Isaiah 14, verse 12. Now this, most conservative theologians say, is possibly the beginning of the devil. When you face, you know, beginning things, it's always difficult. You know, like, where did Cain get his wife? Well, from his mother -in -law, obviously. Where did God come from? You know, the prophet said he came from nowhere. That's good enough. That's where God came from, from nowhere. And you go back, you know, where did the first man come from? And all these questions interest us. Where did the devil come from? Where did sin come from anywhere? Anyhow, we have to kind of separate between what the Bible specifically says and what it seems to imply. And it is in this category that I think the most honest Bible scholar must place the question as to the origin of Satan. He has called, this devil, many names. One of his names is Lucifer. Lucifer. And so here in Isaiah, that name again is found. And probably this is a description of the beginning of the devil. How, Isaiah 14, 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down into the ground, which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, Mark, how many times he says, I will. I will ascend into heaven. I will, this is Satan talking, exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation and the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. Yet, thou shalt be brought down to hell. And Revelation makes it very clear that's the end of Satan. To the sides of the pit. I speculate, and many others do, that in the beginning, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit had an angelic, Trinitarian counterpart. And that the counterpart of Michiel, the archangel Michiel, was the devil. I'm sorry. Let's back up a minute. The Father, in all of his power, that his counterpart would be Michiel. Then that there was the soft -spoken angel, who would be the counterpart of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit, who was Gabriel. And then that there was a counterpart to Jesus, who was Lucifer. Michiel, Gabriel, Lucifer. Three original archangels. Now, one day, it appears that perhaps other angels, which were later banished from heaven, possibly Revelation 10, 11, and 12, I think, infer. And came to this earth and became demons. Probably these three archangels were over the other angels. And Lucifer had a lot of power. He was probably the most powerful, the most attractive, and the most intelligent of the three archangels. And one day, after perhaps billions of eternities of being subservient to the Lord Jesus, he didn't like to play that role anymore. And so he decided that he was going to be number one. Now, he's number two, and he decided he'd try a whole lot harder. He didn't want to be number one. And instead of saying, thy will be done, and living in obedience to the will of God, which is where it's really at, where the fellowship and the joy really is, one day, he was no longer satisfied with this. And the first time, instead of thy will, that anybody ever put the two words, I and will, back to back, sin began. And seven times, here in the 14th chapter of Isaiah, Lucifer said, I will. In essence, he was declaring war on God. I'll be like God. I'll exalt myself. I'll rise above God. Well, now, you know that sin can't be in heaven. And that heaven is a place of the absence of sin. We talk about perfect sight, and perfect faith, and perfect fellowship. I think one of the glorious things about heaven is that the devil won't be there to make trouble. The devil will not be in heaven. He could not inhabit heaven. And so he was banished from heaven. Now, as I've said in other sermons, Revelation 9, 10, 11, and 12 suggests the possibility that in this rebellion against God, there was a kind of war in heaven. And perhaps a third of the stars, or angels, sided with lucifer and were banished from heaven when he was banished now where would the devil go where would lucifer go well god didn't create sin he didn't create the devil god created lucifer lucifer rebelled against god and made himself the devil and he created sin when he said i will but sin couldn't inhabit heaven so he was banished from heaven it appeared now it was not to the mars or to the jupiter or to any other planet that lucifer had the power to go and decided to go why did he come to the earth because he knew that it was on the earth that the highest of god's created order was planned for habitation i do not believe there's a higher power on any other planet the earth is where it's at this is the darling of the universe here on the earth god put the only being made in his perfect image so god so loved the world so knowing that the only way he could get back at god and ultimately fight jesus christ who he despicably despises everything that he is and does and loves and stands for he came naturally to the earth where a man in the image of god through which sinful race jesus was going to come redemptively would come because on the battleground of this earth here he could do eternal conflict with jesus christ now we're not you see satan has one goal in mind one desire and that is supremacy a world style a world system in the hearts of men and socially and universally in