Isaiah 55 6 -1 2

Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.”For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Who is seeking who? Is God seeking man or is man seeking God?

Is there going to be a point in time when God is not going to be able to be found?

Romans 3 v 11 tells us from the Psalms that there is none that seeks after God.

“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found” Seek: Hebrew word “Da Rash”- to enquire of, to call upon, seek with care.

“Call upon Him while he is near” Call:  Hebrew word: “qara” – call, utter, cry, proclaim

Near: Hewbrew word “qarowb” – place, time of kinship.

Call, cry out, utter, proclaim to Him while you still have time, alive in physical bodies.

This verse is telling us that while we still have time, while we are still alive we should be seeking the Lord, either as unbelievers for salvation or for carnal believers for fellowship. None of us know how much time we have left therefore as believers we should keep short accounts with God, using 1 John 1 v 9 confessing our sins.

The passage is directed at carnal Israel, God is asking them in v7 to return to Him which indicates that they had previously been in fellowship with Him , but they had fallen away. Whilst this is the primary interpretation from this passage, we can look at a secondary interpretation for the Church Age and it is a “rebound passage”. Calling us as carnal Christians to come back into fellowship.

God is seeking after man for Salvation. 1 Tim 2 v4 tells us Gods desire is for all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of Christ. God is going to pursue that desire, how ever with out ever compromising your free will choice. He is going to pursue man through the circumstances of life and through the preaching of the gospel, that when the gospel is heard, the Holy Spirit is going to convict the unbeliever of the sin of unbelief. A choice then has to be made to accept the gospel, Jesus Christ and be saved or to reject it.

When we get saved, then intimate fellowship is sought by God by becoming like Christ, taking in doctrine, being transformed by the renewing of your mind, by rebounding when we sin and use of KRRY ( Romans 6 6-13)

Gods thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. We may think we have done something that is unpardonable and so stay out of fellowship or throw in the towel, but God does not think like us. He has already seen everything that will happen in life through His omniscience and has allowed us to come into the world despite knowing what He knows we will do.

We should never allow our emotions to think and make decision’s for us. Emotions do not think. They are responders to the soul. Thinking comes from the mind and doctrine resident in it.

God is saying to us, seek ME, find ME, I am here. Do not put ME into your mindset and system of thinking, I am away above and beyond mans thinking and ways.

In verse 10 to 12 we see Gods Word is like the rain that falls from heaven, it waters the ground and the ground produces fruit which we eat.  When God’s Word is preached, taught, given in season, used as encouragement then God will see to it that He gets the results. The one who gives the Word may never know the fruition that comes from it, but God does. He is the one that orchestrates the circumstances of life which led to the Word been given.

If I have heard it once I have heard it a thousand times when Christians are evangelizing the lost they tell them to “Ask Jesus into their heart”. I want to state right from the start that THIS STATEMENT SAVES NO – ONE and I am going to show you why it doesn’t. I have debated and talked about this with many people and some say I’m splitting hairs, I’m being semantic and that God knows what we mean so it will be all right.  No it will not be alright and Heaven is at stake.

God has a plan for Salvation, a protocol plan and it must be adhered to with out any deviation. Lets first take a look at Gods plan for Salvation and what the Bible says we must to do be saved before we look at “why asking Jesus into your heart saves no-one.”

1st Corinthains 15 v 1-4 tells us the Gospel of Jesus Christ’s death, burial and Resurrection.

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you Believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Here is the Gospel taught by the Apostle Paul, telling us about the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has indicated in the 2nd verse that they have already Believed in this. This is what their hope and trust was in.

Ephesians 1 v 13 In Him (Jesus), you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also Believed,

We see again here in Ephesians that they heard the gospel and Believed in it. They trusted it.

When the  Philipian jailer in Acts 16 v 30 asked Paul how to be saved Paul told him: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved”

Romans 5 v 1 : Therefore, having been justified by faith (Belief), we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Peter in the book of Acts says:

From these few verses, and there are many more, we see that salvation is by FAITH alone in CHRIST alone and NOTHING added or taken away from that.  Believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST and you will be saved.  John 3 v 16 is the most famous verse in the Bible in my opinion and it tells us exactly the same, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVES in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

Lets get back to our main subject. Asking Jesus into our hearts for salvation. Having read these few verses and knowing now that we are to Believe in Jesus for our salvation, can we reason together and agree that not once have we read anything in these verses that indicate we are to “Ask Jesus into our hearts” to be saved.  Where does this notion even come from. Well, I believe it to be a misinterpretation and  false understanding of a passage in Revelation 3 v 20 : ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

We see here this idea of Jesus standing out side the door and He is knocking and looking in and if we open the door He will come.  This sounds very plausible except for the fact that Jesus is talking to believers out of fellowship and He is inviting them to get back into fellowship or be disciplined. THIS IS NOT A SALVATION PASSAGE.  Any attempt to use it as one is teaching a FALSE gospel which saves no-one. 

The next problem I have with “Asking Jesus into your heart” to be saved is the simple matter of “Asking Jesus!!”

Church age protocol for prayer is as follows. All prayer is to be offered to the Father, in the name of Jesus whilst in the Sphere of the Spirit (being in fellowship, or as Paul calls it in Corinthians,  a Spiritual believer.)

No-where in the Bible are we taught to pray to Jesus or to the Holy Spirit.  The following excerpt is from Darry Andersons (http://www.bhgm.org) teaching notes on ” The Church: Her worship in prayer and thanksgiving”   http://www.bhgm.org/Teaching%20Notes/Word/38_The%20Church_Her%20Worship%20in%20Prayer%20and%20Thanksgiving.doc

The practice of prayer should be given careful attention by every faithful believer. 

1)   It is most important that believers observe regular times of prayer.  They should avoid any irreverent use of prayer or useless repetitions as characterize the heathen world and follow the divine order prescribed for prayer under grace.  This is stated in the words, “”In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.” (John 16:23), and prayer is to be “in the Holy Spirit.”

Jude 20

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,  (NAS)

2)   This order is not arbitrarily imposed.  However, to pray to Christ is to abandon His mediation by praying to Him, rather than through Him, thereby sacrificing the most vital feature of prayer under grace, prayer in His name.  To pray to the Spirit of God is to pray to Him, rather than by Him, and implies that we are, to that degree, depending on our own sufficiency.

