"I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil." John 7:7. What exactly did He mean? Any true Christian would know that the devil deceived our first parents in the garden and from thence, all went downhill. Today, the unbelieving world believes we are on an upward path toward enlightenment! yet this path will lead to eternal darkness. As it was the devil who led man astray in the beginning, it is that same devil who is in control of the present world, for he is "the god of this world" 2 Cor. 4:4. The devil, that is "the prince of this world" was "cast out" (John 12:31) when the Lord Jesus gained the victory over him at Calvary. It is written "that he hath but a short time" Rev.12:12. A "short time" for what, exactly? Satan, the devil has only "a short time" left to carry on deceiving the world; "And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil, and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world." Rev. 12:9 (RV. my emphasis).
I think it plain from my short summary that Satan has always been, and is now ever increasingly busy at work today in the art that he is most skilled-DECEIVING! If we would not be deceived, we must believe the Lord's plain admonitions, numerous are His warnings about deception! especially from His Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:4, 11, 24, 26, Mark 13:5, 22, Luke 21:8 etc.). We get a picture of how big the great red dragon is from Job 1:7; "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." Satan wasn't "going to and fro" in a small village, town, city, or country, no! (though, he was obviously doing all this) he was "going to and fro" the entire length and breadth of the earth! Such is his power, might, and speed! If the Bible says it once, we should sit up and take notice, but twice? doubly so! for the aforementioned verse is repeated verbatim in Job 2:2! We get some idea of the dragon's size and his great power when he took the Lord Jesus "up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them." Matt. 4:8. The parallel verse in Luke 4:5 adds that it was done "in a moment of time." What power, speed, and might! Yet many speak deridingly of him! not so "Michael the archangel" Jude 9. This is the example for the Christian to follow. The great adversary is therefore behind the "spiritual wickedness in high places" Eph. 6:12. This verse teaches that Satan is an invisible foe, for he is not "flesh and blood", he is the "spiritual wickedness" upholding "the principalities...powers...the rulers of the darkness of this world." He is leading the world into the final great conflict with it's risen Creator! He is "pulling the strings" as it were, bringing all the nations together "against the LORD and His anointed" Psalm 2:1-3. Deception is the key that Satan employs, it worked in the garden, and it is working to great effect today.
Briefly, with the aforesaid as the ground to build upon; of the world, what of "the works thereof are evil"? what exactly are they? They must be something major, of considerable note, not just petty crime, (or even big crime!) lying, murder, adultery, and anything else that God would not have us do. No, it must be something that far transcends these. I believe that science is the big lie, it is "science falsely so called" 1 Tim. 6:20 that the devil has used to great effect "to blind the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Cor. 4:4. There is nothing evil about science in and of itself; empirical science is good, but what of theoretical science? What is a theory, but an assumption that may, or may not be correct? When it comes to origins, in the present day the "The Theory of Evolution" is no longer regarded as a theory, no, it is progressively touted as fact, yet it has never, and can never be observed! Evolution is diametrically opposed to clear Bible doctrine, in other words it opposes what God in Christ would have us know! Therefore, if in opposition to His truth, it must be satanic. The same goes for so-called "theistic evolution", for it adds to God's Word (or takes away from; see Rev. 22:18-19). In the ancient world the Greeks were the great philosophers who "spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing." Acts 17:21. It was through their vain philosophizing that we came to 'know' the Earth is a globe that spins on it's axis. Copernicus (1473-1543) expanded upon Eratosthenes (300 BC) ancient theory. It would be utterly absurd to believe that the apostle Paul wasn't aware of Eratosthenes novel theory, the learned man that he was! How might have things panned out if he alluded to it? Certainly Christians wouldn't be able to cite Isaiah 40:22 in defence of the globe (if the prophet had meant a globe, he would have used a different Hebrew word, as in Isaiah 22:18), regardless, the Holy Spirit didn't inspire him to do so because the Bible plainly teaches otherwise.
Back in the "dark ages" when the popes ruled (they burned Bibles, and kept the people in bondage to superstition), the new Copernican theory prevailed over the biblical 'flat earth'. Not all (including Luther) were taken in by the novel theory, notwithstanding, it became universally accepted. The shape of the earth subsequently became of vast importance, for Copernicus put the sun at some 93,000,000 miles away from the earth, and the planets and stars at distances in billions of miles from us! These vast distances then came to be accepted as "light years" away from us (for light took that long to travel-they say, now the Earth has in "one fell swoop" become a microdot in the observable universe, instead of being the Almighty's "footstool" Matt. 5:35); so evolution arrived directly from the shape of the earth, for without vast distances (Copernicus), vast time spans (Evolution/Darwinism) would never have came to be. The reasoning should be clear to all those God has given the eyes to see; evolution prevailed over Creationism, because the world believed the lie! There are some seventy plus verses in Holy Writ that speak of the movement of the sun and moon, yet you will search the sacred narrative in vain for just one verse that remotely suggests the earth moves, revolves, or whatever (earthquakes apart!). I should add that the knowledge of the Earth's shape in and of itself has no bearing upon one's eternal salvation, for the believer is saved through God's free sovereign electing grace alone. What did the thief on the cross know about science or Bible theology? Nevertheless, we come to God "as we are" as the hymn goes, and from thence the true believer will follow the Scriptural admonishment to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" 2 Pet. 3:18.
