Newsletter Clippings
(Page four)


Shared With You By
Kraig J. Rice
Bread On The Waters (BOW)
www.breadonthewaters.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Clicking on these internal links will move you down this page)

Satan's Museum in the USSR No Real Christmas Without Him by Sam J. Gallagher
My Kingdom For A Dream by William H. Shea George Muller: Man of Faith and Prayer
Jesus Christ Is Immanuel by Gary Blakeney The Lion, the Lamb, and the Blood
Some Seed Will Yield by Muriel Larson Wanted: Dead (the tongue)
The Humanists and Education in the U.S.A. Spirit-Filled Witnessing
What's In A Name? (Satan) by Robert Morey Attitude of Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
Five Roads To Walk With Jesus by Donald W. Raub Soviet Torturer Decorated
You Can Be An International Intercessor Some advantages of being a Christian "King's Kid!
A Red Chinese student found Christ Angels and Demons by John Hagee
The Seven Deadly Sins by Horatius Bonar Get the Root! (bitterness) by Muriel Larson
Live As Children Of Light by Muriel Larson If I Had My Life To Live Over
But I Have No Talent by Muriel Larson John Three Sixteen (article)
Songs in the Night by Richard L. Jones  

Satan's Museum in the USSR
by Richard Wurmbrand

"Communism is Satanism in modem disguise. For this I offered ample proof in my book "Marx and Satan" (Crossway). Since its publication, new leads have confirmed my assertions.

James Webb in "The Occult Establishment" (Open Court) showed that the leading Russian Communists, Lenin, Trotsky and Bakunin, all had connections with the occult organization, Monte Verita in Switzerland. Why would men who deny the existence of the supernatural frequent Satanist circles?

In the USSR, it would be out of the question to establish a museum of religion except for the purpose of ridicule. Yet, in the town of Kaunas there is a four-story Devil's Museum with 4,000 sculptures, paintings, and masks of Satan.

The Communists also practice what Satan teaches. In the world there are 200 million members of the Communist parties and their youth organizations. In addition, there are some 400 million sympathizers.

These have no inkling that their leaders have Satanist connections."

Quoted from Richard Wurmbrand, Christian Missions to the Communist World Newsletter, April 1987, page 1.

My note:
The above article was written when the USSR was still in existence. There are still communists in the world. With love Communists have to be won for Christ. As the Church of Jesus Christ begins to partake of some of the rich inheritance that has been given us in Christ, we will begin to operate with power in spiritual realms. As we begin to use the tools that God has given us, we will see new hope for accomplishing the mission of the Church. God has not given us an impossible command, but the only way the commission will be realized is as we use the equipment that God has provided for the task. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty! God is concerned that we war a good warfare
(I Timothy 1:18).

A New Year is like a sheet of driven snow
Be careful how you tread
For every step will show

No Real Christmas Without Him
by Sam J. Gallagher

"Amid the hurried throng of shoppers in a snow-covered town in Alaska, strolled a young man. The gay colors and festive decorations of Christmas were all about him, but his head was bent in troubled thought and his gait was measured and slow. Pausing for a moment in the falling snow, he drew a wrinkled and worn letter from his pocket. His eyes rested on these words, "We can have no real Christmas without you. Please come home. Mother and I are advancing in years and we desire above all to see your face once again." Hurriedly wiping away the gathering tears his decision was made. He would spend Christmas with those who loved him.

Throughout this highly privileged country of America, millions will be celebrating during this Christmas season. There will be trees, tinsel, twinkling lights, and gaily-wrapped gifts. But can there be any real Christmas without Him for whom Christmas was instituted? Jesus Christ came to this earth over 1900 years ago as a Babe in Bethlehem. His bodily presence is no longer with us, for He is seated at the Father's right hand, but being the omnipresent Son of God, His presence in Spirit pervades the universe. His eyes penetrate far beyond the glitter, the glamor, and the festivities of the Christmas season to the heart of each of us. He will spend Christmas with those who love him; those who have made a place for Him in their hearts and lives. These are the ones who have placed their trust in Him and who know the peace He came to bring. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"
(Romans 5:1).

Yes, Christmas will be empty without Him in your heart. Life itself is but one long round of despair and anxiety without a personal relationship with the majestic Christ of the Ages. He alone has the power to forgive sins, and thus grant peace to the troubled soul. It was for this purpose that He was born in Bethlehem, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins"
(Matthew 1:21). For the same purpose He gave His life on the Cross of Calvary for us, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins"
(Ephesians 1:7). For this purpose also he arose again from the tomb, "...raised again for our justification"
(Romans 4:25).

There is abundant living for those who by faith accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly"
(John 10:10). "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life"
(John 5:25). "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life"
(I John 5:12).

To live without Him is forfeiting the only real and lasting joy that is offered to mankind and is also sealing your destiny for all eternity in the regions of the lost. Accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour today. Be among the number that love him, enjoy Him, and serve Him. When eternity calls you will then be with Him in the land of the blest. Only those who love Him will spend eternity with Him. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also"
(John 14:3)."
Quoted from The Gospel Tract Harvester Newsletter, September-October 1986, page 6-7.

We envy a man's triumph
Not his struggle to attain it

My Kingdom For A Dream
by William H. Shea

"In a few, short months he rose from obscurity to become the leader of the world's most powerful nation. No, we're not talking about Bill Clinton, but Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon— and a story that comes to us from his time can help us make sense of today's headlines.

The new superpower

With his father ill, Nebuchadnezzar had been given command of the Babylonian army in the spring of 605 B.C. Marching his troops to the Euphrates River in ancient Syria, he came to Carchemish— a fortress city used by the Egyptians to guard the place where it was easiest to cross the river.

A terrific battle ensued. The forces of Pharaoh Neco II were destroyed; the remnants of the Egyptian army fled south. Nebuchadnezzar and his army followed them, mopping up opposition along the way. As a result, Syria and Palestine became a part of the Babylonian Empire.

In August, Nebuchadnezzar learned of his father's death. Leaving off his military campaign, he hurried back to Babylon and claimed the throne. And there you have it: from prince in March to king of a great and newly conquered empire in August.

A part of his new empire was the kingdom ofJudah. While campaigning, Nebuchadnezzar had come to Jerusalem and demanded that Jewish king Jehoiakim surrender both tribute money and hostages. Seeing that it was futile to resist, Jehoiakim did as he was told.

And among the hostages he handed over were Daniel and his three friends: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

Honored hostages

Daniel and his friends were taken to Babylon, not just to ensure Judah's good behavior, but to be schooled in the ways of empire. By making a place for Jews in his civil service, you see, Nebuchadnezzar hoped to give them a stake in Babylon's future. The hostages knew that if Babylon prospered, they prospered— and that, Nebuchadnezzar believed, would ensure their loyalty and forestall revolt.

Every effort was made to remake the identity of the hostages. They were given Babylonian names— Daniel was renamed Belteshazzar (i.e., "may Bel [the chief of all Babylonian gods] protect the king's life") his friends were given the names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

The hostages were also sent to Babylonian schools. There they learned the Babylonian language and the cuneiform script with which it was written. They probably studied mathematics and astronomy. And though they may not have liked the course very much, they probably had to learn something about astrology.

Astrology was important to the Babylonians because they were interested in almost anything and anyone who claimed the ability to predict the future. Archaeologists, for instance, have dug up a number of the clay tablets that Babylonian diviners used to learn hepatoscopy — the art of predicting the future by means of a sheep's liver. If certain lobes of the liver of a sacrificed sheep were unusually large, this was believed to mean that the king should (or should not) go to war!

Other methods abounded. Diviners searched for clues by shaking arrows (belomancy), by studying the patterns made by oil on water (hydromancy), and— perhaps most commonly— by interpreting dreams (oneiromancy).

Forgotten dream

These divinatory arts were put to the test soon after Daniel arrived in Babylon, when Nebuchadnezzar had a dream— or more accurately, when Nebuchadnezzar woke up one morning and remembered that he had had a dream. He could not remember what it was about, but he knew the dream had impressed him as being very important.

Naturally, he turned to his advisers— some of whom probably had taught Daniel. But his advisers were stumped. They could interpret signs and symbols if someone told them what they were, after all, but they could not recreate them out of the unknown.

