A Devil’s Tale

Introduction

Good morning. A really strange thing happened to me. Stranger than even the microphone echoing so loudly. If we can turn that down just a little bit. This past week, something strange happened. It was very odd. Perhaps you’ve had an experience like it, though. I was at my parents’ home for my mom’s birthday. And then the doorbell rang. And I went to the door. And then we went back. I took care of what happened. And then I went back, and then there was knocking at the door. And more doorbell ringing and knocking. And I opened the door, and there were a bunch of little human beings demanding candy from me. It was very strange. And what tops it off is they were dressed like other people. I had no idea who they were.

Lots of superheroes came. Little did I know there were so many Captain Americas and Spider-Mans out there. They continued to come and they’d say trick or tree, and that meant reach into your box of candy and hand them some.

But it leads them, it leads me to an interesting thought. Have you ever pictured the devil? If I were to tell you to conjure in your mind a thought of the devil, if you were to dress like him, or you were to draw him on a pad of paper. What would he look like? If you had all the colors and markers and pencils and colored pencils, etc. available to you. Well, some of you might say, well, I’d draw a man with a red pitchfork and a tail, and he would be the ruler of hell in that way, and he looked kind of funny. Some of you who are Bible scholars and have some wit might say, I would draw a serpent. Or perhaps a dragon. Or perhaps I might draw some little man who stands on your shoulder and give him a thought bubble that says, do something bad.

And in that way, we’ve kind of trivialized what Satan is like. We’ve really made him cartoonish, not only in form, but in our understanding of him, and perhaps even for the subject of this morning’s conversation, our understanding of how he works and what his place is in this universe. I’d like to consider this morning a devil of a tale. And if you accept the expression, understand, it’s about the devil himself and what he wants with you. What does the devil want with me? Because it’s not to stand out there with a cartoonish pitchfork and to make fun of me or to laugh at me. And it’s not even just a serpent who slithers around on its belly. The devil wants you, and he wants you badly.

Except it’s not even that flattering. Perhaps if you’ve understood some of the Bible passages that we’re going to look at that deal with our great adversary, you’d understand the devil really doesn’t care that much about me at all. In fact, there’s very selfish, prideful, and harmful thoughts that encompass the devil coming after me. In fact, it’s often to strike against God. I hope you open your Bibles with me and look at Job chapter 1. I want to paint the picture of the devil for you before we get to some interesting illustrations of him. In Job chapter 1, we learn a little bit about him in this scenario. And Job chapter 1, begin with me reading in verse 6. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

The Lord said to Satan, From where have you come? Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it. And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered, my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth? A blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.

Only against him do not stretch out your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. And you know that side of the story, so let’s look at chapter two. Here we have another encounter with Satan and God. In Job chapter 2 and verse 1, again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, From where have you come? Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it. And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered, my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil?

He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin, all that a man has he will give for his life, but stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And so what we have in this picture is Satan and God. And what I want to paint, how I want to paint the devil this morning to you is the way the passage does, and the way Scripture does.

1. The Devil Is a Loser Who Never Had Control

And to put frankly, the devil is a loser. He has lost. You will see that he not only never had control, he was defeated by Christ, and he will forever burn. But consider here in Job chapter one that he never had control. Notice when you pick up the reading in verse 6, it says, Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And Satan appeared in this call. The Lord said to Satan, From where have you come? And Satan answers him, From going to and from. And from walking up and down on it. It is, of course, the earth. Have you ever considered about Satan walking to and fro? Maybe right there beside you? Have you considered the thought of this creature that is our adversary?

This very Satan who wished to strike down Job to turn God’s admiration for him into saying, See, I told you he would fall. And he’s right next to you, maybe even in the pew this morning. What a scary thought. If I had told you that you would that you should walk down this little back alley around midnight on Friday night, and I said, now don’t worry, if you keep going, it’ll be okay. Keep going. It’s this long dark alley. If you walk it for about two hours, you’ll be there. First of all, no one wants to walk two hours anywhere, frankly. But most of you would say, I’m not going down there. Why? Well, danger is lurking. Danger is abounding. It is dark, it is scary.

Things can happen that I don’t want to happen. And consider that Satan is walking up and down around the earth at this time. But notice how Satan approaches God. If Satan was some type of controlling figure, this dialogue would not need to take place. When the Lord says to Satan in verse 8, Have you considered my servant Job that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil? When he poses that question to Satan, how does he answer? Of course it’s not as simple as, yes, I know him. I have tried and I didn’t get him, but I’ll move on to the others. No, that’s not his response. Of course, Satan has a retort.

Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him in his house and all that he has on every side? God, of course, Job worships worships you. Of course he sticks with you. You’ve blessed him richly. You’ve protected him. And note, verse 12. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand. But what preceded that? Was God just vengeful upon Job? No. Consider verse 11. But stretch out your hand, Satan is speaking, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face. And thus the challenge has been laid. Satan says, Of course, Job worships you. You’ve done all this for him. Take those things away, strike him, stretch out your hand, take those away.

And then see, he will curse you to your face, God. And of course, as we know, God allows it. But Job stays upright.

And again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. Satan was once again going to and fro on the earth. He was walking up and down on it. And then, of course, God points out again, his servant Job, have you considered, my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth? And at the end of this question, Satan says, You know what? You got me. I laid out a challenge, God, and you got it. You beat me. You got me. I’m going to have to move on. No, that’s not quite what happened. Notice again in verse 4. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin, all that a man has he will give for his life, but stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh.

And he will curse you to your face. Job uh Satan says this time, you know what? You still protected him. If you would actually touch him, and not just this stuff, not just his surroundings, but if you really got him, God, he would curse you to your face. And God allows it. But note the point here about Satan, and we’re trying to understand him. He can’t do it. God was permissive in this case. God allowed it. At no point in time has Satan run amok withstanding and being ahead of God. He has never had ultimate control, that has always been God’s. God created the heavens and the earth. God and Christ are the sustainers of this world, and they will always be in control. No matter how bad things look, no matter how bad they may get or how sad you may feel, God is in control.

2. He Was Defeated by Christ

And what that means is that the devil is not. He has lost from the very beginning. And yet we know, as passages in the New Testament reveal to us, that Jesus has defeated him. Look at 1 John chapter 3. Stay with me as we look at these three points that I know you might understand. But they build an important picture and important applications for us. In 1 John chapter 3, consider with me beginning in verse 7. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. And what we find there is that the Son of God appeared why? To destroy the works of the devil. That is why Jesus appeared and he was successful. Look at Hebrews chapter 2. Turn to your New Testament scriptures, Hebrews chapter 2. As we understand, as Adam pointed out this morning, that the cross, properly defined, as he said, is the crux of our faith. Consider an important facet of that. Hebrews chapter 2, beginning in verse 14. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death.

That is the devil. And deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Jesus defeated the devil. He defeated the one who had the power of death by Jesus living, giving up his life willingly on the cross, being crucified for our sins, being put in the tomb, and then raising again. Jesus defeated Satan. And so fulfilling Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. Yes, the heel of Jesus, the heel of the seed of woman, was damaged. The crucifixion was terrible. It was horrible. It was painful. It was ugly. And yet, in the way in which the crushing blow, the blow to the head of the serpent, the devil. Satan was defeated. We no longer had to live in sin. No longer had to live stuck in the price of our sin, earning the wages which are death and recognizing that there is no hope.

3. He Will Permanently Burn

Jesus defeated it. We have a new lease on life because through his blood, through the cross, we can be saved. And in that sense, the cross is a wonderful, beautiful picture because we know Jesus has defeated him. So not only did the devil not ever have control, he was defeated by Christ. If you uphold the Savior, the Jesus Christ, you know he has won the victory over the devil and made us pot made it possible for us to follow him. He has done that for us. And that is life-altering, as you will see momentarily. But I want to note one more point about the devil before moving any further, and that’s he will permanently burn. Look with me in Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25, of course, you’re familiar with the setup.

Where he separates the sheep from the goats. In Matthew chapter 25 and verse 31, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. But notice verse 41. Then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire. Note this. Consider this. See this. Prepared for the devil and his angels. Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. It was prepared for him and his followers.

Hell was set up to contain, to swallow, to defeat Satan, and that is where he is going, whether you follow him, whether you believe in him, whether you accept God or you deny God, Satan is going to hell and he will be there forever. And the question is, will you join him? Judgment is coming. Satan has lost in every conceivable way. He didn’t have control ever. He had nothing to gain in terms of competing against God. He had no favor. He had no control. He was always against the God who is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He always lived to pain God and his followers. And yet Jesus defeated him. In the one conceivable way that Satan could get at God. He gets people with sin.

And he entrapped them in lifelong guilt and death. And Jesus took that out of the way. Jesus defeated He who had the power of death through his crucifixion and his resurrection. And then finally, of course, we know that the devil will permanently burn.

4. He Wants You Badly

That is the book on the devil. That is the story. And that’s it. There’s not a single other factor consider about the devil. And yet he’s still here. He’s still around. And for the life of me, you think about it logically like that, and you cannot consider how does he get people to follow him? How does this loser in every conceivable way get people to follow him? He said, Well, I don’t follow the Satan. Yes, you do. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We have all yielded to the Prince of this world. Despite the fact he’s lost, despite the fact he’s against God, and despite the fact we know he wants you badly. Look at me in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8.

