It might surprise many to know that the devil still attends worship services.
In fact, he attends some in heaven itself.
Job 1:6
"Now there came a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord,
and Satan came also among them."
We don't know which day it was, perhaps a Sabbath, or perhaps this type of service occurs daily in heaven.
The term, "sons of God" occurs five times in the Old Testament.
It always refers to the angels of heaven.
These angels gathered to worship God at His throne.
The evil one, the devil, entered amidst the righteous angels.
If the devil can enter this worship service, certainly he and his demonic henchmen are possible in our worship services on earth.
Even at the last supper, Judas was there whom Satan had entered.
We are presumptuous to assume that the devil and the devilish do not care to attend our worship services.
Their attendance records are probably often better than the saints' attendance records.
Mere assembling is of no value.
We do not get "points" for our attendance.
We are not going to get to heaven for proper church membership and attendance.
The devil attends church, and he will not be accepted into heaven.
He came to criticize, to condemn, to complain, and to find fault.
The devil came wicked, behaved wickedly, and left more wicked than he came.
Many people in congregations of today do the same.
It was amidst a holy congregation, and before the Holy God,
that the devil lied about Job.
It was there that he plotted the persecution of Job.
The best of congregations,
the best message boards,
are not free of evil ones.
At the last supper, the disciples asked Jesus,
"Is it I?" (John 13:21-27).
We too must search our hearts as we attend worship services.
We must be careful we do not assume that our attendance assures our spirituality.
The devil and his workers assemble with us for various reasons.
1. To do mischief to the saints.
To accuse them before the Lord.
To distract them from heavenly thoughts
To encourage criticism
To sow dissension
To encourage pride
To discourage
To cool down ardor
To sow counterfeit saints (Matt. 13:25, 38-39)
2. To do mischief to the unconverted.
To distract them from God's salvation
To raise doubts in their minds
To suggest delay
To deaden feelings
To rob memory of the Word of God
(Matt. 13:19)
To recommend procrastination
in accepting Jesus
Just as the devil is brazenly impudent with God, and rails against God's people, and resolves to tempt man,
and to torture man...
so some in the congregations of today are brazenly impudent.
We must beware of the devil's ways...
for we find the same criticism, backbiting, slander, complaining, bitterness, trouble and abuse within congregations today...
as was happening in Job 1.
The devil did not review himself at the end of the service.
He did not recall his defiance and repent.
Nor did he even consider his deeds to be wrong.
In the same way, many in today's congregations
come and go from service to service,
and never consider the evil of their ways.
We all need to weigh our thoughts and deeds in the congregation.
The outstanding purpose of communion, is not the simple partaking of elements,
but the examining of oneself in relationship to the whole
of the body of Christ
(i.e. the church congregation).
Many churches have become hindrances to the gospel, and to the work of Christ Jesus.
The pews of many congregations are nearly empty.
The truth is seldom taught in some congregations.
The pews in many that are full, are full for the wrong reasons.
Some have come to find out how to get rich, not how to get to Jesus.
Some preachers preach hatred and riot...
Some teach works and not faith.
Some teach bigotry and isolation.
Some simply go through a form, and escape untaught at all.
The false church is a source of heartache, and a source of disillusionment to a starving and thirsty world.
The false church is selfish and power hungry.
It contains the cruel, the devilish, and the hateful.
There is much counterfeit Christianity in our day.
This type of religion is dull, barren, and deadly.
The Lord warned us that these "tares" would grow with the real wheat until the end times.
Matthew 13:30
"Let both grow together until the harvest..."
Much of the church of today is in desperate need. It is suffering, hateful, bigoted, unjust, miserable, perverted, shallow, stupid, ignorant... and unaware of it!
Usually the true church has tried to apply superficial bandages to the leprosy of the church of today.
It is like taking an aspirin for a broken arm, it only deadens awareness of the problem, and not very effectively.
It is like taking tums for a cancer... inadequate and foolish.
To cleanse the church of the selfishness, and cruel sinfulness ... needs a revolution within the church.
This revolution must precede the great revival.
When we compare the present day congregations with the original plan of God for the church,
it is very apparent that they are far from God's plan.
