During the Sermon, Part 2

Introduction: The Perplexity of God's Word and the Duty to Hear

0:03 The following message was delivered on Sunday morning, June 11, 1995, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now will you turn with me, please, in your Bibles to that text of Scripture that forms both the basis and the framework of our present series of studies in the Word of God in our Lord's Day morning hour of worship. I refer, of course, to those of you who are with us, as you will know, Luke chapter 8 and verse 18.

0:40 Our Lord Jesus, in the company of the inner circle of the disciples, speaks to them and says, Take heed, therefore, how you hear, for whosoever has, to him shall be given. And whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away, even that which he seems to have.

1:13 Now let us again seek the face of God in prayer, amening what we have sung together, that God would send the unction, the presence, and power of his Spirit upon us in the ministry of the Word. Let us pray.

1:33 Our Father. Our hearts have been enlarged as we have sung this hymn, begging you that you would open your hand and send down upon us copious, felt measures of the Spirit of grace and of power, the Spirit of light and understanding, the Spirit of illumination and conviction. And, O God, we ask that that yearning would be fulfilled.

2:04 And that you would, in answer to our corporate cry, do exceeding abundantly above all we could ask or think, according to the power that works in us. We plead especially that our Lord Jesus, as the mighty conqueror of the Prince of Darkness, the one who bruised his head upon the cross, who manifested his triumph over all the powers of the world,

2:34 who raised him from the dead and seated him at your own right hand far above all principalities and powers, may his conquest be manifested in this place today, as together we plead for your blessing in his worthy name. Amen. It is not an unusual thing for the true child of God to be. Plunged into a state of temporary confusion and perplexity of heart.

3:17 Many portions in the Psalms, in particular, reflect the reality of a child of God plunged into a state of temporary confusion and perplexity. And few things will bring about this condition of perplexity and confusion more readily, than a condition in which God's promises seem to be contradicted by other pronouncements in his word, or more frequently, by the factors of his providence.

3:58 When the promises of God point us in one direction of expectation, and yet other pronouncements of God point us in another, and when his providence unfolds circumstances that seem to contradict his very promises, the child of God is indeed thrown into a state of temporary perplexity and confusion. For example, in Isaiah chapter 55, verses 10 and 11, God states as a prophet,

4:40 As the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not hither, but waters the earth, makes it to bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish, that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it.

5:22 This seems to be a sweeping, unqualified promise, that when the word of God goes forth, it does not return to God void, but it prospers. Then we turn to a passage such as Hebrews 4 and verse 2, and we read the same spirit of God speaking by the human author of this portion of Scripture, for indeed, we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they, but the word of hearing did not profit them,

6:06 because it was not united by faith with them that heard. Here, we have a statement that the word was preached in vain. The word preached did not profit, but I thought God said, his word would always prosper when it went forth out of his mouth. Well, upon a first reading, a child of God could indeed be perplexed.

6:35 A child of God can be confused. Is God the God of truth when he says, my word shall prosper? Or is he the God of truth when he says, the word preached did not profit? Well, obviously, there is no contradiction in God or in his word, and the confusion arises from what is only an apparent contradiction, and the answer lies in this case, as in most cases, in, in searching out the whole teaching of the word of God and comparing scripture with scripture

7:19 until we see there is not a contradiction, but a marvelous synthesis, and one aspect of the truth is being addressed in Isaiah 55, and within that very promise, God has said certain things that make all due allowance for what we read in Hebrews chapter 4, for he promised to send forth his word with success in terms not of our expectation, but he said it shall prosper in that whereunto I have sent it. And we learn from other scriptures that God sometimes sends forth his word

8:03 to be a saver of death unto death, as well as a word of life unto life. Well, in the light of the fact that the word preached did in their case not profit them, should be of real concern to us that though there is a word which God says will not return unto him void, there is also a word from God which does not profit some to whom it comes, and therefore our great concern ought to be that we, be profitable hearers and receivers of the word,

