Go to I Peter chapter 5, I Peter chapter number 5, and we have been dealing with the doctrine of angels here on Sunday morning. We are in our third lesson, and if you would, we are part two of this, the title here that we've been dealing with on your adversary the devil. Now I Peter, Chapter 5, verse 8 says this, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Now this is a very personal verse, says, your adversary the devil. A lot of times we like to think about, well, you know, he's the adversary of everybody, but no, he is your adversary. It's a personal thing against you as a believer. He has a desire to destroy us. Ephesians 2, verse 1 says, Now, We have been saved from that, and we're going to talk a little bit about that this morning, about our adversary the devil. Now, a quick review from last week. We dealt with the origin of Satan. Where did Satan come from? We saw his creation. He was created with wisdom and beauty. We see his worship. He was created to lead. in the angelic worship of the Almighty God. We see His worth. He was created as the prized cherub. He was perhaps the one in charge of all the other angels in the structure that God set up in the angelic host. We also saw Satan's choice. He fell because he said, I will be lifted up above God. Pride is what brought about his fall. Then we saw Satan's character. We saw that he is crafty. We saw his capability, right? He is able. He is a powerful being. And we saw his con. He comes as an angel of light. He doesn't come with the horns and the pitchfork and says, I'm going to kill you. He comes as an angel of light appearing to say, I'm here for your benefit. Then we dealt with not only the origin of Satan, but the objective of Satan. What's his objective? We see, first of all, we looked at his oppression of the world. His oppression of the world was twofold. There is a physical oppression. We see that through suffering, death and possession. And we also saw the spiritual oppression of the world. We see he ensnares, he influences, he blinds and he dissipates truth. That's what he does. We also saw not only His oppression of the world, but His oppression of the saints. He is personally after you. He is. We see that His opposition to the church. He likes to bring in mixture in the church. Mix the saved with the unsaved. We saw His ministers. He has ministers. You know the devil has preachers today? He does. And some of them use the Bible. But they corrupt it. We also saw his opposition to the consecrated. He directly, we saw some examples with the apostle Paul, where Paul recognized that the devil was after him. He was buffeted from an angel of Satan. We also saw his opposition to a Christian, every believer. He is after every believer. And we're going to continue this morning, and this is part two, if you would, in your notes there, of this doctrine there of angels and your adversary, the devil. Now, notice here, we're on Roman numeral three now. In your notes, it's Roman numeral one, but it's part two, so Roman numeral three. I don't think we understand that. All right, part two. Notice, first of all, we see the orders of Satan. Satan is not doing what he's doing alone. Now, according to what we know to be true, He took about one-third of the angels. Now, think about it. The host of angels is innumerable, as we find the Word of God is a great host. But He has some angels that have followed Him, those that follow Satan, that stand against God. And we're going to look at those this morning. You know, we find the word devils used in the Bible. We could also refer to these devils as demons. Some people say demons, devils. It's really the same thing. Both Greek words are found in the Bible. The word diabolos, which is for devils, and the word daimon, which is for demon. The word demon itself is not found in our Bible, but if people say demon, a demon is an angel. It's not like Now, the angels are spirits, okay, but they're beings and they have intellect. We'll see that in just a moment. But whether you call them devils or demons, it's all the same. They're angels that are doing the tasks, if you would, of Satan himself. Now, notice under the orders of Satan we see, letter A, first of all, their description. Now, what are those devils or those demons like? The Bible describes them for us. Now, Matthew 12, let's go there, Matthew 12. We see a description there of devils and we learn a little bit about them. First of all, in your notes there under their description, we see first of all their existence. They are real. I read you a quote last time of one of the Jesuit priests who said that kind of, you know, the devil is something that we've made up in our minds that basically is evil. It's just kind of the evil thoughts in our mind. That's the devil. No, the devil is a person. It's not just bad thoughts. He is a person. Now, notice here his existence in Matthew 12, verse 27. The people that were Complaining about the Lord Jesus Christ and His miracles, said this, And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, Jesus responds to them by saying, well, He's casting out devils by the prince of devils. He says, If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Now we see first of all here, under their existence, Jesus Christ acknowledged their existence. I mean, He called them devils in Matthew 8, verse 28 says, And when He was come to the other side into a country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two possessed with devils coming out of the tombs, exceeding fear, so that no man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with Thee? Jesus, Thou