Paul's Greatest Fear

Q: What does the Bible say about Paul's fear in 2 Corinthians 11:3?

Paul's fear was that believers' minds would be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. In 2 Corinthians 11:3, Paul expresses a deep concern for the spiritual well-being of believers, fearing that they might be deceived as Eve was by the serpent. He highlights the importance of maintaining a simple and sincere faith in Christ amidst diverse influences that could lead them astray. The simplicity in Christ encompasses the recognition of His sovereignty, the essence of salvation, and the need to hold fast to His Word, which is foundational for a believer's faith.

Q: How do we know that Satan uses subtlety to deceive believers?

Satan is described as subtle, using deception to corrupt faith and divert believers from the truth of Christ. The Bible depicts Satan as a master deceiver, as seen in Genesis 3 where he beguiled Eve through crafty questioning of God's Word. His method involves creating doubt not only about God's commands but also about His goodness and intentions. This subtlety creates a fertile ground for sin by appealing to believers' flesh, desires, and pride, leading them away from the simplicity and sufficiency of the Gospel of Christ.

Q: Why is the simplicity of the Gospel important for Christians?

The simplicity of the Gospel is crucial because it emphasizes faith in Christ alone for salvation without distractions. The simplicity of the Gospel means that salvation is straightforward: acknowledge one's sin and trust in Christ for redemption. This simplicity must be maintained to avoid the corrupting influences of false teachings that can complicate or dilute the message of grace. Paul stresses this simplicity in his letters, affirming that true faith rests in Christ’s finished work, not in human effort or additional requirements. Maintaining focus on this Gospel enables believers to navigate distractions and remain grounded in their faith.

Q: How can Christians resist the temptations of Satan?

Christians can resist Satan by grounding themselves in the Word of God and maintaining humility. Resisting Satan requires an understanding of his tactics and a reliance on God’s Word. As 1 Peter 5:8-9 exhorts, believers are to be sober and vigilant, casting their cares on God and embracing humility. This humility invites God's grace, enabling believers to stand firm in their faith against the lies and temptations that Satan employs. The assurance of Scripture, the power of prayer, and community support are vital in this spiritual battle.

