|
to get the people of God to move ahead of God, and thus birth an Ishmael like Abraham. Moses too moved ahead of God, and tried to liberate the children of Israel 40 years too early in the power of his own might. These forms of fleshly ministry are doomed to failure -- we must open our spiritual eyes -- for the devil is attacking every true work and servant of God, who will, like Mordecai, refuse to bow to his agenda. Sometimes through religious tradition -- sometimes through idolatry -- through fornication, temptations, persecutions and rejections, Satan assaults the will of God for each and every dedicated child of God- - hoping to sidetrack our usefulness to Christ and thus interfere with and destroy God's purposes and plans.
Christ warned that many would come in His Name (attesting to His Lordship) and would still deceive many. The whore of Babylon (Rev. 17) is the apostate church of Christ -- This is organized Christianity; ordained and empowered by men; she will assist the Anti-Christ in his diabolical schemes; Satan is her true lord, and she will help him kill millions of true believers during the Tribulation. Institutional Christianity will help propagate the "Mark of the Beast" and will burn and murder all who refuse to take it as heretics.
Satan's game is to take away the Lordship of Jesus from each individual and to replace it with either himself, another human being, or better still an institution. Whenever we allow another person, religious system, or even ourselves to order and direct our lives (rather than the Holy Spirit) we have fallen into the idolatry of worshipping the creature rather than the creator; this is a violation of the first commandment; Anyone, and in fact anything, can become a "strange god" if they, or it, usurps God's sovereignty as Lord."
In addition to twisting scriptures, tempting, bearing false witness, lying, cheating and stealing, etc. the devil is also actively interfering with God's purposes by trying to block (or delay) God's answers to our prayers. One may wonder how on earth this could be? Well, in Daniel (Chap. 10) we read the story of how Daniel had been praying and fasting for three weeks when all of a sudden an angel appeared unto him and said, in v. 12 "Fear not Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard and I am come for thy words."
"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days, but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me."
Inherent in this text is the realization that Satan has fallen angels, placed over countries, and their job is to fight back God's answers to our prayers. We are at war, and we are fighting "principalities and powers" and "spiritual wickedness in high places". God often sends His answers to us right away, but through interference the devil tries to divert, or entirely
|
|
