A resounding victory of Lucifer is ‘ to ensure to himself that no one speaks of hell, for a few millennia even wanted him to be only a mythology. Then it took the Vatican State to turn the myth into a taboo, depicting him with frescoes and carved images in many cathedrals as a demon with frightening features, distorted images that over the centuries have terrorized young and old alike, with half-man, half-animal demons ready with a pitchfork to torment the souls destined for his abode: the underworld. Reinforcing this work is then the famous Dante Alighieri, who during his exile that lasted about fifteen years: (1306/1321), gives a detailed definition of hell as if in fact he had already been there.

It must be said, however, that this satanic strategy over the centuries was successful in that no one talked about it except in the period of the two inquisitions: the bishop’s and the papal inquisitions, which took place between the Xl and XVl centuries, which delighted in hunting down witches, calling them: possessed or followers of Satan, thus issuing sentences to a heinous death.

In the present day, however, it happens that Satan is no longer hiding, but the time has come when he clearly and publicly makes himself known with his followers, even boasting of legal recognitions to manifest that he is the answer to all the weaknesses and frustrations of mankind, which among other things he himself provokes. It would take a long time to recount the evolution of his achievements to the present day, however, let it be clear that he now wants people to talk about him, but not about his abode, namely the underworld, even though he sometimes subliminally depicts them in picturesque performances both theatrical and musical.

But what do we know about Satan.

He has been defined by many names and adjectives: his real name in the beginning was Lucifer, that is, Angel of Light, who stood in the presence of God, he was a cherub, the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 28, verses: 13-19; tells us about him:

“You were in Eden the garden of God; you were covered with every precious stone: rubies, topazes, diamonds, onyxes, jaspers, sapphires, carbuncles, emeralds and gold; the workmanship of your tambourines and flutes was prepared for you the day you were created. You were an anointed cherub, a protector. I had placed you on God’s holy mountain and you walked among stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, until wickedness was found in you. For the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence and sinned; therefore I cast you out as a profane from the mount of God and destroyed you, O cherubic protector from among the stones of fire. Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy splendor. I cast thee to the ground, I set thee before the kings, that they may see thee. By the multitude of your iniquities, by the wickedness of your trade you have defiled your shrines, therefore I brought forth a fire out of the midst of you, which devoured you, and I reduced you to ashes on the earth before the eyes of all who looked upon you. All who knew you among the peoples remain astonished at you; you have become an object of terror and will never exist again.”

2 Peter 2:4; “For if God did not spare the angels who had sinned, but cast them out into Tartarus, keeping them in chains of hellish darkness, to be kept there for judgment.”

Revelation 12:7-12; “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; the dragon and his angels also fought, but they did not win, and no more place was found for them in heaven. So the great dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast down to the earth; with him his angels were also cast down. Then I heard a great voice in heaven saying, “Now has come salvation, the power and kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ, for the accuser of our brethren has been cast down, the one who accused them before our God day and night. But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they did not so love their lives as to expose them to death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath, knowing that he has little time.”

The prophet Isaiah in chapter 14, verses 9-23; in the year 740 B.C. will tell us about him:

“The Sheol below is agitating for you, to meet your coming; it awakens the spirits of the departed, all the princes of the earth; it has caused all the kings of the nations to rise from their thrones. They all take the floor to tell you, “You too have become weak like us and have become like us. Your pomp is precipitated into the Sheol along with the sound of your harps; beneath you lies a bed of worms, and worms are your blanket.” How is it that you fell from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn? How is it that you were cast down to the earth, you who landed the nations? You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the uttermost part of the north, I will ascend the highest parts of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Instead you will be plunged into Scheol, into the depths of the pit. How many who see you stare at you, watch you closely and say, “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who reduced the world like a desert, destroyed its cities and never let his captives go free?” All the kings of the nations, all of them rest in glory, each in his own tomb; you, on the other hand, have been cast far from your tomb like an abominable sprout, like a garment of slain pierced with the sword, descending on the stones of the grave, like a trampled corpse. Thou shalt not be reunited with them in the burial, because thou hast destroyed thy country and hast slain thy people; the offspring of the evildoers shall be named no more. You prepare the slaughter of his children because of the iniquity of their fathers, so that they shall rise up no more to take possession of the land and to fill the face of the world with cities. “I will rise up against them,” says the LORD.

of armies ,” and I will exterminate from Babylon the name and the survivors, the progeny and the descendants,” says the LORD. “I will make it the domain of the hedgehog and swamps of water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the LORD of hosts.

