2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Yesterday, I was led to write about the example that Christ establishes for us of servanthood in the face of spiritual warfare. God gives us more “combat intelligence” on His will for us as individuals serving Him while Satan aims his arrows at us. Paul was especially prolific on the subject of God approved servants. Our large congregation has been in transition ever since our founding pastor, Pastor Paul Pfotenhauer, and his wife, Deaconess Rhoda Pfotenhauer, retired. Their accomplishments exemplified God’s idea for approved servants as much as any I’ve encountered. They built up Woodbury Lutheran Church from nothing to a thriving congregation of 3000 members centered on God’s word in their 33 years of service to it. God has been very generous in blessing this congregation with wonderful leaders (both clergy and lay) to take over, who are following the Pfotenhauers in their dedication and obedience to Him. I mention this, because all these people have taken the apostle Paul’s writing about what is expected of church leaders seriously in both thought and action. All of this has made Satan very frustrated and angry, ready to attack WLC’s leaders and members, at any opportunity he can find.
Here are some of the things that God, through Paul, tells us, so that we can best be prepared to deal with Satan’s offensive behavior. 1 TIM 3: 1-7, “This is a true saying: If a man is eager to be a church leader, he desires an excellent work. A church leader must be without fault; he must have only one wife, be sober, self-controlled, and orderly; he must welcome strangers in his home; he must be able to teach; he must not be a drunkard or a violent man, but gentle and peaceful; he must not love money; he must be able to manage his own family well and make his children obey him with all respect. For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of the church of God? He must be mature in the faith, so that he will not swell up with pride and be condemned, as the devil was. He should be a man who is respected by the people outside the church, so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.” As Pastor Paul put it in one of his sermons, “a church leader whether elder, pastor, or teacher, must be held to a higher than normal standard.” I heartily agree, because of the large number of souls which have been entrusted to his care, leadership, and guidance. Another reason why I believe in what is said here is that I have seen the horrific impact on some congregations that poor leadership, immorality, and lack of God-centeredness has had. When the leaders are not “in Christ,” everyone suffers. Since the condition of souls is at stake, the opportunity for sin leading to spiritual death is a real threat.
All of this can be avoided when God’s word is made the center of a congregation’s operations, when God’s purpose for His body-that of edification and unification- is never forgotten. 1 TIM 8-13 goes on to take up the need for the good and godly standards to be set for church helpers too. After all, how can God’s work be accomplished if His helpers are living a double standard in their lives? Christ Himself speaks to this in MT 6: 24, “No one can be a salve of two masters: he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” I know of a case where three or four people who were obsessed with achieving power and had the time on their hands and the money to carry out their devilish purpose by making decisions about other people in the church without reporting them to the rest of the board they were on or the congregation until it was too late for any corrective action to be taken to counter them. As these actions went on, Satan cheered, and eventually that congregation split asunder. It took a long time to replace the people who left and to heal after this small group was finally ousted from their positions. During period leading up to the split, Satan really had a stronghold on that church that had to be broken. The fact that today, this congregation is healed tells us that once mankind obeys God that Satan’s power can be weakened and broken.
More can be read about God’s approved workers in 2 TIM 2: 14-26, which I hope you will read. We are so blessed that God has given us so much useful information on the standards that will allow us to comply with His well. Here’s a sample: 2 TIM 2: 24-26, “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel. He must be kind toward all, a good and patient teacher, who is gentle as he corrects his opponents, for it may be that God will give them the opportunity to repent and come to know the truth. And they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who had caught them and made the obey his will.” This is precious and useful “combat intelligence” we should all follow. Praise God for giving it to us!
PRAYER: O Lord, we worship and adore You. You have shown us through the Scriptures that praising You is what Satan hates the most. Because You deserve praise and because it brings Satan frustration, we offer our praise to You today and always. We know that the adversary will attempt to thwart our peace and faithfulness, but we will not allow him to get away with that. Instead, we repeat the Psalmist’s words so close to our hearts to You. PS 145: 1-3, “I will proclaim Your greatness, my God and King; I will thank You forever and ever. Every day I will thank You; I will praise You forever and ever. The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; His greatness is beyond understanding.” Our limited human perspective keeps us from seeing the matters of the universe the way You do. However, You have given us faith, which we now invoke, to take You at Your word. Your teaching, correction, encouragement, and decisions for us are always wise and compassionate. We place our trust in You, Dearest Abba, and accept Your promised protection with utmost gratitude. You have told us we can defeat Satan, and we believe it. That is because we acknowledge Your power and leadership in our lives. Without You, we are nothing and have nothing. To You belongs the glory for all that is good in our lives. Your wisdom and righteousness knows no bounds. By our willingness to endure in our faithful obedience to You, You will lead us on to total victory over Satan and the forces of evil. We come against him and the traps he sets for us in the name of Christ Jesus! We are Your servants, Lord, who take Your standards to heart and pledge to obey them with love for You and our fellow believers. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
In tomorrow’s message, we will begin a new segment in this series, one that deals with the question: Should we believe Satan’s lies? We’ll look at some of the ways that Satan tries to frighten us. It is my hope that all the messages in this current segment have convinced you that we should not fear Satan. I could never make such a bold statement were it not for the love our Father and the Son have for us. It is through them that we have the word of God and the great “combat intelligence” that is found within them. Bask in the warm glow of God’s love, the love He is so eager to give, knowing that His greatest joy is when we built faith and seek Him out. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn