Return to Index.

Satan and the Demons
May 1, 2021

In our recent study we looked at angels, cherubim, and seraphim. Today we will review an act of rebellion by one of the cherubim and how that one corrupted cherubim has tried to destroy our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. The idea of Satan and demons are sometimes dismissed by people as being fanciful fables and merely a personification of evil. Satan and the demons are very real, as real as God the Father and Jesus Christ.

We will find out that belief alone is insufficient for salvation, because even the demons believe and tremble. We’ll see what originally corrupted Satan and led to the rebellion, as well as study how Satan attacks us. We’ll begin with a concept we all need to know. Satan and the demons are engaged in spiritual warfare and seek our eternal death. With this objective in mind, Satan seeks not only our destruction, but the destruction of all others of the household of faith. Satan knows the time is limited and seeks to prey, with an e, on spiritually weak individuals to cause their spiritual death. We know from the Bible that Satan attacks all of the household of faith in a desire to cause our spiritual death. It is through faith, a step well beyond belief, that we resist Satan and the demons knowing that through this process God the Father through Jesus Christ will bring us to perfection.

1 Peter 5:8-11
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Satan has attempted to influence people since the very beginning and in Genesis we see the serpent tricking Eve into disobeying God. That’s a tactic that Satan still uses to this day. Satan began by confirming what God had already told Eve, that they were not to eat of every tree of the Garden of Eden, and then Satan waited for Eve’s response, and then used Eve’s response to put doubt into Eve’s mind. Eve clearly explained that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die, and it was with this response that Satan attacked Eve’s understanding. Satan directly told Eve they would not die if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and appealed to a conspiracy alleging that God withheld this tree from them solely because God knew it would make them like God.

Think about that for a second. Who would not want to become like God? Chances are if you are listening to this sermon today, you have a desire to become perfect like our Father who is in heaven is perfect. Satan did not attack Eve by appealing to that which was utterly and obviously evil, but by appealing to something that each of us today could relate to. We need to be thinking and on guard knowing that the very first way Satan ever attacked people was through a desire to become like God. We’ll find out that Satan’s ability to transform into an angel of light remains to this day and that many are deceived by thinking they are worshipping God when in fact they are worshipping Satan. In the story of the Garden of Eden, Eve bit the bait and the rest is history as we know it.

Genesis 3:1-7
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Paul, an apostle, and most prolific author of New Testament writings advised the Corinthians to beware of false apostles and deceitful workers who transform themselves into apostles of Christ. Paul explained to them that he wasn’t into preaching for the money, that he led a very basic lifestyle so that the people of the church could be exalted, and he said this as an apostle to the gentiles. Within the church of God, there has been a long history of the ministers living an exalted lifestyle, and that directly contradicts what Paul writes about here. Paul warns of people who are seeking an opportunity to draw people away from the faith through deceptive teachings. Here’s the reality, the only way you can know if somebody is deceptively teaching you, is to study the Bible for yourself. Paul would go on to add that there would be religious people who might appear righteous, who will come to nothing. This type of minister is transformed as a minister of righteousness as much as Satan is transformed as an angel of light.

2 Corinthians 11:7-15
Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely? I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service. And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth. But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

In an earlier chapter of the same book, Paul further explained that we are not to present the message of the Kingdom of God from a vantage point of dishonesty, but by simply living a life that is a manifestation of the truth that is in each of us. Our hope of the Kingdom of God is a hope that is hidden from many because their minds have been blinded by the god, small g, of this world. These are people who are not called at this time by God the Father, and who Satan does not want to understand the truth of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:1-6
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

People who are not called by God the Father at this time may be religious, albeit with a faith where their minds are blinded responding to these false ministers of light. It was a problem with the early church and is a theme within the letters to the churches in Revelation. To the angel of the church in Philadelphia, while acknowledging this church had been given an open door that no man could shut, Jews who worship at the synagogue of Satan are mentioned. Sadly, some have looked at this verse to persecute Jews when this verse is talking about people who have been misled by these ministers of righteousness who are transformed as Satan is transformed into an angel of light. We should learn from this verse there are those who call themselves Christians who have a false faith and belief set. We know from the account of the serpent with Eve in the Garden of Eden that this false faith will appeal to a normal desire among people to be like God. People value spirituality in their life. Because this false faith is around and permeates all who are not called, the best protection we have is to be fully knowledgeable of what is in the Bible through study.

Revelation 3:7-13
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

With the children of Israel during the exodus and the time of wandering in the wilderness, they soon forgot what God did for them, and instead of worshipping God, worshipped God not for what God had done for them or what they knew about God, but worshipped God by making God after an image and likeness of their making. From the very beginning it was God who said let us make man after our image according to our likeness. Somehow, since that time, people have been trying to make God after their image according to their likeness, or have made God after an image and according to a likeness they can understand. For many, this involves the worship of false gods and idols. In the modern era, we look to the children of Israel and their worship of the false gods of nearby countries, not always understanding that today we are subject to the same workings of the mind that led the children of Israel to the wrong decisions they made. Within each of these false religions, is the influence of Satan and the demons. Whatever act in worship of these false gods was done by the children of Israel, was an act of worship, even if unknowingly, of Satan and the demons.

