Well, today is a real milestone for The Pastor’s Table blog. The previous post is the 1,000th post. Wow! I thank God for allowing me to write and try to encourage His people to live for Him and to encourage unsaved people to trust Him as their Saviour. Thank you all my dear readers for your e-mails and comments of encouragement.
David Dale
Today we will look at our last installment of the “I will”s of satan. We have seen that pride fills and takes us places that we do not want to go. I used to ask people if they left their present location would they know how to get to Louisville, KY. Some would answer correctly and many would not.
My point in this line of questioning was to get people to think. If you are going to leave home and go to some destination you would make proper preparation to know where you are going. If you are going to Heaven then you should know how to get there and be able to show others the way there.
Our final destination is determined by how we handle Jesus Christ. If we choose Him as our Saviour then Heaven is our eternal home. If we choose to reject Jesus Christ then we sentence ourselves to hell for eternity. You say that this is a scare tactic. Call it what you want: but, I don’t want anyone I know to go to hell! How about you? Do you love someone enough to tell them the truth? I pray that you do.
We see the final destination of the devil and for that matter all who choose to reject Christ. Look at Isaiah 14:15, “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” There will be no joking or fun in hell. It will be torments for eternity.
So, how are you doing?
As we continue our study on the “I will” of satan we come to Isaiah 14:14, “… I will be like the most High.”. Now as God’s children it should be our goal to “be like the most High”. We strive to live our lives in such a way as to reflect Jesus Christ no matter where we are or what we are doing.
This is not the idea of the fallen angel. He is saying that he will be a god to people. In other words he wants to replace our Father with himself. This is the ultimate pride problem. We only have two choices to emulate in life. We can be like Christ or we will be like the devil.
If someone looked at you today who would they identify you with? Would they see the satanic attributes of the devil? Would they see the attributes of Jesus that draws men and women to Himself? We have a choice to make every moment of every day as to how we are going to live our lives. Which way will you choose? I choose Jesus because Jesus chose me when He went to the cross and died.
So, how are you doing?
Today we will look at Isaiah 14:14, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;” We learn in Sunday School that Heaven is where God lives. Where is Heaven? If you ask most Sunday School children they would tell you that Heaven is above the clouds somewhere and that is where God lives.
So, not only would satan knock God off His rightful throne, steal the rule of His blood-bought Church; but, he would also go right into Heaven where our Father lives and dwells and remove Him from there too. Lucifer had quite a plan. Pride had taken to the pinnacle of sin.
You and I must be careful not to allow ourselves to be in this same place. Remember, when you trusted Christ as your Saviour He came to live and dwell in your in the person of the Holy Spirit. Our enemy seeks to remove God from His Church, His home and also His children.
I am thankful that God the Holy Spirit is given to me and all believers and He cannot be taken away from us who are God’s children. He is the earnest or the down payment of our Salvation. God gives us this assurance so that we do not have to drown in doubt.
So, how are you doing?
Today we will look at Isaiah 14:13, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:”
Notice another statement of Lucifer in Isaiah 14:13, “… I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation; in the sides of the north:” Not only does he want to knock God off His very throne; but, he wants to rule in the lives of God’s people too. He tries all kinds of trickery to get us to follow him. This is why decision making is so important. You could be doing the will of satan and not the will of God. We must be people of the Word and know the Scriptures well so that when things arise that we can test them through the filter of God’s Word and know if they come from our Father or from our enemy. This is important if we are going to accomplish things for God and if we are going to live pleasing to Him. You do want to live a life that pleases our Heavenly Father, right?
If we are not careful we can be influenced by satan and then that influence can work into God’s Church. This is a big reason for receiving members who are born-again. These are the only people in the body of Christ so they are the one’s that should populate His Church. Let God influence you with His Word, His Spirit, His people.
So, how are you doing?
