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Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
In part 1 of our study, THE ENEMY, we learned who the enemy is. 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Peter tells us the Devil is our enemy and is viciously attacking, and those not prepared for these attacks will be devoured by his deceptions.
A hungry lion will stalk a grazing herd of deer or other animals, looking for those which are weak, young or straying too far away from the herd, as they make for an easy target. They are the vulnerable ones and will be devoured.
Those Christians today, who are compromising their faith with the ways of the world, are placing themselves in the cross hairs of this enemies attack, and because of weakness in their Bible studies they begin straying from the truth and will be devoured.
We learned through Ezekiel where the devil came from; that God created him as a covering cherub to oversee a portion of His creation.
Ezek.28:14-15 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
We then went on to learn through Isaiah why he became our enemy, even though God had created him perfect, and appointed him to such a prestigious position as to oversee a portion of His creation.
We found that Satan, filled with pride, arrogance, jealousy and self-righteousness challenged God’s authority. Isaiah 14:12-14 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 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: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
So, we discovered that our enemy, Satan (Lucifer, the Devil) was an intelligent, perfectly created, and highly esteemed individual created by God, who also appointed, anointed and set him up in a high position of authority to oversee a portion of His creation, became filled with the sin of jealousy, pride, arrogance, and self-gratification, allowing it to overwhelm him to the point of rebellion against the God who had created him, which in turn led to a battle in which he not only lost, but was also cast out from heaven to dwell on earth, and because of this, his anger and wrath towards God, was also kindled against the inhabitants of the Earth, becoming the enemy of all mankind.
With his expulsion from Heaven, Satan’s anger intensified against the inhabitants of the Earth, and with his persuasive deceptions has created a gradual watering down and weakening of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which has lead a large portion of Christians to compromise and capitulate to accept the immoral and unbiblical traditions of society.
The fads and societal whims, the compromises by the Churches to appease the crowds and appear politically correct, has led to the increasingly hostile attacks against those few Christians and Churches who are unwilling to bend to the political correct crowds or the unconstitutional laws and ordinances aimed at gagging the Christian faith.
Even those claiming to be practicing Christians are joining in the attack on God’s people who are standing firm for Gods truth, such as the Air Force Major at the Air Force academy in Colorado being severely disciplined and persecuted by his superiors for an open Bible on his desk.
The complaint filed with the military, sites 33 complainants against the Major, with such language as, “We have 33 very scared Air Force families,”
Who are they afraid of?
Why are they afraid?
Are they afraid of the truth?
And one complainant describing himself as a practicing Christian making the following comment;
“I am intimidated by the display, and I am a practicing Christian,” “This open Bible is discrimination at the highest level.” The airman went on to say that he wasn’t just offended by the Bible – he was “outrageously offended.”
Hitler’s propaganda chief, Goebbels, was quoted as saying. “Tell a lie long enough and it will be accepted as the truth”
The majority will not research to find the truth, instead relying on someone else’s version, unlike the Bereans who searched the scriptures daily to verify what was being preached to them; Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
We have been warned of the consequences of being politically correct by following worldly ways, and the false teachings of the 1200 different Christian denominations, rather than God’s way, and 2nd Thes. Is right on target for today’s society.
2nd Thes.2:11-12 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness
This verse speaks volumes concerning the Christian society of today, where compromise on the grounds of political correctness has resulted in the delusion of believing the lies which has been promulgated on the unsuspecting Christian culture due to their lack of knowledge concerning the truth of God’s word. Hosea tells us the lack of knowledge will destroy us.
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
In today’s world the following are considered the norm;
“Sunday is the Sabbath”
“All food is fit to eat”
“I believe I am a woman, even though I am biologically a man! Or I am a man”
“As long as it’s Love between two people of the same gender, it’s OK with God to get married”
But, God has something different to say in Malachi 3:6
Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; But, man has changed God’s laws and ordinances to fit his agenda and said God changed it and all the world believes it and follows it hook, line and sinker without ever checking the facts in the Holy Bible, not some prayer book or denominations so called bible. Again I quote Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
We are to search the scriptures for the facts not someone’s else’s conjecture.
By not knowing the enemy, not being girded with the protective armor of God, and not knowing themselves, many Christians have begun accepting Satan’s lies as truth, and have succumbed in the battle with the enemy of God, just as the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu said ; If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
And with the increasing attacks of hatred, various city and county ordinances across the nation being established, and our highest courts issuing legal rulings against the morals of Gods laws and His servants, it would appear the majority of the people today, know neither themselves nor the enemy, and are succumbing in this battle.
Will you succumb?
When Satan attacked Jesus in the wilderness, did Jesus succumb, was Jesus prepared?
Did Jesus roll over to be politically correct?
Was Jesus afraid of offending Satan?
Even though Jesus, physically weak from His forty days of fasting, endured the temptations Satan was hurling at Him, even in His weakened physical state, (that of hunger), Jesus was prepared and ready for these attacks, refusing to compromise under any circumstances.
