SPEAKER_00: Before you leave this morning, if you want to take a peek at the back table, I've printed off a summary sheet.
SPEAKER_00: It's a one-page summary sheet of our first four sermons that we have been in our spiritual warfare series that sort of serves as just kind of a summary of where we've been so far.
SPEAKER_00: And I think this could be a helpful reference for you as we continue on in our series.
SPEAKER_00: And so don't forget this is on the back table.
SPEAKER_00: Feel free to grab a copy of this and use this as a resource for you as we continue on in our series on spiritual warfare.
SPEAKER_00: This morning we delve into the study of the final enemy of the Christian, and this would be the devil.
SPEAKER_00: The devil.
SPEAKER_00: There seems to be a fascination that many people have with the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Over the years, he's been depicted in many different ways.
SPEAKER_00: At times, he is portrayed as a cartoonish character with red tights and a pitchfork.
SPEAKER_00: Other times, he is presented as this terrifying force of evil, a being in horror movies depicting demonic activity.
SPEAKER_00: To some Christians, the devil is the reason behind all their problems.
SPEAKER_00: To others, he's the little demon on their shoulder whispering to them, little temptations.
SPEAKER_00: And when they sin, it's because the devil made me do it.
SPEAKER_00: So who is the devil really?
SPEAKER_00: What is he trying to accomplish, and what strategies and activities does he engage in in order to accomplish his objective?
SPEAKER_00: This morning we separate the fact from the fiction as we delve into our study on the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray and then we will get started.
SPEAKER_00: Father, thanks for today.
SPEAKER_00: Thankful now for this opportunity to look to your word, to study out this final enemy of the Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray that you'd help us, help us to gain a better grasp on reality, who the devil really is, what he's really trying to do, the schemes and devices he employs.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that as we do this study this morning, that you would help us with not just learning, not just knowledge, but I pray that we would be made aware of the activities of the devil so that we are equipped to resist him.
SPEAKER_00: We certainly are thankful this morning for the promise of Scripture that if we resist the devil, he will flee.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray, Father, I just pray that you'd help us to resist.
SPEAKER_00: That's the key word there.
SPEAKER_00: So help us, Father.
SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name I pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So where did the devil come from?
SPEAKER_00: That's the first question we need to answer this morning.
SPEAKER_00: The origin of the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Turn with me in your own copies of God's Word to the book of Ezekiel.
SPEAKER_00: Ezekiel chapter 28 is where we will begin today.
SPEAKER_00: Ezekiel chapter 28.
SPEAKER_00: The first ten verses in Ezekiel 28 contain a prophetic judgment against the human ruler of a city-state called Tyre.
SPEAKER_00: However, many scholars believe that this is not just prophetic judgment against a human ruler, but that there is a portion of this prophecy that is directed against the spiritual ruler who is working behind the scenes, working through and influencing the human ruler of Tyre.
SPEAKER_00: And we notice that picking it up in verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: So if you look in verse 12, we read, Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God, you were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
SPEAKER_00: You were in Eden, the garden of God.
SPEAKER_00: Every precious stone was your covering.
SPEAKER_00: Sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle, and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings.
SPEAKER_00: On the day that you were created they were prepared.
SPEAKER_00: You were an anointed guardian cherub.
SPEAKER_00: I placed you.
SPEAKER_00: You were on the holy mountain of God in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
SPEAKER_00: You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.
SPEAKER_00: Many people believe that this spiritual ruler at work behind the human ruler of Tyre is none other than the devil himself.
SPEAKER_00: And if this is true, which many believe it is, we notice the language here certainly seems to indicate that this goes beyond a human ruler, with references to Eden, the garden of God, and this reference to this anointed guardian cherub, which informs us, which helps us to understand this morning that when the devil was created, he was created as an angel.
SPEAKER_00: He was created as an angel, specifically an anointed guardian cherub, which would have been a type of angel.
SPEAKER_00: When we see the cherubim in scripture, they are typically presented as heavenly throne attendants of God, charged with the task of guarding God's glory.
SPEAKER_00: So here we notice that in his original state, the devil was not only an angel, but we notice he's described here.
SPEAKER_00: He's described as perfect in beauty.
