I am not sure how many of you noticed all the damage to our church this morning as you were walking in. We have been attacked. Any one hear of this? I am truly surprised that none of you knew about this. It was in all the papers and on the news. For those of you that hadn’t read the paper, watched the news or noticed the damage this morning, I was fortunate enough to have seen the attack myself and I have it taped. Here it is:
VIDEO: “The Church under Attack.”
Would we all agree this was a major attack? Sure, whenever missiles are fired and at you, you have no choice but to notice it. When we think of being attacked we think of attacks as being out in the open such as when we were attacked on 9/11 or Pearl Harbor. We knew we were being attacked as it was happening. Being attacked isn’t good but what is worse than being attacked is when you have been attacked and don’t even realize it.
The truth is, each one of us are attacked everyday by things that we never even notice. We’re attacked by things that creep into our lives and affect not only us but those around us, our loved ones, and even our church. The enemy is very cunning and successful when attacking us and the church. I believe we are attacked by a multitude of things really. If it were a few main things, we would be able to combat those attacks more successfully but when we are attacked it is by a huge broad spectrum that is ever changing.
Many of us would say that we don’t have any enemies. We may have some people that we don’t see eye to eye with or who may be bent out of shape about something that has happened and as a result they don’t like us, but we would not qualify these persons as enemies, because an enemy is someone who is out to hurt us and to destroy us.
If you think you don’t have an enemy, you need to think again. Everybody has an enemy that is out to get you. Whether you agree or disagree will not change the facts.
He has many names: Beelzebub, The Serpent, the Ruler of the world, Satan, the devil and many more, but I can assure you he is not so much concerned about what you call him as he is about how he can get a hold of your life and mine and keep it.
That is what you and I need to know. How can we identify the enemy and expose him for who he really is? If he is like a terrorist among us how can we know him?
I. Someone may ask, “Well what does he look like?"
A. First of all it is not his appearance that tips you off but his approach!
1. In verse 8 of our text, the devil is described as a Lion who prowls about. The ability to “prowl” implies that he has freedom of movement and does not appear to be the enemy among us at all.
2. Unfortunately the red suit, horns and pitch fork are not his usual attire! If we knew his face and what he was wearing, we could easily identify him and avoid his attacks but he is among us and we don’t even know it.
II Corinthians 11:14 “Satan masquerades himself as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness…”
3. So it’s not his appearance that we need to be so focused on, rather it is his behavior. Looks can be deceiving but behavior never lies.
4. Let us never forget one very important truth! Satan can only do his work through people. He does not do his own dirty work as he has limited power; he seeks to influence others to do it for him.
5. That is why Paul says in Ephesians 6:12 “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood…” One way Satan attacks is through people, sometimes even you and even me.
Illustration: I have said it before and I will say it again: We shoot too many arrows at people, our friends, family members, and yes, even our church family and we hit nothing. We only exaggerate the problems and the real enemy, the one who is attacking us, only thrives and grows stronger.
6. People are not the enemy- Satan is the enemy!
11. Like it or not, Satan tries to use you and me as his envoys to accomplish his will.
II. But what is Satan’s purpose anyway?
A. His first purpose is to challenge God!
1. In Isaiah 14 we learn that Satan’s desire was to be God. He wanted to rule God’s creation alone; he and one third of all of the angels rebelled against God and were cast out of heaven.
2. Satan has never gotten over his defeat. He switched gears, and now his purpose is to challenge the work of God and it is in the church in which he is most successful.
3. He is so smooth, so much involved, and his attacks on the church are rarely ever seen.
VIDEO: “Lean In” (Flood Gate Productions)
B. You see, the devil has realized that he cannot beat God so Satan has chosen to capture the heart and soul of the crown of God’s creation – men and women! Now that hurts.
1. His plan is to turn men and women away from God. This cosmic conflict is best illustrated in the Book of Job where Satan approaches God and basically says, Job serves you God, because you bless him, but you give him to me for a while and let me work on him.
2. All of us know that there are people who outright worship the devil. And I am in complete agreement with you that these people are not only lost, they are mentally deranged. We can easily dismiss these people as crazy.
3. But it is not these whom the enemy uses as much as he does those who are unsuspecting.
4. He comes to sew doubt in our hearts. Isn’t that why Eve ate from the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3:1? He made her doubt God’s command to not eat.
5. He is a wheeler and dealer- a schemer whose desire is to turn us away from God. In II Corth 2:11 we are told to be aware of his schemes.
6. His plan is to tempt us, to afflict us, and to deceive us. But again we need to remember that if he showed up in his red suit we would know who he is and not yield – so he does not come dressed as you and I suppose.
7. He oftentimes uses circumstances and situations in our lives to turn us away from God, but his best tactic is to use people – usually innocent, unsuspecting people.
Illustration: The Chair of the Evangelism ministry in a well-known church was a man who truly loved Jesus and he had a desire for everyone else to know Him as well. He would share his faith at every opportunity.
He organized visitation teams to visit in the community and spoke all the time of leading people to Jesus as the primary purpose of the church. Yet when the church began to grow beyond the people he knew by face or name – when walking down the isle at church he saw more strangers than neighbors, he began to strongly speak out against how the church was growing.
Here was a man whose heart and soul was to reach people for Jesus, who served as the chair of the Evangelism ministry and prayed all the time for lost people to find Jesus and yet he began to criticize the growth of the church. Talk about an oxymoron! Where did he think those new Christians were going to go?
He was deceived but the Holy Spirit revealed to him his contradiction. As he shared his story in church one Sunday morning, he was broken before God as he shared how he had been deceived.
III. But if we know the purpose of the enemy is to challenge God and capture our soul, then what can we do about him?
A. First, “stay the course!” “Hold the line!” don’t give up! Understand the attacks are all around us and be prepared.
1. In our text we are told to “resist him, stand firm in your faith!” At times all of us have been or will be deceived by the enemy.
Illustration: The Great Wall of China is a gigantic structure which cost an immense amount of money and labor. When it was finished, it appeared impregnable. But the enemy attacked and breached it. Not by breaking it down or going around it. They did it by bribing the gatekeepers.
Are you able to be bribed? You may have an outstanding wall of faith on the outside and many that see it sees a strong and un-destructible wall of faith. But what’s inside is what matters.
2. In James 4:7 we are told to “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” But how are we to resist him? I have tried in certain situations and failed. Our answer is found in verse 8 of that same chapter.
3. “Come near to God and He will come near to you…” Our feeble attempt at resistance has no power or impact apart from God, the only way to defeat the enemy is to draw near to God and allow Him to defeat the enemy for us.
B. But God does not expect us to go to the battle with determination alone – go with the right weapons and fight!
1. In Ephesians 6 we are told to put on the armor of God. To wear armor is usually for defense. Verse 11, “put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
2. But armor also can be used offensively. In verse 16, “in addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
3. The enemy is laid low when you and I realize that the mightiest weapon we have in our arsenal is the Word of God. We speak the Word of God over our lives, over the circumstances and situations of our life, over people and the Word unleashes the power of God to work.
4. Just the mention of Jesus’ name, sends the enemy into a long retreat!
Conclusion: Do you need help this morning? Is life wearing you thin around the edges? The Battle belongs to the Lord!
Whether we like it or not, each one of us has an enemy and he is continually attacking us. He is out to destroy us and God’s church but his means and manner are so subtle and cunning.
This morning, I would like to invite us to speak the name of Jesus over our lives – over our church! You may not be able to always identify the enemy but you can sure put him in his place this morning.
Do you need victory? Is the enemy toying with you like a worm on a hook? Many of us today need to take the authority of God for our lives and put the devil in his place.
