I was shocked when my mother-in-law screamed at me the other day out of the blue, “You’re in a cult! You’re going to hell!” Her words stabbed deeply into me. Now, she has been recently diagnosed as having dementia – more specifically alcohol-related dementia. I couldn’t help but think of God’s living word when the apostle Paul was berated by a certain fortune-telling servant girl – saying to them sarcastically, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” It is revealed to us that Satan’s method is to deceive and that he and his minions have the power to place thoughts, suggestions, or impulses into unsuspecting human minds – unless we are alertly on guard against it.
True Christians are often attacked because those of this world insist that we should just accept all of these degradations as “our way of life.” And I’m speaking of our brethren all around the world who are victims – people who fear God, accept Jesus Christ and obey His commandments, accept the principles of the New Covenant, properly understand the kingdom of God, the Word of God, the Truth of God, and the ultimate Plan of God! Our brethren who have been called of Father, repented, baptized, and have had hands laid upon them – receiving the glorious gift of the Holy Spirit. Those who indeed try – with the help of God’s Spirit – to live a life in accordance with God’s living Word – the Holy Bible. As a servant of the LORD God I have planted seeds, tried picking out thorns which others have planted – and I’ve seen the faces of those who have laughed at me, have spit at me, screamed at me to leave them alone. I have personally explained to many about the glorious hope of the gospel message, of the potentiality of eternal life, and the great hope of the resurrection of the dead in Christ into the very family of God. And, of one I have in mind, who had indulged in a lifestyle which God abhors and finds abominable, rolling her eyes and laughing at me.
I personally have had several experiences with invisible agents.
In the early years of my life, about 1976, I experienced for nearly two weeks, every time that I began to drift off to sleep, I was struck on the head with something that wasn’t there. It would hurt something fierce.
Once, while driving over the road, I had a black man approach me – dressed to the nines – and ask me for a ride – which reminded me of the story of the crossroads. An old fable story among the blues community in the South about a musician who took his guitar down to the crossroads at midnight to be greeted by a satanic stranger. I didn’t give him a ride!
Another time, late in 2006, I encountered another experience.
After spending nearly two hours in prayer to Father God and our Lord Jesus in the truck, I went and had dinner in the truck stop restaurant. When I was finished eating, I was paying my bill at the register. A man came up behind me and suddenly stopped – backing away from me as if he’d seen a ghost. A frightened look came across his face! He wouldn’t come near me. After I paid my bill I turned to move towards him, and he began shaking and looked as if he was ready to fall onto the floor. I just walked away from him without saying a word.
Once, while I was traveling through the mountains of Nevada a strange thing happened. I heard a voice call out, “Pull over immediately!” I thought I was just hearing things, so I continued driving down the road for at least another ten miles. I heard the same voice again, this time a little louder. Still thinking I was just hearing things, I continued driving, when the voice a third time was heard, this time even louder and emphatic: “PULL OVER NOW!” I finally saw a rest area and quickly pulled in. I parked and went into the sleeper and spoke with Father God and our Lord Jesus while lying on the bunk. Lying there with my eyes closed, I soon saw in my mind’s eye a vision of a green tanker truck traveling in front of me driving recklessly, swerving and passing vehicles aggressively. Finally, the green tanker swerved too much and careened over – bursting into flames just in front of my truck! After lying there for a little while, I got back up, caught my logbook up, and returned again to the highway. At the very next on-ramp, there was that truck I had seen in my vision parked on the side of the road! I began to praise and thank Almighty God and our Lord Jesus over and over again! After about thirty minutes the tanker passed me doing about 90 mph and out of sight he went. I never saw him again.
In early 2010, I had stopped in my car at a truck stop early in the morning to get some coffee. And, after purchasing the coffee and exiting the building. I hurried to my car. I got in and jumped behind the wheel – closing the door quickly. Suddenly, I heard a voice say, “Look Up!” When I did there was an evil-looking man standing directly in front of the car staring at me. He stared at me for a few more minutes, then turned and walked away. The voice a second time said, “See, all these many years, I have kept you safe.” I began to cry and praise Almighty God!
A Roaring Lion
Satan the devil is an adversary to true Christians! The apostle Peter – through God’s living Spirit – warns us that “your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” – 1 Peter 5:8.
