The devil in the “Isms”
TEXT: 2 COR. 2:5-11 (from the ESV)
INTRODUCTION:
I want to focus on: “We are not ignorant of his designs,” (KJV devices) where Paul is referring to satan’s designs. Designs is from the Greek word: “no'-a-mä” (nigh’ e ma) and means “a purpose, and specifically, an evil purpose.” Evil is always satan’s purpose and he was well-established in Corinth. Paul had personally founded the Church at Corinth on his 2nd missionary journey. Corinth was an old city, very prominent and influential in the history and politics of ancient Greece, and an important city under Roman rule, which is when this letter was written.
Corinth was filled with idols to the so-called gods of Greece and Rome, the most famous being the Temple of Aphrodite that employed 1,000 prostitutes. It was an evil city and caused Paul some of his worst problems in dealing with the Corinthian converts to Christianity. In our text, Paul is referring to an individual he wrote to them about in his 1st Letter, who had been sinning by sleeping with his step-mother. Paul told them to turn him over to satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (I Cor. 5:5).
In our text, Paul is encouraging the church to forgive this man and love him. He then writes, in verses 10 and 11, “Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” Paul was informing the church that the reason they should forgive and love their formerly sinful brother, is because it is the right thing to do, and it is the right thing to do because Jesus commanded it. Jesus said, “Forgive if you have ought against any, that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mark 11:25). Paul knew that if this incident were not handled properly in God’s way, satan would use it to hinder the work of God in the Corinthian Church. The main target of satan’s attack is always the gospel, so he knows that if he can sow discord in the church, he can bring dishonor on the gospel.
If we are to be successful as individual Christians, and be successful as a local church, we must educate ourselves about satan’s evil purposes. As Paul says, we must not be ignorant of his designs. I want to make a start at this effort by talking about satan’s work in the world, and specifically his influence in and through the “isms” of the world.
I want us all to learn about his workings in the “isms” of Egoism, Globalism, and right under that, Communism.
I. EGOISM
A. The first thing to know about the devil is that he is GOD’s devil, because he is a created being, created by God as an angel; a specific type of angel called a “cherub,” from the Hebrew, “ker·üv,” which means “flanking God's throne.” He is neither god nor human but is a renegade and fallen angel
B. God named him “lucifer,” which is from the Hebrew word: “ha·lal” (hay lay’ ul), meaning, “light-bearer.” (from Isa. 14:12). But he forgot that he belonged to God. This lapse of memory is described in **READ Ezek. 28:13-15; 17 PINK READ**
C. Notice: he was “created,” and was so beautiful, he literally shined from the precious stones he was covered with. Music projected from him. Timbrels (or in the KJV “tabarets”) and pipes were built into him, meaning he was a walking heavenly pipe organ.
D. The definition of egoism is “the habit of valuing everything only in reference to one's personal interest; selfishness.” Egoism can be thought of as self-ism, the belief that one should act only in their own interests and desires. This is the devil personified.
E. He was the cherub that covered, meaning he was right up by the throne of God. He was given free will, and because of his beauty, his special attributes, and his view as being so exceptional and superior, his ego got so massive that he thought he could overthrow God.
F. His coup attempt against God is described in Isa. 14:12-14. **READ ISA. 14:12-14 PURPLE READ** He wanted to be like God, and more -- even to BE God, but instead, God cut him “…down to the ground.”
G. And he is STILL God’s devil. Everything he does or any power he has is only that which is PERMITTED by God, but God is not the author or the approver of his evil. Yet, at the end of time, even the devil’s workings will be seen as having accomplished the will of God.
H. Know this: satan is the supreme egotist, full of vanity and selfishness, a false sense of self-importance, and that everything is about “him.” This is egoism, and it is the devil’s primary character trait.
I. In his book, “Jihadist Psychopath,” author Jamie Glazov says, “Lucifer desires to be God, but he cannot be God. While he grasps this eternal truth on some levels, he cannot accept it. This admixture of pride and denial sparks within him an inextinguishable rage and hatred and, in turn, the desire to pervert and destroy all of God’s creation.” (p. 16).
J. He wanted God’s place in the universe. He wanted God’s prestige. The respect and honor that God was getting, he wanted for himself.
