"THE LIST"
AH YES, I REMEMBER IT WELL, AS THOUGH IT WAS YESTERDAY. IT WAS NINETEEN SIXTY SOMETHING OR OTHER, AND A CO-WORKER NAMED JOE AND I DREAMED UP A SCHEME TO "THROW INTO SHOCK" ANOTHER CO-WORKER NAMED RON. RON WAS RELATIVELY NEW WITH THE COMPANY, AND IT LOOKED LIKE THE BIG "LAY-OFF" WAS IMMINENT.
ALL THE SUPERVISORS HAD TO WRITE ON "THE LIST" THOSE EMPLOYEES WHO WERE EXPENDABLE, SO, WHEN IT CAME TIME TO REDUCE THE BUDGET, WHEN JUDGMENT DAY ARRIVED, THE PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT WOULD INFORM THOSE ON "THE LIST" IN EVERY DEPARTMENT IT WAS TIME FOR THEM TO GO!.
SO, NATURALLY, EVERY ONE DREADED "THE LIST", SO MUCH SO THAT WE, MY BUDDY JOE AND I, RAN AROUND SHRIEKING "THE LIST, THE LIST!!" WELL, WE GOT RON TO BELIEVE HE MUST BE ON THIS DREADED LIST OF "WORTHLESS EMPLOYEES" BECAUSE AFTER ALL, HE DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE AND HE WAS PROBABLY JUST A USELESS THROWAWAY! NOBODY NEEDED HIM!
SO, ONE OF US, I DON’T REALLY REMEMBER WHETHER IT WAS ME OR JOE, WENT DOWNSTAIRS AND MADE THE FATEFUL PHONE CALL THAT DARK, DREARY FRIDAY MORNING. EVERYBODY KNEW THAT TODAY WAS THE DAY "THE LIST" WOULD BE "EXECUTED".
THE PHONE RINGS, RON PICKS IT UP, HIS FACE TURNED WHITE AS HE RECEIVED THE HORRIBLE NEWS OF BEING FOUND ON THE ILL-FATED LIST, HIS ONLY RESPONSE WAS SAID TO BE "OK", AND IF WE HADN’T CAUGHT HIM AS HE RUSHED HEADLONG DOWN THE STEPS TOWARD THE PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT, I’M SURE, THE OUTCOME OF THIS STORY WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH DIFFERENT. RON WENT ON TO SERVE THE LORD IN THE PASTORATE, GETTING SAVED LATER IN LIFE.
HOWEVER, THIS STORY OF "THE LIST" ILLUSTRATES THE DREAD WE AS CHRISTIANS SHOULD HAVE, IF WE ARE FOUND ON THE DEVILS LONG LIST OF FOOLS. THE LIST OF THOSE THAT HE HAS DECEIVED, DELUDED AND DESTROYED THROUGH THE AGES.
ALTHOUGH RON WAS FOOLED THAT DAY, FALLING FOR A "HARMLESS" PRANK, I’M SURE THE DEVIL AND HIS DEMONIC FORCES ARE NOT SO EASY ON HIM TODAY, SHOULD THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO USE THEIR WICKED DEVICES. THIS INCIDENT IN RON’S HISTORY IS CERTAINLY AN INSIGNIFICANT EVENT IN HIS LIFE STORY, BUT I’M SURE HE REMEMBERS IT JUST THE SAME. IN HIS MIND, THAT DAY, HIS WHOLE FUTURE, AND HIS SECURITY WAS THREATENED FOR JUST THAT SMALL MOMENT IN TIME.
BUT, IT IS CERTAIN THE DEVIL HAS A HISTORY ON ALL OF US, EVEN YOU! YES HE HAS US ON ONE OF HIS LISTS. WHICH ONE ARE YOU ON? DID YOU KNOW, HE CAN TELL BY YOUR OUTWARD ACTIONS,WHAT IS GOING ON INWARDLY IN YOUR SOUL?
