(Demonology) the Devil Against Christ — Willie Mullan

Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God

Turning to Ephesians chapter 6 again this evening, and we're getting further into this tremendous subject of demonology. You remember that Paul said to the Ephesians in chapter 6 and verse 11, Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wild and the devil.

For we rest not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. And you remember the very first night we were here we looked first of all at Lucifer, the leader of this tremendous army of his. And from then on we have been watching how the warfare goes.

And these principalities, they are really demon princes. We have found out from this book that they war against the governments and the parliaments. They really operate in the political realm. And then in the past two weeks we have been looking at these powers, because this great satanic army is not only made up of demon princes, but demon powers.

And some of them are delegated by Satan to come against the physical frame. And we saw them warring against the physical, bringing blindness and deafness. You remember them bending the woman and locking her bones so that she was bent for eighteen years.

And then we moved on and we not only saw these demon princes warring in the political realm, but we saw these demon powers warring in the physical. And then we had a tremendous night watching these demon powers warring in the mental realm.

You remember that Jesus when he was here went about healing all who were oppressed, is the word, oppressed of the devil. How these demons come against the mind and people are distracted. You remember the woman of Canaan came and said, My daughter is grievously struck.

Surely that's mental. You remember that another one came and said, My daughter pineth away. Surely that's mental. When the man brought his son he said, My son is lunatic. And these demon powers were warring in the mental realm.

And last week we looked at them warring in the spiritual. And we were looking up spiritual people. We remember that he came and attacked in every dispensation that there has been. When he stood in innocence, in the age of innocence, well, the devil came and beguiled these.

You remember that Job, he lived before the law in the age of human government. And if you would like to argue that out with me I'll take you down to the place where he offered sacrifices for his own family and he wasn't a priest at all.

And you remember how the devil came against David and provoked him. He was in the age of law. And how he came again and again against Paul who lived in the age of grace. And we went through that cursely.

The Eternal Sonship of Christ

But we're going to see these demon powers warring against the Eternal Son this evening. And we must keep this quite clear before us that the devil knew exactly who he was. Let's establish the Eternal Sonship of Christ for a moment.

Let's go way back to Micah. Daniel, Hosea, Jonah, Joah, Micah. Just after Jonah comes Micah in the line of prophets. And in chapter 5, the Lord speaking through Micah the prophet said in verse 2, But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah.

If one day you go to Palestine and you go up to the little city or town or as we would call it village of Bethlehem on the hillside of Judea there, you'll find it's one of the little villages of Judah.

Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel. I wouldn't do much trouble arguing about the millennial reign now, mind you.

Now some of you dear friends of mine who don't agree with me, you'll have bother finding where he ruled in Israel. If you have no millennial, as I can tell you he didn't rule the first time. But I assure you that he is going to rule Israel no matter what you say.

And if you dare to make Israel the church, then I shall take you over to where Paul prays. My heart's desire and prayer for Israel is that they might be saved. Are you praying that the church should be saved?

Because you'll get into a bigger muddle than you're in now. Oh no, out of Bethlehem shall he come forth unto me, who is to be ruler in Israel. Watch this bit. Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

The margin in your Bible says, from the days of eternity. And I'm not too fond of the marginal reason, because I don't understand the days of eternity. I don't happen to think that eternity has days. I think the old scholars were right when they said, from everlasting.

Which he probably doesn't. Let's go to where he's praying in John 17, and just establish this a little bit further. Our Lord Jesus is praying in John 17, and in verse 5 he prays,. And now, O Father, and remember it is the Eternal Son looking up at the Eternal Father.

And now, O Father, glorify thou me which I know myself with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Or way back in that eternity that we were talking about. The Father and the Son were together.

The glory that I had with thee before the world was. Or there are personalities in the Godhead. One of these one-ness fellows came to me the other day and said, you know, there's just one God. There are no personalities in the Godhead.

I said, that's funny now, because when first John was written, then second John came. And John said, he that hath this doctrine hath both the Father and the Son. And I looked into this character's eyes and I said, now, when I went to school, both.

Meant two. But maybe it's changed now. Maybe both just means one now. And then we get on to terribly. Oh, what nonsense we have to listen to. You see the glory which I have with thee. It doesn't make it any plainer than reading can be.

I with thee. Oh, there was the Eternal Father. Of course, this book talks about the Eternal Father. I can tell you this, you can't have an Eternal Father without an Eternal Son. If I should pick any married man out of this meeting tonight then, I would tell you, if you have any children, that your fatherhood began the day that your little child's sonship or girlship began.