I started carefully looking at
it the middle of the week when I was preaching down in Georgia,
and I haven't spoken, haven't brought a message on this text in the way that I want to present
it tonight. I don't know whether to call
it Satan's real enemy, or Paul's greatest fear. Verse 3 is the text I'm looking
at, so let's just call it Paul's greatest fear. Ought to be our
greatest fear also. Hope when I'm finished it will
be. The scripture that Brother Steve
read a moment ago gives us some insight into this man, Paul. In chapter 9, he started off
this way, talking about his great, great
concern for the salvation of Israel. And he said it was his heart's
desire and his prayer to God and the concern of his soul that
these people might come to rest in Christ, believe on Him. And he said something I've never
been able to say, and I'm not going to, I'm not going to feign
it. He said, I could wish myself
a curse from Christ for my brethren in the flesh. Moses said something
similar to that. He said, God, if you're not going
to spare Israel, then blot me out of the book which you've
written. I don't know anything about that. But that's what Paul
said. That was his deep concern, the
salvation of his people. And here in chapter 11, he's
been defending his own ministry. 2 Corinthians 11. He's been defending
his ministry. And he tells them that he's jealous,
verse 2, he's jealous over them with a godly jealousy. I have
espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ. Verse 5, he said, I suppose I'm
not a wit behind the chiefest apostles. Verse 6, Though I be
rude in speech, yet not in knowledge, I know what I'm talking about,
he said. And we have been truly, completely made manifest among
you in all things. God's attended my ministry, he
said, with some success. There's some evidence that God
sent me. There's some evidence that God has sent me. And then
he expresses this unusual fear, this great fear up here in verse
3. But I fear, but I fear, lest
by any means, using any means, and Satan will use any means,
lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ Jesus. That's my fear. Now he says here in verse 3,
I fear lest your minds be corrupted from the simplicity that's in
Christ, like Satan was successful in deceiving Eve. and corrupting
her. So let's go back there and find
out what he said. Won't tell you what he did, what
he said. What went on back there? So you'll have to open your Bibles
with me to Genesis 3. That's the first thing I did
in studying this verse. I went back here to chapter 3
of Genesis to find out what he said, what he did, how he proceeded. And now I want to immediately
try to help you with this. When we look back on what happened
to Eve, we're prone to be a little haughty and a little critical
of Eve. Because we, I'll tell you why
we're critical of Eve and why we're a little haughty and proud
is you say, you say, I wouldn't have done what she did. Well,
you see we have the advantage of hindsight. We have the advantage
of a full record of the results of her choice. She made a choice.
She was deceived, she was influenced, and made the wrong choice. But
we have the advantage of seeing what happened, what took place,
and who was talking to her, and what he was saying, and the results
of her choice. She didn't have that advantage.
She didn't have that advantage. She was involved right then. with the most powerful enemy
in the whole universe, face-to-face with him. You see, David didn't
have that advantage either when Satan moved him to number Israel.
You and I, we look back at David numbered Israel, we look back
at what happened. And we say, well, he shouldn't
have done that. Looks like, you know, with his brilliance and
relationship with God and his knowledge, why did David do that?
You're on this side. You weren't in his shoes. You
see what I'm saying? He didn't have the advantage
that we have of looking at the results. Also true of Judas. Satan moved Judas to betray Christ. And I am critical of what Judas
did. He did wrong. But nevertheless,
I'm on this side. I don't know what I would have
done had I been in his shoes. See what I'm saying? And also
the Apostle Peter, who sat by the fire and denied his Lord.
Satan, you know, our Lord said to him before this happened,
Peter said, I'll die for you. I'll die for you. These other
fellows might deny you, but not me. I'll die for you. He said,
Peter, Satan hath desired thee, that he might sift thee as wheat.
But I prayed for you. That's the only thing you've
got going for you. That's the only thing you've got going for
you is I prayed for you. And you're going to deny me three
times. I would have to. I'm just sure of it. I'm no stronger
than the Apostle Peter. I'm a babe wrapped in swaddling
clothes compared to him. And also Demas, who left the
Apostle Paul, who loved this present world, and Satan led
him to leave Paul. Leave the gospel. Oh, it's so
easy to say now what we would have done under similar circumstances. But I'm telling you, chapter
3 of Genesis, you're looking at a woman here who's toe-to-toe
and eyeball-to-eyeball and face-to-face with the most powerful adversary
in this world, and you better hope you never experience this.
My Lord taught me to pray, deliver me from the evil one. No words can describe his power,
no words can describe his subtlety, no words can describe his craftiness,
his knowledge of human nature. Paul said, I'm not ignorant of
his devices. And you see here, let's look
at it. Chapter 3, verse 1, now the serpent
was more subtle. That word could be translated
more beautiful, more beautiful. more attractive, more subtle,
more powerful, with more charisma than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made, more beautiful. And he said to the woman, and
I've never, to save my life, ever understood why that didn't
