If you would be turning in your New Testament to the Book of Jude, we've recently just studied the book of Jude in our adult Bible classes and we read this particular verse and we looked at the context in which it's written in. We're gonna draw some other applications to this particular idea of Satan wanting a corpse. And we're gonna read here in just a moment, Jude beginning in verse three.
- Jude 1:3-11
We're given a list of several things by Jude of reasons why he needed to write this particular epistle. He starts out by saying that he did not want to write the particular epistle that he wrote, verse three. He would’ve much rather write about the common salvation that's available to everyone. But because of an underlying need, something that was pressing at the moment, he needed to change what he wanted to write in order to write what he did write.
And he wrote this particular epistle to encourage those that he was writing to, to earnestly contend, to fight for the faith of God's kingdom. Fight for the faith of God's word. Fight for the system of faith that's revealed in the word of God. Why verse four? Because there were many that intentionally came in with false doctrine that they tried to sneak in without people knowing it was them. Now, they did it on purpose. They did it on purpose, but they didn't want people to know what they were doing, but they were intending to change the gospel for their own purpose.
In verse five, we read about how he draws their attention to a previous example, God bringing the people out of Egyptian bondage. And then there at the end of verse he says, but then he destroyed them in the wilderness because they didn't believe. God did Israel a great service in bringing them out of Egyptian bondage and fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies that he would bring them out after the fourth generation. He did all of that, marched them right up to the promised land, but they sent the spies and ten of those spies came back and said, no God. God did a number on us this time. We can't take this land. He brought us all the way out here just to kill us. What kind of a God is that? So they spent the next forty years in a wilderness where all of those age twenty and over, minus two individuals, Joshua and Caleb, died in the wilderness. Why? Because of their unbelief. He brought them out of the land, did what he said he was going to do and then had to destroy them.
And then he goes in verse six and talks about the angels who left their first estate. These angels were at one time in heaven with God serving God, serving those that were up in heavenly areas. And then they says they left their first estate. And because they did that they're reserved in chains to the time of the judgment that is to come. It talks about Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities that were around them. This would be the area south of the Dead Sea, Sodom and Gomorrah, and those cities that were around them, they went after strange flesh. They were all about fornication and they were destroyed. We get to verse eight and it says, these dreamers speaking, I believe of those individuals in verses three and four that are going about trying to change the doctrine of Christ to something else, these dreamers, it means the doctrine that they're proposing. They just thought it up. It came out of their own imaginations.
What Would Satan Do with the Body?
And then we get to verse nine, and if it wasn't for verse nine, we wouldn't know anything about this particular account. It says of this contention between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses, and it just so happened that we ended up talking about some of this in our Bible class this morning. That wasn't intentional either, but we're gonna talk about it just for a little bit in this particular sense.
What do you think, if we're speaking in terms of literalness or reality, what do you think Satan would’ve done with the body of Moses?
- Parade Him Around
Well, we have no way of knowing this is extra biblical, if you will, because this is the only passage that says anything about this. And there's nothing else said beyond this particular verse, but it's not really hard to speculate and see that he's probably going to parade Moses around, right? This faithful child of God who brought the people out of Egyptian bondage and look where he ended up. I got him and not God.
Maybe that's concerning the way that Moses' life ended, if you recall. Moses was instructed to go and speak to the rock at one point, and he was so fed up with the people and their murmuring and complaining that he goes out and he's mad and he's angry and he takes his staff and, instead of speaking to the rock, he smites it twice and God still gives the people the water that he said he was going to give them. But because he did that, God tells Moses he's not gonna enter into the Promised Land either. But he takes him up on Mount Nebo and he shows him all of the promised land that is going to be given to the people. And then God buries Moses on Mount Nebo.
Just me personally thinking here, it is around that time that Satan is suggesting that he deserves the body of Moses instead of God. Oh God, he despised you. He disbelieved you. He didn't do what you told him to do. He belongs to me. But Michael doesn't really engage in this particular back and forth. He simply just says 'the Lord rebuke you.'
- Make an Idol of Him
And then of course he's probably going to make an idol out of Moses. It was not uncommon for good things to later be made an idol of.
