Protection
From
Deception
With an aging pentecostal stream exalting signs and wonders while
ignoring the necessity of the fear of God and a pure heart, we have
seen the creation of a highly unstable church full of proven dangers.
Where do you stand? Will you continue to stand? In this 1996 booklet,
Derek Prince exhorts us to be alert, and protect ourselves.
"Remember, the soulish is essentially self-centered.
In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul describes what the condition of humanity
will be like at the close of this age, and I believe we are living
in that time. He lists eighteen sins or moral blemishes.
But know this [and that's the only time I can recall that Paul was so
emphatic. He says, now be absolutely sure of this ... , that in the
last days perilous times will come....
The Greek word translated perilous is only used in one other place, in
Matthew 8:28, where it describes two demonized men who came against
Jesus. And notice the English word there: fierce. So, there are going
to be fierce times, and they are here! You can pray as much as you
like, but you cannot change it. Because God says, Know this ... there
will be fierce times. You cannot change it, but you can ask God to
prepare you for it."
Regrettably, Prince stops just short of discussing His Rest since the
re-discovered rare heritage material found on this
website was still being assembled at that time. Regardless, you may
need this solid
and necessary information in these dangerous days since these
little-known recent historical examples are from a man who was there
enough to see what really happened to figures like William
Branham! Finally the truth is
out!
for 28 pages by Derek Prince click on the title above.
And these consequences will only increase over
time since we continue to build -but on the wrong foundation.... But
Prince's valuable article was written ten years ago now. Time has
not stood still. Judgment is now being poured out in some places for
these
things. Discover the full reason below:
Moishe's Recurrent Dreams
About the Messiah
An devout 80 year old Jewish shopkeeper in Tel Aviv had an astonishing
dream recur for 90 nights in 1994. by Jim
Bramlett Adding more immediate impact to this
significant dream is, "The Valley Of Jehoshaphat" by
Hollie L. Moody .....
"I then saw a swarm of what appeared to be
frogs,
lizards, salamanders, etc., come streaming up from a crater that had
appeared
when the valley floor burst open. I was repulsed by the sight. To my
surprised astonishment, however, the group of people remaining in the
valley cried
out in excited awe at the appearance of the swarm of creatures. “They
do
not see these creatures as you are seeing them,” the Lord explained to
me.
“You see them as the demonic spirits they truly are. The people in the
valley
see them through a spirit of deception. They perceive these demonic
spirits
to be angels, agents from Me, sent from Me to instruct them and reveal
hidden truths and mysteries to them.
They know not that they are in the process of being deceived. I have
chosen their deception.”
“Why, Lord?” I asked, shocked by His words.
“When I called, they did not answer,” The Lord replied. “When I gave
them instructions, they disregarded or set aside My instructions. They
looked
to man, and not to Me. They refused to hear My voice. Therefore,
I will
cause them to hear the lies of demonic spirits as if it were My voice
speaking
to them. I will choose their delusions,” the Lord repeated again."
The Toronto
Deception Vineyard Pastor from Toronto, Paul
Gowdy humbly tells us how it was.
My
Own Experience
with the "Toronto Blessing" I was very much outside of
all this, but still I saw some of how it all got started.... 2
pages by
Earnest
Seeker
Selections from
Caughey's Journal
Caughey tells us his testimony together with inspiring stories of great
revivals of the past, and salts them with an exellent discussion of the
principles of judgment lived out in experience by those who were not
good stewards.
"Great revivals of religion are often storm-birds of misfortune to
those who harden their hearts and refuse to he saved by them. It is
likely to
be so here. The "storm-bird" is passing and re-passing over. Beware of
coming judgments.
If you will look into Ezekiel's vision of the holy waters, you will
find that the miry places and the marshes thereof, which were not
healed, were given to salt; they were salted by the just judgments of
God. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. He that is not salted
by the Gospel, cured
of his sinful maladies, and saved from his sins, may expect to be
salted
by judgments!" This is a serious and invaluable resource that
imparts a deeper perspective upon our pilgrimage. If you are a serious
leader who wants to keep himself and his flock in the light of His
favor, you need to read this. 37 important heritage pages
by Daniel Wise
Crossing the Deadline
There is something unique about the time of crisis while preparing to
cross the line into salvation. The same sort of thing occurs while
preparing to cross the line into being His bondslave (entering His
Rest).