Truly, what I have experienced in these five decades is that ‘Satan has desired to have [me], that he may sift [me] as wheat.’ – cf. Luke 22:31.
Over and over throughout Scripture, it speaks about Satan the devil being there causing a thorn – a roadblock – among God’s people hindering them somehow. He tries to get the advantage over true Christians – our Master calling him ‘the enemy’ – Luke 10:19. If we resist him – he must flee from us! In the Book of Ephesians chapter 6 – the apostle Paul uses a term called “the wiles of the devil.” The Greek word he uses is methodeia, meaning “scheming, or craftiness, a strategy.”
It's like - yesterday my wife and I spent all afternoon filing at the Clerk of the Circuit Court a Personal Protection Order (PPO) against her mother’s abusive boyfriend, only to have the judge say we don’t have enough “evidence”! Satan the devil uses certain individuals to attack and torment begotten children of God. He has been trying to defame my name and unjustifiably ruin my reputation. These vicious attacks have been going on for four months!
It’s difficult to imagine a world without the influence of Satan the devil and his minions. The grave influences of this demonic world in our movies, television, radio, literature, the governments of the world, in the weather, and the health of this world – the land, the sea, the atmosphere – are incalculable!
But what is even more important is the constant drain upon the human heart and mind of man – even a man of God. The havoc which reeks upon this world – of the outlook, the true happiness, and dignity of the human families – can only be compared with the Great Flood which had encompassed this earth!
You may have heard the saying, “You must know your enemy.” Because when you know your enemy, it is easier to defeat him. In prayer last night to Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ I was reprimanded in remembering that there are in this world multiple thousands of people who are going through tribulations much greater than mine. Our enemy wants us to believe that our tribulation is greater than anyone else’s. In Israel alone, our brethren are being viciously and heinously attacked by the enemy! I was ashamed that I had been so self-absorbed and preoccupied with my own feelings and situation to the point that it was beginning to “devour me.” Let us be reminded always that in Jesus we have peace – “ … ‘In Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’” – John 16:33.
Satan Is Camouflaged
We are told by the apostle Paul – through the inspiration of God’s living Spirit – that “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” He is perfectly camouflaged to the world at large. Like the tares in a wheat field, his “ministers of righteousness” blend in with Jesus’ flock. Their religious-sounding words merge with the living truth of God, transforming themselves into “apostles of Christ.” Satan is quite visible masquerading as an “angel of light.” The greater majority of our peoples believe he is something he is not.
But as the Universal Law of Cause and Effect states: Every cause or action has a specific and predictable effect. Look at the world around us – there is a cause for all the evil. God’s living word tells us that cause.
In a series of Personals I began writing, I went over Some Prehistory Facts. And I began with the rebellion of the evil one – Satan the devil. Because of this rebellion physical destruction occurred to the earth! Notice this – Genesis 1:2, “The earth [became] without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” The Hebrew words that our great patriarch and prophet Moses used are tohu and bohu – which truly means “chaotic and in confusion.”
Hêlēl (in Hebrew #1966), Lucifer in Latin – meaning “shining one” – became known as Satan the devil and rebelled, influencing a third of the holy angels to follow his rebellion and an attempted coup d'état of the Third Heaven – the very throne of the Master of the universe! He attempted to seize the very GOVERNMENT of the entire universe! – cf. Revelation 12:4; Jude 1:6.
Satan the devil did not want to continue in the beautification of the earth – preparing it for the age of man. And as I have said before - we learn from God’s living word that angels were never meant to rule the earth or the universe – “the world to come” cf. Hebrews 2:5. He became filled with pride and jealousy – cf. Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28.
But “pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall” – Proverbs 16:18.
A great battle for the control of the universe literally caused great physical destruction upon the earth – Genesis 1:2. Truly, between the first verse and the second verse of Genesis chapter 1, billions of years could have passed. The earth BECAME chaotic and void, and DARKNESS (of which Satan and his demons are) was on the face of the deep. The very word “deep” in Hebrew is tehôm, meaning “depths, with the associative meanings of darkness and secrecy, controlled or inhabited by mysterious powers.”
Looks Like A Lamb
Lambs are as beautiful as a newborn child. Are gentle and kind. They each have, like human beings, their own individual personalities. They can be bold, or they can be shy. They can behave collectively or alone. And, if you take time to assess who’s who in a herd you find that its structure is determined by an INDIVIDUAL SHEEP and their relationship with other sheep. 1 In photographs lambs are adorable, cuddly, and playful.
