Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: We often hear prophetic teaching about God's plan for end times, but did you know Satan also has a plan? Stay tuned as Dr. Gary Hedrick discusses Satan's Plan for the End Times right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the Scriptures from a distinctive first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Our Bible teacher is Dr. Gary Hedrick, President of CJF Ministries in San Antonio, Texas. You can reach our offices by dialing 1-800-926-5397.

Gary's subject today is Satan's Plan for the End Times. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. Now with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: All right, thank you, and welcome, chaverim. Welcome, friends, to another edition of Messianic Perspectives. It's always good to have you with us, and today we're continuing our series of studies on Satan's Plan for the End Times. And on the last program, we were talking about something that a lot of people wonder about, and that is, how could Satan ever hope to defeat God? After all, he was a cherub, one of the highest order of heavenly beings.

He must have tremendous intelligence, unimaginable intellect, one of the smartest and most knowledgeable beings in the entire universe. And yet he makes such a dumb mistake as to think that he can defeat God. And on the last program, I explained why the devil thought he could defeat God, why he thought he could usurp God's position and become like the Most High. And we don't have time to go into it again today, so if you missed it, you'll have to either get the tape or maybe just listen to it on the internet. Our website is at cjfm.org.

Now, let's talk about this issue of whether or not Satan is a real entity, or if he's just a symbol or an allegory. Certain theologians have suggested that the character of Satan or the devil is just an allegory. It's just a symbol for everything that's evil in this world, a personification where you take something impersonal and attach a personality to it to make it easier to understand or make it easier to relate to.

And we understand the Bible uses symbols, and sometimes we find allegory, simile, and metaphor in the Bible. We know that, and we've got no problem with that, as long as it's indicated by the context. But here's the problem with this character called ha-Satan in Hebrew, or Diabolos in Greek—the devil, we call him in English. The passages where he is described portray him as a real entity, a creature that fell from his position in heaven as a result of his pride and arrogance.

Every indication is that these were real events, not just symbols, not just allegories, not just metaphors. The devil is real, and his specialty is deception. You see, the way most people visualize the devil is as this character with a goatee, wearing a red bodysuit with horns and a tail, and holding a pitchfork. But that is definitely not how the Bible describes him.

First of all, he evidently has the ability to assume different shapes and forms depending on what his purpose is. Because when he came to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he assumed the form of a serpent, or he may have possessed a serpent, took control of a serpent. But the serpent in those days was a very beautiful creature, so beautiful, in fact, that the Bible uses the word subtle to describe it.

It was beguiling, almost disarming. It was evidently a quadruped and walked on four legs because part of the curse that God placed on the serpent after the fall was that from that day forward, it would slither along on the ground instead of walking, and it would eat dust all the days of its life. And of course, we know that snakes literally eat dust because that's how their sense of smell works. They use their tongues to taste dust particles, so the serpent underwent some drastic physiological changes as a result of the curse that was placed on him in the Garden of Eden.

And even evolutionists today say that certain species of snakes show signs of having evolved from a creature that had legs. So before the fall, this was one of the most beautiful creatures God had made, and that's the one Satan chose to use in his plan to deceive Adam and Eve. The New Testament tells us this is how he works. It says in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light.

Not a demon of darkness, but an angel of light, one of God's angels. You see, he is very deceptive. He's an impostor and a deceiver because he knows you're not going to listen to him if he tells you the truth. If he just comes up to you and says, "Hi, I'm the devil and I have a plan for your life. I want to destroy everything you hold dear—your family, your health, your hopes, your dreams, your relationships, everything that is precious to you, even your very soul. I will destroy because that's who I am. Apollyon, the destroyer. That's me."

You see, if the devil used that direct approach, he would be out of business, and he's been in business for a very long time. And the reason is that he's a master of deception. He doesn't appear in red leotards holding a pitchfork. Instead, he appears as an angel of light. You know all of these people who say they've had visions of angels, angels who bring messages about how God wants everyone to love each other and just keep on praying to the Virgin Mary and everything's going to be all right. These are not angels bringing these messages.

They are demon entities because Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, just like he used that serpent in the Garden of Eden to present himself in the most appealing way to Adam and Eve. Do you know how I know these apparitions are from the devil and not from God? Because if they were from God, they would be telling people the truth. They would be telling people to separate themselves from apostate religion and touch not the unclean thing.

They would be saying that we are sinners separated from a holy and righteous God and that our only hope is through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, Adonai Yeshua HaMashiach. They would be saying that there is only one way to heaven, and that is through him, through Jesus, through Yeshua, not through good works, not through doing penance, not through going to the confessional, not through a preacher or a priest, but only through Yeshua.

He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father except by me" (John 14:6). You see, that's how we know that these apparitions are not from God because it's not God's message. When people have these visions of angels or of the Virgin Mary or whatever it is, the message is always the same: God loves everybody, everything is fine, just keep on doing whatever your pagan religion tells you to do, and you'll be fine. We're all going to the same place; we're just taking different paths to get there.

You see, and that is not what the Bible teaches. We are not all going to the same place, and there are not many ways; there is only one way to the Father, and that's through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me tell you something that most people don't know: Satan is more active in the religious world than he is anywhere else. Now, I know that might shock you, but it's the truth. That is the primary realm of his activity, the religious world, not the taverns, not the strip joints, not the honky-tonks, not the places where the atheists and the humanists have their meetings, but the churches, apostate Christendom, the religious world.

Listen, Satan is religious, and he has most of the religious world in his hip pocket. Look what Jesus himself said in Matthew 7, verses 22 and 23. He said, on judgment day, many will say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name cast out demons? And in Thy name done many wonderful works?" You see, these are religious people, people who claim to be Christians. But what does he say to them?

He says, "I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Religious people, people who say Jesus is Lord. They prophesy, they cast out demons, they put on this big religious show, but when they stand before the Lord, He will say, "I never knew you. Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity." So there's a difference between religion and true Christianity or true Messianic faith.

Religion is man's way of reaching for God, but Yeshua or Jesus is God's way of reaching down to man. Religion is a system of rituals and ceremonies that make people think they're getting closer to God—reciting prayers and incense and going through rituals and singing and all the other stuff they do—and they think that gets God's attention. But you know what? The only thing that gets God's attention is His Son, Yeshua, Jesus.

That's why true Messianic faith is not a religion; it's a relationship. And there's a difference. It's not a religion with cathedrals and stained glass windows and pews and steeples; it's a living relationship with the Son of God, Yeshua the Messiah. And let me tell you something: the devil is just as real as He is, just as real as Jesus is. In fact, they knew each other in heaven in eternity past.

Jesus said he was there when Satan fell from heaven like lightning. The Scriptures portray the devil as a real entity, my friend, not just a symbol or a metaphor for evil. He is very real. Jesus spoke of him as being real. Peter, Paul, and other New Testament writers referred to him as being real. And that's why we need to know how he works so we can be prepared to deal with him whenever we need to. The Bible says we should not be ignorant of his devices or his methods. Well, that's all of our time for today. We'll continue next time. I hope you'll be here. Until then, this is your friend Gary Hedrick saying God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. We've been listening to Dr. Gary Hedrick talk about Satan's Plan for the End Times. If you are interested in Bible prophecy, you'll be glad to know that our special offer this week is the CD of this current series of studies on Satan's Plan for the End Times by our Bible teacher, Dr. Gary Hedrick. It's available for a suggested contribution of just $6 or more.

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So, we'll look forward to hearing from you. Just drop us a line at Messianic Perspectives, PO Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292, or email us at info@cjfm.org. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on Satan's Plan for the End Times right here on Messianic Perspectives.

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