- Numbers 21
- 2 Kings 18
Numbers, chapter 21, where Moses was instructed to erect a serpent of brass and put it on a pole and then put that pole in the midst of the people, and then all the people that looked upon that pole would then be healed, and the serpent that had bitten them would not cause them to die. What a wonderful event in the time of their history because God provided them a way out, right? You turn over to 2 Kings chapter 18, and what you find is now they're burning incense to that particular serpent that's on a pole. They turned what God made very holy and for the purpose of saving them into an idol. Is it really hard for us to believe that Satan might do that with the body of Moses? No, not really.
Satan Desires a Dead Sinner
But we're not really going to be spending our time this morning talking about Satan wanting the body of Moses. You see, there's other bodies that Satan wants. There's other bodies that Satan desires, and that's what we're going to focus on this morning.
Why Would Satan Want a Dead Sinner?
Satan, we need to remember this one particular thing about Satan. It's something that the world, I believe, is very mistaken on. The religious world seems to be mistaken on, and that is this. Satan has no real power over you and over me. We're told by some that Satan is an all-powerful being and he is not, he's not deity, he's not all-knowing. He's not everywhere trying to use his divine knowledge of who we are to get us to fall. That's not the case at all. We are the ones that allow Satan into our lives. We are the ones who, by rejecting what the word of God says, or stepping outside the bounds of what the word of God says, allowed Satan into our heart. That's what happened with Judas, and we could look at that, but we don't have time. I just thought I'd mention that that's what happened to Judas.
- Keep a soul from hearing God’s word!
- Keep a soul from obeying God’s word!
Satan's objective is twofold: to keep the sinner from ever hearing the word of God. That would be ideal in his mind if he never came across the Bible. If he never came across a preacher, if he never came across a member of the church that said, hey, do you know about Jesus? That would be absolutely ideal in the mind of Satan. But if he does hear it, he wants to keep that person from obeying what the gospel says. You see, Satan wants to do everything in his power to hold on to this one who is his, because there's power in the word of God. Satan understands the real power does not lie within him. The real power lies within the word of God that can free that sinner from a life of serving Satan.
- Romans 6:16
Romans chapter six and verse 16, Paul says that we are the servants to whom we serve, though, if we're going to be the servant of Satan, we're going to do those things that are pleasing to him. If we're going to be the servant of God, we're going to do those things that are pleasing to him.
Satan wants us to be decieved by lies.
- You are a Good/Moral Person
- Just Have Fun!
- Rejoices When One Turns Away from God
To the one who's a good moral person, Satan might just say, there's really nothing that you need to worry about because you are a good moral person. You are just fine the way you are. You don't need to change. You don't need to go to church. You don't need to read the Bible. You don't break the laws intentionally. You haven't gone out and stolen from anybody. You haven't murdered anybody. You haven't robbed anybody. You haven't even been mean on social media. You're a rare person. You're okay.
To those who are immoral, he might just say, just have fun. The more fun you can have in this world, the better off you're going to be. You're gonna have more stories, exciting stories to tell your grandkids than anybody else. You're also gonna have more shame, but he doesn't mention that part. Just go out and have fun. To the sectarian in religion, it's just one church is as good as another church. It really doesn't matter where you go. And he says that one for a reason.
Satan's objective is to just keep us thinking about ourselves, doing whatever it is that we want to do. Satan rejoices when someone turns away from God. Satan rejoices when someone refuses to even hear concerning the word of God, because that's exactly what he wants for them to do. Satan is after the dead sinner and he never wants that particular individual to hear the lessons from the gospel meeting that we just had, that Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the answer. That's the message that absolutely terrifies Satan. Satan desires a dead sinner.
- Ephesians 1:1-3
Paul was writing to their condition before they entered the kingdom, they were dead in their trespasses and sins. That's who Satan wants. Individuals who are outside the body of Christ, who've never heard the truth, never obeyed the truth. God says they are dead in their trespasses and sins, having no hope and without God in the world.
- Ephesians 2:12
This is the world that Satan wants all of us to believe is all that there is. It's the kind of world that Satan wants us to believe that that's all we deserve, that that's all that we should worry about, but that's just simply not the case. Satan has no real power over you and me. We're told by some that Satan is an all-powerful being. But, he is not. He is not using a divine knowledge of who we are to get us to fall. We are the ones that allows Satan to enter into our hearts. That's what happened to Judas.