shock her when a serpent spoke. But I don't know what was going
on back then. Maybe she was just used to miracles
and the supernatural. She lived in the supernatural.
She was made in the likeness and image of God out of her,
like Adam, you know, and walked with God and heard His voice
and all these things. And this serpent said to her,
now notice, he didn't deny the existence of God. Satan never
came to her and said there is no God. He never said that. He never said God has no power.
He never said there is no God, he never denied her relationship
with God either. He knew God talked to her, she
knew God talked to her, and he never denied it. But he asked,
listen, he said, hath God said you shall not eat of every tree
of the garden? Did God say that? The woman said
to 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. That tree of knowledge of good and evil, God has said
you shall not eat of it. Neither shall you touch it lest
you die. Someone said she was adding there to the word of God.
Well, I don't know what all was included in that commandment.
God told them not to eat of the tree in the midst of the garden.
That's what she said. God said eat of the whole garden's
yours, but that one particular tree is not yours. As long as
it stands uneaten and untouched and unapproached, It's a symbol
of my sovereignty and of my power and my authority over you. Adam
was a king, a prince, a ruler, had dominion, but God had dominion
over his dominion. As long as that stood, and forget
apple trees and forget sex and forget all these things, I don't
know what it was. But it was a symbol of God's
authority, that's what it was, over Adam and Eve. As long as
it stood, recognized as being Not permitted for them to eat,
not permitted for them to touch it. They were bowing to the will
of God. They were bowing to the commandment
of God and bowing to the word of God. And here is the serpent,
now he did, here's what did he do, it's threefold. He didn't
deny the existence of God, he didn't deny the power of God,
he didn't deny her relationship with God, but here's the first
thing he did. He put a question mark on the word of God. on the Word of God. She just
got through saying, God said, you can eat of every tree of
the garden but one. If you eat of that one, you'll
die. She said that's what God said. And he said, you won't
die. You won't die. He put a question mark on the
Word of God. You shall not die. That may be
what God said, but that's not what's going to happen. And then the second thing he
did, he questioned the goodness of God. He said in verse 5, for
God doth know. God knows that in the day you
eat of that tree, your eyes will be opened and you'll be out like
God, knowing good and evil. He put a question mark on God's
motive. He said God's got an ulterior
motive. God doesn't have your good at
heart. God knows if you eat of that tree, you'll be equal with
God. You'll be your own gods. And
he's got a bad motive in this thing, and that's the reason
he doesn't permit you to eat of that tree, because he knows
when you do, you'll be like God. And then the third thing he did,
when he put enough doubt in her mind, when she began to question
the Word of God. I love that song. Quartet sang,
how firm a foundation you saints of the Lord has laid for your
faith in His wonderful Word. Never put a question mark on
the Word of God. Receive it. Believe it. Whether
you understand it or not, it's the Word of God. Never put a question mark on
the goodness of God. The goodness of God. Almighty
God is good. The Lord is good. The Lord is
merciful. His way is best. His way is for
your good, for your eternal good, for your eternal well-being.
God will keep back nothing that's good for you. Your Heavenly Father
knows you have need of these things. He said if you love your
children, When your child asks for bread, would you give him
a stone? If he asks for meat, would you give him a serpent?
But if you being evil know how to give good things to your children,
how much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to his
children? Don't question his word, don't
question his goodness. His word's true. He talks about
His holiness and sovereignty is true. He talks about our lost
condition, it's true. He talks about His elective grace,
understand it or not, it's true. He talks about His mercy in Christ,
it's true. He talks about the only way to
glow is through the blood of the cross, it's true. He talks
about he that believeth on the Son hath life, it's true. He
that believeth not the Son of God shall never see life, it's
true. Believe God. His motive, His desire is your
good, your everlasting good. Do you believe that? That's what he's questioning.
Oh, I tell you, most preachers and people don't know how or
where or what realm or arena in which Satan battles. But here
it is. See, Paul's telling us he fears
that this will happen to us like it happened to her. So we need
to go back here and see what happened to her, and how it happened,
and what he said and did. And the first thing he did, he
put a question mark on God's Word. Secondly, he put a question
mark on the goodness of God, the goodness of God. Whatever
God says is for your good. And then thirdly, he took her,
when he sufficiently put doubts in her mind, He then brought
her over into his territory, his field of battle. He got her
over here, his field of battle. She had some doubts. And then
he got her thinking in three directions. Listen. When the
woman saw that the tree was good for food, appealing to the flesh,
my flesh. Now watch this. take Satan's field of battle,
my flesh, my desires, and my pride." If he ever gets you in
that territory, if he ever puts enough doubts in your mind, and
gets you on this territory, and gets you thinking in this vein,
