The Line Between Good & Evil
Making Sense of the Devil *
Sycamore Creek Church
November 22/23, 2015
Tom Arthur

Peace friends!

Today we continue in a three-week series on The Line between Good and Evil. Last week we looked at what evil is and how we overcome it. Next week we’re looking at evil’s ultimate defeat. And today we’re looking at making sense of the devil.

In 1942 C.S. Lewis, the British author of The Chronicles of Narnia, wrote a fictional set of letters from a senior demon named Screwtape mentoring a lesser demon named Wormwood. In the introduction he wrote:

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors…Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar. Not everything that Screwtape says should be assumed to be true even from his own angle…

Screwtape answers this question of the Devil himself in one of those letters:

MY DEAR WORMWOOD,

I wonder you should ask me whether it is essential to keep the patient in ignorance of your own existence. That question, at least for the present phase of the struggle, has been answered for us by the High Command. Our policy, for the moment, is to conceal ourselves. Of course this has not always been so. We are really faced with a cruel dilemma. When the humans disbelieve in our existence we lose all the pleasing results of direct terrorism and we make no magicians. On the other hand, when they believe in us, we cannot make them materialists and skeptics. At least, not yet. I have great hopes that we shall learn in due time how to emotionalise and mythologise their science to such an extent that what is, in effect, belief in us, (though not under that name) will creep in while the human mind remains closed to belief in the Enemy. The “Life Force”, the worship of sex, and some aspects of Psychoanalysis, may here prove useful. If once we can produce our perfect work—the Materialist Magician, the man, not using, but veritably worshipping, what he vaguely calls “Forces” while denying the existence of “spirits”—then the end of the war will be in sight. But in the meantime we must obey our orders. I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that “devils” are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you…

Your affectionate uncle,
SCREWTAPE

The devil in red tights. That’s how most of us imagine the devil. A comic figure. More to be laughed at than feared. Paul, the first missionary of the church had a different view of the devil. He wrote a letter to the Ephesians, which we’ll unpack throughout this message today, where he cautioned them saying:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.

With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
~Paul (Ephesians 6:10-17 NRSV)

The devil goes by many names: Belzubul, Belial, Satan, Lucifer, The Adversary, The Accuser, The Prince of the Power of the Air, The Tempter, The Liar, or That Old Serpent among others. Today I want to answer four questions about the devil:

1. Is the devil real?
2. Is the devil a personification of our inner struggles?
3. How does the devil affect our lives?
4. How do we overcome the devil?

1. Is The Devil Real?

I know there’s an irony in a Blue Devil pastor asking the question of whether the devil is real. Of course the Blue Devils are real, but that’s not the kind of devil I’m talking about. Over the last week I’ve read every passage in the Bible about the devil. Let’s do a bit of a survey of the Bible starting with the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we get the name “Satan” for the devil. “Satan” comes from the Hebrew word “Ha Satan.” “Ha Satan” literally means the opposer or the accuser. “Ha Satan” can be used for anyone. In fact God or God’s angel is referred to as “Ha Satan” when opposing a false prophet. Otherwise, there are three passages in the Old Testament where “Ha Satan” is working to accuse God’s people.

In 1 Chronicles King David takes a census. This is interpreted as prideful and an unjust way of levying taxes. We’re told that “Ha Satan” puts him up to it. In Zechariah chapter three the prophet Zechariah has a heavenly vision and “Ha Satan” is making accusations of the high priest and God rebukes him. In Job, an example of ancient epic poetry wrestling with the problem of suffering among good people, “Ha Satan” is accusing Job before God. Ha Satan says Job’s only righteous because God protects him. So God allows Ha Satan to go ahead and test him. In Genesis we read about a snake who tempts Adam and Eve. Later Christians have read into this story that the snake is Satan, but the story itself doesn’t make this claim. The snake is just a snake, or a snake that happens to talk. As we continue our exploration of the devil in the Bible we read in Isaiah 14 about “Lucifer” which literally means “Morning Star.” Lucifer is an angel thrown down from heaven, but the original context of this passage is not about the devil but about the king of Babylon and Tyre. The king is called “Lucifer.” Then again in Ezekiel 28 we read about a figure who many have interpreted as Satan, but the passage was originally about the King of Tyre.

