Five Reasons To Study The Bible's Teaching On Angels, Demons, and Satan

Introduction

    I open up today's post with Hebrews 13:2 "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." Why should a Christian know what the Bible teaches about angels, demons, and Satan? A quote from one of the ablest theological minds, Charles Hodge, will set the tone for this post:

"So much is said in the Scriptures of good and evil angels, and such important functions are ascribed to them both in the providence of God over the world, and especially in the experience of his people and of his Church, that the doctrine of the Bible concerning them should not be overlooked."1

    Anytime we engage in the study of the angelic realm, three branches are generally recognized in the subject (some may list more or less): angelology (study of angels, their nature, function and ranks); demonology (study of demons, their nature, function and ranks) and Satanology (Satan's nature, function and efforts against mankind and God).  To get us off the runway and into the air on this subject, I want us to consider why studying the angelic realm is important.

1. Massiveness of the subject in the Bible

    A great tool to have when studying any topic of scripture is a Bible Concordance.  A concordance functions much like a telephone book (I date myself I suppose with that analogy). Perhaps, we could say, a concordance is a book version of a "Google search" for any word or subject in the Bible. Anyhow, the added bonus is that many Bible Concordances today will print out a portion of the passages and give you all the Bible books and number of times each word appears.2  The magnitude of times the angelic realm appears in the scripture is extraordinary and thus warrants its study.  Consider the following statistics (I found these just searching through the Strongest Strong's NIV exhaustive concordance):

a. Angels and their various ranks and descriptions are found roughly 400 times in the scriptures. Angels of all sorts are mentioned in 17 of the 39 Old Testament books and 19 out of 27 of the New Testament books.

b. Demons and their various ranks are found in 6 of the 39 Old Testament books and 12 of the 27 New Testament books.  In the concordance I consulted I discovered nearly 75 places in the scriptures on the subject of demons.

c. Satan, who is also called the Devil, Serpent, Dragon and other names appears in 6 of the 39 Old Testament books and in 19 of the 27 New Testament books, causing problems in at least 115 places throughout scripture. 

d. When you add up all of the places in the Bible where angels, demons and Satan appear, you come up with close to 600 places.  

e. Whether good angels, fallen angels or Satan himself, the nature of angelic beings is that of spirit - that is, they are rational, intelligent beings without a physical body (Psalm 104:3-4; Daniel 7:10; Hebrews 1:14). Occasionally, (good angels) can assume for a temporary period of time a physical form of sorts (Genesis 18:2; Mark 16:5; Hebrews 13:2). But notice a second reason why this subject is important...

2. Major scale of spiritual warfare

    Ephesians 6:10-11 issues this command - "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil."  Should not Christians of all people be more aware of the nature of the spiritual battle that they are involved? 

    As a practical example, let's say you were to take a trip to a foreign country that is experience increasing pockets of violent outbreaks.  Would you not read up on the current conditions of the government, intelligence information on where attacks have taken place, as well as updates on where the safest places would be? 

    If that is the case in the incidence of travel, how much the more in the daily Christian walk.  Knowing the proverbial "lay of the land" in the spiritual Christian walk will make for a more Biblically informed and wise people who are effective witnesses for Jesus Christ.

3. Maintain a proper balance on the angelic realm

    Having been involved with or having interacted with various Christians from many denominational and theological persuasions, there are two ditches people fall into when it comes to the angelic realm:

a. Ignorance.  Some denominations and some theological traditions don't talk about angels, demons or Satan.  The danger of this ditch is viewing life and reality in only physical terms. To be ignorant of the angelic realm means ignorance of the supernatural realm, a Christianity that operates with one arm tied behind its back if you will.

b. Obsession. Other groups go to the other extreme and see demons behind every bush. They blame everything bad on the Devil. When the ditch of obsession over the angelic realm occurs, Christianity can skirt close to paganism by giving angels too much prominence.  
Christian people need to know what the Bible teaches in order to moderate our priority of the angelic realm.  

4. Mandate of scripture: The study of the angels is indeed practical

    In the opening verse of today's blog I mentioned Hebrews 13:2 which commands Christians to exercise hospitality. Why? Because among other things, we may be entertaining angels unawares.  Reference to angels is listed among the very practical topics of Hebrews 13:1-4 such as loving the brethren (13:1); hospitality (13:2); visiting prisoners (13:3) and marriage (13:4). 3

    So, studying the angelic realm is important because of its massiveness in the scripture, major scale of spiritual warfare, maintain a proper balance, and the mandate from scripture for more awareness of the invisible realm. 

5. Majesty of God is reinforced in our hearts and minds by the study of angels

    Perhaps the most important reason to study angelology, demonology and Satanology is due to how each subject in one way or another points to God's glory.  Satan for sure is the chief adversary of God and His people, however knowing that He was defeated at the cross shows the glory of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8). 4 

    Angels (the good ones) function in relationship to God like rays of light do for the sun. The rays of the sun lead the viewer back to their point of origin - the sun.  Likewise, the good angels continually point believers back to the glory and majesty of God.  In fact, the angels of heaven are termed "fellow servants" with the saints of God (Revelation 19:10)

Closing thoughts:

    We have taken the time to briefly sketch out what the Bible has to tell the reader about the angelic realm - good, bad and ugly. The aim was to express practically why anyone would study angels. 

Endnotes:

1. Charles Hodge. Systematic Theology - Volume 1. WM. B Eerdmans. 1965 edition. Page 637 
Dr. Charles Hodge was a professor of theology at Princeton Seminary in the late nineteenth century.  Before Princeton went liberal in the late 1920's, it had been known for years as a bastion of Bible believing orthodoxy.  At Princeton, three theologians were noteworthy for their contributions to conservative bible believing Christianity from the 1880's-1920's: Charles Hodge, B.B Warfield and J. Greshem Machen. Dr. Hodge wrote a three volume work on Systematic Theology that to this day is a standard reference work for any and every subject in the field. 

