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Lord, and from the rest of the Spirit, God, we love you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. All right, well we're there in Ezekiel chapter number 28, and we've been working our way through the Book of Ezekiel on Wednesday nights, just going verse, or chapter by chapter, excuse me, every week, and just going through, studying in the chapters, learning from it. And Ezekiel 28's an interesting chapter, a lot of interesting chapters in the Book of Ezekiel, but Ezekiel 28's a very interesting chapter. And we're just going to go through and show you what this chapter is about, and I'll give you some things to write down, but just kind of by way of introduction, this chapter is divided into two sections, there's two parts. The first part is addressing the prince of Tyre, and then the second part is addressing the king of Tyre. Now the prince, the word prince throughout the Bible in the Book of Ezekiel, is not in reference, sometimes when we think of a prince we think of like the son of a king, but the word prince is often used just for any sort of leader, it's the same word that we use principalities and powers, it's referring to a leader, and it's actually referring to the same person. The reason that there's a distinction there is because one is referring to the prince, the actual human leader, and then the other is referring to Satan, and how Satan is using him. So this chapter actually deals with using the same leader of Tyre, and if you remember for the last few chapters we've been learning about the destruction of Tyre, and in this chapter what Ezekiel is doing is he's talking about the leader of Tyre, but he's using him as a representation, and when he refers to him as the prince of Tyre, he's talking about the physical leader of Tyre, but he's picturing for us the coming Antichrist. Then later in the chapter when he begins to refer to him as the king of Tyre, he's still talking about the physical leader of Tyre, but he begins to use him as a representation of Satan, so you'll see that there's two parts to this chapter. Let's begin with the prince of Tyre as a picture of the Antichrist, you're there in Ezekiel 28, look at verse number 1, the Bible says this, The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto, and I want you to notice again, the prince of Tyre, so he's referring to him as a prince, he says, Thus saith the Lord God, because thine heart is lifted up, and we'll come back to that phrase later in the sermon, and thou hast said, I am God. So I want you to notice that the prince of Tyre, who's the physical king of Tyre, his heart was lifted up, and this is what he said, he said, I am God, and then he said this, he said, I sit in the seat of God. So he said, I am God, and I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas. Now if you remember in Ezekiel chapter 27, we went through and looked and saw how Tyre pictured end times Babylon, so it makes sense that we just got done with Ezekiel using Tyre as a picture of end times Babylon, and then in chapter 28, we're talking about the leader of Tyre as a picture of the antichrist. It makes sense that that's what he would do, but he talks about this prince of Tyre, and he says that it's in the midst of the seas. Now the reason he says that is because, of course, Tyre is an island surrounded by the oceans, by the seas. But what's interesting is that, and I won't develop this because we don't have time for it, but when you study Babylon, end times Babylon, it's often referred to as a city or a nation that is in the midst of the seas. That's one of the reasons why we believe the United States of America, many reasons why we believe the United States of America is end times Babylon, but one reason is because the United States of America is surrounded by different oceans, and it's in the midst of the seas. But he says, in the midst of the seas, yet thou art a man and not God. Though thou set thine heart as the heart of God. Now I want you to keep your place here in Ezekiel 28, that's our text for tonight, but go with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2, and in the New Testament, if you can find the T-books, they're all clustered together, you've got 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and I want you to notice verse number 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 is a passage about the end times, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and look at verse number 1. 2 Thessalonians 2, 1 says this, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, so of course we're referring to end times, and by our gathering together unto him. And again, I'm not preaching on this, but here's a great verse that you can show someone who believes in the pre-tribulation rapture. Today, those who believe in the pre-tribulation rapture will say, well, the rapture of believers and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ are two different events, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, or you're not sure what the Bible teaches about end times, we have a great documentary we can give you called Apto-Tribulation, where we go through and explain all that. But here in this verse, he says, By the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. Why does he say it that way? Because according to the Bible, the gathering together unto him, the rapture, is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the same event. Look at verse 2. That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Here's another belief from the pre-tribulation rapture. They'll say, well, the rapture is imminent. It could happen at any moment. It could happen before we're done tonight. But here, Paul is saying, look, I'm coming to you in regards to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. And he says, look, don't let anyone, don't be soon shaken in mind, or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ, and again, I don't have time to develop this. I'm not preaching on this tonight. But if you study that phrase, the day of Christ, and it's connected to the rapture. It's very clear in scripture. If you look it up throughout the Bible, the day of Christ is the rapture. He says, don't let anybody make you believe, or let you believe, that the day of Christ is at hand. At hand meaning, it's the next thing that's going to happen. It's the next event. It's the next thing on God's prophetic to-do list. He says, don't let people tell you that it's just, it could happen at any moment, it's the next thing that's going to happen. You say, well, why? Look at verse 3. He says, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day, what day? The day of Christ, the coming of the Lord, of us being gathered together unto him. He says, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come. You say, oh, well, it could happen at any moment. It could happen today. You know, before the service is over, we could get rapture. He says, look, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come. Notice, except there come a falling away first. So he says, look, it's not going to happen until there first comes a falling away. And the