Satan- The God of This World (2 Cor. 4:4)

 (Excerpt)

(Satan-) HE GAINS POSSESSION OF THE EARTH

Satan, having lost his place in heaven, seemed to have been inspired with the determination to do all the mischief that he could. Man had been created and put in possession of the earth: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Gen. 1:26. "The heaven, even the heavens, are the the Lord's; but the earth hath He given to the children of men." Ps.115:16. God made man to possess and rule over the earth. It was his to occupy and enjoy. He himself was made of the earth; his destiny was linked with that of the earth. Satan, as the result shows, had a design upon both man and his possession.

Did Satan have anything to do with the fall of man? The Scriptures plainly show that he did. In Rev. 12:9 the prophet speaks of "that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world." If he deceiveth the whole world, he must have deceived our parents in the beginning. John says: "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning." 1 John 3:8. In verse 12 he says that Cain "was of that wicked one, and slew his brother."

Then that wicked one was in the world in the days of Cain, and instigated him to kill his brother. "That old serpent" which deceiveth the whole world, deceived Eve. He lied to her, and made her believe that it was for her good to eat of the fruit that they were commanded not to eat. Says Paul, "The woman being deceived was in the transgression." 1 Tim. 2:14. She did not do this deed willfully, but she was deceived. "And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." Gen. 3:13. To argue that it was simply the reptile that did all this is absurd. But when we understand that Satan was there with all his cunning, and used the serpent as his medium to deceive Eve, all is rational and harmonious. And this shows the truthfulness of the saying of Jesus, that the devil was a liar from the beginning. ((Our beginning))

We must not lose sight of the fact that God did not bestow upon man unlimited control of the earth. He did not resign his own right and authority as proprietor of the earth, but constituted man ruler under his directions. Man was the creature, the servant of God. He was appointed to subdue the earth and bring it all into the condition of the garden of Eden. Gen. 1:28; 2:8. God was his Benefactor, his Counselor, his Sovereign. He crowned man with glory and honor (Ps. 8:3-8), and gave him a right to the tree of life (Gen. 2:9, 16, 17). This was given to perpetuate his life, that he might live forever. Gen. 3:22, 23. Notice what man lost by his transgression:-

1. He lost his life. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." "For the wages of sin is death." Rorn. 5:12; 6:23. Death came as the result of sin. If man had not sinned, he would have lived forever. "And the Lord God said, . . . and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden." Gen. 3:22, 23.

The loss of life involves the loss of everything. We may lose many things in life, but when our life is lost, we have no more to lose. Life is the greatest of all gifts and blessings, for all other blessings are comprised in it and dependent upon it. In giving Adam the tree of life in the garden in which he was placed, God made provision for the perpetuation of his life; he might "eat and live forever," By sinning he lost this privilege. 

2. He lost his dominion over the earth. Adam and his posterity did not retain that dominion which was given to him in the beginning. In the beginning every beast, and the fowls, and the fishes, were under his sway. After the fall they became wild, and in many cases became the enemies and destroyers of man. And man became the enemy of his fellow-man. Discord and strife seemed to enter into the hearts of all creatures. Everything became changed from the original arrangement. And the Lord placed a curse upon the earth-upon the dominion which he had given to man. Instead of flowers and pleasant fruits, thorns and thistles sprang up spontaneously, to add to his cares and sorrows. Why was this? In order that we may understand why a curse was placed upon the earth, we raise the inquiry, When man sinned, did the Lord God take back to himself the dominion which he had bestowed upon him? It is true, as was said, that when man sinned he lost everything, but did the Lord withdraw the dominion that he had given him? We do not read that he did. Indeed, we do not believe that he would have put it under a curse if he had taken back to himself all the right with which he had invested man at the beginning. What, then, was the exact nature of the change that took place? Let us examine some facts presented in the New Testament. We have seen that man, in the beginning, turned from his kind Creator, disobeyed His direct commandment, believed the falsehoods of his enemy, and did just what Satan wished him to do. The woman was beguiled to disobey, and the man joined her in disobedience. Now hear the testimony of the Scriptures: 

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?" Rom. 6:16.