Nebuchadnezzar was angry— and when you are the world's most powerful ruler, you can do a great deal of damage when you're angry. "What's the use of wise men," he must have said, "if they can't help you when you need it most? I might as well have them all killed!"

So the order went out that all of Nebuchadnezzar's advisers were to be executed— and that "all" included Daniel and his friends. Their lives were on the line— but as a result of their prayers, God produced for them what the pseudoscientists of Babylon could not. God revealed to Daniel the knowledge, both of Nebuchadnezzar's dream and what it meant.

Daniel took this news to Nebuchadnezzar and, when he'd heard the details, the king was pleased. He promoted Daniel to a higher position in his government and cancelled the impending executions of his advisers.

Image of the future

The dream God gave Nebuchadnezzar— and Daniel— was an outline of human history, using a symbol with which Nebuchadnezzar was thoroughly familiar. Nebuchadnezzar had seen an image or idol— much like the one he would have found in any local temple. But while the typical image was made of a single kind of metal, this image was segmented vertically, with each part made of a different metal: a gold head, silver chest and arms, belly and thighs of brass, iron legs, and feet made of a mixture of iron and clay.

Each metal, Daniel told the king, represented a kingdom that was to come on the scene of history. Daniel identified the first— the gold head— by telling Nebuchadnezzar, "You, 0 King, are that head of gold." The breast and arms of silver, however, he told the king, represented "another kingdom, inferior to thee, [that] shall arise."

Daniel lived to see the transition to this next kingdom. The story about how the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon is told in the fifth and sixth chapters of his book. Clearly, the breast and arms of silver represented the Persian Empire.

But the rulers of Persia did a foolish thing. Twice they attempted an invasion of Greece, once under Darius I and once under his son Xerxes. Both attempts succeeded only in stirring up the Greeks. And when Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire in 328 B.C., the belly and thighs of bronze in the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream had come on the scene of action.

Alexander's empire did not long survive his death, however. It broke into pieces— and one by one, those pieces were picked off by the iron empire of Rome. Mainland Greece fell in 168 B.C.; Asia Minor in 133 B.C. And with the fall of Syria and Judah in 60 B.C., the fourth great Mediterranean empire predicted by Daniel had come to pass.

But then history entered a new stage. The next era was represented by a mixture of iron and clay— a mixture that would not stick (or "cleave") together. Unlike the monolithic empires of the past, in other words, this would be a mix of kingdoms, both strong and weak. And any attempt by one to take over the others would fail— just as would any attempt to weld steel to ceramics.

You can see how up-to-date this prophecy is. No one has ever been able to put together the shattered pieces of the Roman Empire— not Charlemagne, not Napoleon, and not Hitler. True, the Treaty of Maastricht may encourage commercial, economic, and political ties. But events in the Balkans, the Caucasus, and elsewhere demonstrate the continuing truth of this prophecy, over 2,500 years after it was given.

Everlasting empire

But wait! There is one more part to the dream!

In his dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw a stone— one that, without human effort, had somehow been cut from a mountainside. The stone rolled onto the plain where the image stood and smashed the image to pieces. Then the stone grew until it filled the whole world.

Nebuchadnezzar's dream, then, culminates, not in the shattered remnants of the iron kingdom, but in a kingdom of stone— a kingdom shattering everything that came before it: "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand for ever"
(Daniel 2:44, RSV).

The stone that represents this kingdom does not come from the metal image, but from outside. It has been prepared by God, not by man. It is a kingdom completely different from the kinds of kingdoms that men and women prepare. It is a kingdom in which peace and truth and justice and righteousness will prevail completely.

That is the kind of kingdom that awaits us and that God has prepared for us— the kingdom of heaven that God shall set up at the end of time. It is the kingdom over which Christ shall reign and a kingdom in which we shall live with Him forever.

And we know that this kingdom is coming soon. How do we know that? Because in the 2,500 years since God gave the dream to Nebuchadnezzar, everything else it predicted has come true. And if Daniel was able to so accurately foresee the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms, shouldn't we trust him when he predicts the establishment of God's heavenly kingdom?

We live in the time when the contents of Nebuchadnezzar's dream have been exhausted— and with them, human history. ...the next great event in world history will be the establishment of the "stone kingdom" of Daniel Chapter 2— God's eternal kingdom."

Quoted from the Signs of the Times Magazine, May 1993, pages 24-27.
With a M.D.from Loma Linda University and a Ph.D. in Assyriology from the University of Michigan, William Shea was a researcher in the Biblical Research Institute, located at Silver Spring, Maryland at that time. Copyright 1993 by William Shea.

Faith is walking to the edge of all the light you have
And
Taking one more step

George Muller: Man of Faith and Prayer
by Diana Severance

"THE ORPHAN CHILDREN all had their dinners and were ready for bed. They always felt loved and cared for in the Bristol orphanage; little did they know that the orphanage had no money and there was no food for breakfast the next day.

Though he did not know how, George Mueller was confident the Lord would provide for the orphans - after all, wasn't he a "father to the fatherless"
(Psalms 68:5)? Mr. Mueller went to bed, committing the care of the orphans to God.

The next morning he went for a walk, praying for God to supply the orphanage's needs. In his walk he met a friend who asked him to accept some money for the orphanage. Mueller thanked him, but did not tell the friend about the pressing need. Instead, he praised God for the answer to prayer and went to the orphanage for breakfast.

No Salary for George

George Mueller had joyfully dedicated his "whole life to the object of exemplifying how much may be accomplished by prayer and faith." When he had moved to Bristol in 1832 to take the pulpit of Gideon Chapel, he and his wife Mary decided not to accept a salary from the congregation. They wanted to daily depend upon the Lord for their needs, and they accepted only unsolicited freewill offerings. Mueller's journal is full of the amazing ways the Lord directed funds to them throughout his sixty-six years of ministry.

A Detestable Young Drunk

George Mueller had not always lived a life of faith. As a young man in Prussia (in today's Germany) he was busy pursuing his own pleasures. At age fourteen, when his mother lay dying, he was out partying and getting drunk with his friends. By sixteen he was a liar, a thief, a swindler, a drunkard, and in jail. Yet, God worked in the young man's soul and brought him to Himself. While at the University of Halle in 1825, he left behind the profligacy and self-seeking of his old life and became totally devoted to serving his Lord. Humility came to mark Mueller's life, for he depended on God for everything, viewing himself as a tool in the hands of the Master Workman.

By 1829, Mueller had left his native Prussia and gone to London to train as a missionary to the Jews. However, in England the Lord directed him along other paths, and by 1832 he was pastoring a Brethren congregation in Bristol. Bristol would be the center of his ministry for the next sixty-six years.

Influenced by Pietism

At Bristol, Mueller began reading a biography of a great leader of the Pietism movement, A. H. Francke, who had founded an orphan house at Halle in 1696. Francke's orphanage became the largest enterprise for orphans then existing in the world, and he had trusted in God for every provision. As Mueller began to work with the poor in Bristol, he too wanted to trust the Lord and bring every need to Him in prayer.

A year after coming to Bristol, Mueller had established two Sunday schools, two adult schools, and six day schools. In 1834 he founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institute. Debts were not allowed for this work of the Lord, and the "patronage of the world" was not to be accepted. The Lord prospered the work. By 1880 the institute was responsible for seventy-two day schools with seven thousand students in Bristol, besides others in Italy, Spain, and South America.

Homes for Orphans

As work among the poor in Bristol grew, Mueller believed he should open an orphan house. Within a year, one hundred orphans were being cared for; by 1870, the orphanages had multiplied and two-thousand children were being cared for.

The homes emphasized education and the development of Christian character. The quality of education was so high that Mueller was accused of educating the poor beyond their station and robbing the factories and mines of their labor. Boys were kept in homes until they were fourteen and girls until they were seventeen. All were trained in some work so they had jobs when they left the orphanage. Boys were often apprenticed to some trade and the girls were prepared for domestic service, nursing, or teaching.

It's God's Concern

The history of the Bristol orphanages is page after page of answered prayer. Nothing was too small to bring to the Lord in prayer, for nothing was too small to be under God's care. In his prayers, Mueller would confidently set his need and his case before God: "He is their Father and therefore has pledged Himself, as it were, to provide for them; and I have only to remind Him of the need of these poor children in order to have it supplied."

