2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
We must don the belt of truth worn tightly around us or face the horrific futility of the mind. That’s a bold, but very real, statement of where we stand in the face a Satan’s attacks on our minds. Should we be frightened? Only if our faith is not strong. Only if we are not willing to obey God’s commands and accept the protection they offer us. What is meant by the horrific futility of the mind? What comes to my mind in answering that question is a child telling one lie after another, getting increasing caught in a web of lies, leading to awful anticipation of dire consequences. If the lies continue, the consequences happen. Since we are really speaking of adults who are old enough to be accountable for their behavior, the consequences are even more serious. They are spiritual death, the circumstance of being eternally tormented in the lake of fire and sulfur. Today, I am led to examine what God has to say about what we should do when Satan, that “roaring lion who roams about looking for someone to devour” [1 PET 5: 8], attacks.
To begin, we must not lose sight of God’s big picture. Part of doing that is to never forget, even commit to memory, JN 14: 6. [Christ speaking], “I am the truth, the way, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me.” God can’t be any clearer than that about the only way to open that “narrow gate to the hard path” [MT 7: 13-14] that leads to eternal life. The characterization of believers as the people of the Way is so accurate. Faithful believers know that repentance and faith in Christ sends them on their way to eternal joy and peace with the Father. Note that I said, “sends them on their way.” That was on purpose, so as to make it clear that once we are on our way, we must make God-directed changes in our lives that will forward our progress. That’s what sanctification is all about. As Pastor Henry Blackaby in his “Experiencing God” course puts it, “to experience God, we must obey His commands.” That is true even if it takes us to unfamiliar territory at an inconvenient time (from the human perspective) in our lives. I’m not just speaking of earthly territory here, but also when we are required to do things we didn’t think would enjoy doing or be able to do. There is much that God asks us to do in Christ’s name. These things matter to Him and are always grounded in the truth. They are also designed to thwart Satan’s efforts.
If there was ever any question about God’s plan or His love of the truth, it is clarified in Christ’s intercessory prayer for all His disciples in JN 17: 14-17, “I gave them Your message, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but I do ask You to keep them safe from the evil one. Just as I do not belong to the world, they do not belong to the world. Dedicate them to Yourself by means of the truth; Your word is truth.” The prayer uttered here has tremendous implications. When we believe in Christ and live “in Christ,” we are totally dedicated to the word. Here’s why: JN 1: 1-4, “Before the world was created, the Word already existed; He was with God, and He was the same as God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through Him God made all things, not one thing in all creation was made without Him. The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to mankind.” You see, it’s perfectly okay to use such words as “Word,” “God’s word,” “life,” and “light” in regard to the same entity, our Lord, Messiah, and Savior, Jesus Christ. Not taking us out of the world right now is the execution of God’s plan. This gives us time to be sanctified and to serve God, unified with His purpose. God is the only One Who knows the exact, right, and perfect time to take up all the believers. MT 24: 36 tells us that not even the Son or angels in heaven know that. As for God’s protection, anyone who has believed in Christ long enough has experienced it. Our Deity is a promise-keeping Covenant Partner with us.
Obedient servants of God are given a very special kind of protection in addition to all other kinds. This protection against the “murderer and father of all lies” [JN 8: 44] is the truth. Note what knowing the truth does for us. [Christ speaking] JN 8: 31-32, “If you obey My teaching, you are really My disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We must consider from what we are set free. It is clear that the devil and anyone who makes a lifestyle out of following him, be they human or angel, will end up in the lake of fire and sulfur. We are set free from that horrible fate. We are also free from the terrible emotional pain that living a lie brings. We are free from all those negative messages that were lies we grew up with, that made us feel worthless and useless. We are free from being brought into sin by a pack of human-generated lies that come from taking Scripture out of context and inserting it into man-made constructs. That’s what cults and apostate religions do. We are also free to receive and benefit from the heaps of blessings God is eager to bestow upon us. We are free from feeling oppressed by man-made tags placed on us based on our incomes, our education, or what we do for a living. In God’s plan every believer is a treasure to Him, fully forgiven for past sin, valuable, and worth saving. We are free to love and be loved, to participate in that marvelous, supernatural bond [Koininea] that exists between God, a believer, and all other believers. And finally, we are free to join God in His work to bring others to faith. Now, Dear Ones, that’s freedom!
PRAYER: O Lord, You led the author of Hebrews to give Your definition for truth. HE 4: 12, “The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where the soul and the spirit meet, to where the joints and the marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of a man’s heart.” When we put that together with JN 1: 1-4 and the other citations in this message, You give us a new and deeper understanding why we can associate the Scriptures with Jesus Christ, Who is already defined as Your own second person. In REV 19: 11-16, John is allowed to see the Rider on the white horse, Who is described as “Faithful,” “True,” “The Word of God,” “King of Kings,” and “Lord of Lords.” We can no longer deny the connections You make for us to see. He is even described in REV 19: 15 as having “a sharp sword coming out of His mouth, with which He will defeat the nations.” The nations referred to here are those which have been emptied of believers. There can’t be any question remaining that this Rider is Jesus Christ, Your very own Son, Whom You sacrificed on the cross for us. He is our Savior and Messiah, Who in His risen state will carry out the ultimate task for You of ridding the world of evil. Truth matters more than anything to You. With our belief in it, You carry out Your plan to save us by means of Your Son. With our adherence to truth, You are able to do the job of perfecting us gradually, so that we can find our way successfully on that hard path that led from the narrow gate. We stand before You today in utter humility to confess our sins and to offer You what You richly deserve, our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, dedication to the truth, glory, honor, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, in our quest to better understand what God expects of us in the face of false teaching, we will look at the example of Paul’s response to it. Then, we’ll look at what the enemy is doing today to lead us from the truth. This is crucial “combat intelligence.” David wrote in PS 27: 5, “For in the Day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His Tabernacle.” I can’t help but think also of the time when God instructed Moses to get into the cleft of a rock, so that he would be protected when God passed by [EX 33: 20-23]. That rock symbolizes Christ, which is exactly the same cleft of the Rock in which we should be. Only a loving Father would want to protect His children this way. We are truly so very blessed by His love for each of us. Not one believer should ever feel abandoned, unprotected, or alone to fend for himself against Satan’s attacks. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn