~ Angels ~

Introduction
"Angels" is one study of a compendium of extensive and detailed biblical expositions of
the doctrinal statement of The Association of Messianic Congregations.

The third point in the AMC's doctrinal statement declares belief concerning Satan and
demons, and the fourth, on the holy angels. Inasmuch as the Bible informs us that all
angels were once holy, including those we now refer to as Satan and demons, we'll
continue our series with a study of the holy angels, and address the doctrine of Satan
and demons in our next study.

THE AMC STATEMENT ON ANGELS

We believe a great company of angels are before the throne of God, praising,
worshipping, adoring, and glorifying Him. They are sent forth to bring about God's
intended plans and purposes, and to minister to all believers. (Isaiah 6:1-7; Daniel
10:10-21; Luke 15:10; Hebrews 1:13,14; Revelation 7:11-12

This study will demonstrate biblical support for the existence of angels, describe their
nature, support the claims in the statement, and lay the foundation for our next study,
"Satan and Demons."
I. The Existence of Angels
"Angels are mentioned in Scripture 273 times, in 33 of the 66 books" (Fruchtenbaum,
Dr. Arnold G. Radio Manuscript # 73: Angelology: The Doctrine of the Elect Angels. P.
5. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries Press). I might add that they are mentioned in every
type of Bible book. They are mentioned in:

The Hebrew Scriptures, in:

 the Torah (Five Books of Moses), as in Genesis 19:1: And there came two
angels to Sodom at evening.
 the Nevi'im (Prophets), as in Zechariah 2:3: And behold, the angel who talked
with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him.
 the Ketuvim (Writings), as in Psalm 91:11: For He shall give His angels charge
over You, to keep You in all Your ways.

The New Testament, in:

 the Gospels, as in Matthew 16:27: For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of
His Father with His angels, and then He shall reward each one according to his
works.
  the Books of Acts, as in Acts 7:52-53: Which of the prophets did your fathers not
persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of
whom you have now been the betrayers and murderers; who received the Law
through disposition of angels, and did not keep it.
 the Epistles, as in 1Timothy 5:21: I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the elect angels, that you guard these things without prejudice, doing
nothing by partiality.
 and The Revelation, as in 5:11: And I looked, and I heard the voice of many
angels around the throne, and the living creatures and the elders. And the
number of them was myriads and myriads, and thousands of thousands...

It is obvious that the writers of Scripture take the existence of angels for granted, as
does the Son of Man, Himself. Speaking of Himself, He said, For the Son of Man shall
come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He shall reward each one
according to his works (Matthew 16:27).
II. The Nature of Angels
A. What Angels Are Not
Angels are not emanations from God, nor are they the present state of the deceased, or
fat little babies with wings. The Bible gives no credence to these imaginary ideas.
Neither does the Bible ever present angels as imaginary or symbolic beings. What,
then, are angels?
B. Angels Are Created Beings
All three members of the Tri-unity cooperated in the creation of all things; but
Colossians 1:16 focuses on Christ as Creator of all things, including, invisible things,
namely, thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, which are rankings of
angels: For all things were created in Him, the things in the heavens, and the things on
the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers, all things were created through Him and for Him.
C. When Were They Created?
God chides Job, Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if
you have understanding! 5. Who has set its measurements, for you know? Or who has
stretched the line on it? 6. On what are its bases sunk, or who cast its cornerstone, 7.
when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job
38:4-6)

Verse 7 tells us that the morning stars, the sons of God, that is, angels, rejoiced as God
created and established the physical universe. It is clear, then, that God created the
angels before He created the physical universe. And inasmuch as the Scriptures say
nothing about the creation of angels at any other time, and that Messiah did say that
angels are incapable of reproduction (Mark 12:25), it is fair to conclude that they were
all created at the same time before the creation of the heavens and the earth.
D. Angels Are Spirit Beings
There are three classes of beings that either are spirit, or have spirits. God is a Spirit,
people have spirits, and angels are spirits. That angels are spirit beings is clearly stated
in Hebrews 1:14: 13. But to which of the angels, did He say at any time, "Sit on My right
hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool?" 14. Are they not all ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister for those who shall be the heirs of salvation?
E. Angels Are Persons
The attributes of personality are intellect, emotions and will.

Angels Possess Intellect. 1 Peter 1:12 tells us that the angels desire to look
into salvation. They desire to ponder it. This cannot be done without intellect.

Angels Have Emotions. At creation, the morning stars sang together and all the sons of
God shouted for joy (Job 38:7). Joy is an emotion.

Each Angel Possesses a Will. Jude 1:6 speaks of certain angels having deserted their
dwelling place; and that requires free will.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit are each divine Spirit and possess the attributes of
personality. They are Persons. People have spirits and possess the attributes of
personality. People are persons. Angels are spirits and possess the attributes of
personality. Angels are persons, also.
III. Angels Have Spirit Bodies
A. A Preliminary Consideration
As we have seen in Hebrews 1:14, angels are...spirits; and yet the Scriptures present
them as having bodies. This is difficult for us to comprehend because the only kinds of
bodies we are familiar with are material bodies; but even among material bodies there
are vastly different kinds. There are bodies of flesh, blood and bone, but there are also
jellyfish bodies; and let's not forget that after the resurrection, we, ourselves, will have
vastly different kinds bodies than we have now, immortal bodies suited for life in the
heavenlies (1 Corinthians 15:50). So God can be quite versatile in the creation of
bodies.
B. What Kind of Bodies Do Angels Have?
Angels do not have bodies of flesh and bones. In His glorified state, Jesus declared, a
spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see Me have (Luke 24:39).

Since their bodies are not material bodies, even glorified material bodies, and since the
Bible does not say that they have spirits, but are spirits, it seems logical to designate
their bodies as spirit bodies.
C. Attributes of Angelic Spirit Bodies
1. Angels are Male
Angels are always spoken of in the masculine gender. "The Greek does have a neuter
form, but does not use the neuter form for angels; it always uses the masculine noun
and the masculine pronoun" (Fruchtenbaum, Dr. Arnold G. Radio Manuscript # 73:
Angelology: The Doctrine of the Elect Angels. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries Press. P.
11). It is also noteworthy that whenever they do appear in human form, they appear as
young men.

2. Three Kinds of Angelic Bodies

There are three classes or ranks or orders of angels. In ascending order, there are
those that are simply called angels, and then there are the seraphim (plural of seraph)
and the cherubim (plural of cherub). Those that are simply called angels have the
appearance of young men. The seraphim and cherubim appear human in certain of
their features, and have the appearance of certain kosher (ceremonially clean) or regal
animals in other of their features. In addition, the angels have no wings, the seraphim
have three pairs, and the cherubim have one pair.

3. Angelic Bodies Do Not Have Earthly Space Constrictions

In Luke 8:30, an entire legion of fallen angels had entered into the Gadarene: And
Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion"; because many
demons had entered into him.
IV. Attributes of Angelic Spirits
A. Immortality
Angels are immortal: They are incapable of dying. In Luke 20:36, Jesus said, Nor can
they die any more, for they are equal to the angels...
B. Power
Angels are exceedingly powerful. In 2 Chronicles 32:21, a single angel destroyed the
entire Assyrian army: And Jehovah sent an angel to cut off all the mighty men of power,
and the leaders and commanders in the camp of the king of Assyria.
C. Holiness
Holiness, in this case meaning sinlessness in nature and action, is an attribute that
applies only to those angels who did not follow Lucifer in his rebellion against God and
have consequently retained their unblemished holiness ever since. In Luke 9:26, Jesus
said, For whoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words, the Son of Man shall be
ashamed of him when He shall come in His own and in His Father's glory, and that of
the holy angels.

The angelic rebellion will be covered in our next study.

V. The Service of Holy Angels
All of the holy angels are unflagging servants of God and of the saved of all ages.
Hebrews 1:14: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who
shall be heirs of salvation? But within that broad cover of being servants of God and the
saved of all ages, each of the angelic orders has its own areas of holy service. We'll
look at each order, beginning with the highest, and touch on the highlights of its realms
of service.
A. The Service of the Cherubim
Cherubim are intimately associated with the Shechinah, the glorious, visible
manifestation of the presence of God, as in Ezekiel 1:26-28; 9:3 and 10:1-22. In Ezekiel
10:1, we see the throne of God burning with glory and hovering above the
cherubim: And I looked, and behold! In the expanse over the head of the cherubs was
seen the appearance of the form of a throne, like a sapphire stone, above them.

We can see this association, as well, in the multiple representations and associations of
the cherubim in the Solomonic Temple (Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1; 37:7-9; 1 Kings 6:23-28;
1 Kings 7:29, 36; 1 Kings 8:6-7; 1 Chronicles 28:18; 2 Chronicles 3:7; Ezekiel 9:3; 10:1-
22) and Millennial Temple (Ezekiel 41:18-20).

