I am publishing a five-part series on a rarely discussed subject called the mystery of iniquity. I am writing this out of deep concern that the body of Christ has ignored the signs that the end is, not near, but here. I gave my life to Jesus Christ 31 years ago, and during that period of spiritual renewal for me and my family, there was a revelry that bordered on maniacal that Jesus could return any moment. Since my conversion, I have witnessed the self destruction of many prominent (and not so prominent) Church officials and lay-members alike, and I have seen the enthusiasm for Christ’s return sink to a low that I would have never imagined.
The first article will discuss Satan’s two thousand year’s plan to harness control of human government. The second article will examine the Church where Satan had established his corporate headquarters. Oh, did I say it was a prominent Christian Church? The third article will discuss Satan’s rebellion in heaven, which led to the expulsion of one-third of the heavenly host. And the fourth and fifth articles will tie it all together by examining the last decade and demonstrating how events have hurled human civilization closer to the poisoned embrace of the anti-Christ.
The clandestine nature of Satan requires that he works in a concealed manner to advance his agenda on an unsuspecting human population. From his first appearance in the Scripture when he cajoled Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit to this moment in time, he has deceived the masses and is now leading them in a race where they are creating and embracing the infrastructure for their own enslavement – cell phones; digital television; ATM technology (aka cashless society); the Internet; a ubiquitous web of cameras, created in name of national security; etc. For more than two thousand years, Satan has been working behind the scenes to create a fertile environment for civilization to betray the final vestige of human dignity by bowing down and worshiping his chosen global leader – the anti-christ.
Neither heaven nor earth has been immune to Satan’s sleight of hand. He deceived angels after purposing in his heart that he would be like God – 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High (Isaiah 14:12-14). Satan has been around long enough to have perfected his deception of men and women: From the lowliest non-skilled workers to the captains of industry and leaders of the free world, they have all tasted from the hand that offered the forbidden fruit. How do leaders of human governments embrace a Holocaust, or an Inquisition, or slavery, or war on a scale that leaves rape, pillage and mass murder in its wake?
Satan!
Not only has Satan led conquests of annihilation in national governments, like when he attempted to erase the Jews from the face of the earth through the Third Reich, but he has also wrested control of local churches from its leadership. Jude warned of evil men who have surreptitiously crept into the church:
3. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. 4. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 3-4).
These men, who crept in without the knowledge of the pastors and other church leaders, are in places where they are doing significant harm to local congregations. Consequently, the warning is more of a plea for the saints to be zealous in their effort to live righteously. By earnestly contending for the faith of their forefathers, there would be a difference between those living for Jesus and those who were pretending to live for him. And this distinction would make it much easier to identify those who were secretly infecting the lives of the saints of God.
Throughout the Church Age, Satan has dispatched his minions to peddle their evil wares within local congregations. We see the covert effort that was identified in Jude’s letter to the Church, and John wrote of similar activity within three of the churches in Asia-minor:
• The church at Ephesus was entertaining men who claimed to be apostles, but were not –
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars (Revelation 2:2);
• Evil men claiming to be Jews had infiltrated the church at Smyrna –I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan (Revelation 2:9); and
• The New Testament Jezebel was discovered at Thyatira teaching God’s children how to commit fornication – 19. I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. 20. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols (Revelation 2:19-20).
The Church at Thyatira sunk to new lows: The saints were being taught how to enhance their sexual pleasure, or the "art of sex," from the pulpit. I use the phrase, "art of sex" loosely, since the scripture says the saints were being taught to commit fornication. Therefore, in this instance, the emphasis is not on training the saints on the "art of sex," which would be totally permissible in a married couples' setting, but on sexual depravity. Jezebel turned the holy, House of God into into an habitation of unrighteousness.
The clandestine incursions into the Church by satanically inspired men and women have been occurring since the Apostolic Age. However, when the early Church fathers detected these wolves in sheep’s clothing, they did not tolerate them for one minute –
4. And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 5. To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you (Galatians 2:4-5).
What is ironic about each of the above incursions into the Church is that these wicked disciples of Satan were able to sneak past the ushers at the door, the deacons on the front row, the elders in the pulpit and the pastor at the head of the Church. In fact, before Paul left Ephesus, he warned them that notwithstanding his three years of labor among them, that wolves would come in to destroy the flock once he departed:
28. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears (Acts 20:28-31).
And we see the manifestation of what Paul prophesied in Revelation 2, where the men claiming to be apostles had entered the Ephesian Church.
It cannot be overemphasized how deceptive Satan and his disciples are. I propose that Paul’s warning in II Corinthians about their stealth should be placed at the entrance of every Church that worships Jesus Christ – 14. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness (II Corinthians 11:14-15). This warning will not prevent Satan’s ministers from attempting to slip into a church congregation, but it will be a constant reminder to the Church officials to be vigilant regarding the motives of everyone who enters the Church.
There is an old saying that goes, “Satan is smart, not because he is the devil, but because he is old.” He has a lot of years on us all. To put the saying in perspective; consider how much you knew at 20 years old compared too how much you know today. Now if I can exaggerate to make my point...if you could live another 500 years, consider how much knowledge you would have accrued compared too how much you have now. Satan was created in eternity and cast down into the earth more than 6,000 years ago; consequently, he has the accumulated knowledge of his tenure in heaven and earth at his disposal.
Satan has been wreaking havoc in the earth for thousands of years; consequently, it should come as no surprise that he has controlled his kingdom from the pulpit of a prominent Church on at least one occasion: The Church at Pergamos suffered the unfortunate distinction of being Satan’s central headquarters – 12. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 13. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth (Revelation 2:12-13).
The scripture seems to be silent on Satan’s motivation for establishing his headquarters in the Church of Pergamos, and my research into this Church did not offer me much more than I see in the scripture. However, this is very significant that Satan is running his kingdom from within God’s House. It is an unprecedented foray into the Church, where he not only created a fertile environment for saints to freely engage in sexual promiscuity, but he also had one of God’s faithful men murdered (see verse 13 above). It is not completely clear why Satan used the Church at Pergamos as his headquarters, but we can reasonably conclude that he intended to destroy it.
Jesus told us that Satan’s only motivation for showing up is to steal, kill and destroy – The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10a). Of all the public, private and religious institutions of the world, one would think that the Church of Jesus Christ is the last place that he could set up shop undetected. However, Revelation 2 is a buttress to how clever and deceptive Satan is, so it would be mistaken to consider that other institutions are immune from his lethal encroachments. by
David Tolson
