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"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is the biggest movie hit of the Halloween season this year. Teenagers and young adults are flocking to see it. I was at the Burbank mall the other night with my wife and the boys, and we were startled to see hundreds of kids in a line nearly a block long, waiting to get in and see "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

The Los Angeles Times said, "Slasher remake reaps $29 million and takes number one…young adults powered the remake of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' to the top spot at the box office this weekend…The R-rated film did best among moviegoers under 25, and the audience was half female. [A marketing company said] 'Young ladies seem to respond to the fear of it all.'" (Los Angeles Times, October 20, 2003, p. E4).

I am speaking to many young people who are here in church for the first time this morning. Many of you have never been inside a Baptist church before. I think one of the reasons God drew you here this morning was to hear me give this warning - don't go to see "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Don't do it! You will open yourself to demonic influence by seeing something that grisly and terrifying.

Many young people are deeply troubled today. Suicide is the number three cause of death for those between the ages of 18 and 25. Much of this is demonic. And movies like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" may very well lead to you becoming demon possessed. That's why I'm warning you - don't see it! Don't give Satan and the demons an opportunity to take control of your mind through horror and fear!

Slasher movies, and drugs, and pornography, and sexual sin can open you to the demonic - and can lead to depression, mental illness, and even suicide! Do not let Satan tempt you to see "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." If you already saw it, pray for God to deliver you from its evil influence! Jesus told us to pray for God to "deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:13).

If you think I have spoken too strongly against this movie, let me tell you a little bit about the real-life maniac that the movie is loosely based on. The idea for the movie came from a sensational murder case involving a Wisconsin farmer named Ed Gein. I don't want to say too much about what he did because there are young children in the service. But he was a grave robber, a murderer, a necrophiliac, and a cannibal. His story was featured in an eight-page news account in Life magazine, and was the basis for Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Psycho," as well as the character Hannibal the Cannibal, in "The Silence of the Lambs," and several "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" films - including this new remake.

You can read the true story of that lunatick, Ed Gein, on the Internet (at www.slaytanic.com/extras/gein.html), and you will get all the gory details. The only conclusion I can come to, after reading the news story, is that this serial killer was completely demon possessed. And Hollywood has churned out one slasher movie after the other loosely based on his Satanic escapades. Why? Because these Hollywood people don't care about young people. All they care about is making money. They could care less that their movies fill the minds of our young people with horrible thoughts that often, combined with drugs and weird rock music, lead thousands of kids into depression, mental confusion, terrorism, and suicide. Only God knows how many young people have become twisted, or committed suicide as a result of seeing films like this.

These movie makers are among the greatest supporters of abortion - with the same results! They have backed the slaughter of 42 million children in the last 30 years - 42 million kids of your generation, whom the abortionists deprived of ever taking a breath of air or seeing the sunlight. The Bible says,

"They shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children" (Isaiah 13:18).

How are these abortionists different from Ed Gein, Hannibal the Cannibal, or Norman Bates in "Psycho"? Tell me - how are they different?

The producers of this movie don't care about you! Don't let them put their junk in your head! "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is a piece of insidious trash, put out by money-grubbing scoundrels under the influence of Satan and his demons!

Yes, I believe in Satan. Yes, I believe in demons. The Bible tells us, from one end to the other, that there is a real Devil, and real demons. In fact, our text this morning calls Satan, "the god of this world" (II Corinthians 4:4). That is Satan! Christ called Satan, "the prince of this world" in John 12:31 and John 14:30. This passage calls Satan "the god of this world." That does not mean Satan created the world. But it means that Almighty God has relegated the world to him for a time. When Satan tempted Christ, he

"shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it" (Luke 4:5-6).

God has "delivered" the world into Satan's hands for a time - until Christ returns and banishes  the  Devil  from  the earth,  and  sends  him  to  the  bottomless  pit,  in  Hell  (Revelation 20:3).

We must not think that the Devil is in Hell now. Oh, no! The Bible teaches that he is very active in the world today! He will not be consigned to Hell until Christ returns, in the future. Today, the Devil is "the god of this world."