Again: "For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." 2 Peter 2:19. 

They obeyed Satan and became his servants; they were overcome by him, and therefore they were his bond servants. He was the means of their losing their lives, for he had the power of death. Heb. 2:14. When they died, they went into sheol, "the land of the enemy." Jer. 31:15, 16; 1 Cor. 15:26. And he was surely the means of their losing the dominion of the earth, for it was lost by sin. It is evident that Satan gained dominion over man and over the earth; that man, in becoming the bond servant of Satan, let his dominion pass into the hands of his new master. The Lord did not at once destroy Satan for his sin, nor did He at once execute the sentence of death upon man, nor did He take back from the usurper the dominion that was given to Adam, of which he had been defrauded, but He put a curse upon it, and reserved further changes till after the judgment shall pass upon all offenses-until the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent. Here we will notice again some of the titles that are applied to Satan. He is called "the God of this world." 2 Cor. 4:4. Jesus Himself calls him "the prince of the world." John 14:30. Paul, speaking of the foes with whom we have to contend, says: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world." Eph. 6:12.

Is it indeed so that Satan is the god, the prince, the ruler of this world? So the Scriptures surely teach. And we have yet more testimony to the same point, and if possible more decisive. Consider the temptation of the Saviour. His adversary is called the tempter, and the devil, but Jesus addressed him as Satan. The devil is a title, but Satan is a proper name. It was not an imaginary being that tempted Him, nor was it the mere impressions or imaginations of His own mind, or the promptings of His passions. All such theories and speculations are but the suggestions of the enemy himself; to enable him to conceal his person and his character. Jesus, having fasted forty days, became hungry. The devil said to Him, "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." The tempter appealed to His appetite, made keen by His long fasting, and challenged Him to prove that He was the Son of God. But Jesus refused to gratify his caviling spirit, giving us an example, that we should not bow to the suggestions of Satan, either to meet our own wants or to prove our calling of God. Our relationship to our Heavenly Father should be borne in humility, giving no place to spiritual pride. Jesus quoted that scripture which leads to dependence upon the word of God. But Satan was not to be baffled thus; he, too, quoted the Scripture. But in this another lesson is given us,-not to believe everyone who quotes the Scriptures. Satan quoted the Scriptures correctly, but he misapplied them. The text he quoted has no reference to such an occasion. By reading Psalms 91, anyone can see that it refers to the future time of trouble, when the plagues of God's wrath shall be poured out upon the earth. See Revelation 16. But here Jesus met him with a scripture that is of universal application, and applied especially at that time: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." A fitting rebuke to the tempter was contained in these words. Again the devil took him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of this world, and the glory of them. A magnificent sight, that has always proved so captivating to the men of this world! "And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine." Matt. 4:1-10; Luke 4:1-13. 

Now it is written that "the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Ps. 37:11; Matt. 5:5. But they can never delight themselves in the abundance of peace in the present sinful state of the world. Jesus said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation." Great changes must take place before Ps. 37:11 can be fulfilled. "The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth," but not until the curse is removed, and the design of the original gift to Adam is fulfilled. The promise that he should be the heir of the world was made to Abraham and his seed (Gen. 12:1-7, etc.; Rom. 4:13); and that seed was Christ (Gal. 3:16); and the heir is to be the Redeemer of both man and his inheritance, according to the Scriptures. But redemption could only be wrought by the power of His blood; His life was the precious price He was to pay to purchase man from his bondage. But Satan set before Him an easier method of getting possession of the dominion. It had been committed to him, and he gave it to whomsoever he would, and he would give it to Jesus if He would bow down to him. But many make this reply: Satan told a falsehood; he had nothing to give; nothing had been committed to him; neither the kingdoms of the world nor the glory of them were in his power. But if that was so, the Saviour surely knew it. And if He knew that the devil possessed nothing-that he had no power to confer any dominion or glory-then wherein was He tempted? If Satan had them to give, if Jesus could have obtained the dominion of the earth without the dreadful alternative of dying, it would surely be a temptation. If He knew that Satan had no power to fulfill his promise, that his words were an idle boast, there could not possibly be any temptation in the case. But the sacred record sets it down as a temptation, and we believe that it was. To Adam it was given in the beginning; Satan obtained supremacy over man; he took all the title that Adam held, which was but a limited power. The possessor of that power could go no further than God sees fit to permit. By overcoming man, Satan became the prince, or god, of this world.

