By Rev. Ken Silva,

Apprising Ministries, October
15, 2005,

---

Certainly one of the great teachers of the Bible that Christ
gave His Church was Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse. He wrote about
Satan–the mortal enemy of men’s souls:

if you should go down the street
on a sidewalk quiz program, Mr. Average-man might tell you
that he is not even sure that there is such a being as
[Satan]…one of his characteristic stratagems is to give
those who believe that he does exist an entirely wrong
concept of what his true nature and character really are. In
the Middle Ages, when there were no radios, no magazines, no
newspapers, no movies, no telephones, and none of our modern
means of passing the time, the people were frequently amused
by miracle plays. These were a sort of religious pageant in
which religious stories were acted out on the stage. The
audience learned to look for one character on the stage who
was always dressed in red, wore horns on his head, and a
tail dangling out behind him. His hoofs were cloven, and he
had a pitchfork in his hand. The onlookers were quite
thrilled when they saw this figure sneaking up on the hero
or the heroine.

The idea arose that Satan could
be called the “old Nick,” or “his satanic majesty,” and that
he was a slightly comic character. It is always dangerous to
underestimate the enemy. The Bible gives us the true picture
of this being: that he really exists, and that he is the
enemy of men. We need, religiously, to get over the idea
that Satan is a comic character and realize that he is a
malignant being of great power who hates [mankind]. He hates
us because God has said that He is someday going to replace
the rule of Satan by the rule of righteous man, under
Christ. We will do our best to submit ourselves to God, and
to realize that the death of Jesus Christ [and His
Resurrection from the dead] was the means whereby the Lord
conquered Satan. We must submit ourselves to the Savior who
will enable us to live lives of victory over the enemy (Illustrating
Great Themes of Scripture, pp.81,82).

The Testing Of Our
Faith

If you’ve been a Christian for a
while, you’re no doubt experienced the taunting of the
Devil–which produces the testing of your faith. You see,
whatever Satan tries to do – or even what he may initially
accomplish – can only be done if God chooses to allow it. And
further, whenever the Devil manages to get something done, the
Lord will then use that to turn something Satan intends as
harmful into something which actually accomplishes God’s own
purpose. Now this I refer to as The Blessing Of Trials.

God’s written Word–the
Bible–tells the Christian to Consider it pure joy, my
brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you
know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything – James 1:2-4. And – In
this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may
have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come
so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes
even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may
result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed
– 1 Peter 1:6-7.

Well-known Puritan writer John
Newton, author of the classic Amazing Grace gives us
the benefit of his insight:

Afflictions quicken us to
prayer. It is a pity it should be so; experience testifies
that a long course of ease and prosperity, without painful
changes, has an unhappy tendency to make us cold and formal
in our secret worship; but troubles rouse our spirits, and
constrain us to call upon the Lord in good earnest, when we
feel a need of that help which we only can have from him.
(http://www.puritansermons.com/newton/newton2.htm)

The true Christian need not be
surprised that the closer you walk to Jesus, the more trials,
and attacks of the Devil, you will experience at some points
along the way. So many today think that coming to Jesus will
bring peace with your fellow man into your life, and the
blessings of health, wealth, and prosperity. However, these are
lies from Satan himself and thousands are on that broad road to
destruction because of these heinous falsehoods. The peace that
transcends all understanding that Jesus brings is inside the
heart of the Christian. Christian singer-songwriter, Steven
Curtis Chapman, captured this well in his song What Kind Of
Joy when he wrote – “What kind of joy is this; that counts
it a blessing to suffer?” Not that every Christian always
suffers, nor are we in constant trials. It’s just that as they
may happen the world sees the reality of God through the grace
imparted by the Lord to the Christian as He helps us to bear
burdens that seem impossible to the unbeliever.

It’s important for us to
understand that when things find their way into our lives which
are unexpected and/or may prove to be difficult to understand or
even to make sense of, they often-times come with the loving
hand of our Father in Heaven guiding us to where He
would have us be. We must be honest and admit that we spend a
great deal of time arranging our lives in a way that proves
comfortable for us. However, our loving Shepherd knows that this
is not always what is best for us. And in commenting on James
1:2 –Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, Christian writer K. Payne is quite
right:

Note the word “consider.” We
have a choice concerning how we will view our trials. Are
trials really divine paybacks for sin or a God sent
opportunity to grow in spiritual maturity? It is so easy to
react to difficult circumstances rather than carefully and
thoughtfully respond to them. To react is natural.
Responding to that same situation demands discipline. The
issue is not what I feel like doing, but rather what should
I do. Is God in control or am I alone? Trials offer a
Christian the opportunity to make a conscious choice to
think naturally or supernaturally.

And one simply cannot express
The Blessings Of Trials any better than the inspired
Apostle Paul:

But whatever was to my profit I
now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I
consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing
greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I
have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may
gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness
of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through
faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is
by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow,
to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have
already obtained all this, or have already been made
perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which
Christ Jesus took hold of me.

(Philippians 3:7-12)

Beloved…shall we press on
together...

---

Copyright © 2005 by Ken Silva. All
rights reserved. 

Pastor Silva’s beautiful website:
Apprising Ministries

Email

 

Other articles by Ken Silva:  The
Falling Away of the Evangelical Church 

The Master’s Sword  | 
Why Fear Reveals Love

Behold What Manner
of Love