K. He has not changed. He still wants to be worshipped as God is worshipped, all because of his supreme egoism.
L. He even wanted Jesus to worship him. Remember how he came to tempt Jesus when our Lord was at his weakest, humanly speaking after He had fasted 40 days in the wilderness? It was the devil’s third attempt at trying to get Jesus to yield to him.
1. Let me read it to you: “Again, the devil took Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and said unto him, All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said unto him, Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him” (Matt. 4:8-11).
2. We must remember that the devil is a LIAR! The kingdoms were not his to give, because the Word of God says, “…all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head above all.” It belongs to Jesus, not the devil: “For by Him (Jesus) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and FOR Him…” (Col. 1:16). And the devil wouldn’t have given the kingdoms to Jesus, even if he could have – because he is a LIAR!
3. The devil is in the “ism” of egoism.
II. GLOBALISM
A. Why go to globalism and attribute this “ism” to the devil? Let me explain. It is in the Bible. After the world had become so evil that God had to send a worldwide flood, as described in Gen. 6-8, destroying all human life except for Noah and his family, the world began to repopulate.
B. In Genesis 9 we learn that all the earth was reinhabited through the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and of course, their wives. Noah lived for 350 years after the flood, dying at age 950.
C. Genesis 10 then lists the generations that followed from the sons of Noah. Ham’s son was “Cush.” Cush had a son named “Nimrod.” The Bible says Nimrod was a “mighty hunter,” and the beginning of his kingdom was “Babel.” He also founded the ancient city of Nineveh.
D. Genesis chapter 11 begins with: “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.” This was the beginning of Globalism. The definition of globalism is “a policy, or outlook that is worldwide in scope; a policy of placing the interests of the entire world above those of individual nations.” The world was “One” at Babel.
E. We next read that they came to the plain of Shinar and decided to all settle down there together, and be a big, happy one-world family. They said collectively, “let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” But this was not God’s will for mankind. Any action contrary to the will of God is of the devil.
F. Here’s what God said and did in response, in Genesis 11:6-9: “the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’”
G. Reading on, “So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore, its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth” (Gen.11:8-9).
H. And ever since the tower of Babel the devil has been motivating people to act in opposition to the will of God to once again try to build a new tower of Babel that will reach to heaven, and become a “one-world,” global community, which is rebellion against the will of God
I. The United Nations, whose stated goal is to create a “New World Order,” with a one-world government, a one-world military, a one-world money system, and one-world religion, is just one prominent example of the devil’s efforts to inspire humanity to build a new Tower of Babel through Globalism through their “Agenda 21 Project,” and through their “Sustainable Development” initiative.
J. And he will try it again at the very end of the last days of earth, in the last 3 ½ years of the Tribulation Period, through the Anti-Christ – called the Beast, as described in Rev. 13:5-8.
K. It says, “…he (the Beast) was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
L. The devil is in the “ism” of Globalism
III. COMMUNISM
A. Before I get into the devil in the “ism” of Communism, I need to say a word about the “ism” of Social-ism. Vladimir Lenin, the founder of International Communism, said the goal of Socialism is Communism, that it is a necessary step toward Communism. He was quoting Karl Marx, the Father of Communist philosophy, who wrote that Socialism was a “necessary stage in the development of Communism.”
B. Author Kevin D. Williamson, in his book, “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism,” says that “Socialists and communists themselves acknowledge that socialism is not separate from Communism” (p. 1), and that “the most hardened communists in the modern era – the rulers of Soviet Russia, Red China, and North Korea – routinely refer to their systems as “socialism…” (p. 5).
C. In his book, “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Communism,” author Paul Kengor cites Former President John F. Kennedy, who made this observation about Communism. He said, “Communists allow no room for God: the claim of the state must be total and allow no other loyalty, and no other philosophy of life can be tolerated.”
D. I don’t think Karl Marx, the founder of modern Communism was an atheist. He believed in God, he just hated God. He wrote satan-themed poetry as a young man in which he refers to The Prince of Darkness.
E. Marx was also obsessed with and memorized long passages from Goethe’s “Faust,” in which a demon called Mephistopheles tempts Faust to sell his soul to the devil.
