I've entitled the message for
tonight, Satan Crushed Under Your Feet. Now this is a promise to every
believer, and it's a promise we need. I have seen what Satan
can do to some extent to myself, to others, and I know that I'm
no match for him. And how I thank the Lord for
this promise for the future, that God, the God of peace, will
crush Satan under the feet of every single believer. Now I'm fearful even dealing
with this verse because I don't want to have anything to do with
this being called Satan. I know that I'm no match for
him and we're taught to pray every single day. Deliver us
from the evil one. That's the way that reads literally.
Deliver us from the evil one. Turn with me for a moment to
the book of Jude right before the book of Revelation. Verse 8, likewise also these
filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil
of dignities. Yet, he's talking about preachers. He's talking about preachers
talking about Satan, and the things they say about Satan,
and how they say, we rebuke you Satan, and all that kind of stuff.
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, He
disputed about the body of Moses, dares not bring against him a
railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke thee. And that's
what the archangel had to say. He said, I don't want to say
anything to you. The Lord rebuke thee. I have no interest in trying
to delve into finding out all I can about the devil or demons
or demonology or demon possession. I don't have anything to say
to him except what we say to the Lord, deliver me from the
evil one. And I learned so much from what
Michael, the archangel said, the Lord rebuke you. I don't
want to do that. The Lord rebuke you. Now, Satan, is a living being. He's a fallen
angel. He fell from heaven. The Lord
said in Luke chapter 10 verse 18, I saw Satan as lightning
fall from heaven. He's a created being. He's a
fallen being. He's an evil being. He's a very
powerful being. Turn with me for a moment to
Revelation chapter 12. And there appeared, verse three,
and there appeared another wonder in heaven and behold a great
red dragon. That's speaking of Satan, the
devil, Lucifer. a great red dragon having seven
heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his head and his
tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast
them to the earth." Now most people think that this is talking
about the fall of Satan and that he drew a third of the created
angels with him, calling fallen angels demons and so on. I love
the way the angels that didn't fall were called by Paul in 1st
Timothy 5, the elect angels. The only reason they didn't fall
is because they were chosen by God not to fall. Now, you can
read about his fall in Isaiah chapter 14. I read it recently.
But understand this, although he is very powerful, he is God's
devil on God's chain. And everything he does against
God is used by God for the accomplishments of the purpose of God. Now, the
devil doesn't intend that. He's seeking to fight against
God. He's seeking to overthrow God's purposes. And you'd think
he'd know it can't be done, but he continues to try. but he doesn't
know that everything he does is used by God for the accomplishment
of God's purposes. I think of that passage in John
chapter 13, it's scary, but it says, and Satan entered into
Judas. He took control of Judas. Now, when Satan entered into
Judas, why did he do it? because it was all a part of
God's purpose. He was going to betray Christ,
that was the will of God, so Christ would go to the cross.
Now Satan thought he was going to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ
by doing this, but he didn't know that he was only performing
God's will. Isn't that wonderful to know
that? If I didn't believe that, I'd have a hard time getting
out of bed during the day. But God is in absolute sovereign
control of men and demons. Now, Satan is powerful, but he's
no match for omnipotence. It's not like it's a neck and
neck battle and we're going to see who's going to win. No, Satan
is under the thumb of the Lord Jesus Christ doing his will,
unwillingly but nevertheless doing His will and His ultimate
end is destruction in the lake of fire. Now people like to depict
the devil as tormenting people when they go to hell. He's there
tormenting people. He's got his pitchfork and stabbing
them and so on. But that's not the case at all.
The devil will be tormented eternally by the wrath of God in the lake
of fire. That is his end. But that being
said, he and his demons hate all that is associated with the
Lord Jesus Christ. I don't have any doubt that Satan
or one of his demons has dealt with all of us at one time or
another individually. And that's a scary thought, but
do you know that Satan does not know whether or not you're one
of the elect? He doesn't know that infallibly.
He's seen many who seem to start well. He's got them to leave.
And his main purpose with you and with me is for us to apostatize
from the faith because he hates our Redeemer. And he wants anyone
who loves him to be done with him. And so he's going to do
everything he can to make you and I apostatize from the faith. But we have this promise. The God of Hope. What a name
for our God. The God of Hope. I have a hope
that I'm going to stand sinless on Judgment Day. That's quite
a hope, isn't it? And it's because of the God of
Hope. He has promised that He will crush Satan under my feet. This is a promise to every believer. He will crush Satan under my
feet shortly. Now, God will do this. It's not
something you can do. Christ crushed Satan's head on
the cross, didn't he? Remember the first gospel message?
