Ten Big Lies About Satan Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever told a lie? You liars! I can’t believe it; I pastor a church full of liars!
It is fascinating that lying is so common, such a universal experience that we can laugh at what I just said. No one is surprised when we learn that someone lied, especially [pause] politicians.
Of course, there are different kinds of lies. There are obvious lies and subtle lies. We like to say there are small lies and use the phrase “little white lies” to describe them. The idea behind minimizing lies is that it’s okay to tell a little lie because no one gets hurt. We understand that, but it’s still a lie which is sin and enough to separate us from God for all eternity.
There is another aspect of lying that is genuinely problematic, when you on knowingly tell a lie. This happens primarily because someone has told you something that is a lie and you have accepted it as true and have repeated that to other people. You may have the best of intentions, but if what you say is a lie, that’s a lie. If a person believes the lie that you told, then repeats it, then that person is telling a lie. And so it goes.
Often the lies that are repeated are insignificant in terms of impact, having no real consequences. Other times, the lies change the way we think and act. Today I am continuing our series on spiritual warfare and am going to talk about “Ten Big Lies About Satan.” These lies are believed by people inside the church and out.
1. Satan doesn’t exist.
1. Satan doesn’t exist.
Genesis 3:1; Revelation 12:9; 20:10
We are a church that teaches the Bible and believes the Bible, so this first lie may not be one that you believe, but you may be surprised how many people believe this in the church.
The intellectual perspective on Satan is that he is a device used to represent enemies, he is not a real entity. Here is a typical comment from the website www.livescience.com.
"I thought of Satan as a kind of a joke, kind of a throwaway character," said Elaine Pagels, a professor of religion at Princeton University and author of "The Origin of Satan" (Random House, 1995). "In the Book of Job, he's practically a device to explain what happened to Job."
Turning an enemy into Satan is useful, she added. It suggests that "our opponents are not just people we disagree with — they're bad. You can't negotiate with them. You can't do anything with them, because they're essentially evil." https://www.livescience.com/56341-where-did-satan-come-from.html
What is fascinating to me is that Ms. Pagels is a professor of religion at Princeton. Many people in the world simply dismiss Satan as a figment of our imagination.
We would not expect to find that same belief within the church, but unfortunately that is not the case.
[Barna graphic] here is a quote regarding a survey done by Barna in 2009.
A new nationwide survey of adults’ spiritual beliefs, conducted by The Barna Group, suggests that Americans who consider themselves to be Christian have a diverse set of beliefs –but many of those beliefs are contradictory or, at least, inconsistent. The survey explored beliefs about spiritual beings, the influence of faith on their life, views of the Bible, and reactions to faiths other than their own.
Four out of ten Christians (40%) strongly agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” An additional two out of ten Christians (19%) said they “agree somewhat” with that perspective. A minority of Christians indicated that they believe Satan is real by disagreeing with the statement: one-quarter (26%) disagreed strongly and about one-tenth (9%) disagreed somewhat. The remaining 8% were not sure what they believe about the existence of Satan.
https://www.barna.com/research/most-american-christians-do-not-believe-that-satan-or-the-holy-spirit-exist/
If you believe the Bible, this lie is easily disproved. The Bible explicitly tells us that there is a spiritual creature who is called Satan. Satan first comes on the scene early in the Bible
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Satan isn’t an evil force. He has characteristics that people have.
He has a name Matthew 4:10
He talks with people. Matthew 4:1-2
He has a kingdom. Col. 1:13, Eph. 2:2
He has a will and desires. John 8:44
He travels from place to place. Luke 4:13
He is judged like a person. Revelation 20:10
The Bible has a lot to say about Satan in between.
Diagnostic question: Do you believe what the Bible says about Satan? Do you think he is an evil force? Do you think Satan doesn’t exist?
2. Satan doesn’t exist in my life.
2. Satan doesn’t exist in my life.
1 Peter 5:8-10
There is a second lie relates to the first, namely that Satan doesn’t have any impact on me or my life. There are many Christians who believe in the existence of Satan but who do not believe Satan has ever or will ever do anything to them. This is, from a practical perspective, the same as believing that Satan doesn’t exist. If we accept the truth of the Bible that Satan is a powerful spirit being, then we must accept the rest of what the Bible has to say about him. There are multiple warnings about the potential danger he can be to us.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
If we as Christians are not watchful or concerned about what Satan may do to us, we are believing the lie that Satan doesn’t exist as far as we are concerned.
