Two Roads Two Destinies 06 Ireland st.chapel — Worth Ellis

You know, I never listened to announcements at night. I don't know whether I was listening correctly or not, but it seems that I heard Brother Dobe say that we continue the chart message on Wednesday evening.

And if you did say that, I hate to correct you publicly, but we won't be. I don't say that to embarrass you, Brother Lester, but because I don't want anybody to come to hear the chart on Wednesday evening, because you won't if you can't.

The message on the chart is Sunday morning, then Sunday evening, and during the week, whatever the Lord gives us to encourage His people. I think we have been given a remarkable demonstration by the Lord Himself of the value of just a little bit of enthusiasm.

Leslie is a paper boy, and a paper man, pardon me, and he has a paper route down in this part of town, an old farm, British Woods, and it's through Lester's enthusiasm that you see a sixty-one increase from last Sunday to this one, which goes to give us just a small, inconvenient idea of what we could do here at the chapel if we would really get revived and all of us would get restored to the Lord.

I confess to you the other week that I had been vaccinated and God has restored me, and I am rejoicing and I hope it's catching, and I believe that the Lord will continue to impress us upon our hearts that if the Lord Jesus Christ is worth knowing, He's worth being enthusiastic about.

So, may the Lord stir our hearts up, and we ought to see this place. I told some of my brethren the other day, and they looked at me out of the corner of their eyes, that I expected to see this building comfortably filled on the mornings at least before the end of our October visit with you.

So, let's just remember this. This is what it takes, and may I put in a plug for the Saturday morning prayer meeting? I have found that praying early in the morning is the best time of the day. It's like going fishing.

You are fresher, and the bass strikes all the harder early in the morning. Early in the morning, our minds are clearer after our bodies have had a night's rest, and our minds are not cluttered with things of the day.

We're having a wonderful prayer meeting on Saturday mornings at 8 o 'clock, and God is meeting with us. There's been a melting of hearts, a spirit of love and oneness, and a real desire to go forth. Now, that's at 8 o 'clock on Saturday mornings.

I am persuaded that if we could see this prayer meeting grow until there were twenty or thirty men, and then at some convenient time in the week, twenty or thirty women, it would get a crying of God for a real Holy Ghost revival and blessing, that the presence of the Lord and the glory of God might come upon us.

There was a moving of the Spirit of God here this morning, very definitely. I had a nice talk with one Jewish man who was interested in the things of God. He stayed behind to talk, and it's perfectly obvious that the Holy Spirit is working.

He is the only one we need. He's the only one who can meet our needs. So let's pray, and let's work, and let's trust God, and let's expect blessing. Now, let's turn today in our Bibles to Isaiah, chapter 14.

The Biblical Origin and Fall of Satan

And when you find the fourteenth of Isaiah, leaving a finger there, I want you to turn to Ezekiel, chapter 28. And if you'd like a good way to remember the two major portions of the Old Testament prophecy that have to do with the origin and the history of Satan, you'll remember that 14 and 14 is 28, and the first passage is Isaiah, and the second one is Ezekiel.

When you turn to the fourteenth of Isaiah, you'll leave a finger there, and then you'll turn to the twentieth of Ezekiel, and you'll hold a finger there so we can readily turn from one passage to another.

Isaiah, chapter 14. Our reading commences at the twelfth verse. Isaiah 14, verse 12. Shall we pray? And now, our Father, we come in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Holy Spirit, with thy word open before us to learn of the enemy of our souls.

In thy word we are told that we must not be ignorant of his devices. And so we pray that the Spirit of God would teach us tonight concerning this opposer of all the purposes of the plans of God, that we might be familiar with him and might be on guard against him.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, who didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.

I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in 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 through the sides of the pit.

They that see thee shall narrowly look or gaze upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms, that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the house of his prisoners?

Keep your place there and turn to Ezekiel, chapter 28. This time, our reading commences in the eleventh verse. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thou saith the Lord God, thou sealest up the sun, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone of thy covering, the sardius, the topaz, the diamond, the gurl, the unsin, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the carbuncle, and gold.

The workmanship of thy tablets and of thy pipes was prepared in the day that thou wast created. Thou anointed cherub that covereth, and thou hast set thee so. Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God, thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned.

Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will restore thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.

I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic. Therefore I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee, thou shalt be a cherub, and never shalt I be any more.". In the eleven o 'clock service this morning, we were considering the subject of the door.

As you see here on the chart, those words of our Lord Jesus that are in one sense of the word so wonderfully simple. He said, I am the door, by me if any man enter in he shall be saved. We saw this momentary authority that we use for all of our messages, the inspired word of God.

