The Lord is Powerful to Save

"Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save;

Neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear." Isa. 59: 1-2

What exactly is Isaiah speaking of in this passage?  I believe for most of my Christian life I would have answered that this is the condition of those apart from Christ.  In other words, those who do not know Jesus as Lord and savior do not have the Lord's ear.  What can you do?  You should take heart that his hand is not too short to save!  No matter who you are.  No matter what you have done.  Jesus can and will answer if you cry out to Him in repentance and faith!  For years I would have said this passage is for unbelievers and it is a call to faith.

Let me give an example.  I have heard tell that I have a relative who affirms that he was living a life of wickedness, marked by self-centered rebellion. As he was driving down a curvy, mountain road in West Virginia, he was stuck blind.  He called out to God, and the Lord allowed him to get to the side of the road, where he repented and regained his sight. Not only is this story strange, but no one saw it coming, least of all my relative!  God's hand is not too short that it cannot save.

Yet, what about those folks who are not believers and they cry out to the Lord for help with an accident or illness, and He answers their prayer?  I have heard stories of miraculous divine assistance to un-believers in car accidents.  I have heard stories of God answering the prayers of non-believers for healing.  As I ponder these examples, my understanding of who has the Lord's ear has changed a bit!

Let me give another example that works in the opposite direction.  Why is that so many Christians feel at different times in their lives that God does not hear them?  They trust in Jesus, what is going on?

Even as I spent time speaking with the Lord in prayer and reading His word, I was struck by these questions.  I know there have been times and even seasons of my life where I wondered where the Lord was.  He just did not seem to hear my prayers for deliverance and my cries against evil.  Other times I did not feel peace even as I prayed for peace in the midst of life's storms.  Why?

One thing I have learned is that God's ways are not my ways.  What I feel and experience in this fallen world does not always match the ideal.  If I am God's child, why do I have such experiences?

I notice I have ended each thought with a question.  I think such questions- some would call them doubts- are helpful and good if they are handled properly.  What I mean is that we must not allow these questions to control our relationship with God.  Sometimes we must ask different questions.  

Instead of "Where are you and why have you not heard me," we should ask, "What are you trying to say?"  We must cling to and declare to our soul the promises of God.  By faith we are declared righteous.  We are His children and He loves us.  Jesus' righteousness is ours by faith.  This world is not all there is but is a shadow of eternal life.  We must meditate upon and believe these truths.

We also need to remember that the second verse of Isaiah 59 is also true.  "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear."

The unbeliever who cries out for help often cries out for mercy.  For a brief moment they confess their inadequacies and need.  They are vulnerable before the living God, and He answers.

The believer stuck in a situation can easily ignore the cry for mercy and instead cry out for justice.  "Lord, bring justice to this situation!  This is so wrong, fix it!"  

Our demand for justice means it will begin with us.  The Lord often uses bad situations to help us grow.  He uses them to point out our self-righteousness, our pride, and our sin tendencies.  When He does so, we should repent and believe!  Cry out for mercy and confess your need for grace.  Such prayers the Lord does not despise.

In other words, a believer is justified or declared righteous in the sight of God by faith.  From the moment of first faith, the Lord begins to shape us and transform us by His grace toward our created good.  This process, called sanctification, is achieved through dependent faith.  So, when we depart from dependent faith, the Lord often calls us back to repentance and faith by pointing out our sin to drive us back to Jesus.  We may not want to hear about it, but such a state of repentant faith allows the Lord to hear us!

May you walk in dependent faith throughout this busy and stressful day!

What Could Demonization Look Like?

"And when He had come out of the boat, 

immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him." 

Mark 5:2

"Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 

and do not give the devil an opportunity (or foothold)." 

Ephesians 4: 26-27

We live in a strangely spiritual world.

There is so much that goes on that I do not understand.  Folks experience deeply spiritual events that do not fit into any paradigm that I have constructed through my experience.  I am sure my experience is the same to many others.

We truly live in a strangely spiritual world!

While all of us have different spiritual experiences, I often find that believers in Christ are some of the least likely to affirm the spiritual weirdness of life as we know it.  I am not sure why.  Perhaps we do not wish to over emphasize the work of demons?  Perhaps we do not wish to admit that we do not understand everything?  I don't know.

I do believe that ignoring the spiritual nature of our world is both dangerous and pure foolishness.  We should know what scripture teaches about every dimension of our spiritually charged universe.  This includes to work of demons in the lives of individuals and society.

