BIBLE PASSAGE:
Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone
down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his
time is short.”
(Revelation 12:12)
MEDITATION:
Satan opposes the salvation of those who are lost and seek to be
saved. He does not want anyone to become a Christian. He will
do everything in his power to keep everyone from being saved.
Why does he do that?
One reason is because he is a murderer. Jesus said that the Devil,
“was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44)
It is Satan’s nature to murder people. He murdered our first
parents in the Garden of Eden, by tempting them to eat the
forbidden fruit.
He is a murderer of souls and he wants to murder each person as
well. He wants everyone to die and go to hell. But there is another
reason. In Romans we read,
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery,
brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited:
Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the
full number of the Gentiles has come in,”
(Romans 11:25)
I could be partially (or completely) wrong, but outlined below is
my understanding of this verse.
(I encourage everyone to pray and ask God give you
a revelation of what this verse means, and if it is different
from my understanding, I would love to hear from you).
We all can have blind spots (I have them too), and God can open
our eyes by speaking to us through others.
It seems that Paul, still writing specifically to the Gentiles, does
not want them to become arrogant and begin thinking they are
better than the lost Jews. He does this by showing that there is a
specific purpose in the hardening of the Jews. The purpose is that
there would be Gentile conversions.
He writes that this hardening of the Jews is temporary and partial.
It will remain until the ‘fullness of the Gentiles’ has been fulfilled.
In other words, after some number of Gentiles have been saved, the
hardening will be lifted and the lost Jews will also come to faith in
Christ.
The church will one day grow by an amazing work of God, as the
door is open again for the Jews to see their Messiah, repent, and
come to Him in faith.
The Devil hates Israel, and he knows that their hardening will
not be removed until ‘the full number’ of the Gentiles are saved.
Satan does not want Israel to be saved, and that is the reason he
doesn’t want you to be saved.
A certain number of Gentiles must be saved before Israel’s
‘hardening’ is removed at the end of this age. As Gentiles,
we are living near the end of this age; the Devil knows that,
and he knows he will be judged by God and bound for
‘a thousand years’ when Christ returns.
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent,
who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him
for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:2)
Satan has a better understanding than we do of the magnitude
and intensity of hell’s agony. That is why Satan is increasing
his wrath on all people in an effort to delay his being cast into
hell forever.
“The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,
because he knoweth that he hath but a short time”
(Revelation 12:12)
Satan is raging throughout the world today because he
knows his time is short. He is doing everything he can
to delay ‘the full number’ of Gentiles from seeking the
Lord and being saved.
This explains why it is becoming more difficult for people
to be saved in our time. The Devil will do everything in his
power to keep everyone from trusting Jesus and becoming
a believing Christian. If he succeeds, he thinks he can keep
Israel ‘hardened’ a little longer.
One of the Devil’s tactics for preventing people from being
saved is to take away the ‘Word of God’ from their hearts.
In the ‘Parable of the Sower’, Jesus said,
Those along the path are the ones who hear,
and then the devil comes and takes away the
word from their hearts, so that they may not
believe and be saved.” (Luke 8:12)
Two young Chinese men went to the same church one Sunday.
Both of them were dominated by the Devil. One of them came
under Satanic control through Buddhist idols and idol worship
in his parents’ home. The other told the pastor that he was
tormented by Satan (for some reason) and the pastor could
see that he clearly was.
One of those two Chinese boys got saved, but the other one
did not. Here was the difference:
The young man who was eventually saved kept coming
to church and listening to the Word of God as the Gospel
was preached.
He was greatly tempted to give up and leave the church,
but by the grace of God he stayed, and came to hear the
Gospel every Sunday morning and every Sunday night.
Finally, when the pastor preached one Sunday morning,
the first boy trusted Jesus and was saved!
But the second Chinese youth refused to listen. As the
pastor spoke to him after the service one Sunday
morning, he pleaded with the boy to stay in the
church and hear the preaching of God’s Word.
But the ‘demon possessed’ boy stubbornly refused. He
became agitated and said he could read the Bible for
himself. In fact, he became so angry that he wanted
someone to drive him home immediately. It was sad
for the pastor to see him walk away from his opportunity
to be saved.
How does that true life experience apply to the lost person?
If anyone is not yet saved, he or she will need to humble
themselves. If anyone thinks they know what to do, or
what they need to think, or feel, it is too easy for Satan
to take the Gospel out of their heart!
The Bible says,
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,
and he shall lift you up” (James 4:10)
Some continue in an unsaved condition because they have
allowed pride to convince them that they know what to do.
But that shows a lack of spiritual wisdom which causes
them to fail to realize that they really don’t know what
to do. Consequently, they remain under the control of
Satan.
Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of all people. He
arose from death to give everyone the chance of a new life.
However, we have to ‘humble ourselves in the sight of the
Lord’, in order for Him to ‘lift us up’.
We have to give up ourselves and whatever we think we know,
so that blood of Jesus will cleanse us from all sin when we
admit we are lost and confess our ‘simple’ faith in Him!
ACTION:
If you have not humbled yourself before the Lord, it’s not too late.
From the signs we see around us, the return of Jesus may come
at any moment, so it is critical for every lost person to humble
themselves now, confess that they are sinners, and ask God to
save them from eternal damnation.
If you are a Christian, you have a responsibility to pray for the
salvation of the lost souls, and to be prepared to witness to them
whenever you have an opportunity. Some may feel inept or
uncomfortable witnessing to a lost person, but God will help
you if you have a heart for their salvation.
Part of preparing to witness is to contrast the difference between
heaven and hell, and to share your own story of how God saved
you. We can share how our life changed after salvation, and
maybe contrast our new life with our pre-salvation life.
We don’t have to share all the details, but we can tell others about
the problems, restlessness, etc. we had before we were saved and the
new peace and joy we discovered after salvation. We can also share
how we have a new desire to learn more about the Lord, and how we
want to grow closer to Him.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I have no idea when Jesus will return
but I don’t want to see anyone step into eternity without
knowing Him as their Savior. Help me to be sensitive to
any opportunities to witness to others, and help me to use
the spiritual gift You have given me to point others to Jesus.
Prepare me for sharing with others how you have changed
my life. Remind me of the times I have felt Your presence
in my own life.”
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