Forewarned, Forearmed-Satan Uses Tools!

2Co 2:11  Lest Satan should get an Advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

It is one Mark of practical genius to choose the Right instruments to do its work.

A born administrator is a man who not only works hard himself, but has the skill of choosing the Right men to be his Assistants.

That is always a Mark of practical capacity.

And a true general shows his genius to command by the way in which he uses each branch of the service-cavalry, artillery, and infantry- for its proper work.

Every administrator must make use of agents; and he displays the greatest genius for administration who picks his agents with the greatest skill.

What a magnificent administrative genius that power must be that plots our ruin if we judge it by a test like that.

Could you conceive a finer choice of instruments than Satan makes when he is seeking to overthrow a human soul?

Out of a hundred gates into your hearts and mine, he passes by those that are barred and chooses one that will open at a touch.

His is the plan and his the whole device...

But he gets other hands and other hearts to do the work...

And the whole history of the tempted world, and the whole story of your tempted heart, tells the skillful genius of the choice.

Think of our Lord's experience...

First, in the wilderness Satan tempted Him.

He came himself that time: he sent no messenger and used no agent.

It was a personal conflict between the Prince of Darkness and the Prince of Life.

But the next time the baffled tempter fell back upon this old device.

Next time he does not come in person: he comes in Simon Peter.

What, was it not a master-stroke of genius to reach at the heart of Jesus through the loyal heart of that disciple?

And when Jesus turns and detects Satan's voice in Peter's tongue and cries, "Get thee behind me, Satan, thou savoriest not the things of God," He was Not ignorant of his devices.

And do you think that device is disused today?

Has Satan's brain grown blunted in these latter times?

It is not the men who hate us and it is not the men and women we strongly dislike who tempt us most.

It is those we trust and those who love us best who often prove hell's aptest messengers.

If we but hated those who tempt us, life would become a very easy thing.

It is because we love and respect them so that for a thousand men and women life is hard.

Come, tempter, in thine own cursed shape, and any coward shall beat thee off.

But come through the loving heart of Simon Peter, and look through the loving eyes of Simon Peter, and speak through the loving lips of Simon Peter-and only Christ can make us strong to say, "Get thee behind me, Satan."

~George H. Morrison

When The Earth Trembles: GOD'S Sovereignty In Calamity

Amos 3:6  Shall a Trumpet be blown in the city, and the People not be afraid? shall there be Evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? 

When Earthquakes shake cities, Storms destroy homes, and Floods sweep away lives--the human heart instinctively asks, "Why, Lord?"

Yet Scripture Does Not Leave Us Without An Answer. 

The Word of God boldly proclaims that even the Most Terrifying Natural Events are Not random, but Sovereignly decreed by the Lord who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have Obtained an inheritance, being Predestinated according to the Purpose of him who Worketh all things after the Counsel of His Own Will:

Every Calamity--whether Storm, Drought, Fire, or Plague--reveals the Holy Justice and Majesty of GOD. 

These events are Not outside of His Control, but are part of His All-Encompassing Providence.

This is not to say GOD delights in Destruction; rather, He Uses it to Awaken Dead Hearts to the Reality Of Sin and the Urgency Of Repentance. 

Jesus Himself affirmed this when discussing the tower that fell in Siloam: Those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were worse sinners than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish!

Luke 13:4  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 

Luke 13:5  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Thus, Natural Disasters serve as Divine Megaphones Calling mankind to Humility, Repentance, and Renewed Reverence for the Almighty Creator and Sustainer.

They Remind Us of humanity's frailty, and the Curse that Sin brought upon creation.

Yet for the Believer, the Storm that Humbles us, is also the Storm that Sanctifies us.

Beloved, the Storms of this world are Reminders that Judgment is coming--but so is Restoration.

Every Tempest Whispers the Promise of a New Heavens and a New Earth In which Righteousness Dwells. 

