11-15-09 Protection Against the Power of Evil

Do you know what I love so much about Peter’s writing?

It is so real,

so true to life,

so utterly uncluttered with any kind of religious forms or trappings.

These are the writings of a man just like us

sharing with us what it means to walk with God in a very real world,

not peddling religion,

but simply living life in a way

that proclaims the truth about our God

and that points others to this God their spirits hunger for.

Things have changed so much in my life over the past 40 years.

Well, that’s not exactly right...

Things haven’t really changed,

what’s changed is my perspective on them.

When I was younger

if I thought about evil in this world

I thought about the obvious, blatant expressions of evil -

hatred,

murder,

rape,

child abuse,

corruption,

dishonesty -

those were the evil things in what was otherwise a pretty good society.

But I see it all so differently now.

Certainly I still see those things as evil,

but I realize now that those overt expressions of evil

are so often just a slight-of-hand trick

used by Satan to mask the far greater types of evil

that form the deepest foundations of our society.

As long as our attention is focused on the obvious evils in the world

we never see the greater underlying evil,

the evil of a world society carefully designed to deny our Creator God

and to keep us securely anchored in the center of our own little universe.

Before we come to Christ,

sin is not so much an action we commit

as it is an attitude of our inner man, our spirit,

an attitude that says, “I will be my own god!

I will be the center of my own world.

I will live my life the way I choose to,

without the authority or influence of my Creator.”

That heart attitude then expresses itself

in an endless variety of thoughts and actions,

some of which we label as evil, and some of which we do not.

In reality, though, everything we do prior to our coming to Christ is evil

because it is done out of a heart motivation of rebellion and independence from God.

One person may express that self-controlled life by committing adultery,

while the same inner pride may motivate another person

to donate two million dollars to the children’s wing at the local hospital.

But, because both actions are motivated by a heart attitude that says,

“God, I’m running my own life, I’m doing it my way and I will not let You interfere!”,

that heart attitude makes both actions a form of sin.

We come into this world

believing that our highest obligation is to be a “good” person,

and then we look to our society

for our definition of “good”.

The definition changes from culture to culture

and from generation to generation,

but the goal remains the same - the quality of a person’s life

is determined by the degree to which we fulfill that definition of being good

as defined by the society around us.

But the problem is that we’ve begun with the wrong goal.

We’ve done it, of course,

because it keeps us in control,

firmly situated at the center of our own world,

allowing us to define good and evil as we see fit,

adjusting the definitions whenever they fail to serve our purposes.

But what we will not face when we come into this world

is that the defining goal of our existence,

our reason for being

is to find our way back into a submissive relationship with our Creator

and then to grow in our ability to hear His voice

and trust His leadership one day at a time.

I do love the way Paul said it in his second letter to the Corinthians.

2CO 11:3 But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

And it is very important

that we do not fiddle with his wording in that statement.

Our enemy will seek to redefine Paul’s words

so that we hear him calling us into some form of religious devotion -

faithfulness to the rules,

faithfulness to the system,

faithfulness to the forms.

But Paul is not talking about religious devotion,

he’s talking about a real, living, daily love relationship

between us and Christ.

That is the foundation of all true good,

and anything that blinds us to that reality is evil.

It may not appear to be evil by the standards of our society.

In fact, it may appear to be very good indeed.

But if it blinds our minds to our highest calling

of a life lived daily in the love and presence of our God

it is evil.

There is a TV drama that Sandee and I watch occasionally.

I won’t tell you what it is

because I’ve learned that whenever I do that

some of you take it as my endorsement of the program

and I don’t endorse any of them.

But on this particular drama

one of the lead characters is an atheist and the other is deeply religious,

faithfully attending his religious services

and following the intricate religious routine handed to him by the religious institution.

And the two of them get into frequent heated debates

about who’s right and who’s wrong,

debates that obviously the viewers then get pulled into,

mentally choosing which side of the arguments they support.

