Satan Hindered Us

Introduction: Paul's Desire to Return to Thessalonica

0:02 Let us turn again this morning to Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians as we continue our studies in this particular book of Scripture, 1 Thessalonians. Just briefly, by way of review, remind you of the section in which we now find ourselves. Chapter 1 has as its basic theme the work of God in establishing a church at Thessalonica. We saw those principles of Scripture which are so vital to our own church life here and to the life of the church wherever it is manifested, that it's God's work and God's work alone that brings together a body of people into the fellowship of Jesus Christ and into fellowship one with another. Then in chapter 2, the Apostle Paul sets before us the workmen of God, the kind of people God used. He uses to accomplish this great work of calling out his elect and establishing churches. And so we saw those characteristics of a true minister and a true ministry.

1:21 Now in chapter 2, beginning with verse 17, through to chapter 3 and verse 10, we have a description of Paul's attitude now that he has been severed from the church at Thessalonica. He acknowledges in the first chapter that only God...

1:38 God can establish churches and he lifts his heart in praise for all that God has wrought. And yet God who respects means works through vessels fit for that kind of ministry. And Paul indicates all of the characteristics of his ministry and the ministry of his companions. But now he wants them to know that though he is severed from them, his attitude and his heart's desire is toward them.

2:05 And he lays this out in very intimate detail. This is the section that we might call the warm, passionate part of Paul's love letter to the church at Thessalonica. And I trust we don't put upon that any low, sentimental context, but the high, lofty expressions of love and affection such as we find in this portion. Last week we looked briefly at verses 17 through 20.

2:35 And now we shall... Two weeks ago.

2:37 And we shall be going... Going back and extracting one phrase from verse 18, which is very vital to our understanding of the passage and of the work of God in the local church in general.

2:50 Reading now verses 17 to 20. But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore, we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once and again. But...

3:07 Say... Satan hindered us.

3:10 For what is our joy, our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy. We saw how Paul states that his separation is merely a bodily or physical separation.

3:32 But he is not severed in his heart's affection. Verse 17. Taken from you in presence. Not in heart.

3:39 And then, in order that the people might know, he's not mouthing words only. He gives many proofs of this attitude of separation in body, but not in heart. Indicating that he made several attempts to come and see them, but was hindered in this attempt. And then he gives them his evaluation of them.

4:00 They are his hope, his joy, his crown of rejoicing at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But...

The Reality of a Personal, Powerful Spirit Called Satan

4:08 But we skipped over, in a very cursory way, the little phrase, Satan hindered us. And I mentioned that we would come back and spend an entire study on this little phrase and its significance in this context and in the larger context of the work of God as a whole. And so, as we come to consider this phrase this morning, I would have come unto you once and again, but Satan hindered us. Let us look to God for the help and enablement of the...

4:38 of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand what Paul is saying and may see its application and implications in our own hearts and lives. Let us unite for a moment of prayer.

4:52 Our Father, we come again conscious that we are but creatures and Thou art the Creator, that we are sinful creatures, and that even though many of us have been quickened to life by Thy grace and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of illumination, we acknowledge that at best we see through a glass darkly, and we would confess in a very conscious way our need of the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, even as we have prayed in this hymn, Come, Holy Spirit, and illuminate our minds as we undertake the study of the Word of God. Lord, we would pray in a very special way that Thou will bind the powers of darkness, that Thou will restore the power of the Holy Spirit, that Thou will rebuke the forces of that wicked one who hates exposure, and we dare not expound what Thy Word says about him and his subtle ways without recognizing that we in so doing are not wrestling with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers, and we pray that Thy grace and Thy power shall be manifest as we open the Scriptures together. Hear us as we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Even the one who crushed the head of the wicked one.

6:15 Amen. This little phrase, Satan hindered us, is a very interesting phrase, and indicates much of Paul's basic understanding of the work of the devil, and also indirectly indicates something of Paul's instruction to young Christians concerning the person and work of the devil. Many times, as I have pointed out, on previous occasions, tremendously weighty biblical themes are mentioned in sort of an offhand passing manner which all the more establishes their authority. Let me illustrate. Our Lord says in Luke chapter 11, If ye being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him? He's using man's basic evil nature as a springboard for an analogy. He says since we all know that this is true, we ought to see that this is true.

