MESSAGES
Demands of Commitment-Part III
From Egypt to the Promised Land
Overcoming Obstacles part - II
Overcoming Obstacles Part -III
Receiving the Promises of God -I
Receiving the Promises of God - II
Reformation: Going Beyond the Obvious
Well Done is Better Than Well Said
When the Church is Gone - Part II
When the Church is Gone - Part III
When the Church is Gone - Part IV
|
A LESSON FROM LUCIFER ISAIAH 14:12-15, EZEKIEL
28:11-19 These passages
speak of the fall of Lucifer, the anointed cherub that was created
a perfect being, who after his sin became Satan.
Angels are a supernatural order of heavenly beings each
separately created by God before the creation of the world.
Psalms 8:4-5 describes them as personal beings that are
of a higher order than mankind.
Though many think so, angels are not glorified human beings.
In other words when Christians die they do not go to heaven
and become angels. Angels appear to possess more than human knowledge
but are not omniscient. They
are stronger than humans but are not omnipotent. Nor are they omnipresent. The work of angels
is varied. The holy angels
stand in God’s presence and worship Him.
Angels minister to the saints through giving assistance,
protection and deliverance. Hebrews MATTHEW 18:10 This verse indicates
that there are personal angels assigned to us and that our angels
have access to God and therefore can represent us to God. Along with holy
angels there are also evil angels of whom Satan is the prince. These evil angels oppose anything that is good,
hinders man’s welfare at times by acquiring control from
God over the forces of nature and disease.
They tempt man to sin and spread false doctrine.
However, their freedom to tempt and test man is subject
to the permissive will of God.
God did not create these angels with evil in them.
They like Satan became evil as a result of their sin. ISAIAH 14:12-15 Satan is accused
here of weakening the nations.
Evil angels are those who chose to follow Lucifer. Though I have read this passage many times,
up to this point I always thought that angels did not have free
will. In other words I thought that angels were not
given the ability or right to make choices.
They simply obeyed the orders given to them by God. However, these evil angels chose to follow Satan
and here in this passage we see Lucifer 5 times declare “I
will” thus showing that he had the ability to choose and
was choosing to exert his will over the will of God.
Well you might say that Lucifer was saying these things
because sin had already arose in him. GENESIS 6:1-4 Verse 2 clearly
states that these angels took wives of their own choosing. Was it God’s will for them to marry? No, according to Matthew 22:30 angels do not
marry. They chose to marry and chose to have children
with the daughters of men. Thus
angels can make choices and thus must have free will.
However, God’s desire for the angels is just like
His desire for mankind. His
desire is that we will use our free will to choose to obey him
and submit in love to his will. This is where Lucifer blew it. ISAIAH 14:13-14 Lucifer chooses
to exert his will above the will of God. He says “I will”
1.
I will ascend
into heaven. First let’s
ask ourselves where is he ascending from and why?
Many believe that Ezek. 28:13-15, Is. 14:12-15, and Jer.4:23-26
all refer to events that happened before the creation of earth
as we know it. This leads to the belief in an Earth prior to
the one on which we live. In this PreAdamite
Earth, as it is called, there were people, animals, and
cities. Because Ezek. 28 describes Lucifer as “the
covering Cherub” put in a place of authority by God, it is
believed that he was the ruler over Earth.
It is believed that it is this rulership that went to his
head and caused pride to swell up in him, thus leading to his
sin. So when Lucifer says
he will ascend into heaven, it is believed that he is ascending
from earth where God had appointed him ruler.
When Lucifer says, “I will ascend into heaven”
he is not simply saying I will go to heaven.
He is abandoning his appointed position.
He is releasing himself from the responsibility given him
by God and deciding that he will take on a new responsibility
more suited to his liking. In his thinking, the task God had given him
was no longer suitable for a being of his statue. We may not see it but many times we
are just like Lucifer. We
will quickly abandon a task that God has given us to do, and look
to do something more suited to our liking or what we think our
abilities are.
2.
I will exalt my
throne I will become the chief or leader over
all of the angels. He sought
power and fame above the beauty given to him by God.
He was not content ruling over earth and mankind. He wanted to rule in heaven also. So often we humans are just like Lucifer. We take the gifts and talents given to us by
God and use them only to bring glory to ourselves. Proverbs HEBREWS 13:5 As Christians we have to guard against
becoming discontent. Discontentment
is a trick of the enemy to convince us that God is not working
on our behalf, God is not concerned about us enough to consider
and meet our needs or God does not want us to be happy. If the enemy can get us to focus on those areas
causing us to feel discontent, He will eventually convince us
to step outside of the will of God and seek to get what we want. PHILIPPIANS 4:11 Contentment is not a gift from God.
It is a state of being which we must learn.
This means that when we hit those places where we desire
something different than the revealed will of God, we must choose
to accept with gladness the will of God for us at that time.
Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with desiring
something however when your desire takes you into discontent you
are getting into trouble. PSALMS 75:6-7 Don’t let your desire push you
into discontent which will take you to seeking to fulfill your
on needs or trying to promote yourself.
This verse says promotion comes not from east, west or
south. In other words
it does not and should not come from those around us or from our
promoting ourselves, but it should come at the hand of God. Satan wanted to promote himself and he ended
up destroyed. Let us not
follow his wrong example.
3.
I will sit upon
the mount of the congregation. The mount of the congregation here represents
the place where the heavenly host gathers to worship. As they gather the one who is sitting is to
be worshipped. So what
Lucifer is saying here is “I will position myself to receive
worship”. MATTHEW 4:8-10
Lucifer wanted to receive worship and it got him kicked
out of heaven. Here he offers the world back to Jesus in return
for his worship. But getting
the world back would not have redeemed mankind and thus it would
not have pleased God. Jesus
responds with worship is due on to God.
Satan wants worship and he does not care who gives it to
him. Since He can not receive
worship from God, he encourages those who have captured the heart
of God, mankind to worship him.
How is mankind worshipping Lucifer?
Through their continued rebellion against God in living
a sinful lifestyle. Lucifer
could not get the worship he wanted in heaven so he seeks to get
it on earth.
There are some that try to position themselves in the church
in such a way as to bring glory (or worship to themselves).
They try to hangout with the pastor or leaders. They agree with everything the pastors say and
cater to their every whim. They
want to be in good with the pastor in hopes that others will envy
them and see them as special.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be around spiritual
people, but check your motives for wanting to do so.
Make sure that you are not trying to build a reputation
as “pastor’s pet”.
4.
I will ascend
above the clouds. By this Lucifer is declaring that he
will charge the gates of heaven like an enemy breaking down the
gates of a city. He would
go right to the very throne of God and declare war against him.
Luke 11:21-22 says “When a strong man armed keeps
his palace, his goods are in peace: But when one who is stronger
than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he takes from him
all his armor wherein he trusted, and divides his spoils.”
Satan thought that he was stronger and wiser than God and
thus he would be able to overthrow God and take over heaven.
Though we are not foolish enough to think that we are stronger
than God, we do often act as if we think we are wiser than him.
PROVERBS 14:12 Following one’s own wisdom will
lead to certain destruction. You
may be able to persuade yourself that your way of thinking is
right and the choices you are making are best for you, but know
that if your actions are not totally in accordance with God’s
will for you, then they will lead you to death and destruction.
Lucifer convinced himself that having ruled earth well
he was ready to move on to bigger and better things.
Why not just go for it all and take heaven itself.
5.
I will be like
the most high. What Lucifer is saying here is “I
will be God like the most high is god.
His intention was to displace God and replace him. In all of his boasting Lucifer forgot
one thing. He is but a
created being, having no more power than that given to him by
the almighty. The one who receives power is not greater than
the one who gives power. I CORINTHIANS
Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 28:18 “All power
is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”
But it was understand that though God had given Jesus all
power or all authority, God himself was not subject to Jesus.
He who gives power is always greater than the one to whom
he gives power. Lucifer did not understand this principle and
thus he thought that he was just as powerful as God and thus capable
of running it all and being God.
As Lucifer stands
making this boast, he thinks that he is fully capable of carrying
it out. His picture of
himself was distorted and his mouth got his behind in trouble. God in Is. 14:15 told him “Yet thou shall
be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”
Jesus in Luke 10:18 said, “I beheld Satan as lightning
fall from heaven.” Lucifer learned his lesson, but what can we
learn from him?
1.
JAMES 4:13-16 -- Don’t boast about what you are
going to do because we have no idea what the next minute in our
day holds. Proverbs 27:1 says, “Boast not thyself
of to morrow; for you know not what a day may bring forth.”
Rather than declaring with such certainty what we will or will
not do, we should acknowledge that our actions are subject to
the will of God.
2.
GALATIANS 6:3 –
Don’t deceive yourself in to believing that you are
something that you are not. Understand
who you are and submit who you are to God that He might develop
you into who He wants you to be.
Romans 12:3 says “think not of yourself more highly
than you ought to think; but to think soberly or wisely.” When we think too much of ourselves then we
might be tempted to think that we have arrived.
When we think that we have arrived we will either cease
working as hard or stop working altogether.
If we are not moving forward we will fall behind and are
then subject to an even greater fall.
3.
I CORINTHIANS 4:6-7 – Understand that whatever you have, be it gifts, talents, good
looks, wealth, family or friends, you have because God has blessed
you and given it to you. You
have nothing that you obtained on your own.
So don’t glory in what you have, but rather glory
in the one who provides all that you have.
4.
I PETER 5:6 –
In all things, submit yourself to the will of God. Do not exalt yourself or try to promote yourself.
When God deems the time to be right He will exalt you and
when He does you will know to give all glory and honor to Him
to whom it is due. The lesson
we should learn from Lucifer is remember who and what we are lest
God be force to remind us of who and what we are not.
|