SPEAKER_00: He was a beautiful being.
SPEAKER_00: And we see the beautiful physical characteristics of him in verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: We notice that he was exalted.
SPEAKER_00: He was placed in a position of honor, to be one that is in the very presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: We notice in verse 14, he was on God's holy mountain in the midst of the stones of fire.
SPEAKER_00: So he was exalted, placed in a prominent position.
SPEAKER_00: And finally, we notice that he was blameless.
SPEAKER_00: He was blameless.
SPEAKER_00: Which means God didn't create the devil to be an evil being.
SPEAKER_00: In his original state, in his original created state, the devil was in fact a blameless being.
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't created fallen.
SPEAKER_00: So then what happened?
SPEAKER_00: What happened to the devil?
SPEAKER_00: Well, according to Paul in 1 Timothy 3:6, the devil fell from this exalted, blameless position because of pride.
SPEAKER_00: It was pride that caused the devil to fall.
SPEAKER_00: So if we notice in the book of Isaiah, chapter 12, or chapter 14, Isaiah chapter 14, here we have another prophecy where the same thing is happening.
SPEAKER_00: This is a prophecy against Babylon.
SPEAKER_00: But here we notice once again the same thing, that there seems to be a portion of this prophecy that is in fact directed against the ruler behind the human ruler.
SPEAKER_00: And so in Isaiah chapter 14, look with me in verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: We read, How you are fallen from heaven, O day star, Son of Dawn, how you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low.
SPEAKER_00: You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high.
SPEAKER_00: I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north.
SPEAKER_00: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
SPEAKER_00: I will make myself like the Most High.
SPEAKER_00: We notice here in Isaiah a reference to the day star in verse 12, the Son of Dawn.
SPEAKER_00: These are titles that refer to the devil's original brightness and purity before his fall.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, that word son of dawn is where we get our English name for the devil, pre-fall, which was Lucifer.
SPEAKER_00: Lucifer, this is how the devil is usually referenced before he fell.
SPEAKER_00: And it comes from that word, son of dawn.
SPEAKER_00: Notice in verses 13 and 14 we have five I will statements that Lucifer makes.
SPEAKER_00: Five I will statements there.
SPEAKER_00: And notice what the statements convey.
SPEAKER_00: What does Lucifer desire?
SPEAKER_00: What does he aspire towards?
SPEAKER_00: He wants to ascend above God.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to ascend.
SPEAKER_00: He wants his position to be above God, which of course is rooted in pride.
SPEAKER_00: The irony here is that the very creature designed to guard God's glory sought to ascend above that glory.
SPEAKER_00: It was this very rebellion that transformed this anointed cherub into the enemy of God.
SPEAKER_00: Many believe that the demons were also originally angels like Lucifer, and that they joined the devil in his original rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: And so, like Lucifer, the angels are, or the demons are fallen angels.
SPEAKER_00: Angels who joined in rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: So if this is where the devil came from, if this is who the devil is, then what is his objective?
SPEAKER_00: What is the devil seeking to do?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we could summarize the objective of the devil this way.
SPEAKER_00: His desire is for you to join him in rebellion against God.
SPEAKER_00: The devil's objective summarized is this.
SPEAKER_00: If you notice in Genesis chapter 3, the devil takes on the form of a serpent, a story many of you are probably familiar with, and then proceeds to engage in a scheme that is meant to draw mankind into rebellion against God.
SPEAKER_00: After Satan fell, after the devil fell, he now proceeds to tempt mankind and seek to convince mankind, the crown jewel of God's creation, the very image bearers of God, he seeks to tempt to join him to rebel against the creator.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, if you notice in Genesis chapter 3 in verse 5, how does he tempt Eve?
SPEAKER_00: What does he say?
SPEAKER_00: For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.
SPEAKER_00: Sound familiar?
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah chapter 14, verse 14.
SPEAKER_00: I will make myself like the Most High.
SPEAKER_00: Here we notice the devil seeking to draw mankind into his exact same rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: Just as he wanted to be like the Most High, he seeks to tempt mankind to, in their pride, rebel against God.
SPEAKER_00: So if this is the devil's objective, if this is what he's seeking to do, then how does he do it?
