6/7/26 - THE COSMIC REBELLION / Isaiah 14:12, Ezekiel 28:12

Onward Christian soldiers. >> Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war with the cross of Jesus going on before. Christ the royal master leads against the foe. Forward into battle, see his banners go. At the sign of triumph, Satan's hosts then flee. Onward Christian soldiers, on to victory. Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war with the cross of Jesus going on before. Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war with the cross of Jesus going on before. Like a mighty army moves the church of God. Brothers, we are treading where the saints of God have trod. We have one foundation, Jesus Christ the Lord. With the shout of praise, brothers, lift your voices loud. Loud and long Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war with the cross of Jesus going on before. Onward then ye people, join our happy throng. Blend with ours your voices in triumphant song. Glory, laud, and honor unto Christ the King. This through countless ages men and angels sing. Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to >> Amen. So, let's go ahead and we'll look to the Lord in prayer. Our God and our Father, thank you for tonight. Thank you for the great love that you have for us. Thank you in that love that you are bringing us together around your word tonight so that you could speak to us. Speak to us, we pray, by thy spirit through thy word. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Well, I'd like to talk tonight about spiritual warfare, the battle between darkness and light, uh between Satan and God himself. And this battle is real and it goes on. And souls are at stake. And so, we want to look at a few scriptures that deal with this spiritual warfare. And the first thing we want to see is how in the world spiritual warfare ever came into being. And for that, we have to look at a cosmic rebellion that took place in the heavens when Lucifer, the chiefest of all the angels, the very covering cherub, when he sinned. So, I'm going to read in Isaiah 14:12. How that art fallen from heaven, oh Lucifer, son of the morning. How art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations. For thou has said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. The stars of God, of course, are the angels. And here he says, I will exalt my throne. Well, Lucifer's a created being. What does he mean, my throne? Now, listen, verse 14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. In other words, my glory will be higher than God himself. I will be like the most high. Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. This is a created being who was so became so twisted in his thinking that he thought that he could be like the most high, and he still thinks that in his twisted mind. Then verse 15, God says this, yet shalt thou be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. That's his judgment. We'll see more of that in just a moment. Now, in Ezekiel 28, we get another picture of this fall of Lucifer. And it's a lamentation, it says in verse 12. So, it's a sorrowful expression because how could heaven not be sorrowful when the the greatest of all the angels rebels against his God? But verse 12, thus saith the Lord God, thou had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Well, who gave Lucifer all that? God did. God did. And then Lucifer, instead of being thankful, he twisted it to to become something for himself. God says in verse 13, "Thou was has been in Eden, the garden. Thou has been in Eden, the garden of God. Every special stone precious stone was thy covering in thee from the day thou was created." He's a created being. Verse 14, "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth." This is so important. He had the highest position in heaven. The the cherub was the defender of God's glory, the covering cherub, the anointed cherub, the one that represented God to the creation, that defended him. Uh just like you remember the cherubim that we see in the garden uh when Adam and Eve sinned. I mean, these are representatives of God. And so, "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth. I have set thee on my holy mountain." Now, verse 15, listen to this. "Thou was perfect in all thy ways from the day thou was created." You see, there's no fault that Lucifer can blame God, nor can anyone else blame God. As for God, his ways are perfect. No, he's righteous in all that he does. But listen what happened. Uh and this is a great mystery. We can't explain it, but "Thou was perfect in all thy ways from the day thou was created till iniquity was found in thee." Until evil was found in thee. How can we explain that? We can't. But we're going to get a little hint in just a moment. Verse 16 says, "You were filled with violence." After he sinned, he's filled with violence. He says, "Thou has sinned." God's verdict upon him. Verse 17, now we get a little hint as to how this great angel, full of wisdom, how he could have allowed his wisdom become to become twisted. "Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty." Now, isn't it true in the world today that the US, I mean, we value beauty? I mean, it's something that we put on a a pedestal. And everyone wants to be prettier, wants to be handsomer, wants to be more beautiful. Really? I mean, all that is is a trap. That's what it was for Lucifer. It was a trap, and he became vain. Uh thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Thou has corrupted thy wisdom. See, thou thy pride has corrupted the wisdom that God gave him. So, he's no longer thinking uh clearly. He's in darkness, right? He's left the light of God's truth. And now things are muddled in his mind, and he's using his own reasoning, and his reasoning is corrupted. His wisdom is corrupted. Uh thou