Do you remember Flip Wilson? The Flip Wilson Show was an hour-long variety show that originally aired in the US on NBC from September 17, 1970 to June 27, 1974. The show starred American comedian Flip Wilson, who was most famous for creating the role of Geraldine Jones, a sassy, modern woman who had a boyfriend named Killer (who, when not in prison, was at the pool hall). Flip also created the role of Reverend Leroy, who was the minister of the Church of What’s Happening Now! New parishioners were wary of coming to the church as it was hinted that Reverend Leroy was a con artist. Wilson popularized the catchphrase “The Devil made me do it!”.
Geraldine Jones was a huge part of The Flip Wilson Show and was played by Wilson wearing women’s clothing. One of “Geraldine’s” most famous quotes is, “The Devil made me buy this dress!”
We still get a laugh out of the famous phrase and even half-heartedly blame our shortcomings on the devil when caught. But have we ever really considered whether there is any truth to the idea of an interfering devil? Do we even believe there is a devil, and can he actually cause us trouble today?
1 Peter 5:8 says to be sober-minded: be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Is Satan still alive and well? Is he nipping at our heels in our advanced 21st century culture? Is he causing trouble in our families? Marriages? Churches? Country?
I read a book about spiritual warfare and the author said something that made me think. Many Christians fear Satan more than God. And, that which you fear most will become a god to you because it becomes so big and frightening that we won’t even acknowledge it, which can be dangerous.
We hear reports about activities attributed to the devil, both in our country and abroad, and who hasn’t heard a Missionary attest to strange happenings, dark and oppressive, that they assigned to the Evil one.
I don’t know about you, but most often I will duck my head and eyes at things like that. Don’t look. Don’t look! I wonder quietly to myself if it’s true. Are they embellishing that account or worse, making it up for attention? You know, to sell books and make money.
In Acts, we see evidence of Satan’s activities in the pawns he chooses to use. It’s true, as we shall see, the Devil did make them do it, in that he played his role of deceiver and liar and they fell for it. And, of course, it turned out bad for them.
The young church is off to a great start, 5,000 believers have been added to the church in just a short time and Satan doesn’t like it one bit. So, he launches a counterattack, inciting subversive behavior in the ranks in hopes that it will derail the momentum. Does it work? Was he able to destabilize the group? Join us tomorrow for our study and find out.
If you cannot be with us in person, feel free to download the Bible study materials for your personal use by following one of these links: PowerPoint Slides, PDF File. You can also find the video of this session on our YouTube channel soon after the meeting concludes. And lastly, you could follow this link to download other studies in this series: INpowered Discipleship if you happened to miss one of our prior studies.
Yours in Christ,
Eric Glover
The Gospels Class
Brentwood Baptist Church