It’s interesting to note that most Jews don’t talk much about Satan. The Old Testament just doesn’t give a lot of evidence for the devil. But when the Jews went into exile in Persia they began to understand from Persian views of evil that the devil was a fallen angel and the source of evil. Thus, as we head into the New Testament there is a significant shift in description of the Devil.

In the New Testament, the devil is called “diablos.” “Diablos” literally means slanderer, accuser, opposition, deceitful, or lying. The New Testament picks up on the Old Testament’s view of Satan but adds to it the aspect of the devil leading us astray, leading us off the path that God would have us walk. When I was in Yosemite I climbed up the back side of Half Dome one morning. There was a narrow path with a kind of iron cable guide on each side. You really didn’t want to get outside of that path or you might fall to your death. As we looked at last week, sin literally means to stray from the path. To repent means to turn back to the path. If you got out of the cable guides, you really wanted to repent and get back onto the path. Satan, in the New Testament, is the one who pulls you away from the path or puts obstacles in the path that lead to death.

In Matthew chapter four Jesus goes into the desert to fast for forty days, and he is tempted by the devil to leave the path. He’s tempted with pleasure, protection, and power, but he resists the temptations of the devil. Jesus then travels around the countryside encountering people who are demon possessed and setting them free or healing them. In Luke chapter ten, Jesus sends the disciples out to preach and heal, and when they come back, Jesus says he saw Satan fall like lighting from the sky.

In the various letters of the New Testament (The Epistles), Satan’s role includes devouring and hunting. Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends said:

Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.
~1 Peter 5:8

If you’re not careful, you’ll miss out on the life you were meant to have and end up perpetuating evil.

In the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, the devil takes on the form of a dragon, a beast, or an old serpent. He wages war against the people of God and works through various empires of the day, especially the Roman Empire.

So that’s it. That’s the entirety of what the Bible teaches about the devil in summary. Let’s move on to the question: is the devil a personification?

2. Is the Devil Just A Personification of Our Own Struggles?

This question is the modern question. Is the devil really an individual “identity” or “person” or whatever word you want to use, or is the devil just a personification of evil that resides within all of us? I put this question to my friends on Facebook. I got about a 50/50 split on their answers. It’s important to note that most of my friends who answered this question are Christians. Many of them are pastors. Many of them are fully committed to following Jesus. But they disagreed on the answer to this question. In other words, faithful Christians disagree on whether the devil is a real person or a personification of evil.

Why is this? Why do Christians disagree? Because it’s possible to interpret almost all the references in the Bible in the metaphorical sense. For example, when Jesus is tempted, he could be being tempted by his own thoughts not a devil in red tights. He had been fasting for forty days after all! And when Jesus encounters demon possession, it’s very easy to read unexplained medical diagnoses into most of those stories. If the doctors couldn’t explain it, it was a demon. Today we would explain these “demon possessions” as a fever, epilepsy, or mental illness.   When the demons talk to Jesus, it’s understandable to see mental illness as the cause of these “demonic possessions.”   And when Jesus says he saw Satan “Fall like lighting,” Jesus is already using metaphorical language.

There is one hard example in the New Testament that is hard to read metaphorically. In Mark we read about Jesus casting a demon(s) named Legion from a man in the tombs and sending it into a herd of pigs. Here’s the story:

Then Jesus asked [the unclean spirit], “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”  He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.”

So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.
~Mark 5:9-13 NRSV

It’s a bit hard to explain this story as personification. Jesus takes something that was in a man and casts it into something else. But, some scholars point out that the Roman occupation force is called Legion and Legion is cast into pigs. Pigs are considered unclean by Jews. So could this story be read as political commentary? Perhaps.

