A Very Close Look at Satan — Danny Bond

Revelation 12 and the Cosmic Conflict

Revelation, chapter 12, verse 7 through 12, I have entitled this message, a very close look at Satan, because that is what it is. J .I. Packer has well said, Satan has no constructive purpose of his own.

His tactics are simply to thwart God and destroy men. That is a great statement. Like another thing that J .I. Packer said, like a lot of things J .I. Packer says in his books, but I like this. He said the natural response to the denials of Satan's existence is to ask who then runs his business, who then runs his business?

Because it's very obvious his business is present in the world. So whether you believe Satan exists or not, I think you'll see from the Bible today that he does. You're going to see a lot about him. Let's read verse 7 in Revelation 12, down through verse 12.

We read this staggering statement in verse 7. And war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought and they did not prevail. Nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

The great dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down.

And they that would be the brethren, our brethren, that's those brethren living on the earth during this time as they are rejoicing in heaven, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.

And they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. And then this warning, woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time.

There is a lot in that passage. This is one of those passages that in many ways resists outlining. It's a passage that requires you to to explore eternity, in effect, to go into the realm of eternity with God and the angels.

It's a passage that causes you to go back in time and forward in time. So what I have done is pulled out the main things that I see here, and that is the outline I want to give you. First of all, I want to talk about the strategies of Satan, the strategies of Satan, then the warfare with Michael.

Then the devil cast down to the earth. What is that all about? And finally, the celebration of the saints, the strategies of Satan is the first thing I want to look at when you read war broke out in heaven.

Then you read Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. Verse nine, you read about the dragon, the serpent of old, the devil, Satan, all of those different names speak of the fact that he has all kinds of different strategies.

And that's what I want to talk about to begin with, to help us to look at a biblical picture of Satan. That's why I want to start a biblical picture of Satan. What do we learn about Satan in the Bible?

Satan as Liar and Deceiver

Well, one of the devil's greatest assets is the doubt people have about his existence. But you see, to deny the fact of Satan is to deny the truth of Scripture because the Bible speaks so much about Satan.

The biblical picture of Satan is clear. One thing it shows us is that he is a liar. Hold your place here and turn to John, chapter eight, verse forty four. Jesus is preaching here. He is speaking to some very, very religious people, back the religious leaders of Israel who are rejecting him as the son of God and Messiah.

And he makes some pretty strong statements here. He says in John eight, forty four, you are of your father, the devil and the desires of your father. You want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.

When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and what is to say the father of it. The whole process of lying finds its source originally in Satan. That's where lying comes from.

He is a liar. It is his forte. So much falsehood comes from Satan. The false doctrines that sweep through the body of Christ, I was going to say annually, but some of them have a little longer shelf life.

But all the false doctrines that sweep through the body of Christ, the deceives of many biblically illiterate people, because that's who they pray on. They have their source in Satan. The lies come from Satan.

He's a liar. And that is a whole study we could go on with. But I want to move on to some other things. Not only is he shown in the Bible to be a liar, but he has devices, strategies, Second Corinthians.

Let me just read it to you. Second Corinthians to eleven. Paul is writing. I'm writing these things. Let Satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. So he has devices, but you don't have to be ignorant of them.

Thomas Watson used to say the devil's boots don't creak. You don't hear him sneaking up on you. He's very good at what he does. He is the master of stealth. He's a liar. His devices. He also has power, power to corrupt your mind.

Satan's Power to Corrupt the Mind

In Second Corinthians, eleven, three, Paul says, but I fear less somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness. So your mind may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Jesus Christ. We learned there that Satan has the power to corrupt your mind.

He specializes in corrupting your mind away from the simplicity that is in Jesus Christ. Why? Because your simplicity in Jesus Christ has to do with a very current, very real, very clear, very focused relationship with him.

To draw you away from that simplicity is to lead you into a complex life where Christ isn't the dominant, uppermost thought in your brain and on your heart. And know this to say the simplicity in Christ is not ever to say that a close relationship with Jesus Christ is simplistic because it is not.

