Satan's Devices - Part 4

A lot of times, I talk to Christians all the time and maybe you do too and maybe you've even said this. You know, we walk around going, boy, things are going so good, I'm a little bit paranoid. You know, I just don't know, I just, I'm a little frightened, things are just going too well right now. You know, what are we saying? What we're saying is we think that God's really out to get us, but he's not. He's out to bless us. And he wants us to yield to him because that's where he can bring the blessing. One of the great illustrations of this particular point that I've found is in the story of John Wesley. Now, John Wesley was the founder of what we know as the Methodist Church. And in the early days of Methodism, it was a powerful force for the kingdom of God in the world. And the two men that were more or less the founders of Methodism were George Whitefield and John Wesley. And here's the story. George Whitefield had this tremendous door of ministry opened to him by the Lord. He was preaching in the fields in England, and thousands and thousands of people were coming to hear his message, and many were responding to Christ. He would preach sometimes to as many as 20,000 people. But Whitefield had to leave England and go to the colonies for a period of time, and he knew that if he just left this ministry, it would possibly, you know, just fall apart. So he was seeking a man to step into the gap there, and he and Wesley were friends. And so he went and he sought out John Wesley, and he said, I believe that God would have you to take this ministry in my absence. And the moment Whitefield brought that invitation to Wesley, Wesley was overcome with the fear that if he were to take up that call, it would mean certain death. And it really shook him. It really rocked him. And so he went to his family, he went to his friends, he sought counsel from everybody he could, and everyone seemed to confirm his fear. They told him, John, the Lord is speaking to you. Don't take it. This isn't your calling. God's showing you that, you know, that it would mean death. He even would open his Bible sort of randomly, and just wherever his eye would land, he would read the text, and on three different occasions, it seemed to confirm that that was the case. But Whitefield came to him and persuaded him. He finally prevailed, and Wesley said, if I perish, I perish. And he committed to taking up the call. And he took up the call, and he didn't die, but he preached the gospel for about 45 more years, and tens of thousands of people came to faith in Christ during those years. You see, the enemy somehow knew. He was able to sense the atmosphere at the time that the Spirit of God was moving. He somehow knew that this man was going to be greatly used, and he came in before it could ever happen, and tried to stop it from happening. And what did he use? He used the tactic of fear. What did Paul tell Timothy about fear? He said, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. And when we, at times, are overcome with this fear, when we are feeling that, oh no, if I do this, you know, that's the work of Satan. And we've got to stand against that, knowing that God hasn't given us a spirit of fear. And then there's one other area before we come to our final point that I want to mention. And again, going back to the idea of the fiery darts, Satan will sometimes hurl evil thoughts into our minds. Now, it's a little bit challenging, this one, because, you know, we are certainly capable of coming up with our own evil thoughts, so how do we discern between what is my own wicked heart and what is the devil? Well, I think, you know, when it originates in me, there's a process that's taking place. I start down a line of thought that leads me into an evil thought pattern. But what we're talking about here is evil thoughts coming at us suddenly, unexpectedly, like a lightning bolt hitting us, and quite often at times that you would least expect it to happen. For example, during prayer. How many Christians have experienced this, that during times of prayer, waiting upon the Lord, seeking God, exercising themselves spiritually, suddenly your mind is plagued with pornographic images? I mean, that's a reality. That happens to people. It happens to people all the time. What is the explanation for that? Or there you are, you're worshipping God, you're praising Him, and suddenly you have blasphemous thoughts in your head. Where did those come from? And then, of course, here's what happens. When we have those kinds of images or we have those kinds of thoughts, what's our first thought? Our first thought is, oh, God. Oh, Lord, have mercy. Oh, I don't even, how could I even be a Christian? Truly, a Christian wouldn't have a thought like that. A Christian wouldn't have those kinds of things. I must not even be saved. Oh, I must have committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. I must be damned. People, this is what happens. It's a reality. You know what? You're right. A Christian wouldn't think that, but the devil would. And he does. And he hurls those kinds of thoughts into our head at times. The great Puritan preacher, John Bunyan, the author of The Pilgrim's Progress, he tells a story in his book, Grace Abounding, of having times when he was actually preaching the gospel, but at the same time, his mind was so filled with blasphemous thoughts, and he felt like he was being compelled to blaspheme Christ instead of preach Christ. This is satanic. We live in a world where the devil is, he's active, and he is against us, and these are the kinds of things he does. This is his business. He does this stuff. The great Victorian preacher, Charles Spurgeon, was plagued part of his life by these kinds of things, and so much so that at a point, he thought that he would leave the ministry. And he went to his grandfather, who was in the ministry, and he shared with him what was going on, and his grandfather wisely asked him this. He said, do you delight in those thoughts? And Spurgeon's response was, no, I loathe them. And his grandfather said this, then do not own them. They're not yours. They're the devil's. You see, that's the devil. This is what he does. He is a blasphemer. He is perverted, and he will project those things into our minds and then turn around and point a finger at us. But there's one other area that I want to touch on, and we'll do this as we close, and it goes back to the text that we read here this morning in 2 Corinthians, and it has to do with the issue of unforgiveness, of bitterness, of anger, of those kinds of things, and that's the context of the statement that we read here today. And Paul said to us that if we, in essence, what he's saying is if we hold on to bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, resentment, those kinds of things, this will give the enemy an advantage over us. You see, the refusal to forgive those who have wronged us, that gives the enemy a grip in our lives. Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, he said, do not let the sun go down on your anger, nor give place to the devil. Anger, bitterness, hatred, unforgiveness, all these give the devil a foothold in our lives. And I have seen this, this particular point here, I have seen this more and more over the past few years than I think I've ever seen it in all of my years as a Christian and as a pastor. I have seen more and more people falling into the trap of the enemy by becoming bitter, by refusing to forgive those that have wronged them. And the enemy gets a foothold.