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Tag: satan

Protect Them from the Evil One
Keep Them

I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
John 17:15 CSB

JESUS prays fervently in an upper room in Jerusalem. He intercedes for disciples of every era, not for everyone but only for those the Father has given to Him for eternal life. Protect them.

Are you one of these?

For I have kept ^H8104 the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
A Psalm of David 18:21 KJV

The Lord confirms the praises and prophecy of scripture interceding as priest for His own.

a Benediction

“… You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
John 17:6b CSB – the prayer of Jesus

This last formal prayer of Jesus feels like a benediction – a good-bye to His disciples ‘until we meet again.’

Jesus prays, “They have kept Thy word [KJV].”

He is leaving them unguarded in the flesh and asks our Father God, ‘please accept them into Your keeping and protect them.” Our sinless High Priest confirms to the Father that these are worthy of eternal life!

Benediction:

ben-e-dik’-shun: From the earliest times the records bear testimony that pronouncing the benediction or giving the blessing was a common practice. In the temple service, this duty was assigned to the Aaronites and was made an impressive part of the service. The form of the benediction used is given in Numbers 6:22-27. source: BlueLetterBible

יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ ס
יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ ס
יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלֹֽום׃ ס
Numbers 6:24-26 Masoretic text – Command of the LORD to Moses for the benediction of the priests.

How encouraging to know that the Lord will bless us, and keep us, to make His face to shine upon us, and give us peace.

You, beloved believer, have likely heard priestly benedictions with some frequency. Jesus, no doubt, must certainly have blessed the multitudes many times as they returned to their homes from His preaching.

After Christ’s resurrection and ascension the Apostles boldly preached the Gospel from town to town. They too would bless the church, often distant from their presence but near in their prayers:
- The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. – benediction of Paul’s letter 2 Corinthians 13:14
- You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. – benediction of Peter’s letter 2 Peter 3:17-18
- Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. – benediction of leter of Jude 24:24-25
John 17:

Jesus, now departing from His Disciples to His suffering prior to the Cross, prays for the earthly flock; these His beloved friends and soon-to-be anointed shepherds of His flocks and keepers of the New Covenant.

11 I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, ..”

Our Lord and priestly intercessor now prays:

“… protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one.

12 While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me.

I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction…”

He refers to Judas Iscariot, of course; who not only is absent from this worship before the Father, but who will very soon betray His Master and Lord Jesus to the evil rulers of this world.

And Jesus continues by pointing to the purpose of His Sacrifice,

“… so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.”

Fulfillment of Scripture, a turning point between Covenants

Genesis 3 excerpt:
- Now the serpent … said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” – 3:1
  - The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! – v.4
  - For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” -v.5
- The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this Cursed are you more than all… v.6
  - … And between your seed [offspring of the serpent]
  - and her seed [sons of adam]
  - He shall bruise you on the head,
  - And you shall bruise him on the heel.” – v.15
By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:19 NASB

YES, Jesus the Son of Man will die and so will you and I.

Yet why would our King and High Priest Redeemer pray that He will suffer for us?

Romans 5: NASB
- Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— v.5
- For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. v.19
- ..as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. –v.21
The Enemy

From before Jesus was born as a son of man, He turned back all opposition of man’s great enemy the serpent Satan, the spirit of evil opposing all righteousness.
- The evil one could not kill the child born of the virgin in Bethlehem by the hand of Herod.
- Satan could not tempt Jesus in the wilderness or from a vantage point above the whole world.
- The great deceiver could not manage through corrupted Jewish leaders of false faith to push Jesus off a cliff.
- The serpent and ruler of this world was about to have his day by the hand of Judas, the betrayer not present as Jesus prays to the Father.
Yet by His Sacrifice for sin Jesus will crush the head of the evil one.

John 17:
```
King James Version - an appropriate kingly honor and 
glory of Jesus, our High Priest 
as He stands before the LORD our Father
praying for us.
```
Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Believer, do you hear Jesus as He prays?

Though we were not in the room where Jesus became the servant washing our feet as He did for the Disciples, the perfect High Priest now prays for not only the eleven, but for those the Father has given to Him from every era until these last days are completed.

Are you one of these?

For if you have by God’s grace come to the Lord Jesus you, like Him, are no longer of the world.

Yet because the evil one opposes Christ Jesus, you have chosen Him over the world and Satan will seek your soul if you fall away.

Jesus will continue praying for us as our High Priest before the Father. The Lord has yet more encouragement to keep you in the days ahead.
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To be continued...
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July 23, 2020
Because the days are evil – 5 – a Perilous Dark Path to Perdition
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
1 Timothy 6:9 KJV

Destruction and Perdition

Perdition. Now there’s a word rarely heard in these last days. Do you know what it is?

Of course we can imagine several paths to destruction and doubtless destruction of the body is inevitable. Yet what of perdition?

