Satan and His Religion

[Dr. K.R. Allen]

"For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness" (2 Cor. 11:14-15).

Dr. Jonathan Edwards, a man who is estimated by some of the most brilliant people of this era to have been one of the brightest and most gifted theological and philosophical minds ever produced in North America, spoke very clearly about the dangers of Satan infiltrating the hearts and minds of even the religious people. As one of the greatest revivalists and preachers not only in this country but in church history overall he warned his disciples often of the ways in which one could be deceived by Satan. In particular concerning Satan he noted this:

"Thus the devil has undoubtedly a great degree of speculative knowledge in divinity; having been, as it were, educated in the best divinity school in the universe . . . .the heaven of heavens. He must . . . have such an extensive and accurate knowledge concerning the nature and attributes of God as we, worms of the dust, in our present state, are not capable of . . . . He must have a great knowledge of the Holy Scriptures; for it is evident he is not hindered from knowing what was written there, by the use he made the words of Scripture in his temptation of our Savior . . . . And it is evident that he has a great speculative knowledge of the nature of experimental religion, by his being able to imitate it so artfully, and in such a manner as to transform himself into an angel of light."

 

[Anonymous]

It would appear from the quoted Scripture and Jonathon Edwards admonition, that Satan would most efficiently make his appearance among believers as a person with religious standing and appearance, slightly offsetting the Word of God to his own ends. One wrong turn at the beginning of a journey results in a completely different destination. Rat poison, "Decon" is more than 98 % good grain. It is the 2 % poison that gets them.

2 Timothy 2:15-16
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

Study, make the effort to KNOW what pleases God and that which will make us approved before Him.

Philippians 3:16-21
Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

It is not necessary to re-invent the wheel every time we find something new. It is worthwhile to read what other believing Bible scholars and preachers before us have discovered. I am not suggesting that their lessons are on a par with inspired scripture, but that they may well have done the leg work in research and prayer that will enable us to pray and seek God with intelligence. If each of us climbs the same mountain, we never get beyond the same range of mountains because we use all our strength covering the same ground our neighbor did before us. The Lone Ranger is a work of fiction. On more than one occasion, Paul had no trouble saying follow me, because I follow Christ.

 

[Scarecrow]

"infiltrating the hearts and minds of even the religious people"

Considering what is taught in a lot of Seminaries it is evident that they have been a primary target...and why wouldn't he be active there? If he can twist the student's minds before they are finished then they become foot soldiers for him. Many of the atheists I know went through Seminary.

 

[Dr. K.R. Allen]

Dr. Billy Graham has noted this over the course of his life and ministry:

"Satan invades the theological seminary and even the pulpit. Many times he even invades the church under the cover of an orthodox vocabulary, emptying the sacred terms of their biblical sense."

Cults do this all the time. They often redefine the term Lord, or God, or salvation. They use historic Christian terms but then define it differently than it originally meant.

Feminists do this as well. They use the word and redefine the terms about headship, submission, and reverence.

Male chauvinists and prideful men do this as well. They undermine the words about love and servanthood as well as scriptures that teach they need to be a disciple of another leader and under godly leadership to whom they are accountable.

Mandated monogamy only people do this when they use the term adultery but define it differently than what we see in the Bible.

Quasi-State/Church systems (sometimes technically known as Erastianism) do this when they translate the Holy Bible with the modern newly created term "marriage" when that means something by definition different than the original term gamos meant in the era it was written.

All of us are guilty of being duped and tricked by the devil at times. The key to overcoming him though is placing the Bible not just in word as the ultimate source of our authority but in actual practice of it applying it and by that too we have accountability to be pulled back into the line of truth when we are being pulled away by the evil tricks of Satan as he seeks to infiltrate as an angel of light when in reality he is a dark hole full of misery.