An Unfailing Faith

It was this unshakable faith in God's providing hand that made the Bristol orphanages so unique. Some leaders visiting the orphanage asked the matron of the home, "Of course you cannot carry these institutions without a good stock of funds...Have you a good stock?" The matron quietly replied, "Our funds are deposited in a bank which cannot break." Tears came to the eyes of the visitors, who gave a donation to the work, a very timely gift because at the moment there were no funds on hand! The orphanage never accumulated a surplus of funds, but daily relied on the Lord for the provisions.

When he was seventy, George Mueller turned over the management of the orphanages to his son-in-law and began a series of worldwide missionary tours. From 1875 to 1892 he traveled 250,000 miles and addressed three million people in forty-two countries. He died in Bristol at the age of 93. Though the equivalent of millions of dollars had passed through his hands he accumulated no wealth for himself. His life demonstrated what extraordinary ministry can be accomplished through the combination of tender compassion for hungry and homeless children, unshakable faith in God, and practical action to meet needs."
Quoted from the Gospel Tract Harvester Newsletter, December 2001, page 6
Diana Severance was with the Christian History Institute at that time

The Lord of the ministry
Is
More important than the ministry of the Lord

Jesus Christ Is Immanuel
by Gary Blakeney

"The Bible, in Matthew chapter one, emphasizes both the humanity and the divinity of Jesus. His humanity is emphasized in two ways. First in the genealogical list of names
(Matthew 1:1-17); this shows that all of Jewish history prepared the way for His birth. Jesus was a part of history. Second, His humanity is shown in His birth to a human mother. Jesus was fully human just like you and me.

The divinity of Jesus is also emphasized in two ways. First, in the immaculate conception and virgin birth; this was not an ordinary birth
(Matthew 1:18, 20, 23, 25). It was different. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. The second way His divinity is emphasized is in the three names applied to Him in chapter one:

1. JESUS (Matthew 1:21, 25). This was His human name. It is the Greek equivalent of Joshua and means "The Lord saves." Just as Joshua saved Israel by delivering them from the wilderness to the Promised Land, so Jesus delivers sinners from sin to salvation.

2. CHRIST (Matthew 1:16, 17). This was His official title. It is the Greek equivalent of Messiah and means "anointed." Jesus is the Anointed One of God. He is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. As Matthew goes on to show in his gospel, Jesus is the King, not only of the literal nation of Israel, but of the universe.

3. IMMANUEL (Matthew 1:23). This name describes who He is. This word, however, is not Greek but Hebrew, so Matthew translates it for us. It means "God with us." That is who Jesus is. He is God with us. Not only is Jesus fully human, but He is also fully divine. Jesus' divinity is not a concept unique to Matthew
(John 1:1, 14; 5:18; 10:35-37; Philippians 2:6-11; Colossians 1:15-20). Although Jesus in His very essence is God, He did not want His equality with God to be hard for mankind to grasp. Instead, He humbled Himself by taking on human form and sacrificially giving Himself in death on the Cross. Comprehend that if you can! God not only provides the sacrifice, He is the sacrifice! What mercy! What love! What grace!"
Quoted from the Gospel Tract Harvester Newsletter, December 2001, page 15

For all you do
His blood is for you!

The Lion, the Lamb, and the Blood
by Curtis Dickinson

"Nothing in all of history impacts the human race like the death and resurrection of Jesus. But this generation, for the most part, fails to see the heart of the matter, and few people seem to make the connection between the Blood of Christ and their own eternal destiny. The Christian who has fathomed the meaning of the Blood of Christ has seen the heart of God as He is touched by our sin, in both His judgment and His mercy.

Jesus spoke of His "blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins"
(Matthew 26:28). Paul said, "being now justified by his blood,"
(Romans 5:9) and John wrote that Christ "washed us from our sins in his own blood"
(Revelation 1:5).

In the fifth chapter of Revelation (verses 1-5), John describes his vision in which no one is able to open the book sealed with seven seals. Then he is told that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome to open the book, but when John looks for a lion, he sees a Lamb
(Revelation 5:6), a Lamb that has been slaughtered, to which the four and twenty elders sing a "new song" saying, "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation"
(Revelation 5:9).

The Blood and the Lamb

When God determined to slay the first born in Egypt, He provided a way of escape for the sons of Israel, who dwelt there as slaves. They were to slay a lamb and put some of its blood around the doorways of their houses. The blood was the evidence that a lamb had been killed, and the first born in those homes would be saved from death.

The issue here was life and death, and the shedding of blood was the means by which the animal was put to death. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul"
(Leviticus 17:11).

Wherever blood was used in sacrificial offerings, it signified that death had taken place. However, the death of animals was not sufficient for meeting the penalty of man's sins. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins"
(Hebrews 10:4). The needed sacrifice was found in Jesus. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage"
(Hebrews 2:14, 15).

When the prophet Isaiah described the coming of a suffering servant to redeem God's people, he pictured Jesus as a lamb led to the slaughter, dying for the people "to whom the stroke was due." Just as the lamb was put to death to save the first born Israelites from death, Jesus was slain that we might be saved from death in the Day of Judgment. John the Baptist, therefore, introduced Jesus by saying, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world"

(John 1:29). Expressions such as "the Cross of Christ," and "the Blood of Christ" are euphemisms that always signify Christ's death. We are cleansed, washed, sanctified, and justified by His Blood only in that His Blood means His death. Paul could write, "we have been justified by his blood" because when Jesus shed His Blood He was dying for us under the penalty of sin. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him"
(2 Corinthians 5:21). In effect, the judgment has already taken place on the Cross for believers who by faith are justified by His Blood.

The Lion

Like a lamb being led to the slaughter, Jesus willingly submitted to crucifixion that the final penalty for our sins might be met, His death demonstrates that God's laws are life and death matters. Christ died because God takes His laws very seriously indeed. Christ's death also demonstrates God's tremendous love and mercy, in that He would give His Son that we might not suffer the final death at judgment for our sins, but might have life and immortality.

By sacrificing Himself, Jesus gained a great victory over the world, sin and death, making Him worthy to "take the book and open the seals thereof"
(Revelation 5:9).

But in John's vision Jesus is also identified as the Lion of the tribe of Judah
(Revelation 5:5). After Jesus, the Lamb, was obedient even unto death, God raised Him up, exalted Him, and gave Him all authority in Heaven and on earth. No longer is He the lowly Lamb, submitting to the abuse of evil men who oppose God. Now He is the King, reigning on the throne of David, and will return to judge the world in righteous judgment
(Acts 2:30,31; 17:31).

It is fitting for us to sing about the Blood of Christ, if by this we have in mind the value of His death for us. To acknowledge His death is also to acknowledge our debt to Him. Following the example of Jesus, Christians are to humbly obey the Father and be willing to suffer tribulation and the persecution of the oppressors in patience.

"And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again"
(2 Corinthians 5:15). To glory in His death is a shame unless we put ourselves at God's disposal to be used as His servants to please Him."
Quoted from the Gospel Tract Harvester Newsletter, April/May 2003, page 6

 The way God works:
 He births the vision
 He chooses the vessels
 He provides the seed
 He prepares the partners
 He guarantees the harvest

Some Seed Will Yield
by Dr. Muriel Larson

"I've been cheated!" complained an angry man to the Atlanta newspaper.

"For three years straight now I've been buying a bag marked "wild bird seed" from a store and planting the seed. Nothing has ever come up. Should I sue the company?"

Bird lovers may sympathize with the man in the loss of his money. But they might also be tempted to advise him that bagged birdseed is for the birds and not for planting!

Have you ever sowed seeds and wondered why plants never came up? Perhaps the seeds were old and had lost their fertility. Perhaps they were planted too deep or too shallow. Perhaps the birds or bugs ate them. Or maybe they did come up, but cutworms got them.

Jesus, in His parable about a sower, told about how the seed fell on different kinds of ground. Some fell by the wayside and was devoured by birds. Some fell on stony ground, sprang up quickly, and then withered away. Some fell among thorns and was choked and yielded no fruit. Other seeds fell on good ground and yielded much fruit. Jesus explained that this was like the Word of God being sown among men.

WHAT KIND OF SEEDS DO WE PLANT?

