On this day of Halloween, while we Christians are “making light”* of darkness, do we realize what Luciferians / Satanists are doing?
Or would we rather not know? Not know:
» how much of our culture has been infiltrated by the occult and the enemy of all righteousness? » how naively we have embraced imitative traditions, rituals, and symbols? » how completely clueless most of us are about the resurgence of secretive, ancient abominations that horrify? » how ill-prepared we are to discern the hidden face of the adversary or to acknowledge and help the victims? » the kinds of intercessory prayers that might bring both perpetrators and victims to help and healing? » what's coming down the pike and what our duty may be concerning evil? (partially described in Doctrine and Covenants | Section 123.)
Are we just déjà vu—like God's ancient people who turned time and again to the ways of neighbouring, idolatrous nations, celebrating and aping their exotic, “exciting” rituals? Do we revel in the “fear factor”?1 Do we think it's all just “fun and games”? Are we severely offended to hear criticism of a favoured tradition?
Maybe your answer is that it's all just harmless fun. Maybe you are right, but on the other hand, could we learn something from those who have been in the trenches of demonic deliverances** for decades? who know what really happens when there is no light in the darkness?
How about, instead of watching Halloween, horror movies this year, we listen to some of the following:
---------------------------/ * (not taking seriously; to treat as unimportant or humorous) ** (overcoming darkness with the Light of Christ)
1. Some who have experienced the dark side before deliverance testify that fear, pain, trauma, and terror create forms of energy that demons crave and gorge on like an elixir. Or as Jesus might have also observed in parallel to these opposite events: “wheresoever the carcass is, there will the [vultures] be gathered together;” (New Testament | Matthew 24:28)
So, please, listen to this insightful pastor, and then let us ask ourself: What are the “unclean spirits” that affect me? What are the legions that cycle through my life? the persistent déjà vus that plague my days?
Spirit of ...2
Spirit of ...
Spirit of ...
anger
addiction
adultery
anxiety / worry
arrogance
blame
awfulizing
craftiness
blasphemy
confusion
deception
dehumanizing
contention
denial
deviance
criticism
disdain
gluttony
depression
domination
hatred
disappointment
gossip
insanity
discouragement
greed
lust
doubt
impulsivity
malice
emptiness
inequality
manipulation
excess
infirmity
mockery
fear
intimidation
murder
forgetfulness
lying
narcissism
frustration
meanness
oppression
hopelessness
misery
paranoia
illness
numbness
persecution
insomnia
pride
psychopathy
irritation
procrastination
rage
loneliness
profanity
reviling
rejection
rebellion
scorn
sadness
self-harm
self-hatred
self-pity
secrets
suicide
shame
spite
torment
slumber
strife
torture
tiredness
unfaithfulness
trickery
unbelief
worthlessness
vengeance
Note: Chronic manifestations are a strong indication that one's emotions, thoughts, and feelings have been targeted by unseen forces.
Does this sermon, this “devilishly-long” list (which is far from complete), and our honest self-analysis cause us to reconsider the remarkable virtues of Mary, that New Testament disciple, who only needed the casting out of seven devils?3
How much pain and suffering do we unnecessarily endure because we have rejected awareness and knowledge?
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, ... (Old Testament | Hosea 4:6)
... I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.(Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 32:7)
But if we sincerely seek knowledge and act on it when received (recognizing, rejecting, and casting out evil influences as Jesus did), then are we not promised “the garment of praise [in place of] the spirit of heaviness”? for:
[I]t shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: (Old Testament | Joel 2:32)
[And] thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (New Testament | 1 Corinthians 15:57)
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* New Testament | Mark 5:8-9 ~ For [Jesus] said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. New Testament | Mark 5:15 ~ And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. New Testament | Luke 8:30 ~ And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.
1. Please do not reject all this man's teachings just because you disagree with some of his views or interpretations about your religion. Other worthwhile sermons: Derek Prince - The Enemies We Face (Part 1-4) (Time: 3:56:37) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZoleQVsCEE The Basics of Deliverance, Pt 1 - How To Identify the Enemy (Time: 54:12) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzivz7gcMtE 2. Some scriptural examples (bold emphasis added): Old Testament | Numbers 5:30 ~ Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. Old Testament | Hosea 4:12 ~ My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. Old Testament | Hosea 5:4 ~ They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord. Old Testament | Isaiah 61:3 ~ To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. New Testament | Luke 4:33 ~ And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, New Testament | Luke 13:11 ~ And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. New Testament | Acts 16:16 ~ And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: New Testament | Romans 11:8 ~ (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. New Testament | 2 Timothy 1:7 ~ For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. New Testament | 1 John 4:3 ~ And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 2:29 ~ And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom. Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 33:5 ~ And it speaketh harshly against sin, according to the plainness of the truth; wherefore, no man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil. Book of Mormon | Alma 40:13 ~ And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil. Book of Mormon | Alma 34:35 ~ For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked. Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 11:29 ~ For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Doctrine and Covenants 93:25 ~ And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning. Joseph Smith—History 1:23, 74 ~ It caused me serious reflection then, and often has since, how very strange it was that an obscure boy, of a little over fourteen years of age, and one, too, who was doomed to the necessity of obtaining a scanty maintenance by his daily labor, should be thought a character of sufficient importance to attract the attention of the great ones of the most popular sects of the day, and in a manner to create in them a spirit of the most bitter persecution and reviling. But strange or not, so it was, and it was often the cause of great sorrow to myself. ... Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of. In the meantime we were forced to keep secret the circumstances of having received the Priesthood and our having been baptized, owing to a spirit of persecution which had already manifested itself in the neighborhood. 3. New Testament | Luke 8:1-2 ~ And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, New Testament | Mark 16:9 ~ Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
IF God's majesty, power, and works are beyond the rational man, could it be that Satan's depravity, power, and works are also beyond the rational man? And why not, when almost all Satan does is veiled in secrecy, counterfeit, flattery, despotism, lies, and murder? Could Prince, Dizdar, Quayle, et. al know things that we must understand if we are to "be prepared when all hell breaks loose" (if such is possible in our present blindness)?