7:22 But what he assumes as being true, namely that men are evil, is a tremendous affirmation of the biblical doctrine of the depravity of human nature. Now in the same way, when Paul simply mentions the hindering work of the devil in a passing way, it indicates that in his own thinking, this was a commonplace truth, and apparently in the thinking of his readers, the person and work of the devil was something that was basically understood. Now it's strange that something that the Apostle Paul could assume as common knowledge amongst infant Christians would demand an entire morning exposition, but this is necessary for we live in days when the person and work of the devil has been poo-pawed, by the world in modern psychology and apostate religion, and has fallen into great, we've fallen into an area of great ignorance within the professing church of Jesus Christ. And so let us consider in the first place, as we look at this phrase together, that there is a personal, powerful spirit called Satan. As Paul thinks of his attempts to go to the people at Thessalonica after he was so abruptly severed from them, and thought of the hindrances, what they were scripture does not tell us,

8:49 we can make some conjectures as to what they might be, but that's all they would be is guesses. But he recognized behind whatever things hindered him that there was the activity of this personal, powerful spirit called Satan. Now the word Satan means an adversary, one who opposes, and it's interesting that Paul uses to a, what we might call a Gentile congregation, the Hebrew word for the devil, Satan. The word used more commonly would be the devil.

9:24 But here he calls him Satan, and clearly establishes that they at Thessalonica knew something about this personage. Paul would not use a word that they had never heard before, this would not be communication, this would be fostering confusion. So when he uses this term, there is the indication that he had used it before while with them in ministry. Now the word Satan is used synonymously with several other terms.

9:53 We have them all in one verse in Revelation 12 and verse 9. And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. Here in this text he is called the great dragon, the old serpent, the devil, and Satan. Scripture gives us other names for this personal, powerful spirit being.

10:21 He is called the God of this world in 2 Corinthians 4. He is called the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians 2. He is called the evil one, the wicked one. In the Gospels he is called Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.

10:38 And in the New Testament you have over 30 references to Satan, and over 30 references to the devil. Sometimes you have devils plural, which should be translated demons. So we cannot, unless we are going to stop our ears and deliberately blind our eyes to great segments of the New Testament, we cannot, we must not be ignorant of this personal, powerful spirit called Satan, and of his activities, particularly as those activities relate to the situation in which we live, to the situation in which Paul found himself, the establishing and strengthening of the churches of Jesus Christ. Now it is necessary that we think biblically about this person, for as one considers the history of the church, as with many other truths, he sees two extremes. On the one hand there is the extreme of over-emphasizing the place of the devil. Some of you remember when you saw the film on Martin Luther a few weeks ago, that in the medieval times, especially in the Roman Catholic Church, the devil was given such a place of prominence that in a real sense many people were more devil and demon conscious than they were God or Christ conscious. And there have been groups that have arisen periodically in the history of the church many times

12:01 in the midst of or on the heels of great revivals, when people have become, as it were, over preoccupied with the place, the personality and the work of the devil, until people were seen to feel a demon and the devil under every blade of grass. Mrs. Jessie Penn Lewis, in her book War on the Saints, though she has some valid insights, fell into this terrible trap of becoming too devil and demon conscious. Now on the other hand, the other pole of the extreme, there are periods in the history of the church when the people of God acted as though the devil had gone into hibernation or as though the devil had gone into a state of non-existence and in the realm of the church's being ignorant of his work, the devil has had a heyday. He does not like exposure. He likes to be, as it were, kept out of sight and if we can deal with problems as though they are purely human or psychological or natural or carnal problems and not come to the root of them as satanic problems, then the devil remains entrenched in his places of power and his places of influence. And it's interesting as one searches out the work of the devil in scripture that whenever God moves in unusual power and in the manifestation of the work of the spirit, you find clustered with that working

13:29 unusual satanic activity. Our Lord Jesus Christ is no sooner officially set apart as Messiah for the work and ministry to which his father appointed him after his baptism. His baptism is what we might call his official inauguration into his office, into his place as Messiah. Then you find him driven out into the wilderness into hand-to-hand combat with this prince of the power of the air, the devil himself.

