The Prince of Pride, Pt. 2

Doug Batchelor: For nine months between 1898 and 1899 two famous man-eating lions of Sabo terrorized workers employed in the construction of a railway bridge in Uganda. As the death toll rose, construction was brought to a virtual standstill. The workers said they refused to continue until protection could be provided. Finally, the reign of terror was brought to an end when Lieutenant Colonel J.H. Patterson succeeded in tracking and killing the two lions that had devoured 135 men. The lions are now on permanent display in the Field Museum of Chicago.

Even more deadly was a tigress in India that was reported to have killed and eaten 436 people in 1907 before it was killed. But the record for man-eating goes to one lion that has devoured more than all these other cats combined. 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8, advises us, "Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil is going around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour." So, how can we be protected against this man-eater? Join me, friends, today, as we continue our exploration to understand the originator of sin, the devil.

Well, friends, we have a very important study, tonight. We're going to be talking about why is there evil in the world? And this is one of the big reasons that some people have problems believing in God. They say, "If there's a God, and if God is good, then why is there so much suffering? Why would God create this world, and innocent children, innocent people suffer? If God is powerful, then why doesn't He stop the evil? If He can do anything, why doesn't He just make everybody be good and make everything peaceful?" And people struggle with the problem of evil. It's one of the most important questions, and I tell you there's nothing more important than what we're talking about.

There are two titanic powers that are at war in the world today, and there's a reason that God does not just snap His fingers and annihilate Satan. And when you understand the issue, what's going on behind the scene, it begins to make a lot more sense.

Our study tonight is on "The Prince of Pride." And we're going to be dealing with the subject of did God make a devil? Is there a devil? Why is there evil in the world? Now, this is not a subject that I enjoy talking about because I'm preoccupied with the devil. As a matter of fact, I avoid ministers that want to always preach and talk about the devil. But I think it's appropriate to talk about what God talks about, and there's warnings in the Bible about the power of evil. Even professional boxers or football players, before they go to engage an opponent, they sit down with a coach, and they watch videos and films of the tactics of the enemy, so to speak, so they can understand what's going on.

The Lord wants us to understand something about the nature and the tactics of the devil. And I can tell you the devil's not happy about this program, tonight, because we're going to be exposing what his plans are. The Bible tells us and Jesus warns us about that. The devil is mentioned quite a bit in the book of Revelation. What powerful beings work under the devil's command? You can read here in Revelation 12, verse 4, "His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth." Who are these stars that were following Lucifer? They're angels, also. You can look at Revelation chapter 12, verse 9, "He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast with him."

So, most of the time when we say, "Well, the devil tempted me," or "The devil made me do this," of course, the devil doesn't make you do anything unless you're demon possessed. It was Flip Wilson who used to always say, "The devil made me do it." You can't always blame the devil. And first of all, the devil is not omnipotent. He doesn't know everything. He can't read minds and hearts. But the devil has fallen angels, his minions, probably millions of them, one-third of the angels in heaven. And if God has guardian angels for every person, and there are billions of people in the world today--you know, the Bible actually gives us the highest number that is found in Greek. It applies to the angels of God: 10,000 times 1,000-- 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. It tries to describe this innumerable company of angels. They're described as coming in a cloud when Jesus returns. So, God's got a lot angels, but one-third of them followed Lucifer in his rebellion. He kept saying, "You know, God's not fair. We should have more freedom. We don't need God's laws to govern us. We should make our own. We should have the power of God to create, have our own worlds." And as he began to plant those desires in his heart, in the hearts of the other angels-- by the way, what did he tell Adam and Eve? "If you eat this fruit, you'll be like God." That's what he wanted.

He began to plant his desires in the hearts of the angels, and they followed him in his rebellion. Ultimately, they were cast to the earth because it was only on earth that Satan found another race of creatures, made in God's image, that followed him instead of God. God said, "Do not eat of the tree." The Word of God said, "Do not eat of the tree." Lucifer said, "Go ahead and eat of the tree. You'll be like God." Adam and Eve had to make a decision. "Who do we obey?"

