Grace Fellowship Church Pastor/Teacher Jim Rickard Tuesday, October 5,

Doxology Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.— Amen.

Memory Verse Phil 2:5, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”

John 15:18-21 Obstructions to Divine Good Production

Reason #1: Verse 18, Satan’s Cosmic System hates the believer! Part 5

Principles of John 15:18: (continued)

Mandates for Defensive Action against the Power of Satan.

1. We are commanded to defend against Satan’s strategy. Defensive action is a grace function. Believers are dependent upon the grace provisions of God. Eph 4:27; 6:13

2. We must be prepared and ready at a moments notice to stand firm when hatred is directed toward us, “the evil day”. James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8-9

3. What God has provided in grace for our defensive action has no weaknesses. When we use our human strengths and abilities against Satan, we are defeated and overrun.

4. Encouragement for defensive action against Satan is found in 1 John 4:4, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the World.”

Hatred towards God, Jesus Christ and the believer is also described in scripture in terms of “Enemyship.”

1. In human history, the sovereignty of God and free will of man coexist by Divine decree because human history is an extension of the prehistoric Angelic Conflict. Gen 1:26-27; 3:1-15

2. Satan learned in the prehistoric A. C. that he can not attack the sovereignty of God, which is incorruptible, so he attacked the volition of other creatures.

3. Therefore, since mankind was created in history to resolve the prehistoric A. C., Satan attacks at the weak point, the volition of mankind.

4. The greatest attack on human volition occurred against the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ during the incarnation, while He was in hypostatic union (God-man).

a. He was attacked constantly; He was tempted beyond anything we will ever know. Mat 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13

5. Satan is always getting at God the Father through human volition.

6. Satan’s major objective is twofold:

a. To blind the minds of unbelievers so they will not accept Christ, 2 Cor 4:3-4.

2 Cor 4:3-4, “But if our gospel has been veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the thinking of those who are unbelievers, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

b. If they do believe in Christ, hinder their function and execution of the Plan of God for their life.

Distract them in every way possible, and keep them from making Bible doctrine their number one priority, 1 Peter 5:8.

1 Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit (attain spiritual self-esteem), be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

7. Satan has organized an almost fool ‑ proof system to get us out of God’s Power System (GPS) and into the Cosmic System.

a. Demons do not just sit in the stands and watch us as do elect angels; they are on the playing field while at the same time observing, Eph 6:12.

Grace Fellowship Church Tuesday, October 5, 2010 Tape # Obstructions to Divine Good Production, Part 5 KOSMOS Hatred, Part 5 ~ Enemyship, Part 1 Upper Room Discourse, Part 424 John 15:18; Mat 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13; 2 Cor 4:3-4 Grace Fellowship Church Tuesday, October 5, 2010 Tape # Obstructions to Divine Good Production, Part 5 KOSMOS Hatred, Part 5 ~ Enemyship, Part 1 Upper Room Discourse, Part 424 John 15:18; Mat 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13; 2 Cor 4:3-4 James H. Rickard Bible Ministries 2010