No. 28 - THE ENEMY’S STRATEGY (SERIES ON WAR PART III) By: John J. Blanchard Saturday, November 23, 2002 Today’s sermon is the third in a series on war. The title of this sermon is “The Enemy’s Strategy”. In the first two, of course, we focused on the real enemy. Then we looked at the rules of engagement. Now we are going to study into the enemy’s strategy. I would like to start by turning to Isaiah chapter 14, starting in verse 12: “‘How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”’” This set of scriptures shows the incredible arrogance of Satan. We looked at that earlier. What an ego this being has and how highly he thinks of himself that he can actually ascend to and take God’s throne. He also says here that he wants to sit on the mount of the congregation. The mount of the congregation, as we have studied, is the Church of God. That is Mount Zion and he wants to ascend that mount and sit in God’s temple. This clearly shows that Satan wants to be equal to God if not superior to God Himself. He attempts this by audaciously thinking that he can indeed ascend to heaven, that he can sit on God’s throne and that he can become like the very God. SATAN’S GOAL IS TO RULE CHRIST’S TEMPLE To sit on the mount of the congregation and rule Christ’s temple is his goal. This is what the enemy wants to do. He wants to have the premier position in the entire universe and will stop at nothing in order to attain it. In order to attain this position, to rule the universe forever, he has a plan. He knows that he has to conquer the government of Jesus Christ. If he wants to rule, he needs to be at the top of that government. Of course, we noticed in our second sermon he tried to tempt Jesus Christ into giving up and taking the easy route. That would spare him going to total defeat, and it would put him into that government. From there he could continue to work to try eventually to take it all over. Of course, Jesus Christ fought that fight. We learned that we need to fight that fight in our minds. We need to not let Satan have his way with us, with God’s Church. JESUS CHRIST WILL BE THE RULER Jesus Christ is going to rule over a vast government, a government that is made out of human beings. That government is called the temple of God or the body of Christ. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 9, starting in verse 6: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” He will perform this with those who govern with Him. That is what we have been offered. It is a chance to help bring peace to the universe, to judge the world righteously and indeed (as we saw in the second sermon) to judge angels. SATAN AND THE DEMONS WANT TO DESTROY GOD’S CHURCH The thought of that very concept makes Satan hate us with a deep passion and has made him a devouring lion. He is our worst enemy. Satan and the demons want to destroy God’s Church and that government before it ever takes off. He has the authority to do so. Please turn to Matthew chapter 28. We looked at a few scriptures last time showing that indeed Satan has the position and authority to offer the kingdoms of the world because he owns them. He is the God of this world. Matthew chapter 28 verse 18: “Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen” SATAN WILL NOT CONQUER GOD’S CHURCH Here we see the government and the authority that Satan hates. He now is the governing authority of the earth, but there is a small group of people that he has not been able to conquer. That group is God’s Church down through time. That is the body that will form the government of Jesus Christ when He returns at His second coming. REPENTANCE MAKES US STRONG ENEMIES OF SATAN Here in the end time we found that the last installment in offices (or the last group of people to form that government) have, indeed, been overcome by Satan. The Church is in total disarray and unable to complete its work of getting ready as the bride of Christ until some repent and God comes in as it says in Revelation 3. God opens their minds with eye salve. By putting eye salve on we can see our spiritual condition. Then we repent. Once we repent, we become very powerful enemies of Satan. This is the point we are at now, brethren. We are doing battle with Satan. We saw the last time in the second part of this series how to do battle. Now we want to examine the enemy’s strategies so we can understand better ways to fight in this conflict against him. Turn to I Corinthians chapter 15, starting in verse 20: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” For Christ is the first of the firstfruits. “...for since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.” Christ was the first one to defeat Satan. He was a perfect human being, God in the flesh. He defeated Satan and qualified to take the throne. Of course, He needs more people to govern with Him. He is going to have a government as we saw in Isaiah 9 that will grow and increase in power forever and bring justice and peace to the universe! ALL ENEMIES WILL BE DESTROYED Verse 22: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order; Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.” So Christ will reign and defeat all enemies, all the horsemen that Satan uses to destroy mankind and to afflict God’s Church will be defeated. Even death itself will be defeated. Then Jesus Christ will present this earth, sinless and spotless to God the Father at some point in the future. Verse 27 of I Corinthians 15: “For ‘He has put all things under His feet.’ But when He says ‘all things are put under Him,’ it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” Eventually, at the end of the Millennium, at the Great White Throne Judgment, everything will be rectified, and the Father will rule from earth as well! Jesus Christ will be under Him and we will be under and with Jesus Christ as the government if we learn the lessons we need to learn now. We will be able to serve and help bring peace and joy and proper judgment and justice to the entire universe. As we have said in the past, God cannot allow anyone to rule with a rod of iron if they will be cruel, harsh, unfair or unmerciful. Because that would be putting another being over them too much like Satan. Satan has been a cruel task master. He has been a vicious authority over mankind, enslaving them. He has brought all mankind into captivity and now much of God’s Church into captivity. That is a vicious being. For 6,000 years we have seen the fruits of living under that kind of government, and God will not allow that kind of government to exist in the future. WE ARE MADE STRONG WHEN WE ARE WEAK We learn how to fight and be strong by being weak. We learn how to fight and be strong by putting on God’s holy righteous character and by letting Jesus Christ live and work through our body. We have given ourselves to Him to be part of His body, the body of Christ. He lives, works and fights through that body. He does it with love and outgoing concern. He does it with mercy, compassion, kindness and humility. That is why we need to learn these things. They are all listed in Matthew 5. We need to learn these traits because that is what makes us strong in our fight. We looked at that in the second sermon, but we need to keep that in mind. We need to use this armor of God. We need to develop the attributes of meekness and humility to be strong in order to help bring down the strongholds of Satan. But we need to understand in some ways just how Satan is strategizing and what he is trying to do. We need to understand how he is trying to lick us and how he is trying to beat Jesus Christ. WHAT IS SATAN’S STRATEGY We noticed before that it was a mind game. He tried to defeat Jesus Christ in His mind when Christ was in a meek, humble and weak human body. He felt hunger and famine. After His fast, He felt weak; but because of weakness, He was strong. He resisted Satan in His mind thus defeating Satan. The same thing is going on in Christ’s body, the Church. Christ lives and works in our minds and He will help us defeat Satan if we allow Him to do so. We have to use our free will in order to do that. Satan would ultimately like to take Christ’s position and even the Father Himself. Right now he knows he cannot ascend to that throne and take God the Father. He has failed at taking Jesus Christ. The last option to destroy the government of Jesus Christ before it can take off is the Church in this last era. He has pulled out all stops. MUCH OF THE CHURCH HAS BEEN CONQUERED BY SATAN We are told in Revelation that he knows he has little time left, and he is going after the Church with great viciousness and has conquered much of the Church! He has brought about the attributes of himself. The Church is harsh and very judgmental. It is cruel in its attitude to the world. It is willing to watch and preach, in some cases, that six billion people must die, getting spanked to death in some horrible end time cataclysm in order to learn to repent. This shows that the Church is actually ruling so harshly with a rod of iron that if they were given the opportunity, they would be cruel! God is not going to allow that. We are being tried and tested at this time to see just who in the Church is going to have the attributes of Jesus Christ of being meek, humble, kind, merciful and compassionate. One just shudders to think that if Satan were to succeed and some how co-opt Christ’s government and rule from the temple forever, wouldn’t the thought of the future be horrible? To live under this being that has brought so much suffering to this planet in the last six thousand years is a horrible thought, brethren! We need to fight back in the spiritual war the very best we can and allow Jesus Christ to work in us, so we can help defeat Satan and help shorten the time Satan is using to afflict mankind and the Church. TWO THINGS STAND IN SATAN’S WAY Two things stand in Satan’s way: Jesus Christ, the King, and the body of Christ. Jesus Christ succeeded. He is ready to take the kingdom. He has gone to heaven to assume that throne, but His government is not ready yet. It is almost like a leader in exile, but that is not a good example because Christ is not exiled from His creation. For some reason, in Their great wisdom God the