{"id":18271,"date":"2019-08-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-25T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/angelology-008-satanology-04\/"},"modified":"2019-08-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-25T05:00:00","slug":"angelology-008-satanology-04","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/angelology-008-satanology-04\/","title":{"rendered":"Angelology 008 (Satanology 04)"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[68],"series_event":[499],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18271","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-isaiah","series_event-angelology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Angelology 008 (Satanology 04)","sermon_date":"20190825","sermon_month":"8","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":6996,"sermon_slides":6997,"sermon_mp3":7003,"sermon_id":"82519125227706","series_or_event":499,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":68,"chapter_and_verse":"14:12-15","sermon_transcript":"Dr. Andy Woods\n\nAngelology 8: (Satanology 4)\n\nIsaiah 14:12-15\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a08-25-2019\n\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for Your truth, Your Word that You took so many millennia really to write to us and help us to be good stewards of it in all areas.\u00a0\u00a0 I pray You\u2019ll be with us specifically today in Sunday School as we continue to work in an important section of Your Word.\u00a0 And I pray that You\u2019ll be with the main service that follows, and we\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.\n\nWell, good morning everybody.\u00a0 It\u2019s good to be back.\u00a0 Thank you, Jim, for filling in last week, I appreciate that.\u00a0 Happy anniversary, by the way, to you guys.\u00a0 And let\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the Book of Isaiah, chapter 14 and verses 12-15.\u00a0 And we\u2019re continuing to look at the doctrine of angels, what does the Bible reveal about the angels?\u00a0 And so that study has four parts to it, the good angels which we competed, Satan, the high-ranking angel [can't understand word], and we\u2019re continuing to look at him because the Bible reveals an awful lot about him.\u00a0 And then we\u2019ll be moving into the angels that fell with him that we call demons.\u00a0 And then the study will sort of wrap up with the Genesis 6:1-4 issue or controversy.\n\nRelated to Satanology, the doctrine of Satan, we\u2019ve looked at his existence, although a lot of people don\u2019t believe in the existence of Satan the Bible is very clear, Old Testament and New Testament, that we have a very real adversary called Satan.\u00a0 And then from there we looked at his personhood, trying to communicate the point that Satan is not just the force, you know, the dark side.\u00a0 We were just at Disneyland and they\u2019ve got now a Star Wars section of\u2026, they had frontier land, tomorrow land, fantasy land, and now they\u2019ve got a new land called\u2026 it\u2019s not called Star Wars land but it\u2019s like another section.\u00a0 So, you go through a place like that and there\u2019s all this talk about the dark side, the light side, all that jazz.\u00a0 And so a lot of people look at Satan that way, he\u2019s just kind of the dark side of the force; he\u2019s an impersonal source of energy.\u00a0 And we tried to communicate the point that he is not simply that, he is an actual personhood, an actual person.\n\nAnd from there we went into Roman numeral III where we start to look at the names and the titles of Satan.\u00a0\u00a0 You learn a lot about him just by studying his names and titles.\u00a0 And there\u2019s probably somewhere between 18 to 20 titles of Satan revealed in the Scripture.\u00a0 So we walked through each of those.\u00a0 And then from there we started moving into what is called the original state of Satan and the first sin.\u00a0 In other words, what was Satan before he became Satan, and how did Satan originally fall?\u00a0 \u00a0And what we saw is there\u2019s only two sections of Scripture that help you with that.\u00a0 One of them is Ezekiel 28:12-17, which gives an explanation, and the second one is Isaiah 14:12-15.\n\nWe\u2019ve already looked at the Ezekiel passage in depth and we discovered the attributes of Satan, the nature of Satan\u2019s first sin, which is the idea that first comes pride and then comes a fall.\u00a0 And then we looked at the consequences that Satan is now under because of that original sin.\u00a0 So all of that information you can find in Ezekiel 28.\n\nAnd now we\u2019re looking at the second major passage that deals with the original state and first sin of Satan and that\u2019s in Isaiah 14:12-15.\u00a0 So let\u2019s read through those verses this morning, Isaiah writes, beginning in verse 12 of chapter 14. \u00a0\u201cHow you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!\u00a0 You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations!\u00a0 [13] But you said in your heart, \u2018I will ascend to heaven;\u201d notice how many I\u2019s are here, \u2018I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.\u00a0 [14] \u2018I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;\u201d and here\u2019s the clincher, \u201cI will make myself like the Most High.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Verse 15, \u201cNevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.\u201d\n\nNow there\u2019s an awful lot of people out there that will tell you that these verses have absolutely nothing to do with Satan, and they make that same argument with the Ezekiel passage, and I tried to show you why I think Satan is in the Ezekiel passage.\u00a0 But what they\u2019ll do is they\u2019ll go back to Isaiah 13:1 which starts this oracle against the King of Babylon, which spans two chapters in the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah 13 and 14, and they\u2019ll look at verse 1 and they\u2019ll say, [Isaiah 13:1, \u201cThe oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah, the son of Amos saw,\u201d and they\u2019ll say this has nothing to do with Satan, this is an oracle against the King of Babylon.\u00a0 And you might recall they make that same argument in Ezekiel 28, they\u2019ll say this has nothing to do with Satan, this has to do with the King of Tyre.\n\nBut I kind of call this a Matthew 16:23 moment.\u00a0 [Matthew 16:23, \u201cBut He turned and said to Peter, \u201cGet behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God\u2019s interests, but man\u2019s.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 You remember Peter, the apostle with the foot-shaped mouth, as I like to call him, always putting his foot in his mouth, and you\u2019ll recall that he began to predict there towards the end of his three year ministry that he was going to go to Jerusalem, he was going to be crucified, etc. and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him and then the Lord \u201csaid to Peter, \u2018Get behind Me, Satan.