Dealing With The Devil
Ephesians 6:12
Woodlawn Baptist Church
June 10, 2007
Introduction
He blinds the minds of the unsaved. He steals away the good seed sown in the heart. He lulls unbelievers into a false sense of security. He lays snares for those unaware. He masquerades as an angel of light, mixes truth with error and deceives the minds of those who are not in the Word of God. He persecutes the Lord’s churches. He perverts the gospel. He disturbs our unity and sows the seeds of heresy. He is none other than Lucifer, that old dragon, the devil.
We know him as Satan, and today as I begin a short series of messages about spiritual warfare I want to begin here, with the originator of all spiritual warfare. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:12,
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
I like the way the New Living Translation reads.
“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
More than we know there is a war raging around us every day, even now; a war that cannot be fought with guns and tanks and missiles. The war is real and cannot be taken lightly. It is not a figure of speech reminding us of how bad things get, it is a real war involving real spirits and it effects real people, churches and families.
Unlike the war in Iraq, where we pay men and women to go off and fight and we can read about it or watch it on T.V. from the comfort of our homes, this war is taking place in our homes. There are no bystanders, no silent observers. It effects us all. The question today is whether it engages us all. You see, far to many, most people in fact, forget, dismiss, or ignore the spiritual warfare that is raging. While the war goes on, they have laid down their weapons and have been taken captive.
Today I have no intention of giving you a theological lesson about the devil. Instead, this is a call to action: a call for you, for this church, for your families to quit living like spectators and instead to become fully engaged in the battle ourselves. I want to give you three challenges related to this call to arms.
Wake Up
According to a study done by the Barna Research Group in 2006, more than half of adults surveyed say that Satan is only a symbol of evil. A full 45% of Christians deny Satan’s existence. In the same way we view Cupid as a symbol of love, these are professing believers who think that Satan is only a symbol of evil! The Bible doesn’t address Satan as an idea or symbol, but as a real being who exists, communicates, thinks, has emotion and acts.
Do we really believe the Bible? A couple of weeks ago John quoted a popular story about the preacher and the writer. Thousands flocked to hear the writer, so the preacher wanted to know how he did it. If you remember, the writer said, “I tell fiction as though it were truth, and you tell truth as though it were fiction.” That’s the truth! We’ve reduced Satan to a fictitious man in a red suit with horns, but the Bible declares that he is real!
• In Genesis 3 he was the deceiver in the Garden of Eden, planting doubt and confusion about man’s need for God.
• In 1 Chronicles he was the provoker who led David to number the people of Israel, an act of pride and arrogance considering that God had built the nation, not David
• In Job 1 he was the accuser and tormenter of Job.
• In Matthew 4 he was the tempter during Jesus’ wilderness testing.
• He led Judas to betray the Savior.
• He filled Ananias’ heart with greed and lies so that he lied to the Holy Spirit.
The Scriptures are plain: Satan was at work throughout the Old Testament, he was at work in the New Testament and he is still at work today! That’s why Paul told us to put on the whole armor of God – so we might stand against the strategies of Satan: strategies like doubt, pride, lies, accusations, false security and deception. He uses those strategies against you, your family and this church. But irregardless of what strategy he uses, the point is always the same: we don’t need God.
That was his point in the Garden. Adam and Eve didn’t need God when they could be gods. That was his point with David. David was a great and mighty king! He had built an empire himself! He didn’t need God. When Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones to bread, to jump off the temple, and to bow at his feet, the temptation was for Jesus to deny His need for God.
It’s no accident that you’re so busy you don’t have time to pray. It’s no accident that there’s something more entertaining on television than what is in your Bibles. This week I was reading an article about the spread and demise of churches around the world. In places like China where Christianity is under heavy persecution and churches are illegal, those churches are growing and are flourishing. In Europe and America where we are free to worship any way we want, Christianity is dying a slow and ugly death. In response to the article, one man said that the reason Christianity spread in the first place was an ignorance of scientific understanding of the natural world, and the wonderful quality of life changes that have accompanied it. He said, and to quote, “that’s why there’s a question of whether Christianity is "going to make it." For quite some time now Western minds have needed it less and less.” Mission accomplished. We don’t need God any more.
It’s time to wake up! Satan is after you. He’s after your family and I promise you he wants to destroy this church. And so long as we ignore, dismiss and deny the spiritual warfare that is raging around us this very day we will be taken out. Paul said in Ephesians 5:14,
“Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
Folk, that’s one of the greatest needs of this hour – that we wake up and recognize the reality of Satan and the spiritual warfare that is happening around us each day. I believe at this very moment a war is being waged for your heart, your mind, your attention. A war is being fought for your affections. It is being fought for your devotion, but can you see it? Do you believe it? Or have you too been lulled to sleep? Have you grown insensitive to the demonic spirits at work around you? Have you forgotten that we’re not wrestling against flesh and blood? Wake up!
Work Out
1 Peter 5:8 tells us,
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
I’m not telling you anything new when I say that lions on the hunt don’t go after the biggest, fastest or strongest animals in a herd. They attack those who are weak and sickly. They attack and take out those who lag behind. They attack those who wander away from the herd or who get distracted in some way.
