And now we are going to continue with our studies in connection with reasons why Christ came to this earth. In a previous study, we related His coming to this earth in connection with doing the will of the Father based on John chapter six, verse thirty eight. Now today we want to deal with the second reason why Christ came to this earth. I want to read now from the first epistle of John chapter three and verse eight. First John chapter three verse eight. He that commiteth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Now, in connection with that particular verse, I want to connect a verse in the epistle to the Hebrews, chapter two, verse fourteen. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. Now, connecting these two with a third one, I want to read to you a familiar verse from the book of Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. I am sure the Lord will bless the reading of the Scriptures. Let us bow for prayer. Our Father, again we bow our hearts in thy holy presence. We thank thee for the Scriptures that tell us concerning thy beloved Son and the reasons why he came down to this earth. We pray now by thy Holy Spirit. impress these truths upon us, teach us the lessons thou wouldst have us to know, and grant, O God, that we shall be willing to submit our hearts and our wills to what thy word teaches. Hear us in these things for the Lord Jesus' sake. Amen. Now, according to the verse that we read from First John, chapter three and verse eight, The reason given there why the Son of God was manifested was this, so that he might destroy the works of the devil. Now I took you back, of course, to Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen, where we have the very first seed planted in the prophetic utterances concerning the coming Redeemer. as you have been presented as the seed of the woman, we see him there as the coming one. But then as you read that verse, it is obvious there will be a conflict, a conflict between the two seeds, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. There will be conflict between the woman and the serpent, and this conflict would go on. Many years ago, a dear old man of God, an outstanding preacher, an outstanding writer, wrote a whole volume and entitled it The Conflict of the Ages, basing his whole argument on Genesis chapter three, verse fifteen, tracing through the development of that conflict right up to the present time and going beyond what we're facing now, taking us right to the very end. For that conflict is seen throughout the whole of the Bible. the conflict between good and evil, the conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. But there is one other thing in that verse, and it's this. The verse tells us there will be a conquest, that the seed of the woman would win the day, that the head of the serpent would be crushed. So therefore, while it is inaugurated there, with that prophetic utterance, remember this, the battle went on right from the day that Adam and Eve fell the victims to the onslaught of the enemy in the Garden of Eden, and then when Christ came, he was manifested as the seed of the woman, who was also the son of the virgin. He was manifested in order to destroy the works of the devil. I also read to you that little verse from the Epistle to the Hebrews chapter two. And it's very interesting there what we read. For it says, That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all the lifetimes subject to bondage. See, first of all, he had to destroy him with the power of death. before he could deliver those who were held in Satan's bondage. And so that all ties up to the verse where we started. Here is one of the reasons why the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth. He came in order to be the seed of the woman, the son of the virgin. He was manifested as the son of God. And he was manifested in order to destroy the works of the devil. Now a question may rise in some minds. What is considered the works of the devil? You know, some folks say the devil's dead. Some folks say he's gone. But honest folks would like to know who carries his business on. And it should be obvious to every person who is observant that the devil's business is still being carried on. Now, the Bible doesn't leave us in any doubt whatsoever as to what the devil's business is. May I suggest at least four things in which the devil is very busy. And remember, the Lord Jesus Christ was manifested in order to destroy the work of the devil. When I turn back to the Gospel according to Luke and chapter thirteen, here is what I read. The Lord then answered him and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath lose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, these eighteen years be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day. See, that whole thing revolves around an incident where a woman who had been suffering from a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years and was bound together and could in no wise lift herself up. She couldn't go straight. Here was a woman, and the Lord says concerning her that Satan has bound her. Bound by Satan for eighteen years. Now remember, the Son of God was manifested in order to destroy the works of the devil. Now here it's very plain then. One of the works of the devil is to bind people. And here is a woman, he said, whom Satan had bound those eighteen years. Listen, my friend. Have you ever seen people today who are bound by Satan? Is it possible that I'm reaching into a home tonight, or I'm reaching someone's heart tonight, and you yourself, you're the victim of of Satan's power. You've been bound, bound for many years. This woman in the story was bound for eighteen years, but remember the Son of God was manifested in order to destroy the works of the devil. Here was one of the works of the devil, to bind people. Now I have seen a lot of people who have been bound, bound by the galling fetters of