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Satan: His Meaning, Minions, and Methods - Luke 10:17-20

Taught on | Topic: Satan | Keywords: angels, demons, Devil, evil, Evil One, fallen angels, Lucifer, spiritual warfare, Wicked One

Most people today don't believe in the Devil. For them, he's merely a symbol of evil, or he's reduced to a mythical figure with horns and a pitchfork. But the Bible is clear: Satan exists. There is no more powerful foe we face as believers. In this message, Skip Heitzig reveals six surprising facts you may not know about our Enemy.

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Satan: His Meaning, Minions, and Methods
Luke 10:17-20
Skip Heitzig
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Most people today don't believe in the Devil. For them, he's merely a symbol of evil, or he's reduced to a mythical figure with horns and a pitchfork. But the Bible is clear: Satan exists. There is no more powerful foe we face as believers. In this message, Skip Heitzig reveals six surprising facts you may not know about our Enemy.
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20/20: Seeing Truth Clearly

20/20: Seeing Truth Clearly

Over 175 million people in the United States need some sort of vision correction. From glasses to contacts and corneal reshaping to corrective surgery, there's no question that seeing clearly improves people's quality of life. But what about our spiritual vision? With so many religious, philosophical, and ideological lenses to look through, how do we find the right lens? In this series, Skip Heitzig brings the core doctrines of Christian faith into clear focus. These are the truths that define who God is, who we are, and the choices that every person has to make.

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  1. He is Real

  2. He is Magnificent

  3. He Made the Stupidest Choice Ever

  4. He is Not the Opposite of God

  5. He is Highly Organized

  6. He Has an Agenda

Study Guide

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Connect Group Recap Notes: December 6, 2020
Speaker: Skip Heitzig
Teaching: "Satan: His Meaning, Minions, and Methods"
Text: Luke 10:17-20

Path

Most people today don't believe in the Devil. For them, he's merely a symbol of evil, or he's reduced to a mythical figure with horns and a pitchfork. But the Bible is clear: Satan exists. There is no more powerful foe we face as believers. Here are six surprising facts you may not know about our Enemy.
  1. He Is Real
  2. He Is Magnificent
  3. He Made a Stupid Choice
  4. He Is Not the Opposite of God
  5. He Is Highly Organized
  6. He Has an Agenda
Points

He Is Real
  • The Bible teaches that we have three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the Devil. The most powerful by far is the Devil—Satan.
  • Contrary to popular opinion, Satan exists. How do we know?
  • Jesus told us he does, as did other biblical writers (see Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 22:3, 31; 1 John 3:8).
  • There is other evidence Satan exists:
    • Philosophically: If a loving God made the world, how do you explain evil? The existence of a being of evil makes philosophical sense, providing a contrary presence to God's original intentions of goodness and love (see Genesis 1:31).
    • Biblically: The Bible clearly teaches there is a Devil, who goes by various names:  Satan, Lucifer, the Evil One, the Wicked One, Apollyon, Beelzebub, Belial, and others. All these names speak of a real entity with purpose, power, and planning.
    • Experientially: Anyone who denies there is evil in the world is out of touch with reality; it is everywhere.
He Is Magnificent
  • Many people envision Satan as part beast, ugly and deformed.
  • But Lucifer is the only angel in the Bible whose beauty is described (see Ezekiel 28:12-15).
  • If you want to know what God thinks is beautiful, Lucifer would fit the description.
  • As a beautiful creation of God, what was Lucifer's original purpose, his job?
    • A director of worship or musician of sorts
    • An anointed cherub: he was in God's presence, bearing witness to God's glory and holiness
He Made a Stupid Choice
  • At some point, Lucifer's heart filled with pride.
  • Ezekiel 28 tells us Lucifer had "iniquity" (v. 15), had "sinned" (v. 16), and had a "heart…lifted up" (v. 17).
  • Jesus stated that He saw Satan fall from heaven. Isaiah described the event (see Isaiah 14:12-15).
  • Lucifer's rebellion was seeking God's place: "I will ascend into heaven" (Isaiah 14:13). The only place higher in heaven that Lucifer could occupy was God's throne.
  • It appears Lucifer was not content worshiping and honoring God; Lucifer wanted the worship.
  • When Lucifer was cast out of heaven, his judgment began; he became Satan.
  • The final judgment for Satan will occur when he is cast into the eternal lake of fire (see Revelation 20:10).
He Is Not the Opposite of God
  • Christians need to understand that Satan is not God's opposite, with the same power.
  • Rather, Satan is "God's monkey," as Tertullian stated. Satan tries to ape God.
  • How does Satan differ from God?
    • Satan is not self-existent. He is a created being with a will; he has not always existed.
    • Satan is not sovereign. He is not in control of the universe; God is.
    • Satan is not omnipresent. He is limited spatially and can't be everywhere at once.
    • Satan is not omniscient—all knowing (see 1 Peter 1:12). For example, Satan didn't know or understand God's plan of rescue at the cross.
He Is Highly Organized
  • When Satan fell, he organized a coup, a widespread rebellion.
  • Revelation 12 tells us that when Satan fell, he took one-third of the angels with him, and they became demons (see vv. 4, 9).
  • Jesus recognized the organization of Satan, calling him the "ruler of this world" (see John 12:31).
  • In Ephesians 6:12, Paul noted the various dominions of the Devil: principalities, powers, etc.
  • With the bad news comes good news: two-thirds of the angels stayed with God and are at His command.
He Has an Agenda
  • Satan's agenda is simple: to disrupt and destroy the works of God.
  • Satan's name means adversary, one who is against.
  • Who is Satan against?
    • Jesus: Satan works to attack Jesus and His work.
    • Holy angels: Satan works to undermine God's work through other angels (see Daniel 10:13).
    • Israel: Satan works to attack God's people; this will culminate in the end times (see Revelation 12:13-17).
    • Unbelievers: Satan works hard to keep unbelievers from the saving work of Christ (see John 10:10).
    • Believers: Satan uses temptation, doubt, guilt, fear, confusion, sickness, envy, and slander to sway Christians.
  • In short, Satan wants to limit God's work, lessen Christians' witness, and keep people from Christ.
Practice

Connect Up: God did not create Satan; He created Lucifer, an angel. Lucifer was not created to do evil, but in his will, he elected to rebel against God. But God also allowed Lucifer to fall, which created evil. Why do you think God allowed this to happen? Consider these points:
  • God gave angels and humans free will (see 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Jude 1:6). Why is free will an important part of our being?
  • God had an ultimate victory plan in Christ.
Connect In: Why is it important for the church to understand and acknowledge that Satan strives to thwart the works of God? How are Christians to offset the works of Satan? See Ephesians 6:10-18 for insight.

Connect Out: How can Satan impede outreach to nonbelievers? If you have a story of such interference—of spiritual warfare—feel free to share it. What did you do to offset the attack?

