The Devil Wouldn’t Let Me Do It
(I Thessalonians 2:17-20)
1. One day I came down with the "Sam" bug.
2. I was grazing with my remote, going through the channels.
3. Low and behold, my attention was set upon one of the Christian stations.
4. Three couples were talking about sin and the devil.
5. And, like many poor interpreters of the Bible, two guys with opposing opinions could not understand that they both were right, in a sense.
6. One guy was saying that the devil was actively sabotaging Christians and Christian leaders. He was of the view that believers acknowledged the reality of Satan, but did not take him seriously when it came down to daily life.
7. Another guy was arguing that people are responsible for their own behavior and that blaming things on the devil was nothing less than an evasion of responsibility.
8. But neither guy considered balancing these two factors together.
9. They did agree that when we have faith, the devil cannot stand against us and that when we walk with God, we always trample down all his schemes. I do not agree with that at all, and we will see in a few moments that Paul did not hold that viewpoint.
9.Over half of born-again Christians (52 percent), according to a recent Barna poll, do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a living entity…
Slightly more born-again Christians believe in the devil than believe in the Holy Spirit, though 45 percent do not believe that Satan exists.
[Barna stats quoted by Les Feldick at http://lesfeldick.org/news24.html]
10. Confusing factors: God uses Satan. God allows the devil to stop us because God wants us to be stopped for some reason; the devil is real, but God is sovereign. Sometimes God wants something to fail or not progress. His Kingdom is very complex, and we must remember that God is the Great Strategist. Sometimes winning is losing and losing is winning -- in the long term.
11. Sometimes Christians are surprised to learn that God uses Satan and demons to accomplish His purposes.
• I Samuel 16:14-15, "Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. Saul’s attendants said to him, ’See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.’"
• I Kings 22:19-22, "Micaiah continued, ’Therefore hear the word of the LORD : I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the LORD said, ’Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’’’
"’One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the the LORD and said, ’I will entice him.’’"
" ’By what means?’ the LORD asked.
" ’I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.
" ’You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ’Go and do it.’
"So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you."
12. Sometimes the devil stops us because of our sin or unbelief or our failure to practice spiritual warfare. Sometimes we do not know if perhaps God is allowing the devil to stop us.
13. If you do not think that the devil is very active today, then I suggest you start witnessing. If you are someone who witnesses frequently, I probably do not have to convince you that the devil is alive and well. He becomes most active when we begin to make a difference in reaching the lost or reclaiming the fallen.
Illustration: A group of soldiers on the front line sneak out of battle, go deeply into safe territory, and play cards in a shack somewhere; they are unlikely to be attacked by the enemy because they have fled from the battle. It is the same with us - if we are not aggressively seeking to make a difference for the kingdom, we are less prone to be attacked by the enemy because we are not as strategically valuable.
Main Idea: Sometimes we can become so sophisticated in our theology that we forget some simple but crucial truths.
I. God’s Enemy Is Our ENEMY (17-18)
• When the United Kingdom suffered those recent terrorist attacks, Americans sympathized with the Brits because we have the same enemy. God and His children also share the same enemy, the devil (his title) or Satan (his name) and his army of demons.
A. He can TEAR us away from fruitful ministry (17)
1. The word translated "tore us away" contains the word "orphan." It is a strongly emotional word; picture one person clinging to another while others tear him away and carry him off…
2. We do not know, for sure, that it was Satan who tore Paul and his companions away from the Thessalonians…on the human side, it was the Thessalonian officials who forced Paul out…but behind much human behavior are spiritual forces.
B. He can put the BRAKES on our attempts to further God’s Kingdom (18)
1. Being stopped by Satan is not necessarily a defeat! Paul wanted to visit the Thessalonians; God did not forbid it, but Satan effectively prevented him from doing so, yet even Satan can only do what God permits him to do.
2. Paul did not attribute all his setbacks to Satan. He was not the boy who cried "Wolf." He only cried "Satan" when he had reason to do so. Notice these examples:
Acts 16:6-7 (the Spirit) "Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to."
Romans 1:13 (non-committal) "I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles."
C. Spiritual WARFARE is real
---the devil and his work are not presented as passive or incidental, but constant, relentless, and active ---
2 Corinthians 11:13b, "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light"
2 Corinthians 4:4 where Satan is called, “god of this age”
Ephesians 2:2 “the ruler of the kingdom of the air”
John 8:44, Jesus called the devil “a murderer…and the father of lies.”
1 Pet. 5:8 “… the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Ephesians 6:12 “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
• The word, "our struggle" does not mean Paul’s struggle, but the struggle of all believers…
• Blaming our sins on the devil is an evasion of responsibility; remaining oblivious to his attacks is dereliction of duty.
Sometimes we can become so sophisticated in our theology that we forget some simple but crucial truths.
The first simple truth is that God’s enemy is our enemy.
II. God’s Harvest Through Us is Our PRIDE AND JOY (19-20)
A. Those we DISCIPLE make up part of our heavenly rewards
1. A pastor friend really poured himself into one his youth…fell away, and my pastor friend is heartbroken…but I believe he will be rewarded in glory for his efforts…
It is not quantity of converts, but faithfulness...
2. I remember the old comic, "You can’t take it with you." It was a picture of a hearse at the cemetery with a U-Haul trailer… but there are some things we take with us…those we have won or helped and our works
• Revelation 14:13 reads, "Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on."
"Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
B. Active service makes us EAGER for Jesus’ return
The term coming (in at his coming) is Parousia (????????). It means presence, and was used of the arrival of a great person, like a king.
The Second Coming of Christ is most exciting for those who have labored hard for Him!
C. We can glorify God on EARTH in ways we cannot in heaven
• How many of these things that we do on earth will we also do in heaven? Worship, give thanks, evangelize, sing, enjoy fellowship, learn. We will do all of these things in heaven except evangelize. Now is the time to witness! We won’t be able to reach the lost when we are in heaven.
• Our Sunday School Class
CONCLUSION
1. The most important truths of the Christian life are not rocket science.
2. But if we forget the simple, basic things, we cannot succeed.
3. Are you a trooper in God’s Kingdom, or an observer?