ἀπώλεια – apōleia

Destroy, Destroyer, Destruction, Destructive:

… indicating “loss of well-being, not of being,” is used
(a) of things, signifying their waste, or ruin; of ointment, Mat 26:8; Mar 14:4; of money, Act 8:20 (“perish”);

(b) of persons, signifying their spiritual and eternal perdition, Mat 7:13; John 17:12; 2Th 2:3, where “son of perdition” signifies the proper destiny of the person mentioned; metaphorically of men persistent in evil, Rom 9:22, where “fitted” is in the Middle Voice, indicating that the vessels of wrath fitted themselves for “destruction;” of the adversaries of the Lord’s people, Phl 1:28 (“perdition”); of professing Christians, really enemies of the Cross of Christ, Phl 3:19 (RV, “perdition”); of those who are subjects of foolish and hurtful lusts, 1Ti 6:9 (for the preceding word “destruction” see No. 3, below); of professing Hebrew adherents who shrink back into unbelief, Hbr 10:39; of false teachers, 2Pe 2:1, 3; of ungodly men, 2Pe 3:7; of those who wrest the Scriptures, 2Pe 3:16; of the Beast, the final head of the revived Roman Empire, Rev 17:8, 11;

(c) of impersonal subjects, as heresies, 2Pe 2:1, where “destructive heresies” (RV; AV, “damnable“) is, lit., “heresies of destruction” (marg., “sects of perdition”); in ver. 2 the most authentic mss. have aselgeiais, “lascivious,” instead of apoleiais.
See PERDITION, PERNICIOUS, WASTE.

I include source detail due to our unfamiliarity.

1 Noun Strong’s Number: g684 Greek: apoleia
Waste (Noun and Verb):

“destruction,” is translated “waste” in Mat 26:8; Mar 14:4.
See DESTRUCTION, B, II, No. 1.

You never gave this sin a thought, not even for a moment.

It was harmless. And you just did it (this one time).

But then your path of doing right becomes shrouded in darkness.

Once again, and then twice (and more) your path toward the deeper darkness quickens your heart.

I hear the cries of perdition in the near distance! But from which cluttered maze of sin have they come?

Works of the Flesh

Now the works of the flesh are obvious:

sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar.

I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. –

Galatians 5:19-21

Paul brings light to these dark sins with great clarity. Need I say more?

Where do you stand during these last days which are evil?

With those revelers standing in the shadows of darkness? Trying to hide your sins luring you into the mire of a slippery path near the entrance of destruction?

Lord, help you.

Call upon the only One who can save your soul from perdition and destruction, the One who loved the world so much that He suffered for you one the Cross — died — rose from the grave…

Christ Jesus will judge the living and the dead.

Which are you?
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Because the Days are Evil,
to be continued... God-willing
```
October 19, 2019
Because the days are evil – 3 -satan.שָׂטָן
Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
Psalm 109:6 KJV

Previously we observed the existence of Satan in the Supernatural Before Adam as a serpent tempting man to question God.

If you acknowledge the Almighty Creator of all things and all men, yet recognize that evil pervades creation and the hearts of mankind, then you must ask about this power who deceives the minds of men.

Who (or what) is Satan?

You may have read scripture seeing little reference to Satan, but a deeper understanding of our English translations will reveal a willing and powerful opponent of the Lord God in places beyond the garden and circumstances considerably beyond original sin.

Psalm 109

Several translations of this same verse in Psalm 109 suggest, “Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser bring him to trial.” RSV

The man after God’s own heart pleads:

O God of my praise,
Do not be silent!
Psalm 109:1

He prays to the living God – ruler above the angels, spirits who serve and the fallen. The Lord rules over creation whether spirit or wicked man.

5 Thus they have repaid me evil for good
And hatred for my love.

6 Appoint a wicked man over him,
And let an accuser stand at his right hand.

The Hebrew word for accuser here is satan – שָׂטָן

The heading of Psalm 109 in the NASB reads: Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries. Our best understanding of Satan is that this fallen angel of darkness is accuser of the faithful and adversary of Christ.

Job

A description of Satan in the Hebrew book of Job occurs in a setting of heaven unseen to mankind.

The NLT reads: “One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.” – Job 1:6

The King James describes them as the “sons of God [‘elohiym] and the NIV describes them as “angels.” Satan is one of these supernatural beings unseen by Job (and mankind).

The LORD [Yĕhovah] said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
Job 2:2 NASB

Consider it: Satan, an unseen angel opposed to God, walking about among men inciting us (with the Lord’s consent) toward evil.

διάβολος – diabolos

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil… And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God…
Matthew 4:1,3a

Of course Satan knew the incarnate Son of God, led by the Holy Spirit of the Lord God! Yet the devil, the accuser of man, tempted Jesus just like he did deceive man in the beginning of creation.

the Dragon and Serpent

Fearful images: mythical? Perhaps. The great deceiver would have you believe that. But possibly these serpents command such unimaginable evil that man dare not give these any hint of existence.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John uncovers a fearful glimpse into the end which includes these representations of evil power.

drakōn – It is the same beast of eden from the Hebrew of Genesis 3:

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.

In another unseen future apocalypse in heaven John reveals:

And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war… – Revelation 12:7 NASB

War — between the unseen forces of good and evil. Can you imagine that? Could a decisive defeat of these devils and Satan soon inaugurate a new heavens and a new earth without evil?

Surely men of dust decaying with each mortal day will become caught in the middle of this battle between good and evil.

Where do you stand? Who is your champion in this life — and the next?

Who will stand beside your soul at the Judgment when the Accuser recounts all of your sins before the Judge Who IS?
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This October series, Because the Days are Evil,
To be continued, God-willing...
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October 9, 2019