Imagine a World Without the Devil
Psalm 37
1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Satan is a destroyer. His only creative power is in rebellion and self exaltation. He is very religious but his religion is full of deception. The only religion he really knows is the true religion and he distorts it to the limits. He is an imitator of truth and righteousness in the opposite. He only shows the picture with distortion and error.
The ideas he exalts will destroy every time if they are followed. His specialty is music but his music is always dark and foreboding. His religious music is always that which exalts the flesh and destroys the soul. Present day church music has become an imitation of truth and righteousness. His music gives the listener a false feeling of religion and acceptance. Repentance from sin never fits the normal pattern that leads a person to separate themselves from the unclean world.
The Bible covers two major subjects. It documents the destructive powers of sin and it reveals the healing powers of Jesus Christ and His redemption plan. Actually, the whole world is divided between those individuals who are subjects to the devil and those that have discovered the God of the Bible and His life of peace and forgiveness. There is no such place as a noncombat zone, where neither God nor the devil is in charge.
The Worldwide Wounds of Satan:
He has murdered a multitude of babies.
He has attacked the marvel of marriage.
He has damned billions into the Lake of Fire.
He has destroyed and damned one-third of all the angels and cherubim.
He has rendered most of this earth a wilderness.
The earth and the heavens are full of storms and destruction wrought by Satan.
He has prepared an antichrist and false prophet for his last barrage of destruction.
He has produced hundreds of false gods and goddesses.
A host of ministers and many great Bible doctrines have been destroyed.
King Lucifer, the master of deceit and destruction, is called in the Bible the god of this age. His false powers have deceived a multitude. Much of the world is subject to him because he offers them the right to serve themselves and to do what they please. Lust, sex, pleasure, money, and every vice known to man is his carrot that he holds in front of man. One thing Satan does not announce is when you serve yourself, you are actually serving him. He is the creator of the idea of selfishness. This idea was born when Satan stood up to the eternal God and said, “I will” do what I want to do. He wanted to be like God and he led angels and men to follow in that same idea.
That is why God the Father gave His Son to become a King among men. King Jesus came to heal the broken hearts that had been deceived by the devil. That is the one and only reason Jesus came, “to heal the wounds and brokenness with which Satan has flooded the world. It is such a simple story. Jesus was quoted by Luke in his gospel story, “And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32).
Isaiah 14
11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
The religious of Jesus’ day condemned Him for his attention to the sinners that had been wounded by the “master of deceit.” Again, Luke tells us, “And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.” (Luke 15:2). But His answer was beautiful, “And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:3-7).
Every individual will spend eternity according to the master he or she served. Those delivered from the “master of deceit” will spend eternity in the presence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost and in the presence of all His faithful angels and the saved of all ages. A multitude will spend eternity in a devil’s hell. Lucifer, the devil, has done great damage against God the Father and against everything He represents. Because of Lucifer’s rebellion and destruction against everything beautiful, hell was created for him and his angels. “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41b).
Every individual that serves the devil by doing his own will, and ultimately Satan’s will, will be eternally delivered to hell along with the devil and his crowd. It is a horrible thought, but the Word of God has settled the question. It cannot change, except for those that escape from the “Master of Deceit.”
The Wounds Of Satan
It is impossible not to weep as you view the wounds that Lucifer has inflicted on the lives of multitudes. It is extremely important that Christians/church people never rejoice at the hurts and great damage that is occurring in human lives. It may be your worst enemy, someone that has done you a terrible wrong, yet your very soul must feel the pains of anyone that is in great distress or trouble. Every life that Satan has gained the mastery over will be wounded and slowly destroyed. It may be inner conflicts that tear an individual apart. Sometimes it is the destruction of friendships, family relationships, and loss of those we previously loved the best. Business relationships may fall apart. The ability to cope with ones own duties may suddenly be lost. On and on goes the wounds that can tear a life apart.
Often people never quite realize that the wounding process is the natural result of serving self/Satan, instead of serving God the Creator. When we recognize the clear relationship between self and Satan, then we are beginning the thinking process that can lead to turning our life around. Satan always begins his deceptive suggestions by magnifying your own right to do what you please. Very few people would ever say, “I’m serving Satan.” They say, “I’m doing what I want to do.” Satan laughs at his slick ability to fool the human race.
