The message this evening will
be taken from Ezekiel chapter 30. Ezekiel chapter 30. I've entitled
the message, The Devil with Broken Arms. The Devil with Broken Arms. And if you've read through this
chapter, you may find that a strange title, but I'm going to show
you how I arrived at that title here in just a moment as we look
through this chapter and I want to concentrate on two verses. But the Lord God, the Lord God
of Israel is continuing in this section of the prophecy of Ezekiel
to pronounce his judgment against the nations that surrounded Israel
and some nations which were a little ways off from Israel, such as
the one that he's dealing with now, which is Egypt. He deals
with these nations as they are sinful, idolatrous, rebellious
nations. He deals with them because they're
under the curse, the curse of sin. They're under the curse
that God pronounced to Abraham, that those who would curse Israel,
he would curse. And these nations are cursed
because they stood against the nation Israel, God's people in
that time under the old covenant. And so God continues to pronounce
his wrath. And I always like to remind myself
and you that when you read these words describing these nations,
let's never get to a point to where we think that by any stretch
of the imagination as far as our state by nature has fallen
an atom that we're any better or that we deserve even more.
In fact, I'll be dealing with that in the next message when
we get to chapters 31 and 32. You know, Christ made that so
clear in the book of Luke chapter 13 when He reminded the people
of the various punishments and manifestations of the wrath of
God upon sinful people. And He asked the question, He
says, now do you suppose that these were more sinful and deserve
that wrath and punishment any more than you do? And the answer
is no. He said, except you repent, you
shall likewise perish. And so let's keep that in mind. That if there's any difference
between us and those who are under the wrath of God, it was
repeated, repeated so often in that psalm that you read. His
mercy endureth forever. That's the distinction. We are
objects or vessels of God's mercy. And that's it. So we see that. Now here, this whole chapter
continues God's pronouncement of judgment against Egypt and
against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And what we're going to
look at here tonight as we go through this is I want you to
view Pharaoh as a type of Satan. a type of Satan, and that's why
I entitled it the devil with broken arms. Now that's a common
theme in the prophecies, in the prophets. These nations and their
kings, these empires, they are the same as the nations of the
world under the leadership, under the power of Satan. Especially
when we come to the nation Babylon. Babylon in the book of Revelation
represents all governments, all groups, all nations, and even
all religions that stand in opposition to Christ and His church, to
Christ and the gospel and His truth. And so we have these nations
and these kings, these tyrants who are lifted up with pride
under the power of Satan And many times in the prophecies,
the kings of these nations are singled out as types of Satan. We saw it in the book of Isaiah,
chapter 14, where Isaiah used the king of Babylon as a type
of Satan. We saw it a few chapters back
where Ezekiel used the king of Tyre as a type of Satan. And I believe that's what we
have, especially in verses 21 and 22, but let's look at these
these verses it says in verse one the word of the Lord came
again unto me saying son of man prophesy and say thus saith the
Lord God how ye woe worth the day woe worth the day in other
words the woe that is coming is well deserved that's what
it means And for the day is near, this is the day when retribution
from God will come about. For the day is near, even the
day of the Lord, the day of His wrath is near, a cloudy day. It shall be the time of the heathen,
the time that God pours His wrath down upon the heathen. And the
sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia. He mentions Ethiopia because
they were an infamous ally of Egypt. When the slain shall fall
in Egypt and they shall take away her multitude, her foundation
shall be broken down. This is a complete destruction
of this nation, this once admired, once powerful nation. Ethiopia
and Libya and Lydia, all these places, see, and all the mingled
people and Chubb and the men of the land that is in league
and is in league with Egypt, in league with Satan, you might
say. shall fall with them by the sword, and here's the reason,
thus saith the Lord, they also that uphold Egypt shall fall,
and the pride of her power shall come down." Pride. Now that's
been the problem all along. That's the problem with man by
nature. Pride. Pride. That was Adam's problem
in the garden. He was lifted up with pride to
assert himself and his independence. to challenge God in His rule
and His sovereignty. He said, the pride of her power
shall come down. Pride goes before a fall, the
scripture tells us. God hates the proud look. There's nothing that God hates
more than a sinner approaching Him, coming to Him in pride. Religious pride, creature pride,
any kind of pride you want to say it. That's why in salvation,
the Bible teaches us That by the power of the Holy Spirit,
God brings us where? Down. He brings us off of our
pride. Our high horse, as they say.
He humbles us. He puts us on the dung heap.
