The Cosmic Crash; The Eternal Burn-Part A

Everywhere around us, people are making choices.

Happens every day. Some people make great choices, and we want to emulate them. But other people, frankly, make a mess out of their lives by the choices that they make. But even those people provide for us opportunities to see what is the end result of the choices that they have made. And by the way, Paul the Apostle said that we ought to do that with biblical characters. In 1 Corinthians 10, he talks about the failure of the children of Israel in the wilderness. And he says, all of these things happened to them as examples and were written for our admonition.

Winston Churchill once said, all men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip begins a series called Crash and Burn about people in the Bible who've made some big mistakes and the encouraging truths that their lives reveal to you. But before we begin, we invite you to catch Skip's Sunday Message live at 9 and 11 a.m. at live.calvarynm.church. That's 9 and 11 a.m. at live.calvarynm.church.

Now we want to let you know about a resource that will help you grow stronger in your faith. What would it look like if God threw a party? Well, the Old Testament shows that the Jewish calendar is anchored with regular mandatory holidays and celebrations. And the Book of Esther says that God wants His people to experience light and gladness, joy and honor at such times.

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Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy of Happiness, Holiness and Holidays with Skip Heitzig. Okay, we'll be in Isaiah chapter 14 for today's study, so let's join Skip Heitzig. So there was a worker who was laying carpet in the house and he finished earlier than he projected. He felt really good about that and thought he did a great job, but he looked over and surveyed his work where the carpet had been laid in the corner and he noticed a lump in the carpet. He goes, huh, I don't know what that is. He didn't want to rip it all out and start again.

And he also noticed that he was missing his pack of cigarettes, so he thought, okay, I'm not going to rip it up. I'm just going to fix it. So he goes over to the lump with a hammer and hammers it down nice and flat, right?

Just fix it and then I'll walk away from it. So it goes out to his truck and two things happen. Number one, he finds his cigarettes on the dashboard of the truck. Number two, the lady of the house shouts out to the worker and says, have you seen my parakeet?

Now I can't tell you if that was a second pack of cigarettes or that was a parakeet underneath the carpet. All I know is that I would rather read about that mistake than make that mistake. And that is what this series is going to be all about, crash and burn. We're going to read about mistakes that have been made in biblical history, people in the Bible who made wrong choices, and we're going to learn hopefully not by making them, but by reading about it and learning from it. This past week I was reading an article about a young businessman who makes a habit of studying successful entrepreneurs. And he said this, what I search for are the mistakes which set them back years so that I can identify if I have begun down a similar path and make adjustments to avoid a similar fate. So what we want to do is look out people in the Bible who have made choices and see the end road and the mistake that they made so that we don't make it. Everywhere around us, people are making choices.

It happens every day. Some people make great choices and we want to emulate them, but other people frankly make a mess out of their lives by the choices that they make. But even those people provide for us opportunities to see what is the end result of the choices that they have made. And by the way, Paul the Apostle said that we ought to do that with biblical characters. In 1 Corinthians 10, he talks about the failure of the children of Israel in the wilderness.

And he says all of these things happened to them as examples and were written for our admonition. So if you are tempted to have sex out of marriage, you may want to read about David in the Bible or Samson in the Bible and what happened to them. If you are inclined to just party your life away and make it all about gaining material wealth, it would be good for you to study Solomon's own journal in the book of Ecclesiastes to get wisdom. If you struggle with jealousy and envy, you might want to check out Genesis chapter 4 and what happened to Cain in the Bible. Or if you struggle with greed, go to the book of Joshua and look at what happened to Achan.

All of these are examples. It's wise to learn good lessons from bad examples. By the way, you know when you read the Bible, one of the most striking features is how honest it is about the heroes that are written about.

It tells you all about their failures as well as their good points, all about how they fall and make mistakes. Even the heroes have flaws. And by the way, not everybody written in the Bible is a hero.

Years ago when we used to have our annual fall fest right around this time, around Halloween, we'd provide an alternative for kids and make a big party out of it. But we'd always tell kids dress up like a biblical character and it always gave me pause of what they're going to end up dressing like because, after all, Satan is a biblical character. It really wouldn't bode well to have a bunch of kids running around church with demon costumes on, but that is a biblical character. And that's the character we want to look at today in the book of Isaiah is Satan and his crash and burn because what happened to him provides the basis for all of the other subsequent people who have crashed and burned throughout history. By the way, when Satan fell, Jesus was there to witness it.

You know, he said that in Luke chapter 10. He said, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. So in Isaiah 14, we want to kind of trace the biography, a biographical sketch of where Satan was, what happened to him, what his end is going to be and what caused it. So we want to begin in Isaiah 14 and I'm going to draw your attention to verse 12, where we find out that Satan's dwelling was in heaven.

