God's Victorious Over Evil
A Sermon on Ephesians 5:11–16
We Remember: God Has Always Been Victorious Over Evil
Before we even open Paul's letter to the Ephesians, let us remember the foundation we stand on. God has always been — and will always be — victorious over evil.
1 Corinthians 15:54–58 (NASB) But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
That is the banner over today's message. Christ has already won. Now Paul calls us to walk like people who know it.
Paul's Charge to the Ephesians
Ephesians 5:11–16 (NASB) Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead, even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason, it says, "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
Seven Main Points from Paul
In these six verses, Paul addresses the unfruitful deeds of darkness — evil — and gives us seven clear instructions:
Do not participate with evil (v. 11)
Expose evil (vv. 11, 13)
Do not gossip about evil (v. 12)
God's light exposes evil (v. 13)
Be "awake" — pay attention to what is happening around you (v. 14)
Walk carefully (v. 14)
The days are evil (v. 16)
Where Does Evil Come From?
Many in our society shy away from calling people's actions and statements evil. The words "evil" and "sin" call for a moral judgment that places the cause of both in an examining, critical spotlight. So who is the cause of evil and sin?
The short answer: evil and sin are offered by the Devil all the time. We see this with Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.
But evil and sin only exist because people choose to do them. People choose to comply with Satan's offers. God created His creation, giving people the ability to choose Him and His ways (Genesis 2:17). God does not produce evil and sin; people do. That God-given ability to choose automatically allows us to choose actions and thoughts contrary to God — and those choices produce a real impact, opposing God's plan and will for our lives. Evil and sin affect both those who produce them and those who are victimized by them.
How a Culture Forgets What Evil Is
Western Society has produced definitions of evil. The fact that one of our leading dictionaries still has an entry for "evil" is proof that mainstream Western culture believes evil exists. But notice what's missing from the modern entry:
Webster's Online Dictionary — Evil (no reference to God)
1 a: morally reprehensible: SINFUL, WICKED — an evil impulse
b: arising from actual or imputed bad character or conduct — a person of evil reputation
2 a: archaic: INFERIOR
b: causing discomfort or repulsion: OFFENSIVE
c: DISAGREEABLE — woke late and in an evil temper
3 a: causing harm: PERNICIOUS
b: marked by misfortune: UNLUCKY
The modern definition tells you what evil is and what it does, and even admits it arises from bad character or conduct. But Webster's current editors leave out any mention of God.
Why does this matter? Because there are agnostic and atheistic secularists hard at work trying not only to rewrite but to erase God and His Word. To them, there is no such thing as evil or sin. Everything is subjective to the individual. There is no moral right or wrong — only the will and power to impose oneself on others. Survival of the fittest.
We have seen where that leads. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party murdered millions when they had the power to carry out their beliefs. Stalin in the U.S.S.R. did the same. History is replete with these tyrants. More people were murdered by atheists and agnostics who believed in Darwinian "survival of the fittest" in the 20th century than in all previous centuries combined.
"God Is Dead" — Nietzsche and the Age of Enlightenment
The Nazi party fulfilled the teachings of their own German philosopher, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900), a participant and promoter of the Age of Enlightenment. He is the man who famously declared, "God is dead."
"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? … Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?"
In the context of the Age of Enlightenment, European philosophers, leaning on Darwin's publications, decided there was no need for a God of creation. Life and the world were not created — they were said to have evolved through random, undirected processes. With that acceptance, Nietzsche observed that mankind had philosophized God out of the way. Modern Western humanity could live without the need or want of the God who provided a framework for ordered life.
Many see Nietzsche as having prophesied the future. The 20th century produced more wars on a global scale and more deaths than all previous human history. When there is no need to love God or your neighbor, selfish ambition fills the vacuum.
Noah Webster's 1828 Definition — A Different World
Webster's 1828 Dictionary — Evil Adjective: Having bad qualities of a natural kind; mischievous; having qualities which tend to injury, or to produce mischief. Some evil beast hath devoured him. Genesis 37:20.
Having bad qualities of a moral kind; wicked; corrupt; perverse; wrong; as evil thoughts; evil deeds; evil speaking; an evil generation.
Noun — Moral evil: any deviation of a moral agent from the rules of conduct prescribed to him by God, or by legitimate human authority, or any violation of the plain principles of justice and rectitude.
All wickedness, all crimes, all violations of law and rights are moral evils. Diseases are natural evils, but they often proceed from moral evils.
That is the difference between a culture that knows God and one that has forgotten Him.
When Good Is Called Bad, and Bad Is Called Good
Paul is concerned that his friends in Ephesus have not fully surrendered their lives to God, leaving them susceptible to evil's work. They had made a commitment to God but were still, in part, participating in the fallen world from which they came. We look around us today and see the same situation. We live in a world where good is called bad, and evil is accepted.
Isaiah 5:20–23 (NASB) Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!
Proverbs 17:15 (NASB) He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.
So What Is Biblical Evil?
Evil is anything that opposes God.
Our society receives the word "evil" as a strong indicting word, like "sin." We live in a culture that is shy about holding people accountable for personal moral choices, because morality has become subjective. That makes it easy — especially for young people — to accept evil as okay.
In the 1960s, we remember the cultural phrase, "if it feels good — do it." There was a song with the lyric, "if you're not with the one you love, then love the one you're with" — reminiscent of what took place at Woodstock in August of 1969. We adults who lived through that era know what happened. Woodstock was the Poster-Child-Event that placed a punctuation mark on the full rebellion against God and His Word — the epicenter of Drug-Sex-and-Rock-and-Roll that had engulfed teens in the mid-1960s.
If anyone doubts the effects of that era on America, we need not look any further than Bill Clinton — himself a product of those times (born 1946). From draft-dodging, to "I did not inhale," to a liaison with a White House intern who was one of many women victimized by him — William Jefferson Clinton represented the moral malaise of the American voting majority and was elected twice to the Presidency. There were many reports from Arkansas warning the American voter about his conduct before his first election.
The Quiet Way We Participate in Evil
Many people do not see that they participate in evil — by their vote, and by their passive participation in a culture of secular entertainment where anything goes. We all likely need to reflect on what we watch, read, and tolerate.
Believers have an obligation under God's Word to expose evil. But many are spiritually too weak to stand up for God's ways, or have compromised their witness by their own daily lifestyle.
And yet — I do see that many of us are awake and paying attention. We wake every day with the intent to pursue God's ways. We are grieved by what we see. So many in public and private offices who were trusted have willfully violated their public trust and God's ways. The Church has not been immune. The public perception of the Christian Church often seems engulfed in evil and sin — but that does not represent the fellowship of Jesus' true Believers. We may have a bad day, but we plan our daily lives to walk in the light of Jesus.
1 John 1:5–7 (NASB) This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
The Good News — You Are the Light
The Good News — the Great News — is that you and I can do something about our lives and our relationships. We can take care of our business and be God's light. One of the most powerful ways to expose dark behavior is simply to be your Christian self. Others will see the difference, and by your actions and statements you will highlight the Good-News-Life. Praise God!
Matthew 5:14–16 (NASB)You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
AMEN
