When God Lets The Devil Substitute Teach

By John Stallings



When I was in the 9th grade I remember a coach/gym teacher named Coach Luck.

Coach Luck was 6’4 & pretty much all muscle. Once in a while he would substitute for one of my regular teachers. We all dreaded it when coach Luck substituted because he was very serious minded & opposed to any form of goofing off.

Coach Luck had a large paddle, I think at least an inch thick & he wielded it with great efficacy. He would, so to speak, “apply the board of education to the seat of knowledge,” if you broke too many rules. Things were different in those days in regards to corporal punishment. I’m sure that during your school days, when your regular teacher was sick or otherwise incapacitated, you also had the experience of substitute teachers.

Did you know that God sometimes calls on the Devil to be a substitute teacher for Him. Sounds odd doesn’t it? There are several reasons for this, some terribly frightening, some not so bad. With God’s help I’ll endeavor to explain.

Listen to Paul in 1 Timothy 1:18;

Timothy my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith & a good conscience. Some have rejected these & so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus & Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

Notice in this passage that Paul has “handed over” Hymenaeus & Alexander to Satan to be taught a special lesson. These two men had rejected faith & a good conscience & had suffered shipwreck. The living Translation reads,--For some have deliberately violated their own consciences ….

Think about this; God has provided a built in “truth-detector” called our conscience. The danger is that over a period of time, the conscience can be silenced, beaten into submission & replaced by a monster. This replacement is an awful & perverted force that welcomes wrongdoing, calls black white & white black, calls good evil & evil good. This is indeed a sobering thought.

Hymanaeus & Alexander had rejected what was right & true, which means they had some knowledge of it in the first place. This is the reality of the human condition; our hearts can become unable to handle or tolerate truth so we create surrogate wisdom. When this happens to a person they’re on dangerous ground.

These two men had no doubt been a part of the Church in Ephesus & at one time they enjoyed the sweet fellowship of the saints & had seen the work of the Holy Spirit. But at some point, due to unbelief & deceit, they struck out on their own & set a course that would doom them to spiritual shipwreck. Whatever they had absorbed of real faith it had morphed into something else & they ended up apostates. This condition could perhaps be explained by Jesus’ parable of the four types of soil in Mark 4; the seed of the gospel is always good but if the soil isn’t good no fruit will be forthcoming.

SO THAT THEY WILL BE TAUGHT NOT TO BLASPHEME

To blaspheme is to speak about someone in such a way as to harm their reputation. Other expressions of it would be “Speak against,” “dishonor, “malign,” & “hurling abuse.”

Acts 13: 44-45 says;--The next Sunday nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord, but when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy & began contradicting the things spoken by Paul & were blaspheming.

Later Paul explains that Hymenaeus & Alexander were teaching that the general resurrection of the dead had already occurred, & it occurred when a Christian became ‘alive in Christ.” That was a subtle attempt to undermine the gospel Paul preached; - that there was in our future a physical resurrection waiting for us. Paul’s answer was,

If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. 1 Cor. 15:19

Listen to Paul in 2 Timothy 2:16-18--But shun profane babblings; for they increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker; of whom is Hymenaeus & Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

False teaching if left unchecked will spread like a cancer through the body of Christ. We’re told to use discernment in identifying false teachers & false doctrine & God’s Word is clear as to the steps needed to deal with them. Paul set the example here by “nipping this false teaching in the bud,” & handing these men over to Satan.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAND SOMEONE OVER TO SATAN?

I’ve been involved in ministry for more than fifty-five years, & I’ve never done this nor observed anyone “handed over to the devil.” Very few sermons are preached on it. The “pop theology” that exists today doesn’t seem to encompass this Biblical truth & not much is ever written about it. In a case like this, I can only use scripture to explain scripture, which is a good way to do things anyway, wouldn’t you agree?

Now & then we hear of a minister/ leader whose been caught in some sort of heinous sin. As a rule when confronted with their failure, these individuals will submit to their brethren, stand down, show repentance & seek rehabilitation. As far as I can see, this isn’t being turned over to the devil.

