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“Lesson 09 - When We No Longer Fear Darkness”
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Lesson 9 – When We No Longer Fear Darkness
Introduction
In December 2009, Salt Lake City resident Josh Powell took his two boys, ages 3 and 5 out for a midnight camping trip in the central Utah desert. That same night their mother, Susan, disappeared. She has never been seen since. Authorities searched for weeks, but were unsuccessful. In the months afterward, Powell’s father, Steve, claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Susan. During the summer of 2010, one of the boys drew a picture of a van with three people inside. He told his caregivers that it was a picture of his family going camping. When asked where his mother was, the boy answered, “Mommy’s in the trunk.?1” While Josh Powell had become a “person of interest” in his wife’s death, he was never charged with her murder. To date, a body has never been found, although authorities are certain she is no longer alive.
But this story does not end with the tragedy of cold blooded murder. Within one month of Susan Powell’s disappearance, her husband moved to the Seattle suburb of Puyallup. Over the last two years Powell faced increasing scrutiny about the disappearance of his wife and an unending custody battle with his in-laws over who would keep his boys.
Powell painted himself as a victim. He often claimed he was tortured and ridiculed without reason concerning the disappearance of his wife. He never admitted to killing her. He told a judge, “A lesser person would fall under the intense scrutiny I am facing, but apparently my inherent resilience as a person makes it increasingly difficult for them to pursue their agendas. I am standing tall for my sons, but it deeply hurts to face such ridicule and abuse. I know my own heart is free of any guilt regardless of what people claim.”?2 But, any confidence Powell exhibited quickly evaporated when the court ruled against him in the custody case on February 2, 2012, ordering his children to stay with Susan Powell’s parents.
On Sunday, February 5, 2012, Powell was scheduled to have a routine supervised visit with his sons, now ages 5 and 7. When the boys got out of the car, they ran ahead of the social worker and went inside Powell’s home. Powell locked the door and hacked them in the neck and head with a hatchet. He then lit the house on fire. All 3 died of smoke inhalation. The fire was not an accident. Just minutes before the boys arrived, he sent out a number of emails to different people saying, “I’m sorry. Goodbye.” To others, he sent out instructions on where to find his money and shut off his utilities. In another email he is said to have written that he could not live without his boys.
Powell’s murder-suicide is pure evil. It challenges our mind to comprehend it. But it also reveals to us the hardening effects of sin. When darkness moves us to willingly trespass against God, it becomes increasingly easy to make other decisions that move us farther into it’s shadows. This story demonstrates for us the hopelessness that is created when God is nowhere in the picture. And finally, it should instill within us a fear of what could happen if we chose to reject God and invite darkness back into our life. Darkness will lead one into places that will change them into a person they cannot realize.
What happens when we no longer fear darkness?
The Hardening Aspects of Sin
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God, Hebrews 3.12. These words come at the end of a section where the Hebrew writer points his Jewish audience back to their forefathers whose rebellion caused them to perish in the wilderness. At first, we may wonder how anyone who had personally witnessed the plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and the shaking mountain at Sinai would ever harden their hearts in unbelief. What the writer of Hebrews is referring to is the end result of a progression of sin that started in the hours after escaping from Egypt. One faithless event will lead to another. As the occasions of rejecting God continued, Israel found it increasingly easy to consciously disregard God and His blessings.
While we may shake our heads in disbelief at the stubborn rebellion of Israel, we can very easily follow the same path to destruction. Today, how many witness the blessings and power of God clearly at work and remain unmoved? How many see the glory and expanse of God’s creation and fail to give Him credit? How many observe the power of redemption offered through the cross and are ambivalent? How many choose not to believe at all? How many have been raised in godly homes, know and understand the truth of the gospel, and after entering adulthood walk away?
We know the answer to these questions. We should soberly reflect on the reasons why. Throughout our study we have examined the delusional power of darkness. Sin deceives. It calls darkness light. It says something bitter is sweet. It labels bondage as liberty. It identifies all that is wrong as right. As it lurks, it whispers that there will be little or no consequences for its indulgences. Sin drags us into a state of unbelief. It’s a slow progression. It rarely happens overnight. At the beginning of this process, it may be very hard to imagine the end result. Never, never say you are not vulnerable. If you harden your heart into a state of unbelief, you will be locked out of God’s blessings forever. There will be nothing left to move you back to the point of belief.
Israel constantly put God to the test and continually saw God’s marvelous works, Hebrews 3.9. Yet they boldly engaged in faithless rebellion. Consider the events of Numbers 13-14. God promised that the land of Canaan was their gift from Him. When God commanded them to send in the twelve spies, His desire was to prove once and for all that He is a God that is true to His word. Canaan was as God described. It flowed with milk and honey and plentifully yielded fruit, 13.27. But, the horizontal faith of ten unbelieving spies prevailed. The people rebelled. All the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt, Numbers 14.1-4. When Joshua and Caleb responded with a passionate call to launch forward in faith, the people took up stones to stone them, 14.10. As they did, the glory of God descended into the tent of meeting. God voiced His displeasure. But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 14.21-22.?3 There was nothing left. If sending spies into the land to verify all the promises of God wouldn’t convince them that God would deliver on His promises, nothing would. The people had closed their hearts and God made the decision to refuse them entrance into Canaan.