Detailed Notes

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December 6, 2020
Skip Heitzig
"Satan: His Meaning, Minions, and Methods"
Luke 10:17-20
  1. Introduction
    1. No one likes to talk about the Devil
    2. A Gallup Poll showed 89 percent of Americans believe in God
      1. But only 61 percent believe in the Devil
        1. And only half of those believe in a literal Devil
        2. That includes a majority who called themselves born-again Christians
      2. There's a problem with that
    3. The Devil has been reduced to a caricature
    4. If you don't believe your enemy exists, he has won
    5. The Bible teaches that we have three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the Devil
      1. The most powerful by far is the Devil—Satan
      2. Even though Paul warned us not to be "ignorant of [Satan's] devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11), many Christians are
    6. Here are six surprising facts about the Devil
  2. He Is Real
    1. Contrary to popular opinion, Satan exists
    2. How do we know?
      1. Jesus sent out His disciples, who reported that demons were subject to them
      2. Jesus then said, "I saw Satan fall…"
      3. He gave them real authority to deal with real demons
      4. Both Jesus and His disciples believed in a literal Satan and demons
    3. We have other evidence Satan exists
      1. Philosophically
        1. By simple reasoning, there has to be an adversary
        2. If an all-powerful, good God exists and made everything, how do you explain evil?
        3. We see dichotomies that can only be explained by the presence of a source of evil
        4. Happiness and sorrow, wisdom and foolishness, kindness and cruelty
      2. Biblically
        1. The Bible speaks about Satan fifty-four different times
        2. His name means adversary
        3. The Bible speaks of the Devil another thirty-five times
        4. Personal pronouns are used—"he" rather than "it"
        5. He has various other names in Scripture, including:
          1. The Evil One (see Matthew 13:19)
          2. The Wicked One (see Ephesians 6:16)
          3. Apollyon/Abaddon (see Revelation 9:11)
          4. Beelzebub/Beelzebul (see Matthew 12:24)
          5. Belial (see 2 Corinthians 6:15)
          6. All these names speak of a real entity with purpose, power, and planning
        6. The strongest case is that Jesus told us Satan exists
          1. Jesus rebuked Satan personally in the desert (see Matthew 4:1-11)
          2. He spoke of him stealing the word sown in people's hearts (see Matthew 13:19)
          3. In predicting Peter's denial of Him, Jesus told him Satan wanted to "sift" him (see Luke 22:31)
          4. Jesus personally witnessed Satan's fall (see Luke 10:17)
          5. The whole reason Jesus came to earth was to undo all the evil Satan has done since the fall (see 1 John 3:8)
          6. To say you believe in Jesus but not in the Devil is to make a mockery of what Jesus said He came to do
      3. Experientially
        1. Anyone who denies there is evil in the world is out of touch with reality
        2. Satan is real and behind the evil in the world
  3. He Is Magnificent
    1. The Bible indicates Satan was magnificent
      1. Ezekiel 28 proclaims judgment against the prince of Tyre—Ithobaal III, a historical figure (ca. 590-572 BC)
      2. Ezekiel described his judgment, but then a shift occurs in verse 11
        1. Someone is described who can't be human ("the king of Tyre" in verse 12)
        2. Ezekiel was describing the source of the evil behind the earthly prince of Tyre
        3. This is what Jesus did when He rebuked Peter for resisting His coming crucifixion (see Matthew 16:22-24)
    2. Many people envision Satan as ugly, a deformed half-beast
      1. But if you want to know what God thinks is beautiful, Lucifer would fit the description
      2. Lucifer is the only angel in the Bible whose beauty is described (see Ezekiel 28:12-15)
    3. Jesus saw Satan cast down from heaven, but why was he thrown out?
      1. Because his "heart was lifted up because of [his] beauty" (v. 17)
      2. What was Lucifer doing in heaven before his fall?
        1. A director of worship or musician of sorts (see v. 13)
        2. An anointed cherub: he was in God's presence, to protect God's glory and holiness (see v. 14)
  4. He Made a Stupid Choice
    1. At some point, Lucifer's heart filled with pride
    2. Ezekiel 28 tells us Lucifer's sins
      1. He had "iniquity" (v. 15)
      2. He had "sinned" (v. 16)
      3. He had a "heart…lifted up" (v. 17)
    3. Isaiah described Lucifer's fall (see Isaiah 14:12-15)
      1. Lucifer means "day star" or "son of the morning"
      2. It's a beautiful name, but there's no way anyone would have it, because of his fall
      3. Lucifer's sin was seeking God's place: "I will ascend into heaven" (v. 13)
        1. Five times in Isaiah 14, Lucifer said, "I will"
        2. That's the definition of sin
        3. Sin is when a person says, "What I want is more important than what God wants"
      4. For Lucifer to ascend in heaven, the only place he could go higher was God's throne
      5. Lucifer was not content worshiping and honoring God; Lucifer wanted the worship
    4. When Lucifer was cast out of heaven, his judgment began; he became Satan
      1. The final judgment for Satan will occur when he is cast into the eternal lake of fire (see Revelation 20:10)
      2. When that happens, it will eternally demonstrate the absolute stupidity of defying God
        1. Any choice that moves you from God's heart is a stupid choice
        2. Any choice that draws you closer to His heart and will is a smart one
  5. He Is Not the Opposite of God
    1. Satan may see himself as God's opposite, but he is not
    2. He wants people to think he is powerful enough to stand against God
    3. God created Satan just like He did everything else
      1. Satan doesn't stand a chance going directly against God
      2. Tertullian, an early church father, called Satan "God's monkey"
        1. Satan tries to ape God
        2. He wants people and demons to believe he is more powerful than he is
        3. All he can do is warp what God has made
    4. How does Satan differ from God?
      1. Satan is not self-existent
        1. He is a created being with a will
        2. He has not always existed
      2. Satan is not sovereign
        1. He is not in control of the universe; God is
        2. He operates only within God's governance (see Job 1-2; Mark 5:11-13; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
      3. Satan is not omnipresent; he is limited spatially and can't be everywhere at once
      4. Satan is not omniscient—all knowing (see 1 Peter 1:12)
        1. He can't read minds or know the future
        2. Satan didn't know or understand God's plan of rescue at the cross
  6. He Is Highly Organized
    1. To be effective in a fallen state, you have to get organized
    2. When Satan fell, he organized a coup, a widespread rebellion
      1. Revelation 12 tells us that when Satan fell, he took one-third of the angels with him
      2. They became demons (see vv. 4, 9)
    3. Jesus recognized Satan's organization, calling him the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31)
    4. Paul called him "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2); he recognized that Satan controls the system of earthly values
    5. Satan is the "ruler of demons" (Luke 11:15)
      1. He has established rankings of demons
      2. Paul described these as principalities, powers, and dominions (see Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:16)
      3. This is a hierarchy, an army of evil fallen angels who are set against us
    6. But the greater truth is that two-thirds of the angels remained with God
      1. God's angels serve and protect believers
      2. Satan's forces are outnumbered two to one
      3. Satan is highly organized, but so is God, and He's better at it
  7. He Has an Agenda
    1. Satan's agenda is simple: to disrupt and destroy the works of God
    2. Satan's name means adversary, one who is against
    3. Who is Satan against?
      1. Jesus: Satan works to attack Jesus and His work
      2. Holy angels: Satan works to undermine God's work through other angels (see Daniel 10:13)
      3. Israel: Satan works to attack God's people; this will culminate in the end times (see Revelation 12:13-17)
      4. Unbelievers: Satan works hard to keep unbelievers from the saving work of Christ (see John 10:10)
      5. Believers: Satan uses temptation, doubt, guilt, fear, confusion, sickness, envy, and slander to sway Christians
    4. In short, Satan wants to limit God's work, lessen Christians' witness, and keep people from Christ
Figures referenced: Ithobaal III, D.L. Moody, Tertullian

Cross references: Job 1-2; Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-15; Daniel 10:13; Matthew 4:1-11; 12:24; 13:19; 16:22-24; Mark 5:11-13; Luke 11:15; 22:31; John 10:10; 12:31; 2 Corinthians 2:11; 6:15; 12:7-10; Ephesians 2:2; 6:12-18; Colossians 1:16; 1 Peter 1:12; 1 John 3:8; Revelation 9:11; 12:4, 9, 13-17; 20:10

Topic: Satan

Keywords: angels, demons, Devil, evil, Evil One, fallen angels, Lucifer, spiritual warfare, Wicked One

Transcript

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Satan: His Meaning, Minions, and Methods - Luke 10:17-20 - Skip Heitzig

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[LOUD CROWD NOISE]

God isn't really something to worship.