word falling away there is talking about a great apostasy. In fact, the underlying Greek word, and we don't go back to the Greek around here, the King James Bible is perfect, but it's just interesting to note that the underlying Greek word for falling away there is apostasia. It's referring to the fact that there's going to come a great apostasy, there's going to come a great time where people will not endure sound doctrine, where people will turn away their ears from the truth, where they're not going to want to hear true biblical preaching. He says, look, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first. Notice, and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. Who is that? That's the antichrist. And he says, look, that day is not going to come until there first comes a falling away. And you say, well, how will I really know that? I mean, there's always been a false doctrine, there's always been corruption of God's word. But then he says this, also, that man of sin is going to be revealed the son of perdition. He said the rapture's not going to happen, the gathering together unto him is not going to happen, the day of the Lord is not going to happen until that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. I mean, look, we've just been going through this verse, I'm trying to get to verse number four, I just want to give you the context. And we're just going through this verse line upon line, it's pretty clear that the rapture is not just going to happen at any moment. Okay? There's some things that's not at hand, there's certain things that need to happen, what are they? There needs to be a falling away, and that man of sin needs to be revealed the son of perdition. Notice verse four. So he says, look, the man of sin is going to be revealed, verse four, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God. So what is that man of sin going to do? He's going to exalt himself above all that is called God. Keep your finger right there, go back to Ezekiel 28, look at verse two. We just read in 2 Thessalonians 2, 4, about the antichrist who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God. What does Ezekiel say about the prince of Tyrus? He says, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God, because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am God. So notice, the prince of Tyrus is picturing the antichrist because the prince of Tyrus says, I am God. The antichrist exalted himself above all that is called God. You say, well, how do you know that's exactly about the antichrist? I mean, there's lots of people who have said that they are God. But notice the next phrase in verse two. He says, I sit, the antichrist, the prince of Tyrus who's representing the antichrist, he says, I sit in the seat of God. Well, how does he do that? Go back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, look at verse 4. Who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, notice, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. So what is the antichrist going to, how are you going to know that it is the antichrist? Here's how you're going to know. He's going to rebuild the temple, and then he's going to sit in the seat of God. He's going to sit in the holy of holies, in the mercy seat where God would meet with his people. The antichrist is going to sit himself there. He as God, sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. And then the prince of Tyrus, we're told that he said, I am God, I sit in the seat of God. So we see that the prince of Tyre is a picture or a representation of the antichrist. And it makes sense because Tyre, we just spent a whole sermon last week talking about how Tyre is a picture of Babylon. Go back to Ezekiel 28 and look at verse number 3. And I don't have time to go back and redo the Babylon sermon from Tyre, but it's interesting because just this week I was reading in Isaiah about the destruction, this isn't my personal reading, about the destruction of Tyre. And it goes on and on about how there are merchants and the merchants of the world. It's called the Mart of Nations. That's what Isaiah calls it. Like we have a Wal-Mart or we just have a K-Mart. Well, they had Tyre-Mart. It was the Mart of Nations. And then it says this, that she committed fornication with the kings of the earth. That's what Isaiah chapter 23 says about Tyre. Well, that's what Revelation says about Babylon, that she committed fornication. There's even more evidence how Tyre is a picture of Babylon. But go back to Ezekiel 28 and look at verse 3. He says, Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel. And look, you've got to be real impressed with this Daniel. You know what I mean? I mean, we're not talking about a biblical character who lived and died hundreds of years before Ezekiel. Daniel is alive at the time of Ezekiel. Daniel is his contemporary. He's alive right then and there. But he's already distinguished himself. And of course, if you know the stories of Daniel, you know that he's an amazing character. But he's already distinguished himself to such a way that he's even being referenced. We saw earlier he was referenced in the book of Ezekiel in earlier chapters. And here he is saying, he's complimenting the Antichrist or the prince of Tyre by saying, Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel. And then notice this, there is no secret that they can hide from thee. Now again, if the prince of Tyre is referring to or representing or picturing the Antichrist, and we're seeing the exaltation here of the Antichrist, how he sits in the seat of God. He declares himself God. Well, if you study the book of Revelation, you know that the Antichrist has basically two agendas or two steps to where he takes over the world. The first is that he brings in a one-world government. As a political leader, he's not a religious leader at all. He's just a political leader, comes on the scene. He goes out to war and make war. He conquers the world. He unites the world through leagues, through treaties. And he brings about a one-world government. Once he's accomplished that, and I don't have time to, I've preached sermons on this before. You can study it out later. Once he accomplishes that, the Bible tells us he receives a wound, a deadly wound. And, of course, he's the Antichrist, meaning that he's trying to take the place of Christ. He's a false Christ. So, of course, he dies and then resurrects three days later, just imitating Christ. And then the false prophet shows up. And the false prophet is the one who begins to tell people, hey, this is not just a political leader. This is not just a man. This is God. That's when they build a temple. That's when he sits in the temple of God. And he sitteth in the seat of God. And he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. That's when they build the abomination of desolation. That's when they begin to worship the abomination of desolation. That's when the Great Tribulation begins. That's when the worldwide persecution of believers begins, because you have to take the mark to be able to eat, to be able to buy, to be able to sell, and all of those things. But connected with all that, we understand