Evil Cloaked
10/11/2012
“But
I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his
subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is
in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3.
God told Adam when He placed him in the Garden of Eden that he was not
to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If we look at
Genesis chapter 3, which is what Paul refers to above, we find that
Satan blatantly lied to Eve. “You will not surely die…” Genesis 3:4.
So lies are now Satan’s forte. And after 6,000 years he’s become quite
adept at disseminating his cloaked evil among the Christian Ekklesia.
That lie was the cause of an immeasurable rift between God and man. Jesus,
of course, bridged that rift at the cross, but Satan would like nothing
more than to undo what Jesus did 2,000 years ago. We know that Jesus’
sacrifice will never be voided, but that won’t stop His nemesis from
creating as much havoc in this world while he still can.
Paul
was fearful that the serpent’s beguiling of Eve would have the same
detrimental effect on the Ekklesia of Christ and rightfully so. But
unlike when he deceived Eve, today Satan’s evil lies are not so
transparent – especially for those who are biblically illiterate. When
Satan, through his lies, can instill an “I don’t care” attitude in the
mind of a professing Christian he has just moved to first base. However,
when the serpent can create doubt in the mind of a follower of Jesus
Christ as to the accuracy of God’s word, then he has hit a homerun.
Ultimately, as doubt manifests and festers, Satan moves in for the kill
with “another gospel”, and with the acceptance of that false gospel he’s
hit the grand slam of deceptions.
Let’s first understand who it is we are dealing with. The enemy of God has a name. In the Hebrew his name is “heylel”.
In English his name means “light bearer”, or in the Latin “Lucifer”.
The term “light bearer” can be very misleading, especially when we
consider that he is the epitome of evil. Jesus Christ, the Creator of
the world and the Creator of the “light bearer-Lucifer”, is the true
Light of the world and of men. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4. Darkness, when spoken of in our Bibles, is usually demonic “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” John 1:5 Most
people today, including many Christians, deny the demonic realm exists.
Others seem to have a bit of understanding when it comes to the
demonic, but ignore it as though it was insignificant. Most people, even
though they believe in the supernatural, misunderstand thus
significantly underestimate the leader of that realm – and his power.
What they don’t seem to grasp is that even though Lucifer/Satan is pure
evil he avoids all appearance of evil like the plague.
To
unmask his evil plans and parade them about in public would be
detrimental to Satan’s agenda. What we must understand about this very
powerful being is that he is able to pull off a huge deception
concerning his malevolence. Satan and his followers make themselves
appear as benevolent while disseminating their deceptions. Satan’s
agenda is to steal, kill, and destroy humans; understandably, the
transparency of his agenda wouldn’t go over well with his human prey.
Therefore he must cloak his evil plans.
“…for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14.
As he is able to transform himself into an “angel of light” he can put
forth a demeanor of purity which cloaks his true intentions. This is why
God tells us again and again to be ever diligent especially when it
comes to God’s Word. There are many false teachers these days taking
Satan’s lies to new levels.
Satan
is evil, period. Yet his lies are always peppered with some truth. He
is beguiling, crafty and extremely intelligent, far more so than any
human being presently on earth. Therefore we must not only believe
but we must also rely on God’s word for guidance. We rely on God
Himself for our protection against this extremely evil foe, but
believing God is paramount when it comes to understanding the enemy’s
agenda. Remember, Satan knows the word of God also and he will use it as
it suits his plan. Notwithstanding, his lies will always be hidden
betwixt the truth – just enough to beguile. Satan once tried to beguile
Jesus in the wilderness. How did Jesus answer him each time Satan
confronted Him? By quoting Scripture. We must be just as biblically
literate and diligent.
“Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness…” 2 Corinthians 11:15.
The ministers Paul speaks of above are those who follow their father
the devil by doing his bidding. Some are very public figures; some are
Bible teachers, some lead Christian congregations, and some lead cults.
If you think Satan’s ministers are only fallen angels and demons, then
you too have been deceived. Satan has an army of ministers who are human
and who are fully entrenched in his camp. They are those who stand in
the shadow of the “light bearer” as they do their best to cloak Satan’s
personification of evil.
Lies
are meant to deceive, pure and simple; deception is always the path of
the enemy. Satan continually uses his deceptive techniques to attract
the unsuspecting (biblically illiterate) and lull them into a false
sense of well being. To the biblically illiterate his evil is always
cloaked, which makes these folks ripe candidates to follow anything that
sounds true, good, or that makes life more comfortable. Remember,
cloaked evil never resembles evil, but always takes on a pleasing, and
fulfilling charismatic characteristic.
