Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105) Mount
Baker
Beacon Volume 02, Number 48
11/26/2023 Published by
Mt. Baker
church of Christ Location:
1860 Mt. Baker HWY
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 30821
Bellingham, WA 98228
(360) 752-2692 Sunday:
Bible Classes..........9:30 AM
Worship..10:30AM; 6:00PM
Wednesday:
Bible Classes.........7:00 PM
Web site: Mt. Baker church
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Editor......John Bass
| In this issue:
BETTER TO BE OF A HUMBLE SPIRIT
R. J. Evans “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). "Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud" (Proverbs 16:18-19).
A person does not have to be proud, boastful, or arrogant to be great, as is believed by so many today. Moses was truly a great man, and at the same time, "very meek, above all the men which lived upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3). King Saul was told by Samuel that "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel?" (1 Samuel 15:23). But with the passing of time, Saul became "big" in his own eyes, and, because of his proud, sinful actions, the Lord rejected him as king (1 Samuel 15:23).
David, a man after God's own heart, was humble. His humility is evident by some of his statements found in the Psalms. He said, "My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad" (Psalms 34:2). He also stated that "The sacrifices of God are of a broken spirit, A broken and contrite heart -- These, O God, You will not despise" (Psalms 51:17).
The Apostle Paul, from the world's viewpoint, had every reason to be proud. He was highly educated, having been "brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our father's law" (Acts 22:3). He had the honor and privilege of being a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25-29). Paul told the Philippians, "If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Philippians 3:4-6). Yet, Paul was a man of humility. Concerning the facts just stated, he went on to say, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ" (Philippians 4:7). In fact, he later called these things "rubbish" (v.8). As an apostle, he spoke of himself as "the least of all the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God" (1 Corinthians 15:9). He also spoke of himself as the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).
All through the scriptures, we can observe that God used the ones of a "humble spirit" for His service. If we are going to be truly great in the service to the Lord today, then we too must be humble. Jesus said, "but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant" (Matthew 20:26). James tells us to "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, And He will lift you up" (James 4:10).
The person of a "humble spirit" realizes that he is nothing without God. He is genuinely happy to obey all of God's commands and to receive His rich blessings. He is like an empty vessel which only God can fill. Paul said, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (Romans 12:3). May we always remember that "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). Top
BEWARE OF SATAN
Richie Thetford In the past I have written several articles on the blessings of being a Christian and the wonderful love of God. But there is another force that we need to be seriously aware of and that is Satan himself. Matthew 4:1 says, "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." It is Satan that temps us and every day that goes by we can see the hand of Satan somewhere in it. That is why the Apostle Paul wrote "Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer and come together again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control" (1 Corinthians 7:15). Paul was giving this advice to those that are married because he knew that Satan is always standing ready to tempt all with fleshly desires. One must understand that Satan is a very strong force, and we cannot let our guard down for an instant because if we do, we will be tempted by him in an instant. Peter stressed this in his writing of 1 Peter 5:8 when he said "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Brethren, we must see Satan as an active force just waiting for us. Satan has been called a "murderer from the beginning" and "does not stand for truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). Not only is he a murderer and full of lies - the father of lies, but he is a sinner, John says "the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
Don't Give Satan the Advantage
We can see from all the above passages that Satan is "no good" and we need to be very cautious of him. At this point you may be asking "what should I do with him?" First, don't give him the advantage. Paul said "...that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes." Once he gets the advantage it becomes harder and harder for us to overcome him. We must continually watch out for him (1 Peter 5:8), and resist him as James says in James 4:7 "Submit therefore to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you." As Christians, we should be confident that when we do resist Satan that he will flee from us.
Put on the Armor of God
So how do we keep from giving him the advantage, to watch for him, and to resist him? By living a life that is sober as mentioned in 1 Peter 5:8. Another way to do this is to put the armor of God on us. Paul told the Ephesians "Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11). We need to study the Word of God and dwell on Godly things while practicing a life of Godliness all the time. When we do so, there will be much less opportunity for Satan to tempt us.
Satan - The Great Deceiver
Here are just a few things that Satan does that hasn't been mentioned earlier. He entraps (1 Timothy 3:7; 2 Timothy 2:26), blinds (2 Corinthians 4:4), takes the truth away (Luke 8:12), resists good (Zechariah 3:1; Revelation 2:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:18), promotes evil (Luke 22:3; Acts 5:3), transforms himself (2 Corinthians 11:14), and he deceives as stated in the book of Revelation 12:9 "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."
There will come a time when Satan will no longer be a factor for the Christian. Do you know when that will occur? When this world comes to an end and all the righteous Christians are with God for all eternity. However, all mankind who have not believed and have not been baptized into Jesus Christ (Mark 16:16) and those who are in the church who have not remained faithful to the end (Revelation 2:10) will spend an eternity with the Devil! BEWARE OF SATAN and BELIEVE IN JESUS - Our eternity with God depends on it! Top
Created by John Bass, last updated. 11/24/2023 The Mount Baker Beacon is a weekly publication of the Mt. Baker church of Christ, Bellingham, WA.
Send all questions, comments to the editor, John Bass at (360) 325-5149 or johnbass2468@gmail.com |
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