Questions from Camp: The Devil

Is he real? 

There is a memorable line from the 1995 movie “The Usual Suspects” where one of the characters says "The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled Was Convincing the World He Didn’t Exist". For many of us it can be hard to believe that the Devil  is real. Especially when our only reference point is the red-horned, trident-raising cartoon villain we see in films.

 

However, the Bible is very clear that he is real and whether we call him the Devil, Satan or Lucifer, he is not just a cartoon character! The Devil appears throughout the Bible from the garden of Eden (Genesis 3) to trying to tempt the Lord Jesus is the wilderness (Matthew 4). 

So the next question might be...

Where did he come from?

The history of Satan is described in the Bible in Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-19. These two biblical passages show that it was Satan's pride and desire to be higher than God that resulted in him being thrown out of heaven. He fell because of his desire to be God instead of a servant of God.

Satan was the highest of all the angels, but he wasn’t happy. He desired to be God and rule the universe. God cast Satan out of heaven as a fallen angel.

What powers do Satan and his demons have? 

Demons possess the great power of angels (Rom. 8:38), greater than us humans but far less than our Creator; God.

The Bible records they have the power to carry out the following actions:

1. Indwell humans and animals (Mark 5:1–16)
2. Physically afflict people (Mark 9:17, 22)
3. Terrorise humans (1 Sam. 16:14–15 Acts 19:13–16;)
4. Begin false worship (1 Cor. 10:20–21)
5. Promote false doctrines (1 Tim. 4:1)
6. Perform false signs and wonders (2 Thess. 2:9; Rev. 16:13–14)
7. Deceive prophets (1 Kings 22:19–23)
8. Encourage idolatry (Deut. 32:17; Ps. 106:37)

So, should we worry about the Devil?

Ultimately no, because the Lord Jesus is far more powerful and has been victorious over all evil. However strong demons might be, they also have serious weaknesses and vulnerabilities:

1. Even demons unwittingly serve God’s purposes (Judg. 9:23).
2. They were terrified of the Lord Jesus and the gospel (Matt. 8:29; Mark 1:24; James 2:19).
3. They obeyed the Lord Jesus (Matt. 8:32).
4. They obeyed the Twelve disciples (Matt. 10:1–8) and the Seventy-Two disciples (Luke 10:17–20).
5. They cannot separate believers in Christ from the love of God (Rom. 8:38).
6. They can be restrained by the Holy Spirit (2 Thess. 2:6; 1 John 4:4).
7. They have been judged already by God (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6) and will be again in the future (Rev. 20:10).

As strong and powerful as Satan and his demons are, they have been defeated. 

The apostle John tells christians that we are God's children and that "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) The He in that verse is the Holy Spirit. As Christians we have God living inside us and where God is, Satan can not be!

As long as we realise the truth of Romans 8:38 "If God is for us, who can be against us?" We have no need to fear the Devil. 

Ambassadors for Christ

The Bible has lots of different ways of describing our role as Christians, showing us how we ought to be in our lives on this earth. We are told to be like farmers, like soldiers, like fishermen, to name just a few! We have lots of different job titles! God uses ordinary jobs that we see in our everyday lives in order to help us to understand the things that he wants to explain to us. The job title that I particularly want to focus on is from 2 Corinthians 5 v 20, where Paul says

‘Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.’

Ambassadors for Christ! That sounds such important position! We often hear of ambassadors on the news, and they are generally in fancy suits making speeches or something like that, which is not quite what I am talking about! An ambassador is someone who lives in a foreign country while working as the representative of their own country to the country where they are based. So, for example, the British government will have an ambassador to Switzerland, and their job is to be the British representative in Switzerland.

So how on earth does God expect us to be ambassadors? Which foreign country are we to live in? Which country do we represent? The Bible makes it very clear that when we become Christians, this world in which we live is not really our true home. We belong to heaven! That is where we are going, and where we will live forever and ever and ever! We do not really belong to this world any more, but we are still living here; living here as ambassadors of God and of heaven.

 

So how does this affect me? How do I practically live as the ambassador of Christ? Well here are a couple of ways:

1.      An ambassador must represent their country in the way that they live. If they behave badly, then people think badly of the place that they represent! We too as ambassadors of Christ must realise that people watch the way that we behave, and they not only judge us, but also they judge what we represent. If we live in a way that others think is not good, then they can  begin to doubt how good our faith is, and how true what we believe really is. On the other hand, if we really demonstrate in our lives that we are different, then it will make people sit up and think ‘I wonder if there is something more to this Christianity thing that they talk about?’.

