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Prov 28:1; The wicked flee when no one is pursuing but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
Isa 26:3; KJV Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
2Cor 3:6-8 NET; Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord -
7 for we live by faith, not by sight. 8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home face to face with the Lord.
Phil 1:21; For me to live is Christ and to die is profit.
Psalm 91:1-10; 1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!"
3 For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5 You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked.
9 For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent.
We are presently in a study of the doctrine of evil that is the product of believing the false narrative of the public lie that satan, the god of this world, fabricates and raises up in opposition to truth and righteousness that are the product of believing the Person and Word of the Living God of the universe.
At this point we are looking at Lewis Sperry Chafer's description of satan's system in his Systematic Theology Volume 2 pages 100-111. Picking up from where we left off...
False teachers are usually sincere and full of humanitarian zeal; but they are unregenerate. This judgment necessarily follows when it is understood that they deny the only ground of redemption.
Being unregenerate, it is said of them: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14;).
Such religious leaders may be highly educated and able to speak with authority on every aspect of human knowledge; but if they are not born again, their judgment in spiritual matters is worthless and misleading. All teachers are to be judged by their attitude toward the doctrine of the blood redemption of Christ, rather than by their winsome personalities, their education, or their sincerity.
Since the blood redemption of the cross is the central truth and value of the true faith, it being the "power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1:16; 1Cor 1:23-24;), any counterfeit system of doctrine which would omit this essential, must force some secondary truth into the place of prominence.
Any of the great Scriptural subjects which are of universal interest to humanity, such as physical health, life after death, morality, unfulfilled prophecy, or religious forms, may be substituted in the false systems for that which is vital.
And while those subjects are all found in their proper relations and importance in the true faith, the fact that people are universally inclined to give attention to them furnishes an opportunity for Satan to make a strong appeal to humanity through them, using these subjects as central truths in his false and counterfeit systems.
Many are easily led to fix their attention upon the secondary things, and to neglect wholly the one primary thing. Especially is this true since the secondary things are tangible and seen, while the one essential thing is spiritual and unseen; and Satan has blinded their eyes toward that which is of eternal value.
A system of doctrine may be formed, then, which includes every truth of the Scriptures save one: exalting the Person of Christ, but not His work, and thereby emphasizing some secondary truth as its central value.
This system will be readily accepted by blinded humanity, though the real power of God unto salvation has been carefully withdrawn. Naturally it would be supposed that such Satan-inspired systems would have no value or power, since there could be no divine favor upon them.
Such a supposition would be possible only because of the prevailing misunderstanding with respect to the real power of Satan. If the description given of him in the Scriptures is accepted, he will be seen to be possessed with miraculous power, able to perform such marvels that the whole world is led to wonder and then to worship.
He is free also to bestow this miraculous power upon others (Rev 13:2; So it is no marvel if his ministers, who appear as the ministers of righteousness, are able to exert superhuman power when it is directly in the interest of the satanic projects.
The great power of Satan has doubtless been active along these lines during all the ages past; for it is impossible that humanity should have worshiped other gods blindly without some recompense, and it is Satan himself who has been thus worshiped (Lev 17:7; 2Chron 11:15; Rev 9:20;).
It is not final evidence, therefore, that a system of doctrine is of God simply because there are accompanying manifestations of superhuman power, nor is it final evidence that the Almighty has responded simply because any form of supplication has been answered.
The divine movements are, of necessity, limited by the laws of His own holiness; and access into His presence is by the blood of Christ alone, by a new and living Way which was consecrated for us through His flesh (Heb. 10:19-20;).
Assuming to come before God in prayer but ignoring this truth is but to insult with pollution Him who is infinitely holy and pure. Surely the Satan-ruled world does not come before God by the blood of Christ.
Churches sometimes fall an easy prey to forms of doctrine-"deceivableness of unrighteousness"-which Satan originates. Sad is the spectacle of churches meeting week after week to be beguiled by the philosophy of men, and raising no voice in protest against the denial of their only foundation as a church, and the individual's only hope for time and eternity!
Far more honorable were the infidels of the past generation than those who minister in these churches. They were wholly outside the church. But now, behold the inconsistency! Men who are covered by the vesture of the church, ministering its sacraments, and supported by its benevolence, are making an open attack upon that wisdom of God which made Christ Jesus the only ground for all righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
The predictions for the last days are thus not only being fulfilled by false systems and doctrines, but they are found in the visible church itself. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2Tim. 4:3-4;).
Great religious activities are possible without coming into complication with saving faith. It is possible to fight against sin and not present the Savior, or to urge the highest Scriptural ideals and yet offer no reasonable way of attainment.
There is a strange fascination about these undertakings which are humanitarian, and are religious only in form and title. And there is a strange attractiveness in the leader who announces that he is not concerned with the doctrines of the Bible, because the helping of humanity is his one passion and care; yet all his passion is lost and his care is to no real end unless coupled with a very positive message of a particular way of salvation, the true understanding of which demands a series of most careful distinctions.
Who can be the god of these systems? the energizing power in these people? and the answerer of their prayers? Surely not the God of the Scriptures who cannot deny Himself, and whose Word cannot be made to pass away!
Revelation sets forth but one other being who is capable of these undertakings; and it not only assigns to this being a great and sufficient motive for all such activity, but clearly predicts that he will thus "oppose" and "exalt himself" in this very day and age. Much of the secondary truth is the present inheritance of the child of God.
However, if there is a choice to be made, the deepest wisdom will perceive that all the combined secondary values which Satan can offer are but for a fleeting time, and are not worthy to be compared with the eternal riches of grace in Christ Jesus.
Certain religious systems which are in no way related to the Bible and have continued for millenniums-including the ancient pagan systems and spiritism-have held the devotion of uncounted millions and bear every evidence of being inspired by Satan.
The moral problem, which is felt to some degree by every human being, is seized upon by almost every unscriptural system. The idea that man will stand on a basis of personal worthiness has been the chief heresy, opposing the central doctrine of grace, from the time of Christ's death to the present hour.
It so permeates the church that few who preach are able to exclude it from their attempts at gospel preaching. It is safe to say that wherever the element of human merit is allowed to intrude into the presentation of the plan of salvation, the message is satanic to that extent. The ministers of Satan proclaim personal righteousness as the ground of the individual's right relations to God (2Cor. 11:13-15).
No sphere of profession has been more confused and befogged by the intrusion of human merit than has the Church of Rome.
As has been observed, cults are now multiplying and their appearance is restricted to very recent times. These cults cover a variety of ideas all the way from Christian Science to Buchmanism.
The latter as completely ignores the blood redemption of Christ as the former. While the former substitutes bodily health for the salvation of the soul, the latter substitutes consecration to God for a new birth by the Spirit. No less misleading is the modern doctrine that salvation is through faith plus consecration.
Probably no religious movement is more bold than the I AM cult of recent months. It unblushingly announces by its blasphemous name that it freely embraces all that belongs to the original lie.
Its title would have been equally appropriate had it been, I will be like the most High. Space cannot be claimed for an enumeration and analysis of all these systems, ancient and modern.
No one can anticipate the number that will yet appear or the confusion of doctrine they will engender; but for each and all there is but one acid test, namely, What place does it give to the redeeming grace of God made possible only through the death and shed blood of Christ?