From Sproul’s series, Pleasing God; which can be heard on Ligonier Ministries’ YouTube website:
“Is there an evil force in the world that is working towards your destruction? You may be surprised to learn that the answer is no. But before you find comfort in that, there is something else you should know. Dr. Sproul discusses what that is in this message entitled “The Battle with the Devil.””
Highlights from Sproul’s 27 minute lecture on the Devil are provided so that you might know whether you want to invest that much time listening or not.
A link is provided for the next installment in this series which covers guilt and forgiveness.
HIGHLIGHTS from Sproul’s lecture [bracketed statements are mine]:
- Luther and the reformers believed there was a personal devil
- Sproul questioned one of his philosophy classes to learn whether they believed in the devil
- Thirty percent believed there was a devil; 100 percent believed in God
- He rephrased his question to the following: he asked if they believed that God was a supernatural being that had the capacity to influence human beings for good, they agreed
- Then, could Satan be a supernatural being with the ability to influence humans for evil?
- One student noted that the sophistication of science… in contemporary society makes it seem foolish to believe in the devil, witches, goblin, elves, leprechauns….
- Sproul emphasized that it is important to identify the source of one’s reasoning regarding his beliefs about any of the above. He noted that he firmly believes the Bible, and it says much about the existence of a personal devil
- Sproul believes that the greatest source of misunderstanding about the devil comes from the middle ages [will come back to that]
- Jesus spoke of Satan frequently and prayed for protection of His people regarding Satan’s influence
- He explained in detail the words used to describe evil in the New Testament and that one was a specific reference to Satan, calling him ‘the Evil One’
- If you are a Christian, then it necessary to follow the teachings of Christ; at the heart of His teaching was a profound concern of the reality of Satan
- Why then do contemporary Christians not believe Christ about the Evil One?
- Many do believe in an evil force in the universe; Sproul asked them how they could attribute moral ability to a force, as, for example, one could not say that a flower, a hurricane…could sin
- Sinning requires moral ability, that is, a mind, a will, and a conscience
- Back to the problem of the middle ages and why many contemporaries do not believe in the devil
- The church of the middle ages believed in Satan. In their effort to resist him, they believed that they could drive him away by mocking him – because his pride was his Achilles heel, they attempted to assault that by attributing to him cloven hoofs, horns, a pitch fork…
- The next generation did not understand the rationale of their Christian parents and wondered how they could fear a being such a ridiculous being…. Sproul believes that is why contemporary Christians will not take Satan seriously
- In the Old Testament, Satan was portrayed as ‘crafty’ in his first appearance, the most crafty of all the creatures, he is a creature, one with extraordinary powers
- In the New Testament, we are told of him that he appears as an angel of light but that he is truly malevolent
- He is the ultimate hypocrite: he is the Evil One, masquerading as its opposite via sophistication, eloquence, good looks, charm… [see the movie, The Devil’s Advocate, with Al Pacino for a seemingly accurate glimpse of the devil’s craftiness]
- Two definitions for the term Anti-Christ: 1) one who opposes Christ; 2), one who goes in his place, instead of Christ, a counterfeit of Christ
- [Those smiling preachers who say you can have your best life now; who say you deserve wealth, ease and prosperity…while Christ stated numerous times in the Bible, “pick up your cross, deny yourself and follow Me”]
- That is, an angel of light will not manifest himself as a Hitler, Mussolini…, but as someone like Billy Graham, with a guise of caring about your spiritual welfare…
- Satan is real and formidable; scripture calls him a roaring lion, and it calls Christ, the Lion of Judah
- Paul warns in Ephesians that we are to put on the whole armor of God; that we are fighting against unseen powers and principalities in the spiritual realm
- In the scriptures, God gives us knowledge of this unseen spiritual realm; we cannot come by such knowledge via our senses or reason
- We understand things that the reformers, for example, did not, we know about atoms, viruses and such things that are not visible to our senses
- Those who do not believe in the reality of Satan, give him a great advantage over them
- Our next session will deal with Satan’s accusations against believers, with guilt and forgiveness
Narratives from Ligonier Ministry’s YouTube site regarding the above video and the next in this series:
The Battle with the Devil: Pleasing God with R.C. Sproul
Is there an evil force in the world that is working towards your destruction? You may be surprised to learn that the answer is no. But before you find comfort in that, there is something else you should know. Dr. Sproul discusses what that is in this message entitled “The Battle with the Devil.”
The next sermon in the series, Pleasing God:
Guilt and Forgiveness: Pleasing God with R.C. Sproul
The central message in Scripture is one of forgiveness. The believer in Jesus Christ can have real assurance that the guilt from sin is no more, and that forgiveness has been freely granted. Jesus says that He who the Son sets free is free indeed. So how is it that many believers do not “feel” free? Dr. Sproul considers this question as he helps us deal with the issue of “Guilt and Forgiveness.”
Link to Guilt and Forgiveness:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0W7h8zLztQ
To hear a John MacArthur sermon that provides insight into how Satan works through governments to build his kingdom on earth (posted 3 January 2022), click the following link:
https://sheeplywolves.com/when-government-rewards-evil-and-punishes-good-pastor-john-macarthur/