The Lutheran Hour
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"The Devil’s Latest Snare"
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Text: Genesis 4:7
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PRAYER: O Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Today we pray for your protection-protection from the evil one. At the beginning of history, You said to Cain, “Evil is at your door and you must master it.” Without You, O Blessed Lord, we lose the battle with Satan. Therefore, we pray by Your gift of faith, bind us to the Crucifixion cross where Satan has been defeated. And through Your gift of faith, graft us also to the life-giving and devil-defeating power of Christ’s glorious resurrection. In His life-giving name, we pray. Amen.
At the beginning of the Bible, God spoke powerfully to Adam and Eve’s oldest son named Cain. These words of God were so powerful and crucial they echo today. These words are especially relevant for all people who desire to live free of evil and free of the fear of death.
God said to Cain, and He is saying it to all of us today, “. . . .sin is crouching at your door and its desire is for you and you must master it.”
These warning words of our Blessed Lord must surely come as a surprise to many of us. When you watch “sin-filled” television programs, do you think “sin is crouching at your door”? When you see advertisements for the lottery, maybe you don’t really consider the lottery as a “mask” of the devil. Maybe you don’t see Satan crouching behind lottery numbers. When we watch high-pressure television programs urging us to put our money into Wall Street and other high-risk investments, probably very few of us see the devil’s hand behind all of this. And when we’re constantly encouraged to use our credit cards and spend recklessly and then are drawn into financial bondage, this, too, is a mask of the devil.
This is exactly why you and I need to heed God’s “wake up” call! You see, just like Cain and also for us, the devil is always “crouching at our door.” It is the devil’s design to use whatever snare possible; television, lottery, Wall Street, credit cards, etc. Then like an evil spider, he pulls us into his snare and eventually destroys us eternally!
Repeatedly throughout the Scriptures, God has given additional warnings to His children. For example in Proverbs we read, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent” (Proverbs 1:10). “Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not proceed in the way of evil men” (Proverbs 4:14). In the book of Ephesians, chapter 4, St. Paul says, “Be angry and yet do not sin.” “Do not give the devil,” the Apostle says, “an opportunity” (Ephesians 4:27). Again, the Apostle writes in the book of Ephesians, “Put on the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).
In the book of James we read, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The Apostle Peter says, “Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a lion seeking someone to devour.” The Apostle Peter adds, “resist, resist [the devil].”
I realize perhaps some of you don’t believe the devil even exists. Not long ago, a well-known secular magazine had this to say, “Officials of some Christian denominations are now considering issuing a declaration denying the existence of the devil.” Well, this same author then pointed out that many people denying the devil exists is not a big issue. However, he correctly points out that to deny the existence of evil is a very “serious” matter, especially for any individual or group or church that claims to be Christian. This journalist also states when individuals or churches arbitrarily remove or shove aside any teachings from the Bible they don’t happen to particularly like or agree with, they “no longer belong to the church of Jesus Christ.”
Finally, this same author states “belief in the devil is for the enlightened and modern mind; the very epitome of ‘uncomfortable’ and ’embarrassing’ Christian doctrine.”
You see, this author correctly observes that to believe in the devil one has to admit the existence of a hating and dangerous power. This power is an enemy of the whole human race. This is a power we have to contend with individually and collectively.
That’s quite a statement, wouldn’t you agree to have appeared in a national secular news magazine? This magazine is echoing what the Bible states so clearly and emphatically. In Ephesians 6, we read, “Our struggle in life is not against flesh and blood; but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). This is what the Word of the Lord says.
We could spend a lot of time arguing about whether or not the devil exists. However, as an ordained clergyman, I strongly suggest we simply accept what God says in His Word and move onto the more important issue: “How can one most effectively defend oneself against the devil?” Oh, thank God in His mercy, He does not force you and me to search and search for the answer to this crucial question. You see, there is no greater assurance for followers of the Lord Jesus Christ in their struggle against the devil, than the Words of the Apostle John when he says, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). This means greater is the Lord Jesus Christ who lives in you by God’s gift of faith than the devil who is in the world.