3)   It may be concluded then, that prayer under grace is to be offered to the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The last comment I want to make about our title ” Ask Jesus into your heart” is about the word “Heart”.

How many times have we seen the preacher when he talks about the heart of man pointing to his chest where the heart that pumps blood around the body resides. When the Bible talks about the heart it is always about the right lobe of the mentality. The heart is the mind where we store our norms and standards. It is where we do our thinking. When we learn something for the first time, we may not believe it, it just becomes a term or a frame of reference and is stored in the left lobe of the mentality but when we trust it and believe it, it shifts over into our right lobe or ” the heart” where we act on it and use it in our decisions and circumstances of life.  Why then do people want to “Ask Jesus” into their Right lobe of their minds. Jesus cannot fellowship with fallen man who has an old sin nature, Adam’s original sin imputed at the moment of physical birth and a propensity away from God. God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit can only fellowship with absolute righteousness which leaves us, mankind in a predicament. How can we be righteous enough to satisfy them. This is the genius plan of God through Jesus Christ. When we hear the Gospel, the Holy Spirit provides common grace to convict us of our “sin of unbelief” and when we choose to believe the gospel He makes that common grace efficacious or effective in our life and at that moment that we believe we become “New Spiritual Creatures”  or “Born Again” as we more commonly hear it explained. 2 Corinthians 5 v 17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

So the problem is solved, God creates in us a new person where He can dwell. This new person He creates is as righteous as He is and this is how we are saved. By faith alone in Christ alone.

I hope from reading this that I have been clear and to the point that the false gospel of “Asking Jesus into your heart saves NO-ONE”

Law vs Grace: living with a view to securing the favor of God, and living in the favor of God already secured in Christ, are two widely different motives!

 In my Sunday afternoon Bible class which takes place from 3PM to 4PM, we have been studying the 9 different baptisms which are mentioned in Scripture. (Notes will be available in near future) However, today an interesting point was brought up which had nothing to do with baptism but which I felt needed addressed. It was to do with Law and Grace and are Christians today under the Sabbath law. The point blank answer is NO. We as Christians living in the Church Age are not under any form of the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law was for Israel and Israel only and any form of trying to put Christians under any part of the Law is to do violation to the scripture. I am a “Pauline Dispensationalist”, which means I believe that the Apostle Paul was the man whom God chose to give the “Mystery Doctrine of the Church Age” to and it is him alone that we derive our rules for living the Christian way of life. Now to those of you reading this who absolutely disagree and argue that “All scripture is given by inspiration….” 2 Tim 3 v 16, I understand your view point and I agree, but we must do what Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim 2 v 15: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. The reason we have this problem today of people trying to make us obedient to the Mosaic Law namely the “Ten Commandments” is due to the fact that we do not “Rightly Divide the Scripture into its proper dispensations. Nine of the Ten Commandments are restated in the Pauline epistles, the only one not restated is the keeping of the Sabbath Day. We as Christians today keep nine of the ten commandments not because Moses gave us them but because Paul tells us. Now you may say that I am splitting hairs but not so, I am Rightly Dividing the Word. We have just recently done a study on the book of Galatians in our Monday night fellowship, (you can click on the link to the right and see the notes) and the theme of the whole book is that you cannot live under Law and Grace. It must be one or the other. The Galatians had been saved by grace and then the Judaisers came in and fooled them into thinking that they now had to keep the Law as well. They had turned away from grace. This is what is meant by the verse in Gal 5v4 “ye have fallen from grace”. It does not mean like some teach that they lost their salvation, but they had fallen from the principle of living under grace and had went back to the keeping of the Law. Paul tells us in Galatians that we are not under any part of the Law and that if we want to keep any part of it, we must keep it all. Please understand this! Paul tells us that if we want to keep any part of the Law, we are obliged to keep it all and not pick and choose what we want. For example, today we have people who teach us to keep all the Ten Commandments and also to Tithe, but they don’t want to do what Leviticus 24 v 16 says about what to do with the blasphemer or what Numbers 15 v 33 tells us to do with the man who gathered a few sticks up on the sabbath or what to do about the damsel in Deuteronomy 22 v21 who was not a virgin when she got married! STONED THEM to DEATH! Please understand what this means. If these people want to put you under one part of the Law, they should be keeping it all. I do not recall seeings too many public stonings recently, have you? And if we were to keep these commands I think public stoning would be occurring often!

So what have we said? We are not under the Mosaic Law. It does not apply to us today. We live under a system of Grace. Grace is defined as many things and a complex study is not in view at this time. However simply put, Grace is God’s provision. All that God is free to do for man without violating His Divine Essence. God has provided us as Christians with a way of life which is called in Gal 5 v 16, “Walk by means of the Spirit”, others have called it the “moment by moment walk by means of the Spirit.” We have been given the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit which was never given to any member of any dispensation before or any to come. We are unique because of that one fact alone. We are required to live by means of this power of the Holy Spirit, reckoning ourselves dead to the old man and alive to the new as Paul teaches in Romans 6, (known as “Operation K.R.Y.” notes are available by clicking on the link to the right). For a detailed study on this “moment by moment walk” I would like to direct you to two men who can teach you through their writings.

1: Miles Standford and his book, “Principles of Spiritual Growth” and

2:Dr Jim Brettell

I have links to left to both of these mens web sites and Dr Jim has available a complete audio study on Miles Standford’s book, “Principles of Spiritual Growth” and also two of Standford’s other books which are called “Pauline Dispensationalism” and “The Reckoning that Counts.” These three books of Standford’s and Dr Jim’s study of them in his Monday Night Bible Study, which he has available on MP3 format, have been an invaluable source of growth and change in my Christian life. My thanks to both of them and for God leading me to them. I hope and pray that if you are reading this and wish to grow in your Christian life you will take the journey and start now. Here are the links to download the MP3’s for the three books. If you click on the link to the left called Miles Standford you can download the books in written format and then follow along with the audio.

Ephesians 1 v 18: I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.

Is there soul life in the womb?

When does life begin? In the womb or at birth?
Who gives life?

Before we consider the following subject we must be open to the fact that, God has a way of thinking and man has a way of thinking!