It is like the all-seeing eyes of the Father Himself are diligently and
without prejudice, searching out
the quality of your faith. Enclosed is a number of fearfully
instructional
examples of what NOT to do during these times under conviction from
Him.
These deliberately turned their hearts away from His best
without
fear. They paid the price. 13 heritage pages by R. G.
Flexon
Of Churches and Judgment
Things do happen in the Spirit. The Lord is not
just a passive observer: I used to frequent cutting edge charismatic
circles where people were testing the limits of faith. When mistakes
are made,
there is little experience from others that these sincere leaders can
turn
to.
I personally have twice seen anointed churches
find their Holy Spirit withdrawn. The first one allowed obviously
phony prophecy to continue to grieve the Spirit in the services. Clear
warnings were ignored through misplaced caution and just plain lack of
discernment.
Every time it happened, the Spirit would lift from the service for a
good
while, but one day He just never came back. -that was many years
ago.
Their church is as dry as dust even today. Some are still wondering why
everybody
left. Their remaining few carry on going through the motions surrounded
by
empty pews.
In the second instance, the apostolic leader of
a
small charismatic denomination believed a lie, and became more
permissive
about sin -and preached that people should be more honest. The
reasonable
sounding "revelation" was that if there was a habit or temptation that
they were keeping under check by force of will, the person should
practise the sin until they were delivered from it. In keeping with
this new honesty,
he divorced his difficult old wife and soon married a young admiring
church
staffer. Sins large and small soon ravaged the weak in the flock
in
our local church. Young men started smoking again. Affairs multiplied.
Profanity
was heard. Bars were frequented. You name it. It really got really wild
and
cult-like. Before long the great leader died from a very swift brain
cancer.
His young wife was suddenly a widow. One Sunday my wife and I went to
service, and there was no anointing to be had. I did not bother to go
the next week.
Some carried on as if nothing had been lost, but most left before long.
Since our local leader was of a better quality, he disbanded the
fellowship
and left.
Great harm was done to many. Many friendships were lost. Almost
everybody got divorces. Many moved away in disgust. My wife never
really recovered.
Within a few months the leader's widow married
another staffer and they kept the things going cultishly for the few
shell-shocked
souls that remained in California. Over years new people joined, and
they
now have a website -and on it, their history has been totally
whitewashed
to omit all this cultish background. The old leader's place in history
is
wholly rehabilitated. If only they knew. Fools are born every day, it
seems.
I heard of one California branch with a high
profile leader. The church was in his name, so he locked the doors,
sold the building, pocketed the cash and left a wealthy man. Ah, life
is good!
In both cases, my personal anointing remained. I
was protective of it. I always have tended to stay on the edges,
where He is. A side effect was that I stayed well away from the
political centre
of gravity. I like church building projects because it provides so many
opportunities to work with and minister to the other men in an informal
setting.
Much profitable one-on-one ministry occurs.
My third experience is even more chilling. The
Holy Spirit did not leave, but another spirit came to this
hyper-prosperity church with its many long and fast-talking high
pressure offering sermons. Often offering four sermons in one three or
four hour service. Mind-bending
tactics were regularly used to squeeze for even more dollars. The staff
was
young and full of high expectations for wealth. It was also
inexperienced
and incompletely trained. The "senior" pastor had an ability to spout
swelling
words like a machine gun for hours.
After boasting that they were building a new
church
debt-free, the crowd was informed one day that there was now a large
mortgage
on the huge and swanky new building! Acres paved for parking. Of course
it would not be fitting without the pastor receiving a swanky new house
with
his and hers Mercedes parked in front. Unbelievers must see how God
blesses!!!
Many were not fooled.
Things carried on but it became really
weird in the spirit. There was a foreign spirit that people did not
discern, but they reacted to. This spirit brought oppression and
confusion that had to be counter-acted with high excitement. The church
developed a "revolving door": as fast as new people came to the church,
older ones were blown
away in disillusionment -after they had been thoroughly fleeced.
I left , but developed an outreach for a while
to these
freshly blown away souls so that they would not leave the Lord as well.
I
hear that the church still exists -but sermons are preached to a great
many
empty pews. Financial pressure is heavy to televise their message.
