Liberation from Evil

Good afternoon again. Thank you for that wonderful special music and offeratory. It's always inspiring to hear music and add so much to our worship of Jesus Christ. We're certainly blessed to have the musical abilities that we have here in the congregation, so thank you very much for that.

Well, I'll make one quick proviso before I start talking, and that is that the Apostle Paul talked about sports in his epistles, so that's my excuse. This is the time of year if we look at our sports world around us, where if you watch baseball you start to see the mathematics work, right? The teams that are in, the teams that are out, the teams that are mathematically eliminated, and we get used to, in watching sports, this idea that before the season is over, at some point we know who won. Now, if you're a football fan, usually at this point in the season, three games in, you can begin to count on the Browns being mathematically eliminated.

But that's not the case this year.

Thought at least Joe Mango would get a good laugh out of that.

But we're used to the idea when we look at sports, and even when we look at other parts of history when we look back, we can look at famous wars like World War II, and if you look at what historians write, they'll talk about a point in time when the war was essentially over, but the battles were still being fought. And so just like in sports, you've got to continue to play the games. There's still outcomes from the games. People can get hurt, their consequences. In fact, professional teams have all this calculus that they make, right? When a football team is two weeks from the playoffs and they've already clinched the number one seed, they start to decide which of my players am I going to play and which ones am I going to sit out. Then they do this calculus of, well, they got to stay in shape, they got to stay game ready, but if we play them, they might get hurt. And there are all these high-stakes decisions that still end up in this season of time between when the outcome is known and when the season is actually over. So I'll ask you to sort of park that concept for a bit. We'll come back around to it, and even though I see plenty of doubting looks in the audience, it does have a point that has to do with this day. The Day of Atonement is rich in symbolism, and it's got a lot of different elements to it. We heard about some of them on the Sabbath. We heard about some of them in the Sermonette.

And many of the lessons actually of Atonement are very similar to Passover when you think about it. Obviously, Jesus Christ, as we hear over and over again, as Mr. Thomas emphasized not too long ago, is bound up in all of the Holy Days. The Holy Days have to do with what Jesus Christ has done, what he's doing now, what he will do in the future. And a lot of the themes that are bound up in Atonement are ones that we've already seen and understood through Passover. Redemption, the fact that we are forgiven from our sins through Jesus Christ and through his blood. We think of sin at this time of year on Atonement as well. Jesus Christ is our High Priest. You know, Atonement, when we look in the book of Hebrews, we won't turn there today, but some of you are probably familiar with that Scripture. Hebrews talks about the fact that Jesus Christ, instead of the High Priest that went once a year on the Day of Atonement into the Holy of Holies, Jesus Christ entered once on our behalf on the day of Passover, the veil of the temple was torn in two, symbolically showing the fact that access to God himself and to his throne was made available to all of us through the death of Jesus Christ. And of course, freedom from sin.

Through Jesus Christ, we're freed from sin. The Day of Atonement, we think a lot about sin as well.

But the Day of Atonement, as you would expect, has significant additional lessons to teach us, and that's what I'd like to explore today. And to be honest with you, as I've gone through past years and the Day of Atonement, it's something I often think about. What is really the difference between the Day of Atonement and Passover? What is it that we learn in addition? What is it that comes incrementally that we're supposed to understand by keeping this day and through the symbols and the actions that we take as we keep it? And what I'd like to explore today is Atonement as a story of liberation. And if you'd like the title to write down, liberation from evil is the title of the message today. It is a story of liberation. It's a war that's been won, even though the final battles haven't yet been fought. Or if you want the sports analogy, it's a championship that's been clinched, but the season is still going on for a number of games. I'd like to go through that story today in three different parts as we think about liberation, what we're freed from, and the fact that even though the battle has been won, the war is not entirely over yet. And we'll go through the fact that, first of all, there's a source of evil, something we're meant to think about, to focus on, and to understand on this day.