Is 55v8 For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

God is not interested in how we think, or how we feel about what He has said in His Word but what He has said in His Word. Are we going to line our thoughts and feelings up to His Word or are we going to take His Word and line it up to how we think or feel?

When does life begin?

Genesis 2 v 7: The Lord God formed man out of dust of earth and breathed into him BREATH of LIFE and man became living soul. (1st God formed man, and then only when He breathed into him breath of life did he become human soul!)

Job 33v4: the spirit of God has made me and the BREATH of the Almighty has given me life.

In the womb:

Job 3 v 16: or like the miscarriage, which is, discarded WOULD NOT BE…

Job 10 v 19: I should have been as though I HAD NOT BEEN

Ecclesiastes 6 v 3-5: …better the miscarriage than he for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity…..

Matt 1 v 20: THAT which is conceived. (Why is it not a person? especially if it is reference to the Lord Jesus Christ?)

Compare the above, which is reference to being in the womb to the following, which refer to after birth.

Job 10 v 11 why did I not die AT birth, come forth FROM the womb and expire (die)….. For now I would have lain down and been quiet,… I would have been at rest with kings and counsellors of the earth…or with princes….

Job 10 v18: why hast thou brought me FROM the womb, would that had died and no eye seen me, I should have been as though I had not been…

Another example of God’s viewpoint:

Exodus 21 v 22: if men strive with a woman with child so that she miscarriages yet no harm to her then the perpetrator should be punished according to her husbands judgment but if anything happens to her then life for life….

Q: if there is soul life in the womb and the woman miscarries why is the perpetrator not sentenced to death?

A: There is no soul life in the womb.

Biological life exists in the womb, and does not become soul life or a human being until physical birth, when at that moment God breathes into it, the fetus, the breath of life. The passage in Luke 1v41 where the baby leapt in her womb is not a reference to soul life, but biological life. It is “ reflex motility”. Because the fetus is mother-dependant, its movement is often in sympathy with the mother’s metabolism or emotional state.

Genesis 6 v 3 Genesis 6 v 3 reads: Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he is also flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” I have heard this passage being used many times in Gospel meetings, especially the “My Spirit will not strive with man forever” extract. It is normally used when the service is over and the preacher is looking for people to be saved and telling them that they might not have another chance to get saved and quote this passage “Gods Spirit is not always going to strive with man” or they twist it into making people think that God is not going to convict them anymore and that this may be their last chance. It seems to be used to put people on a guilt trip or a fear trip just to get people saved. While I am certainly not opposed to people being saved, I am opposed to passages of Scripture being misused and taken out of context and what this piece is going to explain this verse in its proper context and show that it has no place in any Gospel or Revival meeting.

The context of the passage is that God was looking at mankind and seeing it was corrupted. Men were multiplying and the fallen angels, in verse 2 called “sons of God” or in the original language “banaha eloheim” had came to earth and had taken themselves of the women and had sexual relationships with them that the women bore children which were half human half angelic. As far out and extreme that this may sound, to those of you reading who have never heard of the “Angelic Conflict” this is what Gods Word tells us in the first few verses of this Chapter 6 in Genesis. And if we are to believe the Word we must believe it all. Angels had relations with womankind and children were born to them. Mighty men of old and renowned. It is my considered opinion that this is where we get our Greek mythical gods from. I do not believe they were myths but real beings. This was part of Satan’s attempt to pollute mankind so Jesus could not be born from a woman, my considered opinion again. So God had been looking at what had been going on that corruption and violence filled the earth and he decided he was going to bring judgement on the earth. The phrase “My Spirit” in the context of this verse can be interpreted as, temper, or anger or impatience. This is an anthropopathism meaning a human emotion or feeling ascribed to God in order to explain His policy. It is not a reference to the Holy Spirit as some would have us believe, hence their misuse of this verse.

There was one man and his family on the planet called Noah who found Gods favour and God told him to build a boat. God was going to destroy the earth but he promised Noah that he would be saved. He gave Noah exact details of how the boat was to be built and what size it was to be and who and what would go into it. From the day God told Noah to build the boat until the day of the flood was 120 years and hence the meaning of the verse in question. 120 years is nothing to do with the lifespan of man either as I have heard this being said also. So to clarify and restate, the meaning of the verse is as follows. God’s anger, impatience temper was only going to strive with man for another 120 years while Noah built the Ark and when the Ark was finished God called time and the floods came and destroyed the earth and all life on it except for Noah and his family and the animals that he took with him.

I hope this has been helpful and any questions you may have feel free to email to me at mark@markkwilliamson.com and I will be glad to reply. I have written this in very simple, easy to understand language, in layman’s terms I would say and I realise that I may have created more questions than answered

1: The Spin: It’s okay to live together you don’t have to get married.

(Definition of “spin”, when an idea or situation is expressed or described in a clever way that makes it seem better than it really is, especially in politics:)

2: The Truth: God designed marriage; He ordained it to be between one man and one woman for life. No compatibility testing, premarital sex, or multiple partners.

3: Perfect Paradigm: Two mature believers, one male, one female, both understanding the predesigned plan of God, to be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8v28-29), understanding the mechanics of the Spiritual way of life and walking moment by moment by means of the Holy Spirit (Eph 5v18).

4:Marriage Today: Marriage today in society is getting to be the exception as apposed to the rule. Fewer and fewer people want to get married and of those who do, more and more are getting divorced. The media portrays marriage as something to be taken very lightly. The movies, soap operas, the adverts we watch, the magazines we read are all promoting promiscuous lifestyles, sex before marriage is okay, “try before you buy” and many more connotations that say, “You don’t need to get married.” Many of the comedy soaps portray the man as the fool and the woman being the head. The complete opposite of the structure God has ordained.

Even Government in a subtle way is against promoting marriage, offering couples that live together, including gays and lesbians, the same rights and benefits that married couples get and in some cases they are given more. The view is, “if we can get the same either way, why get married?”

We see in general, across the board, a trend away from marriage. People today are living in a time of moral relativity. Everyone doing what is right in their own eyes. Not having any standard to live to.” If it feels right, do it!”

5: Marriage and Christian Marriage Contrasted: These two are not the same. Yes they may have similarities but the basis and foundation for both are not.

Marriage today is based on, in many cases:

A: Love- personal love. I love you, you love me.

B: Emotion- you make me feel good.

C: Sex.