When they chose to obey Lucifer, instead of God, Paul says in Romans chapter 6, "Whoever you obey, that's whose servant you are." The dominion of the world that Adam had received was handed over to the devil. And even Jesus calls the devil the prince of this world. Said, "The prince of this world comes, and he has nothing in me." That's why the devil said to Jesus, "If you fall down and worship me, you don't need to die for this world. I'll give it to you." He claims the dominion of this world. When the devil meets God in some heavenly meeting, and God said, "Where did you come from?" God knew, but He's asking for the sake of others. Said, "I came from the earth, from walking up and down and to and fro in it. It's my territory."

So, people say, "Why is there all this evil in the world?" It's because our first parents made a decision not to follow God, and God allow--He allows things to play out. You know, we live in a country where we get to elect our leaders. And what we elect we experience for the next four years, good or bad. I'm not advocating any party. It's just you're going to live with the consequences of your choices, and that's what's happening in the world right now is we are living out the consequences of the choices that were made by our first parents, but it's going to come to an end soon. God just wanted the whole world to see what is the result of following the devil's government. The devil said, "If I was in charge, we'd be happier in the universe." God said, "All right, you found a world that's listening to you. Let's see how that goes."

What methods does Satan use in his work? Answer A: "Satan, who deceives the whole world." This is from Revelation 12, verse 9. Satan is the great deceiver. Now, you know what deception is. Deception is not just the same thing as just telling a lie. Deception is when you commingle truth with error. See, in one sense, the devil's got an advantage over God because God can only use truth. God does not lie, and God cannot sin. The devil can, he can tell the truth when it's to his advantage, and then he mixes in a lie, and he deceives. He wins people's support, and then he lies. He gives you, you know, 99% orange juice and one drop of strychnine, and then you're poisoned.

So, the devil is a great deceiver. And how much of the world does the Bible say he's deceived? The whole world--we just saw on the screen. Is there a devil? "No, no, no." The devil loves that. People don't think he really exists.

I should mention at this point, folks that do think of the devil got a totally distorted concept. All right, bear with me for just a moment. Close your eyes for four seconds, just close your eyes. Picture the devil. I don't want you to meditate on it, but if you were to picture the devil, okay, what did you see? How many saw red leotards? Anybody see a goatee? Any of your devils in your mind have a goatee? I see there are one or two goatees out there. Horns anyone? Yeah. Pitchfork? The trident, you know-- Ostensibly, he's supposed to cook people evenly in hell. That's why he uses that. And he has sinister eyes, and he's got goat hooves, you know, and he's got bat wings, and people say, you know, "What does the devil look like?" But in reality, the Bible tells us he is a beautiful angel-- a lot of misunderstandings-- deceives the whole world. Jesus was tempted. The devil's a tempter.

You can read answer B: "He was there in the wilderness forty days tempted by Satan." And the three principle temptations of the devil, through Jesus, cover really all the potential temptations. And in Jesus overcoming those temptations, which were the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, in his overcoming those, it's a pattern that we can be overcomers because Jesus overcame. There is no sin that you cannot overcome with Jesus's help. You can resist temptation.

By the way, it is not a sin to be tempted. Was Jesus tempted? We're all tempted. We're probably tempted several times a day. That's not a sin. It's a sin when you embrace and fall into the temptation. Jesus faced temptation head-on. He met it with the Word of God. We're going to say more about that. Matthew chapter 4, verse 8, "Again, the devil took Him up to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory." This is an example of his deception.

Now, I've been all over the world, and it's just I am so blessed to be able to travel and do my favorite thing, and talk about God. And one of the most incredible cities--I see my friends that have been with me in India and China over here. I'm not going to name them because I don't want people to know. But they've been to Dubai a few times-- one of the most incredible cities in the world. Someone took me to a hotel with golden toilet seats. Beautiful city. Do you know they don't have any cars in Dubai over five years old? It's against the law. They're all new cars. It's like oil money everywhere, most expensive hotels in the world, beautiful cities.

