THE DARK PRINCE LIVES

Zechariah 1:1-21; Revelation 12:1-17; Psalm 140:1-13; Proverbs 30:17

“Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Don’t be like your ancestors who would not listen or pay attention when the earlier prophets said to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Turn from your evil ways, and stop all your evil practices.’”

“Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, ‘It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.’”

“O Lord, rescue me from evil people. Protect me from those who are violent, those who plot evil in their hearts and stir up trouble all day long. Their tongues sting like a snake; the venom of a viper drips from their lips.”

“The eye that mocks a father and despises a mother’s instructions will be plucked out by ravens of the valley and eaten by vultures.”

One of the primary reasons bad things happen to good people is because there are a lot of really bad people in our world more than willing to do bad things. On some level, we all pretty much understand this fact of life. It’s why Home Depot can economically support an entire aisle of locks. No intellectually honest individual could spend any time on the news websites or in front of the TV and not be convinced of this simple reality. As in the days of the Old and New Testament, there are folks who just make a personal decision to throw out their moral compass and live consumptive lifestyles, devouring everything and everyone they think might add to their immediate pleasure. These people are much more that parasites; they are piranha. They regard others as little more than food. We deny or disregard this at our peril.

If the existence of affirmatively evil people is so very plain, why is it that so many still have a problem admitting the existence of affirmative evil itself? Now, I’m not talking about a cartoonish devil in a red suit with horns and a pitchfork (though I do wonder where that character came from). No, the real Prince of Darkness is far more subtle and much more powerful. Given the chance, he will rule our lives with an iron fist. He will beguile us into believing we are only exercising our own free will, but all the while, he is working to destroy conscience completely, and to turn our hearts to doing only his bidding. It is incomprehensible that we can stand by and watch his minions do their worst and yet still deny Lucifer’s existence.

Then, of course, there’s the whole debate about Hell. Here is where the logic of many a poor soul completely breaks down. They simply refuse to believe in Hell. Some argue there’s enough Hell on earth to go around, but those folks in the main have no concept of any kind of eternity. They can’t have any, really. To believe in eternity means that souls have destinations. If souls have destinations, then there can be no Heaven if there is no Hell. For there will never be, cannot ever be, any comingling of Evil with the Divine in eternity. Like matter and antimatter, the two are just too repellent, too mutually exclusive, to coexist for eternity. Without Heaven and Hell, the very concept of eternity can be no more than a murky, muddy, meaningless purgatory of sorts, a landfill for departed souls. Arguably, such would not be eternity at all, but just a sloppy, lingering death.

The Lord cries out for His people to wake up! Eternity will not be like earth. Allegiances must be declared. Judgment will be meted out. Satan is a real, scary guy! Those who refuse to acknowledge, recognize and avoid Evil in this life are destined to spend an eternity getting to know it up close and personal with an intensity they never dreamed possible.

Here, too, belief has no bearing on reality. We cannot wish away the reality of Hell or of Satan, any more than we can limit eternity by our opinions. Even on this side of death, there is more than enough evidence to convict Beelzebub of existing. Indeed, for those with eyes to see, he can actually be something of a showboat. However, that is not his normal modus operandi. He is successful in the main because, at least for now, he has learned to prefer anonymity. Here is his true genius: as long as he can convince people that the evil they do and see is really no more than human invention, the Devil will be laughing all the way to the fiery pit which is his destiny. I am not about to attribute every bad thing in this world to the workings of Lucifer. But we dare not throw out the idea in its entirety, either.

Affirmative evil does exist – in people, in a nearly-eternal Being, and in a Place. Disbelieve, if you will, but understand that, in this respect, no amount of disbelief will make any of it go away. It makes a lot better sense to be a touch fearful of the Evil One, and certainly of Hell, at least to the extent of prudence. We can, and should, engage in some measure of self-preservation in the face of evil. It makes even more sense to be positively united with Christ. Without His guidance and protection, we are quite likely to become Devil’s food, because at some point, we are likely to be outsmarted on our own.

Today, I read an article that reaffirmed the subtle workings of Satan. It was about a very talented high school athlete who did not think the rules of good and evil applied to him. State record after state record fell beneath his cleats, and he was awarded a full tuition football scholarship to a major college. Alas, though, he had a fatal flaw. He allowed himself to indulge in affirmative evil, and he was never able to escape its clutches. Today, he has been kicked out of more colleges than most folks apply to. He has a child, but no wife and no job and no real prospects. Even those who know and love him best admit he is physically and spiritually wasted. But in all probability, there’s another, deeper diagnosis for the legion of ills that plague him. He got spoiled; he toyed with affirmative evil; and it ate him alive. He is now solidly in the camp of the Enemy. Yet still, he is blinded to his eternal peril. Ask him, he just got a few bad breaks. No one understands him. He’s still in control. Hearing all this, Satan just laughs. Not loud enough for anyone else to hear, just to himself. Let people think this young man made his own mistakes. Because the Lord of Darkness remembers anonymity is his greatest weapon.