D: Security/Ego/Sense of belonging- I need to have someone to make me secure.

E: Money- if I get married their money will be mine!

(This list is not exhaustive but a representation of the main foundations for marriage)

Anyone who has been married for more than 2 weeks will realise that these things alone cannot sustain a marriage.

Christian marriage however is something far more than just love, sex, emotion etc etc. Yes these things are part of it. They are by-products of it. In fact, in Christian Marriage these by-products will be so much more satisfying and intense because they are rooted and grounded in a Christ centred life.

Christian marriage has a basis, a foundation and a purpose, which we are going to look at. It is rooted and grounded in glorifying Jesus Christ. The purpose of Christian Marriage is to resolve an objection raised by satan in a spiritual battle called the “Angelic Conflict”. Satan has argued that since the first marriage failed in the Garden of Eden, no marriage can succeed. When there are two people fulfilling the perfect model of point 3, what we have is an answer against satan and for God in this “courtroom battle” resulting in maximum glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. Simply put, satan said,” marriage cannot succeed”, God said, “look at Joe and Mary, they are succeeding in it.

6: Angelic Conflict: Matthew 25 v41 tells us that hell has been prepared for the devil and his angels. Revelation 20v10 tell us when the devil is going to go there. By means of inductive reasoning, we can see that human history is sandwiched between the sentencing of satan and the execution of this sentence. Therefore human history has to have something to do with the judgement upon satan, hence the “Angelic Conflict.” We reason together that satan has appealed his case and God is giving him his chance to vindicate himself. However, in every objection that he raises, God will answer him and, God will be the one who is vindicated.

In the “Church Age”, we have the opportunity as believers to be part of this vindication of God the Father. If you imagine it like a large courtroom scene, God is the judge, satan is the defendant and there are various types of witnesses of which we are going to look at three.

1^st: Jesus Christ- Jesus the unique God – Man. Unique in that He is God and unique that he is Man. For thirty years he lived as a man and operated by the means of the Holy Spirit. For thirty years, in every situation and circumstance in life, He made the right decision and never sinned. Therefore, while satan may argue that Adam, the first man, created perfectly fell, Gods answer to that was Jesus Christ, who while tempted, never sinned.

2^nd: Church age believers: have the opportunity to vindicated the name of God, by walking by means of the Holy Spirit, the same power that Jesus used. This power available to us was never given to any other member of any dispensation before or in any dispensation to come. Church age believers are unique. We have the indwelling of the three persons of the Godhead, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That is why the mandates for the Christian are much greater than ever before because we have so much power available to us. The question is; are we going to learn about it and use it? When we do, we have the opportunity to become a witness in the courtroom scene and vindicate God the Father. ” Here is a man, created lower than you satan, operating in my plan, doing my will by my means. Therefore satan, you could have but did not therefore I am justified in sending you to the lake of fire.”

3^rd: Christian Marriage: as well as individual believers having the opportunity to become witnesses for God, Christian Marriage has an opportunity to be a 3^rd witness in this courtroom scene. During “Church Age”, Christian marriage has taken on far greater aspects than ever before. Married believers have a very special witness for the prosecution in the appeal trial of satan and all angelic creatures are watching very carefully. Never before in history has so much power been given to individuals. Therefore the mandates of Christian marriage are so much greater than before. When two believers are operating together inside the predesigned plan of God, both understanding the mechanics of the spiritual way of life and walking moment by moment by means of the spirit, this becomes a wonderful, powerful testimony to the plan of God and the power he has made available and as a witness against satan in the courtroom of heaven, where satan has argued that marriage cannot work. God can say to him, “have you seen my servants, Joe and Mary?”

If we look at the story of Job, here we have a wonderful account of how the angelic conflict is worked out in human history. Job 1 and 2 tell us how satan and his angels came to God and God asked satan had he seen his servant Job that there was none like him, a perfect und upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. (In the Church Age, this would be the equivalent to a mature believer.) Here we have the God of the universe, “bragging” to satan about Job. What follows is an account of Job being used as a witness in the courtroom trial. Satan argued that Job only served God because He blessed him and God said, “okay, test him”. That does not make any sense unless we see this thing in the light of the big picture called the angelic conflict. Why would God allow satan to test Job in the manner he did if there were no conflict. It makes God out to be a fiend. However, Job past the tests and God blessed him twice as much as he had to start with.

7: Purpose of Christian Marriage: I believe that Christian married couples, have the opportunity to be a “Job” and be entered as a witness into the trial, to allow satan to test them. It is called, “suffering for blessing”. While to some, this may not sound appealing, to those who understand the plan of God, this is the greatest privilege can ever be given to an individual believer or a married couple. To have God, “brag” about them in heaven. (Try to imagine what it would be like to have the President of the United States mention your name in the White House or on TV in front of the nations as a perfect citizen. Would that be a great honour and privilege?)

God has provided everything we need to fulfil this. He has given us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

A great analogy of the Holy Spirit and how He works in Christian Marriage is the car engine. Without oil in the engine, there would be friction and would heat up to the point were it would cease. The oil then is the lubricant between the moving parts keeping them from becoming abrasive and wearing out against each other. Likewise the Holy Spirit becomes like the oil in the engine. He is the lubricant between the couple that stops the friction. Agape love is the first fruit of the Spirit. That unconditional, impersonal love that we will produce when walking by means of the spirit.

8: Conclusion:

A: The world today wants us to believe that it’s okay to live together and not get married. This trend is deceiving “Christians” to the point were they believe it, because they do not have any answers because of lack of doctrine in their souls. Therefore they don’t know what their purpose is for life, therefore have no idea what the purpose of marriage is.

B: Christian marriage and marriage are not the same. Marriage seeks to satisfy itself, Christian marriage seeks to glorify God.

C: Human history is about the resolution of a spiritual battle called the “angelic conflict”. We are either part of the solution or part of the problem. We cannot be on the sidelines. If you are alive you are in it.

D: Christian marriage has a great purpose in the resolution of this battle namely to answer objections that satan has raised. We have the opportunity to answer these objections through our lifestyle and walk by means of the spirit. We have the great honour and privilege of becoming key witnesses for God and have Him “brag” about us in the courtroom of heaven.

E: Young people need to know this so when the world system and its peer pressure is pushing them to go contrary to the Word of God, they will have the doctrine in their souls to do the right thing.

