In summary, two tragedies took place in Charleston–one physical and temporary, the other spiritual and eternal. Concerning the former, the effects will eventually fade away as time does indeed heal all wounds. The effects of the latter, however, will continue to increase in volume and strength as its message reverberates throughout the world. To fully grasp the effect of the message we must fully understand it.

Satan arranged for the world to take away from the horror of Charleston a false impression of what God, His will, His way and His people are all about. To the world, the sincere, well-meaning mourners who gathered in the church-saturated city were saying: “You are seeing Christianity in operation; this is what the church is all about. Look at what we are doing and learn from us. We are God’s example of Christendom at its best.” And to a certain extent they were right. Part of what took place–forgiveness of the killer, sympathy for the bereaved ones, etc.–was reflective of what God and His church are about. It is the aftermath of the situation, when the world returns to religious business as usual, that Satan orchestrates to do the damage he desires. Here is how the system works.

Both the churched and unchurched world will continue to watch as the Counterfeit Church resumes her Satan-serving, heathenistic, man-exalting ways that the devil has led her and those who will join her to believe reflects the will of God. Come Satan’s Sabbath the church will return to her cross-adorned edifices where she will have her itching ears scratched by her hirelings as they repeat well-worn mantras and religious sound-bytes they have been instructed to repeat. She will sing about a salvation she does not have and a heaven she will never see. She will hear God’s Word twisted to conform to her various denominational creeds while failing to hear His Truth that condemns her and her religion. She will be taught about the false god, false christ, false religion and false salvation she has embraced and the non-existent mansion she will supposedly inherit following a rapture that will never take place. What she does, will continue to do and teach others to do perfectly demonstrates Satan’s most powerful weapon–deception. Truly, he has deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9).

The message sent by the devil from Charleston to the world’s churched and unchruched masses is as old as the false church itself–“If it is religious, God is front and center in it.” God has repeatedly been credited with and blamed for things in which He played no active part. Though He is given credit for orchestrating the mass response to the Charleston tragedy, He in fact had little, if anything to do with it. Satan did indeed win in Charleston, proving that nothing has changed. The church’s rebellion against God continues unabated as the nation follows her down her rapidly-accelerating slide into total apostasy. L.J.