RESCUE US FROM THE EVIL ONE
(The Lord’s Prayer Part VII) John 17:10-15,
The New
York Times, in reporting on a survey by the Barna Group, noted the diminishing
belief in the devil among Americans. In a nationwide telephone survey of 1,007
randomly selected people, pollsters asked whether they agreed that Satan is
“not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” Sixty-two percent agreed with
that statement, while 30 percent disagreed; the remaining eight percent had no
opinion.” “If less than one in three Americans seems willing to give the devil
his due,” reported the Times, “then that is a result of fundamental, long-term
shifts in the nation’s religious culture.”[1]
Most
liberal and emergent village churches reject the reality of a personal Satan.
So too do the majority of Americans who say they believe in God. Verbal Kint, the
narrator in the 1995 film Usual Suspects, says, “The greatest trick the Devil
ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” While most
Bible-believing Christians do believe in Satan, confusion often reigns.
For
the past few weeks we have been studying the Lord’s prayer. Last week we looked
at the prayer, “Lead us not into temptation”, where we learned that that the
devil also known as the tempter, tempts people to sin where as God tests and
send trials on our way to prove our commitment to him, in doing so to prove to
us His grace and loving kindness. Today we will look at the later part of the
petition, “Rescue us from Evil.” By the end of our time we will find some answers
to questions such as: Does Satan exist and is he real? If so what is his
purpose and nature like? How did Christ overcame Satan? How can we overcome
Satan and his demons? What are the weapons of Warfare? John 17: 10-15
Just
to summarize what we have learned from the Lord’s Prayer so far: God is our
father in heaven and his name is to be honored under any circumstances. We are
to pray for his kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in
heaven. God is our provider and the giver of our daily bread. When we forgive
those, who have sinned against us from our hearts God forgives our sins. We are
to pray that God would not lead us into the great trail.
Today
we are looking into the continuation of the prayer from last week, “but deliver
(rescue) us from evil.” In some versions it is translated as, “rescue us from
the evil one.” Who is this evil one that Jesus is referring to in this prayer?
It was Satan or the Devil who has been given different titles in the Bible and
one of them is, “The Evil One. All of these names point to his evil character.
The chief characteristics we find in Satan are his hostility, cunning, power,
and evil intent toward God and His people. Jesus is teaching us to pray for God
to rescue us from the power and the evil intent of Satan. Let’s look at a few
known facts of Satan.
I
THE ORIGIN OF SATAN:
When it comes to talking about
Satan many people, including Christians are either afraid to talk about him or
completely ignore him as if he doesn’t exist. The truth of the matter is
whether you like it or not Satan is real and he exists. Has he always been bad?
No! Satan was an archangel or a cherub created by God. He was created perfect
in beauty and splendor. He was the chief of the worshipping angels, leading
them in worship of the living God on the mountain of God. His name was Lucifer
meaning, “bearer of light or morning star.”
We
read in Isaiah 14:12, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations! (KJV). But all that was changed when pride entered
into his heart. Satan coveted the position of God. He wanted all the glory that
God had, he exalted himself and wanted to be like God.
God
did not tolerate this rebellion in his heart so he threw Satan down to the
earth. I encourage you to read both Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28: 11-17, for a detailed
explanation on Satan. When God threw Satan down to the earth along with him he
also threw a third of the angels who joined ranks with Satan in rebellion
against God. They are referred to in the scriptures as “evil spirits, or demons”
We find this reference in the book of revelation. Rev 12:4, “His tail swept
down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth.”
Jewish
thinkers often identified stars as angels. Jewish tradition taught that Satan’s
revolt had long ago led to the fall of many angels. These are a few scriptural
references to the origin and the fall of Satan. As we read through the Bible we
will come to understand that Satan is not just a force or a symbol of evil, but
he is a created being with a unique personality. Let’s see how he tries to
discredit and hinder God’s purposes through his evil spirits or demons.