He puts us in the dust. That's why the scripture says,
blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. That's
humility. We don't have that by nature
before God. We don't have it by nature. Let
not the wise man glory in his wisdom, the mighty man glory
in his might, the rich man glory in his riches. You see, that's
pride. And he says, from the tower of Cyrene shall they fall
in it by the sword, saith the Lord God, and they shall be desolate
in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities
shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted, and they
shall know that I am the Lord. Now they'll know God, but they'll
know Him as the God of justice, period. not the God of mercy
and grace and love, not the God of redemption, not the God of
promise, not the covenant God who saves sinners by his grace
through Jesus Christ, but they'll know him as the God of judgment. God the judge. And he says, when,
when I have set a fire in Egypt, when all her helpers shall be
destroyed. Verse nine, in that day shall
messengers go forth from me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians
afraid. They'll hear about it. News will
spread. Great pain shall come upon them
as in the day of Egypt, for lo, it cometh. Mark it down. It's coming. There's no stopping
it. Thus saith the Lord God, I will also make the multitude
of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
He even names by name the king. who will be his instrument of
judgment against Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar. He and his people, verse 11,
with him the terrible of the nation shall be brought to destroy
the land and they shall draw their swords against Egypt and
fill the land with the slain. And I'll make rivers dry. You
know that river Nile, that was the life of Egypt. That really was the source of
her power. And he says, and sell the land
into the hand of the wicked. I'll make the land waste, all
that is therein by the hand of strangers, foreigners. I, the
Lord, have spoken it. He won't take it back. Thus saith
the Lord God, I will also destroy the idols. Here's the idolatry. You see, pride leads to idolatry. And so he's destroying them for
their idolatry. And you think about this, you
know all of us by nature are idolaters. You know I said that
one time in a message, I don't remember where it was, but some
lady in the audience just got flat down offended. But we are. If you don't know God, the God
of all grace, if you don't know Christ, what are you? God reveals
himself in his true nature and character as the Savior of His
people through Christ. And if you don't know Christ,
you don't know the true and living God. Whatever God you have in
your imagination is an idol. Now, you may not be bowing down
to carved statues or wooden statues or anything like that, but that's
what we are by nature. We're idolaters. And this is it, you see. He names
these cities in Egypt. He says, I will cause their images,
verse 13, to cease out of Nof. That's the city of Memphis in
Egypt. There shall be no more a prince in the land of Egypt,
no king. And I will put a fear in the
land of Egypt. I will make Pathros desolate and will set fire in
Zohar and will execute judgments in Noh. That's the city of Thebes.
I will pour my fury upon sin. That's the city of Pelusium.
And the reason that word is sin is just because of an English
transliteration, but it's certainly appropriate, sin. That's the
name of this world, sin. The strength of Egypt. And I
will cut off the multitude of Noah. I will set fire in Egypt.
Sin shall have great pain and Noah shall be torn asunder, rent
asunder, and Noah shall have distresses daily. The young men
of Avon and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword, and these
cities shall go into captivity. And to Haphnes, also the day
shall be darkened when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt.
Egypt is, you can equate Egypt with bondage. Here's the bondage
of sin, the bondage of the law, the bondage of Satan, and the
pomp of her strength, the power of her strength shall cease in
her, As for her, a cloud shall cover, and her daughters shall
go into captivity. Thus will I execute judgments
in Egypt, and they shall know that I am the Lord. Now look
at verse 20. And it came to pass. That's how
it always happens. It come to pass. Everything happened
according to God's plan, purpose, and will. That's what it means. It came to pass. That doesn't
mean it just happened by chance. it came to pass in the eleventh
year in the first month in the seventh day of the month that
the word of the lord came unto me saying son of man here's here's
where i want to get to i have broken the arm of pharaoh now
look at pharaoh as a type of satan remember pharaoh he had
the power over the hebrew children while they were in bondage and
when god sent his servant moses in moses as the mediator of the
covenant being a type of christ Who did Moses have to deal with?
He dealt with Pharaoh. He had to defeat Pharaoh, you
see. Now we know God did it through
Moses. But this is what it's all about.
He said, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and
lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed. It's a permanent
break. To put a roller to bind it, that's
a cast. That's just another word for
a cast. Not gonna put a cast on it. to make it strong to hold
the sword. It will never wield a sword again. And therefore, thus saith the
Lord God, behold, I'm against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and will
break his arms, the strong and that which was broken, and I
will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. In the scripture, the arm symbolizes
power. That's what it means. Bill read
in that Psalm. In Psalm 136, that God delivered
the Hebrew children out of Egypt with a stretched out arm. Not
only a powerful arm, but one that can reach as far as it needs
to. The Lord's arm is not short. That he cannot say. In the book of Exodus chapter
6 and verse 6, listen to this. God speaking to Moses, He said,
Say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, I will bring you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid
you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched
out arm, and with great judgments. That's the power of God in redemption. It was mentioned in the book
of Job, when Job was lifting himself up and Elihu came along
and he said, hast thou an arm like God? Or canst thou thunder
with a voice like him? Do you think you have the power
as God does? Well, there's no comparison.
