People who cause Trouble
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WHAT TO DO WITH TROUBLEMAKERS
17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Rick Blount
Troublemakers, it seems, are on every hand. Everywhere we turn we have to deal with the matter of troublemakers. Whether on the job or the community where you live or even in your particular area of the church, from time to time you will experience troublemakers. Sometimes you have troublemakers in the choir. Sometimes you have troublemakers in the youth group. You may occasionally experience troublemakers in your Sunday School class or in some other particular area of our church’s ministry, from time to time; there are those people who will cause trouble.
I was thinking about troublemakers this week and what I was going to say about it and I began to think about some of the families that the troublemakers are in.
Some of the troublemakers are in the Iser family. Do you know about the Isers? There are the criticizers. They are always the ones who are finding something to criticize about everything. Then there are the organizers. They are always the ones who are trying to get up a little band of rebellion to hinder the work of the Lord. Then there are the proselytizers. These are the ones who are unhappy here. They are going somewhere else and they do everything they can to proselytize others to go with them. Then there are the womanizers. Those are the ones who come in and they are interested only in looking at someone with a carnal perspective. So, there are some who are in the Iser family.
Some of the troublemakers are in the Tator family. There are the agitators. They are always the ones who are agitating the situation. Then there are the imitators. They try to imitate the people of God and it becomes very clear that they are putting on an act; it’s not real in their hearts. There are the irritators. They can irritate everything and everyone all of the time. Then there are the dictators. These are the ones who always want to run things. They always want to be in charge and if you don’t let them they get very unhappy. Then there are the perpetrators. Those are the ones who spread the rumors and lies and innuendoes. The troublemakers who are in the Tator family.
There are some who are in the Tares family. Jesus talked about the tares among the wheat. We have some troublemakers who are in the tares family. You know the tares. They always taring. They tares up and they tares down. They tares over and they tares under. They tares in and they tares out. They are always taring around doing something. You have to watch out for the troublemakers.
There have always been troublemakers in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Very soon after the inception of the church of Jesus Christ the Bible teaches that the troublemakers began to move. There were for instance the legalists who taught that Christianity was merely a set of rules and they tried to put everybody under bondage. There were the libertines who used the liberty which is ours in the grace of God as an experience to sin. They tried to get people back into a lifestyle of sin; Of course, there were also the Judaizes who taught doctrines that were clearly contradictory to the established teachings, the precious truths of the Word of God.
The Apostle Paul had to deal with these troublemakers constantly in his ministry. Everywhere Paul went he had to deal with these troublemakers. They were like mangy dogs, snapping at his heels everywhere he went. They followed him from city to city and from church to church. They were always stirring up things. They were always causing turmoil. They sowed the seeds of dissension, discord and destruction.
Paul writes in these verses to the Roman Christians words of warning about the troublemakers. He reminds them and the Spirit of God thus reminds us that we are to be very careful to watch out for the troublemakers.
I want to show you some things that God gives in these verses which I believe can be a help and an encouragement to all of us. Notice in verse 18 and 19 we have a word of —
I. CAUTION.
I. CAUTION.
In
17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
he specifically addresses the matter of the troublemakers and there are two commands given in verse 17. He says concerning this word of caution about the troublemakers: mark them. Then he says at the end of the verse: avoid them. That’s God’s word of caution about how we are to deal with the troublemakers. Mark them. That means we are to be very careful to analyze the troublemakers. The word here is a most interesting word. It is our word that we use in our English language the word scope. The word, microscope, or telescope or if you have a knee problem the surgeon will sometimes “scope” it. The word scope means to fix your eyes upon. It means to gaze intently. It means to look with very, very keen insight. He says here — fix your eyes on the troublemakers. The tense of the verb is present tense and it means to be continuously on the lookout. You have to always be looking out for the troublemakers. They do a lot of damage. You better keep your eyes on them. You better be watching all the time lest they appear. The Bible says that the troublemakers have a way of trying to move in very subtly. In he says there are certain men crept in unawares. That’s true about denominations of churches. You have to watch out for the troublemakers, the false teachers. It is true about local churches. Watch out for those that creep in unawares. Get your eyes on them, analyze them.