that as the world becomes more united, because even today we can see the steps that are taking us closer to a united world, the United Nations, right? As we get closer to the one-world government, because that's what Babylon, if you remember, Babylon is named from the Tower of Babel, which was attempting to unite the entire world under a one-government structure. They had their tower, and it was going to be the government of the world. And then what were they trying to do with their tower? They were trying to get up to heaven. It was a one-world religion. This is why it's all connected. We know, now you and I living in this world today, that what's being used to be able to bring the world, the way that they're going to be able to put out the mark of the beast and put people to death who are not taking the mark of the beast, they're going to be able to do it with surveillance, right? And that's what we're living in. That's what we're seeing. We're starting to live in a high surveillance type culture where everything we do is videotaped everywhere we go. Once you have a chip on your finger, they're going to know everything about you. And we're living with Big Brother, right? That's how the one-world government's going to go. Well, it's interesting because he says about the prince of Tyrus who represents the Antichrist in verse 3, he says, Behold thou art wiser than Daniel. There is no secret they can hide from thee. And that might be a reference to the Big Brother state of the end times where it's just you're not going to be able to hide anything from the government. They're going to know everything about you. They're going to know everything everywhere you go and everything. And we already see them trying to push towards that and pull towards that today. So we saw the rise of the Antichrist or the exaltation, how he exalts himself above all that is called God. But let's look real quickly at the decline of the Antichrist. Notice verse 4. He says this, With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten the riches and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures. By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic thou hast increased thy riches and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God. So he's setting himself as the heart of God. He thinks he's God. Notice verse 7. Behold therefore I will bring strangers upon thee the terrible of the nations and they shall draw their sword against the beauty of thy wisdom and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit. Now what's the pit? It's hell. And if you study that phrase out, the pit, you'll find throughout scripture that it is referring to hell. And he says they shall bring thee down to the pit and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. And I love the sarcasm you get from God. Every once in a while when you're reading the Bible, you get to see God's kind of sense of humor and a little of his sarcasm. Because in verse 9 he says this, Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? But thou shalt be a man and no God in the hand of him that slayeth thee. And he's saying, look, when someone, and he's talking to the prince of Tyre physically, literally the prince of Tyre and the antichrist, but he's saying when the enemy shows up and you're sitting there on the floor begging for your life and they're holding up a sword ready to kill you, are you going to say to them, oh, you can't kill me, I'm God? He said, look, the fact that you can die proves you're not God. The fact that you can be overtaken proves that you're not God. The fact that an enemy can take you and kill you and destroy you, he says, Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? And look, don't realize, and you have to realize this about the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, no man taketh my life. He said, I lay down my life. He gave himself for a second. And you say, oh, the Romans, you know what, nobody could have taken Jesus unless he allowed them to. Because he gave himself willingly. But the antichrist, he says, look, are you going to tell the people that are coming after you, coming against you, are you going to say, will thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? That thou shalt be a man and no God in the hand of him that slayeth thee. Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. So look, this is literally talking about the Prince of Tyre. But he's also picturing for us the antichrist. There's coming a leader who's going to say that he is God. He's going to sit in the seat of God. But his end will be in the pit. His end will be in hell. Let's just run some verses real quickly to show you that. Keep your place there in Ezekiel 28. Go to Revelation chapter 19. Last book in the Bible should be fairly easy to find. Revelation 19. We're going to go back and forth a lot between Revelation and Ezekiel. So make sure you just get to Revelation quickly. But go to Revelation 19 and verse 20. Revelation 19 and verse 20. Remember in Ezekiel 28, 8, it's said about the Prince of Tyre who pictures the antichrist. They shall bring thee down to the pit. And if you study out that phrase, the pit, throughout scripture, it's in reference to hell. Well, in Revelation 19 and verse 20, the Bible says this. And the beast, referring to the antichrist, was taken. And with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. That's what we've been talking about. The abomination of desolation, the false prophet getting people to worship that image. Notice what the Bible says. This is after Jesus. We didn't read the verses, but this is Jesus. He comes on the white horse, king of kings and lord of lords. His name is the word of God. He comes down and he takes the beast and the false prophet. Notice, these both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. What's the lake of fire? It's hell. So in Ezekiel we're told that the antichrist ends up in the pit, which is hell. And in Revelation 19 we're told that the antichrist ends up in the lake of fire, which is hell. Now I'm just going to go ahead and answer this. Some of you don't know about this. Excuse me, or care. I'm going to get some email and somebody's going to send me, Don't you understand? You didn't go to Bible college, so you must not understand that theologically speaking, in Revelation 19 we're not talking about the hell in the center of the earth anymore. We're talking about the lake of fire, which is the uttermost parts of the earth, out in space somewhere. Look, we understand that, but you need to understand this, that Jesus refers to both as hell. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. So we understand that. I don't have time. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's fine. Don't worry about it. I'll preach about it another time. But we understand that there's a place in the center of the earth called hell right now. That's not where hell will always be. One day God will take death and hell and cast it into the lake of fire. The point is this. The prince of Tyre, who represents the antichrist, and the antichrist are both going to end up in the same place. It's a place of fire and torment and brimstone. It's called the pit. It's called the lake of fire. It's called hell. That's where he's going to end up. The decline of the antichrist is hell. Now keep your place there in Revelation. We're going to come back to it. Ezekiel 28. And I just want to minimize the amount of emails we get. We're talking about the prince of Tyre as a picture of the antichrist. And we saw the exaltation of the antichrist and the decline of the antichrist. He exalts himself. He calls himself God. He sits in the seat of God. We saw in Thessalonians how that's a reference to sitting in the temple in the seat of God. But then in verses 11 and 12 we have a shift. Notice what it says. Ezekiel 28, verse 11. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me saying. So we have a new kind of introduction to an additional part, a second part to this chapter. He says this. Said a man, take up a lamentation upon, notice, the king of Tyre. Now earlier it was the prince of Tyre. Now it's the king of Tyre. We're still talking about the same man, but the reason that he changes the title is because now Ezekiel's going to use this man as a representation of Satan. You say, well, how do you know it's Satan? Notice what he says, verse 12. Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyres and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God, thou sealest up the sub full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Verse 13, thou has been in Eden the garden of God. So he's talking to the king of Tyre, but he's not really talking to the king of Tyre. He's talking to the guy that controls the king of Tyre, which is Satan. And he says, hey, king of Tyres, thou has been in Eden the garden of God. Now look, let's just go to it just real quickly. Go to Genesis chapter 3 just because I want you to see something there. But you know the story. There's only three people in the garden of Eden and God, of course. And I believe the Lord Jesus Christ walked through the garden in fellowship with Adam. Other than God, we have Adam, Eve, and then we've got the serpent. Genesis chapter 3, look at verse 1. Genesis chapter 3, verse 1. I just want you to see this. Now the serpent. I just want you to see that word serpent because it's going to come up later about Satan. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And here's what's interesting. What does he go on to tell her? He goes on to tell her, hey, you can be like God. That's what he told the antichrist. You can be like God. That's what he told the Mormons. You can be like God. That's what he told all the evolutionists. You can evolve and you can be like God. You can be like some sort of a superhero. You're going to evolve and you're going to be able to fly and you're going to be like God. This is the lie. This is the doctrine. This is the religion of the devil. He says, now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field. Now go to Revelation chapter 12. Remember, we saw the serpent because people have said, well, how do we know the serpent was the devil? How do we know that the serpent was Satan? I mean, Genesis 3 never tells us that. Maybe we just think that and we made it into some sort of a story where serpents are bad or whatever. But in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 9, the Bible says this, and the great dragon was cast out. Now notice that old serpent. Why is he called old? Because he's been around since the Garden of Eden. He says, and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan. He's given us all his wicked names, all his evil names. He wants us to know who we're talking about. The dragon, the serpent, the devil, Satan, which deceived the whole world. He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Remember that it says the angels were cast out with him. So he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Go back to Ezekiel chapter 28. So I want you to notice that we are referring now, we've always been referring to the prince, the leader, the physical human leader of Tyrus. In the beginning of the chapter, he was a representation or a picture of the antichrist. Now he's a representation or a picture of Satan, of the dragon, of the serpent, the devil, the Satan. Look at verse 13. Thou was bidden in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy coveris, the sardus, topaz, the diamond, the barrel, the onyx, jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the carbuncle, and gold. Notice what it says. The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes. This is referring to instruments, to parts that would be in an instrument like a pipe organ. It says the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared, notice these words, in thee, in the day that thou was created. Now later on in this chapter, we're going to be told, if you look down at verse number 14 actually, look at verse 14, it says, Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth. And we're told that Satan is an angelic type being, but we're specifically told in Ezekiel 28 that he is a cherub. Now, if you've been with us through the Ezekiel series, you'll remember that in Ezekiel chapter 1 and in Ezekiel chapter 10, we spent a lot of time talking about the cherubs, because they're described in a lot of detail in the book of Ezekiel. Here we're told that Satan himself was one of those cherubs, and I want you to notice that the Bible seems to indicate or hint towards this, and I don't understand it, and I'm not going to pretend I understand it, it's just kind of my thoughts as I read it. It seems to indicate that these cherubs, they're called beasts throughout the Bible, which means animal. They're an animal, but they seem to have some sort of like, they seem to be like a hybrid. They've got these mechanical parts to their bodies, because Satan had the tablets and the pipes that were prepared in the day that thou was created. His body was created as a musical instrument. His body actually produced music, and it had tablets and it had pipes in it. Now, this is not just in reference to Satan as a cherub. The Bible tells us all of these cherubs seem to have these mechanical functions that are connected to their bodies. Go to Ezekiel chapter 10. Let's look at it quickly, because if you've been with us, Ezekiel, you've heard me talk about this before, but let's look at it. Ezekiel chapter 10. Ezekiel chapter 10, look at verse 9. Ezekiel 10, 9 says this, and when I look, behold, there's what it says, the four wheels by the cherubim. One wheel by one cherub, another wheel by another cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was as the color of barrel stone. Verse 10, and as for the appearance, they four had one likeness as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides. They turned not as they went, but to the place where the head looked, they followed it. They turned not as they went. Verse 12, and their whole body and their backs and their hands and their wings and the wheels were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had. So here we've got cherubims. They've got these wheels, okay? So Satan was a cherub, and he had tablets, and he had pipes that were prepared in him. These cherubims, they've got wheels. You