\u201d\u2019\n\nSo at that point the Lord is no longer directly interacting with Peter, I guess He is but He\u2019s also addressing the angelic force motivating Peter\u2019s statement.\u00a0 So at some point in these two prophecies, Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 what most people see is that they\u2019re no longer dealing just with the King of Tyre and the King of Babylon but they\u2019re dealing with the angelic force motivating those kings.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why Ezekiel 28 is taken as the fall of Satan because the passage goes far beyond any human king.\u00a0 And they\u2019ll try to show you you\u2019ll see the same phenomenon at work here in Isaiah 14:12-15.\n\nThis is sort of common actually.\u00a0 Many times prophets will give information about fallen angels or demons that are motivating human rulers.\u00a0 You see that in Daniel 10:12-13 and Daniel 10:20 where it mentions the Prince of Persia, a demon, behind the King of Persia. The prince of Greece, a demon behind the King of priests.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0[Daniel 10:12-13, \u201cThen he said to me, \u201cDo not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this<\/em> and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. [13]\u00a0<\/sup>But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.\u201d\u00a0 Daniel 10:20, \u201cThen he said, \u2018Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come.\u2019\u201d]\n\nAnd the fact that prophets do this is no front page news and I think that\u2019s what\u2019s happening in these two passages, and in the process of revealing the angelic force behind these two kings the prophets get sort of a picture, if you will, of Satan, who he is and exactly how he fell.\u00a0 And so these two pieces of Scripture are really indispensable towards building your doctrine of Satanology, especially in terms of Satan\u2019s original state and first sin.\u00a0 In fact, over in John 8:44 you see Jesus doing the exact same thing as He\u2019s talking to the Pharisees.\u00a0 He\u2019s having a conversation with the Pharisees there in John 8 and there towards the end of the conversation he makes this statement.\u00a0 John 8:44, \u201cYou are of your father the devil,\u201d now \u201cfather\u201d there is spiritual father, because Satan doesn\u2019t have physical children, he\u2019s talking there about their spiritual father is Satan, \u201cYou are of your father the devil and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.\u201d\n\nSo he\u2019s no longer addressing just the Pharisees, he\u2019s addressing the fact that they want to do the desires of their spiritual father, Satan, and in the process he gives a lot of clues about who Satan is. And we\u2019ve gone through some of those clues.\u00a0 So I think the same things is happening in Ezekiel 28 and I think the same thing is happening in Isaiah 14:12-15.\n\nNow having said all that let me show you why I think Satan is at work in the Isaiah passage.\u00a0 Take a look at verse 12, Isaiah 14:12, \u201cHow you have fallen from heaven,\u201d what\u2019s the next word there, some translate it Lucifer\u2014light bearer, I think the Hebrew is heilel ben shakhar<\/em>, \u201cson of the morning.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice in the NASB it\u2019s translated as a star, \u201cO star of the morning, son of the dawn.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 14:12-15, \u201cHow you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!\u00a0 You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!\u00a0 [13] \u201cBut you said in your heart, \u2018I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.\u00a0 [14] \u2018I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.\u2019\u00a0 [15] \u201cNevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.\u201d]\n\nSo the fact that this star is translated as Lucifer indicates that it\u2019s a very bright star.\u00a0 And to my mind that fits Satan very, very well because we know from the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 11:14 that that\u2019s who Satan is.\u00a0 [2 Corinthians 11:14, \u201cNo wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 Satan comes as a what?\u00a0 Angel of what?\u00a0 \u201cAngel of light.\u201d\u00a0 So calling him a light-bearer, that\u2019s what the name Lucifer means, or star, or son of the morning, would fit very well Paul\u2019s description of Satan as an angel of light.\n\nThis translation \u201cstar\u201d is very interesting to me, in the NASB, because angels are typically called what?\u00a0 \u201cStars.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll see that in Revelation 12:4, where it says, the dragon\u2026 who\u2019s the dragon in Revelation 12?\u00a0 Satan!\u00a0 It says the dragon swept away a third of the stars out of the sky. [Revelation 12, NASB, \u201cAnd his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.\u201d] \u00a0And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.\u201d]\u00a0 The dragon\u2019s tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.\u00a0 And as\u00a0 you go to Revelation 12:7-9 you get an interpretation of who the dragon is; the dragon is Satan.\u00a0 [Revelation 12:7-9,\n\n\u201cAnd there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, [8] and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. [9] And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.\u201d]\n\nThe dragon is Satan and you get an interpretation of who the stars are.\u00a0 Who are the stars?\u00a0 Satan and his angels.\u00a0 So Satan and his angels, particularly his angels, are analogized to stars in the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 So when I\u2019m seeing the word \u201cstars\u201d here in Isaiah 14:12 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s any great crime to read the doctrine of angels into this particular passage.\n\nWhat is the oldest book of the Bible?\u00a0 The Book of Job, the first book written, written probably six hundred years (at least) before Moses wrote the Pentateuch.\u00a0 But notice, if you will, holding your place in Isaiah, notice if you will Job 38, and notice if you will verses 4-7.\u00a0 This is God giving Job a pop quiz.\u00a0 Have you ever been intimidated by a pop quiz, especially one from God?\u00a0 Because all the way through the Book of Job everybody thinks they know what\u2019s going on.\u00a0 Job had his problems, everybody has an answer.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is none of them know what\u2019s going on because none of them are privy to the conversation between God and Satan that we read about in the first two chapters.\n\nSo to reveal the limits of Job\u2019s knowledge God shows up, finally, in Job 38 and starts asking Job questions he can\u2019t answer.\u00a0 And He starts to ask him a question about the beginning.\u00a0 I mean, if you\u2019re so smart tell me how everything began.