Those that
tell me shake their heads at the obvious folly. But that was years ago.
More recently I have heard claims of
"another spirit" coming to hide and dominate many revival churches of
"the river" etc. I don't travel much, so I don't know personally, nor
would I be eager to feel that dark cloud again. I am no masochist or
"ghostbuster". Besides these lieing spirits are placed by God to
deceive -as judgment for not listening and humbly following God's
best as they should. I suppose,
they are already receiving their reward.
You might have the impression that the Lord will
be there no matter what happens. Apparently that is just not true. He
is
alive. He is no fool. He is not blind or deaf. He has certain standards
-and so scary things can happen. After all -these are the end
times....
I once heard an old Mennonite proverb telling
young men how to stay true:
Go slow.
Stay low.
Don't blow.
Interpreted: Be a careful Berean in the Word. Be
sure of His direction. Stay humble and lowly. Don't let your mouth get
ahead of Him. Don"t be boastful -except of the Lord's works. Give Him
the glory together
with your whole heart and life.
Yours in His Most Excellent Service;
Earnest Seeker
Jerusalem - Babylon the Great!
By David Orton
When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, the rebellious
city of God, warning of imminent judgement, it was because they did
not “recognise the time of their visitation (or inspection)” (Lk 19:44).
God had “come down” in the person of his Son to inspect his people.
What he discovered was the mature fruit of their idolatrous ways.
Beginning with Aaron’s golden calf, continuing with the Baals of
Canaan, their idolatry ripened in its Pharisaic rejection of Messiah
himself. Because of their spiritual adulteries they were unable to
respond to the Bridegroom and transition to the “new thing” that God
was doing. They had so imbibed the spirit of pride by the time of
Christ that John identified her as the “great city, Babylon, the city
of power” (Rev 18:10)! The great city of Babylon, the great harlot, was
none other than Jerusalem herself![1] She was so drunk with the world
spirit – so enamoured with the work of human hands, she had become the
city of man – Babylon itself.
The Spirit of the World and the Spirit of Pride
Jerusalem, now identified as Babylon, shows the
frightening potential for the redeemed community’s illicit liaison with
the world-spirit. Babylon represents man organising himself apart from
God and as such is animated by a spirit of pride and independence. This
is the ruling
principle of the world. And is the same spirit that seduced our first
parents in Eden, which their progeny gave free reign to at Babel, and
that
the church continues to do battle with at this end of the age. Isaiah’s
inspired proclamation against the king of Babylon shows Satan, himself,
as the animating spirit behind her prideful spiritual aspirations.
Satan’s
five “I wills” are identical, in spirit, to the aspirations expressed
at Babel. “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will
raise
my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of
assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend
above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High’”
(Isa
14:13-14)[2]. Each one of these “I wills” represents a spiritual
aspiration.
Pursuing spiritual ends out of self-will is the most subtle Satanic
temptation.
It is the spirit of Babylon and chronically infects the Christian
ministry,
corrupting the church with the spirit of pride and an alien value
system.
The Harlot and the Beast!
John represents the people of God, breached by
the spirit of the world, as seductive and vicious – as harlot[3] and
beast. In Revelation chapter 13 two beasts appear. One emerges from the
sea, the other from the land. The first beast represents world powers
and
their beast-like nature as they emerge from the tumultuous sea of
peoples.
For John’s audience this is personified in Rome and its despotic power.
We will give our attention, though, to the second beast - the
land-beast (v 11-18). But first, we need to identify “the land”.
Chilton points
out that, “John uses the expression ‘those who dwell on the Land’
twelve
times in Revelation (once for each of the twelve tribes) to refer to
apostate Israel (3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10 [twice]; 13:8, 12, 14 [twice];
14:6; 17:2, 8)[4].” “The Land”, therefore, is the Promised Land of
Canaan – possessed, or alternatively, dispossessed under the terms of
covenant blessing or
cursing. And the “beast”, the religious animal, which emerged from “the
land”, is none other than the back-slidden old covenant church!
The Church becomes a False Prophet
The land-beast (the back-slidden OT church) is also identified as the
false prophet[5] whose role is to operate as the agent and advocate of
the sea-beast (the world): “And he (the land-beast) exercises all the
authority of the first beast (the sea-beast) in his presence” (v 12
NASB). The land-beast stood “in his presence” (i.e. in the presence of
the sea-beast). This is in contrast to the true prophet who “stands
before the Lord”,
under whose authority he serves and whom he represents. The Old
Testament
church literally became the prophet and press-agent for the
world-spirit!
