The Biggest Loser

Good Morning, 

There are many things I do not understand. One of those is the liberty Satan has. I know he is subject to God and answers to God, but after almost fifty years of reading the Bible, my answers regarding satanic liberty are weak at best.

One thing I can say about the devil is that he is a big looser.  I heard about a program where people competed at losing the most weight.  (I never saw it, so if my impressions are wrong, I take the blame.) Satan is a loser of a much higher magnitude than any human trying to drop a few pounds. 

In this passage, we read of the situation when Satan was cast out of Heaven, and of the future time when he will be cast into Hell - this defines a loser! 

The loser cast out of Heaven:

Isaiah 14:12 “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!”

vs. 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:”

vs. 14 “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

vs. 15 “Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

Satan boasted that he would be above all other angels and that he would be like God.  That is the same nonsense he fed to Eve, “..ye shall be like gods, knowing good and evil.”  God tossed him out of Heaven with the promise that he would one day be tossed into Hell.

Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” 

Satan was cast out of Heaven and was shown to be a loser. 

In Matthew 4, we read of the temptation in the wilderness.  But before Jesus allowed Satan to tempt Him, he made Himself as weak and susceptible as is humanly possible. You know how we are; we blame our sin on being weak, tired, sick, or discouraged.  So Jesus got as far down that road as possible.  When our boys were little, when I played a game with them, I usually did so with less turns or fewer pieces, or in basketball maybe only shoot from far away.  Jesus, living in the power of the Holy Spirit, made Satan wait forty days as Jesus did without food or water.  When His weakened body was almost dead, then He invited Satan to attack Him. Here in the wilderness, Satan lost; he lost miserably to One Who was almost dead. 

Satan will be such a loser, AGAIN! 

In the future, after the tribulation, as the Lord sets up His 1,000 year reign on earth, Satan will be put away so he cannot bother anyone for a while. 

Revelation 20:2 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,”

vs. 3 “And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”

At the end of the Millennial kingdom, Satan will be brought out of the bottomless pit and then cast into the eternal lake of fire. 

The loser will be cast into Hell!

Revelation 20:10 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

We can also consider Job, and how God used Satan to assault this godly man. Although Job clearly discovered his own weakness and frail humanity, God once again whipped the devil, and He only used a sinful, weak human.  

The foolish people who get involved in satanism, witchcraft, and the occult are just joining the losing team.  When we resist God and ignore the clear Bible teaching, are we not choosing the losing side? 

Matthew 12:30 “He that is not with me is against me…” it looks as if there are only two sides, God’s or Satan’s.   I believe every time we resist Satan and submit to God, Satan is reminded of what a loser he is; but the opposite can also be assumed. 

Who will get our children?  Who will we serve? Who is directing our life? 

I do not want to follow a loser.  Consider our Saviour, Jesus allowed Satan and his imps to humiliate, torture, and then kill Him.  Jesus waited for three days to make it all very clear that He was dead, then Christ walked out of the grave, and tossed off death like we would a dirty shirt. In a glorified body, went to see the disciples - that is a winner!  

Pastor