.
In fact, he attends some in heaven itself.
Job 1:6
"Now there came a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord,
and Satan came also among them."
We don't know which day it was, perhaps a Sabbath, or perhaps this type of service occurs daily in heaven.
The term, "sons of God" occurs five times in the Old Testament.
It always refers to the angels of heaven.
These angels gathered to worship God at His throne.
The evil one, the devil, entered amidst the righteous angels.
If the devil can enter this worship service, certainly he and his demonic henchmen are possible in our worship services on earth.
Even at the last supper, Judas was there whom Satan had entered.
We are presumptuous to assume that the devil and the devilish do not care to attend our worship services.
Their attendance records are probably often better than the saints' attendance records.
Mere assembling is of no value.
We do not get "points" for our attendance.
We are not going to get to heaven for proper church membership and attendance.
The devil attends church, and he will not be accepted into heaven.
He came to criticize, to condemn, to complain, and to find fault.
The devil came wicked, behaved wickedly, and left more wicked than he came.
Many people in congregations of today do the same.
It was amidst a holy congregation, and before the Holy God,
that the devil lied about Job.
It was there that he plotted the persecution of Job.
The best of congregations,
the best message boards,
are not free of evil ones.
At the last supper, the disciples asked Jesus,
"Is it I?" (John 13:21-27).
We too must search our hearts as we attend worship services.
We must be careful we do not assume that our attendance assures our spirituality.
The devil and his workers assemble with us for various reasons.
1. To do mischief to the saints.
To accuse them before the Lord.
To distract them from heavenly thoughts
To encourage criticism
To sow dissension
To encourage pride
To discourage
To cool down ardor
To sow counterfeit saints (Matt. 13:25, 38-39)
2. To do mischief to the unconverted.
To distract them from God's salvation
To raise doubts in their minds
To suggest delay
To deaden feelings
To rob memory of the Word of God
(Matt. 13:19)
To recommend procrastination
in accepting Jesus
Just as the devil is brazenly impudent with God, and rails against God's people, and resolves to tempt man,
and to torture man...
so some in the congregations of today are brazenly impudent.
We must beware of the devil's ways...
for we find the same criticism, backbiting, slander, complaining, bitterness, trouble and abuse within congregations today...
as was happening in Job 1.
The devil did not review himself at the end of the service.
He did not recall his defiance and repent.
Nor did he even consider his deeds to be wrong.
In the same way, many in today's congregations
come and go from service to service,
and never consider the evil of their ways.
We all need to weigh our thoughts and deeds in the congregation.
The outstanding purpose of communion, is not the simple partaking of elements,
but the examining of oneself in relationship to the whole
of the body of Christ
(i.e. the church congregation).
Many churches have become hindrances to the gospel, and to the work of Christ Jesus.
The pews of many congregations are nearly empty.
The truth is seldom taught in some congregations.
The pews in many that are full, are full for the wrong reasons.
Some have come to find out how to get rich, not how to get to Jesus.
Some preachers preach hatred and riot...
Some teach works and not faith.
Some teach bigotry and isolation.
Some simply go through a form, and escape untaught at all.
The false church is a source of heartache, and a source of disillusionment to a starving and thirsty world.
The false church is selfish and power hungry.
It contains the cruel, the devilish, and the hateful.
There is much counterfeit Christianity in our day.
This type of religion is dull, barren, and deadly.
The Lord warned us that these "tares" would grow with the real wheat until the end times.
Matthew 13:30
"Let both grow together until the harvest..."
Much of the church of today is in desperate need. It is suffering, hateful, bigoted, unjust, miserable, perverted, shallow, stupid, ignorant... and unaware of it!
Usually the true church has tried to apply superficial bandages to the leprosy of the church of today.
It is like taking an aspirin for a broken arm, it only deadens awareness of the problem, and not very effectively.
It is like taking tums for a cancer... inadequate and foolish.
To cleanse the church of the selfishness, and cruel sinfulness ... needs a revolution within the church.
This revolution must precede the great revival.
When we compare the present day congregations with the original plan of God for the church,
it is very apparent that they are far from God's plan.
.
