6/10/06
A DESPERATE DEVIL
1 Peter 5:8; Rev. 12:12
There is
a warning for we who live in the final days of earth’s history. Here is the
warning: “Satan determines to unite (church members) and the ungodly in one
body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of
spiritualism,” (Great Controversy, 588)
IT USED
TO BE THAT SPIRITUALISM WAS CONFINED TO DISTANT
TODAY--OUR
DAY--SATAN IS ATTEMPTING TO INUNDATE OUR SOCIETY AND BOMBARD OUR YOUNG PEOPLE
WITH A FULL SLEIGHT OF EVIL TRICKS THAT ARE CONCOCTED IN THE
COMMITEE ROOMS OF HELL, AND
DESIGNED TO
DESTROY OUR CIVILIZATION AND
RENDER GOD’S
PEOPLE HELPLESS AND UNABLE TO FIND
THEIR WAY
SAFELY TO THEIR HEAVENLY HOME.
Deut.
18:9-13 A loving
Father warned His children to stay away from such things as witchcraft,
sorcery, seances, communicating with spirits or the dead, channeling,
astrology, etc.
But they
didn’t listen. They adopted the practices of the world around them. Their
children were made to pass through the fire as well (2 Kings 17 & 21). They
too burned incense to Molech and Baal. They too consulted wizards and witches
and spirit-mediums for guidance, instead of asking the Lord’s prophets what
they thought.
Even King
Saul made the mistake of consulting the witch of Endor. Through the power of
Satan, she was able to cause the likeness of Samuel the prophet to appear
before Saul. But it wasn’t Samuel
that he
saw. It was a demon disguised as Samuel.
Eventually
God’s people were led into captivity in
Throughout
this earth’s history, Satan has attacked God’s people and tried, through
various means, to cause them to stop seeking the Lord and following His ways,
which are best.
Rev.
12:10-12 Evil is
on a whole new level in our day. It is subtle, it is sneaky, it is desperate
evil.
* Notice
verses 10 & 11. THIS IS A TIME OF SALVATION! THIS IS A TIME OF STRENGTH! WS
TIME FOR THE
CHRIST TO
BE REVEALED!!
• You
have the two main players on the stage of human destiny. On the one hand you
have a desperate devil, who night and day ACCUSES you and me before the Father
in heaven. The word “Satan” comes from the Greek “Satanos” which means “one who
accuses.” That is the central characteristic about Satan: he accuses us, and
condemns us.
And on
the other hand you have Jesus Christ, Who loves us so much He gave His very
life for us, and has taken our sin and condemnation upon Himself. The Bible
says that IT IS TIME FOR THE POWER OF CHRIST to be revealed in the lives of His
people!
Verse 11
informs us that there are only three ways of overcoming the devil in our lives.
It isn’t through intelligence. It isn’t through trying to outsmart the devil.
It isn’t through our wealth and riches or our possessions. Three ways.
#1 •
“They overcame him through the blood of the Lamb.”
The devil
is silenced when he comes face to face with a person who has accepted the shed
blood of Christ into the life. Either you are covered by the holiness and purity
of Jesus, or you are not.
If you
have surrendered your sins and waywardness to the Lord Jesus, His Spirit has
washed away your sins, and you have been brought back to God. You are a
blood-bought child of God. AND THERE IS NO ACCUSATION THAT WILL HAVE ANY WEIGHT
WHATSOEVER BEFORE THE FATHER, WHEN YOU ARE COVERED BY CHRIST, HIS SON.
We see
the main players acting their respective parts in Zech. 3:1-5. Let’s turn
there.
THE DEVIL
CAN ACCUSE ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT—HE CAN GO ON AN EVIL RAMPAGE, HE CAN GRAB A
MEGAPHONE IF HE WANTS, HE CAN BLAST HIS ACCUSATIONS THROUGH THE BIGGEST
SPEAKERS IN THE UNIVERSE--AND HE CAN TAUNT YOU AND REMIND YOU OF YOUR SIN ALL
HE WANTS— BUT GOD SAYS TO SATAN, “LEAVE HER ALONE!! LEAVE HIM ALONE--HE’S MINE.
YOU CAN’T TOUCH HIM.”
#2 •
“They overcame him by the word of their testimony.”
There is
POWER in our testimony! When we share with others what God has done for us, it
not only strengthens others; it strengthens us. When you talk about what God
has done for you, God comes near to you. He gives you power to overcome.
