“Under Attack!”

Introduction

What an awesome day. It’s the Lord’s day. In the midst of all that’s going on in our world. It is time for us to contemplate the greater spiritualities. The invisible realities. So much of what has occupied our time and attention this week has likely been the visible. I want to train your eyes and your mind this morning on the invisible. It was Edgar Allan Poe who said a couple of centuries ago, invisible things are the only realities. And he would know something more about that now. But it was his contemporary who might have said it first, William Godwin, not really sure. They lived at the same time. Invisible things are the only realities. Invisible things alone are the things that shall remain. What invisible realities are we talking about?

Certainly the reality, the firm reality, the utmost confidence that I have in the existence of God.

The reality of heaven. But I also want to talk to you this morning about another spiritual reality. And that is our adversary who is intent on dragging as many people as possible with him to the place of eternal torment, away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. A lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Our adversary is indeed an invisible reality. Where is he exactly? Washington, D.C., of course. Or perhaps Russia. Or the Middle East. Or maybe more apt to say he’s running the media. The fact is we would do well to remember how pervasive his influence is. In Job 1 in verse 7, a conversation takes place between the Lord and Satan. He says, From where do you come?

And Satan answered, from roaming about on the earth and walking around on it. Don’t you believe that he still does the same? I do. I want to take you to a text this morning in 1 John chapter 5 that speaks to the reality of our adversary’s presence and influence in our world. There is so much I would like to say about this text, but I am going to refrain this morning. I’m simply going to read it, and you should have plenty of time this week in the absence of very little helpful media to watch, no sports whatsoever, to contemplate a text like this in all of its grandeur. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, and oh, we should believe.

What a verse. And this is the confidence which we have before him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us, and if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know we have the request which we have asked from him. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. I do not say that he should make requests for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death. We know that no one who is born of God sins. But he who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding in order that we might know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols. How can you not mention what’s going on in our world? Grave national well world concerns over the spread of something new. Something different. Coronavirus. If you would have mentioned something by that name just in December of last year, you probably wouldn’t have known anything about.

To physical life, to physical well-being. If only they saw a greater threat to their well-being, the enemy that lurks with the intent to completely devour them and deprive them of everything that is meaningful and valuable in this life and in the life to come, and who already controls so many. We are panicking over the wrong pandemic. There is a greater ill in our world. And that is the influence and the control and those who are dominated by the adversary. And it is my intention today to teach you things that will deliver you from his dominance by the grace and help of our God and give you the very real hope that we read about this morning of immortality that comes to those who believe in the name of the Son of God.

The impetus for this lesson and the idea has come from a number of individuals who have remarked about what’s going on between Jesus and the devil in the Gospel of Luke. Everything is headed toward a showdown ultimately in Jerusalem, in the shadow of the temple. And so I want to speak to you for a moment in introduction about the Jerusalem temple showdown that we see recorded in the book of Luke. It is interesting, these statements that appear in Luke’s narrative of the story of Jesus’ life in Luke chapter 9 and verse 31 as the transfiguration is occurring. It says, Two men were talking with him, and they were Moses and Elijah, who appearing in glory were speaking of his departure or his exodus, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Yes, in the very shadow of the temple, which signified the very presence of God among his people. That’s where the Savior would be crucified.

That he resolutely set his face to go to Jerusalem. Everything is pointing toward the ultimate showdown in Jerusalem, which may be the explanation for why the Luke series of temptations differs slightly from that of Matthew. Why is it that the second and third temptations in that series of temptations is reversed? For a long time, people thought, well, Luke gets everything chronologically right, but I’m not so sure that his focus was to do that necessarily. And I think in this regard, Luke may be the one that is telling the story thematically. And that the reason why the third temptation is recorded as it is because everything is pointing toward Jerusalem. And so what is second in the other narrative is third here. And he led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, he will give his angels charge concerning you.

Wait a minute. Here we are. Jesus is taken to the temple, the very place of God’s presence among his people, and is challenged to throw himself down, and we have the devil quoting scripture at the temple. Misapplying it, of course. As Jesus says in response, it is said, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. And he defeats the temptation. And furthermore, we see at least once, if not twice in his ministry, I believe twice, Jesus overthrows the money changers in the temple. Again, in the shadow of God’s presence, there are people turning worship into something corrupt. And Jesus takes their tables and throws them over as they are making merchandise of the worship of God. Yes. The devil’s attacks come right into the temple area itself.

If the devil can gain a foothold in the very sanctuary of God, what makes us think that he has somehow left off in such efforts now? I want to suggest to you that the temple is still under attack. And will be for as long as Satan is allowed to have his way in his time. He is resolute. The forces of Satan are resolute against us and against you. And the very last thing that he wants is divine connection. The very last thing that he wants is for you and for us to sustain a healthy relationship with God, a power greater than himself. That’s why we’re admonished in Ephesians chapter six to be on guard against his wiles. And that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but this invisible realm that also attacks.

He wants to corrupt our hearts. He wants to diminish our faith and compromise your submission. He wants to interfere with everything that relates to a healthy and vibrant connection to God. He’s not just gonna roll over and let you just slide on into glory without opposition. Okay, y’all become Christians now. I give up. Just tiptoe through life and just slide on into glory, and I’ll go my way and mind my own business. If you’ve read the New Testament, you know that’s not the case. Thus we are admonished in Ephesians chapter 6 to take up the shield of faith, which is able to extinguish all the flaming missiles or fiery darts of the evil one. And having done all as we take up the full armor of God, we can stand.

But this battle is real.