F. I read a book called “Tortured for Christ,”
written by Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian Christian minister, who was imprisoned in Communist prisons for 14 years and describes the torture he suffered. He said, “I have seen communists whose faces while torturing believers shone with rapturous joy. They cried out while torturing the Christians, ‘We are the devil!’ One torturer said, ‘I thank God in whom I don’t believe, that I have lived to this hour when I can express all the evil in my heart.’”
G. Wurmbrand states that Marx eventually became a satan worshipper who regularly participated in occult practices and habits.
H. In John 8:44 Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning…”
I. Kengor co-titled his book on Communism, “The Killingest Idea Ever.” Communism has directly led to the death of 140-160 million people worldwide, just in the 20th Century. That is more than Hitler, more than both world wars, and more than disease pandemics.
J. Describing the devil as a “thief,” Jesus said the thief comes to “steal, and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). In imitation of the devil, one of the goals of Communism is to steal private property.
K. It is specially stated by Marx and Engels this way in their “Communist Manifesto: “In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.”
L. In John 8:44 Jesus also calls the devil a “liar and the father of liars.” Communism is built on lies. In fact, in Communism, lying is a virtue. It teaches the lie that its political philosophy can ultimately create a heaven on earth, and the evil lie that Christianity is the greatest enemy of mankind’s happiness when it is really the greatest good ever granted to mankind.
M. But Communism’s greatest lie is the lie about God – the say that God is a liar, as the devil told Eve in the Garden of Eden, or an even worse lie: through its atheistic philosophy they tell their followers that God doesn’t even exist.
Closing:
The devil is in many other “isms.” But that is for another day.
The United States is under attack by the devil. Therefore, we must not be ignorant of his evil purposes. Inspired by satan, the Black Lives Matter organization, the anarchist group, Antifa, the Youth Liberation Front, and others, also being aided by the Chinese Communists, are seeking to undermine our Republic. The entire intent of the Black Lives Matter movement is Marxist Communism. In an interview with the Real News Network, BLM founder Patrisse Cullors admits she and her cohorts are “trained Marxists.” She said, “We actually do have an ideological frame. Myself and Alicia [Garza] in particular, we’re trained organizers. We are trained Marxists. We are super versed on ideological theories…” Among their goals, are “disrupting the nuclear family structure” and say they are a “queer-affirming network.” In addition to doing away with the family, BLM wants to abolish police, prisons, and capitalism. BLM leaders have also threatened to "burn down the system" if their demands are not met. News broke just this week BLM has recently partnered with the Chinese Communist Party through the Chinese Progressive Association, a U.S. front group for the Chinese Communist Party.
And what about Antifa? They were founded in 1932 by the Stalinist Communist Party of Germany. They are a revolutionary communist-anarchist militia movement that aspires to forcibly overthrow the United States government, and is responsible, since March of this year (2020) along with other satan-inspired groups, for riots and arson in more than 20 major U.S. cities. It is plain: devil is in the “isms” of Egoism, Globalism, and Communism. But I want to leave you with some good news.
In his Revelation, John the Apostle saw the ultimate end of the devil. **READ Rev. 19:11-16; 19, 20 BLUE READ** The Beast (the Anti-Christ) and the False Prophet were cast alive into the lake of fire. In Rev. 20, verse 10, the devil joins the Beast and the False Prophet in the lake of fire and brimstone, where they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Hallelujah!
But we can have victory over the enemy now. Jesus said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Lk. 10:19). And since Jesus said “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away (Matt. 24:35), those words over victory are still in effect for us, and we have the promise of God’s protection. And didn’t James say, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”? (James 4:7).
There is no Savior for the devil, but there is a Savior for egotists, and globalists and communists, and even for Black Lives Matter and Antifa. Thinking you can’t get saved is a lie of the devil. Whatever you have done, Jesus can save you. He can grant you forgiveness, mercy and peace, and the promise of eternal life with Him. Won’t you trust Jesus and put all your hope for all your eternity in Him and Him alone? If you do, He will save you and deliver you from your sins and take you to be with Him forever in Heaven. Let us pray.
