OUR FAITH IN OUR LORD IS SATAN’S MAIN TARGET

OUR FAITH IN OUR LORD IS SATAN’S MAIN TARGET

Sakkie Parsons

A lady writes to me, and I know her very well through the internet because she has been receiving my thoughts from the Word for many years, and she also writes to me regularly.

She tells me about many things in their lives that, to put it mildly, have suddenly gone completely wrong. Reading between the lines, I sense that it simply does not make sense to them that they, who serve our Lord, should be burdened with so many problems.

I would like to share with you what came to my heart as I read with compassion and sadness about what they are experiencing and how satan is tugging and pulling at their spiritual lives, trying to tear them apart from within:

Regarding all your problems:

I remember what our Lord tells us in His precious Word, and it seems to me that our Lord thinks you are very strong, able to handle and endure the frustrations of life that come your way.

So first, I want to show you and your loved ones the following passage from our Lord’s precious Word:

1 Corinthians 10:13 (AMP)
“No temptation [regardless of its source] has overtaken or enticed you that is not common to human experience [nor is any temptation unusual or beyond human resistance]; but God is faithful [to His word—He is compassionate and trustworthy], and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability [to resist], but along with the temptation He [has in the past and is now and] will [always] provide the way out as well, so that you will be able to endure it [without yielding, and will overcome temptation with joy].”

I cannot tell you why our Lord allows what He allows in your life, except that I know with absolute certainty that there is a very good reason why He permits it.

For now, I want to use Job’s case as an example to show you the kind of ending that awaits us if we persevere in faith. Yes, even if we must persevere into eternity itself.

For when satan attacks us, it is our faith that concerns him—our faith in our Lord.

1 John 5:4
“For everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world—our [continuing, persistent] faith [in Jesus the Son of God].”

Perhaps, as in Job’s case, our Lord simply wants to show satan, who is our accuser before the Lord, what kind of material you are made of.

Do you remember what happened with Job?

We read:

Job 1:6-8
“Now there was a day when the sons of God (angels) came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan (the adversary, the accuser) also came among them.
The LORD said to Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ Then Satan answered the LORD, ‘From roaming around on the earth and from walking around on it.’
The LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job? For there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God [with reverence] and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God].'”

To me, that sounds very much like the Lord boasting about Job.

And if you continue reading, you will see how satan tells the Lord that Job serves Him only because God has blessed him so greatly—but if God were to take all those blessings away, Job would not merely turn his back on God. No, says satan, Job would curse God to His face.

Of course, our all-knowing God already knew beforehand that this is what satan would say.

Do you remember what the Lord then said to Satan?

Let us read it again:

Job 1:12
“Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.’ So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.”

In other words, as it seems to me when I read between the lines:

“Go ahead then—make a fool of yourself before all your angels.”

And that is exactly what happened.

For after satan had completely destroyed Job’s life from a human perspective—you can read about it yourself in Job 1:13-19—we then read the following concerning Job’s response:

Job 1:20-22
“Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head [in mourning for the children], and he fell to the ground and worshiped [God].
He said, ‘Naked (without possessions) I came [into this world] from my mother’s womb, And naked I will return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.’
Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.”

To bring this very brief summary of Job’s story to a close, you can read the last chapter of Job to see how our Lord blessed him.

When you read that chapter, remember that Job is the oldest book in the Bible and that his story is one of the oldest in human history. Before satan attacked him, Job was the richest man in the East during that early period of human history.

You can read that yourself from Job chapter 1.

Satan’s attack on Job, intended to destroy Job’s faith in our Lord, became so intense that he decided to try again. This time he attacked Job personally, and the richest man in the East ended up sitting on an ash heap, scraping his sores with broken pottery. Even his wife encouraged him to curse God and die.

You can read this in Job 2, but I will quote from verse 7:

Job 2:7-10
“So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
And Job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes.
Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold firmly to your integrity? Curse God and die!’
But Job said to her, ‘You are talking like one of the spiritually foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept only good from God and not [also] accept adversity and disaster?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

Then, if you read the last chapter of Job, you will see that our Lord blessed Job doubly. Because Job believed in our Lord, he became twice as wealthy as before.

For, and I repeat, Job’s faith was in our Lord.

That was Job’s secret—his unwavering faith in our Lord.

Do you remember what you read earlier in this message?

Read this wonderful comforting truth that we possess while we sometimes look helplessly at our circumstances:

Revelation 3:21-22
“He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant to him the privilege to sit beside Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down beside My Father on His throne.
He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Yes, we watch in faith as satan’s attacks sometimes roll over us wave after wave, and we know, because our Lord’s Holy Spirit lives within us:

2 Corinthians 4:6-9
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of the glory and majesty of God clearly revealed in the face of Christ.
But we have this precious treasure [the good news about salvation] in unworthy earthen vessels [of human frailty], so that the grandeur and surpassing greatness of the power will be shown to be from God [His sufficiency] and not from ourselves.
We are pressured in every way [hedged in], but not crushed;

perplexed [unsure of finding a way out], but not driven to despair;
hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted [to stand alone];

struck down, but never destroyed.”

Why not?

Because we know:

Romans 8:28-29
“And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.
For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers.”

Sometimes our Lord uses these very attacks of satan, which seek to destroy our faith, to strengthen our faith in Him even more – and draw us closer to Him, as we realize what suffering Jesus endured for us.

Our God is faithful:

1 Corinthians 1:9
“God is faithful [He is reliable, trustworthy and ever true to His promise—He can be depended on], and through Him you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and be found blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you [to Himself for your salvation], and He will do it [He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own].”

So, my brother and sister in the faith—

As we say in South Africa when circumstances are difficult, while keeping our heroes of faith such as Job in mind:

“Hold fast.”

So that we too may one day joyfully declare:

2 Timothy 4:7
“I have fought the good and worthy and noble fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

When satan, our accuser, causes us to stumble spiritually and then accuses us—as he surely does and always will do—cling to Jesus with genuine repentance.

For how wonderful it is:

1 John 2:1-2
“My little children (believers, dear ones), I am writing you these things so that you will not sin and violate God’s law. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate [who will intercede for us] with the Father: Jesus Christ the righteous [the upright, the just One; who conforms to the Father’s will in every way—purpose, thought, and action].
And He [that same Jesus Himself] is the propitiation for our sins [the atoning sacrifice that holds back the wrath of God that would otherwise be directed at us because of our sinful nature—not with a little cover-up, but an actual taking away of sin], and not for ours alone, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you can do so right where you are as you finish reading this.

Simply tell Jesus in your own sincere words from your heart that you know you are lost without Him and on your way to hell, and that you no longer want to be lost but want to follow Him. In other words, that you want to live according to His principles and have a loving relationship with Him.

Then find a church that accepts the whole Word of God as the infallible Word of the Lord and become involved there.

How wonderful!

If you have done that, you now have an Advocate, Jesus Christ, who pleads your case before the Father against satan, your accuser.

You can also read in our Lord’s precious Word about many other examples of believers who stood firm in their faith through the most difficult circumstances and attacks—sometimes lasting for years—and thus did not allow satan to steal or destroy their faith. Among them are Joseph’s remarkable life story, the persecution of the disciples and early Christians, Paul’s tremendous struggles and victories, and then the greatest example of all—our Lord Jesus Christ, who endured the greatest sacrifice and suffering for us, and whose apparent defeat at the Cross became the greatest Victory of all.

Greetings,

Sakkie