As when the Lord said, I am the door, he was speaking metaphorically, using the door as a picture of himself having been crucified and raised from the dead and exalted to God's right hand. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ being that which alone satisfies God's judgment against us, making it possible for God to be just and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus.

Just as the door is that part of your house that lets you inside or outward from one room to another, so the Lord Jesus is the door, the only means of access into the presence of God. We learn that the Lord, in his desire to give salvation to all, has made the way of eternal life just as uncomplicated and uninvolved as possible.

And yet, millions today ignore this marvelous opportunity to be saved. They completely disregard the plain teaching of the word of God, go on in their unbelief and in their selectionism and liberal theology and all, and though the Lord has made the way of salvation so clear and simple that a child may understand it, like you step inside the door of your house and you're from the outside in the moment you believe that Jesus is God to you, and thus can receive him as your Savior, you are immediately a child of God, and this is what Jesus meant when he said, I am the door.

But most of you will not enter into the door, for tonight we want to pick up a subject that has to do with Satan, who in the Bible is called the God of this world, or the prince of the power of the air.

And we're going to learn that he is the one who is determined to keep people from entering this door. I believe it can be safely said that every unsafe person tonight who has never availed themselves of the salvation of God has been hindered by the power of this enemy of the soul of men.

Now, just to give us some idea of the importance of the study of the doctrine of the devil, I'd just like to call your attention to three things. When I made this discovery, I was amazed, and yet I found it to be true.

The more I study it, the more I am absolutely convinced that the doctrine of the devil is one of the most fascinating Bible truths found, one of the most enlightening. Number one, if you study the Bible doctrine of the devil, you will discover that this chief of fallen angels appears in the Bible under at least forty different names.

Some of these names are proper names, and some are descriptive titles. Everywhere you find a descriptive title, Conferred upon Satan by the Spirit of God, it gives us, of course, an insight into the character of the work that he is engaged in.

For example, in two places in the book of the Revelation, in the twelfth chapter and the ninth verse, the twentieth chapter and the second verse, you'll find four of these titles. The Spirit of God is Conferred upon Satan, and one first.

He is called the Dragon, the Serpent, the Devil, and Satan. And you'll notice how simple it is to see that, as a dragon, we learn of his power and of his furious, ferocious antagonism toward people and toward God.

As a serpent, we learn that he is one who practices God. Now, the devil himself, the word devil means accuser or the slanderer of the present. This is exactly what he is called in the twelfth chapter of the book of the Revelation.

And, in the coming days, he will be cast out of heaven as a result of war in heaven. The inhabitants of the earth, or heaven rather, are told to rejoice because the accuser of the brethren is cast out of heaven.

And so, he is accuser. That's the meaning of the word devil. The meaning of the word Satan that's from the Hebrew means resister, and in the Greek it's apollyon, which means to destroy. You'll find that in the book of the Revelation, chapter nine and verse eleven.

And so, the Spirit of God has conferred upon Satan forty distinctive, different titles. Now, as we consider this subject, our amazement grows to learn that, whenever you look at the doctrine of the devil, he appears in the word of God with prominence, importance, and power second only to the Trinity.

Now, that is an amazing discovery, but it is an absolute fact that the doctrine of the devil, you'll find that he is found in the word of God and appears in the Bible, first of all, with prominence, importance, and power second only to the power of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Third, and perhaps most astounding of all, is this. The most significant fact of all is that the Scriptures trace, with detail and cheer, this arch-enemy of God on his creation through all his career and on to his final judgment.

I'd like to repeat that, that this enemy of God, this chief of the fallen angels, who has forty different names, is traced in detail throughout the word of God, concerning his history from his origins through all of his activity to his final demise when he is confined to the lake of fire that burneth with fire and brimstone.

And just remember this, that in your study of the word of God, no such distinction is accorded to any other angel or to any human being in the word of God. Now, this may be a little astounding, but it is absolutely true.

I repeat, forty different names the devil has in the Bible. He appears with prominence, importance, and power second only to the Holy Spirit of God, the Father, Son, and the Spirit, and that his history, his origin, his work, and all his trace with minute detail and care from all his career to his final judgment.

And let me remind you just once more that no such distinction is accorded to any other angel or to any other human being in the word of God. And notice I say any other angel, and whether it be good or bad angels, all angels are spirit beings, and the only distinction between the devil and the other angels is that they are all spirit beings, but there are evil spirits and there are benign spirits.

So, tonight we want to get into a study of this doctrine of Satan, and look on the word of God, first of all, as to the origin of the devil who made him. Secondly, we're going to see in the night, the night the Bible shows us his present year of activity where he operates in this world today, and in something of his power that he exercises in this world today.

