How Can I Resist Evil? | Nicky Gumbel

[Music] no no get half say no to that one absolutely not no evil no I don't think so I don't know as an evil influence bow say not really no evil comes from the mind and the mind is physical why do I think bad things happen oh my god - I'm raising good things happen just like this agency's evil has to exist so the good consists I'm a great believer in karma yeah what goes around comes around but you've got heaven how I don't really know my thoughts on that it's just bad luck I get tempted by procrastinating or money obviously tend to people sharks cigarettes beer booze and sex and all that sort of stuff going out and buying lunch every day that are just making myself the kind of quick fix is very tempting by trying so you can either withdraw from it and just ignore it or you can go for it and see what happens so Paul wrote don't be overcome by evil but overcome evil we're good I didn't invite you but I've been so moved by what's happened in the last few days the the tributes in the House of Commons and today the tributes to Joe Cox who was murdered on Thursday loss yeah just just a few days ago the theme that comes through in all the speeches and today with her her husband speaking on what would have been her 42nd birthday all about love overcoming hate light overcoming darkness and good overcoming evil evils a word that kind of almost we hesitate to use and yet today as you open the newspapers eyes saw Ben Butler the man who battered to death is six-year-old daughter they interviewed a former girlfriend and she said that he done this he had attacked her and before he attacked her said there was always this look of pure evil in his eyes and then only ten days ago 49 people killed as a gunman entered a nightclub in Orlando and as gun people down a crime of hatred in a similar attack in Paris one newspaper headline was this hand of the devil slapped Paris in the face will good people do nothing when I was an atheist because I couldn't believe that there was a God then I became a Christian and I came to believe that there was a God and people said to me that there's a devil I come on it was hard enough for me to believe there's a god don't start telling me there's a devil and I think that the trouble was I had a picture of God as a white white bearded old man sitting up in the clouds and similarly I had a picture of the devil the kind of light you know tail and pitchfork and cloven hooves and all the rest of it and those pictures of God and of the devil are not only unbelievable but actually unbiblical what the New Testament talks about is spiritual forces of evil that are at work in the world and that is something I think there's a great deal of evidence for and some people actually find it easier to believe in the devil than they do to believing in God William Peter Blatty who wrote and produced The Exorcist said this as far as God goes I'm a non-believer but when it comes to the devil well has something else the devil keeps advertising the devil does lots of commercials I remember one time just after this talk on another course a guy came at me was a lawyer and this guy his name's Bruce Strether I remember meeting him he was he was an absolute atheist he came on the course he just all the way through he said I just don't believe this successful lawyer absolutely worked out in his mind that God did not exist came on the weekend had no impact on him at all but at the end of the talk he kept he came up and he said you know in my work as a lawyer I have seen so much evil I've always believed in a force of evil in the world and tonight it struck me that if there can be a force of evil surely it's only logical to believe that there could be a force of good and that night he encountered that force of good he encountered Jesus he became a Christian and only last week I this is 20 years later 20 years of seeing his family brought up in a totally different way transformed life course the devil is not the only source of evil that the the way that the Bible talks about it's like a Triple Alliance there's the world it's a bad stuff around there's the flesh not not our bodies nothing evil about the body but their evil desires that come from within and then there's the devil the world the flesh and the devil the evil above the evil around and the evil within and why should we believe in in a devil way in this 21st century world well first Jesus clearly believed in the devil he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness he taught us to pray deliver us from the evil one then Christians all down the ages have believed in it and some of you may have experienced one of the things that we've often found it's after an alpha weekend people have a rather maybe an experience of God experience of the Holy Spirit they find their surprise in the next three days there's been since the weekend that it's really tough they find things that maybe they're tempted away or have thoughts that they're so surprised by and it's like they've entered a spiritual battle and then there's this common sense how do we explain all this stuff these evil regimes institutional torture and violence mass murders brutal rapes terrorist atrocities sexual and physical abuse of children the man who was sent to Rwanda as part of the UN peacekeeping force there saw the genocide but had such a small number of people he couldn't stop it and he wrote a book afterwards called shake hands with the devil he wrote this I know there's a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil I've seen him I smelled him I've touched him I know the devil exists and therefore I know that there's a God there to equal officer dangerous one is to disbelieve in which case we're not aware of what what's going on around us and the other is to have an unhealthy interest things like the occult witchcraft palm reading Ouija boards astrology horoscopes tarot cards all that kind of stuff yet before I was a Christian I dabbled in Italy in that kind of stuff it's not like the unforgivable sin but what New Testament says is if you've got if you are involved in that sort of thing