THIS IS WAR!
WHO’S SIDE ARE YOU ON?Home Stretch in the
Great Controversy: A temcat study
1:
Who is the
enemy?
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12
SATAN’S
DECLARATION OF WAR:
“For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds; I will be like the most High.” Isaiah14:13,14
“Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God,
I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and
not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:” Ezekiel 28:2
JESUS’
DECLARATION OF WAR:
“And I will put enmity
between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15
“Christ says: "Where Satan
has set his throne, there shall stand My cross. Satan shall be cast out, and I
will be lifted up to draw all men unto Me. I will become the center of the
redeemed world. The Lord God shall be exalted. Those who are now controlled by
human ambition, human passions, shall become workers for Me. Evil influences
have conspired to counterwork all good. They have confederated to make
men think it righteous to oppose the law of Jehovah. But My army shall meet in
conflict with the satanic force. My Spirit shall combine with every heavenly
agency to oppose them. I will engage every sanctified human agency in the
universe. None of My agencies are to be absent. I have work for all who love
Me, employment for every soul who will work under My direction. The activity
of Satan's army, the danger that surrounds the human soul, calls for the
energies of every worker. But no compulsion shall be exercised. Man's
depravity is to be met by the love, the patience, the long-suffering of God.
My work shall be to save those who are under Satan's rule."
“Through
Christ, God works to bring man back to his first relation to his Creator and to
correct the disorganizing influences brought in by Satan. Christ alone
stood unpolluted in a world of selfishness, where men would destroy a friend or
a brother in order to accomplish a scheme put into their hands by Satan” Testimonies for the Church Volume Six, Pg. 236.
“As his prophetic eye saw the
results of his sacrifice, Christ exclaimed, "Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto me." In the place where Satan has his seat, there will I set my cross.
I will stand at the head of humanity. Through my merits man shall stand on
vantage ground. I will be the great center to draw all men to God. As under the
rule of Satan evil influences have conspired for the ruin of man, so
under my rule the influence of my servants shall form a power to restore. The
legions of hell will combine with the prince of darkness to oppose the laws of
the kingdom of Christ; but to every man I will give his work, and with his work
I will give power to win souls to God. Every human being who will receive and
believe in me I will use in winning back the world to God.” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 06-05-00
I urgently suggest that you prayerfully re-read the above declarations.
It is vital that we understand Christ’s methods and aims in the battle--or we can be found doing
our own thing for the devil and thinking it is
for Jesus.
LOOKING BACK:
Satan’s tools and plans through the ages:
The Great Lies:
“Yea,
Hath God said?” “Thou shalt not surely die!” “Your eyes shall be
opened”, “Ye shall be as gods”. Genesis 3
“And
the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them:
for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou
therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” Lu 4:6,7
As
one looks at these original lies that man bought into, it is clear that nothing
has really changed; he is still telling the exact same ones and people are still
falling for them hook, line, and sinker! There is not a fallacy of false
religion in the world that does not echo them in some way.
What Kinds of
People does Satan use?
“Satan
is constantly presenting inducements to God's chosen people to attract their
minds from the solemn work of preparation for the scenes just in the future. He
is in every sense of the word a deceiver, a skillful charmer. He clothes his
plans and snares with coverings of light borrowed from heaven. He tempted Eve to
eat of the forbidden fruit by making her believe that she would be greatly
advantaged thereby. Satan leads his agents to introduce various inventions and
patent rights and other enterprises, that Sabbath-keeping Adventists who are in
haste to be rich may fall into temptation, become ensnared, and pierce
themselves through with many sorrows.
He
is wide awake, busily engaged in leading the world captive, and through the
agency of worldlings he keeps up a continual pleasing excitement to draw
the unwary who profess to believe the truth to unite with worldlings. The lust
of the eye, the desire for excitement and pleasing entertainment, is a
temptation and snare to God's people. Satan has many finely woven, dangerous
nets which are made to appear innocent, but with which he is skillfully
preparing to infatuate God's people. There are pleasing shows, entertainments,
phrenological lectures, and an endless variety of enterprises constantly arising
calculated to lead the people of God to love the world and the things that are
in the world. Through this union with the world, faith becomes weakened, and
means which should be invested in the cause of present truth are transferred to
the enemy's ranks. Through these different channels Satan is skillfully draining
the purses of God's people and for it the displeasure of the Lord is upon
them.”--1 Testimonies, 550, 551.
Satan uses:
1. Those who want riches
2. Those who want power
3. Those who want excitement
4. Those who are unwary
5. Those who profess the truth
6. Those who seek entertainment
7. Those who want worldly knowledge
8. Those who love the world and what it loves
9. Those who use worldly weapons
10. In short--anyone who is not kept constantly by the power of the
indwelling Christ.
God’s tools and
plans through the ages:
What kind of people
can God use?
While
the devil uses all and any that are not 100% on the LORD’S SIDE; the Lord can
only use people to channel His power through, who ARE 100% ON THE LORD’S SIDE!