Then, next Sunday morning in the will of God is the work of the devil among unsafe people, and a week from tonight in the will of God is the work of Satan among God's people. Now, tonight, as to the origin of Satan, what the Bible tells us is found here primarily in these two passages, first one in Isaiah 14 and in Ezekiel chapter 28.

We find him here, first of all, addressed as Lucifer, the sun of the morning, and the introduction we have to Lucifer here is in his unfallen state. We read in verse 12 of Isaiah 14, "...I have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning.".

Now, this word Lucifer here, in the original Hebrew, I understand, is the same exact word that means bright or shining, and it has exactly the same meaning as was given to the serpent when we find him in the garden.

He is the shining one. One translator puts it this way, "...I have fallen from heaven, O shining one.". Mr. Garvey says the brilliant star, the American Standard Version referred to him as the day star.

We are introduced to an angelic being in his unfallen state, and this is the only place in the Bible that you'll find the word Lucifer. Now, when you turn to Ezekiel chapter 28, I want to show you something interesting.

Under Oriental imagery here, we are introduced to the King of Tyre, and we are introduced to a method of teaching, the Doctrine of Inspiration, how God so often addresses Satan indirectly through another person.

Now, notice in the 11th verse of Ezekiel 28, the word of the Lord came when he sang, "...Thou, O man, take up a lamentation.". Now, that is interesting. This word lamentation means intense anguish accompanied with a beating of the breast.

It is a reference to Jehovah's sorrow over his erring creature, and notice what he said. I want you to say unto the King of Tyre, tell him in verse 12, "...Thus saith the Lord, Thou sealest up the sun full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.".

And, right away, when I look at this passage and find such words addressed to a king, I stretch my head and I say, how on earth could God say that an earthly king was of very major perfection? That's the meaning of the word, "...Thou sealest up the sun.".

Not only that, full of wisdom, but perfect in beauty. And how could God use such language of an earthly oriental king? And then he goes on to tell us in verse 13, speaking to this same King of Tyre, "...Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God.".

And then he gives us a description, symbolically, of the beauty of this person, addressed as the King of Tyre, under the picture of precious stone. And they are enumerated here in verse 13. Two times in this passage we read that this king was created.

Did you notice that? In the last statement of verse 13, we read that he was created. This statement is also found in verse 15, "...Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created until iniquity was found in thee.".

So, here we have God addressing a lamentation through the prophet to a King of Tyre, speaking of him as being the very sum of beauty, perfection in itself, speaking of him as having been in Eden, the garden of God, and giving us a description of his beauty under the symbolism of these precious stones.

And, two times, he tells us that he was created. Now, I don't know anywhere in the history of this world that you ever read of a king that hasn't been created. So, here we are introduced to one of the mediums of revelation where God has given us proof in this strikingly unusual way he is addressing none other than Satan himself in and through the King of Tyre, who is, I believe, a perfect picture of Satan himself on a coming day to impersonate himself in that coming Antichrist.

Here, in this passage, we ought to remember that the vision we read here, and the key to an understanding of it, is to remember this. It is not the Satan in his own person, but of Satan fulfilling himself in and through an earthly king who takes to himself divine honor.

And, notice how this is consonant with the rest of prophetic scripture. In Daniel chapter 7 and verse 8, and Revelation 19 and 20, and 2 Thessalonians 2 and 4, if you study those passages, you'll find that this King of Tyre thus foreshadows a beast whom we are first introduced to in Daniel chapter 7.

You see, Satan is the god of this world, the prince over power of the air. In a coming day in the great tribulation, he shall certainly, the Antichrist, shall hold sway over this world, over commerce and religion and politics of this world.

Here, prophetically, we are given a picture of the devil himself fulfilling himself and giving to us a coming preview of that which is going to take place. The talk and the ceremony and the commerce of Tyrus is given to us in symbol here to remind us that all these things are under the control of the wicked one.

The one addressed as Lucifer in chapter 14 of the book of Isaiah, and the one upon which lamentation is taken up, the King of Tyrus, are very obviously one and the same person. He is given to us here in his unfallen state.

Now, this is before sin has veered its ugly head. The purpose of which this one called Lucifer was created is given to us two times here in the 28th chapter of Isaiah. Notice in verse 14, "...thou art the anointed cherub that covereth," I have set thee so, or I have appointed thee.".

Notice in verse 16, in the last statement of the verse, he is referred to as, "...o covering cherub, when God to thou cast you from the midst of a stone of fire.". Now, here in this interesting, very intriguing passage, I'll call your attention to the fact that God is often found addressing the devil indirectly through others.