don't get involved any more books or stuff to do with it get rid of it because it's not healthy so what are the devil's tactics how does how does he work his aim is to destroy Jesus said this the thief that's the the enemy comes to steal and kill and to destroy that's what what he wants to do with your life and it's exactly the opposite to what Jesus wants to do jesus said I have come that they may have life and life to the full in other words Jesus has a plan for your life which is that you should enjoy fullness of life the devil wants to destroy your life and it's very subtle because he doesn't tell us where it's heading let me give you a very trivial and slightly ridiculous example but comes from my university days so kind of back in ancient history just after the creation of the world I shared rooms at university with Nicky Lee who's now the associate vicar here I've known him since we since we were 12 but we had runs together at university and his mother and is an amazing cook and she used to make these wonderful fruit cakes and one time he had this fruit cake and then he went off for the weekend and I happened to be there with a few friends over the weekend and this fruit cake I noticed that it wasn't quite rectangular so I decided I would to do him a favor I would straighten it up and then I noticed that having straightened it up on that age it didn't look quite straight on the other edge so I cut that and then it didn't look like straight on that edge and then it would be nice of all four edges were off so I cut that edge and it still wasn't rectangular so we kind of over the weekend we kept making it rectangular until there was only about that much left and then we felt it would be cruel to Mickey to arrive and find there was only that much left so we finished it off now when the point is we never intended to do that we didn't intend where we ended up when we started and in a much more serious way the person who first cakes heroin doesn't realize where that my a may end up the person your internet porn doesn't realize what it might do to their neural pathways it's it's you start on a course but you don't realize where it's heading and that's the enemy's aim is to destroy us and often it starts with doubt that's where as you read the the the biblical account right from Genesis through to the temptations of Jesus the enemy's tactic often starts with that there's nothing wrong with having doubts in fact everything important is open to doubt you can't have faith without doubt two plus two equals four is not open to doubt but love is open to doubt you can never be absolutely certain you can't prove scientifically that someone loves you it's open to doubt all the important things in life are open to that and you can only have faith faith and doubt are the two sides of the same coin but what the devil wants is that we should believe our doubts and doubt our beliefs what God wants is that we doubt our doubts and believe our beliefs the devil came to in the Garden of Eden you see how he tempted but by saying did God really say that was the enemy's temptation when he came to Jesus if you're the son of God when he comes to uses if you're a Christian because if you're not a Christian does it matter if you really if you do what you he's tempting you to do and then there's temptation there's nothing wrong with being tempted Jesus was tempted it says every way just like us temptation is not sin so the the enemy wants to deceive us all all sin is actually deception the the serpent is like a picture in the in the opening chapters of Genesis of how temptation works and the servant comes and says you will not surely die oh is it won't do you any harm that's always the way deception works it's okay let's just try it yet you need to experience this I think as God only wants us to experience good he doesn't want us to experience evil and then [Music] another way that the devil works is through condemnation he is called the accuser the condemn oh and it's really important to get this distinction between conviction and condemnation the Holy Spirit convinces us about the stuff that's wrong in our lives and that's a good thing the devil condemns us what's the difference condemnation is very nebulous you just feel guilty you feel full of shame but you don't know quite why conviction is very clear it's something very specific you can do something about it and there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus so what is our position some Paul writes this he that is Jesus has delivered us from the Dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the son he loves your free Jesus loves you he died for you and on the cross he defeated the powers of evil they were disarmed okay so if that was the case how come there's still all this bad stuff happening in the world if evils been defeated why is it all still going on what Jesus says is the kingdom of God it has a now aspect and a not yet how does that work well let me use an analogy World War two the decisive moment of the war was d-day and that is in a way is like the cross and resurrection of Jesus that was the decisive moment in history when evil was defeated but the warden end there it continued into a VE Day and if you like we live between d-day and VE Day so the mopping up operations are still taking place one day evil will be lately destroyed and removed but in the meantime it still goes on and that's true also in in our own experience the moment you encountered Jesus you are set free from all the bad stuff in in your life but what I found is some stuff goes immediately I went immediately the moment I encountered Jesus but there's a lot of other stuff it's it's been much more of a process and there's stuff I still struggle with I like to dry I ride a bike around London in fact I see anywhere I like to get round London either walking or on my bike but I never bike I am a vicar by the way you may not realize that I actually the vicar of this church we may not realize that either but but I never wear my clerical collar I except for like funerals and weddings and I certainly never ever wear it when I'm on my