Does Satan the Devil really exist?
Is he or she a real spirit being?
Or, is he no more than a product of cartoon
creators, artists, and Hollywood film makers?
And if that's the case, must we conclude that
evil is no more than time and chance and impulses
found in the hearts of men.
There's always been a fascination with
the spirit world.
Belief in unseen spirits wreaking havoc on mankind
goes back thousands of years.
The idea of evil spirits-- ghosts, goblins, and spooks in
the night--were taken as serious threats by the ancients, but are
often seen as mere entertainment in our modern world.
Yet, even now, belief in real witches, palm readers, and
mystics prevails.
The tools of their trade include crystal balls, tarot cards,
and dreams and visions crafted by an unseen world.
On this Tomorrow's World program, I'm asking a
very serious question: Is there a real Devil?
This is important, because if there is,
it has ramifications for you and me.
I'll also be offering a free resource that explains many of
the problems we find in the confused and contradictory
realm of religion.
Our well-documented, easy to read, booklet--
Satan's Counterfeit Christianity--is a must
read for anyone who claims the Bible as his source
for truth about God.
You'll want to have writing material available to
take down our contact information to receive
your free copy of Satan's Counterfeit Christianity.
Now stay with me as I'll be back in five seconds to
answer the question: Is There a Real Devil?
♪
A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at
Tomorrow's World and the Living Church of God,
the church behind this program.
Today I'm asking a very serious question:
Is there a real devil?
Can you know?
And if there is, what are the ramifications for you and me?
The ancients held many fears regarding a spirit world,
as seen in some of their superstitious customs that have
been handed down to us today.
As a prime example, children and even adults dress up in
ghoulish costumes on the night of October 31st and they
decorate their homes with skeletons, sheets representing
ghosts, spiders, spider webs, and carved faces in pumpkins.
Few understand why they do this other than following the crowd
in an ancient tradition.
And it's all done in fun as people profess,
"for the children," who go about gathering as much
candy as they can.
But is this mere fun?
Or is there a darker side to Halloween celebrations?
While this program is not specifically about this
celebration, it does show how ideas about the unseen
world have been handed down to us today and how they
have changed over time.
From Britannica.com, we read about the origin of
Halloween in the Celtic celebration of Samhain:
"It was believed that on Samhain, during this seasonal
transition, [that is, from summer to winter] spirits
came to the world of the living, and their presence
was regarded with trepidation.
In conjunction with All Souls' and All Saint's Day,
Samhain had an influence on the modern holiday of Halloween,
and it is also celebrated as an important holiday
in modern Paganism."
Notice how Samhain is an "important holiday in
modern Paganism."
Now for starters, do you really think God is pleased
with us taking part in a pagan religious festival,
even if the seriousness of it has been changed?
When God brought Israel out of Egypt and they were ready
to enter the promised land, He gave them very explicit
instructions not to borrow heathen practices in
His service.
Notice it in Deuteronomy 12, beginning in verse 29...
"When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations
which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell
in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not
ensnared to follow them...
and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying,
'How did these nations serve their gods?
I also will do likewise.'
You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way....
Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it;
you shall not add to it nor take away from it."
Most people have some inkling that Halloween
has a checkered past.
And for anyone who stops to think about it,
isn't it rather weird to focus on death, and ghosts,
and evil spirits returning to harass innocent people--
especially if they don't even think they exist?
But, if evil spirits do exist, isn't that even weirder?
What strange customs we observe to entertain ourselves.
It's important to note that these customs have
a religious background.
It's easy to look down upon our pagan ancestors with
pity for their superstitious beliefs and customs.
After all, who today believes such rubbish?
But it wasn't the so-called pagans only who believed
in the need to ward off these evil spirits.
Notice how the mainstream Church blended pagan
superstitions with their own:
"Pope Gregory 1 (590-604) arrived in Britain from
Rome to convert Pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.