which man is in essence himself god a lifestyle devoid of the discipline authority restriction and control of god because satan's lie is that god is our enemy and to be bound to him to be his slave is is uh is slavery and unhappiness when in fact willing servitude to jesus christ is the only place where there's real life and real freedom and real joy that's satan's lies god is your enemy freedom is the name of the game so lucifer became the devil scene came to the earth and starts in the hearts of men a principle which says god is your enemy god is against you don't eat that apple god doesn't want you god knows that if you do that you'll have perfect knowledge and god doesn't want you to have knowledge he wants you to be suppressed he doesn't want you to be free god is your enemy follow me be free go ahead and do your own thing that's where happiness is that's where death is this person we need to understand is a person he lies he does things he talks he walks he quotes scriptures he tempts he kills he flatters he destroys he is called fierce subtle powerful deceptive hateful deceitful destructive the bible calls him satan the archangel archangel lucifer the devil beelzebub that old serpent a prowler a wolf a devil a sore of tears the enemy of god and the enemy of man and he is innately and extinctly at rebellion and war against god in jesus christ and everything he stands for and his platform is simple that god's way is the way of of slavery and his way is the way of freedom and create a world with no restriction no dependence upon god in which man is in essence himself god to do what he wants and he is in fact exactly got it backwards know what the word lucifer means it means light bearer or one quick shine and he is a very beautiful light but it's a false light in a deceptive light peter says be not deceived for even satan himself shall come transformed as an angel of life that's why there are certain scriptural tests so which we can put the preacher and the preaching and the teacher and the teaching to see if they are of christ or of the spirit of antichrist because he is the arch deceiver and it is not with no little difficulty that the believer must turn must must must learn to test the spirit not every spirit that proceedeth in the world is in the world proceeded from God. Try the spirit, the scriptures say, for there are certain false spirits gone out. Now, the Bible tells us that he is a person. As I said, he has knowledge, emotion, will, he lies, he walks, he makes decisions, he talks, he tempts, he flatters, he kills. He is not to be understood in terms of an ethereal spirit or a vague abstraction like the spirit of a football game or the spirit of success or the good old spirit of 76. He is, as are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a real person. He is an invisible person, but he's a real person. His power is awesome, but it is not endless. Because it is not omnipotent, that is, he doesn't have all power. He can go a long way, but he can't go all the way. He cannot tempt you and try you and test you, first of all, without God's permission. Secondly, beyond what God sets as the limit and says you can test him that far, and I know he can't take any more, so that's all, Father, you can test him. And so there is never, ever any need for the believer to sin. You don't have to live a defeated life. The Lord won't let you be tempted beyond what he knows you can stand and will, with the temptations, provide a way of escape if you really want it. This is my Father's world. He is still very much God and very much in control. Before, sometimes I just like to take a baseball bat and just beat the devil half to death. He just gives me all kinds of trouble. You know, to Martin Luther, the devil was so real that one day he was tempting him, and Luther was quoting scripture and saying, Get me behind me, Satan. Leave me alone, devil. And one day the presence of Satan was so real in Luther's study, there's still a spot on the wall to show what had happened. In his little study, Martin Luther grabbed a bottle of ink, flung around in a spin chair, and threw a bottle of ink at the devil, where he imagined the devil was, and said, Get me behind me, Satan. He was that real. Now, the temptations and testings and crimes of Satan were not allowed to come to men until, first of all, Jesus Christ, Hebrew says, became the captain of our faith, salvation, and the perfect advocate and defender and defense for us. You know, I said that Moses would not argue, the archangel, see it from the book of Luke, Jude, Michael, would not even argue with Lucifer, the devil himself. One day, Michael, the archangel, was contending, arguing back and forth with the devil. The devil was trying to get him to argue over the body of Moses. And what did the other archangel say? He said, I'm not going to argue with you. He said, The Lord rebuked things. You can't handle these things. There are trials and problems and discouragements and temptations that you as believers have no hope against. You can't stand against the wiles of the devil. You're challenged with flesh and blood and your own power, your own resolve, your own energy, your own