I want you to forget what I said about that filthy movie for a few minutes. That was only the introduction to this sermon. I want you to focus your mind on what this passage of Scriptures says about the Devil, who is "the god of this world." This passage in the Bible tells us about one of the main things Satan does to people. Let's stand and read it out loud. It's II Corinthians 4:3-4,

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them"
   (II Corinthians 4:3-4).

You may be seated.

These verses show us that the gospel of Christ is hidden from the lost, hidden from those who are not real Christians. Oh, you can learn the facts of the gospel, but the reality and importance of the gospel are absolutely hidden from you until God opens your heart, and frees your mind from Satan. The facts of the gospel are quite simple. Christ died on the Cross to pay the penalty for your sin. Christ rose physically from the dead to give you eternal life. If you trust Christ, your sins are paid for and you have eternal life. Those are the simple facts of the gospel.

But the reality of these simple facts of the gospel is absolutely hidden from a lost person. You can learn the facts of the gospel, but it has no power whatever to save you until you are loosed from the blindness that Satan has put within your heart and mind. Only then will the gospel grip your heart. Only then will you come to Christ and be saved.

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not…" (II Corinthians 4:3-4).

Dr. John Gill tells us that

The apostle calls the devil, the god that hath blinded; what he blinds in men, is their mind: the…knowing part of man; not the eyes of their bodies, but their understandings; which shews the near access Satan has to the souls of men; he penetrates into their very hearts and minds, and has an influence there: the persons whose minds he blinds, are those "who believe not"…the influence he has over them is expressed by "blinding" them; which he does, by diverting them from hearing the Gospel, and by stirring up the enmity of their minds against it, and by increasing their natural darkness and blindness with respect to it (John Gill, D.D., An Exposition of the New Testament, The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989 reprint of the 1809 edition, volume II, p. 778).

The blinding power of Satan is so great in every unconverted person that the Bible tells us

"Ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [another name for Satan], the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience"
      (Ephesians 2:2).

Dr. Merrill F. Unger of Dallas Theological Seminary said, "Satan rules over unregenerate mankind" (Merrill F. Unger, Th.D., Ph.D., Biblical Demonology, Scripture Press, 1952, p. 72). Satan works in the mind of every person who is not converted, and he blinds your heart to the fact that you desperately need Christ to save you from sin.

I want you to think about three ways Satan blinds you, if you are unsaved this morning.

I. First, Satan blinds you concerning the deadliness of sin.

If you are honest with yourself, you have to admit that you have a very sinful heart, and have lived a very sinful life. Isn't that the truth? Don't you agree? You have lived a very sinful life, and you have a very sinful mind and heart. It's true, isn't it? And, yes, the Devil will let you think that. Many lost people know they are sinful inside and that they have committed great sins. The Devil doesn't stop you from knowing that. What the Devil blinds you to is the deadliness of sin. The Bible says,

"The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

"The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4, 20).

Satan blinds you regarding the consequences of your sinful heart and life. He blinds you to the fact that sin will harden your heart so greatly that your soul will be destroyed in time. Satan blinds you to that danger - the danger of committing the unpardonable sin. When you commit that sin, God will give up on you forever. You may live on for several years, but your soul is destroyed then. The Devil blinds you to the danger of that.

He also blinds you to the danger of Hell. You are in great danger of going to Hell because of your sin. But the Devil soothes you and tells you there is no need to worry about it. He tells you that it won't happen to you. Or, he may tell you that there is no Hell. He does these things to blind you to the fact that you are in very great danger of going to Hell. The Bible warns you that God will

"render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire"
   (Isaiah 66:15).

When the rich man died, he went to Hell, and he cried out,

"I am tormented in this flame" (Luke 16:24).

The prophet Isaiah said that many sinners will be surprised when they die - and find themselves in Hell.

"The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"
      (Isaiah 33:14).

But the Devil puts your mind to sleep concerning this danger. He blinds you to the risk of going to Hell. Yes, Satan blinds you regarding the deadliness of sin.

"The god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (II Corinthians 4:4).

II. Second, Satan blinds you concerning the deceit of your heart.

Most people in the world trust themselves. They trust what they think. They trust their own hearts. Nothing could be more foolish than this. Your heart is very unreliable. The Bible says,

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9).