Cherubim are also employed by God in matters of guardianship. For example, cherubim
were assigned to guard the entrance to the Garden of Eden after the expulsion of Adam
and Eve. Genesis 3:24: And He drove out the man. And He placed cherubs at the east
of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to
the tree of life.

Angels also appear to be guarding the twelve gates of New Jerusalem, the future and
eternal abiding place of the saved of all ages: Revelation 21:12: And it had a great and
high wall, with twelve gates. And on the gates were twelve angels, and having names
inscribed, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel:

The type of guardianship we see in these scriptures differs from the guardianship of
those angels whom we call guardian angels. The Edenic and New Jerusalem
guardianship are over places. The guardianship of guardian angels is over individual
people or groups of people, as we will see.
B. The Service of the Seraphim

1. In the year that King Uzziah died I then saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and
lifted up, and His train filled the temple. 2. Above it stood the seraphs; each one had six
wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he
flew. 3. And one cried to another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of Hosts; the
whole earth full of His glory". 4. And the doorposts moved at the voice of the one who
cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5. Then I said, "Woe is me! For I am
undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of Hosts". 6. Then one of the seraphs
flew to me, having a live coal in his hand, snatched with tongs from the altar. 7. And he
laid it on my mouth and said, "Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken
away, and your sin purged."
~ Isaiah 6:1-7 ~

From this passage, we see that the seraphim hover above God's throne and worship
Him. We also see that they are involved in the sanctification of those whom God calls.
In Revelation 5:8-10, 14, we see them worshiping the Lamb. In Revelation 6:1-7 and
chapters 15 and 16, we see them announcing and carrying out God's bowl judgments
during the Great Tribulation.
C. The Service of the Lowest Rank of Angels
As has been noted, one of the three orders of angels is designated simply as angels.
The hosts, or armies, of God, are angels, and Michael the archangel is their commander
(Revelation 12:7). In Daniel 10:13-21, we see that Michael has special oversight over
the nation of Israel. In Daniel 8:15-27; 9:20-27; Lu. 1:11-20; 26-38, the angel Gabriel
was God's messenger of revelation. So we see that members of this class of angels
serve in a military capacity, and at least one has served as a messenger. It is likely, as
well, that the guardian angels, are of this class of angel.
VI. Guardian Angels
Guardian angels is not a term found in the Bible, but the Bible does note that some
angels are assigned guardianships over individuals and certain groups of people.
A. In What Rank Are the Guardian Angels?
We've seen that cherubim and seraphim are primarily engaged in the worship and
holiness of God. We've also seen that Michael, who is in the lower rank of angels, has a
guardianship over Israel. It therefore seems more than likely that the guardian angels
are among the lower rank of angels.
B. Guardian Angels Over Believers
Angels are assigned guardianships over believers. Psalm 34:7: The Angel of Jehovah
camps round about those who fear Him, and delivers them.

This scripture definitely applied to Old Testament saints. Whether or not it applies to
church saints is addressed below.

Though Satan quoted Psalm 91:11-12 in his temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:6), the
passage applies to all who dwell in the secret place of the most high (v. 1): Psalm
91:11-12: 11. For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your
ways. 12. They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

In view of the fact that the righteous have guardian angels, Albert Barnes concludes:
"We should not despise the obscurest Christian, for he is ministered to by the highest
and noblest of beings, by beings who are always enjoying the favor and friendship of
God." (Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible)
C. Guardian Angels Over Children
In Matthew 18:10, Jesus said, Take heed that you do not despise one of these little
ones. For I say to you that in Heaven their angels always behold the face of My Father
in Heaven.

Judging from Psalm 34:7 and Psalm 91:11-12, and by the fact that Jesus said, Take
heed! Watch out! we need to conclude that these angels are guardians; and as it is
obvious that babies are alive within the womb (Luke 1:41), it is fair to conclude that each
child is assigned a guardian angel at the moment of conception.
D. Guardian Angels Over Churches
In Revelation 2:1 - 3:14, John was commissioned to write a letter to the angel over each
of the seven churches of Asia. The Greek word for "angel," angelos, means
messenger. Angelos has been translated that way a number of times in the New
Testament in clear reference to human messengers (Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, Luke
7:27, Philippians 2:25), but it is also used frequently in clear reference to heavenly
angels (e.g., Acts 5:19). As concerns the angels to the seven churches, the question
arises as to whether angelos should be translated as a celestial "angel," or as a human
"messenger." I've seen good arguments for both positions, but I lean toward the former
for these reasons:
1. John was exiled to Patmos because of his effective Christian leadership. It would
seem peculiar for the Romans to allow human emissaries from the churches to visit
John, knowing full well that they would bring instructions and words of encouragement
from John back to the churches. On the other hand, we know that angels have
appeared on earth as men, as with Abraham (Genesis 18:1-19:1); and that it would be
no problem for them to drop in unnoticed, receive the letters from John, drop out
unnoticed and deliver the letters to the churches in Asia.

2. There are guardian angels over saved people and Michael is the guardian over
Israel, which is a group of chosen people under a government; so why not angels over
churches, which are groups of chosen people (and others) under church governments,
and are of particular concern to the Lord?

I would have to conclude that there are angels over churches.

VII. The Angel of Jehovah
This angel is never called an angel of the LORD, but always the Angel of the LORD
(YHVH). He is a special, unique angel.
A. The Angel of Jehovah is Jehovah God
Exodus 3:2,4: 2. And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire, out of the
midst of a thorn bush.... 4. And Jehovah saw that he had turned aside to see. God
called to him out of the midst of the thorn bush, and said, "Moses! Moses!" And he said,
"Here I am"

The Angel of Jehovah in verse 2 is clearly identical with Jehovah and God in verse 4.

Dr. Fruchtenbaum writes, "... in every passage where He appears, in one part of the
context He is called the Angel of Jehovah, and in another part of the same context He is
called Jehovah Himself." (Fruchtenbaum, Dr. Arnold G. Radio Manuscript # 50: The
Trinity. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries Press. P. 9)
B. The Angel of Jehovah is the Second Person of the Tri-Unity
We'll prove this by relating passages from Exodus 3 and 4 and Numbers 22-24 with 1
Corinthians 10:1-4.

First, Exodus 3 and 4: In 3:2, He spoke to Moses from the burning bush; in 3:8, He told
him, I am coming down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, to bring them
up out of that land, to a good land; in 3:10, I will send you to Pharaoh; in 3:12, I will be
with you; in 3:16, I have surely visited you and have seen what is done to you in Egypt;
in 3:20, I will stretch out My hand and smite Egypt with all My wonders; in 3:21, I will
give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; in 4:3-7, He gave Moses the sign of
His authority in the rod turned into a snake and then back into a rod, and in the hand
turned leprous and then healed; in 4:9, He instructed Moses as to his part in the plague
of blood; in 4:12, I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say; in 4:15, He
instructed Moses to tell Aaron what to say to Pharaoh, and that He would be with both
of their mouths and would teach Moses what to do. In 14:18-19, He led Israel in the
pillar of fire, and then moved between Israel and the pursuing Egyptian army. Also, in
Numbers 22-24, the Angel caused Balaam to bless Israel prior to Israel's entry into
Canaan instead of cursing them, as was his intent.

It is obvious that this Angel is God - but which Person?

Now, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4:

1. And, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant that all our fathers were under the
cloud, and all passed through the sea. 2. And all were baptized to Moses in the cloud
and in the sea, 3. and all ate the same spiritual food, 4. and all drank the same spiritual
drink; for they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

The spiritual Rock that followed them was the Angel so intimately involved in their
Exodus and wilderness wanderings; and that Rock was Christ.
C. The Angel of Jehovah Appeared as a Man
As did the other angels who appeared on earth, whenever the Angel of the Jehovah
appeared on earth, He had the appearance of a man, as can be seen in Judges 13:3-
11, in which Samson's parents thought that the Angel was a man.
D. What Was This Angel's Ministry?
In examining the passages in which the Angel of the LORD appeared, the overall
picture is that He orchestrated Israel's history, and orchestrated history for Israel. It must
be remembered that it was the Son of God who appeared as the Angel of the LORD,
and that it was this same Son who would one day climax Israel's history at the cross. In
Genesis 16, the Angel promised that Ishmael would live and that his hand would be
against his brother(Isaac's descendents through Jacob). In Genesis 18, Abraham pled
with Him on behalf of Sodom, but in Genesis 19, He dispatched His two companion
angels to destroy Sodom, whose extreme wickedness would no doubt have eventually
defiled Israel. In Genesis 22:1, the Angel tested Abraham's faith and then stayed his
hand from slaying Isaac. In Genesis 24:7 and 40, Abraham promised Eliezer the Angel's
protection as he embarked to find a wife for Isaac. In Genesis 31:11-12, He affirmed to
Jacob that it was He who blessed Jacob with the striped and spotted cattle of Laban's
herds, thereby blessing him with wealth before his return to his land. In Genesis 32:24,
Jacob prevailed over the Angel and won His blessing. In Genesis 48:16, we see that it
was the Angel who redeemed Israel (Jacob) from all evil. In Exodus 3 and 4, we saw
that it was the Angel who protected, provided for, and guided Israel into Canaan. In
Joshua 5:14, the Angel strengthened Joshua with the knowledge of His presence before
Joshua's attack on Jericho. In Judges 2, the Angel rebuked Israel for not driving out all
of the Canaanites. Again, the big picture that we see in the Scripture is that He
orchestrated Israel's history, and that He orchestrated history for Israel.