Well, you might have been married years before that, sir, as you weren't a father. Because the sonship runs just exactly the same time as the fatherhood. The same length. And if you've got an Eternal Father, even logic would tell you there must have been an Eternal Son.

So, I think that we have this proved as far as we need to go just now. But there are many more portions. We just want to see that the one who came into this world, he was in the form of God before he came.

And he made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a slave is the word, and being found in the fashion of a man. So, the devil knew all about this, make no mistakes about this. You know, the first question is, why the devil came against Christ with all the force of his army?

Christ as the Second Adam

But I shall show you the principalities and powers and the rules of the darkness and wicked spirits all gathered together now against Christ. Now, why? Why? Satan had this army and he had it regulated, and he had it in ranks and in order, and the principalities were to deal with the governments, and the powers were to come against the physical and the mental and the spiritual folk.

But they're all going to amalgamate to come against Christ. And the question is why? You see, when the Lord Jesus came into this world, let's turn to Matthew chapter 10. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 10. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me.

In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me, that you die well, O God. Now, I want you to know that the devil was quite aware of that.

You see, when the eternal Son came down from his glory of a living soul, he who made the world within the world, now, when he cometh into the world, he shouted so that all created intelligence could hear him.

I come to do thy will, O God. Now, the devil knew that. There's a man on the planet, and he has come to do God's will. Everything that God wants done, he's going to do. So, I've got to accept. Here's a little thing that makes a surprise you.

That right from Adam, every child that was born, right on down through the centuries, and there were millions and millions and millions of children born, they were all born in the kingdom of darkness.

Not this one. This one's born outside the kingdom of darkness. For this is a new child, and he's shouting, I come to do thy will. You see, that's why we get these sort of expressions back in 1 Corinthians 15.

Let's go back there. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 47. I'm taking verse 47 first just to show you something. The first man is of the earth, earthly. The second man is the Lord from heaven. How in the name of the world can you call Adam the first man and call Christ the second man?

Well, you see, they were both federal heads. And the first man, who was the federal head of the rich, you know, he was of the earth. Well, the material part of him, his body was made from dust, he was of the earth, earthly.

And it was not until all the centuries had run out that the second man came. Do you know who he was? Well, he was the eternal son. He was the Lord from heaven. I don't think there's any problems in it at all.

And just for the sciences, let me say this. This book called Adam, the first man. And you're not going to find any man on any other planet. They can search wherever they like. They can talk about it till they're gray in the head.

I shall tell you they're never finding a man. This was the first man, so this book says. I'll bank everything on man. This was the first man. And there is no descendant from this man who ever left this planet to go to another one to live.

Oh, they have gone to the moon, bless them, and wandered around for a bit. And they have to come back again. There's no man on any other planet. You'll find the book, it will be good. This was the first man.

In case you think that I'm stretching it a little bit, we've got the chapter. Verse forty-five. And so it is written. The first man, Adam. That cures it, doesn't it? Was made a living soul. Look how it changes this time.

It's not the second man, no, it's the last Adam. There's going to be no more, you know. He don't need any more. The second man, the last Adam, finished the job. And I'll tell you now, the devil knew who he was.

He says he's come alright, he's come into this planet. And he's come something. I'll tell you what he will. He's got to gather all the forces from everywhere. Principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness and wicked spirits.

And I can't remember the army. And they're all coming against Christ. I don't think we know what he took on when he came. But you will before this meeting's over. And I think the Lord will help me to do this.

You know, he didn't only come into this planet and was not born in the kingdom of darkness and came as a new, second, federal head. But he came into the world to save tonight. Boy, that must have made the devil sit up.

He said, this fellow has come from heaven to this planet. And he's not born in the kingdom of darkness. And he's shouting that he'll do God's will every second of every day. And he's going to come into my house and spoil my goods.

Because that's what saving sinners really means, you know. You have to enter into the strong man's house and spoil his goods. So he was taken on safely with the whole army behind him. But he didn't only come, you know, as the second Adam, as the second man, the last Adam.

Keep it correctly all the time. And he didn't only come to save sinners, but he was manifested, oh let's get this, to destroy the works of the devil. That's what goes on now, isn't it? The devil must get every recruit out he can get.

There's a man on the planet walking about in Palestine. He's up in Galilee. He says he's going to do God's will. He says he's going to come into my house and spoil my goods. He's going to save sinners.