It is not to stay simple in Christ is to stay focused. And ultimately, it is to plow deep into Christ. I'll tell you something. At any given time, if you were to ask me until you go to heaven, how would you like to be found on Earth?

I would like to be found plowing deep into Christ, plowing deep. So the devil specializes in corrupting your mind with you pick and choose anything you want as to how he does that. Ask yourself how he's done it with you to corrupt your mind away from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Why? To keep you away from the depth that is yours in Christ. Simple, but never simplistic. Vance Havner said once Satan produces mental and spiritual anesthetics more potent than any shot from the needle can numb your brain to Christ by corrupting it with other things.

And he does. He's a liar. He has devices. He has the power to corrupt your mind. Let me give you a further thought. He is most dangerous in your life when he is most attractive. He can approach your life in a way that is in every possible dimension, ravishing and attractive.

And he can tempt you down an avenue like that in a way that is both ravishing and attractive to your soul. And remember, his boots don't creak. So what you're facing suddenly is this thing coming your way in your life.

It's ravishing. It's attractive. It's beautiful. It seems so good for you. And yet behind it happens to be the devil. Those things happen in our lives. You say, well, how could that be? In Second Corinthians 1114, Paul said, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

That's how it can be. And believe me, he uses that if that's what he needs to do. Sometimes the devil is a gentleman. Let me put it this way. The devil is most devilish when he is most respectful in your life.

Van Savner said this, that Satan does far more harm as an angel of light than as a roaring lion. Think about it like this. It is only as posing as the champion of truth that the prince of darkness is able to persuade men to swallow his lives.

So he poses as a champion of truth. And men swallow his lies. You want an example? The Antichrist will be so beautiful to the world, the world, the whole world. Think of it. The whole world will be saying, who is like unto him?

Who can wage war with him? Who is like unto him? He is going to appear to the whole world to be the greatest human being who has ever lived. Beautiful for three and a half years. But then when he sets himself up as God, then when he commands the world to bow down and worship him, he will move from beautiful.

Put that behind him to brutal. And then it will be you either bow down and worship me, take my mark or you die. You will be hunted down and you will be beheaded. You will die or you will worship me from beautiful three and a half years to brutal the last three and a half years.

Tribulation period. Most attractive, most brutal when he is doing some of the worst work in your life, it will come in an attractive package. He's really good at it. That, my friends, is why we need to walk in the spirit.

Standing Against Satan with God's Armor

So he is most dangerous when most attractive. Now, if then I am to beat him, how can I beat him? By putting on the full armor of God, there is no other way to beat him, there is no other way to beat him than to put on the full armor of God in Ephesians 6, 11, Paul wrote and he said, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand, not grovel, not run.

But stand against the wiles of the devil, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. When the smoke clears, the battles over you are found standing, maybe cut, maybe bleeding, maybe hurt, maybe tired, you will be hurt, you will be tired, but standing nevertheless.

Thank God for that. Nothing less than the whole armor of God can beat the devil. We must learn what the helmet of salvation is. We must learn what the breastplate of righteousness is. We must know what the belt of truth is.

We must know what the shield of faith is. We must know what the sort of the spirit is. We must know what the shoes of peace are. And if you were given a pop quiz right now on what the shoes of peace are in the armor of God, would you pass or fail or the shield of faith?

Pass or fail or the sort of spirit? Well, everybody knows that when that was the word of God. But do you know how to use it? How about the helmet of salvation? Pass or fail? You must know. Why, because God wants to bless you with victory.

God doesn't want your Christian life to be roller coaster, a big roller coaster ride. God wants your Christian life to be the kind of a life where you take the. I remember General Patton in World War Two, he was giving a speech and he was addressing the troops and he says, I just want to let you know something as we go into battle, as we go into war, we are not holding anything.