2. Any Bible concordance will aid you greatly and there are number available to purchase at either a Christian Bookstore, Lifeway.com, Amazon.com or CBD (Christian Book Distributors).  Some of the ones I have found helpful are: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (based of KJV) and NASB Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (based of NASB text).  Most of the major English versions have their own concordances as well, such as the ESV (English Standard Version); NLT (New Living Translation); NKJV (New King James Version) and NRSV (New Revised Standard Version). Most of these resources are produced by Zondervan.

3. In other passages, such as 2 Corinthians 13:4-5 and Ephesians 6:10-18, knowledge of the angelic realm can be useful in practical everyday Christian life. In 2 Peter 2:4, mention is made of the cosmic rebellion of the angels who followed after Lucifer in his bid to attempt a coup against God as recorded elsewhere in scripture (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28; Revelation 12:4). Now why does Peter bring to the reader's minds the angelic realm along with other examples of rescuing Noah out of the flood and Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? 

      The inclusion of the angelic realm is to demonstrate the universality of the principle laid out in 2 Peter 2:9 "then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment." In ways not fully explained, God preserved the holy angels from further corruption by casting out Satan and the fallen angels. Likewise, God also preserved Noah, and Lot and thus preserves Christians today living in this godless world. (Philippians 2:15-16) Peter sees the practicality of including knowledge of the angelic realm in the exercising of ourselves in Godly living. 

4. For sure, the demonic realm can certainly discourage and afflict God's people, however knowing that nothing, not even they, can separate us from the love of God actually points the way to the majesty of God's love. (Romans 8:37-39) Satan's far lesser kingdom functions as a black cloth to highlight the far greater Kingdom of God.  In God's Sovereignty He permits Satan to carry out his diabolic schemes so that in the end, His glory is shown in even greater proportion (Philippians 2). 

An Overview Of Good And Bad Angels In The Bible

 

Introduction:

The Psalmist notes in Psalm 148:1-5, 

“Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! 2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! 3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! 4 Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.” 

The late Baptist theologian Augustus Hopkins Strong notes about the importance of studying angels: 

“The doctrine of angels affords a barrier against the false conception of this world as including the whole spiritual universe.  Earth is only part of a larger organism.  As Christianity has united Jew and Gentile, so hereafter will it blend our own and other orders of creation."

Whenever anyone explores the various creatures in the Bible’s presentation of the supernatural realm, such a study is called: “angelology”. Broadly speaking, the "good guys" in angelology represent varying orders of spiritual creatures. 

    There are the highest-level beings called "the Divine Council (see 1 Kings 22:19-22; Daniel 4:17; also known as created "sons of God" Job 1:5-6, with some corrupting themselves, Genesis 6:1-4). 

    Then there is a middle tier of beings known as, "Cherubim", "Seraphim" and "the watchers", to the third tier of every other spiritual being known simply as: "angels". This assortment of "good" spiritual beings populate God's invisible kingdom. 

       On the bad side we have two other subheadings known as “Satanology”, or the examination of Satan (his being, rebellion and work), and “demonology” (that is, the various ranks of spiritual beings). Satan and all the various sort of malevolent spiritual beings populate the parasitic "kingdom of darkness". 

    This parasitic kingdom has varying orders of malevolent spiritual beings who defected from the angelic order. There are the fallen "sons of God" or former members of the Divine council, some of whom were confined to the darkest areas of Hades to await judgment (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6). Others of these were given jurisdiction over nations, as evidenced by the "Prince of Persia" whom Gabriel fought for twenty-one days before delivering Daniel's answer to prayer in Daniel 10. 

    There are what we could call "mid-tier" malevolent forces enumerated by Paul in Ephesians 6:10-12 ("powers, principalities", etc.). These mid-tier beings could very well be those being I mentioned above who wield their evil intentions over regions and nations. 

    Then there are the varied sorts of demonic forces that Jesus exorcised from people during His earthly ministry and who torment people today. We find demons mentioned in the Old Testament (Leviticus 17:17; Deuteronomy 32:17; 2 Chronicles 11:15; Psalm 106:37) and Satan (for example, Job 1:6-9,12; 2:1-7; Zechariah 3:1-2). 

    Below we have a chart that depicts the Biblical supernatural realm where I've depicted where the good and bad angels in their respective orders fit. Notice that in the diagram, angels occupy the third or lowest tier of the spiritual creatures in God’s invisible kingdom. 

     In what remains, I want to offer a brief account of the angels as they are portrayed in the Bible. I hope this summary edifies and equips readers with a better working understanding of the Biblical doctrine of angels (known, as noted above, by the term: "angeology").

1. Angels are created beings.

       We can note first, that like the other spiritual beings in the Biblical supernatural realm, angels are created beings.  Psalm 148:5 notes that the angels were created by the command of God, just like the visible universe, stars, planets, life and humanity. Hebrews 1:7, quoting Psalm 104:4, states: “And of the angels He says,

“Who makes His angels winds, And His ministers a flame of fire.” From what we can discern from Job 38:1-7, the entire supernatural realm was created by God on either days 2 or 3 in the creative week. 

2. There are Good and Bad Angels

     When God originally created the angelic realm, they were all good. The creation of the supernatural realm was followed by the cosmic rebellion of Lucifer, which in turn influenced other spiritual beings to become the fallen angels (Isaiah 14:12-20; Ezekiel 28:13-19; Revelation 12:4). As mentioned, some of those fallen angels are chained and some roam freely between here and the heavenly realms (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6; Ephesians 6:10-11). 

    Thankfully, there are 2/3 of the heavenly angels faithfully serving God and His people (1 Timothy 5:21; Hebrews 1:14). The good angels outnumber the bad ones. With that said, it is incumbent upon every Christian to put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:1-11) and to exercise vigilance by prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17), daily time in the Scriptures (1 Timothy 2:5), weekly church attendance (Hebrews 10:23-25), and living a devout and holy life according to the will of God (Romans 12:1-2).

