The Jealousy of Satan
Rick Railston
December 1, 2012
Well, greetings again everybody. I think everybody has heard of Paul Newman, the actor. He seemed like a pretty nice guy. He had a famous quote, “If you don’t have enemies, you don’t have character.” I think there’s a lot of truth to that. Of course, none of us like enemies, do we? We don’t want to have enemies. But, the fact is as we all know, we do have one very powerful enemy.
Let’s go to 1 Peter 5, verse 8 and look at the scripture we read frequently. We’ve gone here several times. Talking about this enemy we have and we want to pay attention to one phrase in this verse.
1 Peter 5:8. Be sober (circumspect), be vigilant; because your adversary (can also mean your enemy) the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about (what is his purpose?) seeking whom he may devour: (KJV)
We ask, why would Peter use the word “devour”? That is a strong, strong word. If you look at the Greek meaning, it’s Strong’s 2666. It means to drink down or it can be taken literally or figuratively to gulp entirely, like in one big gulp. It also means to swallow up. What this tells us is that Satan wants to, just with one big gulp, to take us in and destroy us. That begs the question, why does Satan want to devour us? Why would he want to? Why does Satan come after us so aggressively? Why does he do it even more so as we get closer to the end?
If anyone has paid any attention in the last week or two to current events, it is marching closer and closer and closer to the end. I’ve recently been thinking about the causes of his desire to devour us. What is the motivation behind it?
Oliver Stone, who is an American film director and screen writer and producer; he’s a very famous guy. He produced a lot of movies here recently that most of us never see, thankfully. Anyway, he says, “Never underestimate the power of jealousy and the power of envy to destroy.” Never underestimate that.
Now if anybody should know about jealousy and envy, it would be someone from Hollywood and he says, “Never underestimate the power of jealousy and envy to destroy.”
Let’s ask ourselves a question, have you ever been jealous of someone? I have. We have experienced jealousy before we were converted and maybe sometimes we’ve allowed jealousy to come into our minds after we were converted. But think for a minute of the feeling of jealousy and how it made you feel. The reality you see, is that jealousy, if it is unchecked, leads to anger and if anger is unchecked, it leads to hatred. This is how Satan feels about each one of us; jealousy leading to anger leading to hatred leading to the desire to destroy us and devour us completely. Satan is jealous of every one of God’s children. I don’t think we’ve realized this to the extent that we need to. He is jealous of each one of us.
So today what we want to do is to better understand the why and the how of Satan coming after us. What is the motivation behind it so that we can have better tools, so to speak, where we can better defend ourselves against him.
So the title of the sermon, if you like a title, is The Jealousy of Satan. Now what we’re going to do in the first part of the sermon is talk about five objects of Satan’s jealousy. What is his jealousy focused on? We will talk about five of them.
The first one is obvious: Satan was first jealous of God.
When you think about it, until that happened, until Satan became jealous of God, jealousy never existed before. It was created in the mind of Satan. It had never existed until he became jealous of God. The reason is that Satan is a being that wants the exaltation. He wants to be exalted and lifted up.
Let’s go to the two scriptures that talk a lot about Satan, Ezekiel 28 and then we’ll follow up and go to Isaiah 14. We’ll just read the beginning of one verse in Ezekiel 28. We’ll come back to these scriptures as we go through the sermon.
Notice his desire and notice what the Bible says about his motivation.
Ezekiel 28:17. Your heart was lifted up …
Meaning the desire to be exalted, looking at himself. He felt he should be exalted.
17b. … because of your beauty, you have corrupted (because of this desire to be exalted) your wisdom by reason of your brightness … (KJV)
He became infatuated with himself, his brightness, his wisdom and that led to his heart being lifted up and as we’re going to see, that led to jealousy.
Let’s go to Isaiah 14 and we’re going to read verses 13 and 14. Only God knows the heart and God and Jesus Christ, the God of the Old Testament, is telling us what is in his heart.
Isaiah 14:13. For you have said in your heart, I will ascent into heaven, I will exalt my throne (his throne) above the stars of God (or the angels of God): I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation (I’m going to sit right up there with God) in the sides of the north:
14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds (again, exalting himself); I will be like the most High. (KJV)
He was not content to be anything less than right up there with God Almighty. Satan’s desire to be exalted led to his jealousy of God because he wanted God’s position. He was not content with his own position. That led to his attempt to replace God. We know there was a war in heaven and as we are going to see in a second, he was cast down.
