Angelic Conflict 410: The CREATOR'S Will is that You Live Christianity

 

 

Your soul has been chosen by God to be a part of the resolution of the Angelic Conflict. The sovereign beings of each kingdom, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God, are vying for control of your soul.  In freedom, the right of self-determination, you get to choose whom you will serve. 

 

If you are an unbeliever, you have two choices… one is SELF-WORSHIP…

Second Timothy, Chapter 3, Beginning at Verse 1…

 

2TI 3:1

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

 

2TI 3:2

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy…

 

 

2TI 3:3

…unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of (divine) good…

 

2TI 3:4

…treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…

 

2TI 3:5

…holding to a (superficial) form of godliness, although they have (even) denied its power; Avoid such men as these.

Can you see this SELF-WORSHIP lifestyle in operation every day?

 

We can look around in Satan’s kingdom, here on planet earth, and see the manifestations of this self-focused lifestyle at every turn.  We don’t have to look any further than our mobile phones.  The obsession with these electronic devices as our “friends,” which in truth the reflection of a self-obsessed lifestyle, has crossed the line into pathetic.

 

 

I have friends who are on the “dating scene” and hearing their frustrations about their encounters with this SELF-WORSHIP lifestyle stir the compassion in my soul.

 

 

 

Can you see the SATAN-WORSHIP lifestyle in operation every day?

 

JOH 8:44

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

 

You can see it.  The indifference and antagonism toward God is everywhere.  Ever ask the people around you this simple question, “What role does God play in your life?”  The reaction is like a fart in a space suit.  It’s uncomfortable beyond belief.  That’s why so many of you don’t evangelize.  You’ve tried to sneak up on evangelism by approaching it indirectly, and you’ve had your fingers slammed in the car door too many times.  Discomfort with evangelism is not an effective excuse, by the way, for not evangelizing. 

 

Ever start playing a bible lesson in front of your friends just for the pleasure of seeing their souls go off like popcorn with irrelevant questions to mask their discomfort?

 

BREAK

When I Think About Home

 

 

The issue in evangelism is simple…it can be adequately captured in five verses…

 

ROM 5:8

But God (the Father) demonstrates His own (unconditional) love toward us (all mankind), in that while we were yet sinners (spiritually dead unbelievers), Christ died (as a substitute) for us.

 

ACT 16:31

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and (everyone in) your household (who also believes).

 

JOH 14:6

(The Lord) Jesus Christ said, “I am the way (to salvation), (I am) the truth (through the Word of God) and (I am) the (eternal) life; no one comes to the Father, but through (believing in) Me.”

 

EPH 2:8-9

For by (efficacious) grace you have been saved through faith (alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone); and that (grace, faith, and salvation is) not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

 

 

ACT 4:12

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved (except the Lord Jesus Christ).”

 

 

The issue for unbelievers is the Cross.

 

JOH 3:36

“He (anyone) who believes in the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) has eternal life...but he who does not obey (the command to believe in) the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) will not see (eternal) life (in heaven) but the wrath of God (everlasting life in the lake of fire) abides on him.”

 

If you are a believer in Christ, you have chosen sides.

 

JOSHUA 24:15

“If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me (Joshua) and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 

 

For the believer in Christ, the course is clear, the choice has been made, freedom has been spent…we serve the One and only Sovereign Lord, the King of the Universe, the Ultimate Authority.

 

The challenge believers in Christ face, and indeed the reason we engage in biblical study, is not only to learn knowledge, but also to not let our learning stop there…we learn most when we are effective at executing the things we are learning.  We do not come to biblical study to simply gather information.

 

 

 

God’s will for believers in Christ is that first, we learn…we KNOW; second, that endure trials…we GROW; and finally, that we examine our own progress…we ask, “Does it SHOW?”

 

When we choose a SOVEREIGN, we choose sides in the Angelic Conflict.  For believers in Christ we choose the Kingdom of God over the kingdom of darkness.  As choosers of the kingdom of God, believers in Christ are requested to learn their God’s “game plan” … to be in the KNOW!

 

2PE 3:18

…but grow in the (sphere of) grace and (grow in the) knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (through biblical study). To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.  

 

By means of a choice to exercise genuine humility, we choose to sit under the spiritual chain of command (God…His Word…Pastor…Congregation… Biblical Knowledge) to hear God’s predetermined approach to the Angelic Conflict.  In the classroom of biblical study, God the Holy Spirit teaches us a lifestyle of divine thought…God the Holy Spirit teaches us how to live in our new nature.

 

 

GAL 5:16

But I say, walk by (means of the enabling power of God) the (Holy) Spirit, and you will not (in fact, cannot) carry out the desire of the flesh.

 

Next, God wants us to endure trials to GROW. 

 

 

 

James. Chapter 1, Verse 21 says…

 

JAM 1:21

Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

 

JAM 1:22

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

 

JAM 1:23

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror…

 

JAM 1:24

…for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

 

JAM 1:25

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. 

We learn about the Kingdom of God in the classroom, but we execute God’s plan in Satan’s kingdom of darkness.  We voluntarily obey the doctrines we learn from God in the classroom and we test their efficacy in Satan’s kingdom.

 

2CO 4:17-18

For momentary, light (weight) affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,//while we look not at the things which are seen (the details of life), but at the things which are not seen (the doctrines in the Word of God); for the things which are seen are temporal (here today and gone tomorrow), but the things which are not seen (the doctrines in the Word of God) are eternal. 

 

Knowledge is not enough.  It is God’s will that we learn by using our freedom to test the knowledge He gives us with experiences.  We voluntarily agree to obey and to execute an eternal plan that has temporal power.

 

JOH 15:14

“You (believers in Christ) are My friends if (3) you do what I command (request of) you (maybe you will and maybe you won’t…you have freedom to choose).”

 

We are not simply to learn the word by hearing…we are to do the word in the world…we are to learn the Christian Way of Life and to execute the Christian Way of Living.  We have to know and execute the connection between knowing and doing.

 

 

Then we assess our effectiveness.  Is what we are doing in Satan’s kingdom working or not?  We assess our use of divine power and its effectiveness.  We ask simply, “Does it SHOW?”

 

2CO 13:5

(Make it a habit to) Test yourselves to see if you are (living) in the (sphere) faith (the Word of God); examine (prove it to) yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves (in self-examination), that (the Lord) Jesus Christ is in(dwelling) you — unless indeed you fail the test (by proving that you are not in the sphere of the Word of God)?

 

We are not to use our freedom as a license to sin.

 

1PE 2:16

Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil (a cloak of maliciousness), but use it as (if you are) bondslaves of God (because you are).

 

Instead, we are to use our freedom as a choice to serve our Sovereign authority. Our self-examination brings these things to the surface so that we can assess whether or not we are progressing in the Christian Way of Living.

 

 

TAs we continue our biblical study, and as we continue our examination of God’s will, the importance of these three simple things… KNOW… GROW…and does it SHOW…will take on new meaning in your souls.