Israel never opened their heart to God. Why? Darkness. Satan and his forces live to thwart God’s plans at every turn. Darkness convinced Israel to see no further than their physical sight allowed. Darkness lied, telling them that they had it better as slaves in Egypt than God’s rescued and delivered children in the wilderness. As they quarreled, complained and continued to reject God, their hearts became seared.
It has been said the same sun that melts wax hardens clay. There is a searing power embedded inside sin that works on the surface of our heart. Sin wounds. Afterward, metaphorical scar tissue builds over the surface, numbing all feeling of remorse and guilt. Once our hearts become completely numb, there is literally no end to the downward progression. A wicked man puts on a bold face, but the upright gives thought to his ways, Proverbs 21.29.
What kind of heart do we possess? Will we fully surrender to God? Today, many refuse. Why? For some it is the lure of the pleasures of the flesh and material possessions. For others it is self reliance and the self promotion of their own abilities and plans. Even still, there are those who intellectually accept the gospel and go no farther. To them the gospel may have been presented as little more than adherence to a five step plan and continued behavior modification. It is not enough just to “like” the gospel. Many hear it. Many know it. What they adhere to is agreeable to them and it fits well inside their social structure. But, they never fully commit to Jesus from the heart. Then the struggles come and Satan wins a few battles. Rationalization sets in. As time progresses, it becomes easier and easier to just walk away.
Hebrews 3.13 serves as a stern warning concerning a deadly process that leads to dulled spiritual perception. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. In the original language, hardening described the procession that makes a spiritual heart “dry or hard.”?4 Our hearts can become lifeless. Dead to what? The living God, 3.12. This is not about rejecting religion or the Church of Christ. It is referring to walking away from the living God. Is there anything more tragic than willfully and smugly standing apart from God? When we choose anything but God, we choose death.
What It Means to be in Darkness
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Hebrews 10.31. These could nominated to be the fourteen scariest words in all of Scripture. For those who harden their heart and reject God with constant rebellion, a day of reckoning awaits. Judgment day will not be a day filled with glee. Every person will humbly stand before God. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil, 2 Corinthians 5.10. Those who stand before Him condemned will be cast into outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, Matthew 25.30.
Next week we will learn more about the eternal destiny of darkness. But what of the spiritual darkness a person experiences when he or she determines to step out of the light during this life, between now and the judgment?
Those who walk away are separated from God. When we continue to engage in the practice of sin, we are dwelling in darkness. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning, 1 John 3.6, 8. With the absence of God, a person is forced to dwell in this life without the illuminating ways of God. Think of the danger this presents.
A few years ago, I had an opportunity to explore a wild cave. Bear Trap Cave got its name from the rancher who explored it during the 1940’s. After crawling inside the small entrance and continuing about 30 feet, he found himself on a ledge above a good-sized room. He was about 10 feet above the floor. After bringing in a ladder to lower himself into the room, he found the remains of a bear which must have fallen inside many years before and perished. On the cold, snowy October day my friends and I explored the cave, we were excited to find no wild animals were using the cave as a den. Once we climbed down into the room that had served as the infamous bear trap, we continued deeper into the cavern. As we kept going down, we observed the path we were on was actually a ledge overlooking another room. At one point it became extremely narrow and was nothing more than a slippery slope into the blackness on our left. It was only later that we realized we were moving above a giant room whose floor was 30 feet below. Had our lights become inoperable, we would have been in a great deal of trouble. That far in, there was no natural light seeping into the cave. A fall could have resulted in severe injuries, or worse.
In such conditions, it is easy to see the danger of walking in total darkness. Isn’t it the same when we try to proceed without spiritual illumination? We will fall, and fall again, and again. Every time we sin, we are bruised and battered. The wounds of sin pierce us through. As we descend into this black hole, the sins we commit can create a landslide of consequences that will almost crush us. Some are so trapped in the effects of their sin that an exit seems hopeless. And once Satan convinces a person that he or she is in a hopeless situation, it’s over. He’s won.
