A great deal of what is written in Isaiah is prophetic. From Isaiah’s perspective it looks forward 700 years to the First Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah speaks of our Lord Christ, and looks forward to the day when Christ shall rule this earth.

But Isaiah also looks backward, and tells us of the fall of an angel named Lucifer, someone we know as “The Devil” or “Satan”. I hate preaching about the devil. When you preach about the devil it gets dark in the Church. But God gives us a picture of the devil in our passage today, and wants us to see something in it. What can we see in this text?

As I prayed over this text the Lord told me to preach it as a negative. The sermon is called “The Way To Shine”, and we’re going to see that the “Way To Shine” is to do the OPPOSITE of everything Lucifer/Satan/Devil did.

Word Study The name “Lucifer” means “Bringer of Light”. Lucifer was created pure and perfect, just as Adam was. There are two, perhaps three ArchAngels mentioned in the Scripture, Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer. Lucifer was designed by God to be a “Bringer of the Light” to the other Angels. Ezekiel tells us that Lucifer was …

Ezekiel 28:14-15 (NKJV) …. the anointed cherub who covers; (God said) I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones (a reference to the other shining Angels) 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.

We see Lucifer like a General walking back and forth in front of the troops, doing a review, making sure they were ready to go before God. God made Lucifer with a free will, the Angels with a free will. They could follow or not follow.

Then Lucifer – the Light Bringer – his bulb burned out!
He went from Light to Darkness
From Order to Disorder
From Fusion to Confusion
From Right to Wrong
From Good to Evil
From God follower to Godless Traitor

Lucifer is revealed as a DRAGON in Revelation:

Revelation 12:4 (NKJV) His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

So how does someone go from the Top Job in Heaven, the job of the ArchAngel, and fall all the way down to “dragon status”?

How does “Lucifer”, the “Son of the Morning” become “The Father of Darkness”?

How in the world does a gorgeous creature like this – blessed beyond measure by God – become the hate filled creature who seeks to eat Christ when He is born?

Lucifer Rejected The Grace Of God

Let’s see what Lucifer did, and see if we can’t do the OPPOSITE!

Responsive Reading Isaiah 14:12-15 (KJV)  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!  [13]  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  [14]  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.  [15]  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

There are five “I wills” in our responsive reading. Why is that significant? Because numbers mean something in the Scripture. For instance …

One is the number of “God”
Three is the number of the “Trinity”
Seven and Four are the numbers of “Rest”
Eight is the number of “Completion”

But what is FIVE?
FIVE is the number of “Grace”
Grace is so important to us as humans that
God gave us FIVE fingers on each hand.
Not so we can gobble greedily, grasping, taking,
But so we can lift our hands together in praise and prayer to Him.
We have FIVE fingers, but TEN Commandments that we MUST grasp,
For Grace is not LICENSE but LOVE in action.
Love to God, Love to others.
God gave us FIVE toes on each foot,
So we can walk with Him and not chase sin.
There were FIVE offerings in the Old Testament:
Burnt (Leviticus 1; 8:18-21; 16:24)
Sin (Leviticus 4; 16:3-22)
Trespass (Leviticus 5:14-19; 6:1-7; 7:1-6)
Grain (Leviticus 2)
Peace (Leviticus 3; 7:11- 34)
All FIVE were fulfilled in the once for all Offering of Christ on Calvary!

Here is Grace! Hebrews 10:12-15 (ESV) … when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

I’m not done chasing rabbits yet – but these are good rabbits!

There are FIVE Books of the Law,
All fulfilled by our Jesus.

Praise Him, for … Romans 6:14 (ESV) For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

The Law decreed a Tabernacle, a place where animals were killed for our sins.

The Tabernacle was filled with FIVES:
Five curtains, bars, pillars, sockets
The Altar was FIVE cubits by FIVE cubits,
And the Anointing Oil was made of FIVE parts.

Because we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are His Temple, we are His Tabernacle, indwelt of the Holy Spirit and fed by His Word …

1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

Grace gives COURAGE, for
When David went to fight Goliath he carried a sling and FIVE stones,
Though he only needed ONE for our God fights for us.

