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Lucifer’s Fall (Part C)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston
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July 26, 2024 6:00 am

Lucifer’s Fall (Part C)

Cross Reference Radio / Pastor Rick Gaston

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July 26, 2024 6:00 am

In Isaiah’s lifetime ancient Babylon was not the world power it would come to be in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, a hundred years later. This makes Isaiah’s prophecies about Babylon even more remarkable. In this chapter he prophesies and allegorizes the death of Babylon’s last king, King Belshazzar. Within these prophecies of Belshazzar’s […]

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The Bible covers everything. If you've ever had to engage people like this, people who are under substance abuse, this is an excellent opportunity to lay out these facts. Do you want freedom from the drug or the alcohol or whatever the substance is? Or do you want Christ? Because you can have them both. Or you can have just one.

You can just be free from your drugs and alcohol addiction, whatever you want. But the question then looms over you. What does it profit a man if he gains the world, loses his soul? And that's what it always comes back to.

You can find information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in Isaiah chapter 14 with this edition of Cross Reference Radio. He saw the fall of Satan, the ruler of this world. That's what the Bible calls him, the ruler of this world. I said earlier, he's dealing with monarchs. In John 12, Jesus speaking, now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And that's of course a process.

And it was not an instant thing. In some ways it is, but ultimately it will not be until he is locked away. Lucifer, that Satan of old, seeks to energize and motivate the leaders of the world. That's why he comes into the picture concerning the kings of Tyre in Ezekiel 28 and here in the kings of Babylon. Satan is the power behind the scenes. Satan spiritually energizes world leaders.

And we're seeing this. Who do you think is egging Vladimir Putin on? I mean, it's not Mr. Rogers.

What's the force behind it? You look at these, this guy is evil, what he's doing. He wants to look out for his economy and his country, but really, the slaughter, the evil that's taking place, this is satanic. Satan doesn't need to, he doesn't just work with world, we just, I don't want to reference current events, but we just saw Satan show up in Nashville. He has to have people to do these things.

This is a very real thing. That's why I started out by saying, you know, people who are naysayers about the scripture, they don't know what they're talking about when it comes to God. And it's fine to tell them that. You don't know what you're talking about. You think you do. You're just making up this gobbledygook because you don't like what the Bible is saying.

So you have these dumb alternatives. Ephesians 2, and you, he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Paul, man, I mean, how much is just in that? Then, you know, does Satan need helpers to do his evil?

He absolutely does. Principalities, plural and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places in Ephesians 6-12, he assigns fallen angels to national leaders so he can influence them. Daniel 10-20, and now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia, and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come. So these guys, you know, he's saying there are spiritual entities assigned to Persia's kings and rulers, not just the kings, you know, the cabinet members, the generals, there are other people in the mix, and Satan is hard at work influencing them. You say, where does the evil come from? How come there are countries they throw money into and it never gets any better? The corruption is so deep, it's just a money pit.

You want to send, you know, wheat and flour to places in Africa? The armies take it all. So, you know, this is evil.

Well, let's go further, because we'll come to some of this. Satan is behind it all, that's what Isaiah is teaching us. Some, continuing in verse 12, son of the morning, you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations. These are the world leaders. Without satanic influences, they would be strong leaders, they would take care of their people, they wouldn't rob and oppress their people. Look at almost all of South America, I mean, you just shake your head, you say, man, I don't want to live there. Why are they so poor? It's the leaders, the leadership. People might be offended at that, then what else is it? The water? No, there's a real devil and I think people in third world nations are largely unfixable because of the corruption on the leadership level and that's why Satan goes after leaders of the world and Isaiah says, you who weaken the nations.

There's a very real effect. What are we supposed to be doing in the midst of this? Saving souls. You know, again, you see Christians come to the Bible and they read Psalm 21, they say, oh, this is the Messiah on the cross. They read, you know, Isaiah 53 or Psalm 2, you can see the messianic prophecies.

How come they can't see the demonic application here in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 that lay it all out? The Ethiopian eunuch, he knew this went beyond whoever was living in the days Isaiah wrote it. He said, does this man speak of himself or someone large or someone else?

And Philip said, well, let me help you with that and hopefully we would have those kind of situations. Verse 13, 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. And here we have those personal pronouns of self-exaltation, I will, I will, I will. And the Bible comes along in the New Testament and says, say it according to if the Lord wills. Even Paul said, I'm going to come to you if the Lord wills. James said, you know, subject to the will of the Lord. So the heart is where things are embraced.