For Israel under Moses, and even from Abraham to Moses, as we've seen, it could
surely be said... The Angel of Jehovah camps round about those who fear Him, and
delivers them. (Psalm 34:7)
VIII. Do Angels Minister on Our Behalf Today?
Some doubt or deny that angels minister on behalf of Christians today. The chief reason
that is given, it seems, is that we don't need the ministry of angels because we have the
Holy Spirit. But the apostles had the Holy Spirit also, and yet, angels ministered on their
behalf. In Acts 5:19, an angel got the apostles out of prison; in Acts 8:26, an angel
directed Philip to go to Gaza - and this Philip was not an apostle; in Acts 12:7-11, an
angel got Peter out of prison; in Acts 27:21-26, an angel told Paul that he must stand
before Caesar and gave him counsel for his storm-tossed shipmates; in Revelation 1:1,
an angel brought the Revelation from Jesus to John. The argument that saints do not
receive ministry from angels because they have the Spirit obviously does not stand.
Even Jesus, in His glorified, ascended state, is said to have His own angel (Revelation
1:1).

But did Peter, Paul and John receive ministry from angels solely because of the critical
nature of their apostolic calls? I doubt it. Philip received the ministry of an angel, and his
call was less critical than those of the apostles, being evangelistic, not apostolic. On the
other hand, even Jesus, in His glorified, ascended state, employed the service of an
angel, and He is Deity. He did not need an angel, yet He employed His own personal
angel in ministry to John. Again, I must emphasize, they were all filled with the Spirit -
and Jesus' filling is eternally "without measure" (John 3:34).

Consider, as well, the testimonies of Psalm 91:11 and Hebrews 1:14 as quoted above
and speak of angelic ministry to the saints in terms unbounded by time limitations. I am
persuaded that we need to answer Hebrews 1:14 in the affirmative as applicable even
today: They are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs
of salvation. Indeed, Hebrews 1:14 was written in the present tense during the Church
Age. This makes it unequivocal. There is no doubt about it: Angels do minister on our
behalf today.
IX. Does The Angel of Jehovah Guard God's People
Today?
Psalm 34:7 says, The Angel of the LORD camps round about those who fear Him.

That statement was made under the Law of Moses; but is it true today?

Several translations of Acts 5:19, 8:26 and 12:7 contain the phrase the Angel of the
Lord, and these are the only three passages where the phrase appears after the day of
Pentecost in Acts 2. In each case, however, the literal translations I checked render
it, an angel of the Lord, using the indefinite article an, not the definite article the.
Furthermore, in each case, the word Lord is used in all of the above translations,
not LORD. Lord is translated from the word kurios, the possible translations of which are
God, Lord or Master (Strong's Concordance). LORD, however, all in capital letters, is
universally used to represent YHVH or Jehovah in the Angel of the LORD. In addition, I
found at least one commentator for each of these passages that aver that it
was an angel and not the Angel, and no commentator for any of these passages that
states that it was the Angel. In other words, the Angel of the LORD is nowhere
mentioned as acting during the Church Age. I therefore cannot conclude that the Angel
of the LORD camps round about church saints, that is, believers between Pentecost
and the Rapture, but can conclude that He probably does not.
X. Zone Defense, or One on One?
Has a specific group of angels been charged with general oversight over a specific
group of people, or have individual angels been assigned oversight over individual
people or groups? Consider:
A. The Disciples Thought That Peter Had His Own Angel
Many [disciples] who had gathered to pray (Acts 12:12) thought that Peter, whom they
thought was in jail and now knocked at their door, was his angel. Acts 12:15: And they
said to her, You are mad. But she kept on saying that it was so. And they said, It is his
angel.
B. Individual Angels Are Assigned To Individual Nations
The archangel Michael was assigned by God to be Israel's guardian (Daniel 12:1), and
Daniel 10:13 and 20 tell us that Persia and Greece had their own specific angelic rulers.
The angels over Persia and Greece were demons, but were overseers over individual
nations, nevertheless.
C. Summary and Conclusion
The close disciples of the apostles believed that the one who stood at the door was
Peter's own angel, Jesus stated that children have their own angels, individual nations
have their own angels, and each of the seven churches of Asia had its own angel. I
must therefore conclude that all children, church saints, churches and nations have their
own individual angels.
XI. The Nature of Angel Guardianships
It is instructive to see that the same Angel who guarded Israel from the Egyptian army
and brought them into Canaan cursed the Israeli city of Meroz for not assisting Israel in
the day of battle (Judges 5:3). The guardianship of angels, then, does not contradict the
liberty to sin that God has given, nor does it prevent the elements of the curse from
having its effects, nor does it prevent trials, injustices, persecutions, divine
chastisements, reaping the bad fruit of bad seed that we sow, and the like. All of these
things are either caused or permitted by God.

In explanation of Psalm 34:7 and Psalm 91:11, Dr. Fruchtenbaum writes, "These verses
do not teach that nothing bad can happen to believers, but that nothing can happen
outside of God's will." (Fruchtenbaum, Dr. Arnold G. Radio Manuscript # 073: The
Trinity. San Antonio: Ariel Ministries Press. P. 23)

It is plain that God has a specific purpose for everyone He has called. Consider, for
example, that Esther was placed in Persia for such a time as this(Esther 4:14), and that
each believer is endowed with spiritual gifts specifically chosen by the Holy Spirit for
that individual (1 Corinthians 12:11). The purpose of angelic guardianships, then, is to
allow only those things into our lives that will mold us, direct us and propel us according
to God's good pleasure and purpose in and through our lives.
XII. "Don't Do It!"
One caution. It may be tempting to some to worship or pray to angels, knowing that they
guard us, our children, our brothers and sisters in the Lord and our churches, and if we
are Israelis, our nation; but we are warned not to do it.
In Revelation 19:10, John sought to worship the angel of Revelation 1:1, who brought
him the Revelation: And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, "See, do not
do it! I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus.
Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

"And again: 8. And I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I
fell down to worship before the feet of the angel showing me these things. 9. Then he
said to me, "Behold! See, do not do it! For I am your fellow-servant, and of your brothers
the prophets, and of those who keep the Words of this Book. Do worship to God."
~ Revelation 22:8-9 ~

In Colossians 2:18, Paul speaks disdainfully of those who worship angels: Let no one
defraud you, delighting in humility and worship of the angels, intruding into things which
he has not seen, without a cause being vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind....

In the above verses, we are warned to not worship angels; but neither are we to pray to
them.

To whom are we to pray? In Matthew 6:9, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, Our
Father... No, we are not even to pray to Jesus, and certainly not to angels. We are to
pray only to One: Our Father, who is in Heaven.

So be it.
XIII. A Topic For Future Study
Angels do minister on behalf of believers today, but so does the Holy Spirit. In view of
this double celestial ministry toward us, the question arises, "How do the ministries of
the angels and the Holy Spirit coordinate?" To come up with specifics, it would seem
helpful to consider these points and carry out the suggested project:

The Points:

1. The Spirit has all the attributes of Godhead. Angels have rigid creaturely
restrictions.
2. The Spirit is in us in a personal way. The angels are not in us, at all.
3. There is evidence that the Spirit is active in all divine works. For instance, He
was involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the resurrection
of Jesus. No angel is active in all divine works.

The Project:
Compile a list of the ministries of angels and the ministries of the Spirit. Then see which
are unique to angels, which are unique to the Spirit, and where there is overlap (such
as, the ministry of sanctification).

Perhaps this would be a study for you to carry out. Let me know what you come up with.
:-)
 ~ The Nature and Positions of Satan and
His Demons ~

This study will demonstrate biblical support for the existence of Satan and his demonic
host, describe their nature, and support the claims in the statement.
I. The Existence of Demons
The word demon or demons is found about seventy-five times in the New Testament,
and other designations are employed for them, as well. In no case are they presented
as imaginary or fictitious, not even by the Son of God, Himself. In Mark 7:29, Jesus
used the term quite literally: And He said to her, For this saying go, the demon has gone
out of your daughter.