We are advancing all the time. That's the way God's people are to be. That is why Paul said, this one thing I do, this one thing I do, I leave yesterday behind and I press on today toward the upward call of God in Christ.

This one thing I do and I do it with the armor of God on the way we beat the devil is with the full armor of God. So that's a biblical picture of Satan summing up by saying what J .C. Ryle wrote down years ago, he said, there is no enemy.

Listen very closely to this. There is no enemy worse than an enemy who is never seen, never dies, who is near to us wherever we live and goes with us wherever we go. Who tell you what? Where is the armor?

I want it on now. Good insight, no enemy worse than an enemy who's never seen, never dies, is near to us wherever we live and goes with us wherever we go. Thank God Jesus Christ said, I will never leave you or forsake you and I can count on the fact no better how bad the battle gets.

He's there. So biblical picture of Satan. What about the lies that need to be exposed about him? Because as you go through Revelation, one lie after the next is exposed about Satan. How about the lie of who he is?

Exposing Myths About Satan and Hell

Satan, I think, has done a tremendous public relations job of convincing the world of a myth about who he is. What do you think is the average perception of the devil in the mind of the average person in the world today?

What comes into your mind? Let me put it this way. What comes into your mind? The minute you say, think about the devil. How do you picture him? What's the color? Red. How do I know that? And so Satan has done a tremendous job of convincing the world that who is the devil?

Well, he's this mythological character. We all know what he looks like. He's dressed in red. He has a cape. He has a pitchfork that he stole from some barn somewhere, I guess. So he's ready. His horns.

He has a pitchfork that he jabs people with and he has sort of a goatee. It's pointy on the end. And, you know, listen, it's so popular that he sold record amount of outfits at Halloween every year. Think about it.

People buy the outfit. So let me ask you a question. Is that the devil? No, that is not the devil. But he's done a very good job of convincing people that is the devil. That is not the devil. How about another lie that needs to be dispelled that he's in charge of hell?

That's a lie. How many times have you ever witnessed if someone and and you're telling them, listen, you really need to receive Jesus Christ. There is a heaven. There is a hell. You get some kind of a cavalier answer back like, oh, I don't care if there's a hell.

In fact, I want to go there. If there's a devil, I want to be with him because I like the way he does things. In fact, my world is his world. We get along very good. People seem to have the idea that hell, if the devil's in charge of it and if he's in charge and if he's in charge here, like we tell people he is, this is Satan's world.

We tell them that. So then they go, well, this is his world. And if if he's going to be there in hell and I'm going to be there with him, that this is a world I like it. I like it. Their their idea then becomes, you know what?

My heaven is my sin. All the sin I do, the world I've built, my world, my infrastructure of the sins I commit, the darling sins, as the old Puritans used to call your besetting sins, the darling sins that I love to cultivate and nurture and do.

If the devil isn't going to be in hell, then that's where I want to be. They have this idea that their heaven on earth, which is their sinful world, is going to be their heaven in hell. So they would rather have hell.

But you know something? That's because they think Satan will be in charge of hell. Satan, it's a lie, is not going to be in charge of hell. You want to know the truth about Satan and hell? Let me give it to you right now.

I'm going to give you five things really quick. Just fire them off. What is the truth about Satan in hell? It is this. Number one, Satan is not in hell. Number two, Satan has never been to hell. Number one, Satan is not in hell.

Number two, Satan has never been to hell. Number three, he will not get to hell until his final rebellion is crushed. That will be at the end of the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ. Listen to this. Number four, when he does enter hell, he will not be in charge.

Number five, he will receive the worst punishment of anyone there. Satan is not in hell. He's never been to hell. He's not going to get to hell until his final rebellion is crushed. When he does enter hell, he will not be in charge.

And when he is in hell forever, he will be in the lowest part of hell. He will be hell's lowest inmate in the worst prison with the worst torment. Don't ever forget this. Hell was created for Satan and his fallen angels.