He's just waiting destroy all of us.

I guess there's a God out there somewhere.

I hope there is a God.

God isn't really something to worship.

God, Allah, Buddha.

God is everywhere.

Good morning, great to see you this morning.

[APPLAUSE]

Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 10, we're going to look at a few verses together. We've been doing a series on doctrine, starting with the doctrine of God, the character of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the nature of man, his fall, his need of redemption. We looked last week at angels and we're continuing this doctrinal series 2020.

And today, we look at a topic that is probably one of our least favorite things to talk about. And that is the devil. Nobody really likes to talk about the devil. In fact, I have discovered that most people in the world don't believe there is a devil that is in a literal sense. Or the devil has just been portrayed as this weird cartoon caricature of a skinny guy in a red satin set of pajamas with a pitchfork and horns, half man, half beast, all of that nonsense.

A Gallup poll was done that revealed 89% of Americans say they believe in God, whereas 61% of Americans say they believe in the devil. And what was disturbing about those who said they believed in the devil, half regarded the devil as an actual real person, a literal person, the others, not literal. And a bulk of them considered themselves born again Christians.

So just get that in mind. You've got a born again Christians say, I believe in God, I follow Jesus, but I do not believe there is a devil. Is there a problem with that? Yes. And I'm going to show you why.

The devil has been reduced to a fairy tale. One person told me, it's stuff, it's something parents made up to scare their kids into obeying them. There are all sorts of songs that have reduced the devil to just a humorous cultural caricature.

So we have songs like "The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea." Or "The Devil With A Red Dress On." Or "The Devil Went Down To Georgia." And judging from the elections, that actually may be the case. "The Devil In Her Heart," "Run, Devil, Run." Or it has ended up to be in foods, like devil's food cake. Who eats that? They eat it in hell. Devil's food cake, or deviled eggs, or deviled ham.

And so people have regarded the idea of a literal devil as passe, as naive. And rather they would prefer to see the devil is just sort of a general idea of evil in the world. Listen, one of the first principles in warfare is to know who your enemy is. And there is no more powerful an enemy than one who is there, but you don't think is there.

If you have an enemy who exists, but you don't believe that enemy exists and yet he does, he's won. So what I'd like to do today in this study-- by the way the name of this study is Satan-- His Meaning, Minions, and Methods-- is give you some surprising facts about the devil.

Essentially, there are three enemies that we face, the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world is the world system of ideas and values that disregards God. The flesh is your flesh, your fallen nature. And those two enemies would not have any kind of a powerful foothold without a third enemy, the devil. The devil uses your flesh and uses the world to get at you.

And even though the Bible says, according to Paul in his epistle, we are not ignorant of Satan's devices, unfortunately I've discovered a lot of Christians who actually are ignorant of his devices. So allow me to go through this and give you, starting in our text here in Luke, chapter 10, six surprising facts about the devil. Number one, he is real. I know that doesn't surprise you. But that is a surprise to the average person living today.

Satan is real. He's not a Halloween costume, he's an actual real personal being. Now in Luke chapter 10-- and by the way, you may want to turn in advance to two other passages we're going to look at in a little bit. One is Ezekiel chapter 28, and the other one is Isaiah chapter 14. Luke 10 is where we begin, but then Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14.

In Luke 10, Jesus sends out his disciples, not 12 of them, but 70 of them, to the towns and villages around the area on his way to Jerusalem. He sends them out two by two. He wants them to go into the village, speak about the kingdom of God, see who's open, see who is not open, and get ready for his coming to those areas later on. So it's sort of like an evangelistic team that is sent in advance.

So they go, they do what Jesus tells them to do. They come back, and they are so stoked at what they discovered. Let's pick it up in verse 17 of Luke chapter 10. "So then the 70 returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.'" They saw some exercise of spiritual authority as they went.

"And he said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.'"

It's pretty obvious that those 70 disciples believed in literal demons. Because they said, the demons were subject to us in your name. So they believed. It's also pretty obvious Jesus believed in a literal devil, because he named him. I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. So you got 70 and Jesus believing in a real devil.

Now what evidence do we have that the devil is real, that he is literal. Let me give you three lines of reasoning. Number one, philosophically, philosophically. By simple reason, there has to be an adversary. I mean, just think it through. There's a God, he makes a world. And yet the world that he made is not in perfect harmony. It's in disarray.

And we wonder, well, why is that the case? If you have an all-powerful good God who can do anything and he makes his creation, yet his creation seems filled with violence and flaws and problems, you've got this dichotomy. God made it, and yet it's filled with evil.

You have a mix of happiness and sorrow, wisdom and stupidity, kindness and cruelty. How do you account for that? The presence of another being, another powerful being. I mean, you tell somebody about God. God loves you, has a wonderful plan for your life. That person happens to be an unbeliever and shoots back and he says, what do you mean there's a God who loves me? Why is there so much bad stuff in the world if there's a good God? So just reasoning it through philosophically, it makes sense.

But a stronger line of evidence is biblically we know it to be so. The Bible speaks about Satan 54 different times. It means adversary, an enemy. He is your enemy. Another 35 times the Bible speaks of the devil.

And when the Bible speaks of the devil, it doesn't say it. It uses personal pronouns, he, him, himself. Also, Satan, the devil, is called the evil one, the wicked one. He's given the name Abbadon and Apollyon. in the book of Revelation. One is a Hebrew word, one is a Greek word that means destroyer. Real names, formal names, speak of a real person with personality, and power, and planning, and purpose.

And the strongest case for the biblical position is the Lord Jesus Christ, himself. Like here, he named Satan. I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Jesus had conversations with Satan, like when he was being tempted in Matthew chapter 4. And the Lord Jesus rebuked him personally.

Or when Jesus spoke of the devil's work against the gospel, he said, the word is sown. That is the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. The word is sown. As soon as people hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. There again, he is speaking of a literal, real Satan doing a work.

Or how about when Jesus told Peter near to the crucifixion. He said, Peter-- or he put it this way, Simon, Simon, Satan has been asking for you. He wants to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you. Well if I was Peter, I wouldn't feel too good about that. Because Jesus just identified an enemy by name who has been asking for my soul.

