Devil Holds Four Aces on You — E.A. Johnston

The Four False Aces of Spiritual Deception

I was watching a TV interview years ago with a rock and roll legend when he was an old man and he had a perfect piece about him. He was as calm as a clam and as secure as a shrimp in his hole. He'd been a hellraiser all his life.

Scandal was always associated with him. He lived like the devil, but he had a perfect piece that day, which amazed me. He had a piece even though the devil held four aces on his soul. And that's the title of my message today, friends, when the devil holds four aces on your soul.

It's a message the devil doesn't want you to hear, friends, so you better pay attention. Get the wax out of your ears because there may be some in this crowd today who may get awakened to the fact that your hope of heaven is only a hole in the wall because the devil has a few aces on your soul.

We will examine these four black aces today, a false peace, a false assurance, a false God, and a false hope. The first ace that the devil has upon your soul is the ace of false peace. This peace can come in the form of religion where your religion is enough to satisfy you and that gives you a false sense of security.

Some folks mistake church membership for salvation, and that's how the devil keeps an ace over their souls. One mistake, a long track record of church service, and a good reputation for salvation when the reality is, unless you've been washed in the blood and born from above, you'll bust hell wide open when you die, even if you are the chairman of the deacons.

So ace number one is that false peace that the devil settles over your soul. You go to bed each night like the prosperous farmer whom Jesus spoke about, who declared to himself, this will I do, I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and goods, and I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said unto him, thou fool, this night thou soul shall be required of thee, then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? God called him a fool for his false sense of security, and if you're still an unregenerate person, friend, you should be deeply concerned about your perilous position outside of Christ.

We live in a land of sudden death, where statistics prove that one out of every two people who die in this country die of a sudden, unexpected death, while you get gunned down by a mad man out in public any moment.

You can breathe infectious bacteria and be dead in a week. An accident can happen without warning and remove you from this world instantly. I had a childhood friend who was in his twenties who got in his car to go to work, and he was killed in a car accident before he got there.

I had another friend in his twenties. He hopped on his motorcycle, and as he turned a corner, he hit an oil slick, fell off his bike, and hit his head on the curb, and died instantly. I had a rich friend climbing to his private plane to go out of town for business, and he crashed in a field before he had time to take his lunch.

Every single one of you is thinking to himself, well, that's not me, preacher. That's not going to happen to me. I feel fine. I'm in good health. I don't have a care in the world. But listen, friends.

In Ecclesiastes, we read the stark reality of God's written word, which declares,. For a man also knoweth not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in a snare.

So are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them. All the victims of the 9 -11 terrorist attack were just going on about their daily routine as airline passengers, or stewardesses, or office workers, when those two planes hit the Twin Towers, instantly creating a towering inferno.

Little did the firefighters and policemen who kissed their families goodbye that morning realize they were heading to their doom and to their deaths. Some of you listening to me already have one foot in the grave and the other's on a banana peel, and you're walking on ice, and you don't even know it.

But listen to me, friend, and listen to me loud and clear. If you have a false peace from a false faith, you are laying down each night on your pillows, which are only the rotten planks of a false foundation that sit squarely over the lid of the bottomless pit, and soon that rotten wood will creak and give way, and you'll die and bust hell wide open.

False Assurance Through Religion and Church Membership

The second ace that the devil has on your soul is a false assurance, a false assurance, as perhaps a member of a religion. Many mistake church membership for salvation. Many mistake religion for security of heaven.

The Buddhist believes he will enter nirvana because he is a good Buddhist. The Muslim believes he will enter heaven because he is a zealous Muslim. The Catholic believes they will enter heaven because they are a good Catholic.

The Jew believes he is going to heaven because he is orthodox. The Mormon believes they will go to heaven because they are a faithful Mormon. The Baptist believes he will go to heaven because he is chairman of the deacons in a big Baptist church.

To mistake religion for salvation is a terrible error, friend. You can be very religious and very lost. There's nothing more dangerous than a lost religious person because if you confront them about their eternal soul and the facts and the truths of the gospel, they'll get fighting mad, just like the Pharisees and the scribes wanted to hurl Jesus off a cliff headlong after his first public sermon, and they ended up crucifying him just to get rid of him.