WHO REALLY IS THE BEAST?
A WARNING TO THE END-TIME CHURCH
Surely, “the Beast” is the Antichrist! That is exactly what Satan would
want us to believe. As a liar and deceiver he diverts attention from
the true nature of the anti-Christ spirit. In fact, the term
“Antichrist” does not appear at all in the Book of Revelation. However,
John does use it in his epistles: “Dear children this is the last hour;
and as you
have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists
have
come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from
us…the
spirit of the antichrist,…which even now is already in the world” (1 Jn
2:18-19; 4:3 NIV, emphasis mine). We are so busy looking across the
world-scene
for some future or contemporary political super-leader as the
Antichrist
we are completely unaware that the anti-Christ spirit is operating
right
under our noses, in the church! John said that many anti-Christs have
gone
“out from us”. Forget about the world for the moment - the church has
been
the breeding-ground for anti-Christ!
Israel’s idolatry for our warning
As Israel, the old covenant church, had been so
led astray by the time of Christ and the apostles that she could be
described as “the beast” and “the false prophet”, likewise, the new
covenant
church. Paul understood this, explaining that the history of Israel’s
idolatry was recorded for our warning – for the end-time church upon
whom the climax of the ages had come.[6] A warning implies a danger -
the potential for a fall. This occurred within the first several
centuries
with the church succumbing to the spirit of the world in the form of
state
patronage, hierarchical leadership structures, doctrinal schisms,
wealth,
and the pursuit of position, prestige, and power. This was the
prophesied
great “falling away”.[7] Despite reforming movements throughout her
history
climaxing in the breakthrough of the Reformation and
counter-Reformation
of the 16th & 17th Centuries the same spirit of idolatry has
continued.
John calls it the love of the world: “If anyone loves the world, the
love
of the Father is not in him” (1 Jn 2:15 NIV). In the same breath he
describes
how the love of the world manifests – as “the lust of the flesh
[craving
for sensual gratification], and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings
of
the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one’s own resources or in
the
stability of earthly things]” (v 16 AMP).
The church-system – a mirror image of the
world-system
To the degree the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life operate in the church, to that degree
it serves the god of this age. And, as such is animated by a predatory
nature and can accurately be described as “the beast”. The beast-nature
of the church-system is merely the mirror-image of the world-system.
And, as the “false prophet”, it serves as the world’s press-agent by
setting up the world’s image, in the church, for all to worship: “He
(the
land-beast/backslidden church) ordered them to set up an image in honor
of the beast (the sea-beast/the world)...He was given power to give
breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and
cause
all who refuse to worship the image to be killed” (Rev 13:15).
Corporate McChurch
A spiritually compromised church becomes an
idolatrous image of the world. The church’s image has the appearance of
substance - it has the breath of life so that it can speak – it is very
articulate, and persuasive. “...He was given power to give breath to
the image…so
that it could speak”. Her glorification of the world can be seen in
corporate models of governance and image making, the professionalising
of the ministry reducing it to successful program management, the
commercialising of
worship as an industry, and the cult of celebrity amongst ministers and
musicians. It has produced the hybrid senior pastor - half CEO and half
entertainer, who on Sunday “brings the house down” and Monday presides
over corporate “McChurch”.
Conflict of Flesh and Spirit
Her idolatrous worship of the world-spirit and
its values is so ravenous and beast-like it attempts to devour and
destroy all those who refuse to bow -“He was given power to…cause all
who refuse to worship the image to be killed”.
The flesh always conflicts with the Spirit: “ But as at that
time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born
according to the Spirit, so it is now also” (Gal 4:29 NASB).
Ishmael, the son of the flesh, persecuted Isaac, the son of promise by
mocking him.[8] The scribes and Pharisees mocked Jesus as he hung on
the cross.[9] The disciples were mocked on the day of Pentecost when
they were filled with the Spirit.[10] And Peter prophesied that in the
last days mockers would come following their own lusts.[11] A mocking
spirit is often disguised by humour. The Hebrew word for mocker comes
from a root “to play, to sport, to laugh”.[12] Even “friendly” jesting
can be a deceitful and cowardly form of mocking: “The words of his
mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words
were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords” (Ps 55:21 KJV).
