Let's open the Word of God together to Ephesians
chapter 6 and verse 11 as we continue our theme
along the lines of spiritual warfare. I'm sorry
that I can't speak to you this morning with a
delightful Carolinian accent. As we have heard
earlier in the service, my Kansas accent will
have to do, but maybe that's the second best
kind. Would you agree with that? I thought so.
Satan is the spiritual enemy of every descendant
of Adam and Eve. Coming to our many times great
grandmother in the form of a serpent, he attacked
God's created order and contrived the fall of
mankind into disobedience and sin. From that
day until this, he has controlled, manipulated,
intimidated, and enslaved fallen mankind to use
them for his own purpose, that is, to attempt
to establish himself as God and receive worship.
Only we who have by the Spirit of the Lord been
led to trust in Christ for salvation, we who
have repented of our sin and by faith received
God's gift of forgiveness and eternal life, have
been freed from the tyranny of this evil despot
who rules his kingdom with fear, lies, and death.
We are involved in spiritual warfare. Satan is
seeking to destroy our life's potential for good
and for the glory of God. We are seeking to honor
our new King of love, our Holy Lord Jesus Christ.
by realizing His blessed will in our lives. In
this warfare, Satan employs well -thought -out
plans and methods to entrap and destroy us. This
is clearly stated in verse 11 of Ephesians 6,
where it says, Put on the full armor of God,
that you may be able to stand firm against the
schemes. that is, the well -planned methods of
the devil. And he uses similar schemes and devices
to keep those who are yet dead in trespasses
and sins under his mastery. To understand something
of Satan's schemes, we must go to the Bible,
our only authority and infallible guide. Satan
is herein exposed, and we can learn how to successfully
combat him in our spiritual warfare. Our first
matter for study is to understand something of
the works of Satan intended to maintain his hold
on the lives of those without a personal relationship
to God through Jesus Christ. I review with you
our study recently in which we determine from
the Word of God that in the first place, Satan
charts a course for human history. Ephesians
2 and verse 2 makes it clear. Within the God
-established boundaries that there are, the devil
is free to plan a course for human events. His
goal is to bring all of mankind, ultimately,
to the worship of himself. And as we know from
the study of prophecy, to some extent he will
be successful in that in the future. Satan has
organized his powers to influence nations, governments,
and leaders to bring about his ends. But opposing
him are the angels of God, who in the heavenlies
or in the invisible realm of spiritual things
are in constant war with satanic powers. The
outcome of that invisible battle directly affects
the course of human history. We are able to participate
in this warfare by prayer. Now let me remind
you, secondly, that we have previously determined
in our study that Satan also perverts the message
of the gospel, seeking to keep his hold on those
who are outside of faith in Jesus Christ. He
knows that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the
only key that will unlock the prison incarcerating
his captives. So he attempts to compromise to
confuse or to adulterate the simple message of
salvation. His most clever scheme, perhaps, is
to create a counterfeit Christianity, a religious
system using the words and form of biblical Christianity,
but which denies its essential teachings. that
is, the infallibility of the scriptures, the
deity of Jesus Christ, the sufficiency of his
blood's sacrifice for our sins, his resurrection
from the dead, and his personal return in glory.
This counterfeit Christianity comes with many
denominational names, but with the same essential
lie, and that is that man is himself essentially
good and not sinful and can save himself by good
works or can become God, perhaps, by recognizing
the divinity that is within him. We battle this
tactic of counterfeit Christianity. We battle
against Satan's perversion of the gospel by proclaiming
the simple, yet powerful message of salvation
by grace through faith, apart from any meritorious
work on our own. And God uses this gospel of
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ
to call others to himself. And now would you
focus with me this morning on yet another work
of Satan, which he uses to continue the enslavement
of those who are outside of faith in Jesus Christ.
He contends for the souls of unbelievers. He
charters a course for world history, we have
determined. He perverts the message of the gospel.
But thirdly, he contends for the souls of unbelievers.
How does he do that? Would you turn with me,
please, to the Gospel of Luke, to one of the
parables which Jesus told and which, in fact,
is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew,
Mark, and Luke. We will look at Luke's account
in the eighth chapter. And I will abbreviate
the parable by simply pointing out to you in
the fifth verse the words of Jesus when he said,
the sower went out to sow his seed. And as he
sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was
trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air
ate it up. Now what did Jesus mean by those words?
We are not left to have to guess on our own because
he himself tells us what he meant. Verse 11.
Now the parable is this. The seed is the word
of God. And those beside the road are those who
have heard. Heard what? The word of God. Then
the devil comes and takes away the word from
their heart so that they may not believe and
be saved. The Lord Jesus makes it clear himself
in his teaching. that Satan contends for the
souls of unbelievers, and he does it in the first
place by stealing the word of God from their
hearts. This parable explains to us what happens
when the word of God is preached, even preached
in a congregation like this. The fact is that
only a fraction of the hearers act upon it. If
that was true in the ministry of the Lord Jesus,
how much more true is it in the ministry today
of his servants? Now why is it that only a fraction
act upon what they have heard? Well, he gives
us several reasons in the full parable. But he
points out clearly that one reason is that the
devil comes to snatch away the truth before it
can take root in the heart. He tells us that
there are many hearts that have been hardened,
just like the earth beside a well -worn pathway.
