How Satan Attacks The Saints!
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Satan and Hell Part 1
1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
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Just as in war every battle is won by the training and equipping of its
soldiers.
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Paul says in Eph 4 that the five-fold ministry is to equip the saints!
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An important part of training is “knowing your enemy”!
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Every military campaign has soldiers who are on “alert” those who go to
high strategic places and watch carefully for the enemies attack.
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This is the meaning of being “sober and vigilant” it’s being on alert
because we know we have an enemy and we know he will attack!
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Today our enemy Satan is progressing in many levels and advancing at a
rapid pace. Most Christians today would much rather hear about
the goodness of God rather than learn of the evilness of the devil.
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By doing this people fall right into the enemies hands!
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We can see this clearly in our media—Americans would much rather
watch a movie or sporting event than sit in a seminar and hear about the
rise in sex trafficking or STD’s!
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But make no mistake about it even if we choose not to learn about Satan
he most definitely is studying the saints—learning what it takes today to
bring us down and destroy our influence in the world!
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2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are
not ignorant of his devices.
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To have the advantage is to “take the higher ground or position”!!
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The easiest way for Satan to take advantage of saints is when we
don’t know who we are in Christ!
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Ephesians 2:4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich
in mercy,
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…!
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Ephesians 1:18-20 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light
so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to
those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious
inheritance he has given to his people.
19 I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of
his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power
20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor
at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.
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Remember Paul says God The Father has raised us up together with
Christ and placed us in the highest position of honor with Him!
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Ephesians 1:21 far above every principality, ruling force, power or
sovereignty, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age
but also in the age to come.
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Who is Satan?
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Satan’s original name was Lucifer meaning “light bearer, shinning one”
according to Isaiah 14:12-17.
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He was the anointed cherub that covereth according to Ezekiel 28:13-19
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While he was in heaven Lucifer was a cherubim one of the highest class
of angels. His job was to guard and release the glory of God.
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Lucifer was covered with all types of beautiful stones (the same ones the
High Priest wore) that he would use to reflect the glory of God in heaven
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Exodus 28:2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother
for glory and for beauty.
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Of Lucifer KJV Ezekiel 28:13 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.
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He was probably the most beautiful and powerful of all the arch-angels
until he got lifted up in pride and thought he was equal to God!
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NIV Isaiah
14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son
of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid
low the nations!
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Jesus said in NIV Luke 10:18 "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
He became Satan (adversary) when he rebelled against God and as his
purpose changed so must his name change.
So Satan is now prince of all who oppose God in heaven and earth!
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Remember Paul says God The Father has raised us up together with
Christ and placed us in the highest position of honor with Him!
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Ephesians 1:21 far above every principality, ruling force, power or
sovereignty, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age
but also in the age to come.
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Where Christ is seated we are seated “far above every principality” a
principality is a region ruled by a prince!
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A prince is “the first man, chief leader the person who is first in rank!
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• Satan has many names one of which is “The Prince of this world”
John 12:31, 14:30 & 16:11 each time Jesus Himself calling him
this.
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We have been given the highest possible position by the grace of
God, higher than that of Satan and all the demons in his kingdom.
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Make no mistake about it Satan has an organized kingdom that he
controls—remember 1/3 of the angels fell/rebelled with him.
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• We’ll talk more or his organized kingdom later.
Jesus illustrates this point in Matt 25:41 in the separation of saints and
sinners He calls saints sheep and the sinner’s goat nations—saying
“Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels”
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• One of the biggest misconceptions people have about Satan is
they think he is in hell—but he’s not!
Job 1:6 One day the angels {Hebrew the sons of God} came to
present themselves before the LORD, and Satan {Satan means accuser.}
also came with them.
7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan
answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back
and forth in it."
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In our foundational scripture the apostle Peter tells us Satan is still
roaming about the earth looking for unsuspecting victims.
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Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! how art thou cut down to the (earth) ground, which didst
weaken the nations!
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2 Corinthians 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are
lost:
4 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.
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Satan is not in Hell he is the god (little “G”) of this world!
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What is Hell?
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There are several words used in scripture to describe what some call
Hell—much of the problem has been folklore, legends and myths taught
throughout history.
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Hell is an English word translated in the KJV of the bible. The Hebrew
word is sheol the Greek words are Hades, Gehenna and Tartarus.
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• Sheol is the location of departed souls and the abode of the dead
both good and evil.
The law of first mention is seen in Gen 38:35 where Jacob morns for
Joseph whom he thinks is dead… All his sons and daughters came to
comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning
will I go down to the grave {Hebrew Sheol} to my son." So his father
wept for him.
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Notice Jacob says he is going down to Sheol not everlasting torment, but
the place of departed souls.
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Sheol is also referred to as the underworld, the lower parts of the earth in
Ps 63:9, Isa 44:23 and Eph 4:9.
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The Greek word Hades is equivalent to that of the Hebrew word Sheol
as the place of disembodied spirits.
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• So we see Sheol or Hell & Hades are not the place of punishment
for the dead it is the place where the dead are held until final
judgment!
One of the two thieves crucified with Christ repented and ask Jesus to
remember him when He enters His kingdom Jesus says…
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Luke 23:43… Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in
paradise.
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Both thieves were crucified and died, both went to the underworld; one
however went to be torment the other went to paradise.
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Luke 16:19-26 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and
fine linen and lived in luxury every day.
20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores
21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs
came and licked his sores.
22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to
Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.
23 In hell, {Greek Hades} where he was in torment, he looked up and
saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
24 So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send
Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because
I am in agony in this fire.
25 "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you
received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now
he is comforted here and you are in agony.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been
fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can
anyone cross over from there to us.'
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This is not a parable—Jesus is telling us of an actual occurrence! In
parables people don’t have names. This is very specific with names of
people, places and events.
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Both Lazarus and the rich man died, Lazarus went to Abraham’s bosom
it was a metaphor for the place of the blessed dead.
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While the rich man went to Hell/Hades! Now what’s important to get is
they were both able to see and talk with one another.
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• They were living spirits without bodies in the place of the dead
separated by a great gulf—one place was paradise the other a place
of torment!
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They could see, think, feel, talk and reason in Hell!
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Jesus uses the word Gehenna as distinct from Sheol and Hades
commonly referred to as Hell.
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Gehenna originally referred to “The Valley of Hinnom” I actually saw it
from a distance while in The Holy Land.
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This was the place where the garbage filth and dead bodies were cast out
and burned. It was always burning because there was a constant supply
of garbage and the dead.
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The Valley of Hinnom was first mentioned as the place where Israel
brought their children to be burned alive as sacrifices to Moloch & Baal.
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Jesus used it as the destiny of the lost! It is called the lake of fire in the
book of Revelations and outer darkness in Matt 8:12, 22:13 & 25:30.
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Hell and Hades are totally different than Gehenna! Please understand
this Hell is the place of disembodied spirits both good and bad, while
Gehenna is the place of eternal torment of evil spirits.
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Gehenna was prepared for the devil and his angels—Matt 25:41!
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Matthew 25:41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from
me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and
his angels.
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Sheol and Hades (Hell) are temporary places of the dead!
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Revelation 20:12-14 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing
before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened,
which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they
had done as recorded in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave
up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to
what he had done.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of
fire is the second death.
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It’s clear in the end that Hell/Hades are not the same as Gehenna
because death and Hell are thrown into Gehenna—the Lake of Fire
forever.
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Next week we’ll talk more about Satan as the god of this world and how
that gives him easy access to mankind especially the unsaved.