F: Older people and married couple need to know this to ensure they are aiming at the right goal

Baptism

There are at least 9 different baptism’s referred to in the Bible. 5 of which are non water and 4 which involve water. Before we look at any of these baptism’s it is important to note 2 Greek words.

1: BAPTO – To dip.

2: BAPTIZO – To immerse.

A simple analogy is given to explain the difference.

In making pickles, firstly the pickle is “DIPPED” into boiling water then it is “IMMERSED” into the vinegar. The first being an example of the word “BAPTO” to dip, and the second a reference to the word “BAPTIZO” to immerse.

Baptize in classical Greek meant to identify one thing with another so that it was changed into the characteristics of the thing it was identified with. IE: A sword being dipped into blood served as a picture of its becoming a battle spear. A hot sword being immersed into water to make the soft metal hard,(tempering). It is important to note that in each of these two examples in the first, a real change takes place in the sword being tempered IE the soft metal into hard metal but in the dipping of the sword into blood, it is only a ritual or a representation of something.

So we have two types of baptism. One REAL and one RITUAL or REPRESENTATIVE.

As we will see in our study, in the five non water baptisms a REAL change takes place and in the four water baptisms no change takes place but a representation of something takes place.

When we think of baptism, the first thing most people think about is water, either poured, sprinkled or dipped in it. However, as we shall see, the Bible speaks about 9 different baptisms.

Non water baptisms

1: Baptism of Moses: 1 Cor 10: 1-2

2: Baptism of the cup/cross: Luke 12:50, 2 Cor 5:21, Mat 20:22, 1 Pet 2:24

3: Baptism of the Holy Spirit: 1 Cor 12:13, Gal 3:27

4: Baptism of Jesus with Holy Spirit: Acts 1:4-8, Ep 1:13-14

5: Baptism of Fire: Mat 3:11, Luke 3:16, Ezek 20:34-38, Mat 25:31-46

Water baptisms

1: Baptism of John: Mat 3:11, Acts 19:3

2: Baptism of Christ: Mat 3:13

3: Baptism of believers: Mat 28:19-20, Acts 16:13, 1 Cor 1:17

4: Baptism for dead: 1 Cor 15:29. (Not for today!)

Let’s take a look at each one of these in turn and explain them.

1: Baptism of Moses (Real)

1 Cor 10 v 1-2, For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea…..

In the Baptism of Moses, Moses is identified with the cloud and the children of Israel were identified with Moses. The cloud is Jesus Christ in His Shekina Glory. The Red Sea crossing was a crossing from slavery into freedom. No one got wet but an actual change took place; the children of Israel went from being slaves to being free! The slaves were identified with Gods deliverer and became free men. In contrast, the Egyptians got wet and they died!

2: Baptism of the cup/cross (Real)

Luke 12v50: But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I distressed till it be accomplished!

Matthew 20v22:But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

In the baptism of the cup/cross it is Christ’s identification with sin that is the issue. All the sins of men, past present and future were poured out onto Christ for 3 hours as he hung on the cross.

2 Cor 5v21:For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

While Jesus Christ never sinned once, God the Father imputed every sin to Him as He, Christ, was the substitute for everyone of us. He alone could satisfy the righteousness of the Father.

On the cross, Jesus was identified with our sins. He became sin for us. 2Cor 5 v21. For 3 hours, God the Father turned his back on Jesus Christ while every sin was poured out and paid for by Christ, thus propitiating the Father. When the last sin was paid for, the relationship was restored when Jesus said, Father, into thy hands I commit my Spirit. Luke 23 v 46.

No water is involved in this baptism but the real change that takes place is Christ becoming sin for us.

3: Baptism of church believer by the Holy Spirit (Real)

1 Cor 12 v 13 – we are all baptized into one body….

Gal 3 v 27 – for all of you who were baptized into Christ….

The baptism of the Holy Spirit in this instance occurs at the moment of time when a person believes in Christ for their Salvation. At this moment, the Holy Spirit takes us out of Adam and places us, “IN CHRIST”. 1 Cor 15 v 22 – as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall live.

This is one of the most controversial and misunderstood baptism’s in the Church today, with many false doctrines and  false experiences stemming from it.

Its is a real baptism, irreversible and our eternal security stems from it. When we are baptized by the Holy Spirit, our position changes, ie we are no longer in Adam , but “IN CHRIST.” This is vital to understand because in no other dispensation or any dispensation to come is any human being ever said to be “IN CHRIST.” This is a unique position held only by Church age believers. Jesus, in the upper room discourse, John 13 -17, anticipated this new position that believers would have and from Pentecost, every person who trust’s Christ as Saviour is now classed as, “IN CHRIST.”

4: Baptism of Jesus with Holy Spirit (Real)

Mat 3 v 11 -He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit

Acts 1 v 5 – you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit

This baptism occurs at the moment of Salvation, and is accomplished by Jesus Christ giving us the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Again, as in the previous baptism, this is a unique feature of the Church age Believer and never before or after will any human being be permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

At this point it is important to make a few comments on these last two baptism’s as much confusion is wrought over many different churches and denominations and many people’s interpretations of Scripture.

These two separate and distinct baptism’s are often termed together as, “The Baptism of the Holy Spirit.”

However as we have seen, in one we have the Holy Spirit doing the baptizing and Jesus Christ doing the baptizing in the other. It is vital to understand the difference.

The whole charismatic and pentecostal movement has gone crazy with this, due to lack of dispensationaly, rightly dividing the Scripture 2 Tim 2 v 15.

It is not the purpose of this document to explore this in detail however the following points should be noted:

What the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” is NOT:

1: an experience that is felt

2: emotional activity or ecstatics

3: speaking in tongues (all forms of tongues ceased at 70 A.D.)

4: related to human feelings

5: progressive or nor can it be improved on (your receive as much of the Spirit at Salvation as you will ever have)

6: related to human merit or works

7: a matter of believer’s volition (you do not chose to be baptized with the Spirit. It happens regardless)

8: a second blessing

What the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” is:

1: a real identification by Jesus with the Holy Spirit.

2: obtained “en Toto” at the moment of Salvation

3: eternal in nature and cannot be canceled

4: known through the perception and metabolizing of the mystery doctrine of the church age, therefore it cannot be applied in a state of ignorance.

