MARK 1:21-28
DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE DEVIL? I THINK
MANY CHRISTIANS WOULD PROBABLY SAY, NOT REALLY. THE IDEA OF A DEVIL
SEEMS TO BRING UP ALL KINDS OF IMAGES, ALL OF WHICH SEEM A LITTLE
SILLY, OR SOMETIMES, REMIND US OF HORROR MOVIES. BUT JESUS BELIEVED
IN SATAN, UNCLEAN SPIRITS, DEMONS … SO AT LEAST WE SHOULD KEEP AN
OPEN MIND.
I READ AN INTERESTING THEORY ABOUT
PRAYER THE OTHER DAY. THE QUESTION ALWAYS IS, IF WE CAN GET GOD TO
CHANGE HIS MIND, THEN HE ISN'T REALLY GOD, BECAUSE BY DEFINITION, GOD
CANNOT CHANGE. SO WHY PRAY? THE USUAL ANSWER IS THAT PRAYER MAKES
US MORE ACCEPTING OF GOD'S WILL. AND THAT'S TRUE, BUT NOT VERY
SATISFYING. BUT THE OTHER ANSWER IS THAT GOD CHOOSES TO ALLOW US TO
PARTICIPATE IN HIS OVERALL PLAN, AND WHEN WE PRAY, WE MAKE HIS PLAN
FOR US MORE APPARENT, MORE MANIFEST IN THE WORLD. IF I PRAY FOR
HEALING, I MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN HEALED ANYWAY, BUT WHEN I PRAY FOR IT,
THEN I AND ALL THOSE AROUND ME SEE GOD IN ACTION. AND CERTAINLY
THERE ARE EXAMPLES OF THIS AROUND US ALL THE TIME. JUST THE OTHER
DAY AN ELDERLY LADY TOLD ME ABOUT HER STRUGGLE TO GIVE UP SMOKING.
HER FUTURE HUSBAND HAD TOLD HER HE DIDN'T LIKE IT, SO SHE QUIT, BUT
AFTER A FEW WEEKS, STARTED UP AGAIN. HE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING MORE.
SHE THEN REALIZED THAT IF SHE QUIT, AND SHE GOT MAD AT HIM, SHE WOULD
START SMOKING AGAIN TO “PUNISH” HIM. SO SHE PRAYED ABOUT IT, AND
HAD NO MORE CRAVING FROM THAT MOMENT TO NOW – SIXTY NINE YEARS.
WAS THAT A MIRACLE?
SO MAYBE THAT'S HOW SATAN AND OTHER
EVIL SPIRITS USUALLY OPERATE. THEY CAN'T BRING ABOUT EVIL DIRECTLY,
BUT THEY CAN MAKE THEMSELVES MORE OBVIOUS, AND CONVINCE US THAT WE
CAN'T CHANGE, THAT WE CAN'T GIVE UP A BAD HABIT OR A DESTRUCTIVE
PERSONALITY TRAIT. AND THEY CAN BECOME MORE INFLUENTIAL AND
FRIGHTENING, BY HORRIFYING US THROUGH NATURAL EVILS. ISN'T THERE
SOMETHING SATANIC ABOUT THE ISLAMIC STATE BEHEADING INNOCENT PEOPLE?
OR BOKU HARAM CAPTURING AND ENSLAVING LITTLE GIRLS? OR FOR THAT
MATTER, ABORTION. IN FACT THERE ARE 5211 ABORTIONS A DAY IN THE
UNITED STATES. WE DON'T BELIEVE SIEZURES AND DEFORMITIES AND
ILLNESSES ARE CAUSED BY DEMONS ANYMORE, BUT MAYBE WE ARE WRONG. WHEN
I SEE PEOPLE WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, THERE IS SOMETHING DIABOLIC
ABOUT THAT.
IN THE BIBLE THERE ARE TWO COMMON
TERMS FOR THE SPIRIT OF EVIL. ONE IS SATAN, FROM “SATANUS” –
THE ACCUSER; AND THE OTHER IS DEVIL, FROM DIABOLOS, THE DIVIDER. WE
KNOW ONE WAY EVIL SPIRITS CAUSE TROUBLE IS TO DIVIDE PEOPLE, TO PUT
BARRIERS BETWEEN THEM. PARANOIA, JEALOUSY, THE SENSE OF BEING
WRONGED, BITTERNESS – THESE KIND OF EMOTIONS ARE AT THE ROOT OF
MOST DIVISIONS BETWEEN PEOPLE, AND BETWEEN A PERSON AND GOD. THE
DEVIL IS A DIVIDER. BUT SATAN WORKS THROUGH THESE EMOTIONS AS WELL
BUT BY A KIND OF SICK IMITATION OF COMMUNITY. SATAN IS BEHIND MOB
VIOLENCE, PROBLEMS BETWEEN RACES AND RELIGIONS AND NATIONS; BUT ALSO
THOUGHTLESS ENTHUSIASM – THE ADULATION OF A MOVIE STAR OR
POLITICIAN. IF YOU CAN GET A CROWD TO AGREE ON SOMETHING, YOU HAVE A
GREAT TOOL TO CAUSE MISCHIEF, EVEN CRUCIFIXION. THERE IS SOMETHING
SATANIC ABOUT HOW WE'VE GONE FROM BEING AGAINST SAME SEX “MARRIAGE”
TO PRETTY MUCH TOLERATING IT IN TEN YEARS. NO ONE LISTENS TO
PRINCIPLED LOGICAL REASONS WHY THIS IS A BAD THING, FOR THE PEOPLE
INVOLVED, FOR THE COUNTRY, AND FOR MARRIAGE IN GENERAL. WE ARE INTO
GROUP THINK. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE THOUGHT OF AS BIGOTED, YOU
SHOULD NOT PUBLICALLY SAY YOU ARE AGAINST SAME SEX MARRIAGE. SATAN,
THE ACCUSER, IS AT WORK HERE.