Listen, friends, the false assurance from being a member of a religion is a black ace that the devil holds over your soul. I wonder why so many Catholics are zealous about the religion, yet when you talk to them, they will damn God and curse Christ in their conversation with you, and they do it on a regular basis, and they think nothing of it.

And many Southern Baptists don't see anything wrong with watching dirty movies and drinking liver, drinking liquor, or living with their partner. Being a member of a religion but not being born again is a black ace that the devil holds over your soul, and you're traveling on the broad road to hell in a fast lane.

The devil knows your religion cannot in itself get you to heaven. And the devil loves a religious person so long as he is prosecuting his business. There were very few men more religious than Saul of Tarsus who persecuted the early church.

Why, he was a Pharisee and son of a Pharisee, and he said about himself in times past in the Jews' religion how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it. He was hauling Christians to jail to the very death, and he was doing it all in the name of his religion.

And he was in the religious crowd that day when they stoned Stephen, and they laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul. And we read, and Saul was consenting unto his death. Listen to me, friend.

There is no one on this earth more dangerous than a lost religious person. They'll kill you and everyone else in the name of their God if you get in their way and confront them with eternity. We read the words of Jesus in Matthew's gospel.

How can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first find the strong man, and then he will spoil his house? Satan wants to hang on to his goods as long as he can, and that means for eternity.

And his goods are unconverted individuals who he's given a false base, a false faith, a false God, and a false hope. He loves it if you serve your idols as long as he keeps you in his kingdom of darkness.

And he still has you in his clutches. The design of Christ's gospel was to spoil the devil's house, turn people from darkness to light, from sin to holiness, from the power of Satan unto God. Those black aces the devil has on your soul, friend, must be torn up and forsaken.

But the devil will let you be as religious as all you want to as long as you are still his followers. And if you are an unregenerate individual, then the devil has you in his clutches for sure. Well, let's look at ace number three.

The False God Who Rejects Christ's Lordship

Ace number three is a false God, and many, many, many serve a false God. Oh, listen to me, friend. I plead with you to hear what I have to say. Satan knows those who cut Christ in half and choose the Savior part but reject the Lord part are still in his kingdom of darkness, even if they are a faithful member of a church.

If Jesus Christ is not your Lord, then believe me, friend, he is not your Savior. You can't fight that if you want to because it's true. The Lordship of Christ is the missing doctrine in the church today because if you refuse his Lordship in your life, then there's no need for repentance because self is still on the throne and reigning there.

Listen to me, friend. People don't mind taking a little Jesus so they can get a free ticket to heaven, but they sure as shooting don't want to be united to a holy Christ either. You can go into any jail in any city and get a few prostitutes to accept your Jesus, but they will not give up their way of making a living.

Then they'll go right back to their trade. But I've got a newsflash for you, friend. God will never, ever run up the white flag of peace over your soul while you still have a shotgun pointed at him. People are going to hell by droves today with the name of Jesus on their lips but not enshrined in their hearts.

Too many worship a false god of their own creation who is tolerant towards sin. And I fear many in our churches today have gotten out their pocket knives and have carved out for themselves a God who won't get in the way of their daily living.

Listen, friend. I've come here today with a warning message. You must be confronted and face the truth of God's testimony concerning his son. And you must be informed of what response God requires of men and women if they have any hope of being truly saved.

Jesus is Lord and you must bow to him. You better bow to him now, friend. For my Bible says that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess.

Confess what, friends? Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. If you are a baptized, unregenerate church member, more than likely it's because you've never heard the real gospel before. You just drank the Kool-Aid of modern-day easy-believism and joined the church.

But you're still a devil at heart and you drink iniquity like water. So says Job. How much more abominable and filthy is man that drinketh iniquity like water? That means you can't get enough of sin. Even if you sing each week in the choir, you only show one side of yourself to your church friends.

But they'd be shocked beyond belief to hear your profanity around the house or at your office and see that you can be as mean as a snake when your provoked self sits on the throne of your life and he must have first place all the time.

If you're sitting at a Thanksgiving banquet, your plate has to be filled before the other family members. You always demand first place in line wherever you go. You demand constant recognition, constant attention.