As the age comes to a climax men and women of
the Spirit will find themselves increasingly coming under attacks from
false brothers[13] - from those who have bowed to the world’s image
and who will increasingly manifest the beast-nature of religion. The
last great end-time move of God will bring a final divide between flesh
and Spirit - between false brothers and true when the Son of Man will
weed out of the kingdom everything that offends.[14]
[1] Compare Rev 18:10; 16:19; 17:18; & 11:8; see
David Chilton, Days of Vengeance, p. 362 ff, 421ff. While one may not
fully agree with his complete theological position or all the details
of his exegesis, in my opinion Chilton’s commentary on Revelation,
after twenty-five years of pursuing an interest in this subject,
provides one of the most hermeneutically sound and plausible
interpretations I have seen. I commend it to your attention.
[2] See also Lk 10:18 for Jesus’ application of this
Isaiah passage to Satan.
[3] Rev 17 & Chilton, ibid, p. 421ff
[4] Chilton, ibid, p.129 – he also states, “In the Greek
Old Testament (the version used by the early Church), it is a common
prophetic expression for rebellious, idolatrous Israel about to be
destroyed and driven from the Land (Jer 1:14; 10:18; Ezk 7:7; 36:17;
Hos 4:1, 3; Joel
1:2, 14; 2:1; Zeph 1:18), based on its original usage in the historical
books
of the Bible for rebellious, idolatrous pagans about to be destroyed
and
driven from the Land (Num 32:17; 33:52, 55; Josh 7:9; 9:24; Judg 1:32;
2
Sam 5:6; 1 Chr 11:4; 22:18; Neh 9:24); Israel has become a nation of
pagans, and is about to be destroyed, exiled, and supplanted by a new
nation, the Church.”
[5] Rev 16:13; 19:20
[6] 1 Cor 10:11
[7] apostasia – the apostacy, or rebellion; 2 Ths 2:3;
Mtt
24:10
[8] Gen 21:9
[9] Mt 27:41
[10] Acts 2:13
[11] 2 Pet 3:3
[12] Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, Oak Harbor, WA: Logos
Research Systems, Inc., 1995
[13] 2 Cor 11:26; Gal 2:4
[14] Mtt 13:41
Part 2
Babylon – the Church, seduced by a spirit of pride
The prophets all declare the ultimate fall of
Babylon – her uprooting and complete destruction.[1] But what is
Babylon? Is it Islam, the Roman Catholic Church, or perhaps the global
financial
system? Or, could it be America, as some are currently claiming?
However, we have already seen that the Babylon of Revelation can
actually
symbolise the church![2] Seduced by religion and the spirit of
pride the city of God can, in reality, become the city of man – Babylon
itself! We are unwise, though, in attempting to identify her with a
particular
denomination, organisation, or group. Babylon is a spirit before it is
a system. While it can be variously described, as a religious spirit,
or a political spirit, and even a worldly or commercial spirit, it is
behind all these things, a spirit of pride. Isaiah exposed this when he
prophesied Babylon’s fall:
7 You said, ‘I will continue forever— the eternal queen!’ But you did
not consider these things or reflect on what might happen.
8 ‘‘Now then, listen, you wanton creature, lounging in your security
and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will
never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’
9 Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of
children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in
spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells.
10 You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’
Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you
when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to
conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you
that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot
foresee will suddenly come upon you. (Isa 47:7-11 NIV; also Rev 18:7,8)
We mistakenly look for Babylon out there when all the while it is in
here - in us. We have fallen prey to spiritual pride, boasting
in our pedigree as Pentecostals, Evangelicals, or Conservatives. We
say, “I am, and there is none besides me” (v 8,10). We feel smugly
secure, trusting in our doctrinal orthodoxy, and in our Protestant
cathedrals of success and power: “You said, ‘I will continue forever —
the eternal queen!’” (v7).
Whether we are Evangelical, Pentecostal, or Conservative we have fallen
prey to the spirit of pride, unwittingly committing adultery with
the gods of this age.