3. Angels are powerful beings

     Angels are dramatically powerful beings.  In 2 Kings 19:35 we read: “Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.”  Revelation 9:13-21 records a future time when God will release four angels to kill 1/3 of humanity in the judgment of The Great Tribulation.

4. Good Angels aid God’s people

     Is it scriptural to say that angels are deployed by God to aid Christians in their walk of faith? Absolutely! Consider Psalm 91:11 "For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways." Old Testament saints had angels assist them (Genesis 18; Psalm 37:4; Daniel 10:11). We see angelic aid of Jesus and other believers in the New Testament (Matthew 4:11; Matthew 26:53; Luke 22:43; Acts 12:6-8; Acts 27:23-24). Without a doubt, Christians today can still experience angelic assistance when they least expect it (Hebrews 1:14; 13:2). 

     Scripture reveals how angels can protect believers (2 Kings 6; Psalm 34:7; 91:11 Hebrews 1:14); help in grasping God’s truth (Psalm 68:7; Matthew 28:5-7; Acts 1:9-11; Luke 2:14) and point to Christ’s deity (Psalm 68:17; Daniel 7:10-13; Matthew 28). The Book of Revelation illustrates how angels aid believers. It contains roughly 25% of the 300 times we find mention of the good angels in the Bible. Often, the Book of Revelation describes angels announcing something or explaining to John the meaning of the various visions. 

Final thought of application:

    Today's post was intended to offer a brief treatment of the subject of angels. We noted the following:

1. Angels are created beings.
2. There are good and bad angels.
3. Angels are powerful beings.
4. Good angels aid God's people.

     The eighteenth-century preacher John Wesley once wrote the following about angels: 

"They may assist us in our search after truth, remove many doubts and difficulties, throw light on what was before dark and obscure, and confirm us in the truth that is after godliness. They may warn us of evil in disguise; and place what is good, in a clear, strong light. They may gently move our will to embrace what is good, and fly from that which is evil. They may, many times, quicken our dull affections, increase our holy hope or filial fear, and assist us more ardently to love Him who has first loved us."

The good and bad angelic realms - a summary

Introduction:

The Psalmist notes in Psalm 148:1-5, 

“Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! 2 Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! 3 Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! 4 Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.” 

The late Baptist theologian Augustus Hopkins Strong notes about the importance of studying angels: 

“The doctrine of angels affords a barrier against the false conception of this world as including the whole spiritual universe.  Earth is only part of a larger organism.  As Christianity has united Jew and Gentile, so hereafter will it blend our own and other orders of creation."

Whenever anyone explores the various creatures in the Bible’s presentation of the supernatural realm such a study is called: “angelology”. Broadly speaking, the "good guys" in angelology represent varying orders of spiritual creatures. There are the highest-level beings called "the Divine Council (see 1 Kings 22:19-22; Daniel 4:17; also known as created "sons of God" Job 1:5-6, with some corrupting themselves, Genesis 6:1-4). 

    Then there is a middle tier of beings known as, "Cherubim", "Seraphim" and "the watchers", to the third tier of every other spiritual being known simply as: "angels". This assortment of "good" spiritual beings populate God's invisible kingdom. 

       On the bad side we have two other subheadings known as: “Satanology”, or the examination of Satan (his being, rebellion and work) and “demonology” (that is, the various ranks of spiritual beings). Satan and all the various sort of malevolent spiritual beings populate the parasitic "kingdom of darkness". We find demons mentioned in the Old Testament (Leviticus 17:17; Deuteronomy 32:17; 2 Chronicles 11:15; Psalm 106:37) and Satan (for example, Job 1:6-9,12; 2:1-7; Zechariah 3:1-2). Below we have a chart that depicts the Biblical supernatural realm. Notice that in the diagram, angels occupy the third or lowest tier of the spiritual creatures in God’s invisible kingdom. 

     In what remains, I want to offer a brief account of the angels as they are portrayed in the Bible. I hope this summary edifies and equips readers with a better working understanding of the Biblical doctrine of angels (known, as noted above, by the term: "angeology").

1. Angels are created beings.

       We can note first, that like the other spiritual beings in the Biblical supernatural realm, angels are created beings.  Psalm 148:5 notes that the angels were created by the command of God, just like the visible universe, stars, planets, life and humanity. Hebrews 1:7, quoting Psalm 104:4, states: “And of the angels He says,

“Who makes His angels winds, And His ministers a flame of fire.” From what we can discern from Job 38:1-7, the entire supernatural realm was created by God on either days 2 or 3 in the creative week. 

2. There are Good and Bad Angels

     When God originally created the angelic realm, they were all good. The creation of the supernatural realm was followed by the cosmic rebellion of Lucifer, which in turn influenced other spiritual beings to become the fallen angels (Isaiah 14:12-20; Ezekiel 28:13-19; Revelation 12:4). Some of those fallen angels are chained and some roam freely between here and the heavenly realms (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6; Ephesians 6:10-11). Thankfully, there are 2/3 of the heavenly angels faithfully serving God and His people (1 Timothy 5:21; Hebrews 1:14). The good angels outnumber the bad ones. With that said, it is incumbent upon every Christian to put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:1-11) and to exercise vigilance by prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17), daily time in the Scriptures (1 Timothy 2:5), weekly church attendance (Hebrews 10:23-25), and living a devout and holy life according to the will of God (Romans 12:1-2).

3. Angels are powerful beings

     Angels are dramatically powerful beings.  In 2 Kings 19:35 we read: “Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.”  Revelation 9:13-21 records a future time when God will release four angels to kill 1/3 of humanity in the judgment of The Great Tribulation.

4. Good Angels aid God’s people

     Is it scriptural to say that angels are deployed by God to aid Christians in their walk of faith? Absolutely! Consider Psalm 91:11 "For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways." Old Testament saints had angels assist them (Genesis 18; Psalm 37:4; Daniel 10:11). We see angelic aid of Jesus and other believers in the New Testament (Matthew 4:11; Matthew 26:53; Luke 22:43; Acts 12:6-8; Acts 27:23-24). Without a doubt, Christians today can still experience angelic assistance when they least expect it (Hebrews 1:14; 13:2). 