the direction this woman's thinking, trouble's ahead. Trouble's ahead. When the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, it was appealing to her flesh. Secondly, she saw
it was pleasant to the eyes, her desires, her eyes. That's what your eyes covet,
what you see. That's what Achan said to Moses
and Abram. He said, I saw the gold, I coveted
the gold, and I took the gold and got guilty. But I saw it
first. And this is where he's got her
now. He's got her thinking what's good for her flesh, and she looked
at it, and kept looking at it, and it appealed to her desires. And then thirdly, it was desired
to make one wise. It appealed to her prime. And
this is the area. I thought about a preacher that
would encounter the grace of God. I
have one in mind. I have one man in mind who was
here one time years ago, a beloved friend, and could preach. I mean, he was a student of the
Word, was intelligent, and had talent and gifts and ability,
and learned these things that you talked about tonight, learned
them, seemed to learn them. I've heard him preach them here
and other places. But somehow, Satan or somebody
seemingly got him on this field of battle. And he'll always win
when he gets you here. What I want, I want bigger crowds. I want to preach to more people.
My flesh craves to preach to more people. My flesh craves
this recognition. My pride would like to see some
letters after my name, and some credentials, and some recognition,
and all these things. You see, so I just compromise. It just cuts down. You wonder,
well, why would a man compromise what is emphatically taught in
God's Word? Why would he do it? These three
things, the flesh, The flesh doesn't like to be disliked.
The flesh doesn't like to fight. The flesh doesn't like to be
criticized. The flesh wants to be loved and
appreciated and applauded and recognized. And we see these
attainments and we want them. This is what I want. And my pride
reaches out for it. It's the same thing with an unforgiving
spirit. Somebody here, if you have a
quarrel with someone and you can't forgive them, It's because
Satan's got you on this territory. Your flesh has been offended.
And your pride has been offended. And you're defending your pride
by holding your ground. I'll hang on, I'll hold my ground.
It's my ground. My pride has been offended. Young people, when they have
this problem with their peers, they don't want to be different.
There's young people growing up now in high school. It's tough
to be in high school, young people. I know that. And there's the
alcohol and the drugs and the filthy talk and all this sort
of thing, you know, you're faced with every day. And your flesh
doesn't want to be different. Your flesh wants to conform.
You look at these things and they appear to be good for the
flesh, and your pride just doesn't want to be different. Isn't that
right? Those three things, it's my flesh,
my desires, and my pride. And Satan got her on this territory,
and when he did, he whipped her soundly. He whipped her soundly. Same thing in this thing of submitting
to authority, rebelling against authority. A wife in the home
rebels against the authority of her husband. Those three things
come into play, my flesh, my desires, my pride. Same thing
on the job. A man rebels against his boss.
He just can't get along. He can't take orders. He can't
do the work because of his flesh, his desires, and his pride. This
is where Satan operates. That's his field of battle. Look
at verse 6 again. When the woman saw it was good
for food, it appealed to her flesh, it was pleasant to the
eyes, appealed to her desires. This is what she wanted. And
it was a true desire to make one wise. elevate you in any
way, in respect, in honor, in praise and applause, in any way.
She took it. She took it. And she ate it. And she gave it to her husband
with her. And he did eat it. It just got carried away, you
know, she did. I know it's all in God's purpose
and in God's plan, but when this archenemy went after her, the
very first thing he did, you with me? He put a question mark
on this woman. And then he put a question mark
on the goodness of God, God's goodness. And then thirdly, he
got her over here to thinking about her flesh, her desires,
and her pride. And that's all it took. But now
secondly, let's go back to our text. And I fear lest by any
means, and he's subtle, crafty, he'll use any means, any means,
any means, that your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that's in Christ. Now here's the second
point I want to make. Have you learned who Satan's
real enemy is? It's not you. I listen to these
preachers and And they leave the impression with me that Satan's
after me. That I'm his enemy. Eve wasn't
his enemy. Christ was. He wasn't after her. He didn't gain a thing by making
her fall for it. She was concerned. She was weak
anyway. He was after God. He was after
Christ. Christ's kingdom. That's what
he was after. You know, let me show you something.
When Satan, when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the Lord and Satan was among them, and God said to Satan,
have you considered my servant Job? There's none like him on
the earth, an upright man who hates evil and fears God. Ah,
he said the only reason Job fears you is because you put a hedge
around him and won't let anybody touch him. He said, you take
that hedge down, he'll cut you to your face. He'll curse you. That's my desire that He curse
you. You're the one I want Him to
curse. See what I'm saying? You're the one. You're my enemy. We're not His enemy. We're just
pawns. We're just tools. We're just
the thing that He uses to get Christ. That's right. We're nothing. There are folks
like us everywhere. There's billions of them. He's
not out after us. We're nothing. We're nothing
but pawns. We're nothing but tools. We're
nothing but things. That's all we are. He uses us