Satan, too, is a demon, and he is mentioned numerous times in both testaments, as will
be seen below.
II. The Origin of Demons
Angels were created by God before He created the heavens and the earth; but one-third
of them became demons when they rebelled against God. Their rebellion will be
addressed below.
III. The Nature of Demons
A. What Demons Are Not
Demons are not the disembodied spirits of a pre-Adamic race as at least one writer tried
to prove. The Bible speaks of Adam as the first man (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47), and its
explanation as to the origin of demons contradicts, and therefore nullifies, that writer's
claim. What, then, are demons?
B. What Demons Are
Demons are angels; and everything that the Scriptures teach about the nature of angels
- except for holiness - is true of demons. Demons are angels, but unholy ones; ones
that have chosen to rebel against God and have retained their defiled, sinful nature
since that time.

A simple definition of demon is: A demon is an unholy, rebellious, thoroughly depraved

angel bent on destroying the plans, the works, and the people of God; indeed, all
people.
C. The Number and Kinds of Demons
The holy angels are referred to as an innumerable company (Hebrews 12:22), and they
are but two-thirds of the original number of holy angels. One-third (Revelation 12:3-4) of
the original number joined Satan in his rebellion against God. Surely their huge number
is made up of all three classes of angels: cherubim, seraphim, and the lowest rank of
angels called, simply, angels.
IV. The Organization of Demons
Are the demons organized in ranks?
A. Three Classes of Angels
As a foundational consideration, it is instructive to remember that there are rankings
among the holy angels: the cherubim are the highest order, the seraphim are next, and
the rank and file angels are next; and each functions in its own realms of service. It is
also helpful to remember that the Anointed Cherub had preeminence over all the other
angels before his fall, and that Michael is the military commander over the rank and file
angels (Revelation 12:7).
B. Demons of Authority and Lesser Demons
There are scriptures that refer to demon powers in various ways as over against powers
of flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). They are: Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 15:24;
Ephesians 1:21, 3:10, 6:12; and Colossians 1:16 and 2:15. Combining their
designations from these scriptures, they are: principalities, powers in the heavenlies,
world rulers of the darkness of this age, spiritual wickedness in high places, thrones,
dominions, authorities. This author has been unable to determine whether each of these
designations can apply to all demons, or whether each refers to demons with particular
assignments or levels of authority. Nevertheless, other passages do indicate that there
are demons of greater and lesser authority.

1. Demon King and Subjects

Other scriptures clarify the picture somewhat. Matthew 12:24 and Luke 11:15 call Satan
the prince of demons, Ephesians 2:2 refers to him as the prince of the powers of the air,
and Revelation 9:1-11 states that the demonic horde that will ascend out of the
bottomless pit during the Great Tribulation will have a king over them. This relationship
between Satan and his demons will remain active until the end of the Great Tribulation,
at which time he will be bound in the Abyss for a thousand years. It will likely be
reactivated briefly at the end of the thousand years when he will be loosed "to deceive
the nations" and gather them to battle against the Lord, after which he will be cast into
the Lake of Fire and Sulfur prepared for him and his angels (Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10;
Matthew 25:41).

2. Demon Rulers Over Nations

Daniel speaks of the Prince of Persia (Daniel 10:13) and the Prince of Greece (Daniel
10:20), demon warriors who battled the archangel Michael.

Parenthetically, this causes one to wonder whether there might be a demon prince over
all the world's governments. Would that include Israel? On the one hand, the same
passage that speaks of the demon princes of Persia and Greece also names the holy
angel Michael as the Prince of Israel. On the other hand, both in ancient times and in
modern, Israel has had its share of demonic activity. In this regard it differs from no
other nation. Note that Revelation 11:15 does not differentiate between Israel and the
other kingdoms of this world: The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of
our Lord, and of His Christ. And He will reign forever and ever.
In the future, the kingdoms of this world will come under the direct dominion of Christ;
but for now, they are all under the dominion of Satan and his host. It just may be that
Satan has assigned his own prince over Israel just as God has assigned His.

Thus far, we can conclude that there are at least three rankings of angels: Satan the
king or prince, rulers over nation (designated in other ways, as well), and rank and file
demons. It seems likely that, since there are demonic rulers over nations, there are
rulers of lesser authority over cities and other municipalities, as well; but, to my
recollection, scripture does not spell this out.

To sum up, there are three clear ranks of demons, and there may be more. In
descending order of authority, they are: king or prince, rulers over nations, and all other
demons. It is also possible that the original levels of authority granted to cherubim,
seraphim, and rank and file angels are retained in the demonic realm. Satan certainly
has retained his. Scripture does not appear to make demonic rankings any clearer than
this.
V. Satan
A. Satan and His Demons
Most of the attention in this study is given to Satan, not to his underling demons,
because he is representative of all demons in his nature and goals. It must be
understood, however, that the vast majority of all demonic activity is carried out by
Satan's underlings, not by Satan himself. In common conversation, when it is said that
Satan did a particular work, it almost always means that he was in charge of the work,
not that he actually carried it out himself. It is like saying that Hitler killed six million
Jews. It is understood that he, personally, did not do the killing, but that he gave the
order for it, and that the hands-on work of killing was actually carried out by others
under him in rank. Unless Scripture specifically identifies Satan personally as the one
carrying out a specific activity, it should be assumed that that activity is carried out by
one or more of his underling demons.
B. Satans Nature and Positions as Revealed by His Designations
In the Scriptures, Satan is identified by various designations, including names, titles,
descriptions and animal-like representations, which, in themselves, tell quite a lot about
him. I felt it most instructive to sort these out under headings having to do with his
original nature, his original positions, his present nature, and his present positions.

1. The Original Nature of Satan

In reference to the one we commonly call Satan and the Devil, Scripture assigns him no
negative designation in his original, sinless state, only positive ones. They are:

The Anointed Cherub. Ezekiel 28:14 begins, You were the anointed cherub... As to the
nature of his spirit body, Satan was a cherub, and always will be.

Day-Star, and Son of the Morning. These two designations appear in Isaiah 14:12: How
art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning!
The King James translates the original Hebrew word for day-star into the
Latin Lucifer which, like other designations of Satan, including Satan itself, hides its
meaning. What's more, the designation Lucifer has a most negative connotation,
whereas the original Hebrew for Day-Star and Son of the Morning have very positive
ones. The only biblical designations that properly apply to Satan before his rebellion
are Anointed Cherub, Day-Star and Son of the Morning. Day-Star has also been
variously translated as Morning-Star and Shining-Star. According to Dr. Fruchtenbaum,
"The correct title is day-star, son of the morning. The Hebrew emphasizes him as
being the shining one. It emphasizes how he was in his original state:" (Fruchtenbaum,
Dr. Arnold G. Radio Manuscript # 077, Satanology: The Doctrine of Satan. San Antonio:
Ariel Ministries Press. P. 14.)

In addition to his special anointing, which we'll consider shortly, Ezekiel 28:12 reveals
how he was the shining one: Son of man, lift up a lament over the king of Tyre, and say
to him, So says the Lord Jehovah: You seal the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in
beauty.

He was the shining one by virtue of his special anointing and by the fact that he was
filled to angelic capacity with wisdom and perfection in angelic beauty.

2. The Original Positions of Satan

The Anointed Cherub that Covers. Ezekiel 28:14 begins, You were the anointed cherub
that covers... In Ezekiel 10:1, we see the throne of God hovering above the cherubim;
but in 28:14, we see the Shining One covering, or hovering above, or spread out over,
the throne of God. His having been anointed shows that He was especially endowed by
God for his breathtakingly glorious role as the covering cherub. This title also reveals a
second position held by this cherub.

Cherubim are the highest order of angel, and this cherub was The Anointed Cherub,
indicating that he had preeminence over all other cherubim and all the seraphim and
rank and file angels, as well. In other words, he had preeminence over the entire angelic
host.

Ezekiel 28:13b reveals yet another facet of his position as The Anointed Cherub that
Covers: The workmanship of your tambourines and of your flutes was prepared in you
in the day that you were created.

These musical instruments were in him as he hovered above God, above the seraphim
(Isaiah 6:2) and above the other cherubim (Ezekiel 10:1). It is the picture of a worship
leader who led the entire company of angels in the worship of God.

