1996 SINGLE SERMONS
AFFLICTION, TEMPTATION, AND DECEPTION
DR. JIM DIXON
JANUARY 28, 1996
1 PETER 5:5-11
More than 1,950 years ago, in the town of Caesarea Philippi, near the headwaters of the Jordan River, Jesus Christ posed a question. “Who do you say that I am?” It was Simon Peter who answered. “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven. And I say to you, you are Peter, Petros, a stone, and upon this petra, upon this rock, I will build My church, and the powers of hell shall not prevail against it.”
And so today, here we are, gathered in this place, a small segment of the church of Christ universal, a church which globally and nominally contains more than 1.7 billion people. God would have us to understand today that the number of those who truly believe is known only in Heaven. God would have us also to understand today that our enemy remains the Prince of Darkness. God would have us to understand that our enemy wields great power. He commands demonic forces. He is yet, the Bible tells us, the ruler of this world. The Bible prophesies that in the last days, as we come to the consummation of this age of the world, evil will be multiplied on the Earth. The Bible prophesies that darkness will grow, and that darkness cannot be extinguished except by the return of Jesus Christ in power and glory. The mission of the church of Jesus Christ at this time and at all times is to stand against the powers of hell and to understand the purposes of the enemy and the strategy of Satan.
Now, the purpose of Satan—the purpose of the devil in this age of the world—is to destroy faith. His supreme purpose is the eradication of faith on this Earth. Jesus Christ said, “When the Son of Man returns, will there be faith on the Earth?” If Satan had his way, certainly the answer would be no; but Satan will not have his way because “the powers of hell shall not prevail.”
Now, in this effort to destroy faith, Satan has three strategies. His first strategy is affliction. Satan has been given powers of affliction. Through affliction, he seeks to destroy the faith of men and women the world over. He seeks to destroy the faith of children and adults. Male, female, black, yellow, red, and white; it doesn’t matter. He wants to destroy the faith of all people. He uses affliction.
One of the words in the Bible for affliction is kakopatheo. This word literally means “to suffer evil.” Why do you suffer evil in your life? Sometimes it might be because of your own mistakes. It might be because of your own sin. It might be because of your own fallenness. Other times we suffer evil simply because we live in a fallen world and evil seems to happen at random. But, you see, there are other times when we actually suffer evil because of the evil one. He has powers, the Bible tells us, to afflict people with disease, with tribulation, and with tragedy.
He afflicted Job long ago, as told in holy scripture. He afflicted Job’s body with disease. He afflicted Job’s family, and he attacked Job’s children. He afflicted Job’s finances, and all of this had one purpose: that Job’s faith might be destroyed.
Well, Satan still afflicts today. Peter DeVries has written a book called The Blood of the Lamb. In that book, Peter DeVries describes the tragic death of his daughter, his little girl who died of leukemia. Peter DeVries loved his little girl. He loved her so much and it was so hard for him to see his daughter die inch by inch. It was so hard to see her slip away. He would go every single day to the hospital room where his daughter was. He would go into that room, and he would hold his daughter’s hand. He would hold her hand until she fell asleep. When she fell asleep, he would begin to just tear up, his eyes filling with tears, and he would pray. He would cry out for God to rescue his little girl.
One day Peter DeVries went into that hospital room to see his little girl and he heard her laughing. As he entered the room, he saw that she was watching an old Laurel and Hardy rerun. He said, “Well, what’s so funny?” She said, “Well, the thin guy just threw a pie in the face of the big guy. At first I was kind of afraid because I thought the big guy would get angry and retaliate, but he just stood there and let the pie drip down his face.” She said, “I thought about that, and it seems to me that that would be hard to get hit in the face and not retaliate. He must be a big man in more ways than one.” Well, Peter DeVries smiled. He loved his daughter’s innocence. He loved her basic goodness.
It was only a few days later that Peter DeVries was visiting the hospital and he had a cake because it was his daughter’s birthday. He went up that elevator to the floor that his daughter’s room was on. He was so excited. He wanted to give that birthday cake to his little girl. As he got out of the elevator and entered the corridor and headed towards his daughter’s room, ahead of him was the chapel. He’d oftentimes gone into the chapel. There was a table there, a few chairs, and a large picture of Jesus Christ. He’d gone in there to pray.
