Scarier than the Beast lying in wait… Is the Beast Lying within.

He didn’t know he was being watched as he walked alone in the forrest. When the Beast jumped at the man a struggle to survive ensued. The man survives the attack but in time realizes he has a larger struggle on his hands. He has been bitten by the Wolfman.
The Wolfman is a classic horror story. It is marked by 3 points. 1 Infection, 2 Transformation, 3 Conditions.
The Bible tells us of a beast called sin that desires to have us.. to dwell inside us. Is there anything that can be done when the Beast gets in?

Creature Feature 3 – The Wolfman from Redemption Church on Vimeo.

Creature Feature 3 – The Wolfman

Sermon notes by Chris Fluitt

Creature Feature 3 – Wolfman
-Bumper Video
Creature Feature Title
Welcome back to week 3 of the Creature Feature series. We have talked about the Blob, and Frankenstein’s monster. We have received a lot of good feedback and questions through our anonymous text line. If you have any questions about the sermons or about life and faith, give us a text at 214-856-0550. All texts are anonymous… so feel free to ask anything.
Welcome to Redemption Church. My name is Chris Fluitt. I am about to preach to you from the Word of God. I want to you remind you that ANYTHING can happen when the God’s Word is preached. Lives changed, body’s healed, marriages mended, souls saved. Miracles signs and wonders.
Today we are going to talk about the Wolfman.
Everything is scarier in the dark. Seems like we had a sermon series on that last October. But it is true. Everything is scarier in the dark.
Even as an adult the dark can be terrifying. A few years ago I went to take out the trash… at night. What was always a mundane trip in the daylight was a little more heart pumping in this night. I had made the trip to the dumpster and turned around towards the house when I had this sense… “What if there was monster nearby…”
So I start to walk quickly… but then I start to jog… and then I am full blown sprinting back to the house… Somewhere in my mind I knew the Wolfman was right behind me gaining ground. I reach the door and fling it open and leap inside and close the door behind me. I look up to see my wife and she says “what’s wrong?” And I say.. “nothing babe. Just getting some exercise..”
It is illogical in every way, but if we are honest… we really do believe in monsters. Some beast that is lying in wait for us..
The story of the Wolfman is the story of infection, transformation, and conditions.
Infection
A man walking in the woods at night has no idea that the beast is nearby. The man doesn’t know that he is about to preyed upon.
This beast jumps out and attacks the man. And far scarier than the attack is the Infection that comes with his bite. With one bite the man now carries within himself the beast.
God warns Cain about a beast.
Genesis 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?(NIV)
Genesis 4:7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”(NIV)
Sin is not something you do. Sin is not an act. Sin is a living entity. SIN DESIRE…
Sin is a beast lying in wait. It desires to have you and it is very near. It is crouching at your door waiting for you to open… so it can get inside.
We know what happens after this conversation.
Genesis 4:8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.(NIV)
Sin got in. Sin inside us…
Scarier than the beast lying in wait to get us is the beast within.

Transformation
The curse of the Wolfman is a cruel curse. It replicates itself on a new host and the host can’t understand what is about to transpire. The man will change into the beast.
Central to the story of the Wolfman is the Transformation. In the original 1941 movie they used ground breaking video editing tricks to bring this transformation to life. Audiences were horrified..
The 1981 movie An American Werewolf in London was the first werewolf movie I had ever seen. It is most known for its upping the ante on the horrific man to wolf transformation. I remember seeing it late one night as a kid and… it was utterly creepy & life changing.
The cursed man screamed and writhed in agony. He said he was burning up. His hands started to change shape as the bones cracked and the skin stretched. All the while he screamed “Help me!” His teeth sharpened into fangs and hair appeared, as did claws in place of fingernails and toenails. The worst part is when you see human eyes close and then open again as the glowing yellow eyes of the beast and you see his face protrude from a mouth and nose to a snout… all the while the skin stretching to contain the monstrosity.
It is a horrific site. It is the transformation from man to beast.
You don’t have to believe in spooky stories to believe in horrific transformations.
We have seen lives transformed into horrors.
A mom named Andrea Yates, so riddled with a depression inside that she drowns her 5 children, Noah, John, Luke, Paul, and Mary in a bath tub. A mom transformed into a killer..
Terrorists with a hatred so strong within them that they hijack a plane and crash it into the world trade center killing thousands. A hatred so strong that they are willing to tie explosives to their own body in hopes of killing others. A religious person who bows and prays to a God of peace is transformed into a hateful racist maniac with hopes of genocide.
Ray Rice was a highly respected Super Bowl winning running back with the Baltimore Ravens. Earlier this year cameras caught him punch out his fiancé. She was the mother to his child yet in this video he treats her worse than he ever treated anyone on a football field. He went from respected celebrity dad and husband to be and transformed into a violent, unloving coward that has the respect of no one.
We know about ugly transformations. You have felt these transformations yourself. We aren’t just talking about the sin of others… Like Cain.. Sin was crouching at his door desiring to have him… The Beast got in Cain and the beast is already inside us.
Romans 7:17 …it is sin living in me.
Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.(NIV)
You were created Good. God declared it. But the beast that found its way inside you is not Good. Now the Good you want to do is being fought by the evil presence inside you. And his game doesn’t just end with stopping good from getting out. No he wants the darkest sinister evil to come out of you…
The ugly transformation we see in our lives is the revelation of what was there all along. When we lust after someone we aren’t married to… It’s the Beast. When we at a moment’s notice lose our temper to the degree it scares the ones we love.. It’s the Beast. The drug addict might be facing more than a chemical addiction.. The Beast inside wants out.
The sin that you are hiding in your life right now. You would be horrified if anyone knew about it… You beat yourself up every week when you fall back into that sin. You feel like you must not really be a Christian because you have this problem… And we are all good Christian people so surely I am the only one with this problem… What is wrong with me…

IT IS NOT YOU! IT IS THE BEAST!

