Outward Profession Devil's Goods

I believe that the devil can give you a false peace, a false security, while you are still a part of his kingdom of darkness. I believe that the devil wants you to be as religious as you want to be, so long as your religion keeps you both his prisoner and servant. He may even open doors for you to rise up the ladder of your denomination and give you seats of influence and power, so long as you continue to do his bidding.

I believe that the devil has no problem with your walking an aisle and repeating a prayer and making a decision to become a Christian, so long as you are never changed on the inside by the Holy Spirit and delivered from the kingdom of darkness. I will even make this startling statement, friends, and I believe it's true. The devil is all for your outward profession of faith, and he will assist you in an outward reformation that will make you more acceptable to the other members of that church.

The devil is all for outward reformation, so long as he remains in control of your life and has a solid grip on your soul for all eternity. I have known many men within the church who outwardly reformed their lives somewhat, so as to be more acceptable to their religious body that met on Sunday mornings. I'm thinking of a man now who made an outward profession of faith and decided for Jesus, and he cleaned up some things in his life to back up the decision he just made.

First he built a bonfire and put all his wicked rock music albums on it and burned them in front of all his neighbors, and he quit smoking publicly and quit swearing publicly and quit drinking publicly. Oh, he still smoked and cussed and drank. He just didn't do it in front of any church folk anymore, for this man had merely reformed himself somewhat on the outside to look more like a Christian, but in the inside he was an unchanged man who still lived like the devil.

This man rose up the ranks of his church into leadership positions through years of service, and then he committed adultery with a woman and wrecked his marriage and ruined his good Christian testimony, and after that he went from woman to woman in a pursuit of lust that he continues to this day in a totally unrepentant state. This man confused reformation with repentance, and he confused making the decision for Jesus with regeneration, and although he had an outward profession of faith, and he made it public by walking an aisle and joining the church, he was never transformed on the inside by God's spirit and never delivered from Satan's kingdom and power. Do you know anybody like that, friend? Do you? The title of my message today is Outward Profession, Devil's Goods, because those individuals who merely reformed themselves somewhat but experienced no inward change brought by the Holy Spirit are still the devil's goods, even though they serve in their church in some capacity and look good on the inside on the outside to others, yet inside they are rotten dead man's bones, dead in their sins, and a slave to the devil.

My text can be found in the Gospel of Luke and chapter 11, beginning in verse 21. You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends, and it is my prayer that God's spirit will bring conviction and deliverance today. Here now is the word of God.

When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. Let me pause here, friends. Do you know that the devil can give someone a false peace? Remember years ago I watched an interview with an old rock and roll singer who lived a wicked and profligate life, but as he sat for that interview he was a man entirely at peace within himself.

Why, I never saw a man more at ease and relaxed in my life. He had the devil's peace and he was the devil's goods. Do you know that the devil will fight to keep his goods? He will do all he can to give you as much religion as you want, so long as his kingdom is not spoiled and you are not taken out of his kingdom and his possession.

He will even let you serve in your church for years. He might even make you the chairman of the deacons and give you a good reputation within that church, so long as when he crooks his dirty finger at you, you follow him as a slave to your sins and as a pig to his wallow, you remain in bondage to him. The devil ultimately wants to ruin you and drag you to hell with him and his demons.

He will keep his goods in peace, our text says. Look at the next verse. But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor, wherein he trusted and divided his spoils.

Listen friends, Christ on the cross spoiled the principalities of Satan and routed them, making a public show of them in their defeat. When Christ saves a man by his spirit and washes him by his blood, that man is taken with force from Satan's kingdom as a spoil and placed in God's kingdom in a victory. Satan is a defeated foe who knows his time is short and he will do everything within his power to keep a person his slave and subject, no matter how much outward religion they have.

Now look at verses 24 through 26 friends. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and finding none. He saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished, then goeth he and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. I have known persons who with their lips boasted about how much they loved Jesus, but they ruined and wrecked their families and loved ones through wickedness and sin, and they died in their sins as a captive of the devil, for they were his goods till the end of their deceived life. Listen to me friends, and listen to me closely.

An unsanctified heart is the devil's palace, and he keeps his goods in peace. An outward profession of faith, with no inward work of the Holy Spirit, through regeneration and the new birth, is what is ruining this nation today. By showing the world that Christianity has no power over sin, and merely walking an aisle in response to a watered-down gospel invitation, and making a decision for Christ without ever experiencing an inward change by his Spirit, we'll fill churches across this land with false professors, who say with their lips they know Jesus, but of whom Christ will say at the judgment to them, depart from me, I never knew you.

I think, friends, you will agree with the following comments from Matthew Henry in this passage of scripture. The famous Puritan Bible commentator, who describes the difference between reformation and repentance, and an outward profession over regeneration, listen to his words. The house is swept, but it is not washed.

Sweeping takes off only the loose dirt, while the sin is untouched. The house is swept from the filth that lies open to the eyes of the world, but it is not searched for secret filthiness. The house is not furnished with any true grace, but garnished with pictures of all graces.

It is all paint and varnish, not real, not lasting. The house is garnished, but the property is not altered. It was never surrendered to Christ, nor inhabited by the Spirit.

Now, friends, I hope those words of Matthew Henry ring in the ears of the unconverted church member, who made an outward profession of faith, and who looks good on the outside, but in reality is nothing more than paint and varnish. For there's been no inward change, for that person still is chained to their sins, and they are the devil's goods, and will die that way unless the Christ of the cross spoils that palace, and the rebels throw down their shotgun on a rebellion, and submit to a sovereign Lord through genuine repentance toward God, and faith in Jesus Christ that transfers them from the kingdom of darkness, and brings them into the kingdom of light and life. Let me ask you, friend, now that you have heard this searching sermon, are you ready to ask God to search your heart? Is your profession just merely paint and varnish? If it is, I pray God's mercy upon your devil-possessed soul, and that by God's grace you will turn from your sins in true biblical repentance toward God, and cast yourself entirely on him, and that you are awake until you are lost and ruined condition, and that you will see your peril and great danger outside of Christ by a false profession of faith, and that you will find Christ savingly, that you will come to Christ, who is the only refuge from God's wrath for sin, and the only true peace from a saving knowledge of Christ within.

Listen, friends, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. I am the bread of life.

He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Let us pray.