In part 1, I stated that the main text for study is found in 2 Corinthians 11: 14-15: "And no marvel; For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." Satan likes to work in intimidation (1 Peter 5:8) as a roaring lion. Or he likes to work through imitation. Satan will cause miracles to be performed so people will be deceived. He will distort or distract the seekers of truth to a gospel that is close, but false. True believers will know and understand the truth. This study will concentrate on a few of the imitations Satan will use to deceive. The following are some examples of Satan's imitation of the Holy Spirit:
1. Satan wants you to humanize the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants you to call Him, "Jesus" or even "Sweet Jesus." He doesn't want you to call Him, Lord. Rarely do you hear of the Second Person of the Triune God spoken of except by the name of Jesus. Satan wants the Lord Jesus Christ to be just Jesus, but he also wants to deify man. He wants to convince you that man is basically good. That there is some residual good in everyone. With regard to spiritual matters, there is nothing in man that would want God. Satan wants to destroy the Sovereignty of God and deify man.
2. Satan will attempt to draw you away from the truth into a deception. John the Baptist, Peter, Paul and the Lord Jesus Himself all preached repentance. That is a missing message today. Satan will substitute "believingism" or "decisionism." Satan doesn't care about a profession of faith that comes from the mind, he fears the confession of sin and repentance coming from a heart that the Holy Spirit has broken up like fallow ground. True salvation comes after the Holy Spirit has broken up the hard ground of the sinner's heart, showing him his lost condition, the sinner responding with repentance, and with faith given, the sinner cries, "Lord, save me." And He does. Satan wants people to have an easy path to salvation because he knows that they will not get saved.
3. Satan desires to have people in the church focus on a deeper life. He wants salvation to be nothing more than a steppingstone to a second experience of grace. I have believed for years in a second experience of entire sanctification. However, I have noticed that people who have a second experience in their doctrine tend to focus on that second experience instead of on the Lord Jesus Christ. I have seen Charismatics who only talk about speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ is relegated to an afterthought. In my opinion this is dangerous. Christ must be the focus. When people make salvation a preliminary to the second experience, what Christ did on the cross is minimized. That is simply wrong. As the hymn says, "Jesus paid it all." We need to remember that.
4. Satan desires you to seek a deeper experience in searching for the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. Every person who is saved, born again, is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and is baptized with the Holy Spirit into Christ, which makes Christ and the believer one. Some will say, "Let us seek for the Holy Spirit so we can have power." The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, and he didn't leave. Every person that comes to Christ seeking salvation will not be turned away. When they are born again, they are baptized in the Holy Spirit which places them in the body of Christ. You should be able to see how this could lead someone into error. If you have someone that makes a pseudo profession of faith, and they begin their "Christian " walk. Things don't go well so a well-intentioned believer says that their problem is that they need power to live a victorious life. They will say you need the Holy Spirit. I was a member of churches that preached this doctrine for decades. I noticed that the effect was to get your eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ and onto the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to convict of sin, righteousness and judgment. The Holy Spirit comes to point you to the living Lord Jesus Christ. If Satan can get false converts to get their eyes off the Christ and looking to the Holy Spirit he will keep them deceived. Any person or doctrine that leads you away from the Lord Jesus Christ is in error.
5. Satan wants you to focus on the sign and revelation gifts. These can be easily imitated and will deceive many. 1 Corinthians 1: 22 states: "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom." I remember in the 1970s when the charismatic movement was really getting going. Members of that group would ask you, "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" If you said you had, they would ask, "Do you speak in tongues?" That was the central theme of their conversation. They were convinced if you didn't speak in tongues, you didn't have the Spirit. This was a Satanic attempt to draw attention away from the Lord Jesus Christ. People that focus on revelation, power and gifts, rarely talk about the Lord Jesus Christ, blood redemption or the depravity of man. In the book of Acts, we see tongues in four groups of people either explicitly or by implication. In Acts 2, the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Remember, Jews want a sign. In Acts 8, the hated Samaritans (the Jews considered them half breeds and traitors) received the Holy Spirit and it is implied they spoke in tongues. The Jews would need a sign to believe that God had accepted the Samaritans into the family of God. So, they saw one (Acts 8: 18). In Acts 10, Cornelius is converted and receives the Holy Spirit and speaks in tongues. Again, the Jews would need a sign to believe that God had accepted the Gentiles. In Acts 19, some Old Testament believers receive the Holy Spirit and speak with tongues. Again, this was a separate group that the Jews would seek a sign. So, God gave them one, tongues. Notwithstanding claims to the contrary, there has never been a repeat of Acts 2, sound of a mighty wind and tongues of fire sitting each head. Satan will want you to focus on the signs and gifts to get your eyes off Christ. Candidly, he has been very successful. Just listen to preachers that believe in speaking in tongues as evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. What is their message? What do they emphasize? It will become obvious to you.
6. Satan wants to be like God, imitate Him, and get you to do the same. Now, in some ways, we are to be like God. However, there are areas that we should not. In fact, it becomes prideful and idolatrous to do so. Isaiah 14: 13-14 states: "For thou (referencing Satan) 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: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." Satan wants you to imitate God the way he tried. It causes me great concern when I hear a "Christian" use the following phrases:
1. I bind you devil in the name of Jesus.
2. I declare and decree that (name a sickness or problem) is removed in Jesus' name.
3. I call forth (name whatever it is you want to come forth) in the name of Jesus.
I make the following observations:
1. If everyone is binding the devil, why is he still lose?
2. If you have the power to decree health and wellbeing, please go to the children's hospital, or cancer ward, and heal everyone. You won't because you can't. You are not God even though you are confused by Satan to exalt yourself to that level.
3. Human beings do not have creative power by their speech. The passage in Romans 4: 17 refers to God calling things forth, not Abraham.
We see in this section that Satan will do everything in his power to distract you from the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to people that claim to be Christians. If you hear phrases like "Jesus," "Sweet Jesus," or "I declare, decree, or call forth," know that they most likely are operating under a demonic spirit.
Next week, we will focus on why using just the name "Jesus" or "Sweet Jesus" is an indicator of someone being deceived.
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