IN THE GOSPELS WE SEE JESUS OPPOSING
THE DEVIL, OPPOSING SATAN. HE DOES THIS BY BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER.
EVEN WHEN HE CASTS OUT UNCLEAN SPIRITS, HE IS BRINGING THAT MAN BACK
INTO THE COMMUNITY. EVEN WHEN HE DEBATES WITH THE PHARISEES, HE
INVITES THEM BY HIS QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS TO LOOK AT THEMSELVES, AND
SEE HOW THE PATH THEY ARE ON DIVIDES THEM FROM OTHER PEOPLE. ONCE
JESUS TOLD HIS FOLLOWERS THEY HAD A FALLING OUT WITH THEIR NEIGHBOR,
THEY SHOULD DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO HEAL THAT WOUND, EVEN INVOLVING
THE AUTHORITIES OF THE CHURCH. AND IF NOTHING WORKED, ONLY THEN
SHOULD THEY TREAT THAT PERSON LIKE A GENTILE – NOT ACTUALLY
HOSTILE, BUT JUST AVOIDING HIM. AND JESUS IS DISTRUSTFUL OF ANYTHING
HAVING TO DO WITH “GROUP THINK” MARK BRINGS THIS OUT WHENEVER
HE MENTIONS THE “MESSIANIC SECRET” WHICH IS WHEN JESUS TELLS
SOMEONE HE'S JUST CURED NOT TO TELL ANYONE. JESUS DOESN'T WANT
PEOPLE TO FOLLOW HIM BECAUSE OF MIRACLES; THEY HAVE TO KNOW HIM AS HE
IS AND MAKE A CONSCIOUS, INDIVIDUAL CHOICE TO FOLLOW HIM. DIVISIONS
BETWEEN PEOPLE, AS WELL AS GROUP-THINK AND MOB VIOLENCE AND RACIAL
PREJUDICE ARE ALL SOURCES OF PSYCHIC ENERGY. JESUS GOT HIS ENERGY
FROM A DIFFERENT SOURCE. WE SEE THIS IN THE GOSPELS, WHEN HE
WITHDRAWS FROM THE CROWDS TO PRAY. HE ONCE SAID, “MY MEAT AND
DRINK IS TO DO THE WILL OF MY FATHER.” WE CHRISTIANS NEED TO LEARN
TO GET OUR ENERGY FROM THAT SOURCE AS WELL, AND TURN OUR BACKS ON
DEMONIC FORCES, WHICH STILL INFEST OUR WORLD.
NOW JUST A WORD ABOUT THE READING FROM
PAUL. IT SEEMS THAT HE IS A ADVISING US NOT TO GET MARRIED. BUT IF
YOU RE-READ THIS IN VIEW OF WHAT WE'VE JUST BEEN TALKING ABOUT, YOU
WILL SEE THAT HE ISN'T AGAINST MARRIAGE; HE IS CONCERNED THAT FOR
PEOPLE WHO ARE MARRIED, THERE IS THE VERY REAL POSSIBILITY THAT THEY
WILL BE TORN BETWEEN SERVING GOD AND SERVING THEIR SPOUSE. DIVISION
BETWEEN PEOPLE AND BETWEEN A PERSON AND GOD IS “DIABOLICAL” –
THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT JESUS TEACHES. JESUS SAYS MARRIAGE IS WHEN A
MAN AND A WOMAN BECOME ONE FLESH. IF I AM ONE WITH MY SPOUSE, THEN
OUR RELATIONSHIP IS NOT ABOUT PLEASING OR SERVING EACH OTHER, IT'S
ABOUT SERVING AND PLEASING GOD TOGETHER. AND IF WE WORK TOWARDS THAT
GOAL IN OUR MARRIAGE, WE ARE TRULY LIVING THE SACRAMENT AS IT WAS
MEANT TO BE LIVED.