There are numerous places in the word of God. For example, when he spoke to the serpent in the garden, we know full well he was speaking to the devil himself. Perhaps the most familiar one, because it's in the New Testament, is found in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Mark.

You remember when the Lord Jesus was on his way up to Jerusalem, he went aside and took his disciples by the way, and began to tell them that the Son of Man was going up to Jerusalem to be betrayed into the hands of the enemies, to be spit upon, to be crucified.

God, in the third day, was to rise from the dead, and this was so repulsive to Peter, it was beyond Peter's imagination that the Lord should suffer at the hands of men. You remember, Simon says to the Lord, "...far be it from thee, this shall never happen to you.".

And you remember what the Lord Jesus did. He ordered a thing to Peter, and he said, "...get thee behind me safely.". So, you see, the Lord was speaking directly to Satan, but he was speaking through one of his own disciples, and that is exactly what he is doing here in Ezekiel, chapter 28.

He is addressing the devil himself, Satan, set forth in these beautiful stones here in verse 13, in his unfallen state. This is going to introduce us to a fact that we ought to be very well acquainted with, that the concept of Satan, so indelibly impressed upon the minds of people in the world today, comes from a can of red devil icons and has nothing to do with that which the Bible teaches.

Nowhere in the Word of God is he ever even suggested as being a horrible red creature with horns and with a crooked tail and a pitchfork in clothes and hoods. He is a creature of unparalleled being, and I am persuaded that if he were to present himself here tonight in his real personality and take on a tangible form, he would be a absolute beauty and such shining glory that we'd all like to put our hands over our eyes to keep from being blinded.

He is the second greatest power in the world, next to the Lord Jesus himself. Without a doubt, the most intelligent created being in the whole universe today, and exercising unusual power. Now, notice it says in the fourteenth verse, we just mentioned a moment ago, he is called A study of the doctrine of angelology and the Word of God will introduce us to this discovery that God, not because he needed them, but because in the divine economy it pleased God to do so, he is sovereign, created a vast innumerable host of angelic beings.

The Bible recalls them as cherubim and seraphim. These angelic beings were created for the express purpose of simply garnishing heaven, and some of them as actions of protective covering for God, and for the very place where God dwells.

Not that God needs protection, but they are there as a protective covering. Do you remember if you were here this morning when we were speaking on the subject of the door? We went all the way back to the book of the Exodus and saw that beautiful picture of this door.

When we went behind the veil, and the holiest of all in the tabernacle, and saw that box, forty-five by twenty-seven by twenty-seven, with the lid made of one piece of beaten gold that covered the wood lid, and on each end of this box in the lid were two angelic beings called cherubim, and their wings stretched over and touched one another, and it was underneath the wings of the cherubim that the blood was placed on the mercy seat, and God said to the people of Israel, through Moses, I will meet with you there and will commune with you there.

So, there you have an example of cherubim acting as a protective covering for the presence of God. Just remember, in the closing chapter of Genesis 3, we read that, So God drove men out of the garden and placed at the east of the gates of Eden cherubim with a flaming sword.

Remember to turn every way to keep the tree of life. So, there you have again an inspired account of cherubim created to act as a protective covering for the presence of God. And so, this is the origin of Lucifer.

He was a covering cherub. He was the morning star. He was the brightest, the bright and the shining one. Now, in Isaiah chapter 14, we are told that one of the things that brought about the downfall of Satan was cherub will.

In the other one, in Ezekiel, it is pride. It's very obvious. In fact, in Ezekiel's account, we read that he was carried away with his estimate of his own beauty. We read that a moment ago. And, I want you to look at Isaiah chapter 14 now, and you'll find five I wills.

Now, remember the two sins that brought about the downfall of Lucifer? Introducing us to Satan, and let's remember this is the first place that Satan entered into God's creation. Eden is the second place.

Here in the heavenlies, this angelic being created for the express purpose to act as a protective covering for the presence of God, aspired to a place that God had not given him. It's self-will in Isaiah, and it's pride in Ezekiel.

Now, I want you to notice later on, if I forget to mention it. So, I do now. In fact, I do forget, and then I will insist, and I won't regret it when I go home. But, in the word of God, you'll find that the two sins that introduced him into the terra firma in which we live and brought about the downfall of Adam and Eve was self-will.

That was going against the command of God, and a spirit of pride, a self-exaltation. These are the two sins that brought about the downfall of Lucifer, introducing Satan into the world, and I am persuaded that today there are still the two sins that keep more people from being saved than the other sins in the category of sin.

