R U Bulletproof?

R U BULLETPROOF?

Ever see someone do a lot of things that amazed you they could perform them, and you say to yourself, "How'd they get away with (all) that? Or, "How did they perform that great feat, or those great feats? One would think some people "bulletproof", and perhaps, Phil. 4:13 comes to mind for some Christians. If we have the faith, indeed, His assistance makes us able to do all things through His strength.

Consider Job in Job 1:9 - 11; the devil seemed to be complaining to God that he couldn't test Job because of the hedge God had around Job and all he had, suggesting Job had selfish motives in His blessings for serving Him. Do you feel a hedge around you and your things? And if perhaps a string of things go wrong for you, do you wonder if you're going through a "Job experience"?

Psa. 91:1 - 7 has the author proclaiming his trust in God, calling Him Refuge and Fortress. The author further trusts the Lord to remove him from the snare of the fowler, that is, the devil. Verses 5 - 7 proclaim our security in the Lord always, not necessarily in the physical sense, but definitely in the spiritual sense, which is vastly more important, even priceless. Matt. 16:26 provides insight from Jesus just how invaluable the soul is!

Imagine being king Hezekiah in the Old Testament in Isa. 38:1 - 6. Here you had a ruler sick and and near death, told by the prophet Isaiah he was going to die. This king, not wishing to be gone from the earth just yet, humbled himself before God, crying out his heart, and asked God to remember how he had lived prior to his sickness. The prophet returned with a guarantee from the Lord that he would live another 15 years! On top of this, the Lord said He would keep Hezekiah and his city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and the Assyrians never even got close enough for Israel to see their shields! While they didn't have bullets in those days, I'd say the king and his city were at least Assyrian-proof.

Peter had Jesus' word in John 21:18 that he would live long enough to be old, but not that he would die a natural death, but that of a martyr. True to His word (as we knew He would be!), when Peter was imprisoned by Herod, in Acts 12:6 - 11 he is unchained by an angel and led from prison and thought it was all a vision until the angel departed from him. Peter did not die until 34 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, martyred the same year as Paul.

In Luke 10:1 - 12, 17 - 20, Jesus sends 70 disciples to go do what is today called doorknocking, and gives them specific instructions, advising them that He sent them as lambs among wolves. They returned to Him with great joy that they had power over devils, and Jesus assured them that He gave them power over everything the enemy had, and that nothing would hurt them, but even more wonderful for them was His assurance that their names were written in heaven! These 70 were "bulletproof" not only in life, but in death, and it was sealed with the promise of Christ Jesus!

Remember that we have an Advocate (1 John 2:1); Christ Jesus, and He is our Rock, just as He was in Luke 22:31-32 for the disciples. Jesus told Peter the devil desired him that he might sift him as wheat, and Jesus gave him comfort by telling him that He had prayed for him, that his faith not fail. Of all you who read this and have ever had a time in your life when you had little or no faith, that has to be some anxiety attack! How wonderful it is for us who believe to know in the present that we are bulletproof from the devil and the gates of hell in the blood of Christ Jesus who died for all our sins.

Eph. 6:10 - 20 tells us that we have armor; yes, armor of God! We have the devil for an adversary, and he's not alone. He's got his demonic hosts, principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world. We have the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of the Spirit, the sandals of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the belt of truth. This is not to say that an armored Christian is invulnerable to attack and difficulties. Psa. 44:22 and Rom. 8:36 tell of great difficulties, not meant to be obstacles for the people of God, but He allows us to be tested by them. Remember Job? Here's a man who loved the Lord, a practiced godly man, and he is greatly tested by the devil's work against him. Now he doesn't know what's going on, and some friends condemn him as having done something wrong. Eliphaz tells him he's obviously being disciplined by God, and needs to repent. Bildad tells him he's suffering because of his sins, and calls Job a hypocrite. Zophar tells him he's suffering from his sinfulness and deserves much worse, and that he needs to repent. Got friends like these? Job did nothing wrong, but he was attacked by the devil, and his friends made him out to being a sinner. Great to have these friends, who put down your counsel, and hurl stones at you from their own glass houses. The devil will use your friends to see if you're bulletproof, too, and even your wife, as Job found out (Job 2:9). Also understand that while Job's test was extrinsic, that is to say, an attack on his physical external self and possessions, do not underestimate that the devil will not launch an attack of intrinsic nature, that is to say, on your mind. Satan may attack you with doubts, misinterpretations, delusions, paranoia...and you must wear the belt of truth and hold up the shield of faith against Lucifer's lies and fiery darts. Knowing the bible well and edifying one another in the faith, even yourself with the promises of God, give great strength to this shield.

Paul asserts that those who are in Christ Jesus are inseparable from God in Rom. 8:38 - 39. As we know Christ's salvation for us with open eyes, those who are saved cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus Himself promised in John 10:27 - 28, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand."

Mark 4:6, 17 describes people who fall away in a parable Jesus tells, and later, He explains to His disciples His parable. There are some who will be tested, and may even be being tested now, and, if they have no root, if they are not genuinely saved, it will be known, because they will fall away from the faith. These will stop obeying the commandments, stop proclaiming the gospel, and walk the path of the lost because of persecution or great affliction. Even some will need only little affliction, and they will buckle. For those who are saved, we have 1 Cor. 10:2, which tells us God is faithful and won't suffer us a temptation we cannot bear, but make a way we can escape our test. Now in this understand Paul doesn't mean we get out of the test, but rather that we will be able to bear it, because God will give us the power. Don't forget the martyrdom of the apostles. They did not give up their faith, and were able to bear the death they had at the hands of their persecutors.

So now we understand that while the saved are not necessarily physically bulletproof, they are indeed spiritually bulletproof. Friends and family may be used by the devil to test that, and no matter how severe the test, God will give us the power to withstand the test, we who are genuinely saved. Our assurance is spoken by Christ; "neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand."! Oh, what a reason to praise God!