Back in the "dark ages" when the popes ruled (they burned Bibles, and kept the people in bondage to superstition), the new Copernican theory prevailed over the biblical 'flat earth'. Not all (including Luther) were taken in by the novel theory, notwithstanding, it became universally accepted. The shape of the earth subsequently became of vast importance, for Copernicus put the sun at some 93,000,000 miles away from the earth, and the planets and stars at distances in billions of miles from us! These vast distances then came to be accepted as "light years" away from us (for light took that long to travel-they say, now the Earth has in "one fell swoop" become a microdot in the observable universe, instead of being the Almighty's "footstool" Matt. 5:35); so evolution arrived directly from the shape of the earth, for without vast distances (Copernicus), vast time spans (Evolution/Darwinism) would never have came to be. The reasoning should be clear to all those God has given the eyes to see; evolution prevailed over Creationism, because the world believed the lie! There are some seventy plus verses in Holy Writ that speak of the movement of the sun and moon, yet you will search the sacred narrative in vain for just one verse that remotely suggests the earth moves, revolves, or whatever (earthquakes apart!). I should add that the knowledge of the Earth's shape in and of itself has no bearing upon one's eternal salvation, for the believer is saved through God's free sovereign electing grace alone. What did the thief on the cross know about science or Bible theology? Nevertheless, we come to God "as we are" as the hymn goes, and from thence the true believer will follow the Scriptural admonishment to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" 2 Pet. 3:18.
Our text says of the world that "the works thereof are evil" so, can any good come from a bad source? What of the present day world superpower that is the United States of America, would they deceive us through NASA? According to the Bible, this is exactly what we should expect: Genesis 1:14-16 teaches us that the sun and moon are independent "lights", that is the moon doesn't borrow it's light from the sun; it emits it's own light, as indeed the sun does. No one would think to land on the sun, so it is with the moon. Many ask "why the deception?" Surely this is not too hard to discern, for if Satan is "the god of this world" (Greek. age) 2 Cor. 4:4, would he not empower those under his authority in "high places" Eph. 6:12, to lead the masses astray, just as he with his dragon's "tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven" (the angels) down to earth? Rev. 12:4. The third part of the innumerable angelic host was cast down in a moment immediately prior to the incarnation! If the angelic host be innumerable (Heb. 12:22) likewise, it is true of mankind (Heb. 11:12, cf Gen. 22:17).
The parallel here is not too difficult to discern; the number of humankind is uncountable by us, just as the angelic host cannot number themselves, it is the prerogative of God to number, (see Matt 10:30, Luke 12:7, 2 Sam. 24:1-3). Satan as "the god of this world" deceives the great mass of mankind; for they believe the false science, I am not saying they understand it, for it cannot be understood-it is a lie! nevertheless, they don't question it. As the Scripture says, "they received not the love of the truth" 2 Thess. 2:10 (it would be good if the reader would read the wider context of this important verse). It is written that the angels are "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" Heb. 1:14. If godlessness is increasing (which it is) then, a restraint is being progressively diminished as we move closer to the coming "man of sin" who will be "revealed" after the great "falling away" 2 Thess. 2:3. It seems to me that as we approach the coming apocalypse, God will be reducing the presence of His angels, the "ministering spirits" on the world scene, which also points to the archangel Michael being the restrainer. Regarding His Second Coming, the Lord asked "shall He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8, it seems "the faith" (RV margin) will indeed be very scarce upon His return.
False science has led the world astray from it's Creator, and will continue to do so until He returns in glory. Satan's dupes around the so-called 'globe' will continue to deceive the world with the Sci-Fi inspired Hollywood/NASA space programmes. This is done to hide God, to suppress the Truth. The micro-world (so-called sub atomic particle science) is also false, being based upon the macro, that is the non existent solar-system, where scientists surmised a mini solar-system in the particle world: particles orbiting inside an atom. Totally unproven, and always will be! Nevertheless, the world in the name of "science falsely so called" has spent billions on the Large Hadron Collider (a 17 mile long underground tunnel near Geneva) to 'split the atom' believing they can 'unlock' our origins, when all they need do is read, and believe the Bible! Truly, "hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" 1 Cor. 1:20.
False science has led the world astray from it's Creator, and will continue to do so until He returns in glory. Satan's dupes around the so-called 'globe' will continue to deceive the world with the Sci-Fi inspired Hollywood/NASA space programmes. This is done to hide God, to suppress the Truth. The micro-world (so-called sub atomic particle science) is also false, being based upon the macro, that is the non existent solar-system, where scientists surmised a mini solar-system in the particle world: particles orbiting inside an atom. Totally unproven, and always will be! Nevertheless, the world in the name of "science falsely so called" has spent billions on the Large Hadron Collider (a 17 mile long underground tunnel near Geneva) to 'split the atom' believing they can 'unlock' our origins, when all they need do is read, and believe the Bible! Truly, "hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" 1 Cor. 1:20.
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