Participants: Chris Holland
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201613A
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00:00 Star Wars: #3 The Attack of the Dragon
00:06 Star Wars: #3 The Attack of the Dragon 00:11 Star Wars: #3 The Attack of the Dragon 00:15 Star Wars: #3 The Attack of the Dragon 00:21 Star Wars: #3 The Attack of the Dragon 00:25 Star Wars: #3 The Attack of the Dragon 00:30 Star Wars: #3 The Attack of the Dragon 00:33 Star Wars: #3 The Attack of the Dragon 00:37 Star Wars: #3 The Attack of the Dragon 01:31 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time. 01:35 God's book, The Bible 01:38 Still relevant in today's complex world. 01:44 It Is Written. 01:46 Sharing messages of hope around the world. 01:59 Gaius Julius Phaedrus was a Roman writer of fables in the first century A.D. Much is not 02:07 known about Phaedrus, however most historians believe that he lived through the rulership of 02:13 emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius. He is most well known in history as 02:22 being the first writer to latinize and entire book of fables. While not someone who 02:30 made a major impact on much of history, he does have a well known saying. He is believed to 02:37 be the one who wrote the words, 02:53 Things are not always what they seem.as we have looked at the great Star Wars happening all 03:01 around us. The ultimate battle of good versus evil, many have blamed God for the evil 03:13 happenings of this world. Some even refer to major events of nature as.acts of God. Is that 03:23 really so? Or is there something more? Today, we will take a look behind the scenes of this battle 03:34 of good and evil and will see, Things are not always what they seem.but to the perceptive, 03:43 believing Bible student what is behind the scenes will be revealed. We left off last week 03:54 understanding how Satan had tempted Adam and Eve to defy and disobey God. The rebellious 04:01 spirit born in the garden led to the fall of Adam and Even and like a cascading domino effect, 04:09 fell upon all of humanity. It was a terrible tragedy, paradise itself had been lost. Yet, 04:17 remember, in the midst of this tragedy and what appeared to be eternal loss, God gave a 04:23 promise. That promise was for a redeemer to come and bridge the chasm of separation caused by 04:33 that first sin. The promise of God in the garden guaranteed the defeat of that old serpent 04:40 called the devil and Satan. However we mustn't become complacent or presumpttuous over 04:48 this promise. While the promise delivers defeat and forecasts the ultimate victory of God's 04:56 people, this does not mean that the serpent, the dragon, the old wily foe the devil was going to 05:03 simply go, curl up in a little ball and cry. The Bible is clear, that the garden promise 05:11 drew fury from the dragon. In fact the Bible tells us in Revelation 12:12 05:38 The word, wrath, conveys the intense anger, passion and indignation. The devil is 05:46 unleashing an indignate attack because his time is ticking. Although the devil knows that he 05:55 is a defeated foe and he knows that his time is short, the Bible says he is full of this 06:04 wrath. 1 Peter 5:8 describes the wrathful actions of the serpent, 06:25 This symbol is telling of a lion roaring. In the wild, a gazelle is faster than a lion at all 06:35 times. However, when a lion is chasing a gazelle, it will often roar. This roar is so powerful 06:47 that it throws off the cadence of the gazelle just enough, that then the lion is able to pounce 06:52 and get the prey. Yet lions can be tamed. By the one is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah So, in the 07:12 garden God delivered the promise of hope to humankind and the guarantee of defeat to the devil 07:18 by promising the Messiah Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Juday Yet, what would the devil do 07:26 with this enormous defeat and such a short time? He sought revenge and the book of Job 07:36 tells us one of the most detailed accounts of the serpents revenge and gives us a 07:44 behind the scenes look at his goal of inflict as much pain as possible upon God's people. In 07:57 chapter one of the book of Job, an interesting scene is described a meeting of the "sons 08:06 of God," Job chapter one and verse six tells the story. 08:36 Scholars and commentators are unsure on who exactly the "sons of God" are but in a thorough 08:44 study it seems that these "sons of God" are representatives from the various planets and worlds 08:54 that God has created throughout time. There in the heavenly realms they had gathered for 09:01 some type of celestial meeting. However, that meeting was interrupted by the arrival of 09:10 the devil. Some might rightfully ask the question, "how is it that the serpent has come to the 09:16 heavenly realms, I thought he was kicked out?" That my friends is a very good question and an 09:25 excellent observation. Bible commentators seem to indicate that at this meeting the proper 09:32 representative would have been Adam after all, he had been given dominion over the earth, 09:40 he was the leader of earth. However, because of Adam's disobedience to God and more 09:48 importantly his giving into the temptation of Satan - Adam's rightful spot at this heavenly 09:54 convocation was actually filled by the serpent. You see because of Adam's giving into the devil, 10:02 he relinquished his right to be the leader of the earth and attend this heavenly meeting. 