ALPHA REFLECTIONS #6 HOW TO RESIST EVIL

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1 EVIL I found an interesting article entitled 10 Best Movie Depictions of the Devil. One paragraph reads: There s a long serpentine line of movies which demonically play on our obsession with mankind s oldest enemy. And it s not hard to fathom why. Since the release of The Exorcist in 1973, which scared us in a way we ve never been scared before, movies which deal with the devil court a fascination within us which is without equal. That s pretty accurate. The world seems to give far more serious consideration, even respect, to evil than they are to holiness. In fact, I have heard more than one testimony where a person was convinced first, that there was a devil, before they began to seriously consider there was a God. If we think about it, that make sense. Evil is easily observable all around us. You don t have to go looking for it, it comes looking for you. It s not just the movies; it s the ravagers in real life. We have groups like ISIS and Boko Haram who carry out unspeakable horrors. We have the creators and pushers of drugs like Crystal Meth. We could go on and on, but evil is very easy to find. On the other hand, the world scoffs at holiness. God can reach anyone, but we are told to find Him we must seek Him with all our hearts and souls. Surprisingly few are willing to do that. However, let s say you are one of those few. Here is a passage that describes the collection of people like you: 1 Peter 2 (NIV) 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. So now that you are a person answering a call to the wonderful light, how do you deal with the darkness? Now that you are a member of a holy nation, how do you confront all the unholiness around you? How do you navigate evil? Here s the thing, it is not only all around you, it still lurks inside of you. It will until you entered a glorified existence. If you look to Scripture for instruction against evil, it tells you this: Flee evil, but stand your ground. Resist evil, but do not resist evil. Put on armor that is not really yours. How do we make sense of this? You know who can help us understand this? -Kenny Rogers. Remember Kenny s classic song, The Gambler Do you remember the chorus? You've got to know when to hold 'em Know when to fold 'em Know when to walk away Know when to run 1

2 2 KNOW WHEN Let s look at 4 key passages where God tells us how to deal with evil. Starting with, now when to #1 RUN 2 Tim 2 (NIV) 22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. The instruction here is to flee, it is to run from ; but run from what? What exactly are the evil desires of youth? Chances are, our minds first go to the obvious; hormones raging out of control. That is undoubtedly part of it, but it is far from all of it. Consider who the Apostle Paul is talking to here; it is the young emerging leader, Timothy. This young fellow is leading a disciplined life, that is part of his young nature, but it is probably not the greatest danger. So, what is? This week I had a serious learning event as I brought Canaan to the Church fair on the Indiana Wesleyan campus in Marion. Basically, a number of churches offering intern and residency programs send recruiters to meet with the students. The ones that make a biggest splash are the mega-churches offering very hip programs with young engaging recruiters at the tables. When you are young, you like flashy, you like big advances in a short time. You really aren t thinking the long term. Tyndale s commentary suggests that the evils that Timothy s mentor, Paul was worried about were traits of youth like, impatience, love of dispute, novelties, and ambition. That is gold! This commentary was written a generation ago and yet that is exactly what you see as issues when you walk on to a campus of young Timothys. The big lesson of this passage isn t simply to the young, it deals with all of us. We run from the natural inclinations of our own personal brand of the fallen nature. You may be older, novelty is no longer your temptation, calcifying into a rut is your evil. You don t love disputes, you hate them so much, you are tempted to compromise what shouldn t be compromised. You are not impatient to see God s results, you are complacent in that s the way we ve always done it. There is the scenario in which you run from. We run from the natural inclinations of our fallen natures. We run from our own propensity and brand of evil. We run from the wrong us. But Paul is very quick to add, it s not enough to run from, we must run to. Run from the wrong you and run to the designed you. God s nature in us designs us for righteousness, right-ness, wise faith, Godly love, and peace beyond what a fallen nature can understand. To have power over evil, we have to know when to run. Run from your wrong self. Next know when to #2 STAND James 4 (NIV) 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded

3 The original Greek (anth-is -tay-mee) means to stand against, or withstand. It gives the picture of standing your ground. In my mind, that combines with 1 Peter 5:8 where he paints the devil as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. I looked up, how to survive a lion attack and it was pretty interesting: 1 Do not panic. If you re being charged by a lion Do everything you can not to panic. Staying calm and thinking straight can help save your life. Knowing what to expect can help you stay calm. For example, know that the lion is going to growl while they charge. This can shake the ground beneath you but know this is normal for a lion attack 2 Do not run. Stand your ground. You need to take charge of the situation and show the lion that you re a threat. Turn so that you re side-on-side with the lion while clapping your hands, shouting, and waving your arms. This will make you appear bigger and threatening to the lion. 3 Retreat slowly. Do not turn your back. Keep flailing your arms and showing, but slowly step away sideways. If you run, the lion may sense your fear and chase after you. Remain threatening to the lion while you retreat 4 Remain standing. If these precautions don t work for any reason, the lion may charge. If this happens, remain standing. The lion will likely go for your face and throat. This means that it will jump and you ll have a full view of the giant cat. While this sounds terrifying, it will help to have a good view of the animal. If you were to crouch down, you would have much less of a chance to fight back if it attacked you at this angle. Doesn t that fit the supernatural picture? The fangs of Satan come as destruction and deception. You can expect him to go for the throat. You can expect him to go for the face and blindside you. We intentionally abandon our inner flaws, but we stand our ground on the outer attacks. You don t run at him, and you don t run away from him. In the face of the attack, you must become larger than yourself. How does one do that? In the spiritual sense; it is done by submitting to God. That is to say (hoop-ot-as -so), it all comes down to honest to goodness, obedience. It isn t just a case of surviving a lion attack, we actually come out the stronger, the victor, but we stand our ground, and the ground is the solid bedrock of Christ. #3 DON T RESIST Matthew 5 (NIV) 38 You have heard that it was said, Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. There s a story behind each illustration Jesus gives, but let s just stay with the question at hand. We run from inner temptation, we resist the devil, but we DON T resist evil from people. Why is that? 3

4 The word resist is the very same word used in reference to the devil. We are told not to stand our ground. There are a few reasons for this. First, we need to remember that people are not the real enemy. There are fallen in a great supernatural battle just as we are. They are being manipulated by forces and natures far more powerful than we can appreciate in this life. Second, is the idea of retaliation. No matter how religiously you paint it; it comes down to retaliation, which is opposite God s will. Christianity tells us to stand up in confidence, but it never says to stand up for yourself. Let me share a story on how this played out for me in real life. I was eligible for promotion in a previous job. A test for position came up but it was done in less than fair conditions. The bottom line is, it didn t go that well. I was not given the promotion. My first instinct was to go in and plead my case. I could have done it, I had grounds to stand on. But a deep sense of conviction came over me. God tells me, He is my rock and shield. He is in control of my circumstances. So, I remained silent. Two weeks go by and I get a call from the boss; he feels that the testing was less than fair and another test was given. And no, it wasn t a fairy tale ending. I still didn t get the promotion, but what happened was a chain of events that lead to ministry. As we sing, The battle belongs to the Lord. This is a tough one, when every fiber of our fallen nature wants to stand up, be proud, be ambitious, speak up for me with a capital M ; God tells us, we are called to a different battle. Work with dignity and confidence, but fight the bigger battle. Which means #4 REMAIN OPEN BUT BE ARMORED. Ephesians 6 (NIV) 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We could talk about the reality of the warfare. But today, let s just focus on one nuance of the original language. The implication is that the armor is like the armor God Himself wears. We are part of this great cosmic battle and we are little versions of God Himself, or we should be. To be armed in the armor of God is to say we are armed in God Himself. Kids have some great toys these days. You can buy an outfit that makes a youngster look like a special ops soldier. You got the body armor, the camo kit, and the assault rifle. But the truth is, the armor is just made of plastic. The rifle may make a sound but it can t fire bullets. It s just a facsimile. The camo paint on the face can make a kid look like the real deal, but they are playing. That kid may look good, but they can only play games! You know, that s a pretty accurate picture of the church. There may be that humble unassuming prayer-warrior, and they are in fact, are fully armored. Then there is that would-be leader who s a squeaky wheel with a few buzz words. They may even bluster their way into leadership. But the truth is; they re really wearing toy armor and their theology is a toy gun. They can play church games, but they are unprepared for the spiritual war. They don t understand Kingdom business and churches and individuals fall in Satan s slaughter. 4

5 That takes us back around to the ever-wise Kenny Rogers, accept with God, it is no gamble, these things are a certainty: Here is You ve got to know when to hold them, and when to fold them. When to walk away and when to run. Know to: Run from the wrong self; resist, stand your ground against Satan; don t resist the spiritually lost; and learn how to armor up. Ending with simple questions: Do you KNOW? DO YOU? 5