2 Corinthians 2:11
11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
One of the real challenges living in the world today is to recognize things that are evil. We have many misconceptions about what Satan is up to, and it is our duty to know what his schemes are.
There’s a great passage that speaks of exactly what Lucifer (Satan, the devil) thinks.
Isaiah 14:12-17
12 "How you have fallen from heaven,
O LUCIFER, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!
This Lucifer, or star of the morning, is the Hebrew word Heylel. It means light bearer, or shining one. Certainly doesn’t sound unattractive! Throw out your mental picture of Satan as an ugly red horned creature. He’s beautiful! That’s one of the reasons that Satan, and his strategy, can appear attractive to us today!
2 Corinthians 11:14-15
14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
Servants of Satan are not necessarily dressed like devil worshippers! They talk about salvation, but it’s not the same. They talk about living the Christian way of life, but it’s a different one!
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.
Satan has sweet, good-looking ministers promoting different gospels and different Jesuses!
So back to Isa 14.
13 "But you (Lucifer) said in your heart,
'I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
14 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.'
Here we have what I call “Satan’s Five I Wills.” This is the actual original sin, the first one ever committed. It not only tells us about the one who committed it, but it sets up the pattern for all sin! It’s the sin of independence; of choosing our will over God’s will.
There’s very little difference between Satan’s sin of independence and ours. How do we live OUR lives?
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
2 Corinthians 5:15
15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Is that how we live our lives, or do we serve our own purposes? That’s the sin of independence from God.
The 5 I Wills. Notice these are not OVERT sins. We often think the worst sins are the ones we commit outwardly, but the one that started it all was just thought! Satan just said them in his heart.
He wanted the highest position. He wanted to ascend above where God had placed him!
He wanted the highest authority over all the angels, and he wanted to put himself there. That’s the authority problem!
This is rulership over the government of the earth, a reference from Isa 2:1-4
Clouds are often used to represent the divine presence of God, or the glory of God.
Jehovah appeared in a cloud, Exodus 16:10
When Jehovah was present in the temple, the cloud filled the house, 1 Kings 8:10
Ps 104:3; Isa 19:1
Matthew 24:30
30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
In I will No. 4, Satan wants all the glory, which belongs to God alone.
He uses his own talent, looks, and ability (which was given to him by God) to try to supersede God in function. And he wants all the glory.
People today do the same thing, trying to get the credit for doing something that God gave them the ability to do in the first place!
What’s the secret to your success? Hard work? Luck?
Anything we are, or any success we have, is ENTIRELY dependent on the grace and character of God, and He should get all the glory! Lucifer thought otherwise.
That one speaks for itself, and we’ll talk more about it later.
Remember, in spite of the universally accepted impression that Satan is the opposite of God, it is his goal to be exactly like God.
More on recognizing the strategies of Satan tomorrow! Remember, it’s our command to know his schemes!