• "Faith is Difficult to Maintain Because There is An Enemy"
• Sermon for Sexagesima, the Second Sunday before Lent
• February 15, 2004
• The Reverend Stephen C. Scarlett

The Parable of the Sower and the Seed (the gospel, Luke 8:4.) teaches us that it is difficult to maintain faith because there is an enemy and there are obstacles within and without.

The enemy is the devil. "Those by the way-side are they that hear [the word of God]; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved." Why is it a struggle simply to believe God, to take him at his word? Why are we sometimes overwhelmed with the feeling that we cannot endure the life of faith and obedience? What is the source of doubt, fear and despair? The answer is that there is an evil one, whom we cannot see, who uses every possible angle to discourage belief.

Ephesians says, "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" (6:11).

1 Peter says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (5:8-1 KJV).

We combat demonic opposition through prayer. The devil is stronger than we are, but Jesus is stronger than the devil. Jesus taught us to pray, "Deliver us from evil." Literally, this means, "Deliver us from the evil one." The doubt, fear and despair that come from the devil are overcome, not by will power or positive thinking, but by the grace of God that comes into our lives through habitual prayer.

The parable speaks of internal obstacle, which is a hardened heart. "They on the rock are they, which when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away."

Our hearts are attached to things in this fallen world. Our natural affections (what the New Testament calls "the flesh") compete with the word for our devotion and allegiance. Sometimes people begin to believe; faith is introduced into their hearts. But the contrary desires are not removed through repentance. The result is a hardened heart in which the word of God cannot take root.

Psalm 95 says, "Today if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation." This refers to the experience of Israel after the Exodus. Israel heard the word of God and began to believe but the nation was unfaithful in the wilderness because contrary natural desires overcame faith.

In the life of faith there is an inevitable wilderness time when God tests us to see whether his word or our natural desires will win the battle for our hearts. We need to pray that Jesus will put these contrary natural desires to death and redirect our hearts towards him. The question, ultimately, is, Do we really want to do what God wants? For while we lament the struggles caused by the desires of the flesh, we are often reluctant to give them up. As St. Augustine famously prayed, "Lord make me chaste, but not yet."

We need to continue to pray through the times when natural desires threaten to overcome us, for sometimes the struggle takes place over a long season. The death of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit are only accomplished, as the parable says, with patience.

The parable speaks of an external obstacle, which is roughly akin to what the Bible calls "the world." "That which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection."

Cares are anxieties and worries. When we are overwhelmed with temporal concerns and urgencies we have no place in our life for the word of God and the concerns of eternity. Worry is the opposite of faith. We combat worry by prayer which teaches us to trust God. As Philippians says, "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made know to God, and the peace of God...will guard your hearts" (4:6-7).

The temptation of riches is the temptation to love money. 1 Timothy says, "They that desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful desires, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil" (6:9-10). We avoid the love of money by learning to give; by tithing, by being generous to those in need and by learning to be content with what we have.

Pleasures are enjoyments, which may be good in and of themselves but, which come to loom too large in our lives and compete with God for our affection. This is one focus of the coming lenten fast. We fast, we do without things, to learn not to be controlled by them. For we are only free to enjoy those things that we are also free to do without.

The parable teaches us that growth in faith necessarily involves a struggle. Genuine faith is revealed by the fact that it perseveres through temptations and tests. "That on the good soil are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience."

Patience means perseverance. Perseverance is the quality that distinguishes genuine faith from pseudo-faith. Pseudo or false faith look just like real faith when things are going well. But false faith, like a false friend, vanishes when life becomes more difficult.

Our faith is tested to see if it is real. This is why God put a forbidden tree in the garden. This is why God led Israel and Jesus into the wilderness to be tested. This why God does not destroy the world, the flesh and the devil in a moment. For these enemies serve his purpose. They are the obstacles through which genuine faith is revealed.

As James says, "Count it all joy brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience And let patience have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (1:2-4).