Now,
God can work through any one and any thing, He even had a donkey rebuke a
prophet, but
the fullness of His keeping and saving power can only rest on those who are
fully His.
His
children are:
1. Trusting fully in Him
2. Living by every Word of God
3. Totally surrendered to Him
4. Living up to ALL the light they have
5. Serving Him through genuine LOVE for Him, no selfish motives
6. Forsaking all to follow Him
7. Not compromising with error in any way
8. Loving His law and obeying it
in His strength
9. Being led by the Holy Spirit--not the ‘arm of flesh’
10. Using only heavenly weapons
Which
side are you on? It’s one or the other; if you are not 100% for the Lord, you
are not for Him at all. But there is HOPE for you! Notice from our above quote-
“Those who are now controlled by human ambition, human passions, shall become
workers for Me.”
Worldly weapons:
It
is essential that we understand the weaponry of this war; all too often we use
Satan’s methods and ways and think that it is OK because we are doing it for
Jesus. This is untrue because the ONLY work done for Jesus that He accepts, is
done with HIS METHODS and weapons. Worldly weapons are:
1. Force and compulsion
2. Any kind of manipulation
3. Majority rule; ‘Ganging up’ to force compliance
4. Persecution
5. Man made laws and rules
6. Flattery and Sweet Talk
7. Ridicule and sarcasm
8. Conspiracy and secret councils
9. Lying and all dishonesty
10. Character assassination
11. Accusations and judging of motives
12. Criticism and Hypocrisy
13. Bribery and Influencing through appetite and entertainment
14. Anything that is not pure and honest
Heavenly weapons
We
must realize that as fallen mortals, it is not natural to us to use Heavenly
Weapons. We must have the ‘Mind of Christ’ and the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit before we can even understand them. Worldly weapons naturally seem best
to us, but the Heavenly weapons are omnipotent
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strong holds;)” 2 Corinthians 10:3, 4
1. Truth and The Word of God
2. All Prayer in the Name of Jesus
3. Loving Compassion
4. Self-Sacrifice, loving not their lives unto the death
5. Courtesy and kindness
6. The power of the Holy Spirit and the Angels
7. Humility and meekness
8. Faith and Perfect Trust in God
9. Holy Boldness
10. Patience and longsuffering
11. Christ Our Righteousness
12. Godly Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord
13. The Blood of the Lamb which sealed the doom of evil
14. The certainty of our triumph through Christ
Waking up and
hiding under the bed?
Because
we have largely had a religion of 'head knowledge’ of facts and man made
rules and the ‘forms denying the power thereof’, many of us grew up with the
kind of ‘hope’ as expressed in the little chorus that says, ‘He died for
me on Calvary and someday He’s coming back’; In the meantime I’m on my own
and I have to keep the law and stand through all the trials and persecution
‘without a mediator’.
Because
of a Pharisee-type religion of works and rules, the threat of persecution has
loomed over many of us like a huge thundering mountain threatening to crush us.
No wonder many just don’t want to talk about it; don’t want anything to
remind them of it; and love those who will stand before them and give that
‘Peace, Peace!” call and ‘heal the wound of the daughter of Zion
slightly’.
Having
learned only too well the futility of the outward works of keeping the law in
our own strength; they have gathered to them teachers who will say, “It’s
all right! Don’t worry, it is impossible and Jesus understands.” The Holy
Spirit doesn’t let them settle there though, He keeps up a nag, nag, nag to
repent and flee to the shelter while there is still time. So Church business,
entertainment, meetings, groups, ministries and celebration helps sooth a
little, at least it drowns that nagging voice for a while. For some they find the out and
out worldly entertainment drowns it even better; naturally it does, it is
designed to put out the ‘light that lighteth every man”.
So
when the Faithful ‘cry aloud and spare not’ and sound that noisy trumpet,
“The end is not NEAR it is HERE!” well, is it any wonder they feel angry and
upset? They want the sweet soothing lullabies and to be rocked in carnal
security. For many when something hits too close and the alarm bells of the Holy
Spirit go off in their hearts, they rush to their leaders and are so grateful to
be patted on the head and told, “It’s only a bad dream, go back to sleep,
don’t let those mean fanatics scare you!”
Friends,
hiding under the bed is not the answer; neither is allowing the ‘wool to be
pulled over your eyes’. The Bible has the answer, ‘Abiding in the secret
Place of the Most High’. Friends, God has all the answers; Satan can never
surprise or out wit Him; but to be on His side for real, you have to go all the
way! Satan uses the halfhearted and double minded, but God only can keep those who
have surrendered all the way to Him. And HE WILL KEEP THEM! There’s no doubt
about that!
So
if you start to feel uncomfortable with some of the information and challenges
this article presents, don’t throw the article away, get down and PRAY for God
to show you WHY you are not comfortable and WHAT to do about it.
Continued:
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