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If you’ll open to John Chapter 8, John 8 is where
we’re going to begin this evening. You know, many times, people association the
events of this world, whether good or bad, with God. And in good times and
during good events, there are those who give praise to God — and wonderfully
so. But yet some of those same individuals, during challenging times, or
difficult times or bad times, will question God. And we are not to question God
or doubt God, yet this world is a complex world.
There are many things that happen within this
world that we truly do not fully understand, and it goes beyond our abilities to
understand; we must realize that, yes, the world is very complex. There are so
many decisions being made by so many individuals, and there are consequences to
those decisions, good and bad. And sometimes we face consequences to our own
decisions; other times, we face consequences as a result of others’ decisions.
And so, yes, we do face good and we do face bad,
and we have to do our best in both occasions. But in all things and in all
times, thanking God and giving praise to God and never questioning Him or
doubting His ability to overlook things, because we do need to understand that,
yes, God is in control. But yet, when it comes to the events of this world and
the happenings of this world, often times many leave out a very important piece
of the puzzle, and that is the influence of Satan.
We do know that, because of the works of Satan,
sin entered into the world. And since sin entered into the world and has since
maintained a position in this world, that there is evil, pain and suffering, so
there are difficult times and circumstances that we do face.
But we must remember — as I referred to in the
article on the front of today’s bulletin — here in John Chapter 8, Jesus was
having a discussion with the Pharisees, and that discussion becomes a little
more heated as the chapter continues. And we see, if you go to the very end of
John Chapter 8, how the Pharisees responded.
“(59) Then took they up stones to cast at him:
but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of
them, and so passed by.”
They didn’t like what Jesus had to say, and it
got to the point that they took up stones and were ready to kill Jesus.
But notice, within that conversation in John
Chapter 8, here in verse 44, Jesus said, referring to these Jewish leaders,
these Pharisees,
“(44) Ye are of your father, the devil,
and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh
a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
So Jesus refers to Satan as a murderer from
the beginning. He is a liar. He is the father of all lies. He has exerted
his influence upon this world, and we see the results of it, the results of the
works of Satan and the influence of sin within this world. And so when things
happen, we also need to remember that Satan is exerting his influence. But one
thing that we must admit is that Satan is very effective. Satan works very
hard, and he uses strategy when he puts forth his attempts.
And that’s what I want to consider this evening,
is the strategy of Satan. Because in order to be effective — and Satan does
want to be effective. He wants to separate as many people as possible from God;
that is his goal. And in order to do so, Satan uses strategy, and to be honest
with you, he uses it very well. But regardless of what Satan tries and how
effective he is in turning very, very many people — countless thousands have
been turned away from God due to the influence of Satan. But no matter how
effective he is, he will not have the final victory. We can rest assured of
that, and that is a comforting thought and an encouraging though for Christians.
In I Corinthians Chapter 15, in verse 57, Paul
said,
“(57) But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
When Paul says us — we, we have
been given this victory, victory to us — who is he referring to? Well,
of course, it was the Christians that Paul was writing to, and so Paul is saying
that victory belongs to God and the Christians, God’s people. And so we, as
Christians, can share in that victory, and will share; not only can we share in
that victory, but we will share in that victory — as long as we remain obedient
to God. And so there’s nothing that Satan can do to separate us from God if we
remain obedient.
That’s why, in verse 58 (I Corinthians 15:58 ),
Paul went on to say,
“(58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye
steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye
know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
And so if we remain obedient to God, steadfast
and strong in the truth, if we do not move away from it, then we will have
victory. But we do need to be aware that Satan will try to keep that from
happening.
If you’ll turn to Psalms 148.... As we talk about
how Satan uses strategy in order to be as effective as he can be, let’s look at
some background information, first of all, regarding Satan. In Psalm 148, I
would like to begin reading in verse 1.
“(1) Praise ye the Lord, Praise ye the Lord from
the heavens: praise him in the heights.
“(2) Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye
him, all his hosts.
“(3) Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all
ye starts of light.
“(4) Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye
waters that be above the heavens.
“(5) Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he
commanded” — and notice this phrase here in verse 5 — “and they were created.”
Notice, included in that list are... angels,
verse 2, so yes, we do know that the angels are created beings, created by God.
