Do you believe in God? Have you ever asked yourself that question? What about the Bible? Do you believe that the Bible is God's Word, and is true? These are all good questions and at some point in life, many people consider them.
II Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
All scripture is given by God.
Man has always had a problem with the integrity of God's Word. He doubts its soundness and truthfulness; and yet, God states:
Psalms 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
God's Word is so wonderful, so spectacular, it is sometimes hard to comprehend. When we let our ignorance and fear affect our judgment with regards to God's matchless Word, we have missed the mark, and do God and ourselves a great injustice.
In my opinion, two of the greatest enemies of man are:
1. Ignorance 2. Fear
Where one is, the other is not far behind. When we are ignorant, we are unaware and uninformed. Webster's defines ignorance as "destitute of knowledge or education, lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified." People do not believe in God many times because they are ignorant of God.
This can be corrected by simple instruction from God's Word.
Romans 10:14-15 14How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Fear goes hand in hand with ignorance People are afraid of what they don't understand. Webster's defines fear as: "an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. A painful agitation in the presence of anticipation of danger, anxiety, dread, alarm." Some people are afraid of God. The reason for this is ignorance and wrong teaching.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This is the true nature of God.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God loves so God gives. You can give without love, but you cannot love without giving. God, the Father is our great example.
The next question I ask is: Do you believe in evil? Do you believe in the devil? Many God-fearing men and women have no problem accepting the Bible when it speaks of heaven, love, and fellowship. When God's Word teaches about Jesus and angels, these are topics that we readily embrace.
For some of us, when God's Word speaks of Satan and his kingdom, we are alarmed and uneasy with such thoughts. Mostly, because of ignorance and fear, we tend to avoid topics that are uneasy and a source of anxiety for us.
I Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
When God's Word teaches on the subject of love, it is the authority on this topic. The same is true with grace, life, death, etcetera. When God's Word speaks about the adversary, the devil, it is still the authority.
God doesn't expose Satan here in I Peter to scare us, He teaches us about the devil because he wants us to know. He does not want us ignorant of the truth that the devil is YOUR adversary. Furthermore, God wants us to know that his purpose is to devour us.
John 10:10a The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
The thief here that Jesus is referring to is the devil.
Revelation 12:12 Therefore, rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
The devil's greatest weapon is ignorance.
II Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
He keeps people in the dark.
I Corinthians 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
The word spiritual is the Greek word pneumatikos and can be understood as meaning: "things that belong to or determined by, influenced by, or proceeds from the spirit."
Although I Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 are written to the saints, and deal mainly with the things of the spirit (pneumatikos), one of the manifestations listed in I Corinthians 12:10 is discerning of spirits.
I Corinthians 12:8-10 8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
In this context, we are instructed not to be ignorant of spiritual matters, including, but not limited to discerning of spirits.
If you think I am beginning to belabor the point, you think wrong. It's easy to come off with some fanciful cliché and dismiss the adversary and any working of him in the world. We are to present the full gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
You cannot present this truth in its entirety unless you expose the devil and his kingdom. It's easy to say, "you are preoccupied and have gone too far with this Satan stuff." It takes no effort to dismiss his tactics, and functions to once in a blue moon.
If you are not aware of Satan's presence and active work in our world, you have deceived yourself. What if the devil is really as evil and clever as scripture teaches? What if he functions daily in the lives of mankind? He is undetected for the most part.
Why were the attacks of 9-11 so devastating to our nation? How could such a thing happen? I'll tell you how: by dismissing such an attack as impossible. The entire nation, for the most part, was asleep. The leadership of our nation knew of a threat. They even knew before 9-11, however they dismissed it and put it on the back burner.
If someone went around trying to wake up the government prior to 9-11, they would have called him a nut, or someone preoccupied with terrorism. After 9-11, perhaps they would view that individual in a different light.
I am willing to be in the minority that is laughed at and ridiculed because I speak out against the adversary and his kingdom. I know all too well how he works secretly to destroy the lives of the saints.
Who benefits better than Satan if he can silence men and women who speak out and expose his kingdom?
Mark 9:2-5 2And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up, into a high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. 3And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. 4And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. 5And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
Can you picture yourself here at the transfiguration? All of a sudden Christ's clothing becomes shining and exceeding white, and then Elias and Moses appear talking to Jesus in a vision.
Peter perhaps never was confronted with this type of power before. He was witnessing a spectacular event. So he offers his input, and says, "let us make three tabernacles…" etcetera.
Verse 6 is very insightful: "for he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid." Peter was very afraid. He didn't know what to say, so what did he do? He covered and said something he felt appropriate. But, the reality behind his statement was he was sore (very) afraid.
Sometimes people will say clever things because of fear. When we are faced with the unknown, we may be tempted to respond with a clever saying, just to cloak our fear.
One would think that an apostle would be free from fear and look forward to experiencing the power of God on a daily basis walking with the Master. We can expect to experience the full gospel as we dare to believe and walk with the Master.
My exhortation is simply:
Do not dismiss him as one who poses little threat. I'll guarantee he doesn't have your best interest at heart.ÿ