The Gregorian mission decreed that Samhain festivities must
incorporate Christian saints "to ward off the sprites
and evil creatures of the night"....
All Souls Day, 2 November, was created by the Church,
"so people could still call on their dead to aid them";
All Saints Day, 1 November, was also known as All Hallows,
so 31 October later became All Hallows' Eve, later
known as Halloween."
It's evident that our ancestors, whether ignorant heathens,
or those claiming their beliefs are founded in the
Sacred Scriptures, believed in a spirit world filled with
"evil creatures of the night."
We must therefore ask these important questions:
Is there a real devil?
Does he have evil spirit assistants?
What about embracing the spirit world with palm
readers and mystics?
Or are we to leave such alone?
And what about those cartoon figures with a little fellow
in a red jumper suit sitting on someone's shoulder and an
angel sitting on the other?
Is that fellow carrying a pitchfork real, or only
a symbol of evil?
No matter how we answer these questions, there is
an underlying question-- is there a spirit world?
Is there a real devil?
And if so, what are the ramifications for you and me?
Is modern Christianity immune to his influence?
Now that, dear friends, is a serious question that
we would do well to answer.
This is why we are offering our eye-opening
booklet--Satan's Counterfeit Christianity.
The late Dr. Roderick C. Meredith explains
in this resource:
"One of the primary ways Satan deceives most people
is to make them think that he does not even exist.
So people make jokes about how "the devil did it,"
feeling that there is not a real devil after all."
Satan's Counterfeit Christianity is a must read
for anyone serious about following the God of the Bible.
It's free of charge, as members, coworkers, and donors of the
Living Church of God have already paid for your copy
and the postage to send it to you.
So order your copy today.
And when I return after this short break, we'll explore
the origin of evil.
♪
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Or go to...
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help you understand this vital truth--
straight from the pages of the Bible.
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Six inspiring issues discussing news, science,
and modern culture will help you make sense of
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♪
Welcome back.
The question of evil is much debated among philosophers,
and it's no small question for the common man.
Not whether evil exists, but its source.
What was the cause of the holocaust in Europe
during World War II?
And what about the war itself that killed an estimated
70 to 85 million?
Why the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides?
Why are children exploited, raped, brutally beaten,
and murdered?
In Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779),
the Scottish philosopher David Hume asked these
probing questions but drew a flawed answer:
"Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able?
then is he impotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
then is he malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
whence then is evil?"
Since well before Hume's time, the problem has been
the basis of a positive argument for atheism:
If God exists, the he is omnipotent [all powerful]
and perfectly good; a perfectly good being would eliminate
evil as far as it could; there is no limit to what
an omnipotent being can do; therefore, if God exists,
there would be no evil in the world; there is evil
in the world; therefore, God does not exist.
In this argument and in the problem of evil itself, evil
is understood to encompass both moral evil (caused by
free human actions) and natural evil (caused by natural
phenomena such as disease, earthquakes, and floods)."
That evil exists in our world, is indisputable,
unless you believe there is no god.
And is that not the irony in atheist's conclusions?
If there is no God, evil could be no more than personal
opinion--there could be no universal consensus.
Rapists and murderers would have a very different view of evil.
And when whole nations commit genocide, who is to say that
that is evil?
You and I would, but that is merely our opinion if there is
no God, no higher power to determine good and evil.
However, in the minds of most of us, God does exist and He
determines good and evil.
Therefore, the questions: What is the source of evil?
Are some people born more evil than others?
Are they only the product of their upbringing?
Is it a combination of genetics and upbringing?
And, can evil people be redeemed?
The existence of a very real spirit being,
called variously as Lucifer, Satan, or the Devil is verified
in the pages of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Our first introduction to him is in the very beginning
of the Scriptures-- the book of Genesis.
After God created mankind, He instructed our first parents
to leave one tree alone in the garden.
Only one was off limits, and that is where an evil being,
disguised as a serpent, challenged God's authority.