say, well, what's that about? Well, go to Psalm 68. Psalm 68, and look at verse number 17. If you open up your Bible, just right in the center, Psalm 68. And while you go there, let me just, let me, let me just, because people say, man, wheels, you know, what are you talking about? But these things, they're not too foreign to even our world. And this may be speaking to, and I talked about this back when I preached in Ezekiel 10, but there may be something similar in biology that would be like these wheels or what it's talking about, and it's called a flagellum. And let me just read to you, let me read this for you real quickly. It says a flagellum is a whip-like structure in cells. We're talking about cellular biology, but it says that they've got this whip-like structure in cells that allows a cell to move. The flagella are able to propel itself by spinning their tail-like part in an either clockwise or counterclockwise direction. This action propels them and allows them to move. And when you see it, they look like wheels. And I'm not saying that this is what the cherubims are, I'm just saying that we do have something in nature right now, in our world, that we could look how it's organic in the sense that it's a creature, it's something, it's a cell, it's something God created. But it's got these mechanical-type things where it's got like a wheel that allows it to propel. Maybe that's something similar to what we're seeing here in Ezekiel 10. I don't know, I don't know, here's the thing, I don't know, you don't know, all right? So we'll have to find out when we get to heaven. But I want you to notice in Psalm 68 and verse 17, and again, I brought this up before when we were in Ezekiel 10, but let me just show it to you again. Psalm 68, 17 says this, Here we're told that the chariots of God are 20,000, even thousands of angels. And there's this connection that's being made between the chariots of God and the angels of God. Well, if we know that cherubims have wheels, there's other references, and I don't have it in my notes, so you'll have to look it up later. There's other references where we actually see the Lord riding on a cherub. So, you know, and this is totally my opinion, just based off of what we have in Scripture and what we can put together. If you don't agree with me, that's fine. You can go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 11, though, I tell you. But my thoughts are this, that these cherubs, or these cherubims, they are angelic-type beings, but they're built with certain purposes, and they're like these hybrids where God has chariots, but instead of having chariots, he just has cherubims with wheels on them. Or God wants music, so instead of having a pipe organ and a trumpet, he has a cherub with pipes and tablets in his body that creates music. And these animals, these beasts, these angelic beings are there to serve God and to minister to him in heaven. So if I take a guess as to what we're talking about, what we're talking about, because it says they have wheels, then God calls them chariots. It says that Satan had pipes and tablets in his body. I would say that these beings are being built for some sort of purpose, and they've got these kind of hybrid-type things going on. All right, so that's our sci-fi for tonight. Go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 11, look at verse 14. I just wanted to show you, though, that Satan is an angelic being. 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 14, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians. 2nd Corinthians chapter 11, verse 14 says this, and no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. So again, just a reference to the fact that Satan is an angelic being, and there's different types of angels. They're not all cherubims, they're not all seraphims. Some people would not even classify a cherubim or seraphim as an angel, and whatever. I understand that we look through a glass darkly when it comes to the spirit world and how that works. But those are my thoughts for whatever it's worth. Go back to Ezekiel 28, let me show you something else about Satan that's kind of interesting in this chapter. Ezekiel 28 and verse 14. I want you to notice what it says about him. Ezekiel chapter 28 and verse 14, it says, Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth. I want you to notice that he's called the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have set thee so that was upon the holy mountain of God. The holy mountain of God is always a reference to the temple of God or to where God lives, where God dwells. Thou was walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude that I merchandise, they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned. Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will destroy thee. I just want you to notice this phrase. We're going to come back to some of those phrases here a little bit. I want you to notice this. O covering cherub from the midst of the stones of fire. So here we're told, not only was he a cherub, but he was the anointed cherub that covereth. In verse 16, we're told that he is the covering cherub. Now, keep your place there in Ezekiel 28, go over to the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter 25, we have Genesis and Exodus, second book in the Bible, should be easy to find. And let me just make this point. We know that Satan was some sort of a high-ranking angelic being, where he had a very high position, and he had a lot of leadership and influence among the other angelic beings. And here we're told that he wasn't just a cherub, right? Because he wasn't just a chariot cherub. I mean, there's lots of those chariot cherubs. He's like a trumpet cherub. He's like a pipe organ cherub. And this is why people assume that he was probably in charge of the music and the praising of the Lord in heaven. And here we're told that he's the anointed cherub that covereth. We're told he is the covering cherub. Now, here's what's interesting. In Exodus 25, and there's other places, but we'll just look at Exodus 25, we're told about the construction of the tabernacle. And of course, when you have the construction of the tabernacle, which later on is the temple, basically is built in the same fashion, you've got the holy area, the outer court. Then you've got the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest was allowed to walk in once a year to be able to do, on the Day of Atonement, to be able to do the sacrifice. In the Holy of Holies, you have the Ark of the Covenant, all right? All you know about the Ark of the Covenant is Indiana Jones, but it's actually in the Bible. And you've got the Ark of the Covenant. It basically is a box, and it had several things in there that were sacred to God's people. And on the Ark of the Covenant, you had the mercy seat. And this is where God would meet with his people. The Ark of the Covenant represented the presence of God, and God, they would walk into the Holy of Holies once a year to do the sacrifice, and they would sprinkle the blood seven times on the mercy seat, which represented the presence of God. This is where God met with his people. This, of course, what