The Strife Part II
How Christianity, from the first century, deviated from the Holy Scriptures by S.V.M. originally written in Dutch in 1931, translated from Dutch by Aristarkos.
Please first read Part I.
II. SATAN'S WORK IN THE PRESENT DISPENSATION AGAINST THE LIVING WORD.
Satan's activity can be traced through the ages in the Scriptures. We mention only a few things here.
In the first aion he wanted to become equal to the Most High and as a result was cast down (Isa. 14:12–44).
In the second aion he seduced Eve and brought her into transgression. Then it came down to preventing the arrival of the promised « Seed ». He therefore first worked in Cain. Later he used the « sons of God » (Gen. 6:2) to destroy all mankind and radically suffocate the « Seed ». Each time he apparently succeeds in his attempts, but in the end he proves to gain nothing.
In the third aion, that is the present, we find him working in Babylon. His purpose now is twofold: to oppose God's kingdom and to establish a kingdom of his own. Thus he has the Promised Land occupied by the Canaanites and here play the Nephilim (sometimes translated by « giants », the name means « fallen ones »), the Gibboor mighty), the Rephaim (often translated by « giants », the meaning seems « healers ») and other non-human beings, their role. We see him oppressing and trying to exterminate the people in Egypt. Later in the battle of Saul, Goliath and the Philistine giants against David; in slaying Joram's brothers and sons; in the slaying of the royal seed by Athaliah, etc. Notwithstanding all these efforts THE Seed came, the Lord Jesus.
Then all is against Him and again all seemed won for Satan when the Lord came to the cross. Here too, on the contrary, it was the biggest defeat. The cross, the blood, the death of the great Savior were precisely what was needed to realize God's plan of the aions.
Since everything now depends on the conversion of God's People, Satan is going to work especially on Israel. Another victory: end of Acts it is set aside. Paul pronounces judgment on it:
« For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. » Acts 28:28, 28
That which had been prepared by God since the beginning of this aion, now all seems to have been in vain. With the chosen people, all possibility of bringing about the kingdom, of which all the prophets spoke, also disappears. Israel, which should have been a dispenser of God's blessings to the Gentiles, does not repent. That must have been a fearful time for many creatures. What now? Behold, here comes Paul revealing something that has been hidden in God from all ages and generations! With Israel the former line is interrupted, everything is prepared anew by God, and the exceeding greatness of His grace and power is again evident. Paul, forsaken by men, writes his Captivity Letters to Ephesus, Philippe, and Colosse, thus making known to the faithful that which God alone revealed to him. A new Body, of which Christ is the Head, is formed quite independently of all the former, of Abraham, Israel, the Kingdom, the land of Canaan, the city of Jerusalem. That is something unexpected, a surprise to Satan. What will he do now? We would like to examine this in more detail, but give a brief overview beforehand.
Shortly after Paul's proclamation of the Great Mystery, Israel's rejection also becomes visible: the city and the temple are destroyed and the People are scattered all over the world. Now the devil, the Diabolos (scrambler), would fully justify his name, he would scramble everything. First, he must prevent people from believing Paul, and secondly, he must take advantage of circumstances to make God's Word either rejected or to make it rendered powerless.
Indeed, some believed in complete failure and rejected everything. Others, in spite of the facts, tried to salvage something. Since everything seemed to depend on Israel and that nation was now rejected, it could not have been the true Israel! What the prophets of Israel had said was true, but it had to be understood « spiritually » for all believers, for the « Church » which had actually existed from all ages, but more specifically from Pentecost! An earthly kingdom would never come, that was also spiritual: the « Church » would expand and eventually encompass the whole world! The parables of the Lord Jesus do speak of tares, leaven, a treasure and a pearl, one would adapt all this to the new conception. That had nothing to do with ancient Israel, but with « Spiritual » Israel! What errors!