Secondly, that Jesus has liberated us from it. And lastly, though evil doesn't have power over us, it can still damage us. I think, again, of those final games in a sports season where you can still get injured and hurt, and we have to resist its presence in our lives. So let's walk through that in the lessons of this day, thinking about those three elements. So the first point, there's a source of evil. And the way I think about it, as I've considered this, is the fact that sin is more than just a human failing. There is a source that evil comes from. You know, when we look at Passover, we think a lot about our own sinful selves. We think about our humanity. We think of our inadequacy as humans, which is all extremely true. We understand the fact that Jesus Christ died so those sins can be forgiven, and that our nature, our human nature, can actually be replaced by Jesus Christ living in us. But that's not the entirety of the story, and that's what this day brings forward to us, is that in addition to the fact that we as humans are inadequate and we are sinful, there is an actual force of evil. And it's been in existence since before time existed, since before humanity existed, and it will exist until the moments before God brings his kingdom fully to the earth. Turn with me, if you will, to Leviticus 16. We'll read about this in some of the original symbols of the Day of Atonement, and it points very quickly and very surely to the fact that there is evil that has to be acknowledged and set outside of the camp. Leviticus 16 will start in verse 7.

Here the commandment is made that two goats shall be taken, and they're presented by the priests before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. And so from all the herds there are two goats taken out, and Aaron then will cast lots in verse 8 for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for what's described here or translated here as the scapegoat. And Aaron in verse 9 shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell and offer as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement upon it and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. As we can see here through the choosing of two goats, there are very two different things that are going on here. We can see the symbolism of Jesus Christ in the one which is taken and presented alive before the Lord as a sin offering. And we see the sin offering as something that points towards Jesus Christ, towards His blood that's shed for sins. The other goat is unique, though, because we don't see other offerings where the animal being offered is actually set loose. And so it means something different from what an offering means. And we read on in verse 21, say that Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and then he shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat into the wilderness. And so here we see the second animal which has all of the sins and the transgressions of the people laid upon it, and then it's set out loose to wander. And presumably it ends up dying somewhere out in the wilderness if it can't find water and food and so forth. But as far as we know, it's out there to wander for quite some time in the wilderness with all the sins of the people laid upon it. And so what's playing itself out here in these two goats that are chosen is what we see happening in life as well. We have, one, a sin offering, which we understand to be Jesus Christ, and a second, where all of the sins of the people are laid on it. And so it lays out the fact that there is some culpability for sin that goes beyond us as human beings, beyond us as individuals, and a scapegoat. Things are laid upon it, and it is a symbol, if you will, of Satan. And it's set out just as Satan wanders, seeking whom he may devour, as we see, and we'll read that passage later, sins and accountability are laid on the head of the other goat, just as we know that Satan, as the instigator of evil and the one who has caused evil, has blame, has responsibility for sin. Now we recognize both of those sides because we can't be in a situation where you say, well, I couldn't help it. Satan made me do it, so it's not my fault. And that's not at all what God says. That's why there is also a sin offering there. We understand the fact that we have accountability as human beings before God. All that said, though, sin goes beyond just what happens within us. And this is a clear symbol in what the children of Israel were given around the day of atonement, that there's accountability, there's responsibility for sin that goes beyond us as human beings.

Satan's work has been evident in the past. It's evident in the present, and the Bible points to his activities in the future as well. It's almost like the cycle of a dysfunctional relationship, where the same thing goes on over and over and over again. And somehow this relationship between Satan and not only humanity but other beings that God created repeats itself in a cycle. We'll look at that for a few minutes here. And at the core of what he does in that cycle is to influence others to act according to his way of being, according to his priorities. And we can probably think of scriptures that talk about those things, some of the hallmarks of what Satan is about, but we'll see that as well in some of the passages that we'll read here. Let's start in Isaiah 14. I know we read this passage during the sermon just a couple of days ago, but this talks about what Satan was doing long before mankind was created. And I say long before mankind was created, arguably time didn't exist, so the idea of it being a long time before probably disappears. But it happened before man was created. Isaiah 14 we'll read verses 12 through 14.