SPEAKER_00: What are the schemes and devices of the devil that he utilizes to seek to draw you into rebellion against God?
SPEAKER_00: Well, he has several devices, several strategies.
SPEAKER_00: However, I believe his most prominent strategy is that of deception.
SPEAKER_00: Deception.
SPEAKER_00: We see that in Genesis chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: We see it in the account of the fall of mankind, that Satan uses deceit in order to convince Eve to transgress God's command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
SPEAKER_00: I want us to notice in the text how Satan deceives.
SPEAKER_00: If you notice here, he lies, first of all, about the consequences of sin.
SPEAKER_00: He lies about the consequences, if you see in verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die.
SPEAKER_00: Why does he say that?
SPEAKER_00: Because that's what God said.
SPEAKER_00: God said, On the day that you eat of this tree, you will die.
SPEAKER_00: You will die, because sin brings forth death.
SPEAKER_00: But notice that Satan's temptation and his deception, he lies about the consequences of sin.
SPEAKER_00: He says, You can sin, you can break God's command, and everything's gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00: There are going to be no consequences to sin.
SPEAKER_00: This is one of the ways the devil deceives us.
SPEAKER_00: He lies about the consequences of sin.
SPEAKER_00: It's why Jesus calls the devil not only the father of lies, but he calls him in John chapter 8, verse 44, he says, He's a murderer from the beginning.
SPEAKER_00: He's a murderer.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he concealed, he sought to deceive by concealing the consequence of sin, which was death.
SPEAKER_00: And by successfully deceiving Eve, mankind fell into sin and into death.
SPEAKER_00: But this isn't the only way he deceives.
SPEAKER_00: Notice he deceives us, he lies about the benefits of sin.
SPEAKER_00: The benefits of sin.
SPEAKER_00: He says, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.
SPEAKER_00: So he conceals the consequences, and he seeks to make sin appealing.
SPEAKER_00: He seeks to highlight the good, the benefits, why, if you break God's commands, that will actually be really good for you.
SPEAKER_00: That'll make you really happy, that'll give you something that your heart craves and desires.
SPEAKER_00: It's not unlike how many fast food restaurants utilize commercials today.
SPEAKER_00: If you've ever watched how they create the food, it's not just a normal piece of food from the restaurant, is it?
SPEAKER_00: What is that in the commercial?
SPEAKER_00: They like paint it, they like use these toothpicks to like get everything like positioned perfectly the way it should be.
SPEAKER_00: Like if you actually ate that thing, you'd probably die.
SPEAKER_00: It's like made of toxic ingredients.
SPEAKER_00: But what are they doing?
SPEAKER_00: They're seeking to deceive you into going to the restaurant to buy their food.
SPEAKER_00: They say, look how good this looks.
SPEAKER_00: Look how appealing it looks.
SPEAKER_00: And once a year, Taco Bell always succeeds.
SPEAKER_00: Once a year it happens to me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, it's probably during March Madness when I'm watching a ton of basketball and there's like 5,000 Taco Bell commercials.
SPEAKER_00: And by the time like I've been brainwashed by the 5,000th commercial, it works.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, okay, I gotta go Taco Bell.
SPEAKER_00: And immediately regret it, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Can I get an amen?
SPEAKER_00: It's the deception.
SPEAKER_00: Satan seeks to use lies to deceive you into believing this is good for you.
SPEAKER_00: This will make you happy.
SPEAKER_00: This will satisfy you.
SPEAKER_00: This will satisfy the desires, the longings of your heart.
SPEAKER_00: It will make you whole in some way.
SPEAKER_00: And we know that because we see this is exactly what happened to Eve, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: This is exactly what happened to Eve.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see what the text says?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, ooh, that does look good.
SPEAKER_00: That it was a delight to the eyes.
SPEAKER_00: She sees it.
SPEAKER_00: She can see what sin will bring her.
SPEAKER_00: She's falling into the trap.
SPEAKER_00: And that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.
SPEAKER_00: This will satisfy my desire.
SPEAKER_00: What I want, sin will give me.
SPEAKER_00: This is how Satan does it.
SPEAKER_00: And this is how he deceives.
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, the devil wants to convince you that God is not good.