10:08 Instead, the devil is there as the representative of earth, this is why in the New 10:15 Testament, the devil is referred to as "the ruler of this world," and later as the "prince of the 10:21 power of the air." Adam gave to the devil the authority God gave to him. The passage then 10:32 continues on, 11:37 So here it is, the attack of the dragon is made and Satan accuses one of God's prized people. His 11:49 accusation was piercing, accusing with the fact that the man serves God only because his 11:58 material blessings. And so in order to permit Satan and all the rest of the universe see it 12:08 demonstrated that this is not true, God allowed Satan to attack Job. The Bible states 12:17 that he is able to attack everything but Job's person, however in chapter 2 the serpent 12:26 is even allowed to touch the person of Job. And here in chapter one and two, in the 12:36 process of only a few days I'm sure, Job loses everything. First, he loses his oxen, 12:45 donkeys, and servents. Then he loses his sheep and then his camels. After this he lost his 12:56 sons and daughters. Then, if this all wasn't enough, Satan begins to attack his person. He 13:08 was made to have boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. And then his wife 13:15 encourages him to curse God and die, yet the Bible testifies to the fact that in all this he did 13:25 not sin against God. And so if all of that isn't enough to deal with, Job has three friends, 13:37 from the church, who come over to comfort him and give him company. And each of them want 13:47 to know one thing, what was it that Job had done against God that all of this pain has been 13:56 inflicted upon him. And for the next 35 chapters, Job's friends lecture him on why he should 14:07 repent and ask for forgiveness so that Job might be relieved of this situation. Now it is easy 14:18 for us to condemn the friends, however they didn't have the behind the scenes look that all 14:23 of us have. And with each claim of innocence by Job it seems to make matters worse. These 14:36 friends become more hostile and their entire argument of 35 chapters can be summed up by 14:44 this statement, "God is just and allows suffering only when it is deserved." So, according to 14:54 them, Job deserves his suffering. The sad reality is that some teach this idea and 15:05 even more sad is that some of us believe the exact same way. And so as this situation builds, 15:15 finally an exasperated Job cries out, 15:32 Job had patiently waited for deliverance, yet he grew tired and Job challenged God on His 15:39 justice. God then came to Job, chapter 38 and onward, God begins a series of questions and 15:52 speeches in which he questions Job and he questions whether Job really understands God's 15:59 omnipotence. In Job 38, God begins asking Job some very tough questions, 16:40 It may seem at a surface reading that God is trying to beat Job into submission, but as we read 16:46 on, God is actually trying to help Job understand what was happening behind the scenes. And 16:58 so Job responded. His response is of vital importance to each one of us today. Because the 17:04 experience of Job and the attack of the dragon gives us a lesson for our lives. The Bible says he 17:15 is roaming about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and the Bible also says he knows 17:24 his time is short, so his attacks will be serious. His attacks will be assaults on our 17:32 freedom in Jesus in order to take away our assurance of salvation in Him. Like Job we 17:42 too can come to the same realization that we cannot be defeated in the devil's attacks 17:50 as long as we live under the shelter of the protecting arms of Jesus. What we see is that 18:00 Job reveals the keys to surving the attack of the dragon. The Bible tells us of the response 18:09 of Job in Job 42:1-6, 18:58 And so as we read this text we see very clearly the imagery of repentance. But what is it that 19:07 Job needs to repent of? The Bible says through all of this that Job never sinned. Even 19:13 God, Himself, said that Job was innocent. Why then did he need to repent? Let's look at the 19:18 text and see if it reveals the answer. In verses 1 and 2, he acknowledges God's soveigrnty. 19:35 Job says he knows, the word is not simply a head knowledge. Th word here "to know" is the same 19:40 word used in the phrase "and Adam knew his wife." It defines a very intimate knowledge, a 19:47 relational knowledge of God. Job knows that God can do everything. In the Hebrew it 19:54 literally says that God will prevail in all things. Literall the enitrety, the whole. God can 20:02 do everything. God has no limitations. In fact, Job goes on to say that no purpose of His 20:08 can be withheld. What does that mean? Quite literally it says that no plan of God's can be 20:13 restrained or cut off. Not only does God have the ability to do everything, but He cannot be 20:21 stopped from doing it. The first point in surviving the attack of the dragon is that we must 20:28 intimately know and have a relationship with God that we can say and believe that God can 20:36 do everything and no one, including us, can or will stop Him from doing it. Then in 20:42 verses 3-5 is where Job gives us the reason for his repentance Listen carefuly, 21:11 Job begins by quoting a question God asked him in chapter 38 in verse 2 and 3. And then Job 21:19 acknowledges that he has uttered what he did not understand and admits that these were things 21:25 too wonderful for him which he did