WisconsinChristianNews.com Email: Rob@WisconsinChristianNews.com Phone: (715) 486-8066 Casting Down Imaginations (Continued from Page 3) Volume 26, Issue 6 down of strongholds, casting down IMAGINATIONS, and every high thing that exalteth it- self against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Study and KNOW God’s word, dear friends, and you will not be deceived by the schemes of the devil. Page 7
Let’s read more of this Scrip- ture. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the wa- ters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them...” But yet what has mankind done? Turn again to Romans, chapter 1: “...al- though they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and ex- changed the glory of the immor- tal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.” Then in verse 25: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and wor- shiped and served created things rather than the Creator.” There is nothing new under the sun. Mankind has been worshiping idols in vain ever since Satan deceived Eve in the garden. It’s our eternal strug- gle to worship, but yet to wor- ship without submitting ourselves to God’s authority. So, we use our imaginations to create a god to suit our selves... ultimately, one that we, our- selves, control. Most of us no longer carve and mold a golden calf or a totem pole. But we in- vent gods in our minds that suit us better than the one TRUE God of heaven. This is what is happening still today. Even professing Chris- tians are not immune from idol worship, and many create a god in their own image that bears little resemblance to the God of the Bible. How many liberal Christians will admon- ish you if you “judge” or speak firmly about sin, repentance and holy living? How many will declare it is not “Christ- like” if you confront the evils and wickedness of our day, such as abortion or sexual de- pravity? “You’ll never win them to Jesus if you don’t welcome them and love them,” they say. Or they’ll declare, “MY god would never condemn anyone to hell...MY god is a god of love.” Religious people are great at creating gods in their own image; in their own imag- inations. Those who do not know God, those who are not diligent in studying the Scriptures are easily led astray and deceived by Satan. Paul warned the Corinthians, “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure de- votion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a dif- ferent spirit from the one you re- ceived, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily...” To the Galatians he wrote, “I am astonished that you are so quickly... turning to a different gospel... some people are
throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.” Today we have many who profess to be Christians, but who deny the truths of Scrip- ture or pervert the word of God by compromising it with their own imaginations. And throughout the history of mankind, Satan has been at war with us, seeking our eter- nal damnation by luring us away from the pure word of God, with enticing things that appeal to our carnal natures. Paul warned us of angels preaching false religion, tempt- ing us to worship something other than God Almighty. Scripture also tells us that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. This is the same angel that appeared to Mo- hammed, calling himself “Allah.” This is the same angel that called himself “Moroni” as he appeared to Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon re- ligion. This is the same so- called “angel,” who appeared to Satanist Aleister Crowley, and declared, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” What it really comes down to is that we, in our sinful, human natures, are still trying to achieve what Satan prom- ised Eve so long ago in the gar- den: that we can become like God. In fact, many New Age re- ligions will even teach that we can become gods ourselves if we follow the path of “enlight- enment.” But let me clue you in to something that seems, to me, to be elementary, yet so elusive for so many: as human beings we have two choices: we either worship God or we worship Satan, in any number of dis- guises he will appear to us in, whichever disguise he knows will appeal to us most. There are no other alternatives. It is one or the other. I was speaking to a New Ager recently and she was trying to explain to me how she prays to the Universe and how if she thinks good thoughts and sur- rounds herself with positive en- ergy, the Universe will reward her with the desires of her heart. Her ultimate hope for eternity is that her body will re- turn to “star dust,” and that her soul will return to the Uni- verse where she will be rein- carnated, hopefully to a much higher, developed sentient being on this planet -- or per- haps another planet, because as a citizen of the Living Uni- verse, we do not limit ourselves to just the narrow mindedness of Earth. Now, this woman reveres the “Universe” or the “Living Uni- verse” as the ultimate “higher power” or “thing” that she wor- ships. She rejects the Bible and the God of the Scripture because she tried Christianity
and it didn’t “work” for her. In her mind, she cannot under- stand why anyone would follow a book so full of rules and laws and things that limit her free- dom, words written by men thousands of years ago... words of superstition and big- otry and things that are clearly so old fashioned and irrelevant. Now she is much more enlightened and on a “path” that appeals to her way more than the narrow-mind- edness and confining dictates of a religion that limits her freedom to do as she pleases. And, as the Wiccans say, “if it hurt no one, do as you please.” Not knowing the Bible, the word of the eternal Creator, she does not realize that Scripture describes her to a tee: in short, this woman “worships and serves created things, rather than the Cre- ator.” You see, in her mind, the Universe is the biggest, most powerful thing she can imagine. (There’s that word again: “imagine!”) But she neglects to remember that the God of the Bible CREATED the Universe! Why would you worship and serve a created thing rather than the eternal One who cre- ated it? Friends, be warned, that those who do, and delib- erately choose to deny God and persist in their rebellion, will eventually be given de- praved minds. They will no longer be ABLE to discern the truth, even when it is staring them straight in the face. It will be nonsense to them. Good will be bad and bad will be good. That’s what it means. I believe there are many in the world today, who have passed this “point of no return” already. Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He has turned them over to depraved, reprobate minds. We are seeing a lot of this lately. In fact, I believe we are nearing the close of time, the last days, and people are choosing now to seal their fate, and pick their eternal destinies. It is a scary thing, but know this: God has never condemned a single soul to hell who did not have ample opportunity to know Him and return to His loving arms. The spiritual forces of dark- ness surround us, unseen as they are, but no less real. Satan and his demons are contending for our souls and many are being led astray and deceived. The most insidious part is that he rarely comes in his true form, but rather, as “enlightenment,” as a more pure, loving “path” to “god.” So now, more than ever, we must remember the words of Paul to the Corinthians: “Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our war- fare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
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