Those are extremely strong words that the Bible uses to describe your heart. The Hebrew word translated "deceitful" means, "fraudulent, crooked" (Strong), tricky and misleading. Dr. Gill says that Jeremiah 17:9 "is in general true of the heart of every man…it deceives him [regarding] knowledge; it persuades him that he is a very-knowing person, when he is blind and ignorant, and knows nothing as he ought to know; and only deceives [and tricks] himself" (ibid., pp. 497-498).

I have been speaking with a man who keeps telling me, "I want to be saved." But I can tell by listening to him that this is exactly the opposite from the truth. His own fraudulent, crooked, tricky heart has deceived him. It would be much better, and closer to the truth, if he admitted to himself, "I really don't want to be saved. My heart is really in rebellion against Christ." If he admitted that to himself, he would be much closer to salvation than he is. Satan has blinded him, and many others, to the deceitful trickery of the human heart.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9).

Dr. Ryrie says that this is "An important verse describing the natural condition of man" (Ryrie Study Bible, note on Jeremiah 17:9). Satan blinds you regarding the deceit and trickery of your own heart.

"The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (II Corinthians 4:4).

Don't tell me that you "want to be saved." That just isn't true! Turn in your Bible to Romans 3:11, and let us stand and read it together,

"There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God" (Romans 3:11).

Now read verse 13, the first half,

"Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit" (Romans 3:13).

We could translate that, "with their tongues they keep deceiving." You may be seated. Isn't that clear enough? "There is none that seeketh after God." "With their tongues they keep deceiving." You don't really want to be saved. You don't really want Christ.

"He is despised and rejected of men" (Isaiah 53:3).

Christ is

"Him whom man despiseth" (Isaiah 49:7).

The unconverted human heart rejects Christ. There are no exceptions until God opens your heart and releases it from Satan's grip.

Satan has blinded you concerning the trickery of your own heart! You must admit it. Admission of your own depravity and rebellion against Christ is a step toward awakening and true conversion.

"The god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (II Corinthians 4:4).

III. Third, Satan blinds you concerning deliverance by Christ.

Let's stand and read the text again out loud. It's II Corinthians 4:3-4,

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them"
   (II Corinthians 4:3-4).

You may be seated.

Satan blinds you concerning deliverance and salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The gospel refers to the death of Christ on the Cross to pay for your sin, the Blood of Christ, that can wash your sin away, and the resurrection of Christ, that can give you everlasting life. This is indeed "the glorious gospel of Christ"!

But human beings are so greatly blinded by Satan that they will not receive the glorious gospel and come to Christ unless God's grace opens their hearts. The other day, I read in one of the tabloids about actor Marlon Brando. The article said,

The 79-year-old [movie] legend is feverishly plotting every last detail of his death. Suffering from congestive heart failure, on oxygen and crushing the scales at 360 pounds, The Godfather star has turned his home into a private hospital and insists he wants to die there…The source says Brando also is studying…reincarnation. "He's seeking clues as to what comes next," the source explains. "He often sits naked staring for hours at a Buddha statue in the living room and trying to understand what the next life will be" (National Examiner, October 28, 2003, pp. 12-13).

If that "source" told the truth, it reveals the blindness of man's heart. Imagine sitting "naked and staring for hours" at a Buddhist idol and "studying reincarnation"! Man, in his blindness, will do almost anything rather than trust Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

"The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (II Corinthians 4:4).

Don't let the Devil blind you any longer!

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved"
   (Acts 16:31).

Come to Jesus Christ, and He will cleanse your sin and save you! Let the words of this old hymn become the prayer of your heart:

I hear Thy welcome voice, That calls me, Lord to Thee

For cleansing in Thy precious Blood that flowed on Calvary.

I am coming, Lord! Coming now to Thee!

Wash me, cleanse me in the Blood that flowed on Calvary.

Though coming weak and vile, Thou dost my strength assure;

Thou dost my vileness fully cleanse, Till spotless all and pure.

I am coming, Lord! Coming now to Thee!

Wash me, cleanse me in the Blood that flowed on Calvary.
     ("I Am Coming, Lord" by Lewis Hartsough, 1828-1919).

Scripture Read Before the Sermon by Dr. Kreighton L. Chan: II Corinthians 4:3-6.
Solo Sung Before the Sermon by Mr. Benjamin Kincaid Griffith: "I Am Coming, Lord"

(by Lewis Hartsough, 1828-1919).