Satan's Attack on the Church

Here are the notes from yesterday's sermon. These are 10 of many ways Satan attacks the church today, so it is not an all inclusive list. It will highlight some of his tactics though...

1. Doubt – God’s word, Salvation: 1 John 5:11-13

Scripture is given to us so that we may know we have eternal life. God’s word provides many passages concerning the absolute security of the believer.

“All Christians are meant to have assurance of salvation. God has not only provided a way whereby we can be saved, and not only saved us, but He lets us know that He had done so. This is a glorious aspect of the Christian life. The Christian is not meant to remain in doubt and uncertainty… the Christian is meant to know joy and peace… from first to last Satan’s aim is to rob Christians of this glorious aspect of salvation. Thank God, sin and failure do not affect the relationship; and when the devil comes and suggests that you are not a Christian because you have sinned answer him by saying, “I agree that I have sinned, but I am still a child of God.” The relationship has not changed. In other words you must never go back to the question of justification because you have sinned. To do so is to fall immediately into the snare of the devil.” - Martyn Lloyd Jones

2. False teachers – 2 Peter 2:1-2

These teachers come in two varieties. The first are self-professed teachers. They bring with them various doctrinal errors. They might begin by attacking individual preferences, but their hearts are only evil, and eventually they work their way into delivering false doctrine.

The second variety are comprised of false believers who, over time, weasel their way into a position of leadership within a congregation. By this time, they have built a following and enjoy the praise they receive.

The end goal of both types is twofold, their pride consumes them and they want a following, a fan base, and supporters. On the other side, they want to teach false doctrine while being seen as ‘wise teachers’, but all the while they only lead people astray.

3. False believers – Matthew 13:36-43

The devil loves it when false believers infiltrate the church. Many times it is difficult to know who they are because they look, act, and talk like true believers. Often, they attempt to get into positions of leadership, making decisions that will lead to conflict in the church.

4. Division – 1 Corinthians 1:10-13

The ancient Greek word for divisions is schismata. Although we derive our English word “schism” from this Greek word, it does not really mean a “party” or a “faction”; it properly means “tear, or rend.” Paul’s plea is that they stop ripping each other apart, tearing up the body of Christ. – David Guzik

The devil desires a broken and fractured church, for when we are broken and fractured, very little ministry, evangelism and obedience take place. How can they? When our divisions cause us to pick and chose sides, defend our positions and attitudes, look down on everyone else who is not in agreement with us, and develop a strategy to ‘get’ the offenders out of our fellowship: it become impossible to worship God.

Too many times churches form divisions and draw battle lines between the pews and dare anyone to cross them. The devil takes great delight when this happens.

There was an old, contentious Quaker who went from one meeting to another, never finding the “true” church. Someone once said to him, “Well, what church are you in now?” He said, “I am in the true church at last.” “How many belong to it?” “Just my wife and myself, and I am not sure about her sometimes.” – David Guzik

We must be willing to look beyond our preferences, the attitudes of others, and see Jesus. When we are able to do this, all the ‘problems’ and ‘issues’ pale in comparison to His glory. It is then, and only then, we are able to find it within ourselves to seek forgiveness and healing, instead of rotting away in bitterness and hatred.

5. Sexual immorality – 1 Corinthians 7:5 (HCSB) Do not deprive one another—except when you agree, for a time, to devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

God has designed sex to be a beautiful gift, only in the bounds of biblical marriage. If husbands and wives decide to abstain from their sexual relationship for any other reason than a season of prayer, they open themselves up to sexual temptation.

6. Open sin – 1 Corinthians 5:1-8, 11

The Corinthian church, while filled with such sin, was actually puffed up and did not deal with it appropriately. Instead of enacting biblical discipline, they allowed it to continue. And not just sexually immorality, but all kinds of sinful behavior.

The church should have turned the ‘brother’ over to Satan. In other words, let the consequences of his sin play out. When a believer refuses to repent of sin, the church is to disfellowship him.

“Church discipline is not a group of ‘pious policemen’ out to catch a criminal. Rather, it is a group of brokenhearted brothers and sisters seeking to restore and erring member of the family.” (Wiersbe)

Not only does a little leaven leaven the whole lump, it gives off a foul stench to a lost and dying world, looking in from the outside and trying to figure out what makes us in here so different from them out there.

While the church may have ‘acted in love’ by accepting the brother and not confronting his sin, ‘you don’t show love to a body by being kind to a cancer!’ – David Guzik

7. Pride – 1 Timothy 3:7 (HCSB) Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the Devil’s trap.

Pride comes in many forms. In the verse form, it comes when a young believer is placed in a position of leadership/authority. Satan desires to destroy godly leaders within the church. Someone once said, “When the shepherd is destroyed, the flock scatters.”

1 Timothy 6:3-5

Here we find false teachers being filled with conceit and this leads to disagreement among men and they perceive to have a form of godliness, but they are only interested in material gain. In other words, they are worldly.

8. Worldliness – 1 Timothy 6:6-10 (HCSB) 6 But godliness with contentment is a great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

A desire for riches/money/possessions can have devastating effects on Christians and the church. When we are not content with what we have and only desire more and more, we begin to pursue any means necessary to get what we want, and neglect our pursuit of godliness. Paul tells Timothy it is a trap, and we know that the devil sets many traps for us in his attempt to bring the church down.

9. Laziness – Hebrews 10:25 (KJV) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

I love this verse because it addresses a major problem within the church today. Where are our church members? What is wrong with the church when we neglect worshiping together? The devil strives to keep us from worshiping, fellowshipping, serving, and praising God together.

We have become very good at making excuses for skipping out on church and when a pattern develops we stick to certain ‘lies’ and the sad reality to this whole mess is this: the devil has us right where he wants us, out of fellowship with each other and with God.

10. Traditionalism – Colossians 2:8-10

The tradition of men here means religious teachings which have been invented by men but which have no true foundation in the Scriptures. (A tradition is a fixation of a custom which began as a convenience, or which suited some particular circumstance.) -MacDonald, William ; Farstad, Arthur: Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995, S. Col 2:8

Anything other than the gospel of Jesus Christ! The devil loves this! When we focus on our traditions, which have no basis in the scriptures, then we lose our focus. Instead of loving God, loving others and sharing Jesus, the focus becomes preserving our traditions, whatever they may be. That means excluding new believers, because they don’t know our traditions, or protecting ‘sacred cows’ instead of contending for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

This is but a brief snapshot of some of Satan’s attack on the church. It becomes critical then we are a regenerate, baptized body of believers, striving to maintain the unity of this fellowship, desiring to love God, love others, and share Jesus; all the while making Jesus increase and ourselves decrease. It is not about you or me. It is not about the leadership or the layperson. It is about the one who sent His only Son for you and me. Let’s join together to counter Satan’s attack on the church!