God's right hand, the right hand of judgment and justice, his
arm of power, In Psalm 77, verse 15, it says, Thou hast with thine
arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and of Joseph.
And I think about Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 53, when he
asked this question, Who hath believed thy report, and to whom
is the arm of the Lord revealed? Do you know what the arm of the
Lord is that Isaiah was referring to? It's not a what, really,
it's a who. Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, is
the arm of the Lord. To whom has Christ been revealed?
And just as the Lord himself says here that he will break
the arms of Pharaoh, all his power, Christ the Lord has broken
the arms of Satan. His arm is more powerful. It was no match. And I want to
give you just three ways that that's true in the case of every
believer. Listen to this. Number one, Christ
has first broken the arms of accusation that Satan yields. His arm, his power of accusation. Now turn with me to Hebrews chapter
two. I preached on this before. But
if you're like me, you need to be reminded of this. Listen to
the words of the writer of Hebrews, whom I believe was the Apostle
Paul as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit. But look at verse
14. This whole chapter speaks of
Christ as our great, magnificent, powerful, and better Redeemer
and Savior. who cannot be defeated, he's
called the captain of our salvation. He's in command of this. He was
made perfect through sufferings, that is, he completed the work
that he was sent to do by the Father through his suffering
unto death. And in that, what did he do?
He tasted death for every son, child of God. And it says in
verse 14 of Hebrews 2, listen, for as much then as the children,
that's the elect of God, all that the father gave to Christ
before the foundation of the world, those whose names were
written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of
the world. And for as much then as those
children are partakers of flesh and blood, the human body, He
says, he, Christ, also himself, likewise, or in the same way,
took part of the same. He had to be made flesh and blood. He had to be made flesh and dwell
among us, tabernacle among us. The word was made flesh. The
difference was that he was not made sinful flesh, as you and
I are. He did not fall in Adam. When
Adam fell in the garden, he did not represent the man Christ
Jesus. He represented all of us. We
were born dead in trespasses and sin with a fallen human nature. Christ was conceived by the Holy
Spirit in the womb of the Virgin with a holy human nature. He took into union with himself,
his deity, a perfect, sinless humanity. And I'll go even further
than this. His humanity was incapable, incapable
of sinning or incapable of being contaminated with sin. Now, he
was not incapable of feeling the weaknesses and infirmities
of the flesh. His pain was just like our pain,
or even worse, you might say. His hunger was just like our
hunger. He got tired. He had to rest. He wept. He sorrowed. All of those things, those sinless
infirmities, he experienced. That's part of his suffering,
I believe. But he had no taint or contamination of sin. He dwelt
among sinners. He ate with publicans and sinners. He identified himself with sinners. How do you know? It says he was
numbered with the transgressors. And he died for sinners. All
based upon sin imputed. But the only way it can be said
that he took part of the same as flesh and blood was in his
holy, undefiled, incorruptible, sinless humanity. And that's
it. Now why did he do that? Well
look at it, verse 14. That through death. You see,
he had to die. Because sin demands death. And
when sin was charged to him, he as our surety agreed voluntarily
to die in our place. That's why he told them, he said,
no man takes my life from me, I give it up of myself. He loved
his own until the end. He finished the work because
he loved his sheep. So he had to die. Well, you can't
kill God. But this man who is God did die. And I know that boggles our minds,
but that doesn't matter. It's still so. It's still true. That through death, now listen,
that through death, he might destroy him that had the power
of death. That is the devil. Now what is he talking about?
Satan has the power of death. Does that mean that Satan has
the power to kill you or to make you alive? Well, absolutely not. Satan has no power to kill anybody. Satan has no power to make anybody
alive. God alone has the power of life
and death. So what does it mean here when
it says that he had to destroy him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil? Well, do you notice his name,
the devil, there? You know, Satan goes by many
names. We call him Lucifer. We call him Satan. We call him
the devil, Beelzebub. Many names. Well, what's significant
about that name? That name, the devil, identifies
him as the accuser of the brethren. Accusation. That's the issue. What power of death does Satan
wield? There's only one. His power to
accuse. Now what do you mean by that?