II.
THE POWER OF SATAN
Let’s
not be fooled, in underestimating the power of Satan. He is a very powerful
being, but not omnipotent or all mighty like our God is. Though his power is
limited, it is more than anyone of us can handle. During his ministry Jesus
often had to deal with the manifestations of demons. By a word of rebuke, he
often cast out the evil spirits that were tormenting people.
One
of such occasions we read in Mark 5th chapter: Jesus encounters a
man with an unclean spirit who made his dwelling among the tombs. His power was
so strong that no one could bind him, not even with chains and shackles. Night
and day he spent his time among the mountains crying and cutting himself with
stones. When he saw Jesus, the evil
spirit recognized who Jesus was. He shouted at the top of his voice saying,
“What do you want with me, Jesus the Son of the Most High God? Swear to God
that you won’t torture me!”
Jesus
said, to the evil spirit to come out. In the end we know this man was possessed
by thousand demons, but with one rebuke Jesus sets this man free, and this man
goes to the region of ten cities and tell everyone how Jesus has set him free
from demonic oppression. Satan and his demonic spirits have not stopped
tormenting people. Yet, at times it is our ignorance and other times our willful
defiance to God’s laws opens the door to the devil to attack us.
Jesus
exposes the nature of the devil in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
The thief is another name given to the devil. He is successfully stealing the
Joy of people. He is deceptively destroying relationships, in marriages,
families and churches. And in the end, he is mercilessly killing many people
through, violence, abortions, homicides and suicides.
According
to the Apostle Paul Christians are in a wrestling match with the devil.
Ephesians, 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” This wrestling match is
real, relentless and ongoing. Whether or not we will win this match depends on
how well we are aware of the tactics of the enemy and how well we have armed
ourselves with the weapons of the warfare.
The
Apostle Peter who knew a thing or two about the temptations from the devil
warns his believers to be aware of the devil’s tactics. I Peter 5:8, “Be
sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Upon hearing all this frightening
information about the devil, you might be wondering who can rescue you from the
vicious attacks of the enemy. I have good news for you. Jesus who successfully
defeated the devil on the cross is alive and right here with us to rescue us
from the devil and his evil forces. Before Jesus was taken up into heaven he
prayed for our protection.
John
17:10-15, “And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am
coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in
your name, While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have
given me... I have given them your word... do not ask that you take them out of
the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” These verses tell us that
Jesus not only protected his disciples, but also prayed to God for their
protection from the evil one. In the Lord’s prayer he taught his disciples to
pray to the father to rescue them from the evil one.
III.
RESCUE US FROM THE EVIL ONE
Oh, how we need to pray this prayer
for God to rescue us from the evil one today more than ever before. You may
wonder why? The scripture tells us that we are living in evil days. In order to
maintain our Christian witness, first and foremost we need the ever-present
help of the Holy Spirit, the powerful weapons of prayer, praise and worship and
the double-edged sword which is God’s word, and the continued support of a
community of believers. Who can pray, encourage and support us when we go through
struggles and battles against our enemy the adversary of our souls. Above all
we personally are to pray to God to rescue us from the evil one.
As
we pray he will send his angels to fight against the evil one and his evil
forces. But God also made it very clear in his word how we can personally
resist the devil. James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you.” The key here is our submission to God and
then resisting means not giving into the devils’ temptation instead taking a
stand against it. When we do that by faith, as it is promised the devil will
flee from us.
In
our fight against the devil, let’s remember, the one who lives in us (Jesus) is
greater than the one (the devil) who lives in the world. Jesus has defeated
Satan on the Cross. We are facing a defeated enemy, one day the devil and his
angels will be thrown into hell forever. That is the ultimate rescue from the
evil one, until then, let’s keep praying the Lord’s prayer. Amen!
[1]
Gustav Niebuhr, “Poll Indicates Diminished Role of Devil,” The New York Times,
Saturday, May 10, 1997