Father and Jesus Christ came up with a plan that would involve a government formed by the body of Christ. It would form while under the oppression of Satan the devil. Trying and testing would occur to see if we, of our own free will, would allow Jesus Christ to work in us. This is what qualifies the people in that government to become part of the temple. We want to be silver, gold and precious jewels in character so we can be part of that government and actually be part of the solution and not part of the problem. THE WHOLE CREATION EAGERLY WAITS The world is out there groaning in pain and agony waiting for us to be revealed. At this time, much of God’s Church is groaning in agony and not knowing they have been defeated! They do not know which way to turn and what to do. It is incumbent upon the few who can see to allow Jesus Christ to work in us. The few who have humbled themselves before God and have admitted we are Laodicean need to admit we have bad attitudes and are in need of new garments. We need to have the eye salve. We need Jesus Christ to work in us and give us His armor, because we cannot do it alone. With that humble attitude, we stand in Satan’s way. He is going to do everything he can to destroy us! Fortunately, God says if I give you that armor and you are willing to put it on, you cannot be defeated! You have entered the place of safety! That place of safety is a spiritual place where we are tended to and cared for by God. THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT A PLACE OF SAFETY Anytime we think that we are going to go to a physical place of safety to spare our physical lives while 90 to 95 percent of the earth is destroyed, that is a selfish attitude and is one of the tests. Would we possibly go along with such a concept? For by going along with such a concept and condemning mankind, we show God we cannot be trusted with a rod of iron. It is as simple as that. We have to be willing to lay down our lives for mankind just as Jesus Christ did and just as the apostles and martyrs did. They willingly gave their lives to get this work done because they loved the people in the world. Just like we are told in John, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. We have looked at these scriptures before. In Luke 9 where the two apostles, James and John, wanted to call fire down on people who had not been nice to Christ, Christ said you do not know what manner of spirit you are! With that attitude, you better straighten up! Otherwise with that attitude you cannot rule either! I will not turn over My creation to cruel people. We need to learn and understand that and take it to heart. ALL PEOPLE ARE PRECIOUS IN GOD’S SIGHT Let us turn to Genesis chapter 1, verse 26: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them...” Do we think it is only the Church made in God’s image? It is all mankind that is made in God’s image. But they have been taken captive by Satan the devil, and they are deceived. They do not know their right hand from their left just like Nineveh in the Book of Jonah. We are not to think we are in some way better than them. We may be special because we were chosen and called, called to be part of the government that can help release them from captivity, but we are not better than them. There are scriptures that indicate that God actually calls the meek, the humble and the poor of the earth (the foolish things). THE DECEIVED OF THE WORLD NEED TO BE SHOWN MERCY When we look out there and see mankind divided and confused, we need to understand they are deceived. We do not want in our mind to get them all “nuked” and burned to death or die a cruel death because we say they need to be spanked. We know enough from society to think that if parents treat their children that way when they want to correct them, the parents get locked up! The children get taken from them. Jesus Christ and God the Father are the same. If we want to treat our brothers and sisters of the world the same way (the family of man made in the image of God), they have to be taken from us! Our position has to be taken from them. God is not going to put cruel people over His children. He is going to free them from the deception of Satan and free them from captivity. When they are ready, they will repent. Most of them, by and large, will repent and change when they are not deceived. We need to be ready, willing and able to serve them forever in peace, justice and fairness. Yes, mankind is created in God’s image, and we need to treat them with respect. The family of man eventually will also be the family of God! We need to remember that. SATAN’S STRATEGY: THE FOUR HORSEMEN So we can comprehend a little bit of Satan’s strategy. We looked the last time at the four horsemen that he uses. Four horsemen ride upon the earth to conquer, destroy, bring disease, pestilence and bring death. We looked at how they are trying to do the same thing spiritually to the Church of God. Satan brings spiritual disease, false doctrine, turns the Church on itself through harsh judgment and divides the body of Christ. Because he knows, just like the patriots