Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, who walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (I Peter 5:8) The devil is just as hard at work today as he was when he tempted Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11. “A smooth-talking, especially a smooth-talking religious leader can convince people of a lot of crazy stuff. The leader of Heavens’ Gate cult convinced his followers to commit mass suicide in 1997. Why? They were going to get on the Hale-Bopp comet. And in 1978 Jim Jones of the Peoples’ Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, convinced his followers to commit mass murder and suicide.” said Pastor Josh.
“Can I tell you the devil goes around seeking whom he may devour. The Bible says a thief comes to steal, kill, and devour (John 10:10). That’s what the devil’s about.” continued Pastor Josh.
The sermon was taken from Mark 15:6-15. It’s the passage where Jesus is before Pilate. Pilate has found no real cause for Jesus to be crucified. It’s obvious the chief priest hated Jesus. Perhaps he was envious and jealous, too. After all, Jesus had quite a following. The chief priest, an evil man, had done his homework. He wanted to make sure that Jesus was going to hang on that cross.
Pilate had chosen the worst of the bad, Barabbas who was a known insurrectionist, murderer, and robber. This is the man that Pilate presented to the people and asked which one to free—Barabbas or Jesus. Evil is as evil does. Satan was not slack in his work. It says in verse 11 that the chief priest moved the people to release Barabbas.
And so it was. Jesus died in the place of Barabbas. Satan spent the entire ministry of Jesus hoping to thwart his mission. Did he succeed? Where Satan is at work, God is at work too. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“Can I tell you the devil goes around seeking whom he may devour. The Bible says a thief comes to steal, kill, and devour (John 10:10). That’s what the devil’s about.” continued Pastor Josh.
The sermon was taken from Mark 15:6-15. It’s the passage where Jesus is before Pilate. Pilate has found no real cause for Jesus to be crucified. It’s obvious the chief priest hated Jesus. Perhaps he was envious and jealous, too. After all, Jesus had quite a following. The chief priest, an evil man, had done his homework. He wanted to make sure that Jesus was going to hang on that cross.
Pilate had chosen the worst of the bad, Barabbas who was a known insurrectionist, murderer, and robber. This is the man that Pilate presented to the people and asked which one to free—Barabbas or Jesus. Evil is as evil does. Satan was not slack in his work. It says in verse 11 that the chief priest moved the people to release Barabbas.
And so it was. Jesus died in the place of Barabbas. Satan spent the entire ministry of Jesus hoping to thwart his mission. Did he succeed? Where Satan is at work, God is at work too. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