And we know that the angels were created with the ability to choose. Sometimes,
we don’t think about that. I’m afraid sometimes, when we think of the angels,
we think of them almost in a robotic form, that they are commanded and they
respond automatically. That isn’t always the case. Angels were created with
the ability to make decisions, the ability to choose, and unfortunately, we
know, there were those angels that made some very poor decisions.
If you go to Galatians Chapter 1 (Galatians 1:6),
Paul said, beginning in verse 6,
“(6) I marvel that ye are so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
“(7) Which is not another but there be some that
trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
“(8) But though we” — and notice this — “or an
angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed."
Now, wait a minute, Paul. If angels did not have
the ability to choose, how could they preach anything other than the gospel?
But since Paul said that that is an option, that an Angel could preach another
gospel, that shows that angels could choose to preach something other than the
truth. And yes, angels do have the ability to choose. And like I said,
unfortunately there were many angels — I don’t know how many, but there were
angels, perhaps I should say — that did make some very, very poor decisions.
If you turn to II Peter Chapter 2, in II Peter 2,
we see in verse 1 — the context being false prophets, false teachers — it says
that they would bring in damnable heresies,
“(1) ...[E]ven denying the Lord that bought them,
and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
“(2) And many shall follow their pernicious ways;
by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
“(3) And through covetousness shall they with
feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time
lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”
Now, notice verse 4.
“(4) For if God spared not the angels” — that did
what? — “that sinned....”
That shows us that the angels did have a choice,
and unfortunately, there were those angels that chose to sin.
“(4) For if God spared not the angels that
sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains
of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”
Just an interesting note there in that verse, the
word ‘hell’ that we see in the King James version comes from a Greek word — I’m
not sure I’m pronouncing this right, but ‘tartaros’ — that is the only place
that that word occurs in the scriptures. So we see that it was a significant
place that was available, or made available, because of these angels that
sinned. But in the fact that these angels sinned, we know that they had a
choice, and for one reason or another, they chose poorly: they chose to sin.
God, of course we know, is good in all attributes. He is love in all
attributes. He is pure and holy. He does not cause anyone to sin. He does not
force anybody to sin. But yet, His angels sinned. So we know that it wasn’t
because God created them that way, that God caused them to do that, but that
they chose to do so, so the angels could choose.
In Job Chapter 4, in verse 18 (Job 4:18), we have
reference to the angles being charged with folly. That word ‘folly’ meaning
‘foolishness.’ And in the book of Jude, we find an interesting verse along this
topic also: in Jude in verse 6.
“(6) And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”
So there are those angels who sinned, who were
foolish in their decisions, who were then cast out and reserved in chains in
darkness awaiting the judgment day and everlasting punishment.
Jesus spoke of this in Matthew Chapter 25. In
Matthew 25, we have the scene given to us of all people gathered together before
the judgment seat of Christ, all nations present, and that those people then are
divided either to the right hand of Christ or the left hand. Those on the hand
considered to be His sheep, those that He is the shepherd of, those that He
claims as His own, those whom He will invite into a heavenly home for all
eternity. But also we find, on the left hand, those that are referred to as the
goats. Those are not part of His sheep, those are ones He does not shepherd,
those are the ones that have rejected Him, have not been obedient. And in
verse 41, we see the message they will receive.
“(41) Then shall he say also unto them on the
left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire” — now, notice this
phrase — “prepared for the devil and his angels.”
It seems to be that Satan was the leader of those
rebellious angels, that he led the way and had influence upon them. As a matter
of fact — now, there has been some question as to whether that is the case,
whether or not Satan ever was an angel of God. I believe that; I think the
scriptures support that. And one of the passages that does is in an interesting
passage: I Timothy Chapter 3; of all places, within the qualifications of
elders.
Say now, wait a minute. What type of
information would there be, having to do with Satan, in the qualification of
elders? Are they not the ones who are to have authority in the congregation,
the oversight in the congregation, to shepherd the flock?
Well, sure. But notice what it says in verse 6,
referring to an elder, that an elder is not to be a novice, and it gives the
reason why. It says,
“(6) ...[L]est being lifted up with pride he fall
into the condemnation of the devil.”
That one thing to remember is that, actually, we
are not condemned by the devil; we are condemned by God. Those who will fall
into condemnation are judged accordingly by God through Christ. The devil does
not condemn the person, but Satan certainly can influence a person to make some
poor decisions so that they will be condemned. But notice what this says then:
not the action of the devil, but what happened to the devil. Notice:
“(6) ...[L]est being lifted up with pride he fall
into the condemnation of the devil.”