And this is yet more clearly proved in Rev. 11:14-18. The third woe comes upon the earth when the seventh angel's trumpet is sounded. This is the last of the trumpets, and closes up this dispensation. Under this trumpet it is said: "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ." We are accustomed to recognize the Scripture fact that the Father is to bestow the dominion, the kingdom, upon his Son, Jesus Christ. But this text shows that they become the kingdoms of our Lord, as well as of His Christ. Again, the elders, worshiping him who sits upon the throne, say: "We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned." The next verse shows that this is when the time has come to judge the dead and to give reward to all the servants of God. What power but that once conferred upon Adam could the great God take to Himself, and give to His Christ, just before the close of this dispensation? How can the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, except by our Lord dispossessing the great usurper, and taking back to Himself the dominion of the earth? Then He confers it upon the second Adam, who redeems it, removes the curse, and restores man to his own inheritance; in a word, recovers from the enemy all that was lost by the first Adam.

In regard to the present condition of the world, John says: "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." 1 John 5:19. On this text Dr. Adam Clarke comments as follows:-  

"Lieth in the wicked one,-is embraced in the arms of the devil, where it lies fast asleep, and carnally secure, deriving its heat and power from its infernal fosterer. What a truly awful state! And do not the actions, the tempers, propensities, opinions, and maxims of all worldly men prove and illustrate this? 'In this short expression,' says Mr. Wesley, 'the horrible state of the world is painted in the most lively colors, a comment of which we have in the actions, conversations, contracts, quarrels, and friendships of worldly men. Yes, their actions are opposed to the law of God; their conversation, shallow, simulous, and false; their contracts, forced, interested, and deceitful; their quarrels, puerile, ridiculous, and ferocious; and their friendships, hollow, insincere, capricious, and fickle:-all, all the effect of their lying in the arms of the wicked one; for thus they become instinct with his own spirit and because they are of their father, therefore his lusts will they do."

This is a truthful representation of the world in the aggregate. The children of God in this world are so few that they only form an exception to the general rule. They are not of the world, but are chosen out of the world. Of them Jesus said: "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." John 15:19. This is conclusive proof that the world is now under the control of

Satan, serving him. If God ruled in this world, to be a child of God would be to do as the world does. But the truth is, this whole world is in rebellion against God, and is serving Satan, God's great enemy. Hence James says: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." James 4:4. For a season God permits this in His long-suffering and mercy; in His longsuffering He permits the wicked to fill up the cup of their iniquity; in His mercy he delays the judgments until His elect are prepared for an abundant entrance into His everlasting kingdom. Satan accomplished his purpose when he approached the holy pair in Eden: he destroyed their happiness; ruined an almost countless multitude of their posterity; instilled his own spirit into the hearts of their children; spread crime and bloodshed everywhere; and gained to himself a possession on the earth. But he could not foresee that the Son of God, against whom he had rebelled, would even give His life to purchase all to Himself, and work such a triumph over the enemy of all righteousness as would cause every creature in the universe to rejoice in his destruction. When that day comes, may we be of those who shall join in the triumph of the Lamb of God.

Angels: Their Nature and Ministry-  (Excerpt - for continuing study) Revised by J.H. Waggoner.  1891 by Pacific Press Publishing Co.)

AMEN. Please, Lord, we would be Yours! Search our hearts and see if there is any wickedness in them and lead us in the way everlasting! Please! Create a clean heart in us! Satan would destroy us and make us his, please…please, keep us from Evil… ALL by JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR! ALL THROUGH JESUS' RIGHTEOUSNESS! YOURS IS THE POWER, THE GLORY, THE HONOR, THE PRAISE, THE THANKSGIVING! ALL TO YOU FATHER, ALL TO YOU! AMEN!

Twisted Truth.

 LOVE ALL.

BUT…  don't ever love evil in any of its forms. 

Do not ever call evil good, not ever. 

