What We “THINK & DO” About Evil Matters(Part 9)

This subject matter of “Thinking & Doing” with regards to evil is incredibly important. So much of modern Christianity and teaching revolves around our feelings and well being rather than biblical truth.  The subject of evil seems to only be addressed with regards to how it affects us personally and not how it affects God and others. My desire for this series of articles is to stir true believers to have a balanced life with regards to living in this broken world. If you have not read the first eight articles please do so before proceeding with this final one.

I started out article eight with the scripture in 1 John 3:8 about the Son of God appearing to destroy the works of Satan. Jesus went about with the purpose of doing the ministry of confronting Satan’s grip on people’s lives. He would do whatever it took to bring deliverance, whether it was casting out demons in a  possessed person or rebuking sickness of many types in people. Again, Jesus was not a pacifist.  Instead, he was challenging the works of darkness wherever it manifested itself. We, as the children of God, are called to do the same as Jesus.

Secondly, the apostle Paul challenged all believers to walk and act like Jesus. We are called to live in love and manifest the same attitude and behavior as Jesus. Now, to be honest, we all know that this is such a tall order that many believers have resigned themselves to not even trying such a lofty goal, yet we can’t escape this calling. God knows our limitations, yet he has the belief that if we partner with the Holy Spirit everyday, we will start looking and acting like Jesus. It’s truly a miracle that is waiting to happen to all who trust!

Ephesians 5:1-2                                                                                                                                                             

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Just to be clear, walking in love is not for the faint of heart.  In fact, it is down right impossible without God moving daily in our lives. God’s kind of love is more than some soft mushy kind of love. It is the kind that rises above what’s comfortable and stands when no one else will. It is a fighting kind of behavior that defends, as well as challenges, what we live for and why.

In my last article, we briefly dealt with the first three churches in Revelation so now I want to look briefly at the remaining four. The reason we are looking at the seven churches in Revelation is because they represent the early church, only 30-40 years after Christ rose from the dead. It is a warning for the twenty-first century church to wake up and act like the loving community and people that Jesus died for.

Revelation 2:19-20   The Church of Tyatira                                                                                                                   

I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. [20] ‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 

Jesus speaks to a church that is acting out of love in many ways, yet they forgot that love also includes standing against things as well as standing for things. This church had been compromised by evil and they were doing nothing to expose it. Thus, the church was being corrupted from the inside out.

Revelation 3:1-3           The Church of Sardis                                                                                                                     

To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘        I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.    [2] ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. ‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. 

This church thought it was alive because of the activities it was engaged in. Maybe it had great bible studies and prayer meetings yet Jesus said it was just as good as dead. Why? They had forgotten that to walk in love was “Not a Special Way of Feeling” but rather a special reason for living.  We are living for the glory of God and challenging evil, as well as embracing good. God desires that we hate and love….. Hating what is evil and loving what is good.

Micah 6:8    Do Justly, Love Mercy & Walk with God                                                                                              

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

To do justly is to challenge evil when it is manifest. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote passionately about how the church in Germany passively let the Nazi’s lead the German people into corruption and war in the 1930s. Had the church spoken up in the early days of Hitler’s deception their country, the people would never have embraced such evil.

Revelation 3:8 & 11      The Church of Philadelphia                                                                                                              

I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.  [11] ‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 

During the Roman empire the church was put under intense persecution. People were brought before the authorities and if they just “Confessed” Caesar was god they would be let go, but if they confessed Jesus was Lord they would be killed. By standing for Jesus these martyrs were confronting the evil of idolatry, something that was sending countless souls to an eternity without God. Jesus told this church to “Hold Fast” to what they had stood for because compromise was right around the corner.

Revelation 3:15-16       The Church of Laodicea                                                                                                                   

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.    [16] ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 

To the last church Jesus speaks a sobering word. Compromise has crept into this church because they no longer were passionate to love deeply. They no longer challenged the evil things in their lives and thus Jesus was ready to totally reject them. When our hearts no longer embrace God’s word or conviction he stops speaking and our relationship dies. These are not my words but the words of Jesus.

Here is my final point of this series. If we only look at what we want to love passionately about God and His kingdom, but fail to hate the evil attitudes and actions of ourselves and others, we will not only be unbalanced in our walk with God but we will be walking alone without him.

When Jesus was ready to go to the cross and die for the sins of the whole world he challenged the disciples to make a conscious choice to stay connected to him. If they did not, then Jesus would be separated from them and they would wither and die. As believers in America, we are at a crossroad. That crossroad is whether we will love the good and hate the evil and stay connected or whether we will only have emotional feelings for Jesus but not true love for him.

John 15:6                                                                                                                                                                                     

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 

Questions:

1) Do you have a problem with not standing against evil in your own soul? Change starts with confession.

2) Has silent compromise become normal living? Real repentance starts with a change in thinking.

May the Holy Spirit empower us to look closely to what we love and hate in our lives and then do something to change where we are headed.

Pastor Dale