And also in verse 9. Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. Did you catch that in verse 8? Be sober-minded, be watchful. Why? Your adverse. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He wants you badly. Can I tell you that this Satan that you know of? I didn’t teach you anything new, perhaps this on that first slide. And yet it’s applicable because you know what? The devil will take any failure. It doesn’t have to be a colossal turn. He doesn’t even necessarily need you to leave this church.

He can have you sitting front row, front in center, every single time the doors are open, and even times when it’s not to help clean the building. You can go door to door, but if your heart is not in serving God, the devil has won. The devil has won when we compromise our faith for a momentary lie. He has won when we lose our temper and we scream at those who are around us. He has won when we cheat on our taxes and when we are bad co-workers. He has won when we have chosen to not serve God. And we do it despite knowing he wants us badly. And the sad part is, as I alluded to at the beginning, he doesn’t really want you. He wants you to be away from God.

5. He Has So Many Different Devices

He wants you to be in hell with him. This isn’t about the devil building up his army, so to speak. But he will use people. He will use us to pull other people away. Can you imagine the unfathomable thought there? The devil using people, humans, to pull away others from our loving God. And that happens. He will take any failure, any compromise. And that’s why we should be sober-minded and watchful, because he’ll come at any moment that we are available. And he has so many different devices, doesn’t he? In Genesis chapter 3, with Eve, you know the story. What did he do with Eve? He tempted her by having her second guess God. In fact, he called God a liar. He says, You will not surely die.

And you can just hear him twisting to his own devices, his own gain, which is, of course, Eve partaking of the fruit of the tree of which she was not to take of. But can’t you just see that situation? And if you remember how Genesis 3 ends up, it becomes the blame game, doesn’t it? Adam blames Eve, and Eve blames the devil. But if you notice, Adam, Eve, and the serpent were all punished. It didn’t matter who said what, who started it, who finished it, it mattered who did it. It mattered that righteousness was not upheld. It mattered that sin was committed, God’s law was violated. He was deceptive. He was direct with Jesus. He appeals to the lust of our flesh. He appeals to the pride of life.

And boy, doesn’t he in our society appeal to the lust of the eyes. He’s crafty. He doesn’t have to use one way. He doesn’t have to use one blanket way on everyone. He can tailor every type of sin to every type of person that may be tripped up by it. If you see that the devil’s doing this, you think about it and you say, How is he so successful? I want to go back to the idea of picturing the devil. When you pictured perhaps a serpent or a dragon, raise your hand if you pictured an angel. Who pictured an angel? Look at me in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. And 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Here’s the problem. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 13, excuse me, beginning in verse 12.

And what I am doing, I will continue to do in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ, and no wonder. For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their ends will correspond to their deeds.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. How frightening is that? To know that the devil wants you, that he has many different devices, that he is crafty and he’s patient. He doesn’t have to get you today if he can get you tomorrow. He doesn’t have to get you tomorrow if he can get you Tuesday. He’ll do anything and everything possible, including masquerading as an angel of light. How many people, how many churches have been divided because of a misunderstanding or false teaching? How many preachers have perhaps given their lives in the name of the gospel but been teaching false doctrine for the entirety of their service to God and taken a whole bunch of Christians by storm with them. Satan disguises himself as an angel of life.

He’ll take any failure, and that includes doctrinal issues. How many souls have been lost because of people not using the Bible text correctly? Let me ask you this one. How many souls have been lost by the sinner’s prayer? How many people who believe in God have been lost because of the sinner’s prayer? There’s no two ways about these issues. You either are baptized for the forgiveness of sins or you are not. You either say the sinner’s prayer and have salvation, or you do not. And for those who practice it and those who teach it, no matter how good someone looked, Satan is crafty and patient enough to disguise himself as an angel of light. He will take down congregations by the hundreds. We must, in all things, in all ways be sober-minded, be watchful.

That includes watching the text, making sure the preachers, the elders, the Bible class teachers are teaching you what God has said. The Thessalonian brethren in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 took the words of Paul, Silas, and Timothy, not as the words of men, but as the words of God. And they could do that because they were. But too often we confuse the two. Too often people are thinking things are the words of God and they are just the words of men. And Satan has won, and he sits back and he laughs because there are people worshiping God today who are in the power of Satan. They are in his clutches. And they might be even harder to reach than those who are sitting at home sleeping in.

6. What Does the Devil Want You to Do?

What a disturbing thought, isn’t it? How horrifying. How sad. How tragic that he can do that. And so if we’re not watching, you see how that can happen if you’re just trusting. If you’re just a little bit off. If you’re not fully committed to God. How easy is it to switch your allegiance to Satan. Consider with me, what does the devil want you to do? I want to read what I think is a newspaper article. This is a version of it. If I were the devil by Paul Harvey. If I were the Prince of Darkness, I would want to engulf the whole world in darkness. I’d have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I would not be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree.