8:48 and in pursuit of that goal we are meditating upon the command of our Lord Jesus and the implications of that command to take heed how we hear the word of God. As we have addressed ourselves to this subject, we have seen in Luke 8 and verse 18 that it is the truth and the duty of all who hear the word of God to give conscious, careful, continuous attention to the manner in which they hear it. And now we are opening up three major categories within which this duty is to be performed,

The Sobering Fact: Indwelling Sin and the Devil's Activity During Preaching

9:33 namely before or prior to the hearing of the word of God, during the preaching of the word, and then after the preaching. Last Lord's Day morning we began our consideration of what is entailed in taking heed how we hear during the actual preaching of the word of God. And I stated on that occasion that the materials that I prepared and proposed to set before you can be arranged under two basic headings. As we ask the question, what does it mean to take heed

10:15 how I hear during the preaching of the word, I have suggested that there is first of all a sobering fact to be faced while hearing the word of God, and there are some specific directives to be implemented while hearing the word of God. We then began to look at the sobering fact to be faced while hearing the word of God. And what is that fact? It is this.

10:49 The insidious and soul-destructive influence of our remaining sin and of the devil himself are neither suspended nor negated during the hearing of the word of God. The insidious, the subtle, the hidden, the wily, these not-so-obvious workings that are destructive of our soul's highest interests, these influences of our remaining sin and of the devil are neither suspended

11:32 nor negated while we are under the preaching of the word of God. And we had, time last week, only to look at the scriptural basis for this fact as it relates to our remaining sin. And we opened up in your hearing Galatians 5.17 and Romans 7.21-23

12:01 and sought to face the implication of those texts with respect to our desire to sit profitably, under the preaching of the word of God. And we saw from the exposition and application of those texts that indwelling sin or our remaining fleshiness, rather than being suspended or negated under the preaching of the word, are most frequently never more active than in the setting of the preaching of the Word of God.

12:45 Now this morning, I want us to look at the biblical basis of asserting that the very activity of the devil himself is not suspended, nor is it negated under the preaching of the Word of God. And we're going to concentrate our attention on passages from the Scriptures which point us to that vicious, soul-destructive influence of the devil himself in the midst of a gathering of gospel hearers, in the midst of a gathering of people sitting under the pure preaching of the Word of God.

Justifying the Focus on the Devil's Activity

13:29 Now for any who have any reservations about a preacher, concentrating on texts that will address the spiritual and spiritual life of the devil, the nature and activity of the devil, may I simply remind you that according to 2 Timothy 3.16, all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, including the Scriptures that describe to us the fact of the devil's existence, the nature of his actions, the nature of his activity in general,

14:09 and the reality of his activity in the midst of preaching in particular. And while some may say, I came to a Christian church to hear Christ preach, I haven't come to hear about the devil. Well, my friend, it is Christ himself who is the author of Scripture, and Christ has told us things concerning the devil. And according to 1 John 3.9,

14:37 for this, the purpose was the Son of God manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. And our concern in drawing your attention to passages dealing with the activity of the devil, particularly in conjunction with the preaching of the Word, is not to magnify the devil, but that we might, by the grace of God, know his workings, so that applying ourselves to the grace and strength, and conquering power of Christ, we would not fall prey to his influences under the preaching of the Word. And furthermore, I set before you the confirming voice of the past

15:22 with reference to the necessity of this exercise.

