The Truth About Satanism - Part 5

Let’s notice what is plainly prophesied to occur in the last days – just before the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul wrote: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (II Tim. 3:1).

Just look at the conditions surrounding us: Our cities are ravaged by crime, plagued by the drug scourge. Every day we hear of rape, arson, child molestation, theft, vandalism, murder. And these are problems we face “at home. “Even more horrifying is the prospect of nuclear power in the hands of some power-crazed hate mongers of this world.

Indeed, we are living in perilous times!

Paul continues: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.

“For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diver lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres (the Egyptian sorcerers) withstood Moses, so do they also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith” (vs. 2-8).

Notice what else is prophesied for the “latter days”: Paul writes, “Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons” (I Tim. 4:1)!

Our age is characterized by pride, vanity, bigotry, rebellion, callousness – the things Paul warned of. And now, tens of thousands are turning to the occult and New Age spiritism, are attempting to invoke the power of the spirit world, are learning to contact “spirit guides.” They are giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons!

Your Bible warns of a time of unparalleled wickedness, a time of rampant idolatry, murder, immorality; a time when people will practice sorcery and actually worship the devil (Rev. 13:4)!

When that time comes, God will unleash His awesome wrath! Tens of thousands will die! Yet, many of the remaining wicked will refuse to repent.

Speaking of that time, John writes: “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils (demons), and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts” (Rev. 9:20-21).

Notice that demon-worship and sorcery are among the sins that will kindle God’s wrath, resulting in the horrible plagues of the Day of the Lord!

Even now, thousands are following seducing spirits and doctrines of demons; many are turning to the occult, to New Age spiritism, to Eastern religions, but the worst is yet to come!

The time is coming when Satan the devil, the great arch-adversary “which deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9), will again be cast out of heaven. He will set out to deceive, destroy, and wreak havoc throughout the earth.

“Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he hath but a short time” (Rev. 12:12).

The final expulsion of Satan the devil from heaven will mark the beginning of the prophetic time period called the Great Tribulation! “Then shall be great tribulation,” Jesus said, “such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those day shall be shortened” (Matt. 24:21-22).

When that time comes, the devil will give great power and authority to the “beast,” the human leader of the revived Roman Empire, who will speak “great things and blasphemes” (Rev. 13:5). As never before, deception will engulf this earth! Not only will people worship the beast; they will worship the devil as well (v. 4)!

Satan the devil is called “the destroyer”! He tried to destroy Jesus Christ at His birth (Rev.12:4), at the beginning of His earthly ministry (Matt. 4:1-10), and at the conclusion of His earthly ministry (John 13:2).

When the devil is cast down from heaven the second and final time, he will again set out to destroy. As he tried to destroy Christ, he will try to destroy Christ’s church (Rev. 12:13-14). And when his efforts are thwarted, he will “make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (v. 7).

In the very end of the age, the devil, knowing his time has run out, will make one final, all-out attempt to destroy human kind and God’s purpose in putting man on this earth. No doubt, his great wrath will incite the entire demonic realm, including the vilest, most demented, most powerful demons, to violent aggression!

John wrote: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon (the devil), and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils (demons), working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Rev. 16:13-14).

Notice, the powers of darkness will reach throughout the length and breadth or our planet, working miracles, deceiving, swaying whole nations! No doubt, sorcery, demonism, and the occult in all its wicked shades and hues will explode into a world-wide phenomenon, as wizards, and warlocks discover power they never dreamed possible.

But what about the professing Christian world? Will Satan and his demented cohorts work primarily through the occultist and those who proudly name themselves after the devil?

Turn to and read Revelation 17, the entire chapter.

In vision, John sees a “great whore” whose name, “Mystery, Babylon The Great. The Mother of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth,” is written on her forehead, and who is said to be “drunken with the blood of the saints, and the martyrs of Jesus.” This woman, representing the great “universal church,” carries “a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication,” and has made the nations drunk “with the wine of her fornication” (Rev. 17).

The “wine of her fornication” represents her mixture of Christian concepts with abominable pagan customs, and the “drunkenness” of the nations represents widespread religious and spiritual deception.

The “universal church” and her protesting daughter churches reject God’s weekly and annual Sabbaths, having replaced them with pagan customs and celebrations, embrace the pagan doctrine of the “immortality of the soul” with its accompanying “heaven” and “ever-burning hell” doctrines, declare that God is a Trinity, or “one God in three persons,” a description many ancients used of their “gods”; and adorn their church buildings with steeples and crosses – symbols used in pagan worship long before the birth of Christ. (To learn more on this subject, enroll today in our Mini-Series, “Traditional Christian Doctrine” series).

But the great “mother church,” with her images and icons, her mysticism, her veneration of “saints,” and her celibate priesthood, resembles paganism far more than her protesting “daughters.” In fact, Catholicism so closely resembles paganism, pagan can “covert” and remain pagans while appearing to be “true” Catholics! Their idols and their phallic and fertility symbols are in place. All they need do is change the names of their demon “gods” to the names of the “saints.”

Believe it or not, such “conversions” have occurred in recent centuries! The religion of Santeria, which means “saint worship,” was brought by African slaves to the Caribbean Islands. Its adherents appeal to the “Seven African Powers” through use of animal sacrifice. In order to please their Catholic masters, the slaves simply changed the names of their “gods” to the names of the “saints.”

Authorities believe that the Matamoros cult practiced a form of Santeria, or a mixture of Santeria and other forms of pagan “magic.”