sin. The devil just puts one little strand round them to begin with. And then he gets a second one round. And then a third one. And before long, men and women realize that they are bound by sin's galling fetters. The devil knows exactly how to draw people. Have you ever watched the spider as it weaves its web? Why, that web is a beautiful thing. And you know the little poem says, the spider looks at the fly and says, coming to my pretty parlor, said the spider to the fly. It's the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy. And you know, after all said and done, that's exactly how the devil has worked with men and women. He sets up all his attractions. And sin can become a very, very attractive thing. It's attractive to the senses. It's attractive to the lusts of the flesh. And the devil knows how to draw people in. But once he has them in, just the same as the spider can rush out. When that little fly goes and touches the spider's web, it sticks to it. It's unable to get away from it. The spider runs out and puts its cords around that fly. It's had it. it's been caught in the web. The devil knows how to spin the web of sin, and he spins it in such a way that he makes it attractive. Oh, he can make it attractive to the young person, and he can make it attractive to the elderly. He makes sin a very attractive thing, and people go and they touch it, or they think they'll like it. And then they discover they're bound and the devil knows how to bind them and they're living defeated lives. This woman, you see, couldn't go straight. She was bound and she was bent because the devil had her and had mastered her. Maybe my message tonight is getting into someone and you've been mastered. The devil has got you in his grip. He has bound you. He has held you for a long number of years. Remember, my friend, here's one of the reasons why the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth. According to John, first John, chapter three and verse eight, and that's the verse I started with. The Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. When he saw men and women bound by sin, he came down to give them deliverance. And that's what he says regarding this particular woman. And he throws out the challenge to those who were criticizing him. He said, Lo, these eighteen years she's been bound. Should she not be loosed from a bond? And they were criticizing him because he loosed this woman on the Sabbath day. They would rather have seen her bound. Oh, my friend, listen. The devil wants to keep you bound. Christ wants to give you perfect liberty. He wants to break those galling bonds of sin. So you'll be able to sing, My chains are snapped. The bonds of sin are broken and I am free. Oh, let the triumph of his grace be spoken, who died. for me. But you know, there's something else the devil does. And we find that from Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians and chapter four. Verse three says, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. in whom the God of this world had blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. See, the expression used here concerning the devil is, he's called, the God of this age. Have you ever thought of it, that this old world that wouldn't receive Jesus Christ when he came, this world that has turned its back upon God and upon God's principles and rejected God's Son and put him on a cross? Why, this world has turned into the darkness of sin and the devil has blinded their minds. You know, you've always seen people showing sympathy for those who have lost their sight. Everybody has sympathy for blind people. I know they have. My friend, there's something worse than physical blindness. It's the blindness of the mind. It's spiritual darkness. Some people haven't got their physical sight, but I tell you this, they've got their spiritual sight. There's one dear man who preaches on the radio. And he preaches his message in order to reach blind people. And he knows the Lord. He's got spiritual wisdom. He's got spiritual sight. But he may not have his physical sight. We have seen men in this very town who left behind them a good testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ. But they didn't have their physical sight. But thank God they had their spiritual sight. But you know, the devil's business is to blind the mind. It's an awful blindness when the mind is blinded. And the God of this world, that's the devil, has blinded the minds of them which believe not. Isn't it a tragedy to find people who have been well educated and have a knowledge of the sciences and occupy perhaps good jobs, but nevertheless in spite of the positions they occupy and in spite of the knowledge they have? In spite of the letters they may have behind their name, their minds are blinded when it comes to the things of God. Oh, what a tragedy to try to speak to someone about the things of God. And the only answer you get is, I don't see it that way. I can't see it. Of course they can't see it. A blind man cannot see anything. It's out of touch. He cannot understand it. He's got to be able to touch with his fingers to know what it is. He cannot see it. He cannot see the color in a rose. He cannot see the blue sky above. He cannot see the green grass. See, everything is black to him. But, oh, my friend, when your mind is darkened, when the devil has blinded your mind, he does it. in order to keep the light of the glorious gospel of Christ from shining in. He knows that if the gospel light gets through to you and you see the light of his glorious message, you'll get saved. He doesn't want you to be saved, so he blinds your mind. But the Lord Jesus Christ came in order to destroy the works of the devil. And he said, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness. So one of the reasons why he came to this act was to destroy the works of the devil. Therefore, to give sight instead of blindness, to give light instead of