The. So I would set about, however necessary, to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first, and I would begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whisper to Eve, do as you please. To the young, I would whisper that the Bible is a myth. I would convince the children that man created God instead of the other way around. I can find that what’s bad is good and what’s good is square. And the old I would teach to pray after me, our Father, which art in Washington, which are in Washington. Then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors and how to make lure literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting.

I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills. If I were the devil, I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves until each, in its turn, was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings, I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames. If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellect, but neglect to discipline emotions. I’d tell teachers to let those students run. I have will here, probably Willie. And before you knew it, you’d have a drug sniffing, you’d have drug snipping dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. With with a decade, I’d have prisons overflowing and judges promoting pornography.

Soon I would evict God from the courthouse and the schoolhouse and then and then from the houses of Congress. In his own churches, I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I’d lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls and church money. If I were the devil, I’d take from those who have and give to those who want it until I’d killed the incentive of the ambitious. What do you bet? I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich. I convinced the young that marriage is old fashioned, that swinging is more fun than that what you see on television is the way to be, and thus I could undress you in public and lure you into bed with diseases for which there are no cures.

In other words, if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing. How tragic.

Somewhere, somewhere, some way. Satan has gotten to every level around us. He’s clearly been in the media. He’s been in Congress, the Senate, the White House. He’s been in our local offices. And it’s not to say that anyone who is an elected official is Satan. It’s just people who have compromised biblical values. We give in to Satan when we sin, so it shouldn’t be any different for elected officials when we consider it that way. He’s gotten into our schools where teachers teach evolution, where colleges mock God. Whereas the article said, we have deified science. It’s getting to the point where if I were the devil, I might just sit back and laugh at everyone consuming themselves. Churches are consuming themselves. And we see that on an institution level.

We see it with government. We see it with churches. We see it with families. What about in my life? What does the devil want you to do? In 1 John chapter 1 and verse 9, look with me there. In 1 John chapter 1 and verse 9, John writes, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Read that again with me. See it, believe it, accept it. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And you know what the devil wants me to do? The devil wants me to think. God can’t love me. God can’t accept me where I’ve been, what I’ve done.

Ways I’ve let people down, ways I’ve let my family down, ways I’ve let my friends down. He can’t take me. He can’t love me. Not now. Not after all I’ve done. And that is from the devil. That is from Satan. God has promised us you can be his child if you accept what he says. If we confess our sins to him, what does the text say? We will be forgiven. It’s not something that is if only if you’re good enough. Only if you’re right enough, only if you haven’t done enough bad. It’s if you accept God. And that’s what all of this Satan lesson is about. Choose God, not now, not self. What does the devil want from you? He wants you to trade out selflessness for self-righteousness.

He wants you to trade out humility and be filled with pride. He wants you to speak and not listen. He wants you to do nothing in the name of love. He wants you to be apathetic in the name of Christ and not offending. He wants the children of God to be seduced and sedated into anything that is not the will of God. He will accept any failure. He will accept any trip up. And he just wants you away from God. That’s all he wants. He is a loser. He has lost. And he wants you to be lost too. The beauty is, despite all of this, despite the fact that the devil is winning with many. The good news is that God still loves the few. God loves all those who will seek him.

God loves all who have taken his wisdom, his counsel, and become children of him. But perhaps the biggest thing that Satan wishes us to do is to wait. Satan wants us to say, I need God. But I can wait. He wants you to say, I can’t do it yet. While you’re sitting there in the fuse thinking, I can do this, I can choose God, I can reject the devil. He wants to say, you can’t. You can’t do it. Do you remember where you’ve been? Do you remember what you did? Do you know what you’re giving up? Do you realize all the fun that will be lost if you commit to Christ now? Do you realize that you’ll have tomorrow? And that’s just another lie. And perhaps the most wretched and yet effective tool that Satan has.

Conclusion

Wait. You can obey God tomorrow. What does the devil want me to do? He wants me to do nothing. He wants me to do whatever gets me as close to God to sedate my heart that doesn’t prick me into actually obeying God. If you are on the edge this morning, if you are considering that you have not been saved, if you consider what the men asked Peter in Acts chapter 2, what shall we do? He says, Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. You can do it. Don’t be deceived. Be sober minded. Be watchful. The day is coming, and you can choose to serve God this very moment. You can do it. You can defeat Satan. You can have your sins washed away.

It doesn’t matter where you come from, it matters where we’re going. And if we obey God, we are going to heaven to be in his presence forever. And won’t that be wonderful there? Make things right with God today in any way that it takes. Serve Him. Love Him. Request prayers if you need it. Be baptized if you have not become a child of God. Because all of those promises, all of those blessings of God are waiting for you. Take advantage of them this morning as we stand and as we sing the invitation song.