February 22, 2004A
"Satan: Resisting Satan in Times of Trial"
SERIES: Meet the Cast
Introduction:
A. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
1. The Shadow was a radio program that I listened to as a kid (we did not have TV at the time).
2. Even though the Shadow was a crime fighter whose every show taught, "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay!" there is a strange comparison to evil in the program. There are similarities to Satan.
3. "We live in a society that believes in evil but writes off Satan as a character in cartoons with a pitch fork and horns. This image has reduced the truth about the enemy to a mere fairy tale...Satan is a real created being..." (Rick Long, "Satan: How to Resist Satan in Times of Trouble," http://www.sermoncentral.com/contributor_sermon.asp?SermonID=65873&ContributorID=10996&NameFirst=Rick&NameLast=Long&ImageName=RickLong10996%2Ejpg&ImageHeight=272&CN=Grace+Church+of+Arvada&CWeb=February 17, 2004.)
4. At the Last Supper, Jesus discussed Satan with the phrase "prince of this world (Jn 12-14)."
5. John explains that he has been sinning from the beginning, 1 Jn 3:8.
6. He is in rebellion against God and his authority.
7. He seeks to overthrow all that belongs to God. That includes us and the world in which we live.
Satan is real. He is our enemy. We must resist him because of Jesus and for our soul’s sake
I. Resist the ability to blind.
A. The Shadow, Lamonte Cranston, wealthy man around town, had the ability to cloud men’s minds so that they could not see him.
B. Satan is able to affect our minds and the way we see things. NIV 2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
1. I have noticed how quickly people will believe anything but the truth.
a. In his interview with Diane Sawyer, Mel Gibson said that his critics have no argument with him, they have an argument with the four Gospels.
b. Bob Russell tells in his book God Builds a Church about his son Rusty speaking to a high school world religions class. He told them about Jesus’ claim that he is the way, the truth, and the life. "Most of the students still insisted that it was wrong of him to contend that any way was the ‘true’ way." (Bob Russell, When God Builds a Church, (West Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing Co., 2000), p. 21.)
2. How do you know that Satan has not clouded your mind? Are your beliefs old wives tales, tradition, heretical ideas or truth in God’s eyes? Here are some ways you can know.
a. God has sent us the truth. NIV John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
b. We can know that truth. NIV John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
c. We are purified by obeying the truth. NIV 1 Peter 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth...
d. Our obedience to the truth tells if we are in him or not. NIV 1 John 2:4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
You can be sure that Satan has not clouded your mind and blinded you if you believe in Jesus, follow the gospel of salvation in Christ, and do what he says.
II. Resist the invisible presence.
A. The Shadow is able to stay near the villains without them knowing it, eavesdrop on their conversations, be at the scene of the crime, and capture them. I especially enjoyed the part of the program where the Shadow spoke to the criminal, but the criminal could not see him. The criminal would shout, "Who’s there? Who are you?" Next, he might shoot into the darkness trying to hit what he could not see. Then there would be a smack, "Ooph." A fall. The Shadow would have landed a blow to the criminal, knocking him down so that he could be detained for the police.
B. Satan is not visible, but is lurking in the background. NIV 1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
1. I don’t like the idea that Satan is always around, lurking waiting for me to let my guard down so that he can disarm me. But you can tell when he is working on us.
a. We scream at someone who has not intended to offend us.
b. We fill with rage on the road and want to hurt someone.
c. We are sexually attracted to someone we should not be.
d. Money occupies our thinking–obsesses us.
e. We enjoy telling that roomer. Paul advises NIV Ephesians 4:27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
2. So, Peter’s advice is what we need for our protection.
(1) We need to be in full use of our faculties at all times, be self-controlled and alert. Strangely, diet, exercise, and rest affect our spiritual lives because these can influence our ability to think clearly and, therefore, be able to be alert.
(2) i think of pictures we have seen of our soldiers in Iraq who are on patrol. They have their guns at the ready. They continue to sweep the area with their eyes. They are listening for any sound that would warn them of attack.
(3) That, to me, represents what Peter is saying about the way we should be watching out for Satan. Peter even calls him the enemy using the Greek word is avnti,dikoj. dikoj means "right." avnti means against. Literally, Peter is warning about the one who is against right.
a. Our confidence to resist Satan is built stronger from, NIV Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible.
