EXPOSING THE TACTICS OF THE ENEMY! : PART TWO
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Satan's Tactic - Slowly Divide And Conquer, Milkweed And
Snake Milk, Destroy, Discredit And Replace God's Leader
Spiritual Slumber, Typical False Accusations, Preach The
Glad Tidings, The Yabbuts, Rebuking Elders And Doctrinal
Error, False Teachers, Twisting The Scriptures, Spiritual
Discernment And The Mind Of Christ, The Lord's Standard
One thing we all need to realize is that when Satan attacks
a certain fellowship, he usually doesn't attack everyone at
the same time. To do so would make his devious plans too
obvious to those in the group who possess some degree of
spiritual discernment. Remember, this evil serpent was the
most subtle creature in all of the Garden of God. He is not
going to announce himself when he arrives. He will creep in
quietly, just like the false brethren of old had done:
"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden?" (Genesis 3:1)
"For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were
before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men,
turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and
denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Jude 1:4)
Satan's normal strategy is to attack one person at a time.
He will look for the weakest person in the group, and he
will begin to feed them his lies and his doubts. Once this
snake has infected that one person with his poison, he will
then use that person to infect others in the group, one at a
time. Slowly but surely, the poison spreads throughout the
entire body, until it becomes spiritually paralyzed and
ineffective as a Christian witness. The foolish members of
the church or fellowship will become so divided amongst
themselves fighting and arguing over doctrinal issues and
any other lies spread by the malicious party, that they will
totally neglect joining together in order to fight against
the true enemy who started it all! In fact, due to their
spiritual blindness and lack of spiritual discernment, those
who swallow the lies of the enemy will oft times choose
Satan's original tool as their new leader! As we already
know, this act of causing division amongst the brethren is
an abomination to the Lord:
"These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an
abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and
hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth
wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to
mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that
soweth discord among brethren." (Proverbs 6:16-19)
As you will recall, I mentioned in part one of this article
that the Truth of God's Word is akin to spiritual milk. As
the Lord was revealing this truth to me regarding my spilled
milk accidents, He showed me that there is a counterfeit
milk. It may look just like the real thing to those without
spiritual discernment, but it is in fact a bitter and
poisonous brew! As a very graphical example of this, let us
consider a plant which is quite common in the northeastern
portion of the United States of America. This plant goes by
the scientific name of 'Asclepias Syriaca'; and it is more
commonly known as milkweed. From what I recall, this plant
is the primary diet of the larva of the Monarch Butterfly.
When I was a small boy, I enjoyed pulling apart the large
tough seed pods of this plant in order to release the seeds
which would be carried aloft by their buoyant silvery
filaments.
Commercially speaking, the milkweed plant has a variety of
applications. Not only is it used for medicinal purposes,
but the different parts are also used for making thread or
cord, and for stuffing pillows. While playing with the seed
pods was fun, there was also a bit of danger involved if one
wasn't careful. As some of you will know, the milkweed plant
contains a thick sticky white sap, which is obviously what
gives the plant its name. In its raw state, this sap is
toxic, or poisonous. In fact, my research indicates that
while some parts of this plant are edible, they must first
be boiled three or four times in different pots of water in
order to remove the toxins. This is Satan's kind of milk!
To give you another example which is even closer to home,
consider the fact that snake venom is sometimes called
'snake milk'. This is because in order to make antidotes for
snake bites, poisonous vipers must first have their venom
'milked' from them by a trained specialist. This is a job
which I certainly wouldn't like to have! These two examples
show us precisely what Satan's milk is like. His doubts and
lies may appear to be the truth; they may appear to be safe
to consume like God's spiritual milk; but the end result is
only bitter agony and spiritual death; so watch out! His
milk is not the true milk of the Word of God which joins us
together in one Spirit! If you would like to read additional
parallels between the snakebite and our common foe, I
encourage you to read such articles as 'Are You Every Whit
Clean?' and 'Leviathan: An Ancient Sea Dragon?'.
The main point I wish to emphasize is that Satan, through
his foolish human emissaries, wants to destroy the work of
God in all of its various forms; be it the unity of your own
Christian family, or your church congregation, or your home
fellowship, or in whatever capacity you fellowship with
other Christians before the Lord. The devil utterly hates to
see Christians united together; and so he will use whatever
means at his disposal in order to try to divide them the one
against the other. Do not doubt this for a moment; for if
you do, then you may very well be his next tool! You must
always remember that we are in a battle royale with the
enemy; and it is NOW, and not some time in the future, when
we must keep up our guard and fight! Therefore, we must all:
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as
a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"
(1 Peter 5:8)
As I point out in 'The Battle Is Not Yours Alone!', when
Satan does attack, quite often he will attempt to destroy
the leadership first. He knows that if he can successfully
destroy the leadership, then the flock will be scattered.