To sum up, three positions are included in the title The Anointed Cherub that Covers:

1. He hovered above the throne of God.

2. He had preeminence over the entire angelic host.
3. He led the entire company of angels in the heavenly worship of God.
3. The Present Nature of Satan
Satan is not a red-skinned humanlike creature with a checkered jacket, horns, forked
tail and pitchfork stoking up the flames of hell and tormenting its inhabitants. This is
myth except for the fact that he'll be there.

a. His Basic Nature

1. Cherub. As noted, Ezekiel 28:14 identifies Satan as a cherub, and a cherub he

still is and always will be.
2. The Evil One. This title is found in Matthew 6:13, John 17:15, 2 Thessalonians
3:3 and 1 John 5:18-19. According to Strong's, the Greek word for evil here is
poneyros, which means evil in influence or effect. The title indicates that he is
totally evil in everything he influences and does.
3. Satan. This name of The Evil One is found over fifty times in the Scriptures, and
means adversary. Because he is The Evil One, he is the adversary of God, His
ways, His works and His people, and indeed, of all people. 1 Chronicles 21:1
shows an example of his adversarial stance against the people of God: And
Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.

b. His Goals

1. Destroyer, Abaddon, Apollyon. This title appears in Revelation 9:11: And they
had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew
tongue is Abaddon, but in Greek his name is Apollyon. Abaddon (Hebrew)
and Apollyon (Greek) mean Destroyer. This Destroyer is named king over the
horrible locusts of Revelation 9:1-10 that will ascend from the bottomless pit.
These "locusts" were actually demons, and Destroyer, their king, is most likely
Satan. (The high ranking demons over Greece and Persia were called princes,
not kings [Daniel 10:13, 20]). Destroyer speaks of his efforts at destroying God's
plans, works and people.
2. A Roaring Lion. 1 Peter 5:8 says, ... your adversary, the Devil, walks about like
a roaring lion, seeking someone he may devour;

This, too, portray Satan as a destroyer of people. In context, it specifically

portrays him as a destroyer of the faith and walk of believers.

c. His Means of Achieving His Goals

1. The Tempter. Found in Matthew 4:3 and 1 Thessalonians 3:5, this designation
shows Satan as the one who entices people to sin. Matthew 4:3: And when the
tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread.
 2. The Deceiver. This designation is found in Revelation 12:9, in which Satan is
called, the deceiver of the whole world, showing him as the one who, by
deception, deceives the great mass of humanity into rejecting God and His ways.
As often as he is able he even deceives believers into rejecting God's good
counsel, which is why Ephesians 6:11 exhorts us to stand against the wiles of the
devil.
3. The Angel of Light. Found in 2 Corinthians 11:14, this designation shows that
Satan carries out the work of deception by offering appealing counterfeits of true
moral and spiritual understanding, of which this kosmos abounds in its legion of
false religions, philosophies, beliefs and opinions.
4. The Devil. Devil means Accuser or Slanderer, and declares the chief way he
seeks to cause division between God and His people, and between God's
people. It is used only in the New Testament, and is found there thirty-five times.
5. The Accuser of the Brethren. Revelation 12:10 designates Satan as the
accuser of believers. Job 1:9-11 and 2:5 show him in action, accusing righteous
Job to God's face.

d. How He Employs His Means

1. The Serpent. Satan is depicted as a serpent in about ten places in the Bible,
most notably in Genesis 3:1, the first reference to him in Scripture. This depiction
brings to mind his cleverness and cunning in deception, as in his temptation of
Eve: Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which
Jehovah God had made.
2. The Dragon. Satan is portrayed as a dragon in Revelation 12, emphasizing the
great power and ferocity he employed in his attempt to devour the Child of the
woman (Revelation 12:4; Matthew 2), and will employ to destroy the woman,
Israel, who gave birth to the Child (Revelation 12:13).

4. The Present Positions of Satan

a. In Relation to Other Demons

1. The Prince of Demons. This title is found in Matthew 12:24 and Luke 11:15, and
obviously shows his authority over all other demons.
2. The Prince of the Powers of the Air. This title is found in Ephesians 2:2, and
likewise shows that Satan, who presently abides in the atmosphere, is the ruler
of his subordinate powers of the air, the demons, who also abide in the
atmosphere.

b. In Relation to the Present World System

1. The God of This Age. This title is found in 2 Corinthians 4:4, and emphasizes
Satan's control of this age, whose world view is so contrary to that of Christ's.
 2. The Prince of This World. This designation appears in John 12:31, 14:30, and
16:11. In each case, the Greek word for world is kosmos, which refers to our
world system in regards to its prevailing satanic spirit and the way that it's
consequently arranged and conducted, as opposed to the spirit of the Kingdom
of God and the way that it is arranged and conducted.
3. The King of Babylon. This title is found in Isaiah 14:4 and, viewed in the context
of verses 4-17, metaphorically portrays Satan as in control of all worldly
kingdoms.
4. The King of Tyre. This title is found in Ezekiel 28:11-12 and, viewed in the
context of verses 11-19, likewise metaphorically portrays Satan as the demon
king of all earthly kingdoms.

5. Views Concerning Satan

1. Belial. Belial is found in 2 Corinthians 6:15, and means worthlessness. It

describes Satan's net value in God's eyes in terms of his ability to be or do
anything good. Nevertheless, Scripture reveals that he, as well as the other
demons, are worthy of respect, even as criminals about to be executed are
normally handled with dignity in countries having a biblical heritage. Note Jude
1:8-9:

8. Yet in like manner these dreamers [false and immoral teachers] also defile the
flesh, despise authority, and bring a railing accusation against [angelic] dignities.
9. But Michael the archangel, when disputing with the devil over the body of
Moses, did not dare to bring a railing accusation against him, but said, The Lord
rebuke thee.

Similarly, 2 Peter 2:10b: They are presumptuous, self-willed, not trembling when
they speak evil of angelic glories.

In reference to the Jude passage, Adam Clarke notes, "It was a Jewish maxim,
as may be seen in Synopsis Sohar, page 92, note 6: 'It is not lawful for man to
prefer ignominious reproaches, even against wicked spirits.' (See Schoettgen)"

This is a principle which the author has seen flagrantly violated by people who
ought to have known better.

2. Beelzebub. Beelzebub means Lord of the Flies, and is found in Matthew 10:25;
12:24, 27; Mark 3:22; and Luke 11:15, 18, 19. It is a comical term for Satan
employed by the rabbis of Jesus' day. Beelzebub is a play on Beelzebul, the
Greek form of the original Philistine name, which means Lord of the Royal
Palace.

For Part 2 of this study, please go to Spiritual Warfare; but first...

VI. A Personal Appeal
If you are not a Christian, I respectfully ask you to consider my appeal.

The Bible says that if you have not invited Jesus into your life to be your Savior, you are
in the grip of the Devil, though you may not realize it. Satan does not always come as a
roaring lion. Sometimes he comes as an angel of light. He is the Arch Deceiver. You
may think that he does not exist, or that you have power over him, or can control your
dabbling in the occult if that is the case with you. Yet, Scripture - even Jesus Himself -
affirms that he does exist and that you have no power over the him if you are not one of
Christ's; and that when you die, you will die with your sins unforgiven, and will be cast
out of God's holy presence and into Hell. This is grievous, but eternal, truth.

Believing in Jesus is winning the ultimate and eternal victory. God sent Jesus from
Heaven to die as a sacrifice for your sins upon the cross. He then raised Him from the
dead to live with Him in Heaven once again so that He might fill you with Christ's
resurrection victory and eternal life. Here on earth you will know His presence, His
guidance, and victory over the Devil's temptations and grip; and when you die, you will
be with Him in Heaven.

What is required of you? No penance and no amount of righteous living can wash away
your sin. Simply admit to God that you are a sinner, and believe:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

~ Romans 3:23 ~

16. God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17. For God did not send the Son into the
world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18. He who
believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
~ John 3:16-18 ~

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
~ 1 Peter 2:24 ~

9. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10. for with the heart a person believes,
resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11.
For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE
DISAPPOINTED."
~ Romans 10:9-11 ~

The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God.
~ 1 Corinthians 1:18 ~
I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes.
~ Romans 1:16 ~

20. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal
through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21. [God] made
[Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.
~ 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 ~

Ask God to show you if this is true. If your heart is quieted and you will listen to His
Word within your spirit, you will hear. Then simply welcome Jesus into your life to be
your Savior. God will forgive you for your sins and you will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
Who will make your spirit eternally alive in Christ, and you will be His forever.

With all the love of One who went to the cross for you, Jesus said,
Let your hearts be turned from sin, and have faith in the good news.
~ Mark 1:15, BBE ~

~ Spiritual Warfare: Satan's Attacks and the

Christian Defense ~

Spiritual warfare as waged by the believer takes place on the three fronts, often referred
to in Scripture as the world, the flesh, and the Devil. The world refers to our present
world system, which is controlled by Satan (as in 1 John 2:15-17); the flesh refers to our
sin nature (as in Romans 7:5); and "the Devil" includes Satan and his demonic host
(Ephesians 6:12). This study will address the believer's spiritual warfare against Satan
and his demonic host.
I. The History of Satan and His Demons: Past,
Present and Future
A. Satan's Seduction of Angels and Rebellion Against God
Satan's temptation of Eve demonstrated that his nature was already corrupted with evil,
indicating that his rebellion against God took place prior to the Edenic temptation.
Passages from Isaiah and Ezekiel describe his insurrection.