A seventeenth century French author made a very profound statement regarding the subject of jealousy. His name was Francois de La Rochefoucauld. He hit the nail right on the head. He said, “Jealousy springs more from love of self than from love of another.” We normally think of jealousy as perhaps two people in love or two people dating and they get jealous of each other. We normally think of jealousy in the terms of somebody else made us jealous, somebody outside us made us jealous. But the real problem is that we make ourselves jealous, and we make ourselves jealous because we love ourselves more than we love our neighbor.
Satan loved himself more than he loved God and Jesus Christ. So the one who first wanted exaltation is the author of jealousy. Let’s understand that. Any time we feel jealous, remember who the author of jealousy is. So that’s the first point, Satan was jealous of God.
The second point is that Satan is jealous of Christ as the Son of God and he is also jealous of us as sons of God.
Because of this, Satan became a murderer. Let’s go to John 8 and look at verse 44. Ultimately Satan’s jealousy led him to anger and then to hatred and then murder. Christ is talking to the religious leaders of the day who prided themselves in their righteousness and He was bringing them down a notch or two.
John 8:44. You are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer …
The Greek word for “murderer” means to kill or it can mean man slayer. So he was a killer or man slayer, notice, from the beginning.
44b) … from the beginning …
We will come back to that, but he was a murderer, a man slayer, a killer from the beginning.
44c) … and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it. (KJV)
Not only is he the author of lies, he is also the author of jealousy.
Notice he said, “murderer from the beginning.” That does not necessarily mean his beginning, Satan’s beginning. Sometimes we’ve taken it that way, but that’s what it says. It says, “the beginning.” So we have to ask a question; what beginning could Christ be referring to? It is possible that Christ did mean from his beginning, meaning Satan’s beginning, when he was created. But could it be that the beginning Christ is referring to means from the beginning of the plan to create human beings who will ultimately become sons of God? Could it be that? In other words, when it was announced to the angels that there was going to be a new creation of human beings that were initially inferior to them but would ultimately be superior to them and be sons of God, could it be that that was the beginning and could it be then that murder entered his mind, because he could not abide a class of beings above where he was?
That plan that was announced at some point and one of these days we will find out and it’s going to be fascinating how that worked, but that plan of creating human beings to be sons of God necessitated the death of Christ as we all know. That meant that Christ, by His death and resurrection, was going to become THE Son of God. I believe Satan became jealous of Christ as the very Son of God because he was not offered that position.
Notice Luke 1:35. We’re breaking into the context where Gabriel is talking to Mary and he is trying to explain to her what is going to happen to her and it is mind boggling and there again, some day I’d like to talk to God and see how this actually worked. Gabriel was saying unto Mary … (this is out of the New King James)
Luke 1:35. And the angel answered and said to her, “[The] Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” (NKJV)
Now let’s take that understanding and jump to Hebrews, chapter 1 and we’re going to read verses 4 through 6 and then to verse 13. Now here in Hebrews, chapter 1, Paul is referring to Christ after His resurrection, after He became the Son of God. As we read this, understand it from the relationship of Christ as the Son of God to the angels and we’ll get an idea of what might be in the mind of Satan.
Hebrews 1:4. Being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (meaning the angels)
5) For unto which of the angels said he at any time, You are my Son, this day I have begotten you? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? (KJV)
What we’re being told is this was never ever told to the angels.
6) And again, when he brings in the first begotten into the world, he says, And let all the angels of God worship him. (KJV)
If Satan wanted to exalt himself, this was something he could not stand and he could not stomach.
13) But to which of the angels said he at any time, “Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool?” (KJV)
You see, Satan would never have that position. Just as an aside, these two scriptures that I just read cannot be used in any way to say Christ was a created being because Christ was the Word before then. Let’s understand, Satan would never be in the position of sitting on the right hand of the Father and be called, “This is My Son, THE Son of God.” So you can see that jealousy started when that plan was announced to the angelic host.
But in addition, Satan became jealous of us as potential future sons of God, eternal sons of God. Let’s go to Romans, chapter 8 and we’ll read verses 16 and 17. This is now referring to us as brothers of Jesus Christ as sons of God. It tells us …
Romans 8:16. The (Holy) Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit (meaning God’s Spirit in us), that we are (right now) the children of God …
17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (of the same potential, the same future); if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together. (KJV)
And the fact that human beings were going to be glorified and they would be above the angels, put humans in a position that Satan will never have: this family relationship with the Father. They are servants as we will see in a minute, but they are not Sons of the Father.
Now do you think this might have made Satan jealous? Well, of course. Remember back to the time if you were jealous of someone and the person you were jealous of received some honor? Didn’t that just burn you up? If we’re honest with ourselves, it just burns you up when someone you allow yourself to be jealous of receives some honor. Well, what greater honor than to become the sons of God? What greater honor can these human beings have than to become the sons of God? That just burns Satan up and fills him with jealousy and then anger and then hatred and the desire to murder. It burns him up absolutely, because it means we’re going to be ultimately in a more favored position than the angelic host, and since he was a murderer from the beginning, would it not be logical that he would want to murder or destroy the object of his jealousy? Who is the object of his jealousy? It’s all of us.