And because of the hardened condition of the
heart, the seed simply lies on the surface so
that it can quickly be snatched away by the enemy.
Now how does Satan snatch it away? I suppose
that we might talk about any number of ways.
But let me suggest two or three quickly. One
is by distraction. In a service like this, there
are inevitably distractions. Anytime there's
anyone else between us and the one attempting
to communicate to us, there is a potential distraction.
All of us need to be sensitive to the fact that
around us, there are other people who also want
to hear the Word of God. And we need to be careful
that we don't do things or allow things that
distract them, so that as the word of God is
being sown into their minds, those distractions
actually become the tool of Satan to snatch away
that word. I received a letter from a lady who
has been attending our church since January.
She wrote to thank us for the ministry here at
Grace Church, but she did share one problem,
and that is that many times she has sat in a
service here and has been troubled by young couples,
married, unmarried, I don't know, who have their
arms around each other and who seem to whisper
a lot during the services. Now, I rather suspect
that it's probably the high schoolers, and so
I'll be talking about this in the next service
when they're in here. But I simply use that as
an illustration to point out that all of us have
to be careful in the service that we don't unwittingly
become the tool of Satan to distract someone
else who is trying to hear the word or in whose
heart the word is being sown, so that Satan then
is able to steal that word before it can take
root in their lives. I think also that Satan
enjoys using interruptions. Any of us who have
gone calling in homes, seeking to share our faith
with other people, have experienced interruptions.
If the telephone has not rung all day, you can
almost guarantee the fact that when you're sitting
down to share with someone your faith in Jesus
Christ, that telephone is going to ring. The
television. will suddenly come on. The children
will turn it on perhaps in the next room, and
it blares. There's an interruption. Now, is that
accidental? Not at all. You see, Satan uses anything
that he can to try to interrupt the communication
of the Word of God. He does it as well through
inner arguments that come up within the person.
So that instead of there being an attitude of
receiving and appropriating the word, there are
arguments that are thrust forward in the mind
against that message. Satan seeks to steal the
word of God before it can take root in a life.
The only hope for a hard heart is that it be
plowed up. And sometimes that's painful. But
through that plowing that sometimes God allows
in the hearts of all of us, the hardness there
is broken up so that our ground is prepared for
the implanting of the seed of the word of God
in our lives. He contends for the souls of unbelievers
in a second way, by blinding their minds. 2 Corinthians
chapter 4 is my thought, verses 3 and 4. The
apostle says, and even if our gospel is veiled,
it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose
case, notice his language, in whose case the
God of this world, that's Satan, has blinded
the minds of the unbelieving that they might
not see the light of the gospel of the glory
of Christ. who is the image of God. Satan supernaturally
blinds the minds of unbelievers. It's not that
the gospel is obscure. The gospel, in fact, is
clearly revealed to us. And it's simple. It is
simply Jesus Christ, the perfect revelation of
God, the exact representation, the image of God.
Him crucified, buried, and raised again as our
sin bearer. That's the gospel. And this simple
gospel can be simply appropriated as an act of
personal faith. In fact, it is so simple that
even a child can understand it and believe it.
I'm thankful that God has put the cookies, as
it were, on the lowest shelf, so even a little
child can come and partake. But Satan, the enemy
of souls, seeks to supernaturally inhibit the
minds of unbelievers from perceiving this good
news from God. He begins to whisper in the ear,
He is not actually God come in the flesh. He
is a moral teacher. He is a good example. He
is a great prophet. He is one who is divine,
but really nothing more than that. But of course,
Jesus Christ is not only man. He is God incarnate.
Satan also comes along to say regarding the sacrifice
of Christ. Well, it was a meaningful example
of self -sacrifice and dedication to others.
Or he says his death was a tragic ending of a
sincere man whose idealism got out of hand. Or
he says the death of Christ is an isolated historical
event that has no contemporary relevance. Or
he may even allow this. Oh yes, the death of
Christ is part of God's saving plan, but it certainly
isn't the soul means. Usually that comes across
by saying, yes, Christ is a way to God, but there
are many ways to God. You see, Satan seeks to
compromise the simplicity of that message and
to hide the truth of it from the minds of the
unbelieving. regarding man's responsibility simply
to receive by faith, Satan says, oh, but you
must also live a good life. You must also in
some way contribute toward the betterment of
society or of mankind. Oh, you must believe,
but you must also obey the Ten Commandments.
Or you must also keep the golden rule. You see
how cleverly He comes along to deny and to hide
the simplicity of the gospel, which is received
only as a free gift and an act of faith. Satan
has experimented for thousands of years to find
the most effective means to keep men in darkness,
and often he appeals to human pride. and to man's
natural religious nature to cover up the simplicity
and the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He contends for the souls of unbelievers by blinding
their minds to the truth of it and the simplicity
of it. But he also contends for the souls of
unbelievers by providing excuses. In Genesis
chapter 3, when God confronted man, woman, and
the serpent with what had happened in the garden,
what did the man do? He immediately used an excuse
and said, it was the woman that you gave me.
And so God spoke to the woman. And what did the
woman do? She said, it was that serpent. You
see, the ability to excuse ourselves from responsibility
goes all the way back to our original mother
and father after the fall into sin. The sinful
condition of the human heart allows it to manufacture
easily all of the excuses needed to prevent a
proper response to God. Jesus spoke to a number
of people and said to them, Follow me. But he
often heard excuses like, Well, first I have
to go to a funeral. Or first I have to say goodbye
to my family. Today the excuses go something
like this so often. Well, I would trust in Jesus
Christ as my Savior, but really isn't one church
as good as another? What difference does it make?
But you see, immediately, that excuse has rolled
over the whole issue. Salvation has nothing to
do with church or with denomination, but with
one's personal relationship to Jesus Christ.
Or the excuse is used, well, there are so many
different religions, all of them claiming to
be the truth. How can anyone ever really know
which is true? You see, that excuse assumes that
there is no standard for truth which God has
given. But we do have one in the Bible. We can
know which is truth. Another excuse goes this
way. Well, I would trust Jesus Christ, but I'd
have to give up too much. Now the person is beginning
to understand the cost of following Christ. My
friend, if you think that it costs a great deal,
if you think you're going to have to give up
too much in following Christ, then just think
for a moment clearly. Try to grasp what you're
giving up by not following Jesus Christ. And
then someone else may have the excuse, I want
to trust in Jesus Christ as my Savior, but I'll
wait until I have my life cleaned up. But you
see, Jesus Christ, my friend, wants you to come
just as you are. He did not come to save those
who were self -righteous, but those who are sinners
and who know it and are willing to acknowledge
that. And yet another excuse is often put forward.
I'm afraid of what others may think of me if
I become a follower of Jesus Christ. My friend,
never be afraid to identify yourself with Jesus
Christ, for he was unafraid, unashamed, to be
identified with you in your sin. The excuses
go on and on and on. The enemy of souls, will
use any means at his disposal to keep an individual
from humbling himself and trusting in Jesus Christ.
Satan's final doom is the lake of fire. He knows
that because, you see, he can read the Bible
as well as you and I can. But he refuses to acknowledge
that. Nonetheless, he is absolutely determined
that if he will go there, he will drag with him
every single person he possibly can. Now, no
one would knowingly cooperate with the devil.
No sensible person would ever choose The eternal
fires of hell for his soul's destiny? Who would
ever do that? For you see, we are dealing with
a spiritual enemy who is the master of deceit.
And it may be that today some friend here has
unwittingly been led astray by Satan. And he,
as your master, has deceived you and controlled
you and enslaved you to this point. And today
you understand what the gospel is and its simplicity,
that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh. He
died for your sins. He was buried. He rose again.
And he lives today as Lord of lords, able to
save anyone who comes to the Father through him.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Do not allow your spiritual
enemy to deceive you any longer, to enslave you
any longer. But today, place your faith in Jesus
Christ alone. Be delivered from the dominion
of Satan and brought into the kingdom of God's
dear Son. Let's bow together in prayer. With
our heads bowed and our eyes closed, O may the
word of God which has been proclaimed today and
sown in our hearts bear fruit. But there are
some in whom Satan at this moment is seeking
to even now steal the word to keep it from coming
to fruition and bearing fruit to eternal life.
I wonder you, my friend, here, without Jesus
Christ as your Savior, if you are aware of that
fact this morning, if you sense your need of
him and your lostness in sin. Don't allow any
excuses. Don't allow any deceit to keep you today
from coming to the Son of God. With outstretched
arms, he invites you to come to him. Will you
in your heart at this moment say, Lord Jesus
Christ, I turn from all that I have trusted before.
I turn from my own empty pursuits, my own sinful
ways, and I come to you and receive you as my
Savior, my Lord. Will you do that right now?
With our heads bowed, let's sing softly that
chorus that goes like this. Come every soul by
sin oppressed There's mercy with the Lord And
He will surely give you rest by trusting in his
word only trust him only trust him only trust
him now Father, I thank you today for the glorious
gospel of Jesus Christ and for its liberating
power and its ability to give life. eternal life.
And I thank you for the victory that we have
over the enemy of souls in the proclamation of
the word. And I thank you for the deliverance
that some have found in this morning we trust.
And now I pray that we will be faithful proclaimers
and sharers of the gospel and that we will enter
into the spiritual warfare. armored by the Spirit
of God, enabled by him, so that we may be effective
and good soldiers of Jesus Christ. And this I
pray in Jesus' name. Amen.