not know. He is admitting that although he understood 21:32 God's omnipotence, he did not understand His sovereignty. Let me unpack that a bit. Job 21:43 understands God's omnipotence. That means he understands that God is all powerful. However, he 21:50 does not understand God's sovereignty. Which means he does not understand God's rulership 21:56 and control. He does not understand that even in the midst of trouble and strife God 22:02 is still in control. God had not forgotten Job. He had not left Job for not. God was and is 22:11 still in control. And He hasn't forgotten you. Are you facing crises in your own life? Does it 22:19 seem that nothing is going your way? God is in control. And here in the latter portion of these 22:28 verses we see the trouble that Job was facing. The scriptures say, 22:37 The word for hear, means to quite literally be attentive to. Job has heard God, and to some 22:42 extent has an experience with God, yet he does not have a full understanding. Now, here in this 22:48 situation, where he has lost everything and is given a glimpse behind the scenes - he 22:55 now gains a deeper understanding of God. The Bible says that he now sees God. Literally in the 23:03 Hebrew this means to perceive, learn, and feel. He comes to the realization that God is there 23:08 and God does love him. He understands that God's purposes and plans are greater than ours. 23:16 And even though tragedy has struck and God has seemingly done nothing about it - God 23:22 knows the situation, He is in control, He is doing something about it and that we must wait 23:29 upon Him to find out what will happen. The second point of overcoming the attack of the 23:36 dragon is to not only hear God, but to see Him. To be patient and wait upon Him and to see 23:41 what He is going to do because His plan is the best plan. Job repents of the fact that he did 23:51 not recognize the sovereignty of God. He repents that he did not recognize God as the ruler of 23:56 the universe. The Bible says that Job abhored himself and repented in dust and ashes. Job 24:03 has so much sorrow for what he has done that he abhors himself He despises his inner being. He 24:10 then repents in dust and ashes. An acknowledgement that he was made from dust and ashes and to 24:19 the dust he will return. It was a sign of humility before the Lord. He humbled himself at the 24:25 feet of the Lord. My dear friends, the third and last point of the overcoming the 24:30 attack of the dragon is this when going through tough times, we must stay humble before God 24:38 so we might perceive His ways. Friends, for many of us in the midst of life's struggles, maybe 24:45 someone watching is particularly feeling the revenge of the serpent. The passage promises 24:51 how we will survive this revenge of the serpent: First, we must intimately know and have a 24:58 relationship with God that we can say and believe that God can do everything and no one can 25:03 stop Him from doing it. Secondly, we must not only hear God, but we need to see Him as 25:11 well. This means we must be patient and wait upon Him and to see what He is going to do 25:16 because His plan is the best plan. And third, when we going through these tough times, we 25:24 must stay humble before God so we might perceive His ways. The Bible promises: Joshua 1:5 in 25:32 the words of God, Himself, 26:12 Friends, let us give God the opportunity to show His goodness and love even in the midst of 26:17 tragedy. So even though the serpent is attempting to gain revenge. We must ultimately 26:22 remember that God is all powerful, that He is in control, and we must wait to see His 26:27 plan. And because of this, God has won - let us wait to see His victory. Do you want to be a 26:36 part of that victory? Do you want to victorious? If you do, let's take a stand and entrust 26:47 ourselves to the One who is all powerful, who is in control, and who has the best plan for our 26:55 lives. Heavenly Father, as we have been given this glimpse behind the scenes, we know and 27:09 trust that the crises, the struggles that we face can be overcome by entrusting our 27:15 entire lives to Your Son Jesus. Please give us the strength to do so. Help us to see and 27:22 understand the comfort You provide for each of us today. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. 27:38 My dear friends, this behind-the-scenes look helps us to understand who it is that's 27:44 behind all the tragedy in our world. To understand this more, I want to give you an offer 27:50 today, and that offer is When Life is Unfair.In this, as you read through it, you will be 27:57 fascinated by the chapters "Why do bad things happen to the innocent?", "Where is God when 28:03 tragedy strikes?", "What is causing all this pain and suffering?" I want you to have 28:09 this offer. I want you to grow in Jesus and see that there is victory in Him. Here's the 28:15 information you need for today's offer. 29:18 The star wars cosmic battle in heaven between Christ and Satan. The war is waging over you. I 29:28 hope that today you have chosen Jesus Christ. I want to invite you, friend, to go 29:33 itiswrittencanada.ca. There you'll find a number of resources to help you in your 29:39 relationship with Jesus. I hope today's program has helped you draw near to Him. Join us again 29:47 next week. Until then, remember, it is written: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by 29:53 every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." |
Revised 2017-01-11