Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sunday morning Foundations Classes
God's Positioning System (GPS)
Angels/Demons & the End Times -- Lesson #5
(press or click on a slide to enlarge it)
scroll down for earlier lessons in descending order
You can click on earlier lesson by date to the right "Blog Archive".
(Lessons are posted once a week on Friday afternoon
For Lesson #1 click on 5/31 at upper right
I had intended this to be the last lesson on
angels and the angelic realm, BUT…. One commentary noted that angels are
the bridge between the spiritual and the physical realm. What does that mean?
The fallen angels were cast out of heaven to the earth, and even though we
can’t see them, they are creating havoc here, there and everywhere. When I
research a topic sometimes the information grows sufficiently to
warrant an additional lesson, like now.
Satan’s rebellion began
in
heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15)
with him and his angels being cast down to earth (Revelation 12), which we looked at
in lesson #1. In
Revelation
chapter
20, Satan meets a crushing final defeat,
being cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. It doesn’t state it, but I
think its safe to presume that Satan’s fallen angels were cast into hell with
him, forever and forever! When we witness civic unrest and riots in
our cities, we may be prone to ask, “Why is this happening?” Ecclesiastes 1:9
tells us: "What
has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing
new under the sun." History is not only interesting but serves
as a lesson of what is to come. We can see examples of it in our own lifetime.
If you believe Satan is not active in today’s civic unrest, think again!
Do you see spiritual warfare? Or are
these just unhappy, discontent people who feel the odds are stacked against
them? 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to "Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may
devour."
Satan’s greatest weapon is knowing our
weaknesses and using it to stir discontent and discord. He is an expert in
stirring up and inciting “discontent for a perceived wrong!” Apparently, he even
was capable of convincing 1/3 of the angels that they were getting a bad deal
from God, or that God was holding something back from them that they deserved.
If so many
angels were swayed by Satan’s lies, don’t you think people would be, especially
since Satan has free reign across the earth, here, there, and everywhere?
Stand Ready for
what? Though
unseen,
God sends His angels throughout the world to assist His church and protect His people
24/7
(Luke
4:10;
Psalm 34:7). When people deny or reject God, there are consequences (Gal. 6:7-8); in
doing so, they set out the welcome mat, opening the door for
and unleashing
evil. In these chaotic times, the Church needs to take its role in prayer
seriously (Psalm 9:9-10;
Psalm 46:1;
James 4:7) and
sharing the Gospel. God
will not reward evil with good or protect those who reject Him; even
nations are not exempt from His wrath. We see example down through history, even
within our own lifetime—WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, 9/11...
Because I strongly believe the lessons of
history are essential learning tools, which also includes standing strong
against evil. Our principle weapon against Satan is prayer, but we
can also resist,
by word and deed,
the evil he manifests in the world (James 4:17). Just as Satan influenced Judas
Iscariot (Luke 22:3) to betray Jesus, and the Pharisees (Matt. 22:15-18) to press for Jesus to be crucified, Satan greatest weapon is his persuasive influence and
sway. Adolf Hitler’s persuasive sway over Germany—the birthplace of the
Protestant Reformation—is a manifestation of Satan in the flesh.
Reflecting on the Battle of Britain
during World War II, the successful defense of Great Britain against relentless
and destructive air raids conducted by the German air force (Luftwaffe) from
July through September 1940, after the fall of France. If Winston Churchill had
accepted Hitler’s terms to negotiate and had not put up a valiant defense
against the German Luftwaffe, Nazi Germany would have made
Great
Britain helpless, allowing German forces to overran all of Europe unimpeded,
nor would America have entered the war against Germany; and today Nazi Germany
would still be in power. Hitler lost to the USSR only because he was fighting a
two-front war (Eph. 6:10-18). Churchill not only resisted Hitler, but he also
resisted Satan (James 4:7-8). Both Britain and America were in fervent prayer
on the home-front (Psalm 39:12, 66:20; Luke 1:37). Did it make a difference?
Absolutely!