No wonder we see such misery in our world. Living without God and the true light His word provides, danger lurks at every turn. Think of those who enter into darkness and wind up wounded and broken. Crushed by the weight of their own sin, they may feel there is no way out of the hole they’ve walked into. A few years ago God gave the local church family I worked with a wonderful opportunity to help a person who had been stumbling around in the world for a long period of time. Her life was a tangled mess. Divorced for many years, from an unfaithful husband, she had moved to the next state south to begin a new life. She soon fell in love with a man who had walked out of his marriage a few years before. They moved in with each other and wound up having a child together. Not long after revealing her pregnancy, the man decided to move on to another “friend” he met. Now in middle age, alone, with a baby, and very little money to live on she had no where to turn. When she came to us, the emotional baggage was incredible. The feelings of being twice betrayed, worry over the custody of her daughter, and other family issues were intense. She was broken. She desperately wanted out. Thankfully, God provided a way out through His forgiveness. But, the years of dwelling in darkness had taken their toll. Her sinful life had produced extreme consequences that both she and her baby would have to endure for many years to come.
Do we forget those who are all around us, needing to be rescued? Do we see them for the condition they are really in? Do we sense the danger they face? How many people do you interact with each day that are dwelling in darkness, with the light of God notably absent from their lives? What will we do to help? Who is someone you can rescue?
We Must Fear Being Without God
Evil is real. Sin is vicious. Satan joyfully exploits our every weakness and assaults our every strength. The forces of darkness always lurk. Without God to equip and defend us, defeat would be guaranteed. We stand in His strength and in the power of His might, Ephesians 6.10. For the son or daughter of God, it is hard to imagine facing this world without the lamp of God’s word shedding light onto our path.
Without God, we are completely out in the open and vulnerable to every device of darkness. There is a reason why the Holy Spirit repeatedly refers to God as our Shepherd. The metaphor would have most certainly resonated with the agrarian culture of biblical Israel. When we choose darkness, we willingly exit the protection He provides. When they left the fold, sheep were in danger of lion and bear attacks, starvation, and endless wandering. David’s job as a shepherd gives us some insight into the dangers that were associated with this profession, 1 Samuel 17.34-36.
When we continually choose to walk away from God, we place ourselves in the throws of danger. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, 1 Peter 5.8. While fear is not the only motivator, it is certainly a motivator that keeps us inside the fold of God. We need to fear Satan, because he is real and the destruction he wants to lead us toward is equally real. The pain he inflicts on those in his grasp is something we should want to steer away from at all costs. We need to possess a healthy fear of what it means to be without God.
In Psalm 56, we see David’s emotional state as he fled from Saul. David felt like he had nowhere to go and went to Gath which was located deep inside the territory of the Philistines, 1 Samuel 21.10-15. At the time, this decision must have made sense. But by going into the darkness of Philistia, David felt alone, vulnerable, and afraid. Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life, Psalm 56.1-2, 5-6. His great fear explains his actions in 1 Samuel 21.13.
As we continue reading Psalm 56, what sustained David? God. For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God! Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me. In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life, Psalm 56.7, 9, 11-13.
Today, as long as we walk in the light, we have the assurance of God’s continual presence and protection. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life, 1 John 5.18-20.
Conclusion
In this life, we may never know who murdered Susan Powell. But we can clearly see the effects of darkness and how it destroyed the lives of two parents and ultimately the two innocent children that marriage produced. Satan wants to harden your heart and lead you down the path of destruction. Will you let him?
Questions for Discussion
1. Describe the delusional power of darkness.
2. Describe the searing power of sin.
3. What are some factors we face today that could lead to the hardening of our heart?
4. What happens when we engage in the practice of sin?
5. What is the danger of living in spiritual darkness?
6. What keeps us from seeing the danger that those in the world face? What will happen when we truly realize their condition?
7. What dangers lurk for those who choose to wander outside the fold?
8. Describe David’s emotional state as he entered Gath. Why would he have felt this way?
9. Of what are we assured as we walk in the light?
__________________________
1 Associated Press (2012 February 7). “Missing Utah woman Susan Powell was murdered, authorities acknowledge for first time. Oregon Live. Retreived 02/12/2012 from http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/02/missing_utah_woman_susan_powel.html
2 ibid.
3 This note from the Life Application Bible lists out the 10 instances where Israel rebelled against God during their travels through the wilderness: God wasn’t exaggerating when he said that the Israelites had “again and again” failed to trust and obey him. Here is a list of their failures: (1) lacking trust at the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:11, 12); (2) complaining over bitter water at Marah (Exodus 15:24); (3) complaining in the wilderness of Sin (Exodus 16:3); (4) collecting more than the daily quota of manna (Exodus 16:20); (5) collecting manna on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:27-29); (6) complaining over lack of water at Rephidim (Exodus 17:2, 3); (7) engaging in idolatry with a golden calf (Exodus 32:7-10); (8) complaining at Taberah (Numbers 11:1, 2); (9) more complaining over the lack of delicious food (Numbers 11:4); (10) failing to trust God and enter the Promised Land (Numbers 14:1-4). Life Application Study Bible (Accordance electronic ed. Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004), n.p.
4 Vine, W. E. "Hard, Harden, Hardening, Hardness", Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Blue Letter Bible. 1940. 24 June, 1996 10 Feb 2012.
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