Until that day, let every Earthly Disaster remind us: the Same hand that Sends the storm, also Holds His People Secure Within His Loving Heart.

Sovereign Lord, when Creation Groans and the World Trembles, Teach us to see Your Holiness and Justice in Every Storm. 

Lead us to Repentance, to Awe, and to Unwavering Trust in Your Righteous Rule.

May we Proclaim that in all things--even in Disaster--You Alone are Worthy of Praise. Amen.

Psa 46:1  God is our Refuge and Strength, a very Present Help In Trouble.

Psa 46:2  Therefore Will Not We Fear, though the earth be removed, and though the Mountains be Carried into the Midst of the Sea;

The Shrine Of Mammon

Mar 10:21  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Mar 10:22  And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

At this, the man's face fell, and he went sadly away because he had Many possessions.

You see what the defect was in this young man. He did not possess the faith which overcomes the world. 

He wished to Unite two utterly Irreconcilable things: the Love of GOD, and the Love of Money. 

He wanted to serve Two Masters: GOD, and Mammon.

It was not open vice and profligacy that kept him from salvation.

It was the more decent and reputable sin, of Supreme Attachment to Worldly Things. 

He could give up many sins, but he could not give up his Besetting sin--Supreme regard for Wealth. 

He could do many things, but he could not give up All to follow Jesus.

He could give up open vice, but he could not deny himself and take up his cross. He had many good qualities, but he Lacked one thing.

If open vice has slain its thousands, then Worldliness has slain its tens of thousands!

Of all the false gods, the Shrine of Mammon is most resorted to.

It is from that Idolatrous Temple, that the broadest and most beaten path to the Bottomless Pit will be found.

Included in the crowd which press along that broad road that leads to destruction, are not only the blasphemous, the murderers, the liars and cheats, the proud, and the immoral.

But also those who follow things which are just, and honest, and true, and reputable.

Yet they rise no higher than to be the Worshipers of this sordid deity, Money!

Yes, even Mammon can boast of devotees who hate all that is vile, dishonorable and unjust.

In the Broad road which leads to destruction, there is a path for the Lovers of Money--as well as for the Lovers of Heinous Sins!

Luk 16:13  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye Cannot serve God and mammon.

~J. A. James

IF Our HEARTS Are GLUED To The WORLD!

Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away

Gen 19:17  And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Gen 19:26  But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

When the time to leave Sodom arrived, Lot's wife Could Not Tear Herself Away From It. 

She had always lived in Sodom, and had Loved it, and Delighted in it.

Lot's wife never had any spiritual life; and now, when she is called to leave Sodom, she showed her True Character by a Deliberate Disobedience to God, and risked her all--to give a lingering Love-glance at the Doomed city. 

And so she Perishes. Dreadful doom! 

On the Verge of Mercy--to be Slain by Justice; on the Brink of Salvation--to be the Victim of Eternal Wrath!

This is the subject of our discourse: The love of the world is a soul-damning sin. 

Those who cling to it must perish, be they who they may.

To be Separated from the Ungodly world, its Trifles, its Maxims, its Motives, it's Aims--is the Mark of a True Disciple of Jesus. 

So our Lord implores us to, "Remember Lot's wife!" 

She is to be a Caution to us all, for God will deal with us, as He did with her--if we Share her Character.

If our hearts are Glued to the world, then we shall Perish with the world. 

If our Desires and Delights look that way, and if we find our Comfort in it, then we ourselves will be Consumed with it in the Day Of Judgment. 

Separation is the only way of escape. 

We must either Flee from the Ungodly world, or Perish with it.

I fear that the number of True Christians is very much less than most suppose. 

We are surrounded by a host of people who call themselves Christians, but are as much of the world as other people, whose Pleasure is in the world, whose Speech is worldly, and who are Altogether of the world!

Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 

Luke 17:32  Remember Lot's wife.

Luke 17:33  Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

~Charles Spurgeon