"The Devil"

by Pastor Marvin McKenzie,

Bayview Baptist Church, Astoria, OR

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Text: Revelation 12:12

Introduction:

Here is a figure that is brings all varieties of thoughts to people's heads. To some, the Devil is nothing more than a red Halloween costume with horns and a tail. They do not believe in the devil. He is a joke.

To others, the Devil is a god himself, to be worshipped in all kinds of sick and wicked ways. Among Christians, you will find almost that same amount of variety. Some Christians are frightened to death of the Devil. They blame him for every bad thing that happens to them, They treat him as if he were the evil brother of God, every bit as powerful, and therefore, they do not want to make him angry, any more than they desire to get God upset with them. Other Christians scoff at the very existence of the Devil. It seems difficult for me to understand, but I have actually met Christians who believe in Christ as Saviour, believe in heaven and hell, but do not believe that there is such a person as Satan. AMAZING TO ME!

Now, the Bible tells us several things about the Devil.

He is OLD, but not eternal like God. He was present in the garden of Eden, and was the one who tempted Eve. But he was also a created being. Unlike God, Satan DID have a starting place. God has always existed, not so with the Devil. He is POWERFUL, but he is not as powerful as God. In the book of Job we learn how Satan brought death, destruction, and despair into the life of Job. He displayed a power over the weather. He displayed a power over unsaved armies, and He displayed a power over illnesses. But do not forget, he could do none of it without first getting permission from God. He is INTELLIGENT, but he is not all knowing like God. If he had known the ending as well as the beginning, like God does, he would have never allowed Christ to die on the cross. Satan himself, orchestrated the very plot that condemned him to defeat!

I almost feel sorry for the devil, he can't get anything to work out right! One the other hand, the Devil does know some valuable things. In fact, Satan knows some things that every one of us would do well to know too!

And so, for the next few minutes, I want to preach to you about, Things the Devil Knows (And you should too!) There are three of them I would like for you to consider with me:

I. THE DEVIL KNOWS WHO JESUS IS!

Mark 5:6-8 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. (KJV)

Here we see a man that is possessed by demons. Now, you would think that the Devil would have his demons to spit on Jesus, to curse Him, and to do all manner of wicked things in His presence. I mean, the Devil hates Jesus Christ! But that is not what happens here. This man, under the influence of these demons, ran to Jesus and began to WORSHIP him! By the way, that tell us that not everybody who worships Christ is really a Christian. Just going to church and acting religious is not a sign that you are of God! Anyway, why is it that the demons worshipped Jesus here?

I think there are two reasons shown to us in the passage:

Secondly,
II. THE DEVIL KNOWS HIS DAYS ARE NUMBERED

Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. (KJV)

The Devil, this verse says, KNOWS his time is short, and so he is working as earnestly as He can! Every human being needs to know his time is short too! Most people don't like to think about the fact that they only have a short life. But it is true. The Bible says our life is but a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. Since that is true, the wise person LIVES WITH THAT IN MIND!

We ought remind ourselves that our days are numbered

Finally,
III. THE DEVIL KNOWS WHERE HE WILL SPEND ETERNITY, AND SO SHOULD WE!

Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (KJV)

Obviously, we should not want to go where the Devil is going. But we should want to KNOW where we are going to go when we go into eternity. The Devil knows He is going to go to hell and the Lake of Fire forever But you and I can know that we are going to heaven forever and ever.

Jesus said, Let not your hearts be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.

1 John 5:13 says These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God

We can KNOW that we have eternal life, and that we are going to live forever with God in heaven.

And since we can know, WE OUGHT TO WANT TO KNOW! We know everything the devil knows in this regard. He knows there is a heaven and hell So do we He knows the Bible So do we He made his choice And so must we The tragedy with Satan is that he was not created to go to hell and the Lake of Fire. God created him to be the highest and most beautiful of all the angels. But Satan was not content with that. Satan chose to rebel against God, and was cast out of heaven and condemned to the Lake of Fire. God places before each of us the choice of accepting forgiveness of sins and salvation from hell, HIS way, or to be eternally bound in the torments. The way of salvation is a simple as it could have been made. Christ did all the work of salvation Christ suffered all the pain for salvation

Now, all he asks us to do is TRUST HIM and call out and ask him to save us.

If you have never done that, Why don't you trust Christ as Saviour right now?

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