     Scripture reveals how angels can protect believers (2 Kings 6; Psalm 34:7; 91:11 Hebrews 1:14); help in grasping God’s truth (Psalm 68:7; Matthew 28:5-7; Acts 1:9-11; Luke 2:14) and point to Christ’s deity (Psalm 68:17; Daniel 7:10-13; Matthew 28). The Book of Revelation illustrates how angels aid believers. It contains roughly 25% of the 300 times we find mention of the good angels in the Bible. Often, the Book of Revelation describes angels announcing something or explaining to John the meaning of the various visions. 

Final thought of application:

    Today's post was intended to offer a brief treatment of the subject of angels. We noted the following:

1. Angels are created beings.
2. There are good and bad angels.
3. Angels are powerful beings.
4. Good angels aid God's people.

     The eighteenth-century preacher John Wesley once wrote the following about angels: 

"They may assist us in our search after truth, remove many doubts and difficulties, throw light on what was before dark and obscure, and confirm us in the truth that is after godliness. They may warn us of evil in disguise; and place what is good, in a clear, strong light. They may gently move our will to embrace what is good, and fly from that which is evil. They may, many times, quicken our dull affections, increase our holy hope or filial fear, and assist us more ardently to love Him who has first loved us."

Important purposes of the angelic realm in Jude

Jude 1:3 "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints."

Introduction 

Today we want to consider the importance and purpose of the angelic realm in Jude. It was Jude's purpose to urge his readers (and us) to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints." One of the ways Jude chose under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to urge his readers was by mentioning the angels, demons and Satan. The angelic realm (composed of demons, good angels and Satan) is portrayed in scripture as intelligent agents occupying the invisible realm of the created order. (compare Colossians 1:16-17) Good angels serve the purposes of serving God's people. (Hebrews 1:14) Demons are fallen angels led by Satan to opposed God's purposes and His people. (Ephesians 6:11-18; 1 Peter 5:8) With the span of Jude's short letter, we find reference to angels, demons and Satan no less than seven times. So the question is: why are angels so prominent within Jude's short letter? Moreover, what purposes can we gather as to why they are important for us today as we contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints? Notice three important purposes of the angelic realm in Jude...

1. Warn of the realities of Hell. Jude 1:1-16

The majority of material in Jude's short epistle is dedicated to warning his readers to be aware of false teachers and error. To drive home the point about the outcome of those who persist in the seduction of false teaching, Jude uses both historic examples of false prophets and teachers combined with the frightening reality of hell. Jude 1:5-11 lays out the examples of those who forsook Biblical faith, including those who came out of Egypt (Jude 1:5); Cain (Jude 11:11); Balaam the pagan prophet in the book of Numbers (Jude 1:11) and Korah who opposed Moses (Jude 1:11). False teaching and prophets lead to Hell. So what realities of hell do we discover in the Book of Jude? How do such realities allign with what Jesus taught on the subject?

Hell is described by Jude as a dark place (1:6, 1:13) Jesus called the darkness of Hell "outer darkness" in Matthew 25:46. Jude then explains hell as a destructive place through the imagery of fire, as seen in Jude 1:7,23. Jesus too refers to the details of unquenchable and everlasting fire burning in both the holding place of unbelievers called hades or Hell and the eternal place of punishment called "The Lake of Fire" or also by the same name "Hell" in  Mark 9:43 and Matthew 18:18.

To intensify his already strong warnings, Jude thirdly mentions that hell is demonically infested and reinforces this frightening imagery through the Devil's conflict with Michael the Archangel here on earth and some of the various fallen angels chained in reserved judgment. (1:6,8). 

The specific mention of fallen angels in Jude 1:6 matches with what we read of them in 2 Peter 2:4 "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment." Also too, Jesus refers to Hell as having been prepared for "The Devil and his angels" in Matthew 25:41. It is quite likely that Jude is quoting Peter's second letter, which may explain why we also see such similarities between Jesus and Jude (not forgetting that Jude wrote under Divine inspiration).

The Bible Knowledge Commentary remarks: "Most commentators, however, assign the date between A.D. 67 and 80. Jude was probably influenced by Peter, who wrote his second epistle about A.D. 67–68. (Peter predicted that false teachers would arise [2 Peter 2:1; 3:3], but Jude stated that they have “slipped in among you” [Jude 4].)"

So who are the fallen angels mentioned by Jude? These particular demons may the very ones that participated in the abominations committed prior to the flood in Genesis 6:1-4 which resulted in the mutation of giants roaming on the earth. To think of the dangers of false doctrine as resulting in Hell is frightening enough. However to be reminded of hell being infested by demons far worse than those roaming freely here on earth serves more than fair warning to anyone contemplating apostasy from the faith. So the angelic realm, particularly the demons, are mentioned to warn us of the realities of hell. But what about the good angels? Notice a second purpose of the angelic realm in Jude, namely....

2. Encouragement with the realities of Heaven. Jude 1:14, 24-25

Jude 1:14 states - "It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones." In context, Jude is referencing a prophecy spoken by the pre-flood patriarch Enoch that is not recorded in Genesis. I won't get into the specific details of the nature of Jude's citation of Enoch in this post, and choose to point interested readers to a post written on Jude's use of Enoch at https://biblicalexegete.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/understanding-judes-quote-of-enoch-in-jude-114-15/. 

Instead, I want to focus the reader's attention on the underlined phrase "holy ones". Biblical passages such as Deuteronomy 33:2; Daniel 7:10; Matthew 16:27 and Hebrews 12:22 use this term to refer to the angels that comprise the heavenly court of God's glory and majesty. 

