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NOWHERE MAN #9
BAD NEWS: SATAN KNOWS YOU TOO
Isn’t it just the most wonderful thing in the world
to have your name KNOWN? To realize that other people know who you are?
Would you ever NOT want that?
I can already hear you saying, “Actually, Lonnie, there are times when
I’m perfectly happy to remain anonymous.” Let’s say you’re speeding down
the freeway, going a bit too fast. All of a sudden, behind you, is a patrol
car. His red light is flashing in your mirror. You realize that after
you pull over, he’s going to want your driver’s license and registration.
He’s going to write down your name. He’s going to KNOW your name. He and
you are about to have a $175 relationship.
But . . . lo and behold, he swings around and goes after that OTHER guy.
He DOESN’T make you stop. He DOESN’T discover your name. And you’re so
happy to remain — in this case — UNknown. At least on this particular
Thursday, you’re entirely content to be the “Nowhere Man” or the “Nowhere
Woman” or the “Nowhere Speeding Teenager.” What a wonderful thing anonymity
sometimes is.
I’m sure there are times when the President of the United States turns
on the evening news, or sees that his picture is on the cover of TIME,
Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report — detailing the latest mistake
or scandal. And he thinks to himself that he would be glad to be just
Joe Citizen again, unscathed and unknown.
Speaking of presidential anonymity — or the lack of it — maybe you noticed
with us a fascinating little tidbit to come out of the Monica Lewinsky
scandal. In the biography Monica’s Story, Andrew Morton describes those
first flirty days in the White House. Catching the eye of the President.
A wink. A little nod of recognition. A Rose Garden photo op. And then,
on her first REAL day on the job, the first day as a paid staffer, November
15, 1995, was also the first “(quote) inappropriate encounter” between
them. Two days later a second rendezvous in the President’s back office.
Afterwards she mentioned that he could call her at her home anytime; she
had her own line so that her parents would never suspect. Then, embarrassed,
she said: “I bet you don’t even know my name.” And the president retorted:
“What kind of a name is Lewinsky, anyway?” To prove that he certainly
DID know her name. The Chief Executive of the United States of America,
for his own improper purposes, HAD made sure he knew the name of this
22-year-old intern.
Several clandestine visits later, as she was about to leave, the president
said that he would call her later. “Do you know my number?” she teased.
And again, the most powerful man in the world, who has the suitcase, the
“nuclear football” at his disposal, reeled off from memory both her home
phone number and her extension at the White House.
Well, friend, it’s a bit of sorry trivia, now relegated to the bottom-drawer
files in the Clinton Chronicles. But think with me about the reverse of
logic here. We’ve been rejoicing that when it comes to God and His feelings
for us, you and I are decidedly NOT the “Nowhere Man,” the “Nowhere Woman.”
God knows us; He loves us; He has our names and our resumé engraved
in His mind. He has that Book of Life referred to in Revelation, and if
we have come to the foot of the Cross, our names are written there.
“He who overcomes will . . . be dressed in white. I
will NEVER blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge
his NAME before my Father and His angels.”
Isn’t that a marvelous promise? Christ guarantees that
He knows us; He recalls our name, and openly confesses a friendship with
us to His own Father.
But again, we find a flip side to THIS story as well. Because there’s
an enemy out there who knows my name and your name. He’s a powerful enemy.
And yes, he may pretend to be a friend of ours; he invites us into a back-office
relationship that seems so seductive, so inviting. But when you get right
down to it, there’s nothing but pain and impeachment at the end of the
game.
You know, you can take a flashlight and just journey through the 66 books
of the Bible, and we find a number of stories where Satan picks out a
person and aims right at them. He prepares a PERSONAL temptation file
with that victim’s name embossed on it.
In Genesis chapter three he went after Eve — disguised as a serpent. And
he hit on her with the VERY temptation that could penetrate her defenses:
a desire to be smarter, wiser, more clever than God had made her. Flip
over to the book of Job, and you find an amazing tale where it is just
plain one-on-one: Lucifer vs. Job. The dark enemy of this world drops
everything else and simply attacks this one man. He has Job’s name AND
number, and he aims every arrow right at him.