knew, that divided we cannot stand. We must stand together. For a long time it has been grieving me that the Church was divided, made small and broken up into many pieces. But it has occurred to me the scripture that we quote so often that Paul said when I am weak, I am strong. I have come to see when the Church is weak, it is strong. When Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong died there were approximately one hundred thousand people baptized in the Church. We said as the years went by and the number diminished that God is selecting a Gideon’s army. Well that was truer than we ever realized. If you try to motivate one hundred thousand people to get cleaned up (to be part of the Church and part of the government) and get this thing ready for Jesus Christ to come to, it is a lot harder than to clean up just a few. It is much easier for Satan to get into a group the size of a hundred thousand and start playing havoc than it is with just a few. I think that as the Church has grown weaker, it has actually in some ways grown stronger. As long as we are willing to repent and let Jesus Christ work within us, a small group is easier to love one another and care about one another. It is easier to build the fruits of the Holy Spirit, grow in holy righteous character and allow Jesus Christ to live and work in them. You see what I am trying to say? It is much easier to motivate and make a small group strong, and God only needs a small group. Here at the end, He is only filling the last few of the rulership positions to help bring peace to the world. GOD’S MERCY ON THE END-TIME CHURCH He started with a huge group and he pared down to a very small group that fervently wants to repent and let Jesus Christ live in them so they can bear fruit. The desire is there to let Jesus Christ fight this good fight through them. It is much easier to do it with a small number. Now I can understand why God let it happen. In His great mercy, as brethren have fallen on our left and on the right, God has not allowed them to die. He has not allowed most of them to reject Him. What He has done is allowed them to go to sleep and be deceived. This is why the ten virgins wake up. Hopefully, most of them will wake up and repent and be okay. I Corinthians 3 which we have read many times says their reward will be lost but they themselves shall be saved through it. Reread I Corinthians 3:12-16 when you have time and you will see. There is a great hope here because God is so loving, so kind and so merciful. SATAN HAS A PLAN Let us turn now to Isaiah chapter 14. Let us look at Satan again just a little bit before we go to Revelation. He is a vicious being that will stop at nothing. Isaiah chapter 14, verse 12: “‘How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!’” For six thousand years he has weakened mankind and afflicted them with all manner of horrible things such as bad attitudes, hatred, racism, persecutions, wars, famines and disease. Verse 13: “‘For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…”’” He did. He exalted himself above one-third of the stars, the angels. He would have taken all of the angels if he could have. “‘I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north...’” He wants to sit in God’s temple. “‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’” Verse 15: “‘Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.’” God will defeat Satan. There is no doubt. Verse 16: “‘Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?”’” Satan would never release mankind if he had his way. He would go on killing, destroying and causing pain and sorrow forever! Why he gets thrills out of that I do not know. Why he wants power I can understand. I can understand why he wants to rule, but why rule cruelly when one can rule with love? We cannot fathom that, but we must not allow it. We are part of the solution to the problem. Eventually mankind will gaze upon this man, as he is called here. I would like you to make a note of that here that he is sometimes referred to as a man. Angels can appear as men. This being is going to go down, and he is going to be put in his place. In the meantime, he does great damage to God’s creation and to His Church. Turn to Revelation chapter 12, starting in verse 3: “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. And she bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.” This is Jesus Christ. CHRIST’S PHYSICAL LIFE DESTROYED BUT SPIRITUALLY HE LIVES! Two thousand years ago Satan was ready to destroy Christ and he failed. He knew he had destroyed Christ’s physical body. He did kill Christ. But God has things arranged in such a way that every time Satan makes a move, he falls flat on his face. The real defeat would have been if he could have defeated Christ in His mind and gotten Christ to worship him. To take the kingdoms in a simple, easy way for Himself would have been defeat. ONE SINLESS LIFE DEFEATS SATAN FOR ALL TIME! He could not defeat Christ that way so he got very angry. He had Christ killed physically. What did that accomplish? He might have enjoyed Christ being humiliated and killed on a