That leads directly to the next object of Satan’s jealousy. Satan is jealous of our intimate relationship with God.
It is a relationship the angelic host does not have and will not have. You see, we’ve been promised not only to be sons of God, but something else. Let’s go to John, chapter 15. We read this on Passover evening. Christ, when He called the disciples, He would tell them to come and go and do this and that and some went out to preach the gospel and He told them to get in the boat and row across the bay, etc., and they were basically doing His bidding. They were servants. Notice verses 14 and 15. He makes a change in the relationship.
John 15:14. You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you.
15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does …
Now let’s stop here and understand that the angelic kingdom are servants.
Hebrews 1:14 tells us they are ministering spirits. He is saying to the disciples (soon to be apostles) that now I’m calling you friends, not servants. I’m calling you friends. At some time in the past these servants, the angelic kingdom, were informed of God’s plan and that He was going to create sons. That’s when the trouble began. That’s when jealousy reared its ugly head in the form of Satan. Let’s continue on in verse 15.
15b) … but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you. (KJV)
We know that Christ and the Father don’t necessarily tell the angelic host everything, because we read in other scriptures that there are things they desire to look into. The Greek word for “friend” is Strong’s 5384 and it’s the Greek word philos which is a cousin of the word Philadelphia. It means loved; it means dear and it means fond of. Loved, dear and fond of; all of these characteristics apply to God’s view of His children; loved, dear and He is fond of all of us. Again, this is a relationship that Satan never had and the angelic kingdom does not have. As a result, what Satan wants to do is to destroy this special relationship between God and each one of us. He goes after, attacking the relationship between us and the Father.
Look at what he did to the first human beings. We won’t turn there. I’ll just paraphrase it. We find this in the beginning of Genesis 3. Remember what it tells us. It says “The serpent was more cunning than any beast that God had made.” Remember what Satan said to Eve; He said, “Hasn’t God said that you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?” And I’m sure Eve was naive and innocent and said, “Oh yes, we can eat of any tree in the garden except this tree in the middle of the garden and God has told us that we can’t touch it and we can’t eat it or we will die.” Remember what Satan said, “Oh, you’re not going to die. God is not telling you the truth. You’re not going to die, because He knows that in the day you eat thereof, you will be like God because it will open your mind and then you will know like God does the differences between good and evil.” Meaning you can establish your own rules about good and evil. He began to plant seeds of distrust and doubt which led to a lack of faith on their part in God.
Now what he wants to do is instill in God’s children with that same attitude. He wants to inject in us that same attitude of mistrust and lack of faith. What Satan is trying really to do is what he said to Adam and Eve, “Don’t just be like God; be equal to God.” That’s what he said to mankind. “Don’t be His children; you be equal to Him.” That’s exactly what Satan did with himself. He didn’t want to be subservient to God. He wanted to be equal with God. The prince of the power of the air plants thoughts in our minds to destroy the relationship between us and God and us and Jesus Christ. He puts thoughts in our heads. “Oh, He won’t give you that job. He won’t heal you. He’s too high and mighty to pay attention to the likes of you. He is on high ready and willing just to smash you the minute you step out of line.” Thoughts have been preached and those thoughts have come into our heads and because of his jealousy, he will do whatever it takes to degrade our relationship with God, especially as we get closer to the end. So please understand that and remember that when doubts come into your mind. Understand the source of those doubts and the purpose of the doubts are to separate us from God and to inject feelings of distrust and disbelief.
So, the third big area is that Satan is jealous of this intimate relationship that we have with God.
The third area is: Satan is jealous because we worship God and not him.
Now think about that. Satan hates it when we put God first in our lives. He just hates that. Why? Because he is not first. When we go astray, we are putting him first. But when we put God at the center of our life, he just hates it.
Let’s look at Luke, chapter 4. We’ll read the first eight verses. This is where Christ came to a crossroads and Christ made a decision and we’re going to look at the decision that Christ had to make. This is basically the crux of our human lives. Who are we going to worship? Who are we going to follow?
Luke 4:1. And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit … (KJV)
Romans 8 tells us that those who are led by the Spirit are the children of God.
1b) … into the wilderness,
2) Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterwards hungered.
3) And the devil said unto him, “If you be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.”
4) And Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (KJV)
Now that didn’t work. Notice verse 5. Now we get to the crux of it.
5) And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. (KJV)
He has that ability.
