Saturday, December 08, 2007
# 230: Satan Doesn't Care!
Satan is not fussy and has no guidelines for anyone to join him in his seductive work. He prides himself when religious people of any religion join his league. They could be Buddhist, Hinduism, Islamist, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Christians, atheists, Mormons, agnostics, skeptics, and whatever other types of religions and cults there are in this world.
Satan doesn’t care what type of stature or fame they have risen to in life. He especially loves to attract famous people like George W, Bush, Billy Graham, Joel Osteen, and the majority of popular televangelists.
He doesn’t care if people claim to be a born-again Christians, as long as they don’t obey all of the teachings of Christ.
He doesn’t care if a person was voted the most loving person in the world, as long as he/she disregards most New Testament commands.
He doesn’t care if they are affluent philanthropists, like Bill Gates, as long as they are unaware of the importance of adhering to N. T. decrees.
He doesn’t care what Christian church we go to, as long as we believe we are destined for heaven, without knowing what the criteria is concerning what is commanded in Holy Scripture.
He doesn’t care if a preacher has millions watching him/her on T.B.N. while he/she rips them-off of their hard earned money, and promises them a ten fold return on their money, as long as they aren’t told about all the hard-edged verses that are unnatural to our sinful human nature .
He doesn’t care if people have given 10 % of their money or more all their lives to their church, as long as they believe it is unnecessary to obey Christ’s commands since they are already saved Christians.
He doesn’t care how obedient people are to man/woman made religious rules, as long as they believe that obedience is just to gain rewards in heaven.
He doesn’t care if we give all our money to the poor and for other Godly purposes, as long as we believe it is impossible to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
He doesn’t care if we desire to be the best Christians possible, as long as we believe obedience is a trivial matter and Jesus will have to just keep forgiving us.
He doesn’t care if we appear to be the best Christian in our church, as long as we keep watching porn on the Internet.
He doesn’t care if we pray and read the Bible every day, as long we skip-over the verses that command obedience to all that Jesus teaches.
He doesn’t care if the most respected Christians in the world, people like Mother Teresa or Ruth Graham live only, as it seems, to please God, as long they continue to obey and propagate the teachings of their churches; Mother Teresa is a Catholic; that church rejects no one, as long they keeping going to church every week with money in hand, and Ruth Graham a Baptist who believes ‘once saved always saved' thus negating, all or most, of the verses stressing the importance of obedience till the end.
Actually, this list of excuses and alibis for ignoring the commands in the N.T. could, just about, be endless. Get this, for anyone who believes obedience is not an intricate part of God’s plan of Salvation, the N. T. has at the least 124 verses using the word obey or variations of it including the word disobedience. And the Old Testament has that many, if not more. Those verses say obedience of what is taught in the N. T. is of absolute importance.
Click on Post # 215: “Obedience” to view 45 of the124 verses which emphasis obedience and much more.
One of my biggest personal concerns is that complacency doesn’t creep into my life without my knowledge. Then, I would be doomed while still praising Jesus Christ. That is why Satan loves complacency in people who call themselves Christian; it is one of his favorite silent killers.
Never, ever forget this: Satan never gives-up on anyone, regardless how holy and saved they may be. Scriptural proof: when the devil was tempting Jesus, the devil said to Jesus, Luke 4:7. “So if you worship me, it [all the kingdoms of the world] will all be yours.” Verse 13. “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” Repeating, If Satan didn’t give-up on Jesus, the holiest man that ever lived, he will never gives-up on the whole seven billion of us.
With this in mind, what complacency does is it allows us to lower our guard. And that is when Satan comes in and has a silent feast with our souls, as we keeping on singing, “Everything’s going my way,” all the way to the gates of hell. Webster says this about complacency: “quiet satisfaction: self satisfaction or smugness.” When we feel secure with our spiritual position in the arms of Christ, we must never take advantage of our security by disobedience to Christ’s teachings. The apostle Peter says this in 2nd Peter 17. “Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men [who might they be?] and fall from you secure position.” This verse and many more are evidence that no one is exempt from falling away, and usually for lack of obedience because of complacency.
Though there are 12 verses warning us concerning being on guard at all times, I will quote just two of them. 1st Corinthians 16.13. “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.”
2nd Timothy 2:14. “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in you.” We never could do it alone; the Holy Spirit must continually inspire us.
Here is a down-to-earth illustration of why obedience is so important. Let’s suppose a philanthropist who owned an auto dealership gave you an expensive sports car, free of charge. Only two conditions, you must have a drivers license and you must drive the car every day, as a form of advertising, so those who see it might ask you about it and want to buy one.
Now let's say that car is the gift of Salvation, given to us free of charge (grace). Driving that car is the way we show the love we have for the giver. Only one thing is missing: the gas to run the car. If we don’t, for whatever reason, put gas in the car, it just won’t run. And if we don’t drive the car, the wealthy auto dealer will take the car back. The only reason the car was repossessed was because we didn’t buy gas to run it, thus, show it off. That fuel is obedience. The fuel, though not mentioned in the initial agreement was implied, although it was mentioned later, that we must buy the fuel with our own money. Under those conditions with no fuel, that car is of no use to us or the giver, while it just sits in our garage, hidden from view.
In the same way, the free gift of salvation was God’s (the Spiritual Philanthropist’s) response to the faith and love we have for Him and His Son Jesus Christ, which in-turn will produce obedience, which is no more than the vital evidence to God and man/woman that our belief/faith and love is genuine. Without obedience to Christ’s commands, the initial part of God’s plan for Salvation (the free gift) becomes non-existent and worthless to God, to you and anyone else. The only way to display obedience according to N. T. Scripture is through production of holy, selfless results (good works, fruit and deeds), which are one and the same.
To learn of the many verses that expose the silence of the clergy, click on post # 142: “Conspiracy of Silence”
Don’t let Satan trick us, since he doesn’t care how holy and religious we may be, as long as we believe we are secure (unmovable) in the grace of Jesus Christ; and we should be secure in our Salvation. But with that security we must be on guard against complacency in that security, and never, ever neglect the necessary ingredient: the fuel (obedience).
To learn more of Satan’s tricks, click on post # 227: “Exposing Satan’s Schemes”
If you found this Blog on a Christian directory, you may have to scroll down to the bottom of the blog, to view the table of contents, or just click on http://www.exposing-pseudo-christianity.org/
In conclusion, but be certain of this: our Almighty God also never gives up on us, but is adamant, even more-so than the father of lies, to lovingly coax us to Himself. If there is a ghost of a chance we become aware of our sins of neglect, concerning obedience, and repent, we have a merciful God who will forgive all our foolish mistakes and be there by our side, actually in us, to encourage and strengthen us in our endeavor to continually over-power the deceitful works of the evil one. Satan doesn’t have a chance, even with all his persistence, when we have a wholehearted desire to be obedient to Jesus Christ. Let this be our prayer, that God will bless us all with His power and love. Hallelujah!
