A NEWSLETTER FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE GREENWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST

VOLUME 5 NO. 6                                            April 6, 2008

The Home Of Satan

By Steve Niemeier

If you are like me you consider it an honor to be invited to someone's home for a meal or a gathering.  Our society has changed so much in the last 30 years that having people in our homes is a lost art.  No doubt we could use several pages writing on this lost art but I am afraid all we would do is to try and justify our society issues.  However, I do want to spend time talking about an invitation to one's prepared home that we should refuse.

In Matthew 25:41, Jesus explains that there is a place prepared for Satan and his angels.  Pretty tough thinking that Satan has angels isn't it?  The term angel basically means a messenger.  Therefore, an angel of Satan is a messenger carrying forth the message of Satan.  Satan is very good at inviting people to his home.  He is not very good at explaining what you will find if you accept his invitation.

Many want to joke about Satan's home but we need to be careful about falling victim to the jokes.  You see Satan's home is prepared and decorated by his chief rival God.  God has adorned the home of Satan in a way that should be a warning to us not to accept the invitation of Satan to attend his eternal party.

God has adorned Satan's home with unquenchable fire (Matthew 25:42).  He decided to accent Satan's home with darkness (Matthew 25:30).  He has piped in the sounds of weeping and the gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:41-42) in every room.  He has decorated Satan's home with the vengeance of the Lord everywhere (Hebrews 10:29-30).  He has furnished Satan's home with uncomfortable furniture of no relief (Lunk 16:23-25) that will never wear out.  He has made sure that the attendees of Satan's eternal party are the condemned (Revelation 20:15).

This of course is not the picture Satan will paint of his house for us today is it?  He paints the picture of his house today on his invitation to us as one that is full of all the great things of this earth.  You know those things that entice us to follow him in this life---those are the things he puts on his invitation to visit him eternally in his home.

Some will find the home of Satan a “paradise” compared to what they find in this life.  Those who have grown tired of all the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ (II Timothy 4:1-5) will find no preaching of this gospel in the home of Satan.  There will be no more encouraging one to do personal work or teaching (Acts 8:34-39; James 1:27) in Satan's home.  No one will have to listen to calls to live a holy life (Galatians 5:19-25) in the home of Satan.  No one will be asked to give of their time or money (II Corinthians 6:2; I Corintiians 16:1-2) in Satan's home.  Most of all they will not have to stand there and be uncomfortable listening to an invitation to obey the gospel of Jesus the Christ (Matthew 11:28-30) for they will have already accepted Satan's invitation to his home.

Yes, Satan's home will be full of people lost in sin (II Corinthians 4:3-4); some of them will be “church members” (Hebrews 6:4-6); there will be a great concern for their lost souls in Satan's home (Romans 9:1-13); there will be the reality that neglect has a terrible cost (James 4:17); there will be eternal conversations concerning the word of God is the final authority (Acts 3:22-23) and there will be that regret that there is no way to leave Satan's eternal home (James 4:13-14).  Satan's invitation is open to all.

Does your life state that you are accepting or rejecting his invitation?  When you fail to heed to passages such as Matthew 6:33 (...seek first the kingdom of God...) then you are accepting the invitation of Satan.  When we put ANYTHING above the commands of God through His Son Jesus Christ we are accepting the invitation that Satan has extended to us to visit his eternal home.

We need to re-evaluate our acceptance of invitations that Satan has camouflaged with the enticements of this world.

Leads to Violence

By Roger Banks

Mohandas Gandhi once said there are seven blunders that lead to violence.  We think he was right on target.  Because awareness of what causes a problem is the first step in doing something about it, we share the list with you.

Wealth without work.
Pleasure without conscience.
Knowledge without character.
Commerce without morality.
Science without humanity.
Worship without sacrifice.
Politics without principles.

Now, take a good look at our country and determine for yourself if Gandhi was on target!

“Let Me Out of Here”

From Minute Messages Volume III

Three expectant fathers were sitting in the waiting room of the maternity ward.  A nurse came and said to one of them, “Congratulations!  Your wife has had twins!”  “Wonderful,” he said, “What a coincidence, I play with the Minnesota Twins ball team!”

The next nurse came out and said to the second of the expectant fathers, “Great news!  Your wife has triplets!”  “great!” he said, “Another coincidence, you see, I work for the 3-M Company!”

At this point the third man leaped to his feet, grabbed his coat and hat and said, “Let me out of here!  I work for 7-Up!”

Let us be thankful our lives are in the hands of Almighty God, who loves us and wants us to be saved.