6) And the devil said unto him, “All this power will I give you and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will I give it.”
What is the catch? What is the big “if?”. That’s verse 7.
7) If you therefore will worship me, all shall be yours. (KJV)
Christ is at a crossroads. He could worship the Father or He could worship Satan.
8) And Jesus answered and said unto him, “Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only (nobody else) shall you serve.” (KJV)
This is interesting, you see, because Christ is the God of the Old Testament. We understand that. In John 1:3, it tells us that all things were created by Christ. Therefore, Christ created Satan. Don’t know if you ever thought about that. Christ created Satan and in Satan’s twisted mind, he wanted his creator to worship him! He wanted the being that created him to kneel down and worship him, if you can imagine that.
Satan has convinced the world to do the same thing. We won’t turn there; Romans 1:25, it tells us that the world worships the created and not the creator. That’s exactly what Satan was trying to get Christ to do, worship a created being when He (Jesus Christ) created the being that’s looking Him in the face saying, “Now bow down and worship me.”
Likewise you see, what Satan is trying to get us to do is worship him. He failed with Christ, but he is still trying with each one of us and he has succeeded already with some.
Let’s look at the example of Job. Let’s go to Job 1 and read verse 1 for context and then go to verses 8 through 11. I’ll read it from the New King James. It’s clearer. This just describes, very briefly, who Job was.
Job 1:1. There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name [was] Job; and that man was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned (or turned away from) evil. (NKJV)
Job was very righteous.
8) Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job …
Now the margin in the King James says, “Have you set your heart on Job?”, just like he set his heart on Adam and Eve, to turn Job just like he did with Adam and Eve.
8b) … that [there is] none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
One who worships God and obeys God. We should ask, why did Satan set his heart on Job? What was it about Job that Satan wanted to attack? Obviously, the motivation was jealousy. He hates those who worship God, who obey God, who adore God and who put God first in their lives. He also hates those who are blessed by God, and Job had manifold blessings from God. Look at verse 9.
9) So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear (reverence or worship) God for nothing?”
10) “Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.” (NKJV)
Satan hates it when God blesses His people.
11) “But now, stretch out your hand and touch all that he has and he will surely curse You to Your face!” (NKJV)
You see, what Satan wants to do is destroy that worshipful, obedient, adoring attitude that Job had toward his creator. What he is saying is, “You let me at him and I will turn him against you just as I did with Adam and Eve.” So what I’m saying is that Satan actively does the same with us; seeking whom he may devour. “You let me at him, God, and they will be cursing you by the time I’m through.” So through his deception, Satan wants to turn us from worshipping God to worshipping him, and he is jealous of this worshipful attitude in the fact that we are obedient and we worship God and not him.
That leads us to the fifth and last object we will discuss about Satan’s jealousy. He is insanely jealous when we are forgiven by God, when God removes our sins.
Let’s understand, we all sin and we all miss the mark. Romans 3:23: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” When we do sin, we all know and understand that our sins separate us from God, as Isaiah 59:2 says. When we start sinning and get into a mode of sin, we get farther away from God. God doesn’t move, God doesn’t change, but we just get farther away from God. Now this is exactly what Satan wants. This is one reason he provokes us to sin, to separate us from God.
Let’s go to Revelation, chapter 12 and we’ll read verses 10 and 11 and find out something that’s very important, and maybe it’s something we haven’t thought about before. This is a time when Satan is cast down.
Revelation 12:10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: (Why?) for the accuser of our brethren (just like he did with Job) is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” (KJV)
Satan is our adversary and our accuser. Notice verse 11.
11) And they (the saints) of God; (the firstfruits of God) overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb …
This is very important. They overcame Satan by the blood of Jesus Christ.
11b) … and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (KJV)
So when we sin, look what happens. When we repent and recognize our sin and admit our sins and confess our sins before God, what does God do? He says he takes our sins and removes them as far as the east is from the west. That’s infinity, as far as the east is from the west. We find that in Psalm 103:12.
Now when that happens, the act of God’s forgiveness of our sins just makes Satan jealous and angry and hate filled because God wipes it all away. We can sin and go astray and when we repent and return and confess and have our sins forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ, all is forgiven and we are back in a right standing with God and in a right relationship with God. That makes Satan jealous and angry. Why does it make him jealous and angry? Because the blood of the Lamb does not apply to Satan. Think about that. The blood of the Lamb does not apply to Satan. Why is that? Why does the blood of the Lamb not apply to Satan? The reason is that Satan chooses not to repent. He has made that decision. He is the adversary. He is the enemy of God. He tried to overthrow God and he chooses not to repent because he feels he has done nothing wrong. You see, he feels that God is wrong and he is right and he has done nothing wrong. He chooses not to repent and he feels he has done nothing wrong.
