Christmas Put the Devil Out of Business
Christmas Put
the Devil Out of Business!
1 John 3:7-9
Christmas put the Devil out of business!
Are you kidding? Sometimes it seems like Christmas put the Devil in business.
· Greater depression in this season than in any other.
· Increase in the number of suicides.
· Rampant greed.
· Family disputes run high this season.
A couple of years ago, Christmas brought several instances of pieces on earth and bad will toward men.
· In San Rafael, California, two men exchanged gifts and were offended by what the other gave. In the resulting fight, each man hit the other over the head with a flowerpot. Both were hospitalized.
· Twenty-year-old Brandi Nicole Nason was also less than pleased with the gift she received. When her former mother-in-law's house burned, Nason was accused of throwing the Molotov cocktail that started the $200,000 blaze.
· Although most people don't know what to do with their tree once the celebration is over, a woman in Victoria, British Columbia, had an idea. She was arrested for beating a man with her Christmas tree. The incident was sparked when the man grumbled that the load of gifts in his arms was heavier than the tree she was carrying.
· When her Jensen Beach, Florida, apartment complex held a Christmas-lights competition, Donna Simmons-Groover was a winner…briefly. One of her neighbors, incensed at losing the contest, ripped down part of Donna's winning display.[1]
Seems like the Devil has as strong a foothold this time of year as at any.
Perhaps the reason the Devil tries to wreak so much havoc at Christmas time …
Perhaps the reason his minions are fighting everything from mangers scenes on public property to Christmas carols in schools to the current campaign to replace “Merry Christmas” to something more generic. [Some stores may eventually even stop saying, “Happy Holidays.” Their official greeting instead will be, “Isn’t it cold outside?”]
Maybe the reason the Devil fights so hard at Christmas is because Christmas sealed his defeat forever.
That’s what the Bible says.
[Read 1 John 3:7-9]
I want to focus on verse 8.
“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil.”
Jesus Christ came to earth at Christmas to put the “out of business” sign on Satan’s sin shop.
Notice with me three things tonight:
The Dominion of the Devil
The Deeds of the Devil
The Defeat of the Devil
1. The Dominion of the Devil
1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil …
Notice that phrase “of the devil.”
It means to belong to the devil.
The Bible speaks further about what it means to belong to the Devil in 1 John 3:10:
1 John 3:10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
Jesus said that to commit sin is to be enslaved by sin:
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”
Jesus also said that commit sin is to bear a family relationship with the Devil:
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.
Here’s the Devil’s dominion: He is ruling and reigning in the heart of everyone who “does not practice righteousness.”
Notice the language of v. 8 again.
“He who sins is of the Devil”
Does that mean that if you sin one time you belong to Satan?
No. The idea is continual sin. A life of sin. A heart contaminated by sin.
Practicing sin.
Compare with verse 7: “he who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He [Jesus] is righteous.”
Same word is used in v. 8 to describe sin:
“He who practices sin belongs to the Devil.”
A basketball player practices basketball.
A pianist practices the piano.
A lawyer practices law.
A doctor practices medicine.
A believer in Jesus Christ practices righteousness.
A non-believer practices sin.
Here’s a checkpoint for you: What are you practicing?
If you life is marked by sin, it matters not whether you’ve been baptized, whether your name is on a church roll, whether you call yourself a Christian – a life marked by continual sin the life dominated by the Devil, not by Christ.
2. The Deeds of the Devil
1 John 3:8 … for the devil has sinned from the beginning
From the beginning, the Devil has sinned – rebelled against God.
Do you believe in the Devil?
I heard about a young Christian lady who was dating a man. A good man. A kind man. But he was not as strong as his Christian beliefs as she was.
Her mother, who was somewhat overbearing, was anxious for her daughter to marry the young man – after all, he was a good catch.
The daughter said, “Mother, I’m not sure if I can marry John. He doesn’t believe there’s such a thing as the Devil.”
The mother said, “Oh, honey, don’t you worry about that. You marry him, and we’ll show him there’s a Devil!”
The Bible teaches the reality of a personal devil.
This enemy has many different names in Scripture:
Satan (adversary, enemy),
The devil (accuser),
Abaddon or Apollyon (destroyer)
The prince of this world
The dragon
Whatever name you call him, keep in mind that his chief activity is to oppose Christ and God’s people.
A. Deeds of Deception
That has been his strategy against mankind since the garden of Eden.
He wants to deceive you into thinking that God is against you and that sin is good for you.
Paul writes of his deception …
2 Corinthians 11:14 For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
2 Corinthians 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
Jesus said of the Devil deception:
John 8:44 When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
IL: A recent news article reported on a dangerous practical joke played by a nursery employee:
A British Columbia-based nursery discovered that a highly poisonous plant had been incorrectly labeled “tasty in soup."
The label should have read, "All parts of this plant are toxic," but an employee changed it to, "All parts of this plant are tasty in soup." 17 of the plants were sold to customers. When they discovered the terrible deception on the labels, the nursery managed to track down 8 of the plants. Nine were never found.