The real reason you serve at a church is to be recognized and acknowledged. But you better face the fact, friend, that you get saved when self is dethroned and another is enthroned there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

You better come in repentance to a bleeding Savior and stack arms. Surrender your weapons at his now pierced feet. You need to tear up that ace of spades that the devil has on your soul. And that means get rid of the false god you serve and get to Christ, the Christ of the gospel and kneel at the feet of a sovereign Lord.

False Hope, Reprobation, and Judgment

Ace number four is the most damning ace, the most damning thing that Satan holds. And that's the ace of a false hope because a reprobate mind is a death warrant when a person deliberately fights the pleading of the Holy Spirit, nothing is left for him.

That's the last ace the devil has on you and he'll lay it on your coffin because you are still his. I was playing golf with a man and he was a giant of a man. He must have stood six feet five and weighed over 300 pounds and he had a big filthy mouth that was full of profanity.

And every time he took a swing at his golf ball, he damned God and he cursed Christ. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I turned to him and I said, friend, can I ask you a question? And he said, shoot.

I asked him, how was your relationship with God? And he grinned a big grin and he said, fine. I have a great relationship with God. I leave him alone and he leaves me alone. That's what the big boy said.

And he was right, friends. All you have to do to go to hell is for God to leave you alone. John 3 .18 describes a terrible thing. It says, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already.

You already walk around with the black ace of spades of the devil on your soul, which is a reprobate mind. You're dead in sin and you stay that way. There's no hope for you, friend. There's no hope for a Christ rejecter.

He is condemned already. The verdict is sealed and God, the judge of all the earth, will snatch your soul when you die and cast it down to hell. For the sentencing of the law must be carried out upon all guilty lawbreakers.

You've rejected the Spirit's wooings so long that you've gone out beyond the reach of God's mercy. You're like the ones described in Romans. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient.

A person goes out beyond the reach of God by becoming a reprobate. Then their conscience is sealed and every hope is just a false hope because God's help and His Spirit has been withdrawn. Like that golfer who said, I leave God alone and He leaves me alone.

He's a condemned man already. Already he's in his chains. The chains of darkness of hell are already shackled to his wrists, to his legs. And they'll be that way for all eternity. That's the most alarming ace that the devil has on a soul, friend.

And that's the ace of reprobation. The devil has that person in his clutches and he always will. Right up to the day they're each cast into the lake of fire. Oh dear friend, I plead with you. Don't go to hell.

Hell is pitch dark. It's awful hot and it's terribly loud. It's full of the screaming and the wailing of the damned who suffer night and day. You're going to have to face some issues, friends. You'll face some terrible consequences when God is silent.

It is because He is preparing to judge. When He stops speaking to you, that means judgment is already on the way. And this can be true for a nation. Listen to me, friends. The dire warnings of God's Word from Proverbs 29 .1.

He that is often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed. And that without remedy. That means to die in your sins without the only remedy. And that's the remedy of Christ's blood on your soul.

The Remedy of Christ's Blood

If all you have are the devil's dirty black aces on your soul, you're a goner. You're a dead duck. You're only one step away from a devil's hell. Your heart could stop beating today and down you'll go.

Listen to me, friend. I'm a God-called preacher. And I've been honest with your soul today, friends. I'm not going to comb your hair with a nice little message and send you on to hell. Today, you're able to face reality.

It's time to shell the corn down and get honest with God. Go to Him as a hungry beggar seeking mercy. I pray right now. Oh, great God in heaven. The most high and terrible God of majesty. Who holds the king's heart in His hands.

Who holds the oceans and the very waves in His hands. You can turn them, Lord, any way you want to as a sovereign king. I pray, great God, that you come. Walk out among the pages of this book today. Walk among us.

And that your spirit will strive with people. That your spirit will disturb folks. Let the lost sinner hear. See how dangerous his perilous condition is. Without Christ's blood upon his soul. Oh, Lord, listen.

Let them listen, Father, to you today. Listen to me, friend. The devil's had an ace on your soul. And you better tear it up. You better find a real peace that comes from a real faith. From a real Lord.