That is a lesson for us today because this is a caution to all of us. Never, ever go there where we feel God is wrong or we have done nothing wrong and where we know we have sinned but we choose not to repent. That’s about the fastest way I know of to go in the lake of fire and Satan has set us that example. So we should never go there. He is angry and he is jealous with us when we repent because our right relationship with God is restored and, once again, he will never have that. He’s jealous with us because of that.
So far in the sermon we’ve seen five objects of Satan’s jealousy. Let’s understand, because of his jealousy that is the reason he wants to devour us. Remember we read that in 1 Peter 5:8; he wants to swallow us, gulp us down entirely.
Now Christ amplifies how he wants to do that. Let’s go to John, chapter 10. This is very instructive. Christ is using an analogy of a sheepfold or a sheep pen. As you remember, sheep pens were made of rock. They didn’t have barbed-wire fences back then. They were made of stacked rock, wider at the base and they angled in at the top just for strength. They were rectangular and at one end they had a gate. Generally there was a gatekeeper. So let’s start in verse 1 of John 10.
John 10:1. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way (meaning climbing over the rock fence), the same is a thief and a robber.”
Now He is heading in a certain direction with this.
2) “But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep,
3) “To him the porter (the gatekeeper) opens; and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4) “And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him; for they know his voice.
5) “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
6) This parable spoke Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spoke unto them. (KJV)
In verse 7, He begins to explain.
7) Then said Jesus unto them again, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
8) “All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
9) “ I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out (into the sheepfold and out of the sheepfold) and find pasture.” (KJV)
Now what is he referring to as pasture? That means out in the pasture where the Good Shepherd leads them, they find safety, they find shelter and they find sustenance, whether they are in the sheepfold or they follow the shepherd out in the pasture.
10) “The thief comes not, (here’s what the thief wants to do) but for to (three things) steal, and to kill and to destroy …”
And Christ says: “Look at the contrast between the thief and Me. I’m not coming to steal and kill and destroy.”
10b) “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.” (KJV)
Now it’s obvious that Satan is the thief that Christ is referring to and Satan began that effort of those three things with the very first two human beings and he succeeded with their children. Now he wants to accomplish three things:
1. He wants to steal us from God. How does he try to do that? We’ve already covered that. He wants to destroy our relationship with God. If he can destroy our relationship with God, then he can steal us from God.
2. He wants to kill us physically. I am sure when we talk to God in the world tomorrow, we’re going to find out that, “I intervened here and I intervened here and my angels intervened here and you would be dead if we didn’t do this and this and this. Satan wants to physically kill us.
3. He wants to destroy us spiritually. Now the Greek word for “destroy” is Strong’s 622 and it means to destroy fully, to destroy completely, absolutely completely.
So the bottom line, you see, is Satan is jealous of us to the point that he wants us gone forever. Steal: get us away from God; kill us physically and then to completely destroy us in the lake of fire. He wants us gone forever. That is his motivation and he is stoked by jealousy.
Now the big question for us is how can we overcome Satan’s desire to destroy us through this jealousy? What tools do we have that will help us overcome Satan’s effort to destroy us? We are going to talk about four tools that we have.
The first is obvious and it is the most important. We need to strengthen our relationship with God and Christ. We must strengthen our relationship with them. God must be always at the center of our lives; everything we do. If He is not at the center of our lives, we’re going astray. When we make God at the center of our lives, guess what? We become more like Him and we become more like Jesus Christ.
Let’s go to Ephesians, chapter 4. We read this quite often because it’s so important. Ephesians 4 and verses 22 through 24, and I’ll read this out of the New King James version. We must become like God and Christ. Paul is saying:
Ephesians 4:22. …that you put off (cast off), concerning your former conduct (the way we used to do things), the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. (NKJV)
Before God called us, that was our situation. Once He called us and once He gives us His Holy Spirit and gives us His word to understand, we have a job to do.
23) and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
You have a new Spirit in your mind. Philippians 2:5 says we have to have the mind of Christ.
24) and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. (NKJV)
You see we have to become more like God and the only way we can become more like God is to have a close relationship with Him and Jesus Christ so we know who they are, and then we have the power through the Holy Spirit to change ourselves so we become more like them.
Let’s go back and look at the example of Job. We’ll go back to Job, chapter 1. We were there earlier. Let me just give you the context of that first chapter. God agreed to let Satan at him. God said, “Don’t kill him, but I’m going to give you a new level of access to Job.” Notice what he lost. Job was sitting there as we would say, “fat, dumb and happy” and this man comes running up to him out of breath and he says, “The Sabeans just stole a thousand oxen and five hundred donkeys and they killed your servants that were tending those oxen and donkeys.” Of course, that’s a shock out of the clear blue sky.