As he was carrying the cake down the corridor and heading towards the chapel, a nurse came out of the chapel. As soon as the nurse saw him, her countenance fell. Peter said to her, “What’s up?” She was silent for a while and then she said, “You really haven’t heard yet, have you? They’ve been trying desperately to reach you. Your daughter just took a very sudden turn for the worse.”
Before she could finish, Peter gave her the cake and ran to his daughter’s room. There he saw that his daughter was dead. He sat by his little girl’s bedside. He sat in a chair there and he held his daughter’s hand in death as he had held her hand in life. He just cried. He just wept for hours through that afternoon as he sat by her lifeless body.
People came into the room, in and out. Some people tried to speak words of comfort, but there were no words, not in this world. Most people were just silent. Then evening came. The darkness came and Peter left the room. He began to wander down the corridor again. As he began to walk by the chapel, he looked down and saw the birthday cake sitting on a table in the chapel. He could see his little daughter’s name written in pink icing on top of the cake. He walked into the chapel, and he looked down at the cake. He just began to well up with tears again. He began to cry, and then suddenly he picked up the cake and, in a moment of spontaneous, impulsive rage, he took the cake and flung it at the picture of Christ. The cake hit Jesus right in the face. Then the cake began to just slide down the face of Christ.
Suddenly, Peter realized what he had done in his anger and in his grief and he thought, “What have I done and how can God forgive me?” Then as he looked at the face of Christ, it seemed to him as though he saw tears on the face of Christ even in the midst of the cake. It seemed as though he could see the compassion of Christ on the face of Christ. He suddenly was aware of how much Christ loved him and how Christ felt his pain.
It was only later, he said, that he thought back to what his daughter had said as she had watched the Laurel and Hardy reruns and how she had said that that man who had been hit in the face and didn’t retaliate must have been a big man in more ways than one. Peter DeVries has concluded that there’s no doubt Jesus Christ is a big man. He’s a big man and He understands our pain. When we get angry, He does not retaliate. He understands our pain and He does have compassion, but He doesn’t want affliction to take away our faith. He doesn’t want affliction to destroy your faith.
You see, the Bible tells us that Jesus was standing outside the tomb of Lazarus. The Bible says Jesus wept. He wept as He stood outside the tomb of His friend. The Bible says He was deeply troubled within. The Greek word is embrimaomai. This word is sometimes rendered “groaned,” but that’s inadequate because embrimaomai carries the connotation of anger, the connotation of indignation and rage.
You see, Jesus Christ hates death. He hates death. For this He was born and for this He came into the world, that He might destroy the works of the devil. The Bible says, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same nature, that by His death He might destroy him who has the power of death (that is, the devil) and deliver those who, through fear of death, are subject to lifelong bondage.” To Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live. And he who lives and believes in Me will never truly die.” This promise is given to all who have faith, that one day He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more. Neither will there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore.”
I don’t know what your affliction is. I don’t know what you’re going through today. I don’t know whether you’re going through financial affliction and you’re not able to pay your bills. I don’t know whether you’re going through some kind of relational pain and maybe somebody you love has rejected you and you are wounded to the very core of your worth. Maybe you’re going through physical pain or maybe you’ve been told you have a horrible disease and you’re afraid. Maybe somebody you love has a horrible disease and you’re afraid of losing them. In the midst of this affliction, Christ comes to us and He tells us that He cares and that He loves us. He encourages us not to lose faith. Don’t lose faith.
In this world, there is tragedy. But a new world is coming. The Bible tells us to contend for the faith. The Bible tells us that at the end of our lives we need to be able to say with the Apostle Paul, “I fought the good fight. I kept the faith. I finished the race.”
I don’t know why we sometimes have affliction. I mean, I think sometimes it’s because of our own mistakes and because of our own sin. I think other times it’s because we live in a fallen world and bad things happen in a fallen world. I know other times it is because of Satan, who is seeking to destroy our faith. I know that Jesus Christ has all power, but I know that He doesn’t always intervene in the way we would like Him to. But He wants us to keep the faith. Certainly, in this life our faith is tested. Your faith is tested and the Evil One, the devil, wants to destroy your faith. Affliction is simply one of his strategies.