It's the desire to have my own way, and secondly, it is pride. I am so self-sufficient I do not need anyone to help me live, not even God himself. But, now notice in the thirteenth chapter, a verse of Isaiah 14.

I want you to notice these I wills, and they're all upward. For thou hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my soul above, lo, lift it up above the stars of God. In Bible symbolism, always in the Old Testament, stars are symbolic of authorities and principalities and powers.

We find that, too, in symbolism in the book of Revelation itself. A mountain is symbolic of a kingdom, and stars would be symbolic of rulers. And so, he says, I will exalt myself above all the other rulers, above all those other created beings that God had made.

You see, whether we understand this or not has nothing to do with a plain teaching of the word of God. But, God created this vast multitude of angelic beings, and very obviously gave Lucifer to be the commander-in-chief over the entire host, and these, too, then he committed the government of the existing world.

And the fact that he has not yet taken this power away from Lucifer, we'll discover just a little later on if the Lord gives the help that we need. Now, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my soul above the stars of God, I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sight of the Lord.

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the low tide. Now, he lets the cat out of the bag. This is what he had in mind all the time, but it took him a long time to get around to it.

But, you see, God knew what he was after, because if you remember in Ezekiel 28, and hold your place there and turn there just for a moment, notice in verse 15 of Ezekiel 28, it says, This thou wast perfect in thy ways from the days thou wast created until a liquid was found or discovered in thee.

So, the secret sin. He said in his heart, I will be like the low tide. Now, notice the similarity. Whenever the devil tempted our parents in the Garden of Eden, he said to them, God does know that the day that you eat thereof you'll be like God.

Do you see it? And this is the very thing that he pulled on our original parents. Notice how it goes together. And so, here in Ezekiel 28, we read that it was a secret sin. It was a secret sin. So, it was self-will, a desire for position, a place that God had not given him, a spirit of self-exaltation.

But, now, in Ezekiel 28, it was pride. I want you to notice something very interesting. Five and exactly five are wills in Ezekiel, and they're directly in contrast to the five I wills in Isaiah. As in Isaiah, each one of them progressively is upward-facing or in equality with God.

So, five are wills in Ezekiel are progressively downward, bringing down ashes and dust and never to be remembered anymore. Now, look in verse 16. By the multitude of thy merchants, O God, they have filled the midst of thee with violence and thy sin.

Therefore, now God is speaking. This is the difference. I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain, the kingdom of God, and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

Notice the latter part, a little over halfway, rather than the seventeenth verse. Well, we'll read the seventeenth entirely. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. So, here it is tried, you see.

He got carried away with the sense of his good luck. Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. I will cast thee to the ground. Then I will lay thee before kings that they may know thee.

The latter part of verse 18,. And I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. And, so, five times in Ezekiel it's, I will, I will, I will, but it's God, and it's down, down, down, until Satan is ultimately to be destroyed.

Now, may I just say this right to you, because I believe it here in Isaiah 14, and in Ezekiel 28 we have a panoramic view of the history of Satan, from his origin throughout his entire career all the way to his incarceration in the lake of fire.

Satan's Present Sphere of Activity

Now, if you'll notice with me for just a moment, and gain an idea of chapter 14 before we move on with our subject, there is something we need to be very clear upon. The second point that I talk tonight in connection with Satan is called the Godless world.

After having seen what the Word of God teaches, whether we have grasped it or not, we now look at the sphere of activity as to where Satan operates in this present world in which we live. And I believe to have a clear understanding of this subject, we must first of all be careful to make a distinction between the moral fall of Satan and his physical banishment.

Now, I'll tell you why. One day I was driving along through the country going somewhere preaching, and I heard one of my beloved brethren trying to encourage me and the rest of God's dear people, and he was preaching away on the radio.

And he said to all of us poor pilgrims, cheer up ye saints of God, the victory is won. The Lord Jesus defeated the devil upon the cross. I said, Amen. And then as I drove along a little later, he said, you haven't got a thing in the world to be afraid of.

The devil is bound, and he's in hell, and he can't hurt you. And I said, oh me, if that was only true, that would be nice. So, you see, it is true that the Lord was defeated potentially, or the Lord defeated Satan potentially.

The rest of this world is judged in John, says the Lord Jesus, in John's gospel. And upon the cross, the Lord defeated the devil, but he has not yet exercised his authority over Satan in that sense of the word, but he has completely isolated him and put him in a position where he cannot hide against the purposes and plans of God or injure the Christian witness of the people of God.

But now, if we learn this, and I want you to notice verse 12, I believe the secret to a vital understanding of the present field of activity of Satan is to learn to distinguish, I repeat, and listen carefully, between the moral fall of Satan and his physical banishment.