Jump Start # 3190
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeing someone to devour.”
Recently I was preaching in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. Great church. The area is rich in restoration history. I went through many old, old church buildings, talked to a lot of people and even tracked through a field filled with briars and thorns, taller than me just to find some old gravestones from long ago.
One evening during the meeting a children’s song, “I’ve been redeemed,” was led. It was new to me. The audience sang it well. I really liked the second verse of that song:
“Now the devil and me we disagree…now the devil and me we disagree…Now the devil and me we disagree…I hate him and he hates me…all my sins are washed away…I’ve been redeemed.”
That’s a powerful statement. It is so true. It’s something that we adults need to not only be singing, but to wrap our hearts around strongly.
First, we disagree with the devil. Whatever the devil calls good, is bad. Whatever the devil likes, we don’t. Whatever the devil wants, I don’t. There is nothing good attributed to the devil in the Bible. When he quoted Scriptures either he added words or he misapplied it.
The devil will work through friends and family. The devil will push his agenda through politicians. The devil will get culture on his side. But none of those things matter. We disagree. We disagree. We disagree.
Second, the devil hates me. The devil hates you. He has plans for you and it’s not nice. He’d love to see the tears coming down your eyes as he wrecks your marriage. He’d love to see your congregation split and divide or dwindle down so small that the doors have to close for good. He’d love to see you overwhelmed with sorrow, fear and worry. He thinks it’s a great day when you are discouraged. He wants you to get angry and say things that you shouldn’t. He’ll try to make you envious of others. He will fill your eyes with lust and materialism. He hates you. He wants you to walk away from Jesus. And, if you do, he won’t be there to comfort you. He won’t be there to be your friend. He is a thief. He comes to kill and steal.
There is no greater enemy in your life than the devil. He won’t leave you alone until you leave this planet. You can resist him and he’ll go away, but he always comes back. Always. He’ll attack you. He’ll scare you. He’ll bait you. He’ll confuse you. He’ll try compromise. He’ll use error. He’ll use fame and fortune. He doesn’t play by the rules and he doesn’t care that he breaks the rules. His destiny is set. There is no salvation for the devil. Hell bound he is and Hell bound he knows. He won’t be in charge of Hell, God is. He’ll be tormented forever in Hell.
The devil hates you.
Third, I hate the devil. You hate the devil. Think of all the carnage that this evil one has caused. Wars. Death. Destruction. Children seeing mom and dad divorce. A young person slipping into eternity because of drugs. A person headed off to prison for crimes that he committed. Violence in the streets. Angry mobs demanding things. Scandals. Corruption. Evil. Wickedness. None of these things come from Christ. These are the outcome from following Satan. No marriage has been made stronger because of the devil. No church is walking closer to the Lord because of the devil. There is a long, long trail of pain and sorrow that began in the garden and will end when the Lord comes. The holy and beautiful name of our Lord, blasphemed daily. Multitudes confused and led by counterfeit religion.
You and I have never know a time when Satan wasn’t around. We’ve never see the world without Satan. His ugliness has ruined everything good. Our world has always had a dark side to it as long as we have been here. Evil, wickedness and sin have been a part of our world for as long as we have been alive.
But a day is coming, oh, it’s coming. A day is coming when we are out of this place and we will enter the home of our Lord. Satan won’t be there. Nothing bad will be there. Nothing corrupt will be there. Perfection as we have never seen. Oh, won’t it be wonderful there!
Do you hate the devil? Some might say, ‘We shouldn’t hate anyone.” God hates. The devil certainly hates. And we ought to hate. We ought to hate things that are wrong. We ought to hate error. We ought to hate the father of lies. We ought to hate the devil.
And, maybe that’s the problem. We’ve never gotten to the point that we hate the devil. We dislike what he does. We wish he’d do better. But we just can’t put a stake in his heart and say, “Be gone, Satan!” Kindness, which is part of our character as disciples, doesn’t mean turning our eye to wrong and being nice to the one that wants to destroy you.
He is, as our verse says, a lion who is set on eating you for lunch. He wants to devour you. He doesn’t want to just scare you the other way. He doesn’t want to just lightly scratch you. Given the chance, he will destroy you. And, he doesn’t care who he hurts. He doesn’t care that people need you. He doesn’t care that you are trying so hard. He doesn’t care that you are a new Christian. He doesn’t care that he has already tempted today. If he can catch you off guard, he’ll pounce on you and destroy you.
I hate him and he hates me. That’s the one thing and the only thing that the devil and I agree upon.
Roger