Five is the number of Grace. Lucifer went from Light Bringer to Darkness because he rejected the Grace of God. His Five “I wills” struck at Grace. How do I know this? Because Lucifer decreed five I WILL statements. Here they are.

I Deserve To Be In Heaven

Isaiah 14:13 (KJV) For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,

How many people are damned today because they believe like Satan “I deserve to be in Heaven”? The road to damnation begins right here. “I will ascend unto Heaven”. I am good enough to be in Heaven. I can build a ladder to Heaven. This was the first great work man tried to accomplish after the Noahic Flood. God told mankind through Noah

Genesis 9 (NKJV) So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

Noah and his progeny were supposed to spread out, to “fill the earth”. What did man do? He stayed together. He clumped up like a mess in the kitty litter pan. Mankind got together and decided to build a Tower in Babel, to ignore God’s decree, to see if they couldn’t get to Heaven with the works of their hands. You can read about it in Genesis 11. What did God do? He confused our language, causing us to scatter throughout the whole world. The Name of that place became known as “Babylon”.

Babylon was a place of false gods. Babylon was a place of disobedience. Babylon was a place of arrogance and foolishness. Babylon was and still is evil. Babylon is the place of man made religion. Lucifer is the Pastor of that church, the Bishop and ArchBishop of that denomination. And it has many members. I see them all the time at funerals. Someone comes up to me and says of the deceased:

If anyone deserved to be in Heaven He (or She) did!

Do you know WHO deserves to be in Heaven? NO ONE. NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON. Lucifer was in Heaven because of the Grace of God. It was by Grace he was made, by Grace he was commissioned, by Grace he served.

Someone wrote Evangelist Billy Graham one time, saying:

“I’m in prison, and everyone here is talking about an inmate who claimed he found God just a week before he died of cancer. How could he live like the devil most of his life but still get into heaven? He didn’t deserve to be saved.”

Billy answered “If God only let people into heaven who deserved to go there – then heaven would be empty! We all have sinned, and even one sin – just one – would be enough to keep you out of heaven. .. someone who has followed Christ all their life doesn’t deserve to go to heaven any more than this man who had been a Christian only a week. No one “deserves” heaven because we are all sinners. As the Bible says, “There is no one righteous, not even one … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23). This is hard for us to accept, because down inside we all think God ought to reward us and allow us into heaven if we’re good enough. But it isn’t true, because God’s standard is nothing less than perfection. This is why we need Christ, for only He can save us. He was without sin – but on the cross, all our sins were placed on Him, and He died in our place. Now God in His grace offers us salvation – not as a reward, but as a free gift. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).”

You didn’t “deserve” to be born.
That was a free gift from God and your parents.
You don’t deserve to be “born again”.
This is a free gift from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you want to SHINE in this life start by realizing you don’t deserve Heaven, you can’t work your way to Heaven, and both you and I deserve HELL. Thank God for Jesus! Thank God for His glorious, blood bought salvation. Praise God with Peter who wrote:

1 Peter 1:3-5 (NKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The second “I WILL” of Lucifer said:

I’m Better Than Those Around Me

13 I will exalt MY THRONE ABOVE THE STARS of God:

Here is another thing that damned Lucifer, the thought that “I’m better than all the other Angels”. The “Stars of God” is a Biblical phrase for the other Angels, because Angels are beings composed of light. Lucifer looked at himself and said:

I’m better than all the other Angels
I am God’s gift to these lesser beings!

Illustrate I’ve bought shirts before and found a little slip of paper in the pocket that says:

Inspected by 23

or maybe some other number. Some people are just like that. They are what they consider themselves to be God ordained people inspectors. They should carry a stamp around, or little slips of paper.

Inspected by 23

The danger of the Judge and the Judged is this. Some people spend their whole lives trying to live up to someone’s standard. You’ll die and go to hell if that’s the way you live. You are to live to please GOD and GOD ALONE. Do what He says and you will shine. Every human is flawed at best, but God is perfect.