Evil is manifested in many
different ways
and by many different people. Map shows Nazi Germany’s conquest across Europe
(red areas). We can be certain that Hitler’s hatred of the Jews was fueled by
Satan himself, even though Hitler was a baptized Roman Catholic and had served
as an altar boy as a youth. If Winston Churchill had not resisted Hitler, we
would be living in a very different world today. Satan wasn’t sitting idly by
in hell when all this was going on. In Luke 4:5-13 we are told that all the
world kingdoms are under Satan, including Nazi Germany. Luke 4:6 "And
[Satan] said to him, I will give you [Jesus] all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can
give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will
all be yours."
God did not leave us defenseless: Eph 6:10 "Finally,
be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power." These really are words of
encouragement, that we are not defenseless against dark spiritual forces.
Prayer and
the Word are important defensive weapons against evil onslaught (Eph. 6:10-20).
Just like basic training in the military prepares young men for war, God
prepares us for spiritual warfare with
His Word. The
Book of Revelation contains the final chapters on angels and spiritual
warfare—the battle is real, but, the good news is that Satan does lose the war!
What better place to get wisdom and
knowledge than God’s Word—the Bible, both Old and New Testaments include
history. But the Bible isn’t just history of Israel and the founding of the
Church, it is also a handbook of what we should be doing today in this world,
as God’s people.
We're not going to be covering this, but it illustrates that the
Bible stretches over the course of human history from God’s perspective, not
only its history, as related to God, but its lessons as related to mankind along
with Satan’s influence beginning in the Garden of Eden and man’s fall,
instigated by Satan’s lie (Gen. 3:1-7). The human race has
been prone to and influenced by Satan’s lies ever since. The Devil can’t be
everywhere at the same time, but he has a lot of help with millions of
demonic-angels working with him to destroy all that God created, especially
man. (For those inclined, you can click on the slide to enlarge it).
The Greek word translated
as “angel” is found over 170 times in the New Testament, each time it means an
“angel” never pastor. The letters were written to the churches themselves, and
not to an individual leader. Most scholars believe that the angel translation
is the best
one. Since
our study began by focusing on angels, lets look at the churches,
which are described in Revelation chapters 2 & 3. The
location of all seven churches are in what was the Roman province of Asia,
which is now modern Turkey,
almost 100% Muslim.
So what happened to those churches, especially since each one had an angel? There
may be a small
remnant of
Christians in those particular
areas, but
they are basically Muslim communities. Christians are just 0.3-0.4%
of the population of Turkey? All seven churches stand as a lesson for today’s
church—we need to be faithful to His Word. We need to be mindful that Christians did
not have individual Bibles back then. So, we have a remarkable advantage today,
one that we need to use both wisely and faithfully.
As stated before, I love
history, not only because it’s interesting, but it’s a learning tool. So, I
inserted a little ancient
history to
put this lesson into perspective within the larger context of spiritual warfare
which has led to the fall of great empires down through history for many
similar reasons—human
nature doesn’t change,
nor has the instigator of discord. Man puts false idols before God, which we
saw in
the Old Testament leading to the destruction of Israel, God’s Chosen People. Hopefully,
we will fare better as One Nation Under God.
The Gospels, Epistles and Book of
Revelation were all written during and within the Roman Empire at the height of
its power. Few think of Rome as a Christian Empire, but it was exclusively
Christian for its last 100+ years. Rome was founded in 753 BC.,
and survived as such for over 1,000 years. Over time it became a Republic ruled by
Senators and later by Emperors. Christianity was granted legal status in 313
AD, when Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan. In 380 AD, Emperor
Theodosius declared Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. So
what happened
to
the Christian Roman Empire?
The Western Roman Empire collapsed
in 476 AD, from internal discord and external attacks across their northern
border; it was
formally dissolved in 480.