HE KNOWS YOUR FAVORITE SINS! HE KNOWS WHAT IT TAKES TO CAUSE YOU TO FALL BY BRINGING UP THE RECORD ON YOUR LAST FALL! AND, HE IS "RIGHT NOW" PLANNING A TRAP TO BRING YOU DOWN, PROVIDING YOU ARE STILL STANDING "RIGHT NOW" IN THE LORD!
THE DEVIL CAN TELL BY LOOKING AT MY FACE WHEN I LEAN BACK AND TAKE A SIP OF MY COFFEE, AND EXAMINE MY WORK, WHETHER (PRIDE) THE FLESH, IS IN CHARGE. WHETHER I AM DOING IT JUST FOR THE TEMPORARY GLORY OF WOLFE, OR WHETHER MY FACE IS REFLECTING THE GLORY OF MY HUMBLE SAVIOUR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!
OH, I KNOW THE DEVIL IS NOT OMNIPRESENT OR OMNIPOTENT, OR ANY OF THE OTHER OMNIS, ONLY OUR GOD HAS THAT KIND OF POWER! BUT, THE DEVIL HAS SEEN THAT LOOK OF SELF SATISFACTION ON YOUR FACE, THAT CHEST PUFFING SMIRK THAT SAYS "THIS’LL REALLY WOW THE TROOPS" INSTEAD OF THE LOOK OF OUR SAVIOUR’S HUMILITY.
THAT’S WHAT SHOULD BE ACROSS THE FACE OF EVERY BELIEVER WHO HAS EXPERIENCED HIS MARVELOUS GRACE OF SALVATION! BUT, LET’S BE REALISTIC, WE ALL FALL FROM HIS GRACE AND SOME OF THESE FALLS ARE ORCHESTRATED BY THE DEVIL HIMSELF!
HE CAN TELL WHO’S IN CHARGE IN YOUR LIFE, WHETHER IT BE SELF, SATAN, OR THE SAVIOUR. AND, IF YOU SPEND QUALITY TIME AT THE THRONE OF GOD YOU WILL BE ON THE DEVIL’S HIT LIST! COUNT ON IT! HE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE! HE CAN TELL HOW YOU FIT INTO GOD’S PROGRAM OF THE AGES BY HOW MUCH QUALITY THRONE TIME YOU SPEND (PSALM 65:4) AND HOW MUCH PROTECTION (I.E. GOD’S WORKING) YOU RECEIVE (MATTHEW 4:11).
DON’T BE FOOLED! WE HAVE AN ADVERSARY THAT IS SUPER-SLICK IN UTILIZING ALL THAT HE CAN TO DAMN THE SOULS OF MEN, AND IF WE DON’T SPEND QUALITY TIME AT THE THRONE OF GOD, CONSULTING WITH OUR LORD, WALKING IN HIS WAYS, WINNING SOULS FOR JESUS, WE WILL JUST BE ANOTHER VICTIM CHALKED UP ON SATAN’S HIT LIST OF FOOLS!
HE ALSO HAS A SHORT LIST. INCLUDED ARE THOSE WHO ARE SET IN THEIR SOULS TO SERVE THE LORD OF LORDS, REGARDLESS! HIGH ON THIS LIST NEXT TO THOSE WHO WIN SOULS FOR JESUS, ARE THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OF THESE SERVANTS OF GOD. THESE ARE THOSE WHO ALSO PUT SOULS ON THEIR LIST AS #1 PRIORITY! NOT ONLY WINNING THEM, BUT MINISTERING TO GOD’S PEOPLE AND THEIR COUNTLESS SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL NEEDS.
IF THE "DUST BEGINS TO FLY" AROUND YOUR FAMILY, AND "SHRAPNEL WOUNDS" ARE EVIDENT, IT IS PROBABLY THE WORK OF SATAN AND HIS EMISSARIES, PROVIDING YOU ARE SPENDING QUALITY TIME AT THE THRONE OF THE LORD, WINNING SOULS FOR THE LORD,DOING HIS WILL!
