"When The Devil Comes To Church”

In 2 Corinthians 4:4, the devil is referred to as the “god of this world” or “the god of this age.” And in John 12:31, he is called the “prince of this world.” In Ephesians 2:2, Paul calls the devil, “the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” The Bible teaches us that the devil is the major influence on the ideas, opinions, goals, and views of this broken world. When people live as if there is no God, they by default follow the god of this world, whose existence, they also, amazingly seek to deny as well.

Men don’t believe in a devil now, as their fathers used to do; They’ve forced the door of the broadest creed to let his majesty through; There isn’t a print of his cloven foot or a fiery dart from his bow to be found in earth and air today, for the world has voted so.

But who is mixing the fatal draught that palsies heart and brain,

and loads the earth of each passing year with ten hundred thousand slain? Who blights the bloom of the land today with the fiery breath of hell? If the devil isn’t and never was won’t somebody rise and tell?

Won’t somebody step to the front forthwith, and make his bow and show how the frauds and the crimes of the day spring up? For surely we want to know. The devil was fairly voted out, and of course the devil is gone; but simple people would like to know who carries his business on?

The Bible teaches that the devil is real and he is the enemy of the Child of God. He has great influence in the world, and of course, wants to keep the world right where he has it, under his thumb. Which is why he works so hard against the church. And if he can gain entrance into a church, he will gladly do so in order to sow chaos among the saints.

Sometimes even the most committed can sometimes be used by the devil (Matthew 16:13-23). Sometimes even godly people can behave badly.

Which is why, as Paul concludes his letter to the church at Rome, he talks about what to do when the devil comes to church.

“. . . give no opportunity to the devil.” - Ephesians 4:27 (ESV)

We are not supposed to give the devil an opportunity to influence our lives. He is the enemy of God and wants to destroy God’s people. So, as Peter tells us, we need to . . .

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” - 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

In 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, Paul speaks of conducting the work of the church in such a way “ in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes” (v. 11).

Let’s see what Paul has to say about when the devil comes to church.

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1. The devil’s strategy - v. 17

The devil’s strategy for causing chaos within the church is two-fold:

A. He wants to divide God’s people - v. 17a

The desired effect, of course, is to hinder our work for God.

In a horse pulling contest at a county fair, the first place horse moved a sled weighing 4,500 pounds. The runner up pulled 4,000 pounds. The owners of the two horses wondered how much the animals could pull if they worked together. So they hitched them up and loaded the sled. To everyone’s amazement, the horses were able to pull 12,000 pounds!

God’s people can accomplish more working in partnership than on our own. This is why, when Paul talks about the devil’s strategies in passages like Ephesians 4:27 and 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, we find he is doing so within th context of speaking about how to deal with anger and choosing to offer forgiveness.

The devil knows this, so if he can divide us in any way, he will. His strategy in creating chaos within a church is always to “divide and conquer!”

B. He wants to distract God’s people - v. 17b

The desired effect is to hinder our walk with God. If he can, the devil will get us majoring on minors so that we might be distracted from what should be priorities for us as God’s people.

Some may remember General Norman Schwarzkopf. For those who don’t, he was commander of U.S. Central Command under President George H. W. Bush and led our forces in the 1st Gulf War & Operation Desert Shield, to defeat the Iraqi forces that had invaded Kuwait.

After the war was concluded, Schwarzkopf became a very popular man. He wrote a book, “It Doesn’t Take a Hero,” and toured the country, giving lectures on leadership. In his lecture, he would share 11 principles that guided him to victory in the war. Principle #5 was, “No repainting the flagpole.” And he would share how important it is to make sure all the people in an organization are doing things that contribute to the priorities of the group.