There is a second strategy, and that strategy is temptation. Satan seeks to destroy our faith through temptation. In the Bible the devil is called the tempter. Of course, this was his role in Eden long ago and it is still his role today as he comes to us with temptation and enticement to sin. The Bible says in our passage of scripture for today, “Beware, your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing the same experience of suffering is required of your brothers and sisters the world over.”
Some Bible scholars believe that this passage is referring to the suffering of affliction. Some believe that it’s referring to the suffering of temptation and the suffering that’s involved in resisting temptation. It doesn’t matter. The devil is both the afflicter and the tempter. Through both of these strategies, he is seeking to destroy our faith.
A few weeks ago, I was watching on the Discovery Channel some kind of an animal program. I think it was called Predators and Prey. It was describing how the African antelope is so often the prey of the big cats of Africa, particularly lions and leopards. They pointed out that the antelopes actually have greater speed than the lions and the leopards do. I mean, the lion and the leopard cannot run faster than 35 miles per hour, but the antelopes can run easily at 50 miles per hour, and some antelopes like the gazelle can run far faster. So how is it that the antelopes are so often prey to the big cats?
Well, you see, the big cats are subtle. They are crafty. They stalk their victims. They crouch low. They move slowly forward, inch by inch, through the tall grass. When they’re very close, only then do they pounce. The leopard is actually so crafty that when it is close and when it has stalked its victim, it actually begins to carefully wiggle the grass. Hiding low in the grass, it wiggles the stalks of grass so the antelope looks and sees the moving grass and is curious and is lured and enticed. The antelope actually come towards the lion or leopard. Of course, they are devoured.
The Bible tells us that Satan is a kind of big cat, and he wants to devour you. He wants to devour me. He wants to devour our faith and he would use temptation for this purpose. The Bible warns us not to flirt with temptation. The Bible warns us not to fool around with sin. Do not fool around with the devil. The Bible says, in Ephesians chapter 4, “Give no opportunity to the devil.”
To understand this, we need to understand what the Bible means by faith. You see, biblically, we might say there are two types of faith. One type of faith is the faith of intellectual assent. This is the faith that believes that Jesus Christ is who He says He is. He is the Son of God. This faith intellectually assents to the validity of that statement, “Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” But, you see, this faith, this intellectual assent, cannot save us. It’s not enough. In fact, the Bible tells us that even the devils have this kind of faith. The Bible says even the demons believe and tremble.
Satan knows that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He knows that Jesus Christ came into this world. He knows that He was born of a virgin. He knows that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life. It makes Satan sick. He knows that Jesus Christ went to Calvary’s cross. He knows that Jesus Christ died an atoning death. He knows that Jesus Christ rose in glory. He knows that death could not hold Him. He knows that Jesus Christ has gone into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father, and he knows that Jesus Christ is coming again.
He believes all these things, and he trembles. But, you see, that is not saving faith because there’s another kind of faith. The other kind of faith, the Bible tells us, is the faith of surrender to Jesus Christ. It is the faith of commitment to the lordship of Christ. You believe He is the Son of God? Then surrender. You believe He is the Son of God? Then commit your life to Him. That’s saving faith. So you see, saving faith inevitably produces the fruit of obedience. It produces the fruit of obedience, but temptation is an enticement to sin and sin is disobedience. Sin is disobedience, and so when we fall into patterns of sin and when we give in to Satan, our faith—in the sense of surrender and in the sense of obedience—is actually diminished. Our surrender is lessened, and our true faith is threatened. This is serious business.
If you’re struggling with sin, any kind of sin pattern that is dominant or compulsive in your life, the admonition of scripture is clear. First of all, the Bible says, “Resist the devil.” Resist. This is hard work, isn’t it? Resist the devil. The Bible doesn’t say “Defeat the devil.” Nowhere does the Bible say that. You cannot defeat the devil. You’re not commanded to defeat the devil. Only Christ can do that. You are commanded to resist the devil. If you will enter into the struggle, you’ll begin to see the power of the Holy Spirit. If you’re in the midst of resisting and still failing, you need to seek the impartation of the greater power of the Holy Spirit in your life. You need to ask God for more of His Holy Spirit’s power and the release of that power in your life. You also need to be gutsy enough to confess your sin to a few friends who will pray for you, intercede for you, and hold you accountable, because sin is serious business, and it destroys real faith.