and mocks us. And he came again to God after
God said, alright, you can touch Joe, what he has. Don't touch
him, touch what he has. And he came back again and he
said, And the Lord went over that again. He said, if you consider
Job, He said, oh, He said, skin for skin, you touch Him, He'll
curse you. Let me show you a scripture.
Turn to Matthew. Look at this with me a moment.
Matthew 16. Matthew 16. I want you to listen. It's Matthew 16, verse 21. See if you can't see it. Satan's
real enemy is Christ. Christ. And He'll use any means
He'll even bless you to take you away from Christ. He'll afflict
you or He'll bless you. He'll make you poverty stricken
or powerful and wealthy. He doesn't care. You're just
a thing. He'll dress you up or He'll strip
you. He'll put you in a downy bed of clover or He'll put you
on a rack. He doesn't care. He just wants
to hear you say, Jesus Christ is a phony. That's the words
he wants to hear. These preachers, that's what
he wants to hear. He doesn't care if they have
50,000 in the congregation or 50. He just doesn't. He wants to hear them bemean
Christ. That's music to his ears. What
I'm preaching tonight, he despises. From that time, in Matthew 16,
21, from that time forth began Jesus to show to his disciples
how that he must go to Jerusalem, he must suffer many things of
the elders, and the chief priests and scribes, he must be killed
and be raised again the third day. Now then, Peter took him
aside and began to rebuke him and said, Now, be that far from
you, Lord? This shall not be. You're not
going to do that. You're not going to die on a cross. You're
not going to be buried. You're not going to rise again."
And he turned and he said to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. That's who's doing the talking.
Peter's just a tool. He's just a voice. He's just
a mouthpiece. This was a conflict between Satan
and Christ. And Peter was just used. You
see what I'm saying about, is this too complicated? It's like Ronnie and I sitting
here playing checkers. I'm after you. I want to whip
you and defeat you. You're after me. And we're moving
these things. I'm going to put this one over
here and track you. I could care less what color
that thing is or how much it weighs or what size it is. I'm
using it. And Satan took Peter and he said,
when the Lord said, I'm going to Jerusalem or suffer the scribes
and Pharisees be killed and rise again, Peter said, no, Lord,
don't do that. You're not going to do that. Satan, listen, Satan, you're
an offense to me. You're an offense to me. You
savers, not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men. Who's the Lord talking to, Peter? No. No. Back to our text. Now watch this.
This is the Bible. I wish we could see the Bible.
Here's Satan's aim, verse 4 of 2 Corinthians 11. For he that
cometh preacheth another Jesus. That's Satan's aim, another Jesus. Not this sovereign Christ, effectual
Christ, redeeming Christ, sufficient Christ, Christ of rest, but another
Jesus and another spirit and another gospel. That's his aim. Whether he uses you or whomever
he uses, it doesn't matter to him. You'll suffer the damnation,
but he'll just cast you off as a used-up tool. He wants Christ
defeated. He wants Christ defeated. And
I tell you, this is something here. We need help. He uses the
same words. He's subtle and crafty. He uses
the word God. Hath God said? He quotes Scripture. He quoted Scripture on the Mount
of Temptation. That was a battle between Christ
and Satan. He uses the word Jesus, Spirit,
Gospel, Blood, Cross, Heaven, Hell. The enemy is Satan. The
field of battle is my flesh, my desires, my pride. The language
is Bible terms. And the awesome army he employs. Look down at verse 13. 2 Corinthians
11, verse 13. Here is the awesome army. False apostles. For such are
false apostles. deceitful workers, workers, zealous
people, workers, workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. No marvel, Satan himself is transformed into an angel
of light. Therefore it's no great thing
if his ministers, ministers, apostles, workers, angels, ministers,
transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall
be according to their works. Oh, I tell you, I can't overstate
the subtlety of Satan, but I do know his goal. I do know his
goal, and that brings me to my third point. Back at verse 3, Paul said, This
is my fear, lest by any means, as a serpent beguiled evil. And I showed you how he did it. by his subtlety, so he'll work
the same thing on you, the same thing, and corrupt your minds,
your thoughts, your spirits, your souls, your confidence,
your faith from the simplicity that's in Christ. The word simplicity,
you have concordances in your homes and lexicons, look it up. It's very simple to look it up,
just like I did. I'm no Greek scholar by any means,
but I looked up the word simplicity and it has fourfold meaning. And this is the key word, simplicity. Satan take you away from the
simplicity of Christ. And you're not important, but
he is. He is, His glory, His gospel.
You're not important, but He is. Now, the word simplicity
first means simplicity. You see, often you can improve
on the word found in the Word of God here, even as it's been
translated, simplicity. What is the simplicity of Christ?
God is holy. We're sinners. God's unchangeably
holy. We're unchangeably evil. Almighty
God has purposed from all eternity to have a kingdom, a kingdom
of righteousness, a kingdom of holiness, a kingdom of beauty,
a kingdom of life. And He has made Christ the king
of that kingdom, and Christ the surety, and He's given Christ
to people. He's the first elect and the
firstborn among many brethren, and God's going to have a people
like Christ. He chose them in Christ and gave
them to Christ, and Christ our Lord And he prophesied and promised