Analyze what the troublemakers believer, verse 17 - “mark them who cause divisions and of fences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned.” The word, division, there means dissension. It means disruption. In
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
where it is translated seditions it is referred to as one of the works of the flesh. So, the troublemakers are always dividing.
We have sung this beautiful prayer chorus: Make Us One Lord. It is a miracle - the unity that the Lord brings among believers. But the devil wants to disrupt that oneness. The devil wants to pull apart, to divide. That’s always what the troublemaker’s teaching will ultimately do.
Offenses. The word literally means a trap stick. Some of you older guys when you were boys on the farm you would put out a rabbit box and you would have a trap to catch a rabbit. You would have a stick in the entrance of the trap and when the rabbit went in it would hit the trap stick and the rabbit would be caught. That word means to trick, to trap, to set a trap for. That’s what the troublemakers try to do by what they teach. They try to set a trap for those who are believers.
Notice he says divisions and offenses “contrary to the doctrine.” The word, contrary, is a preposition that means to lay alongside - alongside the doctrine. Troublemaker’s doctrines are very dangerous and disruptive because they are laid alongside the truth to the point that it is very difficult sometimes to tell the difference between the two. There is a body of doctrine which is known as the faith. In the book of
4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
the Bible says in verse 4 “earnestly contend for the faith which was once for all delivered for the saints.” The faith is a body of doctrine. Paul refers to it in this very book of Romans in the 6th chapter, 17th verse he says - “But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” Literally, that form of doctrine into which you have been poured. There is a form of doctrine. There is a truth which is known as the faith. God’s people grow and mature as they are taught the doctrine, as they are poured into the truths of God’s word and God’s word is poured into their heart. The troublemaker’s doctrine is laid alongside that and it is so very subtle if you aren’t careful you will miss it altogether. It’s like some poisons. You have to be very careful to analyze poisons. There are some poisons that look just like water. Only careful analysis can tell you whether or not it is water or whether it is a poison. You have to carefully analyze what they believe. Watch the things troublemakers say. Is what they say consistent with what God teaches in the Word?
Not only do you analyze what they believe, but you also analyze how they behave. Verse 18 — “for they are such that serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly.” It becomes very apparent about the troublemakers that they are more interested in their own way than in God’s way. They are more interested in serving their own selfish appetites and desires than they are in serving the Lord Jesus Christ. They serve their own belly.
Philippians 3:19
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
Philip it says about the troublemakers “whose god is their belly.” The troublemaker has a need to be accepted. The troublemaker has a need to gather people around him or her. So, they teach and act in such a way as to try to draw people to themselves. So, he says, “by good words and fair speeches they deceive the hearts of the simple.” The word, simple, there really refers to a babe in Christ. I think NIV translates it, the naive. That is the unsuspecting young believer, the unsuspecting Christian who is sucked in by the troublemaker. One who is sucked in by the false teacher?
it says about the troublemakers “whose god is their belly.” The troublemaker has a need to be accepted. The troublemaker has a need to gather people around him or her. So, they teach and act in such a way as to try to draw people to themselves. So, he says, “by good words and fair speeches they deceive the hearts of the simple.” The word, simple, there really refers to a babe in Christ. I think NIV translates it, the naive. That is the unsuspecting young believer, the unsuspecting Christian who is sucked in by the troublemaker. One who is sucked in by the false teacher?
He gives us a word of caution here and he says we are to be very careful to analyze what they teach and analyze how they behave. What you believe ultimately will determine the way you behave. Your doctrine will determine the kind of lifestyle you live. Paul said, “I
have believed, therefore I have spoken.” What you believe determines the kind of life you live.
“Mark them.” Be very careful to mark them.