darkness. And that light comes through the blessed light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ when it shines into the darkened mind. Then the darkness is dispelled. Light floods the mind and floods the heart. And now they can see the glory of the great Savior. Oh, he came to destroy the works of the devil. But you know, there's something else I learned. The Apostle Paul said this in writing his second letter to the Corinthians in chapter eleven. He said, But I fear... less by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Now notice what he's saying here. He's writing this to Christians, Christians living in the city of Corinth. But he tells them this. He has a dread of them, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So he throws their mind away back again into the book of Genesis chapter three. And he's showing us right there in chapter three that the reason why Eve sinned, the reason why Adam and Eve fell, was because that they were beguiled. You see, the devil threw doubt on the word of God, and he got Eve interested. He got her to set her eye on that which was forbidden. It wasn't simply a casual look. She got her eye fixed on it, and she kept on looking. That's the sense of the passage. And he got her to keep on looking, and as she kept on looking at that which was forbidden, then there came the desire for it. He cast doubt on the word of God. He said, Has God said? And then he denied the word of God. He says, ye shall not surely die. God says, ye shall surely die. And then he distorted the word of God. He said, don't you know, you'll be as God's knowing good and evil. A little bit of truth with an awful lot of error. And so he beguiled Eve, thinking that if she obeyed him, she'd be better off. But instead of that, he beguiled her, and she fell into the transgression. Now, says the Apostle, writing to the Corinthian Christians, I'm a little bit afraid of you, he said, lest perhaps the serpent who beguiled Eve through his sadder day, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. He wanted them simply to stand by those simple things pertaining to the person of Christ and pertaining to the work of Christ. But he said it's possible that in the city where you live, with all its philosophies and with all its orators, that somehow or another the devil is reaching your hearts, and just as he beguiled Eve in the beginning, So perhaps with his subtle ways he'll beguile you, and he'll get you to turn away from the simplicity of the things of the Gospel, from the simplicity of the things that are in Christ, and also he'll get you to turn into the way of rebellion. And then, therefore, we come to another thing here. We've learned now that the devil binds. and he blinds and he beguiles people. But over against that the Lord Jesus Christ is the truth. And where we stand by the simplicity of the truth in Christ Jesus, then the old devil will never be able to beguile us. Walk in the light as he is the light. And you'll never walk in the darkness of the devil. There's another thing he does. In second Corinthians chapter twelve, I find the apostle here talking of certain things that happened to him. And he said, Unless I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. Then the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. It's that expression, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. See, the devil can come along and he can buffet people. That's one of his works. And he comes along at a time when things are not going easy for you. Paul, you see, had a thorn in the flesh. He was suffering from some kind of ailment, whatever it may be, and I'm glad the Bible hasn't told us what it is, because some people would pride themselves if they were suffering in the same way, and they would say, I've got a thorn in the flesh, the same as Paul's. I'm glad the Bible doesn't tell us what it is. But at any rate, there's a thorn in the flesh. And because he had that thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan comes and buffets him. My friend, how often have you been buffeted when things have been going against you? When you've been suffering in some unusual way, something has come into your life. Something has upset you. It's almost too heavy for you to bear. And like Paul, you've been on your knees. You've been crying to God. to help you in this. And while you've been passing through your time of affliction, while you've been passing through, as it were, the valley of the shadows, the old devil, the enemy, comes along and he buffets you, and buffets you, and he says, where's your God now? Where's your Savior now? Where is your salvation? Where is your Christianity? And so on. And he buffets you with every kind of temptation. And that's what the Apostle said here. The messenger of Satan to buffet me. And Satan knows how to buffet God's children. And he knows how to buffet men and women. Now listen, my friend. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was manifested in order to destroy the works of the devil. The devil comes along and he binds people. The Lord says, loose them, let them go. And he has loosed many a man and many a woman from the bondage of sin and Satan. Satan comes along and one of his works is to blind the mind, to fog the mind. But the Lord Jesus comes along and he says, I am the light of the world, and his light shines in and dispels the darkness of unbelief. The devil comes along with his sutterties and he beguiles people. The Lord Jesus Christ comes along and says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me. Follow me. The devil comes along and he buffets people. Ah, but the Lord Jesus Christ has an answer for that. And his answer is, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Oh, my friend, he is one of the reasons why the Son of God came to this earth. He came to destroy the works of the devil. If you know the Lord, you're on the winning side. You're more than a conqueror.