Even though the main point of Jude's reference is to indicate the judgment of the false teachers by Jesus at His second coming, mention of the good angels serves to remind the saints of God that they are on the winning side of eternity. The truth of the believer's heavenly home is a great way of reinforcing the need to contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. As we saw a couple of days ago, Jesus and the Apostle Peter both taught quite a bit on Heaven. With Jude depending partly on Peter's writings, references to Heaven would only make sense. Heaven will definitely be a place populated by angels (Jude 1:14) and is the ultimate destination of the Christian. (Jude 1:24-25). Heaven is afterall the abode of God on His throne. More could be said but we must hasten. What important purposes do angels, demons and Satan serve in the book of Jude? We saw that God included them to warn about the realities of hell and to encourage believers with the realities of Heaven. Now notice the final purpose...

3. To focus attention on Jesus Christ. Jude 1:15-25

Jude 1:14b says again: “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones." What is the ultimate goal of the Christian fighting the good fight of faith? Now we already looked at our heavenly home as an ultimate goal. 

But what is "the" ultimate goal of the Christian? To see Jesus at His second coming. The devil who fought with Michael the archangel in Jude 1:8 will be destroyed and cast into the Lake of fire by Jesus at His return in Revelation 20. When Jesus comes, he will have an entourage of angelic hosts numbering in the trillions. All of heaven's angels will accompany Jesus and the saints who are behind Him in the train of His robe. (Matt 16:27; 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; 1 Thessalonians 3:13 & Revelation 15:8) Those saints who are with Jesus at His second advent will had been those who died in the Lord or who were raptured seven years prior. (Mt 13:39; 16:27; 24:31) Mentioning such heavenly realities serves to point the way to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why Jude closes out his book in Jude 1:24-25 "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

Closing thoughts
Today we considered three important reasons for the angelic realm being mentioned in the Book of Jude. These three reasons aid in fulfilling the main point of the letter: "To contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints".

1. Warn of the realities of Hell
2. Encourage with the realities of Heaven
3. Focus attention on Jesus Christ

What Jesus and the Apostle Peter teach on Hell

2 Peter 2:1-2 "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves."

Introduction:
Today's post may not be the easiest subject to read, however the reality of hell and final judgment is crucially important. The aim in this particular post is to understand how Jesus and the Apostle Peter allign with one another in regards to this sobering but important truth.

Jesus' Teaching on Hell
In my own study of Jesus' teachings on various subjects, it is surprising to see how often he mentions "Hell" in comparison to other topics:

1. Heaven = 34 times
2. Salvation = 21 times 
3. Hell = 17 times
4. Love = 17 times
5. Money = 12 times
6. Prediction of his crucifixion = around 10 times
7. Not judging people = 3 times

Further study reveals Jesus' description of hell, which matches the Old Testament understanding but with far more detail:

1. Unquenchable Fire   
Mark 9:43 compare Num 16:25; Ps 106:17,18

2. Everlasting Fire      Matthew 18:18

3. Outer Darkness      Matthew 25:46

4. Gates of Hell          Matthew 16:18 compare Ps 9:13; Is 38:10

5. Place of conscious existence. Luke 16:25-28

6. Place of wailing, weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
Mt 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28

7. Place of constant burning and stench. 
Matt 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; Matt 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5

In sum, Jesus is carrying on what God revealed in the Old Testament with far more specific and pointed detail in all his parables, teachings and sermons. The question now is: what did his followers, the Apostles, teach on this subject? One of them, the Apostle Peter, will be the focus of our attention for the remainder of today's post.

The Apostle Peter's teaching on Hell in 2 Peter
Peter's statements on Hades (or Hell) alligns with Jesus' teachings. Peter also emphasizes on several occassions the presence of demonic beings in hell. 

1. Hell will be a destructive place. 
2 Peter 2:1 refers to false teachers bringing upon themselves "swift destruction" and in 2 Peter 2:3 we see reference to "destruction" and "judgment". Peter uses similar terms in 2 Peter 2:4,9,12. In 2 Peter 2:4 we see specific reference to certain fallen angels who are being held in reserved judgment. The rebellion mentioned here occurred either in the ancient cosmic rebellion led by Satan in Revelation 12:4,7-9 or the abomination of certain demons inhabiting men to commit immorality with the daughters of men in Genesis 6:1-4. Jesus' describes both Hades and the final Lake of fire as being places of destruction with destructive fire in Matthew 18:18 and Mark 9:43. 

2. Hell will be a dark place
As Peter and Jesus both teach, Hades and the final place of the Lake of Fire will not only be destructive, but dark places. Peter onces again mentions how in Hell there are places that are extremely dark. (2 Peter 2:4 "pits of darkness"; 2:17 "black darkness") As he did in his descriptions of hell's destructiveness, the darkness of hell is heightened by the presence of demons (2 Peter 2:4) Jesus teaches how hell will be a place of "outer darkness" (Matt 25:46). 

Many people over time have question what appears to be two conflicting descriptions of hell (both Hades and the Lake of Fire) as being places of fire and darkness. If there are unquenchable fires burning, how can there be darkness? Let the reader be reminded of what takes place when a major fire occurs: there are flames for sure, however there is thick dark smoke that makes seeing the flames hard to see. To heighten this image to the level of the types of fire and darkness occurring in Hell escalates the picture. When we add in the frightening details of demonic beings more frightening than those that even roam freely on this earth, it ought to cause even the most hardened sinner to be moved to responds to God's saving call of salvation. 

What Jesus and Peter both teach on escaping hell
Jesus repeatedly taught that He alone was the way, the truth and the life and that no man could come to the Father but by Him. (John 14:6) To escape hell is simple: believing on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. (John 3:16). To not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is to remain settled in your decision against Christ and preference of Hell over Him. (John 3:17-19, 3:36) The Apostle Peter as well urges His listeners both before 2 Peter 2 in 2 Peter 1:3-4 and after in 2 Peter 3:18 to know Christ and continue partaking of Him in faith. 

