Satan the Devil has many tactics to turn people away from God. He is, of course, the greatest LIAR in the universe. Jesus Christ told the Pharisees: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is NO TRUTH in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a LIAR and the father of it” (John 8:44).
As we seek to keep ourselves and loved ones from being overwhelmed by the satanic forces around us, it is vital that we fully grasp how Satan will try to influence us. He and his servants often simply tell direct lies. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, reportedly said that if you tell a really BIG lie often enough, most people would believe it. So, without a regard for reason, Hitler and his ilk began to blame all of Germany’s woes on the “Jewish” bankers, the Jewish teachers, the Jews this and the Jews that. And even in Germany—proportionately the most highly educated nation on earth at that time—most people believed it or at least acquiesced to this monstrous LIE.
Today, we are told over and over that sexual perverts are “just like us,” that there is no difference that we should accept all kinds of moral deviates “just as they are.” The vir- tual religion of unquestioning toler- ance is rapidly gaining ground. If you and I speak out against abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage and other forms of perversion, we are immediately called intolerant. We are quickly judged to be right wing, ultra-conservative, religious fanatics who are so far out of sync with modern society that we should not even be allowed to speak.
Today, we are told that if a televi- sion show, book or movie is “just a little bit bad” then we should not worry about it. Yet, would we eat our apple pie with just a “little bit” of arsenic?
Think about it!
Brethren, we in God’s Church must continue to understand, and clarify in our own minds, the fact that the ONLY “standards,” the only “val- ues” in life worth fighting for, are God’s values! All kinds of sophisticat- ed books and articles are pouring forth nowadays, spewing out various opinions about high standards, true values and the like. Many of these books and articles have a few really good ideas. But, mixed in with the good is usually a lot of human rea- soning and confusion. And, often, these sincere authors have to general- ize about the values they are promot- ing, because they know in their own hearts that they really do not have a complete set of values that encompass every spectrum of human behavior.
But we do!
We, who truly believe that God inspired the Holy Bible, have a per- manent and TOTAL set of values. For as we deeply study God’s Word, we find clearly defined laws, guide- lines and principles that apply to vir- tually every human situation.
Though either ignored or dis- dained by most professing Christians, the Bible tells us exactly how husbands and wives ought to relate to each other and treat each other. Over and over, the Bible—in both instruction and example— reveals to us “God’s mind” on such issues as drunkenness, illicit sex of any kind, same-sex marriage, abor- tion, “cheating” on our income taxes, lying, even for a “good cause,” pornography, teenage violence and disrespect toward authority, etc.
The Bible is God’s complete Instruction Manual to mankind of all basic knowledge involving the Truth about right and wrong, the right way of life and the ultimate PURPOSE for human life. Speaking of the spiritual leaders of the Corinthian Church— those who were deeply converted and filled with the knowledge of God’s Word—Paul was inspired to write: “But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the MIND of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:15–16).
Brethren, we will be made “fun” of and even vilified if we try to “prove” that principle to outsiders! For most of them—even most professing Christian ministers—will NOT sur- render to let God’s Word literally RULE their lives. “Well, but this and that!” they say. But they will NOT humbly obey God’s commandments and His ways—and trust that GOD’S “values” are ALWAYS right. For even if homosexuality bestiality, same-sex marriage and every other deviant behavior imaginable is condoned by the governments and the religions of this present world, it should make absolutely NO DIFFERENCE as to how we conduct ourselves!
Each of us should understand— and teach our children—that we are held to a higher standard. We are to genuinely reflect Jesus Christ in EVERYTHING we think, say and do. As this world, and most of its reli- gions, dissolves into moral chaos, we who are members of the true body of Christ should be honored to have the opportunity even to suffer for His name. Remember the original Apostles? Though they had been severely beaten with rods or whips, the Apostles felt honored by this, “So they departed from the presence of the council, REJOICING that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41).
The early Apostles knew that God was real. They knew that His Word was inspired and that He— GOD—absolutely knows what is
best for us human beings. America’s “founding fathers” used to have FAR more regard for this truth than most of our modern politicians appear even to be able to imagine.
In an extremely insightful and brilliant book, Rabbi Daniel Lapin explains the parallel between the faithful leaders of ancient Israel and America’s founders:
Both ancient Israel and modern America came into being because their founders believed—no, they knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt— this misleadingly simple fact: Whatever we think about God is not nearly as important to know as what God thinks of us. Or to put it slightly more usefully, thinking about what we expect from God is not nearly as valuable as knowing what God expects of us.
To both Israel’s and America’s founders, the Bible was as vital for the safe opera- tion of human society as any manufacturer’s instruction manual would be for the safe operation of a complex piece of machinery. The only differ- ence was that to those devout and pious Christians, the Bible was the Word of God. To the Jews, the Torah, or Five Books of Moses, was only part of the package. [America’s Real War, 1999, pp. 127–128].
Brethren, if we are to put our full TRUST in God, in the Word of God and in the true values, which our Creator clearly reveals through His Word, then we will really be walking in the footsteps of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of Peter, Paul, James and John. Let us make sure that nei- ther we nor our children are ever apologetic for trying to hold fast to GOD’S standards—for we are in mighty good company!
Let us all so conduct ourselves that we may say to others, as did Joshua: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for your- selves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).