This is precisely how he operated almost two thousand years
ago; and this is how he has continued to operate since then.
Consider what Jesus told His own Disciples just prior to His
arrest, judgment and Crucifixion:
"Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended
because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite
the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered
abroad." (Matthew 26:31)
Thank God that this was only a temporary setback on the part
of the Disciples. Once Jesus had been resurrected, and the
Disciples had been filled with the Holy Ghost, the situation
changed from one of utter despair, to one of total victory;
for as Jesus had also prophesied earlier:
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might
have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be
of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
If Satan cannot physically destroy the leadership as in the
case with Jesus, then he will attempt to discredit the godly
Spirit-led leader through public scandal of one sort of
another. He will tempt the man of God to sin through some
weakness of the mind or flesh, and then he will exploit that
error to bring disgrace upon that leader. Once God's man is
neutralized and out of the way, Satan will then replace him
with his own false worldly spiritless leader who does not
pose a threat to his Kingdom of Darkness. This is the kind
of leadership I described in part one which slowly lulls the
congregation into spiritual slumber while they fleece the
flocks for all they are worth. This is precisely what has
happened to physical Israel for the past two thousand years
as was described by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the
Romans:
"(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit
of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that
they should not hear;) unto this day." (Romans 11:8)
While Israel has been completely lulled to sleep by the
satanic tradition of the Elders, that is, by Pharisaism or
Babylonic Talmudism, many modern Christians have likewise
fallen asleep spiritually due to such deadly, deceitful
doctrines and attitudes as ecumenism, one worldism, secular
humanism, EVILution, etc. We can all thank the Lord that
someday, possibly very soon, Jesus is going to return; and
when He does, just as He did during His last visit to the
Earth, He is going to take His precious lambs out of the
foul mouths of the thieves, hirelings and wolves who would
devour them:
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the
shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and
cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall
the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver
my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for
them." (Ezekiel 34:10)
When the devil does begin to attack God's leadership, one of
his very first accusations is to claim that the leader or
shepherd wields too much power. As the old saying goes, the
devil accuses others of the very same things of which he
himself is guilty. We are clearly told in the Scriptures
that Lucifer is power-hungry for the very Throne of God:
"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." (Isaiah 14:13-14)
Despite this truth, Satan still has the audacity to accuse
God's anointed leaders and shepherds of being hungry for
power and money, of keeping their flocks isolated from the
rest of the world by means of psychological intimidation, of
practicing varying degrees and forms of deception, of having
sex with their followers, of manipulating their flocks
through the controlled flow of information, and many other
such things. I will readily admit that with certain cultic
groups and organizations, some of these things are indeed
true. What is so surprising is that some of these cults have
now grown so big and so powerful, that they are no longer
even recognized as cults, even though millions of people
worldwide worship their leaders as if they were gods! Can
you possibly imagine who I am talking about?
In my own personal ministry, I have likewise faced this kind
of criticism on a few occasions to a much smaller degree. A
few disgruntled former members of our fellowship have also
accused me of resorting to Nazi or Hitlerian-type tactics in
order to control the flow of information in our electronic
mail ministry. However, with the recent incident which I
described in part one, it appears that I have now been given
the 'honour' of being called a Hitlerian cult master who
brainwashes his followers through the control of the flow of
information. Of course, I find this accusation totally
ludicrous for some very obvious reasons.
To begin with, very few people who participate in our small
electronic fellowship even know who I am. They don't know my
name, or where I live, or even what I look like. I have
never met any of them in person. In fact, as far as I know,
none of them have ever met each other in person either. We
are simply a very loosely-knit electronic fellowship. People
come and go all the time. Financially-speaking, no one has
ever sent me any money, and I honestly don't expect them to.
Thus, the idea of now being identified as a cult master is
hardly valid under these circumstances; unless of course you
choose to believe that I am sending out powerful hypnotic
waves through my modem! In thinking about what would be a
good response to those who accuse me of controlling the flow
of information, the Lord gave me a very simple illustration
which I would like to share with you.
