Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Angelic Conflict. Part 26. The very first book that God gave man starts out with a scene in the courtroom of heaven and the angelic conflict.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Point 5. Satanic and Demonic attacks during the Church-age.
a. During the Church-age, satanic attacks on the unbeliever are limited to two categories: Demon possession or demon influence in which demon doctrines enter the soul of the unbeliever.
b. During the Church-age, demon attacks on believers are limited to demon influence, in which the doctrine of demons invades the right lobe of the soul, 1TI 4:1-5.
This is accomplished through false doctrine, legalism, distraction, false scales of values, and many other ways.
By neutralizing the importance of Bible doctrine, the believer is hindered from executing the PPOG.
Because Satan cannot directly attack God, he must concentrate his attack on humans who are vulnerable to Satan’s offensive strategy.
The oldest book in the Bible from the standpoint of writing is the book of Job which is written in Archaic Hebrew.
Job was written long before Moses lived and long before Moses wrote the first five books in the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
The very first book that God gave man starts out with a scene in the courtroom of heaven and the angelic conflict and a man being entered into evidence testing.
REV 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
ISA 43:21 “The people whom I formed for Myself, Will declare My glory.”
ISA 43:7 “Everyone who is called by My name, I have created for My glory,”
Blameless = he was a spiritually mature believer.
Upright = his victories in spiritual growth.
Fearing God or respecting God = his personal love for TLJC.
He turned away from evil = illustrates his grace orientation.
Satan always started the courtroom session by making it clear that while God had put Adam in charge of the world as its ruler, Satan had taken it over.
Earth was Satan’s headquarters long before any human creatures existed.
All the evidence points to the fact that the Earth is much older than many conservative Christians who have embraced the young Earth theory (the 6,000 year theory) would hold to.
Man’s occupancy on planet earth did not last too long before Adam and the woman fell and then Satan became the ruler of the world again.
Arrogance learns nothing whether it is arrogance in a criminal or arrogance in a law abiding citizen.
With the statement “Have you considered my servant Job?” Job is now entered as a witness for God in the historic appeal trial of Satan and the fallen angels.
EZE 14:14, 20 - Job, Noah, and Daniel represent three of the greatest believers of ancient history.
Noah - he faced the greatest Gentile apostasy of all time.
Daniel - he faced one of the greatest Jewish apostasies in the Old Testament.
Job - he faced the greatest Semitic apostasy of all human history.
He is not sinless, but one thing about a mature believer, he stays away from evil.
“Do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart?”
Satan says in effect, “What do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He’d curse you right to your face, that’s what.”
Why in the world would God ever turn over to Satan the greatest believer alive if there was no angelic conflict?
Why in the world would God turn His only Son over to Satan to be tested if there was no angelic conflict?
Verse 6 - there is a courtroom in heaven, the Supreme Court of Heaven.
Verse 7 - Satan acts as a defense attorney.
Verse 8 - Job is entered into the courtroom as a witness for the prosecution.
Verses 9 and 10 - we have Satan’s defense against God, accusing Job.
Satan’s contention is that if God removes Job’s escrow blessings and cuts off His logistical grace support that Job will curse God.
Verse 11 - the motion of the defense, “Put forth Thy hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face.”
Verse 12 - motion granted, “All that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.”
Being entered into the angelic conflict and suffering for blessing comes to the mature believer without notice, without warning and without explanation.
Because the believer receives this privilege at the peak of his spiritual life, it is obviously undeserved suffering.
One of the signs that you are flunking the test is when you appeal to the grace of God to deliver you.
Instead you should be utilizing what He has provided in grace - the power of God and metabolized doctrine.
The issue in glorifying God in the angelic conflict is a very simple one and a very powerful one -
Is the giver of grace more important to you than His gifts?
Until a believer reaches spiritual growth, what he receives from God is much more important than God Himself.
In spiritual adulthood, the believer has arrived there for one reason, they have personal love for God the Father.
The challenge to trust God no matter how unexplainable or disastrous the suffering may become is always the issue in glorifying God in the angelic conflict.
The challenge in glorifying God in the angelic conflict is to trust God no matter how unexplainable, how disastrous or how great the pressure.
The mature believer has the assurance that God is working all things together for good even though he has no immediate explanation as to the cause of the suffering.
In glorifying God in the angelic conflict, there must be realization of God’s personal love for the believer involved.