IF NOT, YOU MIGHT BE SUFFERING FROM "SELF INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUNDS", NOT TO BE BLAMED ON THE ADVERSARY, FOR HE DOESN’T BOTHER WITH THOSE ON THE LONG LIST OF ETERNITY’S FOOLS THAT HAVE SUFFERED COUNTLESS INFLICTIONS OF THEIR OWN, ALL FOR THE GLORY OF SELF!
ALTHOUGH MUCH OF WHAT IS EXPERIENCED IS SELF INFLICTED, THIS SELF INFLICTION BY THE FLESH ONLY OPENS UP THE DOOR FOR SATAN’S FURTHER WORK, IF IT IS DEEMED NECESSARY. THIS SELFISH ACTION INVITES THE DEVIL IN TO TAKE PART IN THE EVENTUAL DESTRUCTION OF THE SOUL.
IN THE PROCESS, HE CAN CONTROL YOUR LIFE, THROUGH HIS INFLUENTIAL TACTICS.THOSE TACTICS HE SEEMS TO RESERVE FOR ONLY THE LORD’S FINEST SOLDIERS, GOD’S MOST DETERMINED AND DEVOTED SERVANTS. THEY ARE THE ONES WHO KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO SPEND MUCH QUALITY TIME BEFORE THE THRONE! YOU MUST NOTICE, I DID NOT SAY INDWELL OR POSSESS YOUR LIFE.
THE HOLY SPIRIT PERMANENTLY INDWELLS THE BELIEVER. BUT, AS ONE PREACHER HAS SAID "WHAT DOES IT MATTER IF THE ONE DRIVING REACHES IN THE WINDOW, GRABS THE STEERING WHEEL, AND TURNS THE CAR WHEREVER HE WANTS. EVEN IF HE IS NOT IN THE CAR, HE SURELY IS CONTROLLING WHERE IT GOES"! IS THIS NOT THE KEY WORD, CONTROL? JUST WHO IS IN CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE?
SPEAKING OF LIVES, LET US BRIEFLY EXAMINE THE LIFE OF ONE WHO WAS CERTAINLY ON THE DEVIL’S SHORT LIST SO MANY YEARS AGO. KING SAUL WAS HIS NAME AND IF HIS LIFE IS EXAMINED THOROUGHLY, IT CAN BE PROVEN, THAT HE, IN THE BEGINNING, SHOWED A LOT OF "PROMISE".
HIS PHYSICAL APPEARANCE WAS ALSO "LEADERLIKE"AS HE WAS "HIGHER THAN ANY OF THE PEOPLE ". IT SEEMS WE ALWAYS HAVE A SMALL "NAPOLEON-LIKE" SHORT MAN, OR A "SAUL-LIKE" TALL MAN AT THE HELM IN MANY OF THE WORLD’S DISTRESSFUL HISTORIC INSTANCES. WHERE ARE THE "AVERAGE-LIKE" MEN WHEN WE NEED THEM?
ALL HUMOR ASIDE, GOD DID ALLOW SAUL TO BE PUT INTO THE POSITION OF "CAPTAIN "OR CHIEF OVER HIS PEOPLE. HE WAS GOD’S AUTHORITY FIGURE, THE FIRST KING OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, A FACT THAT ALSO MADE HIM A PRIME TARGET FOR THE ADVERSARY.
COULD IT BE THAT OUR CURRENT PRESIDENT’S SATAN-LIKE CONDUCT IS THE RESULT OF SATAN’S RELENTLESS ATTACK ON AUTHORITY FIGURES? MAYBE, EVEN THOUGH MANY OF THE WORLD’S AUTHORITY FIGURES SEEM TO DO "PRETTY GOOD" WITHOUT THE DEVIL’S WICKED INFLUENCE.
BUT, IN THE CASE OF SAUL, THE DEVIL’S INFLUENCE WAS CLEARLY EVIDENT. EVEN THOUGH HE COMMITTED PHYSICAL SUICIDE, HIS "SPIRITUAL SUICIDE" CAME FIRST, AS IT ALWAYS DOES, BEFORE HE ENDED HIS OWN LIFE. THIS "SPIRITUAL SUICIDE" IS PLAIN TO SEE IN THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT.