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations. For you have said in your heart, I will send into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, and I will be like the Most High. And so we have an attitude here that Satan demonstrates that says, I can be in charge of everything. I've got enough power, I have the splendor, and I'm at a point where I can ascend to heaven, and I can be above the stars, the stars symbolizing the angels of God, sitting in the mount of the congregation, the farthest sides of the north. At that time, when people thought of deity, they thought of them setting up their thrones in the north. That's a reference to setting himself up as a deity and being all-powerful, ascending above the heights of the clouds. And we see here being like God himself. And so Satan felt that there was power there to be had, that there was ability that he had, probably because of the splendor and the gifts that he was given by God. And he wanted to set himself up higher and above. Not only that, but as we read in Revelation 12, he took others with him. See, he doesn't work on his own. He's not a soul trader. He works through influencing others, and that's one of the key things that he does. If you'll read with me in Revelation 12, we'll read verses 3 and 4 and verse 9. And most commentators that you read will readily agree that this talks about Satan deceiving a third of the angels. Revelation 12 verse 3, another sign appeared in heaven. This is talking about the end times. An enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads.

Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to earth. And again, this talks about a third of the angels, the stars of the sky, speaking allegorically of angels and being flung down to the earth, as we read previously in Isaiah 14. And then in verse 9, the great dragon was hurled down, the ancient serpent called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth and his angels with him. And we won't go through and read all the different passages, but you can see if you look in the Gospels, Mark, I think it's chapter 8, is one place where it talks about the holy angels. It talks about the demons being there, and we can certainly see during the time of Jesus Christ as well as other times, even in the Old Testament, where unclean spirits or evil spirits are talked about. And so we know, through putting those things together, the fact that Satan did not work alone. Here we would understand one-third of the angels went with him and became unclean spirits or evil spirits, demons who work together with him, fulfilling his purpose and what it is that he tries to do on the earth. Let's look to our present age, the time of humanity living on the earth. Again, understanding the fact that evil is present, not just things that hide within man's hearts, but things that are instigated from outside as well. Genesis 3, we won't turn there, but I think we're all familiar, probably one of the handful of Bible stories most people in the world can still recite, and that's Adam and Eve and the temptation that happened as God, or as Satan, came before Eve in the garden and said, what about that tree over there? Because he said, you shall not surely die? And he set the temptation out before Eve and laid out a different idea of what might happen, and the fact that it might not be so bad after all if she went ahead and tried it. And so, just as we saw early on, before the existence of mankind, that Satan spread his influence to other angels and took a third of them with him, one of the things that he does is try to influence other beings that God has created, and that spread very quickly, within a short period of time, that mankind was on the earth. He was there trying to lead mankind astray, and successfully so, as we've seen throughout our history, starting right there with Eve herself.

If you'll turn with me to 1 Corinthians 4, 1 Corinthians 4, hear Paul writing to the Corinthians in verse 3, says, even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds in verse 4, the God of this age has blinded, who don't believe, lest the light of the glorious gospel, of the glory of Christ, whose the image of God should shine on them. So, here Paul identifies Satan as the God of this age. Satan was thrown down to earth. We see that Satan was there to tempt Eve, and he was there throughout history from there forward, spreading his influence. It started again with the angels, went there to the human beings that God had created, and to the point where Paul, here, writing to the Corinthians, identifies the fact that Satan is the God of this age. It's his viewpoints, it's his way of being, it's his priorities that express themselves through human beings. Not necessarily that everyone on the earth who's a human being is trying to do evil. I personally think that the world is filled with lots of people who don't know better, and they're living in a world that's under Satan's influence. And so they act out those things. They search, they don't know, and they do the things that the world society as a whole puts before them, which is all under Satan's influence. 1 Peter 5 continues on, talking to us as Christians, again pointing to the fact that this influence does exist on the earth today. 1 Peter 5, starting in verse 8. Here Peter writes, Be sober and be vigilant, lest your adversary the devil, because your adversary the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing the same sufferings are experienced by your brethren, your brotherhood in the world. So here we see clearly the fact that Satan's influence is on the entire world, as we see in verse 9, and he is walking around seeking who he can devour.

