Do Not Move On From The Devil!
In the past two weeks, our study of Mark’s gospel has been in the first part of chapter 5. This is the story of Jesus’ encounter with the demoniac of Gadara. This was a man inhabited by thousands of demons. The story is intriguing and piques our interest as we dive deeper into its components. Today, we will finish and next week we will move on to another subject. I am sure Satan will approve of us forgetting him for awhile as another subject occupies our attention.
Two weeks ago, I read an interesting article about how we may hear about Satan and his activities, and we are quick to acknowledge his existence and the horrible ways he works in the worst forms of evil we can imagine. Soon after, we lost our alarm. Yes, Satan orchestrates abortions, sex trafficking, pornography, drugs, murders, and all the vices that plague our society. These past two weeks I am sure you thought more about Satan than you have for weeks. Discussions of encounters with Satan filled our Sunday Afternoon Forum Class.
Next week when we move on from Satan, our thoughts of him will diminish and we will experience much less alarm with his works. Many will not think of him at all as you listen to news reports of evils that continually confront us. Satan’s presence will fade from our consciousness and with it our careful vigilance to beware of entrapment by what Paul calls “the wiles of the devil.”
In Mark 5, the frightful description we use is “demon possession.” This is a condition we think happens to others who are far out there and not close enough to concern ourselves with it. Another word that should concern us is “influence.” The Bible says Satan is “the god of this world.” What would the god of this world do? He would and does influence everything that happens in his world. He actively controls it to affect his purposes. We need more awareness of Satan’s presence and activities than a three-part sermon.
Where is Satan at work? I will give one example. I believe one of the scariest places is not a séance but in the heart of the beginning of society. I mean those who will shape our society in the future. Who are they? Our children. What is Satan’s means? Our educational system. He starts at the lowest level, influencing the way our children think. Gender dysphoria confuses children about who and what they are by purging their brains of their developing common sense. Left alone without influence, what happens to children? They develop their natural sexual inclinations, marry each other, and start families. We do not need to teach them about proper attraction. Humanity has survived thousands of years without the need to discuss sexual orientation. In rare cases it went off, either we made course corrections, or we separated the affected for the harm they do. After these thousands of years, why is there now so much confusion? It is not difficult and needs little research. It starts with teachers teaching something different. We call them “influencers” and “groomers.” Behind them is the god of this world laboring to suppress natural affection to destroy humanity—those made in the image of God. Imagine for a moment if for these thousands of years homosexuality was normal. You cannot because you would not be here to imagine it.
I have just hit a small part of the Titanic’s iceberg. With more time and space, the applications are as wide and varied as there are subjects. In one article, I told you to leave the devil alone. Leave him alone but never forget he is real, and he is here.
Pastor V. Mark Smith