Son of God! The real. You see, they spoke to the Son of God, Are thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them, a herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought Him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And He said unto them, Go. He's speaking to them. He acknowledged their existence. In Mark 16, 17, the Bible says, After the Great Commission was given to the apostles, He said, this is something that's going to be done just to prove they will cast out devils. Jesus acknowledged their existence. The apostle Paul acknowledged their existence. In Acts 16, we can turn there. in Acts 16. The Bible says here, And it came to pass, as we went to pray, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days, but Paul, being grieved, turned and said unto the Spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour." So we see again the apostle Paul acknowledged and he rebuked this spirit. Now again the spirit Angels are spirit beings that was an angel that was a demon or a devil possession 1st Corinthians chapter 10 verse 20 Paul talks about devils again he says in it, but I say that the things which the Gentile sacrifice this sacrifice to devils and Not to God and I would not that she should have fellowship with devils. She cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils and They're real beings. Their existence, I Timothy 4.1 says, You see, Jesus Christ acknowledged their existence. The Apostle Paul acknowledged their existence. We could also add James. In James 2, verse 19, the Bible says, And they tremble. You see, they are alive and well today. Now, we're going to see by the end here, rejoice, and we'll see that at the end. But they are real. We have to acknowledge that. We have to recognize that there is a spirit world who is under the command of Satan in this world. He is the prince of this world, the prince of the power of the air, and it is manifested through devils. And we're going to see not only their existence, but we see their essence. Now, what are they described like in the Word of God? Well, first of all, notice in your notes, Not only do we see their existence, number two, we see their essence. Notice we see them possessing personal intelligence. We see them possessing personal intelligence. In Matthew 8, verse 29, We already read the verse here, but I'll read it again. In verse 29 it says, And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away in the herd of swine. That tells us something about those devils. They possess personal intelligence. There's a conversation going on. You have to have intelligence to have a conversation going on. Now, they were possessing this man, but they were speaking directly. You see, the man was silent, but the devils were speaking through him. In Mark 1, verse 23, we also see here them possessing personal intelligence. The Bible says, And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. You see, they acknowledged time and time again when they saw the Lord, in this particular instance, they said, leave us alone. Now us, there was multiple there devils possessing this particular man. In Luke 4, verse 35, And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him and hurt him. You see, devils possess personal intelligence. Number two, not only do they possess personal intelligence, but number two, we see them, notice, presented as spirit beings. Now, we've already learned that, so I won't dwell. But angels are spirit beings. They are not material like we are. They are a spirit being. Now, we saw that they can manifest themselves and take on the appearance of a man, but they are not like man. Now, we see not only the characteristics, if you would, and actions reveal intelligence, but we also see them presented to spirit beings. Just a quick verse here. We've already touched on that. But Luke 9, 38, It's the same thing. Angels are spirit beings. It is a spirit. By the way, demon possession is still alive and well today. It is. You know, I believe in our country there is no doubt, probably, devil possession, spirit possession, demon possession, but it is not to the extent that you'll find it in other countries. You go in countries where a lot of those vigils, especially in Africa and other countries where you go to villages and they have witch doctors, demon possession is alive and well. And you can hear missionary testimonies all the time of things that they've seen, things that was done in those countries. Why? Because of the oppression. I believe that there's not as much of that in our country because of the heritage that we have, because of the Word of God that's around. I believe that makes a difference. But you go into other countries, you feel the oppression. Have you ever been in a place and you felt something not right there? One time I walked into a church, a Catholic church, and I talked to the priest. Well, actually, I didn't talk to the priest. We just said hello, went by the hallway. I felt very uncomfortable. I felt oppressed, I really did. Didn't feel possessed, I felt, I think, this is something not right. I was with a friend, we were in college, it was actually a Catholic chapel on the UT campus of the University of Tennessee. And we went there, and I was like, I told whoever was, I can't remember who it was, it was my partner, we were witnessing on the campus, and I thought, we gotta get out of here. You see, oppression, spirit, is real. The spirit world is real. And we have to be aware of that and to understand that the demonic world is at work and is working to oppress men. So we see not only here, notice they possess