Please understand, I do wish to over emphasize the topic. Many of us have seen the Hollywood sensationalism of demonic work in the movies like The Exorcist or The Exorcism of Emily Rose.  Most of the time we pacify our fear by saying that it is just a movie that does not mirror real life.  I agree that much of the sensationalism is overdrawn.  I also know that when confronted with possession or severe demonic oppression, I hope I do not hear scary music in the background!  

The primary problem with these movies and their portrayals of the demonic is their starting premise.  Both of the above flicks begin with the premise that there is an epic battle between good and evil with the outcome always in doubt.  In fact, most of the time evil is stronger!  In each, a doubting and struggling priest confronts his own doubts and the reality of evil.  It ends up being an individual against the demonic.

Such a portrayal falls into a variety of errors, but dualism is the most obvious of these errors.  There is only one true God!  I encourage you to read several other posts from earlier in the month where I discussed this topic in-depth.

Another obvious error is like dualism but it is more specific. These movies do not proclaim nor understand that Jesus Christ has already won the spiritual battle.  When we encounter the Evil one and his demonic servants we are  powerless apart from Christ.  If we know and live the gospel, we also see how powerful we are with Christ for He has already won the victory (Eph. 1: 20-22).

All of this is background.  Now I want to give an example of what demonization could look like.  I believe that the work of the demonic can and does take many forms.  This is just one example.  Yet, it is an example that I believe matches the teaching of scripture.

For many of us, we read the stories in the bible about Jesus casting out demons, and we wonder what this is all about.  We do not experience the same occurrences, so we treat Jesus' interactions with the demonic as representing His healing of psychological illness.  If this is your take on the demonic, I beg you to hang with me to see if what I have to say matches with the teaching of scripture.

Now for the story and some background for the story.  I spent the summer of 1990 in Thailand on a mission trip with Campus Crusade for Christ.  It was a great time to experience another culture, and to learn how to share the gospel in a different culture.  We witnessed many people coming to faith, opened several new college campuses in Bangkok to the gospel, and witnessed a spiritual world very different than America.  In many places throughout the city are places to offer incense and to pray to the local god (demons).  I met people who affirmed that their family had been granted success for hundreds of years because the oldest son had inherited the help of a spirit (again a demon), who blessed them with success.  It was a strange spiritual world.

When I returned, it was life back to normal.  That is until about six weeks after I returned.  I was practicing with the worship band of our college ministry one warm fall evening.  We were practicing, but also praising the name of Jesus.  When we would stop practice, through the open windows, we would hear someone cursing Jesus and telling us to stop.  The first time, we thought it was a prank by guys in the dorm next door.  It was in bad taste, so we ignored it.  The next time, it was louder, and I went to see what was going on.

I went to the front door of the church, and I could see through the glass a man with two Elders from the church behind him.  I opened the door, and I was immediately stuck by a feeling of evil I had not experienced since Thailand.  I cannot explain it, but to say that my spirit immediately declared watch out and pray.  I back up, and the man came charging through the church door and headed to the front of the church.  There he looked upon the lighted cross, and he cursed Jesus' name.  One of the two Elders said in a low voice,

"Greg we were afraid someone would open this door.  We believe this man is under the influence of a demon.  Get your worship team together and pray.  Please stay out of his way, as he is really dangerous."  I did not have to be told twice!  The four or five members of our worship team gathered in the back of the church and prayed.

As we prayed, the man cursed the name of Jesus.  He swore often.  He threatened these two men.  The Elders continued to claim the protection of Jesus.  The man would get up quickly and violently, and the men would tell him in the name of Jesus to be seated.  In response he would immediately sit.  Slowly he became more subdued.  After about fifteen minutes, the man said he did not know why he was here, he cursed, and he got up to leave the building.  The Elders went with him praying.  When he left, they asked me to lock the door.  Eventually, the man got in his car and drove away.  I can say, that our worship team was visibly shaken as we had never seen anything like it.  We had felt incredible evil.  We had seen the power of Jesus' name.  We finished prayer and honestly did not know what to do.  Several folks on the worship team left.

After just a short while, the pastor of the church and the Elders returned.  They apologized to us for having to have seen this and for being short with me.  Truly, no apology was needed!  The Elders affirmed they had never seen anything like this.  Now that it was over for the evening, they were shaking and bewildered.  Then the pastor told us this man's story.

