If you are somewhat a student of military history like I am, you are well aware of a couple of enemy propagandists named Tokyo Rose and Axis Sally. These ladies had a regular radio show that tried to demoralize Allied troops. They would talk about home and whether or not the soldier’s wives were being faithful, lies that the Axis was defeating them so just surrender and other topics hoping the troops would desert or be so depressed they would not be at their peak fighting force. Most of the troops found them to be a source of humor and entertainment and they were the ones who gave these ladies their radio moniker. Propaganda can work and is still greatly used in many areas around the world either to start a war or as part of a war effort and even political races.
As a Christian, you know or should know that we are involved in a hot spiritual war with the devil and his minions. Though the enemy uses humans in his warfare, we must see them as prisoners of war fighting with him like those who suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. They have been used and abused by him, but still fight with him as they are under his control. Our fight is with him and we must pray that we can rescue those human pawns through the Gospel.
2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
If our war were with flesh and blood, we would use earthly weapons of warfare. It is not and we must keep our eyes focused on the true enemy. Like an earthly warrior, we must know our enemies capabilities, tactics and weaknesses. From the beginning, the enemy has used lying propaganda tactics that started the war on earth he had already started in Heaven with his treason and sin.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Note the serpent was more cunning than the other beasts, which is why the enemy used it. We still call an evil charmer a snake in the grass. Just as Rose and Sally used what the soldiers could see in an effort to deceive them and question their leadership, the enemy of our souls started talking with Eve seeking to cause doubt. He was looking for her weakness and when he saw that she liked looking at forbidden fruit and then added to what God said about it he worked on that. Whereas our ladies in WWII sought to bring great fear of death the serpent sought to remove the fear of death and thus setting the trap. It looked good, the allure of being like God, wondering what it tasted like and nothing happened when she touched it led to that bite which sprung the trap creating the despair of mankind when Adam willfully followed her lead. Satan’s basic tactics have not changed.
2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
In the passage, Paul is telling the Church to forgive and receive the repentant man that was involved in having sex with his step-mother; not his father’s widow. That was such a heinous sin that not even the pagans condoned it. You know it is really bad when even hedonistic pagans who routinely held orgies in their temples wouldn’t do it. She is not mentioned so she may not have been a Christian as Paul only rebuked him.
He was to be received unless he be swallowed up by overmuch sorrow. The Church represents Christ and they were to affirm their love to him. Because of the sin, I am sure some had a hard time forgiving him in their flesh even though they knew they should. Sadly, many people who have sinned are not in church and overcome by the guilt and shame of their sin because Christians did not reach out to them. They repented and came to church but the members treated them like a leper so they left and are tormented thinking God has also rejected them. They may even be angry at God because of the actions of people claiming to be His.
Even with “lesser” sins, many struggle receiving God’s forgiveness. People may reach out and they have sessions with pastors or counselors and yet they are tormented by guilt and shame. That is part of the enemy’s propaganda program. Anything to keep people out of Heaven or saints ineffective in the fight he will whisper and even yell in their ear. Persistent exposure to the lies is part of propaganda warfare. Say it loud and often and it is believed.
1 Corinthians 14:10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.
Paul spoke this in his discussion on the gift of tongues, but we can make application here. There are indeed many voices that try to speak into our lives. We need to be careful who we listen to as there are many false prophets and we are to try the spirits.
False prophets are not always of a religious nature. We had many of them in our lives. They spoke things like, “you’re stupid, too fat, too skinny, ugly and will never amount to anything” and many other things along that line. That was all part of the enemy’s propaganda program. You may have been told that not even God can love you. If you bought those lies your life reflected it. You lived in rejection never reaching your potential. You bounced from relationship to relationship and they all ended with the person echoing some or all of the lies you heard from a child thus deepening the roots of those lies.
While some came to tear down your pride others came to inflate it. They made all kinds of promises that you have so much potential that this business opportunity would bring you in that full potential giving you influence, money, and the love of people and especially the beautiful and powerful people that will satiate your lusts. That sometimes worked and made you an egomaniac that destroyed anything of real value in your life as you stepped all over people to attain your goal. On the other hand, the enemy might get you to some pinnacle of success and then push you off the cliff making you lose everything.
Whether they were intentionally out to destroy you from the beginning or to just use you for their own benefit these were Tokyo Roses and Axis Sallies in your life. While they cause great havoc their hurt to your life can be healed if you come to Christ, but they also work in the religious realm and possibly even more so.
Often they come and tell you that God is a taskmaster just wanting to ruin your life and then cast you into Hell. Maybe more often these days, they say He doesn’t care what you do or what you believe as all roads lead to Him not telling you the rest of the story. We all return to God, but what will He do with us when we get there is often twisted or not told.
Sadly, those voices also speak to God’s people. As in Corinth, when a Christian sins these voices will say that God just kicked you out and you cannot come back. They may say that you are still in but sit in the back pew with your head hung down for the rest of your life as you are in by skin of your teeth and God never wants to use you or bless you again. None of that is true, but the enemy will still broadcast those lies and if we receive them the lies win. We are not told what kind of life the man in Corinth had after he repented, but if he believed what God said and the believers did receive him back in love his life was still open to being abundant as Jesus promised His people.