But even aside from the undetected influx of occultists into the church’s membership, the church itself claims documentation of dozens of mysterious “Eucharistic miracles,” including levitation, ecstasies, visions, bleeding “hosts” (Eucharistic bread), hosts transforming into visible flesh upon “consecration,” and the appearance of “stigmata’ (wounds in the hands and feet and on the forehead – supposedly resembling Christ’s wounds).

Other “miracles” Catholics claim include the famous apparitions of “Mary”; cures, prophecies, bilocation, “saints” living without sleep, or living on the Eucharist alone for many years; and hundreds of resurrections of persons who had been dead for years, who had been hanged, drowned, or mutilated – some of whom were supposedly raised in order to testify in criminal cases or to confirm some religious “truth.”

Today, Catholics are urged to return to the “faith once and for all delivered.” They are urged to read and study the material available through Catholic publishing firms, to refamiliarize themselves with Catholic dogma, to rediscover “authentic” Catholic miracles in order to boost their faith.

Think about it. What would happen if millions of Catholics were to begin witnessing such miracles? What effect would a miracle-working pope have on the Roman Catholic world, or, for that matter, on the religious world in general?

God’s Word speaks of a great false prophet, who will align himself with the “beast,” and will perform miracles, and will deceive many (Rev. 19:20)! He will appear with great power, and with “signs and lying wonders” (II Thess. 2:9).

But wait! Surely this prophecy of the great false prophet can’t refer to the leader of a great Christian professing church, can it?

Remember, Satan and his evil cohorts are not to be found only among the witches, the sorcerers, the necromancers, and the astrologers. Rather, the devil, appearing as an “angel of light,” is to be found among his ministers, who appear as “ministers of righteousness” (II Cor. 11:14-15). (Send for our DVD, “Angels of Light”, for more insight into this subject).

Yes, the time is coming when a great false prophet will perform incredible signs and wonders and will deceive many! He will appear as a “minister of righteousness,” but will in fact be one of the devil’s own!

No doubt, when that time comes – when Satan the devil is cast down for the final time -demonic activity will reach an all-time high! Sorcery, witchcraft, voodoo, and demon worship – whether labeled “Christian” or “Satanic” – will run rampant throughout this earth!

But the Satan realm will not prevail, Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of lords, will conquer the forces of evil. The devil will be bound (Rev. 20), and Mystery Babylon will suffer the fate of her ancient predecessor. Upon her fall, a mighty angel will proclaim “for by thy sorcery were all nations deceived”.

In the meantime, it is important that we realize that very real evil powers dwell in this world. But more important, we need to know how to protect ourselves from them.

Demonic possession is a very real phenomenon! Demons are real spiritual entities that are capable, under certain conditions, of entering and taking possession of the human mind!

You should not spend too much time dwelling on demonic possession, thinking about demons, or worrying about whether demons may be affecting your thoughts. On the other hand, you should be aware of the reality of demonic activity, and you need to know how to avoid demonic influence and possession.

Normally, people need not worry about demon possession, for possession is possible only under certain conditions. Just what are these conditions? Why are people who dabble with the occult more susceptible to possession?

The answer to the last question is quite simple. First, curiosity leads to involvement, which may seem “innocent” or “harmless” at first. Second, involvement leads to fixation – an obsession, or preoccupation. Third, the obsessed person realizes he had made contact with, or has access to, a very real supernatural power (this realization may occur early in the process). He then becomes dependent on the power. Finally, his dependency opens the way for possession.

But even in the “dependency” stage, a person can be led step-by step into all kinds of aberrant behavior – from chanting and burning incense to animal sacrifice; from animal sacrifice, human sacrifice!

True, most occultists never engage in animal sacrifice, and would never dream of participating in human sacrifice. But some do! Apparently, those involved in the killings near Matamoros, Mexico did not intend, at first, to go all the way to human sacrifice.

But they did go all the way! And because they did, at least thirteen people, who would have been alive today – who would have been spending time with their families, enjoying life – are moldering in their graves!

If you value your health and well-being; if you value your life and the lives of your loved ones, then stay away from the occult!

Even seemingly “harmless” games and pastimes, such as Ouija board and “Dungeons, and Dragons,” can open the way for demonic activity. Avoid them!

Strive to control negative emotions; avoid violent rage and unrestrained anger and teach your children the same. Unrestrained “temper tantrums” and violent, uncontrolled outbreaks of raging anger can open the way for demonic influence and possession. Note some of the road rage incidents occurring recently!

Encourage your children to involve themselves in wholesome activities, such as sports and games that contribute to the growth and development of young minds and bodies. Spend less time in front of the television set and more quality time with your children. Plan family outings, fishing and camping trips, nature walks, cook-outs - fun, wholesome activities that help develop strong family ties and healthy parent-child relationships.

Certainly, your children should be aware of the evils of this world; of the soaring crime rate, of environmental pollution, of the detrimental effects of drug abuse, and so on, but the greater emphasis should be placed on the good things of life.

Paul wrote: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there by any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8).

By following these simple guidelines, you can insure yourself and your family against the horrible mental derangement and emotional suffering associated with demonic influence.

Finally, there’s one other important step you need to be aware of. It is the surest and most important insurance anyone could possibly have.

James wrote: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7) That’s the best insurance you could possibly have. By submitting yourself to God, and by resisting the evil influence of Satan, you can rest assured that the devil will flee from you. And that’s a promise you can rely on, a guarantee of the sure Word of God.

 
The Church of God, New World Ministries P.O. Box 5536 Sevierville, TN 37864