Now let's look at verse 18 again a little more carefully. "And he said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.'" What he means by that is, I was there when it happened. When the fall from heaven happened, I saw it, I was there, I experienced it.

In fact, the whole reason Jesus was on the Earth was to undo all the bad stuff that happened since he fell from heaven. Listen to what is written in 1 John chapter 3, verse 8. "For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil." Now, the reason I'm making a deal out of this is, that means if you say you believe in Jesus Christ but you don't believe in the devil, you are making a mockery out of what Jesus said he came to do.

If he came to destroy the works of the devil, that's the purpose of the incarnation of him coming, if you say I don't believe in a devil. Devil doesn't exist. It's just an idea. If Jesus believed in it, the disciples believed in it, James wrote about it, John wrote about it, Paul wrote about it, Peter wrote about it, and you say, yeah, I don't believe it, then you are making a mockery out of the entire New Testament. So we know it philosophically. Moreover we know at biblically.

But third, there's another line of evidence. We know it experientially. I mean, who can live today with all that is going on, and deny the existence of the devil? Anybody that does that is just out of touch. Back in his day, D.L. Moody said, "I believe Satan exists for two reasons-- First because the Bible says so, and second because I've done business with him." And you have, as well. You know by your own experience, yeah, it's real.

There was a poem years ago, and one of the stanzas says, the devil is voted not to be, so of course the devil is gone. But simple folks would like to know, who carries his business on? Somebody is doing it. Somebody is causing all these problems and all this evil. So the devil is real. He's real.

In fact, there are some people that are so convinced he is real, they worship him openly. The Church of Satan has been growing in numbers since it was developed in the 1960s in San Francisco by Anton LeVay. Thousands, millions of people worldwide say, not only do I believe there is a devil, I worship him. So that's surprising to a lot of people in the world, but that is the first one. He is real.

Second one, the second surprising fact-- and this is going to surprise some of you. Not only is he real, but he is magnificent. Now I've gotten some of your attention by saying that, because the last thing you expected in coming to a church service to hear an evangelical pastor say the devil is magnificent. But he is.

Or in the very least, we have to say, he was. He was so magnificent that God describes him as the most glorious creature he had ever made. In fact, he is so beautiful there's an indication in the Bible that we're going to have some capacity in the future to see him. And when we do, we're going to be surprised when we look at him, probably because of his beauty and magnificence.

Turn with me to the book of Ezekiel. I've had to mark that in advance. Go to the book of Ezekiel chapter 28. And we don't have time to go through a lot of it, but let me just kind of cut to the chase. We're going to begin in verse 11. But let me set it out for you.

In Ezekiel 2008, actually in this section of Ezekiel, the prophet is pronouncing God's judgment upon different nations. And there's one nation in particular in this chapter, the kingdom of Tyre which was a city-state right up on the upper Mediterranean coast in what is today Lebanon. And at the time, there was a ruler of Tyre called the Prince of Tyre. And that is to whom this section is addressed, a lamentation against the Prince of Tyre.

We know him to be a real historical figure. His name was Ithobaal the second. He was a very ruthless, godless, prideful ruler. In fact, he even claimed that he was God. So judgment is proclaimed against Ithobaal, the Prince of Tyre. But then in verse 11, there's a shift that occurs. Then somebody who cannot be identified in the earthly sense is talked about. And that is the King of Tyre. And from the description that we are about to read, we will understand that the description cannot fit any human being. And you'll see why.

Let's begin in chapter 28 verse 11. "Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God-- you were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.'" Watch this. "'You were in Eden, the Garden of God.'" Now I highly doubt that Ithobaal the second was in the Garden of Eden.

This does not fit any description of any human ruler. What the prophet is doing is after addressing the Prince of Tyre, he goes to the very source of evil itself, the King of Tyre, the real power behind the earthly Prince. And that shouldn't bother you, because the Bible does that a lot. It kind of shifts from one reality to another.

In fact, Jesus did this. Jesus was talking to Peter when he announced that he was going to Jerusalem and he would be crucified, and Peter said, oh no, we're not going to let that happen to you. And Jesus said to Peter, get behind me Satan, Satan. What's he doing? He's addressing the power that gave Peter the thought, we're going to keep you from going to the cross. Get behind me Satan. So we see that here, but in a bigger kind of a sense.

So he's addressing the King of Tyre. And look at the description. In verse 12, you were the seal of perfection. In other words, you're the sum of everything I have made. You were the best of the best, the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. What a statement. If you want to know what God thinks is beautiful, you would need to see this angel.

Why is that important? Because when people today think of the devil, they think of him as what? Ugly, right? Misshapen, a deformed half beast, half man. Say, you were beautiful, magnificent. In fact, the only angel in scripture-- and this does describe an angel because it talks about the cherub. You'll see that in a minute. The only angel in scripture given this much detail of beauty is not Gabriel, not Michael, but this one. This was the most glorious creature God ever made.

So it says, "You were in Eden, the Garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, emerald, with gold." I don't quite know what that means, the psychedelic kind of beauty that was displayed. "The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers." A cherub is an angel. It's the highest of the ranking of the good angels, the most powerful, surrounding the presence and glory of God.

"I established you, you were on the holy mountain of God, you walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, til iniquity was found in you." Now it goes on to say, "By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence, and you sinned." And you sinned.

Back in Luke 10, Jesus said, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. This describes why. What happened to him? Well, we just read it. You'll notice in verse 15, he says, "Iniquity was found in you." Verse 16, "you sinned," and then verse 17, notice, "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground. I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you."

Now go back to verse 13 for just a moment because I want you to notice something. What was it that this cherub was doing in heaven? Two things. Number one, he was a musician. Notice in verse 13, he talks about your timbrels and your pipes. "The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you." Timbrels and pipes are musical instruments. Why is that important?

It would seem to mean that this cherub, this being, in the Garden of Eden who was there, that at one time in heaven, he was the worship leader. He was the worship leader, he was the choir director. It's interesting to think, when God made his supreme creation, he made a musician.

Now if you're a musician, don't get big headed about that, because look what happened to this one. But verse 14, "You were the anointed cherub that covers." Inferring that Satan must have had some position of hovering over the throne of God to protect his holiness and protect his glory. So he is real, he is a magnificent.

Third fact, he made the stupidest choice ever. It's mystifying to me still. It's surprising still to me when I think of what happened. Because I think, wait a minute, you had like the best gig ever. If you're the anointed cherub who covers, if you're the highest of God's creation, if you're number 1 minus 1, you've got a good gig. Don't mess that up.

But he did. Iniquity was found in him. He sinned, his heart was puffed up with pride. Now I want to show you how that happened. It is described. Go back now to Isaiah chapter 14. Isaiah chapter 14, remember Jesus said, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

OK, remember that. And let's read now in Isaiah chapter 14 verse 12. "How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cast down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!" You know that Lucifer is one of the most beautiful names you could come up with. And yet I've never found a parent saying, here's my little son Lucifer, could you dedicated him to the Lord. No, nobody does that.

But you know what it means, Lucifer means daystar. Or son of the morning, or star of the morning, or shining one. It's a beautiful, beautiful name. Yet to use that name would be almost profane because of what happened. Now I told you last week that there are three beings in the scripture of which we have the name, Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. And the only reason we know their names is because those beings are germane to the biblical narrative.