When we
remember what He has done for us, it gives us courage to trust Him for the
present situation. So we must not stop talking about God’s faithfulness.
#3 •
“They overcame him because they did not love their lives to the death.”
Think
about it. The devil has ALWAYS tried to get people to be caught up in momentary
pleasure and self-centeredness. Selfishness is the very essence of evil. He has
been extremely successful in ruining perfectly good people through self-centeredness
and self-indulgence.
But the
sure word of prophecy indicates that God will have a people in the last days
who live sacrificially; who simply want to be spent for the
• Why is
the devil so desperate?
Why’s He’s Desperate:
• We are
doing God’s work--people are being snatched from the fire every day, due to the
efforts of Jesus’ disciples who are sharing their faith.
• Our
young people are a force to be reckoned with! Nothing scares Satan more than a
worldwide army of young people who are actively looking for new ways to reach
the lost.
• “10
Commandments Day” May 7--thousands of books and pamphlets were passed out door-to-door,
at a time when Christian America was thinking about the commandments. These
seeds of truth will take root in their lives. The time is coming when all of
the literature we’ve shared, and conversations we’ve had, will have their
IMPACT!! A HARVEST IS COMING!! DO YOU BELIEVE THAT?
• People
of this world are hungry for something real! And God’s people are sharing Jesus
with them, and the Word of truth.
• Satan
is about to lose MILLIONS of people to God’s remnant during the Loud Cry!!
• TIME IS
RUNNING OUT!! and Satan knows it.
Signs of Desperation:
DaVinci Code
Dan
Brown, 40 million copies sold in 44 languages; Readers and theater-goers are
taking his book and the movie seriously, even though he himself says,
“Characters, places and events are either the product of the author’s
imagination or they are used entirely fictitiousIy” (pg. 8).
Brown
uses his novel to attack the deity of Christ, to undermine the authority of the
Bible, and to reinterpret Christianity, claiming, for instance, that Jesus
intended Mary Magdalene to be the leader of the church after His death.
In the Da
Vinci Code, the Holy Grail is a woman—Mary Magdalene--who, Brown alleges, was
married to Jesus and bore Him a daughter in
Jesus’ crucifixion
(p. 342). Brown says, “The quest for the Holy Grail is literally the quest to
kneel before the bones of Mary Magdalene. A journey to pray at the feet of the
outcast one, the lost sacred feminine” (p. 324).
There is
not a shred of evidence that our Saviour was married to any woman. The Bible
says that His bride is the church. Brown glorifies the “goddess”, as
exemplified in Isis, the Egyptian goddess of fertility, as he says, the pagan
goddess worship cult.” This is none other than a propaganda piece for the
promotion of sexual promiscuity!
Why is
the Da Vinci Code dangerous for people? How does it serve Satan’s purposes? The
book and movie claim that the Bible is not true, that man does not need a
Saviour from sin, that the concept of future judgment has no basis, and that
the Lord Jesus is not truly divine. My friends, it’s like a page right out of
the devil’s journal on how to deceive and destroy the human race.
Harry Potter
The Harry
Potter movies have lead a whole new generation of young people to discussing
witchcraft and wizardry. J.K. Rowling’s novels TEACH WITCHCRAFT, PLAIN AND
SIMPLE! These are blatant instructional manuals of witchcraft woven into the
form of entertainment.
The
communist revolutionary Lenin once said, “Give me one generation of youth, and
I will transform the entire world.”
The Harry
Potter books and movies contain actual names of Satan and demons, and they are
full of actual practices and terms used in Satanism and witchcraft.
The devil
is very deceptive. Just put some kids in the forefront of the story, and you’ll
attract kids. Make it interesting and mysterious, and appeal to the despair and
vulnerability of young people who long for some way of exerting an influence
over their surroundings.
Do you
think Satan understands the developmental issues that young people experience?
Young
people, listen. The way to exert an influence on your world is not through
casting spells and trickery. The way to powerfully influence your world is
THROUGH ENTIRE SURRENDER TO JESUS CHRIST, THE CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, WHO
WANTS TO BE A REAL FRIEND TO YOU, AND GIVE YOU HOLY POWER--POWER TO HEAL AND TO
CHANGE AND TO CONQUER EVIL!
The idea
that “good magic always wins” is the oldest con game ever hatched out of hell!
