6 entitled Satan Replaced by the True Father. Last Friday I picked up the advertiser and read there that in the Harrogate area they are looking for an arsonist who's been operating there. He set fire to 130 acres of a farm and I noticed that it was a man who'd been in our parish when he was a member of the Rockley congregation. So I took a little more interest and read the whole story right through. As I read it, I learned that the local mayor was reflecting on the sort of person they might be looking for, and he said, I have no idea why anyone would do this sort of thing. Maybe they were sacked. or have a vendetta against someone in the area. The mentality of these sorts of people is beyond me." I thought about his comment. He has no idea why anyone would do that, and I felt it would be helpful if, as human beings, we began to form an understanding of what it was that, or who it is, that energises people to do such things. Jeff's story there on retribution in that book, Mr Piffy, comes home. It doesn't actually describe the energising work of Satan nominating him in particular, but it tells of the dynamics that are going on in this young boy's heart who's lit a fire. And he lights the fire because his father loves the Australian bush. but he doesn't love his own son. And his own little son despises that fact. A little further on in that story, in the fine print, I read to see that not one thing was actually mentioned about whether the person who lit it was evil. It just said, act of evil. Then the word evil was not mentioned again in the fine print. Were there evil powers involved? What indeed is evil? Is this just a person operating in what Freud or Jung or someone might call a person's dark side? Or is this really a nice person, just a little misunderstood? When I was a teenager, one of my mates was charged by the police for arson. He lit a fire in a local farm near our area so the fire trucks would all go out. No details of that act of evil were given and you'll notice most of the time when that's the headline, it's not mentioned any further in our culture. George Bush has the axis of evil. We seem able to use the word evil fairly loosely Does it simply mean someone who's done something very bad or illogical? The study which we're embarking upon says that Satan is replaced by the True Father and it presses us to consider the truth that there is one who is energising the actions of evil throughout the creation all of the time, and not only one, but many. Some may ask, how can we even speak of such a topic as this? The answer to that would be that the resurrected Christ who died and rose again has given to us He came and spoke and gave a vision, an understanding, an insight to John in particular, but he had done to other disciples. A revelation not only of himself risen from the grave, but an insight into, an important insight into the mystery of evil or the mystery of lawlessness. Jesus, the true man, openly and clearly taught, and confronted in his ministry the presence, the activity and the power of the evil. One you might remember in Mark's Gospel, the demonic powers were the first to recognise him. He understood Satan and his agenda and his strategy. When there was a huge storm at sea to try and drown or kill them, he calmed the sea, he rebuked the wind and waves. He knew what was happening, what was energising, what was opposing his ministry. Another one, Paul was given a revelation of the dynamics of, we've been speaking of law, later we'll be speaking of conscience, we've been speaking of guilt in the book of Romans, but Paul himself spoke on a number of occasions of the way in which he was engaged in a cosmic battle. He said, we're not simply wrestling with other people, but principalities and powers. And he himself even endured every day, it would seem. A messenger from Satan came and he had a thorn in his flesh, some pressing power of evil, and he persisted and pressed on in the midst of that. The Gospel writers all teach us that this is the dynamic in which we live. Let's turn to Genesis 3 and verse 1. This story is best simply read and heard and listened to. we're only going to take the first verse. Now, the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. That serpent that is mentioned there, Jesus tells us in his revelation to John, which the Father had given to him, he tells us that the ancient serpent is also called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. Revelation 12.9, he identifies this one here as the devil, Satan. And the thing to note here is the Lord God made, it says there the Lord God made this ancient serpent. because he was craftier than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. Now, I want to emphasise that point because the first thing we need to see is that Satan is a creature. God did the making. He is the creator. Everything he's made was very good. Every creature he made was very good. but something happened subsequently to the first act of creation, and that is that something happened within the secret heart of this creature, something we're not privy to, which set him on a relentless, sinister agenda to be the deceiver of the whole world. In Isaiah, there's a taunt against the king of Babylon and that taunt can be applied to this one. I will be like the Most High. Something also subsequently happened within the heart of two other creatures in this story which follow. The man and the woman, in their secret hearts, they desired a different kind of freedom. to pick up with our theme. Freedom to know good and evil. Genesis 3.5 further down then says, "'For God knows that when you eat of it, "'your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, "'knowing good and evil.'" A point which takes a little thinking through is that there is really no such thing as evil on its own, apart