But I would suppose, therefore, that all the angels have names, and God knows all of them just like God knows your name. I don't think when God calls an angel, he says, OK, angel 1,650,016, come forward. He knows their names. They have names, they're identified.

Now what was the horrible sin to cause judgment? Begin in verse 13 of Isaiah 14. "For you said in your heart--" Remember what we just read in Ezekiel. You were lifted up in your heart. You were puffed up with pride in your heart. "So you said in your heart-- I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the North, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High."

Notice five times Lucifer going, I will, I will, I will, I will, I will. That is the definition of sin. Sin begins when a person, a being, says in his heart, what I want is more important than what God wants. I will exalt my will above God's will. That's sin. That's where it all begins.

Five times he uses the word, I will. He goes, "I will be like the most high." Verse 15, "You shall be brought down to hell," this is God's response, "to the lowest depths of the pit." Now go back to what he says here in that verse. I will ascend into heaven. Why does he say that? I mean, if he's already in heaven, why does he go, I'm going to ascend into heaven? Well, you're already there.

So why are you going to ascend? For him to ascend, there's only one person left who's higher, and that's God. For the chief angel to get a promotion would make him God. That's the problem. Something happened in his heart where he is now not satisfied with worshipping God, but now he wants to be worshipped as God. I will be like the Most High.

And when that happened, Lucifer became Satan and he was cast out of heaven. I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Verse 15, "You shall be brought down to sheol," hell, "to the lowest depths of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying-- 'is this the one that made the Earth tremble, who shook kingdoms?'" So he says, I'm going up in life. God says, you're going down to the pit.

And it's going to be fulfilled in Revelation chapter 20, when it tells us that Satan is cast into the lake of fire. He and all of his demons, cast into the lake of fire. And God has been waiting a long time for that to happen. Still hasn't happened yet. And when it finally does, it's God's way of eternally demonstrating the absolute stupidity of defying God.

You want to defy God? You want to exalt your will above God? Let me show you what that will get you. Because the chief of my creation tried that, and here's his end. Now I want to apply that with this question. What choices are you making in life? Are you making stupid choices? Are you making smart choices?

You say, Skip, define stupid. OK, here's a stupid choice. Any choice that moves you away from the heart of God is stupid. Any choice that draws you closer to his heart and will is smart. Anybody who says, I want this, I want that, I will this, I will that, is stupid if it's against the will of God. And God will demonstrate that eternally by casting the greatest creation he made into the pit.

So a lot of surprising things. He is real, he is magnificent, but he made the stupidest choice ever. I'll give you a fourth surprising fact about the devil. And that is this, the devil is not the opposite of God. The devil is not the opposite of God, but he wants you to think he's the opposite of God.

Oh, he loves it when people give the devil more credit than he's due. He loves it when people think, yeah, he's like, he's like the opposite of God. He's powerful like God. I read a news article in the LA Times some years ago. It caught my attention so I cut it out.

17-year-old boy said, "I often think of Satan as a cool dude." I'd never heard anybody talk about the devil as a cool dude. But this 17-year-old boy said, "I've often thought of the devil as a cool dude, since he controls one part of the supernatural." Wrong. "He tends to let you be on your own and do what you want, whereas God wants to put you in a jail cell."

Listen, the devil wants people to think he is so awesome and so powerful, that the universe is sort of like one big celestial boxing ring. And over here in the corner, ladies and gentlemen, is Jesus Christ, and over here in the other corner is the devil. And they're duking it out, who's going to win? What round are we in?

Are you kidding? The devil was created by Jesus. He can't go one round with the champ. He is not the opposite of God. He was created. He was created. Tertullian, one of the church fathers, had a pretty famous saying in his time. He gave it in Latin, it was [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]. Which literally translated, means Satan is God's monkey.

What that means is, the devil tries to ape God. He wants to be like the Most High, so he does things to get the earth, people on the earth, and hopefully demons, the third went with him, to believe that he is more powerful than he is. But Jesus said, I saw Satan fall. He didn't stay in that position, he went down. I saw it.

And the 70 disciples said, the demons are subject to us in your name. That just shows that God is superior to the devil and the demons. He's not the opposite of God. He doesn't have the attributes of God. Listen, the devil is not self-existent like God is.

God is self-existent. Nobody created God. The devil is not self-existent, he was created. If he was created, it means he is contingent. If he is contingent, it means he is inferior to God, supremely so. So he's not self-existent.

Something else he's not, he's not sovereign. Yes, the devil has certain freedoms. But did you know that Satan operates only within the government of God? That he has to get permission from God to do anything? I don't know why God gives him the permission he gives him, but he has to have permission to do it.

For instance, when he wanted to attack Job, he had to appear before God and make an appeal. And get permission to go after Job. In the Gospel accounts of the man who was demon possessed, and Jesus came to deliver the man who was possessed with demons.

The demons had to get permission from Jesus to leave that man and go into a herd of swine. Permit us to go into the herd of swine. And unless Jesus would have said the word go, which he did, those demons would have stayed in that man. They had to get permission.

The apostle Paul talked about his thorn in the flesh. Remember in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 he said, there was given to me-- which implies God gave it to me, or God allowed it to be given to me-- there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, listen to what he says, a messenger of Satan to buffet me.

In other words, God for his own purposes can even use the malevolent designs of the devil in trying to attack you for his own glory and for the good and betterment of his people. Because Paul said, I ended up hearing God say, my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in your weakness.

So he's not self-existent, he is not sovereign. Something else the devil is not, he is not omnipresent. Don't think the devil is everywhere, he's not. He is limited spatially. He can only be in one place at one time. A demon can only be in one place at one time. The demons were in the man, and when Jesus cast them into the herd they left the man and they went over to point B, the herd of swine. But they are limited spatially, they are not omnipresent.

Another thing the devil is not, he is not omniscient. He doesn't know everything. He can't predict the future. I hear Christian sometimes get freaked out, and they go, I think the devil can read minds. I think demons read my mind.

And I've heard people tell stories of before they were saved, they went to a fortune teller or a psychic. And the fortune teller or psychic gave details of their life. And I don't know how he knew that, but he knew what I had for breakfast. Well, your husband knew what you had for breakfast. I mean, it's observable information. It's past history. I'm sure there was a demon present when you were having breakfast who told it to the fortune teller.

But that's different than predicting the future. That's something only God knows. So the devil is not omniscient. He doesn't know the future, he doesn't know what you are thinking. I mean, even good angels lack information.

Remember what it says in Peter, that the angels desire to look into things regarding our salvation. That's because angels experientially don't know what it's like to have God's mercy, grace, and forgiveness. We do. Redemption is something unique to human beings. We have that. That fascinates the angels, they desire to look into that. So if good angels don't have all the information and know everything, certainly demons don't.

So he is not the opposite of God. He's not real. He's not-- he is magnificent. He is real. He is magnificent. He's made a stupid choice, and he is not the opposite of God. Let me give you a fifth surprising fact about the devil. He is highly organized, really into organization.

I don't know if you read the book The Seven Habits of Effective People. I don't know, but he's highly organized. And one would have to be. To be effective in a fallen state, you have to get organized. When Satan fell from heaven, the Bible indicates that he managed to bring other spirits, angel spirits, with him. That he staged a coup in the heavenly places, a mass rebellion of which he has been sort of a ruler of, ever since.