My brothers and sisters, BOTH SIDES OF THE FORCE ARE SATAN!! BOTH SIDES OF THIS
IMAGINED
THAT GOD
FORBIDS!! AND THOSE WHO WALK WITH GOD CANNOT ALLOW THEMSELVES TO DELIGHT IN
WHAT HE CALLS EVIL!
Whether
it’s Star Wars or Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, a common element to them
alt is this idea of pitting a lesser evil against a greater evil. But the
lesser evil is still evil! It still uses occult practices! The lesser evil is
portrayed as the “good” side, but it is really Satan trying to gradually desensitize
us to evil, by making it appear good. This is Satan’s deception in a nutshell.
Lord of the Rings
The Lord
of the Rings series is embraced by adherents of such widely divergent
philosophies as neo-pagans and evangelical Christians!
J,R.R.
Tolkien’s mythological God stopped creating before the work was finished, then
turned the rest over to a group of lesser gods-- “subcreators”
Tolkien
teaches reincarnation in his books--the idea that after death you come back again
as another life form, which is very much contrary to Scripture.
The Lord
of the Rings movies idealize occultism and cheers the pagan practices used by
“good characters.” Like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the world’s pagan
cultures, it seduces its fans into an imaginary world that pits “white” or
benevolent/good magic against dark evil magic.
But the
Lord of Heaven forbids all magic, no matter how heroic or how popular.
WiccalRenaissance
The
modern Wicca movement is simply blatant witchcraft that is portrayed as
harmless, and basically an earth religion. But witchcraft is as old as the
earth! Today many young people-- especially young girls--are being pulled into
Wiccan covens of witches, and are being taught how to cast spells, and how to
blend herbs, and how to perform Satanic rites and ceremonies.
Wicca is
closely related to the Gothic trend. There is a fondness of the color black and
of amulets and jewelry that contains Satanic symbols, and an awareness of the
moon’s phases. Young girls are taught that they are goddesses. They take part
in dark ceremonies and midnight meetings. Tarot cards, crystals, palm reading,
astrology and Ouija boards. It appears so mysterious and appealing to young
people.
But it is
Satanism cloaked, and it is very dangerous. If you dabble with the occult and
evil spirits, they will eventually control you.
There are
numerous reports of animal sacrifices, human sacrifices, initiation rites that
involve murder, and suicide pacts.
Unfortunately,
many people today are interested in Renaissance Festivals. They are attracted
to the costumes and the vernacular and feeling like you are living in a page of
the past.
But
Wiccan witchcraft is alive and well in Renaissance Festivals. For it was at
that time (Renaissance) that witchcraft enjoyed a marked increase in
popularity.
Role-Playing Games
But not
everyone is interested in witchcraft, so the devil thought of a way to totally
absorb a person’s time, a person’s mind, and thereby corrupt his character.
Satan thought of role-playing games.
First it
was Dungeons and Dragons. Now there are dozens of RPG’s available on X-Box,
etc. Halo is extremely popular. Why is it dangerous to be involved in such
activities?
1. Violence:
It’s usually about shooting or blowing up or somehow or another killing off
your enemies as fast as you can, while trying to reach your destination. The
Bible says, in Phil. 4:8, “:Finally, brethren, whatever things are true,
whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, it there is any
virture and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things.”
We
shouldn’t be caught up in violence or in benefiting ourselves at the expense of
others. It’s anti-Christian. And don’t you think the devil is happy to see so
many youth and young adults spending hours and hours playing video games and
role-playing games? He loves to get people absorbed in self, so that they
cannot reach out to others to minister to them.
Remember,
we become what we behold.
Here is a
quote from an avid gamer, who was reponding to some parents’ complaints about
video and role-playing games: “How many kids do you see sitting in the back of
minivans watching a DVD as it drives down the road? I see quite a lot. Why does
this happen? Because the parents don’t want to deal with the kid who’s bored in
the car or is fighting with it’s sibling. So they sit them down in front of a
DVD. Same thing happens at home. The kids are too much for the parent to deal
with so they sit them down in front of a DVD or a video game. ‘He didn’t want
to talk to me.’ Yeah? Maybe because you had the TV raise your child.”
The devil
is afraid of our young people. Satan is weaning an entire generation of young
people--raising them on witchcraft, fantasy, violence, extreme individualism.
The devil is desensitizing our young people to evil gradually. It’s an all-out
battle for their minds, because the devil is AFRAID OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE!!
