SATAN
1. There was once a man who wanted a piece of property that was next to his house.
2. The owner of this land didn’t want to sell it, but he was open to a lease arrangement.
3. According to the story the lease agreement had an unusual provision.
4. The farmer could grow only one crop and after the crop was done, the lease expired.
THE PAPERS FOR THE DEAL WERE SIGNED AND THE FARMER HAD TO CHOOSE THE ONE AND ONLY CROP HE WOULD EVER GROW IN THIS FIELD.
a) Being a crafty businessperson he planted acorns.
b) This story was written to help religious people understand something about Satan.
c) The devil is willing to lend us things—perhaps lend them for a long time.
d) A time comes when what people borrowed from him gets returned.
2) Satan is willing to be a long term lender if it helps him get the job done.
3) Tonight we want to look at the devil’s efforts against the first century church.
4) There is an alteration of Satanic persecution in Acts 4-7.
5) This material can actually be put into chart form if you are taking notes.
6) Those who would like to outline the material this way might make three columns.
a) In the first you might label it “Satan’s tool.”
b) The middle column will have a Bible reference.
c) The final column will tell us how God responded to the matter.
d) You mark the final one “heaven’s response.”
7) As we look at this information we find that Luke switches back and forth.
8) That is, Luke express how the church was afflicted from outside forces.
9) He then shows how Satan used people within the church to create conflict.
10) Then he goes back to people of the world creating problems.
11) He then returns to problems within the church.
12) I do not know if this is intentional or not, but this is how the story in this section of Acts is told.
LET’S
START WITH THE FIRST REFERENCE: ACTS
4:1-22.
a) Preaching was being done by Christians and this made the authorities unhappy (verses 1-2).
b) The teachers of the gospel were confined (verse 3).
2) Satan has always wanted to hinder the truth and on this occasion he had some helpers.
3) Notice verse 17.
4) The officials didn’t want the message to be “spread any further among the people.”
5) The authorities decided to threaten the apostles (17b) and this is what they did.
6) Threats can be an effective tool.
7) When threatened by a lawsuit, many become worried and agree to a settlement.
8) Threats of ridicule and punishment are acts that cause people to back down.
9) Satan is a master of threat and intimidation and he has used these techniques against God’s people.
10) In the first column of your notes you might write threats and opposition.
11) In the middle section the reference would be Acts 4:1-22.
12) For the final column (God’s intervention) you might put in Acts 4:31; 33-35.
a) After being threatened Christians prayed and God responded.
b) Heaven’s reaction allowed the Christians to continue speaking, and speak “boldly.”
c) Instead of Christians sitting around and shaking in fear, there was unity (verse 32).
d) “Great grace” was upon those in Christ’s church (33b).
e) Satan tried to oppose and intimidate but the church continued to move forward.
13) Satan was not successful with persecution from outsiders so it appears he changed tactics.
14) The next chapter tells about Ananias and Sapphira (2 Christians).
a) This couple lied about a church contribution.
b) Because of their deception, they died.
15) This event could have really given the church a black eye in the city of Jerusalem.
a) In modern times we have seen plenty of scandals.
b) Well known figures are frequently charged with drug use, assault, embezzlement, fraud, moral failure.
c) Very early in the history of the church there was something like a religious scandal.
d) Satan could have potentially used this event in at least two ways.
e) First, the church could have been viewed as a bunch of hypocrites.
f) The people of God claimed one thing but 2 wayward members indicated the claims were not true.
g) Satan might have also been able to use this event again fellow Christians.
16) One of the most heartbreaking things I have ever heard as a Christian is something like this:
17) Brother _____ was coming to worship and was so dedicated.”
18) “She was not a Christian, but she was coming and learning.”
19) Things were going well until the ________occurred.
20) Now they are gone. I doubt they will ever return.
21) Satan has previously used scandal to his advantage.
22) Such could have easily been the case here.
a) If you are making a chart, the first box might say potential scandal because of dishonesty.
b) The middle box should have Acts 5:1-10 for the reference.
c) Satan tried to injure the church but God intervened.
23) His intervention is found in Acts 5:11-16.
a) The text says people heard about what had happened.
b) The result was “great fear” upon “all” (Christians and non-Christians”).
c) Furthermore, the church was “magnified” (13b).
d) Verse 14 says even “more” were “added to the Lord”—men and women.