\u00a0 And obviously the question is designed to reveal Job\u2019s ignorance because who was there at the beginning?\u00a0 Carl Sagan was not there at the beginning. Only God was there at the beginning.\u00a0 So all of these scientists today that can tell you exactly how everything began, they don\u2019t know anything.\u00a0 All they can do is look at existing patterns and pretend that those patterns have always been in existence.\u00a0 That\u2019s called uniformitarianism.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where you get the doctrine of evolution.\u00a0 But the reality is nobody knows how everything started because only God was there.\u00a0 So the question is designed to reveal how little Job knows and Job, if you don\u2019t understand how everything started then you certainly don\u2019t understand the problems in your life without My revelation and insight.\n\nBut notice what it says, Job 38:4, \u201cWhere were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?\u00a0 Tell Me,<\/em> if you have understanding, [5] Who set its measurements? Since you know\u201d He\u2019s being sarcastic here.\u00a0 \u201cOr who stretched the line on it?\u00a0 [6] \u201cOn what were its bases sunk?\u00a0 Or who laid its corner\u00adstone,\u201d and where you [7] \u201cWhen the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?\u201d\u00a0 Now he mentions \u201cstars.\u201d \u00a0Do you see that?\u00a0 \u00a0Now these can\u2019t be literal stars because they\u2019re singing, you don\u2019t have singing stars.\u00a0 So the stars here must be what?\u00a0 Angels and you know that because of the next clause, \u201cAnd all the sons of God\u201d a reference to angels, \u201cshouted for joy.\u201d\n\nSo what you have there in verse 7 is what\u2019s called synonymous Hebrew parallelism.\u00a0 When you look at Hebrew poetry it doesn\u2019t rhyme with sounds like ours does, it rhymes with ideas.\u00a0 And you have to study the two lines together because those lines have a relationship with each other.\u00a0 And there are many forms of Hebrew parallelism but this is what\u2019s called synonymous Hebrew parallelism where the second line repeats what\u2019s in the first line but in different words.\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice if Hebrew parallelism is here, which I think it is, \u201csons of God,\u201d angels, are analogized to morning stars.\u00a0 So the very first reference to angels, one of the first references to angels in the oldest book of the Bible analogizes them to stars.\u00a0 So therefore, when I go back to Isaiah 14:12 and I start to read about the King of Babylon and then all of a sudden it starts talking about him in terms of a star, that\u2019s another reason why I think it\u2019s legitimate to see the doctrine of angels in Isaiah 14:12-15.\n\n[Isaiah 14:12-15, \u201cHow you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!\u00a0 You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations!\u00a0 [13] But you said in your heart, \u2018I will ascend to heaven;\u201d notice how many I\u2019s are here, \u2018I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.\u00a0 [14] \u2018I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;\u201d and here\u2019s the clincher, \u201cI will make myself like the Most High.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Verse 15, \u201cNevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.\u201d]\n\nAnd then you\u2019ll notice verse 12, that the King of Babylon or the motivation behind the King of Babylon was \u201ccut down\u201d and thrust \u201cto the earth.\u201d\u00a0 That would be a very strange description of a human king, wouldn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Because a human king is always on the earth.\u00a0 This is talking about someone that was cut down and thrown to the earth, and so that\u2019s yet another reason why I think Satanology is in Isaiah 14:12-15.\n\nAnd the reason I\u2019m going into a little bit of the details of this is the current trend in evangelical scholarship is to not see Satan in the Isaiah 14 passage.\u00a0\u00a0 You have people like my professor, Charles Dyer who is very, very good, a very good teacher and a wonderful scholar, I had him for Old Testament prophets at Dallas Seminary and he believed that the fall of Satan was in the Ezekiel passage, it\u2019s clear there he would say because it says \u201ccherub.\u201d But he did not believe that the fall of Satan was in the Isaiah 14 passage.\u00a0 You have other people at Dallas Seminary, like Robert B. Chisholm who wrote a book called The Handbook on the Prophets<\/em> on the prophets, and he denies that Satan is in the Ezekiel 28 passage and the Isaiah 14 passage.\n\nI\u2019m of the persuasion that Satan is in both passages which is what the doctrinal statement of Dallas Seminary teaches.\u00a0 And it\u2019s what Lewis Sperry Chafer, who founded Dallas Seminary, believed also.\u00a0 Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote a book on Satan and Satanology, I forgot the exact title of it but you Google it and find it easily.\u00a0 And he sees Satan in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. Dwight Pentecost, my professor, saw Satan in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14.\u00a0 And so I also, for reasons that I\u2019ve tried to explain, see Satan in Ezekiel 18 and Isaiah 14.\n\nBut what I\u2019m teaching here is not really trending today amongst the younger generation of scholars.\u00a0 So if it\u2019s not Satan who do they think it\u2019s talking about?\u00a0 Well, here\u2019s a quote from The Bible Knowledge Commentary<\/em> by John Martin.\u00a0 The Bible Knowledge Commentary<\/em> is very good.\u00a0 John Martin wrote the Isaiah section of the Old Testament commentary of The Bible Knowledge Commentary<\/em> and when you look at what he says in Isaiah 14:12-15 he doesn\u2019t believe Satan is in the passage at all.\u00a0 Notice how he explains the passage. He says, \u201cThe arrogance and fate of the tyrant,\u201d now the tyrant is the King of Babylon, \u201cin his military might this great king had laid low the nations, including Phoenicia, Philistia, Egypt, Moab, Edom, Cilicia, much of Judah, and northern Arabia.\u201d\u00a0 So when it says \u201cyou have weakened the nations\u201d the view I have is Satan weakened the nations and so did the King of Babylon who Satan was motivating.\u00a0 He thinks this is exclusively about the King of Babylon.\n\nHe goes on and he says, \u201cBut he would fall like a morning star. The brilliance of a star in the early dawn suddenly vanishes when the sun rises<\/u>. Sennacherib, because of his great power, thought himself godlike, but now by startling contrast he would be in the grave. In the ancient Near East, kings had supreme power; many were deified by their subjects...<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 So he says this has nothing to do with the fall of Satan, it just has to do with the King of Babylon whose star was vanished just as suddenly as the sun rises.