If a person wants to embrace evil and call it good that is their prerogative, but a child of God will NEVER call evil good. (I shouldn't say never, they might do this and by the grace of God repent and seek forgiveness for doing it- I know I have had to do just this very thing -be forgiven for being deceived for calling evil good, more than once!)

Don't get me wrong, many who believe they are children of God and call themselves so, will call evil good and in truth they are NOT God's children. The reality isn't there, it's a deception when they say they are God's children,  they are DECEIVED themselves, blind to their own condition, unable to see, not wanting to see.

Many want to justify the reasons for their calling evil good, you might be doing it right now. Satan wants us to make excuses - really good, thought out, excuses and he'll help us coat them in what we believe is love so long as we keep pulling that wool down over our spiritual eyes. He'll make it feel good, he'll make it feel right, he'll make it feel like love- he'll squish all the feel goods together he can if it means we support evil in some way- great or very small.

I can love a sinner. I am a sinner. Jesus loves only sinners, because that's what we are - all sinners. Jesus does NOT love the sin we commit and does not encourage us to keep sinning. 

Like Jesus, I can LOVE the sinner and hate sin. 

Go and sin no more. Jesus' words. 

Joh_5:14  Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

Joh_8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

For Him to utter those words means sin had to exist and had to be something we could do, or not do. If that sin was of no consequence, Jesus would not have said to sin no more, it wouldn't have mattered.  To sin no more we have to know what constitutes a sin, because we have to know what not to do. 

We have to know what is evil so we are not in danger of calling evil good. We have to comprehend there are wicked people, that there is REAL wickedness. 

We live in a day and age where so little is called evil and wicked because to do so causes offense to the evil doers who want to be told they are not evil doers, that their evil is good. They want to force others to say evil is good just so they can fool themselves that they are doers of good. They call the good evil because only evil would not be accepting of them and their wickedness which isn't wicked at all to them.

Such a world we live in and we were told it would be this way. 

Isa_5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

This is reality.

More and more people every day are calling evil good, and good evil so that all but the very elect are going to be deceived.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 

False Christs- but CHRISTS!

False prophets- but PROPHETS!

GREAT SIGNS!

GREAT WONDERS!  

ALL DECEPTION!

The false Christs and prophets will be showing wondrous things and by these wondrous things they will bring great deception!  They will be calling EVIL - GOOD and GOOD- EVIL, and they will deceive the majority of people!

Love is paramount, and people have divorced love from God's ten commandments! They believe the laws are no longer applicable, that Jesus, who was with God when those commandments were etched in stone by His finger, somehow no longer believes in them. He kept them all, all ten of those commandments. How can I say that? Because sin is the breaking of the law! And He broke NO LAW meaning He committed NO SIN.

1Jn_3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law

There HAS to be a law in order to keep that law, or sin against that law by not keeping it. Without the law there is NO sin. If you tell me you are NOT a sinner by telling me there is NO LAW to keep, I'll call you a liar! To not sin is to be perfect, as Jesus is perfect. Are we perfect? NO. We sin! Jesus IS our perfection! And just because Jesus is our perfection and Jesus kept the law perfectly and remained completely sinless, doesn't mean we are not to follow the law. 

We seek forgiveness when we sin against the law- because remember- sin IS the breaking of the law. Tell me you don't need to seek forgiveness, and I'll tell you that you're a liar! We need to seek our Savior daily, and by daily I mean always- because salvation is in Him. He'll give us FORGIVENESS, but we have to recognize we NEED forgiveness and we can ONLY do that by recognizing there are laws we are breaking. And guess what? We do NOT get to pick and choose which laws we think are the ones to keep, God chose already and gave them to us! Jesus expounded on them, He didn't take one dot of an i or a cross of a t away from the laws, not one. They are there and we are told to KEEP THEM, not ignore them, not do away with them, not change them.  God's LOVE for us in in all those commandments! Loving Him and loving others, it's all there!

He did do away with the CEREMONIAL sacrificial laws because HE became the SACRIFICIAL LAMB. 

He did NOT do away with the royal law, the ten commandments, to say He did would mean to say He did away with our ability to sin and that we can't sin at all because there is no law we are held to keep. 