Revelation chapter 12, John said, "I saw a dragon, and his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them down to the earth." We read that and go, so what, that's a vision. What does that mean? Well, you keep reading that chapter and it tells you that the stars are fallen angels.

And it says, the great dragon was cast out. "That serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan," "And his angels were cast out with him." Did you notice that? His angels. So with a third of the angelic hosts that rebelled with him, he has put together a highly organized network of powerful spiritual beings of which he is the chief.

He said, I wanted to be like God. That's his-- that's what he's God, that network. But that is why Jesus calls him the ruler of this world, John chapter 12, John chapter 14, and John 16, the ruler of this world. Paul said at Ephesians chapter 2, he's the prince of the power of the air. That's an interesting description of him. Prince of the power of the air.

Air meaning, the atmosphere. Meaning Satan's realm is the earth. The earth that has this atmosphere. But I kind of see more in that. He's the prince of the power not only of the air, but of the air waves. He is very interested in media. He is highly invested in media. And he seeks to pervert that, and I think he's done a pretty good job.

Luke chapter 11 verse 15, he's called the ruler of demons, the ruler of demons. So you've got this coup that was staged. He has fallen, he has all these angelic beings that went with him who are now demons. He is like the prince of them, the ruler of them. And that system is highly organized.

In fact, we have names of their rankings in Colossians 1 and Ephesians chapter 6. Let me just read one to you. Ephesians 6, Paul said, "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but," listen, "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts," or armies, "of wickedness in the heavenly places." All of those are titles of rankings of angelic beings that are evil against you.

Now this freaks most people out. OK, the devil is real, he's got an army, and they hate my guts. Well, that's because we focus on the wrong truth. A third of the angels fell, that leaves how many left? 2/3, they're outnumbered. Satan's outnumbered 2 to 1. 2 to 1, and greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

Focus on the 2/3 that did not fall of whom God said, he sends them out to minister to those who are heirs of salvation, Hebrews chapter 1, rather than one third of demons. Yeah, demons are real. Yeah, demons are out to get you. But God is living in you and His angels are surrounding you. That's what you need to focus on.

[APPLAUSE]

Yep, Satan is highly organized. So is God, and he's better at it. And I'll leave you with the sixth surprising fact, maybe not so surprising to you. Satan, the devil, has an agenda. He has an agenda, a very specific agenda. It's not just to create chaos. He's not just a bull in a China closet. Here I go, blululuh. No, he has an agenda, which is this, to disrupt and destroy the work of God. To disrupt and destroy the work of God.

The very name, Satan, means adversary, enemy. He is our enemy. He is against people. He's against certain ones. Question is, who is he against? At the very basic level, I suppose you could say, well, he's against everyone, right. 1 John chapter 5 verse 19, we know that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. Peter said, the devil is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He'll take anybody down, anybody who's available.

But if you've been in the military, you'll understand this. There are people who would be considered the enemy. But within the camp called the enemy, they have what is called HVTs, High Value Targets. High Value Target, get the High Value Target and the rest will fall. I believe Satan has High Value Targets he has been after.

Let me give you a few of them. Target number one, HVT number one on Satan's list, Jesus Christ. Ever since Genesis 3, 15 announced somebody is going to be born, Satan, who is going to crush your skull. Satan has tried to attack the messianic line. That's enemy number one, to him. Jesus and those attached to him.

Number two for Satan, HVT, High Value Target, holy angels, holy angels. You know, we're a little naive and prideful, I would even say, to imagine that the devil himself is out to get me. He has some bigger fish to fry first of all. Even beyond the earthly realm, even beyond the political, even beyond the elections, even beyond the rulers of this world, and that is, in the heavenly places, Satan fights against holy angels.

You want to get a little insight into that, read Daniel chapter 10 where an angel says to Daniel, look, as soon as you prayed, I came. But 21 days I fought the demon prince of Persia. And it was such a heavy fight I had to call for super angel Michael to come and help me out. But here I am. So there's a battle going on in heavenly places, far beyond the earthly.

So Jesus, holy angels, number three, number three High Value Target, Israel, the nation of Israel. God has made a plan for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. And in the New Testament he made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, that he will have a theocratic kingdom upon this earth, the likes of which has not been fulfilled yet. And that is why in Revelation chapter 12, it is Satan fallen from heaven attacking the nation of Israel.

So we have Jesus, holy angels, and Israel. Those are High Value Targets. Let me throw in a fourth, unbelievers, unbelievers. Satan and his demons attack unbelievers. What's his purpose with unbelievers? Keep him unbelievers. Keep him deceived. Distract them, do anything to distract them to get them to reject God and never receive Jesus as Savior. Remember, Jesus said the thief Satan comes to kill, to steal, and to destroy. Satan wants unbelievers to die in unbelief.

Number five, fifth High Value Target, believers. But let me be specific about that. Believers who are making an impact for the gospel. Believers who are making an impact. If you are a serious-minded Christian, you have a target on your back.

Now, if you play it cool, you say, yeah, you know I believe in Jesus and stuff, but I don't want to get too fanatical and too serious about God. By and large, Satan's won. He'd made you impotent. You're just going to sort of veg out through life and go to heaven.

But if you are saying, you know what, I want to do damage to the kingdom of darkness between now and heaven. I want to seriously promote the gospel and help people in the name of Jesus and storm the gates of hell. HVT, High Value Target on your back. And he'll use everything he can to hinder your witness, to lessen your effectiveness, because he is Satan, the adversary.

So I know as we come to a closure, saying Skip, this sermon today is not on the high-- number 1 to 10 encouraging list, I put this down at the very bottom. Because you just told me there's a real devil who hates my guts, who wants to destroy my witness, who sends his demons out, and he is my enemy. You're right, I told you that. And that should make you happy.

Now you're looking at me like, you're weird, you're nuts. You're telling me that the devil is my enemy and that should make me happy? Yes. That's what I'm telling you. Because the other alternative is the devil isn't your enemy, he's your friend. That's far worse news. If you're going to have any relationship with the devil at all, you want him as your enemy, not your friend. Because if he's your enemy, God is your friend. God is your friend.

I'm going to close with this, Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote these words, "There is something very comforting in the thought that the devil is an adversary. I would sooner have him for an adversary than a friend. Oh, my soul, it was dread work for you if Satan were a friend of yours, for then with him you must forever dwell in darkness, shut out from the friendship of God."

And he closes by saying, "but to have Satan for your adversary is a comfortable omen," In other words, it should bring you comfort. "For it looks as if God were our friend." And so far let us be comforted in this matter. Satan hates you. Yes, thank you Jesus. I'm so happy, God, that he hates me.

He hates me because I defected from his kingdom. I didn't listen to his lies. I said, I figured it out, devil. The wages of sin is death, I'm quitting before payday. I'm giving my life to Jesus. Now he's my enemy, good. Because God is my friend. God is my friend.

Father, how thankful we are for the friendship of God, for the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said, I no longer call you my servants, I call you my friends. And to be a friend of God is to have the devil and his minions as enemies. We are comforted in that thought. We know he is real. We know he's powerful.

