The Puppet Master

Doxology:

This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart, that I might not sin against God. Amen!

We are jumping back into our series over “The Gospel Journey” today and we have made it to:

Scriptural Reference: Matthew 2:13-18.

So far, the text surrounding the birth of Christ has been positive and uplifting. The prophesied Messiah has come and we have seen how many people were chosen to be a part of that process and then blessed tremendously because of their contribution. The birth went well and mom and baby are healthy. Angels have heralded the news from glory unto the shepherds and God aligned the stars the sky so that the wise men would know that He has arrived. Both the shepherds and the wise men have come to honor the newborn king and all seems well on the home front. The peace of God has come to earth and several have enjoyed that peace so far.

But......as we all know and have experienced in our own lives, peace does not negate pain and no one stays on the mountain forever. Sometimes, our mountain top experiences last a good while and other times they are short lived. As we open up the text today, we see that trouble is brewing on the horizon and this time of happiness and rest has come to an end. Much sorrow is right around the corner and if it is to be greatly avoided, Mary and Joseph must act quickly.

Matthew 2:13–18 NKJV

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” 14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”

Context

This account of Scripture is a nothing less than a wake-up call. A casual reading of this text shows us that God divinely warned Joseph in a dream to get his family and flee to Egypt, which I believe is the climax of this historical account.

But it is only with much deeper thought and study that we see a picture more accurately describing the true nature of this event. Without which the climax does not reach its peak.

Herod was a wicked man. We know this from Scripture and we know this from history. We discussed a few weeks how he killed his own mother, his wife, his three sons, several priests, and even had the most prominent citizens of his town killed the same day he died simply so that there would be tears shed on the day of his death.

He was absolutely ruthless, but I want to show you today that he was merely a puppet, as many others have been and still are today.

Have you ever been to a puppet show? The puppet is what you see. The puppet is what gets your attention, but the puppet is simply a slave to its master. The puppet moves and dances only as the strings attached to it allows it. The real star of the show is the man behind the curtain. He has practiced for years on how to control the puppet so that he can deliver to the crowd a wonderful show as he portrays his skill and experience.

King Herod was a puppet. My goal today is to pull back the curtain of this thing called life so that you might be able to see not only the puppeteer, but also what drives and motivates him. I want you to see how he operates. I want you to see what goes on behind the scenes so that you might be able to honestly evaluate your own life and decide whether or not you also have strings attached.

Content

Satan Lacks

There is something you must understand about Satan. Satan wants to be God. He wants to be on the throne of eternity so badly that he even waged war against God when he was in Heaven.

Ezekiel 28:12-18 speaks of the fall of Satan and references to him as a “guardian cherub.”

Cherubs are angelic creatures and possibly the highest order of angels. He was called perfect and beautiful within this text, that is until his fall.

His name in Heaven was Lucifer, which means “Bright and morning star.”

Some even state that he held the position of the angel Michael, which was the archangel, the most powerful angel in heaven.

Job 1 also references how Satan appeared before God with the other “sons of God”, which is also likely a reference to the fact that he is an angel.

Matthew 25:41 & Revelation 12:7 both reference the “devil and his angels.”

Isaiah 14:12–14 NKJV

12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

These verses show us the pride of his heart and how he longed for the throne of God.

Revelation 12:4 NKJV

4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

Satan caused a third of the angels in heaven to fall with him. When he fell, they fell.

Satan wants to be God, but the sad reality for him is.....he is not God, and he never will be.

Because he is not God, he also does not possess the powers of God. This is not to say that Satan is not powerful, for he is. If the majority of scholars are correct, he was once the most powerful creature in heaven, outside of God Himself. When we read of when the current archangel Michael and Lucifer meet in the book of Jude, we see that Michael gave great respect to Lucifer’s power and dealt cautiously with him.

But simply being powerful does not make you God. Only God has all power. Only God has all knowledge. Only God can be everywhere at the same time. Only God transcends time and space and can see and speak into the future.

Knowing this about Satan sheds some light on how he operates. Satan knows the Bible, better than you and I, I might add. He knows the ins and outs of Scripture and even knows prophecy better than we do. He knows the events that are to take place, but since he cannot see into the future, he does not know when these events will take place.