we just talked about, is going to be in the temple, there's going to be the outer court, there's going to be the Holy of Holies, there's going to be the mercy seat, where the Antichrist is going to sit in the seat of God, showing himself that he is God, all right? Now, here's what I want you to notice. Exodus 25, verse 16, we get a description of this Ark of the Covenant and this mercy seat. Notice what it says. Let me say this before we go forward. Later, throughout Scripture, we're told that when Moses got a vision of this area, of the tabernacle and all the things, the furniture, when he got this vision, God actually showed him a vision of how it was in heaven, because all of this is up in heaven. Jesus, when he died, remember when he resurrected, they tried to touch him, he said, Don't touch me, I'm not yet ascended to my Father. Jesus literally went up to the Holy of Holies in heaven, to the throne of God, the mercy seat, and took his blood and sprinkled it seven times, and we'll study that and learn that one day when we preach to the book of Hebrews. But everything that Moses built on earth was a figure of what is actually in heaven, all right? I want you to understand that. Look at verse 16, Exodus 25, 16. And thou shalt put into the ark of the testimony which I shall give thee. And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubim, notice, of gold, of beaten work, shalt thou make them in the two ends of the mercy seat. So he tells them, I want you to make these little cherubims to actually, as decorations, and I want you to put them on two ends of the mercy seat, verse 19, and make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end, even of the mercy seat, shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. So he said, I want the mercy seat, and I want two cherubs on either side, on the two ends of the mercy seat, notice verse 20, and the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, notice this word, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another, toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. Go to Revelation chapter 4. Here's what I want you to notice. Satan was called the anointed cherub that cover it, or the covering cherub. Moses was told, he was told, I want you to make this to look just like it is in heaven, so you need to have the Ark of the Covenant, you need to have the mercy seat where God is going to meet with his people, but I want you to put two cherubs there that have their wings covering the seat, and I wonder if in heaven you've got cherubims that have their wings over the seat, the throne of God, covering the seat of God, because this is what Moses was trying to copy in heaven, and then you've got Satan, we're told he's a cherub, and we're told he's the anointed cherub that cover it, and it may have been that Satan, because we know he's a high-ranking individual in heaven, he may have been one of these cherubs that covered the mercy seat or the throne room of God, which would make sense why we would have music playing, you know, or have music in his body, so anyway, a lot of information there and a lot of things for you to wrap your head around, but look at Revelation 4, I want you to notice that the Bible does tell us that these types of beasts are around the throne of God, now in Revelation 4 we're not talking about cherubims, we're talking about seraphims, they're different creatures, and they're described in Isaiah, and we don't have time to talk about them, they're very similar, but they're different, but I want you to notice what it says in Revelation 4 in verse 6, it says, and before the throne, talking about the throne of God, there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne were four beasts, full of eyes before and behind, remember we saw that in Ezekiel 10, the first beast was like a lion, the second beast like a calf, the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle, and the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. So here John gets a vision of the throne of God, and he tells us that there are four seraphim that are surrounding the throne of God, and their whole job is to say holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come, and I would guess that there's probably cherubims above those, in fact that's what Ezekiel 1 tells us, that there's cherubims above the throne of God, but that there's cherubims that are covering the throne of God, I would guess that those cherubims that get to cover the throne of God are pretty high ranking influential type cherubim, and I would submit to you that Satan was probably one of them, before he fell, before he sinned, before he became Satan. Look at Revelation chapter 12, you say well how do you know that he was a high ranking, how do you know he was a high ranking influential type being? Well do you remember when we read in Revelation chapter 10, in fact let's just go back there real quickly, actually you know what, go to Revelation 12, and then we'll go to Revelation 10 in a minute, let me look at my notes here and make sure that it is Revelation 10, I'm sorry it's not 10, but look at Revelation 12 real quickly, and look at verse 3, and there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon. Now we already saw who the dragon was right, the great dragon, the old serpent called the devil and Satan, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head, and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born. So I want you to notice that we're told that the dragon, we've already been told he's the devil, Satan, he goes to war with God, and we're going to see here in Isaiah what he's trying to do, but he goes to war with God, and his tail drew the third part of the stars, well what does that mean, well look at verse 9, this is the verse we just saw, and the dragon was cast out, the old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceived the whole world, he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him, so he drew the third part of the stars of heaven, throughout the Bible the stars are represented, they represent messengers, and specifically angels, the dragon, he goes to war with God, his tail draws the third part of the stars, later we're told he drew the angels, he drew a third part of the angels with him, and these angels become what you and I now know as demons or devils, they're fallen angels, and here's what I'm trying to make, he obviously had influence if he was able to persuade a third of the heavenly host to be able to come with him or join him or to be part of his group or his crusade, go back to, we've been talking a lot about just different things, there's a lot in this chapter, but go back to Ezekiel 28, and I don't have time to develop this, I'm just going to throw this out there and you can study this out on your own, but when the Bible talks about these devils or these demons, the Bible often refers to them as reprobates, and obviously they're not reprobates in the same sense that you and I are reprobates, that human beings can be reprobates, but they're often even used as examples of human being reprobates, meaning that they've been rejected, that there's no way that they could get repentance, there's