But you are God, you created him. And his future is total annihilation, destruction, in the future. So we have unmasked him, Lord, and seen him for what he is. A defeated foe. Fill us with your spirit, Lord, to march into the future boldly, confidently, not afraid. Not afraid of what's going on around us, not afraid of what's coming at us, but comforted at who is living inside of us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Let's all stand and worship together.

We hope you enjoyed this special service from Calvary Church. We'd love to know how this message impacted you. Email at mystory@calvarynm.church. And just a reminder, you can support this ministry with a financial gift at calvarynm.church give. Thank you for joining us for this teaching from Calvary Church.

Additional Messages in this Series

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6/14/2020
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Seeing Truth Clearly
2 Timothy 4:1-8
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
Hiram Johnson said, "The first casualty in war is truth." God’s people have been in a cosmic battle since the fall. Satan’s first allegation against truth was in Genesis 3:1: "Has God indeed said...?" Deception regarding truth is Satan's primary occupation. We now live in what might be dubbed a post-truth culture wherein the very idea of absolute truth is considered archaic and even offensive. In this series, we will look to the "Scripture of Truth" (Daniel 10:21) to reinforce our foundation and engender biblical literacy. Here at the end of Paul's life, he could foresee the abandonment of truth, and he gave Timothy this antidote: "Preach the Word!"
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6/21/2020
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Seeing God as Father
Luke 11:2
Skip Heitzig
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God is presented in Scripture by a variety of images. He is called our Rock, our Refuge, our Warrior, our Shepherd, our Shield, our Hiding Place, our Redeemer, our Fountain, our Husband, and our Vinedresser. But no motif is as powerful and personal as seeing God as our Father. With this title, the invisible God becomes the intimate God. Today, on Father’s Day, we consider the singular phrase "Our Father in heaven" as an introduction to the doctrine of God. Let’s turn over each word and mine the depths of the riches contained in this great verse.
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6/28/2020
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How Can I Relate to God?
Exodus 32-34
Skip Heitzig
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The subject of God is the loftiest of all themes and the pinnacle of all pursuits. For some people, the idea of God is absurd because He is not readily perceived by the senses, like a flower or another person. But as we learn who God is and how perceptible He is to us, I think we’ll be both lifted up and humbled all at the same time. Today we trace the journey that every person must take who wants to relate to the God of the universe. Let’s examine five stages of this relationship.
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7/5/2020
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Biblical History: Fact or Fancy?
Dr. Steven Collins
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Dr. Steven Collins serves as the dean of the College of Archaeology at Veritas International University and a consulting research professor at Trinity Southwest University. He is also the director of the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project in Jordan, which is believed to be the location of Sodom.
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7/12/2020
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Hello, I’m God!
Exodus 34:5-9
Skip Heitzig
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People have written and spoken about God for millennia. It’s what I have done for nearly four decades. But today we get to hear from God Himself as He gives to Moses His own autobiography. Here He introduces Himself by stating His name and His occupation as God. He states His primary character traits, thus framing what our relationship with Him is going to be like. This is a primary passage of Scripture, meaning other biblical authors make reference to it later on in their writings. Let’s find out what God says about Himself.
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7/19/2020
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Knowing the God Who Knows You
Psalm 139:1-6, 23-24
Skip Heitzig
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A person with knowledge can be intimidating. They spew facts and figures and can dizzy us with information and understanding. But rightly seen, a study of God’s comprehensive knowledge can be a source of great comfort to us. In this series, 20/20: Seeing Truth Clearly, we come to grips with the fact that God sees everything most clearly. His knowledge is vast, infinite, comprehensive, specific, and personal. But let’s observe how God’s omniscience can become inspiring rather than intimidating.
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7/26/2020
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Here, There, and Everywhere
Psalm 139:7-12
Skip Heitzig
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One of the Beatles’ most melodic hits expressed a couple’s romantic desire to be together at all times and in all places and was simply titled, “Here, There and Everywhere.” This title also expresses a unique attribute of God (what theologians call an incommunicable attribute). He is everywhere present in the totality of His being! This may be one of the hardest-to-understand characteristics of God, but one that brings great comfort to us.
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8/2/2020
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The Unrivaled Power of God
Psalm 139:13-18
Skip Heitzig
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God is called Almighty fifty-seven times in Scripture. It means that the resources of His power are boundless. He is unlimited in His ability and unconstrained in His capacity. God’s attribute of omnipotence is helpful for us to remember when we are feeling overwhelmed with threatening circumstances. Just as we feel confident when our mobile devices have plenty of battery power to spare, we can live confidently knowing that our great God has power for any of our problems.
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8/9/2020
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Holy, Holy, Holy!
Isaiah 6:1-8
Skip Heitzig
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Holiness sounds scary. Thoughts of dusty, cloistered halls of a monastery fill our minds when we hear the word. We might think of chants and long prayers rather than anthems and short prayers. It hardly seems like an appropriate word for the twenty-first century! But according to one theologian, God’s holiness is the one attribute that binds all His other attributes together. This is the characteristic that most uniquely describes God. Let’s consider it today.
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8/16/2020
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One Plus One Plus One Equals One?
John 14:1-18
Skip Heitzig
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One of the most fundamental yet challenging truths in Scripture is the doctrine of the Trinity. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Try to explain it and you might lose your mind, but try to explain it away and you might lose your soul. The Bible openly teaches the plurality within the Godhead—three persons who are distinct from one another yet perfectly One in essence. How are we to think about this? And how should it affect us personally?
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8/23/2020
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Pain: God’s Biggest Problem
John 9:1-7
Skip Heitzig
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Perhaps the biggest impediment to believing in God (as stated by those who don’t) is the presence of pain and suffering in the world. How can there be a God who is benevolent and omnipotent with the sheer volume of grief, misery, travail, and torment at any given moment? Today we explore the theme of a loving God in a universe pockmarked by pain. As Jesus was in Jerusalem with His disciples, they came across a blind man. I’d like to show you four features of this most common and universal of human experiences.
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8/30/2020
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Christ Jesus Our Lord
Philippians 2:5-11
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At the very center of history’s stage stands Jesus Christ. He has no peers. The Father in heaven sent Him on the mission of redemption and He humbly surrendered. When it was accomplished, He conquered death itself by resurrection and returned to glory. In what is considered by many to be the greatest single statement about Jesus Christ in the New Testament, Paul succinctly framed His humiliation, His exaltation, and His example to us.
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9/6/2020
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The Atonement: His Death, Our Life
John 12:20-33
Skip Heitzig
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Wasn’t there any other way for God to save human beings than by sending His Son to die? The very idea of a bloody crucifixion sounds brutal and barbarous to some, yet it is the centerpiece of our faith. What is the big deal about the atonement? Why the cross? Why had it been the plan of God through the ages? Today we examine the death of Christ for us and, in His own words, His own estimation of its necessity and consequence.
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9/13/2020
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He’s Alive! Proofs of the Resurrection
1 Corinthians 15:3-8
Skip Heitzig
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Just as your own heart is the pump that brings life-giving blood to your entire body, so is the resurrection of Jesus that gives life to the gospel message. Without it, our faith would be totally useless; our message would be utterly powerless. The resurrection is also what separates Jesus Christ from every other spiritual leader and would-be messiah. It validates His teaching. It authenticates His claims. It substantiates His promises. And it corroborates our confidence in Him as our Savior and Lord.
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9/20/2020
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The Holy Spirit in the World
