Evil is as evil does

The actor Tom Hanks played the character Forrest Gump, who said, "Stupid is as stupid does." The same thing could be said about evil: "Evil is as evil does." Much of the evil we see is violent and gruesome and causes unimaginable harm to innocent people. Violent acts are evil. The Webster's New World™ Dictionary defines evil as follows:

Anything morally bad or wrong; wickedness; depravity; sin; anything that causes harm, pain, misery, disaster, etc. SYN. BAD; the Evil One the Devil; Satan.

Evil is "morally bad or wrong;" and it causes "harm, pain, misery and disaster." It is even defined as "the Evil One the Devil; Satan."


In our secular society many believe the Devil is not a real being. But information about him abounds in the Bible in both the Old and the New Testaments. In Genesis he was called the serpent; a beautiful beast that tempted Eve with a lie to deceive her. In 1 John 3:8 he was called a sinner from the beginning. Matthew 12:24 calls him the king of the devils. 1 Peter 5:8 says that he is an adversary to God and man. Ephesians 2:2 says that he is the prince of the power of the air. Revelation 20:2, he is again called the Devil or Serpent. He is deceitful (2 Corinthians 11:14 and Ephesians 6:11), fierce and cruel (Luke 8:29 and 1 Peter 5:8), daring (Job 1:6 and Matthew 4:5), malignant (Job 1:9), proud (1 Timothy 3:6), subtle (Genesis 3:1) and wicked (1 John 2:13). The devil is a real being.



Luke wrote in 10:18 that the devil has fallen from heaven. The devil tempted God's creation in the garden (Genesis 3:1). He tempted Jesus to worship him (Matthew 4:11), he masqueraded even as an Angel of Light (2 Corinthians 11:14) and engaged in a spiritual battle for the souls of mankind (Ephesians 6:10-16, Romans 12:21, 1 Peter 5:7-9, 1 John 4:4b and James 4:7-8a). He is called Lucifer or Satan as leader of the fallen angels: he was an angel of light until he revolted against God and, with the others, was cast out of heaven. But the devil's time is limited; he has lost the war and was defeated by the blood of Jesus.


The Bible says that Jesus has already declared a complete victory over Satan the devil, saying that Satan has already been judged. Satan, along with death and Hades, will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10-14).


Christians have protection from the devil while they live on this earth under his deceit and efforts to trick them. The Bible says that he acts like a roaring lion, walking about seeking whom he may devour, but those in Christ have protection from him if we remain vigilant to his efforts and remain in the faith of Jesus and the protection of His blood. Christians are to resist the devil; if they do he will flee from them (James 4:7). The Apostle Paul wrote that our struggle in this world is not with flesh and blood, but with the devil and those who follow him (principalities and powers) who perpetrate wickedness in high places. The Christian's defense against the devil is to dress themselves with the clothing that God has provided for them; that clothing is the whole spiritual armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-13). Our secular society, however, has failed to heed the warning and continues to live unprotected in a world that grows more evil by the hour.



President Ronald Regan called the former Soviet Union an "Evil Empire." President George Bush called the actions of governments and organizations that sponsor terrorist activities "evil." Some of the "politically correct" crowds are offended by the use of the term evil. And yet we have seen the effects of evil empires that have enslaved, tortured and killed millions. We have fought wars with nations and organizations that were dedicated to the destruction of citizens who did not share their political or fundamental religious ideology. Now we watch in horror as radical fundamentalists rip the lives from innocent people who are not guilty of anything except the simple act of just choosing to ride the bus or train that day. And so the sound behind the societal noise we hear is the sound of a roaring lion and the hideous laughter of the devil and the screeching sounds of his glee as he keeps watching humanity melt into his own desires by willfully following yet another of his lies. The modern Church needs to increase the intensity of its teaching that the devil is a real being who is desperately trying to win the souls of people by being and doing evil.

The devil is not a little red man with horns and a pitchfork whose picture appears on the side of a lighter fluid can. The devil is not just an imaginary figure that sits on a person's shoulder to make arguments for that person to do something naughty. The devil is not just a character in a movie, nor a woman who wiggles her nose to make dirty rooms clean again, nor a young girl who fights to eliminate bad vampires. With wave after wave of new generations being born into our world, and into our churches, we need to keep repeating over and over the presence of the devil. We need to re-learn that the devil is a real, powerful, evil being that is spending every ounce of his energy "seeking whom he may devour." We should not let our children forget.


For fear that future generations would forget, Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 4:9 that,

"Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;"



Surly it is important to teach the power and majesty of God. His power and role in history for the "sons' sons" was so important that one generation should not pass without each of the sons being taught of the very source of salvation.


By contrast, without re-teaching one generation after another that there is an enemy that destroys and kills and hardens the hearts to cause spiritual blindness, is to watch succeeding generations of "sons" grow weary and faint and lose all perspective of the true source of evil.


The outgrowth of that generation will be to perceive with blinded eyes, turn the truth to a lie, and see wrong in place of right, accept evil things as good things, and become the very ally of the true source of evil. As each succeeding generation follows along that path, the devil becomes less challenged and people begin to relegate him as simply a harmless fairy tale. People need to be awakened!


One wonders when the people of this world will wake up and realize that the "prince of the power of the air" is the one who spews hatred and distrust and hardens the hearts of people.



Hearts are hardened by the power of evil.






Hearts are hardened to the fact that it is wrong to wish your fellow man harm to the point of death.






Hearts are hardened to the fact that it is wrong to espouse a religion that demands the death of other human beings.






Hearts are hardened to the fact that it is wrong to hide behind a "faith" that destroys rather than builds up.






Hearts are hardened to the fact that it is wrong to join in with a group of fanatics who want to dispense terror to people all over the world who do not believe as they do.






Hearts are hardened to the fact that it is wrong to chop off a fellow human being's head the way that terrorists have done.



The God of the universe may be slow to anger, but His wrath will not wait much longer. From the beginning of the creation of mankind, we have proven that our leadership is not better than God's leadership. We followed the evil one in the beginning, and God has rescued us from him. And now, for those whose eyes continue to be blinded by the evil one, God will someday pass judgment on them.


Is it too late for Christians to mount the horse and ride through the night as did Paul Revere shouting to a dying world, "The enemy is here; he is deceiving, he is lying, he is killing, he is making war and he is turning good into evil?" Christians need to raise the banner of the blood of Christ, clothe themselves with the armor of God, stand firm, wield the sword of God's Word and expel the (d) evil from the midst of the people.


Christians must never glorify Satan; nor should Christians ever place him on a pedestal. But they must recognize that he exists as a real being, and is waging war against God's elect. Christians must yield to God's cleansing by the blood of Jesus and stand firm in obedience to God's will. There should be no need for political correctness or sensitivity to that which is wrong, but only acceptance of the God of the universe who has redeemed those who accept Him by the blood of His only begotten Son in Whom there dwells no evil.

Come quickly, LORD Jesus.