War will always rage between the two great kingdoms of the universe until one or other is crushed. Peace between good and evil is an impossibility—even the pretense of it would, in fact, indicate the triumph of the powers of darkness. Michael will always fight; his holy soul is vexed by sin and will not endure it. Jesus will always be the dragon’s enemy, and not quietly—the Lord battles actively, vigorously, and with full determination to exterminate evil. All His servants, whether angels in heaven or messengers on earth, must and will fight—they are born to be warriors. At the cross they promise never to make a truce with evil; they are a warlike company, firm in defense and fierce in attack. The duty of soldiers in the Lord’s army is to fight against the dragon daily, with all their heart and soul and strength. The dragon and his angels will not avoid a fight; they are incessant in their onslaught, sparing no weapon, fair or foul. If we expect to serve God without opposition, we are foolish: the more zealous we are, the more certain are we to be assailed by the minions of hell. The church may become lazy, but that is not true of her great antagonist—his restless spirit never allows the war to pause. Satan hates the woman’s seed (Genesis 3:15), and would happily devour the church if he could. The devil’s servants absorb much of the old dragon’s energy; they are an unusually active race. War rages all around, and to dream of peace is dangerous and futile. But glory to God—we know how the war ends. The great dragon will be cast out and destroyed forever, while Jesus and those with Him will receive the crown. Let us sharpen our swords tonight, asking the Holy Spirit to strengthen our arms for the conflict. There was never a battle more important, or a crown as glorious. Everyone to your post, you warriors of the cross—may the Lord soon trample Satan under your feet!
- C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening
Considering all you see in the news...look deeper. Look much deeper. It's not just insanity that people acknowledge evil existing yet they deny that God is the answer to it. Peace treaties, laws written by man, arming people, disarming people is never going to address the real problem. The problem is the heart of man.
In 2 Peter 3, Peter tells us that the Lord isn't willing that any should perish. Yet people will.
The battleground is your heart. It goes through your mind. Have read and heard people mentioning where Satan is. People who admit he exists saying he is in Hell, with horns and a dark ominous red face and outfit. No. This is beyond far from truth. The Bible tells us what he looks like. He was the most beautiful angel in Heaven until his fall. He roams about the Earth seeking someone to devour. He is a liar and Father of lies. He most certainly knows and understands what Hell is. Hell is a prison and God has the keys. It's a prison for unbelievers and certain demons, also known as fallen Angels.
There's no way Satan would ever want to be in Hell. It is a place of torment. He wants nothing to do with it. In Revelation Hell will be cast into the lake of fire. Those in Hell cannot leave. Their only respite will be the final judgment at their final sentencing before Jesus Christ.
This war is all about you and everybody else who is alive right now.
It's a deceptive war. It's filled with subtlety and lies. Convincing the believer of lies, if possible, and convincing unbelievers that they don't need God.
Some of the worst lies for believers is convincing them that they have no idols in their lives. Convincing them of things that they don't know isn't truth because they have never looked them up for themselves. Convincing them to go with what the world says in order to be accepted. Truth is Jesus said that believers will be hated in this world. Yet we are to love on people anyway. To show them Christ and show them the truth about sin. Not to speak only on the love of God to the point of air conditioning Hell.
Hell is a one way sentence. It's final destination is Judgement before Christ. There will be no reprieve. Once people deny Christ in this life and die, that's it. Their fate, as it is, is sealed. There's nothing anybody can do to get anyone out of Hell. Yes, my dear reader, the sentence of death, given by God concerning sin, is that real and that permanent. If it were possible to pray anyone out of Hell then Jesus would have died needlessly.
Satan will try to convince believers of their rights, of their need for equality between the sexes. Of how they are wronged and in need validation of who they think they are. The Lord told Adam and Eve the way it would be like. The relationship between Adam and Eve changed after sin infected them and all humanity after them. That she would want his authority. Yet that was never her intended place in God's order of things. Read it yourself. Don't think that I am bashing anyone. God never intended women to rule over men. It's a lie of Satan to alter God's intended order of things.
Your mind...your mind is an open book to Satan and his minions. You sleep. He and they do not. He and they know everything about you. What buttons to push to try to get you to do something.
He cannot possess a believer but he can try to influence their thinking to make them ineffective for Christ.
He will try to get you convinced that you deserve things. You deserve this thing or that thing. You deserve to believe what you believe...in this he twists God's Word. He tried to with Jesus, don't believe for a second that he wouldn't with you.
He will introduce as many small idols in your life that he can so that you won't notice that you have displaced God in your heart. He hates it when people obey Jesus. He hates to see people praying. He hates to see Jesus answer prayers.
So where does this go?
So where does this end?
Look, this post barely scratched the surface. Look into God's Word for the rest. You will be enticed to believe half truth and half lies.
How do you deal with this? In prayer. In God's Word. In obedience. Recognizing the truth of your life. Recognizing your need for Jesus in your life to be the most predominant aspect that defines you.
It amazes me to see how well Satan had disguised hatred in all its forms. He uses sports to induce hate of others. He uses movies to warp thinking. He uses lies spread through what used to be reputable sources to twist your mind to believe what isn't true in light of Scripture. The more I let go of things the more I see how far people have bought into his lies.
Just so you realize, there is no 'safe and harmless' hatred of others. The very notion is disguised as rivalries. It plants seeds of bitterness and anger.
Look at your life. How much of it really belongs to Jesus? Is your heart divided? Are your rights more important than what God's Word has said? Are you ignoring God's Word in favor of a favored status with people?
Remember that the war is real and you are on the front lines. Satan wants to stop believers from living and speaking God's truth. He doesn't care who goes to Hell. He wants to be God. However, when Christ arose from the dead, Satan was finished. History is just playing itself out until Jesus returns.
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