strength. Well, every time the devil comes along to the precipice of temptations, he just sits on his foot and says, Woff, and over we go on our nose. You can resolve and rededicate and do your best the longest day you live and defeat the devil. You have no power to do it. No power at all. But there are powers available to you. You have innately in your brain, your mind, your hand, your heart, no weapons, but there are weapons available to you. And they're all in Jesus Christ, and they've all been tested and fried. Here's what happens. You know, sometimes the devil comes to the door, and you just have to go to the door and say, I'm sorry I'm not home. You have to talk to my big brother. Go get him, Jesus. You know, you just have to summon the master and let him fight him. Why? Because he has already defeated him. When did he do it? Two times. Matthew chapter 4. Turn over there. See, he who was made perfect, that means completely able to be our advocate, our defense and our defenders, was made perfect through suffering, not just the suffering of the cross. But he was tempted and tried and tested in all points, like as are we. Matthew chapter 4. Now, before I read this, look up there for a minute. I believe when the Bible says that Jesus was tempted, listen very closely, in all points, like as are we. And there is no temptation taking you, but such as is common to all men. I believe that's exactly what the Bible means. Well, sometimes you say, man, I'm fighting this problem and that sin and that. If you knew what goes through my head, preacher, man, I'm the only guy in the world that's got this kind of problem. No, everybody sitting out here has got the same problem. Every person is fighting the same problems, you fight and we'll tell they die. The difference is, some folks have learned that they can't fight them, they just let Jesus, who's already, why fight to win a battle that's already been won? You know, the believer is the only contestant in the world who goes from the field of battle with the victory already in the vows. It's a completed victory, it's been won for you in Christ on the cross, who became the hero, the captain of our salvation. He's been into the powers of sin, death, hell, and the grave, and he's come back from the power of hell with the keys swinging at the belt, at his belt and said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the resurrection, and the life, I've defeated sin, I've defeated death, I've defeated the world, I've defeated hell, I've defeated the grave, I've defeated the devil, I've defeated temptation. It's a finished battle, it's won, it's here for you. There's a story about a man who was struggling in the water. He's a good swimmer, but he had cramps and he was drowning. He went down once and twice and thrice. He came up and a girl who was an excellent swimmer there was on the beach and watching him and she was pulling for him and she said two simple words that saved his life. Frank, float! And when he quit struggling, the water became his friend and held him up. And there comes a time when it's time to quit struggling and quit fighting and realize the battle has already been won in Jesus Christ who has done hand -to -hand conflict for you. He says there's no temptation you've got that everybody else isn't going through and he says there's no trial that you can go through or testing or tempting that Jesus didn't go through and won. You say, well man, you're talking about lust and pride and envy and all these things. I mean everything. You said in Jesus' sin, uh -uh, now hang on, real close. Here's where we get mixed up. Remember the little song we sing, Yield not to temptation for yielding is sin. That's good theology. An awful lot of our songs aren't good theology. When they ring the golden bells for you and me, I don't know if I'm saying about any golden bells, ding -dong, you know, up there in heaven. Maybe. The, oh, and there's another one. When the roll is called a yonder, I'll be there. That's a terrific song. One of my favorites. I don't believe they're going to sing. Bill Jones, here. Mary Smith, here. He didn't make it. Well, poor old Bill. You know, I don't believe they're going to call the roll like that. Amen. I don't know. I don't think so. That's real good theology. Now listen to it again. Yield not to temptation for yielding is sin. Temptation is not sin. Temptation is an invitation to sin. Temptation is being faced with an opportunity to sin. It is only when you say, yes, I'll accept the invitation, that sin occurs. I believe Jesus went to the door and found Satan with an invitation to every sin ever known to man. That's what the Bible says. But he didn't yield to those sins. He said, no, he was strong in the face of them. There's where the victory comes. And that's what he will do in you and through you and for you if you'll quit struggling. And in faith, believe that Christ has won the battle. And every time the devil knocks the door, say, Jesus, I am trusting you in the name of Jesus for the power of the blood of Jesus. I claim this victory. You'll find that Satan, oh, that's why I love that song. Jesus, Jesus, there's something about that name. At the name of