(NOTE: Some of the themes of these articles may not be appropriate for young readers. Please keep that in mind when sharing this information).
It is written:
“A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came to give life—life that is full and good.” (John 10:10)
And:
“To keep Satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles and intentions.” (2 Corinthians 2:11)
As we have learned, pagans and Satanists will use many different means to try and destroy Christians. In this article, we will notice some firsthand accounts of former pagans and Satanists, and notice especially some of the techniques they will employ to try and destroy a church.
“I didn’t like the pastor and cursed his ministry with demons of lust for both money and women. In other words, I prayed against this pastor and put spells on him and sent curses his way. I believed these curses did not go unheard. The pastor did eventually fall in several areas of his life. Perhaps it was his own pride and selfish desires that caused his demise; still, I took credit for his downfall. Was it my pride taking all the credit? Probably—but it could also be the dark powers I’d obtained coming to fruition. In any case, I wanted to see the pastor fall and the church body weakened. My church attendance was a clear reflection of my double-mindedness. I had the capacity to be gracious, even kind, to people at church—but if someone hurt or angered me, I would retaliate with hatred. Curses and covert criminal activity were routine. I’d resort to petty vandalism. Once I even removed all the lug nuts off all four wheels on the car of a guy who’d “crossed” me— and the guy was a cop. It was a highly unstable period. In spite of my darkened spiritual condition, I made friends, attended worship services, and managed to absorb some of the messages. In an attempt to deceive and get the Christians I knew to back off some, I was even baptized in front of the congregation. This was not a heartfelt event; I did it to ease the Christian overload….This was an example of something I had seen so often at church, and Satan had me exploit the “condition,” if you will. Let me explain. What I witnessed quite often was Christians loving someone into the kingdom and their church; but once inside, the new believer was nearly abandoned. From a dark-side perspective, the battle began the minute the so-called new believer raised his hand. If not loved, mentored, or discipled for a period of time, the new believer, whether he is actually saved (depending on doctrine) or not, is ineffective for the kingdom and easy prey.It was a strange and common occurrence that the church seemed oblivious to, but the adversary used as a commonplace battleground. My god was teaching me well how to distract, deceive, and divide believers. As I prayed to my god, he revealed these things. He delighted in and mocked the “church condition.” I was getting more in tune with my mission, and the training ground was inside the church….There was an old song I used to listen to a lot that reinforced a deep conviction of mine. It was from the Rolling Stones: “Sympathy for the Devil.” The more satanic my belief system, the more I felt sorry for Satan….I felt sorry for the devil and his rebellious nature….I would define this period as “heavy” in the spirit. I was bent on disruption of all things holy, and Satan had set my sights on my local churches and Bible study groups. I went to services and Bible studies from about fifteen local churches and did all that was in me to disrupt them spiritually. Once in the group, I would twist Scripture in order to cause confusion and start arguments. One example is James 4:7, which says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” In a group of unknowledgeable believers, I would throw out the phrase “Resist the devil, and he will flee!” Sounds right-on and harmless, but it is far from the truth. These people would go on about their business, thinking if they just resisted the devil when they felt oppression, they would be okay. I didn’t tell them the most important portion of that scripture: “Submit yourselves, then, to God.” That is the crux of that verse. The adversary is going nowhere unless one is in submission to God! And even then, there may still be a fight. My end goal was anything that took the believers’ minds off spiritual matters and onto worldly matters. This kept my diabolical mission of misleading and leading Christians away from their faith moving forward, sharpened my manipulative powers, and provided a little amusement. I was booted out of a few study groups and banned from several churches during this period of my life.” (Michael Leehan, Ascent From Darkness: How Satan’s Soldier Became God’s Warrior-A True Story, 60-64 (Kindle Edition); Nashville, TN; Thomas Nelson)
Several things from Leehan’s testimony here are worthy of notice.
First, pagans and Satanists rely on ignorance of Scripture to help accomplish their goals of disrupting churches. It has always been the case that God’s people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Jesus reminds us that people err because they do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God (Matthew 22:29). Indeed, the Son of God reminds us that we need to be diligently searching the Scriptures; if our will is to know the truth, then we will know the truth and it will set us free (John 5:39; 7:17; 8:31-32). Are not the people of Berea commended for being more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word and the searched the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 2:13)? If there is a lesson for us today, it is that Satan and his followers will use ignorance of Scripture to perpetrate their agendas!
Second, notice that pagans and Satanists will attempt to get Christians and churches to take their minds off of Heaven and to focus primarily on Earth. This is a powerful reminder to disciples of all ages that we must keep our eyes fixed on things above, and not on things on the Earth (Colossians 3:1-3). We must remind ourselves that we are citizens of Heaven first (Philippians 3:20-21), and that our primary allegiance is to Jesus Christ (Luke 6:46). The kingdom of Christ is not of this world (John 18:31)! I believe that this is a needed lesson for us especially today, as many Christians have allowed their political loyalties outweighs their loyalty to the King Jesus (1 John 2:3-4). Sadly, many disciples are more Republican or Democrat than they are Christian, and this is WRONG (Matthew 7:24-27). The enemy attempts to distract us from the things of Heaven with the appeal to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17). While we will always struggle with the flesh in this life (Romans 7:14-21), we must make it our goal to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17).
Third, our author points out that he would target especially those are new Christians. They would often be left alone after their baptism, making them vulnerable and easy targets. This reminds us that our discipling others does not stop at the time of baptism, when a believer’s sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:3-4). Just as the Lord called upon Simon Peter to shepherd the young lambs and sheep (John 21:15-17), so we must care for those who are new in the faith (1 Peter 2:1-3). We have an obligation to help mentor and instruct new Christians so that they will be confirmed and strengthened in the faith (Acts 14:22; 15:32, 41; 18:23).
Finally, there were times when this gentleman was banned from assembly in the churches. The Bible teaches that there is indeed a time for withdrawal of fellowship (1 Corinthians 5:9-11). This withdrawal was to take place when an unrepentant brother or sister continued living in public sin. It was done for the purpose of bringing the person to repentance, as well as to protect the rest of the congregation (1 Corinthians 5:5-7). When there were people in the congregation who wanted to stir up division and trouble over pointless debate, they were to be withdrawn from after two warnings (Titus 3:10-11). The Apostle John specified that if anyone did not abide within the teaching of Christ, they were not to be given the privilege of fellowship and teaching within the local church (2 John 9-11). The church was even hesitant to accept the Apostle Paul after his baptism, for fear that he was working to infiltrate and destroy the disciples (Acts 9:26)!
This all speaks to the fact that we as Christians must be vigilant and cautious in our dealings. We do not want to become paranoid and self-righteous, but we also do not want to be naive and deceived. We always encourage others to repent, realizing and recognizing our own sinfulness and failings (1 John 1:8-2:2); yet we are also aware that there are some who would see us destroyed because they are secretly and fully devoted to another god (or gods). Withdrawal of fellowship is a serious matter, but must be kept within the realm of use if deemed necessary.
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