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Sermon #4116

The Wiles of the Devil

A Sermon on Ephesians 4:14

Originally preached Dec. 1, 1957

Scripture

Ephesians 4:14 ESV KJV
so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (ESV)

Sermon Description

The writers of the New Testament often warn the early church of the threat of false teachers and prophets. In this sermon on Ephesians 4:14 titled “The Wiles of the Devil,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains how these people use lies and false teachings to benefit themselves and gain control over others in the church. These false teachers have been present throughout the history of the church, and are very much active and prominent in modern days. They are crafty in their deceit and, as Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns, they often target younger believers in the faith to try to convince them of their errors and to join their movement. Because of how deceitful false teachers are, Paul often warns the church to flee from their deceit and to be built up in the true faith of Christ Jesus. Dr. Lloyd-Jones says that to truly counter false teaching, the church must emphasize both the truth of God’s word as well as the various false teachings that corrupt and twist the Bible. Preachers and ministers should not be afraid to follow the examples of the apostles to attack false teaching and expose the danger that it is to the church.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The apostle Paul warns believers against being like children who are easily misled by false teachings.
  2. There are many warnings in the Bible against false prophets and false teachings.
  3. The language used to describe false teachers and their teachings is very strong. They are compared to "wolves", "dogs", and "antichrists".
  4. False teachings are planned, organized, and subtle. They aim to deceive people and lead them into error.
  5. False teachings always detract from the glory of Jesus Christ. They elevate man or an institution over Christ.
  6. False teachings are to be hated, opposed, and exposed. It is not enough to just preach the truth. Error must also be denounced.
  7. Many today do not recognize false teachings because they are not warned about them. They have an attitude that we should just focus on the positive.
  8. The responsibility of church leaders is to warn people about false teachings, even if it is not popular. This is to protect people from being misled.

The Book of Ephesians

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.