SPEAKER_00: His commands are designed to withhold something good from you.
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, in order for you to have what is good, you must rebel.
SPEAKER_00: You must.
SPEAKER_00: We believe it.
SPEAKER_00: We absolutely believe it.
SPEAKER_00: It happens to all of us.
SPEAKER_00: It's our world today.
SPEAKER_00: It's always been in the world, but it's in our world today.
SPEAKER_00: How many people in the world today have bought the lie?
SPEAKER_00: God isn't good.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible has rules that aren't good.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible's filled with rules that are that are intended to make me unhappy, that are intended to make me miserable.
SPEAKER_00: You know what month it is, don't you?
SPEAKER_00: You know the month we're in.
SPEAKER_00: You've probably seen some commercials already.
SPEAKER_00: What is what what do the what do the advocates and proponents of the LGBTQ movement say?
SPEAKER_00: In order for you to truly be happy, you need to what?
SPEAKER_00: You need to transgress God's commands.
SPEAKER_00: And then you'll be free.
SPEAKER_00: And then you'll be happy.
SPEAKER_00: It's the lie of the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: We see it everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: We believe it.
SPEAKER_00: When we sin, it's fundamentally because we are believing this lie.
SPEAKER_00: God is not good.
SPEAKER_00: He's withholding something good from me.
SPEAKER_00: And in order for me to be happy, I have to break his commands.
SPEAKER_00: That is what is happening, whether you realize it or not, that is what is happening in your heart when you sin.
SPEAKER_00: The devil's been doing this for thousands of years.
SPEAKER_00: He's been giving the same lie for thousands of years.
SPEAKER_00: The devil not only uses deceit to turn believers against God in rebellion, by the way, he also utilizes deceit in order to keep unbelievers in rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: You are born in rebellion against God.
SPEAKER_00: You are born in rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: And the devil will seek to utilize deceit to keep those who are lost remaining lost.
SPEAKER_00: And he'll use deceit to do that.
SPEAKER_00: We see that in a few different places in Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: We have the illustration of the like the blinds.
SPEAKER_00: He's blinding the minds of unbelievers in order to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: It's like those like room-darkening curtains.
SPEAKER_00: Don't you love those things?
SPEAKER_00: I can't sleep without them.
SPEAKER_00: They're great.
SPEAKER_00: They keep the light out, they keep the room dark.
SPEAKER_00: It's great for sleeping unless you wake up in the middle of the night and you have to try to like see.
SPEAKER_00: And then what?
SPEAKER_00: You can't see.
SPEAKER_00: And so you trip over things that are in your room.
SPEAKER_00: All that happens, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Because you can't see.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the devil is doing.
SPEAKER_00: He's using deceit to blind people, to keep people's minds darkened, to keep the light of the gospel out so they can't see the truth and the reality of sin and their need for a savior.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says it another way in Mark chapter 4 and verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says that the word is like the seed, and the word is being spread.
SPEAKER_00: It's being proclaimed, it's being shared.
SPEAKER_00: The truth of the gospel is being spread.
SPEAKER_00: But what does the devil do?
SPEAKER_00: He swoops in like a bird and he takes the seed.
SPEAKER_00: He takes it away before it can take roots.
SPEAKER_00: Another way is by giving people something else to worship.
SPEAKER_00: Can we see that in 1 Timothy 4, 1?
SPEAKER_00: Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to what?
SPEAKER_00: Deceitful spirits and teachings of teachings of demons.
SPEAKER_00: So where does all false doctrine, false teaching, and false religion ultimately originate in?
SPEAKER_00: The devil.
SPEAKER_00: What better way to keep people in rebellion against God than to give them something to worship that they believe will lead to their salvation?
SPEAKER_00: Who was it that you think appeared to Mohammed in the desert and gave him the religion of Islam?
SPEAKER_00: Who was that angelic being who appeared to Mohammed?
SPEAKER_00: Who do you think that really was?
SPEAKER_00: Who was that angelic being that appeared to Joseph Smith that gave the religion of Mormonism that teaches that Jesus is not the Son of God?
SPEAKER_00: Where do you think the worship of the 330 million gods of the Hindu religion came from?