And see, here we have insight as to what was the
problem with Satan, why is it that he is condemned by God — pride. Satan was
prideful. It seems that he did not want to be in submission and into subjection
to God. He didn’t like having an authority over him; it seems that he wanted
the authority. And because of pride, he rebelled. And I don’t know — we’re not
given the details as to how that happened, what that involved, but we do see
that there were angels that followed in his example and followed him. Again,
Jesus referring to ‘the devil and his angels.’
In Proverbs Chapter 16, in verse 18 — I made
reference to that verse last week in one of the lessons, that,
“(18) Pride goeth before destruction, and
an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Satan had pride and it caused his destruction,
his fall. So Satan did not want to be in subjection. He rebelled. And then he
exerted his influence upon the world, trying to cause people to do those things
to be separated from God. As I’ve already said, his goal is to separate as many
people as he possibly can from God.
That’s why, in I Peter Chapter 5, in verse 8
(I Peter 5:8), Peter said,
“(8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour.”
That’s what Satan wants to do. He wants to
devour us. He wants to ruin us. He wants to cause us to fall into
condemnation. And in order to do so, he uses strategy.
In you turn to James Chapter 4, we find a very
comforting verse on this topic of the influence of Satan, because, yes, he is
powerful and, yes, he is evil to the core and, yes, he wants to separate us from
God. But James Chapter 4 gives us comfort and reassurance. Let’s begin in
verse 7. (James 4:7)
“(7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you.
“(8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to
you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your
hearts, ye double minded.”
That word ‘submit’ is an interesting word. In
the Greek, it means ‘to be under obedience, to put under or to subdue, to be
subject to or in subjection to.’ It comes from two different Greek words, one
meaning ‘from’ or ‘under’ or ‘with’ and the other, ‘in an orderly manner’ or ‘to
assign.’ So the idea is we are to assign ourselves under God, to be in
subjection to Him, submission to Him, submit ourselves to God.
Notice, in order to do so, for those that James
was writing to, he said to purify their hearts. We must give our hearts
to God. We must love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our
might. That is a full commitment to God; we are not to give partial
commitments. We’re not to be part-time Christians or partly devoted. We are to
be fully devoted to God, full-time Christians, putting God first and foremost in
our lives.
If we do that and submit to God, true submission,
and serve God, strive to be obedient God, what are the results? Satan will flee
from us. That word ‘flee’ means ‘to run away, to escape, to flee, to vanish.’
Satan will vanish, he will flee, he will run away... if we truly and fully
submit to God and maintain that. Notice in verse 8,
“(8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to
you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your
hearts, ye double minded.”
Isn’t that a comforting thought? That if we draw
nigh to God, that it’s not a one-sided issue, but that God draws nigh to us?
That should give us great comfort, to know that God draws nigh to us. And when
we think about it, who are we that God should draw nigh to us? Because we have
sinned, because we have fallen short. We should humble ourselves and realize
truly how wonderful God is, how blessed we truly are to have a God who will draw
nigh to us.
But the idea here is, again, if we draw nigh to
God, if we submit ourselves to God, there is absolutely nothing that Satan can
do about it. Oh, he can try. He can put things in our path and he can give us
temptations and he can try to cause us to make the wrong decisions. But if we
submit to God, we’re going to make the proper decisions, and there is nothing
that Satan can do about it. Even though he is powerful, even though he is wise,
even though he was foolish in some ways, he is — and perhaps ‘wise’ isn’t the
proper word, but ‘diligent’ perhaps is — but he tries awful hard. But isn’t it
comforting to know that even Satan can do nothing to us if we’ll draw nigh to
Him — draw nigh to God, that is — resist Satan and he’ll flee.
Let’s think about Job in the Old Testament, a
familiar passage, familiar story of Job, who was so richly blessed, was a man
who, in Job Chapter 1, in verse 1, is described as,
“(Job1:1) ...perfect and upright, and one that
feared God, and eschewed evil,” meaning he resisted evil, he fled from evil.”
His substance was great, as we see in the opening
verses of Job Chapter 1. He had many possessions. He was a very wealthy man
materially, but most importantly, spiritually. But we know of course that those
things changed for Job, and this is a very interesting passage. It always has
been to me, beginning in verse 6.
