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P.O. Box 416, Gravette, AR 72736
501-787-6026
Newsletter #253 - November 1999
Dr. Arnold Murray, DRE <&) 1999 SCN
God', Wo,d i, filled with Hi, ptomi""11
to you. Most of those promises are pre-;n
?f IJoOIY 000 pmblem. Sm.o twi,red the Wo,d of God
(compare to Psalm 91:11-12). Satan will do the same
ceded by the word "if'. "If' means there with you. Do you know God's Word well enough to
are conditions. Many people ask, "Why doesn't God bless recognize when Satan twists scripture? Satan added "at any
me?". The simple answer is that they are overlooking the time" which would be tempting God.
"ifs". If you don't do your part by meeting the conditions,
God is not obligated to bless you with His promises. Let's MATTHEW 4:7 Jesus said unto him, Hit is written again,
begin our study in Genesis with God giving Cain some 'Thou shalt not tempt the LORD thy God.' "
good advice. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 in answer to Satan's
GENESIS 4:5-6 But unto Cain and to his offering He false quote. Will Satan give up at this point?
had not respect. And Cain was vety wroth, and his
countenance fell. iI And the LORD said unto Cain, "Why MATTHEW 4:8-9 Again, the devil taketh Him up into and
art thou wroth? and why is- thy countenance 'fallen?·· . 6xce9ding-J:Ugh-mountain, and sheweth Him.- all.lhe..king.
doms of the world, and the gloty of them; a And saith
unto Him, "All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt
You can normally "read people like a book" by their fall down and worship me."
countenance. Here comes God's advice to Cain who was
of that wicked one (I John 3: 12). Here we s~e Satan's big "if'. You see, that is all Satan
wants from you, He wants you to worship him instead of
GENESIS 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be
accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at tl!e Jesus Christ. Many will have just that opportunity in this
door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt generation.
rule over him."
MA TTHEW 4: 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, "Get thee
God is fair. Even Cain could have been accepted, if hence, Satan: for it is written, 'Thou shalt worship the
LORD thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve, I "
he had met the conditions. God is also fair in judgment.
The choice is yours. God will keep His promises, if you What defence does Jesus offer? The Word of God, The
do well. Father also keeps His promises in judgment, if Word of the Shepherd should be your defence against
you don't do well. Each of us are responsible for our Satan's attempts to steal your very souL Let's continue our
own blessings or chastisement. Which do you deserve? study with a condition Jesus Christ made,
Satan also utilizes "if'. We are going to turn to Matthew
where Christ taught us how to handle Satan. MATTHEW 6:14 For if r,e forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father wi I also forgive you:
MA TTHEW 4: 1-2 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit
into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And This is one "if' you had better not overlook, if you
when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was ever need forgiveness from the Father. At one time or
afterward an hungred. another, we all fall into that category. When someone has
The closer you grow to our Father, the more Satan repented of a sin against you, forgive them.
will try to draw you away with temptations. He will MATTHEW 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their tres­
c--mways attack your weakest point. You should be pre­ passes, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
pared, and handle the temptation as Jesus did. Learn to
"take names and kick dragon". Be ready for Satan's "ifs". Again, the choice is yours, The choice seems fairly
simple to me. This applies only to those that deserve
MATTHEW 4:3-4 And when the tempter came to Him, forgiveness, God doesn't expect Christians to be second­
he said, "If Thou be the Son of God, command that class citizens who allow bullies to run over them. Let's turn
these stones be made bread." 4 But He answered and
said, "/I is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, to a doctrinal letter. Paul is writing to Timothy, and you,
but by evety word that proceedeth out of the mouth of concerning preachers that teach with nothing but "hot air",
God.' "
I TIMOTHY 1:5-6 Now the end of the commandment is
The Word of God shows you how to handle Satan. charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience,
Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. Jesus didn't argue with and of faith unfeigned: B From which some having swerved
have turned aside unto vain jangling;
Satan. You will never go wrong, if you follow His example.