Satan now works in the « sons of disobedience » (Eph. 2:2), as the Lord works in the members of the Church (Phil. 2:13). Can we understand the scope of Joh. 5:19 « We know... that the whole world lies in evil »? Do you know what it means that Satan is the god of this aion? (2 Cor. 4:3, 4). Satan is not the monstrosity of which early Christian literature in particular had so much to say. How can he be the god of this aion and blind so many? One does not understand that because one does not know him in his true or main form. « For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light » (2 Cor. 11:14). He then speaks of progress, development, civilization, morals, etc. He wants to make good people and have world peace to establish his throne. He can also use the good. However, the perfect humanity over which he would then be king must come without God, without Christ. Here one sees the anti-Christian: he wants to take the place of Christ (« Anti » first of all does not mean « opposite », but « instead of »). To achieve all this, he can also very well use Christianity. If only one does not accept God's Word literally. Then he can blind the eyes of his victims from words which, like Rom. 3:10-18, depicting the true natural man:
« As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. »
Notwithstanding all progress, man remains unjust in himself. God's order is to be born from above and justified, and then to walk in His ways. Only in this way can one come to all good things, such as peace and happiness and much more. Satan proposes it differently: first realize human ideals, then a new birth of its own accord and Christ is no longer needed. God wants the « old man » dead and a new man with a divine life and walk. Satan wants to improve the old man.
AGAINST THE WRITTEN WORD. While Satan thus controls the whole world, he wants to work on Christianity in particular. With this he also has a double goal: to move away from God's Word and to use the Christians in his service.
As far as God's Word is concerned, he has numerous cunning diversions. To some he presents the Scriptures as having absolutely no value and uses various means to that end, which adapt to the circumstances. In this « enlightened » aion, he often uses science for this purpose. In the past, some parts of Scripture were interpreted in accordance with the scientific development of the time. Later that view may have turned out to be incorrect in the light of more correct understandings of the material world. Then they often pretend that God's Word is wrong, and forget so easily that only the conception of that ancient time is wrong. One does not then think of re-examining whether God's Word really and necessarily must be understood as one has done it before. Genesis in particular has given rise to such abuse.
In the early centuries an attempt was made to smother the true Word under a mass of false writings. In later times the Bible was burned and the believers killed. However, if such radical means cannot be applied or do not help, then Satan applies more covertly. Scripture is then preserved, nay, perhaps praised, if the power can but be taken away. Besides the great means: spiritualizing, there are others. God has a series of aions and dispensations, and each one of them has special precepts and orders and circumstances, but one does not begin to follow that straight division, one mixes what God has separated, applies to a time and a group of people, which leads to a in other words, make a real mess of God's Word and then wonders that there are difficulties! Instead of returning to the Scriptures and examining whether the difficulties do not come from man, one sticks to his doctrine, his confession, his conception. In theory one would like to assume that one does not have the whole truth, but in practice one sticks to one's system. THAT is thought to be the truth. People sometimes accuse others of changing their opinion, which is not allowed. So while any difficulty ought to be a reason to seriously reconsider his views and to try to resolve them differently, others see them as a flaw in God's Word. In this way one comes again to spiritualizing and rejecting. After all, one is left with some good moral precepts, which one then wants to carry out in one's own strength, which in turn leads to failure and discouragement.
In other cases, Satan emphasizes the things of feelings. People don't want to tire themselves out with research, they are satisfied with what little they know. Too much knowledge is even considered harmful, one speaks lightly of « warm heads and cold hearts ». People live more in an emotional sphere where singing, gatherings and forms play a major role.
Still others rely on their experience. They have seen or heard this, dreamed that and possibly had all kinds of wonderful experiences. That is their support. Not Scripture. This is explained using their personal experience.
Thus people are diverted from God's Word in all sorts of ways. And then Satan can use them in part for his own purpose. For as far as one is not in the service of the truth, one is in the service of a lie. If it is said of us that we work in the hands of Satan, we may agree, provided that it is understood by this that only he who has the full truth is immune to him (and there has only been one) and also assumes that everyone, insofar as he does not have the full truth, helps Satan. Whoever has more light, help us to come out of the darkness in which we are supposed to be, and show us where we deviate from the truth. As long as they don't do that, relying on the Scriptures, we fear that they serve Satan even more than we do. We repeat: by taking God's Word as literal as possible, we are on a safe path. Let them examine with care whether we are Scriptural, or else refute us with the Scriptures, not with doctrines inherited from the fathers.
So in this wicked aion Satan uses everything, adapts to all circumstances, and conquers almost all the way. How can one stand against those cunning diversions of the scrambler? There is only one remedy and Paul gives it in Eph. 6:11-18.
Aristarkos