He is, through his influence, trying to win people over, to take his influence, his way of thinking, his way of doing things, and as much as possible to instill that in anyone who will pay attention to it. We, of course, are asked to resist that, told to resist that, and given the tools so that we can do that, but more on that later. So again, we see in the past, before mankind, Satan was there influencing at least a portion of the angels and convinced a number of them. We see during the life of mankind, starting with Eve and walking all the way through, Satan was able to influence Eve very quickly, and he's been able to do that, becoming the god of this world, which is why Paul refers to him that way, and he continues to walk about like a roaring lion, not just going after God's people, but as pointed out clearly here in 1 Peter 5 9, having an influence on everyone who's alive.

In the future, even after the millennium, this cycle, this dysfunctional cycle of Satan and other beings that God has created is going to play itself out again. And it's somewhat staggering to see it. We referred to it again a couple of days ago in the sermon, but turn with me, if you will, to Revelation 20.

As we recall, the chronology of what's happening as Jesus Christ returns as God is working out his plan is the return of Jesus Christ, the setting up of the millennium. There are human beings who live into that millennial period, and they learn God's way, and they live according to that way. And then, in Revelation 20 and verse 7, talks to us about a time period after that, and before God's Kingdom is finally and fully restored and put into place on this earth. Revelation 20 verse 7, when the thousand years have expired, when the millennium is over, Satan will be released from his prison. So he was temporarily imprisoned, if you recall, before the start of the millennium. And in verse 8, he will go out and do exactly what he always does. He will go out and deceive the nations, which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, and he will gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. And it's amazing when you think of the scope of a thousand years of human history without the influence of Satan, living according to God's way of life, and the number of generations that would live in a thousand years. The history and the ways of doing things that would build up. And Satan is released, and he goes out, and he deceives the nations. Again, standing for the fact that there is a cause of sin that goes beyond just a flawed human nature. There's an external cause of sin, and that is Satan. They went up in verse 9 on the breadth of the earth, surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are, or were cast, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. And we know that as the final end of this cycle.

The final end of this dysfunctional cycle between Satan and beings created by God that lead to him influencing them, winning them over to his way, deceiving them in order to do his way.

So, concluding this first section, talking about the fact that sin is more than just a human failing, there is evil in this world, and it has a cause. A very specific cause that we're led to think of at this time. Closing scripture on this section, John 8 verse 44. I'll read this from the new international version, John 8 verse 44, because it identifies very specifically Satan as this force. John 8 verse 44, Jesus Christ here speaking, saying, you belong to your father the devil, as he was rebuking some who had come at him, and you want to carry out your father's desires.

And here's what Jesus says about him. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. So we can make no mistake about it. As much as human beings are capable of terrible things, with Satan's influence coming in, it is there, it is an external force, and it's something that has to be reckoned with. So on this day, we're conscious that there's a power of evil that's in this world and that's operated before time even existed. And while human inadequacy before God is real, the source of sin and the source of evil goes much deeper than purely the human condition. Even through to the last moments, the very last moments before God's plan is completed, that source of evil has the power to deceive and practices that as long as he's able to do it. Let's move through to the second element as we think about liberation, because clearly there is this force out there, Satan is out there and stands for and produces evil. But that's not all that this day is about. In fact, there's an incredible practice that was put into place in ancient Israel that had to do with this day of atonement that we don't always think about as carefully. That's something called the year of Jubilee. Now, you might have heard of the year of Jubilee, perhaps you haven't, but we'll read a little bit more about it here today and we'll turn to Leviticus 25. So you might recall that there were different cycles that were built into the laws that God gave ancient Israel as a civilization, as a group of people, as a physical nation. And there were periods of seven years where there would be release of debts that would happen. And after seven periods of seven years, there would be the 50th year, a Jubilee, and this was supposed to be an incredible time of liberation and freedom. Scholars differ. Most believe there wasn't actually a full Jubilee that was ever celebrated in Israel, but there's some different stories and thoughts on that. But Leviticus 25 goes through what it was that was supposed to happen at the time of the Jubilee, starting in verse 8 of Leviticus 25. You shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself. So this is the seven sets of seven years that makes 49. Seven times seven years, and the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you 49 years. And then in verse 9, you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound when? On the tenth day of the seventh month on the day of atonement. So with all the other things that this day is about, something that lies in the heart of this day is the time when the Jubilee was sounded, this trumpet sounded.