The other side of the coin is that they will tell you that you are destined for greatness and wealth leading you into the Laodicean error thinking that being rich is a sign of God’s blessing. He will tell a preacher that he is to be the lord over God’s flock turning him into an egotist and often a tyrant. They can even get you to misuse the gifts of the Spirit like those in Corinth that Paul had to chastise. They can sound very holy.
Smith Wigglesworth was a Pentecostal evangelist in the last century who believed in the gifts and in God speaking to His people. Yet, he warned about seeking voices. He told a story of two ladies who believed they were called to be missionaries to China. A voice told them to go to the train station buy a ticket and when they got to the destination they would meet a man that would provide all their financial needs. They did as they were told. It did not happen at the time stated and they were told to stand on the other side of the station. Still nothing. Smith prayed over them to stop that voice. They later became missionaries, but not by following voices. The enemy can pretend to be God and even the Holy Spirit so we need to be discerning and alert.
Carter Conlon is the former senior pastor of Times Square Church that has over ten thousand members. He fully believes in the gifts of the Spirit and hearing God’s voice. However, he says that God normally speaks through His word and cautions about hearing voices. He is skeptical about much of what is going on in the Charismatic movement. He is one of the most powerful preachers I have ever known and has experienced many miracles in his ministry. He gives a clear message. There is nothing spooky or vague as God clearly speaks through prophets not through murmurs and peeps. Dr. Michael L. Brown, also a renown Charismatic preacher warns and writes about abuses in the movement. Be careful what you hear and who is doing the speaking. Spiritual Roses and Sallies abound.
How do we turn off the voices of Rose and Sally? Sometimes you have to turn off the radio. If you have people in your life that are being instruments of the enemy propaganda you should part company with them. If they are a “friend” you need to find other friends. You may just be someone they are using and abusing. Turn that radio off. There are people who will value you and your friendship.
If they are a spouse, family or co-workers you are not able to walk away from them so you need some holy white noise to drown out their static. If it is a spouse, you pray for them, but when they switch to the channel that pours out the propaganda see it as it is and do not allow it to sink in. Pray harder for them as they pour it out on you asking God to pour blessings out on them as you do not know who hurt them with propaganda. God can save your marriage and heal it so listen to Him and not propaganda.
Do the same with other people you cannot walk away from. Use their abuse as encouragement to spend more time with God seeking His wisdom to respond with the right words and voice. In essence, you are changing the channel by listening to truth and making the propaganda blocked by white noise or reduced to a little background static. After awhile, the noise will dim though the enemy will never stop trying to get you back on his channel until you are in Heaven.
This is going to sound strange coming from a preacher, but for thirty days do not listen to any preachers other than your pastor on Sunday. No online preachers or radio or TV preachers. No books or other reading material. Just read the Bible. I would suggest the first two weeks, you read through John’s Gospel slowly. If in two weeks, you read it four times fine. The key though is comprehension and asking God to speak to you. If that means you do not get through it, fine as long as you comprehend what you read and God has spoken to you. Ask the Holy Spirit for understanding, even if you have been a Christian for decades. The second week read Acts the same way. Spend an hour a day. You may want to get a free bible program like the link below so you can look up some words in the original language as we only have one word for love and Greek has several. There are other gems in the original so do word studies.
You may find that you did not understand some things as well as you thought and you may quite likely find some things you believed or were taught are incorrect. That is OK. The purpose of the Word is to change us and the job of the Holy Spirit is to lead us into all truth.
After the thirty days, you may find you really got a lot from that time. If so, take thirty days for each book in the Bible. Start with the New Testament. When you get to Philemon you may want to do two weeks on it and two weeks on Obadiah. When you are done in the New Testament do the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament. Use Psalms and Proverbs as devotions for breakfast, breaks, lunch and right before bed. The other books are for deeper study after work. Your hunger for the Word may even help you lose weight as you feast on it rather than snack on junk food. ;-) This is real food for the soul that never gets you fat if you exercise the truths taken in.
If you are not a Christian, you cannot turn that radio off or change the channel. You will have to become a Christian to be able to receive God’s channel. I was raised somewhat in a denomination and my wife in another and if you would have asked us we would have said we were Christians, but we were not. We had some head knowledge, but not a relationship with God until we were saved April 6th, 1975.
Get tuned into God. It will be amazing how the enemy will have to change lies because when Jesus comes in you will see many of the lies because they are so blatant. Some are so deeply entrenched that it will take some time as you learn the Word and listen to the Holy Spirit. Get the free twenty-four hour God channel now. He paid the price. You just have to receive it.
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and that Your Son, Jesus Christ, died and rose again to pay for my sins. I want Him to be my King and Saviour. Please forgive me for my sins. I want to turn from my sin and, with your help, to obey You. Save me now, for Jesus' sake. Thank You for saving me, Amen.
Now to my new brother or sister and to my longtime kin, don’t listen to Rose or Sally. They will often get the loudest when God is about to do something good in your life. They will try to sabotage you. Turn them down and listen to the right channel. Maranatha!
https://e-sword.net/