24) Satan tried to use outside forces to damage the church (Acts 4) but he failed.
25) He then tried to use the people of God to accomplish his will (Acts 5:1-14) but this also failed.
26) The next example of church problems takes us back to opposition from outside the church.
a) I would put on the third column (far left side) “persecution.”
27) The first verse for the middle column is Acts 5:17.
28) Luke recorded how the Jewish leaders were “filled with jealousy.”
29) This led to the apostles being into “public ward” (verse 18).
30) When we skip down to verse 40, we learn these men were beaten and again threatened.
a) As noted earlier, threats are enough to stop many from continuing an activity.
b) Beatings are an even stronger incentive.
c) As the story in Acts progresses, the devil’s helpers increased the pressure.
d) We now have physical abuse being administered to the people of God.
31) This is often an effective tool and it works sometimes worked for the devil.
32) Notice, however, on this occasion that it didn’t work.
33) Acts 5:41-42 – READ.
34) At this juncture Satan had made 3 attempts to destroy the progress of God’s people.
35) If the devil ever gets disappointed he was surely a little frustrated by this point.
a) He had used people outside the church and inside the church but repeatedly failed.
b) He has tried to use non-Christians twice and Christians once.
c) Perhaps it is no surprise that the next problem involves Christians.
36) This part of the story is found in Acts 6:1-6.
37) On the far left of your paper you might write “division.” This was the tool Satan tried to use.
a) In the middle column you should write Acts 6:1-6.
38) Christians widows were being neglected. This led to some complaining.
39) Grumbling within a congregation can pose huge problems.
40) This was considered in previous studies.
41) On the surface, this difficulty must have seemed like an ideal opportunity for Satan.
42) Perhaps the devil thought he finally found a way to divide and conquer among the people of God.
43) In the far right box of your sheet you need only one verse – Acts 6:7.
44) I am going to read this – READ Acts 6:7
a) Once again the devil was defeated.
b) What looked like an ideal way to create strife turned out to be an opportunity for church growth.
c) The Word of God “increased” and the number of Christians “multiplied exceedingly.”
d) Even people worshipping with a wrong religion “were obedient to the faith.”
45) Take a moment and put yourself in Satan’s place.
46) Imagine there is something in life that is extremely important to you.
47) This matter is a priority item that is with you day and night each day of the year.
48) You receive four chances to help you achieve your goal, and you try your best each time.
49) Each attempt, however, is a failure.
50) Not only is each attempt a failure, your goal is now a lot harder to reach.
51) Most people would begin to feel frustrated and even angry.
52) I am inclined to believe that by this point Satan was pretty unhappy.
a) The last set of boxes show the intensity of the opposition only continued.
b) In the far left box you might write martyrdom.
c) The reference for the middle box is Acts 7:54-60.
53) Stephen was doing a good work but the devil’s helpers brought Stephen’s life to an end.
54) Satan’s henchmen took up rocks and killed a first century preacher.
55) If the church could not be stopped by threats, beatings, perhaps murder would work.
56) Jesus said Satan is a murderer (Jn. 8:44), and He did not exaggerate.
a) In the final box you should put Acts 8:1-40.
b) God used the death of Stephen to help even more people become Christians.
c) The death of one man sent the gospel to many who had never heard it.
57) These stories can be studied and applied individually. In the past we have done that.
58) We can also study them collectively and find a thrilling lesson.
59) Satan is working as hard as he can to hinder, stop, and destroy the church Jesus built.
60) At the same time God is also working.
61) There is an on-going war between the forces of heaven and hell.
a) This is a crucial lesson for us to consider as we get ready for a campaign.
b) We should not be surprised if we have some difficulties during campaign week.
c) If we are opposing Satan and His will by teaching, he will not be off somewhere else.
d) His attention will be upon Goshen, IN.
e) Tonight’s lesson leaves us with a critical lesson.
f) He can try to thwart our efforts by using those inside and or those outside the church.
g) We should expect Him to be active Before, during, and after, the week of October 19th.
62) As he is working let’s remember that God is also on the job.
63) Our trust is in Him no matter what happens.
64) Tonight we hope that you have placed your trust in God and that trust is being sustained.