\u00a0 So he doesn\u2019t see angelology here at all.\u00a0 And I tried to explain that \u201cstar\u201d here, going back to Job 38, means an angel.\u00a0 And so I don\u2019t have a problem seeing this not as a literal star like an astronomy lesson and an analogy but actually Satan motivating the King of Babylon.\n\nSo what does he do when he gets all this language about \u201cyou have fallen, O star of the morning,\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYou have been cut down\u2026\u00a0 you have weakened the nations!\u201d\u00a0 He just says that\u2019s hyperbole.\u00a0 Well what is a hyperbole?\u00a0 A hyperbole is an exaggeration to prove a point.\u00a0 You know, I\u2019m so hungry I could eat a horse.\u00a0 Well, you probably couldn\u2019t eat a horse, I mean maybe I could, I don\u2019t know if you could.\u00a0 Your stomach is not big enough to hold a horse but you\u2019re deliberately exaggerating to show how hungry you are.\n\nAnd that\u2019s what John Martin thinks is happening in this passage, it\u2019s just hyperbole.\u00a0 He writes, \u201c\u2026The people taunting this tyrant pictured him ascribing godlike characteristics to himself. Ascending to heaven \u2026 above the stars and being enthroned on \u2026 the sacred mountain recalls the belief of several Semitic peoples that the gods lived on Mount Zaphon<\/u>.\u00a0 <\/u>\u2018Sacred mountain\u2019 translates \u1e63\u0101p\u0331\u00f4n<\/em> (lit., \u2018the north\u2019). By ascending the mountain above \u2026 the clouds, he was seeking to make himself like God, the Most High. (The language used here, of course,\u201d<\/u> he says, \u201cis hyperbolical<\/u>.) Yet he would be brought low to the grave (pit is a synonym for grave). Nothing could save him from death and from decay in the grave.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0[John A. Martin, \"Isaiah,\" in The Bible Knowledge Commentary<\/em>, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor, 1983), 1061-62.]\n\nSo he thinks this is all hyperbolic.\u00a0 The problem is look at Isaiah\u2019s prophecies; to me they have a tendency to come to pass very literally.\u00a0 Isaiah 53, would you say that became too past literally?\n\nWas Jesus literally pierced.\u00a0 Was He literally crucified between the thieves.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see all that in Isaiah 53 seven hundred years in advance.\u00a0 And so why would I just hyperbolize something when the book has a track record of being very literal.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s the prophet Isaiah that predicts the coming of the King of Cyrus, mentioned by name, Isaiah end of chapter 44 into chapter 45.\u00a0 Who would liberate the nation of Israel from captivity?\u00a0 And that name was called out 200 years in advance.\u00a0 And notice how literal that is.\n\nSo when Martin starts to go into all this information about how this is just hyperbolic, I have a problem with that because I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a lot of hyperbole in the prophet Isaiah. I think things are literally happening!\u00a0 I think that\u2019s what happening here is literally the King of Babylon he\u2019s addressing but he\u2019s also addressing the morning star which I think is an angel.\u00a0 And I tried to explain earlier why I think that\u2019s true, motivating the King of Babylon.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not an explanation that Martin wants to go for; he thinks it\u2019s just an analogy to the [can't understand word] and the sun vanishing in the morning or coming up in the morning and vanishing in the evening.\u00a0 And I think he\u2019s sort of missing the point of the passage.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think this is an astronomy lesson. I don\u2019t think this is hyperbole.\u00a0 I think there was a real angelic force motivating the King of Babylon.\u00a0 Now I confess or can see that it may be a little less clear than the Ezekiel passage.\u00a0 To me the Ezekiel passage is crystal clear because it says \u201ccherub\u201d right there in the text, so that can\u2019t be just the literal King of Tyre.\u00a0 But using the same methodology I\u2019m also seeing Satan here in Isaiah 14:12-15 as well.\n\nLook what he says here; this is where all of the scholars are going and I want to point out this to you because you\u2019re going to get hit with this by somebody at some point when this discussion comes up.\u00a0 He says, \u201cThe sacred mountain\u201d which is mentioned in the text, \u201crecalls the belief of several Semitic people that the gods lived on Mount Zaphon<\/u>.\u201d\u00a0 Now what is he talking about?\u00a0 He\u2019s saying that all the prophet Isaiah is doing is going out there into the Ancient Near East and grabbing examples from mythology from the Ancient Near East, how kings fell in the Ancient Near East and Ancient Near Eastern writings, whether it\u2019s the Domitian writings, Canaanite writings, etc. etc. etc.\u00a0 He\u2019s going out into that literature and using it as an example, as an analogy concerning how Satan originally fell.\u00a0 So Satan is not accusing how the King of Babylon originally fell. So he\u2019s saying that Satan is not in this passage at all.\n\nAnd when you take a look at the NET Bible I don\u2019t think you guys have these quotes, I put these up late last night, they\u2019re posted on the website, when you look at the NET Bible, which is the New English Translation, which is the new Bible translation with notes, put out by Dallas Seminary, you\u2019ll see them doing the exact same thing.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find them denying Satan is in the Isaiah 14 passage.\u00a0 So notice what the NET Bible says about Isaiah 14:12-15.\n\n\u201cWhat is the background for the imagery in vv.\u00a012-15? This whole section (vv.\u00a04b-21) is directed to the king of Babylon,\u201d now I agree with that, but it\u2019s also directed to the angelic force motivating the king of Babylon.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026is directed to the king of Babylon who is clearly depicted as a human ruler. Other kings of the earth address him in vv.\u00a09ff.,\u201d I agree with that, \u201che is called \u2018the man\u2019 in verse\u00a016,\u201d I agree with that, \u201cand, according to vv.\u00a019-20, he possesses a physical body.\u201d\u00a0 See what they\u2019re doing is they\u2019re saying this can\u2019t be Satan at all because it\u2019s talking about a human king.\u00a0 My response to that is it\u2019s a dual reference; yes, of course it\u2019s talking about a human king but it\u2019s talking about the angelic force motivating that human king, in the same vein that Jesus addressed Peter with in Matthew 16 and addressed the Pharisees with in John 8.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026he possesses a human body.\u00a0 Nevertheless, the language of vv.\u00a012-15\u00a0has led some to see a dual referent in the taunt song.\n\nThese verses, which appear to be spoken by other pagan kings to a pagan king (cf. vv.