15:27 Thomas Brooks, a Puritan preacher of the 1600s, preached a series of sermons to his people, and then because they were so helped by them, they pressured the man of God to put them in print, and they have come down to us as his well-known treatise, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices. And in what the old Puritans called the Epistle Dedicatory, that is, a letter indicating to whom they are desirous that their printed words would come, and why, Brooks wrote as follows to his own congregation, Beloved in our dearest Lord,

16:12 that's how he addressed his congregation, Christ, the Scripture, your own hearts, and Satan's devices are the four prime things that should be first and most studied and searched. If any cast off the study of these, they cannot be seen, save here, nor happy hereafter. It is my work as a Christian, but much more as I am a watchman, to do my best to discover the fullness of Christ,

16:57 the emptiness of the creature, and the snares of the great deceiver. Here is a man of God who said to his people the four great pivots, 10 and 11. And he has been in al-Arba, and he's spoken in all of the spiritual circles and his progeny, and the great he said, I'm committed to do my best to discover for you and with you the fullness of Christ, the emptiness of the creature, and the snares, and the rest,

17:42 of the great deceiver. So my concern to address with you this solemn fact in conjunction with taking heed how we hear under preaching a fact that includes not only the reality of the presence and acting of indwelling sin but the presence and activity of the devil himself. I am not out on some far out fanatic fringe but I stand in the company of men whose shoes I am unworthy to unloose convinced that scripture demands such a consideration

18:25 and that faithfulness as a servant of Christ constrains to such a consideration. Well then we come to the witness concerning the devil's working in the church. In connection with the preaching of the word. And as we come to that witness we will consider first the explicit witness and then secondly the implicit or the indirect witness and then make several concluding applications.

Explicit Witness: The Devil's Work in the Parable of the Sower

18:58 First of all then when I have stated in your presence that there is a solemn fact with which we need to reckon when we are actually sitting under the preaching of the word as you now are that fact being that neither our indwelling sin nor the activity of the devil are suspended or negated in this setting on what grounds do I make such a dogmatic assertion? Well first of all the explicit witness found in the very context of our initial text. Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8.

19:43 Here we find our Lord infallibly interpreting his own parable of the sower and the soils. The record of the parable is given in verses 4 through 8. Verse 9 tells us and his disciples asked him what this parable might be. And he said unto you.

20:10 It is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God but to the rest in parables that seeing they may see and hearing that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God and those by the wayside are they that have heard then cometh then cometh the devil.

20:45 The seed is the word. They heard then cometh the devil and takes away the word from their heart that they may not believe and be saved. Those of you who are with us in our expositions of the gospel of Mark will remember that one of the unique literary elements of Mark's gospel is the constant use of the little word euthus translated straightway or immediately. And in Mark's account of this same parable in Mark chapter 4 Mark records

21:29 the same incident as follows. Mark chapter 4 verse 15 And these are they by the wayside where the word is sown and when they have heard straightway cometh Satan. When they have heard straightway cometh Satan and takes away the word which has been sown in them. Now it is obvious from the passage in Luke less obvious

22:14 from the passage in Mark that the primary focus in this parable and our Lord's interpretation of it is the devil's activity upon the unsaved who hear the word of the gospel.

22:33 But there is a broader principle involved in this parable that when the good seed of the word of God is sown Satan is both present and present and active and will do all within his power to hinder its reception its germination and its ultimate fruit bearing potential. And though he realizes that to perfect success in an unconverted man until the stronger than the strong one overcomes him he is nonetheless successful in the highest part of the people

23:18 of God to the extent in the language of Ephesians chapter 4 that they give place to the devil. As he holds in captivity all who are his subjects who have yet to be translated out of his power and into the kingdom of God's dear son so he continually harasses and seeks to regain the ground lost in the lives of the true people of God. And from our Lord's words we learn that nowhere is the seed of the word of God

24:03 sown but what the arch enemy of God and of the souls of men is very much concerned with what happens to that word in the hearts of those who are not to whom it comes. When men stand with the name of preacher and give out the bogus seed of human philosophy pop psychology religious entertainment or heretical views of God man sin or the way of salvation Satan need not be present and active such bogus seed can never produce the fruits of the

