WRITTEN AT MENTONE,
BY C. H. SPURGEON.
"Then comes the devil, and takes away the Word out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved." Luke 8:12.
IT is a great comfort that such multitudes are willing to hear the Word
of God. Even though many should turn out to be as the rock, the
wayside, or the thorny ground, still it is a cheering circumstance that
the Seed can be sown broadcast over so large an acreage. Yet the
thoughts excited by the sight of a vast congregation are not all
pleasurable– the question most naturally arises–What will come of all
this preaching and hearing? Will the heavenly Seed produce a harvest or
fall on barren soil? The thoughtful Christian, in considering this
question, takes into consideration the condition of the persons
addressed and remembers that many are unprepared for the Gospel. So far
from being like a field furrowed to receive the Seed, they are like a
heavily traveled road.
They hear the Gospel and so far we are hopeful of them, but they have
no idea of allowing it to enter their inmost souls. The ground of their
hearts is already too much occupied. Other feet will tread there and
speedily obliterate the sower's footprints and as for the good Seed, it
may lie where it falls–entrance into the inner man it can have none.
Nor is this all, the anxious observer remembers that there is yet
another difficulty–the arch-enemy of God and man is opposed to the
salvation of souls and, therefore, he is present with destructive power
wherever the Seed of the Word is being sown.
It is of this we shall now speak–the activity of Satan during the
preaching of the Gospel. He is out of sight, but we may not allow him
to be out of mind–he does all the more mischief if men sleep. Let us
watchfully turn our eyes towards him and prove that we are not ignorant
of his devices. Our Divine Lord, in the words before us, reminded His
hearers of the devil's punctuality–"then comes the devil," or his
power–"and takes away the Word out of their hearts." And of his
purpose, which is the prevention of saving faith–"lest they should
believe and be saved." At this time, when special services are being
held, it may be well to bring these points clearly forward that all may
be warned against the Wicked One and so, by the Grace of God, his
designs may be frustrated.
I. First observe the Evil One's PUNCTUALITY. No sooner does the Seed
fall than the fowls devour it. Our text says "then," that is, then and
there "comes the devil." Mark renders it, "Satan comes immediately."
Whoever else may loiter, Satan never does. No sooner does a camel fall
dead in the wilderness than the vultures appear. Not a bird was
visible, nor did it seem possible that there could be one within a
radius of many miles, yet speedily there are specks in the sky and soon
the devourers are gorging themselves with flesh! Even thus do the
spirits of evil scent their prey from afar and hasten to their
destroying work.
The lapse of time might give opportunity for thought and thought might
lead to repentance and, therefore, the enemy hurries to prevent the
hearer from considering the Truth he has heard. When the Gospel has
somewhat affected the hearers, so that in some slight degree it is in
their hearts, then swifter than the flight of the eagle is the haste of
the devil to take the Word out of their hearts. A little delay might
put the case beyond Satanic power, hence the promptness of diabolic
activity. O that we were half as quick and active in the service of our
Lord! One half as prompt to seize every opportunity for blessing the
souls of men!
No doubt Satan acts at times directly upon the thoughts of men. He
personally suggested to Judas the selling of his Master and many
another black insinuation has he cast into men's minds. Like the foul
vulture which constantly feasted itself upon the vitals of Prometheus,
so does the devil tear away the good thoughts which would be the life
of a man's soul. Insatiably malicious, he cannot endure that a single
Divine Truth should bless the heart. Fearful blasphemies, lewd
imaginations, gross unbeliefs, or vain frivolities the devil casts into
the mind like infernal bombshells to destroy any newborn thought which
looks toward Christ and salvation!
At one time he fascinates the mind and another he terrifies it. His one
aim is to distract the man's thoughts from the Gospel and prevent its
lodging in the conscience and heart. As Satan cannot be everywhere
present at one time, he frequently does his evil work by his servants,
sending the inferior spirits to act as fowls in devouring the Seed and
these, again, employ various agents. With great cunning are the common
incidents of life used in the evil business, so that even by things
indifferent in themselves, the purposes of the adversary are brought
about. The preacher has some specialty in his manner, utterance, or
appearance–and this becomes the bird which devours the Seed–the
hearer is so taken up with a trifling oddity in the minister that he
forgets the Truth of God which was spoken!
An anecdote was related, an illustration employed, or a word used which
awakened a memory in the hearer's breast and away went the Word out of
his heart to make room for mere vanity. Or if the sermon was preserved
to its close, it then encountered a fresh peril–a lost umbrella, an
extra pressure in the aisle, a foolish jest overheard in the crowd, or
the absurd dress of an unknown person– any one of them may answer the
devil's purpose and snatch away the Word. Little does it matter whether
the Seed is devoured by black crows or white doves, by great fowls or
little sparrows–if it does not abide in the heart, it cannot bring
forth fruit and hence the devil arranges that somehow he will take away
the Seed at once.
If he never visits a place of worship at any other time, he will be
sure to be there when a revival has begun–"then comes the devil." He
lets many a pulpit alone, but when an earnest man begins preaching,
"Satan comes immediately."
II. Secondly, we will now, for a moment, notice his POWER. "And takes
away the Word out of their hearts." It is not said that he tries to do
it, but that he actually does so. He sees, he comes and he conquers!
The Word is there and the devil takes it away as easily as a bird
removes a seed from the wayside. Alas, what a sway has the Evil One
over the human mind and how ineffectual is the preacher's work unless a
Divine power is put forth with it!