Babylon – a home for Spiritual Powers
Babylon, through her pride, becomes a “home for
demons and a haunt for every evil spirit” (Rev 18:2; see Eph 6:12).
Principalities and powers are given a base of operation within the
church itself.[3] Like the religious establishment of Jesus’ and Paul’s
day it gives the appearance of godliness, but even religious “flesh”
provides ground
for demonic activity. Uncrucified self, in leaders and people alike,
provides legal access for Satan to rule over entire religious
structures
and organisations. By operating out of self-will, self-promotion, or
self-justification we can build and maintain churches and ministries
independently
of God. Rooted in pride they can become strongholds that ultimately
resist
the knowledge of God. What begins in the Spirit can be maintained by
the
flesh,[4] and end in demonic control.[5] The church of God, led astray
by
carnal pseudo-apostles and pastors,[6] can while maintaining
appearancees
of Evangelical or Pentecostal orthodoxy become the very “synagogue of
Satan”
(Rev 2:9; 3:9).
What better strategy than to set up a base of operations in the enemy’s
camp! A church, while maintaining religious respectability, can become
a home for spirits of witchcraft, sensuality, and control.
Pride & the work of our own hands
Babylon – the spirit of pride, is described as a
“great whore” (Rev 17:1). And with the mystery name, “… Mother of
Prostitutes and of Idol Worship Everywhere around the World” (Rev 17:5
TLB emphasis mine), she is the source of spiritual adultery. A
condition any individual, group, or movement can experience where the
spirit of pride, to whatever degree, has been given permission to
operate. Pride opens the door to other gods – to the work of our own
hands – to human effort, productivity, and power. This is not to deny a
biblical work ethic. Sure, we labour,
but it is the Lord who builds the house, or gives the increase.[7]
Rather
than trusting in the Lord we, therefore, turn to our own devices – to
human
programming and promotion. It is the same anti-Christ spirit which
operates
in the world religions, the world system, and as we have seen,
adulterously,
within the church. As a whore it is seductive and insidious. And as
the“…Mother of…idol worship everywhere around the world”, it generates
a pervasive and universal religious spirit to which all believers,
churches, and denominations are susceptible.
Idolatry and the Western church
And so, the Western church, which should have
been salt and light to the world[8] has instead become its source of
darkness. As the church goes – so goes the world. She has been designed
and mandated by God to lead the world. But her true prophetic calling
has been subverted through her own idolatry. And she has become,
instead, a false-prophet, leading the world into darkness.
Self-deceived, we foolishly point the finger at the world’s darkness,
not realising our own “lampstand” has
been taken out.[9] In our prideful boasting we say, “I am rich;
I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing…” (Rev 3:17 NIV).
Instead of living as a kingdom counter-culture we have become another
Western sub-culture, trapped in our Evangelical and Pentecostal ghettos
of cultural irrelevance. And, in a pathetic parody of our
prophetic
witness we pronounce judgement on the world, forgetting it begins in
the
house of God.[10]
The Western church, can be likened to the man that Jesus
delivered from an evil spirit. After searching for a place to rest
the demon finally decided to return. Finding the house swept clean
and unoccupied it capitalised on the opportunity by gathering seven
friends more wicked and moved back in. And so, the final condition of
the man was worse than the first.[11]
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the first several
centuries swept the house clean. But, instead of continuing to be
filled
with the Spirit it remained “unoccupied” attempting to appear “clean”
and in “order”, “having a form of godliness …” (2 Tim 3:5 NIV). Despite
this first-century cleansing of God’s house the emptiness of human
power
structures by the third, fourth, and fifth centuries began to create a
spiritual vacuum, inviting the re-entry of a stronger demonic power. It
returned seven-fold. The demons of idolatry, pride, sensuality, greed,
and witchcraft, which had ruled over previously Godless societies,
returned
in a “baptised paganism”. Peter’s prophecy of the coming apostasy was
fulfilled: “If they have escaped the corruption of the world by
knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it
and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the
beginning …Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’
and, ‘A
sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud’” (2 Pet
2:20-22
NIV). The spirit of Babylon repossessed the church and it’s final
condition,
and, therefore of Western culture, became worse than the first.
NOTE: THIS IS ONLY TWO PARTS OUT OF SIX. MORE
MAY BE
FOUND AT http://www.lifemessenger.org