Imagine that one bright sunny weekend, you are sitting in
your local church all prepared for an inspiring sermon from
your priest, minister or pastor; provided, of course, that
you belong to a church which still shares the real Word of
God. To your utter dismay, instead of reading from his
prepared sermon, your spiritual elder pulls out the Sunday
morning newspaper and begins to read the various headlines:
Two Thousand Killed From Recent Earthquake In Afghanistan;
AIDS Epidemic Spreading At Alarming Rate Among Heterosexual
Families; Man Kills Spouse During Jealous Fit Of Rage; More
Drugs Seized From Offshore Traffickers; More Gun Violence In
Southern High School; Killer Tornado Rips Through Midwestern
Town; Abortion Advocates Gain Another Victory; Twenty-Two
Die From Heatwave In Texas; Floodwaters Still On The Rise In
Minnesota; President Faces Impeachment Due To Sex Scandal.
Obviously, you would be quite surprised to hear your priest,
minister or pastor reading such things during the time when
he is normally supposed to be lifting your Spirits, and
nourishing your souls with the Word of God. This is exactly
how I view my electronic ministry. As a shepherd, I believe
that it is my responsibility to give my readers the glad
tidings of God's Kingdom, that is, the Gospel, the Good
News, the Word of God, and not the sad tidings. While I do
share important news articles which are related to the
fulfillment of Endtime prophecy, I don't believe that it is
God's Will that I share the nasty notes that I sometimes
receive from those who don't like my views, or who don't
even believe in the Lord. The following verses tell us to
share the glad tidings; that is, the good things that the
Lord is doing, and not the evil works of darkness:
"And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that
stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto
thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings." (Luke 1:19)
"And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout
every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad
tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with
him," (Luke 8:1)
"And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise
which was made unto the fathers," (Acts 13:32)
"And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is
written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"
(Romans 10:15)
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever
things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if
there be any praise, think on these things."
(Philippians 4:8)
As the ministers and teachers of God's Word, we are not
supposed to advertise the Devil's dirty deeds any more than
we have to; and believe me, some of those atheists and
antichrist people who write to me on occasion, don't spare
a word! They tell me exactly what they think! I don't feel
that my readers need to waste their time reading such filth
and garbage! After all, if you are like me, you probably
receive a lot of mail everyday from a variety of sources
which you barely have time to read as it is. Thus, everyone
should count it a blessing when I weed out the few items
which I feel are not appropriate for the list. Considering
that I am the one who is managing the mailing list, I feel
that it is perfectly within my right to do as I feel led of
the Lord. In addition to this, I am not about to allow a few
disgruntled ex-members to sour our fellowship with their
complaints, false accusations and subtle lies.
As I have pointed out before, one group of people who we all
need to watch out for, are those who I personally refer to
as the 'Yabbuts'. These kinds of troublemakers have a very
strange habit, and thus they are very easy to identify
within your fellowship. The reason they are called 'Yabbuts'
is because they usually make such statements as 'Yeah, I
believe in what you are saying...but!'; or perhaps 'Yeah,
that may be perfectly true...but!', or 'Yeah, that makes a
lot of sense...but!' No matter what you say, these kinds of
people never seem to agree with you fully on one single
issue, or at least not with very many of them. They are
always butting, just like stubborn old goats. The danger
with these kinds of people is that while on the surface they
may appear to agree with you at first, either knowingly or
unknowingly, they are sowing seeds of doubt and confusion
amongst your flock who may not know any better.
Of course, no teacher is infallible; although some would
like you to think that they are; so if you have any doubts
whatsoever about what is being taught, then you should
personally consult the Word of God in order to determine the
truth of the matter to your own personal satisfaction. If
after performing your study, you still honestly feel that
the teacher is in some kind of doctrinal error, then you
should approach the teacher privately and study the Word of
God together in order to determine where your differences in
understanding lie. If you still remain unconvinced of what
is being taught, then you should observe to see if there are
any others in your fellowship who likewise detect the
doctrinal error. The Lord's Spirit is faithful; and He will
normally point out things to at least two or three people in
order to confirm a thought. This is why Jesus said:
"But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or
two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every
word may be established." (Matthew 18:16)
If no others detect the perceived error, as hard as it may
be for you to accept, it may simply be a lack in your own
personal understanding, regardless of how convinced you are
of what you believe. If you are patient, and hungry for the
Truth, the Lord will eventually show you what you have
misunderstood; for as He said in His Word:
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that
asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him
that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of
you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or
if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good
things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:7-11)
While at times you may be tempted to speak out hastily, it
is important for you to realize that to singlehandedly
challenge a teacher publicly during a study could make you
guilty of undermining leadership before the flock. Not only
that, but let us remember what Paul wrote concerning
rebuking an elder:
"Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the
younger men as brethren;" (1 Timothy 5:1)
What if after this open challenge, it turns out that you are
wrong and the teacher is right? While you may be humbled by
the experience, your actions may cause irreparable damage by
causing doubts amongst the flock. In other words, from that
point on, they may no longer fully trust the words of the
teacher, regardless of how closely he may follow the Holy
Scriptures. On the other hand, if there are others who have
also questioned the doctrine which is being taught, then
this is an entirely different matter; after all, the Apostle
Paul also wrote in the very same chapter:
"Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two
or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that
others also may fear." (1 Timothy 5:19-20)
If at least two or three people receive a witness of the
Spirit that a certain elder is doing or teaching something
that is wrong, then Scripturally-speaking, it is proper for
them to make it a public matter. Depending upon the results
of what follows, you will have to decide whether or not you
wish to continue participating in that fellowship or study,
or else move on to another. However, you must be realistic
about such matters. In this day and age in which many flocks
have been taken over by false shepherds who have been hired
by church administrators who possess very little spiritual
discernment, short of a serious sexual or financial scandal,
most administrators will not allow themselves to be bothered
with firing a minister or pastor simply over a doctrinal
issue brought up by a few members of the congregation. Thus,
if anyone will be doing any moving, it will probably be you.