Now since this is such a great promise from God in His Word, let me try to use an inadequate earthly analogy to explain this heavenly treasure. You see, when we say greater is Jesus who is in you than the devil who is in the world, think of God’s promise of protection in this way. For years, children suffered from small pox. But then in the early 1700’s, reports came out of China about doctors who put small pox lesions into the nostrils of people and this slight infection enabled healthy bodies to develop strong resistance against this invading disease.
Doctors and researchers built on this initial find and soon learned if they took a very weak strain of small pox and put it into a person’s system through a scratch in the skin, the person’s system would develop antibodies against this invader. These strengthened antibodies, which fight against small pox, then remain in the body waiting for the deadly germ to try to enter. Since they are now strong, these antibodies can keep the bad infection out.
In the same way, when God establishes His gift of faith in your heart, then your heart is occupied with the power of Christ’s death and resurrection. Consequently, there is no room and no possibility for the weaker Satan to enter and reside in your life and take control of your life!
Oh, friends, let God be the gatekeeper of your heart. Through His living Word let God make you immune from control of the devil. Indeed, Satan will still tempt you. However, with Christ Jesus living in you, by God’s gift of faith, the devil can then no longer control you. In every generation God has always protected His children. Even when the devil wanted permission from God to hassle Job, the Bible says, “The Lord said to Satan, behold all that Job has is in your power only do not put forth your hand on him.” By God’s Word, the devil was stopped in his tracks. And, therefore, the Bible says, “Satan departed from the presence of the Lord” (Job 1:12).
In a similar way Jesus said to His disciples, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the powers of the enemy and nothing shall injure you” (Luke 10:19). In Romans 16:20 the Apostle Paul says, “And the God of Peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
You see, throughout history, few people have had a greater awareness of the existence of the devil than did the great reformer Martin Luther. Luther also knew the only truly effective weapon against the devil is God’s living and life-giving Word. And, in the preface to his large Catechism Martin Luther says, “Nothing is so effectual against the devil, the world, and the flesh, and all evil thoughts than when one occupies one’s self with the Word of God.” For the sake of your soul, talk about the Word of God. Meditate on the Word of God. This will drive away the devil. Psalm 1 calls “blessed” all those who “meditate on God’s Word day and night.”
Martin Luther also points out, “You will never offer up any incense or savor more potent against the devil than to ‘occupy yourself’ with God’s commandments and God’s Words and to speak, sing and meditate on them.”
“For this reason alone,” Luther says, “you should eagerly read, recite, ponder, and practice the Catechism even if the only blessings and benefit you obtain from it is to drive away the devil and evil thoughts. For the devil cannot bear to hear God’s Word.” In Romans 1, St. Paul says that God’s Word/Gospel is “the power of God” which burns the devil and gives us immeasurable strength, comfort, and help.
Finally, Luther says, “Not only do we need God’s Word daily as we need our daily bread, but we must also use it daily against incessant attacks and ambushes of the devil and his many ways of tempting and destroying people.”
You see, for decades health and medical magazines have repeatedly, graphically, and compellingly made the case that in most situations you and I could probably prevent the majority of diseases from effectively attacking us if only we would eat healthy foods, exercise daily, and get good sleep. Top medical journals repeatedly state having good nutrition is the key to building up the body so the body can fight off all kinds of diseases and other infections.
It is exactly the same way with spiritual infections. When you read and study the Bible, you are nurturing or feeding yourself on God’s life-giving Word. And, just as food builds up the body, so does the Word of God build up and strengthen faith. Consequently, when the devil tries to attack you, he will find a “built up” spiritual person, like an impenetrable fortress. Then, there is no way the devil will enter your heart and your soul. “Greater is He”, the Bible says, “who is in you than he who is in the world.”
So, just as you sit down at your kitchen table or occasionally at a restaurant to eat good food, so also regularly sit down in the pew of the church. Listen. Let the Word of God from the pulpit enter your ears and your heart. Go to Bible class. This is all part of the “process” that God has ordained as His way of fortifying and strengthening you in the faith.
As you look at our society and see all the masks the devil uses to tempt and destroy adults, and as you see all the masks Satan hides behind such as violent TV and pornographic music in order to snare and spiritually annihilate young people, this is a frightening thing. This is like going to a modern day horror movie except this is reality. The devil, my friends, is real.