The seed of woman, the Lord Jesus Christ, born of a virgin. The seed of woman shall crush
the serpent's head. And that's exactly what took
place on the cross. And here we have this promise
by God that he's going to be crushed under our feet. This
is a promise to every believer. If you're a believer, Satan,
this evil being, is going to be crushed under your feet. Now, does Satan have any effect
on believers? Ask Peter. Peter, Satan hath desired to
have you that he may sift you as wheat. And oh, how he sifted Peter. He turned him inside out, upside
down, and every which way but loose. Do you remember in Matthew
chapter 16, after the Lord had said, thou art Peter, and upon
this rock, this confession you've made of me, I'll build my church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now I try
to put myself in Peter's position if the Lord said thou art Todd. Can you imagine your chest coming
out a little bit, and you feeling God's using me in a remarkable
way. God's blessing me in an unusual
way. I know it's by grace, but you
would be thinking, wow, what does the Lord say to him in the
same chapter? Get thee behind me, Satan, for
thou savorest not the things that be of God. but the things
that be of man. Peter wrote your adversary. Now he's your adversary. Your
adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion goeth about seeking whom
he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith. We're told in Ephesians
chapter six to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil. Now this is said to
every believer. Put on the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. When Paul was wanting to do something,
he said, Satan hindered us. We sought to do this certain
thing, and Satan hindered us. And he spake in 2 Timothy 2,
verse 25, of those who were taken captive by him at his will. And he speaks of them being recovered
that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil
who were taken captive by him at his will. And the implication
seems to be that these could be believers that he has overcome
and tripped up and taken captive by him. Paul said. Satan, he said, let Satan get
the advantage of us. And there he was talking about
forgiveness. If we fail to forgive, Satan will get the advantage
over us. He said, neither give place to
the devil. Don't give him a foothold. So
there's just a lot of scriptures warning us about him. And like
I said, I'm not interested in doing a study of Satan. Don't go there. But I do want
to know what the scripture says regarding this being. And I want
to know what my attitude is to be toward him. Now, this is interesting. I have found 12 names for the
Bible in the scriptures, 12 names with Satan in the Bible. And
in these 12 names, we learn something about how this being, this fallen
being, this mighty being, Yet God's devil on God's chain, never
forget that. Never forget that. He's God's
devil on God's chain. I have been in places where I
felt his presence, so I thought, I felt his presence, but it was
such a comfort to me, no, he's God's devil on God's chain. And he can't do anything apart
from God's will and purpose. But listen to these names the
Bible gives the devil. He is called in scripture the
Prince of this world and the God of this world. Turn with me to Luke chapter
4. This is when the Lord was tempted
or when the devil was tempting the Lord. And look at this, Luke chapter
four, verse five. And the devil taking him up into
a high mountain, Luke chapter four, verse five. And the devil
taking him up into an high mountain showed unto him all the kingdoms
of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him,
all this power will I give thee and the glory of them for that
that is delivered unto me. Who delivered it to him? God
did. But all the glory, all the power of these kingdoms is in
my hand, and I'll give it to you. Whomsoever will I give it,
if thou therefore will worship me, all shall be thine. Now you know what that tells
me? I'm glad I believe in the absolute sovereignty of God,
aren't you? But that also tells me the devil
is running this world. He's running the governments.
He's running the schools. He's running everything. He is
the God of this world. Now, is that a negative view
of things? No, it's just true. He said,
all this power is given to me. But in running this world, he's
simply performing God's will. Let me show you a couple of scriptures.
First, turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 24. Verse 1, and again, the anger
of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And he moved David against
them to say, go number Israel. and Judah. When David numbered
Israel and Judah and took a census, he did so without the atonement
money. And as you go on reading in this
passage of scripture, it caused the Lord to kill over 70,000
of the children of Israel in punishment to David for doing
this, considering them children apart from the atonement money.
