The Vortex of Evil

Mark Dunagan
06/01/08 - Sunday Morning

 

Psalm 1:1

 

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers”

 

“It seems likely that this psalm was specially composed as an introduction to the whole Psalter. Certainly it stands here as a faithful doorkeeper, confronting those who would be in the ‘congregation of the righteous’ (5), with the basic choice that alone gives reality to worship; with the divine truth (2), that must inform it; and with the ultimate judgment (5,6), that looms up beyond it” ¹

 

“For the Bible, life is a journey offering two roads. Regardless of how offensive this idea may be to the modern mind, it is ‘either/or’ rather than ‘both/and’… There are two conflicting kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. There are two entry points: the wide gate leading to destruction and the narrow gate leading to life (Matthew 7:13-14). As Francis Schaeffer stresses, unlike Hegel’s dialectic (thesis, antithesis, synthesis), Biblical thought is antithetical: thesis/antithesis. There is no reconciliation of opposites (synthesis)” ²

 

“Counsel, way, and seat draw attention to the realms of thinking, behaving and belonging, in which a person’s fundamental choice of allegiance is made and carried through; and this is borne out by a hint of decisiveness in the tense of the Hebrew verbs (the perfect)…the three complete phrases show three aspects, indeed three degrees, of departure from God, by portraying conformity to this world at three different levels: accepting its advice, being party to its ways, and adopting the most fatal of its attitudes---for the scoffers, if not the most scandalous of sinners, are the farthest from repentance (Proverbs 3:34)” (Kidner pp. 47-48). “It need not strike us as strange that this happiness is first pictured in terms of negatives---what such a man will not do” ³

 

The Progression of Unbelief

 

The very fact that we are born into this world with a body and a soul, a physical side and a spiritual side reveals that no one is born being antagonistic to God or spiritual realities. People become unbelievers just like people become sinners. Often the Bible warns us against the small compromises or the little steps that lead away from God:

 

• “For this reason we much pay must closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Hebrews 2:1).

• “Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. Lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

• “These are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life” (Luke 8:14).

• Thus we find Saul going from being humble (1 Samuel 15:17) to becoming arrogant, and Judas from being greedy and a thief (John 12:6) to betraying Jesus.

 

Ron Adams in Thursday’s Thought observes that walk, stand, and sit could be interpreted as meaning, listen, join, and defend. “It is not one giant step from doing good to doing wrong. It is three small steps”.

 

The Steps to Ruin

 

• Dabble in what is questionable or wrong

 

1. Ignore the warnings in Scripture.

2. Ignore warnings from loved ones, parents and good friends.

3. Become a little careless.

4. Violate your conscience now and then.

5. Allow yourself to believe that the prohibitions in Scripture are not in your best interest.

6. “You may only plan to dabble, but like the vortex of a whirlpool, one is drawn in more and more”.

 

• Participate Knowing It is Wrong

 

1. Refuse admonitions from Scripture and brethren.

2. Start becoming hard to reach, screen your phone calls, and view the church as a persistent bill collector that needs to be avoided.

3. Stifle the prodding of conscience.

4. Offer excuses.

5. Convince yourself that there is something wrong with the Lord’s church or the Scriptures. Have a cynical or skeptical view of brethren and God’s word, while at the same time swallowing just about everything that the world is telling you.

 

• Justifying and Defend what you are doing

 

1. Maintain a conscience which is so seared that it no longer brothers you when you sin.

2. See nothing wrong in anything you are doing.

3. Oppose those you disagree with you, regardless of the truth they present.

4. Place all the blame on God and His people.

5. Mistrust God and His people while at the same time fully trusting Satan and his followers.

 

How to get back on the Right Track

 

 

• Listen to the Truth: John 8:31-32

 

“Every transformed life in Scripture started with ‘receiving the word of God’ (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The wind of change is driven by the breath of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). One of the real problems we have with change is listening to the right source of information. Some of us are not changing as we would like because we are not listening to the right source of truth. Satan loves to get us thinking so deeply about ourselves and this world that we do not want to listen to what God has to say” (Focus Magazine, April 2008, “Making Change”, Tim Jennings, p. 5).

 

So who do we really enjoy listening to at the present?

 

• Our own feelings and thoughts?

• The opinions of talk show hosts or other celebrities?

• The opinions of those in academic positions?

• God Himself?

 

• See Yourself As You Are: Luke 5:8

 

Many people live in a state of self-deception and see themselves as they want to rather than seeing themselves as they really are. “No change is possible until we take off the mask, drop the pretense, quit making excuses, and see the truth about ourselves” (p. 6)

 

• Change How You Talk

 

Instead of making excuses for our behavior, we need to come clean. “There are many times where we know the truth about ourselves, but we dare not tell anyone else, because then we just might have to do something about it. There is something about confession that forces us to own up to what needs to change (Luke 19:8)” (p. 6). When we confess that we are “sinful men” then we have equally accepted the fact that we need God, that our own feelings cannot be trusted and that we need to unquestionably follow God’s instructions.

 

• Change Your Habits: Luke 3:8

 

We can only change when we start thinking differently, talking differently and acting differently. If the Gospel message does not, at least in the beginning, affect our schedules and priorities then we will never really change. “You courageously cut some things out of your life. You throw those things away, you turn that thing off, and you say ‘no’ to other commitments, because they do not fit your new priorities in Christ” (p. 6).

 

• Test Your Resolve

 

“Be aware, no change will be left unchallenged. In many different ways (Satan) will try to discourage you so that you give up. Nearly every significant change is met with persecution. If you get serious about living for God you will face some burdens that will tempt you to give up. You will face problems that will make you feel justified in quitting. The reality of your change will be seen in your perseverance in such times” (p. 6). Something will happen in our lives that will force us to confront the change, “Is being a Christian worth it?”

 

• Reaffirm Your Decision

 

Whenever our resolve or commitment is tested we are being given an opportunity to reinforce our devotion to God. Keeping God first is nothing more than keeping Him as being the single most important passion in our lives (Revelation 2:4-5).