Then he uses a stronger word, “avoid them.” The word really means to bow out. It means to give them a wide birth. It means don’t get around the troublemaker.
That sounds mighty unkind to say don’t get around the troublemaker. Let me go a little further and you will see why. He is talking here about the responsibility of young Christians not to get themselves too tied in with the troublemakers because they can be very, very subtle in ruining the life of a young Christian. How many young Christians do you know who have been hindered in their Christian growth because the wrong kind of person got hold of them? There are any number of troublemaking, proselytizers in our city. They are not really interested in getting people saved, but the moment they hear about us getting somebody saved then they get interested then they try to pull them off and get them off in their Bible study, in their group. So, the Word of God says, “avoid them.” Back off from them. That means don’t get engaged in discussion with them. Only a mature Bible teacher is spiritually and biblically equipped to deal with these kinds of troublemakers. Young Christians - those who are babes in the Lord — are not prepared to deal with this kind of situation. That’s why if you have a troublemaker in your Sunday School class more than likely it’s your Sunday School teacher who needs to deal with the situation and not you. That troublemaker carefully lays the trap stick at the door of the unsuspecting young Christian. The Bible says not to get involved in vain babblings, don’t get involved in needless discussions.
The scripture says you are not to have communion with them. I want to show you a strong verse of Scripture.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting,
. “If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine (that is the doctrine of Christ and the Word) receive him not into your house, neither bid him godspeed. For he that bideth him godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds.” That is saying you don’t play footsy with the troublemakers. That means you don’t let troublemakers come in and listen to what they have to say. I have a standard procedure I use when false teachers and those who would trouble the faith of the unsuspecting came to my house. I’d say, “I’m sorry but tells me that I can’t allow you to come into my home with your doctrine because it is not the doctrine of Christ. So, scripturally I’m forbidden to allow you to come, but I’ll come to your house with the Word of God if you will let me, and I’ll explain the gospel to you and how you can know Jesus as your Savior.” I’ve never had anybody to take me up on it.
The Scriptures make it very clear that you are not to get yourself susceptible, or get yourself in a dangerous position concerning false teaching. In the world of nature the most dangerous moment for a bird is when the bird catches the glare of the snake’s eyes. If the bird doesn’t turn away immediately, he will find itself in the hypnotic spell of the snake and in a moment’s time it will be in the jaws of death. So, it is a word of warning, a word of caution about the troublemaker. Mark them, get your eyes on them and watch
them carefully. Avoid them, don’t become buddies with them, don’t run with that crowd.
There is in verse 19 a word of—
II. CHALLENGE.
II. CHALLENGE.
19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
A challenge for us as Christians to grow and mature in the Lord. As we grow and mature in the Lord, then we are better able to deal with this whole matter of troublemakers.
The greatest solution for a Sunday School class that has a troublemaker in it, somebody who is disrupting in it - it’s for the members of that Sunday School class to be growing and maturing in their Christian life. Becoming Spirit-filled believers. The greatest solution for a church that has troublemakers in it is for the members of that church to be growing in the Christian life - to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to be on fire for the Lord Jesus Christ. Troublemakers don’t like that. Troublemakers don’t like a happy church. There’s something wrong with the troublemakers. Either they have never been saved and needs to be saved. Or, the troublemaker is saved but is far of f from the Lord. Or, the troublemaker has so many internal problems and so much internal conflict that they just want to carry his or her unhappiness everywhere he or she goes. When a church really has the love of Jesus in it and when a church is really growing in the Lord and is on fire for the Lord, that becomes a powerful antiseptic to the disastrous disease of troublemaking. So, here’s a word of challenge in verse 19. “For your obedience is come abroad...” We are challenged here to live a life of obedience. The word literally means to hear under. It means to get under the truth that you hear from God’s Word and begin to practice it in your life. The faith is not merely to be heard, the faith is also to be believed.
26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—
-” . . .make known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” What we believe should cause us to obey the Word. Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say unto you.” James said, “Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only.”
