Sermons on Satan
1 Peter 5:1-14
Living Together as God’s Flock Now to the final chapter of 1 Peter. The relational rules of the world are characterized by competition, division and individualism. The Church of Jesus Christ is called to live by a different set of relational rules, not only with the world but with each other. That’s why I have entitled this chapter as “Living Together as God’s Flock.” We’re going to see a variety of topics here, but most fit somewhere under this title. We start with instructions…
1 John 4:1-6
Spiritual Warfare in the Church Introduction: I’d like to set the stage this morning with a story from 2 Kings 6. The prophet Elisha is in Dothan, where he has been regularly receiving information from God about the military movements of the Aramean or Syrian army and passing the information on to the King of Israel. The King of the Arameans suspects a spy among his trusted confidants, but eventually he is informed that Elisha is the culprit; in fact, one of his…
1 Cor. 1:10-17
Contentious Christians Introduction: The old proverb says, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play.” The meaning of that proverb is, of course, that when people find themselves without proper supervision, they often conduct themselves without proper decorum. This is exactly what was happening in the church at Corinth. Paul had founded the Church there while on his second missionary journey, and he had stayed approximately 18 months. But other cities needed churches too, so he left the core of believers at Corinth in the…
Matthew 3:13-4:2
From Coronation to Crucible Introduction: We come today to two of the most important events in Jesus’ life–His baptism and His temptation by Satan in the wilderness. I think it is not accidental that these two events occurred back-to-back. The author is trying to communicate an important truth to us, namely that times of significant victory are often followed by great times of trial and temptation. There are several causes of this common occurrence. First, we ourselves help bring it about. When things are…
Matthew 13:1-23
The Parable of the Sower Introduction: Spirituality is much in vogue today. I Googled the term on Wednesday and discovered there were 82,100,000 entries. After checking each one I am convinced that the term “spirituality” can mean just about anything you want it to mean. And the people who talk about it the most seem to be the most confused. Spirituality is a regular topic on Oprah and on Dr. Phil. Political candidates feel compelled to let the voters know how spiritual they are, and sometimes…
Acts 12
Deliverance, or Power Encounter Introduction: Acts 12 presents one of the great power encounters of the New Testament. The power of prayer and the power of God go up against the power of Satan, with the same victorious result as in the case of so many the great power encounters in the Old Testament, like Gideon and the Midianites, Samson and the Philistines, or Elijah and the prophets of Baal. I suggest to you that victory is also ours today if we will use…
Acts 19
Satanic Devices to Hinder the Church Introduction: I’ve entitled my sermon today, “Satanic Devices to Hinder the Church.” Ever since Jesus Christ proclaimed to His disciples, “I will build my Church,” Satan has had as one of his principal goals to render the Church anemic and ineffective. We’re going to see today in Acts 19 how he pursued that goal with a vengeance. Now it’s interesting to me that the methodology Satan utilizes has some fascinating parallels to the methodology Communism has used to attempt…
Acts 27
A Shipwreck, But Not of Faith Introduction: In the book of 1 Timothy the Apostle Paul writes to his young protege in the ministry and says, “Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.” Paul knew a lot about shipwrecks because he experienced at least four…
Luke 3:21-4:13
Jesus Is Our Brother Introduction: Jesus is given many amazing titles in the Scripture. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Chief Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, the Great High Priest, the Cornerstone, the Almighty, the Bread Of Life, the Captain of our Salvation, Messiah, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Lamb of God, Light of the World, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Man of Sorrows, Morning Star, The Resurrection and the Life, the Rock, Rose of Sharon,…
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
The Rebellion of Antichrist Introduction: There is probably no more mysterious and fascinating figure spoken of in the Bible than Antichrist. He has been the focus of a great deal of speculation among students of prophecy and the subject of countless books. Over the centuries I suppose everyone has wondered at one time or another whether some current evil leader in the world might morph into that tragic figure. While we’re going to examine carefully what our Scripture passage says about Antichrist, it is…
2 Cor. 2:5-11
Satan’s Greatest Scheme What would you say is the most representative symbol of the Church of Jesus Christ? Would you suggest a cross? If so, you’re probably in the majority. What about a fish? The ICTHUS symbol of the early Christians would not be far off either. Or maybe you think of the open Bible or the Bread and the Wine or the helping hand. All of these are positive, even sacred, symbols of the Church, and they have profound meaning and significance for all who…
James 4:1-10
Conflict in the Church Note: This sermon was preached in 1991. James 3:13-18 was covered by Associate Pastor Brad Harper, but the manuscript is not available. Introduction: A father heard a commotion in his yard and looked outside to see his daughter and several playmates in a heated quarrel. When he reprimanded her his daughter explained, “We’re just playing church!” Actually, that’s not too hard a scenario to believe. One of my favorite books is entitled Great Church Fights. It was written by a Conservative Baptist pastor named…