Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Speak of the devil

There is an idiom that says, speak of the devil (and in he walks), or talk of the devil (and he is sure to appear). We use it casually in social situations when someone walks up whom we were just talking about. Implicit in this saying is a warning about invoking evil. Odd little superstitious phrase...

The New Testament speaks a lot about false teachers who will arise in the church, deception that will be rampant in the last days. In 2 Peter 2, the writer describes these false leaders: "Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings, yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord" (v.10-11). In Jude, there is an example of an angel bringing the Lord's judgment: "But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'" (v.9). I don't think we are supposed to speak to Satan and his demons. Our eyes should be fixed on our Lord Jesus, who destroyed the curse we were under by His work on the cross (Galatians 3:13).

In the book of Job, would his situation have changed if he had rebuked the enemy? Job is commended for not sinning amidst a horrific Satanic attack. His friends were telling him that God rewards the good and obedient, and he should get in line with the Lord, and Job maintained that he was righteous before God, and that God Himself had afflicted him. Job never took his eyes off of God, even while he accused Him of causing the tragedy he was facing. When the Lord spoke, He said to Job's friends, "I am angry with you...because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has" (Job 42:7).

The Lord and Satan have two conversations about Job, of which the poor man is unaware. In the second, the Lord says to Lucifer, "He still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason" (Job 2:3). Friends, there are times things happen, and we do not understand them. God does not abandon us in those times; likewise, He does not always stop bad things from happening. Job's wife advised him to curse God, and he replied, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10). Jesus also told us that in this world we would have trouble...but we should take heart, because He has overcome the world (John 16:33).

On Sunday, we sang praises to Jesus in my church, repeating a chorus that says, "The enemy is under Your feet/We are free/We are free" (Hillsong's Alive in Us). The earth is His footstool. If the enemy has been given some reign over our world, the Son has authority over him. We choose to give the Son authority over our lives when we call Him Lord. Be aware that the enemy is there; he is real. But our Lord is the one who receives our attention. The enemy is under His feet.

In the garden, Satan approached Eve in the form of a serpent. She talked with him and plunged all of mankind into sin. At the moment God confronted us in our first sin, He declared that a child of the woman would arise who would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). This is our Jesus. I know it is subtle, but please hear me: you do not need to adddress our enemy to find your victory. Talking with Satan hasn't really helped us. Talking with Jesus, the Victorious One, the Serpent-Crusher, who allows trouble into our lives and yet is always with us--He is the One to whom we cry out.