Right and wrong, the Bible doesn't hide the truth. The Bible calls ALL of us to a higher standard than Satan would have us attain. 

EVERY single one of us has sins we are partial to. EVERY single one of us has to overcome. There are NO favorites who aren't given any temptations to overcome. Each of us no MATTER our race, creed, orientation, beliefs etc whether genetic, learned, it doesn't matter, none of that matters. We are EACH called to obey God and that means SACRIFICING our self pursuits and it doesn’t matter WHAT those self pursuits are.  We label them saying that person has a harder road to walk, they have to give up so much more- but that's NOT true! To outward appearances it WILL seem that way, but it's not. Your burdens may seem miniscule to me, or mine to you, but they could be giants to me or to you. 

We are called to seek God's truth, ALL of God's truth no matter what that truth may be! When we turn our backs on the truth because it doesn't align with our pursuits, we will be held accountable for that. If we choose to call evil- good because it appears God got it all wrong and doesn't really mean all that stuff in His word, then we are accountable. If we choose our own version of what love should mean, and disobey God's, then yes, we are accountable.

We can love each other (we are all sinners) without loving the sin we commit. We can love each other without calling evil good.

The wicked will NOT accept this truth, the wicked will try to convince us that we are the evil wicked ones for not accepting their ways.

The wicked will be triumphant in the majority wooing those one might never think possible to believe their evil is good. They'll call it truly loving, when in truth it will be calling evil good and good evil. Love will have nothing to do with what they want from those who stand by truth. Submission, capitulation, yielding to evil under the guise of good is what Satan wants from all.

Can there be those who say we must hate those who are calling evil good? Yes, but we are not called to hate them, we are called to hate their evil. We are to love all as Jesus loved all, even those wicked who had Him crucified. He loved them, but that doesn't mean they are all going to be His in the day of judgment. He wept over corporate Jerusalem because they would not accept His love, because He loved them so much. He pronounced sentence on them, still loving them and wanting the individuals to come out from the corporate judgment. It was to the Jews that on the day of Pentecost the apostles preached to and many were converted.

God would call all of us out from the corporate Satanic world that exists today, the awful Babylon, and as God called out those before- there will be few compared to the many who truly want His love.

You can't twist the truth into something you want to follow, the truth must remain pure, straight, and very narrow. Beware of all the twisted truths that Satan has brought to life all around us. You'll want to grab hold and believe a twisted truth because it will seem very pleasing and as if it really is truth, deception- counterfeit- barely perceptible as a lie. Go to God's word for the truth, all of God's word as a coherent truth. 

Isa 8:20  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Act 17:11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 

2Ti 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 

2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Joh 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 

God help us all! Please, Lord, we would be YOURS, wholly Yours! We do not want to be blinded by the twisted truth Satan has seduced so many into believing! Help us to LOVE as YOU loved- You loved saving people from their sins, not condoning the sin. Help us LORD JESUS, help us, we believe! Help our unbelief!  Forgive us! Keep us!

Thank you, Lord! All glory, all honor, all praise to YOU! Now and forever! Amen!!!!!!!

Eternal Prize.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Crown of life… the Lord has promised. This crown of life is truly what we long for isn't it? The knowledge that makes this crazy world of ours and our very existence comprehensible, is the hope we have. The hope given to us by God, that one day all the crazy will be over. Every single bit of crazy will stop. From the smallest irritation, to the greatest horror imaginable- it will all cease to exist. The crown of life promised to those who love the Lord symbolizes the end of all sin and it's results- death.  Without sin there would have been no such thing as us dying. Every day we live is- as some have sung about- one step closer to death. None of us knows when we might die, not a single person knows this not even if they plan their own death- many who have planned their death have failed in the attempt and continue to live. Even when a person may appear to be on death's door, sometimes they pull through to live on longer. Not sick, not injured, not suffering from any life threatening ailment- we just don't know when death will happen to us, but we do know that we are one day closer to our death, yes? Being promised a crown of life is huge!

A crown of living without any death at all. With the crown of life we know that we- through our Savior- will one day live in a world free of death. There will be no sin, and therefore no penalty for sin- no death. We will never again be separated from God.