But I've also been to some cities that are, woo, just awful mess. The devil did not show Jesus the bad cities. He showed him the good cities, said, "Ah, the beautiful kingdoms of the world, they'll all be yours if you fall down and worship me." So, right here, it tells us what the devil wanted. "Worship me." The devil wants to be God. The Bible also tells us that "They are the spirits of demons performing signs," answer C. The devil performs miracles. His demons can perform miracles.

So, when you're trying to find out if something is true or not, do you say, "Well, whoever can do the most signs and wonders, they must be right"? No. Can the devil do signs and wonders? You remember when in the Bible, I'm assuming, Moses came in, and he threw down his rod, and it became a serpent? And the Pharaoh summoned his magicians. They came in, they threw down their rods, and they became serpents. So, the devil has a certain amount of power to create illusions. It says here, "He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven in the sight of men." Now, what verse is that? Revelation 13. This is in the verse about the beast and the mark of the beast.

One of the things that the devil will do to deceive people in the last days is signs and wonders, making fire come down from heaven. Now, Elijah prayed and fire came down. Three times Elijah prayed, fire came down, three different times in his life. Elijah prayed, and rain came down. But the Bible says that the devil brought fire down from heaven in the story of Job. So, the devil has a certain amount of power even over the elements. Whenever there's an earthquake or a storm, everyone says, "Why did God do that? It's an act of God." Well, not always, friends. I mean, God has biblically sometimes manipulated the weather one way or the other to save people or to judge people, but the devil can, too. So, he'll counterfeit some of the miracles and the power of God to deceive people.

He's an accuser. He's always pointing the finger like he did at Job, "accuser of our brethren who accused them before God day and night." Whenever you sin, the devil will tempt you to sin, and then he will turn you in for sinning. He's the accuser of the brethren, Revelation 12, verse 10. He's a murderer. You read in the garden of Eden there, he's the one who inspired Cain to murder his own brother, and the devil is guilty of murder all over the planet, he and his forces every single day. He's a murderer, and he's also a liar. He's just an outright lair. He will tell people things that just are absolutely untruth, and they believe it.

When is the devil the most dangerous? Now you can look here in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 14. "And no wonder! For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." Didn't Jesus warn us? In the last days, there'll be many false prophets, many false Christs that will do signs and wonders." So, got to be on our guard.

Don't go anywhere, friends. In just a moment, we'll be back to complete today's presentation. Have you ever had friends ask you, "If God is good, and if he's loving, then why is there evil? Why do the innocent suffer? We have a very special powerful DVD documentary we'd like to send you for free. It's called the "Cosmic Conflict." This compelling movie traces the origin of sin and talks about Lucifer's rebellion. It helps us understand why there is evil in the world today; and more importantly, how you can have victory over sin. To get your free copy, call the phone number on your screen and ask for Offer #809, or visit the web address. And after you watch this incredible resource, be sure and share it with a friend. So, how about we get back to today's presentation and learn some more amazing facts from the Word of God?

I heard an interesting fact that probably one of the most deadly or dangerous serial arsonist was a man named John Orr. Between 1984 and 1991, he set approximately 2000 fires in southern California. What's really interesting is that his job was he was a fire chief in Glendale, California, and he was the arson investigator, and everyone wondered how he was able to solve arson problems so quickly. Because he set many of the fires himself, made himself out to be a hero. People died. He didn't care. He kept setting fires. He's now in jail for several life sentences.

The Bible talks about, Jesus said, "Beware of," what? "Prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. Inwardly, they are ravening wolves." The devil works through religion. Did Jesus have a Judas, even among the apostles? He was a thief. So, don't be discouraged if you say, "Well, I'm not going to church. There's hypocrites in the church. There's all these counterfeit teachers and preachers out there that are, you know, they're making money on religion."

