De Witt Tabernacle Teaching Series
“The Fall
Of Lucifer,
Whose Name Is
Now Satan”
By
C.W.Wood April 2000
Is Satan a
defeated enemy, or is he still a free moral agent who can act independent of his
Creator, God? Is Satan working mightily on earth to carry out a plan of his own
and destroy as many of God’s people as he can, or is he a defeated foe being
used as a tool in the hands of his Creator? When the Elect of God use their
faith and place their lives in the hands of their God, can Satan come and
disarrange that life? Or, is all that happens under God’s control and meant to “Work together for good to those who love
the Lord?” (Rom. 8:28) Are we to believe that after we, by faith,
give ourselves unreservedly to the Lord, that He will allow the enemy to move
against us to do anything at all that has not first been judged by Father, then
allowed for our own good?
To believe
in the power of God and the power of Satan at the same time is to be “double
minded.” James 1:8, “A double
minded man is unstable in all his ways.” The answer to the above questions
will depend entirely upon the faith of the individual.
If a man
believes that Satan can usurp authority over God and move against one of His
Children independently, then this opens the door for Satan to do so. At the
same time if a man believes that Satan is a defeated enemy being controlled by
his Father in all that he does, then this comes to pass in his life. Jesus
said, “According to YOUR faith be it
unto you.” (Matt. 9:29) Two supreme powers, with conflicting plans,
cannot rule in the same territory at the same time. One must of necessity
overcome the other or his rule is not supreme, only partial.
And, so we
ask the question, “Is Satan defeated or
not?” This question will have to be answered in the individual’s heart. It
would be foolish to expect this sermon to be met with general approval
throughout our Message Churches. The trend is toward glorification of the Devil
rather than his Creator. The effects of such preaching are more far reaching
than most realize. Few, very few, today really believe in the total and
complete defeat of the person called Lucifer. Many who accept that God has sent
a prophet, and who testify that he had “Thus
Saith The Lord”, still preach the power of Satan rather than the
sovereignty of almighty God.
Those who
speak of Satan’s power and his inherent free will to exercise that power, do
but voice their ignorance of God’s revealed Word brought by His Prophet,
Brother William Branham. If there are few who believe that Satan has been
absolutely defeated, there are fewer still who believe in the absolute
sovereignty of God. It will take much preaching and writing to offset the
effects of unscriptural teaching concerning the power of Satan and to replace
the fear it produces with faith in God. It is our purpose, with the help of the
Lord, to cause the Bride to transfer whatever faith they may have had in Satan,
to the precious Lord Jesus Christ.
To do so,
we will go to the scriptures as usual, and then to the Prophet’s explanation of
them.
Ezk.
28:1-19, gives us God’s Old Testament account of The Prince of Tyrus
(Lucifer) and his defeat. (Please read in you Bible) In verse two, this Prince
had set his heart to, “Sit in the seat
of God,” but was told, “Thou art a
man AND NOT GOD.” In verse nine, He was asked, “Wilt thou yet say before Him that SLAYETH THEE, I am God?” Then he
was told “Thou shalt be a man and NO
GOD, in the Hand of Him that slayeth thee.” In verse ten we read, “Thou shalt die the death of the
uncircumcised....for I have spoken it saith the Lord.”
Did Lucifer die in the sense that he no longer exists? No, he is still
around. Then how did he die? He died in that he was no longer a free moral
agent. He could no longer choose the way he would go. His plan to unseat his
Creator had been absolutely foiled. His sovereign Creator stripped him of his
power and authority, and from henceforth he was under total subjection to our
Father. This came about because Lucifer sinned away his “DAY OF GRACE.” We do not
have to doubt but what God gave him “space
to repent” (Rev. 2:21), but when he refused to do so, and in God’s
own time, his day of GRACE was over. He
will die the second death.
We know his
day of grace was over because God pronounced sentence upon him. In Ezk.
28:16, it is written, “.........Thou
hast sinned, therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the Mountain of God;
and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of
fire.” In verse 18 he was told, “....I
will bring thee to ASHES upon the Earth in the sight of all them that behold
thee.” The word ASHES used here denotes the uselessness and helplessness of
this mighty Prince who had once been God’s right hand man. He had been turned
over to “A reprobate mind” (Rom.
1:28), and would now be only a tool in the hands of His Creator, actually
being used to bring to pass the very plan of God that he had thought to
interrupt. His sentence was to be “Cast out of the Mountain of God”, and
so he was. Jesus said, “I beheld Satan
as lightening fall from Heaven.” (Lk. 10:18)
What is the real meaning of the sentence that God has passed on
Lucifer? What does his casting out amount to in a spiritual sense? To this
writer it means that rather than being able to choose for himself whom to
devour, he can only, “Walk about seeking
whom he MAY DEVOUR.” The word may
was not used by accident. It indicates that authority must be granted before
Satan devours. In my high school English class, I had a wonderful teacher. I
would at times raise my hand and ask, “Mrs. Davis, CAN I go to the rest room.”
