Grace: A Red Rag to Satan’s Bull
There are many reasons why this can happen. It can be because of misunderstanding or miscommunication. Sometimes it is because the gospel offends people’s pride and challenge ungodly lifestyles. It might be because people have had previous bad experiences with cults or true Christians who are living in a sub-Christian way. If our aim is to hold a thoroughly biblical worldview we must also recognise that there are evil spirits who try to prevent the preaching of the gospel by stirring up trouble. This doesn’t remove the responsibility we, as human beings, have for our actions. But if a sinful human heart is the flame which opposes God’s truth, the devil and his demons pour on the gasoline of their malice so as to turn a flickering match into a raging furnace.
Personality clashes and awkward people are part and parcel of life for all of us - I am not talking about that kind of thing. I am referring to that kind of antagonism and conflict which often arises at times of clearly fruitful ministry and grows in inexplicable ways to disproportionate levels with undesirable results! Because the cause of these difficulties is not simply human, there is no simple human solution; only the grace, wisdom, and power of God can set things right.
This morning I was reflecting on some of the occasions when I have had clear experience of this kind of spiritual opposition in the course of preaching the gospel. I can recall a handful of times where this occurred after I touched on the theme of Christ’s victory over evil as it arose in the course of a series of consecutive Bible messages,. The major emphasis of the gospel, as it applies directly to us is the fact of Jesus’ sinless life, substitutionary, sacrificial death, and resurrection, expounded in relation to our need for forgiveness, cleansing, sanctification, and reconciliation to God. But Jesus is a total saviour and so periodically, in its right place, it is essential to publicly proclaim the fact that Christians are also delivered from the power of Satan, who was defeated, disarmed, and dishonoured by the death of Christ on the Cross of Calvary.
This is a theme which preachers can shy away from, for a variety of reasons. One reason is that you can never quite predict the reaction: preaching the Victory of Christ can feel a bit like shaking a red rag at Satan’s bull! It is not unusual, after preaching this theme, for a few wise, godly, mature Christians to come alongside and say “You will need protecting after that - I will be praying for you”. You learn to give special value to those pray-ers and their prayers - just as the apostle did (See Ephesians 6:19-20 in context of verses 10-20). If you have a heart to pray on that line, I would certainly value it and I am sure your local pastor would too!
Now I am absolutely convinced that Satan hates it when the message of his defeat at the Cross of Christ is publicly proclaimed in clear and definite terms. However, as I reflected on this it struck me that, in my experience at least, spiritual opposition has rarely come from individuals who are tangled up in spiritual evil and the occult. Whilst there are exceptions, my observation is that when such a person is present to hear the message of Christ victorious, they are more likely to come to you asking for help than to deliberately stir up trouble. The Holy Spirit can apply this element of the gospel with transformative power In wonderfully liberating ways, either directly as the Word is preached or later, as that same Word is taken as promise and turned into prayer.
No, it seems to me that opposition to this element of the biblical gospel rarely comes from those who are enslaved to things which are obviously evil. More often it comes from respectable, religious people who are in bondage to a legalistic, self-righteous spirit. Perhaps this is strategic - their apparent ‘uprightness’ may put them in the best position to cause maximum trouble! But I believe that there is a clear spiritual reason in this on a fundamental level. If, as sinners, we are at enmity with God and, as it were, allied or captive to the devil, then the message of Satan’s defeat is also the message of our defeat. If he is judged his allies will be judged too. So in and of itself Satan’s defeat is not good news for us! The real good news is the message that Jesus has defeated Satan in human flesh and for human beings and is also willing to apply that victory by delivering sinners from Satan as an unmerited, undeserved, gift of pure grace and absolute mercy. His salvation is proclaimed to everyone, and He will save you - and save you to the uttermost - if you cry out to Him for help. On its own, the victory of the Cross means that Satan is a lost cause. The victory of the Cross combined with the grace of God means that Satan has lost his grip on humanity. Grace makes the gospel mine.
Grace is the major red rag to the devil’s bull because it compounds his defeat by breaking his grip on the lives of sinful people. And grace is also the major red rag to religious people with a legalistic spirit because it shatters their proud delusions of self-righteous superiority. There is a sort of spiritual irony in the fact that while outright pagan sinners come to Christ and freely receive a holistic salvation as the love gift of absolute divine benevolence, respectable pseudo-Christians whose religion is no more than skin deep can be used by the powers of hell to set the world on fire against God. Truly Jesus said “The healthy do not need a doctor but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”.
I guess that was my take-away point from this morning’s meditation. A preacher does not have to spell out Satan’s defeat in every sermon, just as he does not necessarily spell out the need for new birth, forgiveness, or assurance in every sermon. The gospel is a diamond with many cut faces and they must all be surveyed to fully appreciate its beauty. But every facet shares that certain quality, the way in which the light catches and reflects - the sparkle! Grace is the sparkle. Whatever we are preaching about, it must be infused, saturated, motivated, energised, empowered, inspired, driven, carried along, flowing from, going towards, with, by, and through the absolute sovereign grace of God made known freely and exclusively in Jesus Christ.
The almighty, sovereign grace of God. This is the deciding factor, the thing which turns the possibility of salvation into the experience of actual salvation. This is the thing that actually breaks sinners out of the grip of sin and hell and death. Jesus can save the very worst of sinners. Jesus is willing to save the very worst of sinners. And when He does it, He does it freely out of sheer mercy and absolute kindness, without the recipient contributing or deserving anything in any way. Grace is the ‘aroma of Christ’ which can be present or absent from the most intellectually correct sermon. Grace is the thing which Satan hates, perhaps more than anything else. This is what he seeks to oppose, hinder, and prevent. It is by grace alone that we are saved and become Christians. It is by grace alone that we, as Christians, continue to stand. It is by grace alone that preachers are kept faithful to the true gospel and continue to preach in spite of all the devilish schemes and plots. Grace alone is the cement with with which Jesus continues to build His church such that “the gates of Hell will not prevail against it”. By God’s grace, my experiences of opposition have not diverted me from this central message. By God’s grace I have, am, and will continue to preach this message, and this message alone, to the most respectable and the least respectable people I meet. Here I stand - so help me God.
Is that where you stand, as your read this?
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