He says he's going to destroy the works of the devil. That's what was on. He was taking on something, wasn't he? Let's go very carefully through this because this is most interesting. You know the devil came to attack him, you know that.

Satanic Opposition from Christ’s Birth to the Wilderness

I think we can do these quickly and not get involved too much. You know that when he was born, when Christ was born, the old devil used Herod, the king, to destroy the church. And in case you're not with us, let's go to Revelation chapter 12 and get the thing properly.

Revelation 12, verse 1, and I don't want to go into all the details of Revelation 12. We've done this in the class and you know that we looked at every phrase. Verse 1, And there appeared a great wonder in heaven.

A woman, get her into your vision, clothed with the sun, see the sort of glory that was all around, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve. Get that into your mind too. Because when we were doing Revelation, the woman was this real and she had twelve tribes and all the rest of it.

And she being with child, tried prevailing in birth and came to be delivered. Because of it, get it quite clear, it was Israel that brought Christ to the world. Don't make any mistakes about it now. Came from Israel.

And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon. And if you've any trouble with the red dragon, it says in verse 7 in the same chapter,. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought on his angels and prevailed not.

Verse 9,. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan. Oh, you can't get it any plainer. The holy Gophers use all the words to help you. Satan, the devil, serpent, dragon, they're all there.

And it says in this third verse,. And behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, for he had always great wisdom and mighty power. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, because stars in this book are very often just angels, sometimes messengers.

The Lord himself had the seven stars of the seven churches in his hand, and the seven stars were the seven messengers. And when John was commanded to write,. And on to the angel of the church of Ephesus, and on to the angels, it's the same word.

You know the devil had a third part of all the angels behind them. And when you begin to number the angels, it says there are ten thousand times ten thousand. Count that up in your mind if you're quick enough.

Ten thousand times ten thousand. And then thousands and thousands. That much is... It's so big that you can't do it. Well, a third part of them followed him. He's got quite an army, you know. They were all behind him.

And they were most certainly behind him when Christ was born. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and the dust unto the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

And she brought forth a man-child, a son, of course, who was to rule all nations with the law of the Lord. If you can't read that, you may leave it. There's just one who will rule wherever the son of Isis had set his journey from.

And when he was about to be born, the devil was there. This was the first skirmish, you know. Oh, the battle's not properly on yet. He's just having a bit of a go. He thought he could do it, but he didn't.

He was outwitted by the other angels. Angel Paul Joseph said of him,. And so you know about this. He came then into the wilderness when Christ had fasted forty days and forty nights. And he thought he could use his guile here.

He says, If you're hungry, I know who you are, you know. You're the son of God. You've got power in there somewhere. You've got power. You could command these thorns to be made red. Ah, but that wasn't God's will for Christ.

Now, here's the wee thing that we need to learn. It would be better to starve in the will of God than to feast outside it. And we might have to do that. We look at the starving multitudes in other lands.

Well, you would never know how it would go. We might be put to, with our backs to the wall in this land. And if the British government could get rid of us justly, they would do so. And if they tried it now, there would be a civil war that would settle this land for a year or two.

And there would be people killed by the thousands. And, of course, they grow right last in front of the army, don't they? And Jerry Fitt runs as fast as he can. Let them out now. I'll tell you, if they hadn't brought them in, he wouldn't be here to run.

And well, he knows it. And I'll tell you, if they take them out, there'll be a lot of people who'll never run again. It's a tight fix. But I'm not a politician, and I don't want anything to do with it.

But you would never know just what might happen. And we might have to starve in the will of God, yes. It would be better to starve in the will of God than to feast outside it. This is the path the masters are on.

Should not the servant tread it still? And you know all about the onslaught in the wilderness, and I don't need to go into the temptations again. I think you remember this. That once upon a time, when the Lord was asleep, the old devil came.

The Devil and the Storm

Let's have a look at Matthew's Gospel, chapter 8. Matthew, chapter 8, verse 23. And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves, but he was asleep.

And I'm very sure that the devil said, You know, when God allows them, he can use the winds and the waves. Well, of course, you know that he used the whirlwind to come and knock the house down where Job's children was.

God allowed him to do so. And I think on this occasion, when Christ was asleep, God allowed him to create this storm. You know, I was brought up with an old preacher, who was a great preacher, James McKendrick.

And James McKendrick was a great man of God. He was a shocking character to get on with, because he would eat you at every turn of the law. But that never did me any harm, any time. I remember one night we were in the back room.