no way that they could turn it, and here are my thoughts, this is just my opinion, but just to give you something to think about, I believe that we as human beings, we are each given the opportunity to be saved, and it's not, you either become a reprobate, which is not the majority of humans, but we do know that, and the Bible says, and as it is appointed unto men once they die and after this judgment, that once you die, you've lost your opportunity, if you did not get saved before you die, then you've lost your opportunity to be saved, but some people lose their opportunity before that because they become a reprobate and not have time to develop that. We've got a whole documentary called Psychopath Reprobates that you can learn about that, study about that. You say, well, what about the angels? Here's the thing, we as humans were not all born at the same time, right? Adam and Eve were created, they began to have children, they began to have children, and so on, and the world was filled. Angels are not that way. The Bible tells us that they're not given in marriage. The Bible tells us that they don't have children. They were all created, all at the same time, at the time of creation. It's not like there's more angels being produced. For that reason, I believe that for angels, the equivalent, I'm not saying that angels get saved, don't misunderstand me, but the equivalent of salvation for them all happened together, all at once. They all had to decide, are we going to stick with God or are we going to not? And those who chose not to became the equivalent of what we would call a reprobate, which is why they're used as an example. If you look at Jude or 2 Peter, he's talking about reprobates, and he's talking about Sodom, and he's talking about the fallen angels, how they are reserved for judgment, how they're already, you know, he's talking about how there's chains for their torment and all that. I realize I'm giving you a lot to think of, but if that stuff interests you, you can stick to that out and maybe give me your thoughts on that as well. Go back to Ezekiel 28, verse 15. Let me give you, we're almost done. Let me finish this up. We're talking about Satan, right? And what we've seen so far in this chapter, we started talking about the antichrist, what we've seen so far in this chapter is that Satan was in Eden. Of course, that's how we know it's Satan, the cherub. We see that he's an angelic being, but he's a high-ranking angelic being that's able to influence a third of the angelic host to come with him. And then let me show you again that his end is the same end as the antichrist, Satan will be cast down to hell. Ezekiel 28, verse 15 says this, That was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, notice he's a created being, till iniquity was found in thee. Okay, so he was perfect till he sinned, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence and thou hast sinned, therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God. And we saw that in Revelation as well, where it says that he was cast out, the dragon was cast out or cast down. He says, I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Now, go to Isaiah chapter 14, we're almost done, we're going to look at something in Isaiah, Revelation, Ezekiel, Revelation, and we'll be done. Alright, let's do it quickly. Isaiah chapter 14, you're there in Ezekiel, you go backwards, you've got Lamentations, Jeremiah, Isaiah. Alright, so if you're in Ezekiel, you go backwards, Lamentations, Jeremiah, Isaiah. Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28 is one chapter where we're given information about Satan. Isaiah 14 is another chapter in the Old Testament where we're given information about Satan. Isaiah 14 verse 12 says this, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer? So, here we know his angelic name. And if you remember, we saw in Revelation where we were given the list of his names, the great dragon, the old serpent, the devil, and Satan. Notice that the name Lucifer was not put into that list. The reason, today we think of the name Lucifer, you say someone calls themselves Lucifer and it's like, oh, that's scary. But the truth is this, that Lucifer was his godly name, his name when he was good, that was the name that God gave him. And then when he sinned and he was, iniquity has found him, he's no longer referred to as Lucifer, he's referred to as Satan, or the devil, or the dragon, or the serpent. He says, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast set in thine heart, notice what Satan says, same thing the antichrist says, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit upon the mountain of the congregation in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud, I will be like the most high. Look, he's saying, I want to be like God. He said, I don't want to just be the anointed cherub that praises God and that covers the throne of God and that produces music for God. He said, I want to be brought up and I want to be exalted. And notice all the I's there. He says, For thou hast set in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit upon the mountain of the congregation in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud, I will be like the most high, verse 15, yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the, what? Pit. Why? Where does the antichrist end up? In the pit in hell? Where does Satan end up? In the pit in hell? Revelation chapter 20 verse 10 says this, And the devil that deceived them, Revelation chapter 20, just go there quickly if you can, Revelation chapter 20, just want you to see it. Revelation chapter 20 verse 10 says this, And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. This is where the antichrist ends up. This is where Satan ends up. Now let me just give you just a couple things just real quickly. Go back to Ezekiel 28, look at verse 18. Ezekiel chapter 28 and verse 18 says this, Thou has defiled, I just want you to notice this, it says, thy sanctuaries. Thou has defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities. God tells us that this cherub, this devil, this Satan, he has sanctuaries. And people often think that, oh, Satan's anti-religion. You might not find a more religious person than Satan himself. I mean, he's got his own sanctuaries. And you don't have to go back there, but in Revelation chapter 2 and verse 9, we're told of the synagogue of Satan. In chapter 3 and verse 9, we're again told of the synagogue of Satan. Of course, that's a reference to the antichrist religion of Judaism and the Jews today. But please understand this. Satan has sanctuaries. He has religious worship centers. And you need to understand this, you need to grasp this. Not all religions are good. In fact, most religions are wicked as hell. Literally. Most religions are satanic. Because here's what happens with Christians. They get this idea that, oh, well, anybody who names the name of Christ is saved. And look, I would submit to you, most people who say they're Christians are going to die and go to hell. You say, well, they're religious. Yeah, but Satan's religious. And that's why you can find worship centers today, that they say