And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you, and to each of you you shall each return to your possession, and each of you shall return to his family. And so you might recall that the Levitical law pointed out that for the land that God gave Israel as an inheritance, every 50 years, it doesn't matter what happened. Grandfather, great-grandfather, whoever, who might have been bad with his assets or had some problems and lost the land, after 50 years, the land Sabbath comes, the land reverts to the family that owned it. That original inheritance comes back, so the children, the successive generations, are not punished or don't have to live under the bad decisions that might have been made a generation or two before them.

Debts are canceled. Bondage, which would happen because of owing money that can't be paid back, would be eradicated. There would be freedom throughout the entire land. That's what this year of Jubilee meant, and that's why in verse 10 it talked about proclaiming liberty throughout the entire land. Everything was reset. Everyone was set free from these burdens that they might have on them. Reading on in verse 23, the land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is mine. You're strangers and sojourners with me, and in the land of your possession, you shall grant redemption of the land. If one of your brethren becomes poor and has sold some of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, he can redeem what his brother sold. Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able, then let him count the years since it's sale and restore it to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. But verse 28 is really the punchline. If he's not able to have it restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the year of Jubilee. And in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.

So if you fell on hard times, you had to sell your land because you just couldn't make ends meet, and you couldn't buy it back in the years that followed, in that 50th year you were freed from that debt. You and your family would return to that land, and you would have full title to it, full ability to take that land and do as you would with it. So this concept of redemption, of restoration, of liberty is bound up in the Day of Atonement. It's also mirrored in the work of Jesus Christ. When you think of that word, liberty, is there another passage that you can think of in the life of Jesus Christ? Turn with me, if you will, to Luke 4.

We don't necessarily think about the fact that Jesus referred to the Day of Atonement when he first laid out the purpose of his work on the earth. Luke 4. This is a fairly famous passage.

Jesus goes into the temple in Nazareth, pulls down the scroll, and he starts reading Isaiah. And commentators will appropriately comment on the fact that he stops at a certain point. He doesn't read the entire passage because he's talking about his mission on his first coming and what it is that he's to do to bring liberty to the captives. And he doesn't read on through the rest of the passage. He doesn't finish the passage. But there's something else that's really important to this day that I'd like to focus on and what Jesus Christ says. And this is the point, this is kind of his coming out party, is where he goes back to his hometown and he tells the people who he is, gets them worked up to the point where they want to kill him as a blasphemer because of it. Luke 14 verse 4 verse 16. So he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah and when he opened the book he found the place where it's written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind. Again, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Now if you read most commentators, they will tell you very clearly that the two references to liberty in that passage and in verse 19, the acceptable year of the Lord, that acceptable year was a clear reference to the Jubilee. And what Jesus Christ was saying, in essence, was saying, look, in the Jubilee you got restoration, liberty from the physical debts that you were under. From the things that you'd fallen captive to. But Jesus Christ was standing up in front of them, saying, I am here to give you liberty in a spiritual sense. I'm proclaiming a spiritual Jubilee. And that's what Jesus Christ did as he was going through his ministry. He used the language that has to do with this very day, the Day of Atonement, to explain his work that he was doing, to bring liberty to the captives. He embodies the Atonement for sin, just as we saw in the two goats that were taken, the one that was taken and sacrificed for the sins of the people. And because of this, victory over Satan has been secured, even though the plan is not yet finished. Going back to what we talked about at the very start of this message, think about sports teams clinching the division.

Basically, Jesus Christ clinched that victory over Satan, even though there are several rounds still to be played, whatever you want to call it. I won't call them games. Life is serious.

But there are still battles to be played out. But the victory is clear and it has been won. How do we know that? Turn with me, if you will, to Romans 6. Romans 6. We'll read verses 6 and 7 of Romans 6. Again, the context of liberty, the fact that Jesus Christ came and he brought liberty by winning this battle.