One day she corrected me saying, “ Don’t ask CAN you go. You have the ability
to walk there, but you need PERMISSION to go, so ask May I go.” Now, apply this
simple truth to the scripture in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the Devil, as a roaring
lion, walketh about seeking whom he MAY devour.”
Many have supposed that the scripture here is teaching
that we should fear Satan, and without revelation about what God is really
saying to us, have set out, unknowingly, to teach this “fear doctrine.” (I
Tim. 4:1) Far from the Holy Ghost teaching fear of Satan, he is actually
teaching a reverential fear of God Himself. The true revelation here is that we
would fear God in that we follow and obey Him, repenting when wrong, so that
our Father will not give our enemy PERMISSION to devour us.
It is true
that God still allows him to “roar” as he walks about, but we are told to
RESIST his bluffing by exercising our faith in the One who crushed His head at
the Cross. God will only allow him to bring those afflictions that will be
beneficial to us. Realizing this, fear of the evil one is replaced by a powerful
faith in Jesus Christ. Two things are becoming very apparent to the Bride and
will eventually be without dispute in their minds. God is totally sovereign,
and Satan is totally defeated! God sent His faithful Prophet to preach this.
QUOTE: POSSESSING THE ENEMY’S GATES, PAGES 10-11, “Now, we
have a right to conquer all sickness. We don’t have to conquer it, it’s already
conquered. We just have to claim the promise and go take it. It’s already
conquered. Death’s conquered, hell’s conquered, sickness is conquered,
temptations are conquered, ALL DEVILS ARE CONQUERED, hell’s conquered, death is
conquered the grave is conquered. We stand in the gate taking it! Don’t have to
fire a shot. Its already been paid for.” (End quote)
Page 11,
“Aren’t you happy this morning to know that we stand now more than a conqueror.
Oh, there’s nothing TO FIGHT ABOUT. THE FIGHTS OVER, the whistle’s blowed, the
flag’s rose: and in the midst of every sin pile, the midst of every sick room
is the old rugged Cross planted by the Blood of Jesus Christ, a CONQUEROR. Only
thing we do is look, believe and live. I’ll be with you, I’ll prove it.” (End
quote)
Page 13,
“See, there’s no fighting to do. We....the fight’s over, we just own it. (We
have) an abstract deed to it, a written guarantee by our God, our Father, who
raised His hand and said, “I’ll swear by
myself that his seed shall possess the gate of the enemy”.......To feel
that glorious feeling to know that it’s exactly in line with the WORD OF GOD,
it gives us such a wonderful consolation to know that - that God is our
father.” (End quote)
God
testifies in many places in the scriptures of His control over Satan and his
demons. This is to help us overcome the fear of Satan. “God has not given us the spirit of fear.” (II Tim. 1:7) He
knows that the “Things we fear come upon
us.” (Job 3:25)
In I Kings 22:19-23, is the story of a
meeting God had called. In verse 19, all the host of Heaven were standing by
Him, and in verse 20 God said, “Who
shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?” In verse
21 and 22, an evil spirit stood before him and said, “I will persuade him....I will go forth and be a lying spirit in the
mouth of all his prophets.” Then God (not Satan) said, “Thou shalt persuade him, GO FORTH AND DO SO.”
The time
had come for the judgment of God to fall on Ahab, and we are clearly shown in
verse 23, that it was, “ The Lord THAT
PUT A LYING SPIRIT IN THE MOUTH OF AHAB’S PROPHETS.” No devil moves without
the consent of our God. Then who is it we should fear, the Devil or the One who
has power to “Destroy both soul and body
in Hell.” (Matt. 10:28)
In Job 1:6, God had called a meeting. “Now there was a day when the Sons of God came to present themselves
before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.” God was about to test and
try His servant, Job, and He had work for Satan to do. Did you notice who it
was that instigated the trial of Job? God said to Satan, “Hast thou considered My servant Job?” In answering the Lord, Satan confessed that he knew God had placed
a hedge about Job, and about his house, and about all that he had on every
side. Dear friends, every true servant of God has this same protecting hedge
today. It is only by permission of our Father that any enemy can move against
us. In verse 10 God said, “All that he
has is in thy power, only upon himself put not forth thy hand.”
God had a wonderful purpose in allowing the enemy to
come to Job. The later, spiritual and material end of Job was far ahead of what
he had been previously. As the darkness deepens and doctrines of demons become
more and more prevalent in the churches, and the minds of the people are more
and more turned aside, the duty of God’s ministers to point out the one sure
Rock to rest on becomes more apparent. The Babel of religious tongues would
have us to believe that our Creator sits in the Heavens in this twentieth
century, wringing His hands helplessly over Earth’s condition. But we stand on
His unchanging WORD that says He is, “Working
all things after the Counsel OF HIS OWN WILL.”
One Pentecostal writer said, “Satan is shaking this
last day Church like a rag doll.” But, the Bible declares that it is our God
that is doing the shaking. Isa. 2:19, “And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of
the earth for FEAR OF THE LORD, and for the glory of His Majesty, when HE
ARISETH (In the last days) to shake
terrible the earth.” Satan is God’s tool, being used to shake the Earth,
taking orders as to WHO and WHAT to shake, WHEN to shake, and WHEN to stop. And
so the Word of the Lord to His Bride is, “Satan
has no power at all over you except it be given him from above.” (John
19:11) Jesus said, “I give YOU power
to tread on serpents and over ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY.” (Lk. 10:19)
The Bride has power over the enemy, not the enemy over the Bride!