\u00a09-11), contain several titles and motifs that resemble those of Canaanite mythology<\/u>, including references to Helel son of Shachar, the stars of El, the mountain of assembly, the recesses of Zaphon, and the divine title Most High\u2026\u201d\n\nThese verses, which appear to be spoken by other pagan kings to a pagan king (cf. vv.\u00a09-11), contain several titles and motifs that resemble those of Canaanite mythology<\/u>,\u201d oh no, here we go, here is the tactic, let\u2019s go to Ancient Near Eastern mythology outside the Bible and find something similar to what\u2019s happening here in Isaiah 14 and let\u2019s pretend that the biblical writer is not talking about Satan at all but rather he is using not inspired Ancient Near Eastern mythology as an analogy for what the King of Babylon is going to go through here when he becomes lifted up with pride.\u00a0 \u201ccontain several titles and motifs that resemble those of Canaanite mythology <\/u>including references to Helel, son of Shachar, the stars of El, the mountain of assembly, the recesses of Zaphon, and the divine title Most High\u2026\u201d \u00a0now look at this next word, \u201capparently\u201d you see what that means there?\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll show you exactly what that means in a second.\n\nWhat he\u2019s saying is there\u2019s a story out there that apparently is similar to Isaiah 14:12-15 but we haven\u2019t found it yet.\u00a0 It\u2019s eventually going to show up.\u00a0 It\u2019s a lot like dealing with an evolutionist because the evolutionist is always trying to show you the missing link between apes and humans, and the reason they call it the missing link is because the link\u00a0 is still missing and they haven\u2019t been able to find the missing link; every time they find something it\u2019s like a monkey with rickets or a tooth or something from a pig.\u00a0 And by the way, these guys are very good artists, they\u2019ll draw the whole thing as a missing link, as what it allegedly looks like, until you read the fine print and they got this whole thing from a tooth.\u00a0 And what they\u2019re saying is we know it\u2019s out there and when we find it\u2019s going to look like this but we haven\u2019t quite found it yet.\u00a0 That\u2019s what they\u2019re doing here with this Canaanite mythology.\u00a0 They\u2019re looking for something on point that seems to go along with what the Isaiah passage reveals but they haven\u2019t found it exactly.\u00a0 And these are the hoops that they\u2019re jumping through to deny Satanology in Isaiah 14:12-15.\n\n\u201cApparently <\/u>these verses allude to a mythological story<\/em>,\u201d well tell me the story, \u201cabout a minor god, (Helel son of Shachar) who tried to take over Zaphon, the mountain of the gods. His attempted coup failed, and he was hurled down to the underworld. The king of Babylon is taunted for having similar unrealized delusions of grandeur.\u201d\u00a0 So eventually we\u2019re going to find this story from extra biblical mythology which is going to read exactly like the Isaiah 14 passage.\u00a0 And that\u2019s all the prophet Isaiah is doing is he\u2019s drawing an analogy between the King of Babylon and this extra biblical Ancient Near East literature but to be honest with you we haven\u2019t found that exact story yet.\u00a0 That\u2019s in essence what they\u2019re saying.\u00a0 Why are they doing this.\u00a0 Look at the last sentence.\u00a0 \u201cSome Christians have seen an allusion to the fall of Satan here, but this seems contextually unwarranted.\u201d\u00a0 <\/u>\n\nThey\u2019re doing all of this to deny Satan is in the passage altogether.\u00a0 Now the reason I\u2019m going into a little bit of depth on this is because I was going through my classes there at Dallas Seminary, I was in the doctrinal program, I had to take an Old Testament class and that\u2019s what these guys were talking about all the time, how Satan is not in Isaiah 14, he\u2019s not in Ezekiel 28, and only a dumb fundamentalist would see Satan in those passages.\u00a0 Everybody knows this is just an analogy to extra biblical Canaanite mythology.\n\nSo that\u2019s what disturbed me because they had asked me to sign on to their doctrinal statement when\u00a0 I started taking classes there as a student and one of the things in the doctrinal statement was that the fall of Satan is found in Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-17.\u00a0 And I look at the writings of Dr. Chafer, he saw Satan in both passages.\u00a0 I look at the writings of Ezekiel 28 and he saw Satan in both passages.\u00a0\u00a0 And so who are these younger guys to deny Satan is there?\n\nAnd so I started looking around about this, because it bothered me and I found a doctoral dissertation that was like gold.\u00a0 The dissertation was written actually by a Seventh Day Adventist at a Seventh day Adventist school and there it was in the Dallas Seminary library and the author of this dissertation was Jose Maria Bertolucci, kind of a tough name to forget\u2026. Jose Maria Bertolucci!\u00a0 And he goes through every single myth in the Ancient Near East that\u2019s ever been uncovered to try to explain either the Ezekiel 28 passage or the Isaiah 14 passage.\u00a0 And he compares every single myth out there to the language of the passage themselves, he looks at Phoenician myths, Canaanite myths, every single myth he could ever find, and he says when you look at the details of each myth (and the devil is always in the details, right), there are points of similarity to Ezekiel 28, there are points of similarity to Isaiah 14, but guess what?\u00a0 The differences outweigh the similarities.\n\nSo what these scholars are doing is they\u2019re falling for a logical fallacy which indicates that similarity is the same thing as equality.\u00a0 Similarity is not equality!\u00a0 I\u2019ve got two cars in my garage.\u00a0 Why do I have two cars in my garage?\u00a0 Because I\u2019m an American and it\u2019s my constitutional rights to have two cars in my garage.\u00a0 [Laughter] So doggone, I\u2019ve got two cars in my garage.\u00a0 Those cars look a lot alike, they both have an engine in them and a steering column and a trunk in the back and four wheels.\u00a0 They look very similar but car A does not equal car B, because the two cars are similar, both cars are the same is the logical fallacy.\u00a0 That\u2019s what you\u2019re getting from the NET Bible; that\u2019s what you\u2019re getting from John Martin\u2019s treatment of Isaiah 14 in the Bible Knowledge Commentary.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice that none of these sources I quoted are ever mentioned\u2026 EVER mentioned in the dissertation by Jose Maria Bertolucci.\u00a0 Either they don\u2019t know the dissertation is out there or they\u2019ve just chose to ignore what it says.\n\nAnd so people ask me all the time, Andy, do you recommend the NET Bible?