14:01 When you read the book of the Acts of the Apostles and you see on the heels of that initial thrust of the Pentecostal outpouring of the spirit, there is unusual satanic, demonic activity. You find this continually in the history of the church. Therefore, by God's grace, scripture being our guide, we must not be ignorant of the devices of that wicked one. There is a personal spirit being called the devil and as Paul thought of his attempts to go to Thessalonica, as he considered those things which stood in his way, he says, this person hindered us.

Satan's Opposition to the Work of God

14:42 Satan hindered us. So much then for this fact that is clearly established by this text and many others that there is a personal spiritual being called Satan, the devil. The second thing we want to consider and this is the core of the text before us, this person is engaged in opposing the work of God. Paul says, Satan hindered us.

15:08 That word hinder is a military word. It means to impede by cutting a trench across one's way. It's the picture of an army pursuing its enemy and the enemy perhaps in retreat blows up bridges behind it or blows great holes in the roads so that the chariots or the instruments of war will be impeded in their advancement. So the apostle Paul thinks of himself there at Corinth from where he writes this letter.

15:44 He thinks of the road back to Thessalonica and he says, as I purposed and made attempts to come to you, I was impeded. I was hindered. There was a ditch cut across my path by this personal spiritual being called Satan, the devil. Now, what was Paul's desire in going back to Thessalonica?

16:07 Was it vacation time? Was he going back to do a little fishing with some of the elders? Was he thinking of going back and having a little rest? Why did Satan hinder him?

16:18 Well, looking at the context of this passage, this phrase in 1 Thessalonians 2, we'll see that Paul's desire was nothing more or less than to go back and strengthen this infant church in order that it might bring more glory to God and be more useful in that area of the vineyard of God. Notice his desire clearly expressed in verse 2 of chapter 3. He says, I sent Timotheus, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith that no man should be moved by these afflictions. The people of Thessalonica were being tremendously pressured.

17:02 By these apostate recalcitrant Jews and Paul was so concerned he wanted to go back to them to strengthen them and encourage them and stabilize them lest under the pressure of persecution they should turn aside. But when he can't go he sends Timothy to do exactly what he would have done had he been able to go there in the flesh. Verse 10 of the same chapter, night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in us. Which is lacking in your faith.

17:36 Satan hindered us. He opposed us. He cut a trench in our way. Why?

17:42 Because here he is pictured as the one who actively opposes the ongoing of the work of God particularly in the strengthening and bringing to maturity of an infant church. We might well say that Satan is animated by an unrelenting hatred against God and all goodness. He is engaged in a worldwide and age long struggle against God even seeking to defeat the divine plans of grace toward mankind and to seduce men to evil to their ruin. He actively opposes the work of God.

Satan's General Work in Opposing God's Work

18:26 It's not as though he stands on the sidelines uncommitted to the work of God indifferent to it, but he stands on the sidelines and he is there actively opposing. Now consider with me briefly what scripture teaches concerning the general work of the devil in opposing the work of God. As God is building his church as the Lord Jesus Christ is fulfilling his promise to build his church and the gates of hell should not prevail against it what is the activity of the devil in what we might call the realm of sinful mankind in general? Well the scripture says he is there actively blinding the minds of unbelievers.

19:09 2 Corinthians 4.4 The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ should shine unto them. You remember in the parable of the sower you had the instance of the stony the beaten path upon which the seed fell and when the Lord Jesus interpreted it he said this. As soon as the seed is sown then come the fowls of the air.

19:36 Now what are the fowls of the air? Our Lord tells us. When a man hears the word and understands it not Satan comes and snatches away that seed. There is the activity of the devil pictured as that of hungry birds fluttering around just a few feet behind the sower and as he sows his seed any seed that is not immediately enfolded by the earth should fall upon the Bible.

20:00 The birds swoop down and pluck it away. They are actively involved with the destiny of that seed. And so as we see in this text that Satan hindered the work of God this is his work in sinners in a general way blinding their minds to the truth of the gospel. Scripture reveals that he actually guides the conduct and is there as the motivating power in the conduct of unregenerate men.