IMPORTANT POINT: while many of the so called “Experiences” people are having all over the world, and ascribing it to the work of the Holy Spirit it is important to note that; “Everything that is real is not from God!”. ie Gossip is real, it is not from God!

5: Baptism of fire (Real)

Mat 3 v 11 – He will baptize you with the Holy Spirt and fire

Luke 3 v 16

In the coming future an event called the “Baptism of Fire” will take place. This will happen just ater the time of the second coming of Christ. All unbelievers will be judged by fire and removed from the earth and sent to hell. 2 Thes 1 v 7-9.

Other passages relating to this: Isa 1 v 25-27, Eze 20 v 34-38, Mal 3 v 1-6, Mat 25 v 31-46 deals with the Baptism of Fire for Gentile unbelievers.

So as we have seen in each of these five Baptism’s a real change has taken place in that the person being baptized is changed into something different.

1: B.O. Moses: Slavery to Freedom

2: B.O. cup/cross: Christ became sin

3: B.O. Holy Spirit: from Adam into Christ

4: B.O. Jesus: permanent indwelling of Holy Spirit

5: B.O. Fire: unbeliever’s die and go to hell.

Next we will look at the four water baptism’s

Four Water (Ritual) Baptisms

1.     Baptism of John:

Matthew 3:6

6      and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.   (NAS)

Acts 19:2

2      and he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they {said} to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”   (NAS)

The water baptism that John offered to Jewish believers was a picture of their identification with the kingdom.

2.     Baptism of Jesus:

Matthew 3:13-17

13      Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan {coming} to John, to be baptized by him.

14      But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”

15      But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit {it} at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.

16      And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, {and} coming upon Him,

17      and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”   (NAS)

The baptism that Jesus received from John was unique in its significance and purpose. It could not be like that which John administered to others, for Jesus did not make confession; He had no occasion to repent. Neither was it Christian baptism, the significance of which we shall consider later. Jesus Himself declared the main purpose and meaning of this event in His words “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” <Matt. 3:15>.  It was an act of ceremonial righteousness appropriate to His public entrance upon His mission as the Christ, which included His threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King, especially the second, for the essence of His redemptive work lies in His consecration as a Priest, the Great High Priest. In this office He offered not “the blood of goats and bulls,” but Himself to put away sin <Heb. 9:13-26>. It is this consecration to His redemptive priesthood that comes into clearest view in His baptism in the Jordan. By “fulfilling all righteousness” our Lord meant the righteousness of obedience to the Mosaic law. The Levitical law required all priests to be consecrated when they began to be about thirty years of age <Num. 4:3; Luke 3:23>. The consecration was twofold– first the washing (baptism), then the anointing <Exo. 29:4-7; Lev. 8:6-36>. When John on the Jordan’s bank “washed” (baptized) Jesus, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit came upon Him. This was the priestly anointing of Him who was not only a Priest by divine appointment but an eternal Priest <Ps. 110:4> who was thus divinely consecrated for the work of redemption <Matt. 3:16; Acts 4:27; 10:38>.

(from New Unger’s Bible Dictionary)

(originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois.  Copyright (C) 1988.)

3.     Baptism of the Church Age Believer:

Matthew 28: 19-20

19      “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

20      teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”   (NAS)

Acts 16:33

33      And he took them that {very} hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his {household.}   (NAS)

1 Corinthians 1:17

17      For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.   (NAS)

This may be considered under two viewpoints: Baptist and non-Baptist views.

Baptist Views.

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water as a sign of his previous entrance into the communion of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. In other words, baptism is a token of the regenerated soul’s union with Christ.

Obligation. Baptism is an ordinance instituted by Christ <Matt. 28:19>, practiced by the apostles <Acts 2:38>, submitted to by members of NT churches <Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:11-12>, and subsequently practiced as a rite in Christian churches. No church hierarchy has the right to modify or dispense with this command of Christ because only the local church (no other visible church of Christ) is known in the NT, and it is purely an executive, not a legislative body.

Significance. Symbolizing regeneration through union with Christ, baptism portrays not only Christ’s death and resurrection and their purpose in atoning for sin in delivering sinners from sin’s penalty and power, but also betokens the accomplishment of that purpose in the person baptized <Rom. 6:3-5; Gal. 3:27; Col. 3:3>. By that external rite the believer professes his death to sin and resurrection to spiritual life. He also gives witness to the method by which God’s purpose has been wrought for him, namely, by union with Christ. The rite sets forth the fact that the believer has received Christ and in faith given himself to Him <Rom. 6:5; Col. 2:12>.

Proper Subjects of Baptism. Only those who give credible evidence of regeneration, and who thus by faith have entered into the communion of Christ’s death and resurrection, are considered proper candidates for the rite. Biblical authority for this view is given in the command of Christ that those are to be baptized who have previously been made disciples <Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:41>, or previously repented and believed <2:37-38; 8:12; 18:8>. It is also proved from the nature of the church as a company of regenerated believers <John 3:5; Rom. 6:13> and the symbolism of the ordinance itself <Acts 10:47; Rom. 6:2-5; Gal. 3:26-27>. Since it is intended only for the regenerate, baptism can never be the means of regeneration. It is the appointed sign, but never the condition, of forgiveness of sins.

Mode. This is immersion only as confirmed from the meaning of the original Greek word baptizo in Greek writers and church Fathers, and in the NT. Immersion was a doctrine and practice of the Greek church.

Administration. Many Baptists, and others practicing believer’s baptism, require the rite to be performed properly as a prerequisite to membership in the local church and participation in the Lord’s Supper.

Non-Baptist Views.

The views of other Christian groups on the subject of baptism vary from those like most Quakers, who deny the present-day validity of the rite at all, to Roman Catholics and others who attach to it regenerating efficacy.

Obligation. Most Christians believe that the rite, in one form or another, for one purpose or another, is permanently obligatory and rests upon Christ’s command <Matt. 28:19> and the practice of the early church.