Individuals outside the body of Christ, never hearing the truth, or having a chance to obey the truth, are in the world, and have no hope of eternal salvation. Satan wants us to believe that's all there is.
Satan never wants a sinner to hear the message from the gospel meeting that we just had, the Is Jesus is the Answer gospel meeting.
Satan Desires a Dead Church Member
- Revelation 3:1-3
Satan wants a dead church. Why would Satan want a dead church? Well, first of all, you and I have to remember that Satan would prefer that there be no churches at all. Satan didn't want them to begin with. Satan's goal, Satan's mission was to prevent the church from ever being established. Hence, Jesus dying on the cross. Through the works of those who believed in Satan, at least at the very outset, were those that set out to not be obedient to God by the things that they did. They put Jesus on the cross, crucified him. You know, that was the happiest day in Satan's life.
You ever thought about the idea that when Jesus was there hanging on the cross and he was in the act of dying on the cross, Satan is jumping up and down for joy. His own victory dance in his own end zone is what Satan was doing. Because Jesus was on the cross and he said, I won. The church was not established. Didn't work out that way. He never wanted the church to begin with, but if the church is going to be in existence, what Satan wants is a do-nothing church.
Satan wants a church that does nothing, that does not speak out against anything, that really doesn't stand for anything. But if you guys want to come together on the first day of the week and sing a few songs and pray a few prayers, then you go right ahead and do that. But let's not worry about evangelizing our neighborhood. Let's not worry about doing good works to those who are in need. Let's not worry about strengthening our knowledge in the word of God. Let's not really worry about uplifting one another. Instead, let's nitpick one another and tear one another apart.
Satan wants a do-nothing church because a do-nothing church is much like what we read about in Sardis. It's one that is not going to grow. It had a reputation for being a living church because it met every week like it was supposed to. But it was dead because it bore no fruit for Jesus.
You get to another church there and with the Laodiceans, and we're probably more familiar with them than the church at Sardis.
- Revelation 3:15-16
We talked about this not too long ago. Jesus is saying there through the writer, John, you make me sick to consider your condition. You make me sick. Satan likes a church that is lukewarm that really doesn't amount to much of anything spiritually speaking. He doesn't really like the fact that they exist at all, but if they exist, he really wants them to be all about themselves and having a good time and not about spreading the word of God. It's not about lifting one another up, building one another up, edifying one another and doing good works.
Satan Desires a Dead Church Member
Thirdly, Satan desires a dead church member. It might be that Satan can't have the entire congregation. It might be the case that Satan's not going to get the entire congregation. I want you to think for a moment about where we are. We have elders. We have three elders, and their sole purpose as being elders is to keep the previous point from being the previous point. Okay. Their mission, their aim, their goal is to make sure that we here in Oak Grove are not a dead church. It very well could be that Satan doesn't get Oak Grove to put in his back pocket and say, oh, I got them. But the reality is also this, he'll settle for just one of us. Satan will settle for a dead church member.
What Does a Dead Church Member Look Like?
- One who is faithful, when convenient
It could be that Satan is looking for, and I would imagine that he is, one who is faithful when it's convenient for them. One who goes to worship on Sunday morning when the previous week hasn't been too hectic and crazy. Cause you gotta remember, they only have one day to rest, and that's on Sunday. And then Monday is a work day and you gotta get up and go to work, and you have to be well rested to go to work.
Satan wants the individual that is faithful when it is convenient for them. It reminds me of what Jesus would teach of the four hearts in Matthew chapter 13. Remember, the seed fell that was sown by the sower. It fell on the stony ground and it was well received by the stony ground. But because there wasn't much earth there, there wasn't any depth. The sun came out and the cares of the world, the persecutions of the world, the seed dried up. That's this person. That's the one who's faithful when it is convenient.