I was studying that word, hearers, in the book of James a number of years ago. It’s where we get our word, audit - auditors. Sometimes in college you will audit a class. I audited a class of German one time, getting ready for doctoral studies. Don’t ask me anything about German, I just audited the course. That means you can sit in the class, listen to the lectures, don’t have to take any of the tests, but you don’t get any credit for it either. In fact the only German I can remember is _______________________________. I was auditing the course. When it says, “be ye doers of the word and not hearers only,” the word hearers there is auditors. When you come to hear the Word of God preached and when you go to your Sunday School class to hear it taught, you are not to be an auditor. You are not there to just hear it as information, but you are to be doers of the Word. A life of obedience. It ought to be the goal of every one of us as Christians to put in practice the things we learned from the Word of God and begin to grow and mature into that Christian we want to be.
We need to take a look at where we are right now and then take a look at where we want to be. Then, so, obey the teachings of the Scriptures that we will move more and more
from where we are to where we want to be as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then, there’s a challenge here to competence. ‘But I would have you wise.” That is, skilled expert in that which is good. He is saying here “I want you to be competent believers.’ If you become expert, if you become skilled in what is good then you won’t be a troublemaker. To live a good life, to be a good person. Jesus can make you a good person. This is the glory of the Gospel. This is the miracle of the new birth. Jesus can take you where you are and what you are now and He can make you a good person. He can make you what you want to be and what His grace can make you to be. Skilled in that which is good. He can form your habits and make them good habits. He can change and transform your thoughts and make your thoughts good thoughts. That’s how to deal with the troublemakers. Competence, obedience.
The next thing gets even better. Wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil.” Second KJV uses the word, simple. In verse 18 he talks about the hearts of the simple and now he says simple concerning evil, but it’s a different word. Here the word means unsophisticated in evil. It means a non-expert in evil. It means not trained in evil. He is saying “I want your life to be a life of innocence.
There is an idea going around that you have to try evil in order to understand it. There are some Christians who justify going to dirty movies and watching filthy television by saying, “In order to know how to deal with the wicked world we are in you need to see it for yourself and experience it.” That is not true. You do not have to stick your head in a garbage can to know that the garbage is rotten.
I was reading a book by Michael Medvid that you ought to read some time. It’s Hollywood verses America. He brought up the blasphemous movie, the Last Temptation of Christ. I was president of the Southern Baptist Convention when that movie came out. They invited me to New York to see that movie at a premier showing. I turned it down and I sent word back to them that I didn’t have to stick my head in a garbage can to know that it smells and to know that something is rotten on the inside. You don’t either. You don’t have to take poison to know it will kill you. You don’t have to go along with the current of the stream to know it’s strong. You don’t have to stick your head in the darkness to know it is dark. A lot of people think you have to experience a little of it for yourself. The person who has never experienced the sin is probably more knowledgeable about the sin than the person who is experiencing it. I preach about drinking. I can preach against liquor. If you have never heard me preach against liquor, I can preach against liquor. I can preach about the sin of drunkenness and I can tell you what it does and how it makes you throw up and wallow in their own and all that kind of stuff. I can make it graphic and vivid. I’ve had people come up to me after I have preached on this and say, “My gracious preacher, I didn’t know you used to drink.” I say, “I didn’t use to drink. Never had a drop in all of my life.” “How in the world do you know so much about what alcohol will do to you if you never drink it.” Very simple, I read it all right here in the Word of God. You don’t have to be a drunk to know that alcohol is bad. You don’t have to take drugs. I never had any drugs, but I know what drugs will do to you and I know the addiction that is there. You tell me who is the most knowledgeable, who is the most
sensitive to sin? The person who is dulled by its power, the person who is in the grips of the addiction, or the person who knows the Word of God and knows what the Bible has to say about it.