personal intelligence, they are presented as spirit beings, but we also see not only their existence, their essence, but we see, number three, their extent. How many of there are there? Well, Mark 5, verse 9 tells us this, And he answered, saying, My name is Legion, for we are many. Now, it is interesting that when you find demon possession, one particular case we just read as the one response to Jesus, he says, leave us alone. Meaning there were multiple ones, not just one. Now, the word legion, Jameson Fawcett Brown, in his commentary of the whole Bible, wrote, a legion in the Roman army amounted at its full complement to 6,000. But here the word is used as such words with us and even this one for an indefinitely large number, large enough exceeding fear so that no man might pass by that way. Think about it. Nobody was able to pass by that way because of one man possessed with a legion of angels. He goes on to say, "...and they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen of the possessed of devils." Wait a minute. My finger here swiped the... Yeah, he says, "...large enough, notice, however, to rush, as soon as permission was given, into two thousand swine, and destroy them." Now think about it. The angels that were possessing that one man were enough to possess 2,000 swine. And then they went on and jumped over the ravine. That's how many devils, if you will, spirit beings were possessing that man. There's a lot of them. Now, there's not an exact number, but there's a lot of them out there doing the work of Satan. We have to be aware of that. That is a real thing. So we not only see Notice letter a their description, but letter B. We see their deeds. So what do they do? Well much of what they do is just like what the devil does What we find the devil doing is exactly what we find the devils doing, his servants, if you would. Notice, first of all, we see the evidence of their deeds. In Matthew 8, verse 28, I've already read the verse. I'll read it again. He says, And when he was come to the other side unto the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils. Notice again the word plural, devils. Each one of them was possessed with devils, multiple devils. coming out of the tombs, exceeding fears, so that no man might pass by that way." Think about it. The Bible uses the word, exceeding fears. In Luke 4, verse 33, the Bible says, In the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of unclean devils, and cried out with a loud voice. Luke 9, verse 39, And lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out, and it teareth him, that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. Think about here, their evidence of their deed was manifested not just in the fact that they were possessed, but they inflicted harm on those that they possessed. From the foaming at the mouth to this one, one of them we see as he comes out, he throws him to the ground. In Matthew 15, verse 22, And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O LORD, thou Son of David! My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. You see, the evidence of demon possession is manifested on the outward. It is an inward possession, but is evident on the outside. In other words, someone cannot be demon possessed and you not know it as a believer. Why? Because it's manifested on the outside. It brings harm. It vexes. It grieves. It produces form. It bruises. All the words, it's exceeding fears. Uh, that illustrates for us what the devil is trying to do. He's trying to destroy people's lives. He's trying to ruin people's lives. And so we see not only the evidence of their deed, but we see the employment of devils. Now, under their employment, we see, first of all, they possess, they possess bodies. This is demon possession or devil possession. In Mark 5, verse 8, the Bible says, For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. Notice he said, come out of the man. That means he was in the man. I know that's very deep here but the Bible talks about possession in Matthew 4 24 and his fame went throughout all Syria and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with diverse diseases and torments and those that were possessed with devils and those that were lunatics and those that had the policy and he healed them. Now again There is today, there are mental issues today. But there's also demon possessions. And you cannot fix demon possession with medicine. It doesn't work. And it is real today, and to be honest with you, the government can't discern that. They can't. The spirit world is real. There is a bodily possession of people that's alive and well today. The Bible says in Matthew 8, 16, And when the evening was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils. Many people were possessed with devils. This is the center of religion in the world. Israel is. Jesus the Messiah is coming. They have the Word of God. They have the Old Testament. And this place where, you know, people, Jews from around the world were flocking for their feasts and for the Passovers and all those things, that was the center where there was demon possession of many people. The Bible says it doesn't give us numbers. It says many people. Sometimes we see individuals, but sometimes the Bible says that there were all kinds of people that were possessed with devils. It was real. Also Paul during this time in Acts 8, verse 7, the Bible says, That's in the book of Acts. And so we see here it was not only during the time of Christ, but even the apostle Paul during his time He saw this large-scale demon possession, if you would. So we see