bike because I don't want to bring the Church of England into disrepute and I always feel that if I was wearing a dog collar I would have to stop at red lights pedestrian crossings I couldn't go on the pavement so one time I was biking down Oxford Street and I was biking in the middle of the road which I did because there Oxford Street there all these people on the pavements and you never know when they're going to step off at least that's my excuse for being in the middle of the road there was a black cab behind me who was getting really infuriated by being held up behind me and eventually he had enough and he swerved out came very close to me hooted at me and shouted move over and then he shot off and something in my spirit and I don't think it was the Holy Spirit said right I'm gonna get him so I bite after him and I caught up with him at because he had to stop at the red light that's a great thing about cars and red lights they have to stop so so I I caught up with him and I said to him what's your number because I know they didn't like the number being taken he said my number and then at that moment the light changed to green and he drove off and I thought right I'm really going to get this guy so I started biking after him trying to memorize the number on his back of his thing five eight eight one five and I could see he was looking in the mirror kind of I me and I was trying to catch him up and I called him up and I was just going past him when I heard him say Nicky you should keep to the rules I thought did I hear that right he said Nicky you should keep to the rules next thing I know he had his alpha manual which he was waving out of out of the window like this at me so I said Oh have you done the Alpha corrosion he said yes I became a Christian on now for two months ago so he hadn't had much time for sanctification so I said oh how nice to meet you what's your name he said my name is Dean I said I'm so sorry by this time the passengers in the back of the cab were looking very disappointed because they were expecting a fight and also slightly mystified at what was happening so he turned round and he said this guy runs the Alpha course it's inspirational it's changed my life and I thought as I sort of backed off I've got a long way to go it's a process we're not there yet they're whole lot of other areas in my life where it's a process but with but the victory has been won by Jesus and one day it will be complete and you are on the winning side he's transferred you from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light so how do we fight this battle well Paul says if there's no one secret to this that there many pieces to the armor and he describes it being like a battle and he says you need all these pieces of armor and these pieces of armor describe if you like he says put these pieces of armor on stand your ground stand firm at which you need to be active replace bad habits with good habits and pull out like a number of really good habits this is what I would advise you in this battle that we're all in here are some little tips that the Apostle Paul gives first of all keep your focus on Jesus he says with the belt of truth buckled round your waist what Jesus is the truth just stay close to Jesus secondly keep your relationships right this is with the breastplate of righteousness in place what is righteousness mean it means right relationships keep in a right relationship with God and with everyone else so if you mess up as we all do straightaway don't then stay down it's not about how many times we fall it's about how we get up and as soon as you fall get up and just say Lord I'm so sorry thank you for the cross thank you that I know that I'm forgiven and get straight back into the relationship with God and the same with if you fall out with someone else get reconciled as soon as you can the breastplate of righteousness then get actively involved in services with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace as someone said it's hard to sit still and be good but when you're actively involved when you're working in the homeless shelter when you're you're visiting a prison when you're you're serving in some way when you're doing something about poverty when you're you're introducing a friend to Jesus Christ when you're inviting someone to come in here when you're doing all that kind of stuff actively involved you have the armor of God and then keep trusting in difficult times it is in addition to this take the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one shield of faith means trusting God even when you don't understand what's happening in your life and then win the battle of the mind take the helmet of salvation that everything starts usually in the mind we we sew a thought we reap an action we sew an action we reap a habit we sew a habit we reap a character we sew a character we reap a destiny it all starts in the mind and most of temptations whether it's false guilt or doubt or disobedience or loss of malice fear all these things they start in the mind then know your Bible soak yourself in the Word of God it says take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God I really encourage you to establish a daily habit of reading the Bible when Jesus was tempted every time he replied with a verse from the Bible and then keep praying pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests and remember the one who's in you is greater than the one who's in the world so that's how you defend yourself that's the armor but there's no piece of armor for the back other words where unprotected when we're running away and we're not meant to just defend we're meant to overcome evil with good it's not enough some people say well I've never done anybody any harm but that's a pathetic ambition for life why not do some good so Klaus has overcome evil with good do you realize how much good you can do with your life what a difference you can make in your family in your workplace wherever you go you can be an influence for good you can overcome evil we're good that's an amazing thing to do and that's what Jesus calls every