“(6) Now there was a day when the sons of God
came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.
“(7) And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest
thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the
earth, and from walking up and down in it.
“(8) And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou
considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a
perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
“(9) The Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth
Job fear God for nought?
“(10) Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and
about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed
the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
“(11) But put forth thine hand now, and touch all
that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.”
So God asks Satan, Satan, have you considered my servant Job?
And He lets Satan know what type of a man he is: he is a good man, he is a
perfect man, an upright man, one that fears God, one that resists evil. Well,
Satan already knew that. But he says, Have you considered Job? That
‘hath thou considered’ comes from a Hebrew, or a Hebrew phrase, meaning
‘Have you given thought’ to Job?
And it is important to realize that Satan does
‘give thought.’ He doesn’t randomly act. He doesn’t aimlessly act. But he
acts with strategy. He acts with intent. He acts with purpose, and he puts
thought into it. Satan thinks about the opportunities that he may have to turn
people away. He doesn’t just guess and he doesn’t just randomly try things, but
he uses strategy.
But notice here that Satan doesn’t say, Who? Satan’s
familiar with Job. Because we see that Satan is active. Where has he been, in
verse 7? Going to and fro in the earth, walking up and down in it.
Satan is active and he looks for opportunities. But up to this point, he has
passed up Job. He hasn’t done anything to Job. Why? He tells God,
You’ve protected him too well. You’ve spoiled him. Job has all
these many things — of course he’s serving you. Look what you’ve done for him,
God. But take those things away, and he’ll curse you to your face.
So God allowed — and it’s important to understand
that God allowed — Satan to do some things. Let’s continue to read.
“(12) And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold all
that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine
hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.”
And we know how the story goes, that Job lost all
that he had, all his possessions, all his family — his children, that is — he
lost his health... in a very short time period. Before one messenger would
finish telling Job of the catastrophe in one aspect of his life, there would be
another messenger waiting to give him more bad news. And Job struggled along.
He had his difficult times. It was not an easy occasion for Job at all. But
Job, in the end, remained faithful. Why? Because he was, indeed, a perfect and
upright man, one that feared God and eschewed evil. Satan tried... but it
didn’t work.
You see, Satan could not force Job away from
God. He could try everything within his abilities and under the allowance that
God had given him to try to cause Job to do so, but Job continued to submit
himself to God. And for that reason, Satan lost the fight. Job won because he
committed to God and he resisted Satan, and Satan left Job alone.
If you go to the end of the book, we find that
Job was restored of his possessions and his material items. He had more
family. Job Chapter 42, in verse 12, “So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job
more than his beginning....” and it tells about the things that he then owned
once again.
I’ve often wondered — I wonder if God took the
allowance away from Satan to afflict Job anymore. Have you wondered about
that? Or was Satan open to keep trying on Job? Regardless — we’re not told the
details — but Satan didn’t. Why? Even if he had the allowance to do so, it
wouldn’t have been wise for him to do so, it wouldn’t have been effective for
him to do so. Why? Because Satan does not like to waste his time and Satan
does not like to waste his efforts. And that is why, if we submit to God and
resist him steadfastly, he’s going to leave us alone.
Now, he’s still going to look for opportunities,
and if we give him an opportunity, he’s going to try to take advantage of it.
Because he looks for chances. If the door is open, Satan is going to try
to open it further.
But Job won the battle, and Satan fled, because
he (Job) submitted himself to God and remained steadfast. So we need to do the
same thing. Because see, what happens, if Satan comes up against resistance,
strong resistance, he realizes, and he knows himself, that he cannot force us
away from God. He can only influence us, to try to get us away from God. And
if he’s trying and he sees that it is not working, guess what he’s going to do.
He’s going to use some strategy, say, You know, I might be wasting my time
here. I’m going to move on, because I can be more effective elsewhere. And
that’s what we need to do: we need to stand up to Satan and the influence of
sin, strong enough and well enough so that Satan would look at us and say,
You know, I’m just not being very effective here. I need to move on.
Submit ourselves to God, resist Satan and he will
flee. Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you.