With these words the prophet Isaiah anticipates that Jesus will come to do justice for those slain who were unjustly taken captive.

Jesus lets us know through the evangelist Luke, in chapter 10 verses 18-19;

“And He said to them, I saw Satan falling from heaven like a thunderbolt. Behold, I have given you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall be able to harm you.”

This epistle brings us to know that Jesus by commissioning seventy of his disciples to go out into the world to preach the gospel, encourages them by testifying that he personally saw the enemy of God, Satan falling from heaven like a bright meteor, to be confined to his new eternal abode, the underworld. He also specifies that he invested them with authority and power to rule over every adverse spirit, they from that moment, will have the power. We will also note that from that moment, Jesus himself will change his name from Lucifer to Satan, from angel of light to: Enemy, opponent, adversary, devil, dragon, tempting serpent, father of lies, murderer.

In John 8:44; Jesus addressing the hypocritical Pharisees, says of him:

“You are from the devil, who is your father, and you want to do the desires of your father; he was murderous from the beginning and did not stand firm in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks falsely, he speaks of his because he is a liar and the father of lies.”

But what is this hell

Indeed, clarity must be shed around this place, which in the Old Testament was called Sheol, Ades, Tartarus or Tanakh, to indicate the realm of the dead located in the depths of the earth. In reality It was created primarily for Lucifer and his angels. In fact, Jesus speaks of it in the gospel of Matthew 25:41; “Then shall He say again unto them that are on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire that is prepared for the devil and his angels. Let it be clear that to that place will also go those who have rejected salvation by not believing in Jesus as the Son of God, and still others who have despised Him by their evil works.

Even the Apostle Jude, in his epistle: 6:6; writes:

“He has also locked up in the darkness of hell with eternal chains, for the judgment of the great day, the angels who did not retain their former state but left their own abode.”

Jesus during his years of ministry on earth wanted to speak about hell on many occasions in the gospel of Luke 16:20-26; he lets us know:

“There was also a beggar called Lazarus, lying at his door all covered with ulcerous sores, And being in torment in hell,(referring to the rich man Epulon), he looked up and saw from afar Abraham and Lazarus in his bosom. Then crying out, he said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, for I am suffering terribly in this flame.” But Abraham said, “Son, remember that you received your goods during your life and Lazarus similarly the evils; but now he is comforted and you suffer. In addition to all this, between us and you is placed a great chasm, so that those who would pass from here to you cannot; likewise no one can pass from there to us.”

Jesus, in this parable of his, wanted to reveal to us that hell is divided into two abodes:

One reserved for Lucifer, his angels, and all rebellious, violent, evil men who existed from Noah until His coming, waiting to consummate a judgment already declared;

The other in a place of rest for all those righteous people who sojourned there waiting to be released from that place and then move to the paradise of light, peace and eternal joy in His presence.

Jesus’ ministry on earth

So during His first coming as a man among men, Jesus will face a first baptism of spiritual struggle with Satan, in the wilderness, where He is tempted with every temptation, see Luke 4:1-12.

His first appearance in the synagogue was in the very city where he grew up, “Nazareth,” and there reading from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, 61:1-3; it speaks of the fulfillment of scripture, in that He comes to give freedom to the captives, not only in the spirit of those present at that time, but I like to think that He was anticipating freedom for those captives who were anxiously waiting to see the glorious light of Jesus in that dark place, because it was devoid of His presence, see Luke 4:18.