24:48 true repentance rooted in a knowledge of God and of ourselves such bogus seed of human philosophy and pop psychology and religious entertainment and heretical views of God and of sin and of the way of salvation these do not disturb but rather enforce the kingdom of darkness who erects his kingdom upon the fabric of lies and the fabric of lies and the fabric of lies for he is called the liar and the father of it and he builds his kingdom upon the lie and wherever men in the name of being preachers perpetrate lies there the enemy is content

25:33 to leave people to the horrible damning influence of those lies but wherever he finds the activity of true gospel life and the seed wherever he finds a sower sowing the word he knows that his kingdom is dismantled by the word of truth and you have that clear example in Matthew 16 that in the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ he will seek to snatch away the word that is sown in the very presence

26:17 of Christ for you remember in Matthew 16 21 and following Jesus has just announced in a most explicit way following Peter's great confession of his identity that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and the third day be raised up our Lord was sowing the word and truth by the way of prophecy concerning what he must undergo to secure the salvation of man Peter has just confessed him to be Christ son of the

27:01 living God he now says in fulfillment of my messianic task and identity I must go to Jerusalem I must suffer I must be killed I must be raised up but what happens verse 22 Peter took him and began to rebuke him that word of truth did not find lodgment in his heart his own preconceived notions about how Messiah would accomplish his messianic task his own preconceived notions as to how Messiah should come to his place of reign and power was such that there was a rejection of that seed of the word of God

27:46 coming from the very lips of truth incarnate I must go to Jerusalem I must suffer I must be killed I must be raised but Peter turns and rebukes him and says be it far from you Lord this shall never be to you and who does our Lord see as very very active in that setting one of his own he has just said to him flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you but my Father which is in heaven where does our Lord see this prejudicial disposition in Peter's heart coming from a disposition that causes a rejection

28:31 of the seed of the word in one of his own true disciples look at his response but he turned and said unto Peter get behind me and he gives him one of the standard words used to describe the devil get thee behind me Satan Satan he calls the rock the devil he calls in his adversary get behind me Satan he heard in the words of Peter the very hiss of the serpent himself he heard

29:15 the overtones of the proposals of the wilderness don't go the way of rejection and suffering you want the kingdoms of the world which are rightfully yours now which will be yours by way of messianic inheritance take the shortcut Jesus bow down and worship me and I'll give them to you now and the Lord says you'll worship the Lord your God in him only shall you serve he sees the influence of the adversary coming out of the mouth of one of his own intimates one of his own disciples and you see

30:00 the enemy is no less the adversary of Christ and of his truth now and in your life and in mine than he was in that setting and from the passage in Luke and the parallel passage in Mark illustrated by the Matthew 16 passage we have no reason to think that somewhere along the line the devil gathered all the means of hell together and said well it's a losing business we're ultimately going to be banished to the lake of fire with all who have sworn allegiance to us let's leave off any place where people are gathered and the pure word of God

30:45 is preached since we know that ultimately that word will be proven true before the whole assembly of all of mankind in the day of judgment let's agree to leave off troubling any who gather for the preaching of the word no no my friends the hatred of the devil against God and his Christ is as vicious in this hour as it ever was and he is active whenever the seed of the word is sown then comes the devil when it is sown then comes the devil and in the parable itself you'll see that the devil is sown by the devil and in the parable itself you'll see that the devil is sown by the devil

The Devil as the 'Fowls of the Air': Intensified Activity During Preaching

31:29 you'll remember it was the fowls of the air that followed behind and in companionship with the sower who swooped down and with their beaks plucked up that seed before it was pressed into the earth and could germinate and bring forth fruit in the initial message I said if we went into banners I could wish we would have two mechanized banners in this building and we would and when I stood up to preach that one would drop behind me so I couldn't see it but you'd be forced to see it looking in this direction and it would say take heed how you hear

32:14 and another behind you that you would not see it but it would stare me and any other preacher in the face dropping down so we could not avoid it and it would say preach the word sow the seed of the word and it would say well I'd like to add to the banners the flock of birds I wish we had a trained flock of birds who would be trained to just fly around unobtrusively in our peripheral vision every time one of us stood to preach to remind you that what those birds represent is a reality in this building every time

