Our Faith Is On A Collision Course With The Devil Series

Introduction

The Christian landscape of the United States is rapidly changing, and unfortunately not for the better but for the worse. In between the years 2018 and 2019, Pew Research did a study of how many people in America describe themselves as Christians; those who say that they are followers of Jesus Christ, and the result was 65% claim to be Christian. On the surface, that number might sound like a substantial number of people claiming to be Christian. But if you compare that number to a similar survey done a decade earlier, at that time the number of people claiming to be Christian was at 77%, or over a ten-year span 12% less Americans are claiming to be Christian.

Think about the church houses in America. According to a Gallup Poll American claiming church membership in 2020 dropped to 45%. In other words, 45% of Americans say that they belong to a church. That is compared to 50% of Americans claiming church membership in 2018 and compared to 70% claiming church membership in 1999.

So, let me ask you a question, do you think the church is gaining ground; are we bringing more people to the Lord now than we did just ten years ago? The answer is less.

And do you know what should scare the socks off us. Barna research in April 2020, reported that 51% Americans believe in the all-powerful, Creator God as described in the Bible, the One who sent His Son to die for us. But 56% of Americans believe in the devil. More Americans believe in the devil today than believe in the God of the Bible.

Against that background, I want the words of Jesus to resonate in your ears. Luke 18:8 - NIV...when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” When the end comes, will there be men and women practicing their faith?

We have studied so far that the world, toxic relationships, and a defiled conscience are enemies of our faith. Today, we are going to tackle the biggest enemy- the devil. And yes, he is real, and he is seeking to devour whomsoever faith that he can. And looking at the numbers, he appears to be doing a decent job at attacking our faith.

So, today, we need to see what we need to be looking out for so that we can guard our faith against the devil's attacks. Let's look at our Scripture from Luke 22:31-32.

Scripture

Luke 22:31-32 (NKJV) 31 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."

Background Information

In the passage that we just read the Lord announces to Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, that he is going to come under Satan's attack. But I don't want you to miss this because Jesus is going to tell us exactly what Satan is planning to attack. Jesus says, "I pray that your faith should not fail." Satan was going to attack Peter's faith, and I believe it is still the devil's main form of attack against Christians. And I get confirmation of that by the very words of Jesus in Luke 18:8 when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

So, if I am going to guard my faith, I need to know how Satan attacks my faith.

My First Point

Satan will introduce something in your life to cause you to fear because the devil knows that fear displaces faith.

Luke 22:56-57 (NKJV) 56 And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him." 57 But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."

What made Peter give the answer to the slave girl that he did not know Jesus- fear. Fear that if he said that he was with Jesus that they might do the same thing to him that they were about to do to Jesus.

But Peter is not the only one who knows about fear. We all know about fear. We all know what fear feels like. And we all have probably said at some point in a given situation that I was worried sick about (and you fill in the blank.)

The devil loves it when he gets us hung up on fear. Churches won't try something new to reach people for Christ because of fear. It might cause us too much money. Let me tell you some churches would rather having the safety of holding on to its money then spending it to reach a soul for the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not going to do that at Bala Chitto while I am pastor.