All of the warnings and disturbing realities of 2 Peter 2 give readers reasons for avoiding the awful realities of hell. 2 Peter 3:17 urges readers to be on guard against the false teachers and seductions of this age so as to not get sucked into their ways. Avoiding hell is a matter of relying upon the Spirit of God to do as commanded in 2 Peter 3:18 "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." We are saved by grace through faith alone apart from the law and we are being saved by a grace that is not lawless.  Both Peter and Jesus both explain clearly the only escape from Hell - namely Jesus Christ. 

P2 How the Angels point us to Jesus Christ

1 Timothy 3:16 "By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory."

Introduction:

Yesterday we considered two areas in which angels point us to Jesus Christ. By witnessing how the angels ministered to Jesus points us to the truth of His incarnation and thus His glory for our sake. Today we will conclude with two additional ways in which angels point us to Jesus Christ. 

Angels point to Jesus in His Ascension

Angels are seen throughout scripture announcing things to people. Notice again the function of angels both declaring an explaining in Acts 1:9-11 "And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” The angels were doing what they were created to do: declare and explain the glory of God (Psalm 68:17) and the equal and shared glory of the Son (Luke 2:14).

Angels point to Jesus Who is coming again

The Old Testament makes it abundantly clear that the angels function in the capacity of a royal court demonstrating the Deity of Yahweh. In Job 38:7 and Psalm 104:1-4 we see the angels, from the inception of their creation, exalting God for His creative power. In Psalm 68:17 we see angels attending the giving of the law atop Mount Sinai, demonstrating before the newly redeemed Hebrew nation that uncontested Deity of Yahweh. Daniel 7:10-13 portrays the Lord, the Ancient of Days and the Pre-incarnate Son of Man in royal Deity, being attended by innumerable angelic hosts. Later on in Daniel 12:1-3 we see Michael the archangel attending what will undoubtedly be the Divine power of God Himself raising believers from the dead in the resurrection of the righteous and unbelievers in the later resurrection of the wicked.

When will these events occur? When Jesus appears in the clouds at His second coming. In Acts 1:11 the two angels told the disciples that the same Jesus who disappeared from their sight as God and man would appear in the same glorified and physical state. When Jesus returns in His second coming, He will be attended with the angelic hosts of Heaven reflecting His deity revealed through His physical humanity. (Matt 16:27; 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26 & Revelation 15:8). Just like the Old Testament’s association of the angelic court with the display of God’s Deity, the New Testament connects those same courts of angels as pointing to Christ’s deity in His second coming. 

P1 How the Angels point us to Jesus Christ

1 Timothy 3:16 "By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory."

Introduction:

Today we will consider two ways in which angels point us to Jesus Christ, with two other ways being mentioned in tomorrow's post. Angels aid us in focusing more on Jesus in the following ways:

Angels point to Jesus as He lived and died  

Jesus certainly illustrated the point of angelic assistance in the believer's life by how angels aided Him in His humanity. Matthew 4:11 "Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him." As Jesus was praying in Gethsemane we read in Luke 22:43 "Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him." Jesus chose to forego angelic aid in Matthew 26:53 "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" The numerous appearances of angels throughout Jesus' earthly ministry point to the glory of His incarnation. He was virgin born, lived and died as God in human flesh. (John 1:14; Colossians 2:9) When one reads the Gospel accounts of Christ's resurrection and ascension, angels are seen in those episodes as well. Inasmuch as we are witnessing a sequence of historical, literal events, we must include the reality of angelic beings. 

Angels point to Jesus in His literal resurrection

The events of the empty tomb, Jesus' post-resurrection appearances and the cause for the disciple's belief in the resurrection stand in the mind of scholar William Lane Craig as being the three chief events needing to be explained. Certainly I concur with him and would like to add one further detail - the presence of angels. What were the angels achieving as they ministered the glory of Christ's resurrected power to the Apostles?

Matthew 28:3-4 "And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men."  When we look at this detail, it is significant for a number of reasons. First, the women were already on their way to finish the anointing process of Jesus' body in Matthew 28:1. Second, this detail mentioned by Matthew in 28:3-4 reminds the reader of the manifest impossibility of anyone coming to steal the body of Jesus, since the enemies of Jesus had arranged the tomb to be guarded in Matthew 27:62-66. But now when we realize that the presence of angels led to the collapse of the soldiers, it is apparent that the angels were sent to defend, to protect the women and those who would be peering into the empty tomb. Passages such as 2 Kings 6; Psalm 34:7; 91:11 and Hebrews 1:14 remind us of how angels defend or protect God's people.

We read in Matthew 28:5-7 "The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

More tomorrow....

5 practical reasons why you should study the angelic realm in the Bible

Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Introduction
Over the course of the next several days we will be diving into understanding how angels function to point people to God's greatness. I thought before beginning with that series, it would behoove this blogger to present practical reasons for undertaking the study of angels in the firstplace. A quote from one of the ablest theological minds, Charles Hodge, will set the tone for why this subject is of utmost practical importance:
"So much is said in the Scriptures of good and evil angels, and such important functions are ascribed to them both in the providence of God over the world, and especially in the experience of his people and of his Church, that the doctrine of the Bible concerning them should not be overlooked."1

Anytime we engage in the study of the angelic realm, three branches are generally recognized in the subject (some may list more or less): angelology (study of angels, their nature, function and ranks); demonology (study of demons, their nature, function and ranks) and Satanology (Satan's nature, function and efforts against mankind and God).  To get us off the runway and into the air on this subject, I want us to consider why studying the angelic realm is important.