1. God's Temple Is a Place of Deliverance

The place of God’s presence. God’s presence is not in a building over in the Middle East anymore. God’s presence is within the hearts and lives of faithful people all across this world, not just the United States, but throughout the whole world. There might be people listening today from other nations. God’s temple is the place where he resides among his faithful. And the first thing that I want you to know about that temple as it relates to temple attack is that God’s temple is a place of deliverance. When Satan loses, every soul that surrenders willingly to the king. Being God’s temple speaks to cleansing, it speaks to holiness, it speaks to being set apart for God’s purposes. Outside of his reign, you desperately need a change of scenery.

You need to come into a new domain. And that is the reign of the king. There is an awesome statement made in Colossians chapter one, in Colossians chapter one and verse 13 that says, For he delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption. This is the deliverance. We have come to be the place of God’s dwelling, the place of God’s presence and blessing. And you need this deliverance. This exchange of domains. And this verse actually is the basis for the four verses that precede it in Colossians chapter one that suggest all the things we ought to be doing is God’s temple. And be earnest about them. I don’t know how much money you have invested in stocks right now.

But if you were to cash them in first thing Monday morning, I’m telling you lost some money.

And you probably lost quite a bit of money. Don’t even look at the 401k numbers. Don’t even look at them. You’re down. Oh, but it’s going to recover. Our president said it’s going to recover. And he may be right. Maybe. Unless this day is our last. We’ll have to worry about it then, will we? When I speak about deliverance as God’s temple, I’m talking to you about an investment that pays immediate and eternal dividends. Always. It’s better than any stock option you have by far. When people are determined to live as his temple, the place of his presence set apart for his purposes to pursue holiness in their lives, to be truly born of him. The devil cannot touch us.

I love the context of this. If you’re the Christ, his adversaries and critics were if you’re the Christ, just tell us plainly. Go ahead, spit it out. Say it. You’re the Christ. Jesus is saddened and I think somewhat amused by the request. Probably angered too. Probably everything. If you’re the Christ, tell us plainly. And he said, Aren’t you paying attention? What am I doing? Look at the works that I’m doing. Am I not doing the works of the Father? And yet you do not believe me. And then he says, in the middle of that context, you do not believe me because you are not of my sheep. Here are religious people who claim to know everything there is to know about a right relationship with God, and the devil is in complete control of their hearts and lives.

2. A Glorious Influence in the Midst of Panic and Chaos

You do not believe me because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. You need to rest in such deliverance. The devil cannot touch this. The second observation that I want to make about being God’s temple. Oh, yeah, the devil will hurl his assault. But we have a tremendous opportunity in the midst of a lack of knowledge in our world to be a glorious influence about the awesome spiritual realities of God and Jesus and heaven in the midst of panic and chaos.

The magnificence and glory of God’s temple should send a potent message to the world around us. Our world view is different and exceedingly better. For the life of me, I don’t understand the run on toilet paper.

Certainly it could be a serious threat, especially to the elderly. Who knows how this is all going to play out? But the run on toilet paper seriously, and right behind that, and right by there’s people that actually need to have toilet paper, and there is none. And right behind that, I hear that there’s a run on bullets to protect those who want to take our toilet paper.

The more panic, the more evil he instigates and perpetuates, the brighter we can shine against the backdrop of darkness. We do live in a dark world. Let’s take seriously our mission, especially in times of panic and chaos and something new. And look, you don’t think this is different? There’s never been a time in my life where all sporting events have been canceled. I mean, this is different. There’s something unusual going on here. This is an opportunity. Not to do something different than you’ve been doing, but to keep doing the same thing. Being a light in the world, showing the people that you have peace and hope. And that you’re not operating under fear. What’s the absolute worst thing that could happen? You could go to glory sooner.

Why be in such a panic? Calm down. And most of you are.

Dad, but another famine, and he ends up with Abimelech in Jurar and has the same problem with his wife that Abram had with his wife and following in his father’s footsteps in that regard. But in the midst of all of that, God says, I’m gonna bless you. I’m gonna bless you. And he goes about his business, plants his crops, does his thing, and his blessings just abundantly flow. So great, in fact, the king says, Look, you’ve got to leave this area. You’re too great for us. You know, if we if we just keep steady in the course, the Lord will abundantly bless us and be with us and prosper us. I don’t think that means your bank account is going to increase after all. It just said you’ve lost money here in the stock market.

3. Being God's Temple: We Persist

But the Lord will prosper you as you pursue this important task. And I want to go back to where we started. The important thing about being God’s temple is that we persist. And the devil will attack. And some of his favorite words are I’ll give up. Quit. It’s not worth it. It’s not going to pay dividends. The Lord doesn’t care about you. The Lord isn’t prospering you. There’s only one person that wants you to quit. And that’s the evil one. And part of our continuance is to realize the grandeur of things in which we are involved. Our inclusion in this is extraordinary. It’s powerful. It’s a huge blessing to your life. Can you say I am a place of God’s residence? I have connection with the King.

Conclusion

We are his temple. You need to be so associated and so connected. And that comes about by believing. Believing in the name of the Son of God, as we read in 1 John chapter 5. Faith is the answer. Faith is the answer to fear. Faith is the answer to futility. And faith is the issue. It is the answer to falsehood. How confident are you in the King of Kings and His will for you? Are you ready to turn from vain things, to serve a living and true God and come to Him while there’s time and opportunity? We want to assist you this morning if you’re ready to come into union with the great King and the great spiritual realities that are there to assist you. Let’s stand the same.