32:58 this book is open there is a personal devil and there are hosts of hell who like the birds that follow the sower they may be perched merrily on the limbs of their trees asleep in their nest as long as the sower is home in his house but the moment he puts on his seed bag and goes out to his field and begins to reach into his seed bag to cast his seed the birds leave their perches the birds kiss goodbye to their nests and the birds they are there in proximity to the sower because they are determined

33:42 to have a crop full of seed and every time any man of God stands in this place with the seed of the word of God the birds circling around your head and your heart desirous snatching any seed that would cause your life to be transformed either in initial converting grace or brought more and more into conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ

34:27 dear people you can't afford the luxury of careless listening to the word you must take heed how you die because of this solemn fact that the activity of indwelling sin and of the devil him self are neither suspended nor negated under the preaching of the word in fact according to the parable of our Lord Jesus the activity of the devil is heightened the birds leave their nest when the seed gets out

35:11 of the sower's seed bag they are most active when the seed is being sown one of the old writers has said perhaps nowhere is the devil more active in all the universe than in a company of gospel hearers because he knows if that seed takes root in those who are not saved it will under the blessing of the spirit of God be the instrument of their salvation as Peter says having been begotten again not of corruption but of incorruptible seed

35:55 by the word of God which lives and abides forever and what is it that ultimately brings about the sanctification of God's people not having good healings in the midst of Christian entertainment not having the happy goose bumps because someone makes a seal good no sanctify them in the truth thy word is the word truth man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God receive with meekness the engrafted word as newborn babes long for the sincere

36:40 milk of the word that you may grow thereby Satan knows that it is not merely the word spoken in our ears but taking root in our hearts that is the grand instrument of God not only to deliver subjects from his kingdom but to bring those who've been delivered into maturity in Christ so there is the explicit witness of these texts but now I want you to consider with me two implicit or indirect witnesses establishing the fact that the devil's activity is neither suspended nor negated under the preaching of the word

Implicit Witness 1: Ephesians 6 and Constant Spiritual Warfare

37:25 turn please to Ephesians chapter 6 Ephesians chapter 6 and here toward the close of the epistle we have that marvelous passage on the Christian and his armor notice verse 10 we are confronted as the people of God with the imperatives two imperatives finally here's the first be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might there's a duty I have a duty to be strong not in myself but in the Lord and in

38:10 the strength of his might verse 11 the second imperative put on the whole armor of God the second imperative from the general to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might I am now commanded to put on the whole armor of God those are the two imperatives now what's the purpose look at the text in order that you may be able to stand against the wiles the scheming methods of the devil why am I to be strong in the Lord and in

38:55 the strength of his might why am I under obligation to put on the whole armor of God it is to the end that I may be able to stand against the scheming methods of the devil well why in the world do I need to stand against the scheming methods of the devil what do they have to do with me well whether you know it or not Paul goes on to speak of the necessity of these things from the imperative to the purpose to the necessity look at the passage for our wrestling is we are engaged in a wrestling we are engaged in a conflict

39:38 and someone has suggested that that Greek word found only here in the New Testament Paul A refers to hand to hand conflict as in wrestling there is fainting there is cunning there is strategy so the apostle says we are engaged in a wrestling in a conflict not against flesh and blood that is human powers but against the principalities against the powers against the world rulers of this darkness against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places it's as though someone hears the imperative be strong to the end

40:23 that you may be able to stand against the subtle wily strategies of the devil and says well you may be one who has problems with the devil but not me the devil and I we never have any encounter Paul says no if you're a true child of God you are constantly engaged in a hand to hand combat with the prince of the power of the air and all of the host of darkness our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but it is a very real wrestling against and then he lists the various categories of satanic powers which in my judgment are not awaiting some fine

