The most dangerous enemy is the one who pretends to be a friend. In military terms this ruse is referred to as a “false flag” operation in which an enemy soldier pretends to be a comrade in arms while making plans to kill those who trust him. In the social realm false flagging can be exemplified by someone patting you on the back with one hand while picking your pocket with the other. In the spiritual realm it would involve presenting a lie as a truth. In the first instance death of the victims is most often the outcome. In the second instance the victims eventually figure out what happened and learn a lasting lesson. In the third example the victims remain victims until their deaths and leave this life “knowing” that they are on their way to heaven.

In each of the first two examples of false flagging, the culprit perfects a single activity and plays it perfectly until the damage the activity was designed to produce has come to fruition. However, the third example is totally unique in that the culprit has perfected several activities which he uses as each situation warrants. The ultimate pretender who has perfected his stock in trade to the highest degree is Satan, God’s ultimate enemy in that he attacks and wins the hearts of those who want to spend eternity with the Biblical God and His Son in paradise. The Greatest Pretender caps off his victory by making his victims believe that, having embraced one of his religious organizations, they are worshiping and serving the Biblical God who will one day welcome them to a heavenly paradise.

In order to “deceive the whole world” (Rev. 12:9), Satan–“the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4)–has perfected several false flag guises which he has used as the church has became ever more liberal and man-centered. As the liberalization process evolved the church’s apostasy (falling away) required more intellectually acceptable theological beliefs and practices. At this happened the church’s “Scriptural truths” evolved accordingly. Over the centuries what began as a faith-based institution gradually evolved into a desire-based religious club in which apostasy was inevitable. The evolutionary process has continued to the present day in which we find a Satan-empowered, man-centered, God-rejecting religious institution built on a sand foundation which can changes according to the whims of the people who run its many variations (denominations, faiths, etc. (Mat. 7:26). The Lord noted that the church’s shifting foundation would be the result of mankind’s ever-changing religious “winds of doctrine” which are put forth as “God’s way” by “crafty” and “tricky” men (Eph. 4:14) who, having replaced God as the determiner of good and evil, have reversed the Lord’s proclamations by declaring His good to be evil and His evil to be good (Isa. 5:20).

Note that God has pronounced “woes” on those who make such changes and lead others to follow their lead. In Romans 1:32 the Apostle Paul condemns those in the church who, knowing God’s Truth, not only practice such false flag warfare, but, though they know what God says about them, take pride in persuading others to follow their lead. Multiplied billions of salvation seekers have unknowingly followed their lead by entering Satan’s wide gate and traveled his broad path leading to destruction (Mat. 7;13,14/ 22:14). Truly, “Satan has deceived the whole world.” (Rev. 12:9). Such deception takes incredible skill. The devil has such skill, as the condition of the church and the nations that house her attest.

An additional problem lies in the fact that only a minutely few people know who he (Satan) is or how he operates. In this teaching we will examine several of ploys he uses in order to lure the masses into his spiritual web. No one is beyond his beaconing call. Only true, Spirit empowered saints are able to withstand his wiles. With the exception of God’s Very Elect, church people are low-hanging fruit for him and his false prophets. That said, that does not deter him from tempting them. Not even God’s Very Elect are exempt from his (Satan’s) temptations. Not even Jesus the Christ (anointed One) was exempt from his (Satan’s) efforts. Not until His final breath was Jesus free from Satan’s temptations. Recall that Jesus, knowing the end was near, sweat great drops of blood in His battle against temptation. He knew that if He gave in, He could save Himself from what He knew was coming. The devil knew that He was like any other man relative to temptation. If He wasn’t, why did he (Satan) try so hard and in so many ways to cause Him to sin? Satan knew that if Jesus sinned one time He would be disqualified to be man’s Savior.

Relative to the effects of sin in His life, Jesus was no different from the rich man who was disqualified for salvation for the ONE THING HE LACKED (Mat. 10:17-22). If Jesus could be disqualified from being God’s Messiah by committing one sin, what makes multiplied billions of so-called Sinners Saved By Grace think they can sin at will and get away with it?

Jesus was righteous, holy and godly; there was “no fault in Him.” If anyone was “super spiritual,” it was Him. Yet the devil tempted him time and time again. This means that the mega-religious are targets for the devil. For both Jesus and us, the only way to put Satan in His place is to use the Word of God against him through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 4:1-11 we visit the time when he (Satan) tempted Jesus following His 40-day fast by quoting God’s Word (a favorite tactic–Gen. 3:1,3), Jesus defeated him by also quoting God’s Word, only in the proper context. Each quoted a passage from the Old Testament. Satan used God’s Holy Word (a “headline”) incorrectly. Jesus used God’s Holy Word (“fine print”) correctly relative to the “headline” Satan had quoted. The “headline” is true, but only IF one uses it properly. Read “IF”–The Most Powerful Word in the Holy Bible. Key Word–IF. Now let us examine some of the other methods Satan uses to lure salvation seekers into his religious trap.

Satan approaches every human being in one form or another. To those who claim no affiliation with a god of any kind he comes in the form of the person himself who, as his own god, allows himself to do whatsoever he wants to do without fear of punishment. For the unbeliever (self-appointed god), the fix is in for he is not going to punish himself. A god does not punish himself. But the man-god is not alone relative to that mind-set. There is another group whose members have bypassed the Biblical God relative to control over their lives. These people have turned their Biblical God’s grace into a license to sin (Jude 4). Like their religious counterparts, they too avoid any penalty for their repeated sins. The fix is in for them also. Those in the two groups are mirror images of each other. Except for two differences. The church group must repent following each sin–a five to 10 second exercise that makes sin miraculously disappear. The other way in which the two groups differ is where each spends a couple of hours each Sunday morning. Other than a quick, sin-absolving act and a couple of hours each week, there is no difference between the religious and the nonreligious groups. Both enter into their next sin “knowing” that their previous sins will have no effect on their lives. The nonreligious, being their own gods, do not condemn themselves. Their religious counterparts escape condemnation by simply recrucifying their supposed Savior which makes the previous sin simple go away instantly. Because they are “saved,” there will be no punishment for rebelling against the One who “saved” them. Their leaders have assured them that the One who saved them died a horrible death SO THAT THEY COULD CONTINUE TO DO THAT WHICH KILLED HIM (SIN) AS OFTEN AS THEY WISH. NOT REALIZING THAT THEIR SINS RESULT IN HIS RECRUCIFIXION TIME AND TIME AGAIN (HEB. 6:6), THEY CONTINUE TO SIN. Read about how so-called Sinners Saved By Grace recrucify Christ. Key word–Recrucification.

In the following posting we will delve more deeply into the devil’s work within the church. We will examine what he does and how he does it. We will examine his various false flag operations in which he presents himself as a comrade in spiritual arms while conducting his clandestine work against the God he claims to represent. If successful, his efforts result in the spiritual destruction of his spiritual targets. As this website makes clear, he is successful 99% of the time. L.J.