20:30 Ephesians chapter 2 one of the most, I find, humbling passages when I'm out in especially student circles where people pride themselves in their academic freedom and in their liberation from all the standards and mores of the past and they are the generation that's going to make its mark within the realm of their own academic and moral freedom. When I tell them that they're just dupes of the devil and that they're actually being led by the devil and led down the tracks that are laid by the prince of the power of the air it strikes to the very core of this so-called freedom. Notice what he says in Ephesians 2 verses 1 through 3 You hath he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time past she walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh there is an active working of this spirit this prince of the power of the air in the children of disobedience among whom also we all had our manner of living in times past in the lust of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Here Satan is pictured as the one who sets the tracks upon which the lives of unregenerate men run from day to day. He's pictured in 2 Timothy as the one who binds men

21:58 and takes them captive unto his will. Therefore when God commissioned Paul to go out and preach and this is why he was very conscious of the work of the devil for his very commission involved liberating men from this blinding, deluding, binding power of this prince of the power of the air. In Acts chapter 26 we have the account of the commissioning of Paul as an apostle as a missionary and God tells him in verse 18 this is your task Paul to open their eyes to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance. No man receives forgiveness of sins except the man who by the grace of God is delivered from the power of the devil. Now if Paul's purpose is to go back to Thessalonica to see that church strengthened and established that its witness might extend that its witness might be more powerfully felt in liberating the souls of men from the grip of the devil is it no wonder that Satan hindered him? And he recognized this.

Satan's Specific Work in the Lives of Believers and the Church

23:17 He knew that he was immortal to the death conflict with this one who was determined to blind and bind and delude as many as he could. But more specifically what is the work of the devil in the life of the children of God or in the lives of the children of God? Well Paul says his work is sometimes the work of temptation 1 Corinthians chapter 7 that Satan tempt you not he even causes the children of God to think wrong thoughts about the ways of God when Peter in Matthew 16 said to the Lord well Lord you can't go to the cross and die that's not the way to accomplish your mission no Lord you cannot go to the cross what did Jesus say to him? Get thee behind me Satan Peter behind your thinking there is the activity of this personal spirit who has deceived you into completely misunderstanding how I will establish my kingdom how I will accomplish my purpose when we think as natural men many times behind that is the devil himself shaping and molding that thinking when as Christians we refuse to show to each other the spirit of grace of forgiveness of kindness that God commends in scripture and God commands behind that refusal is the work of the devil

24:43 at times for Paul writing to the church at Corinth encouraging them to receive this brother who had been guilty of incest and then had been disciplined by the church he said receive him back demonstrate your love for what purpose? he said lest he be swallowed up with over much sorrow and then he goes on to say for we are not ignorant of his devices this is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11 let me read it my paraphrase was poor 2 Corinthians chapter 2 yes verses 10 and 11 to whom ye forgive anything I forgive also for if I forgive anything to whom I forgave it for Christ's sake forgave I it in the person of Christ lest Satan should get an advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices you see Paul recognized that if there at the church there was a refusal on the part of the people to receive again this brother who had sinned but who had repented if there was a refusal to act scripturally with regard to this specific problem he said Satan would take advantage and would gain a toehold in the assembly at Corinth well these are some of the general ways that Satan hinders but now in a very narrow and specific way how did Satan hinder or what was Satan seeking to hinder

26:12 in the life of the Apostle Paul we would have come unto you once and again or I would have come unto you once and again Paul but Satan hindered us he was going back as we saw earlier to strengthen that church at Thessalonica now follow closely if the church is the pillar and the ground of the truth and if strong scripturally directed local churches are the instrument of God to accomplish his work and you were the devil where would you focus most of your opposition if you hated the truth you hated its establishment you hated its proclamation and the church is the pillar and the ground of the truth where would you focus your attention well it's obvious upon the disruption of the church upon seeking to make the church something less than a true pillar and ground of the truth for it's interesting in hindering Paul from going back to Thessalonica he left him at Corinth to do some more evangelizing when Paul could not get back to Thessalonica he stayed longer at Corinth to evangelize now could we infer from this that there's something the devil even hates more than ground level evangelism promiscuous proclamation of the word of God to sinners

27:40 and say that he hates something even more vehemently that is the establishing of redeemed sinners into strong virile local assemblies that will not be moved by affliction that will not be moved by those things that so often move churches now the question is the conclusion the implication we can draw from that specific way in which the devil sought to hinder the apostle Paul in his attempts to strengthen the church at Thessalonica is very obvious that if we as a church are content to run a three ring circus that is not really concerned with seeing individual believers brought to maturity in Christ in the church brought to an ever increasing conformity to the revealed will of Christ I doubt we'll know much of satanic opposition but if we set our faces by the grace of God to be established and strengthened as a body of believers in scripturally directed government ministry outreach conduct one to another then we are in a very real sense throwing down the gauntlet to the enemy sticking our chin out and asking for it and if so then we better not be ignorant of his devices for when the apostle Paul committed himself not just to grassroots