While sometimes certain things are taught incorrectly due to
an unintentional lack of a more complete and clearer
understanding of the Scriptures, another ploy often used by
the enemy is to purposely twist or distort the true meaning
of the Scriptures. I have spoken about this in a number of
other articles as well. The Apostle Peter warned of this
very danger when he wrote the following concerning those who
twisted the meaning of the Epistles of the Apostle Paul:
"As also in all his [Paul's] epistles, speaking in them of
these things; in which are some things hard to be
understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable
wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own
destruction." (2 Peter 3:16)
Notice that Peter states that the reason that some people do
this, is because they are novices with the Word of God. In
other words, they don't really know what they are talking
about. Because of their pride, they are trying to present
themselves as some great teacher, when in fact they are no
such thing whatsoever. In discussing grace versus law, the
Apostle Paul exposed this very same sin with the Law-bound
Jews who didn't have an ounce of the true Spirit of God, and
thus no real spiritual discernment either. If they had, then
they would have been preaching a true religion of grace and
faith, and not one of works and keeping the Law. In his
Epistle to the Romans, Paul wrote:
"Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and
makest thy boast of God, And knowest his will, and approvest
the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of
the law; And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of
the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, An
instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast
the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou
therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?
thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou
commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit
sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through
breaking the law dishonourest thou God?" (Romans 2:17-23)
Today we find the very same thing happening. While we all
must believe according to our own faith, I must honestly
admit that I have come across certain websites which really
leave me wondering about the spiritual condition of the page
designer. Some of these people take a few verses here and
there from the Bible, and then arrive at some very strange
conclusions; which in my view, are very far from the Truth.
I am left with a clear impression that they don't know what
they are talking about. In some cases, it is for the very
reason stated by Peter; and that is that they are simply
babes in Christ and in their understanding of His Word; yet
they are trying to act as if they are teachers. The danger
of this practice is that due to the international nature of
the Internet and the World Wide Web, their personal delusion
is being spread to others who visit their site, who likewise
are babes in Christ, and who don't know how to discern the
truth from the lie. These 'teachers' remind me of some
others words written by the Apostle Paul concerning those
who tried to teach the Law:
"Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which
minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in
faith: so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out
of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith
unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside
unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law;
understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they
affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it
lawfully;" (1 Timothy 1:4-8)
"For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need
that one teach you again which be the first principles of
the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of
milk, and not of strong meat." (Hebrews 5:12)
In his Epistle, the Apostle James admonishes us that we
should not even seek such a position unless the Lord places
us into it by His own design; because to the teacher belongs
the greater condemnation. In the following verse, the word
'masters' is translated from the Greek word 'didaskalos',
pronounced did-as'-kal-os, which is normally translated as
'teachers':
"My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall
receive the greater condemnation." (James 3:1)
In other words, if you teach the Truth, all will be well;
however, if you are teaching false doctrine, you will be
held accountable for every idle word that you speak; and
this is not something which should be taken lightly by
anyone, myself included. My understanding is that an idle
word is a lazy word, because it is spoken without first
making a careful examination of the Scriptures, as the
Apostle Paul admonished us to do. Thus we see that teaching
the Word of God is indeed a very serious responsibility:
"But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall
speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
judgment." (Matthew 12:36)
"So then every one of us shall give account of himself to
God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but
judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an
occasion to fall in his brother's way."