\u00a0 My answer to it is there are probably some good things in the NET Bible but to be honest with you I don\u2019t really recommend it because I feel it\u2019s academically dishonest because it takes evidence that goes against their position and doesn\u2019t even make the readers aware that such evidence exists.\u00a0 That bothers me about a study Bible allegedly created to honor the God of spirit and what?\u00a0 And truth.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not even scholarship; scholarship involves acknowledging points that go against your case and dealing with those points.\u00a0 NET Bible doesn\u2019t even do that here in Isaiah 14:12-15.\n\nSo what have I tried to say?\u00a0 Let me sum up in 30 seconds what I just took 45 minutes trying to get at.\u00a0 Isaiah 14:12-15 is a reference to Satan motivating the King of Babylon.\u00a0 This is not hyperbolic, this is not an astronomy lesson.\u00a0 And what is going on in this passage has nothing to do with Ancient Near East mythology because every piece of mythology you look at, according to Jose Maria Bertolucci, the differences outweigh the similarities. Similarity is not equality!\u00a0 Now Robert Chism in his Handbook on the Prophets<\/em> where he goes on and on and on about how Satan is not in either passage also never mentions the dissertation by Jose Maria Bertolucci.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t try to interact with it, doesn\u2019t even dismiss it with a footnote, just pretends it\u2019s not even there.\n\nSo not everything you read in Christian literature is in fact the truth.\u00a0 Do we all understand that!\u00a0 Not every study Bible you get is the truth.\u00a0 Not every Bible Encyclopedia, Bible Commentary is the truth.\u00a0 Not necessarily every pastor is telling you the truth.\u00a0 So that makes incumbent upon you to do your own research and to be a Berean, and I hope you do that with everybody you listen to including myself because I\u2019m a fallible human being as well.\u00a0 I can get things wrong.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You say that didn\u2019t happen\u2026 my wife is sitting right there, she\u2019ll tell you all kinds of things I get wrong, directions, phone numbers, address, I get things wrong all the time, I try to limit areas of course to the pulpit, I can get things wrong as well. The reality is this [the Bible] is your authority, okay, not some scholar who\u2019s trying to conform opinion to move a certain direction.\n\nBy the way, when you look at 1 Timothy 3:6 and the Apostle Paul is laying out the qualifications for elders, which is something you ought to study because we elect elders in this church, don\u2019t we. What kind of people should you nominate as elders.\u00a0 Paul gives you a list there in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. \u00a0By the way, being rich and famous is not one of the qualifications.\u00a0 [1 Timothy 3:1-7, \u201cIt is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do<\/em>. [2] An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, [3] not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. [4] He must be<\/em> one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity [5] (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), [6]\u00a0<\/sup>and<\/em> not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. [7] And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church<\/em>, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.\u201d\n\nVerse 6 sas an elder must not be \u201ca new convert, so that he will not become conceited\u201d and look at this, \u201cand fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.\u201d\u00a0 And you read that and you say well what was \u201cthe condemnation incurred by the devil.\u201d\u00a0 Paul doesn\u2019t tell you.\u00a0 So he\u2019s obviously assuming prior knowledge in the Old Testament that reveals to you what the condemnation of the devil is. And folks, you\u2019ve only got two passages, Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-17.\u00a0 And if Satanology is in neither passage as is the mindset you\u2019re getting from many today, then Paul is referring back to something without enough information to fill in the meaning.\u00a0 You see that?\n\nThe fact that it\u2019s unexplained what the condemnation of the devil means is indicative of the fact that I have to find somewhere in the Old Testament, the fall of Satan, whatever it original was.\u00a0 So what am I trying to say?\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to say Satan is behind the King of Babylon in Isaiah 14:12-15.\u00a0 And if you agree with me up to this point in time then this passage, Isaiah 14:12-15 fills in incredible information concerning the first state and follow statements.\u00a0 And what you have here in Isaiah 14:12-15, going back to that particular passage, are the five \u201cI will\u201d statements of Lucifer.\u00a0 These were the five thoughts going through his mind that precipitated or in fact caused his fall.\n\nSo let\u2019s look at these five \u201cI will\u201d statements.\u00a0 By the way, these aren\u2019t even statements, these are thoughts.\u00a0 If you look at verse 13 of Isaiah 14 what does it say there?\u00a0 \u201cBut You said in Your heart,\u201d these were attitudes in his heart that weren\u2019t necessarily coming out of his mouth but this is what he was thinking.\u00a0 You have to, as the Bible says, Proverbs 4:23, \u201cGuard your heart with all diligence, for from the heart proceed of life.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s so much in the Bible about our heart and the attitudes in our heart and Lucifer himself would know something about this because these were attitudes in his heart that caused his original fall.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll notice it says there, verses 12-15, really beginning in verse 13, \u201cI will.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 14: 13] \u201cBut you said in your heart, \u2018I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.\u00a0 [14] \u2018I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.\u2019\u00a0 [15] \u201cNevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.\u201d]\u00a0 He says \u201cI will\u201d in his heart five times.\u00a0 And this is very significant because this, if I\u2019m understanding it correctly, is the first time another will other than God\u2019s will entered the cosmos.\u00a0 Prior to this point in time God\u2019s will ran everything supremely, there was no other will.\n\nBut now for the first time in history the will of one of God\u2019s creatures is asserting itself against God.\u00a0 And every time I take my will and assert it against God is the moment I\u2019m moving into sin, right?\u00a0 It\u2019s the pattern for me and it\u2019s a pattern for you.\u00a0 And one of the most frightening things we have as image bearers of God is free will because with the free will I can reject God and I can go right into hell and God will respect my decision.\u00a0 Why would He respect my decision?