Spiritual warfare isn’t any different. Our adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. He’s going to target those same kinds of people: weak and sickly Christians, Christians who are lagging behind, those who wander away from the church or who get distracted somehow.
Jesus said that “the thief comes to steal, to kill and to destroy.” He wants to take you out. God created you to glorify Him by living in a personal relationship with Him. God created you for fellowship with Him. He wants you to love Him, to be devoted to Him, to follow Him and bring great pleasure to Him. He wants the same for your family. But Satan wants to prevent all of that.
• Where God wants you to bring glory to Him, Satan wants you to dishonor the Lord.
• Where God wants you to live in a personal relationship with Him, Satan wants you to live independently from God.
• God created you for fellowship. Satan wants you to be your own man, call your own shots, do what you want to do. Shoot from the hip.
• God wants you to love Him. Satan wants to distract you with all the issues of life.
• God wants you to follow Him and bring Him pleasure. Satan wants to keep you so busy running around and keep your life so full of noise you don’t even think of following God.
I don’t want Satan to be taking any of us out, but if I have to choose between you and me, it’s going to be you. If a killer is chasing you and me down the street, I promise I want to be running faster than you! I know that sounds terrible – so let me give it to you this way.
Working out has to do with just a handful of things. If Satan is looking for the weak, the sick, the loner, the distracted, then let’s do this:
Grow stronger. Grow stronger in your convictions through study of the Word. Grow stronger in your faith through ministry to others. Grow stronger in your love for God through daily communion with Him. Grow stronger in your purpose for living by making a decision today to live for the glory of God. Grow stronger.
Get healthier. You know enough about nutrition to know this stuff. Take your vitamins: Bible reading and study, fasting, prayer, meditation, and worship. Your doctor tells you if you want to be healthier then you need to do two things: eat better and get more exercise. The Great Physician has the same regimen for us: eat better (less junk and more meat) and exercise more. We need to exercise our faith more by stepping out and trusting God. We need to run the race set before us. We need to lift up holy hands in prayer.
Stay with the herd. You’re easy prey for Satan when you’re out there on your own. You need to be actively involved in the body life of your church family. I don’t just mean coming to Sunday morning worship – but really running with the herd as much as you can.
Stay focused. Get your sights on the author and finisher of our faith and run in that direction. My VBS lesson this week was about the four soils. So many believers get taken out by Satan because the seed of God lands in your life, but it’s too quickly choked out by the worries of this life and the lures of wealth. If the word can’t take root in your life then you’re an easy target.
So, wake up, work out, and…
Walk Right
James told us “resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The Christian life is compared to a walk. You’re either walking with God, toward God, for God or you’re not. There is no other direction. You’re either taking the narrow way which leads to life or the wide way that leads to destruction. You’re either following Jesus who is the way or you’re not.
When the Bible tells us to resist Satan, the idea is that you’re walking or running in the opposite direction from him. In Ephesians 2:1ff, Paul said,
“And you has he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past you walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others…”
Do you see that? Before you were saved you couldn’t help but walk wrong. You walked according to the designs of Satan. You belonged to him, to his system and were under his influence whether you knew it or chose it or not. You were not walking with God, for God or toward God. But all that changed when you put your faith in Him. God put you on a new path, but now you have a choice to make. Will you go back to that way of life that is so familiar to you? Will you give in to your carnal, sinful desires? Will you walk in the Spirit or in the flesh? Will your life be characterized by love or hate? By joy or bitterness? By forgiveness or malice? By lewdness or modesty? By hardness or by grace? The choice is yours.
That’s why Paul keeps on talking about all Christ has done for us after He delivered us from the clutches of Satan until in Ephesians 4:1 he says in essence, you used to walk wrong, now walk differently. In chapter 5:1 he says, “Be ye therefore followers of God.” Verse 2 says walk differently.
The challenge for us is to become so engaged in the spiritual warfare going on around us that we’re willing to march to a new set of orders. It means that you’re committed to walking right in a world that wrong. It means following a new Commander in Chief, a new King, a new Conqueror with a whole new set of rules. Walk right.
Conclusion
On the outskirts of a small town there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts. "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me, " said one boy. Several nuts dropped out of his hand and rolled down toward the fence.
Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me".
One for you, one for me." He just knew what it was....He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just round the bend, he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along. "Come here quick," said the boy, "you won’t believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls."
The man said, "Beat it kid, can’t you see it’s hard for me to walk." When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery.
Standing by the fence they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me." The old man whispered "boy, you’ve been telling me the truth. Let’s see if we can see the Lord."
Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord. At last they heard, "One for you, One for me. One for you, one for me. That’s all, now let’s go get those nuts by the fence and we’ll be done."
They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike.
Course we know that’s not how it’s going to happen. The Lord has already done everything possible to deliver you from the grips of Satan. He sent Christ to save you and now Christ lives to give you the life your heart longs for. Satan just wants you destroyed – separated from God however he might make that happen. If he can keep you from believing and putting your faith in Christ, great. If he can keep you from living for God, that’s great too.
Offer the plan of salvation and call the church to action.