from Satan. And there is really no such thing as good simply on its own, apart from God, detached from God. So, the dynamics in which we live are not merely concepts or abstractions, sin, law, guilt, flesh, the idols and so on, are all operating because there's an interaction between creatures, their creator, and then other elements of the creation. So, within this creation, God is at work and also we can say the evil ones, Satan, and evil powers or evil creatures are also energising persons and even nations. If we want to just pick up a reference to that, Ephesians 2 says, you, you and I once lived following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. If prior to our coming to Christ you'd have asked us, do we follow Satan? we would have said, something like, I'm not religious mate, go away, or, no of course not, if you asked anyone Prior to coming into this, whether they were followers of Satan, no one, unless they're deliberately Satanists, would say that they do. But the scriptures say, no, this is the case. This is the case. If you're not worshipping Christ and knowing the Father, that's the situation. We can read also there that 1 John 3.8 says the devil's been sinning from the beginning. We then understand that he has been at work since the beginning. 2 Thessalonians 2.3-4 says, let no one deceive you in any way, for that day, the coming day of the Lord, will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. There is one at work this evil entity who seeks to take the place of God, is opposed to the incarnation and so has himself an incarnation of sorts. As we seek to examine the satanic agenda, to take over the throne of God the Most High, we need to be listening to Christ and thinking of the True Father. I'm sure the evil one wants to distract us from gaining insight into his proud, deceptive and murderous characteristics, and to be aware of his role as the accuser, so that we don't see those things. And Jesus says of Satan's agenda that the thief has come only to steal and kill and destroy, but he's come that we might have life abundantly Again, to pick up with our theme, freedom, freedom, nothing less than freedom. If you've ever set out to prepare a study on this clash of the kingdoms, it actually has a certain effect on you, I can say. And I was left last night, I simply had to laugh at the whole matter. It's very difficult to get your mind around all that this is about, and I'm sure that it is because this evil one is constantly opposed to us, this crafty, and so we need to keep coming back to the scriptures even to speak of these things. Jesus says, and you might like to turn to John chapter 8. John chapter 8, Jesus says, down in verse 44, He says, he was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. He uses psychological seduction. He sweet talks us, flatters us, uses intimidation. His voice may even be coming to us at the summer school saying something like, despair, you're beyond hope and could never be spiritual enough to be a free Christian. All of the time we are being bantered and bullied by this kind of voice. The fear of death is at the heart of it all. Hebrews 2.14 says, since therefore the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one, destroy, render powerless, defeat the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. And, this is Jesus' action, free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. in some human beings are held in slavery by the evil one through fear of death. Because death means judgment and we rightly fear that our judgment is warranted and it won't be good. So then Christ enters into that judgment on our behalf He brings us forgiveness. He speaks to us the word of forgiveness. He rescues us from that impending peril. And Jesus says, to hear the Son means not to come into judgment, but you now have eternal life. I think it's important for us to grasp this section, this matter, these things we're speaking of. One of the New Testament scholars by the name of N.T. Wright says of our society that generally we ignore evil When it doesn't hit us right in the face, we happily go along, and then something like the Al-Qaeda network arises, and it's too late. We've not been on our toes, aware of these things. We make the economy our top priority, business and investment, and suddenly the creation cries out to us of its neglect. He says also we are surprised by evil when it does hit us, the tragic events of Port Arthur, the AIDS epidemic as it sweeps across the African continent. are things like the tsunami, the New Orleans devastation, global warming, the rape of rainforests, huge companies that we invest in, then build and build, and they all give rise to us reflecting then upon evil. And perhaps one of the best places to do this is with Job, who undergoes a series of personal sufferings, And these are at the instigation of Satan. Personally, in our own personal lives, we might find ourselves suddenly divorced, we might find ourselves trapped, friends, people we know in the occult, suicide pacts, a whole string of things. And then N.T. Wright says, because we aren't so aware of this happening, our response is we react in an immature and a dangerous way. And as a result of our ignoring evil, we have a sudden surprise when we encounter it. Nations quickly undertake coups, country invasions. Decisions like that are made without consultation. We want bureaucratic quick fixes to our problems, ecological problems. Our political leaders take those steps and promise things like, this can never happen again, we must make sure. C.S. Lewis said that there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils or the demons. One is to disbelieve in their existence. That seems to be the Western culture generally. Hank reminds us, he said the other day that in Africa people