True Christians have an inherent desire to share their faith with others. We want to sow the seed as our Lord commanded. But sometimes we may wonder, even as the man who planted birdseed, why we never see any results.

Could it be that we are planting the wrong seeds, as he did? Jesus said the seed is the Word of God. This is the best seed to plant, for the Word of God does the work of God.
Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Can personal opinions or arguments on side issues have anything like the power of God's Word? Actually they can't, because they are like the birdseed that is just for the birds. When we are trying to reach someone for Christ, it's best for us to share the wonderful truths of His salvation, along with the living Word of God. And of course we can tell how the Lord transformed our lives.

HAVE PATIENCE!

Yet what if we do tell others about Christ and use Scripture, and nothing seems to happen? It's discouraging, isn't it? Birds and bugs may get our flower seeds; and as Jesus said, the birds devour seed scattered by the wayside.

What should we do when this happens? Keep on sowing. One spring I planted some vegetable seeds, and either they didn't come up or the frost got the seedlings. I planted some more of the same kind later and they all came up. The Bible says, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not"
(Galatians. 6:9).

Some years ago I had a neighbor with whom I shared the gospel. A middle-aged woman, she was a church member but didn't know the Lord. It seemed that the more I talked to her, the less I got through. But I kept planting and praying.

One day Bette surprised me by asking if I could show her how to be saved. Joyfully I sat down with her and the Bible and shared with her the way of salvation. She knelt with me in her living room and received the Lord Jesus as her Savior. She was filled with joy! Shortly after that she was baptized and became active for the Lord. The seed finally came up, bright and green, and it bore fruit in Bette's life.

MISPLANTED SEEDS

Sometimes seeds may be sown in wrong ways, even as literal seeds may be planted too deep or too shallow. We may share the gospel with someone without backing it with prayer or genuine concern. Some Christians hit people over the head with the Word, in a superior, contentious spirit. That's really burying it! On the other hand, our stand for Christ and the Bible may be wishy-washy; a shallow planting that bears no fruit. The Bible says, "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him"
(Psalm 126:6). Now that's the way to plant the gospel!

CARING FOR YOUNG GROWING THINGS

Isn't it a joy to see young plants spring up? Yes, and it's a joy to see the Word spring forth into life eternal for some fellow human being. But have you ever seen what happens to young tomato plants when cutworms have been busy during the night? Disasterville!

You have to surround the young plants with little cardboard collars or sticks to protect them from the cutworms. If you put tomato plants out too early in the spring, frost might get them also; so you must sometimes cover them with caps at night.

Even so, young Christians need the prayers and ministrations of older Christians to help protect them from the devastation of their enemy, Satan. They need to be nurtured by the Word, helped to grow to the point where they can stand firm for the Lord. They need to be covered with the protective mantle of prayer.
Ephesians 6:18 tells us to pray in the Spirit, on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. We are to be alert and keep on praying for all saints.

It takes a lot of work to be a good "farmer" for the Lord- but it's worth it!"
Quoted from the Gospel Tract Harvester Newsletter, June 2003, page 12

The reason a dog has so many friends is because he wags his tail
Instead of his tongue

Wanted: Dead
by Ethel Buttram

"KNOWN CRIMINAL: Attacks without warning; usually very sly and subtle.

KILLER: Can kill body and soul.

DESTROYER: Known to destroy the value of life itself. Will destroy all that is good and holy.

HOME BREAKER: Will turn wives against their husbands and husbands against their wives. Parents are turned against their children and children against their parents.

CHURCH SPLITTER: He has been known to split churches, causing pastors to turn away in sorrow with their characters slandered. By breaking hearts of the saints, he has destroyed Christian standards and influence.

WORLDWIDE HATE: He has caused nation to turn against nation and kingdom against kingdom, bringing hatred and distrust.

ROBBER: He has turned riches into rags and kindness into bitterness.

If he is not conquered he will continue on his road of destruction; leaving scenes of ruin, rivers of tears, souls suffering and left with battle scars.
(Read Matthew 12:35-37).

When you see evidence of his whereabouts, approach him boldly in the Name of Jesus, taking the Sword of Faith...the Word of God. 


     He can be caught and stopped! Use Matthew 18:18.
     His aliases are: TEMPER, GOSSIP ENVY, LIAR, JEALOUSY.
     His name is the TONGUE.
"The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiletht the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell"
(James 3:6).

"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison"
(James 3:8).

"Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these ought not so to be"
(James 3:10).

"... let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meeknesss of wisdom"
(James 3:13).

"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy"
(James 3:17).
Quoted from the Gospel Tract Harvester Newsletter, June 2003, page 15

School: A place with four walls
And
Tomorrow inside

The Humanists and Education in the U.S.A.
by Kraig J. Rice

"Professing themselves to "be wise, they became fools" (Romans 1:22).

I was unsaved in 1964 when I took a class on anthropology (the study of man) at the local Santa Rosa Junior College. The professor taught the theory of evolution as fact, that the Bible was a collection of fairy tales and myths, and taught that the Jews were a cult. He believed this nonsense himself and this is what partly made the philosophy so believable to me. I could have dropped the class at any time but I enjoyed the class and believed what I was taught by this man. He quoted all kinds of facts, figures, and dates to make his philosophy seem truthful. Believing in the theory of evolution, however, never gave me peace in my heart, a conscience clear of guilt, or a reason for living. The man taught with the complete approval and sanction of the administration of the college. Never once was evolution allowed to be refuted or the Biblical-creation view given equal time.

The college professor was sincere in his belief and teaching of the theory of evolution. However, just because a person is sincere does not mean he is absolutely right. He may be sincerely wrong or sincerely deceived. I have met some of the most devout cultists seeking to sway me to their religious beliefs who were absolutely sincere in what they believe to the point of having tears in their eyes when they talk to me. No matter, if what they believe and propogate is contrary to God's Holy Word, the Bible, then they are sincerely wrong.

Why was a college professor able to teach evolution as fact and as the truth in one of this nation's public colleges? I didn't know the answer until many years later when I learned about Secular Humanism. My purpose in writing this is to give a brief summation on this subject from the way I understand it so one may understand why I encountered what I did in a public college.

What is Secular Humanism? Briefly stated. Humanism is a religion (declared so by the U.S. Supreme Court) that teaches that man is his own god and that he should rely upon himself and his own powers to solve any and all problems apart from the control and guidance of God. It is the same deadly "enlightenment" that Satan used on the first couple in the Garden of Eden to get them to disobey God and go their own way in defiance of God.

How the Humanists infiltrated our society is another story. They have gained control of the news media, entertainment and television media, the government, the medical field, law, politics, and some church denominations. I wish to limit my discussion here to how they dominated the educational system in America because it was in the educational field I first encountered the Humanists and their godless philosophy of evolution.

The first American to use public education to promote Humanism was John Dewey. His "band wagon" was progressive education. Beginning in the early 1930's, during the Great Depression era, he and others promoted and pushed ahead Humanism into public education. Once this cancer was intrenched in the body it spread and spurred on the collapse of the Judeo-Christian ethic in public education. The death verdict was pronounced over the decease of the Judeo-Christian ethic in 1963, when the Humanistically inclined U.S. Supreme Court justices outlawed the recitation of the Lord's prayer and Bible study in public education.

I believe America has come a long way in departing from what the founding fathers had in mind when they began public education. The intentions of this country's founding fathers was to establish a nation where the laws of God were followed by church and state— as closely as was humanly possible. They understood and recognized the need for a wonderful Constitution that would protect the people from the corrupt powers of an overbearing civil government, and they realized that their new government was to curb human depravity and be a servant to the people. The early Puritans in our country realized their dependence upon God and established a covenant relationship with Him because He was a Person to be feared if the sins of their new nation moved His hand of anger against them. They were wise because the Bible says "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"
(Psalms 111:10). God blessed them and their new nation. The public schools were used to teach students to read, especially the Bible.

My forefather, Edmund Rice, was an ordained Deacon in the Puritan Church, He came to America from England in 1638 and for generations afterward his children and grandchildren feared God and obeyed the Lord's Commandments. I wonder what he would think if he were alive now and could see how radically different things have become. What he would object to the most is that our public schools have become anti-Christ indoctrination centers. Among other things unbiblical "values clarification" is an attempt to brainwash the minds of students to hold to relative rather than absolute standards of morality. This is the kind of morality that is built on a foundation of sand rather on a foundation of rock.