that they possess bodies. Number two, they physically harm. And I touched on that. Let me read you a few verses here. Matthew 12, 22 says, "...then was brought unto him, one, possessed with the devil, blind and dumb." He was blind and dumb. Why? Because of demon possession. and he healed him insomuch that the blind and dumb spake and saw." You say, well, maybe he was just blind and dumb and just the Lord healed him. No, it is associated with the possession of devil. In Mark 5, verse 4 and 5, he says, He was inflicting physical harm in Matthew 9.32, "...And they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake." You see, when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake. Why? Because a lot of that was a product of the devil possession. You see, if the devil is going to speak, then we've got to mute the man. Luke 9.37, And it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. And as he was yet, in verse 42, And as he was yet coming, the devil threw him down, and tear him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father. And so we see not only they possess bodies, but they inflict physical harm. We also see, number three, they produce uncleanness. They produce uncleanness. All the things that you see in the world, the wickedness of the world, the devil's the author of that. And the devil's, his emissaries are the authors of those things. What would cause a whole nation to say we're going to kill babies? Makes absolutely no sense. What would cause someone to say it's okay to kill a baby ten days before he's born, but you can't kill him a day after he's born? What's the difference? What causes that reasoning? Because it makes absolutely no sense. There's no value for life there. Now, the reasoning today is, well, you know, it's about choice. Okay, so if I want to kill you, it's okay. It's my choice. That doesn't make sense. There's no reasoning there. What causes a person to think and to reason that way? Uncleanness! the reasoning. And we say, you know, and there are sincere people who stand for things that aren't biblical. I understand that. But may I say, much of those thoughts that are a result of uncleanness and unclean thoughts in people's lives and hearts are the influence of devils in people. You see, Matthew 10, verse 1 says, And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases. Remember, the devil has what? He has ministers, he has preachers, he has advocates that are speaking on his behalf, people that are speaking on his behalf today and bringing out his message, a message of what? A message of destruction. Who do you think is rejoicing on all those babies being killed? The devil is. He's just trying to destroy man. Ephesians 2, verse 2, the Bible says, Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. What is the spirit? The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, those that are not saved. What spirit is working in them? The spirit of devils. Now we saw last week that the devil has the power influence. He put him to the heart of Judas Iscariot. He influences the mind and the heart. You see, sometimes I say, well, man is wicked, but there is a strong influence in this world. 2 Peter 2.10 says, "...but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption." You see, the spirit world is real, it's alive and well, and it stands against God. Now, I don't like to talk about those things, but we see in the Word of God that is the orders of Satan, if you will, the emissaries of Satan, the devils, the spirit beings in this world that are working for Satan. But let's look at this, the overcoming of Satan. Now, to be honest with you, I thought, you know, this is going to be a short lesson today, and I was going to make it short. And I began studying, and I was like, oh, wait, we've got to cut this off in several parts here. But I want you to notice here the overcoming of Satan. And when I mean the overcoming of Satan, I mean the overcoming of Satan finally, because we cannot have the victory in our lives personally until we understand what Jesus did to defeat the devil. Notice number one, letter A, we see the coming of Christ. Now, I want us to go to I John chapter 3, an important verse is here. The book of I John was written to believers to give them confidence in their Christian walk. He says in John 5, verse 13, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. The book was intended to give confidence in salvation. You see, if you don't walk after the Lord, you will have no confidence in your salvation. You'll begin to doubt your salvation. Why? Because you're not walking with God. Now notice 1 John 3, verse 1. Amen. Praise the Lord. Notice, Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committed the sin is of the devil. For the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, notice, that he might destroy the works of the devil, Do you remember in Genesis 3, verse 15? Thou shalt bruise, your head will be bruised, you'll bruise his heel, the seat of the woman, but he will bruise your head. You see, sin began with Satan. Therefore, Satan has to be crushed. His work must be destroyed. Upon the fall of man, Satan thought he had conquered, plunged the human race into sin against God, and man became the enemies of God. That was the work of Satan. but God was not conquered. Why? Because before the foundation of the world, God already took action against the works of Satan. You see, the Bible says, "...for this purpose was the Son of God manifested." Why was Christ manifested? Yes, to take away our sins, but to do something spiritual that He might destroy the works of