Romans 6, verse 6, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, talking about the crucifixion, of course, of Jesus Christ, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Death being the figure of death that happens at baptism. We talk about the fact that we're lowered into the water. That's a symbolic death and burial. And we've been freed from sin.

And again, here using the same language that we see in the Jubilee, being slaves of sin, and the fact that we've been freed from that slavery. Just like in the 50th year, the trumpet that was blown on the day of atonement, that freed the people from their physical debts, Jesus Christ came and saying he was there to proclaim liberty to the captives in the acceptable year of the Lord. And it frees us from sin. Turn with me, if you will, to Romans 8. A couple chapters later, we'll read the same concept, the new international version. I just love Romans 8, and this ending part of Romans 8 is just incredibly meaningful. Romans 8 verses 37 through 39. Paul writing to the Romans says, No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I'm convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else, in all creation, can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord. What he's saying here is the battle has been won. He's saying, using all of these things, there's nothing you can describe, there's nothing you can identify that can have power over you that will separate you from God.

Liberty has come through Jesus Christ. We've been set free from that bondage, from that captivity that we have. Turn with me, if you will, as we conclude this section, thinking about the battle that Jesus Christ won, the liberty that he gave that ties directly back to these days of atonement to 1 John.

1 John 3 verse 8. 1 John 3 verse 8. Here John writes, He who sins is of the devil, for the devil is sinned from the beginning. So again, we see these attributes ascribed to the devil.

But for this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. So Jesus Christ, through His atoning work, through the liberty that He's brought, for those people who He's called and given His Spirit, He has destroyed the works of the devil in our lives. He's victorious. He's brought liberation. It's not yet there for the entire world, as we see, as we see God's plan laid out, we see what we saw in Revelation, the fact that even after the millennium, there will be those that Satan can deceive.

But the victory has been won. The war is over, even though the battles that need to secure and finalize that war will still need to be fought. So liberty has been proclaimed. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we have been redeemed. We're gods, and no power of the physical or spiritual world can separate us from Jesus Christ.

We read that very clearly in Romans 8. While we have to respect the power of Satan and the impact his influence in this world has even on us, we have been liberated from his power. And that liberty is something that Jesus Christ proclaimed, talking about the Jubilee, which was blown on this very day of atonement.

So let's turn lastly to fasting. And we heard some in the sermonette today, very good information about fasting, why we fast, what it is that it accomplishes. I'd like to lay out just one more thought along these lines and how fasting falls into this. Because when you think about it, the attitudes that go along with fasting are like an antidote. Every attitude that goes along with fasting is the exact opposite of the attitudes that Satan demonstrates, the influence that Satan likes to put across.

And let's look at this and talk about it for a few minutes. We don't have to turn to Leviticus 23. We read this during the sermonette, verses 26 and 27. Talk about the fact that we're supposed to afflict our souls. Talked about that 10th day of the seventh month, the same day that the Jubilee was blown in Israel every 50 years. And in this passage, afflicting the souls mentioned three different times in the command about the day of atonement. So clearly afflicting your soul is something important and something I would say we're all accomplishing today based on the looks on people's faces.

But is fasting magic? How is it that fasting changes the equation? We heard some of this in the sermonette, but to me the key lies in the earlier point. The fact that while Satan doesn't have direct power over us, we live in a world that's under his influence. Everything that we encounter from day to day are things that are an outgrowth in one way or another of his influence. And while there are plenty of things that are neutral or even good in this world, they're not built on the foundation of God.

And ultimately, Satan wants to use things that are in the world in order to continue to lay forth his plan to gain power and to continue to thwart God in every way that he can. And so we have to be sure that as we live in this world that has Satan's influence and lives very much according to it, that we don't allow this same opposition to God to take root in our own lives. And again, fasting is like an antidote because it brings along with it all of the qualities that are the opposite of what it is that Satan wants to drive.

Turn with me, if you will, to James 4. We'll read verses 1 through 10 of James 4 that lay this out. James 4 starting in verse 1. Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and you do not have. You murder and covet and you cannot obtain. You fight and you war. Yet you do not have because you don't ask.