He also knows the prophecy of end times. He knows that one day the antichrist will come and he knows the events of how that will play out. He simply does not know when God is going to put these things into motion.

Therefore, not knowing the times and seasons of God, he is always ready with a man in place. He always has someone prepared to do his dirty work, so that when God moves, he can counter move.

He knew Jesus was coming. He knew the prophecy stated that the Messiah would come one day, but he did not know when. So he moved and operated through those within the realm of power as much as possible, so that when the time came for Christ burst forth into humanity, he could squash him out as quickly as he came.

In steps Herod. Satan had Herod ready and in place and as soon as he sees the opportunity, he pounces.

We see this happen all throughout history. Satan wants to completely eradicate God’s people, and will do whatever is necessary to make that happen.

Pharoah was a puppet. Babylon was a puppet. Assyria was a puppet. Rome was a puppet. Pontius Pilate was a puppet. Titus, the Roman emperor who destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70 was a puppet. Nero was a puppet. Hitler, the leader of the Jewish holocaust, which lead to over 8 million Jews being killed, was a puppet.

Satan has always had a man in place to destroy God’s people and nothing has changed today. He will always have people in place to tear down what God builds and destroy what God creates.

Satan wants to be God, but you need to know that He is not God. He wants you to think that he is, but he’s not nor ever will be.

Satan Lurks

1 Peter 5:8 NKJV

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Seeing that he is constantly looking for people that he control, this verse makes perfect sense. He is always lurking in the shadows. He is constantly looking for his next victim.

Some of you may wonder why we always preach that you need to read your Bibles; you need to pray; you need to spend quiet time with God; you need to lean in close and stay connected with Him.

This is why. Whether you realize it or not, you do have an enemy out there that is wants to destroy you. He is always looking for the next poor soul that is completely oblivious to “all this spiritual stuff”, or even in severe doubt that any of this actually has any merit.

As soon as he sees an opening, he pounces. He will wait in the shadows for just the right moment, and when you are at your weakest, here he comes.

He uses every tool in his toolbox to bring you down, but listen to me. He does want to devour you, but do not think for a second that is merciful enough to do it quickly. He is not. There will be a few that he will destroy quickly, but most of the time, he wants to play with his food before he eats it. He wants to see you suffer.

Before he destroys you, he will destroy your marriage. He will destroy your relationship with your kids. He will destroy your career. He will destroy your witness by leading you into a life of sin that pulls you away from church, or makes a mockery of you at church. He will completely tear your life apart, and then when there is nothing left to destroy, death will come.

Satan Lies

Matthew 2:16 (NKJV)

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry....

Is it fair to say that the deceiver was deceived? Herod lied to the wise men when they first arrived. He told them that when they had found the newborn king, they were to come back and tell him where he was so that he could come and worship him as well.

They were divinely warned in a dream not to do that. When he finds out that they disobeyed his orders, he goes into an outrage.

See, Satan is a liar. Those of you who have never experienced new life in Christ, he wants to keep it that way. Those of you who have experienced the grace of God upon you, he wants to render you useless.

That is the only two steps to Satan’s plan: Keep the lost from God, and destroy the witness of those who love Him.

If he can do those two things, he can keep the Gospel from advancing, and my what a wonderful job he has done. We are losing ground here in America because lost people are not getting saved as they should and those who are saved are not living lives worthy of the calling that God has placed upon their lives. For those two reasons, Christianity has lost its appeal. People don’t put stock into the Bible anymore, because as far as they can see, it really doesn’t change anything.

Yeah, theses people may say that they are saved, but it sure didn’t change anything. They are still angry just like before. They are still driven by drama just like before. They are still bent on gossiping, just like before. They are still the biggest liars you ever seen just like before. They are still living in sexual sin, just like before. They still cuss like sailors, just like before. If being a Christian, means I have to be a hypocrite, I don’t want it. I can be bad all by myself, I don’t need a title for that.

See, Satan is a deceiver. He wants you to think that sin is not a big deal.