the devil. You see, the coming of Christ is for that purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. So we not only see the coming of Christ, but number two, we see the cross of Christ. What was the cross all about? Yes, it was to take away our sin, but there's a whole lot more that took place there on the cross than just to take away our sin. Ephesians 2, verse 16 says, And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. You see, the enmity that came as a result of man's sin, who the devil was the influencer of, has been slain on the cross. John chapter 12, verse 31. You remember Jesus Christ, and we read these verses. He says, Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Think, Jesus is saying, Now, the hour is coming, and the prince of this world is going to be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This He said, signifying what death He should die. Later in chapter 13 of John, verse 27, he says, Now we know what happened there and what took place there. In the verse 52 says when I was daily with you in the temple you stretch forth no hands against me But this is your hour and the power of darkness You see the hour that Christ was crucified was the hour of darkness It was the hour where Satan would stand against God would stand thinking that he's defeated God and he's going to stamp out God and at the cross There was a battle waging between Satan and Christ. It was the hour of the power of darkness. You see, the reason why Jesus Christ was manifested was for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. And Jesus Christ comes now, and right before His crucifixion, He says, the hour has come. This now is the power of darkness. This is the time where the battle is being waged between God and Satan, who plunged the whole entire human race into sin from the very beginning. So we see not only notice the coming of Christ, the cross of Christ, but the conquering of Christ. Therefore Colossians chapter number 2 verse 13 says, And you, being dead in your sins and uncircumcised in your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven all your trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. And notice what He did. That was not only what took place there. Yes, all of our sin was nailed to the cross and was done away with, but He says this, having spoiled principalities and powers, He made what? He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And do you remember in Isaiah chapter 14 where the Bible tells us here, How art thou fallen, Lucifer, son of the morning? But notice in verse 15 he says, Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall ne'er look 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 the prisoners? You see what happened on the cross? It was more than the forgiveness of our sins. There was a battle being waged between Christ and Satan. And the Bible says that as He died on the cross, He made a soul of them openly, triumphing over them in it. He displays to the world a stripped, defeated, A devil who's died, a devil who's been defeated. And on the cross of Calvary, there was a death blow that was inflicted upon Satan. And now he has no power over man anymore. He has no power to overcome us. He has no power to plunge the human race into hell anymore. Why? Because he's been defeated of the devil. And Isaiah said, do you see here the devil? Look at him now. Here's the son of the morning. Here's the one who dared to rise against God. Here's the one who dares to damn the souls of men. Look at him now. He's defeated. He's stripped of every weapon, of every ability. He's dead! That's what happened on the cross. So, we do not have to be overcome in our thought life by the devil. We don't have to be controlled in our actions by his dictates. We are no longer prisoners of Satan. We have been reconciled to God. The devil's defeated. He's dead. He has no power over you as a believer. Because as the battle was raged on the cross, Jesus Christ displayed the spirit world, and in sin it's been done away with. So therefore, we can have the victory Now we're going to have to go into, and we'll go there in the next few weeks about, you know, the temptation of the devil and the battle that wages every day, the evil influence of the devil, but let's remember that he's defeated. And we have the victory and, you know, we talk about the conqueror of Satan. It's not anything that we've done. It's not anything that we can do. We have no power over Satan, but Christ certainly does. Therefore, when we seek for the conquering of Satan in our personal lives, now that we're saved and the devil has been stripped of all the power that he has to cast us into hell and to have dominion and overcome us and influence our minds and our hearts, now that that's been removed, there's still a battle going on. But we have to start with this saying, He's already defeated. He's overcome. It's done. You see, His power and His ability. That's why Isaiah said the kingdoms are going to look and say, Look at Satan and say, is this the one that did all those things to the world? Is this Him? And the world one day is going to stand and say, I can't believe it. I thought He was more powerful than that. But He stands there with nothing! He's stripped naked with nothing! And as believers, If we are ever going to have the victory over the devil, we have to see him just as that. Not because of anything we can do, but because of what Christ has done already as he waged this battle on the cross of Calvary. The overcoming of Satan, we win. It's already won. It's settled. Isn't that great to think? As we consider...