Jesus had girded Himself, and was wearing the full armor of God, using it wisely to defeat Satan at his own game.
So, how did Jesus defeat Satan at his own game?
Let’s look at this story in the book of Luke chapter 4;
As Jesus was ending His forty days in the wilderness, physically weak from hunger, He was prepared for, and was well aware of Satan’s tactics of twisting the scriptures to suit his own agenda, much as the Churches do today, and was therefore able to overcome and defeat him with the truth and power of God’s word (armor)
The devil began tempting Jesus with food, the one thing His body so desperately needed.
Luke 4:3And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread
The Devil knew Jesus was in need of physical nourishment, and attempted to use this as a tool to snare Jesus, but Jesus was ready for that trick;
Jesus, wearing the armor of God, deflected Satan’s dart with the word of God.
Luke 4:4 It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Deut 8:3 Matt 4:4
Satan then uses another tactic, that of greed, materialistic wealth, and power.
Luke 4:5-7 5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 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. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
Here Satan is tempting Jesus with power, prestige and wealth, the very thing most people are clawing and grabbing for today, but Jesus deflected this temptation with the most powerful weapon in the universe.
THE WORD OF GOD!
Luke 4:8 for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Deut 6:13 Matt 4:10
Yet again Satan attacks Jesus, this time using the temptation of pride.
Luke 4:10-12 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Ps 91:12 Matt 4:6
But again, Jesus was armed, His weapon was ready, the safety was off as He fired the final shot deflecting once again, Satan’s attack, using the weapon of truth, the word of God.
12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Ps 91:12 Matt 4:6 Deut 6:16 Matt 4:7
Matthew 4:11 tells us the Devil left as he was unable to overcome the power of the WORD OF GOD. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
So how can we, like Jesus, defeat our enemy, Satan, at his own game?
We must, on a daily basis, pick up our Bibles, and study the word of God, not just read it, but study it, join in with bible study groups, and as we study God’s word we then begin acquiring the whole armor of God by placing His word in our hearts and minds which will prepare us to defeat the enemy in every battle as Jesus did
Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee
Even in our darkest hours, God’s word is there to bring us peace, comfort and serve as our shield against anything Satan throws in our way;
God’s word is our light and our guide in every aspect of our life.
Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Life is not a bed of roses, we all face trials, temptations, and struggles in this life, and will continue until Jesus makes His return for His church. Some of these trials seem so severe, that we are tempted to give up all hope, and this is what Satan is pushing for, just as he did with Job and with Jesus, but both held their ground because they had hidden in their hearts the word of God and used it as a light in their darkest hour..
Satan was allowed to bring untold misery upon Job, whom God had great respect for. Job was completely dedicated and faithful to God. in spite of the tribulations and misery he was experiencing, his integrity never wained and because of his faith in God, he persevered all that Satan threw at him, and emerged the victor, more blessed than before.
Here is a little scenario for you to think aboutas you ponder the troubles of Job and question why God did not intervene.
All through our lives when we experience major trials and tribulations, we begin to wonder, and ask, where is God, I have been faithful to Him and now he is silent, abandoning me to face these trials alone.
Is there really a God there, or am I just deluding myself into believing there is someone listening to my cries of anguish?
Job’s friends attempted to instill these doubts into his mind, and so did his wife, but Job was confident that a loving and compassionate God was there, and did not believe it was a figment of his imagination
Jesus, in His anguish and pain, experiencing His darkest hour as He hung on that cross, cried out with a loud voice;
“MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAS THOU FORSAKEN ME?”
Had God forsaken His only begotten son, Jesus?
Had He forsaken Job?
Do you feel God has forsaken you?
When you were in school and the class was being tested, the only thing available was your pencil and paper as you pondered the task of knowing the correct answers to the questions you were now faced with.
Now if you had prepared for this test by studying the lessons, you were able to move thru the test with very little effort, but if you had not prepared for this test, then you struggled for the answers, and not knowing the correct answer you did a lot of guessing, and more often than not, they were the wrong answers, resulting in a failure of the test.
Think of what the environment of that class was. SILENCE!
THERE WAS COMPLETE SILENCE!
Only the sound of pencils as they slid across the paper to make their marks, or the eraser as it removed one answer for another, as each student struggled to find the correct answers.
During this period of testing, where was the teacher?
Was he/she in the classroom with you?
Indeed he/she was present, but sat, completely SILENT!
As we travel through life, we are constantly faced with the harsh realities of life; it’s misery, the persecution, the failures and tragedies which test our faith and trust in God to extreme limits, and as we struggle with these trials and tribulations we some-times cry out, “WHERE ARE YOU GOD?”
But, just as the teacher was present during your test, though completely silent during the testing period, God is also present during our darkest hours, yet, He is silent during these periods of testing, but with preparations, we can pass the test and emerge as victors. God will never abandon you, but He is silent as you struggle with the test of this life. By studying His word, which can be considered our operators manual, with instructions on every aspect of life, we will be dressed with the full armor of God and ready to battle anything the enemy throws our way.