Somewhere down there in the bottom of the worst of hell is going to be Satan and his two sidekicks that we meet in Revelation. And they are the Antichrist, also called the beast, and the sidekick, the false prophet.

So the three of them are going to be down in the lowest part of hell. So those are lies exposed about Satan. Where is Satan then? Well, we've seen a big biblical picture of him. We've exposed the lies.

Satan's Present Arena of Activity

Let me give you his arena of activity. Satan, where is he? He's roaming the earth. He is at times around your life. I often wonder if he's ever been personally around my life. He has many demons at his disposal, the prince of the power of the air is a hierarchy of demons at his disposal, highly organized forces.

He goes about as a roaring lion, Peter said, seeking whom he may what devour. Where is he? That's what he's doing. He's going around lives, studying lives on planet Earth, seeking whom he may devour. And that's what his demons do.

But where else is he? Not only roaming the area of the earth, but he also has access to the throne somehow of God. Where is Satan? Well, he spends a lot of time before the throne of God in this passage right before us in Revelation 12, 10.

They're rejoicing in heaven because Satan has been cast out, the accuser of the brethren who accused them before our God day and night. Where is Satan? Spends a lot of time before the throne of God in heaven somehow.

That's where he is. He spends a lot of time on Earth. So that is his arena of operation. You say, well, wait, how can he how can I thought Jesus defeated him at the cross? If Jesus defeated him at the cross, then how can he be allowed to roam around like this?

Did Jesus really defeat him at the cross? If so, when does he get his punishment? How does he get his punishment? How does that work? His defeat was accomplished at the cross. His full punishment has not been meted out yet.

His sentence has not been fully served. In John 12, 31, Jesus said, now is the judgment of this world and now the ruler of this world will be cast out. Speaking of going to the cross in John 14, 30, he said, I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming and he has nothing in me.

In John 16, 11, he said the ruler of this world is about to be judged. Then he went to the cross. So Satan was defeated at the cross. Why is he still loose and at large? Because, as I said, his judgment has not been fully meted out to him, his punishment.

So here's how it works. We read in our text, war broke out in heaven. We read Satan was cast out. Then he was cast down. Well, what happens in the final wrapping up of God's plan for the ages, Satan will be cast out without access from heaven.

He will no longer be able to go before the throne of God, as he did in the book of Job. Cast out without access, this is how it will happen. Cast out without access, then cast down and shut out, cast down to the earth, confined to the realm of the earth.

Shut out from any more access to heaven. From there, it will move to incarceration in the bottomless pit for one thousand years. He will then be loose to deceive the nations. He will then be judged by God.

He will move from the incarceration to the incineration where he will be cast into the lake of fire forever and ever and ever. That is his ultimate punishment. That's how it's going to come. So the answer to the question of how is Satan judged because of the cross?

It comes to us in our text. He's cast out of heaven, cast down to the earth, incarcerated, then incinerated forever. The strategies of Satan. Let's move now and talk about the warfare with Michael that we find in Revelation 12, seven were broke out in heaven.

Michael and the Warfare in Heaven

And Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail. There was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world.

He was cast to the earth and the angels were cast out with him. War broke out in heaven. What is that? That is time and eternity past is the only way to say it. When Satan said, I will ascend to the throne of the most high, Isaiah 14.

And be God and he led his rebellion and war broke out in heaven. Now we're dealing with the fact that God is out of time, OK? So there has been war in heaven since the fall of Satan. You understand that much war broke out in heaven because suddenly one third of the holy angels became unholy angels.

Studying the book of Revelation, you find there are millions, if not billions of holy angels. So to take one third is a huge amount. And they began to fight a cosmic warfare on a level that is beyond anything we could ever imagine.

And that has been going on through the ages. OK, war broke out in heaven. There has been war in heaven since the fall of Satan. When we come to Revelation 12, seven, here is a new conflict started by Satan, finished by Michael.