Then another servant comes running up and says, “Fire just came down from heaven and burned up your servants and seven thousand sheep they were attending.” You can imagine the shock.
Then another servant comes up, again out of breath, heaving and panting and says, “The Chaldeans have stolen three thousand of your camels and they killed the servants that were watching the camels.”
Then if that wasn’t enough, another servant runs up and said, “Your seven sons and your three daughters were in a house and the house just collapsed and killed them all.” Think about that. Humanly speaking, what would our response be? “God, how could you do that to me? This isn’t fair! I obey You; I love you. How can you do this to me?” That would be our response. But look at Job’s response in verses 21 and 22. What an attitude.
Job 1:21. And said: “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there: the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
22) In all this (this horrible, crushing news) Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. (KJV)
What a vision of God. He said, “God, you are supreme and I know you love me and I know whatever you do is for my benefit and for my good. What a vision and what a relationship with God and what trust. Here he is with all this bad news and then later Satan attacks his body. Yes, humanly as James pointed out in his sermon on Job, he was suffering but he learned again that God is sovereign. God is above all and what He does is for our benefit. What a relationship with God; what trust. We need to have that same relationship with God. So the first one is put God always at the center of our lives.
The second way we can overcome Satan’s jealousy is by the whole armor of God.
Remember we talked about Goliath a while back. He had 156 pounds of armor on him and look where it got him. The reason was that his armor was physical. But God gives us spiritual armor.
Now let’s ask the question (we’re going to turn to Ephesians, chapter 6): What is the purpose of the spiritual armor? Sometimes we read right over this verse. I have. What is the purpose of spiritual armor? We’re going to read verses 10 through 18 of Ephesians, chapter 6. Paul is summing up here,
Ephesians 6:10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. (KJV)
Put Him at the center of your life. He challenges them and says,
11) Put on the whole armor of God …
What is the purpose of the armor? Sometimes we can just read right over it.
11b) … that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (KJV)
That is the purpose of the armor. The Greek word for “wiles” means trickery or lying in wait (seeking whom he may devour). So the purpose of the armor is to be able to stand against the trickery, the lying in wait of Satan the devil. Now verse 12 out of the NIV,
12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood (sometimes we forget that; we focus on the human), but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world (that’s all physical) and (this is more important) against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (referring to Satan and his demons). (NIV)
So we see here that the primary purpose of the whole armor of God is to protect us from Satan.
Saul’s armor didn’t work for David. You can go back to 1 Samuel and see that. Remember, it didn’t fit right and he didn’t feel right. It just wasn’t right. The reason was that physical help is no help in that situation. What David needed was God’s help and Saul’s physical armor was just physical; no help at all.
We need God’s spiritual armor, God’s spiritual protection. We can do the best we can in our lives, but if we are going to rely on protection from Satan, it comes from God, God protecting us and giving us that spiritual armor.
13) Therefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day …
Now that evil day could be the day Satan really puts the pressure on and attacks us or the evil day could be the last days that we are in.
13b) … and having done all, to stand.
14) Stand therefore, having your loins gird about with truth …(KJV)
The first armor of God is the truth, and we have God’s truth. What a blessing we have God’s truth.
14b) … and having on the breastplate of righteousness,
The second one is righteousness. That means putting God’s truth into practice, obeying it.
15) And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of (what?) peace;
If we have peace inside and we don’t allow Satan to tie us into little bitty knots, we can withstand Satan.
16) Above all, taking the shield of faith …
If we don’t have faith, God can’t protect us. We’re nowhere. If we don’t have that trust, then we are nowhere.
16b) … wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of (Satan) the wicked. (KJV)
No matter what trials come our way; no matter what trials we have, if we have faith that whatever God does or allows in our lives is for our good. That’s going to be the next sermon. Whatever God does, whatever God allows is for our good and not our harm. If we have that faith then we will be able to withstand all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17) And take the helmet of salvation …
That’s something we look forward to; that is something that is a goal for us.
17b) … and the sword of the Spirit (what is the sword of the Spirit?), which is (number 6) the word of God. (KJV)
We can trust God’s word. We don’t have to trust men. We don’t have to trust what men write or say. We trust God’s word.
The seventh is praying.
18) Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit …
The last is:
18b) … and watching thereunto …
What is watching unto? The context here is to see if Satan is influencing us. We watch continually to see if Satan is trying to influence us. The context is standing against Satan. If we watch and then see all of a sudden, “Hey, I’m under attack.” Then we go back to the armor of God, all eight of these, then we can persevere as it says here.
