–Mel Odom  (Shooter’s Crossing)

       “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.  Amen.”

                    –Romans 16:20(NKJV)
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How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:  “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”  –1 John 5:19 (NKJV)

We go on living our daily life knowing that God is not surprised by anything that goes on.  It is nothing that is unsuspected, for the devil works to wreak havoc among the inhabitants of the earth.  He is evil and since the world is under his power, why then are we surprised when evil happens?  When people turn their backs on God, ignore His warnings and His word there is nothing to hold back evil.  It will continue–error and evil is to be expected, therefore, prepare for action, take heed and do not stumble.

               “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, ‘In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.’  These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.”
                              –Jude 17-19 (NASB)

I like the way the Amplified reads verse 19, “It is these who are [agitators] setting up distinctions and causing divisions–merely sensual [creatures, carnal, worldly-minded people], devoid of the [Holy] Spirit and destitute of any higher spiritual life.”
       These people mock God and the things of God.  Sin does not bother them.  These people think they were advanced thinkers, more enlightened, thus the old standards were out-of-date.  These are the woke people, pushing their own agenda, their own truth disregarding the word of the Lord.  Since they are more enlightened they are the ones with the answers, therefore get out of the way you of an archaic standard.
       For these individuals who purposely cause divisions, sin in God’s way of thinking does not exist.  Those who “sin” are those who are against them and their agenda.  Paul A. Cedar writes, “Wherever and whenever there is division in the Body you can be certain that the lust of the flesh is being expressed rather than the unity of the Spirit.”  One of the purposes is to split the Body of Christ, tear it asunder.  Remember, these people are postmodernists and their purpose is deconstructionism.  They want to deconstruct life so they can construct it to their own advantage.  The ordinary laws governing man’s conduct no longer exist for them.
       These false teachers, these pseudo-Christians and leaders are despised by Jude.  In fact, he says they do not have the Word of God in their lives.  In spite of their claims they do not have the Holy Spirit and without the Spirit they cannot speak or teach the truth.  These individuals are the ones John called “antichrists.”  It is because of individuals like these that those in the world despise and mock true Christians.
       However, because of their evil, we as believers, should endeavor to live out the Word of God.  We should be walking examples, or as Paul puts it “living letters” and “Christ’s ambassadors” proclaiming by our words and our actions the truth of God’s holy Word.  “The worse others are, the better we should endeavor and approve ourselves to be:  the more busy Satan and his instruments are to pervert others in judgment or practice, the more tenacious should we be of sound doctrine and a good conversation.” (Matthew Henry)  J. Stuart Holden states, “What looks like opposition, and indeed actually is opposition, is always an opportunity of serving the will of God uniquely.”
       We should walk with our shoulders straight, alert, knowing the truth of God’s Word and expecting an attack from the enemy.  The longer we stay in this evil world, that is until the return of Jesus Christ, evil will continue to rise and threaten.  But we, we are children of God.  We have His armor and His Word along with the shield of faith.  Holden writes, “Opposition? But that is what I am for! That is what Christ saved me for! Conflict? But that is what I enlisted for! The fact that there is likely to be trouble is the hallmark of the open door! It assures me as to Whom has opened it! Of course I will take care, God helping me. But what am I to take care of? Of myself or my entrustment?”

                    –Ralph Connor  (The Sky Pilot)

       “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”

