My many thanks to both Martin Weber, the author and Gleaner Magazine, the foundation for this guide.
Some of the devil's most devoted disciples are among the best-behaved people on God's green earth!
Sadly. . . the most deceived ones of them experience victory over sin. Some are longtime church members devoted to doing the will of God, yet ARE SERVANTS of satanic delusions!
Should it surprise us that demons can deceive and empower well-intended people? Look at the New- Agers, who have exchanged carrot sticks for cigarettes, through the power of Hindu-style meditation! When one "Empties" one's mind, guess who rushed into the vacuum?... Satan's little helpers, demons! The Pagan powered channelers direct them to neo pagan meditation chambers, or closets, certainly is NOT the Holt Spirit.
Thus rejoicing in the victory over sinful habits, they know not that their spiritual state is worse than before they became over comers. If anyone thinks that Satan and his are unable to do this please explain this passage............
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 "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."
This should instill within the the question WHY? Why would Satan the deceiver, give YOU, or any one the power to over come a bad or destructive habit? Before this is addressed, let's reaffirm that God's power is far greater than His creation that chose to become evil personified, as Satan, whose very name means APPOSER! This is due to the fact that Jesus's life, death and resurrection, conquered Satan, when Christ arose from the tomb, Satan knew his days were numbered and finite! Yet he still has his super-natural powers, as shown by the above passage.
You see, Satan, the deceiver, if he allowed all to see the truth, nobody would give his s second of their time, that's why he must deceive, lie, force, and coerce anyone to his side, other than outright bribes with worldly fame and fortune, as he has done with the many who have this now and in the past.
Satan, has already been judges and sentenced, although the sentence has not yet been applied, and will not be until ALL the unrighteous, all who have rejected Christ's Gift of salvation, shall be cast with him into the Lake of fire! [Revelation 19:20; 20:10,14-15.]
Ezekiel 28:18 " Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee."
All humanity shall be judged, as each one of us draws our last breath, the probation is closed, therefore as few know the when, of our last breath, NOW is the tine to set self right with The Creator, Christ Jesus......
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word,[ the word is Jesus] and the Word [Jesus] was with God, and the Word [Jesus] was God. The same[ Jesus] was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him;[Jesus] and without him[Jesus] was not any thing made that was made.
Philippians 2:6" Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:"
John 14:8-9 " Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" also: Luke 10:22; John 1:18;3:35; 5:18; 21; 23; John 14:6.
You see, our crafty foe want to seize our souls through his deception. Thus for all that God offers, the devil has counterfeit-- even a counterfeit victory over sin, to lure us away from the truth of the Cross, and then we begin to trust in our own character attainments and thus forfeit salvation by grace. Because we think we can do, the remaking of our character within ourselves. In place of the workings of the Holy Spirit!
All true believers yearn for the total victory over sin, and the devil knows it. As we reached out for Jesus, to pull us from the gutter, Satan tries to drag us back down into another one.Bad as it is to be snared in the slime of sinful indulgence, the ultimate deception is the opposite ditch of the Gospel Freeway: legalism. People imagine they are following God, when in reality another force is empowering them.
Remember the Pharisees John chapter 8, those paragons of piety. They had conquered the flesh and its lusts to the point they fasted twice a week. But Jesus said these trophies of self-discipline and the disciples of their zealous evangelism were actually sons of hell......
Matthew 23:15 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Luke 18:11-14 "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
As the above passage clearly shows upon whom God cast His mercy and grace. It was NOT towards the Pharisee, who scorned the struggling soul [The Publican] who cast himself upon
god's mercy. But that model of self-mastery, who knew not that his own soul was in bondage to demons---not demons of self-indulgence but demons of self-righteousness!
DEMONS OF SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS?
YES! The Bible warns of spiritual zealots who preach Christ but not Christ as our ONLY hope. They preach a gospel, but one of merit rather than mercy.....
2 Corinthians 11:2-4 "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."
This false gospel brings them "into bondage"....bondage to demons of righteousness.....
2 Corinthians 11:20 " For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. "
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 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."
Re-read the first verse, again 2 Cor. 11:14-15, at the top, and know that, therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of light, even from the Pulpits!
Satan's wolves-in-sheep's clothing strategy multiplies his powers to deceive. For example most of today's Mega-Churches, in the U.S. are those that teach a man-centered Bible, rather than Christ centered! Teaching that it is God's will for all His won, to be happy, healthy and wealthy, A life without a cloud in sight, and that's not reality nor Biblical! Then take witchcraft, for example, WICCA, as it is known. The Americana Encyclopedia says this: "magic to cause harm is often called BLACK MAGIC, and magic intended to help or cure is termed WHITE MAGIC. But can you see the deception here? For all who wish to indulge in evil request the black magic, and for those who wish to do a s Jesus did and does, ask and or seek the white, yet as all this comes from Satan , himself does it matter the color? Satan cares not which, one, one chooses, as long as he IS in control! By choosing one, it places Satan in total control of themselves!
In Christ's day, King Herod by the demons of indulgence killed John the Baptist, had his head placed on a platter before his wife daughter, as he wanted her to dance for him, to satisfy his lust.While the Pharisees possessed by demons of righteousness saw to it that Jesus was killed for the sake of their laws. In the succeeding centuries the emperors of Rome were playboys in their palaces as bishops of Rome venerated monastics self-perfection in the dessert pursuing perfectionism . [with purgatory for those not yet worthy of heaven in human eyes]
In these last days, may God save us from both the demons of self indulgence with their carnal liberalism and the demons of righteousness with their legalism. The final time of trouble is soon to burst upon us, with the world entrapped in Satan's deceptions. But there will be a remnant people who "Keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ" [Revelation 12:14.]
By their keeping all ten of God's Commandments {Exodus 20:1-17} , the remnant people overcome the demons, by the power that is in Christ. And by their cherishing faith/trust in Christ they overcome the all the demons of sin.
So let us beware and be wise. Amid the worldliness around us, God offers His Church victory over sins. But then so does the Devil, thus we are in need of masking for His wisdom of discernment, to know which Power to follow, the power of light and truth, rather than the deceptions of indulgence and self-righteousness.
Philippians 1:6 " Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"
Claim the above promise, in all honesty, and we shall meet Y O U in heaven! Let's agree to meet at 3 PM on the 3rd Sabbath in Heaven on the right side of the Tree! C U THERE?
Questions? Comments' John at servant@frontier.com
Thanking Y O U for your time...
Learn more at your Seventh-day Adventist Church, any Saturday/Sabbath at 9-10 AM. You just may find how to fill that empty spot in your heart.
Other sites: www.blbn.org www.amazingdiscoveries.org www.itiswritten.com
www.servantsite@wordpress.com.
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