1. Massiveness of the subject in the Bible
A great tool to have when studying any topic of scripture is a Bible Concordance.  A concordance functions much like a telephone book, in that you can find the verses where any word or any subject is listed.  The added bonus is that many Bible Concordances today will print out a portion of the passages and give you all the Bible books and number of times each word appears.2  The magnitude of times the angelic realm appears in the scripture is extraordinary and thus warrants its study.  Consider the following statistics (I found these just searching through the Strongest Strong's NIV exhaustive concordance):

a. Angels and their various ranks and descriptions are found roughly 400 times in the scriptures. Angels of all sorts are mentioned in 17 of the 39 Old Testament books and 19 out of 27 of the New Testament books.

b. Demons and their various ranks are found in 6 of the 39 Old Testament books and 12 of the 27 New Testament books.  In the concordance I consulted I discovered nearly 75 places in the scriptures on the subject of demons.

c. Satan, who is also called the Devil, Serpent, Dragon and other names appears in 6 of the 39 Old Testament books and in 19 of the 27 New Testament books, causing problems in at least 115 places throughout scripture. 

d. When you add up all of the places in the Bible where angels, demons and Satan appear, you come up with close to 600 places.  

e. Whether good angels, fallen angels or Satan himself, the nature of angelic beings is that of spirit - that is, they are rational, intelligent beings without a physical body. (Psalm 104:3-4; Daniel 7:10; Hebrews 1:14) Occasionally, (good angels) can assume for a temporary period of time a physical form of sorts (Genesis 18:2; Mark 16:5; Hebrews 13:2) By and large though, angels are spirit beings whose numbers far exceed those of us humans. Such a large number of mentions and the extraordinary facts of the angelic realm in the Bible reveal the importance of such a study. But notice a second reason why this subject is important...

2. Major scale of spiritual warfare

    Ephesians 6:11-12 issues this command - "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil."  Should not Christians of all people be more aware of the nature of the spiritual battle that they are involved? As a practical example, lets say you were to take a trip to a foreign country that is experience increasing pockets of violent outbreaks.  Would you not read up on the current conditions of the government, intelligence information on where attacks have taken place, as well as updates on where the most safe places would be? Would you not want to know whom you could trust as well as who to avoid? If that is the case in the incidence of travel, how much the more in the daily Christian walk.  Knowing the proverbial "lay of the land" in the spiritual Christian walk will make for a more Biblically informed and wise people who are effective witnesses for Jesus Christ.

3. Maintain a proper balance on the angelic realm
Having been involved with or having interacted with various Christians from many denominational and theological persuasions, there are two ditches people fall into when it comes to the angelic realm:

a. Ignorance.  Some denominations and some theological traditions don't talk about angels, demons or Satan.  The danger of this ditch is viewing life and reality in only physical terms. The urgency for Godly living and fighting the good fight of faith presuppose the existence of Two Kingdoms: the far greater and ultimate kingdom of God and the lesser and dangerous kingdom of darkness. To be ignorant of the angelic realm means ignorance of the supernatural realm, a Christianity that operates with one arm tied behind its back if you will.

b. Obsession. Other groups go to the other extreme and see demons behind every bush. They blame everything bad on the Devil. When the ditch of obsession over the angelic realm occurs, Christianity can skirt close to paganism by giving angels too much prominence.  

To see these two general attitudes, walk into the average Christian bookstore or listen to the topics being preached in more well-known pulpits.  It seems to me (at least in the circles I operate), that the tendency would be more in the ignorant direction.  Our culture is unusually pre-occupied by mostly the demonic side (and a skewed view at that) or operating in a paganized view of angels and demons.  We as believers need to be aware of what the Bible teaches in order to moderate our priority of the angelic realm.  

4. Mandate of scripture: The study of the angels is indeed practical
In the opening verse of today's blog I mentioned Hebrews 13:2 which commands Christians to exercise hospitality. Why? Because among other things, we may be entertaining angels unawares.  Reference to angels is listed among the very practical topics of Hebrews 13:1-4 such as loving the brethren (13:1); hospitality (13:2); visiting prisoners (13:3) and marriage (13:4). 

In other passages, such as 2 Corinthians 13:4-5 and Ephesians 6:10-18, knowledge of the angelic realm can be useful in practical everyday Christian life. In 2 Peter 2:4, mention is made of the cosmic rebellion of the angels who followed after Lucifer in his bid to attempt a coup against God as recorded elsewhere in scripture (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28; Revelation 12:4). Now why does Peter bring to the reader's minds the angelic realm along with other examples of rescuing Noah out of the flood and Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? 

      The inclusion of the angelic realm is to demonstrate the universality of the principle laid out in 2 Peter 2:9 "then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment." In ways not fully explained, God preserved the holy angels from further corruption by casting out Satan and the fallen angels. Likewise, God also preserved Noah, and Lot and thus preserves Christians today living in this godless world. (Philippians 2:15-16) Peter sees the practicality of including knowledge of the angelic realm in the exercising of ourselves in Godly living. So studying the angelic realm is important because of its massiveness in the scripture, major scale of spiritual warfare, maintain a proper balance in our view of the supernatural and the mandate from scripture to be more aware of the the invisible realm. But now lets consider one more practical reason for studying the angelic realm...

5. Majesty of God is reinforced in our hearts and minds by the study of angels
Perhaps the most important reason to study angelology, demonology and Satanology is due to how each subject in one way or another points to God's glory.  Satan for sure is the chief adversary of God and His people, however knowing that He was defeated at the cross shows the glory of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8).  

     For sure, the demonic realm can certainly discourage and afflict God's people, however knowing that nothing, not even they, can separate us from the love of God actually points the way to the majesty of God's love. (Romans 8:37-39) Satan's far lesser kingdom functions as a black cloth to highlight the far greater Kingdom of God.  In God's Sovereignty He permits Satan to carry out his diabolic schemes so that in the end, His glory is shown in even greater proportion. (Philippians 2) Angels (the good ones) function in relationship to God like rays of light do for the sun.  