29:07 promiscuous evangelism but to an evangelism that led to the establishment of churches and to the establishment of churches that led to the development and cultivation of those churches into strong virile churches he was constantly plagued by the opposition of the devil and so we must expect that same opposition and recognize from whence it comes and learn by the grace of God how to deal with it now so much for the truths that seem to be embodied in Paul's simple words Satan hindered us there is a personal spirit being called Satan he is engaged in opposing the work of God now what are some practical conclusions we can draw from this guided by other portions of scripture as well well the first one is this and this is most encouraging to me that God controls and overrules the work of Satan for good if Satan had not hindered Paul we wouldn't have first Thessalonians what would I have been preaching out of for the past year in the morning you see the fact that he was hindered and his heart was still there is what moved him to write this letter so we have this wonderful letter with all of the tremendous things that we've discovered as we've been studying it together

Practical Conclusion 1: God Controls and Overrules Satan's Work

30:36 now Paul says yes his work was very real he's responsible for it but God so overruled the work of Satan that out of it came the tremendous blessing of this first letter to the church at Thessalonica this epistle is the result second good result that came out of it Paul stayed longer at Corinth than he had originally anticipated as a result of that he was able to nurture and found a church at Corinth for when he writes to the people at Corinth the wise master builder who under God founded this particular church so as we think of the work of the devil and all of its subtlety never forget he is God's devil never forget he's God's devil see I don't understand I didn't ask you to understand I don't understand you're entering into that realm you see similar to man being a totally responsible sovereign doing according to his will in the armies of heaven and earth why was our Lord Jesus Christ crucified well from God's standpoint he was crucified because God determined that he was going to save a great multitude whom no man could number and in that determination to save a great multitude

32:05 he sent his son and in sending his son he sent him to die why was Christ crucified from the foundation of the world God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up and yet when you read the gospel account the answer to that question could well be this why was Christ crucified because the devil entered into Judas and made him betray him isn't that what scripture says then entered Satan into Judas and he went out and he did his dastardly deed he's God's devil he's God's devil Satan putting into the heart of Judas that spirit of betrayal selling the Lord for thirty pieces of silver and yet in no way did this fall outside the circumference of the rule and the purpose of God you find this again and again Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12 a messenger of Satan buffeted me and what was the outcome of it this was used to keep Paul he said in the place of humility because it's only in the posture of humility that the spirit of God would rest upon him in power for when I am really weak then am I strong most gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmity so as we think of this personal

33:34 spirit and his power and his subtlety who is constantly engaged in opposing the work of God let's never forget that God controls and overrules the work of Satan for good he has a wonderful commentary on this when the devil has to ask permission for everything he does and he can go no further then God gives him permission and then that picture in revelation chapter 20 that I was looking at just this morning before the service I hadn't thought of it in my preparation but it came to me so vividly notice this picture whatever it is talking about as far as time when this will happen But the fact of this description is tremendously helpful along these lines. And I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and the great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed for a little season. He's bound at the discretion of God. He's loosed at the discretion of God.

34:55 And then later on in the chapter we find him cast into the lake of fire forever by the discretion and will of God. Though we should not be ignorant of the work of the devil, though we should not act as though there were no devil, let us never consider the work and person of the devil without remembering he's God's devil. And Paul...

35:16 Paul indicates his conviction of this right in this context. For though he says in chapter 2 verse 18, We would have come unto you even I, Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us. Is he thinking, well, I'll never get to see those people. The devil will cut one trench after another in my way.

35:33 I'll never get there. No. In verse 10 he indicates, verse 11 of chapter 3, that he knows one who's more powerful than the devil and who can dispose of his opposition when he chooses to do so. He says in verse 10, And we are praying exceedingly that we might see your face.

35:50 Verse 11, Now God himself and our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you. And when he's pleased to direct our way, no trenches will be cut.

36:05 Satan hindered us, but when God determines that we come, we'll be there.

