When enemies fail to destroy God’s people from the outside, sin often finishes the job from the inside.
From Genesis to Revelation, this pattern is all throughout Scripture:
Egypt couldn’t destroy Israel → golden calf does.
Balaam couldn’t curse Israel → Baal-Peor nearly does.
Nations couldn’t stop David → Bathsheba does.
Solomon defeats enemies, builds an empire → his own idols tear the kingdom apart.
Elijah wins on Mount Carmel → Israel falls for Baal again the next chapter.
The prophets cannot be stopped by kings → but Israel’s heart keeps running after carved gods.
Nehemiah rebuilds the walls in record time → within a few years the people drift into compromise again.
Jesus faces Satan in the wilderness and wins → but it’s the religious leaders (insiders) who crucify Him.
The early church survives Rome, persecution, imprisonment → but Ananias and Sapphira rot it from the inside.
Paul is beaten, stoned, shipwrecked but unshaken → but false teachers nearly tear churches apart from within.
Revelation’s churches hold up under external pressure → but Jesus rebukes them for internal sins: Balaam, Jezebel, lukewarmness, compromise.
The pattern never changes. The outside rarely destroys the people of God. The inside almost always does.
So… where are we in Australia?
We’re not collapsing because of atheists.
Not because of secular politicians.
Not because of cultural pressure.
In Scripture, the people of God are almost never ruined by the enemies they fear. They’re ruined by the sins they refuse to fear.
And I suspect that’s much closer to our situation.
If the enemy can’t curse us, he’ll court us.
If he can’t attack our faith, he’ll erode it.
If he can’t frighten the church, he’ll flatter it.
If he can’t destroy us with pain, he’ll destroy us with pleasure.
Idolatry always feels harmless until it kills.
We don’t just need rescue from enemies outside us. We need rescue from the sin inside us. We need transformation.
And that’s why Jesus came.
The God beyond us becomes God among us so He can become God within us, renewing us from the inside out.