The past couple days we have been looking at Isaiah 14 and the fall of Lucifer. Look at Isaiah 14:13, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:”
You will notice in the third “I will” of satan we see, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north:” This is serious stuff here. He would have literally knocked God off His throne and ruled in His place. Thankfully for you and I, he is not powerful enough to get this done. Once again satan is just a defeated foe.
You and I must be careful that we do not fill with pride and remove our Heavenly Father from the throne of our heart and life. This is easy to do for us. We think we can do it. We don’t need God until we get in too deep and we cry like a baby for help. Don’t do this. Stay close the the Lord Jesus Christ and pride will not be such a problem for you and I.
So, how are you doing?
Yesterday we looked at the title “Who are you like?”. Lucifer found himself at the pinnacle, He was high up in the ranks of Heaven; yet, He let pride get into his way. Look at what he said in Isaiah 14:13, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:”
Notice where he started in verse 13, “… I will ascend into heaven,”. His goal was to get into the highest reaches of Heaven. He wanted to be worshiped. He wanted to be the one looked up to and revered. To worship someone or something means that we ascribe worth to them or it. You see where he was going. Pride was taking him down the slippery slope to hell.
We must be careful in our lives. If pride becomes a problem for us then we become more like the devil than Jesus. This is a dangerous place to be. If you find yourself there rest assured that our Father will discipline us. If you can live like this and you do not get disciplined you are not in the family. You need to get into the family immediately by trusting Jesus Christ as your Saviour.
So, how are you doing?
A turning point in my life was one day when my mother looked at me and said, “You act just like your father.” This was not a compliment at that time. I committed right then and there to change my ways. Thankfully with God’s help I did it too.
I remember one dispatching job I had for several years. Me and another person that I worked with were often confused for one another. This was funny from time to time.
My point today is that if we are going to be like Jesus and draw people to Him then we need to act like Him or better said we need to be like Him.
Lucifer, now known as the devil had a problem with his will. He wanted to be above our Heavenly Father. Isaiah the prophet records his prideful arrogance. Look at Isaiah 14:12-15, “12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” Are you going to be like Jesus or would you rather be like Lucifer? The choice is up to you.
So, how are you doing?
I went yesterday with a friend on a trip around Indiana photographing waterfalls and covered bridges. The waterfalls were a bust because of all the people fishing around them (some even caught fish).
As we made our way to three covered bridges we enjoyed a good time. As we drove up to one of the bridges I noticed that it was leaning to the left. Either the bride it’s self was failing or it was having foundation problems. After looking at the foundations the bridge was built upon I would say it was the bridge that was failing.
I begin to think about the foundations in the life of a Christian. We need these foundations. Jesus is our Foundation. He never changes and is a sure Foundation. This is comforting in a day in which things change from moment to moment. We can rest assured that our God never changes and is our sure Foundation.
Look at Psalm 82:5, “They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.” It is for sure looking around that you can see as the Scripture says, “… all the foundations of the earth are out of course.” Keep your eyes on the compass of the Word of God and you will stay on course no matter if the foundations are out of course. You will not be.
So, how are you doing?
Starting tonight and tomorrow night the moon is supposed to be closer to the earth than it is at any other time of year. Many photographers will get out telescopes and fix their cameras to them for extreme close up shots. I am jealous. I don’t have a telescope or any means of connecting my camera to one anyway.
As I was thinking about the moon I am reminded that the moon has no light in and of it’s self. The light you see in the moon comes from the sun. The moon is a big reflector. Hmm… Yes, I am going there.
This is just exactly what you and I must do, Christian. We must reflect the light of the Son of God. We can be moons for Jesus. We are all reflecting something; but, is that worth reflecting. Too much of the time we reflect what we need not reflect.
There are people in the world that have their very eternal destination hanging in the balance of what we reflect or do not reflect. This should be a sobering thought to you and I. The Psalmist put it this way in Psalm 43:3, “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.” It is my prayer that we all send out the Light of God so that unsaved people will see the light and run to the LORD.
So, how are you doing?