The subject of today’s sermon is a very difficult one because we must be careful how we handle it. On one hand, we must talk about it because it’s in scripture, it’s something that all Christians will deal with at one point or another, and it’s what God has shown me to share this morning. On the other hand, it’s not something that we should dwell on, it’s not something that we want to give any undue attention to in the pulpit, and it’s not something we want to bring any sort of glory. This morning we are going to be looking at “the darkness.” The darkness is an umbrella term that involves the things of Satan. We understand that because in Acts 26:18, when Paul was standing before King Agrippa, he was sharing his testimony and he made an analogy of Satan to darkness. He told the king that he was sent to the Gentiles “To open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.” “The darkness” includes Satan, demons, all matters of the occult, astrology, witchcraft, medicine men, fortune-telling, divination, speaking with the dead, spiritism, superstitions, ghost hunting, karma, tarot cards - the list goes on and on. There are things that they all have in common - they do not rely on God for their power and they are strictly forbidden in scripture. This morning we are going to look at Paul’s first three missionary journeys to understand a little more about Satan and the tactics he uses against believers. Again, I want to make sure we don’t give any credit to the things of Satan, but rather give all glory to God. I want to start with my last point first.
IV. The Darkness is Defeated
2000 years ago, on a hill called Calvary, Jesus willfully laid down his life on a criminal’s cross. The God of the universe died and it seemed like all hope was lost. However, three days later He arose in triumph over the grave and the proclamation that was made in John 1:5 was seen played out in Jerusalem. “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.” The darkness was once and for all times defeated on the cross, by the blood of Jesus Christ. Just because he is a defeated foe it doesn’t mean Satan has stopped fighting. He would like nothing more than to distract you from your faith in Jesus.
I. The Darkness Distracts
Acts 13:6-11
6 Afterward they traveled from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached Paphos, where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas, the sorcerer (as his name means in Greek), interfered, and urged the governor to pay no attention to what Barnabas and Saul said. He was trying to keep the governor from believing. 9 Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye. 10 Then he said, “You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord? 11 Watch now, for the Lord has laid his hand of punishment upon you, and you will be struck blind. You will not see the sunlight for some time.” Instantly mist and darkness came over the man’s eyes, and he began groping around begging for someone to take his hand and lead him.
Here we are introduced to a man called Bar-Jesus (or son of the savior) who was a false prophet, (one who brings false hope and was also called a sorcerer). He seems to be an advisor, at the very least, to the governor who was very interested in the Gospel message that Paul and Barnabas were bringing. We are told that Bar-Jesus interfered and begged the governor to pay no attention. He was doing his best to keep the governor from believing. This is where we get a little insight into Satan’s tactics of distraction.
As Christians, our faith is to be in Christ alone (Gal. 2:16), but Satan tries to distract us from that by trying to add things to our faith. Let’s take, for example, astrology, condemned many times in the Bible, but still practiced the same today as it was in Daniel's time. We are told all throughout scripture that the stars are given to help with the telling of time, help with the changing of seasons, and to display the glory of God, but when we start to use those same stars and planets to predict the future or to give us direction in life, we pervert their intended use. When we are looking to them for guidance our focus comes off of Jesus. We stop turning to Him for those answers we seek for our lives, and we go on to other lesser things. There is nothing more that Satan would like to do than to get our focus away from Jesus. When that happens, he has his foot in the door of our lives, and while we cannot be possessed of the things of Satan, we can be influenced by them when we don’t walk as scripture teaches. When Satan has his foot in the door of our lives, we become ineffective to the cause of Christ.
Earlier we gave quite a few examples of things that fall under the umbrella of “the darkness.” All of them cause our faith to be distracted and divided between Jesus and something else. It seems like it shouldn’t be hard for a Christian to avoid these types of things, but we can easily fall into this trap. Why? It’s because the darkness is appealing.
II. The Darkness is appealing
Acts 16:16-19
16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.” 18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her. 19 Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace.
When we think of the things we have referred to as “the darkness,” we usually get the image in our mind of dark or scary things. Things that might be better left in horror movies, but this is not how Satan usually presents them in real life. As a matter of fact, in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, we see that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his demons as workers of righteousness. Now while the things of Satan are dark, disturbing, and scary, he’s not going to portray them that way when they are presented to Christians. He’s a great deceiver and liar. He knows how to make things seem much better than they really are. In the passage here we see there is a demon-possessed girl who is making her masters a lot of money. There is no one advocating for this girl. It seems there is no one who is concerned for this girl’s wellbeing at all. They are only concerned about the benefits they get from her. The appeal is from the benefits derived from the darkness and nothing else.
The darkness can be very appealing to us. On one hand, it’s dealing with the supernatural, and we all have some inborn curiosity about supernatural things. It can offer us easy answers. It can tell us things we want to hear. Satan is a liar and what do liars do best? They deceive. When we go to God, we pray, and we wait. We wait on His timing, and we wait on His answers, but when we wait on the Lord, we can do so with the utmost assurance that God is good and God is always on time. Our humanity wants answers now, and we want to be reaffirmed in our decisions even if they are the wrong ones. So when Satan offers those answers through things like fortune-telling, horoscopes, psychics, etc. there will be a tendency to want to run to those things, but when we do, we find ourselves just where Satan wants us: with divided loyalties. Are we trusting God or are we trusting superstition or the words of a spiritualist?
III. The Darkness is Real
Acts 19:13-16
13 A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. 15 But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.
We have a tendency to say to ourselves, “None of this is real”, or maybe we even say “What’s the harm? This is all pretend.” While it is true that some of these things are frauds and a way to separate foolish and gullible people from their money, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t real. I could run around the parking lot and say I’m a car, but that doesn’t mean that cars don’t exist. The 7 brothers in this passage seemed to think the same thing. They were making money by “casting out demons.” In those days they got paid whether it worked or not, whether it was a demon or some other underlying cause. They were in the business because it was appealing to them and there was money to be made. Did they believe what they were doing was real or were they just con men? We really don’t know, but what we do know is they faced the terrifying reality that these supernatural things they were toying with are very much real. Since they are real, they must be dealt with seriously and Biblically.
IV. The Darkness is Defeated
Acts 13:12
When the governor saw what had happened, he became a believer, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
Acts 16:25-34
25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” 32 And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. 33 Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. 34 He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
Acts 19:17-20
17 The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. 18 Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. 19 A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars. 20 So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.
Again, we come back to the fact that the darkness has been defeated, by the blood of Jesus. I didn’t tell you the whole story about these three encounters. We saw that Paul and Barnabas faced Bar-Jesus, and Bar-Jesus became blind, but what happened next? The governor accepted salvation! What happened once Paul and Silas were imprisoned for casting out the demon in the girl? The jailer and his entire family came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. What happened after the story of the 7 Sons of Sceva? The name of the Lord was greatly honored and many who practiced the things of the darkness were converted.
Do you see what is happening here? Satan is a tool. A tool God still uses for His glory. Satan thinks he has power. He thinks he can show off his strength, but God only allows it to bring more and more people to Himself and to bring Himself more and more glory.
Do we need to be scared of the darkness? No, we are children of the King. We are the children of the God of Angel Armies, and we should fear nothing except God. Should we be wise to the ways of Satan? Yes, we also should constantly remind ourselves that every time he rears his head he is a defeated foe. We should glory and praise God for the cross of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Jesus, for the cross!
