Are You Being Robbed?

R U BEING ROBBED?

One of the worst things that can happen to anyone is to be robbed; not just of your material things, though, but your spiritual things!  Seasoned Christians know right away who the crook is, too!  Satan is a thief of the worst kind.  He wants to steal whatever he can from you, because he has nothing himself that is permanent, except for the lake of fire!  "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." (Rev. 20:14)  As you can see, the reason I didn't say hell is because even it will be cast into the lake of fire!  So what all does he want to deprive you of?

1. Your kingdom is at stake!  He wants you to fall into apostacy.  "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (2 Thess. 2:3-4)  Apostacy is a state of having given up your faith.  "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, 'Abba, Father'.  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Rom. 8:15-17)  So here is the promise that we have a kingdom to inherit.  I don't want to be robbed of THAT!  Do you?

2. You could lose crowns!  "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." (1 Cor. 9:25)  "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?  Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?" (1 Thess. 2:19)  "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." (2 Tim. 4:8)  "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him." (James 1:12)  "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." (1 Pet. 5:4)  "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (Rev. 2:10)  An incorruptible crown, another of rejoicing, another of righteousness, and another of glory...but remember, the devil wants to rob you of these!

3. Your comfort and joy for all eternity is also up for the taking!  "But as it is written, 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.'" (1 Cor. 2:9)  The devil wants to steal these from you, and know what he wants you to have in return?  "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." (Luke 16:23)

4. All your other untold treasures are available for the taking.  "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:" (Matt. 6:20)  If you have any treasures saved up for you in heaven, the devil wants to take them away however he can while you're here on earth!

So how does the devil steal all your eternal possessions?  He wants to mislead you off the Way!  "Jesus saith unto him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.'" (John 14:6)  So how does he mislead you away from Jesus?  He gives you another Jesus!  "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.  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." (2 Cor. 11:3-4)  Now this passage bears the need for further explanation.  Door knocking is as common to false teachers as it is to true teachers, and the false teachers do the work of the devil to mislead; see, the devil doesn't always do his dirty work his own self.  "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.  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." (2 Cor. 11:3-4)  Mark this well; the hallmark of a false church is one that needs another book in addition to the bible.  This additional book will not agree with everything that is in the bible.  Speaking of the bible, one false teaching church even wrote their own version of the bible, because they were tired of taking a whopping with REAL bibles that didn't match their lies!  There are a number of counterfeit bibles in print today, the worst being the NWT and NIV.  The best bibles you could have are the NKJV and the KJV; the older version, the better!

Believe in an insufficient Jesus where you need to go to purgatory?  Uh-uh!  The REAL Jesus paid it ALL at the cross!  An ineffective Jesus, because there's no hell?  News flash!  If there's a devil, where do they think he resides; the Hilton?  If there was no hell, Jesus died for naught, didn't He?  Believe in an imperfect Jesus because He didn't have an immaculate conception - what a lie!  That would disqualify Him as a perfect sacrifice for our sins!  The list goes on, but you can understand from this why broad is the highway that leads to destruction and hell!  There are all kinds of churches out there that believe in doorknocking for all the wrong reasons - don't be a victim!  The devil wants you to believe he doesn't exist, hell doesn't exist - he wants you confused and mixed up so that you fall down the wrong path!

So how do we protect ourselves from being robbed of our eternal treasures and kngdom?  The devil is wily and has lived a whole lot longer than you or me.

Put on the whole armor of God!  "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;" (Eph. 6:10 - 18)

Let's break down this passage so we understand it well, that we may use this spiritual armor effectively.

1. The girdle of truth - The truth holds everything together.  When you have on the girdle of truth, your integrity stays intact, just like when Job was under attack!  The devil wanted Job to curse God to His face; even used Job's wife's mouth to tempt him, but he kept his integrity.

2. The breastplate of righteousness - The believer's chest and heart are protected from the devil by practiced righteousness.  Take Saul for an example, Israel's first king; when he began to practice unrighteousness, he ended up taking his own life miserably, falling on his own sword.

3. Shoes made of the preparation of the gospel of peace - Ever wear shoes that didn't fit right, or weren't built right, so they failed to give you support or stability?  The gospel of peace gives our lives support and stability.  When we walk as the gospel tells us to do, so then our lives have support and stability from our obedience.

4. The shield of faith - Oh, how this piece of our armor is important!  "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Heb. 11:6)  If there are holes in your faith, there are holes in your shield!  What is faith?  Blind trust!  If we trust in God with our whole heart, then we have a whole shield!

5. The helmet of salvation - Guarding your hope in salvation through Christ Jesus is wearing this helmet.  "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him." (1 Thess. 5:8 - 10)

6. The sword of the Spirit - The word of God is the most wonderful sword you can possess: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." (Heb. 4:12 - 13)  For this reason God wanted Joshua to always study the law; "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." (Josh. 1:8)  Anyone who is wise reads their bible daily!  "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim. 3:15)

7. Praying always for all the saints and ourselves - How many of you missed THAT one?  Most people don't recognize this as a piece of the armor, but it is!  We are all targets of Satan, nobody is immune!  Therefore, pray one for another, as it is written, persistently, in the power of the Spirit, and for all believers, because fervent prayer avails much!

So we have here that eternal treasure is ours for the taking, but there is a thief who wants it.  Even worse, he wants us to have the same problem he has - a terminal lack of salvation.  He wants to rob us of all our blessings.  But God has given us a way to protect it all while we're here on earth; we have the armor of God!  Are you going to let the devil rob us?  I thought not!  Armor up, Christian!