Verse 12, how are you fallen from heaven? Oh, Lucifer, son of the morning, how you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations for you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the Mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the North. I will ascend above the Heights of the clouds.

I will be like the most high. Yet you shall be brought down to hell or Sheol to the lowest depths of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you saying, is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?

I do need to give you a little bit of the backstory of this chapter without reading it all because of time. The chapter opens up with Isaiah addressing the ruler, the earthly ruler of the kingdom of Babylon who would be judged. What's interesting about that is that when he wrote this to the king of Babylon, Babylon wasn't even on the radar screen historically.

It wouldn't even rise as a nation of any substance for some time. But Isaiah anticipates that one day it would rise, it would be a world governing power, the ruler would be cast out and would be judged. But then we get to verse 12. In verse 12 there is a shift, there is a change. It clearly changes in scope and it becomes conspicuous even to the most casual reader.

As you read you go, huh, something has changed here. So in verse 12, how are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer? Now Isaiah's gaze goes beyond a king who ruled on earth to some being who fell from heaven. And notice he's called Lucifer. The word Lucifer means light bearer or shining one. And if you're a Bible student that immediately causes you to think of a passage in Genesis chapter 3 where the Genesis passage opens up and says, now the serpent was more cunning than any of the beasts of the field which the Lord God had made. And that word serpent is an unfortunate translation of the Hebrew word nachash which literally means shining one. Now the shining one translated serpent was more cunning than all the other beasts of the field which the Lord God had made. I'm bringing this to your attention so that you know that before Satan became the prince of darkness he was the angel of light. He was the light bearer.

He was son of the morning, some terrific angelic being dwelling in heaven. I've discovered over the years that people make many mistakes but two significant equal but opposite mistakes regarding Satan. Mistake number one is that he doesn't exist at all. Mistake number two is they become obsessed with him.

Now those are at opposite end of the mistake spectrum but I discovered a lot of people make those. First of all there is denial. Most people don't even believe there is a devil. Most people around us in the world would just scoff at the idea saying he's a mythological character. It's ridiculous to think that one actually exists but you know you can't have a more powerful enemy than one you don't even know is there.

That's part of his strategy. Satan would love for you to see Genesis 3 as pure myth. He would love you to think of him as purely mythological rather than being a sophisticated knowledgeable resourceful being with the huge organization aimed at your destruction. That's what the Bible describes him as but that sounds so medieval, so antiquated. I began reading a book this week by George Barna.

It's his newest book called America at the Crossroads. He looks at the belief system of Americans and he said and I quote barely one-quarter of Americans believe Satan is a living entity. A similar proportion believes that Satan is merely the symbol of evil. The other half of the public are not sure what to make of the idea of the devil. Overall Satan is not a being or a spiritual concept that most Americans take seriously. However did you know Jesus took Satan very seriously? Very seriously and when the Bible speaks of the devil or Satan it always calls him a he, a him, never an it.

It always describes personality to this being. So that's mistake number one, denial of his actual existence. Mistake number two is to overreact, to be obsessed with him, an unhealthy fascination with the devil and even to think of Satan as the opposite of God which is ludicrous. That's what he would love you to think as well. He is not the opposite of God.

God created him and God is gonna undo him in the end. But some become so obsessed that they even fancy themselves getting together and taking authority over the powers and principalities. They are fond of having meetings, seminars, I call them Satan fests where they get together and they identify and take power over the prince of this city and the power of that country and they even talk directly to the devil in these meetings. And I've never thought it's good policy to pray to the devil. I'd rather talk to God about the devil than to talk to the devil about God.

But they love to do this. I think it's important that you simply understand in this series Crash and Burn that he fell from the height of heaven itself. And why is that important? Because no matter how close you are to God that's never a guarantee that you won't make bad choices. No matter how close you walk with the Lord you are still capable of making a poor or a series of poor choices. So his dwelling was in heaven. Then let's follow his biography.

What happened to him? His dwelling was in heaven but his domain is on the earth. Verse 12, how are you fallen from heaven O Lucifer son of the morning?

Notice what it says after that. How you are cut down to the ground. See the word ground?

It's the Hebrew word Eretz which literally means the earth. That is why modern translations will say you are cut down to the earth. I already mentioned that Jesus said in Luke chapter 10, I saw Satan fall like lightning.

Just instantaneous. He was kicked out. I saw him fall like lightning from heaven. Question is where did he fall from heaven to?

The answer is earth. He fell from heaven to the domain of the earth. He is called the God of this world. So the rebellion that began in heaven moved to the theater of the earth and you and I happen to be in the crosshairs of that invisible war. That war by the way is described in Revelation 12 briefly. It's described by saying so the great dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. In fact it says one third of all of the angelic hosts of heaven went with Satan in that great rebellion and they become known in the Bible as demons.

