Secret Sarin

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Series: On the Move: Overcoming the Obstacles to Growth

Title: Secret Sarin

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VIDEO – TONY EVANS

Did you catch what Tony said? Everything visible and physical is controlled by the invisible and spiritual. There is more to life than what you can see. The truth is that your struggles have a spiritual background. As Ephesians six teaches us, We are fighting an enemy we can’t see in a place we can’t go with weapons we can’t form. Yes, you did have an argument with your wife on the way to church, but she’s not your real enemy, no you’re fighting an enemy you can’t see. There is more to life than what you see. Yes, you did fall for the click bait you saw on that web page and followed your lust to a page that brought you temporary pleasure but hollowed out your soul. Yes, you did fall for click bait but digital pornography is not your ultimate enemy. There is more to life than what you see. You are fighting an enemy you can’t see in a place you can’t go with weapons you can’t form.

NEED

And some may be asking right now, “So what are you saying, Rusty? Are you just trying to excuse our failures by blaming them on the devil.? That sounds awfully convenient.” But don’t misunderstand me: I am not saying that you are not responsible for your actions, I’m just saying that your actions are not only the result of your own sinful desires; they are inspired by the enemy you cannot see.

Now, even though his forces are working, we are often unaware that he is involved. I compare him to Sarin. Sarin is a colorless, odorless compound that, if inhaled, is lethal within 1-10 minutes.

Pic --- Tokyo Subway

On the morning of March 20, 1995 five men entered the Tokyo subway system, each with bags of sarin. Each boarded a separate subway line, their trains all headed toward the Tsukiji Station in central Tokyo. At virtually the same time, each attacker dropped his bags of sarin on the floor of the train and punctured them before exiting the train and station and leaving the scene in a waiting getaway car. As the liquid in the bags started to vaporize, the fumes began affecting the passengers. The trains continued on toward the center of the city, with sickened passengers leaving the cars at each station. The fumes were spread at each stop, either by emanating from the tainted cars themselves or through contact with liquid contaminating peoples’ clothing and shoes. Many of the individuals who were overcome by exposure to sarin during the attack were those who came into contact with the agent while trying to assist those who already had been stricken. Among those who died were two subway employees who died attempting to dispose of punctured bags.

I compare Sarin to Satan. He operates under the radar and quietly destroys people. He is even involved in tempting believers, only they often don’t know it’s him. Satan is the sarin many believers inhale. And whether we realize it or not, as Christ-followers, you and I are in a mortal battle.

BACKGROUND

And that’s the last obstacle I want to address in this series. We’ve been addressing the obstacles we must overcome if we are to grow both personally and as a church. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been following Paul as he engages the lost on his missionary journeys. In , he arrives in the city of Ephesus. Ephesus would remind you of some of the metropolitan cities in this country. They were religiously open places. Many different religious were openly tolerated and practiced.

But behind that openness was a real darkness that permeated the prolific idolatry of this city. You see, Ephesus was known for witchcraft and sorcery. If the gospel of Christ was to make headway in this place, there would be spiritual resistance. It didn’t take long for the opposing spiritual forces to come to blows. Read about this conflict with me:

Acts 19:11–20 NKJV

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Now you can probably tell just from a first reading of this passage that there is a powerful spiritual battle going on in Ephesus. The gospel was encountering and overcoming great spiritual resistance. Paul’s spiritual victory, though, was not limited to Paul or to Ephesus. No, Christ still overcomes spiritual resistance and He does so in some very specific ways. I want you to look at those ways with me today. In this passage we can see that spiritual resistance is over come, first, when:

D1

Spiritual resistance is overcome when God empowers people.

EXP

Now when I say that Ephesus was a spiritually dark place, I mean it was a spiritually dark place. It swarmed with soothsayers and the sellers of charms. It was in Ephesus that the “Ephesian letters” were first mentioned four years before the birth of Christ. The Ephesian letters were actually six magical terms people would repeat to ward of demons. These letters were written on good luck charms or “amulets” that were then worn around the neck to ward off demons. And people wore them religiously because witchcraft and spells were practiced in this town.

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Acts 19:11–12 NKJV

Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

In fact, Luke writes in v 11, Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Luke seems to indicate that God worked in unusual ways in Ephesus because the situation called for an unusual display of God’s power.

Luke seems to indicate that God worked in unusual ways in Ephesus because the situation called for an unusual display of God’s power.