The
Eastern Roman Empire's capital was Constantinople, later called the
Byzantine Empire, which fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The
City of Constantinople is now the City of Istanbul. During most of
its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and
military force in Europe. Why am I mentioning this? No Roman could ever imagine
the end of the Roman Empire. Nor did the British people imagine
the decline of the British Empire which stretched across a large part of the
globe, from
India to
Canada and Australia. In
the same way, most Americans
cannot imagine the end of this Constitutional Republic. Is it possible? History
says it is. When
Rome became Christian, it was a political decision, and not primarily one of conversion. It
was declared a Christian nation by its emperor a hundred years before its fall.
From the very beginning, back to the
Garden of Eden, and down through what had been great empires, to the end times,
we see Satan playing a significant role. The antichrist in Revelation serves
with the power of Satan. 1 John 2:18 tells us that many antichrist will come.
In all cases he is accompanied by his fallen angels doing his bidding, each
with extraordinary power. In the Tribulation, the coming antichrist, in the
image of the beast, will be Lucifer in the flesh (Revelation 13). He will
masquerade as an angel of light, claiming to be Almighty God. (2 Corinthians
11:14; Daniel 11:36; Revelation 9; Revelation 13:11-18)
Isa 46:9-10 -- 9 "Remember the former things, those of long ago; I
am God,
and there is no other; I
am God,
and there is none like me. 10 I make known the end from the beginning, from
ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My
purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please." Nothing happens without God’s permission as a
matter of right and wrong, and blessings and punishment. He doesn’t create evil
but does allow it to occur by people so inclined toward evil, such as the riots
on our streets. Yet, He will use it to accomplish His will overall; which I
think drives Satan crazy and fuels his rage! All of history is laid out in
accordance with God’s plan and timetable.
Protests across the nation are
tearing down historic monuments as a way of erasing what they consider an
offensive past. If history is the judge, their interpretation of moving toward
a perfect utopian society is not a realistic vision. Of course it just doesn’t happen that way.
During the rise of Adolf Hitler in post World War 1 Germany, anything that offended
Nazi doctrine was destroyed, including burning of books that contradicted their
Aryan
ideology and any written by Jews. All it did was catapult their
ideology into the mainstream leading to concentration camps for Jews, and
staunch Christians
that opposed their ideology, and for racially inferior
groups residing
in Germany, etc. The only solution to the problems we are seeing sweep across
our nation is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Is this still in the realm of
spiritual warfare? Absolutely. Jesus and sharing the Gospel is an
affront to Satan and a weapon against him.
What is the lesson being depicted
in
this image? We cannot
fight the Devil on his terms, nor
look at politics as the only solution. Neither can we ignore the political
battle taking place at every level of government, as efforts to defund police,
allow civic insurrection and defacing of historic monuments, all of which are being tolerated
by elected officials. As stated in the last lesson #3, there are dark clouds
descending on America
across
the entire spectrum:
political,
civil, cultural, and spiritual. Certain mainline churches have embraced
the latest “spiritually toxic” anti-biblical cultural demands as the
new normal
in lieu
of God’s Word and the Gospel. Satan is winning that particular battle.
Most people who hear or think about “dark
forces” as stated by Gen. Flynn, think in terms of political power. Which, is
true, BUT,
there is a dark spiritual side also: Col 1:13 "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and
brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins." We can be certain that the forces Gen.
Flynn has been dealing with are truly striving to drive God out of America.
Spiritual warfare isn’t just riots in the street, but is equally real
at the highest levels of political power, maybe even more so. This
is why
prayer for our Nation and our President is so essential.
Is such a statement made by President
Reagan, political? Some would say yes, but nothing escapes the spiritual war
American is facing. Read President Ronald Reagan’s August 23, 1984 statement.
Reagan served as the 40th President from 1981 to 1989. If we
believe God can’t be invoked by a president, or political leader, then we have
a real serious problem. As also stated by President Reagan, if we forget that
“we are one nation under God”,
we would certainly “be a nation gone
under”. If you don’t believe America is in a spiritual battlefield read
Ephesians 6:10-18 again.
President Ronald Reagan’s comments are a
perfect lead in to
the next couple of slides. We are living in challenging times, that most
Christians are not even aware of, and which constitute an assault against God
and Country. Is it a form of spiritual
warfare that Paul warns about in Ephesians 6? Absolutely.
