Let's turn in our scriptures
to Acts chapter 26, and if you can turn back to Genesis chapter
3, we'll be spending most of our time there. As we read Revelation,
we saw the enormity of the battle, as it were, between Satan and
God, and the depth of his enmity against the Lord and his people,
and the fact that he knows he's going to lose, and the fact that
he knows his time is short. just causes him to be more enraged. But I wanted to look at what
it was, what it is for our God. He opens eyes, he turns his people
from darkness to light, and he turns us from the power of Satan
unto God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins and inheritance
among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. We've
looked at what it is for there to be a light to come from heaven.
We've looked at what it is to have eyes that are opened and
to be turned from darkness to light. And this morning, Lord
willing, I'd like us to look at the power of Satan, where
it comes from and how it holds people, its impact on this world,
its impact on us. And I trust as we examine the
power of Satan, we might be caused to remember and to be extraordinarily
thankful to our great God who has set his people free from
the power of Satan. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we pray that you might bless your word to our hearts this
morning, that you might open our eyes, that we might see the
Lord Jesus Christ in the glory of his victory. And that your
word, Heavenly Father, might be precious to us and that we
might know and not be unaware of the schemes of Satan, the
enemy of the souls of your people. We thank you for the deliverance
that your dear and precious son, our Lord Jesus Christ, wrought
for us. We pray yet again, Heavenly Father, we might be caused to
rejoice in the great victory that he has won on Calvary's
tree. And now that victory is being
played out throughout this world as you carry your people as testimony,
Heavenly Father, to your grace. May you bless your word to our
hearts and cause your Son to be exalted in us and amongst
us, our Father. We pray in Jesus' name. If eternal life is knowing God, which is a verse from John 17.3
that I quote so often. This is eternal life. That you
might know, you might know, you might know thee the only true
God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. If eternal life is
knowing God, then eternal death is having anything other than
that God as your God. And we do have an enemy of the
souls of people I love how Hebrews 2.14 begins, for as much then
as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. John writes in 1 John 3, 8, He
that commit a sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of Man
was manifest, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Satan
has a power, we saw it and read it in Revelation, he has a power
to continue a war against God and his saints, but he has a
power that to hold this world captive, as John says in 1 John
5.19, the whole world lieth in the wicked one. The whole world
is held in subjection. He says that's what we know.
When we look at this world, do we see this world as a world which is held, held in
darkness and held in deception by the great enemy of mankind. Satan's greatest deception is
to hide himself from those he deceives. His next greatest deception
is to convince men of their righteousness, even if that's a future righteousness,
and he hides his deception behind a cloak of holiness and morality
and good deeds. See, Satan induced our first
parents to break the covenant of works in which they lived,
in innocent communion with God. So Paul, when he's writing to
the Corinthians, says, but I fear, 1 Corinthians 11.3, I fear less
by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. That was his fear, wasn't
it? For these people that he'd been
sent there, these people that he'd been told of God, that he
has many people in this city, his great fear, that lest by
any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve, through his subtlety, through
his cunning and through his craftiness, so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. All of Satan's attacks are on the minds of people. Satan,
the word Satan means one who withstands, one who is an adversary,
one who is an opponent. His other name in the scriptures
is Lucifer. Lucifer means light bearer, shining
one. Morning Star, to shine as to
be praised, boastful to be made praiseworthy. His other name
in the scriptures is Devil, which means a slanderer, an accuser,
falsely accusing. He's also known as the Great
Serpent and the Great Dragon. So I wanted us to be together,
just look through these verses in Genesis 3, and let's follow
the pattern of Satan's deception, this beguiling of Eve through
his subtlety. And I want us to remember, of
course, that 100% of humanity was represented in this deception. And I want us to remember that
if Satan so used these ploys against our first parents in
their innocency when they walked with God in the cool of the day,
and were naked and felt no shame, they had no sin, then these tactics
of Satan are perfectly fine in 2020. He doesn't need to change
a single thing, nor does he. The power of Satan, that word,
power, has two connotations. One is authority and the other
is ability. And here he is usurping the authority
of God and questioning the ability of God. Here the corruption began. from just this little beginning,
all of those things, all of the sins that we see in this world,
all of the things that cause trouble and anxiety, all of the
plagues of all of the things that happen in this world come
from this very beginning here. Genesis 3.1. Now the serpent
was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God
had made. And he said unto the woman, He said unto the woman, yea,
hath God said. You shall not eat of every tree
in the garden. See, Satan's first point of attack
is on the word of God, on the character of God, and on the
name of God. That's where Satan comes to us
all the time, doesn't he? Hath God said. Did God really
say? Is it really true that God said? It's interesting, isn't it, to
note that the first thing he does is he reduces the name of God.