Now these verses have caused various reactions by biblical students. Some very conservative scholars way that this was something that happened back then but that, since we now have the New Testament completed, there is no longer any need for things like this to take place. Other liberal scholars say that this could not have happened while more radical students would use this passage of scripture to start a prayer cloth ministry. The truth is that this happened in Ephesus as a part of the sovereign plan of God to reach a community that was in need of His powerful manifestation to break the spiritual grip that Satan had gained over this city.

And what a manifestation it was! When v 11 speaks of Paul’s “aprons” or “handkerchiefs,” it is probably speaking of what he used to wipe the sweat from his body. We already read back in ch 5 that the shadows of the apostles would bring healing; now their physical presence isn’t even necessary. Just a hanky that has wiped the sweat from their bodies is sufficient not only to heal physical diseases, but also to cast out demons.

The point is this: God greatly empowered Paul to face the spiritual warfare of Ephesus. And I firmly believe that God still sovereignly empowers us—you and me—to fight the spiritual battles that we encounter in our lives as well.

APP

So, when I make a statement like that, I know many of you might be asking, “How?”, right? How do you get this kind of “sweat-rag” power so that you have powerful impact? Well, in the first place, you can’t skip the basics. God’s power flows out of those habits we talked about in week one of this series. We focus on God’s word; we focus on community connection—relational accountability; we focus on worshiping God and seeing Him for Who He is; and we focus on prayer. And as we focus on these habits, His power gets released in our lives and we begin to experience His strength in spiritual warfare.

And then, you and I also have to realize that this power of God is not something that we can command; it is the SOVEREIGN power of God and He works according to His own plan not mine. I do not seek to command Him as my servant to intervene as I think best. This is the primary problem with the “Word of faith” movement today. It seeks to treat God as its servant instead of becoming His servants. Instead, of telling Him where to move, I find out where He wants to work and follow His direction.

Which just means that I have to seek His direction and wait on Him. The first step to winning spiritual warfare is being empowered by the Spirit.

ILL

Pic - Billy Graham

Someone wrote of Billy Graham:

He would go off the platform, he wouldn't stay around. Oh, he wasn't trying to run from people but he was emotionally and physically drained, especially during the time of the invitation. When Billy finished preaching the message and he would say, “Now you come and explain what the invitation was to give your life to Christ, the buses will wait, we will wait, you come,” and he would just stand there silently, he would not cajole or plead as some evangelists would do. He would just wait in the quiet. I think there was a great spiritual struggle going on at that time. In fact, he said he felt almost power go out of him, what was in a sense like Jesus felt power go out of him when a woman touched the hem of his garment.

But the most interesting thing I read about Billy Graham was that he always wanted 30-40 minutes of quiet before he would meet people. During that time he would be quiet and pray. Even on the platform he would be bowed over, his chin in his hands, eyes closed, praying for God to empower him.

You know, I think Billy Graham understood that he was engaged in spiritual warfare and he needed power.

APP

So may I ask you: What spiritual warfare are you facing? O, I know all the bad things we talk about today: Divorce is rampant; abortion murders close to 640 thousand babies every year. I know that Christians aren’t just being ignored in this country, they are being openly attacked.

But as I said a couple of years ago: God has you here right now for His Kingdom. He needs empowered servants who wait on Him, get empowered by Him, then take the battle to the enemy. You don’t have to lose the battle; I tell you, you can win. Do you believe that?

TRANS

Spiritual warfare is won when God empowers people and then it is also won when:

D2

Spiritual resistance is overcome when revelation exposes truth.

EXP

One of the enemy’s greatest weapons is counterfeiting God’s work. You see an example of this in v 13. It says:

Acts 19:13–14 NKJV

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

Now, remember, Ephesus was full of traveling sorcerers and exorcists—actually demon-possessed purveyors of darkness themselves. These Jewish exorcists, Luke says, thought that what Paul was doing with his sweat rags was pretty cool. So they find some poor demon possessed person try to cast the demon out of this guy. But please notice HOW they try to exorcise the demon. They say, We exorcise you by the Jesus whom PAUL preaches. Did you catch it? They were after the power but not the preaching. They assumed that they could treat Christ like just another good luck charm—like one of their little amulets.

They made a fatal error. They thought that just knowing about Christ was enough. They thought that they could invoke His name without surrendering their hearts. And this fatal error led to a revealing confrontation. Look at v 15. It says:

Acts 19:15–16 NKJV

And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Wow! That’s not what they had in mind, I’m quite sure! They thought they could borrow the spell of Jesus just like they manipulated the spells of demons, but they got more than they bargained for. The demon said. I know Jesus and I know Paul, but WHO ARE YOU? And he beat them naked and ran them out of the house.