Genesis 3:1...
"And he [that is, the serpent] said to the woman,
"Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of
every tree of the garden'?"
Now Eve knew what God had commanded and she replied...
"We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of
the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat it,
nor shall you touch it, lest you die."
Then came the lie...
"Then the serpent said to the woman,
"You will not surely die.
For God knows that in the day you eat of it your
eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil."
His sales pitch was that God had lied to them.
They did not need Him telling them what was
right and wrong.
They could determine that for themselves.
And Eve bought the lie...
"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable
to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."
Four millennia later, Jesus was challenged by
carnally minded Jews about what they wrongly understood
about His birth--questioning who was His Father.
In response, He rebuked them.
John 8:44...
"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of
your father you want to do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand
in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources,
for he is a liar and the father of it."
So, we see that the Devil is the father of lies,
but where did he come from?
How did he come to be?
Did God create an evil being?
Or is there more to the story?
We'll look at the origin of this evil being in
the next portion of this program, but I
want to give you another opportunity to order our
free resource--Satan's Counterfeit Christianity.
We read in Revelation 12:9, something that should cause us
to sit up and take notice...
"So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old,
called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world;
he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him."
Now consider that the largest religion on earth,
some 2.6 billion strong, is called Christianity.
But of course, Christianity as we know it is divided,
confused, and a mixture of Biblical, pagan practices,
and human philosophies.
Is it just possible that most of what we call Christian
is not Christian at all?
Satan's Counterfeit Christianity answers this
vitally important question.
You need to know the answer, so order your free copy today
by calling our toll-free number or going to TWTV.org/False.
And when I come back after this short break, I'll reveal
from the Bible who this evil being we call the devil is,
and where he came from.
♪
This clear and straight-forward resource
will help you understand this vital truth--
straight from the pages of the Bible.
Call now!
Or go to...
♪
Today I am asking and answering the question,
"Is There a Real Devil?"
So far, according to the Bible, we've seen that
there is a real evil spirit being.
But who is he?
Where did he come from?
We're not left in the dark for the answers as the
Bible reveals the plain truth of the matter.
However, we must go back to the beginning, and that
is not found in Genesis, but in the gospel of John.
There we find two Beings who are described as God.
John 1:1-2...
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God."
So there was God, who later became known as the Father;
and there was the Word or Spokesman, who later became
known as the Son--Jesus Christ.
And that's evident from verse 14 where it tells us...
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we
beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Now verse 3 reveals something that many church-goers fail to
understand, though it's laid out in the simplest of terms...
"All things were made through Him [that is, the Word--Christ],
and without Him nothing was made that was made."
There are several scriptures that confirm that the God
of the Old Testament was none other than the one who
emptied Himself of His Divine privileges to become a human
being, born of a woman.
Now lest there be any doubt about this, Paul also explained
in 1 Corinthians 10, beginning in verse 1...
"Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that
all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through
the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the
sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same
spiritual drink.
For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and
that Rock was Christ."
Now notice what Paul explains is meant by all things.
Colossians 1:15...
"He [that is, Christ] is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven
and that are on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him."
Revelation 1:20 shows us that stars are sometimes used
in scripture to symbolize angels and we read of a
time in Job 38:7...
"When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons
of God shouted for joy?"
What was it that these angels of God were so happy about?
The context of this passage in Job is the creation
of the earth.
We must therefore conclude that the angels were created
prior to the creation of the heavens and Earth.
So, the Bible introduces us to two spirit beings
known as God and the Word, and both are God.
We next see that God created the angelic realm,
and sometime later, the universe.
However, in all the universe, our planet is of special
importance to God and to the angels He created.
Why was that so?
Why did the angels shout for joy when Earth was created?
As we shall see elsewhere, it was to be their home.
Ezekiel 28 fills in a portion of the story.
The chapter begins with a rebuke by God for the
"prince of Tyre."
Tyre was a prominent city along the coast of what
is today known as Lebanon.