and pictured and patterned and typed Christ's coming, and in
the fullness of time he came to this earth and victoriously
accomplished all that God decreed for him to do. He said, it's
finished. I finished the work you gave me to do, therefore
glorify me with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was. He said, come up here and sit
on my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.
And he sent his disciples out to preach this gospel, he that
believeth on the Son hath life, he that believeth not the Son
shall not see life. That's the simplicity that's
in Christ. The simplicity that's in Christ.
He was wounded by our transgressions. He died, he suffered just for
the unjust to bring us to God. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
This is the record. God hath given us eternal life.
This life's in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. That's the simplicity
of Christ. That's the gospel. Believe it
and be saved. But another word that is included
in this word simplicity is the word singleness. Look it up. Singleness. The singleness of
Christ. In other words, by himself he
purged our sins, like Steve just brought it up. Christ is not
only my righteousness, he's my sanctification. Christ is not
only my wisdom, he's my redemption. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. I'm complete in Him. I'm complete
in Christ. He, our God, is made unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I enter into
Christ for total rest, total peace, total acceptance, total
redemption, singleness of Christ. Don't add anything to Him. Now,
He's done all He can do. It's up to you. He's done it
all. He's Alpha and Omega, beginning
and end, and all in between, as you say. Christ is our hope. Christ is our life. Christ is
our salvation. Singleness. But the word burned. And don't let Satan take you
away from that. Well, they have a better program
for young people over here. The gospel's not preached. My
flesh, my desires, and my pride. The preacher, you know, you're
not the most popular preacher in town, and the congregation
here, they don't have all the activities and the entertainment
and these things, and it's not popular to come here to church.
I can go to other places, and you know, flesh wants pride. If he can get you to thinking
in that vein, You take you away from the simplicity and singleness
of Christ. And thirdly, what's this? The
sincerity of Christ. Without dissimulation, that's
what that word means, sincerity. Turn to 2 Timothy 1. I'm going
too long, but I want you to see this. 2 Timothy 1. This is very
important. 2 Timothy 1, verse 9. Second Timothy 1.9, listen to
this. He hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. God promised. God promised. Which God promised
before the world began. Do you believe God's promise?
Sincerity. God cannot lie. Scripture says
this was the basis of Abraham's faith. He believed that what
God had promised, God would do. It was counted to him for righteousness.
That's sincerity. What God promised, God will do.
I may be in the valley, I may be in the darkness, I may be
in terrible trouble, but I do know what God promised, God will
do. You believe that? Fourthly, here's the fourth thing
this word means, generosity. That's right, that's what it
says. Let Satan take you away or corrupt your mind from the
simplicity, from the singleness, from the sincerity, and from
the abundant generosity that's in Christ Jesus. But my God shall
supply all your needs according to His riches in glory through
Christ Jesus. Let me read a scripture over
in 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 5. Now go over here with me. Stay
in the Word. Resist Satan. But the way to
resist Satan is not by talking to him. You don't want to talk
to him. That's not the way to resist
Satan. I hear these preachers say, tell Satan to go on back
to hell. No, you don't want to talk. The way to resist Satan
is to stay in the Word of God. Believe the Word of God. Find
your rest and comfort in the Word of God. Hold on to the singleness,
simplicity, sincerity, generosity of Christ Jesus and Christ alone.
And don't let him get you to thinking. Flesh, desires, and
pride. Pride. That's where we get to
thinking here. That's the fatal battleground.
Because that's his territory. And he is a convincing one. But
here it is, watch this, 1 Peter 5, and I'll close, verse 5. Likewise
ye younger, submit yourselves to the elder. Yea, all of you
be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For
God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble
yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God, that He may
exalt you in due time, and casting all your care upon Him, He cares
for you. Be sober now, vigilant, because
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about
seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith,
knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren
that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after
you've suffered a while, make you perfect establish, strengthen,
and settle you. To Him be the glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen.

Paul's Greatest Fear

What does the Bible say about Paul's fear in 2 Corinthians 11:3?

How do we know that Satan uses subtlety to deceive believers?

Why is the simplicity of the Gospel important for Christians?

How can Christians resist the temptations of Satan?

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Paul's Greatest Fear

What does the Bible say about Paul's fear in 2 Corinthians 11:3?

How do we know that Satan uses subtlety to deceive believers?

Why is the simplicity of the Gospel important for Christians?

How can Christians resist the temptations of Satan?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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