Significance. The Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox churches, most Lutheran bodies, and many in the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal church hold that baptism is the direct instrument of regeneration. Roman Catholics subscribe so strongly to this view that, accordingly, they also hold that all adults or infants who die unbaptized are excluded from heaven. Many evangelical churches believe that baptism is not only the rite of initiation into the church of Christ but a sign and seal of divine grace symbolizing spiritual cleansing or purification <Acts 22:16; Rom. 6:4-11; Titus 3:5>. For example, the Westminster Confession, art. 28, says: “Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church, but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life; which sacrament is, by Christ’s own appointment, to be continued in His Church until the end of the world.” As circumcision was the sign and seal of the Abrahamic covenant and practiced under the Mosaic covenant, so baptism is construed as the sign and seal of the New Covenant of the gospel. Baptism, under the new economy, takes the place of circumcision under the old <Col. 2:10-12>.

Proper Subjects of Baptism. In contrast to those holding Baptist views that exclude all except adult believers from the rite, many believe it should be administered to children who have believing parents or sponsors to care for their Christian nurture. This is contended to be scriptural since Paul expressly teaches that believers in Christ are under the gracious provisions of the covenant that God made with Abraham <Gal. 3:15-29>. Under the Abrahamic covenant circumcision was administered to children as a sign of their participation in the relation in which their parents stood to God. It is contended that children of Christian parentage have a similar right to the ordinance, which is construed as having replaced circumcision.

Mode. Non-Baptists deny that immersion is the only valid mode of baptism and admit sprinkling, pouring, and immersion as legitimate. All that is held essential is the application of water “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

Administration. The administration of baptism is commonly regarded as exclusively a prerogative of the ministerial office. The wise and proper observance of church order has deemed this necessary, although in extreme cases it is held that a layman (or even a laywoman) can perform the rite. The same view is held among Lutherans and others who hold strongly to the doctrine of baptismal regeneration.

bibliography: K. Barth, The Teaching of the Church Regarding Baptism (1948); O. Cullmann, Baptism in the New Testament (1959); J. Warns, Baptism (1958); J. Jeremias, Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries (1960); R. E. O. White, The Biblical Doctrine of Initiation (1960); G. R. Beasley-Murray, Baptism in the New Testament (1962); K. Aland, Did the Early Church Baptize Infants? (1963); T. J. Conant, The Meaning and Use of BAPTIZEIN (1977).

(from New Unger’s Bible Dictionary)

(originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois.  Copyright (C) 1988.)

4.     Baptism for the dead.

1 Cor. 15:29 *

29      Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?   (NAS)

Of this difficult passage there are many expositions, two of which are presented here:

1.                The Corinthians, the Marcionites, and other heretics had a custom supposed to be referred to by the apostle. Persons who had been baptized had themselves baptized again for the benefit of people who had died unbaptized but already believing, in the persuasion that this would be counted to them as their own baptism. From this the apostle drew an argument to prove their belief in the resurrection. Meyer (Com., ad loc.) believes that this is the practice to which the apostle refers. “‘For the benefit of the dead’ remains the right interpretation.”

2.                Chrysostom believed the apostle referred to the profession of faith in baptism, part of which was, “I believe in the resurrection of the dead.” The meaning, then, would be, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, why, then, art thou baptized for the dead, i.e., the body?” Whedon (Com., ad loc.) holds to this interpretation and says: “The apostolic Christians were baptized into the faith of the resurrection of the dead, and thereby they were sponsors in behalf of the dead, that the dead should rise.”

(from New Unger’s Bible Dictionary)

(originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois.  Copyright (C) 1988.)

*The Apostle Paul was critical of this practice in this passage.  It was not a valid Christian practice, and it is not a valid Christian practice today.  Any such practice of baptizing for the dead should be considered an heretical practice among Christian

Arminianism, Calvaninism and the Truth

Angelic Conflict

Ep 6 v10.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

There is a spiritual war going on in an invisible realm that we in this present dispensation cannot see. The above verse is one of many which tell us of this warfare and of angels both demonic and good. Actually the two types of angels are called, ELECT and FALLEN.

When the angels were created, the Bible does not say, but we can deduce by means of “Inductive Reasoning” that the angels where created before man. JOB 38v7. They were created with volition and the most highly “ranked” the most intelligent and most beautiful was, who we now know as “Satan”. Satan is the number one creation to ever come from the “hand” of God. We have a description of him in Ezekiel 28 v 11-19. Verse 14 tells us that he was “The anointed cherub that covereth.” This simply means that he was the ceremonial guard at the throne room of God. However, after an undisclosed period of time, satan’s problem became arrogance. He decided that he wanted to be like God. In Isaiah 14, we have the five “I will’s” of Satan.

1: I will ascend into heaven

2: I will raise my throne above the stars of God

3: I will sit on the mount of the assembly, in the recesses of the north

4: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds

5: I will make myself LIKE the Most High.

The first sin ever committed in the universe was the sin of arrogance. Satan “said in his heart”. This was the first time any creature ever went against Gods will. With his intelligence and charisma he persuaded a number of the angels to follow him. This greatly displeased God and He had to condemn them, but God in his mercy offered a means of redemption (Heb 2v2). This offer was available for an undisclosed period of time and the method of redemption is not told to us in the Bible.

Satan and one third of the angels rejected this plan of salvation from God, and God condemned them to the Lake of Fire. Mth 25 v41 …eternal fire, which HAS been prepared for the devil and his angels.

This begs the question “if God condemned Satan to the lake of fire back then, why is he not in it now. We read in Rev 20 v 10 that the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire at the end of the millennium. So we have a time span between God condemning or sentencing Satan to hell and Him actually carrying out the judgement and putting him there.

This is where man comes in. This is why God created man. For the purpose of resolving the angelic conflict. God didn’t create man so he would have someone to love, or because he was lonely as a lot of Christians think, (if I was God, I wouldn’t create me to resolve my loneliness!) He created man to prove to Satan that if a lower creature would follow Him then it follows that Satan could have but didn’t so God is justified in sending him to the lake of fire.

Let’s take that again step by step.

A: God created angels with volition.

B: Satan acted independently of God. (5 I will’s)

C: God sentenced Satan. Mth 25 v 41

D: Satan challenged the character of God “How can a loving God send one of His      creatures to the lake of fire?”

E: God’s answer: “I will create man with volition, just like I created angels with volition; however, I will create man lower than the angels. Then, if even one man, created lower than the angels, uses his volition to follow me, this will imply that you, Satan, could have followed me if you had so chosen. But because you didn’t and could have, so therefore I am justified in sending you to the lake of fire.”