Here’s my point: It’s possible to be a deeply committed Christian and have different views on this question of personification. The rationalist in me likes the personification idea. I don’t need the devil’s help, I’ve got enough in me to tempt me. The idea of “Satan” tends to absolve me of responsibility. But I have three hesitations, personally, with the idea of the devil as personification. First, there’s a lot of scripture about the devil. Yes, it can be read as metaphorical, but it’s a steep hill to climb to build that case for every single instance. Second, people I know have had significant experiences with the devil or the demonic. These personal individual experiences are hard to ignore. Third, I think the answer to this question comes down to whether you believe that there is a supernatural world or whether you think that the only world is the material one. We all know that there is brokenness, sin, and evil in the material world. If there is a supernatural world, why would there not also be brokenness, sin, and evil in that world too? Is what we see all there is, or is there more? I tend to think there is more than what we see (but that depends on which side of the bed I wake up on each day).

Whether the devil is real or a personification, we experience temptation the same and answers to resisting the devil are the same. So let’s look at the next question:

3. How Does the Devil Affect Our Lives?

Some Christians see the devil in almost anything. Growing up in the church I was in, bad stuff was usually the result of the devil, but sometimes God was said to be the cause of bad stuff happening. No parking spot? The devil did it. Computer wouldn’t work? The devil’s in the machine. Power went out? The devil doesn’t want us to worship, or maybe we’re not worshiping right, or maybe a branch fell on the power line. Alarm clock didn’t go off? The devil doesn’t want me to preach a powerful sermon, or God was trying to keep me from preaching a bad sermon, or I just forgot to set the alarm.

“The devil made me do it” is a common phrase we hear. But the devil can’t make you do anything. He’s not that powerful. The devil only has the power of suggestion, but he is a very good salesman. The devil uses certain well-worn wiles:

Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
~Ephesians 6:11 NRSV

What’s a “wile”? A wile is a trick. The devil uses certain tricks to sell us on certain things. There are three well-worn wiles of the devil.

Three Wiles

1. Old Tapes

The devil likes to play images of all the old things that hurt you. Your father didn’t say he loved you for years and years. Your mom said hurtful things that left a scar. But devil likes to take these old tapes and make them sound worse than they were. Even if they were really really bad, the devil makes them really really really bad. Or the devil likes to remind you of that bad thing you did. Make you feel guilty and shameful all over again. He tells you that the world would be better if you weren’t here. This is all the opposite of the Gospel. That’s why it’s so important to know the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus. The devil says you’re worthless but the Bible says you’re worth as much as God’s Son. The devil says it’s hopeless, but the Bible says there’s always hope. The devil says you’ll never be forgiven but the Bible says you’re never so far from God that God can’t forgive you. One wile of the devil is to play old tapes.

2. Old Lies

A second wile of the devil is tell you that what is not good for you is good for you. They’re old lies that the devil likes to tell. I did a little research into Anton LaVey, the author of the Satanic Bible and the founder of the Church of Satan. Interestingly, I learned that LaVey and the Church of Satan don’t actually believe in a literal Satan. What they don’t believe in is the ethics of the Bible. There are nine satanic principles and they’re just the opposite of biblical ethics. For example, don’t abstain, indulge. Don’t show kindness to everyone. Show kindness only to those who are worthy. Don’t forgive, show vengeance. These are lies. At times they sound like truth, but that’s all they are, “truthy.” They are wiles and tricks of the devil. Follow them and they will lead to death and destruction.

I’ve been working with a physical trainer now for about two months. I began working with him in part because I was having a hard time sleeping. But when you work out really hard at night and have enough time to cool down before you go to bed, you sleep really well. Really well. I’ve experienced this truth over and over again. But every single night that I’m scheduled to go to work out with him, I am tempted by an old lie, “You’re tired. It would be better to just rest and then go to sleep.” Yeah, the truth of that lie is that I won’t sleep well. It’s a wile of the devil. It’s a lie. The devil uses old lies to trick us off the path of life.

