Satan\u2019s\nGrief = The Children Of God
\nTommy Robbins
\n\u201cThe more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And
\nthey were grieved because of the children of Israel.\u201d Exodus 1:12
\nAs Satan and the world is no match for God, neither is sin and Satan a
\nvictor over the children of God – \u201cNay, in all these things we are more
\nthan conquerors through him that loved us\u201d Romans 8:37. The more the
\nchild of God is afflicted the more we grow in grace and knowledge of
\nHim. This is because of Christ, not ourselves – \u201cYe are of God, little
\nchildren, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you,
\nthan he that is in the world.\u201d 1John 4:4. Our Lord knows nothing of
\ndefeat. He has won every battle and defeated every enemy that comes
\nagainst us – \u201cWhat shall we then say to these things? If God be for us,
\nwho can be against us?\u201d Romans 8:31. We but need to stand on the bank of
\nthe river and watch the final destruction of Pharaoh and his army to
\ncalm our fears. The deliverance of the children of Israel is but a
\npicture of a greater deliverance. It was by the affliction of our Lord
\nJesus Christ that grace was multiplied for His sheep.
\n
\nThe grief of Satan is the growth of God\u2019s kingdom through Christ\u2019s
\nsuffering and death. Shall those whom Christ purchased with His Own
\nblood suffer loss? Emphatically, NO! \u201cThis is the Father\u2019s will which
\nhath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing,
\nbut should raise it up again at the last day\u201d John 6:39. As the children
\nof Israel were an uncontrollable burden and grief to the Egyptians, so
\nis Christ and His church to the world.
\n
\nAdversity is sent from the loving hand of God to graciously force us to
\nHimself. \u201cThese things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have
\npeace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I
\nhave overcome the world\u201d John 16:33. What Satan means for evil, God uses
\nfor His people\u2019s good. \u201cWe know that all things work together for good
\nto them that love God, to them who are the called according to His
\npurpose\u201d Romans 8:28.
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nWE SING \u201cJOY TO THE WORLD!\u201d
\n
\nMany religious leaders dissuade their followers from singing Isaac
\nWatts\u2019 hymn Joy to the world! We here do not speak of atheists or men of
\nother \u201cworld religions\u201d avowedly opposed to the Lord Jesus Christ (e.g.,
\nJudaism): Their objection to such a hymn is understandable. Rather, we
\nhere speak of men professing to be Christians!
\n
\nWhat is their objection to this hymn? Lines such as the following:
\n
\nJoy to world! the Lord is come! \/ Let earth receive her King …
\nJoy to the earth! the Savior reigns! …
\nHe rules the world with truth and grace .\u2026
\n
\nThey object to Christ being presently praised as King ruling over His
\nkingdom!
\n
\nI reject every reason they may give for their objection, whether it be
\non the grounds of their Chiliasm, Millennialism (whether
\nPre-\/Post-\/Pan-\/Non-), Dispensationalism, Zionism, Darbyism,
\nScofieldism, Atheism or any other ism!
\n
\nThe Lord Jesus Christ was not thwarted by unbelievers in His purpose to
\nestablish His kingdom and reign as King over it. He did not have to
\nresort to \u201cPlan B\u201d (as some call it) because unbelievers would not let
\nHim fulfill \u201cPlan A\u201d. He was not lifted up on a cross because
\nunbelievers would not let Him ascend to His throne. He did not
\ninaugurate some \u201cParenthetical Church Age\u201d because of His failure to
\ninaugurate His \u201cMillennial Kingdom Age\u201d. He is not presently in heaven
\nas a king in exile \u2013 like pitiful Napoleon on Elba \u2013 because His
\ncitizens will not permit Him to rule and reign over them. He is not
\nwaiting for those who rejected Him to finally permit Him to return and
\nbe their king. Furthermore, it was never His intention to offer to
\nunbelieving Jews the earthly, worldly, carnal, physical kingdom for
\nwhich they lusted. And if He waits until men of their \u201cfreewill\u201d accept
\nHim as king and let Him establish His kingdom, He never will be king
\nover a kingdom.
\n
\nNeither did He come the first time to be a prophet, then return to
\nheaven to be a priest, intending to be a king when He comes to earth the
\nsecond time. His mediatorial offices cannot be divided in such a
\nfashion. He came to earth to be Prophet and Priest and King \u2013 and all
\nthree He was and is!
\n
\nJesus Christ was prophesied to be King in the Old Testament (e.g.,
\nIsaiah 9:6f), with the promise that in His incarnation He would be \u201cupon
\nthe throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it
\nwith judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever\u201d (cp.
\nJeremiah 33:15-21). In His incarnation He was announced as King (Luke
\n1:26-33; fulfilling 2 Samuel 7:12f), sought and worshipped as King
\n(Matthew 2:1f, 11), manifested as King (Matthew 12:28f; cp. Revelation
\n20:1-3), presented as King (Matthew 21:1-5; fulfilling Zechariah 9:9),
\nand empowered as King (Matthew 28:18). In His exaltation He was
\nenthroned as King at God\u2019s right hand (Acts 2:29-36). God therefore
\nassures Christ His Son, \u201cYour throne, O God, is forever and ever; a
\nscepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom\u201d (Hebrews 1:8).
\nAnd believers in Him have been by God delivered from the Satanic power
\nof darkness and translated into the kingdom of Jehovah\u2019s dear Son
\n(Colossians 1:13)!
\n
\nLet others object \u2013 if they must \u2013 to Christ\u2019s present and everlasting
\nKingship and Kingdom. Let them say \u2013 if they are such rebels \u2013 \u201cWe will
\nnot have this man to reign over us\u201d (Luke 19:14).