The bad thing was not taking the census, but it was taking
the census without the atonement money. viewing someone aside
from the atonement. Well, they're on the roll, they're
children of Israel. No, only those with the atonement
money are true children. Now, it says God moved David
against them. He was going to chastise them,
and so he moved David to do this that he knew would bring about
that result. Now turn to 1 Chronicles 21. Verse one, this is the Chronicles
account of the same thing. And Satan stood up against Israel
and provoked David to number Israel. Now Satan knew that that
was forbidden in the scriptures to number Israel without the
atonement money. And he didn't know he was a pawn
in God's hand at this time doing this. He thought I can do all
kinds of havoc by doing this. So he provoked David to number
Israel. Why did he provoke David to number
Israel? Because it was the Lord's will
for him to do this. So while he meant evil, the Lord
was in control of it. God is sovereign over the free,
uncoerced actions of men and demons. Isn't that wonderful? Satan is called in Ephesians
chapter 2, the prince of the power of the air. The spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Do you remember
when the Lord said to the Pharisees in John 8, you are of your father,
the devil. and the lusts of your father,
you will do. It was the devil who sold the
tares among the wheat, the children of the wicked one. Now, Satan
controls every unbeliever. Every unbeliever is called a
child of the devil. You are of your father, devil
and the lusts of your father you will do. Satan is called the devil. You know what the word devil
means? It means the accuser, the slanderer,
And do you remember there in Revelations 12, it says that
the accuser of our brethren who accused them before God day and
night, he accused Job. Huh, why do you think that he's
in such good shape? You put a hedge around him and
you've made it to where everything's great for him. He's healthy,
he's got plenty of money, his family loves him, he has no trials. Let me go against him and see
what happens. Now, if the devil, brought accusations
against you before God. Would he have plenty to work
with? He sure would. If he brought accusations to
me against God, would any of them be false? No. Everything he would say would
be true. But here's the point. I've got the Lord representing
me. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word
of their testimony. But I want you to think about
this. How many times do you say in your heart, you might not
say it audibly, but you say it in your heart, how could I possibly
be saved? When I have such evil desires, when I do such wicked things
and I do them repetitively, How could I be saved? How could the Lord have ever
really done anything for me when I'm so bad, when I'm so evil,
when I commit the same sins over and over? You couldn't be saved. You're nothing more than a hypocrite. You're not real. That is the
truth with regard to you. Now, when the devil whispers
that in my ear. You know what he wants me to
do? He wants me to think, well, if
I can just stop that kind of stuff, I'll be saved. And if
I can start living a certain way, I'll be saved. And if I
can stop those thoughts, if I can stop those actions, I'll be saved. And you know what? You would
become your own savior, wouldn't you? it would take away from
Christ being all in salvation. If you thought I'm saved because
I've licked this sin and I've whipped that sin and I've quit
this and started doing that, that's a false based assurance. Every bit of it is false and
wrong and evil. The only assurance a believer
is allowed to have is Christ only. But he'll will whisper
in your ear as the accuser, how could you be saved if you do
this and if you do that? And his reason for doing that
is to cause you to look somewhere other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the accuser of the brethren. Now how we love Romans 8, 33
and 34, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justified them.
Who is he that condemned? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Now he's going to do his
work of accusation. but the Lord by his spirit is
going to give us the grace to look to Christ only. Now that's
part of his work, the accuser of the brethren. He's called
by the Lord in John chapter eight, a liar and the father of it. He's a liar. You know where lies
came from? Your lies are amazing things,
aren't they? People just not telling the truth to get their
way, they'll abuse people, they'll use people in any way. Well,
who's the one who began lies? Satan, the father of lies. He's called the serpent. The serpent. And that title lets
us know something about his deceptive nature. He deceived Eve, didn't
he? He deceived her completely. What
he said to her made sense. After all, if I know good and
evil, and can choose the good over the evil, that seems a whole
lot better than just obeying my innocent nature. That's what's
going to make me like God. It seemed plausible, what he
said. He deceived her, and he's a deceiver. He wants to deceive
me and you in any way he can. Look at 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians
11, verse two. For I am jealous over you with
a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband,
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ, but I fear. lest by any means, as the serpent
beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that's in Christ. Now that is Satan's agenda,
to corrupt our minds from the simplicity that's in Christ. Now what does that mean, the
simplicity that's in Christ? Well, it means the, the onlyness. singularity. The only righteousness I have
is Christ's righteousness. Now Satan would want me to be
corrupted from that, Christ and. No, it's Christ alone. Faith
only, the simplicity of Christ. If you can get assurance of your
salvation because of how good you're doing in some way. You've
been corrupted from the simplicity of Christ. The only assurance
there is, is it is finished. Grace only is the simplicity
of Christ. You can't add anything. He only is my rock and my salvation. We look nowhere but Him. Now
that's the simplicity of Christ. And Satan is always going to
be trying to corrupt it. That's not enough. You need to
have more. There's something else. You need
something else. Something's missing. You know
it. You need to be this way. You need to be that way. Or you're
not a true believer. That's an attempt of corrupting
someone from the simplicity that's in Christ. Really believing that
Christ is all in my salvation. And I am complete in Him, lacking
nothing. Look in this same chapter, verse
13. 2 Corinthians 11. For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ. No marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it's no
great things if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness, human righteousness. They'll even use words like imputed
righteousness, rather than righteousness imputed. It's always trying to
take us away from what David said in Psalm 71 16. I've made
mention of thy righteousness, even thine only. Now, why would he say thine only? Because his righteousness is
the only one there is. You believe that? Well, Satan
is going to seek to corrupt us from that. Angels of light, like
Lucifer, the son of the morning. Satan is called the adversary.