Eve had only ever known him as Yahweh God, the Lord God, if
you read Genesis 2. Ever since the creation of man,
he's always referred to as the Lord God, Yahweh God, the God
who is in covenant union with his people. Now Satan comes to
him And he takes away that name, that name that represents covenant
union, and just calls him God, Elohim. He's not lying, but what
he's done is he subtly reduced the name of God. These days,
it's extraordinarily common, it's become a plague on this
world, in this world, in this last generation or so, that almost
everyone in religion only ever refers to the Lord Jesus Christ
as Jesus. Jesus this and Jesus that. You
listen to them and you listen to their sermons. They speak
of Jesus all the time. Very rarely do they give him
his titles. Peter said in Acts chapter two,
didn't he? He said, God has made this Jesus both Lord and Christ. He paid very dearly for his titles. They are his and he's worthy
of them. Satan's first attack is to challenge
the name of God. And then he attacks the character
of our God and the word of our God. See, our God is good. Our God is good. He's good in all his ways. He's good in all he does. Things
that God does are good because God does them. He's righteous
and just. Our God is faithful to his word. He's faithful to his covenant.
He's faithful to his promises. He's faithful to his character. And in the garden, in Genesis
2.16, if you turn there, the Lord God commanded the man, saying,
Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. See, what
he was saying is that there is this extraordinary provision,
isn't it? There is a provision that is generous and fulfilling. And what does Satan say to the woman?
hath God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden. So he turns what God's provision
is in terms of it being generous and fulfilling, he turns it into
a prohibition which is general, isn't it? Eve knew that there
was one tree in the garden that they were not to eat of. She'd
learnt that from her husband, Adam, and probably from God himself.
But see what he says, isn't it? What God's positive becomes Satan's
negative. You shall not eat of every tree
of the garden. He's lying, he's a liar and a
murderer. So he focuses on the one prohibition,
the one tree in all the garden which was there to represent
the covenant of works, but also the authority of God. You shall not eat of every tree
in the garden. Hath God said? Hath God said? Has God told you
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? You see,
Satan fell, we read it last week in Isaiah 14, he says, How art
thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou
cut down from the ground, which thou didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend into heaven. This is Satan before the fall
of Adam and Eve. I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God. I will sit upon the mount of
the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the cloud. I will be like the most high. If you go on and read Isaiah
chapter 14, you realize that the whole world was made a wilderness. The whole world was made a wilderness. You see, Satan, when he saw man
created in the image of God, his pride was stirred into hatred
and deceit and an attempt to undo God's created order. You
see the angels, the angels in camp around God's people. Hebrews
1.13 says of the Lord Jesus, to which of the angels said he
at any time, sit in my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstool. We were enemies and we made to
bow the footstool of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are they not all
ministering spirits? This is what the angels were
designed of God to do. Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation? See, Satan saw no honor in being
a servant. See, the pride that was found
in Satan was when the evil one learned that he was to be a servant
of the heirs of salvation. And that exact pride resides
in the heart of all Adam's children. Don't you dare tell me what to
do. Whenever we rise up in opposition
to authority, we're revealing the power of Satan. We are, brothers
and sisters, we are living and breathing testimonies to the
truth of Genesis 3. Satan was proud. He came and he challenged the
name of God. He challenged the purpose and
the character of God. Satan's power to deceive. See, God's word is made a topic
for debate. Yea, hath God said? Is it really
true what God says? See, Satan raises the possibility
that God may have spoken unclearly. and that the true meaning is
there for Eve to consider and judge with her reasoning. When Satan openly denies God's
spoken word, Eve had already been drawn in to his web of lies
and deceit. Genesis 3.2. And the woman said
of the serpent, said of the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat of
it, neither shall you touch it, lest ye die. So now Eve has been
drawn in by this debating about the word of God and the truthfulness
of God's word. and the character and the goodness
of God, she now adds to the Word of God. No one ever adds to the
Word of God or subtracts from the Word of God without being
damaged thereby. You see, having added to the
Word of God, now it's just but a small journey to denying the
very Word of God. You see what she said? lest ye
die. Eve is now denying the very clear
word of God. We might die is what Eve's saying. We might die if we eat of this
tree. God says you shall surely die. So now she's challenging
the very judgment of God and the very words of God. What God
declares as sure is now a possibility left in man's hands to establish
by his reasoning. And that's exactly how people
today think about the judgment of God, don't they? There's something
that we can debate and discuss. Verse four, and the serpent said
unto the woman, ye shall surely not die. Now having woven his web of deceit
and caused her to stand in judgment of the word of God, now he can
just openly deny the word of God. And listen to what he says. For God doth know that in the
day you eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened and you shall
be as God's, knowing good and evil. He caused her to doubt
the word of God and now he can openly deny God's clear word. And now Eve is ready to take
the fruit. But listen to what Satan says.
For God doth know Satan claims knowledge of God's
motives beyond which was written and beyond which God had spoken. This is the beginning of priestcraft. This is the beginning of the
religion of man, isn't it, where man has some special knowledge. You can acquire some special
knowledge and you can rise to a place of authority about other
people because you have something, something special. That's exactly what the priests
do. That's what the Roman priests have been doing for years. They
banned the Bible in the Roman Catholic Church. That's what
the priests, the modern priests of evangelicalism today say,
don't they? That these things are difficult
and complicated, the balance between the sovereignty of God
and the responsibility of man, the issue of whether God loves
everyone or whether he doesn't love everyone, the issue of whether
the Lord Jesus Christ died for everyone or didn't die for everyone.
All of those issues that are controversial all the time, the
priests say, They're too hard for you. They're too complicated. I'll sort them out. I've had
my training in my Bible college. You just rest in what I say about
them. The priestcraft of Satan began
here in the garden. Our God's word is true, as Isaiah
8.22 says, if they speak not according to this word, it's
because there is no light in them. If they speak not according
to the word of God, there is no light in them. Every word
of God is pure. He is a shield under them that
put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words,
lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. She is led to believe by this
secret knowledge that Satan has. that's not been revealed to her,
that God is holding some good for her, which she's entitled
to and will add to her sense of self-worth. She began by following
the serpent in reducing the name of God, adding to the word of
God, doubting the word of God, denying the word of God, Denying
his character, a little bit of yeast works through the whole
batch of dough. She listened to the wicked one. And she cast, Satan cast doubt
on the word of God and the justice of God and the goodness of God. See, the character of God who
is judge and who is a judge who is just and righteous in all
he does is now challenged and denied. You shall not surely
die. You shall not die. There will be no retribution.
There will be no judgment for you. You can take this fruit.
You can swallow this fruit. You can take my advice. You can
follow my lead and you will be fine. She's led to believe that God
is withholding some good from her, from which she's entitled
to. See, Satan makes a promise to her based on his secret knowledge. God doesn't know. I know that
God knows. You don't know what God knows.
I know more about what God knows than you do. Then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Here in the garden
at the beginning, in this deception, this subtle deception of Eve,
is the beginning of so many things, isn't it? The pride of man, the priestcraft
of man, Man doubting the word of God, man doubting the judgment
of God, man accepting the very fruits of Satan's deception.