The prince of Tyre was the human leader of the city,
but later in the chapter we read about the "king of Tyre."
We'll learn who this "king of Tyre" is, in the last portion
of this program, but do you realize that what we think
of as Christianity today is a far cry from the religion of
Jesus, His apostles, and His first century disciples?
That folks is not speculation, it is not opinion, it is
pure fact for any willing to look into it.
And that is why this subject, asking the question:
"Is there a real devil?" is so important.
And that is why I'm giving you another opportunity to request
your free copy of--Satan's Counterfeit Christianity.
The Proverbs tell us in the eighth chapter,
beginning in verse 10...
"Receive my instruction, and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choice gold;
For wisdom is better than rubies,
And all the things one may desire cannot be
compared with her."
If you are one who wants instruction, knowledge,
and wisdom, order your free copy of Satan's
Counterfeit Christianity.
And when I come back I'll show you the origin of
Satan the devil.
♪
For today's free offer call...
Or go to...
This clear and straight- forward resource will
help you understand this vital truth--
straight from the pages of the Bible.
If you're calling for the first time,
you will also receive a free annual subscription to
Tomorrow's World magazine.
Six inspiring issues discussing news, science,
and modern culture will help you make sense of
your world from a biblical perspective.
Call today and join millions around the world
who are turning to Tomorrow's World for
truth, prophecy, and hope in these confusing times.
Call now!
Or go to...
♪
We left off in the last section of this program
with a prophecy in Ezekiel of the prince of Tyre,
and the King of Tyre.
The prince of Tyre is clearly the human leader
of the City, but what about its king?
The Bible leaves us without any doubt.
This king is not human-- he was not born, but created.
He was also in the Garden of Eden which ceased to
exist millennia ago.
Notice carefully the description of this king,
in Ezekiel 28:11-13...
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
"Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king
of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering...
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes [in other words,
he possessed great musical talent] Was prepared for you
on the day you were created.'"
He is further referred to as a powerful angel, a cherub.
Even a casual reading of this passage indicates that he was
not any ordinary human being, but the spirit power influencing
the human leader.
Let's continue in Ezekiel 28, beginning in verse 14...
"You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you; You were on the holy
mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned; Therefore I cast you
as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground..."
Scripture often blends ideas and quickly changes as it does
here by reverting back to the human leader of Tyre.
We learn more about this powerful being--even his name
and further motivations for rebelling against his Creator--
in the book of Isaiah.
Note that this spirit being was not satisfied
with ruling only on Earth.
He wanted to knock God off His throne and take over
rulership of the universe.
He was the first narcissist.
Count the "I's," and notice also that he has a throne
and it is on the earth.
Isaiah 14:12-14...
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart:
"I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above
the stars [or angels] of God; I will also sit on the mount
of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High."
As with Ezekiel, the dialog once again fades
back to apply to the human leader who is influenced
by this fallen cherub.
Why is it that artists portray cherubs as chubby little
babies shooting love arrows?
What better way to deceive people than to convince them
that there is no real devil and that if there is,
he's harmless as a babe?
Yes, dear friends, there is a real devil, and he is far
more powerful and crafty than most people begin to imagine.
He is the great deceiver, and one thing he has deceived
mankind about is what it means to be a follower of Christ.
That is why we are offering an insightful
resource--Satan's Counterfeit Christianity.
It can be yours absolutely free of charge--you have
nothing to lose.
So take me up on this challenge.
Order it now.
And be sure to come back next week when Wallace Smith,
Rod McNair, and I bring you the good news of
the coming Kingdom of God, Bible prophecies for our day,
and the way of life taught by Jesus Christ and His apostles.
See you next week.
♪
For today's free offer call...
Or go to...
Call today and join millions around the world who are
turning to Tomorrow's World for truth, prophecy, and hope
in these confusing times.
The preceding program is produced by the
Living Church of God.
♪