And this bothers some people. This bothers Christians who think oh I've got a lot of demons against me. A whole third of all the angels are now demons.

Man I got so many enemies. What you fail to realize is the meaning of that passage. One-third fell, two-thirds are left. They're outnumbered two to one.

They're outnumbered two to one. You've got God the Holy Spirit living in you and you have at your disposal dispatched for your protection and God's purposes and will. Two-thirds of the holy angels guarding his people and the Bible says you are guarded by them. So Satan has fallen from heaven. His domain is the earth but interestingly he still seems to have some sort of access to heaven even to this day. In Job chapter one we are told that there came a day when the sons of God, that's an Old Testament rendering for angels, the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan was among them.

And God said to Satan from where do you come and he said from going to and fro on the earth. So his domain is the earth, excuse me, he's kicked out of heaven but he has some sort of access to heaven as there's this accountability of being presented before the Lord. So what does he do on the earth?

What does he do? He runs it. He's called the God of this age or the God of this world and when I say he runs the world I don't mean that he runs the world in the sense that God runs the world. Of course he is sovereign. God is sovereign over all and the earth is the Lord's. However, he runs the world system.

The Bible talks about the world and I'm putting quotes around it meaning the evil system that includes all the unregenerate people. He works through them to enact his will on the earth. He has an effect the entire world in his lap.

Did you know that? 1st John chapter 5 it says we are of God little children and the whole world lies under the sway or in the lap of the wicked one. What does he do exactly? Well he has four principal targets and I'm only going to mention them because of time. He has four principal targets and you're not number one or two.

Don't flatter yourself. His principal target has always been and still is the Lord Jesus Christ. Number two, holy angels. There's always the battle in the heavenly realms.

We get insights into it in books like Daniel etc. Zechariah. The holy angels that do war. Revelation chapter 12 against Satan and his minions. So Jesus Christ, holy angels. Number three, the nation of Israel. God's covenant land that he will enact his plan through throughout history.

And number four, believers. You and I are a part of that realm. And what does he do to us?

Well we could do several studies on that, couldn't we? But one of the things he does besides tempt you, besides use the world in your flesh, is he accuses you before God. He's called the accuser of the brethren, Revelation chapter 12, who accuses them before God day and night. You're saying Satan accuses me before God? What does he tell him?

Just the truth. He's got the dirt on you. He knows what you think, what you do. He knows you.

He studied you. And the thing is all the accusations he brings I think are accurate. What he fails to understand however is the power of the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses a man or woman from all sin. So all those accusations may be right but he fails to see the judicial sentence that has been passed in your behalf. But he accuses you before God day and night.

And I dare say you've heard some of those accusations in your own little head. You call yourself a Christian. What do you, you shouldn't be at church.

What are you doing here? Answer, I'm here with all the other sinners. We all need God.

But he tries to accuse you and make you feel so bad and so guilty and so unworthy and of course the answer is I am guilty. I am unworthy. Thank you Lord for saving me. Thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ.

Next, move on. So his dwelling is in heaven. His domain is the earth. Now I did mention this and I'm going to have you turn if you're daring enough to Ezekiel chapter 28 because the corollary to what we just read in Isaiah 14 is in Ezekiel 28. And as you're turning there let me say to you that Ezekiel does exactly the same thing Isaiah does. Ezekiel begins with an earthly ruler of his day. In this case the prince of Tyre.

Tyre is on the sea coast of Lebanon ancient Phoenicia of that time. And he addresses this earthly ruler and it's a straightforward polemic, a verbal attack against the the prince of Tyre. And we know who that was.

It was a guy named Ito Baal the second who was puffed up with pride and judgment is pronounced against him. But then again there's a shift in the text and in Ezekiel chapter 28 verse 11 it says moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre. Now I want to talk about somebody even more powerful than the earthly ruler of the Phoenician Empire. The king of Tyre and say to him thus says the Lord God you were the seal of perfection full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Now who is he addressing? Well it doesn't sort of sound like it's the prince of Tyre.

It doesn't sound like it's Ito Baal the second with this language. Look at the next verse. You were in Eden the garden of God. Okay so who's he talking to? Who was in Eden?

I mean the population was pretty limited right? It was Adam and Eve and a shining one, the serpent, Lucifer, Satan. That's Skip Hyten with a message from the series Crash and Burn. Now here's Skip to share how you can keep these messages coming your way to connect you and others to God's Word. Our God has unmatched wisdom and power. That knowledge should give us great peace and comfort because we are in his care. We want to help friends like you to connect even deeper with the Lord. That's why we share these Bible teachings that you have come to love. Can you help these messages keep coming to you and many others through your support today?

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