Young people, don’t you ever let the devil trick you into thinking you have to experience something for yourself in order to know whether it’s good or bad? That’s one of the most subtle tricks the devil wants to use on young people and wants to use on grown people as well. The devil’s trick is “try it just this once, just see how it is and then if you don’t like it that’s all right, you can take it or leave it.” You try it that one time then the devil says, “I got you, you’re in my clutches, you’ll never get out.” There are some drugs that all you have to do is just take one and you are hooked. They tell me cocaine is that way. Basketball player a few years ago, named Lenn Bias, according to all the information we had, for the first time in his life he took cocaine and it killed him. The first time you take some drugs you are immediately addicted, you are immediately hooked at that particular time. The devil wants you to believe you can take it or leave it and that you will be a more knowledgeable person if you have experimented 14
The devil, in the Garden of Eden, said to Adam and Eve when he was tempting them to partake of the forbidden fruit, “God doeth know that in the day you eat thereof you will become as gods knowing good and evil.” The only problem with that is that the devil just told them a part of the truth of the matter. When they partook of the forbidden fruit they did know good and evil but they knew good and they were powerless to do it and they knew evil and they were powerless to avoid it. Be simple concerning evil.
You don’t have to experiment with sin and you don’t have to live a life of sin to move from a babe in Christ to a spiritual believer in the Lord. You ought to just remain just as naive as you can possibly remain about the old sinful things of this world. You don’t’ have to have street knowledge to grow in the things of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is also a word of
III. CONQUEST.
III. CONQUEST.
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
I love verse 20. This is one of the greatest verses with one of the greatest promises in all of the Bible. “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” We are introduced here to a very real personality. When I first started preaching it was not uncommon to hear people deny the existence of the devil. In fact, I had some teachers in the school where I attended who denied the existence of the devil. It was very common for people to make fun of the idea that there was a real personality known as the devil. In 1994 there is not anybody anymore denying the existence of the devil. In the 1990’s we are living in a world where the reality of the devil is commonly understood. The devil is alive, but he is not well. The Bible teaches we have a real enemy, the archenemy of the sour. He is the enemy of God. He is the enemy of His Son and he is the enemy of God’s children. His purpose is to thwart the plan of God and crush under the people of God. But we have a word of conquest here. The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet
. This is one of the greatest verses with one of the greatest promises in all of the Bible. “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” We are introduced here to a very real personality. When I first started preaching it was not uncommon to hear people deny the existence of the devil. In fact, I had some teachers in the school where I attended who denied the existence of the devil. It was very common for people to make fun of the idea that there was a real personality known as the devil. In 1994 there is not anybody anymore denying the existence of the devil. In the 1990’s we are living in a world where the reality of the devil is commonly understood. The devil is alive, but he is not well. The Bible teaches we have a real enemy, the archenemy of the sour. He is the enemy of God. He is the enemy of His Son and he is the enemy of God’s children. His purpose is to thwart the plan of God and crush under the people of God. But we have a word of conquest here. The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet
shortly. He means we can have victory over the devil continuously. The tense of the verb — presence tense - he shall continuously bruise Satan under your feet. The word, bruise there means to mash, to shatter, to grind in the ground thoroughly. It’s the picture of stomping on something and then twisting the feet until you have ground it into the dirt. The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet.
Immediately when you see that word, bruise, your mind goes all the way back tot he first book in the Bible.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
, This figure of the bruising of Satan immediately connects with what we find in . This is after Adam and Eve have fallen into the trap of the devil and the Lord God is dealing with Adam and dealing with Eve. Then in verse 14 he deals with the serpent, Satan. That old serpent the Devil. Then in verse 15 here is the promise that God makes right there in the Garden of Eden. “I will put enmity between thee (satan and the woman) and between thy seeds (satan’s) and her seed (the woman’s-that’s Christ’s) and it (seed of the woman-Christ) shall bruise thy head (head of the devil) and thou (satan shall bruise his heel (that is the heel of Christ.) There is a promise, but also a forecast of the hostility there would be between Satan and God. And Satan and the Son of God. And Satan and God’s people. You will find that hostility all the way through the Word of God. You will come to the New Testament and the coming of the Lord Jesus into this world and you remember that the Lord Jesus was taken out into the wilderness and for 40 days he was tempted of the devil and in every instance the Lord Jesus Christ overcame the temptation of the devil and he conquered the devil in the wilderness.