Well, if somebody accuses me of a crime, the penalty only
comes if I'm proven what? Guilty. But now, if somebody
accuses me of a crime and I'm not guilty, the law cannot wield
its power of justice, especially in a capital crime. Now, all
sin deserves death. Isn't that right? And we're sinners. But what's happened? What's taken
place whenever Satan accuses you or accuses me? What's happened? Well, now look on, verse 15.
He says, and deliver them who through fear of death were all
their lifetime subject to bondage. That's the bondage of Satan,
the bondage of death, the bondage of the curse. For verily, he
took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the
seed of Abraham. There's another identification
of the children, the elect. Verse 17, now listen. Wherefore,
for this reason and all things, it behooved him. Now that word
behooved, It means that Christ was obligated. It's the Greek
word for our English word, debt. If you run up a debt, you're
obligated to pay the debt. And that's what it's saying.
Jesus Christ, as the substitute and surety of his people, had
a debt charged to him. That's imputation. That's how
he was made sin, you understand. And he obligated himself as our
surety to pay that debt. So it behooved him to do what?
To be made like unto his brethren, he had to have a human body,
a soul and body, a human nature without sin, that he might be
a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God to do what? Now here's your key. To do what? To make reconciliation for the
sins of the people. Now that word reconciliation
there could also, it's a form of the word propitiation. In
other words, Christ paid my debt. Christ took my sins upon himself
and drank damnation dry, and sin cannot be charged to me. So that when Satan accuses, The
arrows of his accusation will not stick, for I with David can
say, in looking to Jesus Christ as the author and finisher of
my faith, I can say, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will
not impute sin. Iniquity. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? You know what that means? He
said it's God that justifies. Now you know what that means?
That means God will not charge one of his children in Christ
with sin. Now what can Satan do? His arms
broken. His power of accusation is broken.
How was it broken? Because you accepted Jesus as
your personal Savior? Absolutely not. His power is
broken because Christ died on Calvary's cross. And that's the
only reason his power is broken. That's the only reason Satan
cannot accuse you. Look over at Revelation 12. Here's another passage that we
read quite a bit. Verse 9. You see the devil with broken
arms. Just like Pharaoh was defeated
so that he could no longer hold the Hebrew children in bondage,
Satan has been defeated. so that he cannot hold us in
bondage by his accusations. We who are in Christ have a righteousness
imputed, charged to us, that equals the demands of God's justice,
and we cannot be charged with sin in the court of God's justice.
So the power of death has been removed. You know why? Because
Christ died. Look at verse 9 of Revelation
12. The great dragon. That's a name for Satan. He was
cast out. Now when was he cast out? Well,
Christ said he cast him out when he died on the cross. That old
serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world. He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast
out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying
in heaven, now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom
of our God and the power of his Christ. There's God's arm. the
power of His Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast
down." That's what Christ did. He cast down the accuser. His
accusations won't stick, which accused them before our God day
and night. Look, He's a sinner. Yes, but
someone took His place on Calvary's cross and drank damnation dry. And it says, And they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb. There's the key. And by the word
of their testimony. What's the word of our testimony?
Christ and Him crucified. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And they loved
not their lives unto death. You see that? His power. You
remember, we won't turn there, but you remember over in Zechariah
chapter 3 when Joshua the high priest was standing before the
bar of God's justice? The adversary was standing there
to do what? To accuse him. And the angel
of the Lord stepped up. That's Christ. And he said, hold
on. You have nothing against this man. He's been chosen of
God and redeemed out of the fire. There's no accusation. Satan's
arm of accusation is broken. Again, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's election? Now turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
4. Here's the second thing. Satan's power of darkness and
deception has been broken. His arm of darkness and deception
has been broken. How? Well look here, 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. Now this is the fruit and the
effect of his arm of accusation being broken. In other words,
what we're going to be reading about here has to do with the
work of the Holy Spirit within us in the new birth. In bringing
us from darkness to life, it's the fruit and the result of what
Christ accomplished on Calvary, and it's all the work of Christ.
