Tuesday, October 9, 2012
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A lot of what goes into winning a football game is behind the scenes. Oh, we see all the plays and all the action, and all the heroics on the field. But a lot goes on we never see.
Let's take our local high school football team that I worked with for example. Each week someone from the coaching staff was out scouting the other team during the season. And sometimes I'd show up at the locker room and I'd ask, "Well, what are we up against this week? Tell me about the team we're playing this coming weekend." Almost always I'd get a rundown on what that team was good at, who their high scorer was, and what we would have to do to contain them, where their weaknesses were, and what we needed to go after. See, those scouting reports helped our coaches know how to best play that other team. Now, unfortunately, a lot of us are playing as if we haven't heard the scouting report on the other team.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Panic in Hell."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Revelation 12. I'll begin at verse 12: "Woe to the earth! The Devil has gone down to you. He is filled with fury because he knows the time is short." Verse 17 says, "The dragon (that's the Devil) went off to make war."
Now, the book of Revelation talks about the Devil seeing time run out on the game clock. I call it panic in hell. He says, "Wow! There's not much time left." He accelerates his attacks, and I believe he's doing that now because I don't think he has much time left. You're probably on the receiving end of one of these attacks. If you're going to understand what's going on in your life; if you're going to respond in a winning way, you need to hear the scouting report.
Here's attack number one: the Devil is trying to distract unbelievers so they won't look at Jesus. 2 Corinthians 4:4 talks about "the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ." See, if you don't know Christ, the Devil does this to keep you in his grasp; he does this blinding thing. He's got you too busy impressing other people, or busy building a career, or a family, or studying, or having a good time; believing almost anything spiritual other than being rescued through Jesus Christ. But the longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to ever know Christ. Your heart's getting harder. The Devil wants to distract you so you won't see Jesus.
Attack number two is to dissuade young believers so they won't live for Jesus. That's talked about in Mark 4:15 - "As soon as they hear the Word, Satan comes and takes away the Word that was sown in them." See, if you're a young believer, the Devil's attack as he's feeling his panic in hell, is to get your eyes off of this new Savior before you become a threat; to put in front of you whatever could detour you: a girlfriend, a boyfriend, a job, a temptation, popularity. Do you see what the Devil's trying to do? Don't fall for this! Don't let him draw you away from the person you've spent your whole life looking for.
And then his third attack is to discourage God's warriors so they won't lead for Jesus. These are the people who are making a difference. 1 Peter 5:7 addressed to spiritual leaders says, "Cast all your care on Him, because He cares for you. The Devil goes about like a lion seeking whom he may devour." See, I think he tries to devour them with discouragement. Maybe he's trying to neutralize you because you're one of the few people who's really in the battle. He's using people; he's using circumstances to destroy your motivation and your effectiveness. Listen to Galatians 6:9, "Don't be weary in well doing, for in due time you will reap if you do not faint."
See, the Devil is luring you, he's desperately doing whatever it takes to pull you away from Jesus; to get your focus somewhere else. But if you fight back in Jesus' name, there'll be even more panic in hell.