    The rays of the sun lead the viewer back to their point of origin - the sun.  Likewise the good angels continually point believers back to the glory and majesty of God.  In fact the angels of heaven are termed "fellow servants" with the saints of God (Revelation 19:10)

Closing thoughts:
We have taken the time to briefly sketch out what the Bible has to tell the reader about the angelic realm - good, bad and ugly. The aim was to express practically why anyone would study angels. The last reason especially will be the motive for the next upcoming posts on how angels function in pointing the way to the greatness of God. I hope and pray the reader will return tomorrow as we launch this new series. 
Endnotes:

1. Charles Hodge. Systematic Theology - Volume 1. WM. B Eerdmans. 1965 edition. Page 637 
Dr. Charles Hodge was a professor of theology at Princeton Seminary in the late nineteenth century.  Before Princeton went liberal in the late 1920's, it had been known for years as a bastion of Bible believing orthodoxy.  At Princeton, three theologians were noteworthy for their contributions to conservative bible believing Christianity from the 1880's-1920's: Charles Hodge, B.B Warfield and J. Greshem Machen. Dr. Hodge wrote a three volume work on Systematic Theology that to this day is a standard reference work for any and every subject in the field. 

2. Any Bible concordance will aid you greatly and there are number available to purchase at either a Christian Bookstore, Lifeway.com, Amazon.com or CBD (Christian Book Distributors).  Some of the ones I have found helpful are: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (based of KJV) and NASB Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (based of NASB text).  Most of the major English versions have their own concordances as well, such as the ESV (English Standard Version); NLT (New Living Translation); NKJV (New King James Version) and NRSV (New Revised Standard Version). Most of these resources are produced by Zondervan.

The War that is Already Won

Acts 10:38  "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."

Introduction

In today's post we aim to detail the war that has been waged, is waging and is already won by Jesus against the Devil.  In past studies we have looked at Jesus' battles against Satan in His incarnation and earthly ministry that led to Jesus' decisive victory over the Devil in the cross and resurrection. In today's study we want to discover what the Book of Acts, the Epistles and Revelation has to say about the fact that the War between Jesus and the Devil has already been won.  In today's post we will explore the Devil's demise and activities in light of Jesus decisive victory under the following three headings:

1. Devil defeated at Calvary by Jesus

2. Devil's devices can be disarmed by the grace from Jesus

3. Destiny of the Devil to be destroyed by Jesus

Devil defeated at Calvary by Jesus

The Acts, Epistles and Revelation serve to explain all that took place at the cross and empty tomb. In as much Jesus' central aim of coming to earth the first time was to die for sins and to pay the price of redemption to the Father, He also came to defeat the Devil.  Four key New Testament passages bear out this truth. Acts 10:38 states - "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."  Colossians 2:15 plainly says - "When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him." The writer of Hebrews reminds us in Hebrews 2:14 - "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil". Then we see the Apostle John note in 1 John 3:8 -  "the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of Godappeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil." It is no wonder the Devil is bent on attacking the people of God, for they represent the One Who soundly defeated him at Calvary.  Which leads us to the second idea associated with the fact that in Jesus Christ, the war is already won against the Devil, namely...

The Devil's devices can be disarmed by grace from Jesus

Sometimes a snake is never more dangerous than when he has been defeated, maimed and mortally wounded.  As children my sister and I loved playing outside in our yard.  One day as we were playing, a giant poisonous snake was coiled up in our yard.  We yelled at the top of our lungs for our dad to come out and rescue us from the dangerous serpent.  Our father came out and quickly grabbed a shovel.  For a couple of minutes my father and that old snake faced one another.  The hissing and quick movements of the snake were indeed intimidating.  Suddenly my father struck the snake with the shovel and then proceeded to take his boot and drive the shovel several times into the back of the snake.  The snake was no doubt dead - (or so we thought).  In a last ditch effort the snake lunged for my father's boot and buried its fangs into the hard, steel toe.  My dad then beheaded the creature, ending its tyranny of fear over my sister and me.  

The Devil, the Serpent of old, is now very dangerous and full of venom. Many wonder why Jesus did not do away with Satan at the cross.  Though the purposes of God may not always be easy to understand, one thing is clear - in order to be more than conquerors (Romans 8:37), we have to experience the same things Jesus did while on this earth.  His victory by fact is the basis for our ongoing experience of victory. The Devil certainly has his devices ready to unleash on God's people:  footholds (Eph 4:27); schemes (Eph 6:11); conceit (1 Tim 3:6); snares (1 Tim 3:7; 2 Tim 2:26); temptations (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8); persecution (Revelation 2:10) and of course deception (Rev 12:9). 

Despite all of these devices, thanks be to God that Jesus Christ, by His Spirit, sends forth graces whereby we as His people can battle and overcome just as He did.  We know that it is by the blood of the Lamb, the Word of God and the gifting of faith that we can overcome the evil one. (1 John 5:4-5; Rev 12:11). 

So in seeing how Jesus Christ defeated the Devil at Calvary and how in Jesus we can now obtain victory, let us consider the third heading that tells us that Jesus' war with the Devil is already won.

Destiny of the Devil to be destroyed by Jesus

The final book of the Bible spells out very clearly what the Devil's destiny will be.  As we scan God's final revealed book, we can note a three step downward spiral of Satan that describes his destiny.  First we can note that the Devil will experience a final demotion from the heavenly realms as the Prince of the power of the air to the earth.  Revelation 12:12 states - "For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.” 

Following that demotion, which will occur in the midway point of the final seven year tribulation period, Jesus will return to earth at the end.  After destroying the Anti-Christ and his forces, Jesus will establish His throne in Jerusalem to rule over the earth for 1,000 years.  As that is taking place, the Devil's second downward spiral will take place - a dungeon.  Revelation 20:2 tells us - "And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years." 

After the 1,000 years comes to a near end, the Devil will be released from his dungeon, his pit, and be permitted to lead astray all the people born during Jesus' 1,000 year reign. (please compare Isaiah 65:20) It will be at that point that Jesus puts the proverbial nail in Satan's coffin and thus marking the third downward spiral in the Devil's destiny, namely his destruction.  Revelation 20:10 records - "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and thefalse prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."  Finally that old serpent, the dragon, will be writhing in eternal agony. Never again will he be able to dig his fangs into the hearts of people.  The defeat at Calvary and the graces of Jesus Christ plainly tell us that the destiny of the Devil is destruction.  Thus dear friend, these are the truths that tell us that in Jesus Christ, the war is already won!