Jesus, demons tremble. The devil puts his tail between his legs and why? He can't stand the authority. Why? Because he knows that twice he faced Jesus and twice he lost. And he can't stand against him. When I stand in him, in his perfection, in his finished battle, completing Jesus Christ, the devil hadn't got a card against that. Twice it happened. Matthew 4. Then was Jesus led up into the spirit, into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted for 40 days, boy, that's critical, isn't it? And 40 nights he was afterward and hungered. It's a very interesting thing there. It appears that he didn't get hungry until after the fast. Interesting, isn't it? And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, boy, Satan hasn't ever quit testing the deity of Jesus. He knew full well he was the Son of God. That wasn't for Jesus' benefit. That was for our benefit because he knew Matthew would write it down. If you're the Son of God, then command that these stones be made bread. Now, what's a little harmless miracle between friends, Jesus? You know, just a couple loaves of bread, a few stones. Jesus, the point was, he would not yield to anything. There's a lot more point than that, but he answered and said, It's written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. So the devil didn't give up. He said, Okay, let's go over here a minute. And the devil taketh him into the holy city. Now, it's a long way from the holy city to the desert. And he set him on the pinnacle of the temple. I showed you slides of that corner, which is the pinnacle of the temple. And he looked down, and it's probably 80 feet down in treacherous, jagged rock. And he said unto him, If you're really the Son of God, and he knew he was, cast thyself down. You'll never hit the ground. For it's written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee. And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou shalt dance thy foot against the stone. Jesus, make a big display of your power. And just before you hit the rock, the angels will come pick you up. And you bet they would have. Jesus knew that. But he said, Wait a minute. It's written, Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil said, Well, let's try this one. He taketh him into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said unto them, Look, all these things will I give thee. Let there be no question they were his to give, if thou shalt fall down and worship me. Then Jesus, see, that's what he really wanted all the time. Doesn't that sound like Isaiah? That's the only thing the devil really wants is preeminence. Jesus said, Get thee hence, Satan. Get behind me. Go on. For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. So the devil said, Okay, I give up. I've lost. And he lived with him. And the angels came and ministered unto him. That was the first test. The other you know about full well on the cross. See, they came to a showdown on the cross. Satan made one fatal mistake. Somehow he didn't know his theology as well as he thought he did. And he thought that he would destroy Jesus by the death of the cross, and he helped arrange circumstances and agitated the crowd such that on the climactic day of Good Friday, Jesus was nailed to a Roman gibbet. And there, when Jesus Christ bowed his head and said, It is finished, what sounded like the humiliating cry of failure was in essence the conquering cry of victory. What did he mean when he said, It is finished? He didn't say, I am finished. He said, It is finished. What's finished? He said, I am grappling with the ultimate power of Satan and the devil to pay for the sins of the world, for the whole world whom I love, and I have done it. In six hours I've completed it on the cross. And he died in victory and said, It's finished. And the veil of the temple was split from top to bottom, and poor old sinners can have perfect access into the presence of God through Jesus Christ because Jesus said, It's finished. He fought him twice face to face and whipped him hands down both times. And, oh, listen, you don't have to be defeated. You don't have to live a failure of a Christian life. We're conquerors. No, I don't want the Bible to say that at all. You know what my Bible says? We are in him that loved us and gave himself for us in Jesus Christ. We're more than conquerors. More than conquerors. The Christian can walk around, I don't know how this is going to sound, but with a holy humility, with an humble pride, with a proud humility. Now, we're humble because it's in Jesus, but we're proud of what Jesus has done for us. You don't have to walk around with a hanged on poor me look. Boy, you're a son of God and a brother of Jesus Christ who won the Bible for you. Unto him that loved us and watched us in his blood and made us King John Prince. You may refer to me as King John. Henceforth. That's right. Boy, you're looking at somebody. I'm a child of God. And I'm looking at a whole bunch of somebody. So are you. Now, let's turn to Ephesians. Just for a closing moment. Kind of see how we use these weapons and what they are by which we fight the devil from the basis of a battle that's already been won. From a scoreboard, you know, after Baylor beat Texas. They said they left a scoreboard 34 -24 on all night. Everybody went running around and driving around town until four in the morning looking at it. It looks so good. Listen, they've left a scoreboard on for 2 ,000 years. And it says, Jesus won! Jesus won! And here's the way we win in Jesus Christ. Oh, I love this. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 11. Ephesians 6, verse 10. Ephesians 6, verse got it? Ephesians 6, verse 10. Finally, my brethren, you think I'm a long -winded preacher, you read old Paul's sermon. He'd say, finally, brethren, 30 times before we got down to what it really meant finally. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God. Notice there's nothing for the back here, no provision to retreat. Christian soldiers are always on the advance. But on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, having therefore, stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet chod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, that means over all or around all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Then he says, and pray for me too, down toward the end. I see there's victory in Jesus, folks. There is victory in Jesus Christ. The helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, is what you do. Jesus, every morning, you get up. You say, Lord, I commit yesterday's sins under the blood of Jesus. I commit this day under your grace. Read a few verses. Read a few chapters. Take time to get it down inside of you, O Spirit of God. Be my strength. Be my armor. Be my fortress. Let the truth of God get in me. Fill me with the Holy Spirit. And go out to do battle. And as you're driving down the freeway, and they got some sign on the bulletin board, and some lustful thought passes across you, Lord, by your blood, forgive me. Lord, by your blood, cleanse it out. Keep right on driving. You've got to do that all the time. All the time. Sometimes I'm up here preaching, boy. My mouth's talking, and my heart's going to God. My mouth's going to you. My heart's going to God. Lord, forgive me of this. Lord, cleanse me of that. Staying in constant fellowship with the Lord. Always there. Claiming the power of the word of God, and the fullness of the Spirit. What does that mean? It means that Jesus Christ did it for me. He is my conqueror. He is my advocate. And the devil is a defeated foe. And I'm going on the football field with 60 minutes of playing time ahead of me. And I already know the score is 34 to 24. And we're going to leave the lights on all night. I already know what's happening. I already know the outcome has been won in Jesus Christ. And I am secure and safe and strong and stable in what Jesus, my beloved Savior, has done for me. You can and must be, if you'll learn to trust him and stay in his word and in his spirit, a believer that experiences a victorious Christian life. Don't be afraid of the devil. But don't fail to be afraid of him either. You know, there's a kind of a holy balance there. He's real. He's mean. He hates me. He hates you. I think he hates this church. I think he lives. I think he stays up after hours thinking ways. How can I get in through that teacher or through that staff member or through that habit or through that part of the budget or through that problem or through that sermon or through that little gossip or something. How can I get in there and destroy that thing? Let me tell you something. God's always had churches that have been an inspiration to the world that they've looked at. That have been blessed and helped and inspired others. And believe me, they're important to God and they're important to the devil too. And I think a battle rages consistently in the hearts of this membership. And I'll tell you, we can be strong soldiers of Jesus Christ, victorious in him if we'll always do it. The victory is won. Praise God. When you're personally tempted, let me tell you what you do. Your heart races with the wind. Your blood pumps in your veins with temptation. You're discouraged. You just turn right around in the back of you and look at where you know the devil is and you just stare him down and you say, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. He can't stand the name of Jesus. You whisper his name when you're down and broken and discouraged. When you've lost your job, I don't know which way you're going to go. Jesus. The devil will turn tail and run when there's problems at home, when there's bankruptcy and difficulty and loneliness. Nobody seems to care when they come to say, that little child has died. Your loved one is gone. You want to throw it all up and all the imps of hell and the devil seems to be saying, see, see, what happens when you serve the Lord? You just whisper the name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I tell you, your heart will start to settle down and there'll come a peace and a confidence and a composure and a victory inside of you. You can live a victorious life over the devil in every temptation and every situation because him that is the king of kings has already done it for you. There's power in the name of Jesus. Let's stand together and sing.