15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Wow! That’s not what they had in mind, I’m quite sure! They thought they could borrow the spell of Jesus just like they manipulated the spells of demons, but they got more than they bargained for. The demon said. I know Jesus and I know Paul, but WHO ARE YOU? And he beat them naked and ran them out of the house.

Now this was a powerful statement! It showed everyone that Jesus was different. He was not just another name to invoke. He wasn’t the “seventh Ephesian letter” that would ward off evil spirits. He was the absolute powerful, sovereign Who could not be manipulated by the whim of man! He was not for sale; He was not to be used. He, Himself was and is the one and only Son of God. And realizing this powerful that made an impact. V 17 says:

Here’s the point: It took this confrontation for the imposters to be revealed and the true servant of God to be vindicated. This was a spiritual victory that led to great evangelism and great worship! You see, spiritual warfare brings a confrontation with evil that causes truth to be exposed. You could not play with God. You couldn’t have a little piece of Jesus and a little piece of Satan at the same time. You have to be the real thing. You had to be all in!

Acts 19:17 NKJV

This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

Here’s the point: It took this confrontation for the imposters to be revealed and the true servant of God to be vindicated. This was a spiritual victory that led to great evangelism and great worship! You see, spiritual warfare brings a confrontation with evil that causes truth to be exposed. You could not play with God. You couldn’t have a little piece of Jesus and a little piece of Satan at the same time. You have to be the real thing. You had to be all in!

ILL

Neil Anderson has written many books on Spiritual Warfare. Some of what he says is powerful. Here is one thing he wrote that I have never forgotten. He said:

A common misconception of the spiritual world is that demonic influence is only evident in extreme or violent behavior and gross sin. Most Christians suffering from demonic activity, (however), lead relatively normal lives while experiencing serious personal and interpersonal problems for which no cause or solution has been found. Since they relegate satanic involvement only to mass murderers or violent sex criminals, these ordinary problem-plagued individuals wonder what's wrong with them and why they can't just "do better."

But freedom from spiritual bondage is the NOT usually the result of a power encounter with demonic forces. Freedom from spiritual conflicts and bondage is not a power encounter; it's a truth encounter. Satan is a deceiver, and he will work undercover at all costs. But the truth of God's Word exposes him and his lie. His demons are like cockroaches that scurry for the shadows when the light comes on. Satan's power is in the lie, and when his lie is exposed by the truth, his plans are foiled.

And in this dramatic beating that the seven sons of Sceva take, they show that they are the messengers and the victims of Satan and that Paul is filled with the power of God. And the result is that the name of God is praised!

APP

So may I ask you: do you

TRANS

And spiritual warfare is won when God’s people are empowered and revelation exposes truth, but last of all, spiritual warfare is won when

D3

Spiritual resistance is overcome when believers reject compromise.

EXP

Now this passage takes a turn that you may miss if you don’t read carefully. Look at v 18:

Acts 19:18–20 NKJV

And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

So let me ask you. When you read this passage, who does it say repented? “Well,” you say, “it was the unbelievers who were caught up in witchcraft.” Well, I do think that there were some unbelievers who had been practiced magic, yes, but they were not the first to repent. Look carefully at v 18. It says that many WHO HAD BELIEVED, came confessing and telling their deeds. The tense of that verb is no accident. These people who came and confessed HAD ALREADY BEEN BELIEVERS. Why would followers of Christ have needed to repent?

Well, I believe that the followers of Christ in Ephesus may have been trying to hang on to the vestiges of their old life. They kept the amulets around just in case they got sick and their prayer didn’t work. They continued to dabble in the spells that they had been used to. Since they lived in a syncretistic society that accepted all religions as valid, this would have been their normal practice. But the powerful display of God’s power in Paul and the impotence of the other soothsayers to do anything brought them to a powerful repentance.

Repentance means confessing.

And what did that repentance look like? Well, the Bible says that they came confessing. I love that because I know what that word “confess” means. In the Bible, the word “confess” literally means “to agree with.” Before these “believers” had possessed a double mind. Maybe they thought it was perfectly fine to worship Jesus AND, but, when God so obviously changed the people, they realized that it was dangerous to try to hold onto their witchcraft and God at the same time. So they AGREED WITH GOD about what they had been doing. And they also agreed with God about what they now needed to do. There was confession and then there was

Repentance means forsaking.