This fellow had been special forces of some sort in Vietnam.  He had been captured and then tortured by his enemies.  Somehow he had escaped captivity, and when we returned home he was a different man.  His wife had recently come to faith, and she had told the pastor that she feared her husband was possessed.  He was an angry, but quiet alcoholic.  Almost every night, particularly around a full moon, he could not sleep because of horrific nightmares.  He also was openly hostile to the person and name of Jesus.  He had a history of violence, and the military training to make violence deadly.  She wanted to bring him to church, but she did not know what would happen.  It appears that he had been in church for several Sundays without incidence, but the pastor was concerned.  He had shared what he knew of his history with his Elders, and introduced him to several of these men.

That evening, one of the Elders had felt led to drive by the church that evening "just to check it out."  He heard us practicing through the open windows, and he noticed a car in the parking lot.  As he looked closer, he saw it was this man.  He approached him to ask if he was O.K., and the entire event began with him jumping out of his car and screaming his hatred of Jesus.  The Elder had not experienced anything like it, but he knew this was demonic.  Providentially, the other Elder was driving by, saw the man, pulled in, and began to pray for the first elder as he also could tell this was evil and different.  With this information, we all prayed for him, and the rest of the worship team left for our dorms.  The pastor and elders were going to handle it.

Now for the rest of the story.  That evening, the man drank heavily and did not return home.  Within a week or so, he was broken before the Lord and He called out to Jesus for help.  The pastor and elder prayed with him, and was set free.  Then they learned the rest of the story.

While in captivity in Vietnam, he grew increasingly angry and bitter toward his captures.  He wanted them dead!  One night, he heard a voice in his head telling him that he could help him get revenge and get out.  He noticed the cage was unlocked.  He crept out, killed his captors, and escaped.  Unfortunately, the voice did not leave.  He began to have horrible nightmares.  He began to drink to self-medicate.  He had married, but he could not escape his internal issues (as some say, his personal demons!).

Finally, his wife had come to faith.  He had heard the voice saying, he would never come to faith because he belonged to him.  He had helped him escape.  He was beyond help.  The man witnessed his wife change.  He had gone to church, but he could not hear anything but condemnation on how God could not love a murderer like him.  He did not remember the night at the church that I detailed above.  He had no memory of it.  Thankfully, he was finally set free when he called out to Jesus for help.  "The voice" left him at that time.

I tell this story not to cause fear nor to sensationalize demonic power, but to explain what it could look like.  I experienced these events, and I have tried to explain them as clearly and accurately as possible even though 23 years of past since I lived them.  I have not seen anything like this before or since!

Looking back, I ask what happened?

Through anger, this man had opened himself up to demonic influence and control.  Anger and bitterness is a great doorway into our soul, thus Paul's warning in Ephesians 4.  He had struggled and suffered under this demonic influence for almost 20 years.  The demon did not come out of the man on the evening at the church because he did not want the demon to leave at that time.  He clung to the demon he knew, instead of asking the God he did not know for help.  When he sincerely called out for Jesus' help, the demon left.  As far as I know, it never returned.

As this week goes on, I will offer more thoughts on demonic possession, demonic oppression, and how this relates to Christians and non-believers.  This is an important topic even if we do not see much open demonization in the West.  I know some of you will not buy into what I am saying.

All I know is that Jesus and the apostles cast out demons.  Jesus treated this topic as important and real.  As we move to see the Kingdom of God advance, we most likely will encounter demonic resistance.  We need to know what to expect, and how to appropriate the power of Jesus in the midst of this conflict.

Why are people such hypocrites?

"Take the case of a sour old maid, who is a Christian, but cantankerous.  On the other hand, take some pleasant and popular fellow, but who has never been to Church.  Who knows how much more cantankerous the old maid might be if she were not a Christian, and how much more likable the nice fellow might be if he were a Christian?  You can't judge Christianity simply by comparing the product in these two people; you would need to know what kind of raw material Christ was working on in both cases."

C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock.

Not long ago, I had the privilege of talking to a man who is either a new Christian or is someone who for the first time in his life has understood the implications of the gospel.  He was sharing how God is changing him from an angry man into someone much more patient and kind.  Yet, he was concerned because he "still had his moments."  He also was worried because he so often did a good deed merely because of his concern for how it made him look.

After our time together, I was thinking of this quote from C.S. Lewis.  I am glad I was able to find it!  I think this man's concerns are natural questions.  They should be questions all believers have and wrestle with often.

Why?

Each of us is such a messed up mix of redeemed "saint" and fallen, sinful child of Adam.  How do we understand and balance these two competing tendencies?  