A crown of existence, permanent existence.

When Jesus took on flesh, setting aside His existence in pure spirit as God with God in heaven, He did so with the expressed purpose of obtaining justly the promise of the crown of life for all who believe in Him, fully and wholly believe in Him.

The crown of life- the kingdom of God- this is why Jesus came to live and die and live again- to GIVE this to us.

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world

A kingdom prepared!

Luk 22:28  Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. 

Luk 22:29  And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; 

Luk 22:30  That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 

Appointed a kingdom!

Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 

Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 

Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 

Rom 2:10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile

Seek for glory, honor, immortality, ETERNAL LIFE!

1Co 9:25  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 

An incorruptible crown!

2Ti 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 

A crown of righteousness!

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ

More precious than gold!

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 

Glad with exceeding joy!

1Pe 5:4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 

Crown of glory!

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 

A crown of life!

Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 

Sit in the throne of Christ, with Christ!

The eternal crown is there for all who believe in Christ and live as a Christ follower in all truth revealed through the Holy Spirit.

Endure and receive.

Too many endure life's many hardships waiting to receive some sort of earthly prize for having to endure life's horrors. Too many wait for earthly relief from all their awful circumstances- some dealt to them from birth shaping their lives into miserable pits of existence. Too many feel the injustices of our current lives as painful nightmares- and still they have s smidgen of hope their circumstances might change for the better. We need to place our hope in the Crown of Life promised to us through Jesus. We need to place our hope in the heavenly prize- no one can take that prize from us, not ever and the prize is very real, and it awaits us all should be choose to endure for the eternal prize.

All through the grace, love and mercy of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ now and forever!

Amen.

I am A Sinner.

Not a single righteous person is saved.  Jesus only saves sinners. You will forever be a sinner saved, not a righteous saved.  If you get it twisted around that you need to be righteous to be saved, you've forgotten where you've come from. A lot of people try to escape from their past. They'll go to great lengths to put on pretenses that esteem them much higher in their family history than truly exists. We cannot forget where we've come from as Christ followers, there is a grave danger in such forgetfulness. As long as we remember we are SINNERS-SAVED, we can never forget that Jesus is constantly seeking the sinners to save. Is this license to sin constantly, knowingly, willfully? NO! I don't think many of us have a problem with sinning, it will come very naturally. Maybe not in the blatant way of a past coveted sin, but in the tiny ways of a short temper, a sharp word, a nasty thought, a selfish action. There are a myriad ways we sin in our lives and we will never get to a place where we should believe we are sinless and in no need of forgiveness from our Lord and Savior. As long as we are separated from Him, as long as the gulf between Jesus' return and our current life here on earth exists, we will need to seek forgiveness. Our need of a physician in this awful world is constant. May we continuously seek our great Physician, may we forever repent of our sinful ways as they are made known to us- seeking constant spiritual healing from the spiritual wounds that are inflicted upon us over and over again. 

All through Christ Jesus our LORD and SAVIOR now and forever, may we be HIS!

Mar_2:17  …They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 

Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

Sin Shifting

Sin Shifter - Are You a Sin Shifter?

Pushing sins around- sweeping some under the rug, others into a corner, others still into a dustpan where they're dumped into a trash can.

Dirt pushed under a rug can work its way to the outer edges of the rug until it's visible once more. The rug could be turned over sending dirt flying everywhere. A little bit of a wind can take the dirt out of a corner spreading it every which way. Sin shifting is like trying to hide dirt rather than getting rid of it entirely, it's something people do to ease their conscience. Hide a bit of sin for awhile maybe turning the focus onto another sin for awhile. Of course shifting things around whether it's dirt or sin does nothing at all to get rid of them does it? You can shift dirt all around a floor and it's not going to make the dirt disppear. You could even spread the dirt so eveningly about it seems like hardly nothing spread out, rather than a big pile when all pushed together. Shift it anyway you like. Divide it into halves, quarters, eights, sixteenths go on, divide it into hundredths and you're still going to have just as much dirt as before. Sin is like that too. We can shuffle our sin about, shift it this way and that. We can let it dominate or be submissive but it's still there, still in our lives.