The adversary. Your adversary, Peter said, the
devil. The enemy. The enemy of God and
the enemy of all who worship God. Your adversary, the devil. Whom resist? And how do you resist
the devil? Steadfast in the faith. It's
not by doing hand-to-hand combat with him. It's by looking to
Christ only. That's the only way you're going
to resist him. By looking to Christ only. That's the way he's
resisted steadfast in the faith. He's called in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 3, the tempter. The tempter. Now, Satan cannot
make me and you sin. Did you know that? He cannot
make me and you sin. But oh, He can tempt us. And what does He have to work
with in tempting me and you? He can tempt us to self-righteousness. He can tempt us to debauchery.
He can tempt us in every way imaginable. And that's what He
does. He's called the tempter. Is there any wonder that the
Lord taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation? What's
gonna happen to you when you're tempted? Now you think about
it. When you're tempted, oh, you
put it off and it comes back. You put it off, it comes back.
What happens when you're tempted? You give in. Isn't this the only wise thing
to do? Lord, don't let me be tempted.
I know what'll happen if I'm tempted. If I'm tempted, I fall.
So I'm asking you, don't let me even be tempted. Put a hedge
around me so I can't even be tempted. The Lord taught us to
pray that every day, didn't he? Lead us not into temptation.
but deliver us from the evil one. We know we're no match for
him and we know what will happen if we try to fight him. We can't
do it. Deliver us from the evil one. He's called Lucifer, the light
bearer. He comes as an angel of light. Listen, his main sphere of operation
is the pulpit. This is where he does his work,
the pulpit. Lucifer, the light bearer. He's called the wicked one. That's
what the Lord called him. the wicked one, then cometh a
wicked one when he's given us the parable of the sower, the
evil one. This lets us know how diabolically evil this being
is. This being hates God, and this
being wants everything associated with God to be done away with.
And you know, it's really so much not you he's interested
in, but getting at God. And if he gets at God through
getting at you, that's what he wants to do. that he hates Jesus
Christ with a passion. He wants to put him out of business.
He is the evil one because he hates the altogether lovely one.
He hates the altogether glorious one, the altogether good one.
He hates and wants to put him out of business. So surely he
is the wicked one and he is called the dragon. which is red, of
the great red dragon. But he's called the dragon several
times. And you know what that tells me about him? I don't want
to do hand-to-hand combat with him. I don't want to be fighting
a dragon, do you? I don't want to try anything like that. The
Lord rebuketh thee. He's way too powerful for me
or you. And the last name I want to give,
he's called Beelzebub. You've read that in the scriptures,
haven't you? Beelzebub. Do you know what Beelzebub means?
the Dung God. The Dung God. Now you know what
Dung is. He's called the Dung God. Now why would he be called the
Dung God when he's given all these other names that show his
power and scares to death? Why would he be called the Dung
God? I know the answer to that. Turn
to Philippians chapter 3. Verse seven, but what things
were gained to me? My righteousness, my zeal, my
circumcision, my religion, my confidence in the flesh, my morality. What things were gained to me?
Those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but He doesn't want that happening.
He wants you to continue to hold on to those things and worship
those things and count those things as good for you. He doesn't want you to see all
those things as dumb. He wants you to worship that
dumb. He wants you to hold on to that dumb. He is called the
dumb God. And what a name. The prince of this world, the
god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the
devil or the accuser, the father of lies, the serpent, Satan,
the tempter, Lucifer, the wicked one, the dragon, and Beelzebul,
the dung god. He's very powerful. but he's God's devil on God's
chain, doing God's will, accomplishing the glory of God. And as much
as he has hounded me and you, either him or his demons, we
have this promise for the future. The God of peace shall crush
Satan under your feet. shortly. You see, he's already
been defeated by Christ on the cross. And in your experience,
one of these days, you're going to trample him under your feet. That is true for every believer. And you know, when I was thinking
about this, wouldn't it be something for
him to not have anything to work with with me. That's what I look
forward to. You know, the Lord said, Satan
hath come and hath found nothing in me. He didn't have anything
to work with with the Lord. And that's the future of every
believer. He's not going to have anything
to work with. We look forward to that day,
don't we? Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for this
precious promise. And Lord, how earnestly we pray
that you would deliver us from the evil one and lead us not
into temptation. Lord, we're no match for him. Lord, give us the grace to resist
him steadfast in the faith, looking to Christ only. And Lord, deliver
us, save us, from being corrupted from the simplicity that's in
Christ Jesus. Give us grace to look to him
only. Bless this word for your glory and for our good. In Christ's
name we pray, amen.