Temple Baptist Church - 5-5-2024
2 Corinthians 2:1-11
Introduction: In these verses, we find the restoration of the fallen brother found in 1 Corinthians, chapter 5. He got right with the Lord and was forgiven, but the church would not forgive him. Paul did not want them to be ignorant of the danger of unforgiveness, one of Satan’s devices.
A. I want to continue to preach for a while on the subject of Ignorance. My work as a pastor is to make sure that you are not ignorant, and your job is to make sure that you are not willfully ignorant! We have the Word of God, so we are accountable to it.
1. Last week, we saw the ignorance of Israel concerning God’s righteousness.
Romans 10:3-4 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. (4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
2. This morning, I want to start preaching on ignorance of Satan’s Devices. I am not sure how far that I will get this morning, but I am in no hurry because of the importance of what I am preaching so just hang in there.
B. Lucifer is a powerful angel. He is a God hater and therefore hates God’s children. Our Lord said that He was hated first, and that hatred would be passed on to us.
John 15:18-20 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (19) If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (20) Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
C. I do not want to preach a series on Satanology or Angelogy (fallen angels) but, in order to understand the fallen angels, we must explore them within the context of Scriptures.
D. Lucifer was a special angel, a defender of the holiness of God. Lucifer tried to overthrow the throne of God to no avail and God said, “I will destroy thee, O covering cherub!” Lucifer is a damned angel. I want to look at a couple of very interesting verses:
E. Hell was prepared for the Devil and his angels.
Ezekiel 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
1. Satan is Determined. He will never give up nor give an inch. In his determination, he does not negotiate nor compromise.
2. Satan is Dangerous. His ultimate goal is to destroy everything God created.
3. Satan is Deceptive. In heaven, with God on His throne, Satan convinced 1/3 of the angels there to rebel. And we think he cannot deceive us.
4. WE ARE NOT IGNORANT of his devices!
a) He has used the same devices since he sinned against God in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28!
b) I used the phrase “willfully ignorant” last week because we all have seen what Satan through love of the world has done to people that we know!
1) He has destroyed their lives!
2) He has destroyed their families!
3) He has destroyed their health!
4) He has destroyed their testimonies!
5) He has destroyed their usefulness!
c) Satan uses different Devices for different People. We all have our strong points and weaknesses.
d) Satan uses different Devices for different Purposes. Sometimes, Satan attacks people and sometimes he attacks churches/governments, etc.
e) Satan uses these same devices over and over. Satan does the same thing the same way because it too often brings about the same results.
1) I love devices. Gadgets, appliances, tools, machines, mechanisms, etc. Devices are normally specific in their usage to get certain jobs done.
2) I love Harbor Freight. They have a tool for about everything that you will ever need to get done. I drop my wife off at Big Lots (female version of Harbor Freight) which is about three hundred feet away from Harbor Freight and tell her to “shop till you drop!”
3) Satan’s Devices are designed for singular purposes. They are not profound in their design. They are quite simple but highly effective in their work. I have many tools in my workshop that I do not use often as these tools are made for specific jobs.
4) I said all that to say this, we can know and fully understand what Satan’s Devices are doing and still allow them to work in our lives to the detriment of our spiritual condition and God’s work!
F. This morning, I want to look at Satan’s Device of Division.
1. I would say that the subject of division is one that I preach on more than any else, and especially over the past few years as the coming of our Lord draws nigh.
2. Satan has pulled out all of the “stops” in his unending efforts to destroy the effectiveness of both families and the local church. As goes the family, so goes the local church!
3. The pastor’s nightmare! Division! We must not be ignorant of Satan’s devices and one of his best is division.
G. Families are falling apart and marriages no longer lasting. Then there is the local church. So many local churches are without a pastor. Smite the shepherd and the sheep will scatter! Some churches have “run the pastor off,” while in others, the pastor (it is always easy to blame the church rather than to blame oneself) ran himself off.
H. Satan’s Device of Division in the local church.
1. Sometimes, wicked people get in the church and divide.
2. More often, saved people get their priorities wrong and strive, one with another.
a) Through Carnality
b) Through Biblical Ignorance
c) Through Willful Immaturity
d) Through Satanic Influence
J. It is imperative that we remain united and strong as the work of the Lord is of the utmost importance and only a unified body will be effective in reaching the lost. This type of preaching is not a new thing, nor should it be a sporadic one. It must be preached often with a no-nonsense approach. Look in Acts 20:28-31 with me.
Acts 20:28-31 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
K. The most important unit on the face of the earth other than the family is the local church. Satan hates the local Church!
L. Division can cause much damage to the local church by:
1. Division Destroys The Fellowship Of The Church. (People sit on the pews of the church with malice and unforgiveness in their hearts.)
2. Division Destroys The Commission Of The Church. (Missions have been damaged because of gaining a family and then loosing a family through spiritual nonsense!)
3. Division Destroys The Testimony Of The Church. (Church fights and splits have been detrimental to the prosperity of the church, both physically and financially.)
4. Division Destroys The Posterity Of The Church. (Children both see and hear the ungodliness of the parents. It affects their spirituality and, eventually, they are lost.
5. Division Destroys The Worship Of The Church. (God and His Holy Spirit are grieved with this division and worship is neither holy nor acceptable.)
6. Division Destroys The Evangelism Of The Church. (Instead of keeping our eyes upon the harvest and doing all that we can to win souls, our time is spent in bitterness and souls are lost.)
7. Division Hinders The Prayers Of The Saints. (Malice and unforgiveness are sins and when we regard iniquity in our hearts, our prayers go unheard.)
M. Division damages the individual believer.
1. It Will Divide You From The Pastor – Your Friend
2. It Will Divide You From The Pulpit – God’s Message
3. It Will Divide You From The People – Your Brethren
4. It Will Divide You From The Peace Of God – Your Joy
5. It Will Divide You From The Place – God’s House
6. It Will Divide You From The Purpose – God’s Harvest
N. How To Stop Division!
1. Always Give Others The Benefit Of The Doubt - 1 Corinthians 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
2. Learn To Forgive And To Forget - Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
3. Beware Of The Root Of Bitterness - Hebrews 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
4. Keep Your Eye Focused Upon The Purpose - Philippians 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Philippians 3:16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
5. Esteem Others Better Than Self - Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Philippians 2:1-4 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
6. Learn To Keep Your Mouth Shut When There Is A Problem - Proverbs 6:16-19 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
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