3. Old Slippery Slope

The third wile the devil uses is the old slippery slope of temptation. The devil tries to sell us on the idea that we can get just a little bit off the path and we’ll be ok. But what we don’t realize is that it’s a slippery slope of temptation. An addiction to pornography begins with a curiosity about nudity. God made nudity, right? Yes, but…then you’re not getting the intimacy you want and need from your spouse so you go back to porn. Just once a week turns to several times a week turns to sneaking around behind your spouse’s back. It all begins with legal forms of porn, but porn has a desensitizing nature. Like drugs, you always need the bigger hit.   Your legal forms of porn turn to illegal forms of porn. Eventually you slip up and you’re arrested. You lose your spouse, your career, and your dreams. What was supposed to give you life (sexual intimacy within the confines of a life-long commitment of marriage) ends up on the slippery slope of temptation and destroys your life.

Or consider all the athletic scandals we’ve seen over the years. I bet Barry Bonds thought, “One shot won’t hurt.” Lance Armstrong probably said to himself, “I overcame cancer. Come on. I deserve to win a race or two after beating cancer.” Tiger Woods probably thought, “No one will ever find out.” Interestingly when I was thinking through all this, I had to go way back to find a woman on this course. Tonya Harding probably thought, “I just won’t say anything. If I don’t say anything, then I’m innocent.”

The devil uses at least three wiles, three tricks: Old tapes, old lies, old slippery slopes.

4. How Do We Overcome the Devil?

So how do we overcome the devil? I want to suggest three defenses to overcoming the devil.

Rebuke
First, overcome the devil by rebuking the devil In the name of Jesus. Name him. “Satan, get away from me in the name of Jesus.” Or as Jesus said, “Satan, get behind me.” There’s something powerful about putting a name to the evil in our lives. It’s like taking a cold shower. It wakes your defenses up.

Remember
Second, overcome the devil by remembering that the devil is not as powerful as you think. The devil is not omniscient, omnipotent, or omnipresent. It is possible to resist him. Paul tells us to put on the armor of God:

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
~Ephesians 6:13 NRSV

He goes on to tell us to put on truth, faith, salvation, righteousness, prayer, and scripture. These things help us remember who we are and what we’re all about. They help us remember that the devil is not all powerful.

Reach Out
Third, reach out and get help. I recently read with horror about a United Methodist Pastor who a year ago killed his wife, attacked his daughter, and tried to take his own life. He was arrested and tried. All of his friends, church members, and fellow pastors were shocked. This was not the person they knew. It slowly came to light that he had been in a car accident and had a head injury. He had not really been himself since that car accident. He was eventually acquitted of the crime for not being sane, but was committed to a mental institution. I can’t help but think, “If only he had reached out.”   But the devil uses mental illness to cloud our sense of help. The devil pushes us into isolation. Reach out for help. Reach out to overcome suicidal thoughts. Reach out to overcome alcoholism or drug addiction. Reach out to get rid of porn in your life. The devil will try to tell you not to ask for help. The devil tells you that you are too far gone. But Jesus breaks the prisoner free if you ask for help. Jesus’ brother tells us to:

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
~James 4:7 NRSV

Peter encourages us to:

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
~1 Peter 5:6-7 NRSV

Rebuke. Remember. Reach out. Resist the devil in these ways. Martin Luther, the great 16^th century Protestant reformer wrote a well known hymn called A Mighty Fortress. It’s a powerful reminder that you don’t have to give in to the devil.

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.

Prayer
Some of you have been listening to those old tapes, the lies of the devil. Hear the word of the Lord. You are loved. You are worthy. You are never too far gone. God help me to hear the truth rather than the lies. Help me to hear your voice. Help me to trust your love.

Some are at the beginning of a slippery slope. A little won’t hurt anyone. God help me to stand firm against any “little” bit of evil.

Some are stuck. Some are enslaved to something that is taking your life away. Help me, Lord. Help me. Give me your strength. Bring me back to your path. Give me courage to ask others for help.

By the power of Jesus Christ, may the Evil One be gone from your life today. Amen.

 

*This sermon is based on a sermon first preached by Adam Hamilton