Who are the humanists? They are men and women who are spiritually blind but organized. The first Humanist Manifesto went to press in 1955, but in the fall of 1975, the leaders of the American Humanist Association updated the 1953 manifesto to make the Humanist Manifesto II. Stating it basically and briefly, the Humanists believe in the following: 


      1. Any belief in a personal God is an unproven and outmoded faith.
      2. The priority of human needs and experience is placed above
         God and religious revelation.
      5. Humans come first, not God; and nature comes first, not deity.
      4. No deity will save mankind: mankind must save itself.
      5. Science affirms that the human species is an emergence from
         natural evolutionary forces.
      6. Ethics is autonomous and situational, needing no theological
         or idealogical sanction. Ethics stem from human need and interest.
      7. Individuals should be permitted to express their sexual
         proclivities and pursue their life-styles as they desire.
      8. Innovative and experimental forms of education are to be welcomed.
It appears to me that the Humanists have decided to force the U.S.A. to condemn its educational "house" established on the Rock and move it to a foundation that is built upon the sand. I smell "coven conspiracy" here. The Bible story in
Matthew 7:26-27 of the house built upon the sand goes this way from Jesus: "And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it." I believe Christians, with the help of God, can defeat the Humanists. They are not ten feet tall but only flesh and blood. They can be voted or appointed out of office, They can be prayed out of office or be converted to Jesus Christ while holding their office of responsibility.

In the political arena there is a great danger now of Humanists posing as "born again" Christians to obtain votes and political favor. These are political wolves in sheeps clothing and do not love Jesus Christ or His people or what they stand for. One may know them by their political fruits (voting records, whether or not they are now or have been members of Humanistically inclined associations or receive campaign support or funding from Humanistic dominated groups).

The Humanists don't believe in God and do believe in evolution. That is why I was taught evolution as fact in 1964 in public college and the professor was allowed to teach it with the complete approval and sanction of the college administration. There is no proof to substantiate the lie of evolution as fact. The Bible says, "The fool hath said in his heart. There is no God."
(Psalms 14:1). Why are we letting a lot of fools loose in our education departments? It's because our foundation of public education is a moral disgrace in the eyes of God.

After learning the lie of evolution I became a humanist. I went home one night after my anthro class was over with for the day and argued with my Bible believing mother about the truthfulness of the Bible and cast doubts on its credibility even though I had never read or studied it in any great capacity. My mother frustrated my logical attacks by simply stating, "You just have to accept the Bible on faith." That did not satisfy me at all intellectually at that time. Later, after my conversion to Christ I studied the Bible intellectually at Bethany Bible College and obtained all the answers I sought for.

Is Humanism dangerous? I have to say yes. If a Christian goes to a public college he or she must prepare to encounter the lie of evolution taught as fact and be able to withstand peer pressure. This takes a strong Christian well anchored in his or her beliefs. Some varying forms of philosophy are also taught as absolute truth and should be avoided like the plague. It may be dangerous to the faith of a Christian to go to secular college after having attended Christian high school through all four years. In this case I recommend a Christian college. Once I met a young woman who had suffered a tremendous mental breakdown. She had been raised as a Christian and believed the creation account of Genesis. She went to a secular college and studied evolution. Her parents told me her mind "snapped" due to the conflict between what they had taught her from the Bible and what the college had taught her in regards to evolution. She became nearly a living vegetable and stayed in this condition for years afterwards. One time in 1968 I met an eighty year old gentleman in Santa Cruz, Calif. and witnessed to him. We had a long involved discussion after which I showed him wonderful scriptures from the Bible and invited him to pray with me to accept Jesus Christ as his personal saviour. He refused. When I inquired why he told me he did not believe the Bible at all. Then he went into his bedroom and pulled out a picture book on evolution and showed it to me and stated that was what he believed in. One page in the book showed the purported stages of the progression of man as he evolved upward to modern man. I explained to him all that was a lie but he wouldn't listen. He chose the lie of evolution over a wonderful Saviour who died to save him from his sins. Yes, the devil has used the humanists to do his will. The lies of the humanists are dangerous.

What should committed "born again" Christians do about the philosophy of Humanism in our public schools?

First of all recognize it for what it is. One would not play around with a dangerous rattlesnake and so one should not play around with Humanism either. Something that deadly should be killed.

Secondly, Christians should run for political offices, get involved, vote, educate their children under Christian teachers, properly train their children at home, and resist Humanists and the religion of Humanism wherever and whenever possible. Let's attack and conquor this strong hold of Satan thats leading our young people away from God.

Thirdly, change the existing laws to reflect true Christian worship and instruction.

If a loved one, friend, or relative is struggling with Humanism or evolution I suggest that you read the following books for help:
The Battle for the Mind by Dr. Tim LaHaye
From Evolution to Creation by Dr. Gary E. Parker

When the restaurant next to the Lutheran Church put out a big sign with red letters that said, Open Sundays,
the church reciprocated with its own message:
We are Open on Sundays, too

Spirit-Filled Witnessing
An Assemblies of God Sunday School Leaflet

THE CENTRAL TRUTH: The Holy Spirit makes our witness for Christ effective.

THE GOLDEN TEXT:
"Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me"
(Acts 1:8).

Sometimes the devil attacks our witness for Christ by using lies to destroy us or discredit us. Sometimes he simply takes advantage of our weaknesses and human failings and makes us look ridiculous— and tries to tack that ridicule from us onto our Lord.

Ridicule of our relationship with Jesus Christ is effective in direct proportion to the reality of our belief and trust in Him. If we are fully convinced of Christ's existence as the risen, eternal Son of God; and if our lives are vibrant and alive with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, there is little Satan can throw at us that will make a difference.

Believers in the Early Church, both those who had seen Christ and those who had not, were fully convinced that Christ was indeed who He claimed to be. They could say as Paul later wrote, "I know whom I have believed"
(2 Timothy 1:12). Is your experience with Christ as convincing to yourself and to others?

Just what does it mean for us to be Spirit-filled witnesses for Christ? Certainly we can't tell our friends and families about Him in the same way that those who walked with Him and met Him after the Resurrection did? or can we?

In fact, our witnessing is less than "Spirit-filled" if it fails to include sharing the face-to-face daily experiences we have as we walk with Jesus. Like the early Christians, we must share our encounters with the risen Christ.

BIBLE COMMENTARY: FILLED WITH FAITH AND POWER

Stephen Is Arrested

Read Acts 6:8-15:
"Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. None of them was able to stand against the wisdom and Spirit by which Stephen spoke. So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, "We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God." Naturally, this roused the crowds, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council. The lying witnesses said, "This man is always speaking against the Temple and against the law of Moses. 14We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us." At this point everyone in the council stared at Stephen because his face became as bright as an angel's."
(Acts 6:8-15).

1. The greatest hindrance to the work of the Early Church wasn't outward opposition- it was inner division. To deal with possible contention and jealousies which threatened the unity of the Body, the apostles, under God's direction, reorganized the structure of the church at Jerusalem and set up the office of deacon. The seven men chosen were men of good repute who were full of the Holy Spirit and practical wisdom.

2. The organization of the Early Church put no one in a straitjacket. On the contrary, the touch of the Spirit on their routine duties of caring for the widows encouraged them to trust God for greater things. Stephen's life is an example of how the early leaders stepped out for the Lord in a new ministry full of grace and power.

3. Jesus was clearly at work in Stephen's life and new ministry. Stephen, first of all, was full of grace. The words "full of grace" are used in only one other passage in the New Testament where they are applied to Jesus
(John 1:14). God could use Stephen because he reflected the character of Jesus. And being full of the Holy Spirit and practical wisdom, Stephen was also full of power.

4. Stephen did nothing to deserve or earn this power. The word "power" in Acts is often connected with the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is a gift, not a reward for merit. Filled with the Spirit and with holy boldness, Stephen stepped out into a ministry which reflected the ministry of Jesus.

5. Stephen's ministry quickly brought results. Many miracles took place. He took a new step and brought the gospel into the synagogues of Jerusalem. Through Stephen, the Holy Spirit shattered the arguments of the enemies of Christ.

