Advent 11 When You Know You've Got It All

[HKHaugan]

One thing we need to keep before us is that the Bible is spiritual history. It records the world's spiritual descent through sin and the spiritual recovery of its people through Jesus the Christ whose final judgment ends in the destruction of all that is evil. The lingering despot behind its collapse is the devil whose presence continues to assail the human heart but in a final cataclysm is eternally erased. This happens when the Lord Jesus returns.

In Advent we just need a bit of a reminder to see the devil as the one who has been defeated by the Cross and Resurrection but still masquerades as the momentary adviser who offers to reshape the world and make every individual feel good for the moment. He lives in the shadows of our weaknesses, our momentary yearnings and our willingness to compromise. He works hard to dislodge believers through division, doubt and distraction so that whole societies are overcome with his spiritual fantasies. He works on each person to make them self-centered, self-indulgent and self-elevating until every vestige of the true God is erased. His cadre of spirits employ their powers, at his direction, to undercut any appeal that they are not in control of their own lives since they need nothing outside themselves. He discourages thinking he exists and enjoys hiding in the underbrush of political, social, psychological, economic and religious confusion. These are where he labors to start brush fires on the perimeter of the individual heart to keep it frightened, prideful and anxious. But over 3000 years ago he and his strategies were identified by Moses in Genesis 3, later elaborated on in Job, then described in Isaiah by the effects he caused in whole nations.

Specifically in a prophetic message about Babylon and it's future Isaiah describes the devil’s heart, “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations. You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly…I will ascend above the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the most High…” (Is.14:12)!” Note the emphasis on “I” and “I will.” In three verses, vs.12-14, the ultimate enemy of God has contemptuously declared his position. He doesn’t want God, he doesn’t need God and he is going to replace God and be in control of everything. The echoes of William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus” ring here, “Out of the night that covers me, black is the pit from pole to pole…I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul…” And the poet concludes his poem with the same contempt proclaiming “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” Everything is about me, myself, I and mine. To this condition Jesus clearly speaks when He says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven (Lk.10:18).” Knowing the need to identify the source of evil Jesus exposes the devil and his false promises in the wilderness (Mt.4:1-11).

In essence what the devil is pronouncing is that he intends to replicate himself and his self-centeredness in every human heart. Sin is his spirit. Deceit, hiding, fear and pride are his modes of operation. He has a stable of spirits to trip up the unsuspecting and temptation is his strategy. He has centuries of experience and knows that the heart is our most vulnerable access point.

But Jesus knows the heart better, "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean (Mk.7:20-23).' " But we have Jesus as Savior and Lord. Wherever we are in this mix, Jesus arrives to bring our consciousness of His presence for healing and wholeness. We are never alone and His grace and mercy precede us with whomever, wherever and whenever we are. And even more just as He rebuked the devil in the wilderness so we too in Him can do the same in our wildernesses. Case in point, when Paul showed the Cretan mindset was satanic he called for its rebuke (Titus 1:13, 2Tim.4:2). Jude did the same (vs.9). We have to remember “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world (1John 4:4).”

The mind is where our heart introduces its beliefs to impress self and others or believes and trusts in God's impact and yields to Him. The heart is where we ponder and make choices and decisions. It is the heart that feels alone, senses alone, is peaceful or distraught, depressed or elated and stable or unstable. Sometimes it is whimsical and impetuous while other times relaxed and patient. Regardless of principle and ethic it will respond to the fear of the moment, live by its perceived needs instead of real needs and have a hard time discerning the difference. The mouth may speak in bold belief but the heart may respond in total contrast when acting out unspoken inner drives. Paul confirms this when he says “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing (Rom.7:19).” Who does not identify with that statement?

But the antidote for the sinful heart starts with Paul’s clear affirmation, “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom.10:9).” It is the belief in the mind that must penetrate the heart. Here is where each of us struggles. If you can say Jesus is Lord it is the heart and the heart alone that can embrace the truth that Jesus is risen from the dead and present in the heart. Paul emphasizes this when he talks about being a Jew. “No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.”

Jesus promises power for the heart, the Holy Spirit, "If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you. I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you! (John 14:15-17)”

So much more can be said about the heart but if you really look at the Bible as a whole you will find that it is a heart book about the heart, written from the heart of God for each individual heart and in Jesus no one and nothing can stand against it.

Paul tells us we can prepare by dressing in the spiritual clothing the Lord provides for every occasion, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people (Eph.6:10-18).”