MA TTHEW 4:5-6 Then the devil taketh Him up into the Vain jangling means speaking with empty words, I
holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple. hope you never have to ride 500 miles in a car with
iI And saith unto Him, "If Thou be the Son of God, cast someone who is full of vain jangling,
Thyself down: for it is written, 'He shall give His angels
charge concerning Thee: and in their hands they shall I TIMOTHY 1:7 Desiring to be teachers of the law,
bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they
against a stone.' " affirm,

What is this? Satan is quoting God's Word! There is This type of teaching promotes the traditions of men,
not the Word of God. It is the Word of God that is
important, not the words of men.
I TIMOTHY 1:8 But we know that the law is good, if
a man use it lawfully;
Now, that makes sense. The law is good, if man
utilizes it according to the law. The law is good; man
is bad. We are going to continue with Paul's teaching in
II Corinthians. I like this scripture because it warns us
about what we should be careful of today.
II CORINTHIANS 11: 1 Would to God ye could bear with
me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.
This is a bad translation. What Paul actually meant
was, ''I'm going to be very serious. Listen closely".
/I CORINTHIANS 11:2-3 For I am jealous over you with
godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband,
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. J
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtility, so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Satan beguiled Eve, and she conceived Cain. Paul
warns us that Satan wants your spiritual virginity. If you
allow your mind to be clouded with the traditions of men,
your spiritual virginity is at risk.
II CORINTHIANS 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye
receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or
another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might
well bear with him.
Paul doesn't want you to be deceived and loose your
spiritual virginity to antichrist. The false christ will return
before Jesus Christ returns at the second advent.
1/ CORINTHIANS 11:5-6 For I suppose I was not a whit
behind the very chiefest apostles. Q But though I be rude
in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been
throughly made manifest among you in all things.
Paul had the right to brag. He was very knowledge­
able in God's Word. Let's pick it up in verse thirteen as
Paul continues his warnings concerning false teachers.
/I CORINTHIANS 11:13 For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ.
The word transforming should be translated disguis­
ing. They are pretending to be apostles of Christ.
1/ CORINTHIANS 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan him­
self, is transformed into an angel of light.
Satan will return as antichrist disguised as Jesus.
Many will be deceived. Be careful!
/I CORINTHIANS 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of
righteousness; whose end shall be according to their
works.
God is against those that hunt souls to make them
fly (Ezekiel 13:20). Yet, today we have false teachers
leading people to Satan's doctrine of rapture from the very
pulpits from which they should be hearing the doctrine
of Jesus Christ. It is very appropriate that judgment begins
at the pulpits.
II CORINTHIANS 11:16-17 I say again, Let no man
think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me,
that I may boast myself a little. 1l That which I speak,
I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly,
in this confidence of boasting.
You may think I am foolish; however, Paul is saying,
"I tell you the truth".
/I CORINTHIANS 11:18-19 Seeing that many glory after
the flesh, I will glory also. 19 For ye suffer fools gladly,
seeing ye yourselves are wise.
They thought themselves to be wise, but they were
allowing the false teachers to make fools of them. Get
ready for some more "ifs".
/I CORINTHIANS 11:20 For ye suffer, if a man bring
you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take
of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on
the face.
Christianity is supposed to set people free. Unfortu­
nately, the false "super preachers" are leading God's children
into shackles. They exalt themselves to the point your
questions aren't worthy of an answer. They exalt them­
selves above God's Word. when they say, "You don't
need to understand the Book of Revelation". In conclu­
sion, let's turn to' the Epistles of John.
I JOHN 1:5-6 This then is the message which we have
heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light,
and in Him is no darkness at all. Q If we say that we
have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie,
and do not the truth:
The truth found in God's Word dispels all darkness
and confusion. Those that say they love Him but haven't
a clue concerning God's plan do lie.
I JOHN 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in
the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
We all fall short. Thank God for His gracious for­
giveness whereupon repentance we may receive forgive­
ness and be cleansed.
I JOHN 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
There was only One that was capable of living in
the flesh without sin. Any other that makes that claim
is not being truthful with themselves or God.
I JOHN 1:9-10 If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
a/l unrighteousness. lQ If we say that we have not
sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in
us.
Remember, there are conditions. We must forgive
those that have sinned against us, and we must repent
of OUf sins and confess them to our Father to be for­
given. These are promises you can claim, if you don't
overlook the "ifs".
In His Service,