SPEAKER_00: Who's propagating these false religions?
SPEAKER_00: Religions that are condemning billions of people to an eternity in hell.
SPEAKER_00: It's the teachings of demons who crave for mankind to join them in rebellion against God.
SPEAKER_00: This is Satan's primary activity, his primary mode of operation.
SPEAKER_00: But it is not his only strategy.
SPEAKER_00: If you turn to Zechariah chapter 3, Zechariah chapter 3, we notice another strategy, another activity of the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Accusation.
SPEAKER_00: Notice Zechariah chapter 3, verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, we see here the name that's utilized for the devil is Satan.
SPEAKER_00: Another name of the devil is Satan.
SPEAKER_00: The word literally means accuser or slanderer.
SPEAKER_00: So we got the name because of what he was doing.
SPEAKER_00: Accusing.
SPEAKER_00: We notice here that Satan in the presence of God is making accusations regarding Joshua, the high priest of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: The accusations are regarding his sin.
SPEAKER_00: This man is a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: He's evil.
SPEAKER_00: How can you accept him?
SPEAKER_00: How can you make him the high priest?
SPEAKER_00: How can you love him?
SPEAKER_00: Look at his rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: Look at how he's rebelled against you in sin.
SPEAKER_00: These are the accusations that are likely being made.
SPEAKER_00: Satan uses accusation to persuade you to rebel, ultimately by convincing you to give up in your faith.
SPEAKER_00: He accuses you of your failings, your sins, hoping to produce enough doubt, shame, fear, and condemnation that you will simply stop running the race.
SPEAKER_00: Notice, by the way, verses 2 through 5, the response to this kind of attack is not to hold fast to your own righteousness, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: It's not to build up your own self-esteem or to build up your own self-worth.
SPEAKER_00: No, I really am a good person.
SPEAKER_00: No, that's doomed to fail.
SPEAKER_00: Verses two through five we read, and the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, O Satan.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you.
SPEAKER_00: Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?
SPEAKER_00: Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments, symbolizing his sin.
SPEAKER_00: And the angel said to those who were standing before him, Remove the filthy garments from him.
SPEAKER_00: And to him he said, Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.
SPEAKER_00: What's happening here?
SPEAKER_00: What's the symbolic imagery conveying?
SPEAKER_00: The filthy garments of sin were taken off, replaced with the pure righteous clothes, not earned by Joshua, given to Joshua.
SPEAKER_00: And we understand from a New Testament perspective where that righteousness truly comes from, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: This is the righteousness of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: When you are feeling accused in your sin, cling to the righteousness of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Cling to the righteousness of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Temptation, another strategy.
SPEAKER_00: We see that one in 1 Thessalonians 3.5.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Thessalonians 3.5.
SPEAKER_00: The devil here is referred to as the tempter.
SPEAKER_00: His goal is to tempt you to turn to sin.
SPEAKER_00: And according to James chapter 4, verse 1, sin is lawlessness.
SPEAKER_00: It is the breaking of God's law and therefore rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: So if the Satan, if the if the devil, if Satan can convince you to join him in sin, he is convincing you to join him in rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: If you look in scripture, there are several examples of what kinds of temptations the devil gives us.
SPEAKER_00: These are just some examples that we see directly in Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Deceit.
SPEAKER_00: Why has Satan filled your heart to lie?
SPEAKER_00: Satan wants you to join him in a life of deceit.
SPEAKER_00: Here we have the context here of marital fidelity.
SPEAKER_00: Satan wants to tempt you to forsake your marital fidelity.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Timothy 3, 6 and 7, he wants you to join him in pride.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to become puffed up with conceit and pride, and then what happens?
SPEAKER_00: You've fallen into the devil's snare, you've fallen into his trap.
SPEAKER_00: And how about Ephesians chapter 4?
SPEAKER_00: Anger.
SPEAKER_00: The devil wants your anger to rule you.
SPEAKER_00: These are the various ways in which the Satan seek or Satan seeks to work by tempting you to join him in these types of sins.
SPEAKER_00: The final strategy of the devil?
SPEAKER_00: Persecution.
SPEAKER_00: If you turn with me in your Bibles to Job chapter 1.