Forsaking. V18 says that they came confessing and TELLING THEIR DEEDS. It was especially important that these people “tell their deeds.” The power of the words carved onto their amulets depended on secrecy to be effective. The only way your good luck charm would protect you was if you kept its words secret. If the words were revealed the good luck was broken. When these people came “telling their deeds” they were actually revealing the secrets of their spells and robbing them of any future help. They forsook their sin.

Repentance means repudiating.

And they went even further. Not only did they confess and forsake, they also repudiated any faith that they had put in anything or anyone else other than Christ. Joining them in this repudiation may have been some people who confessed their newfound faith in Christ. V19 says. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.

These folks had an old fashioned book burning. Now I know that burning books in our culture has a bad connotation. It reminds us of the grainy black and white movies we’ve watched on the history channel. You know—the ones of a satanic Hitler smiling as people throw their books onto a huge bonfire. They burned any book that told the truth about Hitler and his henchman. Now that was IN REVERSE. Hitler was, himself, demonically inspired. The books of the Ephesians were also demonically inspired, filled with spells and instructions in the practice of witchcraft. No one in Ephesus, especially these people over which this had exercised power for so long, needed to have these around. The burning of these books displayed their absolute repudiation of witchcraft and demonic influence in their lives.

And what was the result? Well, awe for God becomes awe for His Word.

Acts 19:20 NKJV

So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Having turned from their magic books, these people turn to the miraculous book and see the power of God released.

Listen! This teaches us something as believers. A follower of God cannot fully embrace the Word of God until they let go of the lies. Believers who become all in disciples have to let go of the philosophy—the lies—of this world.

ILL

And I tell you that this is an issue in the Church today. The world’s philosophy has invaded the church. George Barna, the sociological researcher for the church found that 61% of those who claim to be christian embrace ideas such as “God helps those who help themselves.” 23% of Christians would deny absolute right or wrong and simply say that what is right is whatever you believe to be right. 20% of Christians agree that meaning and purpose come from working hard and trying to earn as much money as you can. 2 out of 10!

APP

We may not have books on witchcraft sitting on our shelves, but we have gorged ourselves on the mental garbage of this world. Maybe what we need is an old-fashioned book burning! We need to rummage through the book shelves of our minds and our hearts and find those ideas that contradict the word of God. Then we need to pull those ideas from our minds and toss them in a heap and allow God’s Spirit to strike a match to them! What are some of these ideas I am talking about?

Well, what about this one: “My money belongs to me, so I get to control what gets done with it,” But Jesus says, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

What about this one: “I come to church every week and that’s about all God can expect from me.” But Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Here’s another one: “I don’t have the time to be “all in” with God.” But Jesus told the story of the man who had so much going on because he had so much wealth that he was going to build new barns and take it easy. He told him: 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

Here’s another one: “I can fill my head and my heart with any kind of illicit or suggestive material without being affected by it, but Paul told the Philippians, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

One more: Some say, “I can live this Christian life on my own without much input from other believers and I’ll be just fine. Me and Jesus got our own thing going.” But says: 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, (and then) you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

So what ideas do you have that the contradict the word of God. What philosophy of this world is compromising your walk with Christ. Any crack of compromise that you leave in the door of your obedience will be exploited by your enemy. You will keep inhaling the Sarin of Satin until you are willing to repudiate compromise.

And it is so important that you and I be ready for the spiritual warfare we face. Yes, we are in a mortal battle for our souls. The threats are real, but I have to tell you, the opportunities for amazing victories are real too. You just have to decide this question: Will I pay the price for victory or will I be defeated?

VIS

Pic - John Patton

John Patton was a missionary to the South Sea Islands. In that ministry, he experienced great dangers. He said of that experience that “Without the abiding consciousness of the presence and power of my Lord and Savior,” he wrote, “nothing in the world could have preserved me from losing my reason and perishing miserably. His words Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end became to me so real that it would not have startled me to behold Him, as Stephen did, gazing down upon the scene. It is the sober truth that I had my nearest and most intimate glimpses of the presence of my Lord in those dread moments when musket, club, or spear was being leveled at my life.

At one time three witch doctors, claiming to have the power to cause death, publicly declared their intentions to kill Paton with their sorcery before the next Sunday. To carry out their threat, they said they needed some food he had partially eaten. Paton asked for three plums. He took a bite out of each and then gave them to the men who were plotting his death.

On Sunday, the missionary entered the village with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. The people looked at each other in amazement, thinking it couldn’t possibly be Paton. Their “sacred men” admitted that they had tried by all their incantations to kill him. When asked why they had failed, they replied that the missionary was a sacred man like themselves, but that his God was stronger than theirs!