Sin no more.


What words! What amazing words!


Who said them? Jesus said them.


John {5:14} '...sin no more...'


John {8:11} '...go, and sin no more.'


Does it often feel like our very existence is sin itself? That we wake up in the morning and as we climb from our beds we are already sinning?


Sin we know is the transgression of the law. 1 John {3:4} Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.


The law is-

Deut. {5:6} I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
{5:7} Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
{5:8} Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
{5:9} Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me
{5:10} And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
{5:11} Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. {5:12} Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
{5:13} Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work
{5:14} But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
{5:15} And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
{5:16} Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
{5:17} Thou shalt not kill.
{5:18} Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
{5:19} Neither shalt thou steal.
{5:20} Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
{5:21} Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
{5:22} These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.


The law is-


Mark {12:28} And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
{12:29} And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
{12:30} And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
{12:31} And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
{12:32} And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: {12:33} And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.


Perhaps we feel the weight of sin weighing upon us so heavily because God isn't first in our lives. We aren't loving God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all our strength. Maybe we love Him just a little bit, not entirely. Maybe we've giving most of our heart, our soul, our understanding, our strength to loving ourselves, putting ourselves first.


1 John {5:1} Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
{5:2} By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
{5:3} For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
{5:4} For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
{5:5} Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?


1 John {4:7} Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
{4:8} He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
{4:9} In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
{4:10} Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
{4:11} Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
{4:12} No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
{4:13} Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
{4:14} And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
{4:15} Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
{4:16} And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
{4:17} Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. {4:18} There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
{4:19} We love him, because he first loved us.
{4:20} If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
{4:21} And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.


I say again- perhaps we feel the weight of sin weighing upon us so heavily because God isn't first in our lives. We aren't loving God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all our strength.


Shifting sin around will not get rid of sin.
Being told to go and 'sin no more' seems in impossible feat.
Are we alone in this belief? That it's impossible not to sin?
No.


Romans {7:7} What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
{7:8} But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
{7:9} For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
{7:10} And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
{7:11} For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
{7:12} Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
{7:13} Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
{7:14} For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
{7:15} For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
{7:16} If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
{7:17} Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
{7:18} For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
{7:19} For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
{7:20} Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
{7:21} I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
{7:22} For I delight in the law of God after the inward man
{7:23} But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
{7:24} O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
{7:25} I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.


{8:1} There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
{8:2} For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
{8:3} For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh
{8:4} That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
{8:5} For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. {8:6} For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
{8:7} Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
{8:8} So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
{8:9} But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
{8:10} And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
{8:11} But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
{8:12} Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
{8:13} For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify* the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
{8:14} For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
{8:15} For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
{8:16} The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God
{8:17} And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.


*mortify (môr´te-fì´) verb
mortified, mortifying, mortifies verb, transitive
1. To cause to experience shame, humiliation, or wounded pride; humiliate.
2. To discipline (one's body and physical appetites) by self-denial or self-inflicted privation.

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary


If we rise up out of bed determined to live carnally we are taking on sin and all its evil.


If we rise up out of bed and determined to live after the Spirit we are trusting in Christ to forgive our sins.


We aren't just shifting our sins about putting on a light sin one day and a heavier, warmer sin the next day. We aren't shifting sin under the bed or the dresser, we are bringing our sins boldly into the light and that light is Jesus! The Light of the World, the forgiver of sin!


No, it's not at all simple or easy to choose to live Spiritually rather than carnally, but we must. Until we determine to walk a Spiritual walk we will forever be doomed to walk carnally. Our flesh is weak and if we look to our flesh for sinlessness we'll never find it there. We must look to the Spirit of Christ and walk after the Spirit, looking to Jesus.


Mortifying the deeds of the body-


Dictionary definition states that mortifying means to discipline one's body and physical appetites by self-denial or self-inflicted privation.


How many of us understand this mortifying business?


