doesn't go about as a roaring lion now, but who should be held responsible for the everlasting route this to be here in home and church and state to the heiress remote is bound if the devil by unanimous vote is nowhere to be found when somebody stepped to the front forth with and make his bow and show how the frauds and the crimes of the dayspring up for surely we want to know the devil was fairly voted out.

Course the devil is gone but simple folk would like to know who carries his business on and as I mentioned before, I say again the world tonight scrambles to explain the dreadful mass were and doesn't absolutely goes to the end of itself, to try and give an explanation as to what in the world is going on here in the 60s it was all going to get better. At least that's what Lennon and McCartney said in fighting when us to fight as far as to say you've got to admit it's getting better. The Prime Minister of Britain went on record as saying we have never had it so good and we are in an unbelievable state of affairs on not least, the Bible provides for is a worldview that is cogent and rational. Let me give to you with some scriptural references this evening.

Certain facts concerning the devil. First of all, the Bible tells us that the devil is a fallen angel exalted in rank and power above all other fallen Angels.

There are two Old Testament passages that are directly referring to the evil one, and you may want to make a note of them. One is Isaiah 14 and the other is Ezekiel 28. These are this is not the exclusive list of Old Testament passages is just happens to be two in Isaiah 14 we read in verse 12 how you have fallen from heaven, or MorningStar, son of the Dawn you've been cast down to the air you 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 Ezekiel chapter 28 Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel 28 in a word that was spoken to the king of Tyre in a prophecy against him in which he is almost, it would seem in body needed as Satan's emissary. This is what the sovereign Lord says verse 1112 verse 12, you were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, you were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone adorned you, Ruby, Topaz and Emerald chrysolite onyx and Jasper sapphire, turquoise and barrel your settings and mountings were made of gold on the day you were created. They were prepared. Notice, incidentally, the devil is a created being. Don't fall into the trap of getting individualism in your thinking. The idea that there are two internal sources.

The good source God the bad source, the devil only God is eternal. The devil is a created being. You are anointed. Verse 14 is a guardian cherub for so I redeemed you. You were on the holy mountain of God. You walked among the fiery stones.

You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created to wickedness was found in you through your widespread trade.

You were filled with violence and you send. So I drove you in disgrace from the mountain of God, and I expelled you old guardian cherub from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud, on account of your beauty and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor, so I threw you to the air. I made a spectacle love you before King's in the New Testament in the second last book of the Bible in Jude we read these words in the sixth verse of Jude and the Angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home.

Namely, heaven. DCS kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great day you go back a couple of books to the second letter of Peter two Peter chapter 2 and verse four for if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but send them to hell, putting them in gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment, and so on.

And then he applies that notion. So when we take the Bible and begin to understand that we find. First of all, that the devil was a created being.

There is great mystery in this admittedly, but nevertheless the devil fulfills the very purposes of God is a fallen angel. The second thing that the Bible makes perfectly clear is that this devil is defeated. Now once again I'm going to lead you through some versus year.

First of all, it is clear that the devil had no power over Jesus.

He had no power over Jesus.

He has no power over Jesus. John chapter 14 and verse 30 Jesus says I will not speak with you much longer for the prince of this world is coming, he has no hold on me is powerful, but he has no influence or power over Jesus and we just turn back. I'll give you one or two verses John chapter 12 and verse 31 now is the time for judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out but I when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. Jesus says the devil and his hosts are about to be defeated radically and powerfully.

The time is coming for his judgment to be declared and it is directly related to his being placed upon the cross. John chapter 16 and verse 11, and in regard to judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned okay. Stay with me now. Just keep your Bible going here. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14. This is like sword drove from the old Sunday school days.

If you never did.

It is the same as someone who never learned their tables. You never learned your tables. You are stuck with a calculator. If you never learn the books of the Bible, you're stuck with an index Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14.

Since the children have flesh and blood. He, Jesus shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil and freeing those to all their lives were held in slavery by fear of death not notice the phrase that by his death he might destroy him. The devil who holds the power of death.

The only way that he can hold it is because God allows him to hold it for a wee while God wants to get back than he can hold. Colossians chapter 2 Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians chapter 2, and in verse 50. Speaking of Jesus, and having designed to disarm the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross.

That is the significance then of what we are told concerning what it means to be in Christ in their first chapter of Ephesians where it says in Ephesians 120 about the power of the mighty strength of God which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the age to come.

And in Romans chapter 16 we learn that the devil is in deep trouble concerning not only his defeat but also his ultimate destiny Romans chapter 16 and verse 20 the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. He's going to be crushed so the reason that I take time to emphasize this is because it is imperative that we understand that the devil is a defeated foe checkmate has already occurred on the chessboard of life. At the cross Jesus played the checkmate. There are moves left on the board.

But if they cannot reverse the fact that checkmate is certain, those of you play chess understand we can spend the last 20 minutes or so playing it out, but they've already seen the end that is what is happened at the cross, he is going to be crushed under our feet. He was defeated at Calvary. He has no hold on Christ, he is no hold on the Christian. Therefore, we are told not to be casting him outdoor casting demons out, but we are told that the devil is to be resisted. Okay, you with me. He's a fallen angel. He is defeated he is to be resisted. We are not to be ignorant of his devices that Paul's advice two Corinthians 211. We noted also. Ephesians 613 we are to be armed for battle. We been given that the warfare armor and what we didn't notice, but referred to is James chapter 4 and verse seven where James and one of the most practical letters in the New Testament reminds his readers that it is very important that they resist the devil. James 47 submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. It is because Satan has no hold on Christ. We are in Christ. He also has no hold on us. Eye-opening message today from Alastair beg your listing to Truth for Life. We can what better way is there to resist the devil than by affirming key truths found in the Bible this year at Parkside church. Alastair beg his doing just that as he leads the congregation week by week through the new city catechism. This is a statement of faith and today you can purchase a copy of the new city catechism in an easy to use flipbook format.

Each page contains a question about biblical truth, along with the corresponding answer 52 questions and answers and all to take you through a full year and if you have children. There is even a children's answer for each question. The new city catechism was an extremely popular item when we offered a few years ago. You can view an image of the flipbook online@truthforlife.org/store. Now, as Alastair mentioned in today's message the devil knows the Bible. He was able to quote to Jesus and he's able to twist the truth to make us doubt God's goodness. If were unfamiliar with Scripture. That's why here Truth for Life. We teach the Bible every day. Our mission is to help you understand what God's word says and how it relates to your daily life so you can stand firm in the middle of spiritual battles along with Alistair's messages.

We select books with great care and with our mission in mind that we can recommend to you recommending today a book called gospel shaped marriage grace for sinners to love like saints. This is a brand-new book designed to help Christian couples view marriage in light of the gospel explores biblical truths about marriage and describes how marriage is designed to emulate Jesus grace build relationship with the church combined out more about the book gospel shaped marriage when you visit our website at truth for.I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for listing. Is it possible for a Christian to be demon possessed. Find out when you join us again next week and for the conclusion of today's message titled, the devil and demons Bible teaching of Alastair beg is furnished by truth learning is prolific