2.      An ambassador is responsible to bring messages from their home country to the foreign country where they live. We too have a message to bring from heaven (from God) to the place where we live. Paul said in the verse we read earlier - ‘be reconciled to God’, in other words, ‘come back to God’! We have a message of hope to give to the world in which we live, that God has provided a way whereby sinners like us can get forgiveness because of the death of the Lord Jesus for us.

So often we can live our lives representing ourselves, but actually we have a massive privilege, a hugely important job - to be ambassadors for the Lord Jesus on this earth. It is such a big responsibility that on our own we would be hopeless ambassadors! We need the Lord’s help. But if we keep reading our Bibles and praying everyday, there will more and more be a change in our lives, people will see that we are different and we will really start to show to the world around more and more of the place and the Person that we represent. How amazing would that be!

So to summarise, I want you to remember, you are an ambassador, of heaven and of God. No other ambassadors have such an important place to represent! I would really encourage you stop and think about this, let it sink down into your mind, get on your knees and ask the Lord for His help, then get up and start representing!

God bless you all.

Al

What’s your favourite verse?

Perhaps you haven’t thought about it, but we nearly all have verses from the bible that have helped us at some point or other, perhaps cheering us up during a difficult time, perhaps verses that have explained something about Jesus to us.

At camp we learn verses, we call them “memory verses” and we are really glad when everyone learns the verses, because for us it’s not just a competition, but it is giving a gift that will come back to you and help you in your lives.

The first verse I ever learned was Isaiah 1:18:

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord,

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

This verse has always encouraged me to remember that the Lord wants to forgive my mistakes and it shows His love to me.

Recently I read an article written by a website that allows people to read the bible and share verses online, because of what they do they can see which verse is shared the most. Up until this year it was always John 3:16, here is that verse:

It’s an amazing verse and it has been often called “The gospel in a nutshell”, that’s because it so clearly tells us all of Gods plan. It starts with God, this great and mighty person, the creator of the universe, somebody who many might consider distant and far off, and yet then it says he “so loved the world”, that means every single person on this planet is loved by God, it doesn’t matter what colour their skin is, it doesn’t matter their gender, it doesn’t matter how rich or poor they are, and has nothing to do with how popular they are, consider this, God loves YOU, yeah he knows you, your thoughts, your desires, your fears, and he loves you!

What’s more, because of His love he decided to act, it caused him to give, the greatest gift that has ever been given this world, “His only begotten Son”, it’s talking about the Lord Jesus, it’s talking about when he came into this world as a little baby in the manger in Bethlehem, that was all because of love.

This verse doesn’t tell us why, but the bible explains to us a problem that it calls sin, and it explains that each and every one of us is a sinner, that doesn’t mean we are all awful murderers, or that we have done something we should be in prison for, No, it simply means we have not met God’s perfect standard.

But God didn’t just want to leave us in this state, he saw the problem and he came up with the solution, The Lord Jesus Christ.

Our verse doesn’t outline some complicated religion or give us a set of rules to better ourselves. No, it simply says believe in Him! Believe in Him and all the consequences of our Sin as far as God is concerned are taken away all together, and He promises us Eternal Life. Believe that when he died, he took your punishment. How amazing is that? What an incredible love! If you haven’t taken the step to believe in Him, why not do so today, pray to Him, confess your sin and accept his forgiveness, if you have believed on him, remind yourself again just how blessed we are to be Loved by Him.

Some have expressed the verse like this.

GOD  - the greatest Lover

SO LOVED - the greatest degree

THE WORLD - the greatest number

THAT HE GAVE - the greatest act

HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON - the greatest Gift

THAT WHOSOEVER - the greatest invitation

BELIEVETH - the greatest simplicity

IN HIM - the greatest Person

SHOULD NOT PERISH - the greatest deliverance

BUT - the greatest difference

HAVE - the greatest certainty

EVERLASTING LIFE - the greatest possession

Now that is certainly a verse worth learning and treasuring.

Much love to you all

Chris

Jesus is coming again...

