Sermon Part Four: The Other Destination for the Children of Disobedience
Ephesians 2: 1-2
And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God].
You are fresh meat to Satan.
To be in Satan’s family you have to be living in disobedience to God. Satan will not correct you if you are wrong. If anything, he will encourage you to be worse. Satan tempted Jesus. (Read Matthew 4: 1-10.) So you are not off limits to him. If anything, you are fresh meat.
Satan is in his last days so he is intensifying his recruiting. You’ve heard the saying, “misery loves company.” No one wants to be alone and Satan is a lonely creature.
Jesus can do anything but you have to believe and have faith.
Satan’s followers are the ones who possessed the two men in the tombs who Jesus met in Gadarenes. The demons cried out to Jesus, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” These demons are fallen angels who joined Satan in his rebellion against God. They are evil spirits under Satan’s control. But we see here, when they are confronted by Jesus, they lose their power. Jesus doesn’t destroy them, but He will remove them, but only if you have faith in Christ. Jesus can do anything but you have to believe and have faith.
James 2:19
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble.
True faith involves your total commitment to God. The people of Gadarenes asked Jesus to leave. They were more upset because they lost a herd of pigs and feared His supernatural power than they feared the healing of the men in the tombs.
Even the demons know their ultimate fate.
The demons asked Jesus if He came to torment them before the appointed time. They showed that they knew their ultimate fate. The people of Gadarenes are like people today. They are more concerned about property than people.
Each of us is unique. No two are the same. How foolish of us to value possessions, investments and even animals above human life. True faith is nothing if we are contaminated with earthly values.
Read the Entire Chapter of the Scriptures Referenced:
Read the Other Parts of the Sermon, Your Final Destination
Do You Know the Way to Heaven? (Part One)
Love Each Other As God Loves You (Part Two)
Don’t Be Ruled By Your Lusts (Part Three)
Return later this week for the conclusion of the sermon, The Final Destination.