HIS SAD STORY BEGINS IN I SAMUEL 9. WITHOUT GETTING INTO ALL THE DETAILS OF THIS HAPLESS, SOMEWHAT HOPELESS MAN, IT CAN BE VERIFIED THROUGH HIS LENGTHY BIBLICAL BIOGRAPHY, THAT HE HAD A PROMISING START. HE WAS:
1. ANOINTED BY GOD
2. GIVEN THE HOLY SPIRIT
3. GIVEN ANOTHER HEART
4. HUMBLE IN HIS EARLY YEARS.
BUT LATER HE DID ALLOW THESE TWO SINS OF OMISSION TO BRING HIM TO RUIN:
1. DID NOT KEEP THE COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD
2. REJECTED THE WORD.
THESE TWO SERIOUS SINS OF OMISSION CONCERNING THE WORD OF GOD LED HIM TO LOSE HIS ABILITY TO THINK RATIONALLY, HE THEN BECAME WILDLY IRRATIONAL TRYING TO KILL DAVID AND THEN HIS OWN SON. HE BRUTALLY MURDERED GOD’S PRIESTS, CONSULTED WITH THE WITCH OF ENDOR, AND FINALLY COMMITTED PHYSICAL SUICIDE!
THE GORY DETAILS OF HIS SUICIDE ARE RECORDED AT THE END OF I SAMUEL, WHERE THE SCRIPTURE STATES: "THEREFORE SAUL TOOK A SWORD, AND FELL UPON IT" (I SAMUEL 31:4). THIS FINAL CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF SAUL SHOWS HE WAS NOT ONLY A MAN SINGLED OUT BY GOD, BUT HE WAS ALSO ON THE DEVIL’S SHORT LIST, SINGLED OUT TO BE AN ILLUSTRATION OF SATAN’S CROWNING WORK, THE PHYSICAL SUICIDE COMMITTED BY ONE OF GOD’S OWN!
WHAT A DARK, DREADFUL MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL! SAUL’S DOWNWARD PATH HAS BEEN TRODDEN BY MANY DISCOURAGED, DEFEATED, DISILLUSIONED, AND, YES, DESPERATE CHRISTIANS, WHO LIKE SAUL TOOK SATAN’S FINAL INVITATION TO END THEIR LIVES.
THANK GOD FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO HAS DEFEATED THE DEVIL, DEFEATED ALL HIS DISCOURAGING PLOTS, DESTROYED THE DESTROYER HIMSELF, AND OFFERS US THE GLORIOUS VICTORY OVER DEATH AND HELL!
WHAT ABOUT YOU? ARE YOU ON GOD’S SHORT LIST OF SOLDIERS OF THE CROSS? ARE YOU CONSUMING HIS WORD, FORTIFYING YOUR SOUL, AND NOT OMITTING THE WORD FROM YOUR LIFE? ARE YOU RECEIVING AND NOT REJECTING THE WORD?
ARE YOU MEMORIZING AND MEDITATING ON THIS PRECIOUS WORD? REMEMBER, THAT’S THE ONLY WAY TO SPIRITUAL SUCCESS! THE ONLY WAY TO VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL! ARE YOU FULFILLING YOUR PRIMARY CALLING AS A PRIEST UNTO GOD? SPENDING QUALITY TIME AT THE THRONE?
ARE YOU RECEIVING INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE KING OF HEAVEN FOR YOUR MOMENT BY MOMENT BATTLES WITH THE ADVERSARY OF YOUR SOUL? IF NOT YOU COULD BE ON SATAN’S LONG LIST OF FOOLS, INSTEAD OF GOD’S SHORT LIST OF SOLDIERS WHO ARE WILLING, AT ANY COST, TO DO BATTLE FOR HIS GREAT CAUSE!