In a previous blog we spoke of redeeming our time; 

numbering our days to realise, even if we live until we are 80 years old, our time on earth is short. We only have one life to live for the Lord Jesus.

However, as Christians we shouldn't be looking to live for 80 or 90 years.

We should begin each day expecting that our Lord Jesus could come back for us. 

This should encourage us further to live for our Lord Jesus, as any day he could come back.

The Bible is full of references to Jesus' coming. 

His first coming has happened. It was when he came to this earth as a man and went to the cross to die for our sins.

His Second coming is yet to happen.

Jesus' second coming is split into two parts. 

The Lord Jesus will come to the earth again, in power, to set up His kingdom and reign.

However, before this the Bible speaks of the Lord Jesus coming back for his own people. He will come back again for those who love him; this event has been called the rapture. The word means "caught up"; we will be "caught up" into the air to be with Jesus.

There are three key passages in the Bible that describe this event...

John 14:1-3

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 

1 Corinthians 15:51-53

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 

So to paraphrase what the Bible says (and you can compare the verses)

Jesus has gone to heaven. 

He has gone to prepare a place for you and I. 

Right now He is preparing a home for each of us, a home we will enjoy with Him, forever.

But Jesus is coming again, He is coming to take us to be with Him, to be where He is. 

Not all of us will die! 

Because Jesus is coming for us. He will descend from heaven (but not to earth at this point) and call us up to be with Him in the air. 

This will happen quicker than a blink- in the twinkling of an eye. 

All true believers who have died already will be raised first. They will be followed by all believers who remain on the earth at that moment(that is you as you read this)! 

We will be raised to be with Christ and our bodies will be changed.

We will put on new immortal bodies; suited for Heaven and Eternal life. 

We will be like Christ. 

And so we shall always be with the Lord Jesus.

Always and forever, with Him. 

Love,

Dave

Ps. Let us know if you have any questions about prophecy and future events. 

Follow me! The Lord's call. Part 1.

Follow me! The Lord’s call

“Follow Me!” Ten times in the gospels, we hear the Lord Jesus call someone individually, using these words. Ten times a call to follow Him, to go your way without Him. 

This article is the first in a series of three about this call of the Lord Jesus.

But before we look at one of the events, let’s look at the One calling people to follow Him. We’re not talking about an average person here, or even someone important in politics or society. 
We’re looking at the Creator of heaven and earth, the Son of God, who became Man, without ceasing to be God. 

Who is this man? 

He is God and Man in one Person (see John 1:1, 14; Philippians 2:6, 7). This Man was born here on earth, lived here for about 30 years before starting with His public ministry. He was a Man of flesh and blood, tempted in all things, sin apart (see Hebrews 4:15). 
God the Father could witness of this Man: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22b). 
This Man, who fully did the will of the Father, called people to follow Him! 
He calls you and me, to follow Him! 

This time we’re going to look at the when the Lord Jesus called a tax collector, called Levi or Matthew. We find this historical event in the three synoptic* gospels; in Matthew 9, Mark 2 and Luke 5. In Matthew the tax gatherer is called “Matthew”, but in Mark and Luke he is called “Levi (the son of Alphaeus).” In Luke we find the most detailed report on this meeting between the Lord and this tax collector, so we will use the passage there to have a deeper look into Matthew’s call.

Matthew was a Jew, but somewhere in his life his priorities had shifted and he chose to serve the enemies of his own people! He had become a tax officer for the Romans, who were in charge of Israel in those days. Instead of serving the God of Israel, he was serving the Roman oppressor… 

These tax collectors were not loved by the Jews, because the served the enemy. But also – and even worse – they often charged more than was necessary and put the extra money in their own pockets (see also Luke 19:8). 

So in Matthew we see a picture of the natural man. Someone not serving God,but the prince of this world (Satan) and his own interests. A person only thinking about himself and not about others.

But one day Matthew’s life changed drastically. 
The Lord came looking for him. 

After all, He had come “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10b)! 
He speaks only two words to Matthew: 

“Follow Me!”.

The change in Matthew

If we look at the order of things in Luke 5:28, we find something remarkable there. We read there: “He left all, rose up and followed Him.” It would have made more sense to our limited human thinking to write something like ‘He rose, followed Him and left everything behind.’ And we find it like that in some Bible translations! 