Satan’s second strategy is temptation and then his third and final strategy is deception. He uses affliction, temptation, and then, finally, deception. I honestly believe that in this time in which we live, in this time in which we find ourselves, this is Satan’s greatest effort. For this purpose, he is unleashing his demonic forces: that he might deceive the nations, that he might deceive you, that he might deceive people. This is his greatest purpose today: deception.
Jesus Christ said that Satan was the father of lies and has been a liar from the beginning. In Revelation, chapter 12, Satan is given the title “the deceiver.” The Bible makes it clear that as we approach the end time there will be an outpouring of demonic deception upon the Earth. Satan will raise up this individual called the Antichrist. The Bible says that he will seek to deceive the nations. In fact, in the little letter of 2 John, both the devil and the Antichrist are given the title “the deceiver.” In the book of 2 Thessalonians, in the second chapter, we’re told that the coming of the Antichrist, by the inworking of Satan, will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish because they refuse to believe the truth and so be saved.
We are told that the Antichrist, by the inworking of Satan, will actually seek to lead people away from the truth. In fact, in the book of Daniel, it is prophesied that the Antichrist will seek to change the laws of God and to establish new morality. Deception. Of course, it is happening today.
In 1 Timothy, chapter 4, we have this statement: “The Spirit expressly says that in the last days some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” Isn’t that an astounding statement? “Some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”
The Bible tells us that demons have powers, and not simply to possess people. That’s relatively rare. Demons have powers to influence thought, to influence ethics and morality, and to influence philosophy. Now, you know, I recognize the fact that this is a hard teaching. I recognize that for some of you this just doesn’t seem enlightened. I recognize the fact that my proclamation at this point might not be entirely palatable. But, you see, my responsibility as a pastor is simply to preach the Word of God. I have an audience of one and that’s true of you too. As a Christian, you have an audience of one, one person to please, and that person is God. If you believe in God, you already believe in the supernatural. If you believe in God, you already believe in the supernatural and God wants you to understand what’s going on in the supernatural realm.
The Bible says, “We do not battle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies.” Spiritual warfare is going on and Satan has demonic forces and Satan is seeking, I tell you, to seize citadels of power in our culture and in our nation (and indeed, in all nations). He seeks to seize citadels of power and through those citadels of power to influence the masses. He is brilliant, and one such citadel of power in our culture is the media. Satan is seeking to seize the citadel of power called the media. Of course, part of the media includes the television industry and the movie industry. These industries are attacking Judeo-Christian values and instilling new moralities in our culture and in our society and in our nation.
Part of the media, of course, is the radio industry and the newspaper industry and magazines. I have here a copy of Time Magazine. This was from last month, December 18. The cover story concerns the Bible: “Is the Bible Fact or Fiction?” Well, I’ve read the article and their answer is the Bible is both. The Bible is fact, and the Bible is fiction. The summary impression as you read the article is you can’t trust the Bible. And in this article, there is a box section in black (and I know you can’t obviously read it from where you sit) and in this box section it says, “Tales from the Bible that are in doubt,” and it specifically stresses four persons or episodes: Abraham, the Exodus, Joshua and the Battle of Jericho, and Moses. It says none of these things ever happened. None of these people ever existed. It says with regard to Abraham, “All but the most conservative experts are convinced that Abraham and the rest of the patriarchs were inventions of the Bible’s authors.” Then it says with regard to Moses, “Charlton Heston notwithstanding, many scholars contend that Moses was a legendary hero created by the Hebrews to instill a feeling of national identity and solidarity.” Incredible pronouncements. Moses didn’t exist! Abraham didn’t exist! There was no exodus and Joshua never fought the Battle of Jericho.
How can they make these statements? Do they have evidence? Do they have facts that prove these things didn’t happen? No! In fact, that’s just the point. Their argument is based on the absence of facts. Do you understand? They’re saying, “The reason we know these people never existed is there’s no archeological evidence for their existence.” It’s an argument based on silence and an argument based on silence is almost always weak.
You know, the truth of the matter is that archeological evidence is scarce as you move back in time, scarcer still as you move further back in time. Archeological evidence is hard to find of many historical events and many historical individuals. In fact, before 1993, there was no archeological evidence that David, King of Israel, ever existed. But then suddenly, in 1993, archeologists found an inscription in stone which spoke of the House of David who was King of Israel and they dated it to the 9th century. Then, in 1994, archeologists found another inscription in stone also referring to the House of David and the fact that he had been King of Israel, and then suddenly the secular world says there was a King David!