The devil is trying to discourage people from following Jesus by all the counterfeits. But buried in all the broken glass is the diamond. It's the truth. Does Satan know the Bible? Ah, yeah, some people think that, you know, if you're being tempted, you're just supposed to take your Bible, and you wave it at the devil, say some words, and the devil's going to run. What? You know, the devil will take your Bible out of your hand, and he'll quote it back to you. The devil knows the Bible better than anybody here, including me. He's, I'm sure, got a photographic memory. Did he quote the Bible to Jesus? He did. Matthew 4:5, one of the temptations, it said, "The devil said to Him, 'If you're the Son of God--" He took him up to the pinnacle of the temple. "--cast Yourself down. For it is written: 'He'll give His angels charge concerning thee.'" He left out the part that says, "to keep you in all of Your ways." You're not going to be jumping off of temples.

So, the devil not only quotes the Bible. He knows how to misquote the Bible or take a verse out of context. But so many people out there, they think, "Oh, I don't need to worry about the devil because we've got five Bibles in our house," as though having a Bible on the nightstand is going to protect you.

No, God doesn't want the Bible on the nightstand. He wants it in your mind, amen? "Thy word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." You've got to put it in your heart, and that's what you're doing by coming to this program, we're trying to put the Word of God in your heart, and it's going to make an eternal difference in your life. Who on earth does the devil hate the most? You can read about this in Revelation chapter 12, verse 17. "The dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

Now, when it says the dragon, who's the dragon? That's the devil. He's enraged with the woman, and he goes to make war. Who's the woman? I told you Christ married the church, the bride of Christ. The devil hates Jesus's children, and he makes war with a special group. He's not worried about the ones who take the name of Jesus and don't live at all like Christ. He's especially threatened by the ones who have the testimony of Jesus, they've got the faith of Jesus, and they keep the commandments of God, and he makes war against them.

Now, the devil hates Jesus. He cannot reach Jesus right now, but he wants to hurt Jesus. What would hurt you more? If someone held you down and tortured you, or if they held your children down in front of you and tortured them? Won't that hurt more? So, the devil knows how much God loves us. God so loved us, He sent His Son to save us. He wants to hurt God, and he hurts God by hurting us. He knows that evil hurts us, and he hurts God by tempting us to sin. What two deadly animals does the Bible use to portray Satan? You can read here, it says in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, he walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour."

So, one of the characters that is often portrayed as the devil is a lion, and the other one is-- you'll find this here in Revelation 12:9. "So that great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan." Perhaps you remember there in the garden of Eden, what medium did the devil use to speak to Eve? It was a serpent. And when Eve was going about her pleasant tasks and working in the garden, maybe she had drifted a little bit from Adam. He doesn't seem to have been there at that moment. And this beautiful, hypnotic creature--you know, snakes, the way they move can sometimes be rather hypnotic. You'll sometimes see them go like that before they strike at their prey. And all of a sudden, it's got this supernatural ability to speak. And he says, "Oh," he says, "I didn't know any of the animals could speak in the garden." He said, "Yeah, well, I've been eating this fruit, and it does wonderful things for you. And did God say that you're not allowed to eat from the trees in the garden?" "Oh, no, we can eat from the trees in the garden, but we're not supposed to eat from this tree, not even supposed to touch it. He said we'll die."

And the serpent said, "Die? Well, look at me. You're not going to die. You're going to have supernatural abilities. You'll be like God if you eat it. You'll be even more beautiful." And she said, "Well, seems to be working for the serpent." And she took the fruit, and then she gave it-- she ate it, probably felt exhilarated for a little bit, as sin often does. It's like the little rush before the hangover. Gave it to her husband, and then they felt the chill. Their robes of light went out, and they saw their nakedness, and they're running from God. And the fruit got stuck in Adam's throat, and that's why they call this an Adam's apple.