Jesus delivers many possessed by demons:

Later in His journey Jesus often found Himself having to manifest His authority against those fallen angels who had now become demons wandering the earth, confining them to their appointed place, in fact we read of some testimonies, such as in Luke 4:41;

“Out of many came demons shouting and saying, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of God.’ But He rebuked them and did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.”

In Mark 5:1-13; It speaks of the possessed Gadarene, who was possessed by a legion of demons, it is written, “And behold , they cried out, saying, “What is there between us and you, O Jesus, Son of God? Art thou come hither, to torment us before the

time? . Not far from them, there was a herd of swine grazing. And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, allow us to go to that herd of swine.” Here we note the unquestionable and absolute authority Jesus always had over the angels of rebellion who had become demons, an authority He also bestowed on His church.

Mark 1-23-28; = Jesus while preaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, a man possessed by an unclean spirit manifested himself, and cried out, “We know who you are, have you come to destroy us before the time?”

Matthew 12:22; = “Then there was presented to Him a possessed man, blind and dumb; and He healed him, so that the blind and dumb man spoke and saw.”

Jesus anticipates the coming conquest of hell:

Matthew 16:18; “And I likewise say to you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not be able to overcome it.” I believe that neither Peter nor his brothers could yet understand this revelation, for He would shortly thereafter have the keys to those gates.

Paul makes it known that Jesus’ dominion will have no boundaries:

Philippians 2:9-11; “Therefore God also has sovereignly raised him up and given him a name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee of heavenly, earthly and subterranean creatures (or things) may bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Judgment on unrepentant cities:

Luke 10:13-15; “Woe to you, Corazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! For if in Tyre and Sidon had been done the mighty works done in you, they would long ago have repented, clothed in sackcloth and sitting in ashes. Therefore on the day of judgment Tyre and Sidon will be treated with more tolerance than you.

And you, Capernaum, who were raised up to heaven, will be lowered to hell.

Jesus’ sacrifice:

Matthew 12:38-40; “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we would like to see some sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, ‘This wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth.”

I don’t think that any of those who heard these words, had any idea of the magnitude and power of that message that spoke of death and resurrection, nor of what He was to do during those three days in the bowels of the underworld. In fact, I believe that even in our day the church, has truly understood the value and depth of this earth-shattering event.

Truly, never before was hell terrified as it was then, seeing Christ descending alone, enveloped in a radiant light that illuminated those darknesses; terror for some, hope for others, He was finally there to fulfill justice, Jesus did not just die for us, but descended into the depths of the earth to set free those who were waiting imprisoned, He had said it on the cross, “Father all is accomplished !” But His victory did not end in the cross, rather it was only the beginning, for as it is written in Colossians 2:14-15; “He has annihilated the document made up of ordinances, which was against us and was our enemy, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross; having therefore stripped away the powers and principalities, he has made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in him.” Now the demons are astonished and terrified, He comes down as judge and King, to proclaim victory and do justice. Now He has conquered death and disarmed it, He comes down not as a new jailer, but to claim the keys of that prison as deliverer; He proclaims words of hope and comfort for those slain righteous, unjustly imprisoned there, now He opens for them a new portal to heaven, where light, peace and eternal joy await them in His presence. The time of anguish and waiting is over, they will no longer be deprived of His wonderful presence, now at last they will be comforted.

Thus a new era begins; He possesses the keys to the gates of hell, and from now on, it will be He who decides who is to make his abode there. For it is written in Luke 23:43; Jesus addressing the thief on the cross, said, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Oh yes, the church so needs to be informed of this great achievement of Jesus, paid for with the blood of His sacrifice, brother, sister, think about it, He paid the ransom price for us all. The apostle Paul, writes in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57; “Death has been swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your dart? O hell, where is your victory? Now the dart of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 4:8-10; “For which the scripture says, “Having ascended on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.” Now this, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He had also descended before into the lowest parts of the earth? He who descended is the same One who also ascended above all the heavens, to fill all things.” Great, He descended to reduce the jailers into eternal prisoners.