He said, What time is it? I said, I suppose it's a minute ago, but that's neither here nor there. He said, How dare you? He said, Some of us souls got out of hell for a minute. Don't know what to do with it.

Fought me little things like that. He just ate me. It was a good idea. The only way to get it into my thick skull, I suppose. And when a man of God says something to you, don't let it annoy you. If he's trying to help you, just take it in.

You'll be all right. I remember him preaching on the storm. The devil raised. And a very clever cloth, a sort of a modern, came in. He said, Mr. McKendrick, how do you know that the devil raised this storm?

By God, that has raised this storm. James said, You must be a fool. Nothing that the Father ever raised did the Son quench. Remember, Christ quenched it. And He wasn't quenching something that the Father had begun.

He must be a fool. And the Lord was a devil. And the Lord stood up on the mountain with His mighty power, He said to the waves. This is what He said actually in the original. He said, Rise up! Just like that.

I've knocked the leg out and all that sort of thing. Well, never mind, we'll have to get on with other things. Then again, out and in, that's all right. Yes, you know, the devil came. These were services.

He had to go when he was a baby. He had to go when he was hungry. He had to go when he was asleep. Please look at this one, because this is very remarkable. This is Matthew chapter 16. And I think you know this very well.

Peter’s Confession and Satan’s Opposition

But just watch how wonderful this is. Jesus, in verse 13, hath come to the cautious fishery of Philippi. And He said to His own children, Whom say ye that I am? Verse 15. And people stood up quickly, you know, and answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jesus was thrilled about that. Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed. Not very often He used that word to people. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee.

You didn't learn that in college. But my Father which is in heaven. As I can tell you, you will learn things when you are alone with God. Shut in that you'll never learn anywhere else. And where some of you smart alecks are losing out is that you never get alone with God.

He gives no ball without getting alone. He says flesh and blood didn't tell you that, you know. My Father, you must have been alone with my Father. He's not, is he? You know, the Lord was all happy about it.

He was just rejoicing that Peter had set himself alone with God and got the whole truth. Now, verse 21 says, From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that they must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day.

Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him. You know, I've looked at that statement, Then Peter took Him. And Gemma Morgan just said the other day in the book I read this. I have looked at that statement and I don't know exactly what it means.

I think it means that Peter took Him aside. And the Greek word would imply that he really should go on. Took Him aside and shook Him. Began to rebuke Him. Oh, dear Peter, rebuke the Lord. He says, Far be it from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee.

And the master turned in a flush and said, Get thee behind me, said he. For when the master was thrilled and rejoicing and even used the word blessed to Peter, the devil came like a flush through the same mouth.

So that the Lord could speak through your lips one minute and you could bless people and the devil could speak the next one. You need to watch, don't you? So do I. Because he's not beyond you, he's not a preacher either.

It's just a skirmish, that's all. But the Lord was too quick for him. He rejected Him. Get thee behind me, said He. And you see, He came when Christ was a baby. He came when He was hungry. He came when He was asleep.

He came when He was rejoicing. But, of course, He came at Calvary. Now, all He's up to this were only skirmishes. The battle had never been set in a ring yet. You know, the battle of Calvary is the greatest battle this world has ever seen or ever will see.

The Battle of Calvary

And, you know, we remember battles, don't we, in our history, and we ought to. I suppose the Ulster men will never forget the Battle of the Somme. And we never should, you know. I think I'm right in saying, I stand to be corrected, that Ulster lost 30 ,000 men on that morning, the 1st of July, 1916.

And there are some of the old soldiers here yet. My father said then, and some of my brothers, I'd love to take Wilson and Heath aside one day and tell them that Ulster lost 30 ,000 men for them in one day.

They keep yelping about what they did. They sicken me. They say, where is he? He's fallen asleep. Did you fall asleep or what? I'm telling you, he'll get the sack. He'll keep us long away. There we remember battles on Sunday.

Well, the nation proudly remembered battles, why not? If the battle of Britain hadn't been fought, we wouldn't be here tonight. God, I'm glad they were. And if the battle of Alamein hadn't been fought, there'd be men here who were at Alamein.

When old Montgomery outwitted them all and turned them, I think that was the turn in the tide. But although we proudly remember many battles, Waterloo and Trafalgar and all the rest of it, there is no battle like the battle of Calvary.