one of us to do to make a real difference and you see how people have done that in in in history Shaftesbury in the 19th century he changed the whole social condition of England Wilberforce led the campaign to abolish slavery they did these things in the name of Jesus because they believed that that was the call on their lives to overcome evil with good Martin Luther King brought an end to the segregation of black and white in North America and God wants you in the 21st century to do the same thing and all I can say to you is that this is so deeply deeply satisfying to see how much more powerful God is than the devil how much more powerful good is than evil and to see that the way in which God can ously transform people's lives he's try formed my life and I just I love it when I see someone's life transformed by Jesus I think of Shane Taylor Shane Taylor was the sixth most dangerous man in the whole prison system he had he'd had it he was such a violent man he committed horrific violent crimes and when he was in prison he stabbed a prison officer attacked another one with some billiard balls which he put it put in as often used as a weapon he was put in the what they do with the most dangerous prisoners is they put them in in CSCS it's it means that in their cell there are two doors one through which the food the hatch opens and the food goes in and then they can open the hatch on their side and take their food and his door was not opened without six police officers in riot gear that's how dangerous Shane Taylor was I once met someone from the Home Office who said that he was very hot when he told me it was the number six six most dangerous man in the in the prison system he went on an alpha course in prison how he got on the Alpha course from a close segregation unit I do not know but he went on an alpha course and what happened to him on this course was that he prayed a prayer basically he said god I hate Who I am and if you're real come into my life and he said he felt this feeling rising up and rising up basically Holy Spirit filled him he was instantly changed instantly changed all that evil all that violence just went in and how can that happen except by the power of God it's an astonishing story so that it was it was written up the Sun even the Sun newspaper wrote it up and this was the the headline in the Sun they showed a picture of him that's the before and yeah there's I think there's another picture of him before you and then there's him now this is ten years later with his he's a good friend of ours now he's very involved in in an amazing work that's him and his wife he since got married their fortune and they've got a fifth one on the way and he is a remarkable guy oh I think of a guy like Paul Paul Venice here's a picture of Paul Venice he is the world champion cage fighter so he'd be very familiar to many of you who I'm sure follow cage fighting but he's the the world champion cage fighter another very violent man he he used to tax all the drug dealers in Middlesbrough they paid him taxes in paying tax he would take all their money and he's had 29 fights as a cage fighter he's knocked out all 29 and he is feared by people in Middlesbrough one time he he he they and I think probably a little bit further afield as well so one time he came home he's he's got it he's got at a common-law wife a 12 year old daughter and a five year old son and while he was out somebody came and shot his house up and he said right I'm going to find out who did that and I'm gonna kill him so he got a gun he was on cocaine he was a drug addict and he went out to try and find them he got their names and addresses after three days he'd allotted his gun and he was off to sue them the only person who was not afraid to shock him to the police was his mother his mother rang the police they surrounded his car he got out of the car and they tasered him and he had no criminal record because no one had ever dared tell the police about him before before and he went to prison he got only three years because he'd had a clean record while he was in prison Shane Taylor came to see him he walked into his cell guy I've just told you about and when he walked into his cell Paul Venice recognized Shane Taylor he said Shane Taylor was the only person he was frightened of as a teenager because he was more violent than him he said he'd seen him once with the screwdriver and he just knew that he'd used that screwdriver to kill someone Shane Taylor walked into his prison cell and he looked at his eyes and he could see that the evil had gone then there was something that had happened to him and Paul and Shane continued visiting him in prison and very recently Paul Venice came out of prison and he went on an alfa corse and shortly after that he prayed a prayer in which he was filled with the holy spirit and about six weeks ago this was and his life was totally changed here's a picture of it luck this is last Wednesday in our garden that's um that's Shane Taylor on one side and Paul Venice on the other side I felt very safe in Hagin I've never felt safer we had lunch with them they're two of the most lovely guys you could ever meet so soft they were both crying as they were telling their stories of how they did encountered Jesus people don't know yet I'm going to interview these guys and our focus at our church holiday but he's never publicly given his testimony the only time he said anything is Shane Taylor on his iPhone recorded Paul's story 35,000 people since then have watched it there 50 of them who are saying we really want to meet with you and to kind of explore how you've come to faith these guys are having a huge impact on people's lives they're already they're overcoming evil with good this is the power of God you have the Holy Spirit living within you you are a child of God you have the power to make a difference to those around you you have a wonderful purpose for your life and you can overcome evil with good in Jesus name amen amen you

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Length: 32min 22sec (1942 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 15 2016