Do you believe in the devil? If not, why not? If so, how does your belief impact how you live every day? As we start a new series, Unseen Battles, JP teaches through Ezekiel 28, teaching us about the devil, how he works, and how we can resist him.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
-“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” -C.S. Lewis
-If you don’t know your enemy you will suffer loss in every battle.
-Angels are created beings; they have not existed in eternity past like God.
-Angels are stronger and smarter than humans are. One day, humans will sit and judge over them.
-Satan is a fallen angel.
-Did God create evil? No. God created the possibility of evil, but not evil.
-God created satan as good, and good is a thing. The absence of good is evil.
-Light is a thing. Darkness is not a thing. Darkness is the absence of light. Similarly, cold is only a word because hot is a word. Cold is what is left when you remove heat.
-When you begin to focus on what you don’t have you begin to step on satan’s playground.
-Discontentment blinds you from blessings.
-“Is God really good?” is the question behind all questions, along with “Can I trust Him?”
-Satan is on earth.
-Satan is not currently in hell. He is on earth. Someday he will face eternal judgment there, but right now he is on earth.
-Satan is not everywhere on earth. He is not omnipresent. He has likely never been anywhere near you.
-Make no mistake, you can go to church and still worship satan. Anything you do that is not in faith toward God can be worshipful toward him.
-Disney and Marvel and Harry Potter are printing money off the reality of the biblical narrative that we live in: a battle between good and evil.
-Can angels still sin? They have thousands and thousands of years of knowledge and wisdom and revelation that following God is the way to go.
-Satan is a liar.
-Satan’s main lie is “God is not good and you cannot trust Him.”
-Satan calls what is evil good and what is good evil.
-Satan and demons can’t read our minds, but they’ve studied humans for thousands of years and know how to trick and deceive us.
-A common strategy satan uses in 2022 is that you should find “your truth”. There are not multiple versions of truth. There is the Truth, and His name is Jesus.
-The Gospel is the greatest Truth you will ever encounter, and once you know and believe the Gospel, the next is that God’s Word is true and can be trusted.
-We are all part of a supernatural narrative where God is rescuing people from satan through His Son, Jesus.