And get your sins washed in His redeeming blood. Oh, dear sinner friend. Let me ask you. Are you a lost sinner? Jesus said, the son of man is come to seek. And to save that which was lost. Are you lost?

Repentance, Regeneration, and Saving Faith

I'm going to take this time now, friends, to point you to Christ. I can't save you, friend, any more than you can save yourself. I can't pry open your heart with a crowbar. Only God can open your heart.

And awaken you to your lost condition. If you're saved, it's because God has given you saving faith. It is His Spirit that regenerates the heart. Salvation is of the Lord. But you must become a seeker of Him.

And feel your need of Him. And own up to your guilt. Just like that thief on the cross who did. That thief said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Let me tell you about Jesus, friends. Oh, let me tell you about Jesus. Jesus came into the world doing good. Jesus healed the sick. Jesus fed the hungry. Jesus gave sight to the blind. Why, He even raised the dead to life.

Yet what happened? Cruel men cried away with Him and nailed Him to a cross. Oh, look at that man on the cross, friend. Look at that blessed man on the cross. See Him there with His arms outstretched. Beckoning you to come to Him and believe on Him.

Oh, look at that Son of God squirm under the terrible weight of sin. Look at that bloodstained Savior for sin. When all is against Him, His love flows out to a world of guilty sinners. The cross is the place where men sought to get rid of Him.

But by His death, it becomes the place where His saving power flows out to all who come in repentance, confessing they are sinners and own Him as their Savior and Lord. Oh, friend, herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The Gospel Appeal to Come to Christ

Let me tell you, friends, there came a day in my own life where I saw the devil had his aces on my soul. I was in a revival meeting with a traveling evangelist, and I was listening to him, and I was just a boy, just a boy of 14 years old.

But I knew that day I had to get to Christ because the devil had an ace on my soul. I knew that night I had to have forgiveness for sin, and God's grace flooded my soul, and Christ's redeeming blood washed over my sins.

Later on in life, God prepared me, and He called me to preach. And since that time, every ounce of my flesh, every drop of my blood, every dollar of my money, every minute of my time, and every passion of my soul has been aimed at God in eternity.

And I lean on His strength and His Spirit and His power to prosecute the gospel of the cross of the Son of God to my generation. You must be born again, friend. I've been honest with your soul today, and like we say in the South, I've given you the oil straight from the can.

You don't have any arguments. You've got no more excuses. You have heard the undiluted gospel. Get to Christ, friend. Surrender all you are to all He is, and He is Lord. I'm telling you, He's a living Lord.

He can save the biggest sinner in this town today, but you must get to Him. You must get to Christ, and you must close with Him. Listen, friend. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God free will abundantly pardon. Oh, dear sinner friend, I beg you, don't go to hell.

Hell's a horrible prison of intense suffering, darkness, and misery. Please listen to this gospel plea. It may be the last one you ever hear. Listen, friend. Jesus is a wonderful Savior. If I had a thousand lives, I'd give them all to Him.

Jesus is the pearl of great price, who's worth selling all for, and losing all for, so we may be gained. But you must come to Christ for forgiveness of sin. He's not waiting for you to get better. He just wants you to come.

Come to Him. Come as you are. Come as you is. In John 14 6, Jesus declares, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Here, Jesus answers the three greatest questions of the human heart.

How can I be saved? Jesus said, I am the way. How can I be sure? Jesus said, I am the truth. How can I be satisfied? Jesus said, I am the life. And in John 6 35, Jesus declared, I am the bread of life.

He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. The gospel is for the hungry, the weary, the thirsty. Let me ask you, friend, are you hungry for God? Are you sick and tired of your stinking, dirty, rotten sins?

Are you thirsty for Jesus? Jesus is the bread of life. He invites poor sinners to come to Him and believe on Him. The duty required is just to come to Christ, friend. Come for forgiveness of sin. And He's got a pure gospel promise to all who come.

And Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Listen to me, friend. I've worn myself out today telling you about Jesus, warning you of your danger, warning you of hell and a judgment to come. But listen to me, friend.

Listen, mister. If you want Jesus, just come. Come to a bloodstained Christ and give it all to Him. Repent before, repent before it's too late.