You shall be as gods, courses through the veins of every one
of Adam's children. You shall be as gods. Your eyes
shall be opened. What were Adam's eyes open to? They were open to shame and degradation. His first son was a murderer.
What horrible things his eyes were open to. What horrible evil
befell him and his family and all of those in him as they came
to a knowledge of good and evil. She saw, she looked at this tree. She saw that the tree was good
for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, a tree to be desired
to make one wise. John, 1 John describes it as
the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of
life. Opened eyes. See in the garden, Satan, the
great deceiver, used the Law of God under the Covenant of
Works to show Eve that God was withholding something beneficial
from them by his one commandment in the Garden. And Satan now,
outside the Garden, uses the law to show believers how they
should live under it as a rule of life and he uses it as a means
of accusation to believers to show them how sinful we are and
thus undeserving of God's love and mercy. How could you do that,
he says to us? How could you think that? How
could you live like that and call yourself a Christian? It's
the only Christ, only Christ. who sheds the light from heaven
and does both of those lies. He was lying to them. He's a
liar and a murderer. Only Christ reveals and shows,
and only Christ revealed to us by the blessed Holy Spirit would
cause us to see that we The children of God are one
with him. We are buried, Colossians 2.12.
We're buried with him in baptism. We're risen with him through
the faith of the operation of God who raised him from the dead.
And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, he hath quickened together. He's made your life together
with him, having forgiven you all your trespasses. Not only
has he forgiven us all our trespasses, he's blotted out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and he took it out of the way. The one thing that Satan can
bring in accusation against us is the law of God. He says, here's
the law of God, and you've disobeyed it. Have you loved the Lord your
God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all
your strength? Have you loved your neighbour as yourself? Have
you rested on the Sabbath? Again and again and again, Satan
uses the law of God. But what did the Lord Jesus Christ
do in blotting out that handwriting? And having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing in it. Triumphing over them in it. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
was a triumph over Satan. Satan's religion is to put man
on the throne, but in reality, in so doing, they're enthroning
Satan himself. Satan's religion is to exalt
the pride of men, but to keep men in darkness of the Word of
God, in darkness of the attributes of God, in darkness of the truths
of God and his character and his judgment. To keep them in
darkness regarding the Word of God. Satan operates in this world
as he did in the garden. He wants to destroy the relationship
between man and God and to usurp the authority of God to overturn
his creatureliness and his servanthood. See, and his attacks are always
upon the true Church of God, where the Lord Jesus Christ is
revealed in all his glorious attributes. I don't believe that
Satan cares two hoots about the Catholics and the Hindus and
the Muslims and all the others that are deceived. I think he
holds those people who follow him into that darkness, I think
he holds them in utter contempt. He's a liar and a murderer. All of his attacks, all of his
attacks are upon the minds of God's people. All of his attacks
are upon the word of God. All of his attacks are focused,
all of the fierce sharpness of his arrows are focused on the
true church of God where the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed
as the conqueror of him, the one who victoriously conquered
him on Calvary's tree. We mustn't give him credit for
the things that ache and trouble this world. Mark 7 makes it abundantly
clear. which cometh out of a man. That
defileth a man, Mark 7.20. For from within, out of the heart
of man, proceed evil thoughts and adulteries and fornications
and murders, thefts and covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness,
an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All of these evil
things come from within and defile a man. Satan's attacks are always
about religion Satan's attacks are always on the minds of people
as his attack was on the mind of Eve. He wants to make God's
creatures his own subject, and his work consists of substituting
his own lies for the truth of God. Beware, says our Lord Jesus
Christ, beware of Satan, so you won't find him You won't find
him at work in the brothels and in the bars. You find him most
at work in churches, in pulpits, in seminaries, in religious activities. Satan has preachers. Satan tries
to get men to perform righteousness. Satan will give his people, he
keeps his goods in peace, says Luke. Keeps his goods in peace. He keeps the goods in peace by
lying to them. Paul goes on in 2 Corinthians
11, he says in verse 12, But what I do that I will do, that
I may cut off occasion for them which desire occasion, that wherein
they glory, wherein they boast. They boast in comparing themselves
with others, and they commend themselves, measuring themselves
by themselves, comparing themselves among themselves. Paul wants
to cut off the occasion for their boasting. And he says in verse
13 of 2 Corinthians 11, but such are false apostles, deceitful
workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel
of light. Therefore it is no great thing
that if his ministers are also be transformed as ministers of
righteousness, ministers of your righteousness, whose end shall
be according to their works. What's Satan look like when he's
a minister of righteousness? What's Satan look like when he
comes to a church that Paul has just left in Galatia and takes
over the pulpit there and takes those people into a bondage that
Paul was horrified by He says, O foolish Galatians, who has
bewitched you? Who has cast a spell over you
to lead you into adding something to the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Who has bewitched you that you
should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been
evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I
learn of you, received ye the Spirit by the works of the law.