BECAUSE
IF THEY ARE CONSECRATED AND TRULY SURRENDERED TO GOD, OUR YOUNG PEOPLE WILL
TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN!! So the devil captivates them, and keeps them
occupied. He gets them thinking that there is something out there exciting and
enticing. He portrays evil as good.
Angel of Light/New Age (2 Cor. 11:14) “Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light.”
• Jesus
said, in Matt. 6:23, “if therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how
great is that darkness.”
What that
means is if evil comes across as good, and appears to be good and wholesome, IT
IS ACTUALLY MORE EVIL THAN JUST PLAIN EVIL!! IT IS INSIDIOUS, DECEPTIVE EVIL!!
“As
spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has
greater power to deceive and ensnare.” (Great Controversy, 588)
Touched By an Angel
Raise
your hand if you’ve ever watched the TV show “Touched By an Angel.” This was a
program that was full of wonderful, positive, sentimental spiritual words and
events and miracles that inspired millions of people.
But look
a little closer. The “angels” that were sent on assignments to help people were
actually PEOPLE WHO HAD DIED, AND THEN PURPORTEDLY BECAME ANGELS AFTERWARDS.
THIS IS A LIE OF THE FIRST ORDER!!
Are the
angels of God deceased loved-ones that used to be alive in this world? The Bible
says no. The Bible says that angels are a completely different order of beings
than humans, and that they indeed are ministering spirits sent to aid us along
life’s path.
What is
the danger in thinking that people die and then become angels, and then visit
us with special messages?
THE IDEA
OF PEOPLE NOT TRULY DYING AND AWAITING THE RESURRECTION, BUT CONTINUING TO LIVE
ON IN THE FORM OF A SPIRIT OR AN ANGEL THAT CAN MAKE CONTACT WITH US, IS PART
OF SATAN’S PLAN TO DECEIVE THE ENTIRE WORLD!!
THE TIME IS
COMING WHEN WE WILL SEE PEOPLE WE USED TO KNOW AND WHO HAVE BEEN LAID TO REST,
ALIVE AND TELLING
QUESTION:
IS IT SAFE TO VIEW PROGRAMS LIKE TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL OR ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD?
‘WELL, AS LONG AS WE KNOW fl”S NOT TRUE, IT’S OK TO BE ENTERTAINED FOR A WHILE
WITH A GOOD SHOW, ISN’T IT?”
Programming.
Satan is programming the entire world to be comfortable with conversing with
angelic beings; he is setting us up for major deceptions, utilizing angelic
beings to accomplish his dictates.
IT IS NOT
ALL RIGHT TO ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE EXPOSED EVEN FOR A MOMENT TO SATANIC
TRICKERY. GOD’S PEOPLE OUGHT TO BE MAD THAT SATAN IS BLASPHEMING GOD AND THE
TRUTH! WE OUGHT NOT TO SUPPORT SATAN’S AGENDA BY GIVING OUR TIME TO THESE
THINGS, AND WE SHOULD GUARD THE EXAMPLE THAT WE GIVE TO
OTHERS.
We want
to uplift those around us, and help them to walk with the Lord. And we don’t
want to be a stumblingblock to those who do not know the truth.
Dragon Tales
• Satan
starts very early in people’s Jives to dissensitize us to evil.
On public
television there is a popular program--Dragon Tales-- that targets toddlers and
young school-aged children. The children in the program have a magic scale of a
dragon, with which they chant a specific chant and then are transported to an
imaginary land of magic, where they play with dragons.
While
playing with the dragons, the children are learning good moral lessons. We may
ask, “What’s wrong with this? They’re learning good things, aren’t they?”
Here’s
what’s wrong with it. 1. The show is exposing kids early- on to magic and an
age-old practice of witchcraft--chanting. 2. The show portrays an unreal
creature that has always been associated with evil--and which would normally
evoke fear in a child--as harmless. 3. The children are taught that it is OK to
retreat to another world in order to combat boredom and to do something
exciting.
It has
always been the tactic of Satan to wean young people gradually, steadily into
the occult world through figures, people, friendships, ideas, and activities
THAT SEEM SAFE AND INNOCENT.
Left Behind Series
• You
can’t get more desperate or deceptive than this. First Satan inspires John
Nelson Darby and others to incorporate into Protestanism the teaching of
Catholicism, that the Little Horn and the Antichrist are entities who will be
active in the very last days only; not through the centuries after Christ’s
resurrection, which is what the Bible teaches.
