BBD 03.29.06 The Devil's Toy Machine
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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03.29.06
The Devil's Toy Machine
"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault
between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth
of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' And if he refuses
to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the
church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. - Matthew
18:15-17.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along
with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one
to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in
the day of the Lord Jesus. - Corinthians 5:4-5.
Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them;
to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by
corrupted flesh. - Jude 1:22-23.
In Austin, Minnesota, a three-year-old boy became trapped inside of a Toy
Chest claw machine at the Godfather's Pizza place. Devin crawled into the
machine through a discharge chute. The space crawled through was about seven
by nine inches in size. Firefighters who responded to the emergency had to
pry the machine open to get to the boy. However, Devin being surrounded by
stuffed animals had no desire to leave. The Fire Chief, Dan Wilson, stated,
"When we got it open, he didn't want to come out. One of my firefighters had
to reach inside and get him. He was happy in there."
Some people are like a three-year-old in a toy machine - they do not want to
leave. They want their sins and they do not want to give them up. That is
the condition of many people before salvation and it sadly is the condition
that some find themselves in even after they know the Lord.
What should our response be to the lost who appear to be perfectly happy
being lost? What should be our response to those who know the Lord but who
appear to be perfectly happy living like the devil? Some will say and think
things like, "Live and let live"; "That's their choice" and, "It's not
hurting me." Is that what we are to do? Nothing?
No, the example and instructions of the Bible are clear. We are not to leave
them alone. We are to be proactive and do all we can to shock them and to
drag them kicking and screaming if necessary out of the Devil's toy machine.
Someone who has an addiction is usually not able to think clearly. Someone
who has become involved in adultery or sexual sins is probably not thinking
clearly. Someone who is involved in sin most likely has a flaw in their
thinking processes and we should as Christians try to intervene to the
extent possible.
How should we intervene? We should confront them with the spiritual truth of
their situation just as the prophet Nathan confronted David with the truth
about his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 12). In
Matthew 18 we are given instructions about how to proceed. If they will
listen to you like David listened to Nathan fine. If not, take one or two
more with you and continue to confront them. A practice of the church at
that time was to take such a person to the church and if they would not then
change - fellowship with the church was withdrawn. That is what Paul is
talking about in 1 Corinthians. This was done for two reasons. First, to
protect the church. Second, to try to bring the person to their senses so
that they would return to God.
How should we intervene in the life of a lost person? We have the
instructions of Jude 1, "snatch others from the fire.." We should actively
work in the lives of the lost even if they appear to be happy in their toy
machine. We should pray for them, visit them, witness to them, invite them
to church, send them tracts, give them tracts, send them emails, write them
letters, etc. We must not give up on them!
The spiritual fact is that many are happy in the Devil's toy machine but to
leave them there would be like leaving a three-year-old trapped inside of a
claw machine with the stuffed animals.
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