(Romans 14:12-13)
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
As I explained earlier in this article, this is precisely
what some of these false shepherds and false teachers are
doing; they are placing a doctrinal stumbling block in the
way of their followers. Through intentionally deceitful
doctrine, they are causing their members to fall away from
the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is precisely what the
crafty Jewish Elders of old did when they crept into the
Early Church. If you doubt this, consider carefully the
words of the Apostle Paul in this verse:
"Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men,
that turn from the truth." (Titus 1:14)
While that is a rather short verse, it is nevertheless very
powerful; because it exposes the full intention of the false
brethren who infiltrated the First Century Church; and that
was to 'turn from the truth'! Of course, what we see
happening within Christianity today was also prophesied
almost two thousand years ago by the following verses. In
fact, these devious plans are fully spelled out in the
'Protocols of the Wise Elders of Zion'!:
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears;"
(2 Timothy 4:3)
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even
as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily
shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that
bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."
(2 Peter 2:1)
Anyone who cannot see this happening within the Christian
world today needs a serious wake-up call! Perhaps this
article will serve as a wake-up call for you personally.
Concerning this subtle infiltration of our modern Christian
fellowships, let me again remind you that the enemy does not
always creep in through a false minister, priest, pastor or
teacher. He can also secretly slip into your midst through
one or more 'sheep' found within the flock; so beware! Jesus
and others warned us that these demons of darkness would
indeed appear as sheep in our midst, even though they are in
fact ravening wolves who just want to spiritually devour the
flock of the Lord!:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
(Matthew 7:15)
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous
wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock."
(Acts 20:29)
In order for you to be a faithful shepherd of the Lord's
flock, you must ask the Lord to give you genuine spiritual
discernment so that you can detect these wolves. This is one
of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which is freely available to
those who ask for it:
"To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to
another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of
tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:"
(1 Corinthians 12:10)
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13)
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be
given him." (James 1:5)
You must learn to see and judge situations with the mind of
the Spirit, according to His Word, and not with your natural
reasoning; otherwise you are bound to make some serious
mistakes which may affect your flock in a negative way. As I
have stated before, you must learn to put on the mind of
Christ through the spiritual transformation and renewing of
your own mind:
"For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may
instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."
(1 Corinthians 2:16)
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
(Romans 12:2)
If you are in tune to God's Spirit, you will be able to tell
in a very short time if a person is asking a question out of
a sincere desire to learn, or whether they are simply
seeking to draw you into a useless debate in order to waste
your time. Some people will also ask questions so that they
can find a reason to judge and criticize you; and in so
doing, justify their position in their own eyes. Others will
craft their questions in such a way so as to cast doubt and
cause division amongst the Lord's flock. In short, Satan's
emissaries may say something one way, while they really mean
something entirely different. As I have said over and over
again, the devil's tactics are nothing new. The Jews of old
used these very same tactics on Jesus throughout His Earthly
ministry. They thought that they were so crafty, but Jesus
outsmarted them every time. The Apostle John in particular
seemed to have the Gift of Discernment. He knew how to see
behind the words and into the hearts of men. Notice how he
phrased the following lines.
"This they said, tempting him, that they might have to
accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger
wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not."
(John 8:6)
"This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because
he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put
therein." (John 12:6)
In conclusion then, if we are in tune to God's Spirit, and
filled with His Word, we will be able to recognize when the
enemy attempts to invade our fellowship. With the Lord's
help, rather than being caught off guard, we will easily
identify Satan's evil tactics; and we will be able to put a
stop to them before they harm the Lord's precious sheep; for
as the Apostle Paul wrote in his second Epistle to the
Corinthians:
"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not
ignorant of his devices." (2 Corinthians 2:11)
As I point out in 'The Battle Is Not Yours Alone!', if you
do happen to find yourself in the midst of battle, and if
you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by the situation, all you
have to do is stop and pray, and call upon the Lord for His
assistance. If you do, He will gladly send you all of the
spiritual help that you could possibly need; for as we are
told in His Word:
"...When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of
the LORD shall lift up a standard against him."
(Isaiah 59:19b)
With that inspiring verse, I am going to bring another
article to a close. As a final note, please remember that
our battle is a war of thoughts and words, and it is fought
every single day in our very minds and hearts. I truly hope
that this article has opened your eyes to the true nature of
our spiritual warfare. May God bless you as you continue to
fight the good fight of faith everyday!