The question this evening is, how well are we
doing? See, sometimes we go through our lives and we want to serve God and we
want to obey God, we want to submit to God, but we just don’t do it. Oh, we do
some, and at times we’re up and we’re down. But there are times that we put a
lot of things before God. And every time we put something — no matter what it
is — before God, that opens a crack for Satan. And if we put more things before
God, that widens the crack. The door becomes open a little wider, and we’re
giving more for Satan. We need to close the door and we need to keep it shut.
Don’t open the door. Don’t give the opportunities.
Unfortunately, too many people try to
compromise. They try to live their life with one foot on the side of the world
and one foot on the side of God. We cannot serve God and mammon. We can’t have
two masters, as Jesus said in his sermon on the mount. We need to choose. We
need to choose to serve God, to fully, wholeheartedly submit to Him, to strive
in obedience, continue to grow as a Christian and grow stronger as a Christian.
And as we do that, we will better resist Satan. We will do better in submitting
to God, and we can reach the point where Satan will flee from us.
But unfortunately, Satan doesn’t have to flee
from very many people, because too many people continue to give him too many
opportunities. Again, the answer is one answer and one answer only, and that is
obedience. If we obey God, there is nothing that Satan can do about it. Isn’t
that a comforting thought? Even though Satan is so wicked and so evil and so
powerful and so effective, we as an individual can defeat him. And we should
defeat him. We must defeat him if we’re going to share in an eternal home in
heaven with God.
But it is only through God that we can defeat
him. On our own, we certainly could not. Because we all have failed. We all
have fallen to the influence of Satan, for we all have sinned. (Romans 3:23)
But as pointed out in that article on the front page of the bulletin,
Romans 6:23 tells us the wages of sin is death. Satan has done a very good job
of spreading sin. And if it wasn’t for God and His love and His mercy and His
grace, we all would be without hope, for Romans 6:23 goes on to say, “But the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” There is no other
name under heaven by which we can be saved, than Jesus Christ. Because He went
to the cross of Calvary and He served as a sacrifice for our sins, giving his
body and shedding His blood for us, so that we, through the help of God and the
power God and the love of God, can defeat Satan.
Victory is ours. And there isn’t a person in
this world that does not like to win. And isn’t it nice and reassuring and
comforting to know... that victory... is... ours. There is no doubt about it.
We’re going to win... if we submit to God and resist Satan.
How well are you doing? Have you given a
wholehearted commitment to God and are you living up to that commitment,
following God’s instructions, obeying His word? If so, you’re resisting Satan,
and that’s exactly what we need to do. But how do you do that? How do you
start that process? It’s through obedience to the gospel, through Jesus
Christ. We must believe in Jesus as the Son of God. (John 3:16) We must be
willing to confess our faults — because, yes, we do make mistakes — and to admit
to God we have made errors and that we need to repent from them. So we must
repent of those sins, to turn away from them, make the necessary changes in our
lives, confessing the name of Jesus and our belief in Jesus as the Son of God.
We saw in Acts Chapter 8, the Ethiopian eunuch,
as he went about and was taught by Philip, he said, See, here is water. What
doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believeth with
all thine heart, thou mayest. And he said, I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. So he believed. He confessed that belief. We know that
he had to be penitent of his sins, for Peter said, in Acts 2 verse 38, Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. We need to
change from the way of sin. That is resisting Satan, that’s turning away from
him and turning to God. That’s what repentance is. And being baptized. Jesus
said, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. (Mark 16:60)
That’s how we obey the gospel. That’s how we
start the process of resisting Satan. We tell Satan, We’re not on your side,
we’re on the Lord’s side and we’re going to win. But in order to do so, we
must be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, as Paul
said in I Corinthians 15:58. Continue to resist.
But perhaps we do open the door for Satan. Maybe
we’re not committed to God as much as we should be, and we leave that
opportunity for Satan. And perhaps we fall because of his influence or
temptation and we allow sin back into our lives. We need to correct that, pray
to God, confess our faults and ask His forgiveness. God will forgive us of
those sins. He wants us to win. Satan wants us to lose. Whose side are you
going to choose?
If you’re not living according to God’s
instructions, please, make the decision this very moment: I’m going to submit
myself to God. I’m going to draw nigh to Him so that He will draw nigh to me.
And with God at our side, Satan is hopeless, powerless, and defeated.
If you want to win with God and you’re not on
God’s side, please change that. If you’re subject to the invitation in any way
or if you need further information, please, take advantage of the opportunity
you have at this moment and come... as we stand and sing.
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