6. But this great ministry brought renewed opposition from the Jews. Just as Jesus' arguments drove the Jewish leaders to plot against Him privately, so it was with Stephen. When they found no other way to stop this Spirit-filled witness, they started a campaign of lies and misinformation. When they had incited the crowds to near-riot pitch, Stephen was arrested.

7. Stephen was charged with blasphemy against Moses and against God. In the end, they linked all this to false witnesses who claimed Stephen was teaching that Jesus would destroy the temple. It is significant that the Jews had forgotten the glory of God which made a holy place holy: They were more concerned about the temple than the presence of God. In reality, God had left the temple and made a new temple, the Church, the body of Christ.

Fearless Witnessing

Read Acts 7:51-54:
"You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? But your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One- the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God's law, though you received it from the hands of angels." The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen's accusation, and they shook their fists in rage."
(Acts 7:51-54).

1. When Stephen was given a chance to defend himself against his accusers, the Holy Spirit helped him know what to say and how to say it. But he didn't waste time defending himself. Instead, Stephen was empowered by the Spirit and gave a strong defense of the gospel and a witness to Christ.

2. Stephen began by reviewing in some detail the long history of Israel and all of God's grace and power at work in the nation. This work of God, Stephen said, continued even though Israel rejected the Law and the prophets, persecuted those whom God sent, and went astray into idolatry.

3. Indeed, he argued, by rejecting the spiritual worship God demands while clinging to the outward forms and ceremonies, the Jews became the true offenders, not Jesus or Stephen. Bringing his message to a climax, Stephen declared that the Jewish leaders, by rejecting Jesus and the gospel, were resisting the Holy Spirit.

4. The Sanhedrin was unable to give an answer to Stephen's argument and his strong charges. Instead, the members turned on him in savage fury. Their anger made them act like wild animals and showed what was in their hearts all along.

Received by Christ

Read Acts 7:55-60:
"But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily upward into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand. And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand!" Then they put their hands over their ears, and drowning out his voice with their shouts, they rushed at him. They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. The official witnesses took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And he fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" And with that, he died."
(Acts 7:55-60).

1. In contrast to the rage by which the Sanhedrin members showed their resistance to the Holy Spirit, Stephen remained calm. Because he was still full of the Holy Spirit, he did not look at his persecutors. Instead, he fixed his gaze heavenward and saw a vision of the throne and the glory of God with Jesus standing at God's right hand.

2. Stephen's vision indicates he was seeing and declaring that Jesus was in the place of authority and power as God's Son— at His right hand. It is significant also that Jesus was standing. Other passages speak of Jesus sitting at God's right hand. Here Jesus rose to welcome and bless the victorious Stephen as he came into heaven.

3. The Jewish leaders covered their ears because they didn't want to hear any more about Stephen's vision of God and Jesus. At the same time, they closed their minds. They rushed at Stephen in a spontaneous, violent impulse, threw him out of the city and proceeded to stone him to death.

4. As the Sanhedrin members rushed Stephen, they took off their outer garments— perhaps to free their arms for throwing the stones— and laid them at Saul's feet
(Acts 22:20). Hence, we know that Saul was present at Stephen's death and probably heard the preaching. The writer of Acts uses this to introduce Saul and prepare us for what the Bible later says of his salvation.

5. Stephen's last words must have made a lasting impression on Saul. Instead of praying for deliverance, Stephen called out to God for a warm welcome home! He died serenely, just as if he were falling asleep. Stephen became the first of the church's martyrs, those who give their lives because of their witness.

6. Like those in the Book of Revelation, Stephen won a triumphant victory. By the blood of the Lamb, by the word of his testimony, and by loving not his life unto death
(Revelation 12:11), Stephen gave a strong witness to Jesus— and left a tremendous example for all believers. He inspires us to be martyrs, faithfully witnessing even in the face of persecution or death.

APPLYING THE WORD

Stephen is never linked in Scripture with Jesus' life and earthly ministry. He may or may not have known Jesus while He walked with and taught His disciples. Yet Stephen is the perfect example of a testimony to the life and power of the risen Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, Stephen came to know Jesus so intimately that he was willing to give his life for Christ. That is the kind of witness God expects of each of us today. Jesus can become just as real and present to us as He was to Stephen when we daily call upon Him and allow the Holy Spirit to make Him real in our lives. Like Stephen, we can be powerful witnesses to Jesus— even to the point of giving our lives for Him if that is necessary— through the power of the Holy Spirit."
Quoted from a Sunday School Leaflet entitled "Spirit-Filled Witnessing" by the Gospel Publishing House, The Church In Action series, Study 3, Dec, l8, 1988

Satan says procrastinate
But
God says do not wait

What's In A Name?
by Robert Morey

"What's in a name? In Scripture, names had a much greater significance than they do today. Most parents today do not choose a name for their children based on the meaning of the name. Instead, they choose a name that runs in the family or that is unique or popular.

In biblical times, names indicated something about the person who bore that name. They often indicated a character trait such as Jacob, which means "supplanter," or what a person did for a living. This held true for hundreds of years in Western culture and explains the origin of names such as Baker, Goldman, Taylor, Shepherd, etc. It is only in recent times that people's names have lost this sense of significance.

In this light, the biblical names and titles of this fallen angel who opposes all that is good and right indicate his nature and his work. Let us examine the names and titles of the devil in the order of their frequency of use in the Bible.

The Favorite Name

1. Satan. This fallen angel is called "Satan" 53 times in Scripture. It is the favorite name of the devil throughout the entire Bible. It is also his proper name. Thus when Jesus rebuked the devil when he had finished tempting Him, He used the devil's proper name. He said, "Begone, Satan!"
(Matthew 4:10).

The word Satan in the Hebrew and Greek simply means "adversary." It refers to someone who is your enemy; someone who has it in for you. Remember those days in junior high when the school bully picked on you? Or maybe there was a girl who would gossip about you. You had an "adversary" —someone against you.

The Principle of First Mention

The first reference to "Satan" in the Bible is found in
1 Chronicles 21:1. As is often the case, the first mention of something or someone in the Bible is very important. It will therefore pay us to look more closely at this passage to see what it says about Satan: "Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel"
(1 Chronicles 21:1).

The passage reveals several things:

Satan attacks nations as well as individuals. Both Israel and David came under attack. Satan's devices encompass a plan to destroy nations as well as the souls of men.

Satan has a special hatred for those nations where the truth is preached. We do not read that he "stood up against" nations that worshiped him through pagan religions. No. Instead, he lifted them up and sought to expand their power.

Satan is able to motivate people to do things by putting ideas in their minds. He put it into the mind of David to number the people. We'll have more to say about this later.

Satan can implant thoughts even in believers. David was not a pagan. Yet Satan was able to manipulate him into doing something that would harm both him and the nation.

Satan can take something which seems perfectly innocent and use it to do evil. Taking a census of men of fighting age is hardly wrong in and of itself. In the book of Numbers, God Himself commanded such a census be taken. Why then was it viewed as sin in this passage?

A clue is given in the response of Joab, the commander of David's armies. When David told Joab to number the people, Joab sensed that this was not the right thing to do at the time. There was no war. There was no need to enlarge the army. Besides, God had not commanded it. This is why Joab said, "May the LORD add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! But my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? Why does my lord seek this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel?"
(verse 3).

But when Satan is motivating someone to do something, it is very difficult to talk him out of it. So David did not listen to Joab and forced the census
(verses 4 and 5).

Satan hates it when God's people love each other and are united in the cause of righteousness. The census caused a breach of fellowship between David and Joab, his best friend. Joab disobeyed David by not including the tribes of Levi and Benjamin in the census because he felt David's command was abhorrent
(verse 6).

The census also caused fear, anger, and division among the people. Was the king going to attack a nation when there was no reason to do so? Was he out for vain-glory like the pagan kings?

Satan wants to destroy a believer's walk with God and give God an occasion to punish him. Because David, Joab, and the nation of Israel fell into the sins of anger, strife, disunity, gossip, slander, etc., God had to condemn and punish them all
(verse 7).

Satan loves it when personal sin leads others to wickedness. David confessed his sin in
verse 8: "David said to God, "I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have done very foolishly."

While God was merciful and forgave David his personal sin, this did not mean that everyone else was automatically forgiven.

God sent a plague and 70,000 people died under the wrath of God
(verse 14)! The city of Jerusalem was almost destroyed
(verse 15). Satan laughed as he saw the damage he had done to Israel, David, and Joab.

Just from this brief look at the text we see that from the very first mention, the being named "Satan" is the enemy of all that is good. He actively seeks to destroy the unity of God's people on an individual and corporate level.

Other Old Testament Mentions

Not only is Satan mentioned in the historical section of the Old Testament, he is also mentioned in the poetical sections.

In the oldest book of the Bible, the book of Job, the name "Satan" pops up in the very first chapter. The oldest name in the oldest book for the evil one is "Satan"!

Once again, Satan is the "adversary" of the people of God, which is why he sought to destroy Job and his family. Satan's insanity is obvious to all who read how he desperately tried to get Job to curse God.

When we turn to the section of the Old Testament referred to as the Prophets, we are once again confronted with this insane being who was cast down to this planet and who is determined to destroy the people of God: "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?"
(Zechariah 3:1-2).

While Joshua the high priest was interceding for Israel, Satan was standing at his right hand as his adversary. The LORD had to rebuke Satan in order for Joshua to get on with the holy task of interceding for the people of God.

Satan in the New Testament

The name "Satan" is also found in the Gospels, where it is the predominant name for this fallen angel.
In Matthew 4:10 it was "Satan" who came and tempted the Lord Jesus. He had the nerve to try and tempt even the Lord Jesus!

The apostle Peter was familiar with Satan on a firsthand basis. No doubt he painfully remembered the time that Satan put the idea into his mind to rebuke the Lord Jesus
(Matthew 16:22). I know that I would never forget that awful incident if it had happened to me.

When Peter opened his mouth and rebuked the Son of God, Jesus turned around and in front of everyone rebuked Satan for putting Peter up to it
(Matthew 16:23). I would not have wanted to be in Peter's shoes on that day!

In Acts 26:17-18 the apostle Paul speaks of the commission that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to him at his conversion: "I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you (Paul) to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." (NIV)

At the very inception of Paul's Christian experience, Jesus sent him forth to preach a message which would open spiritual eyes and turn sinners from darkness to light. Paul would see the gospel release people from the powerful grasp of Satan and transfer them into the kingdom of Christ
(Colossians 1:13).

In Paul's letters to the church at Rome, Christians are told to rejoice because they will crush Satan under their feet
(Romans 16:20). In the New Testament letters known as the General Epistles, Satan is the predominant name for the devil. In Revelation, the final judgment and doom of Satan is revealed. He and his fellow fallen angels "will be tormented day and night"
(Revelation 20:10).

The Bible talks about the future as something that is certain because God has ordained it to come to pass. As surely as you are reading this book right now, the doom of Satan has already been set in motion. It is what is called in the business world "a done deal."

Scripture describes the future with the same certainty with which it describes the past. God will triumph over the devil. The good will win over the evil. Justice shall be vindicated. Christ will judge the world in righteousness, and the saints will live happily forever. The future is not a cosmic crap game ruled by Lady Luck. Since God is the sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the universe, He will bring His words to pass
(1 Thessalonians 5:24).

His Most-Used Title

2. Devil. The most-used title (as opposed to Satan, which is the most-used name) in Scripture for Satan is the New Testament word devil. It is a Greek word which literally means "tempter." It is a title instead of a name because it is not a proper name at all. This is why it is not capitalized in the Bible.

Satan is called the "devil" 31 times in the New Testament because he tempts people to do evil. Biblical authors will often use the word devil instead of some other title when temptation is the specific device of Satan under consideration.

As Jesus began His public ministry, He was led by the Spirit to spend 40 days in the wilderness. We saw earlier that during this time Jesus was visited by Satan. Since the purpose of Satan's visit was to tempt Jesus, Matthew and Luke both use the title "devil" in their accounts of the temptation
(Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13).

In his description of the temptation, Matthew uses the title "devil" four times
(Matthew 4:1,5,8,11) and the title "tempter" once (Matthew 4:3). The use of the word tempter in verse 3 emphasized the particular device Satan employed.

Matthew introduces the name "Satan" only when he quotes Jesus' rebuke of the devil in
Matthew 4:10. "Satan" refers to the person while "devil" refers to the work. You could say that "Satan is the name while the word devil is the game." Hence the name "Satan" was used when Jesus officially rebuked him and ordered him to leave.

In Acts 10:38, we read how "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him" (New International Version or NIV).

Notice that Peter summarized the earthly ministry of Jesus in terms of His power to deliver people from the power of the devil.

Paul also used the word devil when he rebuked a witch. His scathing rebuke serves as a model of how to answer modern occultists and heretics: "Then Saul, who was called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, "You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?"
(Acts 13:9,10 NIV).

Paul's rebuke would no doubt be condemned as "unloving" by those who think that someone's feelings are more important than God's truth or their immortal soul. But notice that it was the Spirit of God who led Paul to rebuke this witch as a "child of the devil."

Career Soldiers

In Ephesians 6:11,12, the apostle Paul describes the Christian life as a battle with the devil: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (NIV).

The Christian life is a spiritual war in which the believer is a soldier who needs his full armor to defeat the temptations of the devil.

Peter was tempted by the devil to rebuke the Lord and then tempted yet again to deny the Lord. It is no wonder that he described the devil as a vicious lion. He had been mauled by that old wicked lion and warned us from his own experience: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings"
(1 Peter 5:8,9 NIV).

Please notice that the "roaring lion" is after Christians, not unbelievers. I have been mauled a few times myself and expect to feel the devil's teeth now and then as I rob him of souls in the future. There is a price to pay when you fight the devil.

Other Names and Titles

3. Dragon. The next most-used title for Satan was a popular intertestamental Jewish literary description. Since the book of Revelation was written in the style of a Jewish apocalyptic work, it is no surprise to find that it calls Satan a "dragon" 13 times. In
Revelation 12:9 the dragon is identified as Satan, the devil, and the serpent all rolled into one evil being.

The Jews used the dragon as a symbol of the devil because it was traditionally viewed as loathsome, evil, vile, and malicious. This is in keeping with the picture of the dragon in Revelation as one who seeks to devour the saints
(see also Revelation chapters 12-13).

4. The Evil One. The devil is called "the evil one" 12 times in the Bible. How appropriate! For that is exactly what he is by nature. With this title we enter the realm of his character.

Most people do not realize that where our English translation of the "Lord's Prayer" says, "Deliver us from evil," the Greek actually says, "Deliver us from the evil one," in other words, the devil! Even in His high-priestly prayer in
John chapter 17, Jesus said, "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one"
(John 17:15).

Not only do we find the devil described as the "evil one" in the Gospels, but we later find that the apostle John rejoiced because the young men had "overcome the evil one"
(1 John 2:13). Then in 1 John 5:18, we read one of the most precious promises in all the Bible. The apostle of love tells us that ultimately the evil one cannot harm the child of God. Satan may scratch and maul you, but he cannot really harm you. Even old Job was better off in the end than at the beginning.

5. Baalzebub or Beelzebub. The devil is called "Baalzebub" or "Beelzebub" 11 times in the Bible. The Hebrew word literally means "Lord of the Flies" and originally referred to the Egyptian worship of the sun god called "Baal" as "the lord of the flies." The Egyptians even worshiped the fly itself. Archaeologists have dug up idols in the form of the common housefly.

It became a Jewish name for Satan and is referred to in the Old Testament in
2 Kings 1:2,3,6,16 and is used in the Gospels seven times. As a matter of fact, it was one of Jesus' favorite terms.

6. The Serpent. Satan is called a serpent or a snake ten times in the Bible. The first reference to Satan as a snake is found in Genesis chapter 3, where Satan spoke through the body of a snake.

In the New Testament, a serpent is referred to in
2 Corinthians 11:3, where the apostle Paul worried that just as that old "snake" deceived Eve, he was going to deceive them. Again in
Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 the devil is called that "serpent of old," a reference to the fact that he was with man and woman in the garden.

It is interesting to note that occultists and New Agers have turned dragons and snakes into symbols of goodness and even wear them as good luck charms. But all this recent glorification of dragons and snakes is just another attempt by Satan to get people to worship him. We should educate our children that such things are symbols of evil.