John 16:5-11
Skip Heitzig
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We are not alone in the universe! That’s the premise of most sci-fi documentaries, but I’m not referring to alien life from another galaxy, rather to the living God Himself. In particular, I am referring to the Holy Spirit. He has a particular role when it comes to working in this world, and that is to awaken people to their great need for Christ. In our series 20/20: Seeing Truth Clearly, we will turn in the next few weeks to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. What is His role in the life of the unbeliever and the life of the believer?
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10/11/2020
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Who Is the Holy Spirit?
John 16
Nate Heitzig
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There can be a lot of mystery and misinformation surrounding the Holy Spirit. When we look to Scripture, however, the third person of the Godhead comes into clear focus. In this teaching, Nate Heitzig describes the person of the Holy Spirit, His work both at scale in the world and individually in the hearts of believers, and how He helps you gain a deeper understanding of God's Word.
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10/18/2020
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Help Has Arrived!
John 14:15-18
Skip Heitzig
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Someone said to me this past week, “Life is hard, but God is good!” We all know it’s true. To live for God in an ungodly world is challenging, sometimes daunting. But God never intended for us to try it alone! He has provided for us a Helper, the Holy Spirit, who is not only at work in the world around us but is very busy working inside of us. Let’s drill down into the promise Jesus gave to His disciples in the upper room about the coming Spirit.
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10/25/2020
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God’s Purpose for People
Genesis 1-3
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After spending several weeks considering God’s nature and character, we now turn to mankind. What is the purpose of the people inhabiting this planet? How can we fulfill the God-given destiny that He originally had in mind when He placed us here? Someone once said that the two most significant days in one’s life are first, the day we were born, and second, the day we discovered what we were born for. Let’s go back to the beginning.
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11/1/2020
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The Dark Side
Romans 3:10-26
Nate Heitzig
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God created humans in His own image. But even with God's imprint in humanity, people have a dark side—a sin nature—because of Adam and Eve's rebellion. One consequence of our rebellion against God is guilt, but in today's society, many people try to minimize both sin and guilt by casting them in a deceptively benign light. In this teaching, Nate Heitzig looks at what the book of Romans has to say about our true condition and its only remedy.
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11/15/2020
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Once Dead, Now Alive!
Ephesians 2:1-7
Skip Heitzig
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Of all the doctrines that adorn the New Testament, salvation is the most personal and the most transformative. Below are the various stages that every saved person goes through in coming to Christ. Today, try to remember what it was like for you when Jesus became real to you and you realized your need for Him to save you, then answer this fundamental question: How has your conversion changed your contentment?
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11/22/2020
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I’m a Christian—Now What?
Romans 8:12-17
Skip Heitzig
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Once you decide to repent from your past, say yes to Jesus Christ, and invite Him into your heart, you begin a lifelong relationship with Him. Nothing stays the same. Paul wrote, “Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT). Conversion is the gateway to transformation. Let’s consider four clear experiences that happen in the life of everyone who believes.
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11/29/2020
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The Angels of God
Hebrews 1
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Angels are largely relegated to the realms of mythology and childhood fantasy. Most people never think about them. But angels are very, very real. Martin Luther commented, "An angel is a spiritual creature created by God without a body, for the service of Christendom and of the church." He was partly correct, but angels serve an even greater role than being strictly for the church. Their ministry objective is principally concerned with the glory and majesty of God. Let’s explore some of the noteworthy traits that angels have.
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12/13/2020
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The Essential Church
Matthew 16:13-20
Skip Heitzig
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Many voices today are decrying the church, rejecting its message and doubting its relevance. And yet, according to its founder, Jesus Christ, the church is essential. COVID-19 has only served to accentuate the voices on both sides of the argument about the church’s importance, so we find ourselves on a timely subject. As we consider the nature and purpose of the church in this message from our 20/20 series, let’s be committed to being the people of God as the New Testament presents them to be.
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12/20/2020
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What Every True Church Should Be
John 17
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Not only is the church essential, it is purposeful and practical—it has a reason to exist. Since Jesus said He would build His church, He gets to decide what the distinctive marks of this new community should be. In this most intimate prayer of Jesus recorded in Scripture, we hear what He wants most for His people who He calls His church. Today we will consider the first two characteristics of the church Jesus had in mind.
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12/27/2020
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What Every True Church Should Be - Part 2
John 17
Skip Heitzig
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The prayer of Jesus in John 17 is His longest and most intimate recorded in Scripture. Here our Lord expresses His wishes for the new community of His followers we call the church. Since the church belongs to Jesus, since it is Jesus who builds the church (see Matthew 16:18), and since it’s Jesus who paid for the church (see Acts 20:28), He gets to decide what it should be like. So what are the characteristics He wants to see in His followers? What are the marks of a true church? We noted two last week and today we unpack two more.
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1/3/2021
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Are We Living in the Last Days?
2 Peter 1-3
Skip Heitzig
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When it comes to the last days or the end times or, for that matter, any Bible prophecy, there is no shortage of speculation and sensationalism. Every generation has its doomsday preachers predicting the end of everything, trying to fit current events into the predictive prophecy so prevalent in Scripture. Yet one day the world will end. So what are the last days and what are the characteristics of that time period? Let’s consider five features.
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1/10/2021
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The Rapture—Is It Real?
John 14:1-6
Skip Heitzig
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The word rapture is not found in most English translations of Scripture, but the concept of it most certainly is. Latin translations of the New Testament have the word plainly rendered as rapturo, which simply means a catching away or a snatching away. The Bible presents two stages of Jesus’ second coming: first, He will come suddenly in the air to snatch away believers; then He will return to earth at the end of a seven-year period called the tribulation.
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1/17/2021
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The Second Coming of Christ
Revelation 19:6-16
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Jesus said He was coming back (see John 14:3), and an angel told His disciples He would come back to the earth (see Acts 1:11). The second coming of Christ will be the culmination of redemptive history. After history runs its sinister course, after the final period of man’s rebellion, Satan’s retaliation, and God’s judgment is poured out, Jesus will return to planet earth. Today, we will consider four aspects of His return as found in Revelation 19 and throughout the Scriptures.
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1/24/2021
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What Most People Don’t Know about Heaven
Revelation 21
Skip Heitzig
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What happens when a believer dies? What will heaven be like? I’ve heard the craziest stories and descriptions about the afterlife over the years, often at funerals. I have since discovered that most people’s (even Christians) ideas about what heaven will be like are vastly different than what Scripture reveals. First off, I hope you indeed are going to heaven. Let’s examine a few things that might surprise you about your heavenly home.
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1/31/2021
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The Truth about Hell
Matthew 25:41
Skip Heitzig
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Hell is an eternal and biblical reality, but it’s one that has become relegated to the junk pile of modern myths. Actor Woody Allen once said that hell is the abode of all people who annoy him. People speak of hell in daily conversations usually as an expletive without any thought of the somberness of the place. Certainly, of all the Christian doctrines unfolded in Scripture, hell is the toughest one to handle. Let’s get the scriptural scoop.
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There are 30 additional messages in this series.
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