Diagnostic questions: Do you consider Satan a serious enemy? Do you think Satan has never attacked you? Do you think he will attack you?
3. Satan and God are equals.
3. Satan and God are equals.
Psalm 90:2; Ezekiel 28:13-17; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 4:4; 1 John 5:18-19
[Graphic of Satan and Jesus arm wrestling]
This lie comes from a philosophical concept called dualism. Dualism as a philosophy applies to many things and simply the notes the state of two parts. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
The term ‘dualism’ has a variety of uses in the history of thought. In general, the idea is that, for some particular domain, there are two fundamental kinds or categories of things or principles. In theology, for example a ‘dualist’ is someone who believes that Good and Evil – or God and the Devil – are independent and more or less equal forces in the world. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dualism/
The biblical perspective on this is clear. There is only one eternal being, God, and he is all powerful. The aspect of God’s power that disproves dualism is his role as Creator.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
God’s role as Creator includes creating Satan. The book of Ezekiel tells us this about Satan.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. 14 You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. 16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you.
Satan has power but is subservient in all respects to God. Ezekiel describes in poetic terms how he rebelled against God and was cast from heaven. There was no epic battle, no question as to who would overcome whom.
Even though Satan has power, he has no power of the children of God. Jesus destroyed Satan’s power.
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
It is a lie to believe Satan and God are equals.
Diagnostic questions: Do you fear Satan?
4. Satan is responsible for many, most or all the bad things in life.
4. Satan is responsible for many, most or all the bad things in life.
Genesis 3:17; Isaiah 24:6; James 1:2-3; Hebrews 12:5-7; John 15:1-2
Satan gets way too much credit from Christians. Why? Because Christians consider him as a super-powerful, arch enemy of God who can be blamed for any wrong or misfortune or hardship or suffering in our lives, relationships, churches, jobs, finances, health, etc. The proof of this is in the frequency with which people mention Satan. I haven’t counted, perhaps I should, but my guess is Satan makes his way into a majority of sermons. He is mentioned, often with the words, “Satan loves to . . .” Satan makes it into many prayers, not just praying for God to, “keep us from the evil one,” but rebuking and binding and casting Satan out.
Does the apostle Paul ever say, “Satan loves to destroy marriages.”? Does the apostle Peter ever say, “Satan loves to destroy churches.”? Is there any prayer anywhere in the Bible that gives us an example of binding Satan?
Christians glorify Satan by injecting him into our prayers and sermons and conversations. There are many reasons for the hardships of life including God’s curse upon the earth because of Adam and Eve’s sin, God testing our faith, pruning us to be more fruitful, disciplining us to repent of sin and walk with God. Satan has nothing to do with any of these hardships, yet many Christians see Satan behind them. This is a practical elevation of Satan to a co-equal status with God.
We need to repent of this and accept all things from God’s hands, even when he allows us to be attacked by Satan.
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
6 Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
Satan has power, but it is limited by God. God uses adversity for our benefit.
Diagnostic question: When something bad happens to you, what do you think first? Do you think Satan was involved or do you think the hardship is from God?
5. Satan is the ruler of hell for all eternity and will torment those sent there.
5. Satan is the ruler of hell for all eternity and will torment those sent there.
Luke 4:5-6; Revelation 1:17-18; 20:10-13; Luke 12:4-5
This lie also includes believing that Satan and his demons currently live in hell. We find this lie in the famous epic poem The Divine Comedy by Dante as well as in modern novels such as Dan Brown’s Inferno. The comic series The Far Side regularly promoted this concept.
[Graphic from The Far Side]
This lie is closely connected to the previous one in that it gives Satan an elevated position and great power. Satan has power, but it is nowhere near the power attributed to him and all Satan’s authority, by his own words, has been given to him.
5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.
Satan’s authority does not extend to the location where people are currently being kept for the final judgment. That place is called Hades, not hell and Jesus has authority over it, not Satan. We learn this in the first chapter of Revelation.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
As to hell, Satan isn’t living in hell now because it does not yet exist. At the final judgment those who are evil, whether human or spirit beings, including Satan, will be cast into the lake of fire and sulfur, which is what we understand to be hell.
10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
Hell is the lake of fire, a future destination for all who will be judged and suffer eternally. Notice what Jesus says to his disciples in Luke 12.
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!
Jesus is obviously talking about God in these verses as the one who has the authority to put people in hell. In fact, Jesus is the one who will render final judgment over all humanity and spirit beings.
Diagnostic Question: Who do you think is will punish God’s enemies for eternity?