THE SNARE OF THE ENEMY
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: Die strik van die vyand
Translator: Robin Barker
One day I was asked by someone:
“How does it help to serve the Lord, look at how things are going for me?”
This is precisely why I have written this writing.
God does not bribe/buy anyone but one day He has a great reward for those who serve Him and in spite of what satan tries to do to keep them from our Lord.
From time to time people ask: ”Why does it sometimes seem to be very difficult for a child of our Lord?”
The answer for me is actually quite simple:
Because there is a satan.
We must be prepared for the onslaught of satan who wants to steal our redemption and wants to drag us with himself into hell.
The first thing that I think we must remember, is when Adam and Eve rebelled against our Lord, sin came into the world to pollute everyone and everything around us. To such a huge extent, that everyone you now see around you, at some or other time, concerning this life will die and everything that you now see around you, will at some or other time come to an end.
ROM 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
As certainly as you and I know, that we belong to the one and only God Almighty, who sent His Son, so that we can live with Him for eternity:
JOHN 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son
Just as certain that we know the immense truthfulness that you have just read, well just as certain we know there is a satan, who will attempt its utmost to turn you and I against our Lord and in the process, will make yours and my life as difficult as possible.
Because he wants to catch you and me in that way, that we might say:
“There is no God” or he wants us to say:
“If there is a God, He does not want to, or He is not powerful enough to help me.” Or he wants someone to say as you read at the beginning of this writing:
“How does it help to serve God, just look how it is going with me.”
Just in passing, because this is a totally different subject:
I do not serve our Lord, because I want Him to give me a wonderful life here on earth. I serve our Lord because He, through His loving immense grace, saved me, to love Him.
EPHESIANS 2:4-6
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Returning to the actual subject:
In satan’s attempt to get as many people away from our Lord, he does not exclude/pass over anyone but anyone, he did not even exclude Jesus:
MATTHEW 4:8-10
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour.
9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Because satan is who he is, you can, child of God, be assured: Just as there is a winter on earth every year – just as certainly you can be sure, that there will be good times in your life but there will also be terrible things in your life because of satan and just like winters on earth every year, there will sometimes be terrible things which will be even more terrible than what you have previously experienced.
As I look at my experiences and observations on my road through this life, it appears to me, that how closer your relationship with our Lord becomes, how stronger the attack from satan becomes.
Concerning the disciples from the Word as an example, not one of them, from a human point of view, had a nice life.
As an example we know that king Herod had James put to death:
ACTS 12:1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.
ACTS 12:2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
According to tradition, not one of the disciples had a normal death, except John and he also had 'n very difficult time on earth. He was amongst other things a prisoner on Patmos.
Peter, as example, was crucified upside down according to legend and although it is not referenced in the Bible, he writes shortly before his death in the Bible:
2 PETER 1:13-15
13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,
14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
Let’s look quickly at what sort of life, according to my opinion, the greatest apostle of all times had. I am speaking of my great hero Paul, the man to whom our Lord entrusted the greatest portion of the New Testament. Also, according to tradition, he eventually was decapitated in Rome.
There was in those days just like today, people who boasted with what they went through because they were Christians and now, not because he wanted to – but because his adversaries, in actual fact, fatefully forced him to do so, Paul tells us a little about his experiences through which he had been and then he clearly states, that it is actually very naive for a Christian to boast about how you must suffer because you are a child of our Lord.
2 CORINTHIANS 11:23-27
23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.
27 I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
Carefully listen:
Nowhere in the Word do I see, measured against human standards of this world, that a Christian will go through this world without any trouble. Because there is a satan, Jesus says to us:
JOHN 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Even though I may face difficulties on my journey through this world, and I do not share in the pleasures of this world, I have the promise of the lovely complete peace in spite of suffering – which the human mind cannot totally understand:
JOHN 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
That is why the Christian from the beginning could walk joyfully and singing towards the funeral pyre. Because they have understood this immense truth:
2COR 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Only when my relationship with our Lord had reached the depth that I could understand these things, then the following from the Word, made wonderfully sense to me in the way our Lord wanted us to grasp it:
JAMES 1:2-4
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Eventually – and I joyfully write from in my heart – How absolutely wonderful to know:
ROM 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Therefore, until Jesus comes to fetch me, I live my life in His ways and I am thankful for His immense loving mercy and to – through my life and my words – be part of this fulfilment of the prophecy from my God and Redeemer:
MAT 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
ROM 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: …
You can together with me and with so many others be part of that prophecy from our Lord.
By adhering to this command from Jesus to us, you can do it through your words, but also in the way you live your life as an example to those people around you.
MAT 28:19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
MAT 28:20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Greetings,
Sakkie