That wasn’t the end. The Lord Jesus came to the climax of his ministry. The Lord Jesus came to the climax of His life and his purpose for being on the earth and The Lord Jesus went to that old cross and on that old cross where they hung him between heaven and earth Jesus Christ bore all of our sins, all of our sins were laid on the Lord Jesus Christ, but that’s not all that happened. When Jesus died on that cross for our sins, the Bible says in
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
that he also destroyed the works of the devil. In
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
it says, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly in it (the cross.) Jesus died on the cross and He defeated the devil. He put the devil out of commission. IF the devil is out of commission why are we having so much trouble with the devil and his troublemakers running around? In Romans 1620 Paul says the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet. That little phrase “under your feet,” has Bible connections. I’m studying the book of Joshua on Wednesday night. Sometimes in January we will start in the book of Joshua where God gives them that Promised Land and they go in and they claim it. But God says to Joshua, Everywhere you put your feet I’ll give it to you. You have to walk the land. You had to put your feet on it, you had to claim it. The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet. Jesus has already won the battle over the devil and you and I can win the victory over the temptations and the troubles of the devil, but we have to claim it. We have to claim the victory over the devil. We have to put our feet on the promises of God.
How do you overcome the devil? , “Resist the devil and he will flee from thee.” How do you resist the devil? By the way, be very careful how you talk to the devil. I hear people who are very flippant talking about the devil. They must not understand he is a
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
real person. Be very biblical in how you deal with the devil. Resist the devil. How?
11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto the death.” When the old devil wants to cause trouble and tempt you, claim the blood. Recognize that the Lord Jesus in the shedding of His blood won the battle over the devil. “The word of their testimony.” Testify to the Lord Jesus Christ. Speak a word for the Lord. “The God of peace shall bruise satan under your feet shortly.”
You can have continual victory over the devil every day of your life. Notice the promise also goes to the future. You are going to have victory over the devil ultimately. “Shortly.” That doesn’t mean it was going to happen right then and Paul was wrong. It just means that when God begins to do this it will happen just like that. That’s why I think the devil is moving like he is moving right now. There is an outburst of demonic activity in America. Not reported in the paper much but it is true. There is an outburst of the occult - all this New Age, witchcraft, satan worship. Seems to be a frenzy of activity on the part of the demonic and satanic world. I believe it’s because the Lord Jesus is coming soon. I believe the devil knows the Lord Jesus is coming soon and the Bible has already told us the good news that when Jesus comes again, it’s all over. The devil will be totally crushed. The Bible says that there is an everlasting fire and Jesus said it’s prepared for the devil and his angels. Jesus was talking one time to the demons and the demons talked to him and said, “Art thou come to torment us before the time?” The devil knows there is a time. We’ve been given a preview.
10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- a preview of the final crushing of satan under our feet. Here’s God writing history ahead of time. God is telling us what is going to happen out there to the devil in the future. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beat and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Ten thousand hallelujahs.
Three sweet Christian ladies were sharing together one day and they were rejoicing about being saved and being a part of the body of Christ. They began to talk about what part of the body of Christ would they most like to be. One of them said “I would like to be a part of the head of the body of Christ so I could know Him more.” The second one said, “I would like to be a part of the heart of the body of Christ so I could love Him more.” The third Christian who had a lot of battles and temptations and struggles and she said, “I’d like to be a part of the foot of the body of Christ because the Bible says the God of peace shall bruise satan under your feet shortly and I certainly want to be there when it happens. Child of God, we are going to be there. It’s going to be bye, bye devil, bye, bye temptation, bye, bye trouble, bye bye discord, bye, bye turmoil, bye bye everything that the devil causes in this old world.
Do you know Jesus as your Savior?