The Great War Against God-pt.2
The Great War Against God • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
In 1940, the British National Films Co. released a movie called “Gaslight.”
The story goes that a man murders an elderly woman in her own house in order to gain her rubies she had worth a fortune. He cannot locate them and the house is unoccupied until 20 years later when a man and a woman purchase the home and move in. Little-by-little the husband, who was the murderous crook of 20 years prior, convinces his wife that she is losing her mind by causing her to doubt the obvious that she is witnessing.
He takes a broach and asks her to get the broach, yet she can’t find it. He takes a picture off the wall and pretends that she did it, yet she cannot recall ever doing it. Each night he convinces her that she is losing her mind and must take her rest.
Then, while she is confined in her room left to mull over her own proposed insanity, he goes next door, enters the house attic above his wife’s room, and rummages around looking for the rubies he thinks are there from 20 years ago.
As he is in the attic, he turns on the gas lantern, which dims his wife's lantern in her room. She is convinced that she is losing her mind as she sees the gaslit lantern dimming and returning.
However, she is not.
The man’s plot is discovered by the local constable and the husband’s wicked plan is uncovered.
Although this kind of activity is theatre, it accurately depicts how Satan works.
The obvious blessing of God is cast as harm against us.
The obvious harm of Satan is cast as a freedom for us.
Satan is a liar and the truth is not in him. His good to us, coupled with our lusts and sins, are truly meant to make us think we are free and happy. But, we are truly darkened in our hearts and minds.
The lie is the law of his kingdom.
Review:
Four things to know about Satan:
He is the source of evil
He has no rules
He has willing subjects
He can be resisted
The Origin of Satan:
The Origin of Satan:
Satan began as the high angel who “covered” YHWH in the sense of glory and honor to the only true God.
When he began to entertain his own beauty, which was created by God to be enjoyed, he found himself enamored with it.
This “heart” was found in him and he was immediately judged by the omniscient God who saw that heart condition.
Jesus states that He observed that judgment as the Father immediately cast him out of heaven’s privilege position:
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
The ultimate comparison for His apostles to their casting out demons is Jesus watching YHWH cast out the highest demon, Satan from heaven.
Satan fell from heaven because of the self-love that he had because of the beauty that God created in him.
13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. 14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 “You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. 16 “By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire. 17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.
There is no other good explanation for the existence of Satan, or evil for that matter.
That evil exists is without discussion.
That good exists is without discussion as well.
Both are mutually exclusive.
The Operation of Satan:
The Operation of Satan:
We need to examine his schemes.
His Schemes:
His Schemes:
Doubt God-he makes God sound unreasonable.
Believe him-he makes himself sound reasonable.
He causes God’s people to doubt God.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Genesis 3:1 (BHW 4.18)
1 וְהַנָּחָשׁ֙ הָיָ֣ה עָר֔וּם מִכֹּל֙ חַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָׂ֖ה יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֑ים וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה אַ֚ף כִּֽי־אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְל֔וּ מִכֹּ֖ל עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃
The first question in the Bible: “Has God said…?”
Meant to introduce a question as to the obvious.
Gaslighting-
Sometimes this Hebrew term refers to emphasizing a reality-
28 then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins.
14 “Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
But, here, it is the opposite.
It is meant to introduce a question as to the obviousness of a statement.
God did, INDEED!, say that you cannot eat of the one tree in the garden of Eden.
But, that is not Satan’s question.
Satan asked, “Indeed/really?!, did God say, “You shall not eat from all/any tree of the garden!?”
He introduced a sense of limited freedom, a sense that God had originally not given her absolute freedom to eat from all the trees of the garden.
Satan’s question has to do with introducing a sense of distrust in God by the woman.
She is limited to eating from any tree EXCEPT one.
Satan is questioning whether that is right, fair, or just.
Although some doubt that it is a question:
כִּי is difficult since there is no exact parallel for it as a question, which is the traditional rendering (as NIV). Speiser comments, “The serpent is not asking a question; he is deliberately distorting a fact” (Genesis, 23). BHS recommends the emendation הַאַף (with interrogative). Cassuto retains the sense of question by taking כִּי as the interrogative and אַף as the emphatic (Genesis, 144). But intonation is a sufficient explanation since for yes/no questions the interrogative is not required (IBHS § 40.3.b).
Likely, though, it is.
Genesis 1–11:26 (1) The Serpent and the Woman (3:1–5)
The tactic used by the serpent was to cause doubt in the mind of the woman through interrogation and misrepresentation. First, the opponent does not controvert outright the saying of the Lord (2:16); rather, he questions God’s motivation with the subtle addition “really say.” Second, the serpent uses the name “God” rather than the covenant name “LORD” that has characterized the narrative of 2:4–25, where “LORD God” appears. Third, the serpent reworks the wording of God’s command slightly by (1) adding the negative “not” at the head of the clause, which with “any” expresses an absolute prohibition; (2) omitting the emphatic “freely”; (3) using the plural “you” (hence bypassing the man) rather than the singular as in 2:16; and (4) placing the clause “from any tree” at the end of the sentence rather than at the head as in 2:16, thereby robbing God’s command of its nuance of liberality. All of this is to say that the divine injunction in the mouth of the serpent was refashioned for its own interests.
It is likely that Satan used the same tactic on the third of the angels that fell with him.
He may have tempted the stars (angels) to follow him because God was holding them back from something.
