Some of you may have seen David Copperfield perform his magic. His act includes a lot of glitzy conjuration, including: levitating himself, being sawn in two, and making things appear and disappear. Using illusion, he has carried the art to the extreme. He has “walked through” the Great Wall of China. He has made very large objects seem to disappear: jet planes, the Orient Express and most remarkably the Statue of Liberty. Magic is really the art of illusion. It makes things appear to be what they are not — or not appear when they are. The trick of the illusionist is to use sleight-of-hand to get you to look at one thing while he is doing something else. He makes you think one thing is happening when something else is actually going on. He makes you think that what you see is real while he is hiding what is really happening. To state it briefly, what appears to be is not what is.
That, in essence, is what has happened in Psalm 73. Asaph, the person writing this psalm, was looking at all the wrong things. The magician, the ancient deceiver, had the psalmist’s eyes looking at what he wanted him to see. The devil wanted to discourage and depress him. He did not want him to see what God was doing, so he used sleight-of-hand to distract him with what he was doing. The writer of the psalm was looking at the prosperity of the wicked, and because of that failed to see what God was up to. As a result, his feet almost slipped and he nearly lost his foothold as far as his walk with God went. It discouraged and defeated him. He was ready to give up and call it quits even though it was an illusion. He looked at the people who scorned God and it seemed like they had it made. He mused: “They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills” (Psalm 73:4-5). This was the same complaint that Jeremiah had when he wrote: “You are always righteous, O Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” (Jeremiah 12:1). But this is the trick of illusionist. He distracts you with what he is doing to keep you from seeing what is really going on.
How do we escape being tricked? How do we fool the magician? The first step in fooling the magician is by: Refusing to believe the illusion. How many people who saw David Copperfield make the Statue of Liberty disappear actually believed it was no longer there? How many people who have seen people levitating as metal hoops were passed around them believed the person was actually suspended in space? Perhaps there were some, but most understood that even though it looked like those things were happening, they were not real. It would be pretty foolish to believe that someone had actually removed the Statue of Liberty. But many people are just as naive in believing that what appears to be is actually what is, as far as evil appearing to be the dominant and prevailing force in this world. The magician has them fooled and they begin to believe that evil is stronger than good and winning the battle. And when that happens, the magician has done his job. He makes things appear worse than they are. He uses discouragement to try and defeat you when you are trying to follow God. He whispers in your ear: “See, I am winning, and there is nothing you can do about it. You might as well give in. You might as well give up.”
For years William Wilberforce had pushed Britain’s Parliament to abolish slavery. But the battle was very long and it looked as though nothing was ever going to change. The political powers were daunting and seemed unmovable. He was discouraged and about to give up. But his elderly friend, John Wesley, heard of it and from his deathbed called for pen and paper. With trembling hand Wesley wrote: “Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be won out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them stronger than God? Oh be not weary of well-doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of His might, till even American slavery shall vanish away before it.” Wesley died six days later, but Wilberforce fought on for another 45 years before he saw slavery abolished in England — just three days before his own death. Wilberforce refused to believe the illusion that evil was invincible.
The Bible says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). It also says, “Never tire of doing what is right” (2 Thessalonians 3:13). If we are going to fool the magician, we have to refuse to believe the illusion. Like the audience at a magic show, we have to understand that what we are seeing is not real. It may look as though evil is ruling the day and winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the world’s people, but we know that good is stronger than evil. We know that God wins all the time. We have read the last chapters of the Bible and we know how this all turns out. Even when it appears that God is not around we know that he is busy working behind the scenes.
This was the case at our last General Conference which just took place in Cleveland. Before the conference I talked with other people and it seemed as though we were certain to have a split in our denomination. Powerful forces were aligning themselves to force a change in our stand on important moral issues. The radical gay rights movement promised to have thousands of demonstrators present and even shut down General Conference. As it turned out, only three hundred demonstrators showed up, and most of those were professional demonstrators. The week before I would never have believed that we would not only hold to our present stand on these issues, but strengthen them considerably. My mood was pretty dark, and from the way things looked I was sure that pastors and churches were going to face some very difficult decisions about their future. Others were praying hard and believing, but I have to confess that I believed the illusion.
Similar battles are raging throughout our culture, and there are days when things can look pretty bleak, but we have to understand that the devil’s best tool is discouragement, and the only way he can make that work is by getting people to believe his deception. This is where his power lies. There is an interesting verse of Scripture which talks about the evil one’s tactics during the last days. It says, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie...” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11).
One way to escape this powerful delusion is to refuse to believe the illusion. But the second way we fool the magician is by: Pulling back the curtain. My favorite scene in the movie The Wizard of Oz is when Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion return to Oz after killing the Wicked Witch of the West. As they enter the Wizard’s chamber there is smoke and fire and the Wizard says in a thundering voice: “Can I believe my eyes? Why have you come back?” Dorothy says: “Please, sir. We’ve done what you told us. We’ve brought you the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West. We melted her.” The Wizard replies: “Oh - you liquidated her, eh? Very resourceful!” Dorothy says: “Yes, sir. So we’d like you to keep your promise to us — if you please, sir.” But the Wizard thunders: “Not so fast! Not so fast! I’ll have to give the matter a little thought! Go away and come back tomorrow!” But Dorothy is disappointed: “Tomorrow! Oh, but I want to go home now!” The Tin Man joins in and says: “You’ve had plenty of time already!” The Wizard again frightens them by saying: “Do not arouse the wrath of the Great and Powerful Oz! I said come back tomorrow!” But Dorothy is not to be denied. “If you were really great and powerful, you’d keep your promises!” she says. The Wizard again tries to intimidate them: “Do you presume to criticize the Great Oz? You ungrateful creatures! Think yourselves lucky that I’m giving you an audience tomorrow, instead of twenty years from now!” But just then Toto, Dorothy’s little dog, runs behind a curtain and pulls it back revealing an old man pushing buttons, flipping switches and shouting into a microphone. “Oh!” he says, trying to pull the curtain closed again in order to carry on the illusion. He tries to continue: “The Great Oz has spoken! Oh! Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. The Great, Powerful — has spoken...”