We're going to see it in all its fullness just in a moment, you know. Let's get a hold of this, you know. Let's go back to Job 41 just for a moment. Book of Job. You'd never think you would find this here, but it is.

Job, and it's the 41st chapter, Job 41. Yes. Have a look at this. First one. A lot of questions asked here. Canst thou draw out Levitian with a hook? Now, the word Levitian, it either stands for the great whale or the mighty crocodile.

And, of course, it's quite a question to ask, can you draw out the whale with a hook? And you would know the answer. Job, the book of Job 41, verse 1. Canst thou draw out Levitian with a hook, or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

Wouldn't you look a fool leaning over the bridge letting the cord down with a pen and a worm on it for a whale? Thou put a hook into his nose, or bore his jaw through with a thorn. One of the ways the old Indians had of catching fish was with a long thorn, putting it through.

Many supplications unto thee? Will he speak soft words unto thee? Will he make a covenant with thee? Will God take him for a servant forever? Will God play with him as with a bird? Or will God bind him for unhidden?

Shall the companions make a banquet of him? Shall they part him among the merchants? Canst thou fill his skin with barbed iron, or his head with fish spears? He can't do any of these things. Here's what he says you to do.

Lay thine hand upon him. Remember the bottle. Do no more. Because you know while this word Levitian might bring the whale or the crocodile before us, it is also picture language bringing the old serpent himself, the great red dragon, and you can't play along with him.

And humanly speaking, there's nothing you can do about them. But you can come out every Sunday morning and remember the bottle and do no more. Why in the world remember the bottles? Last Sunday we remembered me bottle.

The bottle of Calvary. And that's all we do. We just remember the bottle and we do no more. You know, I want you to get this. Let's go back to John's Gospel, chapter 7, please. John's Gospel, and we're at the 7th chapter.

John's Gospel, chapter 7, verse 29 will do us. Verse 28, to get it correct, Then cried Jesus in the temple as it was saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am. And I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.

But I know him, for I am from him, and he hath sent me. Then they sought to take him, but no man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet come. I want you to get that. Because when God planned that he would utterly destroy the devil and all his forces, he marked the very hour of the battle on the eternal calendar of the counsel of God.

And while there were skirmishes before this, you know, they would not meet face to face until the hour was come. You see, his hour was not yet come. If you go over the page to chapter 8, have a look at this, verse 20.

These words took Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no man laid hands on him for his hour was not yet come. This is the mighty thing, this hour, the hour of the battle. Let's go to chapter 12 of John's Gospel.

Just go over the page a little bit there. Chapter 12, verse 23. And Jesus answered them saying, The hour is come. We're coming to the spot now, aren't we? The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

Not terrified, you know. Glorified. Glorified. Verily, verily I say unto you, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die. He knew what it was going to mean, this battle, you know. He must die.

Except it die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Verse 27. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Dr. Ironside said he's so liliquising with himself now. What shall I say?

Shall I say, Father, save me from this hour? Nay, but for this cause came I unto this hour. He's talking with himself, you know. My soul's troubled. Will I say, Father, save me from this hour? Nay, for this cause came I unto this hour.

This is what I came for. This is the big hour. This is the hour when I climb into the arena with all the forces and all the fury of the devil against me. The hour has come. Have a look at John 13. Verse 1.

Now before the feast of the Passover, just before it, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father. He knew what way he was going to climb back out through the ropes, you know.

He was going to meet the whole fury of the enemy in this hour. And he's gone over through them. And he's going back to heaven to be glorified. He knew all about it, you know. Make no mistakes about it.

This hour is a very powerful thing. Do you remember in John 17? He's praying. We're getting nearer to it. He said this in verse 1. These words take people and lift them up as high as to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come.

Glorify thy Son that thy Son may glorify thee. This hour, you know, is on the calendar. Soon the bell will ring. First round, battle will be on. We want to see the battle in all its surety. Let's just go back to Luke's Gospel for a moment.

Luke's Gospel, chapter 22. Verse 52 is in the Garden of Gethsemane, if you want to know the whole story. Verse 52, Then Jesus said unto the chief priests. Now let's get this crowd. There was some chief priest there.

And captains of the temple and the elders which were come to him. He said to them, Be ye come out as against the thief with swords and staves? When I was dealing with you in the temple, ye staked swords and all hands against me.

But this is your hour and the power of darkness. Now it was his hour. Mine hour is come. The hour is come. This is your hour. The two forces are going to meet. And behind these priests will all the power of darkness.