I have come up with three headings for you as
we consider (under the general Alpha Renewed umbrella) how we resist evil in
the world on this Remembrance Sunday : Recognise Resist Rejoice
Recognise : If
we are to resist evil in the name and in the power of Christ, then the first
essential is to recognise it when it shows its face in our lives and in our world.
But isn’t it obvious – the difference between good and evil? When we see a film
or a play – perhaps you have just seen the latest James Bond film – isn’t it
crystal clear who are the ‘goodies’ and who are the ‘baddies’? Well, in a
highly simplified drama, perhaps it is. But in real life, evil usually wears a
very attractive, often respectable, and indeed often deceitfully glamorous
cloak. Evil also puts a clever question mark against our powers of judgment.
If we go right back to that ancient story that
tells a story of timeless truth – Adam and Eve – we find the serpent in
wonderfully deceptive guise. As Eve looks hungrily at the Tree of the Knowledge
of Good and Evil, and her mouth waters, the serpent whispers in her ear: “Did
God say that you mustn’t eat this fruit?” And she begins to doubt her memory
and her judgment. Questions pose themselves: ‘Why would God not want me to know
the difference between good and evil?’ ‘This fruit looks so good to eat, what
possible harm can be done if I eat some just once?’ ‘I’ll just try one and see
what it tastes like, God won’t notice’. And by the time she has shared all this
with Adam and he has thought about it too, confusion is reigning, and the seeds
of all kinds of doubts and questions have been raised. There’s a wonderful
painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1526) of that moment which depicts Adam
scratching his head and looking thoroughly puzzled. They have lost the ability
to recognise right from wrong, good from evil.
The writer of this story in Genesis has
depicted an iconic representation of the human condition. ‘I know stealing is
generally wrong. But I need money so badly at the moment, and it won’t be
noticed, so just this once surely it will be all right.’ ‘I know adultery is
wrong, but my love is so strong, and it won’t do any harm, will it?’ We are
deceived because we fail to recognise the enemy, and fall straight into his
trap.
We are deceived also because we are taken in
by the glamour of what appears to be on offer. This was Faust’s problem. Who
could resist a pact with the devil when it offers eternal youthfulness and
vigour? But unfortunately the promise turns out to be false. The devil does not
deliver on his promises. We look at celebrities and wish we could win the
lottery, so that we too could have a mansion in London, and one in the country,
and a private jet, and all the beautiful things that surround that lifestyle.
And no-one seems to have warned us of the terrible isolation and loneliness,
the superficiality of endless parties and empty hearts.
We ought to read more often from the Book of
Proverbs. For example twice (at 14:12 & 16:25) we read there: “There is a
way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” There are so
many warnings to us to recognise the enemy. Ponder Proverbs 9:17,18 : “Stolen
water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious! But little do they know that
the dead are there, and her guests are in the depths of the grave.”
How the forces of sin and death masquerade as
desirable and glamorous! When the First World War was declared, how all those
young men rushed forward to win their spurs, urged on by their eager
women-folk! They thought war was glamorous, and that they would give the enemy
a good thumping and be home by Christmas. Whether that war was right or wrong
in principle is another matter. But it was wrapped up in glamorous, patriotic
fervour that left ten million military dead and seven million civilians, plus
an uncountable number crippled for life physically or mentally. And it ended
with a so-called peace treaty that, however well intentioned, led inevitably to
the rise of the greater evil of Nazism and the 2nd World War. It
left a deep depression on the western mind and society which scarred the whole
of the 20th century. When Hitler rose to power, millions believed he
represented salvation for his country – good not evil. There were just a few
who detected the truth that lay underneath the surface.
This is not for a moment to doubt the good
intentions, the courage and the bravery of those whom we rightly remember
today. And there is a very strong case which personally I believe in for a just
war, and the need to defend freedom and civilisation. But it is, I think, not
too much to say that, in the process, the devil had a field day and the result
was incalculable tragedy.
Evil masquerades as good, and darkness
masquerades as light. The first essential in resisting evil is to recognise the
enemy. Peter writes in his first letter (1
Peter 5: 8,9): “Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil
prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him,
standing firm in the faith...” Look behind the glamour and the temptation and
the attraction and see the deadly results, the broken hearts and the empty
promises.
Resist : As that
verse tells us, recognition is such a big step towards resisting and standing
firm in the faith. And for instructions as to how we do this, we turn to our
first reading today, Ephesians 6: 10 – 20. “Be strong in the Lord, and
in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your
stand against the devil’s schemes......”
Paul was writing from prison, most probably in Rome, and
it looks as if he was actually looking at a Roman soldier guarding him. This
enables him to paint an extraordinarily vivid picture of how we can arm
ourselves for the fight. Some Christians prayerfully and mentally put on this
armour every morning. ‘Put on the belt of truth buckled round your waist’.
Lord, today I will be truthful in all my words and actions. ‘Put on the breastplate of righteousness’.
Lord I will seek with all my heart today to do what is right in your sight.
‘Have your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace’.
Lord, today I will seek to be a peacemaker, and someone who brings the good
news of Jesus to those I encounter. ‘Take up the shield of faith, with which
you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one’. Lord, today I will
be strong in the true faith, and in that faith I will have the strength to ward
off every attack. ‘Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit,
which is the word of God’. Lord, today I will wear the crown of my salvation,
and with your biblical word in my mind and in my heart, I will know how to
distinguish right from wrong. ‘And pray in the Spirit (that’s the Holy Spirit
of God) and be alert’. Lord, today I will maintain a prayerful attitude in
whatever I say, think or do, and I will watch out so that I am guided rightly
down the highway of righteousness, and don’t unwittingly wander down all the
slip roads that end up in ditches and muddy fields.
As James puts it so powerfully in his letter
(4:7): “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.” And that knowledge of
victory in Christ leads us to our third heading:
Victory
: In our Gospel reading from Luke 11, we read how Jesus has
decisively overcome all the forces of evil – everything that is represented in
Paul’s words in Ephesians 6 (verse 12): Our struggle is “against the powers
of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms”.
The ministry of Jesus here on earth reveals him at every
point defeating the powers of evil and darkness – healing the sick, driving out
demons, raising the dead. And that victory comes to a decisive conclusion on
the cross and in the resurrection, when just as the powers of evil think they
have won a total victory, they realise that they have been totally and
eternally defeated.
At the end of the day it is not our strength and faith that
defeats the powers of evil and darkness, it is the power of Christ and his
cross and resurrection. If you have put your trust for salvation in Christ and
him alone, then your victory has already been won, and the kingdom of God has come
upon you. The man who is stronger than all the powers of evil and darkness has
taken control of your house.
So recognise, resist and fight the good fight with all the
strength that God supplies. But when – as we do – we fail and fall and come
back sadly in confession – it is in the knowledge that Jesus our victorious
Saviour has conquered all the powers of sin and death, and we join in saying
for ourselves – and today on behalf of all those who gave their lives on our
behalf and whom we remember with gratitude – in Paul’s great words at the end
of his magnificent passage on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 : 54 –
57:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is
your victory? Where O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the
power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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