has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. Oh my. His position itself the instead of seeing the graciousness of God, he was lifted up in pride. This is what happens to mankind all the time. We uh receive gracious gifts from God, but instead of being uh thankful to him, we're like the nine lepers that uh uh go away, and and and only one returned to thank the Lord Jesus after they were they were healed. Uh and then he says, "I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee. I'll make you a spectacle to the universe," God says. Now, fast forward all the way to the time of the Lord Jesus. So, we get a picture of the fallen character of Lucifer. John 8:44. He's talking to religious men. This is incredible. He's talking to religious men, and he says this, "Ye are of your father the devil. And the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth. There is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. My, what a judgment upon these men. He says, "You behave like your father. In character, you're like him. Uh he was a murderer, had no value of life. You care not for life. You care not for the truth. When you speak a lie, that's part of what you are because you're like him. He's the father of lies." And then, in Revelation 12:10, we get another picture of him, of Lucifer. The accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accuseth them before our God day and night. This is incredible. This is what Lucifer occupies himself doing as far as the saints of God, one of the things. He's also a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, but he accuses the brethren before God. Now, we see that clearly with Job in Job chapter 1. When the angels were coming and reporting to God as to what their activities were and Satan came and God asked him about Job, he said this, "Doth Job fear God for not?" Oh my. The devil has no respect for God, none. He accused God. Now, he's accusing Job, but he's accusing God himself. Because he's saying that you blessed Job. You put a hedge of protection around him. That's why he serves you. In other words, God, you're not worthy to be served. You're not worthy to be honored. I didn't do it myself because you're not worthy. So, you've bought Job off and that's why he's obedient to you and faithful to you. Oh, my. How offensive to say such a thing to God. Of course, he's a fallen angel and in his own twisted way of thinking, this is what what he the way he thinks. So, he's the accuser of the brethren, accuses them day and night before God. And then, what's the final outcome of all this? In Revelation 20:10, he deceives the whole world. This is after the thousand-year reign of Christ, the devil's been locked up in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. This is Revelation 20 and when he's released after the after the Lord Jesus has ruled as king in this world for a thousand years, but there's been sinners that have been born because when people are born, doesn't matter whether it's in the millennium when Christ is king or whether it's today, people are born sinners. And there's so few there are that believe in the Lord even when he's present in the millennium, just like he was present before when he walked the streets of the Jerus- Jerusalem, people didn't believe him. And so, the devil is going to be released from the bottomless pit and he goes out and listen what it says in Revelation 20:10, "And the devil that deceiveth them This is the whole world. was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone. So, he continues after a thousand years being locked up in his own plan and program to rebel against Almighty God and set up his own throne above God himself. What a demented, twisted, and deceived angel he is. And listen, mankind is just like him in character. That's why the the Lord Jesus could say of those religious leaders, "Your father's the devil." We behave just like him. We desire things for ourselves and really are willing to disrespect and dishonor God to hurt others even in our own friends and family in order to attain what it is that we want. What what a sad condition humanity is. Uh but today, even in our day, uh the devil is still the prince of this world. The Lord, though he's conquered the devil at the cross, he has not taken his power yet. And so it says in three places in John's gospel, the Lord Jesus calls the devil the prince of this world. And in Matthew 12:26, he says that Satan has a kingdom. A kingdom. So that makes Satan a king. And it's a kingdom of darkness. A kingdom of the lie. A kingdom of every foul and filthy thing. That's his kingdom. But hallelujah, there's another kingdom in Colossians 1:13. Talking to the believers in Colossae, Paul said, "God has delivered us from the power or the domain or dominion of darkness and has translated us. He's moved us into the kingdom of the son of his love." Or his dear son, but the son of his love. Hallelujah. Ha. So it requires the power of God to be delivered from the power of darkness. And that's exactly what God does through the gospel of Jesus Christ. THE GOSPEL IS THE POWER of God under salvation to everyone that believes. Hallelujah. And if you're saved tonight, it was because the power of God's love in the gospel reached and got a hold of you. And if you're not saved tonight, you need to trust in the good news of Jesus Christ so that you can be liberated from the lie, liberated from everything filthy that's in your heart and be brought into the light. Christ is the light of the world and see things as they really are in all the beauty of God's holiness and God's goodness. Now, just a few more verses. There's a battle and there's the victory of Christ. Christ had to fight a battle and he did. First off, in Genesis 3:15, there's a description by God of the hostility that was birth