36:11 You say, I don't understand that. I don't either. But there it is.

36:16 There it is. God doesn't call us to understand it. He calls us to reckon with the fact...

36:21 as they are. So, the first practical observation from this text is, God overrules the work of Satan for good. He's God's devil. Secondly, God has equipped us to wage warfare with the devil.

Practical Conclusion 2: God Equips Us for Spiritual Warfare

36:38 Notice, Paul said Satan hindered us, so what does he do? Does he go out and try to organize a committee that'll outlaw the devil? Does he seek to gain some victory over the devil? No, he says, if Satan hindered us from coming, there is a weapon committed to my trust as a Christian that can actively come against the enemy and can conquer him.

37:04 And we already read that passage, verse 10 of chapter 3, night and day, praying exceedingly that we might see your face. Paul recognized, as he states so clearly in Ephesians 6, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. And powers against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Some of the commentators have suggested that when Paul said Satan hindered us, the hindrance may have come from those Jews that were opposing him at Corinth.

37:35 Satan may have hindered him by afflicting him with some disease or some physical malady, but there's nothing in scripture to indicate how Satan hindered him. But Paul saw behind whatever human factors and recognized he was wrestling not with flesh and blood. His conflict was not with the human factors, but with the devil himself. And recognizing that his warfare was with a spiritual being, he did not pick up carnal weapons.

38:02 But as he says in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verses 3 to 5, words that ought to be burned into the heart of every true child of God and into the life stream of every church of God. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of the flesh are the weapons of the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, that is, fleshly, but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

38:40 The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They are spiritual weapons to accomplish spiritual victories with spiritual enemies. And when the church resorts to big, names and to gimmicks and to Madison Avenue techniques to accomplish its goals, it has sold out and has given the field to the devil, for he does not tremble before carnal weapons. We have a clear example of this in the book of the Acts of the Apostles in Acts chapter 19.

39:12 You had the, well, let's look at it.

39:16 Acts 19, beginning with verse 13. There were these vagabond Jews, exorcists, people who. Went around claiming to have power to cast out devils, and so they took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you, or we charge you by Jesus, whom Paul preached it. There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, which did so, and the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus, I know.

39:47 And Paul, I know.

39:51 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them. And they fled. They fled out of that house naked and wounded.

40:01 You see, they weren't really waging spiritual warfare out of vital union with the Lord Jesus. Coming against that evil spirit in the name and the authority of Christ as those vitally joined to Christ, they were simply using a shibboleth that they saw worked over here. They found the secret to success. They had a gimmick that was going to work.

40:21 And so they presented the evil spirits with their gimmick. And they said, We don't recognize your gimmick. We know Jesus. And we know Paul.

40:28 But who in the world are you?

40:31 Oh, would to God that this truth would grip the evangelical church today. The devil doesn't care about our gimmicks and our Madison Avenue techniques and our cleverly ordered psychological ways of communicating the gospel and cranking decisions out of people and all. It doesn't impress him in the least. We think that all that stands between a man and his being saved is getting him to parrot a few little words like, God be merciful to me, a sinner.

41:00 And whatever we can do. To get him to parrot those words, we've brought him on to God. The devil says, Jesus, I know, Paul, I know, but who are you? But if we recognize that behind his indifference to commit himself to Christ is the blinding, binding work of the devil, him, that wicked spirit who has taken them captive unto his will, then we will recognize that it's not going to be a clever technique.

41:27 It's not going to be some slick little way of presenting the gospel. It's not going to be a beautiful church. None of these things which are carnal and fleshly will accomplish the work of God. But there are spiritual weapons, the weapons of all prayer, as we find them in Pilgrim's Progress, the weapon of the sword of the spirit pleading with God that he would loose the captives.

Practical Conclusion 3: Beware of Satan's Subtleties Through Carelessness

41:51 And then the third principle, by way of application, not only should we recognize that he's God's devil, secondly, that God has given us spiritual weapons with which to combat him. But we must beware, lest, through carelessness and indifference, we are duped by his subtleties. The warning again and again in Scripture to the Christian as he thinks of the devil is a warning to watchfulness, 1 Peter 5 verse 7, I think it's verse 7 or verse 8, be sober, be vigilant, be awake, be on the alert, have all your faculties about you, don't go to sleep. Why?

