Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Apollyon taunted Christian with the threat, ‘Here will I spill thy soul.’

‘And with that,’ Bunyan continues, ‘he threw a flaming dart at his breast; but Christian had a shield in his hand, with which be caught it, and so prevented the danger of that.’

[TS] If we work backwards through this verse, we see first that (1) there is an evil one and (2) he shoots flaming arrows at us, but (3) we Christians can extinguish those arrows by taking up the shield of faith.

Let’s talk first about the evil one.

Major Ideas

#1: We must beware the evil one.

[EXP] John Owen wrote that God “created for himself two distinct, rational families, dependent on him, under a moral law, obedience to which would bring glory to him.

“The earth he created for man, which suited human nature in every way, in the purpose of his creation which was to give glory to God.

“Heaven he created for angels, which was suited for them, for the preservation of their existence, and the purpose for which they were created which was also to glorify God.

“The order of thing was ‘exceedingly good’.

Both angels and men lived in dependence on God.

He was the head of both families.

Nothing was communicated to them except what they received directly from God himself.

And this union and fellowship among themselves lay in this alone, that they all obeyed God.

“(But) this union between the two families of God was disturbed and dissolved by sin.

Part of the heavenly family and the entire earthly family ceased to be dependent on God…”

John Owen is talking about the angelic rebellion against God and the human rebellion against God, but both rebellions were schemed by the same individual—the devil.

Someone once said to me, “I believe what the Bible says, but I think the stuff about the devil is made up,” but the evil one as he is called here in Ephesians 6:16, (i.e., the devil or Satan) is a real, personal being who opposes God and God’s way.

He is, however, not equal to God, and he doesn’t threaten God’s power.

In Scripture he is referred to as the ruler of demons, the enemy, the father of lies, the murderer, the ruler of this world, the god of this age, the prince of the powers of the air, the ruler of the darkness of this age.

He is chief of the fallen angels having pridefully orchestrated that angelic rebellion against God desiring to set himself up as a god.

He is the tempter of fallen man having deceitfully orchestrated that human rebellion against God desiring to bring down man who was made in the image of God.

We all once walked Satan’s rebellious way, but God has taken us from “the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Jesus), in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins,” (Col.

1:13-14).

But being transferred by grace to the kingdom of Jesus doesn’t mean that this evil one, Satan, will just give up his wicked attacks.

The Apostle Peter warns us to “be of sober spirit, be on the alert.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour,” (1 Pet.

5:8).

The Apostle Paul warns that we must “put on the full armor of God, so that (we) can stand firm against the schemes of the devil,” (Eph.

6:11).

[ILLUS] I once had a job reading power meters, which means I spent half my time reading power meters and the other half fending off dogs.

At one particular house, I parked in front, got out of the truck, and went around back to read the power meter.

But when I rounded the corner of the house, I was met by a big white short-haired dog who was mostly blind and more than a little upset at my presence.

I started back peddling as the dog barked and growled and started to come my way, but then the dog’s chain caught and suddenly he could advance no further.

Puritan preacher, Cotton Mather, said, “God indeed has the devil on a chain, but has horribly lengthened out the chain.”

He also said that the only people who doubt the existence of the devil are those who are under the influence of the devil.

[APP] The devil is real.

He does exist.

He is defeated, but he is not yet fully and finally cast into the abyss.

His power is limited, but he is not powerless.

He accuses.

He tempts.

He prowls.

He devours.

He hunts you.

If you don’t believe this, you will not take up the shield of faith.

If you don’t believe this, you will not put on any of the armor of God.

[TS] The devil takes aim at you.

Let’s notice his arrows…

#2: We must beware the flaming arrows of the evil one.

[EXP] In Roman warfare, flaming arrows were sent downrange to do pierce and set aflame their targets.

The unlit arrow did its damage in only one place, but the flaming arrow spread its damage all around.

The devil intends to spread the damage all around when he takes aim.

Think back to the first flaming arrow that Satan ever fired at humanity and just how far the damage spread.

Turn with me to Genesis 3.

[ILLUS] In Genesis 3, the devil comes to Eve and takes aim, asking, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?’”

(Gen.

3:1).

Eve responds by saying that she and Adam can eat from any tree in the garden except the tree that is in the middle of the garden.

God said, “You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die,” (Gen.

3:3).

But then Satan let his flaming arrow fly…

And did the devil’s arrow find its mark?

It certainly did.

And the damage from that flaming arrow spread quickly.

Suddenly there was enmity between God and man, enmity between man and creation, and enmity between man and woman.

What did Satan’s arrow burn with that made it so destructive?

It burned with doubt in the goodness of God.

After his initial question, Satan caused Eve to doubt God by telling her that God is liar.

God said they would die if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but Satan told Eve that was a lie.

In fact, Satan told her that God was keeping something from her: Eve could decide right and wrong for herself if she ate from the forbidden tree.

That’s what Satan meant when he told her that she would be like God, knowing good and evil.

She would be able to decide for herself right and wrong.

But in deciding to believe the devil and doubt God, Eve decided wrongly.

And the damage that resulted proved God true and the devil a liar.

[APP] Turn back with me to Ephesians 6:16 and understand this: the devil takes careful aim with his flaming arrows.

He is deliberate in his shot selection, so where might he aim in your life?

Working backwards from the armor of God, which begins in Ephesians 6:10, we find a list of targets.

He aims at our work.

Whether we are employer or employee, we represent Christ, but when we don’t work in a way that represents Christ well, we dishonor the name of Christ.

This is what Satan means for us to do as he takes aim at our work.

He aims at our families.

Whether we are parents or children, we honor or dishonor Christ in how we treat one another.

If parents don’t raise their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, they dishonor Christ.

If children don’t honor their father and mother, they dishonor Christ.

This is what Satan means for us to do as he takes aim at our families.

He aims at our marriages.

Whether we are husbands or wives, we honor or dishonor Christ in how we treat our spouses.

If wives do not respectfully submit to their husbands, they dishonor Christ.

If husbands do not sacrificially love their wives, they dishonor Christ.

This is what Satan means for us to do as he take aim at our families.

He aims at our walk with Christ.

He aims to make us discontent and unthankful.

He aims for the song in our hearts to be about anyone or anything else other than the Lord.

He aims for our minds to be confused or unconcerned about what the will of the Lord is.

He aims for us to waste our time, time that could be invested to glorify of God.

He aims to make us imitators of the world rather than imitators of God.

He aims to make us grieve the Holy Spirit by making us bitter, angry, loud, and slanderous.

He aims to make us into sluggards or thieves instead of hard workers.

He aims at our church too.

He aims to confuse the parts of the church, twist the truth of the church, and make the whole church unstable.

In Ephesians 4:16, Paul uses the analogy of the body to refer to the churches many parts all working together under the direction of God so that it grows and builds itself up in love.

There are lots of parts to that body, but as Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11, some of those parts are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

The Apostles and Prophets passed away with the early church.