SPEAKER_00: There's perhaps no better example of the devil's direct persecution than in Job.
SPEAKER_00: Look with me in Job chapter 1.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just, we'll read the start of the book, beginning in verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord said to Satan, From where have you come?
SPEAKER_00: Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job?
SPEAKER_00: That there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.
SPEAKER_00: Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for no reason?
SPEAKER_00: Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has on every side?
SPEAKER_00: You've blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
SPEAKER_00: But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand.
SPEAKER_00: Only against him do not stretch out your hand.
SPEAKER_00: So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
SPEAKER_00: There's a few things we can learn about the devil and his persecution from this account.
SPEAKER_00: First, the devil believes that the only reason for your faith and trust in God is your blessings.
SPEAKER_00: Do you notice that?
SPEAKER_00: The devil thinks the only reason that you believe in Jesus, the only reason that you're a follower of Jesus, the only reason you call yourself a Christian is because of the good things, the good physical, material things that you'll get from that relationship.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, it's a you scratch my back, I scratch your back, kind of a relationship that the devil thinks is the only reason that there are Christians in the world today.
SPEAKER_00: He believes that if you experience enough suffering and loss in your life, it's his sincere belief that if you experience enough suffering and loss, you will turn your back on God and curse him.
SPEAKER_00: For some that is true.
SPEAKER_00: But notice secondly this morning that while Satan seeks to destroy your faith, God allows it.
SPEAKER_00: God allows the suffering.
SPEAKER_00: He allows Satan a certain degree of freedom to inflict suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: If you've ever had tea, you know that if you take a teabag and you put it in a cold cup of water, that doesn't really work to extract the flavor that's contained in that teabag, does it?
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't really work.
SPEAKER_00: What do you need?
SPEAKER_00: What do you need to extract the flavor?
SPEAKER_00: What do you need to extract the contents of the teabag out of the teabag?
SPEAKER_00: What do you need?
SPEAKER_00: Hot water.
SPEAKER_00: It's got to be hot.
SPEAKER_00: And when that water gets boiling hot and you put that teabag in that boiling cup of water, what happens?
SPEAKER_00: The contents that are in the bag, they are extract out into the water.
SPEAKER_00: And you get a tasty cup of tea.
SPEAKER_00: What happens when you get tossed into the boiling hot water of life?
SPEAKER_00: What happens when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death?
SPEAKER_00: When you experience suffering, loss, hardship, pain, disappointment, failings and failures.
SPEAKER_00: What happens?
SPEAKER_00: That's hot water.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what that hot water in life does?
SPEAKER_00: It takes what's in here and it pulls it out to the surface.
SPEAKER_00: It pulls it out.
SPEAKER_00: And it reveals, it reveals what's really in here.
SPEAKER_00: Peter describes it another way, like fire refining gold.
SPEAKER_00: What's the purpose?
SPEAKER_00: It tests the genuineness of your faith.
SPEAKER_00: This is what God allows to happen.
SPEAKER_00: He allows the suffering to test the genuineness of Job's faith.
SPEAKER_00: Was Job's faith real?
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to say it.
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to have it in here, to believe it in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: It's one thing to do that.
SPEAKER_00: But what happens when it's put to the test?
SPEAKER_00: What happens?
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what happens.
SPEAKER_00: That's when it is either exposed to be fake and not real, or it is exposed to be genuine and real.
SPEAKER_00: And then Peter says, therefore, more valuable than gold that perishes, genuine faith that will then result in the praise and the glory and the honor of Jesus Christ at his second coming.
SPEAKER_00: The trials and the suffering of life pulls out genuine faith.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, therefore strengthens and purifies it.
SPEAKER_00: The third thing we can glean, and we'll end with this, the third thing we can glean this morning, and I hope this is an encouragement to you.
SPEAKER_00: Third, Satan is subservient to God.
SPEAKER_00: Satan is allowed some freedom to persecute, but he is subservient to God.
SPEAKER_00: There's a common misconception that the devil and God are equals, locked in a combat of good versus evil.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes God wins, and sometimes the devil wins.
SPEAKER_00: And they're locked in this fight, this battle of the titans.
SPEAKER_00: Who's gonna win?
SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
SPEAKER_00: But notice here in the text, who is it that must approach the throne of God?
SPEAKER_00: Who is it that must approach the throne of God?
SPEAKER_00: Who is it that then must give an account to his activities?
SPEAKER_00: Satan, what have you been up to?
SPEAKER_00: Who is it that must give an account?
SPEAKER_00: And who is it that must therefore ask for permission before he is allowed to stretch out his hand and do a single thing to Job?
SPEAKER_00: Who is it?
SPEAKER_00: It's the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that the Job account reveals the complete subservience of the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, he is a created being.
SPEAKER_00: He is created and answerable to his creator.
SPEAKER_00: He's subservient.
SPEAKER_00: He can never surpass the boundaries and limits of the sovereign God.
SPEAKER_00: Or as John Piper has so eloquently put it, Satan is on a leash.
SPEAKER_00: He's on a leash.
SPEAKER_00: That's encouraging for the believer, I hope.
SPEAKER_00: When I was young, I had a paper out, and I'd go out and deliver papers, and there's the classic, the classic paperboy trope of the giant dog that wants to go eat the paperboy.
SPEAKER_00: And that I can say, that's based on historical facts that is true.
SPEAKER_00: There was one house that had a dog, and the dog's name was Zeus.
SPEAKER_00: Talk about naming a dog that's like meant to eat paperboys.
SPEAKER_00: You name it Zeus, don't you?
SPEAKER_00: This dog was huge, a massive dog.
SPEAKER_00: And he had that one of those deep, ferocious barks.
SPEAKER_00: And anytime I'd approach the house, Zeus would awaken from his slumber and start deep, strong barks.
SPEAKER_00: And those first few weeks of my paper routes, I approached the house with great trepidation, preparing to turn and run at this moment's notice of Zeus busting through his fenced-in yard.
SPEAKER_00: I was ready to drop all those papers and flee.
SPEAKER_00: But eventually, what I came to realize that is every time I'd go to that house to drop that paper off, Zeus would wake up and he'd start barking up a storm, and you could, I mean, the fence, you could almost like you could see the fence shaking like he's trying to get out.
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
SPEAKER_00: A week would go by and month would go by and a year would go by, and you know what I came to realize?
SPEAKER_00: Those owners kept Zeus on a tight leash.
SPEAKER_00: And anytime I'd walk up to that house after learning that, no problem.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing to fear, nothing to worry.
SPEAKER_00: Because I knew I wasn't gonna get harmed by that dog.
SPEAKER_00: No matter how strong, no matter how deep a bark that was, no matter how powerful the dog was, I wasn't going to face its bite.
SPEAKER_00: This is the enemy we face.
SPEAKER_00: He's powerful.
SPEAKER_00: He's a powerful foe.
SPEAKER_00: And he does seek your destruction.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you murdered by joining him in rebellion.
SPEAKER_00: And he will engage in these activities to seek to cause you, to bring you into rebellion with him.
SPEAKER_00: But understand this morning that your enemy is a defeated enemy.
SPEAKER_00: Understand this morning, your enemy is on a leash.
SPEAKER_00: That no matter what you face in your life, God is still sovereign.
SPEAKER_00: And working all things together for his glory and for your good, even the great deceiver himself must submit to the working out of God's plans.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you for today.
SPEAKER_00: We're thankful for this opportunity we've had to dig into your word this morning to reflect on our great foe, the devil.
SPEAKER_00: We're reminded that he is a powerful enemy, that he is at work today.
SPEAKER_00: Certainly, he's at work today.
SPEAKER_00: But we are thankful this morning for the reminders of Scripture that you have enabled us to resist his attacks.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, that is the key to victory by resisting the devil.
SPEAKER_00: He cannot force us to do anything.
SPEAKER_00: He's powerless in that sense.
SPEAKER_00: So help us, Father, to stand firm in our faith.
SPEAKER_00: Enable us and strengthen us to resist the attacks of the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: Give us the victory, Father.
SPEAKER_00: To resist the temptations of sin.
SPEAKER_00: To walk with you faithfully.
SPEAKER_00: To enjoy your goodness and the presence that we have that we get to enjoy with you.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to walk in the light and delight in you as we do so.
SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name I pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.