When Hellish Hosts Revile — E.A. Johnston

Dark Spiritual Opposition in Society

We live in a day, friends, when dark evil permeates society on every level, where the very spirit of Antichrist is in the land. I have never witnessed a time in my life where atheists are so prevalent, so bold and so brazen.

I see more and more vehicles with bumper stickers announcing that the driver of the car is either an atheist or a witch. I saw a car recently with a bumper sticker that read, Proud to be a Pagan. Hollywood entertainment promotes an anti-God society, and many of our young people today do not believe in the God of the Bible.

And we live in a day when hellish hosts revile against the church and the people of God. And it seems at times that Satan and his hellish hosts are gaining ground as the world in which we live in grows more violent and more perverted each and every day.

Joshua the High Priest and Satan’s Opposition

There is a portion of Scripture which speaks of this very thing. Turn in your Bibles, friends, to the Book of Zechariah and the Minor Prophets. By the way, friends, there is nothing minor about these prophets.

They are all mighty men. Only their books contain fewer chapters than the major prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. That's why they are called minor. Turn, if you will, to Zechariah chapter 3, and we will be in verse 1.

Let me read this to us at this time. And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. Here is a picture, friend, of our battle at this hour, as the people of God do all they can to serve God and advance his kingdom on earth.

The evil one, Satan, is nearby, resisting with all his might and power. His hellish hosts revile against us. And that's the tale of my message this evening. When hellish hosts revile, the apostle Paul speaks of this battle in Ephesians 6 .12.

For 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. And here in the book of Zechariah in verse 1 and chapter 3, we see Joshua the high priest as he executes his office in representing the people of God and as he ministers to God.

And as Joshua is serving God in his office as priest, there is Satan standing nearby to oppose him. Our text states that Satan was so close to him as to be standing at his right hand to resist him. How many minions of Satan are members of churches today to wreak havoc and cause division within the church, to thwart the advancement of the gospel and the salvation of souls?

Our text states that the purpose of Satan is he stood to resist him, that is to stand in opposition to the service Joshua was doing for God and the good of the people. The right hand signifies action, for it is the right hand which does most of the work.

So here stands Satan at the priest's right hand to thwart him, to discourage him in his work, to aggravate and distract him, to disappoint him and to raise difficulties to slow him down. And when we friends are actively employed in the Great Commission, in the furtherance of preaching the gospel, in our duties in prayer and intercession, you can be assured that Satan will oppose us as well.

He will do all he can to frustrate our plans as we serve our God. We will meet with all the resistance of the enemy, and his hellish host is a revile against us, Satan's two biggest weapons. Against the gospel minister is discouragement and disappointment.

If he can get you discouraged, if he can get you disappointed, then he has gained some ground as your adversary. Actually, the force of our text in Zechariah declares when it says to resist him, that signifies a violent resistance, a picture of all forces of hell coming against the priest of the Lord.

Revival Ministry Under Spiritual Attack

I was called to the Lord to be a preacher of the gospel. I have a call of God on my life and I know it. God has given me an interest to study the history of revivals and spiritual awakenings. And for the last several decades, I have spent my life reading all I can on these subjects, and traveling to all the various scenes revival in this country and in Great Britain.

God has enabled me to write and publish many books on the subject of revival. He's given me a burden of prayer to see revival in my day. God has given me close friends who were experts on revival. Just the other night, I was standing in a church with Ted Randall on one side of me, and Richard Owen Roberts on the other, and we were discussing the subject of revival.

Here I was, standing with two men who are very titans when it comes to the subject of revival. Their combined knowledge of revival and spiritual awakening is unequaled. God has given me a revival ministry.

And I can say this, friends, and I can say it with all conviction, Satan hates a revival ministry. He hates it. He will come against it with everything he can. For the last thing the devil wants is a revived church.

Christ Rebukes Satan and Secures Victory

He will do all he can to oppose revival. So we see Joshua, the priest of the Lord, as he ministers unto the Lord, and Satan is nearby at his right hand to resist him. But notice also, friends, who Joshua was standing with.

Our text declares that Joshua was standing before the angel of the Lord. This, of course, is none other than Christ, the Lord of the angels. Look at verse 2. And the Lord said unto Satan, that is, the Lord Christ, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan.

Even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a bran plucked out of the fire? So we see, friends, that Jesus Christ is here nearby Joshua as well. This should give each of us a great comfort to know that although Satan is near, ready to resist us, so also is one stronger than the evil one nearby.

For greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Although the accuser of the brethren stands nearby to thwart us and accuse us and disappoint us, so also is the Lord a host nearby to win the victory for us.

He's already accomplished that victory at Calvary's cross, friends, whereby we read in Colossians chapter 2, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. That's the work Christ did on that bloody cross in our redemption. He spoiled Satan that day, friend, made an open show of him and his hellish hosts.

And here in our text in Zechariah, our Lord Jesus Christ rebukes the devourer. For we read in verse 2,. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee. As Christians who follow a crucified Savior, we can expect to meet all the resistance of the enemy of our souls, but we must never forget the nearness of our Christ, the Lord of glory, who has all power and authority in his hands to destroy the works of the devil.

Although Satan is malicious in his attacks against us, the Lord Jesus Christ is with us, as the power of God is engaged in our welfare and our protection, making the grace of Christ effectual on our behalf.

The Lord rebuke thee. The Lord rebuke thee. The Lord rebuke thee. In other words, go on to hell, Satan, where you belong. Our comfort is that when Satan appears to be gaining ground in our nation, gaining ground in the church, and gaining ground even in perhaps our own ministry, Christ is standing by to rebuke the devil and protect his own, and to win the battle against the forces of darkness in this world.

God’s Sovereignty and the Church’s Perseverance

It may only appear, friends, that Satan is in control of a society that is spinning out of control, but God is a sovereign king, and he is the one who is in control, not Satan. The Lord rebuke thee. Listen, friends, the days are dark indeed.

Society is a moral cesspool. The church has fallen into a sad spiritual declension. But we must remember, no matter how dark things get before our Lord's return, the work of God will progress in the world, and Satan can't stop it.

In Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18, we see this very thing. We have the words of Christ as he states,. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

And there are two promises here in this verse, friends. Number one, Christ will build his church. Number two, Satan and all his hellish hosts shall not prevail against it. We must be watchful of our enemy, who goes about like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour.

We must be wise to his devices, but we must continue in our work in spreading the gospel in our generation, and lean upon our Savior when the battle gets rough. Remember our passage from Zechariah? The Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee.

Resisting Temptation Through Christ’s Authority

I like the illustration of the believer sitting in his home, but he's starting to be tempted by the devil. There's a knock on the door, and he slowly goes over to the door, and opens it just a little, and in comes a foot and a hoof, and Satan comes in, and the devil goes about to tear up this man's house.

A few weeks later, there's another little temptation of a knock on the door, and he opens the door just a little bit, and again, the door's pushed open. Satan rushes in and wrecks havoc all about. Then a month later, again, the temptation comes.

There's a little knock on his door, and instead of going to the door to answer it, the believer sends Jesus to answer the door. And that is the end of the temptation. I like that story, friends. The Lord rebuke thee.

And I like the poem written by Evan Roberts of the Welsh Revival. In fact, it was his last poem. And in that poem is a verse he wrote which states,. Though hellish hoes revile forever, I'll lay myself on Christ my Savior.

And that's what we must do, friends. When hellish hoes revile against us, we too must lay ourselves on Christ our Savior, and turn it over to His authority and power. Let us go now to a time of prayer.