We have seen from scripture that iniquity was found in Satan when he saw his beauty as something that originated with him.

He was the most beautiful creature that God had created but that beauty was given to him to point to the glory of God.

He was given beauty that God would be glorified but Satan took that beauty and turned it to bring glory to himself.

In this we can conclude that Satan is a being who is enamored with that which can be seen.

He is enamored with the outside, the appearance of things, rather than being Godlike and going to the heart of life, that which happens on the inside, that which comes from the heart.

There is a saying that I believe is quite true in most cases.

It is the saying "Like Father, like Son."

Another saying is that the acorn does not fall far from the oak tree.

If someone shows you an acorn you can tell immediately that it came from an oak tree.

We are quick to look at the newborn baby boy in order to see the father’s features in the little boy.

These sayings tell us that we can know the father by knowing the son.

Jesus told us this when Philip said to him in John 14:8,  Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

Jesus responded with this:  Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? ¹⁰Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

This same principle applies to Satan as the father of many.

We can know Satan, the father by knowing his children.

Jesus said of the Pharisees, in John 8:44,  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. ⁴⁵And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

In saying this he was saying to the Pharisees that they did the same lusts as their father, that they were murderers, that there is no truth in them, and that they were liars.

Jesus told Phillip that by examining him he could know God the Father

And likewise by examining the Pharisees lives we can know about their father, the devil.

Much of the condemnation by our Lord concerning the Pharisees, concerned their love of that which could be seen.

In this they reflected perfectly the image of their father who loves that which can be seen.

He loves his beauty and that trait has been passed to his sons.

They were indeed "like father like son."

In Matthew 23 Jesus scathingly confronted the Pharisees with a mirror which revealed their likeness to their father the devil.

He told them that all of their works, they do to be seen of men.

They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

They love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

And for a pretence, that is to be heard of men for their great oration, they make long prayer.

They concentrate on paying tithe of mint and anise and cummin, to be seen of men, but neglect the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.

They concern themselves with the cleanliness of the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

And then our Lord summarizes this condition that comes from their father, the devil, by comparing them to whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

He tells them that they outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within they are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Herein Jesus perfectly describes what their father, the devil is, for if we see the son we see the father.

This world is full of sons of the devil and their actions tell us of his way.

For his way is one that broadcasts the outward, that which can be seen and that which is meant to cover the reality of the sinful heart.

Satan majors on the outward and he has so organized the world to do likewise.

We can see this in every religion that he has brought into being for religion consists of the majoring on the outward with its ritual and its pomp, its robes and its magnificent temples and cathedrals.

Today we see his principles in action the more so for image is the reality of today.

Our leaders seem to be more careful of the image they present than they are of the things of the heart.

We know that God’s reality is the reality of the heart.

God tells us the truth in his word when he says that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked and that in order to stand in His presence one must have a new heart.

And that new heart only comes about with a new birth into God’s family by believing God’s word and receiving God’s gift of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That new heart is the only kind of heart that will bear fruit which God, the husbandman enjoys.

It is fruit that cannot be seen, it is the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

This is fruit that is the result of faith, without which you cannot please God.

Satan has no desire to please God and therefore he has designed his economy to be an economy that is devoid of faith.

His economy cannot produce fruit acceptable to God from a heart that is deceitful and wicked.

He was created to cover, to guard so he uses that talent to simply cover the deceitfulness and the wickedness of the heart and he does it by image.

Satan’s fruit is fruit that can be seen, fruit that is like the fruit of the Garden of Eden, the fruit which Eve saw as pleasant to the eyes.

God said to not eat of the fruit but Eve saw such delicious looking fruit and could see no reason for denying herself of it, not even the command of God.

Satan majors on the eye gate while God majors on the ear gate.

The world today majors on the eye gate because Satan is the prince of the power of the air.

Children are being captivated by the eye gate as they sit for hours playing electronic games, or watching thrillers on television or occupying themselves with "you tube" or face book.

The devil uses technology to advance his economy, taking millions away from that which declares the glory of God.

God said to look to the heavens to see his glory, look to the firmament to see his handywork.

But instead of glorying in God’s work we are quick to glory in the work of our own hands, the works of technological breakthroughs that make our lives more comfortable.

I am not saying that technology is evil in itself but today it has godlike powers of persuasion and an allure that can only be resisted by the daily cleansing of the Word of God.

All of the conditions of the world are a result of what Ezekiel 28:17 tells us Satan is guided by.

Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness:

Remember that we learned earlier in our study that Satan was created to be the most beautiful and wise creature.

But here we learn that his pride corrupted the great wisdom with which, God had blessed him.

His great pride in his beauty brought him mental disorder and a corruption of wisdom that brought him to rebel against the wisdom of his creator.

So we learn that pride is the first sin, the sin from which flow all other sins.

C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) said this:  The essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison. It was through pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice; it is the complete anti-God state of mind.

William Barclay (1907–1978) said:  Pride is the ground in which all the other sins grow, and the parent from which all the other sins come.

Richard Newton (1813–1887) said:  Let me give you the history of pride in three small chapters. The beginning of pride was in heaven. The continuance of pride is on earth. The end of pride is in hell. This history shows how unprofitable it is.

Pride is the air in a balloon that quickly disappears as the balloon exceeds its inflation capacity, for pride has no substance.

When the balloon is popped there is nothing left.

So all that the devil promotes is built on the lie of pride, a thinking of himself more highly than he ought.

Pride begins with thinking.

Pride begins with thinking about your assets as self made assets.

Pride discounts God as the provider of all things and this discounting of God took place in the mind of Satan.

Isaiah 14:13, tells us of what took place in Satan’s heart:

Now in these thoughts there is no thought of displacing the most High but there are thoughts of being like the most High.

Satan is a created being and can only do what his creator allows, but cannot replace his creator.

Satan’s pride motivated him to be like the most High, a ruler instead of a servant.

And today he goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour which means seeking those who may serve him.

In Revelation 12:4 we are told of the eventual casting down of Satan to the earth along with a third part of the stars of heaven.

This tells us that he has corrupted a third part of the angels of heaven to his side.