John 10:10
I Peter 5:8
James 4:7
Topic: The Joker that we have to deal with in our lives
This past month, I took the opportunity to go to the movies theatre to see one of the most popular movie that is now playing in our movie theatres throughout the USA and the movie that I went to see was called the Dark Knight. In the movie Dark Knight, it was about how hard the Superhero Batman had to fight and to defeat one of his most fiercest enemies, the Joker. Now in this movie, the Joker was anything and everything, but a joke. If anything in this movie, the Joker was a cold-blooded mass murderer, who killed a lot of innocent people in this movie. But the thing that really got me about the Joker, was that he didn’t just killed innocent people, but he also killed the very ones who was suppose to be loyal to him and killed the ones who was to trying to help him kill Batman. The Joker in this movie was a ruthless killer who did not love or care about anyone at all.
Now as I watched this movie, I couldn’t help think about another Joker that we have to deal with on a daily basis. Except this Joker does not wear white makeup with red lipstick on, even though this Joker that we have to deal with has been known to wear some makeup, and sometimes this Joker won’t wear any makeup at all.
This Joker that we have to deal with does not wear a purple suit, even though he will occasionally show up in a suit or sometimes this Joker will wear a dress. This Joker that we have to deal with is not a new kid on the block; for this Joker has been around for years and for centuries. This Joker that we have to deal with doesn’t just operate and live in that fictionous city called Gotham City, but rather this Joker will show up all over the world in places such as Las Vegas, New York, San Francisico, California Boise Idaho, Tallulah, Louisiana, etc
This Joker is so slick that he may show up in your home to cause trouble in our marriages, trouble with our children and trouble in our families.
This Joker may show up on your job, where he will try to get you fired and unemployed.
This Joker may show up at your school, where he keep you from paying attention to your teachers by talking and whispering in your ear, keep you from doing well in school by keeping you from doing your class assignments/homework assignments, keep you studying for your tests, and get kicked out of school for fighting.
This Joker may show up at your family reunion where he will cause family members to hate one another.
And as crazy it seems, this Joker even may show up at church on the Sunday morning where he will try to distract you from listening to the sermon, distract you from worshipping the Lord, distract you from coming to bible study, prayer meeting, Sunday School, or distract you from coming to church, and most importantly, he will try to distract you from coming to Jesus Christ to be saved.
Now in the movie, Dark Knight, the Joker was a man. But in real life, this Joker that we have to deal with may appear to you as a man, a woman, a boy, or a girl. This Joker will also show up as a drug, or a bottle of whiskey, as a Playboy/Playgirl magazine. This Joker may appear to you as a song or an advice that will try to influence you to do the wrong Yes, this Joker that I am talking about is very deceiving , very conniving , very crafty, very mean, and very evil. And this Joker that I am talking about is Satan himself. I Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion; walketh about seeking whom he may devour.”
Now in the bible the Satan is known by many different names:
In Revelation 9:11, He is known as the Abaddon
In Revelation 12:10, He is Known as the Accuser
In I Peter 5:8, He is known as the Adversary
In Revelation 9:11, He is known as the Angel in the Bottomless Pit
In Revelation 9:11, H is Known as Apollyon
In 2 Corinthian 6:16, He is known as Belial
In Matthew 12;24, He is known as Beelzebub
In 2 Corinthians 4:4, He is known as the god of this world
In John 8:44, He is known as the muderer
In Matthew 4:1, He is known as the devil
Ephesians 2:2, He is known as the Prince of the power of the air
John 14:30, He is known as the Prince of this world
In Ephesians 6:12, He is known as the Ruler of darkness
In Matthew 12:43, He is known as the Unclean Spirit
In Matthew 13:19, He is known as the Wicked One
Now in this movie the Dark Knight, one of the things that I had noticed about the Joker, especially at the beginning of the movie, was that he was very deceitful. He had mislead a whole lot of folk, especially those who were working for him. And likewise, Satan is a deceitful person. According to John 8:44, Satan is known as a liar. He will mislead you. He will misguide you into going somewhere or doing something that will bring nothing but total destruction in your life.
Another thing that got my attention in this movie about the Joker was the fact he would never quit. I mean, just when I thought Batman had him defeated, the Joker would always came back with another plan to try to defeat Batman. And likewise, Satan the devil, he is always going to be on his job trying to wreck your life. He is not going to quit. Just when things are going well in your life, just when you have gotten over this or that problem, pops up the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy. But we don’t have to let devil to wreck havoc in our lives. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we can have the victory and the power over the devil our enemy.
Now notice in this movie that Batman needed some help to defeat the Joker. He needed help from his Butler, and from the police. And likewise, we need the help of the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot defeat the devil on our own power. We need the whole amour of God if we are going to be able to defeat the devil. Ephesians 6: 10-11 says,” Finally, my brethern be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Also in this movie, Batman almost gave up in frus-
tration in defeating the Joker. In matter of fact, he hung up his costume, and retired for awhile because he was somewhat frustrated during the whole deal. But thank God that Jesus never gets frustrated. He never quit on us. No matter how tough times are, Jesus is right there for us to help us to overcome the Joker in our lives because when Jesus went to the cross to die for our sins and rose from the dead, Jesus defeated Satan. And the bible commands us in James 4:7, “To submit yourself unto God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” You see the the devil cannot defeat you when you submit your life to God.