they're worshiping Christ, they say they're worshiping God, yet they don't have God's word. They've got Satan's corrupt version. They don't got God's music. They've got Satan's corrupt music. We know he's a musician. They don't have God's pure doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, not of works, eternal security, you can't lose it. It's not you. It's nothing about you. All you do is believe on him. You call upon him and say, that's what true religion is. What does Satan's religion tell you? It tells you, well, you've got to add works. Well, you've got to repent of your sins. Well, you better live a good life or God's going to take it from you. Look, you say, but they're religious. But Satan's religious. Look, I'm here to tell you, Mormonism is satanic. In case I'm not being clear, Catholicism is satanic. Islam is satanic. Jehovah's Witness, satanic. Any religion that has works of salvation, satanic. They're not of God. And look, you are not going to make it in the Christian life if you just go through life thinking, oh, well, anybody who says they're a Christian are saved. No, you know what? Anyone who is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, they're saved. Well, they say they're Christians. Yeah, but if they're trusting their works, they're not saved. Look, if it be of grace, then there's no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. That's what the Bible says. And you say, well, what does that mean? Here's what it means. If it's free, you can't earn it. Otherwise, it's not free. That's what it means. And most religions today are teaching a works salvation. Most religions today are teaching a workspace. You've got to repent of your sins, you've got to turn away from your sins, or you better have works if you really do believe, and all this stuff. And here's what I'm telling you. You say, don't be surprised. Satan's very religious. He's got his own sanctuaries. He's got his own synagogues. In that verse we saw where it says, and no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. We didn't read it, but right before that, he's telling you don't marvel, don't be amazed, because he just got done saying that there are false prophets and false teachers who come out looking real good, and they look real nice, and they look real. But he says that they are the ministers of the devil, and he says, don't marvel. You say, all these pastors out there are just corrupt Satan. They're just teaching false doctrines. They're not even saying. You say, don't marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Look, Satan's not going to show up to you all red with horns and a tail and looking angry. He's going to show up to you looking real nice and real religious. He's going to look very nice, and people say, oh, I just can't believe that all these people, that they're not safe. Well, talk to them. Ask them. You know for sure if you're out today, are you on your way to heaven? Oh, yeah, I think I'm going to heaven. What are you trusting in to get you to heaven? Oh, you know I've been baptized. Hey, you know what? That might be a nice person. That person's not saved. Well, you know, I'm just trying to live a good life. No, you're not saved. You're not good enough. There's none righteous, no, not one. So just understand this, that most religions out there are false religions, and that's why we're told that we need to search the scriptures. This is why we're told that we need to try every spirit to see whether it be of God. Now go back to Ezekiel 28, or I don't know where you're at, but look at verse 2. Let me just show you a few things just as we conclude, and we'll finish up. What's the practical application? There's a theme through this chapter. We see it introduced in verse 2. Then we see it highlighted in the Antichrist, and we see it highlighted in Satan, and it's something we can learn from. Ezekiel 28, verse 2, here's where it's introduced. Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyreus, Thus saith the Lord God, Notice, because thine heart is lifted up. So we're introduced with this concept that his heart is lifted up. Look at verse 5. Here we're talking about the Antichrist. By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic has thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches. Here we're told that the heart of the Antichrist lifted up because he's a very wealthy man, very powerful man. Look at verse 17 about the devil. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. The devil was a very beautiful creature, and his heart got lifted up because he was created so beautifully. You say, what can we learn from this? Here's what we can learn here. Here's what it comes down to. Check your heart. Check your pride. Because it's real easy for us to just get puffed up and lifted up and begin to think that, well, I must be something great because look at me. You know what? You are nothing. And more prideful and more powerful and more successful and more intelligent and more, I mean, the Antichrist, we're told that he's wiser than Daniel. And he got lifted up with pride, and God said, you're going to end up in hell. The devil, influence, ability, got lifted up with pride, and God said, and here's what I'm telling you. You want God, and obviously if you're saved, you can't lose your salvation. I'm not saying you're going to live in pride and God's going to send you to hell. Here's what I'm telling you, that the quickest way to get God to just bring you down is to get lifted up with pride. So check your heart. I start having a lot, I have a lot of money. I must be real smart. Everything you have comes from God. Oh, look at me. I'm so beautiful. If you're beautiful, it's because God made you beautiful. Everything you have came from God, so all of God's creations, from the cherubims to human beings, need to just check our hearts and realize that anything we have is because God gave it to us. Any blessing we have is because God gave it to us. And when we begin to get lifted up with pride, God's going to bring us down. He's going to bring us down. The greatest way to get God to bring you down is to get lifted up with pride. So let's just stay humble and let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your work. Thank you for this chapter and just kind of a lot of interesting things there about the Antichrist and about Satan. And Lord, I just pray that you would help us as we study the Bible and as we learn these things, Lord, help us to just be able to take it in, Lord. And also just help us to be people who are not cynical when it comes to God's word but who are searching the scriptures, who are turning in our Bibles to the references and looking at what's actually being preached and said and not being foolish but realizing that there are people out there that want to lie to us, who want to teach us things that are not in the Bible. Obviously, nobody's perfect. We all make mistakes. Lord, help us to be the type of people that are trying the spirits, that are searching the scriptures daily to see whether those things are so. And Lord, help us as we just continue to learn and study the Bible. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.