In Luke chapter 22, the Bible says specifically that “(quote) Satan entered
Judas.” Listen, friend, don’t believe it when someone tells you that the
devil is just a metaphor for our dark side, the polar opposite of all
our good impulses. That God is yin and Satan is yang. No, the Word of
God describes a BEING, a mighty-but-fallen angel who knows our names.
He picks his targets based on name, address, social security number, and
point of greatest vulnerability. Interestingly, and it’s a bit chilling
to notice, this very same chapter — Luke 22 — has Lucifer aiming his laser
beams at another of Christ’s close friends. Here’s verse 31, as shared
in the Clear Word paraphrase by Dr. Jack Blanco:
“Then Jesus turned to Peter and said, ‘Simon, Simon,
Satan is determined to test YOUR loyalty to Me, and if possible, separate
you from Me like a farmer shakes his wheat to separate the kernels from
the chaff.”
So this is what WE face too. It’s not just Eve, Peter,
Job, and Judas who have Satan going after them. Friend, Lucifer has enough
dark angels at his command that he is personally involved in attacking
every single one of us. Especially those of us who have made a commitment
to Jesus Christ. We’re ESPECIALLY in what he considers to be the enemy
camp. He ESPECIALLY wants to hurt his chief adversary, Jesus, by trying
to harass and even recapture any human trophies from out of the Body of
Christ.
I don’t know how Monica Lewinsky felt when she first realized that the
President of the United States knew her, that he had a plan involving
her. At first, in the initial blush of illicit love, it was hugely flattering,
I’m sure. But when she found herself surrounded by FBI agents, when she
realized how badly she had been stung by a Linda Tripp wiretap, it must
have terrified this young girl to realize that powerful people had her
name on their subpoena lists. That sinister forces were out there, wanting
to destroy her reputation.
So does it need to terrify us that Satan has a plan with our name on it?
No! And do you know why? Because God has a plan too! Satan knows us .
. . and Jesus knows us. And we always like to say on this radio program:
“Satan is mighty, but Jesus is ALmighty!”
In fact, I have to confess that I only read the first half of Jesus’ warning
to Peter about Lucifer. Let me backtrack and share with you the whole
thing.
“‘Simon, Simon, Satan is determined to test your loyalty
to Me, and if possible, separate you from Me like a farmer shakes his
wheat to separate the kernels from the chaff. But . . . I’M praying for
you that your faith does not falter. After you survive the test and come
BACK to Me, you’ll be able to inspire your brothers in the faith.”
Now, let me invite you to do something before this
Thursday is over. We’re in Luke chapter 22; mark that down in your mind.
You’ll find in the very next verses the story of how Peter denied Jesus.
It’s all in this chapter: Satan entering into Judas, Satan wanting to
“sift” Peter away from his Lord and Master, and then Satan IMMEDIATELY
succeeding at getting Peter to deny Christ. Three times before the rooster
crowed, you might recall. So did Peter pass this test? No, he didn’t!
He flunked it big-time. But did he SURVIVE? Did he go ON through that
hard, Calvary weekend, weep tears of repentance, and then come back to
Jesus after it was all over and Christ had emerged from the tomb? You
bet he did. Satan had a plan to pull Peter away, and he almost pulled
it off, but the redeeming love of Jesus, the way He reached out to Peter
and forgave and restored him, and then the story of Peter’s powerful witness
for Jesus in the early Christian church . . . well, it’s all proof that
Satan’s plan is trumped and check-mated by Jesus’ plan every time.
Friend, I admit that radio is impersonal, and that I DON’T know your name.
Forget that right now. I’d like to just reach out to you at this very
moment and invite you to embrace what GOD has for you. Embrace the fact
that GOD knows your name. Embrace the fact that God’s plan for you is
better than Satan’s. He’ll stand with you; He’ll help make sure that Satan’s
plan for you comes to ruin. In Ephesians chapter six, the apostle Paul
— another man Lucifer really went after — says this:
“Put on the whole armor of GOD so that you can take
your stand AGAINST the devil’s schemes.”
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