The head may figure it out, but the heart is where it is embraced. In the scriptures, the entirety of our being, that will, the feelings, the intellect, that's the heart of it. And like the king of Babylon, Satan will one day be humiliated and defeated. Until then, his damage galore. He will be cast out of heaven and he still has audience to heaven, he does not reside there. But Revelation 12 tells us the day is coming where he will lose that access and he's going to be pretty angry about that. We see him having access in the book of Job. So he was cast out as a member of heaven, but he is still allowed access.

It's sort of that old saying, you know, you keep your enemies close. And you kind of, the Lord telling us, I got my eye on him. Where you been, Satan? Oh, to and fro, I know exactly where you've been. I knew you where you were going before you knew. None of that is lost, but we need to hear it from scripture because there's so much authority to us from scripture.

And it's right. Well, he will be cast into hell, Revelation 20, 10. He will be cast out of heaven, finally, he will be cast into hell in two phases.

Just like he was cast out of heaven in two phases. So, whether God is dealing with kings or angels, it's true, pride precedes the fall. We see it in Satan and it is no surprise that those under his influence exhibit his qualities.

And so Jesus said, you're of your father, the devil and the desires of your father, you want to do. You know, there are those that are addicted to some sin and they don't want help. And then there are others that do. There are those that do because they want their life back, but they don't want Christ. They just want their freedoms, you know, the control, self-control back. Then there are others that know that they call out to God, they want deliverance.

And, you know, this is, these things, the Bible covers everything. And if you've ever had to engage people like this, people who are under substance abuse, this is an excellent opportunity to lay out these facts, you know. Do you want freedom from the drug or the alcohol or whatever the substance is? Or do you want Christ? Because you can have them both or you can have just one.

You can just be free from your drugs and alcohol addiction, whatever it is. But the question then looms over you. What does it profit a man if he gains the world loses his soul? And that's what it always comes back to. So here's Satan in this monologue that Isaiah preserved for us, given to him by God.

God's sort of saying, let me tell you what Satan went through in his heart, that dirty heart of his. I will ascend into heaven. These I wills beginning here, well continuing here, are spiraling out of control. But he's the consummate maniac.

And I don't mean that as intended to be an insult. Let's open in a little bit more. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. And so here's the fall.

He's falling. Shakespeare said, I charge thee, fling away ambition, by that sin fell angels. You've got to love Shakespeare. He's very articulate. I wish I could talk like that. You know, go up to somebody, thou thinketh thou, thou thought thy thinketh. He hearkened unto her. Hark, hark, hearkened he.

That's Larry from the Three Stooges. Anyway, I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. These are not words of a human being. We know this is a spiritual entity.

And he has got a lot of rank. What man could voice such spectacular ambitions and not be considered crazy? Imagine if you went into your work place and said, I will sit on the mount of the congregation in the farthest part. He said, what are you talking about?

It's not even normal speech. Well, it is for Satan because that's the spiritual realm that he was in. He was an archangel. Verse 14, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. There's your Shirley MacLaine.

I don't know if some of you don't know who she is, but she was one of the champions of the New Age movement, which we are, you know, the age of Aquarius. We are just evolving into this God state. We still pay taxes, though.

That should disprove that. Anyway, the name Michael, the angel named Michael, or the name Michael means who's like God. It's not even, it's a rhetorical question. Ironically, Satan, in his rebellion, he says, I will be like God.

I will be like the most high. So he discards that truth. It's convenient for him and God lets him do it. Lucifer does not stop there.

This is still his offer to men. Genesis 3, 5, you will be like God. Eve, you want to improve yourself? You can be like God.

So what appealed to Lucifer, he uses to trap humans, as he did with Eve. The promise of divinity, promise of self-realization, and a twisted pursuit of self-improvement. Self-improvement is good, to a point, not when you want to be like God. Isaiah 46, 9, remember the former things of old. I am God and there is no other. I am God and there's none like me. And the one who recognizes that, the one who recognizes that there are none like God but God, is the one who resists the devil. These are marks of the believer. Verse 15, yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit.

That's what it is. Revelation 22, I love this, whoever this angel is, he's a tough dude. He just sort of grabs Satan while he's eating a sandwich, you know, and one hand grabs him. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan.