cross, but he insured Christ’s victory! At that point Christ had lived a perfect life, had qualified to take the kingdom and the throne, insuring Satan’s defeat. It was a trap and Satan fell for it. God has things designed so He cannot lose, but He does have to sacrifice. He is the firstfruit and we are members of the firstfruits. He said if I was persecuted, you will also be persecuted. If I have been hated, you will also be hated; because we are His body. Satan continues that fight against the body of Christ. His strategy is to overcome it. If he can deny Christ the government, if he can deny Christ the bride to come and marry Him and if he can deny Christ the temple, he can perpetuate his rulership. He can continue to afflict the world. He can continue to rule at least a little longer. His ultimate goal is to defeat Christ in that way now. He failed to defeat Christ personally so he is working on the Church. Verse 9 of Revelation 12 states how he does this. One of the strategies is get us to sin and show God the Father that we are sinners. We are useless and worthless. Verse 9: “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Satan deceives the whole world and he is an accuser of all mankind. This is Satan and this is his way. Continuing in verse 10: “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.’” He is constantly trying to cause us to sin and then showing the Father that we are useless and worthless, accusing us. Our way out is repenting and letting the blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect human being, cover us. This is how we get cleansed. Without repenting we stay filthy. We may think we have it made like the Laodiceans. We think we are all the Philadelphians, and we are the perfect ones. Each group seems to think this way. With that attitude, we do not repent. Without repentance, we stay filthy. When we are filthy, Christ cannot come and marry the bride. Only the Father knows when enough have been made clean so the temple and bride are ready for Christ to be sent to. The Father is diligently watching when each position has been filled. It has taken six thousand years to fill l44,000 positions. They are almost done! We do not want to stand in the way. We want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Satan has been trying to deceive mankind from the very beginning. If you go back to Genesis, Satan has been trying to defeat God’s plan six thousand years ago. Genesis chapter 3, verse 14: “So the Lord God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this...’” That is, deceived Adam and Eve and brought sin into their lives. “‘...you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman...’” (that is the Church) “‘...and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.’ To the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’” This is giving spiritual birth. Physical birth is just the type. Our desire is for our husband Jesus Christ. We are part of the woman, the body of Christ, that is pictured as a bride. Our desire is for Him but we bear fruit in great pain and agony living under the oppression of Satan the Devil. Satan is trying to deny us from bearing fruit. He is trying to destroy us, eliminating Christ’s government. Here we are shown from the very beginning that, yes, he is going to bruise our heel, but we are going to bruise his head. We are going to help destroy Satan. Just like Christ was defeated in physical form, His body hung on a cross, but He defeated Satan. His body once again, the body of Christ, goes through sufferings, trials and agonies, but God says we will defeat Satan. WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DEFEAT SATAN How do we do it? We do it by letting Jesus Christ live and dwell in our minds and hearts, and then we cannot be defeated. It is a marvelous plan. It is going to be a beautiful thing when we are openly shown to the world that God succeeded. Through the six thousand years of pain and suffering, the government was there getting formed up all along. God was doing something awesome and wonderful that will free this world from this horrible oppressor called Satan. May that day hasten. As we saw in Matthew 4, Satan tempted Christ and lost. Since that time his fate was sealed. He has become angrier and angrier as time went. Wars have become more and more destructive, for if he could kill everybody on the planet, he would stop God’s government from getting formed as well. So God has had a marvelous way of defeating him physically and defeating him spiritually all down through these ages. Satan must be the most frustrated being in the universe. Every time he helps mankind invent a new and destructive weapon, there is some way Jesus Christ and God the Father move mankind to defeat the horrors that would come. ELIJAH DID COME; A ZERUBBABEL WORK WAS COMPLETED We fall for the idea that somehow in the end time a world war will be unleashed to literally destroy this planet. We have fallen for what Satan wants us to believe, and we actually assist him toward the goal that he has set out to now destroy mankind and the Church! If he cannot destroy