A Word from THE WORD

Good Morning Happy Church,

Today is Friday, April 29^th, 2016. Today is the 120^th Day of 2016.

ON THIS DAY IN 1764, John Newton was Ordained as a Deacon in the Church of England. Later, as Pastor of the Olney (Scotland) Congregational Church, this former slave trader will write “Amazing Grace” and hundreds of other Christian Hymns.

There are only 246 days left in this year; and, there are only 9 days left until Mother’s Day!

THE MOST OVERLOOKED LESSON FROM THE BOOK OF JOB is that Satan and his demons are REAL Beings who REALLY EXIST and whose ONE PASSION is the destruction of God’s Plan and HIS People.

Job 1:6-12
⁶ “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
⁷ The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
⁸ And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
⁹ Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason?
¹⁰ Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
¹¹ But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
¹² And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:1-6
¹ Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.
² And the LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
³ And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.”
⁴ Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life.
⁵ But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.”
⁶ And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”

Job could have not possibly known what was going on behind the scenes. The very point of Job’s testing was that he did not know what was going on and yet he remained faithful to God.

You and I have the benefit of having Job’s story in the Bible, so we know what was going on; but, AT THE TIME OF THESE EVENTS, Job could not and did not know.

We know.

Satan is a created being, an angel, who God created and then allowed to rebel against HIM. When Satan (Lucifer) rebelled and fell from heaven, he took an entire third of all of the heavenly angels with him. These are now called demons.

Isaiah 14:12-16 (NKJV)
¹² “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
¹³ For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
¹⁵ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.”

Revelation 12:1-4
¹ “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
² She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth.
³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.
⁴ His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.”

By the time that Peter wrote 1^st Peter, (2,100 years after the events of the Book of Job) we see that Satan has not changed at all…

1 Peter 5:8
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Beloved Ones, our God and we, HIS People, have a real enemy. His name is Satan and he is out to destroy us and our witness and work for God.

Take careful note of how he treated Job. This is exactly how he would treat all of God’s people if God would allow it.

God allowed him to test and torture Job. Thankfully, God will not allow him to do so to us.

1^st John 4:4
“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

Following the first Lord’s Supper and just before HE was betrayed, Jesus prayed that HIS Father would keep us safe from the evil one.

John 17:15
“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”

THANK YOU GOD.

Always remember this lesson… Satan and his demons are real; BUT, so is the power and protection of God over HIS people.

REMEMBER… This coming LORD’s Day (as the LORD allows) will be AWANA FAMILY RECOGNITION DAY

We will have a Hamburger and Hot Dog Lunch after Church with the Kids and their Families.

I hope you will stay for lunch and get to know some of the families who do not attend Church.

This is hard for us to believe, but many of the families in our area think that we are “too holy” to be friends with someone like them.

They need friends just like us. They need us. Please stay for the luncheon and greet these dear people.

Carpe Diem!