12. How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning! How you
are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13. For you have said in
your heart, "I will go up to the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I
will also sit on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. 14. I will go up
above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High."
~ Isaiah 14:12-14 ~

15. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was
found in you. 16. By the multitude of your trade, they filled your midst with violence, and
you sinned. So I cast you defiled from the height of God, and I destroyed you, O
covering cherub, from among the stones of fire. 17. Your heart was lifted up because of
your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. I have cast you to
the ground. I will put you before kings, that they may see you. 18. By the host of your
iniquities, by the iniquity of your trade, you have defiled your holy places. So I brought a
fire from your midst and it shall devour you, and I will give you for ashes on the earth in
the sight of all who see you.
~ Ezekiel 28:15-18 ~

Revelation 12:3-4 is not a description of Satan's original rebellion, but it does reveal how
many angels he was able to win to his camp: 3. And another sign was seen in the
heavens. And behold a great red dragon.... 4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars
of heaven, and cast them onto the earth.

Keil and Delitzsch render Ezekiel 28:16 and 18 as follows: 16. On account of the
multitude of thy commerce, thine inside was filled with wrong, and thou didst sin.... 18.
Through the multitude of thy sins in thine unrighteous trade thou hast profaned thy holy
places.

Strong's Concordance gives three possible translations of the word

translated commerce and trade: trade (as peddled), merchandise, traffic. Whatever
Satan peddled was not of a material nature, as material trade does not take place in
heaven. What he must have peddled were promises of power and glory related to his
five I wills of Isaiah 14:12-14, above.
B. Satan's Attacks Against the Entire Human Race
Satan seeks to destroy the entire human race. Isaiah 14:12 refers to him as the one
who "laid low the nations." Revelation 12:9 calls him "the deceiver of the whole world." 2
Corinthians 4:4 says, ... the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving
ones, so that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ (who is the image of God) should
not dawn on them.

Satan blinds individuals to the light of God, and brings down nations morally and in
every other way because its citizens are spiritually blinded.
C. Satan's Attacks Against Pre-Abrahamic Man
Not satisfied with having won the allegiance of a third of the angels, Satan drew the
human race into his rebellion against God with his successful temptation of Eve in the
Garden and the subsequent sin of Adam in following of Eve's lead (Genesis 3:1-6). Our
first parents' sin resulted in the depravity (sin nature) of the entire human race and in the
curse upon the earth and every earthly creature (Genesis 3:14-19).

Human depravity soon found its expression in the murder of Abel by Cain (Genesis 4:1-
8) and in the gross wickedness of virtually the entire human race:
Genesis 6:5: And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually.

For this cause, God purged the corrupted human race by means of the Noahic flood
(Genesis 6-8); but man's innate wickedness climaxed again at the tower of Babel, an
astrological observatory whose purpose was to spurn the worship of God by seeking
guidance from the stars and by worshiping demons, for which cause God scattered
them abroad by means of confounding their language (Genesis 11:1-9).
D. Satan's Attacks Against the Jews

1. The Root of Anti-Semitism

God cursed mankind's first parents, but He did not leave them or their offspring
without hope. In His mercy, He gave them a Messianic Hope by promising them
the Messianic Seed of the Woman who would, figuratively speaking, crush
Satan's head (Genesis 3:15). No doubt shocked and angered, Satan set out to
destroy all possibility of that Hope materializing.

In Genesis 12:1-4, God called out a man from among his people to begin a new
people through whom He would bring forth the Seed of the Woman. God called
Abram out from among the Chaldeans to father the nation Israel. From that
moment on, Satan has focused his venom upon the Jews. If he could destroy
Israel he could prevent the birth of the Seed and his own subsequent demise.
Having been unable to prevent the birth of the Seed, he still seeks to destroy
Israel for he knows that it is the national salvation of Israel that will trigger the
Seed's return (Hosea 5:15; Matthew 23:37-39).

It must be noted that Satan's efforts at preventing Messiah's advents is the

spiritual root of all anti-Semitism.

No means has been spared by Satan in his attempts to destroy the messianic
hope by means of destroying the Jews, and his chief avenues have been
physical and theological.
2. Physical Attacks
No sociological factor in all of Israel's history in the Land and in the Dispersion
can account for the venom exhibited by Israel's enemies, as during the
Holocaust, in which six million of the world's eighteen million Jews were
murdered, and in the blind, demonic venom exhibited by Israel's intractable
Muslim enemies, whose Qur'an reads, "I shall cast terror into the hearts of the
infidels. Strike off their heads. Maim them in every limb"(Qur'an Al'anfaal 8:12). It
must be spiritually understood: Satan is at the root of it, and his plan is to destroy
the Jews to prevent Messiah's return and his own demise.

Satan will continue to stir up anti-Semitic tsunamis against the Jews even until he
is cast into the abyss for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-2). In the second half
of the Great Tribulation, he foments and leads the greatest persecution of the
 Jews in history in his final attempt to destroy them, succeeding in killing two-
thirds of them (Revelation 12:6, 13-15; Zechariah 13:8), twice the fraction of
Hitler's one-third. It is this future persecution that Jesus was referring to when He
said, in Matthew 24:15-22,

15. "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was
spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader
understand), 16. then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. . . . 21.
"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the
beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22. "Unless those days had been
cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days
will be cut short.

There will be such a slaughter of the elect, Israel, that the Lord will bring those
days to a close to physically save the remaining one-third so that He might
subsequently save them spiritually (Zechariah 13:1, 8-9).
3. Theological Attacks
a. Theological Corruption of the Church Leading to Persecution of the Jews
Theological corruption has been the bedrock of the church's physical and social
persecution of the Jews. From the earliest centuries of the church era, Satan has
deceived virtually the entire church into believing that Israel is no longer God's
chosen people, but that that status has been transferred to the church. This
deception has freed the church to pay no heed to the curse for curse declaration
of Genesis 12:3 and to not fear to touch "the pupil of God's eye" (Deuteronomy
2:10; Zechariah 2:8). The denial that Israel is still a chosen nation combined with
the belief that the Jews, alone among the nations, are the "Christ-killers," has
proven to be the deadly witches' brew for two millennia of virulent persecution of
the Jews by the church.

b. Theological Corruption to Preserve Israel's Spiritual Blindness

Theologian Satan has not only attempted to prevent the Lord's return by
destroying the Jews physically, but by keeping them blind spiritually, as well, for
he knows that it is the national salvation of Israel that will bring the Lord back
(Hosea 5:15; Matthew 23:37-39). To this end, he has blinded virtually all of the
spiritual leaders of both peoples of God: the church and the Jews. This
declaration will be explained in the next two subsections.

c. Theological Corruption in the Church Leading to Underevangelism or

Evangelistic Neglect of the Jews
On the one extreme, consistent with his success in establishing replacement
theology in the church (the belief that the church replaced Israel as the people of
God), Satan has blinded virtually the entire church into believing that the "to the
Jew first" principle of Romans 1:16 came to a halt when Jesus commissioned His
disciples to "make disciples of every nation" (Matthew 28:19) and to "preach the
gospel to all the creation" (Mark 16:15). Since the principle came to a halt, the
thinking goes, it is no longer applicable in evangelistic efforts. On the other
 extreme, Satan has succeeded in convincing another portion of the church that
because Jews do have a special relationship with God, they do not need to be
evangelized, at all, as their special status assures them salvation apart from their
reception of the Gospel. This latter belief is known as the Dual Covenant
position.

To restate these errors simply:

1. Because the Jews are no longer a people of God, the "Jew first" principle no
longer applies.
2. Because the Jews do have a special relationship with God, their salvation is
assured, and preaching to them is unnecessary. The first has resulted in the
underevangelism of the Jews; the second, to non-evangelism of the Jews - the
exact opposite of "to the Jew first," which principle Paul, the apostle to the
Gentiles, walked out throughout his entire ministry, as can easily be traced in the
Books of Acts. (See the author's article, Messianic Issues in Jewish Salvation.)

d. Theological Corruption of Judaism's Spiritual Leaders

In his campaign to prevent the Lord's return, Satan has also blinded the eyes of
the leaders of Judaism to the messiahship of Yeshua; and as water from a
fountainhead spreads abroad, so has unbelief in Yeshua among Judaism's
spiritual leaders spread throughout Israel, even from Jesus' day until now.

E. Satan's Attacks Against Yeshua Himself

Indeed, Satan attacked our Lord directly.

When Herod heard that the magi had come to worship the recently born King of the
Jews, he ordered the slaughter of all males below the age of two in the vicinity of
Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-16). That Satan was behind this attack is shown in Revelation
12:1-5:

1. And there appeared a great sign in the heavens, a woman clothed with the sun, and
the moon was under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head, 2. and having a
babe in womb, she cries, being in travail, having been distressed to bear. 3. And
another sign was seen in the heavens. And behold a great red dragon, having seven
heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads! 4. And his tail drew the third part
of the stars of heaven, and cast them onto the earth. And the dragon stood before the
woman being about to bear, so that when she bears he might devour her child. 5. And
she bore a son, a male, who is going to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child
was caught up to God and to His throne.