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s how He\u2019s made me, as an image bearer of God. And so what is the smartest thing you can do with your free will, since you have that awesome power, what is the smartest thing you can do?\u00a0 Take your free will and do what with it?\u00a0 Submit it back to God!\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what role models in Jesus Christ Himself, God incarnate, didn\u2019t Jesus say, Luke 22:42, \u201cNot My will be done but\u201d what? \u201cThy will be done.\u201d\u00a0 So He\u2019s role modeling for us the opposite of what Lucifer is doing for in his own heart he\u2019s setting himself against the will of God.\u00a0 So this is probably the first record that we have anywhere in the Bible of sin entering the picture.\n\nAnd so let\u2019s walk through very, very fast what were Lucifer\u2019s five \u201cI will\u201d statements that got him into so much trouble.\u00a0 Five of them.\u00a0 Number one, verse 13, \u201cI will ascend to heaven.\u201d\u00a0 What\u2019s he saying there?\u00a0 I\u2019m going to make myself equal in terms of recognition with God Himself.\u00a0 It sort of like somebody running a business, and you hire someone to run a part of that business for you. So they\u2019re in a management position, you\u2019re in a CEO position, and all of a sudden the manager doesn\u2019t like the fact that he\u2019s not calling the shots. And there\u2019s kind of a power play where he tries to be the CEO of the company.\u00a0 In other words, Lucifer didn\u2019t respect the God ordained authority that God had given him, and he didn\u2019t want to function within that authority box.\u00a0 So, he said in his heart, number one, I will ascend to heaven, in other words, I will gain equal recognition with God.\n\nNumber two, he said, and you see it there in verse 13, this is very interesting, \u201cI will raise my throne\u201d apparently Lucifer had a throne, not the ultimate throne but under God\u2019s throne, \u201cI will raise my throne above the\u201d what does it say there in verse 13?\u00a0 \u201cabove the stars.\u201d\u00a0 Now who are the stars?\u00a0 Angels. [Isaiah 14:13, \u201c\"But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0So what\u2019s he saying here.\u00a0 I\u2019m no longer content with being a general in God\u2019s army, I\u2019m no longer content in managing other angels under God, I want to manage those angels myself, without God\u2019s authority at all.\u00a0 And so what he\u2019s saying in his heart is I want to rule over the angels in the place of God.\u00a0 Now he had absolutely no right to do that because he himself was a created being and was one of those angels.\n\nThen he says something else very interesting, also in verse 13, \u201cI will sit enthroned on the\u201d what? \u201cmount of the assembly.\u201d [Isaiah 14:13, \u201cBut you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 Now do a word study on \u201cmountain\u201d sometime in the Book of Isaiah and what you\u2019ll see is the mountain is Zion, the mountain of the Lord, Jerusalem where Jesus one day \u00a0\u00a0is going to rule this entire world in the millennial kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0 Isaiah chapter 2:2; Isaiah 2:3. [Isaiah 2:2, Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.\u00a0 [3] And many peoples will come and say, \u201cCome, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.\u201d For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.\u201d]\n\nAnd so when Lucifer says, I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly\u201d what I think he is saying in his heart is I\u2019m going to rule over the earth in the place of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Jesus, the second member of the Trinity will not be the ruler of this world, I will be the ruler of this world.\u00a0 And sadly Lucifer got his realization fulfilled, didn\u2019t he, because even as I speak based on what he did in Eden he became the ruler of this world for a season, did he not?\u00a0 [Isaiah 14:13, \u201cBut you said in your heart, \u2018I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.\u201d]\n\nAnd then the fourth statement that you find here in Isaiah 14:12-15, and you\u2019ll see it there in verse 14, he says, \u201cI\u201d here\u2019s another reference on I, this guy has a bad case of the I\u2019s, \u201cI will ascend to the tops of the mountains,\u201d verse 14.\u00a0 [Isaiah 14:14, \u201c'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 In other words, I will ascend to the tops of the clouds rather, verse 14.\u00a0\u00a0 Now when you study\u201d clouds\u201d in the Bible \u201cclouds\u201d is a reference to the glory of God.\u00a0 So when the rapture happens, 1 Thessalonians 4 says He\u2019s coming in the clouds.\u00a0 Does it not say that?\u00a0\u00a0 [Isaiah 4:16, \u201cFor the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. [17] After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.\u201d]\n\nAnd I used to look up in the sky and say well, I don\u2019t see any clouds today so I guess the rapture can\u2019t happen today.\u00a0 It\u2019s not talking about meteorological clouds, weather clouds, it\u2019s talking about glory, when He comes He\u2019s coming in His glory at the point of the rapture.\u00a0 So when Lucifer says \u201cI will ascend to the tops of the clouds what he is doing is he is assuming God\u2019s glory for himself.\u00a0 I\u2019m tired of refracting God\u2019s glory, I\u2019m tired of reflecting God\u2019s glory, I want this glory for myself.\u00a0 And as my dad used to tell me when I was growing up, when you start thinking that way you\u2019re \u201ccrusin\u2019 for a brusin.\u2019\u201d \u00a0Every time I was on the threshold of getting into trouble in my home he would say \u201cyou\u2019re crusin\u2019 for a brusin.\u2019\n\nAnd when someone desires glory that rightfully belongs to God is the moment they\u2019re \u201ccrusin\u2019 for a brusin\u2019 because Isaiah 42:8 God says He will not share His glory with anyone else.\u00a0 [Isaiah 42:8 says, \u201cI am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images.\u201d\u00a0 So Lucifer says I want God\u2019s glory for myself.\u00a0 When you start to understand this, you understand why Paul says don\u2019t put a new convert into a place of authority in the church lest they fall into the condemnation of Satan, because the problem with a new convert is they may be justified before God by faith alone but they haven\u2019t walked with God very long and their practice probably hasn\u2019t caught up with their position through progressive sanctification, which is a lifelong process.\u00a0 And so they\u2019re going to get into a position of authority and they\u2019re going to see God at work and in their nativity they\u2019re going to say \u201cWow, isn\u2019t it great that God is using me.\u00a0 And where would God be with me, I must be pretty important.\u00a0 I mean, poor God how did He operate everything before I showed up.