How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth…You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Isa. 14:12-14

You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you…Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, or so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth.   Ezek. 28:12-17

These two passages from the Old Testament are considered by most to be descriptions of Satan before his fall and the reasons that he was driven from heaven and cast down to planet earth.  One is found as part of a prophecy against Babylon and the other against the King of Tyre.  The point is that, in the same way that Satan was strong and powerful once, but lost his elevated position in heaven because of pride and a desire to take the throne himself, these kings would also be judged because of pride and a heart that exalted themselves above God. 

What we need to notice is that Satan, in his corrupted pride and wisdom, desired to take the place of God in heaven where he would then receive praise and worship.  He was created as a guardian cherub who constantly ministered around the throne of God.  Some believe that he was even the worship leader of heaven.  In his beauty and exalted status, he became jealous of the worship God received and wanted it for himself.  He hasn’t changed. Ultimately, his desire is to be worshipped as God himself, although he is a created being.  

In Matthew 4, when Satan appeared to tempt Christ after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, his final temptation was that he would give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if Christ would worship him.  In Revelation 13, the dragon (Satan) raises up a beast that all people are amazed at and we are told that all the people of the earth worshipped the dragon.  Satan’s deepest desire is to redirect worship from God to himself.  Scripture reveals that behind every idol is a demon and so demons receive the worship that men give to idols.  Since demons represent Satan, I’m sure he accepts that as worship to himself.

Worship can be a subtle thing.  It doesn’t have to be men and women cloaked in robes in a candle lit room chanting, “Hail Satan.”  It can be as simple as loving the things he loves.  It can be as simple has agreeing with him about values, priorities, and contorted views of God.  It is as simple as calling evil things good and good things evil.  It can be as simple as pursuing the desires of the flesh rather than the desires of the Spirit.  When we love what God loves and hate what God hates, it is an expression of worship because we have aligned our hearts with His.  When we love what Satan loves and hate what he hates, we also are worshipping him. 

We live in a world that constantly exalts and practices the things of Satan – money, power, illicit sex, homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, theft, violence, atheism, racism, witchcraft, etc.  We hear the constant drum beat that these things are part of an enlightened, sophisticated culture.  Those who would push back against these new cultural “norms” are labelled unenlightened, bigoted haters.  

Let’s face it, things that shocked and disgusted the average American fifty years ago, hardly raise an eye brow now.  We have been exposed to these things so often by the media, that our sensitivities are dulled.  What was considered gross sin fifty years ago is now “cute” and is, at least, a subplot in every movie or television series. 

This is all designed to normalize such behaviors and, over time, align our values with the enemy’s. After years of conditioning, our hearts start to compromise and, perhaps, begin to give some credibility to the arguments that these things are actually normal and healthy.  It is all a great strategy to align our hearts, values, and priorities with the enemy’s.  His goal is to pervert every holy thing that God created and to draw disciples after himself.  All this is to draw worship to himself.  Service is a form of worship and when we serve Satan by agreeing with him in word or actions, then we are worshipping.

In the arena of spiritual warfare, agreement is a huge issue.  Whomever we agree with, we empower in our lives and invite to come in and sit down.  We live in an age when we must evaluate constantly which direction our heart is leaning.  When you survey scriptures that speak about end times, a major theme is that people, even God’s people, will be deceived by the evil one and drawn away from the kingdom of heaven.  

We must evaluate, on a regular basis, who or what we are worshipping.  What are we pursuing with the most passion? To whom or what are we giving our time and finances?  What are we thinking about, dreaming about, or imagining when we are alone? What offends us or what no longer offends us?  

What in our lives are out of sync with the Word of God and the holiness of God?  These are serious matters.  God may not be as casual about our sin and agreement with Satan as we are.  Let me encourage you to evaluate your worship…not just on Sunday mornings, but on the other six days of the week as well.  We must worship God and him only and lets encourage one another to do so as the return of Jesus draws closer.