become Christians and they don't speak any longer of Satan or the evil one in their homes, just of Jesus. They've known enough about the powers of evil So the other mistake, of course, then would be to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest, said Lewis, in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail the materialist or a magician with the same delight. That is, Satan loves to, like a pendulum, drive us out one way to make almost nothing of his existence or drive us out the other way so that we're so caught up in it there's a demon under every rock. NT Wright again adds a third error which he feels we have in this regard and he says a Carl Jung, a psychologist, suggests that Whenever we speak of the devil, it's something like a dark part of our personality we just project out onto Satan. And Wright says this is a dangerous way to think. We're also encouraged by psychologists to befriend our shadowy side. And he says this is a dangerous thing in history, to befriend what we see as our shadowy side is quite wrong and leads to disastrous outcomes. So heed the warnings when there's evil in our lives. The question then we could ask this morning is, what is the strength of our captivity to the devil and how is that broken or destroyed? Jesus, when he initiated this conversation here in John 8, in verse 31, interestingly, he was speaking, it says, then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, they'd had some response of faith to what he was saying, to what he was teaching, and he said to them, if you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.' And they answered him, we're descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying you will be made free? Already there's a conflict. He said, if you continue in my word, immediately they react. What do you mean? He says, very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. And further down, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. He said, I know you're descendants of Abraham, yet you're looking for an opportunity to kill me because there's no place in you for my word. This is the battle, the conflict, to find the place in our hearts for the word of God. They go on with the fight. They continue it. Abraham's our father. Jesus said, well, if he was, you'd do what he did. And they said, well, we're not illegitimate. We've got one father, God. And then he gets right down to it and says, if God were your father, you would love me. For I did not come on my own, but he sent me. You'd be seeing the father. It's because you cannot accept my word." And then he really places it right before them. He says, you are from your father, the devil, and choose to do your father's desires. Commenting again on this passage, Leon Morris said there seemed to be some spiritual force holding them back. They believed, but they didn't believe. And there seemed to be some spiritual power holding them back. And most of us, I'm a parish minister, and most of us have met husbands or wives whose partners come to church once or twice. And then just, it's not even that it was boring that morning or anything like that. It was that there seems to be a certain thing holding them back. And it's this that Christ comes to break through and then bring liberation in that regard. Jesus is on his mission to address this great issue of death and all the powers of the devil are linked to this issue of death. Jesus says to them, very truly, and this is at the close of this passage in chapter 8, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am. So they then pick up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. That is the reaction, that's the clash of these two kingdoms. Among other things, this passage illustrates how powerfully captivated the entire fallen human race becomes in the works of darkness and perhaps especially God's covenant people who trace their descent and their community origins to Abraham need freedom from captivity. Satan's agenda. God has a plan and Satan likewise has a plan to place himself on God's throne. Isn't it incredible, don't you think, that a creature could think he would do that? I mean, it's an incredible thought to think you could displace God from his throne and then to set out to achieve that. Someone has called Satan God's ape. Everything you do, anything you can do, I can and will do better. I'll mimic it. That is the nature of this high deceit. So firstly then, Satan in his mimicking must have a fatherhood. He must have a crucified son. He must have a trinity. We read in the red of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet who are father, son and unholy spirit. We read in another place that this one is the unholy spirit of a false prophet really. Commenting again on this passage, Geoff says, and I'll just read Revelation 16, 13, as we pick that up there, you might like to turn. Revelation 16, 13. And I saw three foul spirits like frogs coming from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet. Patef says here, the three foul spirits like frogs formed a cloned trinity and seek to assemble the nations against God. Whilst the children of God have his name written on their foreheads, that is, they have the mark of God, so the beast marks out his own, the mark of the beast. If Satan will be liked the most high, then he must do what God does. because he is essentially a creature. He never can do what the Creator does, but he is compelled to try and do so. The most he can accomplish is a parody, and some people interpret these sections of the Bible and say, well that beast there, That one with seven heads is Rome, one of the emperors. They suggested Nero at one stage and then other emperors took his place. But the beast can surely be no less than the Antichrist, for he's the one who desires to take the place of