GOD SHALL SEND
2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 ¶ But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That phrase “strong delusion” is elsewhere translated as “effectual working” in Ephesians 4:16, and as “deceit” in 1 Thessalonians 2:3. Therefore it is an “effectual working” of a “deceit” from God!
It’s hard for many to realize that the true and eternal God would send this strong delusion upon the world of his creation. But that is due to the fact that carnal, organized religion does not know, or therefore teach, of the true and sovereign God! They even set forth a Devil that is equal in strength and authority to Christ himself! Inferring that it is at the determination of the religionist as to which one they grant authority. But the scriptures plainly informs us in 1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
And we also read in Proverbs 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Consider the following verses wherein Jesus purposely states that he knew who Judas was before he chose him. Then consider the verses in Isaiah and Jeremiah wherein the Lord calls Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus, “my servant.” Although he clearly states twice of Cyrus, “thou has not known me.” For all men are God’s servants, but all men are not God’s sons!
John 6:70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
Isaiah 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. 5 ¶ I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Jeremiah 25:9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. 27:6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
Satan is the servant of the most High God! God did not create the Devil, or sin, he created the mighty angel who became the Devil. Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
The instant that this glorious angel said in his heart, “I will,” he became the essence of evil! That was the origin of iniquity. Isaiah 14:12 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. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Prior to God’s forming man in his own image, and setting him forth to represent the visible presence of God to all His creation, this mighty angel, already had this glorious body, which he determined to set forth as God! See his thoughts in verse fourteen listed above; “I will be like the most High!” He was setting himself up to be the visibility of God; thus pre-empting the necessity of the Incarnation of the Eternal Son of God!
This causes us to have a far different understanding of Christ’s temptation than religion has allowed us to see. For the very first words out of the mouth of Satan was, “If thou be the Son of God.” He was thus seeking to maintain that the Incarnate God should be seen as from the angelic realm and not from the human realm, for man was made of the dust of the earth!
This is why the writer of the Book of Hebrews spends the first two chapters setting forth Christ’s preeminence over the angelic realm! For he is consistently setting forth the Incarnate Son of God to be above the angelic realm. Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Hebrews 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
And why is this so? It is necessity due to the fact that Satan, as “the angel of light” is the false spirit that fills the Harlot, religious system! For to the highest, most dedicated religious group in Israel the Lord Jesus stated, “Ye are of your father, the Devil!” John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
“So you try to stop that caravan,
That on-coming, dreaming troupe,
And warn them of all that you’ve learned,
In hopes they’ll not follow suite;
But their worship of dreams, and plans, and schemes
Have engulfed them in it’s soft mist.
And you see very well that you cannot tell
Of the beast which they give a fond kiss.”
Bro. Gene 12/10/2009
But why has God allowed Satan to exist? First, it is not up to us to question the purposes of God. For his thoughts are far above our perceptions. Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Romans 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
And secondly, in this we are given a glimpse into the vastness of the majesty of God’s wrath and power of endurance regarding these “vessels of wrath,” so that he might make know his glory upon “the vessels of mercy.” Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
There is also a very instructive passage in 1 Kings which gives us more light regarding this matter. 1 Kings 22:19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. 20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. 21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. 22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. 23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.
And God has allowed Satan to put that same lying spirit into the mouths of the majority of the religious leaders of our day. For by far, the majority in religion today do not even know the gospel! We are therefore encompassed with a “feel good” social gospel, healing the ‘hurt’ of true conviction by the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah 8:11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. May God have mercy!
Pastor Gene Breed