And you ask and you don't receive because you may ask amiss that you might spend it on your pleasures. Adulters and adultresses, don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Or do you think the Scripture says in vain, the Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously? What is it that's being pointed out there? If we read those early verses, verses 1 through 4, all of the things that are put forward are those attitudes, those ways of being that we encounter in the world. They're an outgrowth of Satan's mind. Desires for pleasure, lust, murder, covetousness, fight, war, spending things on our pleasures. These are things we're warned to guard ourselves against. And when it talks about friendship with the world, what it's talking about is taking those influences, those ways of being, those ways of prioritizing what we do, that Satan drives through in the world around us, and letting those things come into our lives and drive the ways that we make our decisions.

James goes on in verse 6 to say, he gives more grace, referring to God. Therefore, he says, God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

And what is fasting about, if not to humble ourselves? To recognize that all of these things that Satan prioritizes and wants, power, the thought of self-aggrandizement, being self-sufficient and not needing God. All of these things are things that fasting takes down at least one notch, if not several notches, as we can't really focus after a while on much more than just sustenance for our own bodies and the rest that we need and how we just run out of energy so very quickly when we fast. Therefore, verse 7, submit to God, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.

There's a lot said there. When we put all of these things together, it shows the contrast between these attitudes that are of Satan and broadcast to us through the world, all these things that we see of lust and pleasure and power and war and murder and covetousness, set up against humility, submission to God, and a very clear reference to Satan the devil in this whole process. Lastly, laying out the fact that humbling ourselves in the sight of the Lord is what will allow us to be lifted up. I take a lot of comfort as well in the fact that in verse 7 and 8, we read the fact that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us. It shows again the fact that we laid out earlier that Jesus Christ won the victory against Satan, and he extends that to us.

We don't have to worry about whether or not Satan has power over us because God says he doesn't. If we resist in Jesus Christ, the devil will flee from us. If we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. What we have to watch for, though, is willfully taking in to our minds the ways, the approaches, the thoughts, the priorities of the world around us and Satan and his way that's driven through that world. So, concluding this last thought in terms of fasting as the antidote against the way that Satan is and his way of being, it's clear from the Bible that we have been redeemed and Satan does not have power over us, but we live in a world that's filled with his influence. We regularly take that into our lives, causing the problems that we so often experience. Fasting is like an antidote because it so directly opposes the values that Satan advances. Pride, desire for power, rejection of God. Fasting instead centers us back to humility, recognition of our human frailty, and the value of God's power and his love in our lives.

So, as we started off, we see it often, whether we look at sports seasons, whether we look at wars and other conflicts that happen in this world, many situations in life exist where the outcome has been determined, long before the final battle, before the final game, before the season is over.

Things continue on with risk of real injury and real loss, if we want to use a sports analogy, and certainly if you want to use an analogy of war, wars have been clearly over long before the losers decide to stop fighting, and there's real human toll that continues until that loser finally gives up and surrenders. Atonement gives us a unique perspective that goes beyond the holy days that come before it. It's a story of liberation, of a war that's been won, though the final battles are still being waged. So, as we consider that, as we reflect on the rest of this day of atonement, let's remember first of all there is a source of evil.

The devil introduces evil into the world that goes beyond any realm of human failings.

And we can't be mistaken about that at all. This day helps us to remember that.

Secondly, Jesus has liberated us from evil and from the power of Satan, just as we saw in the Old Testament the trumpet of Jubilee, liberation, proclaiming liberty through the entire land on this day of atonement, and Jesus Christ coming using that same language in terms of what he did and what he brought to liberate us from all of the powers of evil. But lastly, remembering that though evil doesn't have power over us, it can still damage us. It can still have a presence in our lives if we allow those ways into our lives. And one of the things we remember through fasting is how we have to center ourselves on the qualities of God, his mind, his spirit, and not the opposites that we see and are always broadcast around us from day to day. So, as we complete our fast in the upcoming hours, let's be thankful to God and Jesus Christ for liberating us from the power of evil and let us carry this fasting attitude of humility and submission to God into our daily lives.