March 25, 2010
“So the great dragon was CAST OUT, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who DECEIVES the whole world; he was CAST to the earth, and his angels were CAST OUT with him. Now WHEN the dragon saw that he had been CAST to the earth, he PERSECUTED the woman . . . woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has COME DOWN to you, HAVING GREAT WRATH, because he knows that he has a short time . . . and the dragon was ENRAGED with the woman” (Revelation 12:9,12-13, 17).
Dear Brethren,
Realizing we are now living in the prophetic end-time, and seeing the increasing frequency of rebellion within governments and its peoples, nations against nations, disruption in nature and the weather, and problems within the Church of God, it is very important that we as its members ask God to open our eyes with understanding of WHY and the SOURCE to better able to recognize our enemy and keep him away from us.
Especially so in VIEW of the soon-coming Passover and preparation for it! For the enemy will be doing all he is permitted in keeping God’s true people from observing it.
The purpose of this writing is to alert and awaken all of us as God’s elect to the real threatening danger to God’s Church and to each of us individually from our powerful and avowed enemy, Satan the Devil.
In one of his taped sermons in 1980, Mr. Armstrong stated Satan the devil had been after him for about two months. He also spoke of this to the assembled ministry in Big Sandy, Texas during the Feast of Tabernacles in 1969.
He also said he is after you and me! More so now than ever for as Mr. Armstrong also stated Satan knows he has but a short time. During the close of that sermon, he said, Satan was trying to destroy him!
He also made reference to the coming Passover at that time (1981).
The years have gone by since that time and the problems have intensified in the world and within the Church. We are now approaching the Passover 2011.
And from studying the prophecies of the Holy Bible, and seeing it being fulfilled through the News Media, it is realized we have entered into the time of the end— a time we are now seeing the beginning of Satan’s wrath being poured out in fulfillment of the of what Jesus Christ said in His Olivet Prophecy:
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be FAMINES, PESTILENCES, and EARTHQUAKES in various places. All these are the BEGINNING of sorrows” (Matthew 24:6-8).
Through the News Media we are learning of record-breaking acts of nature – earthquakes in various places. Though the internet makes known several thousand earthquakes take place each year the ones Christ spoke of are the big and bigger ones that we have witnessed through the News Media of late and will in the future.
Are these huge earthquakes just naturally taking place as the earth makes its adjustments – or is the wrathful Satan the devil involved in these major earthquakes taking the lives of many thousands of people?
With this question in mind consider what Holy Scripture tells us of the end-time:
“. . . woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has COME DOWN to you, HAVING GREAT WRATH, because he knows that he has a short time . . .” (Revelation 12:12).
These and other Holy Scriptures, aided by God’s Holy Spirit, have opened the minds of God’s true Elect to receive the knowledge of the spirit world, their origin, the use of the faithful angels in God’s service, and the CAUSE of the evil state of Satan and his angels who rebelled against God and His Government and were cast down to this earth.
Seeing their failure to overcome God and occupy His throne in Heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15; Luke 10:18), Satan and his demons have a vindictive hatred for God but knowing they cannot overthrow Him, they are focusing on seeking the destruction of not only God’s true Church, but also mankind by seeking to thwart His Master Plan for their salvation and becoming members of His Divine Family.
We understand all this in a superficial manner by the reading in the Holy Bible about Satan and his evil spirit world, but do we grasp the reality of that knowledge while looking at this world and its troubles and developing problems?
Some do because of personal encounters with that spirit world.
During the ministry of Jesus Christ and the apostles, Scripture reveals the people of Judah attributed many of their problems directly to Satan the devil and his demons. Being invisible they could not see them, but they nevertheless had that awareness and spoke of Satan and his demons involvement in influencing and even possessing people (Matthew 9:37-42; 12:26; 15:21).
The Pharisees even accused Jesus Christ of being the prince of the demons (Matthew12:24).
During the first half of this past century there was yet some awareness and knowledge, but in the latter half of it mankind began losing knowledge of the evil spirit world. Today there is virtually no real recognition of them at all.
Instead there are all the medical terms that are used to (unknowingly) mask the true identity of the evil spirits possessing many in society and by so doing make it almost impossible to recognize them thus making it much easier for deception and possession by them.
Aside from their deceptive influence and often possession of the rulers of this world, they are also involved in bringing mass destruction on cities and communities through the elements in nature that result in the hundreds of thousands of deaths of many in today’s world.
This can be understood from these Scriptures the LORD God sometimes gives Satan permission to intervene and create furious weather conditions such as tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones, floods, volcanoes, earthquakes! Satan also uses nations of men to attack other nations destroying leaders and governments for his destructive purposes.
Again, this can be understood from the following Scripture:
“. . . woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has COME DOWN to you, HAVING GREAT WRATH, because he knows that he has a short time . . .” Revelation 12:12)
Satan is violently angry with the whole world! And for God’s own purpose in dealing with mankind, because of their rejection of Him and His holy righteous laws, He is permitting Satan within limitations to intervene in nature and also in nations for his destructive purposes in our world of today just as God permitted him to do in the Book of Job.
Realizing a very much needed lesson in the life of righteous Job, the LORD God told Satan that Job was in his hand, but spare his life (1:12). Satan almost immediately struck very hard at Job as Scripture makes known:
One day, as his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the she-asses were grazing alongside them when Sabeans attacked them and carried them off, and put the boys to the sword, I alone have escaped to tell you.” This one was still speaking when another came and said, “God’s FIRE (lightning) fell from heaven, took hold of the sheep and the boys, and BURNED them up; I alone have escaped to tell you.” This one was still speaking when another came and said, “A Chaldean formation of three columns made a raid on the camels and carried them off and put the boys to the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” This one was still speaking when another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother when suddenly A MIGHTY WIND came from the wilderness. It struck the four corners of the house so that it collapsed upon the young people and they died; I alone have escaped to tell you” (Job 1:13-19, The New Jewish Publication Translation).
