"SATAN AND THE FUTURE –IS HE PUT TO DEATH BY GOD IN THE END?" BY NEVILLE STEPHENS - THE TRANSCRIPT OF HIS TALK AT THE WELSH CONFERENCE OF THE OPEN BIBLE TRUST ON THE 6TH JULY 2019

SATAN AND THE FUTURE –IS HE PUT TO DEATH BY GOD IN THE END?

What does the future hold for Satan, the arch enemy of God and us His Church? He is a total enigma to us for he is the despicable author of sin, lies, destruction, murder and confusion, yet the Lord allows him almost supreme powers to be called “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4), “an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14), and “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2).

This Luciferian creature blinds the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the glory and salvation of Jesus (2 Cor 4:4), and as such deserves total punishment! Why does the Lord allow Satan such powers? We have just seen some amazing titles and powers afforded to him by YAHWEH, but sometimes we wonder why?

The Lord allows him enormous supernatural strength, so much so that Satan is even described as holding the power of death!

Does he? “Since the children have flesh and blood, Jesus too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb 2: 14-15).

The Apostle John wrote, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). After the creation of the world, Satan wove a web of deception and lies in order to lead our first parents in rebellion against God. Ever since the fall of mankind, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).

So powerful is the devil’s influence on humanity as a whole that Scripture describes him as “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:2).

All the sin of men and women against God occurs in tandem with the strategies of Satan. Having led mankind in rebellion against God, Satan now manifests his influence over men in a variety of ways. False teaching (1 Tim 4:1), false living (Eph 4:26-27;), and false miracles (Matt 7:20-23) are foremost among his principal strategies.

In addition to the manifold temptations of Satan, he also has a number of psychological weapons in his armoury. The evil one has the power of death and through fear of death, he subjects men to lifelong slavery. Satan loves to keep men and women in bondage to sin and in the fear of death.

ARE YOU AFRAID OF DYING? Even believers are subject to Satan’s oppressive attacks, but the devil assaults us differently and uniquely. Maybe we are not afraid of death for we know where we are going in the Lord (2 Cor 5:8), but maybe the way we leave this world in some discomfort and possible pain leaves some of us with trepidation and fear?

All of the devil’s malice is aimed at the people of God so that Scripture refers to him as “the accuser of the brethren” (Rev 12:10). The evil one loves seeking to condemn those whom Christ has redeemed.

Ever since sin entered the world in the Garden of Eden, there have been TWO SEEDS on the earth. The seed of God and the seed of Satan (Gen 3:15). YAHWEH destroyed the first infiltration from Satan in Gen 6:4 with Noah’s flood, and at this point evil had become so bad that “He repented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at his heart” (Gen 6:6). QUITE AMAZING!!

But Gen 6:4 informs us that the enemy struck again AFTER THAT (ie The Flood) with the introduction of giants and the likes of the Nephilim, Rephaim, Emites, Horites, Zamzummites, Sodomites, Philistines, Canaanites, etc

Pause here for a moment and ask yourself why the Lord instructed Joshua to destroy Jericho, the people, children and even the animals - everyone and everything in it (Joshua 6:21). Please take some time to read the whole of Joshua chapter 6, and why the Lord had to act, for we again we have a vivid description of the seed of Satan in action yet again! Scripture informs us that fallen sinful angels who followed Satan’s rebellion in heaven, approximately  one third (Rev 12:4) have been reserved in special places until the final judgement (Jude 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4)

There are several other references to the fact that Satan has his following angels on the earth (Matt 25:41, Rev 12:7-9; 1 Cor 6:3; Luke 10:18) and of course they are still in the heavenly places TODAY (Eph 6:10-16). See also the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt 13: 24-43) and note that an enemy has done this (v28) who is the devil (vs 38-42). Not giants today, but humans energised by Satan!

Can human beings be energised or taken over by Satan? YES MOST DEFINITELY, for there is the obvious case of Judas (Luke 22:3), nearly Peter also (Luke 22:31-34), Caiaphas and Ananias (Acts 5:3), Alexander the coppersmith and metalworker (1 Tim 1:20; 2 Tim 4:14; Acts 19:33-34), but others also including the soon coming Antichrist.

This “man of sin” or “man of lawlessness” or “the son of perdition”, a title only used of Judas and the Antichrist - (2 Thess 2:1-4). He is Satan’s man for The Last Perilous Days of The End Times. Satan’s main desire has always been adoration and to be worshipped ever since pride was found in him before and since he was despatched from Heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-19; Matt 4:7-10).

And for a very short time, the Lord allows him to receive this worship through the Antichrist! Amazing! Why does YAHWEH allow the author of sin and the most hideous creature ever to dwell in heaven and on earth, a brief period of adoration and worship?
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