Ephesians 5:1-2 (KJV)  Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;  [2]  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.

Do you want to SHINE in this life? The way to SHINE is to IMITATE GOD. Remember that a day is coming where we will all be judged. Let me say that again:

A day is coming where we ALL will be judged.

The Scripture declares Romans 14:7-9 (NKJV) For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Live to please the Judge. The third “I WILL” of Lucifer was:

I Need To Make A Monument To Me

Isaiah 14:13 (KJV) I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation,
in the sides of the north:

Lucifer was so good, he thought, that he wanted a building named after himself.
He wanted the City of God named after himself.
He wanted to be looked at as the North Star would be looked at,
the bright and shining light that guided all others.

We live in a day of human monuments and American Idols.

It used to be that people had some semblance of civility and morality. People used to believe that there is a God, a Supreme Being, Someone greater than we are. There was a time when Americans believed in the Ten Commandments because they came from God. There was a time when life was considered to be precious, that abortion was abnormal and “Same Sex Love” was not what people did.

We are the WORST IDOLS!

Political correctness is no more than making a monument to be worshiped out of human opinion. Today it seems as if “He who shouts loudest is right”. However,

God is always right.
God’s Word is always right.
What God thinks is always right.

When you set the true north of your life on what Hollywood or a Humanist or a Politician thinks then you are never going to find shore nor stability. You will be constantly adrift at sea. People need the Lord. Children need to be raised according to the dictates of God’s Word. Marriages need to operate on the basis of what Gods has said. As long as we the people base our reality on the weird fantasies of the crowd we will be a nation going under.

God’s Word Is Our True North.
God Is Our Monument.

Psalm 119:105 (KJV) Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

James 1:22 (NKJV) But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Psalm 119:9 (NKJV) How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word.

Isaiah 40:8 (NKJV) The grass withers, the flower fades, But the Word of our God stands forever.

Jesus said (Luke 11:28 NKJV) … blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!

Psalm 18:30 (NKJV) As for God, His way is perfect; The Word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

If you want to shine stop living by OPINIONS and live by GOD’S WORD. Love Him. Put God and what He says FIRST!

The fourth “I WILL” of Lucifer said:

I Am So Full Of Myself

14 I WILL ASCEND above the heights of the clouds;

Earlier Lucifer was going to “ascend to Heaven”. Now he wants to soar above the clouds. Now let me ask you, “What is a cloud”? I found the following definition:

“In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol comprising a visible mass of minute liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or particles suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body.”

Do you know what a “cloud” is? It has no substance. It has potential, but only when it dissipates. Lucifer wanted to be ABOVE THE CLOUDS. What’s above the clouds in the atmosphere?

Nothing.

A cloud hides the sun when it is there, but is nothing until it releases. The air above the clouds is just gas, hot air, thin air, useless other than to absorb pollution. Do you want to shine in this life? Be a cloud. Be willing to be used of God. Expend yourselves in service for His glory regardless as to whether you get “credit” or not.

Don’t be a Lucifer!
Don’t be an airbag.
Be a cloud!

The fifth and final “I WILL” of Lucifer was …

I Will Be God!

The final step that led Lucifer the Shining to become the Dark Devil is …

Isaiah 14:14 (KJV) … I will be LIKE THE MOST HIGH.

Many have tried to be God. What does God say to those who would be Him?

Isaiah 14:15 (KJV) Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

There is but one God.
The job is taken.
You can’t do it, and neither can I.

The True God is Triune in Person – Father, Son, and Spirit – but eternal, complete, and glorious. This God Who made all things made you. This God gives you life. And this God promises you eternal life if you receive the great gift of salvation available only through faith in His Son. Let Him be God, and you be His Child. Let Him be Savior and you be the saved. Let Him be the Shepherd, and you be His sheep.

The way to shine in this life and into the next life is to give it all to the Lord. Live in Him. Live for Him. Love Him as He loves you. Don’t go the way of Lucifer. Amen!