But realize this: Satan the devil and his minions look like a lamb – they have the pretense of gentleness and innocence. But, they have a diabolical nature about them. They do not ever appear as a ferocious beast. Satan and his insatiable cohorts palm themselves off as lambs – “angels of light” and “ministers of righteousness” – cf. 2 Corinthians 11:12-15.
Satan the devil and his minions look attractive and appealing. And this world – with its cares, its entertainment, its pursuits – certainly looks appealing and enjoyable. But within the seemingly innocuous outside exterior lurks a ferocious beast that is ready to attack your jugular and gorge itself upon you. Like the structure of a herd of sheep is determined by an individual sheep, Satan the devil wants his unwary followers to snuggle close to his “ministers of righteousness” to lure them away from ever truly seeing the light of Christ.
Territorial
Our physical and spiritual enemy – again, is likened to a “roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” And, like a lion, Satan and his minions are extremely territorial. He and his minions roam around their territory seeking to kill you. He and a third of the angels were cast to the earth and are confined to this planet and its atmosphere.
And speaking of Satan the devil and his minions being “cast to the earth” ─ when it comes to UFOs─ even though I believe that the majority of UFO sightings are simply mistaken identity, only about 2-5% of all UFO sightings are truly unidentified objects in the sky─ 2 how can any physical object, no matter how old an “advanced race” becomes (which is based wholly on evolution), defy the laws of physics!? Truly, this is more spiritual than natural.
Author Gary Bates summarizes –
“They [UFOs] are already here. Some way and somehow they appear to be emanating from our own planet. They are visible yet do not seem to be real physical objects. In other words, they do not seem to be bound by the same physical laws as the rest of our material/natural world.” 3
Since the very beginning of the world, Satan the devil and his followers have been deceiving people into believing there is no true LORD God, becoming the “god of this age” having blinded those “who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” – 2 Corinthians 4:4.
And what an ingenious way! Satan and his demons want to confuse people and keep them from having the gospel of Christ shine upon them. What better way to confuse an advanced technological world ─ than truly an evolutionary humanistic religion called UFO religion.
Every nation, province, country, and territory is Satan the devil’s killing ground. He leads a legion of demons seeking what suffering they can cause – cf. Mark 5:1-13.
We are warned by the apostle Jude – under divine inspiration – “But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. 11) Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam [a pagan seer, in the time of Moses], for profit, … 12) THESE ARE SPOTS IN YOUR LOVE FEASTS, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13) raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; WANDERING STARS for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever” – Jude 1:10-13.
In God’s living word it is true that the kingdoms of this world are likened to “beasts” – cf. Daniel 7:17.
As Alexander the Great was known to have said, “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” Lions, with their huge manes and rather majestic appearance, have been considered the king of beasts since time immemorial. And like a lion, Satan the devil leads his legion (within the limits that God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ allow) to influence all kingdoms of the world. He can raise to the highest of positions the very dogs of humanity. Truly, Satan the devil is the god of this world – as surprising as that may sound – 2 Corinthians 4:4.
Brethren and friends, God’s living word is clear. Satan the devil stalks stealthily through the spiritual blindness, using cunningness and deception to get close to his prey. He is always trying to catch us off guard and for us to turn our backs upon Almighty God and our Lord Jesus Christ! And like a lion, Satan the devil prefers to attack the weak rather than the strong.
And, the begotten children of Father God – the Church of Jesus Christ, cf. John 6:44; 17:9-26 – are especially appetizing to Satan the devil and his minions! Our part in the glorious Plan of the LORD God makes us big game. And a child of God who has some besetting spiritual weakness is like a lamb separated from the “Individual Sheep” – “‘the Door,’” cf. John 10:7-10.
But, if any of us find ourselves spiritually weak and being attacked by our physical and spiritual enemy, cry out unto God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! As our beloved King David had done! –
“Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. 2) From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to THE ROCK that is higher than I.” – Psalm 61:1-2.
“Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 2) Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity, 3) Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, And bend their bows to shoot their arrows – bitter words.” – Psalm 64:1-3.
God Bless. □
Bibliography:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Be sure to leave a comment and tell us what you think.