Let me begin by looking at the life and actions of a typical believer like you or me.  How do we understand our actions in light of the gospel?  Is it not true that there are so many moving parts and factors that shape how each of us respond to any given circumstance. 

I know I respond to difficulties in life and even the small inconveniences so differently when I am sick or really tired than when I am healthy and have had a good night's sleep.  If someone sees me respond on a bad day they might see something different than my actions on a good day.  Should I despair of this known fact?  Should I deny it is true?

Furthermore, I became a believer at age 18.  There were some really rough spots within my formed character when I became a believer.  God was and is so merciful to me, but I am still surprised by the thoughts that flow out of my heart and often pass through my mouth.  Why does the Lord not just zap me and change my heart so I think and say "darn" instead of "damn" when I do something wrong?  I honestly do not think about such words and thoughts, they just come out.  

How about you?  In what areas do you struggle?  How are you often surprised and humiliated by the evil that still dwells within?

Now let me give you the other side of God's story in my life.  The man I spoke with shared that I "said exactly the right thing the first time we talked.  If you said more or less, it might have ruined it."  How did I do that?  I also find that increasingly I just do the right thing without thinking about it.  I show love and grace to people without having to think about what would be loving or gracious.  Most importantly, I am a much better listener than I used to be even as I realize I still need so much improvement.  I find that I am always looking for what God is doing in the hearts and lives of others.

I must confess that none of these occurrences are natural to me.  I praise God that it is His work!  Still, I am haunted by my shortcomings.  I am humiliated by what often flows out of my heart.

Like the cantankerous, sour old maid, I am in need of grace!  I must wonder, what would I be like if Christ did not bring me to Himself all those years ago?  I know that the raw material God had to work with was greatly defaced and misshaped by sin and death before I even came to Jesus.  Those tendencies remain even today!  Yes I am still a sinner.  If you catch me on a bad day, I am sure I do not look like a saint.  In fact, if you are looking for hypocrisy and defining it as not always doing right, I am a hypocrite.

According to the definition of hypocrite as one who always does right, there is only one truly righteous person ever born, Jesus Christ.  I am a mere fallen follower of this great man!  I do not have it all together and I look to Him for grace and forgiveness daily.  

So, if you catch me in some sin, I hope I will be willing to confess my sin and need for this grace.  When I am disappointed and humiliated by my sinful heart, I look to Jesus as my only hope.  

Let me assure you, such thoughts are not natural to me!  My natural inclination is to deny my sin or to try to pass it off as less than what it is.  My natural inclination is to maintain my reputation instead of confessing my need.

For those of us who are not Jesus, I would define hypocrisy differently than always doing right.

I think true hypocrisy is not confessing and living the truth that I am a sinner in desperate need of grace.

Hypocrisy is not merely doing wrong when I should know better.  At times, all of us fail to do the good we know we should do!  No, hypocrisy is knowing I have such wrong tendencies (what the bible calls sin) that flow out of my heart and yet I do not address or confess them.

Are you living in active repentance and dependent faith?  Does confession and repentance come easy to you?  Can you see where you need grace and do you ask God for grace to transform these areas?

If the answers to these three questions are all yes, I think God is doing a great work in your life.  Cling to Christ and grow in grace!  Always point yourself and others to Jesus.

If your answers are no to any of these three questions, you are most likely a self-deluded hypocrite (wow that sounds harsh!  Please know I have lived much of my life in this state.).  Repent and believe.  Ask for grace to see your need.  Cling to Jesus as your only hope.

Growth comes as we reorient our life around Jesus Christ.  Such reorientation is a life-long process.  It is hard work because it goes against our fallen natural tendencies.  May each of us repent and believe in deeper ways this day and this week!

Our True Enemy: Satan as the Accuser

"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: 
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,

and the authority of his Christ.

For the accuser of our brothers,

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down."  Rev. 12:10

Busy, busy, busy.  I do apologize for not getting back to my blog in a timely fashion.  I have been writing and researching much in preparation for writing/finishing my thoughts on spiritual warfare in a book format.  While it has been an adventure, it is also not good for my blog writing!

Today I wish to pick up on the idea I began in my last post: what the the nature of our true enemy?  Satan is a fallen spirit being.  He is not a co-equal force battling against God.  He is created.  He is also a liar, a cheat, and a causer of fear and doubt.  In fact, he is the father of lies.