Genesis 37:9-11 explains the symbolism. The sun was the patriarch Joseph's father,
who was Jacob or Israel; the moon was his mother, Rachel; and the eleven stars are
Joseph's brothers who, with Joseph, make the twelve stars, which symbolize the
patriarchs of the tribes of Israel. Therefore, the woman in the midst of these symbols
represents the nation Israel whose child, who is going to rule all nations with a rod of
iron, ascended to His heavenly Father after His resurrection. The Revelation passage
reveals that before the child was even born, the dragon and his demonic host were
poised on earth so that when she bears he might devour her child. Thus, the slaughter
of the babes of Bethlehem.

Satan attacked our Lord immediately after He was launched into ministry at His
baptism, this time by trying to get Him to sin (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1-13),
which would have disqualified Him from being the sinless Lamb of God, which takes
away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 36). He attacked again when He moved Peter to
rebuke Jesus for speaking about going to the cross (Matthew 16:21-23). He attacked
Him repeatedly through Yeshua's unbelieving Jewish brethren by getting them to try to
kill Him on a number of occasions (John 10:31), but in the wrong way, so He would not
fulfill the prophecies of His crucifixion (e.g., Psalm 22:16), and at the wrong time, so He
wouldn't be the Passover Lamb (Isaiah 52:13-53:12), nullifying the atonement aspect of
His death. Finally, Satan attacked again to kill Jesus, using as his agents Judas Iscariot,
the son of perdition (John 13:2, 27; 17:2), and the Jewish spiritual leadership (Matthew
26:14-15). (However, God, in His providence, saw to it that Jesus did die at the right
time and in the right way. It was the plan of the chief priests to kill Jesus, but not on the
feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people [Matthew 26:5, Mark 14:2], which would
have been consistent with Satan's desire to kill Jesus at the wrong time; but when Jesus
let Judas know that He knew that Judas was His betrayer, Judas went to the high
priests [John 13:27-30] and no doubt informed them that Jesus knew of the plot. The
chief priests then sought to take Jesus immediately and delivered Him to be killed in the
right way and at the right time [Matthew 26:17-30, 47-49; Mark 14:1-46; Luke 22:1-47;
John 18:1-3]), though they were blind to it, causing Satan's plan to be overridden.)
F. Satan's Attacks Against the Church
Yeshua, of course, did become the slaughtered Lamb of God, rose from the dead, and
birthed the church. Satan now focuses his attacks on the church, the corporate
ambassador of Christ on earth, as well as on Israel.

By means of false doctrine and sinful enticements, Satan has succeeded in causing the
corruption of the beliefs and morals of many believers; indeed, of perhaps all believers,
to one degree or another. In Acts 20:29-30, Paul said to the Ephesian elders, 29. For I
know this, that after my departure grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing
the flock. 30. Also men shall arise from your own selves, speaking perverse things in
order to draw disciples away after them.

Satan has scored victories in the lives of all believers by getting all to sin (1 John 1:10),
some to such an extent that they have become useless for godly service (1 Corinthians
9:27; 1 Timothy 1:19). False doctrine and sinful temptations have poisoned the church
spiritually, led to ungodly practices, shattered the church into thousands of slivers, and
ruined the lion's share of its potential witness. He has also attacked the church furiously
and unceasingly since the day of its birth by means of social ostracism and physical
persecutions in every degree, even causing the murder of believers in the millions.
G. Satan's Attacks Against All the Unsaved
Satan's attacks on the church are an indirect attack on unbelievers. To the extent that
he can neutralize or corrupt the church he can neutralize and corrupt the church's
witness to the world. But he attacks unbelievers directly, also, by blinding their minds to
the truth of the gospel: 2 Corinthians 4:3-4: 3. But also if our gospel is hidden, it is
hidden to those being lost, 4. in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the
unbelieving ones, so that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ (who is the image of
God) should not dawn on them.

In addition, he seeks to kill unbelievers while they are yet in that state of blindness lest
the Lord open their eyes and they be saved, as is evidenced by the ceaseless killings
and wars upon the planet whose kosmos he controls (James 1:15 and 4:1).
II. The Christian Response to the Attacks of Satan
A. To His Attacks Against Non-Christians
Jesus, Paul and James said, You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39;
Galatians 5:14; James 2:8), and Jesus said, Love your enemies, bless those who curse
you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and
persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)

In other words, we are to love all of the unsaved, even our enemies and the unsavory.

First and foremost, the Christian must seek to rescue the unsaved from the attacks of
Satan by seeking to make them disciples of the Lord. Matthew 28:18-20:

18. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority is given to Me in Heaven
and in earth. 19. Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20. teaching them to observe all things,
whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the
world. Amen.

The making of disciples, of course, must begin with the preaching of the Gospel. Mark
16:15-16: 15. And He said to them, Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the
creation. 16. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not
believe will be condemned.

Secondly, the Christian is to administer acts of mercy and of power to the unsaved (
Matthew 14:15-21; 20:34), including feeding the hungry, counseling the troubled, and
administering healings and exorcisms as the Lord provides leading and empowerment.
Such ministry is of great value in itself (James 1:27), but it also softens the hearts of
many to the ministry of the gospel, which is the greatest ministry of all.
B. To His Attacks Against Christians Themselves
1. "No Trespassing!
"Ephesians 4:26-27: 26. Be angry, and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down upon your
wrath, 27. neither give place to the Devil.

Dr. Fruchtenbaum writes, "In this passage, give place means 'give a beachhead.'"
(Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G. Radio Manuscript #19: The Darkness of Demonism. San
Antonio: Ariel Ministries Press. P. 21). A beachhead is a strip of territory just within
enemy territory.
We are to put up a sign on the borders of our lives that says to the enemy, "No
Trespassing!" Upon recognizing when he is on the attack, we are to resolve to prevent
his entry into our lives in any degree. We are to do that by resisting him; but if he does
gain entry, whether through our lack of vigilance or through our rolling out of the red
carpet for him, we are to repent and force him out through resistance, even by
commanding him to leave, if necessary, as Jesus did with Peter (Mark 8:31-33, below).
If need be, we are to seek the prayers, counsel and assistance of mature brethren in
getting the job done. That's what the body of Christ is for.

2. The Christian Is to Resist the Devil

James 4:6-7: 6. But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, God resists the proud,
but He gives grace to the humble. 7. Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 5:8-9: 8. Be sensible and vigilant, because your adversary the Devil walks about
like a roaring lion, seeking someone he may devour; 9. whom firmly resist in the faith,
knowing that the same afflictions in the world are being completed in your brotherhood.

We are to resist the Devil in humility, but firmly, and in the faith, meaning within
scriptural truth and obedience.

3. How Is the Christian to Resist the Devil?

We'll glean some principles from the Epistles, and then see how the Lord resisted
Satan.

3. For though walking about in flesh, we do not war according to flesh. 4. For the
weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of
strongholds, 5. pulling down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against
the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of
Christ.
~ 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 ~

Various literal translations render high thing as "mental elevation" or "arrogance".

We are not to attempt to defeat Satan by fleshly, or carnal, means. We are not to berate
him, lose our tempers at him, or in any other way employ the world's means of gaining
dominance. To do so would be to lose a round to Satan, not win one, as we'd actually
be calling upon him to mold our attitude. We must defeat him by being mighty through
God, through spiritual means, by means of the Spirit's guidance and empowerment,
to pulling down imaginations. Various literal translations
render imaginations as reasonings and arguments. In other words, the battle is in the
thought realm. We're to purge out satanic thoughts and reasonings and replace them
with godly thoughts and reasonings. This is done by "eating" the Scriptures and
meditating on them before the Lord.
To sum up this passage, defeating Satan requires the employment of biblical truth in a
godly manner and attitude.

This is spelled out in Ephesians 6:10-18:

10. Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11. Put on
the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. 13. Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14.
Therefore stand, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness 15. and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace. 16. Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked. 17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the Word of God, 18. praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all
saints.

Verse 12 tells us whom we battle against. Though satanic temptation or attack may
come through another person or groups of persons, we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Our battle is not
against people, but against demons, spiritual wickedness in high places. Consistent with
the assertion of 2 Corinthians 10:4, that the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly,
verse 10 tells us that we are to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Verses 13 through 18 tell us that we are to do that by putting on the whole armor of
God.

· We are to have our loins girded about with truth. Isaiah 11:5 says of the
Messiah, righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins. The warrior's sword was hung
from a belt about his waist. What enables the Christian warrior to bear his sword is the
fact that he stands in Christ's righteousness, which has been imputed to him at the
moment of his salvation, For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that
we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

He is also to walk in righteousness, living a life dedicated to honoring Christ. This, too,
will enable him to carry his sword comfortably, properly and handily.