We are used to gratifying our desires, our wants, our lust, our appetites. We are not used mortifying anything, it's an alien concept to us. We live in a world that tells us gratifying our desires is our life-long goal. Having enough money, enough time, enough energy to gratify our desires is paramount or what the heck is life worth living for? If we can't satisfy our desires, our seemingly harmless desires then what's the point to it all? Really, what is the point of being alive if we can't get pleasure from living. If we can't push aside everything and do what we want to do, is there a point? We work hard so we deserve to give ourselves a break, right? We work hard to afford all that we want out of life. We work hard to get the nice car, that nice dress, those nice shoes, that nice expensive fish, new furniture, the big tv, the amazing laptop, the newest video game, the list is endless. We live without sacrifice, we live without knowing mortifying- and this isn't a temporary mortification demanded by circumstances. This mortification is that which you do when you don't have to do it, but rather choose to do it because you know, you realize that gratifying all your senses and desires is selfish and draws your mind back to yourself and only to yourself and away from God. We live carnally, and in living carnally how do we ever supposed to live spiritually? When circumstances demand that we no longer have the means to live carnally and we are forced to live spiritually it'll be too late then because we will be too busy mourning the carnal things we've had taken from us to care about anything spiritual. We'll look upon our losses as deprivations forced upon us against our wills and woe to us. Like Lot's wife we will turn back and long for that which has been taken from us, we'll have no choice but to do so because we have no real spiritual connection and things spiritual will seem wrong some how and be the enemy of us because they've taken our carnal desires away. When we're stripped of things carnal we will mourn, not celebrate. Mortifying- self-denial, self-inflicted privation. It's a choice to deny yourself.


Romans {8:12} Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
{8:13} For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify* the deeds of the body, ye shall live.


If we live after our flesh we will die.
But if we THROUGH the SPIRIT deny ourselves, inflict privations upon ourselves, those deeds of the body the carnal desires we shall live!


Romans {8:5} For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. {8:6} For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.


We have to ask ourselves which we are... are we carnally minded? Or are we spiritually minded?


People claim Jesus came and died for us, forgiving us and giving us eternal life and asked nothing of us. He asked a lot of us, He asked the hardest thing of all from us, the one thing that most will find impossible to do. Give up self.


He didn't ask us to do it on our own but through the Holy Spirit. By drawing ever closer to God it will be possible. But to think that you don't have to suffer a thing, that you don't have to deny yourself is a falsehood that will trap many. People have labeled self-sacrifice as works, saying we're working to get ourselves to heaven, we're trying to work out our own salvation. It's a perfect scheme of Satan and it works on many, many people. As long as people believe they don't have to mortify the deeds of the body, they're safe from a true Spiritual life. As long as we believe we are saved no matter what we do, Satan has us. He'll let us believe our strong delusions. He'll dance a little jig of happiness as we go about our lives satisfying our desires, our wants without once thinking that maybe, just maybe we really do need to deny ourselves something.


Yes, you could give up everything and live a life full of self-denial and it won't get you salvation.


You have to give up things and live a life full of self-denial in the SPIRIT, not seeking salvation by the acts, but seeking a closer connection to Christ. Choosing God first, not self.


You can deny yourself and still do it selfishly and that is what is meant by trying to work your way to salvation.


Ultimately it's the reason behind your actions that matters.


Jesus needs to matter most.


Not I, but Christ.

There is song called just that-

Not I, but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted;
Not I, but Christ, be seen be known, be heard;
Not I, but Christ, in every look and action,
Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.

Not I, but Christ, to gently soothe in sorrow,
Not I, but Christ, to wipe the falling tear;
Not I, but Christ, to lift the weary burden,
Not I, but Christ, to hush away all fear.

Christ, only Christ! no idle words e’er falling,
Christ, only Christ; no needless bustling sound;
Christ, only Christ; no self important bearing;
Christ, only Christ; no trace of “I” be found.

Not I, but Christ, my every need supplying,
Not I, but Christ, my strength and health to be;
Not I, but Christ, for body, soul, and spirit,
Christ, only Christ, here and eternally.



By the Grace and Mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May we come to Him and ask for forgiveness of our sins. May we stop shifting about our sins and lay them at the foot of the cross. May the light shine in the darkness of our lives revealing the sins we try to hide or ignore. May the grace of God shine on us, the mercy of Christ fill us, the blood of the Lamb cleanse us from all unrighteousness, now and forever.

Amen.