After all, you only leave something behind if you walk away from it! But this order shows us something very beautiful.

Matthew first separated himself from his old life (“he left all”) and only after that he rose to follow the Lord. 

Two words… but what a wonderful result! Matthew answered to the Lord’s call. 
What about you? 

Have you answered to this call? Or are you still serving the prince of this world? 
Are you still serving your own interests?

But it doesn’t end there. Matthew’s actions in verse 28 show the results of his conversion.**
He invites the Lord Jesus and many others, among which are his former colleagues, into his house for a meal. No doubt he told his guests about his encounter with the Lord. In this meal we see a picture of the
fellowship the Lord Jesus wants to enjoy with us believers. 

Later the Lord Jesus said in John 14:23: “If anyone loves me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” We see a picture of this in Matthew’s story.


We too can enjoy this fellowship with our fellow believers. The disciples were there as well (compare verse 30 with Acts 2:42)!

Apart from this story we hardly read anything about Matthew in the New Testament. But he did write the gospel that bears his name. In this gospel we find the Lord Jesus especially described as the King, the true Son of David. That starts immediately in the first verse. 
It is pointed out eight times (1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:31, 21:9, 15) in this gospel that He is the Son of David! The tax collector who once served the Roman Empire became the author of the gospel of the true King of Israel! 

What a change! 
This was the result of Matthew’s response to the Lord’s call. 

May the Lord help you and me to be a witness for Him, just like Matthew, after responding to His call “Follow Me!”.

Love, 
Paul. 



* The Greek word ‘synoptikos’ means ‘seen together’. The synoptic gospels are Matthew, Mark and Luke. These three gospels in many cases contain the same stories and there is overlap here and there. The gospel of John however has an entirely different character and has been written decades later than the other three. Thegospel of John is not always easily understood without knowledge of the other three gospels.

** By the way, the word ‘conversion’ means ‘turning away from something towards something (or someone) else.’

Teach us to number our days ...

 

"The years of our life are seventy,
    or even by reason of strength eighty;yet their span is but toil and trouble;
    they are soon gone, and we fly away...

So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:10-12

"Time flies doesn't it!"

"Is it February already?"

"Not be long till Christmas!"

I'm sure you've heard adults in your life say these things a lot. It's certainly true that the older you get the quicker time seems to go! Even for young people, I'm sure that in September, exams seemed a long way off. Now you might be feeling the pressure begin to mount. Unfortunately  it will not be long until you're right in the middle of them, and then it's the summer!

It's only 153 days until Bibleway Camp 2019!

Even though time doesn't go any quicker or slower, it does keep on going. 

And one day our time on earth will be over.

Every day is a gift

Each day is a gift from God and each day is an opportunity.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 90, that we can hope to live for 70 or even 80 years.

Obviously, none of us can guarantee that we will live till tomorrow, let alone another 50 years.

And as Christians we should live expecting the return of the Lord Jesus at anytime(more on the rapture in another blog).

However let's imagine you will live until you are 80! 

That's 29,200 days!
Seems a lot doesn't it?

What do you fill your days with?

Well take away at least 10,000 days just for sleep.

Then minus the days you have already lived.

And you're left with an approximate of your time left on this earth.

The Psalmist encourages us to number our days- to think about the time we have on earth.

Why does he do that?

He wants us to realise our life on this earth is fleeting;  that the days are "soon gone". 

Your first priority in life should be to make sure you have salvation though faith in Christ alone. Your next priority should be to treat every day in this life as an opportunity to live for our Lord Jesus.

Judgement seat of Christ...

One day every Christian will stand before the Lord Jesus as our judge. (2 Corinthians 5:9-11)
 He will reward us for the things we have done for him; from giving someone a glass of water to leading an evangelistic campaign. Everything we do will be assessed; and everything done for Christ will be rewarded. 

Paul writing to the Ephesians says they should be "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."(Ephesians 5:16) 
Put simply Paul encourages us to make each day count. We only have this life to live for Christ. Paul himself began his life as a Christian with the words "Lord, what will you have me to do?"(Acts 9) and from that day on his life was marked by this attitude.

This is a question we should begin each day with.
Don't waste a day.
Don't waste your life. 

Only one life 'twill soon be past.Only what's done for Christ will last.

Charles Studd