Deuteronomy 32:15-18
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

This false worship flows from that act of deception first described in the Garden of Eden that is linked to a desire to be like God, if you will, to develop a spiritual quality in one’s life. In faith, it is essential to know if the spiritual quality forming in your life is of God the Father and Jesus Christ or Satan and the demons. Satan fell from a position of honor because Satan wanted to become like God. Satan wanted to become better than all of the other angels of God in what would be like a spiritual coup by attempting to enforce Satan’s will against God instead of subjugating himself to the will of God. It was this desire that brought Satan to nothing, except for being a spiritual pain in the neck.

Isaiah 14:12-21
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.

An inflated self-concept was at the root of Satan’s rebellion and it began with Satan, then Lucifer, the light bringer, the morning star, who through many different precious stones radiated the light in many different ways. It was Lucifer who was created in perfection who overlooked the creator and worshipped himself, the creation. It was Lucifer, one of the cherubim, who because he worshipped himself, the creation rather than the creator, sinned and fell from grace becoming the adversary of God who continues to walk about to this day as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

Ezekiel 28:12-19
Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto 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 thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast 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. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Satan sought to overthrow the Kingdom of God because Satan did not know his place and falsely worshipped himself as the creation. That’s why we have to be mindful to remember we are made in the image and according to the likeness of God, not the other way around. Satan continues to persecute people who are of the household of faith today and in Revelation, John describes a vision of the woman, the church being pursued by the red dragon, Satan the devil. John also shows that before the return of Jesus, Satan and the demons will lose a major spiritual battle in heaven and be forever banished from heaven as the Kingdom of God is proclaimed. On earth Satan and the demons will persecute the church who have the testimony of Jesus Christ and who also keep the commandments of God.

Revelation 12:1-17
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 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. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Satan has a short time to do his evil. He has only a human lifetime to effect evil in each of our lives. Time is not on Satan’s side. Beyond the limitation of the human lifespan, Satan knows God’s plan of salvation is moving towards its conclusion with the establishment of the Kingdom of God and the eventual salvation of many, many people. The best weapon we can use is to resist Satan knowing that Satan will flee from us. As we draw close to God, God will draw close to us. Instead of having a high opinion of ourselves, which was one of Satan’s problems, we should humble ourselves before God understanding we are the created made in the image and after the likeness of God.

James 4:7-10
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

James famously tells us that faith without works is dead. If we do not act on our faith, we have a dead faith. Belief in God is alone insufficient for salvation, because even Satan and the demons believe and tremble. We must take action and demonstrate our faith through works, acts of faith, obedience to the law of God. It was Abraham who believed and was willing to offer Isaac to God and this was imputed to him for righteousness. It was Rachel the harlot, and there is a reason why she was called Rachel the harlot, who received the spies of Israel and helped them sneak out of the city another way who was for this act justified by her works. Our faith must be much more than belief, because even Satan and the demons believe. We must have obedience to what God requires of us like Abraham, and like Rachel the harlot, we must never reject people advancing the Kingdom of God.

James 2:14-26
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

We know in the latter times, the times we live in today that some will depart from the faith because they are, like Eve, tricked by seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. These people might think they are trying to become like God and instead of worshipping God find themselves worshipping the creation, having made God after their image and according to their likeness. These people purposefully lie having no conscience creating a form of righteousness that is beyond what is taught in the Bible, seeking in a perverted way as Satan sought to become like God the Father.

1 Timothy 4:1-5
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

As we live our life, we must remember that Satan and demons are not the personification of evil. Evil is real just as Satan and the demons are real. Each day we fight a spiritual battle that we know we win by enduring to the end. We endure to the end by resisting Satan and the demons each day. We endure to the end through acts of faith, obedience to the commands of God like Abraham showed when he was willing to offer Isaac and by not rejecting the furthering of the Kingdom of God, like Rahab the harlot.

Satan made a choice based on an inflated self-image. Lucifer looked at the beautiful light reflecting off the many precious stones and thought highly of himself, never considering that Lucifer was created with that beauty to be a symbol of the beauty of the truth of God and in choosing self over God the Father, Lucifer became the enemy not only of God the Father and Jesus Christ, but to all mankind. No longer do we think of Lucifer the morning star, but Satan the prince of darkness.

All verses are from the King James Version.
This site provided by Tom Laign. To all who may believe differently, I also extend peace and love.
Copyright and Legal Information
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information