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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 4, NUMBER 31, AUGUST 1, 2004 GUESS WHO’S COMING TO SERVICES? Just for the sake of discussion, if you were Satan which congregations of the Lord’s church would you go after? Would you go after a congregation that is filled with people who are just keeping house? Would a congregation of saints who do no personal evangelism and do not associate with one another except for three hours a week be the one you would set your sights on? Would a congregation that has not witnessed a baptism in years and at which visitors are rarely spoken to or made to feel welcome be the one where you would want to spend your time? Would it not be possible, if you were Satan, that you would consider those kinds of congregations yours already? It is my belief, and experience certainly bears it out, that Satan expends the greatest amount of effort upon those individuals and congregations that are doing well in their service to the Lord. Job is a classic example. At first glance it may very well appear that Job would have been the last person upon which Satan would have wanted to put forth his efforts. God Himself said, “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.” Satan didn’t already have Job, but he believed that Job had a weakness and he was ready and willing to try to exploit it. Why expend a great deal of effort on those who already belong to you? I find it interesting that over and over again in the New Testament Christians are warned about the attacks of Satan and exhorted to resist him. The people that he does not already have are the ones he most desperately wants. Thus, Paul writes, “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:14-15). In Ephesians 6:11, we find, “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Down in verse 16, we read, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” In discussing those who would be appointed as elders, Paul set forth the following qualification in 1 Tim. 3:6, “Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” Paul is not the only one of the New Testament writers who warn about Satan and the need to be always alert, always aware of the danger. It is when our guard is let down that he will strike. James exhorted in James 4:7, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” In the famous passage found in 1 Peter 5:8-9, we read, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” I bring this up because I am a wee bit worried. The Northern Kentucky Church of Christ seems to be doing very well. Even through the height of vacation season with folks traveling and visiting relatives, we have been averaging around 175 to 178 people each Sunday morning. This has been so with as many as 60, or more, of our own people gone. Not too long ago we witnessed a number of baptisms and we are actually beyond the planning stage and into the work stage of our expansion plans. The Lord is blessing this congregation and I know that He blesses those who are doing His will. I also know that when Satan loses a disciple, he wants him or her back. When the sounds of hammers start to ring out, I begin to cringe. Why? Because Satan does not want faithful congregations of the Lord’s people to grow. All it takes is for a few members, and it doesn’t have to be many, to start to complain about the inconvenience and he has got his foot in the door. If he can get a few more to start to thinking about their comfort and their desires more than anybody else’s, he is walking down the main aisle. If he can get people to start mumbling and grumbling amongst themselves, he has sat down in the middle of the front row. I know that “greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4); but I also know that sometimes even Christians tend to listen more to he that is in the world. Sustained growth requires increased vigilance. A larger congregation requires more dedication and devotion from each member to keep Satan out. You may think that that would be more the case in a smaller congregation, but I have been in both and it is just not so. As a congregation gets larger, some begin to think that “others will take care of it, I’m not needed.” Still others will begin to think that they are not being used enough! There can be seating problems, bathroom problems (more people, same amount of facilities), and just a host of other things. Satan does everything he can to stop the growth of a faithful congregation of the Lord’s people. The one surefire way to keep Satan from making headway into this congregation is by each of us to truly take to heart the instructions of Philippians 2:1-8. “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Greg Litmer
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