Intro: "We believe that Satan was once holy, and enjoyed heavenly honors; but through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after him a host of angels; that he is now the malignant prince of the power of the air, and the unholy god of this world. We hold him to be man's great tempter, the enemy of God and His Christ, the accuser of the saints, the author of all false religions, the chief power behind the present apostasy; the Lord of the Anti-Christ, and the author of all the powers of darkness - destined however to final defeat at the hands of GOD's Son, and to the judgment of an eternal justice in hell, a place prepared for him and his angels."

(1 Peter 5:8) The Bible tells us very little about the origin of the devil. However, most Bible scholars believe that (Isa. 14:12-15) and (Ezek. 28:12-19) is a description of his origin and fall.

One thing is sure, that is, he has left a slimy and terrible trail across the pages of human history.

Let us notice:

I. His Personality:

Both the Bible and personal experience prove the personality of the Devil. He is called "that old serpent, the Devil." "Satan, your adversary." Anybody that would deny the reality of the devil must be blind, deaf and dumb. He is real to the Lord Jesus Christ; to Paul and Peter; he is real to every Christian who has ever experienced the fight against the forces of evil.

 

II. His Character:

He is described by the Word of God as:

Most Subtle: (Gen. 3:1-7) As cunning as a serpent. He appears as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).

A Tempter: (Matt. 4:1) He tempts by presenting desirable objects before our eyes; seeks to pamper our pride that we might forget or deny God. He succeeded with Eve; he failed with Christ.

An Adversary: (1 Pet. 5:8) He is opposed to every holy desire and every good work.

A Deceiver: (1 Jn. 5:19) He deceives with the pleasures of sin.

A Murderer: (Jn. 8:44) Remember this, the devil deceives, destroys and damns.

 

III. His Purpose:

The devil does have a purpose, and knowing that, he has a short time, is in desperation to carry it out.

He Steals: (Lk. 8:14) He snatches away the Word OFF the heart, not from the heart.

He Pollutes: (Matt. 13:38) He wants to get some bad in with the good.

He Provokes: (1 Chronicles 21:1-14)

He Sifts: (Lk. 22:31)

He Devours: (1 Pet. 5:8) What an awful thought - to be swallowed by the Devil, food for a fiend.

He Resists: (Zech. 3:1)

 

IV. His Power:

That the devil has great power, there can be no doubt. He is called the Prince of the World (Jn. 14:30; 16:31; Eph. 2:1-2). He is described as a LION (1 Pet. 5:8), THE GOD OF THIS WORLD (2 Cor. 4:4) HAVING THE POWER OF DEATH (Heb. 2:14); ABLE TO FILL THE HEART TO REBEL AGAINST THE SPIRIT (Acts 5:3).

V. His Defeat:

To the believer, the Christian, the Devil is a defeated foe. We overcome him by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB; the "Armor of God" (Eph. 6:11); the "Word of Truth" (Matt. 4:4); The indwelling Spirit (1 Jn. 4:4) LOVING NOT OUR LIVES UNTO DEATH.

 

VI. His Doom:

The way of a sinner is downward. Satan fell from Heaven to the air, from the air to the earth, and soon from the earth to the Bottomless Pit, and then into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:1-10).

IF I WERE THE DEVIL:

If I were the devil and wanted to turn America into a Communist hell, I think I would do something like this:

I would cultivate among the people the idea that the individual is nothing, the indiscriminate mass of people is everything. I would also seek to convince Americans that God and Christian ethics and an honest desire to make one's way in the world are old-fashioned.

I would get elected to office on the promise of helping everybody at someone else's expense.

then I'd treat the Constitution as a sort of handbook on the philosophy of government to be referred to only if it served my purpose.

I would increase the size and scope of government in every way possible, going into every conceivable business in competition with established enterprises, paying the State's business losses out of the treasury. I would try to keep hidden how this could lead at the right time to the nationalization of industry.

I would thus create a government strong enough to give citizens everything they want. Thus I could create a government strong enough to take from them everything they have.

By a combination of inflation and taxes I would rob the very people I pretend to help until, if they ever should want to return to freedom, they couldn't - but would be dependant on the State.

Next, I would gradually raise taxes to 100 percent of income (we are one-third the way now) - so that the State could have it all. Then I'd give back to the people enough to keep them alive and little enough to keep them enslaved.

In the meantime I would take from those who have and give to those who want until I killed the incentive of the presently ambitious man and satisfied the meager needs of the rest. The Police State would then be required to; make everybody work and the transformation of America from a Republic to a second-rate Communist nation would be complete.

Do you see in this, similarities to what we have been doing for thirty years?