SATANIC HINDRANCES

Some of this message comes from a sermon “Satanic Hindrances” by Dr. Hymers. Some comes from commentaries and some comes from me.

“Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us” (I Thessalonians 2:18; p. 1268 Scofield).

The Apostle Paul wanted to come to the Thessalonians, over and over again. But he couldn’t. Something blocked him. He said, “Satan hindered us.” The Greek word translated “hindered” is a form of the word egkopto. It means to dig a ditch, or set up a wall, in order to block someone.

Paul believed in the existence of a powerful evil personal being called Satan. The word “Satan” means “adversary” or “enemy.” Yes, there is a Devil and that is him. We live in a battlefield between good and evil, between God and Satan.

Satan does not appear in a red costume. He works through circumstances and people which he controls. We don’t know quite what the Devil did to Paul, but he did something.

In Athens Satan stirred up philosophers to argue with Paul. In Berea Satan stirred up the Jews to raise a tumult, a riot, against Paul. Many times, Satan stirred up Jewish or Roman opposition to stand in the way of Paul.

It may be physical or medical. The Bible tells us that Paul had something with his eyes. And Paul had what he called a “thorn in the flesh.” He said,

“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (II Corinthians 12:7).

This thorn came from Satan. We don’t exactly know what it was. It was something wrong with his body, that caused him pain. God allowed Satan to do this. Paul prayed to God to take away this thorn, but God said no.

“For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (II Corinthians 12:8-9).

Satan has tried to hinder the work of God throughout history. Look at what Satan did to Job. Satan did terrible things to Job. He tried to get Job to “curse” God (Job 1:11). Satan moved the Sabeans to kill all of Job’s children. Satan killed Job’s sheep, cattle and servants. Then Satan “smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown” (Job 2:7). And Satan moved Job’s wife to say to him, “curse God, and die” (Job 2:9). But Job remained faithful to God. Spurgeon said, “The trial through which Job passed, brought the lustre of his matchless endurance in submission and resignation to God.”

Satan moved Joseph’s brothers to sell him as a slave to the Egyptians to hinder him from doing what God wanted him to do. Satan moved Judas to betray Christ, “Then entered Satan into Judas” (Luke 22:3). And the Apostle Peter said to us Christians,

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (I Peter 5:8-9).

Take that seriously! The Devil is out there, and he will eat you up if he can.

Is it any different today? Of course not! Satan attempts to hinder Christians today, just as he did then! We must rise up as soldiers of Christ, and beat back the Devil by prayer and consecration!

Satan uses many ways to hinder Christians. He wants to hinder you from being all you could be as a Christian. In Romans 15:22, the Apostle Paul said to the Christians in Rome, “I have been much hindered from coming to you.” That is the same Greek word used in our text, “Satan hindered us” (I Thessalonians 2:18).

Now if Satan hindered the Apostle Paul from doing God’s work at Thessalonica and Rome, don’t you think he will also try to stop you from doing the Lord’s work? Of course he will!

Satan will attempt to hinder you from praying earnestly. When you are praying earnestly, Satan often puts a thought in your mind, tempting you to think it is no use to continue praying. Satan often makes us think our prayers are useless. Or he will put some other thought in your head to distract you from praying. Get back to business and pray!

Then, also, Satan will attempt to hinder you in winning souls. He will tempt you to think that there is no use, that no one will come in and be saved. He will hinder your soul winning efforts by putting doubts in your mind. He will attempt to hinder your efforts to win souls by reminding you of others you tried to win who fell away from the church. He will say to you, “See how you failed to win that soul? It will always be that way. You will always fail.” Those are Satanic thoughts, put into your mind by the Devil himself! Satan works very hard to hinder your prayers. And he does his best to hinder your soul winning efforts.

Satan will try to get you out of church. If you are new, he may try to stop you from coming in. If you have been here for a long time, he will try to get you to leave. He may say something is wrong here. He may find fault with the preacher. Or he may say, “It’s time to move on.” “It’s much easier somewhere else. You’ve earned it.” Don’t listen to the Devil!

Satan will use and stir up the difficulties we face in life. If you are grown up, you know how very hard it is to get anything done. Sometimes you have to go at it three or four times when it should take only one. Murphy’s Law says, “If anything can go wrong, it will.” I believe in Murphy’s Law. In fact, I believe in Murphy’s Law School.

Sometimes your troubles are just part of life. Sometimes the Devil gets in there. Keep on keeping on.

Satan plays on your emotions. (That’s why you shouldn’t trust them.) Satan can get you depressed or make your depression worse. Christian, always keep in mind that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places [demons]. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:12-13). Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “The devil...tries to depress us” (Spiritual Depression, Eerdmans, 1999 reprint, p. 108).

All of us go through periods of depression. But those who remain stedfast are the ones who don’t quit. Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. said, “The test of a man’s character is what it takes to stop him.” Let us press on in the work of God no matter how much Satan tries to hinder us! Let us say with the Apostle Paul,

“But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Also, Satan uses many ways to hinder the lost. If you are still lost, don’t you think Satan will do all he can to stop you from being saved?

Satan can move people to talk bad about you, to give you a hard time, and to threaten you. This can come from friends, or even your family.

Satan can set up obstacles in your life, such as time conflicts, or a life plan that you have for yourself. “Satan hindered us.”

Satan can even hinder you when you are in church! First, “the devil...taketh away the word out of [your] hearts, lest [you] should believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12). We preach the word of God to you. Do you listen carefully to the preaching? Do you think about it when you go home? I think many of you do not. Thus you allow the Devil to “[take] away the word that was sown in [your heart],” Mark 4:15. I am convinced that many of you have been hindered from being saved because you do not listen intently to the preaching, as though your whole life depended on it.

The Devil tells you, “You don’t need to listen carefully to the preaching. You can always come back another time.” Ah, what a Satanic trick! No wonder you are not yet converted! The Bible says that you are saved by hearing the Gospel! The Bible says,

“How shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14).

“So then faith cometh by hearing” (Romans 10:17).

Nearly everyone who is saved in our church was saved directly after hearing a sermon. I said, “directly after” – not days or weeks afterwards. Oh, no! That gives Satan far too much time to take the word out of your heart, and hinder you from being saved.

There is a Devil. Satan wants to keep you for himself. You must see your horrible condition. You must feel the weight of your sin. You must flee to Christ, for He is the only one with Blood to cleanse you from sin and present you clean and righteous to a holy God. Come to Jesus. Come to Him! Resist the Devil and come to Christ! Amen.