The basic
premises of modern dispensationalism originated in the Roman Catholic Counter
Reformation, by a Jesuit scholar--in order to get people’s eyes off of the
Papacy.
At the
same time, Satan manages to sell the idea that all of God’s promises to
So, in
order to get back to the conversion of the Jews, something has to be done with
the church. So the devil teaches them that the church is to be secretly
raptured out of this world. Then God can get back to what really counts--
Who cares
that God’s promises are based on obedience. Who cares about all the Scriptures
that talk about a literal, visible, audible, personal return of Christ! Who
cares that the Bible teaches there is NO SECOND CHANCE AT SALVATION!!
Satan
lulls people into a false security. He puts the unscriptural teachings of
dispensationalism in a series of extremely popular books that are right around
the corner at Walmart. And he puts these ideas on the screen as well.
Deceitful. Very deceitful.
This
unscriptural rendition of the end times is unfortunately the only conception
many people today are exposed to.
• Idea
that there is a secret rapture of God’s people, and after the rapture, there is
a second chance at salvation for those who are left behind. This is insidious
evil! The Bible says, in 2 Cor, 6:2, “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is
the day of salvation.”
Transcendental Meditation: Founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
(“Yoga”)
• Over
350 teaching centers of the Science of Creative Intelligence
• Not a
neutral discipline that can be practiced without harm to the individual.
• TM is a
Hindu meditation technique that attempts to unite the meditator with Brahman,
the Hindu concept of God.
• TM
teaches that “thinking” is useless.
• The
“Supreme Being” of TM is identified with nature.
• TM
teaches that “man” is God.
• TM
teaches that Jesus Christ did not “suffer and therefore did not die for our
sins.”
• Very
evil--it’s the spirit of antichrist--denying Jesus; turning the creature into
the Creator. One of the original lies that Satan uttered in the garden of Eden
was, “You will be like God.”
Spiritual Warfare
1 Peter
5:6-8 1. Be humble under the mighty hand of God.
2. Cast
all your care upon God.
3. Be
sober: because the clouded mind is easily led astray by the devil.
4. Be
vigilant: Greek--means to be watchful, awake. We must be awake as Christians!
The devil wants to keep us sleeping, unconcerned, unaware of the evil all around
us. We must be
awake, so
that we can guard what comes into our minds through our eyes and ears.
Closing Illustration
There is
famous painting of a chess game, perhaps you’ve seen it.
• Devil
and a young man--sitting across from each other at a chess game
• Devil
has an evil grin; young man looks defeated
•Devil
had just made a move that placed his opponent in check-mate
Thomas
Morphey--famous chess player--saw the painting one day. He looked at it for a
while, studying it intently.
• Then he
called for a chess table and chess men.
He asked
for the chess men to be set up exactly as they were in the painting.
• Then
Morphey made a single move, on behalf of the young man, THAT CHANGED THE WHOLE
COURSE OF THE GAME! He saved the young man from check-mate.
The devil
has each of us in check-mate. He has studied our weaknesses and propensities,
he knows what upsets us, he knows what is prone to make us conceited and
self-centered, and he has studied human nature for over 6,000 years! Do you
think that he is smart enough to give you a real challenge spiritually?
• But,
thank God, there is Someone who has taken the time to truly study your life
situation in detail. He has seen the moves you have made, and He has witnessed
the unrelenting attacks of the enemy against you.
The Lord
Jesus knows that if He was to leave you alone in the game of life, you simply
wouldn’t make it. Because Satan doesn’t even have to lie when he brings up our
sins and our condemnation. Our sinfulness and wretchedness, combined with
Satan’s sophistries, would certainly spell our doom.
• But the
Lord Jesus has stepped into the game.
• He has
made a move that saves our lives! He has given His own precious life as an
atonement for our sins! There is no more condemnation! There is no more
check-mate! Our lives are free from Satanic rule. We have been plucked from the
fire.
• The
devil has no legal ground to condemn you, if indeed you have let Jesus take
your condemnation on Himself.
• If you
have not surrendered to Jesus Christ, then, my friend, you are fair game for
the devil. You are yet in your sins, and you face, on your own, an incredibly
evil foe who will eventually destroy you, after he uses you for his evil
purposes
• Our
only safety is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us hang on to Him, immerse
ourselves in Him, cling to I-Us words of life, hold fast to His instruction,
believe His prophets, so we may prosper.
• And let
us be awake to our surroundings. For the devil is desperate.
Closing
hymn, #614 “Sound the Battle Cry”