                    –Philippians 1:29(NKJV)
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“Woe is me,” comes the cry.  “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me… This world is tough and everything happens to me.  Why, if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all,” says the common man.  But it is also from the thoughts of King Solomon, a man of wealth and riches.  He writes,  “It is a sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled.” (Ecclesiastes 1:13 (NASB)
       Paul continues this thought when he writes, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Romans 8:22, NKJV)  Man moans and groans, but so does creation.  I think that is one of the reasons why we see such devastating storms today along with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.  Surely they are signs of the times–the creation is groaning and moaning.
       People ask why?   But do they really want the answer?  They would rather seek the “truth” of science.  They want a bandaid put on the problem rather than have spiritual surgery and cut it out.  Samuel Cox says, “Those who raise the question, ‘Is life worth living?’ answer it by–living on; for no man lives simply to proclaim what a worthless and wretched creature he is.”  However, I will say that some relish having “bad” things happen to them.  Some want to moan and then tell you how hard they’ve had it.
       Life doesn’t get easier if you try to run away from it.  Alcoholics, druggies, even workaholics are running, trying to escape from reality.  Yet, life only gets harder when people try to escape.  Even with all the “progress” that is proclaimed, there are some things that cannot be changed.  Unless there is a great moral and spiritual awakening thing will only continue to get worse.  Solomon says that even with all his great wisdom and knowledge there is also much folly (Ecclesiasters 1:15-18).  It goes back to the question, “What is truth?”  No matter how much knowledge we gain it will not solve every problem.  Changing the environment does not change the heart.  Escaping, running away, does not change the situation.
       One reason I especially like the Book of Ecclesiastes is that it deals with human life–reality.  It deals with some of the saddest facts of life, “the errors that have diverted men
from their true aim, and plunge them into a various and growing misery.” (Samuel Cox)  What are we doing with our life?  A pastor friend of mine used to say, “Life is for living,” yet so many run from the reality of life.  And truly, Jesus says that we are to worship in spirit and in truth (reality).  By running away, by escaping we cannot be truly worshiping with our lives.  Cox writes, “Our lower aims and possessions become vanities to us only when we seek in them that supreme satisfaction which He who has ‘put eternity into our hearts’ designed us to find only in Him and in serving Him.”  
       We are to worship with our lives.  It is not only a Sunday morning occurrence.  It is not only to happen when people go to the front during the song service.  It is to be a moment-by-moment act of our wills–our lives.  We are to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul (will, emotions), and with all our mind (Matthew 22:37).  How many truly worship with their mind?  Their will?  Far too many think that worship involves on the heart and the emotions.
       True worship is needed by believers.  Not a pseudo-worship, not a feel-good-all-the-time worship, in fact much of worship will come in the midst of trial, sorrow, and suffering.  I always refer to the Shorter Westminster Catechism:  Our aim, our goal, our purpose, our worship–is to “Glorify God and enjoy Him forever!”

                    –Jim Taylor  (The Heat of the Land)

        “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.”

                    –Job 14:1 (NKJV)
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“Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it.”
            –1 Samuel 31:4 (NKJV)

Friend, this old world is evil.  Don’t kid yourself for a minute that the evil that is happening does not have a spiritual element to it.  The devil is always working, and I believe has increased his efforts.  There is something happening in the spiritual realm.  Perhaps it is the tuning up for the trumpet to sound and the Lord Jesus to return.  I hope you have etched the verse I have been using in our lessons regarding living in this evil world.

               “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”
                           –1 John 5:19 (NKJV)

       It’s all about deception.  The great deceiver has been working through the ages and will not stop now.  Look at these statistics:  40% of Christians say that Satan is not a living being, but a symbol of evil.  Lord help us!  Only a symbol, now I understand why I need more and more grace.  Another 22% of Christians say that Jesus sinned when He was on earth.  One more, and I’ll stop–58% of Christians say that the Holy Spirit is but a symbol of God’s power, not a living entity.  What in the world is happening?  Notice, these are Christians!
       Many laugh when you mention the devil is after them.  Hmm, there’s a reason for that laughter; perhaps the devil already has that person in his grips.  Some sneer, some mock when you talk about the devil.  One of the reasons that the Son of God, Jesus Christ came to earth was to destroy the works of the devil.  “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”  (1 John 3:8, NKJV)
       Let me give you something from Ken Gire’s book, The North Face of God.

               “Here is the truth of what we are up against or, more precisely, what is up against us.  We have an enemy whose entire existence–every waking moment, every thought, every expenditure of energy–is bent on dethroning God and destroying everything that in some way reflects God’s character or represents His rule.”

