Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word

Salvation and Satan

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Hi M____,
If your father is asking you to speak to his group, and you don’t feel comfortable doing so, then don’t do it until you “have your ducks in a row.”
I sometimes feel that I have, in the past, over- emphasized the fact that Christ waited till He was 30 years old to begin His ministry. Joseph sent 13 years in slavery in Egypt, and Saul of Tarsus, who later became know as ‘the apostle Paul, was not ‘separated to the work’ which the holy spirit had for him (Act 13:2) until about 13 years after he was struck down on the road to Damascus.
Paul even goes so far as to tell Timothy:

1Ti 5:22  Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.

Whether we are “laying hands” on a man to ordain him to the ministry or to force him to see what we see, we are “partaking of other men’s sins. Dragging people to God is the singular work of the holy spirit.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

When you are called before the church and its leaders to explain why you believe as you do, God promises to give you the words you need at that very moment.

Mar 13:11  But when they shall lead [ you], and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.    

If these truths are just ‘I know something you don’t’ and they are not deeply rooted in your own heart, then do not take advantage of your father’s offer. If there is even a scintilla of pride and vanity in you, it will be burned out of you if it takes 13 years in the prisons of Egypt to do so.
Here is what Christ tells us all:

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

As I have said so many times, there is a world of difference between a ‘disciple’ and “a disciple indeed.” Multitudes came to Christ and followed Him around and listened to his parables and ate His loaves and His fishes. It was these disciples out of whom he chose His “disciples indeed.”

Luk 6:13  And when it was day, he called unto him his [ multitudinous] disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

The word ‘apostle’ means ‘sent.’
G652
αποστολος
apostolos
ap- os’- tol- os
>From G649; a delegate; specifically an ambassador of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ (“apostle”), (with miraculous powers): – apostle, messenger, he that is sent.

If we are not deeply into God’s Word, if we don’t even know what it says ourselves,  then we certainly will not be ‘sent’ to share that word with the ‘leaders of the synagogues.’
Please do not think that I am chastening you for something I have not done myself. When I first learned of universal salvation back in the early 70’s I literally stuffed it down the throats of anyone who would sit still and give me the opportunity to do so. Of course I paid the price of doing so until the Lord seemed to be asking me every day, ‘Mike, how many people are you going to drive away from me today?’
God wants our lives to be our first testimony. Then we will be given the opportunity to tell others why we have this hope of life within. The scriptures are abundant. Yes, even the salvation of Satan and his angels:

Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Paul repeats this statement in Colossians:

Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, w hether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

All things in heaven and in earth in the dispensation of the fullness of times will be gathered together in Christ. This means that everything Satan does, as the book of Job so graphically demonstrates, is all “after the counsel of His own will.”

Col 1:16  For by him [ Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Satan was created by and for Christ. You and I are not called to force people to believe that Satan did not choose to become Satan. You cannot force anyone to believe Eph 1:11:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

If God has used Isa 14 and Ezekiel 28, chapters addressed to the “King of Babylon” and the “Prince of Tyre,” respectively, to blind and to deceive the multitudes of fallen orthodox Christianity into believing that Satan cannot and will not be saved, then you and I cannot undo what God has done:

Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

“I the Lord have deceived that prophet” proves that it is God who sends Satan to blind those who He has predestined to be deceived. It prove that God is working all things after the counsel of His own will.
How many of your ‘friends’ do you suppose would say that Ezekiel is telling the truth there in Eze 14:9?
I hope I have said something to help to give you direction. You yourself need to stay in God’s Word until you no longer have to say that Mike Vinson has taught you the Truths in God’s Word. When you ever do see them for yourself, you will then be able to say, “Flesh and blood has not shown this to me but my Father which is in heaven.” That is the only way anyone comes to see spiritual truth.

Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike>

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