A group who calls themselves “The
Disciples Of Lucifer”, even have a Facebook page showing a list of 22 cities
where the “Luciferian March For A One World Government” was to take place this
past Sunday (June 21st — the Summer Solstice). This and
associated groups have several Facebook pages. The one called “Luciferians” has
491 members. Another called “The Luciferian Society” has 9.4 thousand members.
And there are others of similar Luciferian* names. I read one report by a
witness to Sunday’s Raleigh NC march, which is noted on the next
slide.
Note: *Lucifer, the Morning Star, was Satan’s name before his fall. There was
a time when this never would have been accepted as an open public display,
because it was contrary to our national values and cultural norms. Apparently, no more.
Based on what I read regarding the
marches, apparently it was a “mixed bag” where in some cities more Christians
showed up to protest the Luciferians. Thank God! The point of even posting
this is that Satan is alive and well on planet earth, even right here in the
USA. We can’t just sluff it off as a “bunch of nuts” because Satan’s influence
is real, very real, and calls for prayer for our Nation and our president. Eph
6:12 "For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
With all that’s going on, the COVID-19
pandemic, racial discord and civic unrest, how does God keep us in perfect peace? His
angels are at our side through thick and thin (Luke 4:10; Psalm 34:7, Psalm
91:11). When we know who God is, and that He sent Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Savior, worship and prayer can bring a sense
of
peace and comfort upon our soul, especially when we dwell on Him and His Word.
If the church loses sight of its mission
to share the Gospel, and focuses instead on attracting people with cool things as its priority, it has
already lost the battle.
In the books of Daniel and Revelation, God gives us a description
of
the antichrist of Bible prophecy, which is a study in and of itself, way beyond
this
particular study, but
an important introduction to the finality of our study on angels and their
interaction with mankind,
of
which Revelation 14:9-12
paints the
picture of the finale
of the spiritual battle here on earth, but it’s not over just yet.
Revelation is probably one of the most
less understood, misunderstood, and even disputed books in the Bible in
regard to what
exactly does it mean. Consequently there are a number of views regarding what it means when it
refers to the End Times. Yet most are confident that their viewpoint is the
correct one. We will explore this further on.
The
Book of Revelation
paints a
broad picture
of the End Times,
the
culmination of Satan’s power and deadly attacks on God’s people. But,
there is a day of reckoning carefully spelled out by John,
its author, beyond what this
lesson
can convey. Nevertheless,
the message is that even with all the power they sway in spiritual warfare
against God’s Church and His people, ultimately, Satan and his angels are
destined to lose. Satan has strived throughout history to create a new world order under
his influence and authority,
and at times and in a limited way, he was successful. He
will continue
to have a
limited victory, as he had in the past, but in the finality of history, he will
lose. So, dear brothers and sisters do not despair at the evil onslaught
unleased against our nation. Prayer is a defensive weapon against
Satan and his demonic angels. How is it a deterrent? It provides a barrier against Satan’s
onslaught. God wouldn’t tell us to pray if it wasn’t an effective defense
(Matt. 24:20; John 17:9; 1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 6:18; 2 Th.3:1-3; Jude 20).
Don’t blow your mind trying figure out
and understand every nuisance on this slide, there is far too much to absorb
without an open and extensive discussion. Nevertheless, it’s worth a look. It’s
a biblical overview of the two paths mankind is on, also why there are
different viewpoints on the end times. It’s an example that we are only
scratching the surface with studies like this one, about angels, the angelic
realm, good versus evil, and even a slice of the End times, which includes the
Final Judgment, the New Heaven and New Earth, etc. For those inclined, you can
enlarge the slide by clicking on it, and hitting esc to undo the enlargement.
Perhaps another time and another study we can get into it as such.
Shown on this slide are the three main
views held across Christianity regarding when the Rapture is expected to occur or
not. So,
stay tuned for our next lesson which will be posted next Friday afternoon. Until we meet
again, blessings to all!.
END OF LESSON #5
