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Matthew: If you've sinned, don't run. I'll tell you why on this edition of Key Life. This is Key Life, here to let Christians know that God isn't mad at them. Keep listening and you'll hear that because of what Jesus has done, you're welcomed home into the family of God because of His radical grace, free from the penalties of sin and never alone in your suffering.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. We've been talking about Christians being human. My friend John de Bruyn taught me this and it's so true. He said, "Steve, I believe that every time an unbeliever gets cancer, a Christian gets cancer so the world can see the difference."

Every time an unbeliever goes through a divorce, a believer goes through a divorce so the world can see the difference. Every time an unbeliever loses somebody they've loved to an accident, to death, it happens to a believer so the world can see the difference.

Now, we've been talking about physical humanness. Let me say a little bit about sin. If you've just sinned, I don't know about you, but I want to hide. I want to run. I want to get away from everybody because I think they know and I know that God knows. And I say to God, "Don't look at me that way." I'm ashamed. I'm down, and I'm not even going to try anymore. Don't go there.

Now, what I say here should not be misunderstood. I'm not saying sin is cool. I'm not saying that you should go out and sin so that grace might abound. That's what people said about the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans. But if he hadn't said something that seemed to say that, he would have never had to make the correction, the same one that I'm making here.

Sin is destructive. It hurts God. It costs God His Son. It's not something you want. It's something that is there and that God is working on. So I'm not saying that sin is okay. I'm not saying that because it's human to sin, it's okay.

John, for instance, speaking the word of God in 1 John 2:1-2 said this, and I love this passage: "My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He is the expiation for our sins."

I go here often, but let's look at the words of Paul again in Romans 7. "I don't understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh."

"I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do." And we say, "Wait a minute, Paul, you're supposed to be the super Christian. You're an apostle. You wrote most of the New Testament. You were the first Christian missionary. You certainly don't mean that you still have a problem with sin after all of that. You certainly don't mean you fell short of God's commands."

If Paul were here, I'm sure he would say, "Yep, that's exactly what I mean." One of Satan's, and again we've spent some time talking about dealing with the devil. If you don't believe in Satan, you can substitute metaphorical personification of evil as long as you get what I'm going to teach you.

One of the greatest tricks is to say to the Christian who has sinned, "Ah, you've done it again. You've done all that talking about being such a dedicated Christian. You aren't any more a Christian than I'm a Christian. How could you be a Christian and act the way you do? You aren't a Christian, you're a hypocrite."

Then the Christian says, "You know, you're right. I'm probably not saved." May God forgive us for falling into that trap. It is a worse sin than the one which caused the dialogue in the first place.

Let me give you the spiritual cycle in which many Christians live. They promise God that they will follow Him no matter what. And they sincerely try and fail. Then they say to themselves, "I've tried and failed, therefore I'm not worthy," which is precisely the point. Then the Christian is hesitant to go before God because of the sin and becomes spiritually dead.

But in the midst of the deadness, the Christian realizes he can't live without God. And so he goes to God and starts the process again until finally, the Christian can't do it anymore. That's really bad. No, that's really good.

And you come to God and you say, "God of second chances, it's me again. Have mercy on me a sinner." And so, if you're going through physical problems, if you've failed, if you've sinned, for God's sake, don't run. Well, run, but run to Jesus because He's there and He loves you and you're acceptable to Him. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew: Thanks, Steve. What an encouraging reminder from Paul about sin and the tricks Satan employs to use that sin against us. Tomorrow, Steve will teach us about the two kinds of people in this world. Oh, what does that mean? Curious? Be sure to join us.

So, speak of the devil. You know, one of Satan's favorite ploys is to convince us that he doesn't even exist. But in a sermon from Steve called God and the Devil, you'll not only learn why Satan exists, you'll also learn how to arm yourself against him using seven weapons in the Christian's arsenal. Take a listen to part of that message now, then I'll be back to tell you about a special free offer. Here's Steve.

Steve Brown: How in the world can a reasonably intelligent and reasonably educated individual still believe in a worn-out concept like the devil? Not too long ago a friend of mine was witnessing in the home of some other friends. And one of the men in the family came up to him when he heard that he was talking about God and he said, "I'll tell you something. I don't believe in God." And my friend said, "Well, listen, you tell me the kind of God that you don't believe in, I may not believe in Him either."

I would suggest that there are a lot of people who don't believe in the devil for the same reason that they don't believe in God. Their ideas are immature and worn out. Did you notice how fast the God is dead movement died? Well, I'm not so sure it should have died so quickly. Because you see, there are a lot of gods who are already dead, who never existed and they ought to die.

I don't believe in a Santa Claus God. I don't believe in an old, worn out but wise man who sits in the heaven. I don't believe in a celestial Emily Post and I don't believe in that kind of God for the same reason that I don't believe in a devil who has horns, a pitchfork, and runs around in a weird red suit.

This morning and two Sunday mornings from now, I want to give you a basic course for moderns on Old Slewfoot, the Devil. I want to introduce you to some information that you as a believer will ignore only to your own detriment. The information is about a personality so evil that most Christians can't even comprehend that evil.

Today, I want to introduce you to a being who is as evil as God is good. As selfish as God is unselfish, as hateful as God is loving. His name is Satan, and he cares about you. Let's read together Ephesians 6:10-12. These are the verses for the first part of this two-part series.

Paul writes, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places."

Alright, let's check those few verses and see what they have to say to us this morning. The first thing which becomes immediately apparent to anyone who takes the time to read these verses and think about them, is that the Apostle Paul believed in the reality and the personality of evil.

When I was in junior high school, a young man whom I did not know came and challenged me to a fight. My friends who did know this young man came to me and said, "Steve, don't you worry one bit. He's a pushover." Steve, they said, "You can whip him with one hand tied behind your back." And so I didn't worry. And I got clobbered.

So, this morning, it'd be much easier for me to say, "Look, you don't have to worry about a thing." I could say, "Look, all of the pseudo-science that you've heard is true. Satan doesn't exist. It's a symbol of evil, metaphorical personification of evil." And you would say, "Well, good, at least the pastor hasn't gone off the deep end." But ladies and gentlemen, if I should say that to you this morning, I would be lying.

If I should say that to you this morning, I wouldn't be faithful as my calling as a Bible teacher. And when the battle came, when the storm would begin to whirl about your head, you would lose that battle. Somebody said one of the finest acts that Satan has ever performed by way of strategy is to convince moderns that he doesn't exist.

Matthew: Classic. Grab your copy of that sermon on CD for free right now by calling us at 1-800 Key Life. That's 1-800-539-5433. You can also email Steve at keylife.org to ask for that CD, or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Again, just ask for your absolutely free copy of the CD called God and the Devil.

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