\u201d\u00a0 And they start to step in the way of the glory of God.\n\nBilly Graham summed it up very well.\u00a0 He says, \u201cThe three falls of ministry,\u201d he called them the three G\u2019s, he said \u201cdon\u2019t touch the gold (embezzlement), don\u2019t touch the girls (sexual immorality),\u201d and then the third thing he said is \u201cdon\u2019t touch the glory.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 And if you watch how ministers and pastors fall it\u2019s always the three things, over and over and over again, the girls, the gold or they get some kind of problem stepping into the way of God\u2019s glory.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why when people come up to me, and part of me appreciates the encouragement as I get discouraged like anybody else, and they say this is the greatest sermon I\u2019ve ever heard, you changed my whole life.\u00a0 And it\u2019s so tempting to say you know, I did a pretty good job on that, didn\u2019t I?\u00a0 I mean, I was up late studying and I put my Power Points together and boy, let me break my hand patting myself on the back because I\u2019m pretty important to God.\n\nWell, once you start thinking like that (as my father said) \u201cyou\u2019re crusin for a brusin,\u201d you\u2019re stepping into the way of God\u2019s glory. So the practice I like to follow whenever people heap words or praise on me, now sometimes people don\u2019t use praise, it\u2019s words of condemnation, but the occurrence where it\u2019s words of praise I always like to say well \u201cpraise the Lord,\u201d you know\u2026 in other words, you give the glory back to where it belongs.\u00a0 This is God\u2019s Book, this is God\u2019s church, this is God\u2019s Holy Spirit and if He can take my feeble efforts and use them to bless you then praise the Lord.\u00a0 So you might want to try that because if and when God starts using you, you\u2019re going to be in the same dilemma.\u00a0 You know, there\u2019s a couple of times the Book of Acts, around chapters 13 and 14, where God is using the apostles greatly, like Paul, people are actually worshipping Paul.\u00a0 And Paul and his companions always say stop that, knock it off, we are just fellow servants.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve shown you times in the Book of Revelation where people start to worship angels because God uses an angel and the angel says knock it off.\n\nWell, Lucifer didn\u2019t say knock it off here. He wanted to assert himself over the glory of God, and his fifth \u201cI will\u201d statement, this is very troubling here, he says, verse 14, \u201cI will make myself like the Most High.\u201d\u00a0 So he sought the supreme position in the universe to replace God.\u00a0 Now you say well, this sounds familiar, isn\u2019t this how Lucifer got Adam and Eve to fall?\u00a0 The same lie?\u00a0\u00a0 Genesis 3:5, didn\u2019t Lucifer now say in his fallen state say this, to Adam and Eve, our forbearers?\u00a0 \u201cFor God knows that in the day you eat from it\u201d the tree of knowledge in other words, \u201cyour eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.\u201d \u00a0So the lie that Lucifer deceived himself with, becoming like God, is the same lie he deceived humanity with resulting in the fall of man.\n\nWould you say he\u2019s using that lie today?\u00a0 Sure, humanism!\u00a0 Humanism is what is taught in all of our public schools today; the Bible is out, humanism is in.\u00a0 Humanism is a religion.\u00a0 The Supreme Court, in fact, in 1961 in a footnote in a case called Torcaso vs. Watkins, called humanism a religion.\u00a0 The humanists\u2019 society gets 501C3 tax exempt status, just like our church does.\u00a0 But the humanists get to teach their doctrines in the school and we don\u2019t get to teach ours.\u00a0 Does that sound fair.\n\nWhat is humanism?\u00a0 Humanism is the idea that not God is the center of all things, man is the center of all things.\u00a0 That\u2019s what these kids are being taught over and over again.\u00a0 And God, if He exists, is irrelevant!\u00a0 And that\u2019s why they\u2019re so big on evolution and nailing down evolution is the only view that can be taught in public schools because evolution allows them to explain creation without God.\u00a0 So the New Age Movement, Shirley McLain, she thought she could become a god.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I like the bumper sticker, New Age, Old Lie.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same old stuff.\u00a0 You get into the cults, the false religions, Mormonism for example, they\u2019ll tell you the same thing---you can become God and you can even one day have your own planet. I mean, it sounds an awful lot like the mindset that Lucifer got himself into trouble here.\n\nSo Isaiah 14:12-15 is a big deal because it gives you these five \u201cI will\u201d statements.\u00a0 So very fast, what happens?\u00a0 Consequences follow sin like night follows the day.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 You can\u2019t sin and not experience consequences.\u00a0 You get to pick your sin but you don\u2019t get to pick your consequences.\u00a0 That\u2019s something to think about the next time we\u2019re tempted, right?\n\nSo what happened to Lucifer?\u00a0 Number one, he fell, verse 15.\u00a0 Number two, he experienced a name change; he\u2019s no longer called Lucifer, heilel ben shakhar<\/em>, son of the morning.\u00a0 His name was changed from Lucifer to Satan, that\u2019s the name Christ addressed him with in Matthew 16:23.\u00a0 [Matthew 16:23, \u201cMatthew 16:23, \u201cBut He turned and said to Peter, \u201cGet behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God\u2019s interests, but man\u2019s.\u201d]\n\nAnd he was forever banished from heaven, verse 12. [Isaiah 14:12, \u201cHow you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!\u00a0 You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations!\u201d\u00a0 He can still go into heaven to communicate and to accuse but not to worship and serve as he once had the ability to do as a high-ranking angel.\n\nSo that sort of takes us out of the original state and first sin of Satan and next week we\u2019re going to move into the works of Satan.\u00a0 And one of the things I\u2019m working on before we get to the works of Satan is I\u2019m going to try to get into the whole subject of when did Satan fall?\u00a0 And that requires interaction with a lot of different things, including something called the gap theory which many sincere Christians adhere to.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe in the gap theory and I\u2019ll explain why.\u00a0 So we\u2019ll try to get into the when question and with what limited data we have I\u2019ll try to give you a guess, not something worth starting a new denomination over but I\u2019ll try to give you a guess as to when I think Satan fell.\u00a0 And then when we complete that then we\u2019ll get into the works of Satan.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t