In 1 Corinthians 5:4-5, there’s an ugly situation that Paul has to deal with concerning a man who was sleeping with his step-mother& sadly it was being tolerated by the rest of the church. Paul chastises the church, reading the riot act to them for allowing this wickedness to fester. Listen to Paul’s instructions;

When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus & I am with you in spirit, & the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed & his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. [NIV]

Paul is concerned here with moral & doctrinal purity & so demands that this man be put out of the church. An example of how an action like this, the administering of tough love can come full-circle is evidenced in 2 Corinthians 2:7-7 when Paul again writes to the church telling them that signs of the man’s repentance have been witnessed. His instruction to them at that point was to reach out & show love & forgiveness to the man, -lest he be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

Listen to Paul in 2 Cor.11:2-3—For I am jealous for you with a Godly jealousy for I betrothed you to one husband so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness your minds will be led astray from the simplicity & purity of devotion to Christ.

The man in Corinth & the false teachers in Ephesus were contaminating the churches & the filth was spreading. Christians are supposed to strive to live holy lives, but certainly we’re capable of sin. Now the church can’t be expected to throw out everyone who sins or makes a serious mistake. What people are supposed to do in such a case is repent. “Herein is the rub;”---when an individual refuses to repent & persists in their sin after they’re confronted, then they’re to be separated from the body of believers. If this isn’t the case & the person is allowed to remain, it isn’t merely that their own soul is at stake, they become a danger to the body as others follow in their footsteps. Contagious diseases infect & sicken others who are nearby.

WE MUST BE CAREFUL HERE

We should always look inward before we approach another about their sin, lest we also be tempted. Gal.6:1. Paul tells the Corinthians that they should have mourned the presence of sin in their midst. Everything that is done must be done in the spirit of humility, striving to win over our erring brother or sister. Certainly this process must start in private. The love level must be high & love should always rule. However it isn’t love when we allow a wayward person to have a false illusion that they’re doing fine, when in reality they’re “looking down the gun-barrel” of spiritual destruction.

WHY HAND THEM OVER? WHY NOT JUST EXPUNGE THEIR MEMBERSHIP?

Turning someone over to the devil seems a bit extreme doesn’t it? To be a Christian in New Testament days was to be in a local church. In our day, it’s more & more fashionable to be in the “un-churched” community. Some folk feel that to be independent of the church is what Jesus intended. In the New Testament, the Church was considered the umbilical cord of Christian life. The church nourished & protected the believers.

Hymenaeus & Alexander were put out of the church because they rejected the faith & invented their own. As a result of their continual sin they were removed from the church in Ephesus, released from fellowship & handed over to the Devil.

To be put outside the church was to be cut off from spiritual life & blessing, exposed to the devil & the world without the loving protection of elders & fellow believers. To a follower of Christ this was a horrific turn of events & when you take all this into consideration, it made perfect sense for Paul to consider it as handing someone over to the devil. This also served to make crystal clear the spiritual state of the individual. The Apostle John tells us that—One who makes a practice of sinning is of the devil-& conversely- No one born of God makes a practice of sinning.

We could say that God has called Satan in to do some substitute teaching & there is the possibility that the person could benefit from being chastened, pruned & purified, although it would be accomplished sitting in Satan’s class room.

JOB

Sometimes God will temporarily take away His hand of protection & allow the Devil to test a true believer for reasons tied to His sovereignty. Job was a good man, the best of men & he was also the most prosperous man in the East. One day the Devil came before God & asked to be allowed to test him.

Satan was allowed to destroy all Job’s family & his possessions, even to bring about terrible illness in his own body. Before Satan got finished, the richest of men was sitting on the curb scraping his boil infested skin with pieces of broken pottery. And Job never really understood why this happened. Even at the end of the book he wasn’t sure specifically why God brought it other than the fact that God had revealed Himself to be a sovereign God. Job summed it all up by saying, -Though He slay me yet will I trust Him.

At the end of the book of Job we see God giving him back more than he had in the beginning. This story shows us the Lord in His sovereign purpose may choose to deliver one of His own to Satan to underscore & make clear a great truth.

SAUL

The spirit of the Lord had been on Saul to help him lead the nation of Israel but the time came, because of his ego, impatience & pride that Saul turned into a very wicked man. He despised the authority of Samuel, wanted full control of everything & he flaunted injustice all over the kingdom. This belligerence almost caused him to execute his own son for eating honey. He took the role of a priest & he tried to hide his disobedience under a cloak of spirituality. David was becoming more & more popular with the people of Israel & an ego-maniac like Saul is never going to be able to handle that.

So we’re told that-“The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul.”When God’s spirit departed from Saul-“an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. Now this man is demon terrorized & he goes from bad to worse. This bothers some people that the evil spirit could come from the Lord. This obviously doesn’t mean the Lord is evil it just means that even the demons can’t function unless the Lord allows it.