Today we pick up another key concept concerning the evil one and spiritual warfare that can  be drawn from Job 1.  In particular, we see Satan's role as an accuser of believers.  

God draws Satan's attention to Job and praises Job.  To this Satan replies, "Does Job fear God for nothing?  Hast Thou not made a hedge about him, and his house and all that he has, on every side?  Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land.  But put forth Thy hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face." (Job 1: 9-11)

Satan's first, favorite, and primary method of attack is to accuse.  "Job is only faithful because he is blessed.  Take it away, and he will be like every other man!"  This trait is one of the names of Satan.  He is the accuser of the brethren.  

As we see in the above passage in Revelation, Christ's victory cast Satan out of heaven.  I am honestly not clear if this was his victory while still on earth (Luke 10: 18) or at the end of time.  I am inclined to think that Satan no longer is before the throne of God, but is now relegated to earth until Christ comes to finish the judgment of Satan at the end of time.  We do know that now Satan is at war against those who obey God's commandments and who hold to their testimony of Jesus (Rev. 12:17).  One thing I do believe is that Satan's nature has not changed.  He is still the accuser!

Now back to Job, for an unknown reason, God then allows Satan to take away Job's earthly blessings.  Job loses his riches and his children in several great tragedies.  Yet through it all, he does not curse God.  How could this be?

In the next chapter, the accuser claims that the only reason Job did not curse God was because he was still healthy.  "However, put forth Thy hand, now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse Thee to Thy face." (2: 5)  God also allows this request with one limitation, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life." (2:6)  Job is then struck with boils from head to toe so he is in great pain.  Still through it all, he does not curse God.

From this passage in Job we learn several important facts.  First, Satan's primary weapon is accusation.  This is his nature, and it is what he does best.  Second, his power is completely limited by God.  God may allow Satan to work and to bring harm, but Satan is not free to do as he wishes.  God is God and there is no other.  Satan and his attacks are subject to God's power.

So what does this mean for today?  Have you ever been engaged in some form of ministry, and then you wake up one day with a feeling that you just do not have what it takes?  You feel convinced at an emotional level that you are a failure.  I have seen people engaged in active ministry almost physically shrivel through doubt and fear concerning their weakness.  It might be because they "did not have a good day" the day before, but it also might be for no real reason at all.  I am convinced that most of the time these thoughts are the accusation of the evil one!  We need to claim not our own competency, but the great competency and victory of Christ.  We need to be grounded in the gospel.

As Paul tells us in Romans 8:33-34, "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?  God is the one who justifies.  Who is the one who condemns?  Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised to life, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us."  

When we believe the gospel, Jesus transforms us into an adopted child of God.  From that moment, we are completely justified, throughly loved, and empowered and in dwelt by the Holy Spirit.  When we feel accusation of our failings, we need to repent of our real sin of unbelief that often lead us to a variety of sinful actions.  We also must by faith reject the accusations about our incompetence as a lie of the evil one!

"Resist the devil and he will flee from you." 

James 4:7  

Our method of resisting is to claim and live in the full and complete victory of Christ.  He is our savior, and He has won the victory!

In ministry, I often combat these self-accusations with Paul's claim in 2 Cor. 3:5 and 4:7.  2 Cor. 3:5 states, "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy if from God."  4:7 claims, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves."  

I know that I often do not say what I should say.  I often struggle with my lack of clarity and my lack of love for others.  I am an earthen pot, slightly cracked, and in need of abundant grace.  Yet, God works through me.  His awesome power courses through my frail words.  Why?  Because He is gracious.  If He can work through me, He can work through anyone!  In need to believe the gospel, resist the devil, and he will flee.

I will end this post with a word of admonition.  I believe that many sincere believers have bought into the accusations of the evil one.  They have gotten out of fruitful ministries, and they do not listen to the Lord's leading because they fear their own weakness.  Today, I challenge you to reject the accusations of the evil one and believe the gospel.  God works through cracked pots like you and I!  He loves us in Christ with an unending love!

Our True Enemy: The Character of the Evil One pt. 1

"…for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."

2 Corinthians 11: 14

"Be sober-minded; be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

1 Peter 5: 8

Who is our enemy in this world?  He is a fallen spirit being who works evil while pretending to be good.  He is a liar, a cheat, a deceiver, and a hater of all that is good and godly.

Thankfully, he is not all-powerful.  In fact, Satan is not independent from God.  There is only one True God and no force of evil comes close to comparing to Him.  That means all forms of dualism (two equal forces of good and evil battling it out in the universe) are false.  Instead, the bible paints a picture of Satan as a being God permits to work.  As it has been said, the evil one is kept on a leash held by the Living God.