He's a slanderer and he's an enemy. He was Lucifer in the beginning, but he threw all that away and bound him for a thousand years. I don't know if there's any talking going along with this when he's binding him. It's like, I've been wanting to do this to you for the last 5,000 years. I mean, I don't know, you know, I don't know.

I just want to see this. I like to hand him whatever he binds him with, pulls out his hand, you know, rope, chain, bungee, snack. Verse 20, the devil, Revelation 20, 10, the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever, without end.

That's where it goes. After he's chained for a thousand years, he's released for a little bit, he doesn't get to mess with the saints, but he gets to mess with people born on earth, you know, after the return of Christ. They will put together a plan to resist God, he wipes them out right away, and Satan is forever cast into the lake of fire. Verse 16 now, those who see you will gaze at you and consider you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms? Well, Belshazzar really wasn't all that, his kingdom was, but Satan is. Again, this goes beyond mere men, many have come and gone, who are wicked and diabolical, but this with Satan in back of them the entire time.

The one who promised the kingdoms of this age to Jesus, if Jesus would only worship him, only bow down to him, is the same one being addressed here, the wicked weasel, the father of lies. And ultimately, he's judged, stripped of power and influence, and mocked as we come to the latter verses. Collectively, you cannot take Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 and apply all of it to a human being.

You have to weave in and out a little bit, but the bulk of it goes to Satan. So we continue verse 17, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of the prisoners. Fits Satan perfectly, certainly applies to the wicked kings of the earth to some degree. 2 Thessalonians 2, 9 gives us a little bit more insight on this evil realm. The coming of the lawless one, which is antichrist, is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders. So if you become a convert to Christ during the great tribulation period, and you say to one of those worldlings who wants the mark of the beast, because they're going to want it, they want that mark.

And we're seeing precursors to this already taking place. To them, antichrist is going to be that proverbial rock star that everybody's going to admire and swoon over when he first comes on the scene with his lying wonders. And so Paul says, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with power, signs and lying wonders. How do you know they're lying wonders?

Because they're going to be unrighteous. You're going to be promoting all of the perversities we see today. 1 John, I read this one from the pulpit a lot, we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. So that's, you know, when Isaiah is here talking about the power of this individual, it should be no surprise to us.

That's why I'm kind of irritated the whole time I'm up here at the theologians that, well, this isn't Satan. Or some of the other ones, you know, well this might be. Who else could it be?

It can't be Jimmy Durante. Sorry, the name just came in my head. Some of you don't know who he is either. Okay, I'm going to start using modern people. I don't know any of them.

Sorry. You'll have to Google Jimmy. Who else could this be? So I think, you know, when we preach the gospel to the lost, there needs to be some authority with us. Not this, like, well, you know, I think, there is this burst forth of heat coming out, like Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. You know, that's what, you know, who would be attracted to, well, you know, I think Christ is all that. That's not attractive.

That's insulting. Anyway, the scripture backs up what we say. Christ, Colossians, Paul writing, and you listen to Paul write and say, how did Paul know these things? Same way Isaiah did. God communicates it. There's Paul preparing, and he wants to use the word, let's see, what word do I use here? And all of a sudden he gets it.

And he gets the picture. And that's how the prophets were inspired. Holy men moved by God. 2 Corinthians 2.15, speaking about Christ and these spiritual entities, it says, having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Triumphing.

I'm just making sure I can say it again. This Christ on the cross, this Savior, did it publicly. There's nothing hidden about what Christ did. When the Christian is to be baptized, it's because the Christian has identified, he's my Lord.

Sign me up. Put my name down in bold letters. He is my Savior. He is my Lord. I am his subject. I am his servant.

Put it down. That's what the baptism is. And the baptism says to the world, I don't care if you don't like it, but I hope you love it.

I remember years ago I baptized this young man named James, and his mom didn't get baptized that year. But when it was James' time to come into the pool, he marched, he stomped into that pool. Sneakers on, jeans, he just was in his regular clothes. He just stomped into that water. And I said to him, I said, man, that's how you do it.

That's a thought. And he was probably 16 years old. And he comes and he gets baptized. His mom at the end said, I should have baptized. I should have said yes. I saw my boy Wong. I said, I bet you did see him march into that pool. Who didn't?

And the next year she got baptized. It's a public display of principalities and powers being disarmed. And we know it by faith. We don't have to see it finalized.