41:08 technical definition but as so often is true in scripture the apostle is guided by the holy spirit to point us in the direction of any and every category of the combined host he said you're locked in mortal combat whether you feel it or not you are never in the most danger than when you feel the least amount of the conflict your safety and mine is in being aware that the conflict is real and that the engagement with the enemy is real and therefore the necessity to be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might

41:53 and to put on the whole armor of god it's not just a nice suggestion for a few advanced super duper ultra sincere serious christians you my friend if you belong to christ you're in this conflict and there's nothing to indicate that there is an agreed upon cease fire when it comes lord's day morning and it's nine thirty eleven o'clock six o'clock men in the world may celebrate the christmas holiday or the easter holiday by agreeing to lay down their weapons of war and the accoutrements

42:37 of battle for a twenty four hour period and have a cease fire but there is nothing in the word of god that says there's any cease fire until by death our spirits leave to go to a better place or at the coming of the lord jesus body and spirit are glorified in his presence and until that time there is a constant necessity for us to be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might to put on the whole armor of god to the end that we may stand against the wilds stand against these subtle stratagems

43:21 of our enemy who is here identified as the devil and some of his most wily wiles are exercised under the preaching of the word of god for if he can neutralize the impact of the word upon a believer he has rendered that believer weak he has rendered that believer vulnerable he has rendered that believer to some degree useless in doing any real damage to his kingdom what he cannot stand is a well furnished child of god who puts on this

44:06 armor and no little part of that armor comes from an experimental acquaintance with and a spiritual absorption of the word of god and if he wants to see you unarmed and unfit for battle he can do it in no more effective way than to make you a careless poor sloppy listener to preaching i say this text though not an explicit text surely implicitly sets before us this sobering fact that the activity of the devil is neither suspended or negated under the preaching of the word

Implicit Witness 2: 1 Peter 5 and the Roaring Lion

44:50 in fact from the analogy of scripture we have every reason to believe it is intensified precisely at the point that the word is preached because if he gains his victory there he's left you vulnerable for many a victory of his on other fields as well the second and final text is found in peter's letter first peter chapter five remember i'm seeking to establish only one thing that when we come to sit under the word of god we must take heed how we hear in the light of this sobering

45:35 fact that neither indwelling sin or the activity of the devil are suspended or negated under the preaching of the word we've looked at the explicit witness of luke twelve in the parallel passage in matthew sixteen the implicit testimony of ephesians six now the implicit testimony of first peter five coming toward the end of his epistle written to suffering saints whom peter has every reason to believe are about to suffer measures of intensified suffering not yet known

46:18 he comes toward the close of his epistle having encouraged all believers to humble themselves verse six under the mighty hand of god that he may exalt them in due time casting all of their anxieties upon him in the confidence that he cares for us there's the tremendous consolation of the child of god anything that would make me anxious i am warranted to cast it upon him he doesn't tell us carry it on your own back whether it's uncertainty about your work situation whether it's apprehension about the state of one of your

47:03 children and the crucial decisions they are making that seem to be opening up a whole path of tragedy and heartbreak whatever causes anxiety the word of god says cast it all upon him why he cares for you you're his child the darling of his heart he loved you in eternity he sent his son to die for you raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand he hears and sees the fruit of his constant intercession for you he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things what consolation is ours

47:47 dear people that consolation is not to lead to the attitude oh well lord cares for me cast all my cares on him then I can just saunter in sit down and let the preacher get worked up enough and interesting enough and speak in such a way that it'll get me awake and get my interest and hold it and if he doesn't do those things and hold it then it's his fault if I just sort of drift that's the way a lot of you wouldn't say it but that's the way you listen to preaching you lay all the burden on the preacher keep your attention you'd protest it in no other way

48:32 than finding some other doors to come through and that's right as I said last week there's no excuse for dull preaching but there's no excuse for lazy listening either it's upon preacher and people together to do their task under God and so the apostle having encouraged the Lord's people to cast all of their anxiety upon him in the confidence that he cares for them now look at verse eight to imperatives again he's sober be watchful he's sober be free of all