18c) … with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; (KJV)
If we have all of these, this whole armor of God, we are promised protection against the one who lies in wait to devour us.
The third way we can overcome Satan’s jealousy is we need to be aware of those Satan uses in an attempt to destroy us.
You see, Satan is very good at enlisting the help of human beings to destroy us, to get us off track. Some of them are tares. That’s something we are aware of. They’re just tares. Some are clouds without water and wells without water. We’ve talked about that in the past. They are human beings that Satan uses to distract us and get us off track and get us to sin. But I also want to point out that some of those Satan uses are legitimate Christians. They have God’s Spirit, but they are not being led by God’s Spirit. They were baptized, they repented, God’s Spirit came into them as a grain of a mustard seed but for whatever reason they are not allowing themselves, for a period of time, to be led by the Spirit of God. Let’s understand that. When we allow ourselves to not be led by God’s Spirit, we’re not close to God and not being led by God’s Spirit, guess what? We become susceptible to the provocations of Satan. If we’re not close to God, if we’re not allowing God’s Spirit to lead us, then Satan broadcasts provocations in our minds to sin or to go against legitimate Christians and to be used for Satan’s purposes. So legitimate Christians along with clouds without water, and along with tares can be used to get us off track, because they, these legitimate Christians, are off track themselves. I’m not saying they’re off track totally. They might have been in the Church for forty years, but for a year or a few months or for a day they are off track and then Satan can provoke them and he will use them to come after all of us. Let’s understand that. It only takes one person to destroy peace and harmony within a group. Think about that. It only takes one to destroy peace and harmony within a group.
Look at Luke 11:17. We won’t delve into the subject, but the principal is true. Christ is trying to give us a principal about a group and the dynamics of a group.
Luke 11:17. But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them (this is the principal), every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house [divided] against a house falls. (KJV)
When you have people, whether it’s a family or a Church or a congregation or whatever, fighting against themselves, if it goes on, that house is going to fall. This is why we are admonished in Proverbs 22:10 to take some action. Let’s go there. This is an example of what needs to be done, and it only takes one, if somebody comes in being provoked or used by Satan (a cloud without water, a tare or a legitimate Christian) this is what needs to happen.
Proverbs 22:10. Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yes, strife and reproach shall cease. (KJV)
By now all of us have had first-hand experience at that. One person leaves and peace breaks out. People are happy and joyous just by one person not being able to influence everybody else. This is precisely why Satan had to be cast out.
Let’s go to Ezekiel 28. We were there earlier, but this time we’re going to look at verse 16. This was why God would not allow Satan to have permanent residence in His kingdom anymore, because Satan was agitating. He got a third of the angels. Yes, he did. Christ said a house divided against itself is going to fall.
Ezekiel 28:16. (Referring to Satan) By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled the midst of you with violence (murder), and you have sinned; therefore (because you have this attitude and it was pushed by jealousy) I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God (God’s throne): and I will destroy you, Oh covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. (KJV)
Remember Christ said (we won’t turn there) in Luke 10:18, He said, “I beheld Satan as lightening falling from heaven.” That was prior to His physical birth on this earth. He said, “I beheld Satan falling from heaven.” He had to be cast out because he was causing division. That’s why those who cause division and offense must be cast out of the Church. This is under the point, we need to be careful of who Satan is using and be watchful.
Let’s go to Romans 16:17. Back in Worldwide days we would read over this verse and thought it applied to the ministry. It does apply to the ministry, but it applies to all of us. Paul was referring to the brethren. He didn’t say, “You elders or you ministers.” He uses the word “beseech”. He says, “I’m begging you; I am absolutely begging you.”
Romans 16:17. Now I beseech you (Ministers? No.), brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them. (KJV)
The Greek word for “mark” is Strong’s 4648 and it’s the Greek word skopeo where we get our English word “scope,” as in telescope or microscope. The definition is to take aim at or spy, as we would with a telescope. It focuses in on an object. It can mean consider or take heed. He is saying, “Brethren, take heed. Brethren, consider. Brethren, put them under a scope; those who cause divisions.”
The Greek word “divisions” is Strong’s 1370, and it means disunion or dissention or sedition. The word “sedition” means inciting people to rebel, so he’s saying if you find someone who is not promoting unity and harmony and is causing dissention or disunion or inciting people to rebel, you’d better scope them out. He says, finally, to avoid them. What does he mean by “avoid?” That’s Strong’s 1578 and it means to shun or go out of the way. That’s a strong word meaning if you see them coming, you go out of the way. If somebody causes division or somebody is trying to cause disunion, he says to mark them, pay attention to them and then shun them or go out of the way.
