Scripture: Ezekiel 28 v 13 - 16: "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
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."
Job 1 v 6 - 7: "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."
When we truly know the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit we begin to understand that we are living in a spiritual war zone. The battle started in Heaven and has not yet ended. The battle is between the Lord God Almighty and a created being called Lucifer the Archangel which rebelled against God and is now called Satan.
The last verses of both portions of scripture identify the first and main menace to society. Satan is called by God 'the covering cherub'. What is his possession to cover, this Earth! Even in the creation all his jewels were part of the make up of this planet. God kept the gold and silver for Himself.
God created Adam and Eve in Eden and gave them one absolute no go area, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan slithered into the scenario and persuaded Eve without much difficulty to side with him, and Adam liked that idea too. He now had three created beings rebelling against Him because they
had given Satan legal leasehold to Earth.
The world is Satan's system, and he is landlord to the Earth. We don't really belong here, those who are born again Christians are passing through here on our way home. Those who neglect God's salvation will find themselves in a fiery place inside this Earth.
There are no grey areas. If Jesus knows us as His followers and friends in a personal relationship, which is guaranteed by our names being written in the Lamb's Book of Life, the Day of Judgment will be a time of great rejoicing. A day of knowing that we have eternal life with our Father and Jesus in Heaven.
This Menace influences billions of people to like him and be like him. He was created with all the instruments of music within him, so one of his greatest triumphs is to brainwash people with music.
On the old vinyl discs back in the 70's, there was a phenomenon called backward masking. If you used your fingers to rotate the disc counter-clockwise you would hear a dark voice telling you to take drugs or worship Satan. No matter if you never knew or tried it, just listening to these songs or music affected you subconsciously.
The enemy of our souls has influenced many to secretly or overtly follow his ways and become tyrants, megalomaniacs, all-powerful gods of their own domains. Today we see the people protest angrily against oppression. There is a menace in their societies they can no longer tolerate. They blame everyone except the hidden menace they think is a myth.
This is the modus operandi of the ever present menace. He has one objective and that is to destroy God's creation. To twist it out of shape and make it an object of derision, toxic, evil and to be utterly rejected by God and Man. Our prisons and asylums are filled with such rejects and Jesus is seeking those who will help them be set free.
Society has been twisted out of shape by the deception of the Slavemaster. The only people not under his power are born again Christians who are protected by the Blood of the Lamb.
How do we as Christians deal with this looming evil in our society. Firstly, we need to unite in the truth in God's Word. We need to read and understand and apply the Word of God first to ourselves, our family, our friends, then strangers.
We need to discern our own standing with the Lord, and ensure those around us are safely in the Kingdom of God. This is the modern day Ark. The invisible Kingdom, our safety zone. Whether we live or die, if we are in this Ark, we are safe for eternity. It is the ONLY safe place on this planet.
Secondly, we need to pray like never before that we are not deceived. Jesus said that Deceiver, Satan, is seeking our souls and his weapon is deception. He has successfully invaded many churches with false doctrines and wolves in sheep's clothing. He has put his own plans and agendas in place in the church and the gullible have bought into it and do not realise that the Lord has removed His candlestick from them. Unless they return to the truth in the Word they will see their hopes go dark on Judgment Day.
The Lord spoke very compassionately in Isaiah 55 v 6 - 7: "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
I wonder how many citizens of Dubai cried out to the Lord Jesus Christ earlier this week when their city was hit by storms, floods and an awful tornado. It must have been terrifying until calm was restored. The Tribulation that is coming will have many such catastrophes in many places simultaneously. Courtesy of the Menace in chief. He wants to destroy God's creation and all of us.
We have all the promises of God to trust in but we must overcome the Menace whose rise as the Antichrist pervades every society today. Only the true, staunch, uncompromising, praying warriors can withstand him. He is the supreme conman who will be adored by billions as the saviour of mankind.
He will bring peace, stability, wealth, to all the world until his hooks are well into every human soul. Before long the tables will turn and the world will turn on its people. The faithful remnant, the Body of Christ, will vanish in a moment of time, to ever be with the Lord. This will be a time of rejoicing on Earth as the blame for woes will fall on the absent.
However when the Antichrist has declared himself God in the Holy of Holies, the Jews will have their epiphany. They will see the imposter now who beguiled them and realise in that moment that their true Saviour and Messiah is Jesus Christ, whom they rejected and killed, and their hearts will break with sorrow.
Revelation 1 v 7 - 8: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
So to avoid disappointment on the Day, learn to resist the Menace now! James wrote, Submit to God (be saved and obedient), resist the devil (say an emphatic no to all his lies), and he will flee. Keep at it as he will try it again in every convincing way. He is the original Conman. Jesus calls him the Father of Lies.
Build Your faith on the immovable Rock of Ages. He withstood every temptation and gave us the ability to do likewise. Don't procrastinate nor be lazy about your spiritual life. Your eternal home depends on fighting the good fight from now on. Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you until you take the mark of the beast on your right hand or forehead. That cancels your name out of the Book.
Life is all about choices and we must choose the Lamb and follow His ways, take His nature upon us, and love one another as He loves us.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, its hard to imagine what's coming, and avoiding the menace in our society. Help us to avoid this evil through obedience to Your Word and prayer. Keep us safe in the Ark of His Body, and remind us to resist temptation so the enemy flees. Help us to spread the gospel and back it up by being examples and a witness to Jesus. In Jesus' name. Amen.