Christ himself, he will go after Christ’s heritage, His inheritance. He goes after those who will form His government. God says, there again, you will be defeated as well. I will send Elijah before the horrible days and he will do things and restore things in such a way that his work will get done. It will be called also a Zerubbabel work and get this temple ready so that I can send My Son suddenly to it as a thief in the night. MAN’S HISTORY WILL NOT CULMINATE IN NUCLEAR WAR I have said so often before, as a thief in the night, how could we be surprised if Christ came after nuclear war, after stars slamming into the earth and after waters turning to blood? Who would be surprised on this planet if Christ came and a few scared hunkered- down people in total abject fear crawled out from the rocks and bowed down to Christ? To hand Jesus Christ rulership over a pile of ashes, would that be a victory for Christ? Or would that be a victory for Satan? It is not going to happen, brethren. God is going to defeat Satan in a truly remarkable way. If you get a chance, read the booklet I found that Mr. Herbert Armstrong wrote in 1982 and it was republished in 1985 called “The World Will Not End This Way”. It has a picture of a nuclear explosion on the cover. At the end of his life after he had fulfilled the Elijah obligations, Mr. Armstrong was beginning to see the world would not end that way. There would be a startling turn of events and God would win big! He was starting to see what we are learning now twenty years later! It is a remarkable thing, but God wanted to see who believes Satan’s lie and who is going to resist and believe Me that I am loving, merciful and kind? Let us see. That is what He has been doing - testing to see. So God has been successfully defeating Satan at every turn, both physically and spiritually, for six thousand years. Even though now it appears that the Church has been overrun, Christ and God the Father will defeat Satan again! THE FIRSTFRUITS If you would, please, turn to I Corinthians chapter 15, starting in verse 20: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” He has done that, brethren. He has succeeded. Now it is up to us to be the rest of the firstfruits. Drop down to verse 50: “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” CHRIST WILL WIN WHEN WE ARE RESURRECTED! Verse 54: “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’” Christ will win when we are resurrected! He will finally get His government together and free the captives that He has been longing to free. Brethren, we have a part to play in this. It is a tremendous mystery and a wonderful thing to be part of the firstfruits and bring this freedom to mankind. It will be freedom from the corruption and the evil of Satan the Devil. In the meantime, we have a Church that is a mess. The body of Christ is virtually defeated. So few are left. As I said, when we are weak, God knows that we can be strong. It only takes a few. Turn to Revelation chapter 13, starting in verse 1: “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” Verse 4: “So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’” Right now the world does not know it but they are asking, who can make war with Satan? Because it is a spiritual war, brethren! Only those capable of putting on the armor of God can wage it. To the world it looks like who can wage this war? Who can fight this beast? SATAN’S HEAD BRUISED Now why was this beast mortally wounded in the head and survived again? We read it in Genesis. The Church would bruise the head of Satan. Satan’s head was bruised when Jesus Christ defeated him at that temptation. He was not totally defeated yet, but it is in the bag! It is a done deal! He knows it. Because Jesus Christ made it, all that had to be done now was form the government. Even though we keep sinning, Christ’s shed blood can cleanse us. We can defeat Satan even when we sin, because we can keep getting cleaned by Jesus Christ. So Satan’s head was bruised with a mortal wound that had not killed him yet. It has not destroyed his government, but it is in the bag, brethren. We just have to let Christ live in us and fight through us. He is fighting through the body of Christ. Here is what happens at the end time. Continuing in verse 5 of Revelation chapter 13: “And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.” He has authority over the world. He is the god of this world. He was never supposed to be able to conquer God’s Church but he did. But God and Jesus Christ set a plan that this would be a trap! Just as it was a trap to kill Jesus Christ’s body, it is a trap for Satan to take over the Church. He will be defeated, guaranteed! So “It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them,” and verse 8 continues. “And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Well, brethren, we have been facing captivity and we have shunned it. We have been facing the sword (which is famine), and we have sought food from God. He has granted us that because of His benevolence and His love for us. When we humble ourselves, when we repent and when we tell Him to show us