And as I was watching one of these debates

it struck me what a brilliant strategy Satan has used

in staging these verbal battles

because he puts the viewers into a position

in which they must choose between two equally destructive,

equally evil alternatives -

either the open denial of the Creator God on one hand,

or the man-made, performance-based religious system on the other.

One option utterly denies the most basic truth of our existence,

the truth that we are created beings owing trusting submission to our Creator,

and the other option perpetuates the belief

that what our Creator wants from us

is faithful devotion to some religious system.

And they’re both lies.

What He wants is us - in a living, personal, changing, growing, eternal friendship with Him.

Certainly it is true

that all healthy relationships -

both human relationships and our relationship with our Creator

need a supportive structure.

Are you married?

If so, do you tell your mate when you leave the house?

Does your partner know when you plan to return?

Do you eat meals together?

Take vacations together?

Know the daily and weekly routines of one another?

Have you built into your lives together

regular times of communication?

If not, your marriage is probably in trouble

in part because you have not protected it with the structure it needs.

And this same relationship truth applies to our friendship with our God.

With Him, as with our relationships with one another,

there are certain structures we can build into our lives

that allow that friendship to grow.

What those structures are for each of us

are unique to each relationship,

but we will recognize them as valid

because they grow out of what is happening between us and our Lord

and they help feed that spirit to Spirit communication between us and Him.

I have a good friend

who frequently writes song lyrics to and about his Lord.

For him it is a form of communication

that fits perfectly with what’s happening between him and his Creator.

Though he probably wouldn’t think of it in these terms,

it is very much a part of the structure that houses his friendship with his God.

If I told myself that I should be doing that too

it would become a tortured, painful religious exercise

that would produce nothing in my life beyond a sense of failure and frustration.

There are other structures I have built into my own friendship with my Lord,

structures that I cling to,

structures that allow my spirit to hear His voice

and remember again and again how good He is

and how much He loves me...things I forget daily.

To someone who was observing my life

those structures could easily appear to be simply religious form or exercise

because they cannot see the friendship between me and my God

that gave birth to them in the first place.

But what religion does

is to create an artificial religious structure,

impose it on a group of people,

and then tell them that the fulfillment of that structure will please God

and bring us into good standing with Him.

But here’s the great difference between religion and the real thing.

Religion seeks to approach God through the imposed structure,

whereas with the real thing

the structure always grows out of and supports the living relationship between us and God.

It is not choosing a structure with the hope that we can find God through it,

but rather finding God

and then allowing Him to guide us into the unique life structure

that supports and encourages our growing friendship with Him.

But let me get us back into our study of 1^st Peter.

Last week we started looking at 1^st Peter 3:14-16,

a passage in which Peter seeks to equip us

for those times when we’re just doing our best

to live in a submissive trust relationship with our Lord,

doing what we believe He’s given us to do

and then we find that our actions bring about evil responses from those around us.

In other words,

we do good and receive bad results because of it.

I’ll read the passage for us once again

and then we’ll pick up our study where we left off.

Peter says,

1PE 3:14-16-18 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

And last week we spent much of our time

looking at the true nature of evil in our world,

and at the hostility against Christ and His people

that is at the core of the world system in which we currently live.

But we didn’t have time to look at the practical guidance

that Peter gives us in this passage

as he seeks to equip us for those times

when we do what is right and get evil in return.

And as we read through his instructions

I see him giving us 5 progressive steps

in our response to those who come at us with evil

when we attempt to do good.

And the first thing he says is, “And do not fear their intimidation...”.

And do you know what I like about him starting with that?

I like seeing Peter start right where I so often start - with our natural flesh response - FEAR.

Do you know what fear is?

Fear is the natural response of the soul

when we forget the truth about our God.

Fear is what we feel

when we have lost sight of Who stands next to us,

and Who dwells within us,

and Who holds us in the palm of His Hand.

Fear is what we feel

when we once again believe

that our only resource in life is ourselves.

And when Peter says, And do not fear...,

he is calling us to remember the truth,

the truth about who we are to our God,

and who our God is to us,

knowing that we are not and never will be alone.