Throughout
the past few thousand years Satan has had a tremendous and highly
successful run at presenting evil as good. Many souls have been deceived
right into Hell. God didn’t just dump us on this planet and leave us
alone; He gave us warning after warning in His word so that we could
avoid being led astray by the evil one. Increasingly in these last days
it seems that even many of God’s own children are now more spiritually
in tune with the evil one, than with God. As humankind moves ever closer
to Christ’s return, it becomes more and more apparent that many
professing Christians are nothing more than secular humanists in sheep’s
clothing. Many of these folks have not only divided their loyalties,
but have fully defected.
To
be a true Christian means we stand with Jesus Christ, and not just
during worship time or prayer time but in all times. We are never to
stand opposed to our God, and as God’s children we are never to take on a
secular worldview mindset. God never tells His children to wallow in
the muck and mire of the secular world. We must sojourn in this world,
but the world should never view us (or love us) as one of their own.
Clearly Jesus expects us to be the light of the world. “Ye
are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be
hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a
candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let
your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16.
Jesus is adamant about the fact that we are never to hide our light but
to always let it shine. When we choose to stand against God, because in
our minds we’ve decided in the end our choices will justify the means,
God sees this as unfaithfulness, and unfaithfulness is the same as
slapping Him in the face.
Satan,
once again, has raised his ugly head as the angel of light and
convinced many Christians that we are to keep our faith completely
separated from our own personal secular worldview. Here’s an example,
abortion is so completely acceptable by mankind these days that we now
murder the innocent, while still in the womb, and by the millions every
year. Yet abortion is an abomination to God. Where are God’s children?
Our silence in this regard speaks volumes.
I’ve
heard it from many professing Christians that they have no problem with
homosexuality, live and let live they say, thus through our own apathy
homosexuality has been allowed to become so commonplace that the
majority of humankind now not only condone this satanic evil but many
desire to join in with these deceived individuals and play along.
The
world is upside down and many professing Christians are siding with
Satan in this regard as well as in other decisions that are purely
secular and opposed to God. What do we, who revere the Bible as God’s
truth, see occurring? The ever progressiveness of cloaked evil.
Those
who stand with God, even under the most fierce condemnation that comes
from the lost of this world, not to mention from many of our own
brethren, are the true family of God . “But
with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of
man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by
myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the
Lord.” 1 Corinthians 4:3-4. Let mankind judge us. For their judgment is of no significance. God is our judge, and He judges righteously.
Instead
of being a light on a hill, many Christians are actually as dark as the
night. When we as the followers of Jesus Christ lose our saltiness we
are good for nothing except to Satan. No salt? Satan has a job for you.
He will conscript you into his service, and as you become his accomplice
helping him in presenting his evil agenda, can you guess what your key
responsibility will be? The cloaking and disseminating of his evil
plans.
Only
by believing God and what He has given us as His inerrant word can
cloaked evil be unveiled. Studying God’s word for ourselves is vital.
Here’s another example of a satanic lie cloaked. The phrase “judge not”
is used, in many cases, by those who are into full on rebellion against
God. People will use that phrase incessantly as they attempt to deflect
any complaints of immorality from landing on their doorstep. The verse
in question doesn’t mean we aren’t to use righteous judgment when
confronted with deceptions and immorality, it simply means we are never
to condemn others (that’s God’s domain). We are certainly never to
accept Satan’s deceptions, the immoral actions of others, their
lifestyles, or false religions and cults by siding with them, especially
merely for convenience sake.
A
major deception which Satan has performed in these last days is to
convince the world that evil is good and pleasing, and good is now
nothing more than an irritant which should be shunned. Many professing
Christians seem to look at evil as something that is optional instead of
obligatory to avoid. When “judge not” is implemented by Christians
attempting to cover their sinfulness they become fully secular without
any concern for their relationship with God. When we as Christians step
away from our God for any reason we instantaneously enter the camp of
Satan. When we step away from our faith and allow Satan to have his way
in our lives, it means that we’ve just been deceived – Satan was
successful at cloaking his evil again. Awareness of the cloaking and
spiritual discernment is the key – evil cloaked is at the door, so is
Jesus. Which will you let in?
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
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