Book 3 of Musings God Is Greater
If the enemy is stronger and wiser than God, than we who are trusting in Jesus are facing defeat and destruction.
If every word of the Bible is not true, then we who are walking by faith in Jesus are heading toward catastrophe. Otherwise, we are more than conquerors through the Lord Jesus Christ.
I think we assign too much power to Satan. The unscriptural teaching of the pre-tribulation rapture seems to have left God's people with a fear of Antichrist, a fear of Satan. God has to remove His Church from the earth so Antichrist cannot harm the believers.
You know, I believe this kind of thinking and preaching angers Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is a Monarch with unlimited authority and power. The only authority and power that Satan possesses is that which Christ permits so Christ's purposes may be fulfilled in His Church and in the earth.
I think the Lord's attitude is, "If you want to worship Satan then go do so." This would be the attitude of a king who has all power.
The war between God and Satan is not one of power against power. God has all power. God has given to the Lord Jesus Christ all authority and all power in the heavens, on the earth, and in the dark regions under the earth.
The day will come when all of God's creatures, including Satan, will bow the knee and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all.
The war between God and Satan is one of righteousness. We do not overcome Satan by exerting more power. We overcome Satan, Antichrist, the False Prophet, and all else that is of Satan, by our trust in the blood of the Lamb; by our testimony that God is true and faithful; and by loving not our life to the point of death.
It is not a case of power against power but of righteousness against wickedness.
As long as we sin, Satan has authority over us. So does the Lake of Fire. God suspends their authority while we are undergoing moral transformation.
However, if we refuse to undergo moral transformation, choosing instead to cling to our worldliness, lust, and self-will, then we have no power over Satan. He can do with us pretty much as he will.
Here is a great error in current Christian thinking. We suppose if we profess belief in Christ that Satan cannot harm us. This is true only when we are serving the Lord.
Numerous American believers are not serving the Lord. They are serving the world spirit. They are far more concerned about money, entertainment, and their own comfort and well being than they are about Christ and His Gospel. Therefore they can be harmed by Satan.
As long as we are abiding in Christ, the Truth that is in us will overcome Antichrist. But when we are not abiding in Christ we are exposed to the work of Satan whether or not we are a professing Christian.
Right now the American Christians to a great extent are backslidden. They are not undergoing moral transformation. They are trusting they are saved by "faith alone" and that their behavior does not affect their salvation.
They are not aware of the danger of their position. They do not have the protection of the ninety-first Psalm because they are not dwelling in Christ. They do not have the protection of the angel of the Lord because they do not live in the fear of the Lord.
They cannot claim all things are working for their good because they do not love God. They may say they love God but their behavior proves otherwise. They have many idols that they worship, that they love more than they do God.
The coming days in America may serve to separate the multitude of worldly, lukewarm believers from the true saints.
Satan's way is to let people grow increasingly cold without making them aware of it. When Satan believes the time is ripe he strikes. All of a sudden the "believers" recognize that they have no spiritual strength. They shake themselves, as did Samson, but nothing happens. Their spiritual strength has ebbed from them as they watched television.
If we are truly serving the Lord there is no need for us to fear Antichrist, the False Prophet, or the Great Tribulation. As Paul said, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ.
The unscriptural doctrine of the rapture has it that we will be raised from the dead and then be caught up to Christ in the air in order to escape Antichrist and the Great Tribulation.
Now think: what will the saints be like when they have been raised from the dead? Will Antichrist be able to harm saints who have been raised from the dead and clothed with the Glory of God?
Will the Great Tribulation be able to harm saints who have been raised from the dead and clothed with the Glory of God?
Does the Lord have to catch them up so they cannot be harmed? What foolishness is this!
You know what? I don't believe the people who preach the pre-tribulation rapture have read the fourth chapter of the Book of First Thessalonians. I don't think they realize people are raised from the dead before they are caught up to meet the Lord in the air? If they still are alive when the Lord returns, they will be changed, as it says in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, before they are caught up.
I think the churchgoers are picturing themselves suddenly being caught up with no prior preparation. Perhaps this is accounts for the foolish practice of jumping up and down next to their pews "in preparation for the rapture."
Obviously, if mortality has been swallowed up by immortality before we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, we will be, at that time, an entirely different kind of person than we are now. We will have an immortal body.
But the American believers are not ready for an immortal body. Before we have an immortal body we must have attained to resurrection life in our inward nature. This is the resurrection the Apostle Paul was seeking.
Can you imagine the typical American believer, sitting in church on a Sunday morning, wondering what the football scores are, being suddenly transformed into immortality? This is not going to take place. It is rank foolishness to believe such a thing. It is a fairy story, a mythology.
No, we in America-most of us-are nowhere near ready to suddenly change from flesh and blood metabolism to Holy Spirit metabolism. The moment the change began in us we would fall back in unbelief. We would be as Lot's wife.
God is stronger and wiser than Satan. God does not have to catch us up from the earth so we cannot be harmed. God will show His power by raising us from the dead. Then He will give us a period of time on the earth to enjoy our new status, just as the Lord Jesus was forty days on the earth after He was raised from the dead.
After this God will catch us up to meet the Commander in Chief in the air. We will not suddenly disappear. We will be caught up slowly so all the world can see this greatest of all testimonies.
Then the wicked will be terrified unbearably. But this is just the beginning of their trouble. For soon those hated saints, led by the Lord Jesus Christ, will come down from the air on the huge white war stallions, their spiritual lances held at the ready. This is the Battle of Armageddon and the beginning of the end of the presence of wickedness on the earth.
I would suppose the armies of Heaven are in training now, because no army rushes into battle without extensive training under the guidance of its officers. We on the earth are beginning to confess our sins and renounce them so we may be ready to appear with the Lord.
Wonderful days, and terrible days, we are living in. Wonderful because new avenues of redemption are opening to us. Terrible because the conflict of the ages is at hand. Those who love Christ with all their heart will survive and help others to survive. But I am afraid many American Christians do not love Christ with all their heart, and the coming days in America may prove for them to be dreadful indeed.
Let's you and I do all we can to warn people of the need to serve Jesus Christ with all their heart, and set a good example for them.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:27-29)