Revelation 19
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
The Bible Tells The Whole Story
The Bible never hides the terrible wounds of people in the stories it tells. From the beginning to the end, the people of the Bible were clearly people just like us. Some of them allowed self to become their master. At least they thought it was self, but later learned it was really the “master of deceit.” Read the stories of King Saul, Eli, the prodigal son, or Judas Iscariot that betrayed the Lord Jesus. All were great individuals in their own rights, but each of them experienced the bondage of self that destroyed their lives. That is all but one of them. Three out of four that suffered the fatal bondage of the devil never recovered. Saul fell on his own sword and took his life. Eli fell over backwards after hearing the news of the armies’ defeat and the death of his two sons and broke his neck. Judas Iscariot tried to repent but it was too late and then went out and hanged himself. The prodigal son came to himself, saw the wounds that self and Satan had inflicted. Then, he went back to where he left truth, repented, and was reclaimed and forgiven.
It is amazing how many wounded individuals in the Bible took their own lives. One of Satan’s chief weapons once he has a person wounded to despair is to fill their mind with suicide. You can often recognize a selfish person that is suffering deep evil wounds in their life by their threats, suggestions, or attempts to commit suicide. This is ultimate selfishness and is Satan’s last reward to a multitude of wounded souls.
The Ideas That Destroy
Satan is the “master of deceit” and his deceitful tactics always begin with ideas. The devil himself started his downward spiral by expressing his rebellion against God. He said five times, “I will.” That is the Biblical foundation for Satan’s fall from glory in heaven. That gives us an incredible picture of the very words, “I will”. From those words come a long list of ideas that people imagine, think up, or create. We can create wonderful ideas that benefit many people or we can create ideas that lead ourselves and often many other people to pain and sorrow. All ideas have a source, good or bad, right or wrong.
If any idea is full of rebellion, selfishness, or moral failure, then we know the source must be Satan. Look at the ideas that are driving our children and youth to drugs, premature sex, murder, suicide, and many other anti-social actions and activities. There can be no question that such results in the lives of our next generation of adults is breaking the hearts of many parents and leaders.
The Bondage Of Satan
When Satan sets up bondage in a person’s life, he does it for keeps. He is set to destroy that person and most often he does just that. If I could help every reader understand how Satan operates, you would flee to the “Master” who heals the “broken heart”. Carefully, let me show four simple things Satan does.
- He fills the mind of every life he controls with reasons to resist the Lord Jesus in that life. The Bible says it very powerfully. Prayers of the saints for those under Satan’s powers is to “cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God . . .” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Those ideas that Satan has put in the mind must be destroyed.
- Satan then blinds the minds of those in his control. The wounded individual is so blinded by Satan’s ideas and thoughts that they cannot discover the truth of what is happening to them. The Bible says, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
- Third, Satan establishes bitterness in the hearts to keep them under his powers. A bitter person is impossible to reach until they allow the Lord to work His miracles of forgiveness. Again, the Bible says, “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” (Hebrews 12:15).
- Once Satan has complete control, then fear and paranoia becomes the ruling powers of that life. “The wicked flee when no man pursueth . . .” (Proverbs 28:1). “. . . fear hath torment . . .” (1 John 4:18). When these evil forces have become dominant in an individual’s life, you have a lasting picture of Satan’s ultimate goal. He wants to “kill, steal, and destroy.” (John 10:10). There is really only one hope left.
Jude
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
A Stronger Man Than Satan
Jesus Christ said, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.” (Matthew 12:28). There is a world full of wounded men, women, boys, and girls. Satan and his spirits have wounded a multitude. They have been “wounded by the master of deceit.” The Son of God is the “Master of the broken heart.” His reason for coming to our sin-cursed earth was to save souls, break evil powers, and reclaim the hearts of men.
The Prodigal Son Can Become Your Story
He was wounded by the “master of deceit.” He left all, lost all, and came to himself sitting on a pig fence with his face toward the hogs. He said, “I will arise.” That’s where it must begin with you. The great Eternal God will help you find your way home, but first, He needs your attention. Every miracle begins when someone is willing to confess they have missed the mark. It is not easy to say, “I have failed,” but it is one of the greatest statements a failure ever makes. God takes notice of an honest heart.
When the son arrived from the pig pen, the Father was waiting at the gate to the big house. He did not scorn or rebuke because the prodigal had already come to himself. He wrapped his arms around that son and He is ready to do it for you. The blood of Jesus has paid your debt, so come home to the Father’s big house.