So Satan's work these days is to take people back to the law.
Did you receive the Spirit, Galatians 3.2, by the works of the law
or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish, having begun
in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? O foolish Galatians, who has
bewitched you? Satan came to usurp God's authority
and to set himself up as a king. Christ came to do his Father's
will. I delight to do thy will. Satan
came to overturn the character of God in the eyes of his children.
Christ Jesus came to magnify the character of God, to magnify
His holiness and His sovereignty and His justice and His faithfulness
and His truth. Satan came to cause doubt on
God's word. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
honor God's word. Satan must be defeated in the
hearts of God's people to be set free Satan came to attack
the covenant of works. Christ came to fulfil that covenant
of works and take it out of the way. Satan came to destroy the
relationship between man and God. Christ came to restore that
which he took not away. Satan came to be served. Christ
came to serve and give his life a ransom for many. Satan came
to take life unto himself and control it. The Lord Jesus Christ
came to give his life, a ransom for many. Satan was proud, and
Satan's religion is always, I will, I will, I will. Our Lord Jesus
Christ was humbled, humbled to be the least in the kingdom of
God. Satan was a liar and a deceiver,
but Christ was the truth. Satan was a murderer and a liar. The Lord Jesus Christ was life
itself and the light of the world. Satan seeks to elevate man in
his mind. Christ was humbled, so humbled
the world knew him not. And Christ works a humility in
his people when they meet him. Paul was told to rise because
he'd met the Lord Jesus Christ. He'd been humbled. Satan had
elevated him and elevated his righteousness and the Lord had
humbled him. Satan seeks to use God's law
both to elevate man and then to subject him to his control. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
magnify God's law and keep it fully. There's only people who
have been set free from the law, set free from that entanglement
of Satan, in this day that can actually love him. You can't
love him and keep the law at the same time. Adam was shocked
when his eyes were opened. The Lord Jesus Christ knew exactly
what he was entering into when he took that cup, the cup of
all those sins of all of God's people that he had to drink and
drink alone that he might undo the works of the devil. that
he might take away and fulfil that law in such a way that the
children of God now have perfectly kept the law of God and are declared
by the word of God to be wholly spotless, unblameable, unapprovable. Time's run out, but man is powerless
and he's captive under the dominion of this crafty foe who's most
at work when he's least seen. And man in darkness can't see
him and can't see his schemes. He can't see what controls him
in his captivity. Satan uses man's natural light
to even blind him further. Turn to God, our verse says.
We are turned to God from the power of Satan. Turned by a sovereign
hand of God. Turned by a finished work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Turned by the Spirit coming and
revealing the things of Christ to us and showing us what it
means when the Lord Jesus Christ cried out on Calvary's tree,
it is finished. Satan's servants are never finished.
God's servants find rest for their souls in a finished work
and a glorious Saviour. Let's pray.