The Christian warrior is to have on the breastplate of righteousness. Here again we see
righteousness come into play in his warfare against the devil; only here it is for the
protection of his heart and lungs, both necessary for life. Translated into spiritual terms,
his righteousness will protect him from Satanic attack that may cause him to
become shipwrecked (1 Timothy 1:19) or a castaway (1 Corinthians 9:27), that is, killing
his usefulness for the Lord's service. Speaking of the Lord again, Isaiah said, in
59:17, For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon
his head;

· The helmet of salvation of Ephesians 6:17, represents protection of the believer's

thought life in that, despite the fiery darts that the Wicked One seeks to shoot into his
mind, he will retain the assurance that he has the ultimate victory and can gain the
immediate victory by virtue of his salvation and standing in Yeshua.

· The Christian warrior is to have his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace. Isaiah 52:7 says, How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings
good tidings, making peace heard; who brings good news, making salvation heard; who
says to Zion, Your God reigns!

He is to be walking among the people, heralding the good news of salvation. This, too,
wards off the enemy's attacks; and it speaks of a consistent lifestyle, not an occasional
foray.

· Above all, he is to take the shield of faith, with which [he] shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked. We are to battle the enemy in faith: It is of faith so that it
might be according to grace. (Romans 4:16)

It is through faith in God's declarations and promises that the Christian warrior may
appropriate the grace of God unto victory.

· All of the armor that has been mentioned, thus far, has been defensive. One more item
remains: the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, the believer's sole and all-
sufficient weapon. We thwart Satan's lies and temptations by opposing them through
the declaration of God's truths and admonitions.

· And all of the Christian's warfare is to be done praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and
supplication for all saints. His warfare is always to be accompanied by prayer; not only
for himself, but for all saints - even while he, personally, is under attack.

4. How Jesus Defended Himself Against the Devil's Attacks

1. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into
the wilderness 2. forty days, being tempted by the Devil. And in those days He ate
nothing. And they being ended, He afterward was hungry. 3. And the Devil said to Him,
"If you are the Son of God, speak to this stone that it might become bread." 4. And
Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written that 'man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every Word of God.'" 5. And the Devil, leading Him up into a high mountain, showed
Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6. And the Devil said to Him, "All
this power I will give you, and the glory of them; for it has been delivered to me. And I
give it to whomever I will. 7. Therefore if you will worship me, all shall be yours." 8. And
Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall
worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.'" 9. And he brought Him to
Jerusalem and sat Him on a pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, "If you are the Son
of God, cast yourself down from here. 10. For it is written, 'He shall give His angels
charge over You, to keep You; 11. and in their hands they shall bear You up, lest at any
time You dash Your foot against a stone.'" 12. And Jesus answering said to him, "It has
been said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'" 13. And when the Devil had ended
every temptation, he departed from Him for a time. 14. And Jesus returned in the power
of the Spirit into Galilee.
~ Luke 4:1-14 ~
(Parallel passage: Matthew 4:1-11)

Four things should be noted here:

1. Jesus did not lose His temper at, berate, or insult, Satan.
2. With each temptation, Jesus told Satan exactly why He would not succumb.
3. Each declaration as to why He would not succumb was in the form of a quoted
scripture.
4. He commanded Satan to leave Him.

31. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be
rejected by the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three
days rise again. 32. And He spoke that saying openly. And Peter took Him and began to
rebuke Him. 33. But when He had turned around and looked on His disciples, He
rebuked Peter, saying, "Go behind Me, Satan! For you do not mind the things of God,
but of the things of men."
~ Mark 8:31-33 ~

Satan attempted to dissuade the Lord from going to the cross, using Peter as his
ambassador. Obviously, the Lord knew this; yet, He rebuked Peter. While Peter's
motive was one of love for his Master, yet his plea and urgency were so in keeping with
Satan's desire that Peter's desire and Satan's were one and the same: that Jesus not
go to the cross. Unwittingly, Peter had truly become Satan's vicar. Hence the sharp
rebuke directed squarely at Peter - not indirectly, but directly - a point that must not be
missed - and simultaneously, at Satan: Go behind Me, Satan! For you do not mind the
things of God, but of the things of men.

Six things should be noted here:

1. Jesus did not lose His temper at, berate, or insult, Satan.
2. He commanded Satan to leave Him, speaking directly at Peter.
3. He told Satan, in a very clear and direct manner, exactly why he was to leave
Him, speaking the same principle into Peter, as well.
4. The justification that Jesus gave for commanding Satan to leave Him was
Satan's transgression of a godly life principle: that one ought to prefer the things
of God to the things of men.
 5. In declaring the biblical principle that Satan transgressed, Jesus did not quote
Scripture, though, of course, the principle He stated had been stated numerous
times by Him and by the Hebrew Scriptures in a multitude of ways.
6. He did not hold back from shocking His disciple greatly.

Obviously, Jesus' response was sufficient: Peter's mouth was closed, Jesus won the
battle against Satan's temptation, and Jesus did go to the cross.

To combine our observations from these two passages:

1. In neither case did Jesus lose His temper, berate or insult Satan.
2. In each case He commanded Satan to leave Him.
3. In each case He declared to Satan in a very clear and direct manner the biblical
principle to which He was adhering as the reason for His refusal to succumb and
for His command for Satan to leave.
4. When Satan tempted Him directly in the wilderness, He quoted Scripture. When
Satan tempted Him through one of His disciples, He did not quote Scripture. By
no means can this be seen as a law, or even a principle, to be followed. Two
instances with differing modes of response do not constitute sufficient statistical
data to declare a pattern. Nevertheless, there is a common denominator between
Jesus' different modes of response. Whether He quoted Scripture or simply
declared the principle, He was plain, clear and authoritative. So how is the
believer to proceed? The surest way for a believer to successfully battle Satan is
to be able to likewise declare biblical principles plainly, clearly and authoritatively;
and the surest way to do that is to know Scripture so well that he could quote it.
5. Jesus did not hold back from shocking His disciple severely as a means of
discipline.

III. The Final Abode of Satan and His Demonic Host

All of Satan's attempts to prevent the Lord's return will end in futility. Just as the Seed of
the Woman went to the cross despite Satan's furious efforts to thwart Him from doing
so, so the Lord will come again, have Satan bound in the abyss for a thousand years
(Revelation 18:2), and finally cast him and his demons into the Lake of Fire for eternity
(Matthew 25:41; Revelation 19:11-21; 20:1-2,10).
IV. "Keep Your Eyes Upon Jesus"
One final word: The believer is to be aware of the wiles of the devil and do battle against
him, but his focus is not to be on the devil, but on the Lord.

Hebrews 12:1-2: 1. let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2. looking to
Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right of the throne of God.

Let us, therefore, keep our eyes upon Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Amen.
V. If You Are Not a Christian
If you are not a Christian, I respectfully ask you to consider my appeal.
The Bible says that if you have not invited Jesus into your life to be your Savior, you are
in the grip of the Devil, though you may not realize it. Satan does not always come as a
roaring lion. Sometimes he comes as an angel of light. He is the Arch Deceiver. You
may think that he does not exist, or that you have power over him, or can control your
dabbling in the occult if that is the case with you. Yet, Scripture - even Jesus Himself -
affirms that he does exist and that you have no power over the him if you are not one of
Christ's; and that when you die, you will die with your sins unforgiven, and will be cast
out of God's holy presence and into Hell. This is grievous, but eternal, truth.

Believing in Jesus is winning the ultimate and eternal victory. God sent Jesus from
Heaven to die as a sacrifice for your sins upon the cross. He then raised Him from the
dead to live with Him in Heaven once again so that He might fill you with Christ's
resurrection victory and eternal life. Here on earth you will know His presence, His
guidance, and victory over the Devil's temptations and grip; and when you die, you will
be with Him in Heaven.

What is required of you? No penance and no amount of righteous living can wash away
your sin. Simply admit to God that you are a sinner, and believe:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

~Romans 3:23~

16. God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17. For God did not send the Son into the
world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18. He who
believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
~ John 3:16-18 ~

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
~1 Peter 2:24~

9. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10. for with the heart a person believes,
resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11.
For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE
DISAPPOINTED."
~ Romans 10:9-11 ~

The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God.
~1 Corinthians 1:18~
I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes.
~Romans 1:16~

20. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal
through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21. [God] made
[Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.
~ 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 ~

Ask God to show you if this is true. If your heart is quieted and you will listen to His
Word within your spirit, you will hear. Then simply welcome Jesus into your life to be
your Savior. God will forgive you for your sins and you will be filled with the Holy Spirit,
Who will make your spirit eternally alive in Christ, and you will be His forever.

With all the love of One who went to the cross for you, Jesus said, Let your hearts be
turned from sin, and have faith in the good news. (Mark 1:15, BBE)

Blessings to you! Please read my personal story.