our weaknesses, He gives us the armor of God. He gives us forgiveness. He gives us the eye salve to see and so we can continue to grow. This allows Him to live and fight through us, thereby giving Himself a few people to finish His government. Then He is able to defeat Satan finally once and for all. That is what we are a part of here at the end. We need to remember Satan’s strategy is to take this Church over and defeat it entirely. If that will not work, destroy the whole world with us in it before we are ready! Jesus Christ says, no! It is not going to happen that way. The Father and I have decreed how this will end, and we know We are going to win. Turn now, if you would, to Daniel chapter 12. We are going to see some of the things that have happened, but they should give us confidence now for we realize when we are weak we are strong. So we are not afraid that the Church has been shattered and scattered. God knew it. He knew it a long time ago! HOW WE KNOW WE ARE VERY CLOSE TO THE END Daniel 12, starting in verse 7: “Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.” It is as if when Christ’s body hung on that cross and just before He died He said, “It is finished.” When Christ’s body gets defeated at the end, it is finished again! Do you know how close we are? We are very close! What we need to do is keep letting God work through us. Let Jesus Christ fight His fight through us. Humble ourselves, for when we are weak, we are strong. We are helping shorten time so that the world will be set free. We are helping brethren who are also in agony as well. They have been taken captive by Satan once again. Let us turn to Ezekiel chapter 34. God is very well aware of the condition of His Church. He knew this would happen long ago. Ezekiel 34, starting in verse 1: “And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, “Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.’”’” Verse 5: “‘So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.’ Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock’ therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord! ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”’” God knows what has happened to His flock. He has seen how it has been dividing. He has seen who has done it. He has seen who has cooperated with Satan and who has been harsh in their judgments. He has seen who has scattered the sheep, buying and selling the souls of men to take care of themselves. God is not happy with this, and He will fix it. We need to have confidence and not worry. Jesus Christ will take care of us, and He is on the verge of doing so! All we need to do is let Him live in us and that is Him doing it. He is taking care of His flock. He will come to the scattered flock and save us. We also know that Satan has somehow entered into the temple of God! Satan has entered the Church, and we know it by the fruits. There is a story I heard one time about this young boy from the city. He went out to farm to his grandfather’s farm. He went in the barn. He found a couple of stalls just full of manure. He was digging, digging and digging. The old man came out and walked into his barn and there was his grandson digging and digging in the stall. He said, “Sonny, what are you doing?” The boy said, “Grandpa, Grandpa I know there has to be a pony in here somewhere.” The evidence was all around, you see. So the boy knew there was a pony somewhere. Well, the evidence is all around us of what has happened in the Church of God. Did God scatter this Church? Did God bring false doctrines? Did God cause confusion? No, Satan is involved here somewhere. II Thessalonians tells us the son of perdition got in the Church. II Thessalonians chapter 2. This is part of Satan’s strategy. It was to take over the body of Christ, remember? When it looks like he just about succeeded, Christ says, I have you! II Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 1: “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” SATAN IS A SPIRIT BEING WHO HAS ENTERED THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE Brethren, remember when I showed you that Satan was called a man. The son of perdition is Satan and he is in the Church! His fruits are here. He is being revealed. It is not a man, it is not a pope, it is not any human being. We saw in Isaiah 14 who wants to ascend above all that is God’s. There is only one being who could do that and that is Satan. He has entered the temple of God, and he thinks he won because he is in the temple. He thinks he has taken over the last part of the government of God, thereby making it possible for him to rule. Jesus Christ says just as Satan destroyed My temple and I rebuilt it in three days (when Satan killed His physical body), the same thing is going to happen again. When you destroy My temple, I will rebuild it. My government will be here to take over the universe, to depose you and put you in that pit. All people will gaze at you and say look at that man who weakened the nations. Now we understand Satan’s strategy and we understand how we fight him. We will win because Jesus Christ is fighting through us!