We have enough information to know it is finalized. And so verse 18, and all the kings of the nations, all of them sleep in glory, everyone in his own house. And let me pause there. I wish I could get baptized again, just to show people how it's done. You know, stomping out.

I'd be banging on the water as I'm walking in with defying, defying hell along those crises in front of me. Verse 18, all the kings of the nations, all of them sleep in glory, everyone in his own house. Look what he got them, right? But you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like a garment of those who are slain, thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit like a corpse trodden underfoot.

So he's just laying it out. Let me give you a picture of your fate here. You will not be joined with them in burial because you have destroyed your land and slain your people. The brood of evildoers shall never be named. And so this is really Shazzar. Prepare the slaughter for his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, lest they rise up and possess the land and fill the face of the world with cities.

I say put a stop to the spread of them. Verse 22, for I will rise up against them, says Yahweh of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name and remnant and offspring and posterity, says the Lord. So Babylon is destroyed and you will not meet a Babylonian.

It's in the land of Iraq but it has nothing to do with ancient Babylon directly. Verse 23, I will also make it a possession for the porcupine and the marshes of muddy water. I will sweep it into the broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts. So there's just this outpouring of graphic language that just makes it clear Babylon will be no more. Verse 24, Yahweh of hosts has sworn saying, surely I have thought so, surely I have thought so it shall come to pass and as I have purposed so it shall stand.

The operative word is the purpose of God. It will happen. Verse 25, that I will break the Assyrian in my land and on the mountains tread him underfoot, then his yoke shall be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulders. So now a proclamation yet again of Assyria will not be the last in the book of Isaiah.

He goes back to them. At the time this was put together Assyria is still the world power and his audience would want to still, you know, this would be meaningful to them. So we'll see Assyria more. Verse 26, this is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. Verse 27, for Yahweh of hosts has purposed and who will annul it?

His hand is stretched out and who will turn it back? So the immutable, unstoppable, unchanging purposes of God. Revelation 18 23 about ancient Babylon ties it into the source, the headwaters of occultic idolatry says this, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.

One single source of deception reached the whole world. That Greek word for sorcery is pharmakeia where we get our English word pharmacy from. So there are some potions and drugs involved. I don't call them medicines. I don't think that's what is in mind there, but drugs and medicines are two different things.

Although medicines fall into the category, but a medicine is supposed to make you better. Verse 28, this is the burden which came in the year that King Ahaz died and we're glad to see him go. Hezekiah his son, the grandson of King Hezekiah a good king will come to the throne. Verse 29, do not rejoice all you Philistia because the rod that struck you is broken, for out of the serpent's roots will come forth a viper and its offspring will be a fiery serpent. So the Philistines, which are also people gone, a race that is no longer in the race. Whether he's talking about Hezekiah dealing with them as we told in 2 Kings 18 or if he's talking about the Assyrians it really doesn't matter.

What does matter is that they were dealt with. Both the Assyrians and King Hezekiah scourged the Philistines, but Hezekiah seems to have finally made them so, marginalized them to the point where they never rose up again. Verse 30, the firstborn of the poor will feed and the needy will lie down in safety and will kill your roots with famine and it will slay your, and I will slay your remnant.

So like the Babylonians, God never promised the remnant to survive as He did with Israel. Verse 31, well, O gate, cry, O city, all you of Philistia are dissolved for smoke will come from the north and no one will be alone in his appointed times. Verse 32, and these things they're pretty much self-explanatory. Just need to comment or two like Philistines, they're done with.

The details are just right there. Verse 32, what will they answer? The messengers of the nation that Yahweh has founded Zion and the poor of his people shall take refuge in it.

So typical of the prophets, in the end Israel is going to prevail, God will prevail over Satan, but those world kingdoms that were against Israel will be gone. A little long but that's what it takes to get through. This is why other pastors don't do it. Well, most gallery pastors I think are still doing these verse by verse.

A lot of work but I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for tuning in to Cross Reference Radio today. Cross Reference Radio is a ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry we invite you to visit our website crossreferenceradio.com.

You'll find a number of teachings from Pastor Rick available there. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe you'll be notified of new editions of Cross Reference Radio. Just search for Cross Reference Radio on your favorite podcast app. You can also follow the links at crossreferenceradio.com. We're glad we were able to spend time with you today. Tune in next time to continue learning from the book of Isaiah with Pastor Rick here on Cross Reference Radio.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-07-26 08:35:23 / 2024-07-26 08:45:53 / 11

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