Satan Comes Immediately

David W Palmer

In his epistle to the Ephesian believers, the apostle Paul said we “wrestle,” but “not against flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12 KJV). The Book of Revelation says, “The accuser of our brothers is thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night” (Rev. 12:10 HNV). We have a very real adversary, and Jesus said that he is a “thief” who comes “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy”:

(John 10:10 EMTV) “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

These passages confirm to us the reality of what Jesus said in the key parable: “The sower sows the word … Satan comes immediately” (Mark 4:14–15 NKJV). Our King revealed that we have a very real spiritual enemy, who is vigilantly and purposefully opposed to God and us. He is a destructive, thieving killer, who will stop at nothing to prevent God’s word from producing fruit. After all, he sees himself as the “god of this world”—running his own kingdom in opposition to God, hoping to maintain his usurped domination of God’s planet earth.

All of Satan’s wicked intent is focused into his primary objective—as summarized by Jesus in this statement:

(Mark 4:14–15 MKJV) “The sower sows the Word … Satan comes immediately and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts.”

Our enemy sees the battle arena as anywhere God is sowing his words into human heart-soil. The physical locations for this can be many and varied: we may be sitting in an air-conditioned, modern facility with luxurious seating, precise lighting, and excellent acoustics, listening to a gifted orator accurately expounding God’s word; it could be tiny children in the strictly monitored “safe” environment of today’s children’s church; or it may be on the street through a leather-clad street preacher. It may even happen while listening to a recording of God’s word, or in the comfort of our own home as we do daily devotions. But according to Jesus, one thing is always the same: whenever and wherever a “sower” is sowing God’s word, the adversary is always aiming to be present and alert, in deadly earnest, to steal God’s word before it can take root in anyone’s heart.

This is the most lethal battle in which we are engaged; our enemy is deadly serious about it. He is wicked and relentless in his vendetta to stop God’s kingdom-seeds from coming to harvest. Our primary and most pressing spiritual battle, therefore, is not up in the sky, at the local pub, or the cemetery at midnight on Halloween; Satan’s objective is to “steal” wherever and whenever a “sower” is aiming to sow God’s word into the soil of the human heart.

This could explain the struggles and complex relational issues we encounter in church life. In light of what Jesus taught, Sunday church must be a primary arena of our enemy’s blitz on God’s word. No wonder so many people leave churches disillusioned; they were under the illusion that the church would be a safe haven for their hurts—a refuge from life’s pressures. Instead, it is a farm seeking to grow a crop of kingdom blessing while under constant attack, subterfuge, conniving trickery, and every imaginable evil assault from a thieving, deadly destroyer—Satan.

Jesus confirms that a “farm” (being the soil of the human heart) is a focal point of enemy sabotage, in the following parable (recorded in Matthew’s account of the day God explained himself):

(Matthew 13:24–28 DKJV) He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like [the case of] a man who sowed good seed in his field. {25} But while men slept, his hateful enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and departed.”

Because God appointed Adam—and his descendants—as the vice-regents of this planet, man has the authority to rule here:

(Psalm 115:16 CSB) The heavens are the LORD’s, but the earth he has given to the human race.

(Genesis 1:26 NKJV) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Knowingly or unknowingly, church attendee’s hearts are a battleground for a mortal wrestling match—it is the arena of the most epic tug-of-war ever waged; the heart of man is the most fought-over domain in eternal existence. The contest is between two opposing kings who want their will done on earth. Both of them want their word-seed coming to harvest in human hearts and overflowing out of human mouths—in either God-inspired or Satan-inspired [authoritative] words. Whichever of them has their words dominate the collective human heart and mouth rules the world through man’s exclusive dominion here.

We are the battleground. Exclusive cropping access to our hearts is the prize. A king’s word’s taking root in, and coming to harvest from our lives is the objective. Obviously, God’s kingdom is one of life, light, healing, love, fulfillment, provision, and blessing; whereas Satan’s is one of stealing, death, destruction, deception, self-effort, and the curse. This is why God urges us:

(Proverbs 4:20–24 NLT) My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. {21} Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, {22} for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. {23} Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. {24} Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.

No wonder churchgoers experience turmoil when expecting tranquility. Religion tries to make church into a serene emotional contemplation; whereas in reality, it is the primary battlefield for the success and security of God’s word-harvest—it’s his seat of kingdom dominion over the earth. (Like all kings, he rules with his words.)

If God is good and all-powerful, and if his kingdom is full of life, health, provision, and blessing; why then is church and receiving God’s word such a battle? Jesus said, “The sower sows the word … Satan comes immediately” (Mark 4:14–15 MKJV). The greatest threat to Satan’s illegal, but prevalent, kingdom is God’s truth and his word. After all, God is an infinitely greater and more powerful king. If even the tiniest amount of God’s word gets into a heart—even if it’s like a mustard seed—it can grow to take over the world. (See for example: Dan. 2:34–35)

Jesus’s own experience illustrates and clarifies this perfectly:

At his baptism, he heard God speak—the sower sowed the word:

(Matthew 3:16–17 EMTV) And having been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him. {17} And behold, a voice came out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I have found delight.”

Father sowed a word into his Son’s heart: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found delight.” Let’s read on to see what happened immediately afterwards:

(Matthew 4:1–3 DKJV) Then Jesus was led by the Spirit of Holiness into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. {2} And after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. {3} Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, speak so that these stones become bread.”

Father spoke a word into Jesus’s heart: “This is my beloved Son.” Knowing what would happen next, the Holy Spirit led Jesus to the wilderness ready for the onslaught—“to be tempted (tested) by the devil.” Sure enough, the tempter came right on cue, saying, “If you are the Son of God. …” He was coming after the precious seed God had sown; he wanted to devour it like a thieving bird before it could take root and produce fruit. Wisely, Jesus repelled him with the only weapon that is invincible against Satan and his cohorts; the “It is written” of God’s eternal word.

Are you ready for the enemy? Are you fully aware that he is coming at you to steal God’s word from your heart in a frenzied attempt to prevent its growth to harvest? This is in addition to the enemy within that we looked at in recent studies. In the coming days, we will talk about how to be ready for him; and how to overcome his every attempt to steal the word from our hearts, and how to thwart his other strategies to prevent the surviving seeds from coming to harvest.

Today, I encourage you to fully accept the truth of what Jesus is saying in his statement: “The sower sows the word … Satan comes immediately” to steal it, or at least to prevent it from coming to full harvest. This is the real truth behind why we are not receiving God’s blessing and provision as he intends.

I believe that it is of paramount importance today for us to come to grips with the reality of the seed-thief, and of all his schemes and strategies. Like Jesus, we need to be ready for the thief every time we receive a fresh word from God; we also need—like Jesus—to give our focus to a vigilant refusal to allow Satan to steal any word seed from our hearts—ever—let alone allow him to plant any of his deceptive, destructive seeds:

(1 Peter 5:8–11 NKJV) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. {9} Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. {10} But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. {11} To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.