Don’t you understand if this Time Magazine issue had been published prior to 1993 they would have had David right there with Abraham and Moses as somebody who never existed? It’s simply an argument based on silence, and it is bogus and it is sloppy journalism. I promise you that a few decades ago it never would have happened. This is not simply something that we can reduce to human factors. There is something spiritual going on here, something demonic. It is deception. I promise you Satan is seeking to seize citadels of power, and one of those citadels is the media. It doesn’t mean there aren’t good people in the media. There are good people in the media, but Satan is moving, and he is strong.
Another citadel of power that Satan is seeking to seize is academia—the world of education, both public and private, both graduate and undergraduate. From elementary school to institutions of higher learning, Satan is at work.
You know, this past week I received a phone call from our daughter Heather. She was just looking for a little encouragement. It’s hard for Heather with her Christian faith to live in an environment that is sometimes very hostile towards the Christian faith. She goes to Colorado State University. She’s a very serious student. She’s an “A” student. She takes her classes seriously and she listens to what her professors say.
I want to say something. You know, the last time I said something about Colorado State University, it was during the summertime and two Colorado State University professors happened to be in the audience. They happened to agree with me (which I guess is beside the point), but I really can’t help but be concerned and more than a little bit vexed. Heather has started a new semester of classes. She has new teachers. Two of her teachers in these new classes have made almost identical statements at the beginning of this semester and at the beginning of these courses. They have said to the students, “I want you to know that many of your beliefs, many of your ethical and moral values, will be challenged in this course and hopefully overturned, because each of you have been indoctrinated by a peculiar subculture.”
What an amazing statement. What a hypocritical statement. I mean, where will you find a more peculiar subculture than academia? The truth of the matter is…I mean, is it not true that oftentimes teachers seek to indoctrinate? These teachers went on, particularly one teacher, to advocate alternative sexual lifestyles and also to mock scripture.
I’ve really got to say, as Heather began to describe these things, it was frustrating for me. I mean, it’s frustrating to know that as Christian parents (I mean, forget that I’m a pastor) seeking to rear your children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord that you send them away to tax-funded colleges and universities where everything you believe is holy is being assaulted. I mean, there’s a sense in which we, through our tax dollars, are paying those teachers’ salaries. And it is frustrating.
I will say this. There are many good teachers in public education. In my view, they’re not paid enough and they’re not appreciated enough. I will also say there are many good teachers in secular colleges and universities. Some of them are Christians. You, maybe, are teaching in the public schools or in institutions of higher learning, and praise God you’re there. We need more Christians in the public schools, and we need more Christians in institutions of higher learning. We need more Christian students, but I will say this. I will say that if ever Christian education was needed, it’s today. It’s not that I want to weaken secular education, but if ever Christian education was needed, it’s today. If ever we needed strong Christian elementary schools… if ever we needed strong Christian middle schools… if ever we needed strong Christian high schools and strong Christian colleges and universities, it’s today. The people of Jesus Christ just aren’t committed enough.
I met this last week with the president of Colorado Christian University. He’s a good man and they’re seeking to do good things. I know that what he tells me is what many Christian college presidents feel. They have a hard time just finding two nickels to put together. We took Drew (Barb and I) back to Princeton because he’s interested in going there. When we were at Princeton, we found that they had a $4.7 billion endowment. Many times, their professors attack Christianity and scripture. Sometimes it seems like Satan has all the dough. I mean, it really does. And if ever the community of Christ needed to re-examine its commitment, it’s today. I mean, we are at war. We are at war, and we need to stand against the very powers of hell. We need to be sold out, body, soul, and spirit. We need to make the local church strong. We need to make parachurch ministries strong. We need to support Christian education, both in the church and in the parachurch and it’s going to take commitment. It’s going to take prayer. It’s going to take people who have the full armor of God.
You know, Jesus held little children in His arms, and He said that their angels constantly behold the presence of His Father who is in Heaven. He held little children in His arms, and He said, “Woe unto those who would cause any of these little ones to stumble.” Woe unto them. There is one who would gladly cause them to stumble, and his name is Satan. He would gladly cause them to stumble, and we are at war with him in this culture, in this nation. So, here’s a call to greater commitment. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.