14 But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
His ultimate motive is to hijack the glory of God, by pretending that he is God.
However, his lust for glory and worship of all creatures is met with judgment.
13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15 “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.
Illustration:
#1 temptation to eat
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
#2 temptation to inheritance
5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
#3 temptation to worship
8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ ”
All of these temptations has as their backdrop the silence of God towards Christ.
The Holy Spirit compels Jesus out into the desert in order to be tempted-Mark 1:12-13
Satan tempts Jesus to gain these things that God is not providing…yet.
Satan appears to have no hang-ups, not hesitations, no conditions, except one-treat Satan as if he were God.
Satan wants to lure God’s people away from the true God and treat him as if he were God.
There are three avenues that Satan takes us down:
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15–17 (UBS5)
15 Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν αὐτῷ 16 ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ ἡ ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀλλʼ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐστίν. 17 καὶ ὁ κόσμος παράγεται καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία αὐτοῦ, ὁ δὲ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
Love of the world leads to:
Lust of the flesh
Lust of the eyes
Boastful pride of life
Illustration:
21 ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. 22 ‘You will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache and you will not eat the bread of men. 23 ‘Your turbans will be on your heads and your shoes on your feet. You will not mourn and you will not weep, but you will rot away in your iniquities and you will groan to one another. 24 ‘Thus Ezekiel will be a sign to you; according to all that he has done you will do; when it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’ ” 25 ‘As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their stronghold, the joy of their pride, the desire of their eyes and their heart’s delight, their sons and their daughters, 26 that on that day he who escapes will come to you with information for your ears?
19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
These are his schemes; this is his operation-> to lure God’s people away to lies, which is the law of his kingdom.
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
His Methods
His Methods
What are the methods he uses to accomplish his schemes?
Hold us captive to do his will:
24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
By lack of forgiveness/love;
By lack of forgiveness/love;
10 But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
Notice the church discipline environment.
By false doctrine:
By false doctrine:
15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. 16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. 20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
By false brethren:
By false brethren:
8 Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. 9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. 14 It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16 These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.
By false religion:
By false religion:
1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 “For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” 6 he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 9 ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”
The enemy of God has as his ambition to be a god.
However, he already is a god to the non-elect.
He wants to be a god to the elect.
He will tempt us, pressure us, sift us, and even kill us if given opportunity.
But, he cannot reverse God’s choice of us.
His Servants
His Servants
2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. 3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.
The analogy of a pure virgin is the metaphor of devotion, commitment, love.
Paul shepherded this flock so that they would not be unfaithful to their Head, Christ.
However, true to Satan’s cause, he wanted to lure the Corinthians away from this devotion and, ultimately, worship him.
How did he attempt this?
One came preaching:
Another Jesus
Notice “another” vs. “different”
Another Jesus works refer to an additional Jesus (more than one at a time), not necessarily a Jesus of a different kind.
With a different spirit.
This is a different kind of spirit
Notice Paul’s spirit in vv. 5-11
Different gospel.
The goal of Satan was to cause their minds to wander from a conscious choice of commitment to Jesus Christ.
The mind that is informed with another Jesus, by a different spirit, and with another gospel, is the mind that will wander from the truth as it is in Christ.
Satan knows this and aims at this.
12 But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
Word Pictures in the New Testament 2 Corinthians 11:14
An angel of light (ἀγγελον φωτος [aggelon phōtos]). The prince of darkness puts on the garb of light and sets the fashion for his followers in the masquerade to deceive the saints. “Like master like man.” Cf. 2:11 and Gal. 1:8. This terrible portrayal reveals the depth of Paul’s feelings about the conduct of the Judaizing leaders in Corinth. In Gal. 2:4 he terms those in Jerusalem “false brethren.”
What are the instruments he uses?
The same God uses-people
As with Judas, there are those who are willing participants in this assault on God’s people.
Paul’s ministry was dogged by ruthless and unscrupulous men who had their consciences seared by hypocrisy.
The true nature of their efforts are described by Paul as this:
“…false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ…even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light…it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”
These are dead branches, who are “…autumn fruit without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted...” (Jude 12).
They were actively attempting to upend Paul personally, through lies and slander,
MacArthur’s Quick Reference Guide to the Bible Background and Setting
In order to create a platform to teach their false gospel, the false prophets began assaulting Paul’s character. They wanted to take advantage of the tension between the apostle and the church. If they could convince the people to turn from Paul, the congregation would then be completely vulnerable to their own demonic doctrines. The situation became so crit-ical that Paul intervened personally. He referred to that episode as the “painful visit” (2:1). The tension in the church had broken out into public and personal attacks (2:5–8, 10; 7:12). Paul, realizing he had done what he could, left the city but followed up his visit with what he called the “severe letter” (2:4) that Titus carried to Corinth on Paul’s behalf (7:5–16).
Sometime later, eager for news about Corinth, Paul traveled to meet Titus (2:13). His younger associate gave Paul the news that the majority of the Corinthians had repented of their rebellion against him (7:7). When Paul wrote this letter (2 Corinthians), he was intent on rejoicing for the church (7:8–16), warning them about dangers ahead by confronting the false apostles (chapters 10–13), and, particularly, reestablishing his reputation and authority among them by defending his apostleship (chapters 1–)
If these men could undermine Paul, they could, then, introduce destructive heresies into the lives of the vulnerable saints of God, thus doing Satan’s work.