Use the Sword 101

Study 3

About our enemy

Here we are in study number three and still we are not in the armor of God.
Why not?
We need to learn to be patient in all things we do, and that includes our study time.

This week we will look at our enemy. After all, it's great to know how to use your armor, but you must remember that our enemy does to.

So who is our enemy?
You probably know that it's satan and his followers (demons).
But who is satan and why is he our enemy? What did we do to him to make him so mad at us anyway? Where did he come from and why would God create such a thing as the devil?
How strong is he and should we fear him?

These are some questions we will look at this week.

The first thing we should realize is that satan has been defeated. Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior has overcome and satan will be cast into hell for all eternity and beyond.

  • Rev 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.


  • John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."


    • The reason I say this first is so that you will not despair or lose hope because of satan, but rather you will rejoice through this study knowing that all things we will learn this week about satan, that in the end we won't ever have to worry about him any more when we are in heaven and all things are completed according to God's word!

    So where did satan come from?
    To find out we need to look in the Old Testament, in the book of Ezekiel.
    When we read this the reference to the prince of Tyre is satan himself.

  • Ezek 28:1-19 1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 "Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
    "Because your heart is lifted up,
    And you say, 'I am a god,
    I sit in the seat of gods,
    In the midst of the seas,'
    Yet you are a man, and not a god,
    Though you set your heart as the heart of a god
    3 (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel!
    There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
    4 With your wisdom and your understanding
    You have gained riches for yourself,
    And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
    5 By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches,
    And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),"
    6 'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
    "Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
    7 Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
    The most terrible of the nations;
    And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
    And defile your splendor.
    8 They shall throw you down into the Pit,
    And you shall die the death of the slain
    In the midst of the seas.
    9 "Will you still say before him who slays you,
    'I am a god'?
    But you shall be a man, and not a god,
    In the hand of him who slays you.
    10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
    By the hand of aliens;
    For I have spoken," says the Lord GOD. "

    11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 12 "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.
    13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
    Every precious stone was your covering:
    The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
    Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
    Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
    The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
    Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
    14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers;
    I established you;
    You were on the holy mountain of God;
    You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
    15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
    Till iniquity was found in you.
    16 "By the abundance of your trading
    You became filled with violence within,
    And you sinned;
    Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
    Out of the mountain of God;
    And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
    From the midst of the fiery stones.
    17 "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.
    18 "You defiled your sanctuaries
    By the multitude of your iniquities,
    By the iniquity of your trading;
    Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
    It devoured you,
    And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
    In the sight of all who saw you.
    19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
    You have become a horror,
    And shall be no more forever."


    • A few things we learn here in this chapter.
    First off satan was a created being just like all the other angels.
    14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers;
    I established you;
    You were on the holy mountain of God;
    You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
    15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
    Till iniquity was found in you.

    It is believed that satan was the most beautiful angel created by God.
    11b "You were the seal of perfection,
    Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

    Satan is believed to also be the one who lead the worship in heaven.

    13b The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
    Was prepared for you on the day you were created.

    But satan could not handle this beauty and became proud thinking that he was like God.

    17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;

    9 "Will you still say before him who slays you,
    'I am a god'?

    When did all of this happen?
    There is no time given, but by reading the following verses it's possible this happened after the earth was created, but we don't know for sure.

  • Luke 10:18 And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.


  • Rev 12:3-4 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.


    • I say that it may have happened after the earth was created because of verse 4a His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.

    This is where we find the reference to one third of the angels following satan, which we call fallen angels or demons.

    So why are these things important to know?
    When you see pictures or drawings of satan, they usually portray him as a red and with horns on his head and caring a pitchfork.
    If something looks good then it can't be from satan, right?

  • 2 Cor 11:14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.


  • Men and women may have beautiful voices and can sing so well that it brings tears to your eyes.

    • But they sing of sex out of marriage, partying, adultery and fornication along with drugs and drunkenness.

  • Movies have such beautiful backgrounds that they can't be bad.

    • But they show and even glorify murder, and have sex in front of those beautiful scenes. Movies including if not especially cartoon movies like Disney, for years have also portrayed witchcraft and mysticism as a good thing.

  • That new car or new home look so great, it can't be wrong to want it.

    • Does God really want you to have it, and after you do get it, will it draw you closer to the Lord or further away?

  • He or she is so beautiful, I just have to marry her/him, or at least sleep with her/him.

    • We get so caught up in the physical beauty of a person, that we don't see the ugliness of their heart.
    In ten years that person will not look like they do now, it's called gravity, and everything starts to sag. When the beauty's gone, what do you have left?

    These are just a few examples of what we think are beautiful, but in reality they could be bad for us.
    But satan doesn't want you to see these things. He has deceived hundreds of thousands into believing that only the ugly things are from him and not the things, which appear to be beautiful. Read the verse again and see the truth for yourself.

  • 2 Cor 11:14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.


    • So why is satan so made at me, what did I do to him?
    It's not something to take personally, because satan hates anything the Lord God has created. We see this in the beginning in the Garden of Eden.

  • Gen 3:2-5 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."


    • God did say that you would die when you eat of the tree.

  • Gen 2:15-17 15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."


    • These are one of satan's ploys to deceive us, he always asks, "Did God really say that?" or "Did God really mean that?"

    Don't listen to these lies, when we do we call God a liar and satan the one telling the truth. Jesus even speaks of these two things about satan, a liar and murderer.

  • John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.


    • So does the devil have freedom to torment me when he wants?
    No, he must ask God for permission before he does anything.

  • Job 1:9-12 9 So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 "Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 "But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" 12 And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.


    • So then why does God allow me to be tempted or go through these trials, doesn't God love me or care about me?

  • James 1:2-4 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.


    • Trials and temptation happen to strengthen us in the Lord. But we must not fear, because with every temptation, God has also made a way for us to overcome the temptation.

  • 1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.


  • 1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.


    • But does God really know what I'm going through?

  • Heb 2:18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.


    • And God will deliver you!

  • 2 Peter 2:9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,


    • So what did we learn this week about satan?
    We learned he was a created angel by God, and he fell when he thought he was just like God wanting others to worship him.
    We also learned that demons are just fallen angels just like satan, and they are the ones who followed satan in his rebellion against God.

    We also learned that satan hates all of God's creation because satan is a murderer and a liar, in fact the only thing Satan created was lies and murder and sin. But then they were not things created as God created.
    When God created the heavens and the earth, God created them from nothing, satan only took God's creation and tried to pervert it with his lying sinful ways.
    Satan was very beautiful and can disguise sin to look or seem beautiful or good.

    There are many other things in the bible about satan that I would encourage you to study on your own.
    A few examples are that satan is the ruler of this earth and he stole the earth from God, but Jesus Christ bought it back with his life.
    satan will also be bound for a thousand years and let loose for a season before he is cast into hell for all eternity.
    Yes man or women can be possessed by satan or demons and he can influence their decision making as well as nations and who or what they follow.
    There are many different names for Satan besides the devil, see how many you can find and see if you recognize any of them.

    These are just a few things about our enemy and as you study more about him you will discover more.

    Next week we will get into the armor of God read Ephesians 6:13-17 and see if you can find out which piece of armor is mentioned first, and that will be what we are studying.

    May God richly bless you in His love, grace and mercy!
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