42:33 Don't take catnaps. Why? Your adversary the devil is a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Why was Paul so sensitive to the satanic intrusion into his purpose to go back?

42:46 Because he was watchful and he recognized in the movements of men and things that behind them was the work of the devil hindering and opposing. He was alert to the world of spiritual reality. And the devil is seeking continually to get us numb to the world of spiritual reality. If we're numb to it, then he's got us in the place where he can do his dirty work in our lives.

43:09 Be sober, be alert, be vigilant, know something of his ways and be on your guard. James says in James 4 and verse 7, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Ephesians 4, 27, neither give place, literally don't give any territory to the devil. Have that warning in 2 Corinthians 11.

43:32 That the devil himself, Satan himself, transforms himself into an angel of light. And unless we are watchful, we shall be duped by his subtleties. Oh, may God grant that we shall, as it were, tighten up our buckles, especially as the summer months come. I want to tell you a little story in closing.

43:53 I don't often tell stories in closing, but it's a fresh one and very vivid to my mind. A local pastor told me. He told me just this week of one of the families who at one time were a pillar in the church where he is a pastor. And he mentioned recently something that indicated that this family has just completely lost its zeal and its desire for the forwarding of the work of God and bitterly disappointed this pastor in a recent situation.

44:24 And as I talked with him about it and tried to get to the bottom of it, he said, I trace it all back to last summer. They've been saving up all year. Oh, for many years to take a three months vacation. They wanted to see the country.

44:36 And so the family took a three months vacation, had a wonderful time. But from that time until now, they've never regained their spiritual bearings. They fed their flesh at the expense of their souls. And I'm convinced if we could sit down with that couple and trace it back, it began because they were not watchful.

45:02 They never thought that there'd be any advantage. They never thought that there'd be any advantage. They never thought that there'd be any advantage gained by Satan. I will go to church somewhere every Sunday.

45:10 We'll be somewhere in church. But they had no assurance that they could be in places where they were going to have the word of God expounded, where they were going to meet with the true people of God whose fellowship would expose sin and encourage to holiness. And in a climate where Christ would be conveyed through the preaching of the word and in the prayers of the people, they just thought, why, what's more innocent than saving up for your lifetime? Taking a three-month vacation and enjoying it.

45:39 But they did so at the expense of their souls. Why? They weren't watchful. They weren't watchful.

45:45 And I trust as we enter these summer months, I usually give my annual exhortation, and it's coming this morning. Oh, beloved, let's be watchful. When the Bible says that the devil goes into hibernation from June to September, when the Bible teaches that the devil is not out to foul up the world. Oh, beloved, let's be watchful.

46:05 When the Bible says that the devil goes into hibernation from June to September, when the Bible teaches that the devil goes into hibernation from June to September, when the Bible teaches that the devil is not out to foul up the world. Oh, beloved, let's look at that and appreciate the gift of the cross. When it says to you, let's be watchful. When he said priest, let me take it up.

46:11 Let's be watchful together with the funciona . Let us be watchful now. He didn't take it quite now, didn't he? He still this time, then worry himself again.

46:15 Again. He wasn't the Нет holi. Bible says he was oh you savage. He said pretending you were just second generation called Jesus Christ.

46:19 You only went up first. That was the point that I've been talking about with our eaters. He now just made up his sermons. That's another of our daughters doctrine.

46:23 scripture stands that your adversary goes about like a roaring lion suit seeking whom he may devour. Don't sell your soul for anything, even in the summer months. Now this is no direct reference to, I know the Makowskis are taking off for a couple of weeks vacation. I don't want to think I'm taking the pulpit to strike at them, nor is this a reference to anybody else. We've got some that are already away on vacation. I know several others who are going. No, this is not directed at any individual, but neither is any individual exempt from it. The principle holds for every one of us. I, Paul, would have come unto you once and again, but Satan hindered us. There is a personal spiritual being called Satan who is opposing the work of God in the lives of sinners, in the lives of the saints, and in particularly in the establishing and maintaining of vigorous New Testament churches operating according to the rule of Scripture. And as we think of that, we would be fearful if we did not remember he is God's devil. And God has given us weapons to combat him. And God

47:35 commands us to be watchful that we might not fall prey to his subtleties. May God help us to walk in the light of these instructions and exhortations of Holy Scripture. Let us pray.