7. The Prince of this Age. The apostle John called the devil "the prince of this age" (NIV) three times
(John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). The King James translates it as "the prince of this world," but the Greek word that is translated "world" does not refer to this planet but rather to an age. Thus he is called "the prince of this age" in modern translations.

Satan has only this age in which to fight against God and His people. His days are numbered, and he knows it.

8. The Adversary. Satan is called "the Adversary" (or "enemy") twice in the New Testament
(1 Timothy 5:14 and 1 Peter 5:8). He is the adversary of the souls of men and opposes all that is righteous.

9. The Prince of Demons. The devil is called "the prince of demons" two times
(Matthew 9:34 and 12:24 NIV). That he is called the "prince" or "ruler" of the demons indicates that the demons are not a disorganized mob. There is a chain of command, and Satan is the boss. Demons are under his authority.

10. The Prince of the Power of the Air. Satan is called "the prince of the power of the air" in
Ephesians 2:2 because his kingdom is universal and invisible just like air. When asked where Satan rules, the rabbis would wave their hands in the air to symbolize that his invisible rule was everywhere.

11. The God of this Age. Satan is called "the god of this age" in
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV) because his goal is to keep people in this age from hearing and believing the glorious gospel by blinding their minds to the truth.

The word god here is used in the figurative sense, in the same way pagan idols are called "gods." They are not "gods" by nature but only by name
(Galatians 4:8).

12. The Accuser of the Brethren. The title "the accuser of [the] brethren" is used in
Revelation 12:10 as a title for Satan. When I meet Christians whose "ministry" is to run around and accuse the brethren all the time, I assume that they are on the devil's payroll because they are doing his work for him!

God has called all Christians to defend the faith according to Jude chapter 3. Our focus should be on defending the gospel when unbelievers attack it and not on attacking the character and motives of fellow Christians
(1 Corinthians 4:1-5).

When Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:15 to give a logical answer to those people who challenge the gospel, he goes on to say that we should be gentle and respectful as we do this. Remember, it is not enough to win the argument. Our goal is to win the person to Christ!

13. The Spirit of Disobedience. In Ephesians 2:2 the devil is called "the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient" (NIV) because he is a malignant fiend who loves to motivate people to rebellion and anarchy.

Having pastored for many years, I have seen far too many people fall into this device of Satan by becoming disobedient and rebellious to the rule of Christ over His church. My heart has been broken so many times by people who rebel against the lordship of Christ by demanding their own way in church affairs.

Like the man mentioned in 3 John verse 9, they are determined to either rule or ruin the local church they attend. In some cases, they split one church after another out of rebellion to the rule of Christ and then have the gall to claim they have done God a favor. Their condemnation is just.

No wonder the apostle Paul came down hard on the demonic spirit of disobedience that caused so much pain and suffering in the churches he founded. In this rebellious age we must learn to submit to the lordship of Christ in all of life and follow what He has set forth in His Word concerning the structure, offices, and management of the local church
(1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:17).

14. The Deceiver of the Whole World. This title is given to the devil in
Revelation 12:9, and who can argue with it?

15. Abaddon or Apollyon. Satan is called in the Hebrew, Abaddon, and in the Greek, Apollyon, in
Revelation 9:11. Both words simply mean the "destroyer," one who loves to mangle, to rip, or to tear. Don't think for one minute that those whose main "ministry" is destroying the lives and families of God's people are ministers of God.

16. The Father of Lies. Satan is called the "father of lies" by Jesus in
John 8:44. Do you want to know the origin of all lies? The lie that we are all a part of God? The lie that we oozed out of God and are oozing back into God? They came from the "father of lies."

One new device of Satan that has recently gained popularity is the idea that it is not "loving" to tell people the truth. Anything that might hurt someone's feelings is viewed as unloving. This lie pits love against truth. We should never allow this to happen.

The apostle Paul admonished Christians to speak "the truth in love"
(Ephesians 4:15). There is no conflict between speaking the truth and loving someone. The conflict is between coddling someone's feelings and loving them enough to tell them the truth.

17. The King over the Demons. The devil is called the king over the demons in
Revelation 9:11 because he is their leader and they are his followers.

18. The Tempter. As we noted earlier, Satan is called "the tempter" in
Matthew 4:3 and 1 Thessalonians 3:5. Paul says to the Thessalonians: "For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless" (NIV).

19. Lucifer. Satan may or may not be called "Lucifer" in
Isaiah 14:12. Most Hebrew scholars feel that "Lucifer" is not the proper translation of the Hebrew word— that the Hebrew actually refers to him as the "shining one," he who had the brightness of God's glory originally shining around him. That is why most modern translations do not use the name "Lucifer" in the text.

20. Archangel. Down through the centuries, it has been speculated that Satan was an archangel because he is compared to the archangel Michael in
Jude verse 9 and in Revelation 12:7-12.

The Bible uses the word archangel only in reference to Michael. We do not have a single verse where Satan is specifically called an archangel. But while the word archangel is not used of Satan, he and Michael are linked together in several passages in a way that seems to put them on equal footing. This is why many Christians have assumed that Satan was originally an archangel.

It would also seem that Satan may be more powerful than Michael because Michael could not personally rebuke him: "But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him [Satan], but said "The Lord rebuke you!"
(Jude verse 9 NIV).
If Michael were equal to or greater than the devil, he could have rebuked Satan.

With all these names and titles, it is obvious that the Bible means to indicate that Satan is an evil being and not just a symbol of evil. He is a fallen angel of vast power and intellect who migrated to this planet along with his evil followers. And he insanely imagines that he can become God.

Satan's insanity has led him to oppose all that is good and right and to oppose all life and love. But his ultimate defeat at the hands of Jesus has been secured by Christ's death on the cross. The victory belongs to Jesus!"
Quoted from the book © by Robert Morey, Satan's Devices, Harvest House Publishers, Chapter 5, pages 49-63.

"I've had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge.
You know why?
While you're carrying a grudge or bitterness, they're busy out dancing."
- John Griffin

Attitude of Gratitude
by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

"By today's standards, she should have been a very unhappy, troubled woman. Her father died when she was quite young, leaving her to be raised by her mother and grandmother. As a result of a doctor's careless error when she was only six weeks old, she was afflicted with lifelong blindness.

The tragic and traumatic experiences of this woman's childhood years would have given most people more than enough grounds for a lifetime of self-pity, bitterness, and psychological disorders.

Yet, in her autobiography, Frances Jane Crosby wrote, "It seemed intended by the blessed Providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank Him for the dispensation."

The doctor who destroyed her sight never forgave himself and moved from the area, but there was no room in Fanny Crosby's heart for resentment. "If I could meet him now," she wrote, "I would say "Thank you, thank you," - over and over again- for making me blind."

Blindness a Blessing

The blindness that many would have considered at best an accident and at worse a curse, was considered by Fanny to be one of her greatest blessings. She accepted her blindness as a gift from God. "I could not have written thousands of hymns," she said, "if I had been hindered by the distractions of seeing all the interesting and beautiful objects that would have been presented to my notice."

Fanny's first poem, written when she was eight years old, reflects the perspective that was hers until her death at the age of 95: 

 
      Oh, what a happy child I am,
      Although I cannot see!
      I am resolved that in this world
      Contented I will be.
      How many blessings I enjoy
      That other people don't!
      So weep or sigh that I am blind,
      I cannot, nor I won't!

And so, for over a century, the Church has reaped the rich benefits of one woman's thankful heart, as we sing, "To God Be the Glory," "Blessed Assurance," "Redeemed," "All the Way My Savior Leads Me," and countless others of the 8,000 songs that Fanny Crosby wrote in her lifetime.

In a world that has forgotten how to be grateful, the example of this beloved, blind hymn writer seems extraordinary, if not down right odd!

We Fail to Give Thanks

But, oh, what a price we pay for our personal and collective ingratitude. After nearly two decades of ministry to hurting people, I have come to believe that a failure to give thanks is at the heart of much, if not most, of the sense of gloom, despair, and despondence that is so pervasive even among believers today.

Furthermore, many of the sins that are plaguing and devastating our society can be traced back to the often undetected root of unthankfulness.

The "attitude of gratitude" is something that desperately needs