This comforts me because I know that if I learn the Word of God and use it the way I would use a flashlight in the dark, I don’t need to fear Satan lurking in the shadows to jump me. The light of God’s Word is the stun gun, the pepper spray against the destroyer.
III. Resist the ability to scheme.
A. Every Shadow program dealt with overcoming an evil scheme.
1. There was a hypnotist who had many high government dignitaries of various lands under his hypnotic sway and he intended to rule the world. There were the murdered night watchmen; the murdered sanatarium patients; the destroyer seeking fame by blowing up buildings; the train taken hostage; the zoo keeper who thought that he was a gorilla and murdered people, etc. The Shadow always figured out the scheme and ended the criminals’ careers.
2. Satan is a schemer. Deception is the name of his game.
a. He raises questions about truth as he did in the beginning of sin when he suggested to Eve, NIV Genesis 3:3 but God did say, ’You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’" 4 "You will not surely die,"...
b. His scheme is to offer what is not his to give, as he did when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness: sustenance, fame, fortune, power.
c. His scheme is to wait patiently for our weak moments as Luke explains. After Jesus resisted his advances, Satan left him until a more opportune time, Lk 4:13.
d. Jesus taught us that Satan will steal the word from us if we allow him to, Luke 8:12.
e. Jesus calls him "a liar and the father of lies, Jn 8:44. He filled the couple Ananias and Sapphira so that they lied to God about the money they gave, Acts 5:1-11.
f. Satan uses pagidos,, a trap or snare, 2 Tim 2:26.
g. He convinces us that harboring envy and selfish ambition is wise, Ja 3:15.
h. He causes us to consider our ways God’s ways as he did when Peter told Jesus that he would never die. NIV Mark 8:33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
i. His scheme is to imitate God to gain sincere but misled followers. NIV 2 Corinthians 11:14...for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. Mel Gibson was asked "‘Why was the devil portrayed by a person that you could not clearly identify as a beautiful woman or a hideous man. Sometimes this character looked good, other times this character looked ugly." Mel Gibson said ‘I wanted it this way because that is how the enemy is. Evil looks good until you turn it around a little and see the whole spectrum, then you see the ugliness’" (Rick Long, sermoncentral. Fortunately, God has equipment for us to use against the devil’s schemes. NIV Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Paul described the equipment as salvation, righteousness, faith, truth, the gospel, and God’s Word. We can stand with God’s help against all that Satan does.
Remember this admonition of scripture. NIV James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
B. Murder was the scheme often in the Shadow programs. It was also with Satan. He was behind the plot to kill Jesus. NIV Luke 22:3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.
C. Gibson portrayed Satan in the movie as a person scheming to get rid of Jesus. As Jesus struggles with the cross toward Calvary, Gibson shows Mary and the devil locking eyes. He says that each knows who the other is. At that point Satan disappears. D. Satan had reason to be rid of Jesus.
1. The devils knew Jesus true identity and were afraid, Ja 2:19.
2. Satan knew Jesus’ strength when they battled with temptation in the desert. Jesus resisted Satan with willpower and the Word of God. He quoted scripture against every temptation.
3. Jesus healed people under the devil’s power, Acts 10:38, and Jesus cast demons out of people.
4. What Satan did not know, could not know, because it was God’s plan that angels and prophets longed to understand but could not until it was completed, was that the death of Jesus meant the end for Satan. NIV Hebrews 2:14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-- that is, the devil.
Paul explained, NIV 1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. NIV 1 Corinthians 15:54..."Death has been swallowed up in victory." The resurrection.
Invitation:
"Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honor but pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure and pays with pain; he promises profit and pays with loss; he promises life and pays with death." (Thomas Brooks. http://www.christianglobe.com/Illustrations/theDetails.asp?whichOne=s&whichFile=satan, February 20, 2004.)
But Jesus promises freedom from pain, so he died for us in pain. Jesus promises forgiveness for sin, so he took the punishment for the sins of the world to the cross. Jesus promises life, so he bought it with his death.
Unite with Jesus in faith, repentance and baptism.