You see, it’s up to each one of us to do that. That’s our responsibility to do that, to mark and avoid those who would destroy peace, who would destroy unity, harmony or lead us astray. We’ve done that. The last few years we’ve done that. All of us have done that.
Point number three is that we need to be aware of those who Satan uses.
The fourth way we can overcome Satan’s jealousy is we’ve got to realize that his jealousy and his hatred is going to last until our change comes.
We’re not going to get a respite; we’re not going to get a timeout. In a football game you have halftime and they go back into the locker room and get a breath of fresh air and get a cold drink and all that. We don’t have that option. Satan is not going to give us a timeout. We must be on guard every minute of every day until our change comes. We have to look at this in the long haul.
We won’t turn there, but we’re told in Revelation 20:3 that until he is cast into the bottomless pit and a seal is put on him and he is shut up that he should deceive the nations no more, he’s going to be actively out against all of us. In these last days it doesn’t take a brilliant mind to realize that Satan is more active in the minds and the lives of God’s people than he has ever been. God is allowing it as a test for each one of us. He’s allowing him more access to us as a test for each one of us.
We won’t turn there, but Daniel 7:25, this system that Satan is behind is attempting to wear out the saints and Satan is behind it.
Let’s go to Matthew 10:22 and see something that maybe we haven’t thought of before in this context. This tells us something profound. Christ is saying to the disciples, later to be the apostles and to all of us:
Matthew 10:22. And you shall be hated of all [men] for my name’s sake; but he that endures to the end shall be saved. (KJV)
The Greek word for “all” is very interesting and in years past we didn’t really understand this. The Greek word for “all” is Strong’s 3956 and it has two meanings. If you have a Thayer’s Concordance, look this up. Thayer’s says (and I’m quoting from Thayer’s) there are two definitions; an individual definition and a collective definition. It says individually, “the word all is used in some seven or eight senses in scriptures and it is very rarely that the all means all persons taken individually.”
We won’t turn there, but Matthew 2:3 tells us that when Herod heard that the wise men had come, it said that he was troubled. It said all Jerusalem was troubled with him. That doesn’t literally mean every person in Jerusalem because you had new born babies, you had people on their death bed, people with mental illness and all of that. So it obviously does not mean everybody in Jerusalem was troubled. So you have to understand that the collective meaning of that word means some of all types, some elderly were troubled, some young were troubled, some men and some women were troubled. That’s the collective meaning of this word.
So when it tells us we will be hated by “all” it means we are going to be hated by some of all types; some who are white, some who are black, some who are Asian, some men and some women, some old, some young, some children, some smart and some not so smart.
Therefore, what this is telling us is if it’s some of all types, we will be hated by some within God’s Church. That’s what it means. That’s what it says. We will be hated by all, which means some of all types and one of the types is people in God’s Church. They may be tares, they may be clouds without water or they may be legitimate Christians not being led by God’s Holy Spirit and as a result, God’s people, His legitimate Christians will be hated by them. Let’s understand that and let’s understand that we have to battle Satan until the very end. That’s why he says (we won’t turn there) in 2 Thessalonians 3:13, he says:
2 Thessalonians 3:13. But you, brethren, be not weary in well doing. (KJV)
Don’t let Satan wear you out. Don’t be weary in well doing.
Now in conclusion let’s go back to 1 Peter 5:8. We read that in the very beginning.
1 Peter 5:8. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour. (KJV)
We’ve seen now why he wants to devour us and that’s jealousy. Jealousy unchecked leads to anger. Anger unchecked then leads to hatred. Hatred leads to action, based on that hatred and based on that jealousy and based on that anger. It leads to action. Now notice the following verses because it gives us the answer we need to have. God always gives us an answer to our problems. Look at verse 9. I’ll read it out of the NIV.
9) Resist him …
This roaring lion. That’s the key. We must resist. We talked about the whole armor of God and putting God at the center of our lives and being aware of those that God is using to get us off track, etc.
9b) … standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (NIV)
Yes, indeed. In South Africa, Victor Schuler and the family is suffering.
10) (If we resist him) And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. (NIV)
The key is to resist and not give in, not give in to the people Satan uses, not give in to the emotions that he broadcasts in our minds or the thoughts he puts into our minds or the words that he attempts to put in our mouths or the actions that he will provoke us to.
If we are aware of that and resist him, we will survive by putting on the whole armor of God. What verses 9 and 10 are telling us is that our only help is God Almighty and Jesus Christ. Nothing else will protect us from this being who is enflamed by jealousy, who wants to destroy us.
So let’s understand how deep Satan’s jealousy runs. Let’s understand the origins of Satan’s jealousy and let’s determine to resist him and strengthen our relationship with God Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Transcribed by RV
01/23/2013