Christ. counterfeit agenda then, we've seen, and it goes further than this trinity. There's a holy city in the book of Revelation. We see we're moving towards that, but Satan builds this thing called the unholy city. Just a quick look at Revelation chapter 17 and 18. Both of those chapters there, as part of this mural, describe the whore, Babylon, the great mother of whores, they describe this woman. In verse 7, John was looking at this woman and he was greatly amazed, he was marvelling. But the angels said to him, I think the RSV has it, why marvel? And then he goes on, I'll tell you the mystery of this woman and of the beast with the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her. Sometimes we marvel ourselves at Babylon, at the whore, we I do it in, we have shopping centres and malls, we have the economy, we have real estate, we have a whole system that we marvel at how it all works and We're told here, no, that's not the real thing. The mystery of this woman is then spelled out and she is portraying herself as the real thing, but the real thing is the holy city, our fellowship with Christ, knowing God. The lie is that the unholy trinity can and will triumph. The other day I was in the supermarket, and I went in to buy some cheese, and I only had one type of cheese to choose from. Well, all the others had been moved off the shelf, or they were too dear. They just wanted me to buy one. Now, you might say, well, that's a funny little incident, but all the time we're dealing with the manipulation to go about life in a certain way. We think, I thought we had freedom to buy all the sorts of cheeses you like. But it seems when it comes down to it, you're conformed to one. So I bought the one and went on my way. Even Dick Smith, the millionaire, can't get his biscuits into the supermarkets. I mean, there's a certain action which is real. So, as I thought about this and looked at my study, a revelation came to me afresh. Enter the Father. I once punched my mum and she said, wait till your father gets in from the dairy. Enter the father. The father comes and he comes together with his son and the action of God is by contrast to all Satan's designs and scheming and trickery and cajoling and bullying and deception, in contrast to all of that, he comes with one clear, decisive, mighty, deep, ruinous action. He comes to crush evil and the scriptures refer to it as a single hour. If you turn over to Revelation 18, Alas, alas, the great city Babylon, the mighty city, for in one hour your judgment has come." Do you remember Jesus praying before his crucifixion and he said, now is the hour of darkness. The power of darkness is one hour and you could say his whole life. was that decisive hour when the time had fully come, God sent forth his son, the passage in Genesis can describe him as the bruiser. And he comes, the bruiser comes, in the Father's name and he deals, his action is decisive, it is one of love, it is one of dealing with evil, it is one of breaking the power of Satan and all of the powers of evil in that one action of the cross. And how he does that? He does that by becoming sin, by all of the powers, by becoming us, and all of the powers accuse him rightly, they accuse him and he bears their accusation, the powers of evil, something happens in there, we read Psalm 22, bulls of bastion darkness surrounds him, all the dogs bark and all of the action of evil powers come continually and endlessly upon him until he can no longer even understand fully what is happening to him. He cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And in that darkest, deepest hour, something happens in that hour and Christ bears the guilt of the human race. He bears our sins. He becomes a curse for us. And in that decisive action, the father comes to father his children and to truly deal with all of these enemies. and someone then describes Satan as a shark with his teeth taken out, a gummy shark, who is still a creature, but whose power has been broken because the accusations by which he manipulates us have been rendered null and void. Can you accuse a pure person Can you accuse a holy person, a righteous person? Christ gives us his righteousness, his holiness. The reason he appeared was to destroy the works of the devil, to render the case for the prosecution null and void, over. No more case. acquitted. And so this creature is not destroyed. We read later in the book of Revelation again, chapter 20, when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, in order to gather them for battle. They are as numerous as the sands of the sea. They marched up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints in the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then in the light of that, understanding, knowing his demise, we're exhorted in the scriptures, resist the devil and he will flee from you. He roars around still like a lion looking to devour someone, but resist him, stand firm and know of his defeat. Be assured that Christ has defeated this one. And then the miracle of course is We now love because He first loved us. He loved us enough to break the power of accusation. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ because He is born that condemnation. He's born that which stood against us. Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert, like a roaring lion, your adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour. And so we're continually called now to live as people of faith, knowing that he has been defeated. I think corporately today, as we look at the creation, as we think of what will be the future, we could say no better than corporately, when Satan tempts me to despair of the future of creation and tells me, the human race of the guilt within, Upward I look, and see Him there, Who made an end to all my sin. Amen.