Where in the Bible does it say it was an apple? It doesn't say that. But have you ever seen any picture of Adam and Eve in the garden where she's picking a peach, pineapple, banana, pear? It's always an apple. Some traditions just don't die, right? Could've been a coconut. No, I'm--it was a unique fruit. And so, but the devil used as medium of a serpent, and because both lions and serpents are, you know, they go after prey-- a serpent is coldblooded. And there are verses in the Bible that says that with the power of God that you will be able to conquer both the lion and the serpent, you will tread underfoot.

And then there's that verse in Mark chapter 16, where Jesus said that through the power of His Spirit, He said you'll be able to take up serpents. Now, what He meant by that is if you get bit by a serpent, you take it up, it won't harm you. This happened to Paul in the book of Acts. It doesn't mean we're going to go looking for snakes and let them bite us and prove that we have supernatural power. But the devil was symbolized by the serpent. What was the curse that fell on the serpent? "You will now go upon your belly. You'll eat the dust of the ground."

Now just a little amazing fact I thought you'd find interesting is all over the world, we find fossil evidence of these giant flying reptiles--and even on serpents--this is a pterosaur. That one there, wing span of 40 feet. Its' like a Cessna airplane, weighed 300 pounds. Everything changed after the flood. But there were flying serpents, and this is part of the reason that all over the world, you've got dragons--not just in China, but in all these different cultures, they've got legends about dragons-- probably because they saw some of the fossilized remains. Or who knows? But the serpent is often portrayed as a dragon, all the way from Revelation to--or Genesis to Revelation. What's the only way that we can resist Satan? "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil, he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you."

When the prodigal son came to his senses, and he began his journey home, as soon as the father saw him coming, the father ran to meet him. If you've been living in the devil's territory your whole life, or if you've been wandering there, if you come to your senses and you pray and say, "Lord, help me to find my way home," God will run to meet you. There's human effort involved in resisting the devil. This is what the verse says. "Resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. Draw near to God, he'll draw near to you." Three times, the devil came to Jesus, and he was resisted. How did Jesus fight the assaults of the devil? All three times when Christ was tempted by the devil, Jesus answered and said, "It is written, it is written. Away with you, Satan, for it is written."

So, what is our best weapon to fight against the devil? The promises in the Word of God. The Word of God is powerful, friends. The Bible says the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. God brought the world into existence, He created through His Word. He said, "Let it be," and it happened. And through the Word of God, as you read it, it has power in your life. It gives you determination, it gives you strength that you will not have otherwise. It's like a sword. Paul talks about putting on the armor of God. And he says, "Use the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." It's Ephesians chapter 6, verse 17. Again, you can read Hebrews 4:12. "The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword." And in Revelation, it talks about Jesus coming. In chapter 19, He's got a sword coming out of His mouth.

Now, you realize Revelation is full of symbols. When Jesus comes, he's not going to have a big old dagger sticking out of His face. It's a symbol for the sword in the mouth is what's in His mouth? The Word of God, right? So, Jesus even comes conquering with the Word of God in His mouth. It portrays Him that way. How does God feel about the destruction of the wicked, those who follow the devil? The Bible says Satan and those who follow Satan are cast into the lake of fire, Revelation chapter 20. Does the Lord enjoy that? "Say to them, 'As I live,' says the Lord--'" This is Ezekiel 33:11. "'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked would turn from his way and live.'" Now listen to the appeal of God. "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways! For why will you die?"

The Lord is pleading with us, "Please turn. I'll give you power to turn. You'll never be happy with a life of sin. Turn from your evil ways and live. For why will you die?" I mean, God has set before us all two options: Jesus or the devil. There's no--Christ said, "If you're not with me, you're against me." If you have not given your life to Christ, then don't say, "Well, I'm neutral." No, you're not neutral.

Saying no to Jesus is saying yes to the enemy. You're either with God or you're against Him. Moses said, "You want life, good, and blessing, or death, evil, and cursing?" Everybody has those two options. The only way to have life, good, and blessing is to put your life in God's hands. Amen?

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