Hebrews 2:14-15; “Since therefore the sons have flesh and blood in common, similarly He also had the same things in common, to destroy, through His death, him who has the empire of death, that is, the devil, and to set free all those who through fear of death were held in bondage all their lives.” Raise your hand if you fear death, know brother, sister that Jesus today, says to you, “Fear not; verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth in me hath everlasting life!” (John 6:47;)”

Jesus preached in the underworld

1 Peter 17-21; “For it is better, if such is God’s will, to suffer by doing good rather than by doing evil, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to lead us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but vivified by the Spirit, in which He also went to preach to the spirits who were in prison, who were once rebellious, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being made, in which a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, which is a figure of baptism (not the removal of the filthiness of the flesh, but the plea for a good conscience with God), which now also saves us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone to heaven and is at the right hand of God, where angels, powers and potencies are subject to him.”

The dead rose from the dead

Matthew 27:50-53; “And Jesus, having cried out again with a great voice, yielded up the Spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two, from top to bottom; the earth trembled, and the rocks were split open; the sepulchres were opened, and many bodies of the saints, who slept, were raised up; and having come out of the sepulchres after the resurrection of Jesus, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.”

Behold the power of the resurrection! Now, do you think that these holy men did not arouse awe, mixed with fear and wonder, as they walked through the streets of the city, yet this was not enough for the unbelievers, and for the scribes and Pharisees of that time. Father Abraham was right when he replied to the rich man Epulon, “But that one said, ‘I pray thee therefore, O father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brethren, that I may warn them sternly, and so that they also may not come to this place of torment.'” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear those.” That one said, “No, father Abraham, but if anyone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.” Then he said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not believe even if one rises from the dead.” (See Luke 16:27-31;).

Now I want to ask you a few questions, “How would you react if you met a person on the street who many years before you were present at his burial?; But do you really believe in the resurrection?; Have you ever had the fear that you would not be part of those saved who will be resurrected in Christ?

In Hebrews 9:27-28; it is written, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, so also Christ, after being offered once to take upon himself the sins of many, will appear a second time without sin to those who wait for him for salvation.”

Did you know that those who abide in Christ are born twice and die once only, while those who do not live in Him are born once and die twice?, yes because at that judgment those who are not found written in the book of life will suffer a terrible condemnation which is the second death, see Revelation 20:14-15; “Then death is Ades were cast into the pool of fire. This is the second death. And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the pool of fire.”

In Revelation 1:18; it is written, “I was dead, but behold I am alive for ever and ever, amen; and I have the keys of death and Ades.” As mentioned earlier, from then on

forward it is our Lord Jesus who will decide, as he did that day on Calvary on the cross, to one thief he said, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise”; while for the other thief who accused him, the judgment of the second death would await him. (Luke 23:43;).

Having reached this point, I could go on quoting basic topics from God’s Holy Word dealing with salvation, but this is a letter for believers, for those who are part of Christ’s army here on earth. For those who have already been saved to save others; for those who have been loved to love others; for those who have been comforted to console others; for those who have been justified to justify others, and I could go on. You dear brother know if your name is written in the book of life, just as you know that you are saved, but when the enemy in times of trouble and discouragement, wounds your heel, insinuating doubt in your mind; doubt that you will not be saved; that God is tired of your sins and has stopped forgiving you; that for you He is now far away and there is no more hope ; know that you are not forgotten, behold, He comes, He comes just for you become righteous you His eyes, and in this hour Jesus breaks the doors of the prison of your mind, breaks the chains that perhaps for too long have kept you bound, His cry will rouse you from your torpor and give you new hope, new strength and new vigor, remember that you are no longer under the rule of the law, the Risen One has given you grace.

Just remember what the apostle Paul recommends to the Jews and to us today:

“Let us draw near with sincere hearts, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts aspersed to cleanse them from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22;).

And then again, “Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith; prove yourselves. Do you not recognize yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless you are reproved.” (2 Corinthians 13:5;).

From today, therefore, walk as a victorious man, not forgetting what you have received and because you have been born again, remember the authority He has given you, for if the ancient serpent, wounds your heel, you will grind his head!

Salvatore Sturniolo