when Adam and Eve followed the devil rather than God. The judgment upon the devil was this, Genesis 3:15, and I will put enmity or open hostility between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. So, we already saw that the devil has a has children. Now, they're children in character, not in physically. Of course, the devil's a spirit, but in character, he gives birth to those that are like him. Now, there is the seed of the woman. Well, the woman doesn't have the seed we know now. It's that we're talking about Mary, the virgin birth. We're talking about the son of God. We're talking about the Lord Jesus. And and God says, "I'm going to put a division between him and you, her seed. He Christ will bruise or crush your head. Hallelujah. And you, you shall bruise his heel." So, the devil at the cross, through the terrible physical sufferings of the Lord, the terrible abuse that men put him through, that was satanic. The physical sufferings of the Lord were for were were satanic. The bruising of his heel. When they scourged him, when they spat upon him, when they drove the nails in his blessed hands, that was all satanic. But, when he was upon the cross, he crushed the head of the father of lies. He crushed the head of that one who was in rebellion against almighty God. And so and this great victory that he won. But before he could do that, I just want to make very quickly mention that Christ had to have a personal defeat of the devil. He did that in the desert. You remember the devil came against him, and the Lord answered him all the time the devil taking scriptures and twisting them, and the devil and and the Lord Jesus defeating him through using the word of God truthfully. And finally he said to him in Matthew 4:10, "Get thee hence, Satan." So he showed his authority over the devil, he being a the Lord Jesus being a perfect man, the Son of God, told the devil devil to walk down the road. And so in Matthew 12:29 it says, "How can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods except he first bind the strong man, then he can spoil his house." Well, that's what the Lord Jesus did. He bound the strong man, bound the devil in the the the desert there, and then he went out and began to set men free. Hallelujah. But he couldn't completely set men free until Calvary. So probably only have time for one other scripture in Hebrews 2:14. Listen to this. This is so important because the Lord Jesus defeated the devil for himself. He's must defeat the devil for you and I now. Uh 2:14, "For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also likewise himself took part of the same." He became a man, flesh and blood, though without sin. He had no sin nature. He was holy. "That through death" Listen to this. "That through death" "That through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil." So, through death, when he was upon the cross, and Satan thought he was having a great victory in that moment, it was through death that he defeated him that had the power of death. Now, what does it mean the power of death? How did the devil have the power of death? Well, he's the father of lies. The wages of sin is death. That's God's verdict. So, the devil draws men through a lie, tempting them into sin, and then uses God's judgment against them. The wages of sin is death. And so, he has the power of death in that he has the power of the lie to use against men. Christ goes into death itself. And uh it's pictured in David when he took down Goliath. He he threw the stone and brought Goliath to the ground, but then he took Goliath's own sword, just like the Lord Jesus uh took the power of death. That's the devil's sword. And he And David cut off uh Goliath's head with his own sword. So, through death, Christ destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil. And so, after those 3 hours, when he had taken this the wrath of God and the burden of sin, and he was obedient, the only man that ever been obedient, the only one that the devil couldn't had no part in, he conquered sin, and he conquered death, and in his death at the cross, he conquered all the powers of darkness and And effect I'll just read that in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 15, and having disarmed principalities and powers. He made a show of them openly. Triumphing over them in it. In his cross. He made he disarmed principalities and powers, took away the power of death from the devil. And all those that have fallen fallen angels, and he made a show of them openly. Triumphing. How was he triumphing? In his cross. In the cross. The very what the world looks upon Christ suffering there and sees a defeat as the devil saw defeat. No, it's a great victory. Wonderful. It was a warfare that was going on and Christ won the battle and the third day he arose again in declaration that he and he alone is the great victor. Hallelujah. All glory to him. If you don't know him tonight as Lord and savior, don't delay. You're under the power of the lie and the lie will bring you into the power of death. And you'll be damned. And God loves you tonight. The gospel is the power of God to salvation for you. Simply trust Christ as your Lord and savior. Believe that what he did, he did for you. And God will save you. Trust him now as we pray. Our God, thank you tonight for thy word. Thank you for this great victor and victory he has won, the Lord Jesus, that we have been brought in all of those who believe in him into the presence of light, the presence of God, the presence of he who is the light of the world, and we can see the beauties and glories in some measure at least, oh God, of thyself in Christ. Thank you for him. Thank you for your love for us. Thank you for tonight and this time we've had together in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.