Take a moment to read, and grasp the following:

               –Satan is the god of this world — 2 Corinthians 4:4
               –the whole world is under his control — 1 John 5:19
               –mighty powers in this dark world and evil spirits in heavenly places help him maintain that control — Ephesians 6:12
               –Satan exercises his control with predatory ruthlessness, stalking the earth looking for someone to devour — 1 Peter 5:8
               –his pursuit of prey is relentless, stopping at nothing except at the boundaries the Lord has established — Job 1:6-12; 2:4-6
               –he is a murderer and a liar — John 8:44
               –he incites other to be like him — 1 John 3:7-10; 4:1-6
               –he is called the commander of the powers of the unseen world — Ephesians 2:2
               –he is the ancient serpent, the devil, Satan, and the accuser — Revelation 12:9-10  (The North Face of God)

Laugh, scoff, say he is but a symbol, and when you do that, he has you in his clutches.  Deny the devil, and you deny the Word of God, and if you have studied much church history the attack has mostly been directed at the Word of God:  the living Word, Jesus, or the Word spoken by Him (see John 1:1-4)
       The enemy cannot control our hearts, but he can control what is around us.  He especially wants to distort our view of God.  He attacks through people we associate with, through places we go, through our career and education.  He is relentless and he would love nothing better than for the believer to doubt the Word of God, and have a distorted view of God’s character.

                “The enemy has never been more relentless, never more cunning, never more ruthless.  A daunting decision stands between us and that enemy.  We can sheathe our swords in retreat.  We can lay down our swords in surrender.  We can fall on our swords in despair.  Or we can, with the brave who have gone before us, draw our swords and ride with full fury into the enemy’s ranks.”
                                       –Ken Gire

                    –Stephen Bly  (Shadow of Legends)

       “Because My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to worthless idols.  And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in pathways and not on a highway.”

                    –Jeremiah 18:15(NKJV)
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                    “Everyone who experiences God’s grace has an obligation to pass on what he knows.”
                                  –Eugene Peterson

I have been to many funerals–called celebrations today–and one of the major topics of discussion are the things that are remembered not only about the person, but about each other’s life.  Remember when so and so did this?  Remember that time when we…  The same is true at birthday parties, weddings, and anniversaries.  It is not only a time of gaiety, but also one of remembering past times.  Have you ever been to a reunion?  What is the purpose?  To see how you’re doing now, of course, but mainly to remember the days of yore.  The time before the wrinkles and the aches and pains that life has brought.  Today, we look at the first part of Psalm 78, Asaph wants to teach a lesson from the past.

          1 — Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
          2 — I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,
          3 — Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
          4 — We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
          5 — For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;
          6 — That the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children.
          7 — That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments;
          8 — And may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.  (NKJV)

       Why is our country bent on destruction, on doing evil?  What has happened?  There are many reasons that we could point to, but I will mention a couple.  The pulpit quit preaching the entire Word of God focusing on pet verses, verses that tickled the ear of the listener.  Second, the home fell apart.  Divorce, dead-beat dads, no father in the home, and included in that is militant feminism–the role of the man, the father, being ridiculed and usurped.
       In my years of education, by looking at the child I could usually tell what the home was like.  Not always, for there are exceptions, but for the most part.  An unruly child usually meant there was trouble of some sort in the home.  Father image?  Ha, runaway dads, and sometimes even when they are home, they are not there.  Generations of children being raised without the proper role model of the father in the home.  They will get it from somewhere–mother, neighbor, entertainers, gang leaders, etc.
       The primary purpose of the family unit was to perpetuate the family and the goodness of God.  You are to trust God should have been taught in every household, but especially in those of believers.  Sadly to say, many of them went the way of the world.  Compromise, fun times, not times of instruction and discipline.  Anger instead of discipline.  Oh, and it is so easy to be complacent rather than fight the fight of faith to instill in the children the morals taught by God’s Word.  Add to that manners, courteousness, and honor.
       Study what happens to Israel following the reign of Solomon.  For the most part it is a disaster.  The nation torn in two, families neglected and torn in two.  The Word neglected when it was supposed to be paramount.  Now look at the United States.  Founded upon biblical principles, the Word taught in schools, yet now there is a mood of revisionism in the schools.  Do away with the Word of God, get rid of prayer–and look at what has happened and what is happening.
       The purpose of reunions, of reminiscing is not only to remember, but to pass on the knowledge of the Lord.  Trusting in Him is learned in the home.  Lack of hope looms in our society–look at verse 7, look at the charge, the challenge:  “That they [the next generation] may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.”

               “Come, and let us sweetly join, Christ to praise in hymns divine;
               Give we all, with one accord, glory to our common Lord:
               Hands, and hearts, and voices raise; sing as in the ancient days;
               Antedate the joys above, celebrate the feast of love.”
                         –Charles Wesley