Satan and his demons cannot deal with the true word of God, though they too believe in God, and Jesus, they fear the awesome power of God;
James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
So, even the demons fear, and tremble at the word of God.
Look at the story in Mark where Jesus confronted the demons which had possessed the man from the caves. When Jesus confronted the demons they cried out in fear.
Mark 5:7-12 7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 8For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
Yes, the demons know and fear the word of God, and in the book of Hebrews we’re reminded of how powerful the word of God is;
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
God’s word is the only weapon we need to defeat Satan, and win the battle over sin, and Jeremiah 5:14 tells us just how powerful this weapon is;
Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. Jeremiah 5:14
Satan, being extremely cunning and deceptive in his maneuvers and tactics against man, knows our weaknesses for the flesh, the pride and arrogance of our self-righteousness, and our greed for the acquisition of the materialistic wealth and power the human heart thrives for, has used it very effectively against us.
With these human traits; We are so easily deceived!
Even though Jesus won the battle with Satan, the war wasn’t over and Satan wasn’t about to surrender, he devised another more devious plan of attack.
IF YOU CAN’T BEAT’UM JOIN,UM!
He found a more fertile ground to sow his discord, THE CHURCH!
And with this tactic he has been very successful in dividing the Christian Church by creating;
over 1200 different Christian denominations, just in the USA alone; Creating over 200 various Bible versions (which in some cases have removed critical verses, weakening the gospel message;) Prodding various denominations into writing their own versions.
Placing doubt in the minds of all with such teachings as evolution, climate change sexual perversion is the norm writers of the Bible were desert wandering men who had become delusional due to the harsh environment they lived in.
With the seeds of doubt and the watering down of the scriptures, he has been able to bring strife among all men and a division of Jesus’s Church.
Today, atheism is becoming one of the largest segments of society. God is no longer part of the equation, as He is considered a myth and a figment of the imagination of ancient desert dwellers.
Those who follow the teachings of the Bible are labeled extremist’s, hate mongers, homophobic, islamophobics, cult worshippers, a threat to national security and a host of other unsavory titles.
Churches and Christians have begun to compromise with the evils of society; evil is good; wrong is right; what-ever makes you feel good do it; cancel evening worship services, roll in the big screen television sets to cheer on the violence and sexually explicit advertisements of Super Bowl Sunday, as God takes a back seat; fill the fellowship hall with bingo players as they gamble for worldly goods in God’s house; Hey, God understands these changes, after all this is the modern world and times have changed.
This falling away from God, following societal whims and traditions has aided in creating the envy and hatred of anything decent or moral, the breakdown of the family core and lack of compassion for our fellow man, has resulted in the gutter level point of immorality and violence not seen since the time of Sodom and Gomorrah, engulfing and transforming what was once a morally upright and peaceful society into the decadence of sex, violence, and the fear of everyone and everything we see around us today.
By placing doubt in the minds of Christians, just as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden, Satan has in effect caused the Church to gradually move away from the true teachings of Jesus, compromising with the wishes and whims of various politically correct factions of society and a watered down version of the gospel where everything is acceptable regardless of what God has to say.
I believe that if we look closely at the scriptures of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Job, Luke and Rev., we begin to see a pattern of pride, arrogance and vengeful manipulations in Satan’s attempts to attain his goals as he stated in Isaiah 14, and this has been passed onto todays Christian Culture where compromise with Satan and societal whims is more important than obeying God.
Satan uses lies, compromises, and deceptions, whereas God does not lie, compromise or use deceptions. Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; Hebrew 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.
Will you follow the example of Jesus and His Holy Bible, or will you follow the whims of the politically correct crowds; going along to get along?
Let’s close out with the following scriptures of an example we are to follow;
Acts 5:28-29 28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. 29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Peter and the Apostles are exhibiting the fact of knowing themselves as well as the enemy, they have donned the armor of God, knowing the enemy as well as themselves and are therefore not about to be swayed by political or public opinion regardless of the consequences. God comes first!
Even with the threat of death the Apostles held their ground with the word of God as they continued with praises to Jesus
Acts 5:29 ….We ought to obey God rather than men.
Acts 5:32And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him
Jeremiah, another example of knowing himself as well as the enemy; Jeremiah 42:6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God
So the question today is, will you know yourself as well as your enemy, and obey the true word of God by being an obedient follower of Jesus even though you may be persecuted because of your stand, or will you fail to know yourself, or your enemy as you compromise for self-gratification or preservation, following along with the false teachings in so many Churches, following the present moods of society and their politically correct agendas as you blindly succumb to the attacks of the enemy?
The choice is yours!
CHOOSE WISELY!
All rights reserved worldwide Copyright 2016 by Paul L Taylor [email protected]
Rev Aug 12, 2016/Sept13/Oct 19
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