“If I do this, it isn’t hurting anyone else.”

“My sin only affects me.”

“There are plenty of other people doing much worse than I am.”

“This is only a tiny thing, it’s no big deal.”

“No one will ever know, so how can anyone get hurt?”

He fills our heads with all of these lies. All he is doing is trying to make us comfortable living in sin. If we can become comfortable living in sin, then our heart is hardened to what Christ did at Calvary. Everything about that cross deals with sin.

That is why we constantly point you to Calvary. That is why we constantly preach the Gospel of Christ. Lest you forget.....lest you be deceived.

Don’t you dare for one minute, but into these lies from hell. Sin is a very big deal. Not just certain sin, all sin is a big deal. It so big of a deal that God sacrificed His only Son to deal with it, to overcome it, to abolish it, and to set you free from it.

If you believe your sin does not matter, simply look at those who have come before you. Look at how their sin mattered on a monumental scale. Everything you do matters to those around you and everything you do matters to God. As a child of God, we represent the Kingdom of Heaven. We have been called as ambassadors for Christ unto this world. It is our job to represent Jesus and to do it well. We are to speak as He spoke, act as he acted, react as He reacted. We cannot do this if we are believing the lies of Satan.

His lies are equally dangerous to the lost and saved alike. For the saved, he will destroy your ability to serve God through sin. For the lost, he will cause anger and discontentment towards God and His church through the sin of those who are supposedly a part of it.

Don’t tell me that sin doesn’t matter. It matters more than we will ever comprehend this side of glory.

Satan is a liar and a deceiver.

Satan Lynches

We are talking about being puppets. Herod was a puppet. All of those who are being controlled by Satan are allowing him to pull the strings.

One of the biggest lies Satan tells is this: “You don’t need church. You don’t need to be saved. You are as good as they are already without Church. You can be perfectly happy in life without all that spiritual stuff. Those people are just spiritual fanatics, Jesus freaks, holy rollers, and Bible thumpers. You don’t want to associate with them. Your life is good the way it is right now.”

When you believe these lies, you are allowing him to pull the strings. But I want to let you in on a little secret....”Satan hates you as much as he hates God.”

Don’t you dare think for one second that he cares about you. He may leave you on easy street for quiet some time, but as soon as you become a liability to him, he will destroy you. He will take one of those strings that he has attached to you, wrap it around your neck, and death will be the result.

Matthew 2:16 NKJV

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

He went back in his mind to the conversation he had with those wise men. He calculated how long it had been since he talked to them, how long before that they witnessed the star, and then he calculated. He figured two years would do it. He killed them all. Why? These babies were not followers of Christ. They were babies. They did not even know who Christ was. They were not kin to Christ. They were not friends of Mary and Joseph. Why did they die? They were roughly the same age and were born in roughly the same place.

Anything at all that ties you to Jesus will one day incriminate you in the eyes of Satan. He was flesh and blood and you are flesh and blood. He had an awareness of the spiritual realm and you also have an awareness of the spiritual realm. He had a longing inside of Him to do the will of His Father in heaven, and you too were born with this innate desire to please your Heavenly Father. Like it or not, you are on his hit list.

Listen, it is time to cut the strings. It is time we no longer allow Satan to be our puppet master. If you continue on the this path, you will either be killed by him, devoured by him, and possibly both.

It is time to cut the strings and be free from his control. It is time to see life from a whole new perspective. It is time to see truth and let that truth govern who you are and what you do. The only way you can do that is to cut the strings.

Commitment

I told at the beginning of this message that I felt that God’s divine warning was the climax of this story. Here we are at the end of the message, but now with a proper understanding of what all was taking place, we can now more appreciate that warning.

Knowing that Satan has control of your life, listen to what God said:

Matthew 2:13 NKJV

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

God is telling you to get out. Herod is on his way. Herod wants kill you. Herod will destroy you. Herod does not love you. Herod does not care about you. Herod only cares about himself.

Listen to me. Satan does not love you. Satan does not care about you. Satan only cares about himself. He wants to destroy Christ and everyone that is even remotely similar to Him.

Cut the strings, flee to Egypt, and find refuge in God.