Dorothy’s experience with the Wizard is similar to our experience with the deceiver of this world. Even though we may not be home in Kansas, we don’t have to fall for the stuff the wizard tries to deceive us with. We can pull back the curtain, and not pay any attention to the deceiver who is behind it. I have a feeling that at the end of history the curtain will be pulled back, and the devil, who seemed so powerful and controlling, will be shown to be a whimpering little illusionist whose main power came from his power to deceive. We fool the magician by pulling back the curtain. We do that by being grounded in the reality of God’s Word which helps us to see behind the curtain. The Bible says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11). This is what Jesus did during his time of great temptation by the devil. You will remember the magician came to him with powerful illusions. The Bible says, “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me’” (Matthew 4:8-9). But Jesus countered with the Word of God. He said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Matthew 4:10). It was all an illusion anyway. First of all, the world was not his to give, and secondly, he would not have given him the kingdoms of the world if he had stooped to worship him. The Bible says that the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44). He is a deceiver. Jesus knew that, and he pulled back the curtain and revealed him for what he was. The devil is a sniveling, smarmy little magician whose only real power is the power to deceive. The way to fool the magician, and beat him at his own game, is to pull back the curtain and quote the Scripture to his face. There is an interesting verse that says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). When we pull back the curtain we see Jesus smiling and saying to us: “Take heart. I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). You can put the magician on the run when you quote the Scripture and resist being seduced by his delusion.
The third way we fool the magician is by: Trusting the unseen reality. The Bible says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). The eternal is what is real — the present world is passing away. The Bible says, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12, KJV). We can pull the curtain back and expose the imposter, but in another sense we will never see completely behind the curtain until we reach the other side. However, that does not keep us from knowing that there is another side. There is an unseen reality which is more real than what we presently see. Right now our vision is blurred, but one day it will come into sharp focus.
The magician makes evil appear to be overwhelming, and when he does the temptation is to be full of fear. I like what someone has done with the word “fear”: False Evidence Appearing Real. That is the illusion: false evidence appears real. We have to trust in the unseen reality. We have to focus on eternity. The Bible says that we are to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2). It is amazing what an eternal focus will do to fear. We no longer fear death because we have eternal life. We no longer live in fear personal loss because our real treasure is in heaven. We no longer fear what others may do to us because we know what God is going to do for us. The Bible says, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:24-25). The magician wants to tell you that you need this and you must have that. He tries to say that your life will be unfulfilled unless you follow him and do what he is telling you. He makes these things seem so important and necessary — as though you cannot live without them. They become the focus of life.
It can become discouraging when you see people succeeding while you are struggling, especially when those people may care nothing for God. The psalmist lamented, “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued” (Psalm 73:13-14). But just as he was about to succumb to the illusion, he said, “If I had said, ‘I will speak thus,’ I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny” (Psalm 73:15-17). He finally got an eternal perspective. Listen to him as he continues: “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:21-26).
He fooled the magician by getting his focus back on eternity. He realized the end of those who reject God and he remembered the reward that was awaiting him. He understood that if he continued to believe what he was saying, he would be believing a lie. He would also have betrayed those who, like him, were struggling with the circumstances of life. To believe the illusion is to live in ignorance. The Bible says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). The temptation is to believe the illusion and to become discouraged and even defeated. But listen to the Bible as it says, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him” (Hebrews 10:35-38). The psalmist felt himself shrinking back and caught himself. He remembered all those who had gone before him who lived by faith and did not shrink back.
As we look into eternity, we see all those who have gone before and been faithful, and we are encouraged to follow their example. The Bible says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:1-3).
Rodney J. Buchanan
June 18, 2000
FOOLING THE MAGICIAN
Psalm 73:1-28
“But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:2-3).
We fool the magician by:
1. Refusing ________________________________________ .
2. Pulling __________________________________________.
3. Trusting _________________________________________.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (June 18, 2000)
1. What was the concern of the psalmist in Psalm 73?
2. Does it seem to you that some people “get by with murder”? Why does God allow this to go on?
3. Read Jeremiah 12:1. Why does God allow the righteous to suffer?
4. Who is the magician? What is his primary tool? What is the first way we can fool the magician? Why is this difficult?
5. Read Habakkuk 3:17-18. What enabled Habakkuk to have this attitude?
6. Read Galatians 6:9. What is it that makes us weary in doing good? What reason does this verse give for keeping on?
7. What is the second way we can fool the magician? How does the Word of God expose the works of the devil? Why is this important?
8. Read about the temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-10. How did the devil try to trick Jesus? What counterattack did he use?
9. What is the third way we can fool the magician? Why is this particularly difficult in a culture of abundance?
10. Read Psalm 73:12-14. What was the psalmist’s complaint? Have you felt like this?
11. Read Psalm 73:16-17. How did he resolve his questions? What happened in verses 23-26?