Perhaps from the striking manner in which it was stated, a little of
the Truth of God abides in the memory, but the enemy takes it quite out
of the heart–and so the main part, the all-important part of our work
is undone! We may be foolish enough to aim at the head only, but he who
is crafty beyond all craft deals with the heart. Anyone may win the
intellect–if Satan can keep the affections he is quite content. To the
man's heart the good Seed is lost, the fowls have devoured it. It has
become to him nothing, having no power over him, no life in him. Not a
trace is left–no more than there would be a mark remaining of seed
cast on the wayside after the birds had taken it away–so effectual is
the work of the Prince of the Power of the Air.
When Satan thinks it worth his while to come, and come immediately, he
means business and he takes care that his errand shall not fail. His
power is partly derived from his natural wisdom. Fallen as he now is,
he was once an angel of light and his superlative faculties, though
perverted, defiled and dimmed by the blighting influence of sin, are
still vastly superior to those of the human beings upon whom he tries
his arts. He is more than a match for preacher and hearer united if the
Holy Spirit is not there to baffle him. He has also acquired fresh
cunning by long practice in his accursed business! He knows the human
heart better than anyone, except its Maker. For thousands of years he
has studied the anatomy of our nature and is conversant with our weaker
points. We are all young and inexperienced compared with this ancient
tempter–all narrow in our views and limited in our experience compared
with this serpent who is more subtle than all the beasts of the
field–what wonder that he takes away the Word which is sown in hard
hearts!
Moreover, he derives his chief power from the man's condition of soul.
It is easy for birds to pick up Seed which lies exposed on a hard path.
If the soil had been good and the Seed had entered it, he would have
had far greater difficulty, he might even have been foiled. But a hard
heart does the devil's work for him in great measure. He need not use
violence or craft–there lies the unreceived Word upon the surface of
the soul and he takes it away. The power of the Evil One largely
springs from our own evil. Let us pray the Lord to renew the heart that
the testimony of Jesus may be accepted heartily and may never be taken
away. Great is the need for such prayer!
Our adversary is no imaginary being, his existence is real, his
presence constant, his power immense, his activity indefatigable. Lord,
match him and overmatch him! Drive away this foulest of fowls! Break up
the soil of the soul and let Your Truth truly live and graciously grow
within us!
III. Our short sermon closes with the third point, which is the devil's
PURPOSE. He is a sound theologian and knows that salvation is by
believing in the Lord Jesus and, therefore, he fears above all things
lest men should "believe and be saved." The substance of the Gospel
lies in those few words, "believe and be saved," and in proportion as
Satan
hates that Gospel, we ought to prize it. He is not so much afraid of
works as of faith. If he can lead men to work, or feel, or do anything
in the place of believing, he is content. But it is believing that he
dreads, because God has coupled it with being saved.
Every hearer should know this and be instructed to turn all his
attention to the point which the devil considers to be worthy of his
whole activity. If the Destroyer labors to prevent the heart's
believing, the wise will have their wits about them and regard faith as
the one thing necessary. "Lest they should believe and be saved" Satan
takes away the Word out of their hearts. Here also is wisdom–wisdom
hidden within the enemy's cunning. If the Gospel remains in contact
with the heart, its tendency is to produce faith. The Seed abiding in
the soil springs up and brings forth fruit and so will the Gospel
display its living power if it dwells within the man and, therefore,
the devil hastens to take it away.
The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit and the devil does not like
to see it lie near the sinner for fear it should wound him. He dreads
the influence of Truth upon the conscience and if he cannot prevent a
man's hearing it, he labors to prevent his meditating upon it. "Faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God"–to obliterate that
which has been heard is the Satanic method of preventing faith. Here,
again, is a practical word for the ear of prudence–let us keep the
Gospel as much as possible near the mind of the unconverted–let us sow
and sow again, in the hope that some grain may take root.
Countrymen were known in planting certain seeds to put in "one for the
worm, and one for the crow, and then a third which would surely grow,"
and we must do the same. In the book of Jeremiah the Lord describes His
own action thus–"I spoke unto you rising up early and speaking, but
you heard not; and I called, but you answered not." Surely, if the Lord
Himself has thus continued to speak to an unanswering race, we need not
murmur if much of our preaching should appear to be in vain! There is
life in the Seed of the Gospel and it will grow if it can be put into
the soil of the heart! Let us, therefore, have faith in it and never
dream of obtaining a crop except by the old-fashioned way of sowing
good Seed. The devil evidently hates the Word–let us, then, keep to it
and sow it everywhere!
Reader or Hearer, you have often heard the Gospel–have you heard it in
vain? Then the devil has had more to do with you than you have dreamed!
Is the thought a pleasant one? The presence of the devil is defiling
and degrading and he has been hovering over you as the birds over the
high-road and lighting upon you to steal away the Word. Think of this!
You are missing, by your unbelief, fellowship with the Father and with
His Son Jesus Christ–and instead thereof you are having fellowship
with Satan!
Is not this horrible? Instead of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you as He
dwells in all Believers, the Prince of Darkness is making you his
resort, coming and going at his pleasure into your mind! You remember
Jacob's dream of a ladder and angels ascending and descending from
himself to Heaven? Your life experience may be set forth by another
ladder which descends into the dark abyss–and up and down its rungs,
foul spirits come and go to yourself! Does this startle you? The Lord
grant it may! Do you desire a change? May the Holy Spirit turn your
heart into good ground and then shall the Seed of Divine Grace grow in
you and produce faith in the Lord Jesus!
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The Dual Nature and the Duel Within