Revelation 12, seven, Michael and the angels fought with the dragon. That is a new conflict started by Satan, finished by Michael, the dragon and the angels fought for seven. But they did not prevail, nor was place found for them in heaven any longer.

Somewhere in eternity past, war broke out in heaven somewhere. Now, as we're studying through Revelation around the time of the beginning of that last seven years of man's history. This battle breaks out, Michael fights with the devil right there.

Here is a new conflict started by Satan, finished by Michael. The Greek wording in the original language indicates the starting of a sudden battle. You say, well, how will they fight it? That's not so much the main question as what causes it, what causes it?

Why does suddenly this battle break out? There's no way to be absolutely dogmatic. But I think we can have a very good idea of what causes this battle to break out. We find it in our Bibles in First Thessalonians, chapter four.

The Rapture and the Conflict in the Air

Can you turn to First Thessalonians, chapter four, verse 16? What causes the battle to break out? I believe it is the rapture of the church. The rapture of the church. Follow very closely now, First Thessalonians 4, 16.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God and the dead and Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.

That's the rapture of the church to meet the Lord in the air, and thus shall we always be with the Lord. Now, think about this. Satan, the Bible says, is the prince of the power of the air. To go from standing where we are right on earth to pass through into the next dimension, into heaven with Jesus Christ, we must pass through the devil's territory.

The devil is called in the passage we're studying, Revelation, the adversary that Satan is a Hebrew word means adversary. Adversary. Do you really think. That God is going to be able to rapture his church, snatch them right off the earth, which the devil at this time is fighting for with everything he's got, snatch them right off the earth and into heaven without any fight at all from the devil.

Do you really think that? Is he really going to take all of his people that believe in him off the earth in a moment of time without any fight from the devil? I don't think so. And I think Michael is a big part of this.

Now, follow this, I'll read you some. I want you to turn your Bible to Daniel, the book of Daniel. Go first to Daniel, 10, 13. I want to identify Michael there. And Daniel, we first meet with Michael long before Revelation 12.

We first meet with Michael in Daniel, 10, 13, when Daniel has been praying and he's been hindered. An angel shows up and he says, I was in a big fight until Daniel, 10, 13. He was in a fight with a demon, this angel.

He says, the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. So here this angel shows up and he says, sorry, I was delayed.

Daniel got in a big angel fight. And this man, the demons I was fighting, I wasn't doing well until Michael came back into that fight really quick. He says, finally, here's your answer. Sorry for the delay.

But what you get with it is a bonus. You get to find out about some cosmic warfare and another dimension that goes on between angels and demons and the fact that Michael can come at any time and deliver.

So we meet Michael Daniel, 10, 13. Then go to Daniel, 12, 1. Here is a prophecy. Daniel, 12, 1 is a direct prophecy of the time of the tribulation and Michael's involvement. Daniel, 12, 1. At that time, what does it say?

Michael shall stand up. The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. Michael is in the Bible, God's protector, protector against darkness. That prince who stands watch over the sons of your people.

And there shall be a time of trouble, Old Testament language for the last seven years on this earth, as never was since there was a nation. Even to that time, last sentence, verse one. And at that time, your people will be delivered.

Everyone who is found written in the book, big verse, big, big verse. Direct prophecy of the time of the tribulation. When you read a verse one at that time, what time? Tribulation time. What time? Time of judgment.

What time? The time of the last seven years here on earth. That's coming soon to this earth. What time? The time of Christ coming. Time of his setting up of his millennial kingdom. At that time, when God's whole plan comes to a focus, man's history on earth as we know it comes to a halt and an end.

And Jesus Christ comes back. In that time, you will see Michael stand up. So there is Michael in Daniel 12. We meet Michael in the New Testament. If you've held your place in Revelation, go back there.

And then hang a left back to Jude, the easiest way to get to Jude is to hang a left from Revelation and go back to Jude. But it's amazing over the years how many things you find brought to light in the book of Jude.