God had turned Saul over to a hellish power & Satan dispatched some very powerful demons to become the constant companion of Saul. He had known the presence of the Lord as king but now he’s thrust out. Now Saul has been abandoned to the kingdom of Satan & this leads him into the occult, to mass murder & ultimately to commit suicide. Suicide is a rare act in all the annals of Israel’s history but not rare among those who are delivered to Satan.

JESUS

In Matthew chapter 4 we learn that Christ was also turned over to the devil to be tempted. God put His own beloved son in the hands of the devil to show that He wouldn’t waver or break & that He would stand true as the perfect God-man. This chapter tells us that Jesus’ temptation went on for 40 days & 40 nights. During this time Jesus fasted, & we know what a physically weakening experience fasting can be.

First of all the devil tempts Jesus with bread. If He could make bread for a multitude why couldn’t He make bread for Himself? Then He’s tempted to dive off the temple & be hailed as the Messiah. And then He was tempted to take over the kingdoms of the world but Christ resisted in the midst of weakness & aloneness & all of the temptations. Then we’re told the devil left Him & the angels came & ministered to Him. Think about it; God put His own Son in the hands of the devil & then blessed Him for having passed the test.

PAUL

In second Corinthians chapter 12, Paul tells us—There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I be exalted above measure.

I’m not going to try to guess what Paul’s thorn was because I don’t know but I do know that God sent Paul into Satan’s classroom to be buffeted. God allowed the devil access to Paul so he’d be humble not proud. Now Paul was a praying man & he asked God in prayer three times to take the thorn away but God said- “I’m not going to take it away, no, I won’t take the thorn away but my grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness & this weakness will allow my strength to be manifest in you.

So Paul says, gladly, happily I will boast in my infirmities. Why? “Because the power of Christ rests on me. I take pleasure in my infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses for Christ’s sake for when I am weak, then I’m strong.”

So God turned Christ over to Satan to prove His purity & He turned Paul over to Satan at least in one area so that Paul would be kept humble & know where his strength was & therefore be more effective.

PETER—SIFTED FOR SERVICE

In Luke 22, we see Simon Peter being subjected to Satan the substitute teacher. Jesus told Peter that Satan desired to have him for awhile so he could sift him like wheat. Satan wanted to throw Peter up in the air like wheat & let his confidence, usefulness & trust in God all blow away. Satan wanted Peter big time. But Christ was only going to allow it to continue for a short time. He was only going to let the devil go so far & no farther.

Why was Jesus going to allow this to happen to Peter? Because Peter was a key man, a crucial man in the development of the church. He was going to be the great preacher God would use during those founding years.

Jesus told Peter, -I’m going to let you go & I’m going to pray for you while you’re gone that you don’t fail the test. But when you return from the class, I’ve got an important job for you—strengthen the brethren.

Peter was going into this classroom to learn to strengthen others. Jesus allowed Peter to be put into a situation that he could learn some profound lessons. He wanted him to learn humility & dependence on God. He wanted him to be able to tell others how it felt to be in the clutches of Satan. When you’ve “bought the experience” you can come back & strengthen others. One thing is sure; Peter would never deal with his brethren puffed up with pride again.

After all, it was Peter who said, “I’ll never forsake you Jesus. I’ll stand with you, I’ll die with you, and I’ll go to the very end with you Jesus. I’m ready to go with you to prison & to death.”

Of course when Peter had the chance he denied Christ three times & then went out & wept bitterly. But after this class, after Peter was sifted by Satan for God’s service, he repented & got his heart right with God. History shows that Peter learned his lesson well.

THE FINAL ANALYSIS

What does all this really mean? I believe the bottom line is this; whether it be men like Hymenaeus & Alexander, Old Testament men like Job, New Testament men like Paul & Peter or Jesus Christ Himself, God in His sovereignty can & will, for the purposes of remedial instruction, refining, correction & training, & for the purposes of illustrating great truths, allow his very own to be turned over to Satan for greater effectiveness. Whether we can see it or not God receives the glory in all these things.

My prayer is;- “God, if you chose to allow me to be refined & sifted for greater usefulness, for the purpose of proving the genuineness of my faith to a watching world, then do in my life what is needful that you might receive the glory & I by your grace will count it a privilege.”

Blessings,

John