The Judgment of Satan and His Followers

Satan wanted to be great; he wanted to be like the Most High—but he was cast down. Now God’s Spirit is convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. When a man is sentenced to life in prison and the wife does not want to leave him, she has to share his fate with him. This also applies in this instance. If someone does not want to separate himself from Satan but is willing to be led by him by doing the will of the flesh and of the mind, he also has to suffer the fate that Satan suffered and the punishment he received. They will be condemned by Jesus Christ, together with the condemned ruler from whom they did not want to separate. Already now men are convicted of judgment. We see how people are fleeing from time, how they are fleeing from the demands of the inner life. When they are somewhat quiet, they are bored and dissatisfied, for the judgment of Satan to whom they are bound resounds very clearly in their hearts, so that they also feel condemned. It is this judgment that people would rather not hear, this judgment of Satan as he manifests himself in reality.

We notice that God is the Judge of man. When you speak with a soul, he may be quiet; but as soon as you mention Jesus as the Christ and ask if He is their Savior, we see that some souls squirm when they are asked that question, or more correctly, they squirm under the name of Jesus. They want you to be quiet; for now they have come face to face with something that was hidden in the deepest recesses of their heart and which they had covered up very carefully. Therefore so many people rave against Christ, because in the midst of their safety and in the midst of their raving against Him, they have to acknowledge Him as their Judge.

However, when men thus squirm at the thought of the name of Jesus, we should not marvel at the fact that they will squirm when the very Person is manifested. Then they will cry out to the hills and the mountains: “Hide us from the countenance of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.” The prelude to this act is in every man’s heart who is unwilling to be redeemed by Him who came for the very purpose of setting at liberty those who were oppressed, to bring out prisoners from the prison, and to open blind eyes.

The world follows Satan, his character, and his principles. These things have become important to their hearts. Satan has blinded their eyes; they are not aware of their condition. If they were aware of it, if they realized to which ruler they were bound, they would immediately run and throw themselves into the arms of the Savior.

All these things—Satan’s nature, his principles, his methods, and his judgment—are at hand; it is just that we do not wish to see them. Nevertheless, that is extremely beneficial. When people think about Satan, they imagine something that is very awful. Yet he appears precisely where people would like to be, in the things they appreciate the most. He appears in awful ways, but he also appears in beautiful ways so that people are deceived by his delusions. People usually call these delusions happiness, not knowing that pursuing these things leads only to emptiness. It is like a mirage, a deception begotten by the father of lies, that old serpent.

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, adulterers, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Rev. 21:5. “And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone . . . .” Rev. 20:10.