This sermon emphasizes how skillful the devil is in deceiving people to exchange their eternal inheritance for temporary desires, leading them to waste their lives and lose their souls. It highlights the tragic consequences of being tricked out of one's soul and the importance of staying devoted to Christ amidst spiritual battles and deceptions.

The devil is so skillful, he gets men to exchange their eternal inheritance for their appetite like Esau, and make a god out of their belly. So skillful that he is able to get men to waste their lives, and lose their souls. To get men to live like pigs, with an eye fixed on dirt rather than on heaven. It's one thing to be tricked out of some money, but how about being tricked out of your soul? It's incredible. The god of this world is able to do that. When I was saved, it was one month before college graduation. The last two years of my college, I was living in a fraternity. And so I was saved about a month before I graduated. About a half a year after I graduated, I went back to that old fraternity to look up some friends, and share the gospel with them. And my old roommate came in, and I said, Wayne, let's talk about the gospel. And he laughed and he said, I don't need that such and such. And it was about a half a year later, I got news that Wayne had committed suicide. His girlfriend left him, she didn't want to be a wife of a pig farmer, and he went and got his shotgun and put it to the roof of his mouth. That man, he needed the Lord, he needed the gospel of the glory of Christ, and didn't know it. But we know that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness. And so it should not astonish us that the gospel is rarely preached clearly at a funeral. That reality is rarely presented at a funeral. It shouldn't surprise us. My own parents saw both of their sons converted, and yet died apparently without Christ. It shouldn't surprise us that most people are going to topple off of a church pew and fall into hell, with a Bible in their hand and a prayer in their lips. It shouldn't surprise us that so many are around, fervent, real Christians, and yet they can't find the door, like the men of Sodom. Or like Judas, he kissed the door and still didn't enter in. It shouldn't surprise us that men are ever learning, reading good books on theology, and yet still not able to come to the knowledge of the truth. It shouldn't surprise us that it wouldn't make a bit of difference if they found Noah's Ark. There wouldn't be one more believer then than there is now. No one rose from the dead, yet they will not believe, because the God of this world has got them blinded, spiritually. And so here we are tonight hearing these things, and we ought to think of the words of the Lord Jesus, Strive to enter in at the narrow gate, for narrow is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and what few are those who find it. Wide is the gate, wide is the way that leads to destruction, and many, many, many are those who enter thereat. I used to think that the Lord was there contrasting Christians with the world. When you look more closely at the context, and the Lord is not doing that, but rather is contrasting true Christianity with false Christianity. Few are those who find it. Paul knew these things. In view of that, he had a fear. You know, the mighty apostle, he had a fear. How about that? He writes to these same Corinthians about seven chapters later, 11 verse 2, and says, I fear for you, lest, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the purity and simplicity of devotion to Christ. And all of the struggles that you face, and all of the spiritual battles that you face, really it boils down to this one thing, the devil is trying so subtly, or maybe boldly sometimes, to get you away from the purity and simplicity, this simple devotion to Christ, all the way to the end.