QUOTE:
POSSESSING THE ENEMY’S GATES, PAGE 14, “We already possess all the gates of
the enemy. It has been given to us and we have the master key in our hand. The
name of Jesus shall open every gate of the enemy. Take this key, the key of the
name of Jesus, and open every gate of the enemy that has you bound away from
any promise.” (End quote)
The basic
goal of all preaching and teaching should be to put more faith in our hearts
toward God. (Prov. 16:4), “The
Lord hath made ALL THINGS for Himself, yea, EVEN THE WICKED for the day of
evil.” With this Word in our hearts, we can be happy and free.
QUOTE:
WHY, PAGE 19, “You were made to be happy and free. You were made to live
like children before your Father and to know that He makes EVERYDAY AND
EVERYTHING TO WORK RIGHT FOR YOU EACH DAY.” (End quote) God makes even the evil
work for our good.
QUOTE:
THIS DAY THIS SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED, PAGE 2, “I watch little things. Just
every little thing has a meaning to me. I don’t believe that ANYTHING happens
to a Christian by chance. I think it’s ordained of God because Jesus said He
would make all things work together for good to them that loved Him.” (End
quote)
How could
God tell us in I Thess. 5:18, “In
EVERYTHING give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you,” if Satan was doing some things contrary to His overall plan?
Yes friends, it is our God that is, “Ordering the steps of His people.” (Ps.
37:23) It is “His Eye that is
guiding us.” (Ps. 32:8) He is the One who said. “There is no God beside Me....I am the Lord and there is none else...I
form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil; I the Lord do
all these things.” (Isa. 45:5-7)
Can
anything happen to a Christian then, except it first be weighed and judged by
our God, and made to work out for the best?
QUOTE:
REVELATION CHAPTER 4, PART 1, “And can anything happen to a Christian with
out it being for the best? No! No! So why did God get John (The Revelator) out
there on the island alone for? To give us this Book of Revelation.” (End quote)
What would
seem to have been an evil happening in John’s life, and something that Satan
was doing to him, was in reality the plan of God being carried out. It was so
also in the life of Joseph, as his brothers sold him into Egyptian slavery. The
Bible says that it was God that sent Joseph to Egypt to save many lives. On and
on we could go, telling of things that happened to God’s Children in the
scriptures. Things, that on the surface seemed to be of Satan, but which were
ordained of God and Satan was only a tool in His Hands.
QUOTE:
BE CERTAIN OF GOD, PAGE 9, “When they were going to the fiery furnace...
they were certain that if God let them burn up, He would raise them up again in
the resurrection. They were certain of God because they knew that God would
WORK EVERYTHING FOR THEIR GOOD. AND WHEN WE ARE CERTAIN OF GOD, WE KNOW THAT
GOD WORKS EVERYTHING OUT FOR OUR GOOD.” (End quote)
Faith is
ever occupied with God. Faith endures “As
seeing Him who is invisible,´(Heb. 11:27) and endures the
disappointments, the hardships, and the heartaches of life, by recognizing that
all comes from the Hand of Him who is too wise to err, and too loving and kind
to mistreat one of us. But, so long as we are tricked into thinking that the
enemy has any say so at all concerning our circumstances, there will be neither
rest for the heart, nor peace in the mind.
How then
can we reconcile the Prophet’s teaching that this world is Satan’s Eden, and
that he is in control of it? The answer seems very simple. The Lord Jesus, when
He was here said, “According to your
faith be it unto you.” Our faith
determines our well being in this Devil’s world, and our lack of it spells our
doom. For those who BELIEVE that their Father God is controlling every
circumstance of their daily walk, then He is doing exactly that. But, for those
who have more faith in Satan than in God who created him, and BELIEVE in his power to disrupt and kill, then Satan
is free to do exactly so.
Faith
works, whether pointed toward God, or the enemy of our soul. This being so, the
Bride is even now walking in complete victory through Satan’s Eden. She knows
that Satan is only a tool in God’s hands, being used to perfect a Godly
character in her. She has submitted her all to God, therefore she can resist
the devil according to James 4:7. She is receiving “strength as her days” (Deut. 33:25) and will survive
Satan’s Eden to finish the work assigned her by God.
But, for those
without faith in God’s rule over His Family, they are under Satan’s rule, and
this world is surely Satan’s Eden for them.
PLEASE VISIT DE WITT TABERNACLE Located 1/4th
Mile East of DeWitt on Hwy. #1 SUNDAY MORNING…………...10:00
A.M. SUNDAY
EVENING………….……6:00P.M. WEDNESDAY
EVENING………..7:00 P.M.
May God have mercy and show His people the
total defeat of their enemy. AMEN
WHEN IN DE WITT, ARKANSAS AREA
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