But most of the time for most of us

remembering those things is not automatic.

It is a choice we have to make,

a choice to focus on the truth

in the face of emotions that are lying to us.

And whenever I talk about this type of choice

I also need to say

that these type of choices

are not on the same level as the choices we make

when we go to the coffee counter and choose between a mocha or a latte.

Choosing to believe our God -

to believe that His arms are wrapped tight around us,

and that He is our great protector and defender,

and that we will find Him more than adequate for whatever we face

are never easy or automatic choices when our emotions are screaming the opposite.

It’s warfare,

the warfare we are called to fight as long as we remain on this earth.

And when those battles are raging

I cannot fight them effectively

without hearing Him say the words to me over and over again.

I need to remind myself of His commitment to me.

JUD 1:24-24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever.

EPH 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.

1PE 5:6-11 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever.

PHI 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

His commitment to us and His love for us are imbedded in every page.

Find the ones that speak clearly to you

and stick them on the mirror so you see them every time you see yourself

or on the door so that you never leave the house

without remembering the truth.

One of my favorites is just a portion of a statement made by Paul in Romans 14:4.

The entire sentence says, Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

But the phrase that affects me so deeply are those last few words...and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

At times when I’m under attack

I’ll say those words out loud

because it helps anchor my emotions when they’re running wild.

You and I are private property,

the property of God Himself

and no one has the right or the power to take us from Him or Him from us.

Well, Peter then goes on to reinforce this in his next phrase, and do not be troubled...,

assuring us with these words

that our Lord is more than sufficient for us

no matter what forces seek our destruction.

His third instruction

then takes us off of the defensive

and calls us to a clear, conscious reaffirmation of the truth.

He says, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts...

And with this phrase

Peter is calling us to reaffirm both our commitment to our Lord

and His commitment to us.

But putting it like that is way too academic.

What he’s really talking about

is our choosing to once again simply, clearly tell ourselves the truth - “Lord, my life, my future, my hope are in Your hands. Either You’re adequate for me in this or there is no hope. You got me into this, Lord, and You’ll bring me through.”

It’s all true of course,

but it helps us to say it,

and sometimes to say it over and over again.

I have a brother-in-law who is also a pastor.

For many years he was at a church on the Oregon coast

and saw the church grow strong and healthy under his leadership.

Then, several years ago,

he moved to a church in Southern California.

He went assuming that he would find the same type of openness and responsiveness to his leadership,

but what he found were board members deeply resistant to his guidance

and staff members totally mismatched to their responsibilities.

After several years of turmoil

which included, among other things,

church staff members bringing lawsuits against the church for back wages,

he finally chose to leave the church.

As we were talking with him about what he planned to do

he said, “Well, to be honest, I considered just living under a bridge and telling the Lord, “Look! I’m your problem, you do what You want with me.”

He and my sister didn’t end up living under a bridge

because the Lord moved them into a new situation that promises to fit them both beautifully,

but I have to tell you I loved what he said in that statement.

I think that was a very healthy way

of sanctifying Christ as Lord in his life.

“Look Lord, You’re the One who said you wanted me.

You’re the One who called me to Yourself, and from here on out I’m your problem.”

Well, from there Peter offers us two additional instructions

to help us prepare for those times when we are under attack.

The first is that we are

always ...ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence...

And this is simply practical advice

that we take the time to think through

what we know about our God.

And the key here, I think,

is to keep it simple, clear, and uncluttered.

Why is it we have hope?

I know why I have hope,

and I can assure you it has nothing whatsoever to do

with anything I’ve ever done

or anything I’ve ever written.

I have hope

simply because my God has told me He loves me

and He’s promised me

that when I placed my life into His hands

He took all of my sins and nailed them onto the cross of Christ

and then wrote across them, “Debt paid in full forever.”

And then his final words of encouragement

are his strong assurance

that if we keep choosing to do what we know is right

our God will make certain that at the right time, in the right way

we are vindicated for our actions

and those who attacked us will be put to shame.

and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.