- One who reasons Material > Spiritual
Maybe Satan wants the church member who's going to focus more on material things than the spiritual things. The material is greater than the spiritual. We can't see the spiritual, we can see the physical, and I need to leave a legacy for those that are coming after me. And I need to have more things than my neighbor has because he seems to have a lot of fun because he has more things. You know what they say? He who dies with the most still dies. He who dies with the most still dies. It's not a matter of the things that we have in this world. It's about living our lives faithfully in the sight of God. But Satan wants one who reasons that the material is greater than the spiritual.
- One who makes worship excuses.
Could be that kind of a mindset determines what job you're going to take. You move out to an area because the job is great, but the congregation selection is lousy. But you go there because it's gonna set you up for a better retirement in the future, and you only figure out where, which congregation you want to attend when it's convenient for you. After you get out there and after you get settled, you're not thinking about that before you move. That's the kind of individual that Satan is looking for.
- One who lives for self Mon-Sat.
Maybe it's in our recreation and how much time our recreation takes in our lives. We have soccer tournaments going on this weekend. It started on Friday and Charlotte and Evie both had games on Friday. They had games on Saturday and they actually both have games today. One's at 11:30. She'll be late. Probably won't even make it, but she's gonna try. Our recreation can say a lot about us in terms of our faithfulness. Maybe it's school. Well, I don't have time to go on Sunday because I've got a test that's due on Monday.
- One who provide “luxuries” for self and “tips” God on Sunday.
Maybe it's our retirement and we travel all the time. We travel all the time, and we don't always remember to put God in the place that is top priority in our life. Satan desires a dead church member. I would hope that that is not you and I would hope that that is not me as well.
Satan Desires the Body of Jesus, Dead
Finally, Satan desires the body of Jesus dead. He never wanted, as we mentioned, he was so happy when Jesus died on the cross. He was so happy when Jesus was unable to, in his own estimation, fulfill his promises and establish the kingdom that he said he was going to build. Nothing pleased Satan more than for Jesus to have died before all that happened and why do you think that is the case?
Why Would Satan Want the Body of Jesus?
Very similarly to the reason why he would’ve wanted the body of Moses to parade around his greatest achievement. Look what I did. I kept Jesus from doing what he said he was going to do. This one who claimed to be all-powerful was not all-powerful cause I put him in the grave, the one who conquered deity, that's Satan, or so that's what he wanted.
- Satan’s Greatest Achievement!
- The One Who Concurred Deity!
- Proves Jesus not to be “All Powerful”
- Satan Realized Defeat When Jesus Arose!
But that didn't really work out too well in his estimation, did it? Because Satan knew all along that if Jesus rose from the dead, he was going to have a problem. And that's exactly what happened. Jesus rose from the dead and it defeated everything that Satan had planned, and now he knows for the very first time he lost, fulfilling the prophecy from long ago.
- Genesis 3:15
The words that God spoke to Satan in the garden condemning him of his actions related to Adam and Eve. Satan realizes by his defeat that he's not going to get everything that he wants. And we have great hope because of the resurrection.
- Romans 1:4
Romans chapter one and verse four talks about Jesus being confirmed deity in the resurrection.
- 1 Corinthians 15:13-19
You and I, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, are able to read about the power of the resurrection. In fact, we're able to preach about the resurrection. The resurrection proves that our preaching is not vain. It proves the preaching of the apostles is not in vain. It proves the Old Testament prophets were not in vain, 1 Corinthians 15:13-19.
- 1 Peter 1:3
Mankind has hope because of the resurrection, 1 Peter chapter one and in verse three. And then when one is baptized, he's able to have a good conscience toward God. Why? Because of the resurrection.
- 1 Peter 3:21
1 Peter chapter three and in verse 21. We can have confidence that when we're obedient to the gospel, turning away from sin, living a life that God wants us to live, that he will reward us in the way that he has promised to reward those that obey him.
Are you one who would be classified as the dead sinner? Isn't it time to turn away from the devil and become alive in Jesus? Maybe you're one who is the dead church member. Isn't it time to be like the prodigal son, Luke chapter 15, and come home where the father is waiting for you?
Satan can't have Jesus' body, and I'm determined he can't have mine either. And what about you this morning?
If we can assist you in any way, we encourage you to contact us, we'd love to discuss with you God's plan for eternal salvation.
Topics:
Christianity, Resurrection, Satan