\n
\nBut believers in the Lord and Savior Jesus have ceased their rebellion
\nagainst Him and bowed to Him as King of King and Lord of Lords, and been
\ngraciously received into His kingdom, and joyfully sing \u2026
\nJoy to world! the Lord is come! \/ Let earth receive her King …
\nJoy to the earth! the Savior reigns! …
\nHe rules the world with truth and grace .\u2026
\n
\nAnd we exultingly sing that song all through the year, not with mere
\nlip-service at Christmastide only. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
–\nDaniel E. Parks
\n
\n
\n
\nThe Sovereign Will of God
\nDrew Dietz
\nOne way or another, the sovereign will of our God is being done!
\n
\nDo you believe this? Do I believe this? Take a look with me at Acts
\n21:30-37 and you will see what I mean by the statement above.
\n
\nYou have on one hand the Roman soldiers, on the other the Jewish mob.
\nOne group is the occupier and is despised by the occupied nation. One
\ngroup is responsible for law and order, the other group is in full
\nrebellion. The Romans are the conquerors, the Jews are the conquered.
\nTwo wheels turning in direct opposites bent on over-ruling the other.
\nYet God in His sovereign power and supreme purpose used both of these to
\nfulfill His will for Paul in his eventual journey to Rome. It is amazing
\nhow, says one writer of old, the Lord would use Rome to protect the
\nfledgling church while Jerusalem persecuted it.
\n
\nOur ever gracious Lord is still doing such things for each individual
\nsheep as well as His Church collectively, taking all things, whether
\nopposites in our way of thinking or not and turning them for His glory
\nand our best interest!
\n
\nOh my soul, consider this daily and see the sweet peace it affords to my
\nweak and hurting soul.
\n
\n
\n
\nAbsolutely Sovereign
\nClay Curtis
\n
\nPsalm 76:10: Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of
\nwrath shalt thou restrain.
\nIf we deny the absolute sovereignty of God we do not deny it because we
\nthink it belittles God. Whether we know it or not we do it TO BELITTLE
\nGOD AND EXALT SELF. Though most argue against God’s absolute authority
\nand power claiming concern over God being accused of being the author of
\nevil, the true concern is that I’ll be found out to be the author of all
\nmy sin.
\n
\nIf we confess that God can remove his restraining hand from a man,
\nharden a man’s heart, so that the sinner commits evil in a city all to
\naccomplish God’s purpose then we have to confess that it is only by
\nGod’s direct hand and purpose that sinners are not venting more evil
\nthan we do now. By nature evil is what we are. The only thing keeping me
\nfrom committing the vilest act right now is the sovereign power of God.
\n
\nYet, all the evil acts that sinners have ever committed on this earth
\nhave praised God. One only has to look at the most sinful act of all. At
\nthe cross we behold God bringing praise to his name from the unrighteous
\nwrath of man through the death of his own Son. If everything which
\nhappened to God’s own Son was according to God’s determinate council
\nthen who are we to question him as to what he does from his throne in
\nglory to us worms called men. Praise him that he has not given us our
\njust due in removing his hand from all of us. Sinful man apart from
\nGod’s restraining hand is hell.
\nGod’s absolute sovereignty is the very definition of who God is. It
\ngives great peace to the sinner who has been made to see him in truth. I
\nam thankful my God is truly God.
\n
\n
\nGod\u2019s King is King Already
\n
\n
\nAbout 5,000 men sat on the side of a mountain in the lush grass and
\nlistened to the gracious words of Him who was the gospel incarnate.
\nHaving heard His precious words they ate their fill of a basket
\ncontaining five barley loaves and two small fishes.
\nThis God did by Him in their midst to confirm His person and offices
\n(Acts 2: 22). Having satisfied their religious curiosity and mixing His
\nwords with their own reasoning and logic, they rose up with an ignorant
\nzeal intending to make Him a king by force. Perceiving their selfish and
\ncarnal motives, the Lord withdrew himself from their numbers and went
\ninto the mountain alone.
\nEvery fallen son of Adam believes he has the power and ability to
\neffectually resist the living God, alter His will, and by his own
\nauthority allow him to do or not do certain things. David calls this in
\nPsalm 2 a vain imagination. \u201cHe that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh;
\nthe Lord will have them in derision (Psalm 2: 4).\u201d
\n\u201cYet have I set my King upon my holy hill in Zion. I will declare the
\ndecree: The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I
\nbegotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thy
\ninheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
\n(Psalm 2: 6-8).\u201d This is not that day in Bethlehem when Mary brought
\nforth the promised seed but the eternal begetting of the mediator King.
\nGod\u2019s King is King already! God hath set Him by decree upon his holy
\nhill in Zion. This is the eternal generation of Christ and includes all
\nof his offices, all of his work, all of the means, and all whom he
\nrepresented.
\nHis reign is without contest, without assistance, and without question.
\n\u2018None can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou (Daniel 4:
\n35).\u201d \u201cIn his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only
\nPotentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords (I Timothy 6: 15).\u201d As
\nfallen sons of Adam the best thing we can do is to fall prostrate at his
\nfeet, and be thankful for his rule which has been established in him to
\nsave sinners for the glory of his name. (John 17: 2)
\n
\nDarvin Pruitt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Satan\u2019s Grief = The Children Of God Tommy Robbins \u201cThe more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.\u201d Exodus 1:12 As Satan and the world is no match for God, neither is sin and Satan a victor over the children of God – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulletin-editions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5252,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5251\/revisions\/5252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}