49:17 forms of spiritual drunkenness when a man gets drunk he gets by degrees out of touch with reality the excessive accumulation of alcohol in his blood stream when it goes to his brain gets him by degrees out of touch with reality Peter says no spiritual drunkenness cast all your care upon the living God yes but to the end that with a heart that is carefree you may engage all of your faculties in looking all of reality straight in the eye be sober furthermore he says be watchful that's a military term be constantly like a man who has

50:02 been set for that watch in the night when the enemies are most likely under cover of darkness to sneak within the perimeter of the camp and the soldier sits upon his watch straining his ears and his eyes and all of his faculties as alert as though he'd had twenty cups of coffee listening for the slightest breaking of a twig looking out into the darkness pupils fully dilated to see any motion that would indicate the approach of an enemy under the cover of night be watchful be wide awake don't indulge any form of spiritual drunkenness don't indulge any form of spiritual

50:46 sleepiness it's over be alert be watchful now you say pastor he'll make a christian life so friends i didn't write this i reject your accusation that i make the christian life hard i didn't write these words the holy ghost did through an inspired apostle and said you be sober be watchful the two imperatives now what's the reason for it look at the text be sober be watchful here's the reason your

51:31 adversary the devil you have an adversary and his name is the devil and he's an active adversary because it says as a roaring lion he walks about but he's not only an active adversary and a real adversary but a vicious adversary he walks about seeking whom he may literally drink down he's out not just a roar and then have a good chuckle because when he roars people jump and goes away hides himself and says well i'm going to find somebody else that i can make him jump in the middle of the night

52:14 he jumped and he no no he's not going around roaring getting a kick out of watching people jump look at the text it says as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may utterly devour and swallow down he doesn't want to leave you with just a few fang marks in your arm or your neck or a few claw marks your face and swallow you that's the imagery peter gives now whom does a lion devour

52:59 some of you have seen the nature films on public television the lion looks for the weak for the diseased for the young for the one separated from the herd you've seen that again and again he looks for the weak he looks for the one separated from the herd what is it that keeps us strong john says i write into you young man because you are strong and the words in you what made them strong

53:43 it's something more reaching stream into their shoes and muscles and into the tissue of heart and viscera the word of god was living in them that made them strong some of you have heard preaching for ten years and you're weak as water why because the word of god get in you and why doesn't get in you because you don't take heed how you hear and under preaching you do all of next week's work

54:27 you find it all out under preaching you relive all of last week's work under preaching you can relive the highlights of the last playoff between jack and company and a team of who scored how many rebounds and you run over being preached and fantasize about your last date your mind is anywhere but upon

55:12 the great realities of the word of god that's why the word of god doesn't abide in you you don't take heed how you hear and the devil's going about seeking whom he may devour and he sees you in your sickened condition he sees you unable to keep up with the herd and his fangs are set to devour here folks do you really believe that from one perspective how you hear the word of god is a matter of life and death it is is

Call to Action: Resist the Devil and Hear Profitably

55:56 whether you believe it or not it is you adversary he's identified adversary he's a vicious adversary and what is your duty toward him look at the text whom and in the faith that is you withstand him by bringing to conscious remembrance the great tenets of the body of truth revealed concerning the lord jesus christ who crushed the head

56:40 of the lion who stripped him of much of his power that that resisting you and i are called upon to engage in whom yes i'm to be strong in the lord and in the strength of his might i am to put on the whole armor of god that i may be able to stand against against the wiles of the devil you see we're back again to the great mystery of the christian life it's all in the strength and grace of christ but it's the strength and grace of christ that strengthens me consciously and deliberately

57:24 to engage all of my faculties in the warfare and to resist and to stand against the host of darkness and my dear friends that's why in a very real sense if the preacher is really preached he's exhausted when he's done and you ought to be exhausted when you're done listening if he's engaged all of the faculties of his redeemed humanity to be the instrument to bring you divine seed to bring you the word you ought also to be engaging all the faculties of your humanity

