running away from evil, or standing up to it

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Eph 6:10-17

Today it is reported that a group of young men, on trial for allegedly attempting to blow up aeroplanes between the UK and the USA, have not been found guilty. This, according to the BBC news website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7605583.stm) is described as being 'astonishing.'

But, is it? Isn't this as we expect from our courts in the UK? And why is this so?

Our American cousins look on with astonishment as our courts regularly take the side of the apparent or real offender against the victims and the weak. We may ridicule the Americans for their harsh legal system. But ours has a way of coming to 'astonishing' verdicts that appear to run against natural justice and the evidence presented.

As I implied above, I am not astonished. For, when you consider the powers and authorities involved in the UK the result will often go the wrong way. For evil is evil and good is good, despite what our secularist media and elites would have us believe. If there are no powers beyond this world and this life, then everything should be simply explicable. But, that is clearly not so.

Evil clearly exists, acting in horrendous inhuman ways that do not reflect what we all believe humans should be. And this goes for probably the huge majority of Muslims in this country. To them the actions and plans of islamist young British men is utterly and unpardonably evil. And yet, this evil grows and breed and acts in our country.

For those of us who have stood face-to-face with evil, it is no surprise that this is a power that is greater than that of the unspiritual masses in our country. To a jury who have been led to believe that it is all about mental decision making, when the result would say 'guilty' they find people 'innocent' as they lack the internal power to stand against the evil which drives these evil people.

I remember being told of a church prayer meeting in St Andrews where satan himself turned up. As he came into the hall every man in the room collapsed in a heap, losing all strength and courage. The women in the room stood up and drove him from the room. You see, my friend, one group had the internal strength to stand against evil, even satan himself, and the other group did not.

When evil confronts the spiritually weak, whether by pornography, drink, temptation to steal, gambling, etc., the weak have no power to stand, for they have no reason to stand and so they fall. The secularists are right in this one way: there is no reason for them to deny themselves every avarice and pleasure at the cost of others, for they have no knowledge of how to stand up against the evil that tempts them.

So, we have an ex-bishop in Scotland who denies that our Christ exists. We have priests who bugger children. We have ministers who chant Hindu mantras. We have elders who buy lottery tickets. For they have no power inside them to do otherwise and the darkness of their minds is clouded by human reasoning rather than illuminated by The Spirit of God.

On the other hand, we all fall and we all fail. St Peter denied the Christ. St Paul killed His followers. Moses murdered in God's name. King David committed murder and adultery. Before we stand and start to say, 'I thank you, O Lord, that I am not like ...', we should look at ourselves, cast dust upon ourselves and hear what God has to say about our country:

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chr 7:14.

And so, we pray,

"Hasten, O God, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me ... I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay." Ps 70:1,6.

Knowing that,

"The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5)

There is darkness, there is evil, but, thanks be to God, there is a Redeemer and we know that He will stand in the last days upon this Earth, and we will see Him while we are still flesh and blood.

"Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name." (Ps 30:4)