F: Every time a member of the human race chooses for God, the character of God is vindicated and Satan looses his argument.

Try and imagine it like a courtroom scene, where God is the judge and Satan is the defendant representing himself, trying to justify his actions by appealing to the love attribute of God. (Many people only think of God as love, but he has 9 other attributes; varsity, immutability, righteousness, justice, eternal, sovereignty, omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresent, that all work together in perfect harmony and never conflict or contradict.)

Human history then is the ongoing appeal of Satan to God to try and justify himself and prove that God is unfair and unjust in His sentence. This is why we have four main dispensations, (Gentiles, Israel, Church, and Millennium) each having their own set of rules to live by. Each dispensation is answering another or even many objections that Satan has made. Each time man chooses for God, God is glorified and Satan looses. Satan is constantly trying to blind man and deceive him from the truth and to divert his attention away from God, just like he did in the Garden of Eden. Each time Satan does something that he thinks will “blow” Gods plan, God in His mercy gives man grace, even though man fails and continues to fail. The ultimate form of grace was God becoming man, and lowering Himself to our level and coming to earth and paying the price for our sins. A price which only He alone could pay. This was the final “nail in the coffin” for Satan. God paid the ultimate price. His own life. He proved to Satan that He is an absolutely righteous and just God. (Grace is “God’s provision”. We did not earn it or deserve it. God provided it because of who He is and not because of what or who we are.)

Let’s see the conflict in action

Turn to the book of Job. This by the way is the oldest book in the Bible. It tells us of a man who was upright and blameless before God. Once again, picture our courtroom scene. Verse 6 tells us that one day Satan and his angels came to present themselves before God. (Stop a moment and think about that. Satan has access into heaven!) And God said to Satan “what do you think of my servant Job. There is none like him in all the earth.” Here is God “bragging” to Satan about Job. Satan answered Him saying,” I see him, but he only loves you because you bless him and keep a hedge round about him”. What did God reply to him? “Don’t you touch him!”, no He didn’t, He said, “Go ahead then and test him but don’t touch him physically.” So Satan went to work on him and took all his possessions and family (except his wife!!) and Job didn’t curse God. He said these words,” the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

Do we read that Satan said, “sorry God I was wrong about Job and you were right” No he did not. Arrogance does this to people; they will not admit they are wrong. Instead Satan said let me touch his body and give him a disease and he will curse you. God said “alright, just don’t kill him” So Satan covered Job’s body with boils from head to toe. And just to top it off, when the pain couldn’t get any worse, his wife starts nagging him “why don’t you curse God and die” and yet through it all Job sinned not against God.

It is not the purpose of this paper to give all the details about Job, but only to point out some very important facts that relate to the angelic conflict that are revealed through Job.

1: Satan has access to heaven and allowed to approach God. He still does to this day.

2: If there is no angelic conflict, why would God let Satan afflict Job?

3: Job was upright and blameless. Equivalent to a mature believer in the church age

4: God “brag’s” about certain believers. This is a very great privilege.

5: Job was blessed 10 times over what he originally had

6: Job was not warned by God that this was going to happen

7: It was absolutely undeserved suffering. Job did nothing wrong

8: Job was being used by God to prove to Satan that he could have followed God

9: Job was being used by God to prove to Satan that a lower creature could follow God even through suffering and still say that God is a fair and just God.

10: Satan has power over the flesh, only as God permits.

Here is a man, who unknown to him, was given the greatest privilege that any believer can have, God bragging about him in heaven to Satan and then letting Satan put him through great tests of affliction. This may not sound like a great privilege when you read all about what Job lost and it may not be easy to understand why, but each of us have the opportunity to become mature believers and have God brag about us and enter us into the courtroom scene and help put another nail in Satan’s “coffin”. It’s called “undeserved suffering for blessing.” The blessing for it will far out weigh what you may have to go through. You may not be called to suffer as much as Job, but you may be called to go through suffering in a lesser way and Paul tell us in 1 Cor 10v13 that we will never be tempted beyond what we can handle.

Some myths about Satan.

He is in Hell.  No he is not. Has been condemned to lake of fire but he is not here yet. Mat 25 v41

He is ruler of Hell. Absolutely not. He doesn’t even want to be there. He is ruler of this earth. John 14 v 30, 1 John 5 v 19

He is a big, scary, ugly monster with horns and a pitchfork. No. He is the most beautiful intelligent creature to ever come from the hand of God. Ezekiel 28 v 11

He is everywhere present. No he can only be in one place at one time. That rules out the idea that Christians have of the devil chasing them to make them sin. It is unlikely that any of us will be important enough to get personal attention from Satan. He is busy with men in positions of great authority. Job 1 v 7

We have authority to “bind Satan” in the name of Jesus. No we do not. Only Jesus has that privilege and it won’t happen until just before the millennium. Even Michael the Arch-angel wouldn’t speak a railing accusation against him but he said the Lord rebuke you. Jude 9. When people pray asking God to bind Satan, they are showing their ignorance of Satanology. God does not answer this prayer because they ask “amiss” James 4 v 3

He is the opposite of God. No. He tries to counterfeit God and His attributes. A counterfeit is only as good as it is close to the original. In many ways he seems to be like God. Isaiah 14v 12-17

He wants to make you sin. No. He is not personally going after you to make you sin. We sin from our own volition influenced by the old sin nature in our flesh, influence from the world and influence from the kingdom of darkness and Satan’s schemes. Satan wants this world to be perfect. He wants man to obey him and do good independently from God, so that he can say to God, “I told you I could rule this world just as well as you.” Alas we know from the state of the world, that Satan has not got the power required to rule the world and this world is an embarrassment to him. Unfortunately the majority of Christians do not understand why they are here and what their purpose is and just get busy trying to clean up Satan’s world. 1 John 2 v 15-16.

Satan wants to deceive the world from the truth of God and His plan for Salvation. He has many systems of false doctrine in place to deceive the average Christian and keep them from growing into “the image of Christ”(Romans 8v29). Satan does not want to destroy church’s but get them involved in cleaning up his world, false doctrine, works etc. Anything but the study of God’s word.

With just a little doctrine in your soul, you will be able to see these schemes and falsehoods promoted by Satan and he does not want that.