And even though we may not agree with all these men say, are we going to reject their experiences and observations because of black and white thinking?1 If they say one negative thing about something we believe, hold dear, OR don't believe, will we reflexively shut them completely out? Surely we have lived long enough to realize that God lets every one of us live with various and varying degrees of mistaken beliefs because of learned and acquired biases, so let us break free of such biases with the discerning spirit of God and adopt these credos:
If we have the truth, [it] cannot be harmed by investigation. If we have not the truth, it ought to be harmed.2
We believe in all truth, no matter to what subject it may refer. No sect or religious denomination in the world possesses a single principle of truth that we do not accept or that we will reject. We are willing to receive all truth, from whatever source it may come; for truth will stand, truth will endure.3
---------------------------------/ 1. Splitting (also called black-and-white thinking or all-or-nothing thinking) is the failure in a person's thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both positive and negative qualities of the self and others into a cohesive, realistic whole. It is a common defense mechanism used by many people. ... The individual tends to think in extremes (i.e., an individual's actions and motivations are all good or all bad with no middle ground). [From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splitting_(psychology)] 2. J. Reuben Clark: The Church Years by D. Michael Quinn, pp. 24-26, source discovered via a "Google" search at https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/3pokeo/context_for_the_wellknown_j_reuben_clark_quote/ 3. Joseph F. Smith, Conference Reports, April 1909, p. 7. (Bold emphasis added.)
As we look about our world, do we see enemies of justice? of moral / spiritual growth and development? Enemies intent on destroying the world and the souls of men?1
Considering headlines, reports of researchers, investigative journalists, and tens-of-thousands of witnesses, how can intelligent beings deny the pervasive, destructive reality of evil throughout the ages? an evil that cares not for the good of others, but cares only for power and gain at the expense of others? And yet many of us seem to live in denial when we give no thought to truly understanding “the enemy.”
In any conflict, such stupor about “enemies” can prove fatal. Consider the understanding of Sun Tzu,2 an ancient Chinese general, military strategist, and philosopher.
“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Deception is the key strategy that pervades our culture—a fact of the most elemental observation—yet for the most part, we seem to live in blissful ignorance3 of the secrecy, lies, distortions, and counterfeits that underpin an agenda of destruction. One author writes:
In accepting life, we must relate to the world as it is—to the struggle between good and evil. There are, of course, some who would have us believe that there is no such thing as good or evil, but this philosophy runs counter to the natural laws of opposites that exist, such as heat and cold, light and dark, gravitation and vacuum, and many others. We need to use our eyes that we may see, our ears that we may hear, and our minds that we may be able to think and make our own decisions as we sift out the chaff of all we see and hear, so that we may know the truth of that which we feel in our hearts, as it is affirmed by the Holy Spirit.4
Many other intelligent observers have borne like witness, including:
Like a huge serpent [Satan] has been winding his way throughout this age, leaving everywhere his contamination. While Satan is not omniscient and perfect in knowledge, he has sufficient knowledge of his destiny and how soon that destiny will be accomplished, and so as the age closes he becomes fiercer in his wrath; like a serpent which is attacked and in danger of being caught, his hiss is heard on all sides. He is now actively engaged in counterfeiting the Truth, in putting in his demon doctrines, in perverting the Truth wherever he can. And by and by after the true Church is gone he will put his masterpieces into the world, ... . Then he will blind the nations as never before and rush them on to the final climax of the age.5
It seems sometimes as if the darkness that surrounds us is all but impenetrable. I can see on all sides the signs of one great evil master mind working for the overturning of our civilization, the destruction of religion, the reduction of men to the status of animals. This mind is working here and there and everywhere.6
So in our busy, distracted lives, let us ask ourselves how often we ignore things as they were, as they now are, and as they will be. And let us ponder whether there is any déjà vu in this further observation of Sun Tzu?
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
What then is our responsibility to know the enemy? Would God repeat Himself with these words?
It is an imperative duty that we owe to God, to angels, with whom we shall be brought to stand, and also to ourselves, to our wives and children, who have been made to bow down with grief, sorrow, and care, under the most damning hand of murder, tyranny, and oppression, supported and urged on and upheld by the influence of that spirit which hath so strongly riveted the creeds of the fathers, who have inherited lies, upon the hearts of the children, and filled the world with confusion, and has been growing stronger and stronger, and is now the very mainspring of all corruption, and the whole earth groans under the weight of its iniquity. It is an iron yoke, it is a strong band; they are the very handcuffs, and chains, and shackles, and fetters of hell. ... Which dark and blackening deeds are enough to make hell itself shudder, and to stand aghast and pale, and the hands of the very devil to tremble and palsy. And also it is an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising generation, and to all the pure in heart—For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—These should then be attended to with great earnestness. (Doctrine and Covenants 123:7-14)
Questions for every nation, kindred, tongue, and people:
» How many credible witnesses does it take before unbelievable becomes believable? » Are we willing to begin the search? willing to see what we don't want to see? willing to hear what we don't want to hear? » Or are we like the prophet Ezekiel who had to be taken by the hair of his head and commanded to see what he could not have imagined?*
----------------------------------------/ *Old Testament | Ezekiel 8:1-18 ~ AND it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