We not only forget Satan’s reality and involvement but also his tremendous power! Greatness that was given to him at the time he became the supreme masterpiece of God’s created angelic world (Ezekiel 28:12-15).
But due to his rebellion and struggle against God, he was cast down to this earth.
“How are you fallen from heaven, O shining One, son of dawn? How are you felled to earth (Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:7-9), O VANQUISHER OF NATIONS” (Isaiah 14:12, NJPS).
All one has to do to recognize his great power is to look at the wreckage he and his demons brought on the earth and the starry heavens during their struggle to overpower God. This should give real meaning and recognition to what is now taking place in this country and this world!
We are viewing through the Media terrible tragic conditions that were prophesied for the end-time by Jesus Christ in His Olivet prophecy.
We look at the fury of nature that is now being evidenced as never before in our time by the horrendous and record breaking cyclones, earthquakes, Tsunamis, floods, drought, tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, all of which are taking untold human lives. It is a world of human suffering.
Then there is the human element: Among which are the Arab terrorists, with perpetual hatred against Israel by warfare and suicidal Arab people who wear bomb–laden belts filled with nails to trigger and blow-up all the innocent people around them; further they ruthlessly butcher men, women, children and even babies; then their organizations have the audacity to brazenly take credit for the murders (Ezekiel 35:5).
This has also been seen in wars of the past, especially World War II, when nations such as Hitler’s Germany, rulers of Japan, and Stalin’s Russia – despotic rulers in their lust for POWER and RULERSHIP were responsible for killing many millions of their own people as well as killing millions of people from other nations in warfare in their quest and lust for world ruler-ship.
And it continues from the time when Satan incited Cain to murder his twin-brother Abel, and through the millennia to where we find ourselves in today’s society in what some might call a peaceful time.
The news media is filled on a daily basis with murder, crimes of all kinds against fellow man. It is a Satanic world of rebellion each seeking its own regardless of the fallout on others.
This can be seen with leaders in Washington, Wisconsin, California, etc., who are trying hard to balance their budgets with billions of dollars outstanding and no way to correct it without salaries, benefits, and services being affected, and each one wants the other to accept the losses and not themselves.
This is an evil world so said the Apostle Paul (Galatians 1:4). It belongs to Satan! He said so to Jesus Christ and was not corrected by Him (Matthew 4:8-9). In actual fact Jesus Christ confirmed his ownership of it. To His disciples, Jesus Christ said:
“Now is the [coming] judgment of this world; now the RULER of this world will [soon] be cast out” (John12:31; Revelation 20:1-3).
It is a deceived world that belongs to him:
“So the great dragon was CAST OUT, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who DECEIVES the whole world (Revelation 12:9).
Satan is the chief prince, or its earthly king, having his throne here on earth (Ephesians 2:2). He has his own hierarchy of government. Over each nation on earth he has a prince to influence and affect adversely the human ruler-ship and their subjects.
This is made plain by what is said by Gabriel the archangel of God to Daniel:
“. . . Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and humble yourself, before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words (voiced by Daniel in fasting and prayer). But the PRINCE of the kingdom of Persia (today, Iran) withstood me 21 days . . . (Daniel 10:12-13).
Then he (Gabriel) said to Daniel: “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the PRINCE of Persia, and when I have gone forth, indeed the PRINCE of Greece will come . . . no one upholds me against these [evil PRINCES], except Michael your Prince (A Cherub from God as Prince of Israel (Daniel 10:20; 12:1).
MYSTERY OF THE AGES, Pages 59, 143-144, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong
“In Ephesians 6, it is stated that our contentions and strivings are in fact not with other human people, but against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness [evil spirits] in high places. . . .
“In Ephesians 2:2, humans have been walking “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.” People simply do not realize that there is an invisible spirit power injecting into their minds these hostile attitudes. . . .
“This invisible spirit world (Colossians 1:15-16) is very real but because it is invisible it has been a mystery. The fact that holy angels and evil spirits are invisible does not negate their existence. In truth the invisible spirit world is more real than the material and the visible. . . .
“. . . Satan has worked IN all humans. He has injected into the world enormous evils. But how has Satan injected these evils into the minds of all humans . . .
“In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is called the prince of the power of the air, working in— inside the minds of— people. . . . Satan as prince of the power of the air broadcasts— not in words, sounds, or pictures, but in attitudes, moods, IMPULSES.
For example, we read in Ezra 1:1, when King Cyrus of Persia issued a proclamation to send a colony back to Jerusalem to build the second Temple, he was moved to do so because God STIRRED UP his human spirit— in other words, put the SUGGESTION and IMPULSE in his mind and the king acted on it.
IN THE SAME MANNER SATAN MOVES ON THE HUMAN SPIRIT within people to move them in ATTITUDES of envy, jealousy, resentment, impatience, anger, bitterness, and strife. People have no realization of the TREMENDOUS POWER OF SATAN. The human spirit within each human is automatically TURNED to Satan’s wavelength. It seems as if Satan has SURCHARGED THE AIR OVER THE ENTIRE EARTH with his attitude of self-centeredness and vanity.” (My emphasis throughout).
Consider the following Scripture that reveal the truth of the writing of Mr. Armstrong regarding Satan being able to inject SUGGESTIONS AND IMPULSES into people and unless they suppress those suggestions and impulses they will act on them as did Judas Iscariot in betraying Jesus Christ.
To be continued
Your brother and servant in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior,
Don Billingsley
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