Deliver Us from Evil

May 09, 2011 Monday Message:

Jesus: “Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” (from The Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6:13)

During this past week, news headlines spoke of the demise of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks on the United States. During the Iran-Contra hearings, Oliver North testified that this man was “the most evil person alive.”

There is a lot of evil in the world. Satan is relentless and passionate with his anti-God agenda. The devil wants to be like God, but it will never happen. The prince of evil is a created being, and YHWH-God is the creator.

Ever since the Garden of Eden, mankind has desired to possess all knowledge, to be more God-like. It cannot happen, because we too are created beings. But we can easily be tempted, and sometimes we slip and fall into evil. Not just an occasional bad word or a casual thought, but something really evil. A plot to take somebody down, a scheme to get even, malicious gossip, revenge – these are all fueled by the evil one, who is tempting us at every turn to abandon this God-thing in our lives.

Before Jesus, people didn’t know as much about things spiritual and eternal. Those who believed hotly debated the possibility of life-after-this-life. But the empty tomb removed all doubt. And Christ’s teachings made clear the concepts of salvation (heaven) and condemnation (hell.) Jesus spent more time warning us about the misery of hell than extolling the virtues of heaven.

Jesus was well aware of evil. He had been tempted by the devil, but used the Word of God as his defense. Jesus cast out demons, which had not been done before. And he gave his followers the “authority to cast out evil spirits, and to heal every kind of disease and illness.” Matt. 10:1b Jesus would not have empowered us to drive out demons if it wasn’t a big deal.

We’re still not perfect. We all slip and make mistakes, and then have to repent and return to the Lord (tschuva.) But remember that Jesus advised each of us to pray for deliverance from this kind of evil.

Lord, we pray, protect us; deliver us from the BIG evil.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.

Norton Lawellin