So stop pointing the finger of judgment at people. It’s not those people it’s THE BEAST! Those people aren’t God’s enemy. Christ died for them. You are called to lay down your life for them as well. THE ENEMY HERE IS THE BEAST!

We have the infection. The beast has this terrible transformation in our lives. All the Beast needs now are the right Conditions
The Wolfman is both man and wolf. The man doesn’t want the wolf to rule over him. But all it takes for the Beast to get loose are the right conditions.
On the night of the full moon the Beast gains control.

If you haven’t enjoyed todays sermon… you are about to really hate today’s sermon.
When someone does something wrong.. and I mean REALLY wrong.. we come to this statement. “Can you believe they did that?”
They did this and we could never see ourselves doing that.
You have done this and I have done this. Let me tell you why it is wrong. It presupposes that we are morally superior and that is the reason they have failed and we have not. It disregards the fact that there is an evil lurking within the heart of every person.
The Beast is looking for the right conditions so he can transform.
For some people that condition is simply being alone. There are things people do that they would never do if someone else was around. They wouldn’t steal, they wouldn’t lie, they wouldn’t watch porn, do drugs, they wouldn’t gossip, or cheat on their wife… if someone was there watching them. BUT WHEN THE CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT…
There are people who have fought an alcoholism beast for decades and they have learned to avoid the conditions. They don’t go to bars. They don’t just have one drink, because it won’t be just one drink…
People that gossip. Oh yes! It’s just as gross and defiling as anything else. The condition is met when someone starts talking about someone else… and then you say… Well I have noticed… It is not harmless. The Beast is not harmless.
Every sick twisted maniacal person you can name… had the same beast at work inside them. The only difference is the conditions in our lives.
Jeffrey Dahmer the cannibal, Hitler killed more people than we can number, The slave trader who treats people worse than objects, Osama Bin Laden & Saddam Hussein who could carelessly kill mass amounts of people, Child molesters and pornographers who have profited on the abuse of children, Bernie Madoff who stole millions from trusting blue collar investors… It’s the same Beast in me & you! The Beast has the same designs for you… he is just looking for the right conditions.
Young person! Be thankful your parents are dragging you to church. They are trying to save you from a beast. Unbelieving spouse don’t be made that your wife or husband keeps coming to church. They are fighting off the beast. Do not get mad at your pastor! I’m just trying to fight the monster in the room.

But Pastor I could never do those things. My heart wouldn’t allow it.

David was the man after God’s own… heart.
David who wrote and sang songs of praise to God. Lived for a time in Philistia. He wrote or sang no songs of praise during this time of his life. The great warrior instead acted like an insane retarded man. (it’s in 1 Samuel 21)
What is that all about? It’s about the conditions..
Another time in David’s life… 2 Samuel 11… It was the time when Kings went off to war but David stayed in Jerusalem. Instead of being off to war King David found himself alone on the roof of His palace where he saw another man’s wife. He commits adultery with her and has her husband killed in the war he should have been at in the first place.
What is this all about? Even the man after God’s own heart had a beast at work inside his life. And when the conditions where right the beast transformed the worshipping, prophet, warrior, king into a murdering lowlife..
In Psalm 73:2 we writes…
But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.(NIV)
Psalm 73:3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.(NIV)
Psalm 73:4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.(NIV)
Psalm 73:16 When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me(NIV)
The psalmist says he almost fell when the conditions of comparing yourself to others and coveting what they have was in his life… But watch what happens…
Psalm 73:17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.(NIV)
The conditions changed when David reached God’s house.
Why do we want you to come to church? Why do we challenge you to worship. Why do we preach God’s word to you? Why do we ask you to come to an altar and talk to God? BECAUSE IT CHANGES THE CONDITIONS! It pushes the beast back!
The complete tone of Psalm 73 changes… because the conditions changed. Have you ever prayed and felt a shift in the conditions? Have you ever felt a breakthrough in worship? It shoved the beast right back into a corner. Have you ever come to God’s altar and left with the conditions changed?
Change the Conditions
MUSICIAN
You might now how they kill the Wolfman in the movies. They shoot the beast with a silver bullet. It kills the beast but it also kills the man. In every werewolf movie, a werewolf has to die and with it the man.
But in these closing minutes I want to tell you that Jesus has a way to defeat the beast and save the man.
We read about how the beast was at Cain’s door…
Genesis 4:7
It crouched at his door desiring to have him. The beast got inside that door…
But the monster is not the only one who waits for the door to open.
Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.(NIV)
The monster crouched at the door and waited to overpower you, but Jesus stands at the door and knocks.
The beast inside you. Jesus knows about it, but he wants to come in anyway. You are ashamed of what you transform into… Jesus already knows about it and He stands knocking.
Jesus Changes the Conditions!
When you let Him in, He defeats the infection. He gives you His righteousness.
When you let Him in, Jesus starts to Transform you.. not the Beast.
When you let Him in and make Him Lord everything changes.
But you have to let Him in!