58:08 in the reception of that word and to the devil under the imagery of the fowls of the air circles over your head and seeks to pluck up that seed by bringing some unusual foot move of a keen and a double head fake and a pump fake and a beautiful hookshot and it starts coming in the name of jesus get away from me nothing to do with a team's hookshot or shacks dunk in heaven and hell and the needs of

58:53 my soul dry the birds away like abraham did when they sought to compound upon the sacrifice that said he drove them away and when the lion comes and seeks to devour you with injecting thoughts about the cares of this life about things innocent in themselves not to speak of injecting vile and lustful and lecherous and unclean thought passively glassy eyed looking at the creature while your porno movie runs over the eyeballs of your soul in the very presence of god kneel

59:37 with it in the name of christ and in the power of the holy spirit and for you who are not converted who are tempted to sit here some of you young and old alike week after week hear the word and go out no reflection on your state is lost under the wrath of god no reflection as we heard last lord's day that you've been bitten by the serpent and you are on death row the venom of sin is in your system recognize that there is someone who says ah i got him for one

60:22 more lord's day a little bit harder a little bit more insensitive i can't wait till he goes next week and if he acts the same way if she acts the same way i'll put another callous on the soul as they hear preaching only to turn away with indifference and before long i'll have such a thick callous upon the soul that the likelihood that they'll ever be saved is minuscule you see kids rather than congratulate yourself that you get through another lord's day unmoved unbroken no fears of hell it ought to cause you to fall on your face and say oh god have i been given up that i've gone through another lord's day and

61:06 sat under the preaching and no fear of hell god have mercy am i a pharaoh though i'm only ten years old or twelve given up to a hard heart some of the most wretched notorious hardened sinners will be produced where there is the purest preaching of the word of god that would have scared the liver out of some of you you're really trying to scare the kids yes but i'm not scaring them with phantoms but with horrible fear and shocking sobering

61:51 reality you better believe there's a devil who's determined to keep you as his subject you better believe it enough to cry mightily to the lord jesus to overcome his power to give you a heart sensitive to the word and for you who are the people of god every time you come to the preaching of the word though you've gone through a due process of prayerful preparation settle it as you come to sit under the word neither your remaining sin nor the activity of the devil are going to be suspended or negated in that exercise of the ministry

Conclusion and Prayer: Seeking God's Grace for Watchful Hearing

62:36 of the word of god god willing in our next study we'll see what are the practical directives that we must implement i've touched on a few today because i didn't want to leave you without some directive but this will be all practical application in terms of directives to be implemented that by the grace of god neither the reality of the vicious activity of our indwelling sin nor the machinations the schemes the wiles of a vicious prowling devil will be able to neutralize the profit god intends we should have

63:20 from the preaching of the word of god take heed therefore come you hear let us pray our father we thank you for your holy word we thank you that it does tell us that there is a personal powerful spiritual being called the devil that there are hosts of evil powers in league with him all of which are set against us and we pray that we may by your grace be strong in our

64:05 lord jesus and in the strength of his might that we may put on the whole armor that you have provided to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil we pray our father for those who are in his clutches have mercy upon them that they may be delivered for you have said to your servant paul that you would send him forth to the people into the gentiles to open their eyes to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of satan unto yourself that they might receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in you oh lord deliver

64:50 deliver some from the power of darkness and from the devil himself bring them captive to the lord jesus in repentance and faith and help us your people who have been all together too careless we confess we have not been as sober and as watchful as we ought to be help us as we would resolve this morning in the strength of christ to be utterly sober and intensely watchful knowing that we have an adversary who is both active and vicious and yet whom we can resist in the faith in the truth concerning your dear

65:34 son seal then your word to our hearts and make us we pray better hearers of the word of god we ask in jesus name amen