Blessings: Sevenfold?

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On Fri, 23 Aug 1996 08:52:19 -0400, you wrote:

>I don't know who we would demand it of.  First, Satan can not restore
>seven-fold.  He never gave anything to begin with.  Second, Satan
>cannot steal your blessing, you must give it to him.  Are we then to
>turn around and demand of God seven-fold more of what we gave to
>Satan.  We receive nothing from God except by grace.  Trusting in
>God's faithfulness to restore is much different than demanding that
>God do something because we messed up.

I agree with this answer but would add this:

The Scripture reference was John 10:10, which shows Jesus as the door,
and the shepherd, is in the context of salvation. He is contrast to
false prophets, hirelings, and religionists which suppose to control
souls, and access the requirements of life. He is shown there as the
single source of eternal life.

The restoration concept comes by joining that to Prov 6:30-31 which
reads:

"Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he
is hungry; But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall
give all the substance of his house."

Bro Kimbrel states that Satan can not restore what he does not have.
Satan certainly cannot restore life that was spent in servitude while
lost, which is the implication of joining this verse to John 10:10.

But, I do not agree with the statement that Satan cannot steal what he
is not given. The Bible is full of illustration that there is a
warfare, and there is loss suffered sometimes by people who have not
done wrong, or who are weakened. Even a failure of fellowship can be
enough to allow access of Satan to the child of God. 

This is a deep subject, and we can't cover it in any depth here. But
lets also consider WHY Satan has access to the child of God. Why did
Satan have access to Jesus? Because Jesus walked on earth. It is as
simple as that. Satan has a place of residency here. Satan comes and
goes among men and women. To be in the flesh is to be in a place were
we WILL encounter Satan, and let me boldly say Satan, to a pretty
large extent, can do what he wants, as he can find cooperative
parties.

There are things he cannot do, but lets illustrate:
Its your property. You feel totally comfortable there. Someone comes
along and says, "Heres a beautiful sapphire... Like it, its yours if
you want it ... " 
You go, "YEAH! "
He says "Come and get it then, and tosses it in the raging fire"...
You go, "Oh my... :("

Satan is terrified of getting too near people with Apostolic power. He
cannot handle the name of Jesus used by holy living saints who live by
faith. But even then, sometimes he can con an idiot to stick his hand
in the fire. If that happens, you got a problem.

Also, notice that if Satan is considered the thief, to hold something,
he does not actually have to remove it. He must mearly keep its
posession from the individual. He can do that in many ways.

There are situations where Satan actually does steal from the Child of
God. It happens for many reasons. 

Sometimes the walls have been let down by a departure of that soul
from the light of God. Sometimes there are the reaping of efforts
which have sown to the flesh, though not out of rebellion to God, but
by prayerlessness, or even improper motivation.

Other times, through cooperation of christians who have been averted
from following Jesus Christ in faith, souls and properties have been
lost. Church buildings sanctified to the work of God, access to the
children of families that had direct access to the knowledge of the
truth, money which was appointed to the work of the Lord. Personally
people know the pain of loosing things (whatever that may be) because
of a backsliding relative. 

Satan also hinders the work of God's Kingdom sometimes, and steals
through wearing down saints who break, and actually "wearing in well
doing". Now the Calvinist types among us will say, this is all part of
the will of God. I respond by saying it is also God's will for someone
to tell them to get on their feet and fight! It is God's will to get
up and resist the Devil sometimes more that passively.

Abraham pursued after Chedorlaomer and Tidal (Gen 14)

David pursued after the Philistine thieves (1 Sam 30)

Those who have suffered loss, have the right to hold their head up,
and remember that God is the one who said "Vengeance is mine, I WILL
repay". Those who have suffered loss as a direct result of an assault
of the enemy or because of people whose program is OPPOSED to the plan
of God, as children of God themselves must never think that God will
let offenses go without retribution.

****
Speaking of legality, the 6 remaining parts of judgement from Pr ov
6:30-31 are to be understood. This projects the law of the crown . The
crown prosecuted transgressions of the law. When apprehended, charged
and prosecuted, the issue was more was more than just restoring the
loss. The crown in effect filed a LARGE claim against the criminal. He
stood charged with holding goods that were not his. The crown was
sworn to protect the individual who suffered loss, and yes, to restore
the loss upon apprehension. The claim however was MASSIVE because the
crown also had to consider that the thief had also likely gone
unapprehended for many other crimes, and as a result, the crown had
been charged to care for wards of the crown who had been rendered
helpless by the thief. 

The crown had a malefactor, and a public nuisance on its hands, and
even the prosecution had to be paid for. To render the their
powerless, such claims were brought against the house. 7FOLD, or even
the WHOLE HOUSE.


When Jesus Christ spoiled principalities on Calvary, he openly showed
(legally demonstrated)  Satan's house to be liable for all charges,
and in filing such a claim, bankrupt the house.

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them
openly, triumphing over them in it. - Col 2:15

What about the remaining 6 parts of judgement ? Are they rewarded to
the victim? NO, how silly. That would make life a lottery, so that you
could be blessed because of mishap. The six parts are taken by the
power that defeats the thief. Abraham and David both took spoils. The
saints ought to think in this fashion. You MUST pursue after the enemy
even standing in the gap, warring for those who are too weak.. But the
territory that is taken is a spoil. It MUST be posessed in the name of
the Lord. 

** The remaining 6 parts belongs to the crown, but by GRACE, the Lord
can and does reward beyond what we deserve. **

In application, the six parts contain fallout from doing battle with
spiritual powers. Therein are souls and other issues which are
released from bondage. Two powers that war against each other to a
conclusion result in one power, and a land without a power standing.
Usually, the victorious power must become the head of the land and
souls that remain.

It is not necessary to read the word DEMAND as a claim with an
attitude. It may just be going to the right desk and filling out the
right papers. However, as pertains to God, we are only due what we
lost, and then, the confiscated materials may be legally held by the
court for a long, long time... But, I have an example to follow:

(and prosperity preachers rarely want to talk about Paul :)

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in
whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." - Phil 4:11

Reverend J.Arnold (pendulum passing to the Calvinist side) recently
made the outstanding point at BOTT '96:

God is the God what I have
God is the God of what I've lost
and God is the God of what I've got left!

We had church here while the Lord was pouring out wisdom on this
subject, in these last few minutes (I mean, here in my office with the
family)

Yeah, you have to fight.  But if you loose you, the child of God,
arent a looser and God doesn't even remotely overlook your claim of
mistreatment. Being a good looser is good when it comes to pride, but
when it comes to humbling ourselves to the devil, its just whimping
out.


-mwb