But this is also why the Living Word of God is so precious and so important for you and your children. In His living Word, God lifts up your heart. He fortifies your soul. God’s Word fills you with protection from within. Greater is the crucified and the resurrected Christ who lives within you through God’s gift of faith, than the devil who is outside of you always trying to get into you and run your life, and eventually destroy your soul.
For this reason, let me close this message with the comforting words of the Apostle Paul, as he so beautifully addresses the issue of temptations and how God enables His children to overcome them. “No temptation,” St. Paul says, “has come your way too hard for the flesh and blood to bear. God can be trusted,” St. Paul says, “not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance.” The Bible then gives you this wonderful promise, “God will see to it that every temptation has a way out so it will never be impossible for you to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
O Lord, we pray for all those hearing Your Word today. Wrap Your arms of protection around them. Keep them safe from the evil one. Assure them of Your forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Fill them with the protecting power of Christ’s resurrection. Never let the devil take any of them out of Your hand until all are safe in Paradise with You forever and ever! Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Q&As) for September 30, 2001
ANNOUNCER: We’re with Dr. Wallace Schulz. I’m Mark Eischer. Dr. Schulz, you sounded a clear warning for people to remember the devil is not honest. He is always scheming, always deceiving, lying and trying to snare people into his traps.
SCHULZ: Well, Mark, according to the Bible, this is exactly what the Word of God says. Of course, everybody thinks they are going to recognize the devil when he tempts them. This idea, in itself, is a deception. In fact, in the book of 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, St. Paul says, “The devil disguises himself as an angel of light.”
ANNOUNCER: And how does God in His Word describe these deceptions of the devil?
SCHULZ: In John, the Apostle John records the words of Jesus. In reference to the devil, Jesus said, “The devil was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.” Jesus goes on to say, “Whenever the devil speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for the devil is a liar and the father of lies.”
ANNOUNCER: Those are certainly strong words of condemnation.
SCHULZ: Indeed they are. This also means every time we deceive somebody, even with a white lie, we are permitting the devil to use us almost always to injure or harm somebody else.
ANNOUNCER: Is this discussed outside the church?
SCHULZ: I would say it is. It’s not been that long ago when Cecilia Bach, the wife of the president of Harvard University, wrote a book titled, “Lying – Moral Choice in Public and Private Life,” and she said, “We lie too much. We lie unnecessarily and the habit of lying tends to spread.”
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Schulz, I find it interesting that leaders in the secular world are addressing what is basically a spiritual problem.
SCHULZ: Yes. But what this also shows, I think, is how the devil has permeated our entire society and the lives of almost every individual and thereby, to a great degree, controls them.
ANNOUNCER: And, of course, this is not a problem only in the secular world. It also happens within the church.
SCHULZ: It surely does, sad to say. And in his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, the Apostle Paul speaks about the schemes of the devil. The devil uses his schemes in the Church especially where there is disagreement between or among members.
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Schulz, what do you think is the devil’s most effective disguise or tool today?
SCHULZ: In my opinion, without question the devil has been the most effective in recent decades as he hides behind God’s gift of television. You see, television in itself is not evil. Television is one of God’s greatest gifts. However, the devil has been able to cleverly and successfully hide behind the “tube,” shall we say.
ANNOUNCER: Could you offer an example?
SCHULZ: Well, probably the most glaring examples have occurred in the last several decades as writers and producers of TV have been striving to implant their ideology or their beliefs in programs. For example, Norman Lear, who created “All in the Family” and a number of other very popular television programs, was quoted in a major news magazine some years ago. He said how thrilled he was that he was able to get his ideas, ideology and values into other peoples’ lives through television shows. Of course, this is usually done to viewers without their knowing what is happening. In addition, of course, when people are promoting their own liberal theology, when they sugar coat with comedy, then it enables the devil to control lives of even more people.
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Schulz, what is the bottom line?
SCHULZ: Well, without question, according to the Bible, when Jesus Christ lives in our heart through God’s gift of faith, everything changes. God enables us to detect the work of the devil. But even more importantly, God enables us to go up against the challenge of the devil in Christ to overcome the schemes of the evil one.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Dr. Schulz. With that we come to the end of our broadcast for another week.