The devil has done the same to us. God put a warning label on sin that declared, "Do not eat from this for you shall surely die."
But our enemy switched labels. The label he attached to sin reads,
"Looks good. Tastes great. Is desirable to make one wise."[2]
B. Deeds of Destruction
John 8:44 He was a murderer from the beginning …
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Satan has all kinds of ways that he seeks to destroy us and devour us.
I read once that the Devil was having a yard sale, and all of his tools were marked with different prices.
They were a gruesome looking collection of tools.
There was hatred, jealously, deceit, lying, pride--all at expensive prices.
But over to the side of the yard on display was a tool more obviously worn than any of the other tools. It was also the most costly.
The tool was labeled, DISCOURAGEMENT.
When questioned, the Devil said, "It's more useful to me than any other tool. When I can't bring down my victims with any of the rest of these tools, I use discouragement, because so few people realize that it belongs to me."[3]
C. Deeds of Deification
Ultimately, Satan’s goal is to be worshiped as God.
That was his downfall from heaven.
Isaiah speaks of the “I will’s” of Satan:
Isaiah 14:13 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;
Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.
When the Devil tempted Jesus, Satan showed that his goal was for the Son of God to worship him:
Matthew 4:9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
You say, “Well, I would never worship Satan.”
He knows that.
But he’s content to simply keep you from worshiping God by focusing your attention on yourself, on your desires, on your own pleasure.
The dominion of the Devil
The deeds of the Devil
3. The Defeat of the Devil
1 John 3:8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
Here’s the main idea of this passage and this message:
“Jesus was manifested” – word manifested refers to the entirety of Jesus’ life and work:
· He appeared on the scene in Bethlehem,
· Lived a perfect life.
· Tempted in all points as we are yet without sin.
· Died in our place for our sins on the cross.
· Arose on the third day from the grave, victorious over sin and death.
Why? “that He might destroy the works of the Devil.”
“destroy” means to cut loose.
Does that mean that the Devil is now destroyed? No. He’s still prowling about. But the death blow has been dealt to him.
He is a defeated foe.
Destroy (1 John 3:8) does not mean “annihilate.” Satan is certainly still at work today! Destroy, here, means “to render inoperative, to rob of power.” Satan has not been annihilated, but his power has been reduced and his weapons have been impaired. He is still a mighty foe, but he is no match for the power of God.
And though he is dangerous and deadly and destructive, his defeat has already been accomplished and he is going down.
The task of Jesus was to undo whatever the devil had achieved, to frustrate whatever he tries to do.
Throughout the Bible, we see that his defeat is unavoidable and unstoppable:
A. His Defeat was Stated in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
God told the serpent: “You don’t have a leg to stand on.”
The seed of the woman – the first prophecy of Jesus. The virgin-born son of God.
Will bruise your head.
He bruised the Lord Jesus’ heel upon the cross. But that cross was the instrument by which Jesus crushed Satan’s head.
B. His Defeat was Started in the manger of Bethlehem.
Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
But even beyond that, Satan’s defeat started the moment he rebelled against God.
Isaiah 14:12 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!
Isaiah 14:15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
C. His Defeat was Sealed at the cross of Calvary.
What seemed like Satan’s greatest blow against God became his downfall.
Hebrews 2:14 He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.
D. His Defeat is Seen in the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
I remind you of the thrust of this message: Christmas – the coming of Christ to earth – put the Devil out of business.
CONC:
Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation, had a dream or rather, a nightmare.
He awakened in the middle of the night, and standing at the foot of his bed was a figure he believed to be the devil himself.
The devil had a scroll and on that scroll were the sins that Martin Luther had committed. The devil was reading them off one by one, all accurate in account, and pointing a fiery, bony finger in the face of Martin Luther.
The devil then proceeded to condemn and accuse Martin Luther saying, “What hope of heaven do you have as a miserable sinner?”
At that very moment Martin Luther felt his soul slipping closer to hell.
But then the Lord spoke to Martin Luther and said, “Martin, tell him to unroll the scroll all the way down.”
The devil violently refused, yet as Martin Luther proclaimed in the name of Jesus Christ that the devil unroll the scroll, the devil reluctantly proceeded.
At the bottom of the scroll, underneath the list of all the sins Martin Luther had ever committed, were the words stained into the scroll, “This entire sin account of Martin Luther has been paid in full by the blood of Jesus Christ.”
Jesus has put the devil out of business for all eternity.
And He can put him out of business in your life, as well.
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[1] Chuck Shepherd, NewsoftheWeird.com, San Francisco Chronicle, (12-27-03), Los Angeles Times (12-29-03), Victoria Colonist (12-24-2003)
[2] The Appeal-Democrat (4-30-01); submitted by Tom Tripp, Colusa, California
[3]John Yates, "An Attitude of Gratitude," Preaching Today, Tape No. 110.