Today will begin a two part post on the nature of Satan.  I will seek to illuminate his character, his relationship to God, his relationship to this world system, and how he works to bring destruction to individuals and world-system.  

How do we understand the nature of the evil one?

I could begin in Genesis, but I will instead begin with what many believe to be the oldest book in the bible, the book of Job.  This book portrays an active understanding of the spiritual realm.  It also gives an early glimpse into the OT teaching concerning spiritual warfare.

Job begins with an introduction of a godly and blessed man.  Job is the most respected man in the East.  He has 10 children (7 boys and 3 girls), and great amounts of livestock and riches.  He does all he can to nurture his relationship with God, and he understands his covenantal responsibilities by sacrificing offerings for his children, just in case they have sinned (Job 1:1-5).  In other words, Job is the most righteous man on earth at this time!

Now the story gets interesting.  "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them." (vs. 6)  The Hebrew reads, "sons of God" instead of angels.  From this, we know that Satan is in the same category of creation as the angels.  He is not human nor God, but a spirit being.  Furthermore, the Lord talks with Satan, "Where have you come from."  Satan replies, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."  A couple of points can be drawn from this brief passage.  

First, Satan was and perhaps is allowed into the presence of God.  As a created spirit being, God still uses Satan and his demons to do His will.  I honestly cannot understand this, but I take it as true since we find it in scripture.  Second, Satan is allowed by God to roam the earth.  In fact Jesus calls him "the prince of this world" in John 12:31.

So as to illustrate these observations are not isolated to the book of Job, an interesting parallel to these ideas can be found in both 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chr. 18.  Here, the prophet Micaiah comes before the King Ahab with the command to give a good report about Ahab going off to war.  Ahab does not want him to make the report because Micaiah never says anything good about him.  Yet, Micaiah is brought forth and he tells of an interesting vision.

He proclaims that he saw into the throne room of heaven.  There he witnessed the Lord asking, "Who will entice Ahab into attacking Romoth Gilead and going to his death there?" (1 Kings 22: 20; 2 Chr. 18: 20)  In reply the spirits answered, "One suggested this, and another that.  Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, "I will entice him."  "By what means?" said the Lord.  "I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets," he said.  "You will succeed in enticing him," said the Lord.  "Go and do it." The rest, as they say, is history.  Ahab goes off to war, and he is killed.  We never hear what happened to Micaiah.  

In this vision, the spirit that promises to be a lying spirit is not a good angel.  God does not lie, but Satan is declared by Jesus to be the Father of lies (John 8:44).  This spirit was an evil spirit, known as a demon, that the Lord uses to do His will, which is to lead Ahab to his death.  

So what does this mean?  First, Satan and demons are used by God to bring about His will.  Second, Satan and his demons manifest in lies and in false religious movements and teachings.  I would suggest that these teachings will always appeal to our fallen human nature.  Thus, they will often match exactly what we want to hear!  The purpose of these lies from the evil one's perspective is always the destruction of the individual or people, while God uses it to bring about His purposes.  

We live in a day and age where there is no tolerance nor interest in knowing Truth.  In fact, our entire world system proclaims that we cannot know true Truth, as Francis Schaeffer used to call it.  This fallen system proclaims that each of us as individuals must discover and make our own truth since all truth is relative.  This is exactly the type of lie Satan spins.  It diminishes the glory of God by elevating the self.  It leads to individual and corporate destruction.

Unfortunately, the Church has adopted many of these same ideas.  There is little interest in most bible believing churches in studying true Truth.  We want a salvation message and something to lift us through the week, but we do not like the hard work of forming a Christian worldview.  Many of us lack even the skills to learn how to think critically and carefully through scripture.  We also lack the desire to learn these skills.  In other words, we are ripe for a fall into our individual and corporate destruction through believing good sounding religious lies.

This post is getting rather long, so I will conclude here with several questions.

Do you have a fear of the future?  If it does, then it is not of God.  Does what you believe promote the attitude that Truth and the study of God's word is really not that important?  If it does, it may not be corrupt yet, but this view will lead to corruption, evil, and separation from the body of Christ.  Finally, what are you doing to promote a deeper understanding of God and His word?  How are you developing the skills to understand God's word as well as a prayer life to grow you in intimacy with the Father?

Heaven and Hell

Julio de Mantua