The Holy Spirit comes out from Christ to give life, because
Christ is our life. And look what it says in verse
3 of 2 Corinthians 4, But if our gospel be hid, it's hid to
them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded
the minds of them which believe not. Now that's Satan's power
of deception and darkness over those who believe not. He said,
Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto them. And Paul says, We preach
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your
servants for Jesus' sake. And here's Satan's arm, his power
of darkness and deception broken. Verse 6, for God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. That's the power of darkness
and deception that's dispelled. When God the Holy Spirit brings
a sinner to see the holiness of God. When God the Holy Spirit
brings a sinner to see his sin and depravity in light of God's
righteousness and the justice of God. When God the Holy Spirit
is pleased to bring a sinner to see the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ, who Jesus Christ is and what He accomplished
on Calvary. That finished work of redemption
that Christ accomplished to put away his sins and establish righteousness,
that's when that sinner is delivered from Satan's arm of darkness
and deception. Doesn't mean we know everything,
but it does mean that we know Christ. We know the gospel. We know God's way of salvation. Satan is no longer blinding our
minds in that way. You know, in John chapter 3 and
verse 19 when Christ told Nicodemus, he said, this is the condemnation
that light has come into the world and men love darkness and
hate the light because their deeds are evil. You see, as long
as you love darkness and hate the light of truth that exposes
your sins and your depravity and your need of Christ, your
need of mercy, Satan's arm of deception is on you. But that
arm is broken. when Christ sends His Spirit
to give life, to give us a new heart, shines within our hearts,
that's the new heart, that's the regenerate heart, that's
the circumcised heart, that's the inner man, that's spiritual
life given and imparted to a dead sinner. He brings us from darkness
to light, from death to life. He delivers us from the power
of Satan, the kingdom of Satan, and brings us into the kingdom
of God's dear Son. His arm is broken. His power is broken. And then
thirdly, turn to 1 John chapter 2. Satan's arm or his power of dissuasion
is broken. Now what do I mean by that? Well,
Satan is a powerful enemy still. He's too much for me and you
to handle. Now He is. He is allowed by the
Lord to wage war against the church. If you want to go back
and read about that, read about it in the rest of Revelation
12. We have three great enemies. As redeemed people, as regenerated
people, we have three great enemies. The world, the flesh, and the
devil. But one thing that Satan can
never do, he can never totally, completely
take one of God's children away from the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what I mean by his power of dissuasion. Now there are some who make a
profession of faith but who in reality are not true believers. And at some point in time, that
will be exposed. Look at 1 John 2 and verse 18.
1 John 2 and verse 18. He says,
little children, it is the last time, the last days, the last
age. And as you have heard that Antichrist
shall come. Now Antichrist is the agent of
Satan, as you know. Even now there are many Antichrists,
that spirit of Antichrist. Whereby we know that it is the
last time. Now look at verse 19. They went out from us. They left. They totally forsook
the gospel. Totally forsook the Christ that
they proclaimed. And it says, but they were not
of us. For if they had been of us, if
they had been truly converted, truly regenerated, truly saved,
they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. They
left it. They were dissuaded or diverted
from Christ. They never knew Him. They never
knew him. They weren't saved and then lost.
Satan cannot take one of God's children away from Christ. Christ
won't let him. And he does it by means. Christ
said, my sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.
He said, none shall pluck them out of my hand. And here he says
in verse 20 here, but you have an unction from the Holy One
and you know all things. Listen, we have the abiding presence
and power of Christ through the Holy Spirit and through His Word
that will never let us leave Christ. And look across the page
there to verse 9 of chapter 3. Look at this. Whosoever is born
of God, does not commit sin. Now that means he will not leave
Christ. That's what it means. He will
not be charged with sin. For his seed remaineth. The seed
of Christ. That's the children of God. That's
the children for which Christ became a partaker of flesh and
blood. They remain in him. They remain in Christ. They stay
in Christ. And he cannot sin. He cannot
leave Christ because he's born of God In this the children of
God are manifested and what? The children of the devil. Whosoever
doeth not righteousness. What is it to do righteousness?
Brother Gary mentioned this in one of his messages. It's to
find righteousness and stay with righteousness and follow righteousness
where it is. And where is it? It's in Christ. For He was made sin, who knew
no sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him." That's where righteousness is. It's not in you, it's in
Him. It's in Christ. And we follow Him. To do righteousness
is to follow Christ. It's to rest in Christ. And so,
Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that
loveth not his brother. That's the difference. That's
the tale between The children of God and the children of Satan.
The children of God walk by the power and grace of God, being
fully persuaded that Christ is their only hope. Paul said, I
know whom I believe and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. Others can be dissuaded. They're dissuaded by a lot of
things. They're dissuaded by the flesh. They're dissuaded
by the law. Sometimes they may say some good things, but other
times you come in, they may lay the law down on you. They're
dissuaded. And I don't have time to go to
this. I need to quit. But that's why he tells us to
put on the whole armor of God that we may withstand the wiles
of the devil, every piece of armor in every piece of equipment
in that armor of God. has its foundation, has its power,
and has as its goal keeping a sinner clinging to Christ. And that's
how the devil has broken arms. Christ has broken them, broken
his power, just like Pharaoh was broken.