One chapter, we meet Michael in the New Testament is the defender of God's people here in Jude nine. Look at the terminology yet, Michael, what does it say? The archangel. In contending with who the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring.

Against him, a reviling accusation, but said the Lord rebuke you. There, Michael, when toe to toe with the devil, when Moses died, Moses died and he was buried. Deuteronomy 34, six says in the land of Moab, God took him and buried him.

And no one knows where his grave is to this day. I believe that he wanted the body of Moses because Moses is going to be one of the two witnesses. He's trying to abort that whole thing. Who stood against him?

Effectively, Michael. OK, Michael, Jude says the archangel now follow this. We're going to pull this thought together. The only other place in the Bible. That you read of a reference to an archangel, the only other place in the Bible that you read of a reference to an archangel.

So first Thessalonians four, 16, the rapture for the Lord himself will descend from the heaven with a shout and with the voice of an archangel. And with the trumpet of God and there is the rapture of the church.

So back in Revelation 12, seven were broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, the dragon and his angels fought. But they did not prevail, nor was there a place found in heaven for them anymore.

The rapture happens. The devil tries to stop it. Michael comes to fight against him. He prevails. The rapture is successful. And that is what triggers the last seven years of man's history on earth. And so Satan, then in defeat, immediately installs his man on earth, the Antichrist.

And now is his last big push to keep his kingdom in the last seven years on the earth. And so the strategies of Satan, we look at that. The warfare with Michael, we've seen that. Let's go then to the devil cast down to the earth.

Satan Cast Down and Confined to Earth

Revelation twelve, eight to ten. Satan's realm of activity then has this point where it suddenly changed. He's banished from any access to God in heaven. He's cast down to earth. Verse eight says they did not prevail, nor was any place found in heaven any longer.

Cast down to the earth. Verse nine. Verse 10, cast down. So the final confinement of Satan to the earth. Seems to take place right at the midpoint of the tribulation, the last three and a half years, he's cast down and confined, his realm of activity is suddenly changed.

And when he hits the earth and he cannot move out of the dimension of the earth, he's furious. And so we read in verse 12. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them, but woe to the inhabitants of the earth.

The cleansing of the heavens is the pollution of the earth. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time.

See that word wrath. The Greek word translated wrath is thomas. You know what it means? It refers to a violent outburst of rage, a violent outburst of rage. The word depicts turbulent emotional fury as opposed to rational anger.

Turbulent emotional fury as opposed to rational anger. This is irrational. This is violent. This is a sudden outburst of rage from Satan himself as he is suddenly caged, as it were, down on the dimension of the earth, confined only to the realm of the earth.

And he knows now his time is running out. So his rage is compound rage. Final expulsion from any access to heaven whatsoever, confinement to the earth and a very short time until Jesus Christ is coming back to set up his one thousand year reign on the earth, his millennial reign.

Listen, that is what this big fight is all about. That's what Armageddon is all about. It is Satan's last push. All of this. It's his last push to hold on to what he described to Jesus Christ as all the kingdoms of the world that he could give to them, for they were, he said, his to give.

It's his last push to hold on to being an unrighteous king, an unrighteous God, the God of this world. The unrighteous God of an unrighteous world. Because when Jesus Christ comes back and sets up his millennial kingdom on earth and cleanses everything, that is the end of his kingdom, the only kingdom he's ever been able to get from God.

Makes so much sense. So here he is with his compound rage. Can you imagine? Here's the picture. We're just about done. Here is the picture. At the point where Satan is cast down to the earth. The bottomless pit right about this time has opened up and the demons are loose.

We studied that the River Euphrates has four, I call them the big four, four huge, furious, powerful demons that have been bound. They are loosed. We read of 200, an army of 200 million, which the best interpretation we've studied it is it's 200 million demons.

Different from a different army later. So you have all these demons, then Satan, their commanders cast down and confined with them to the earth, with the other fallen angels that roam with them all suddenly for the first time ever.