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What the Bible says about Satan's Ministers
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Deuteronomy 13:1-5

The first factor added here is that God recognizes that false prophets, through the power of Satan, can accomplish signs and wonders. The magicians of Egypt imitate Moses' staff-into-a-serpent miracle before Pharaoh (Exodus 7:8-12). The end-time False Prophet will do similar signs as the Two Witnesses, causing most of the world's population to worship the Beast (Revelation 13:11-15). Paul warns in II Corinthians 11:13-15 that Satan's servants are clever counterfeits of Christ's. Signs, wonders, and miracles, then, are not conclusive proof that a prophet is from God.

The second factor Deuteronomy 13 adds is our need to recognize the spiritual message accompanying the prophet's signs and predictions. This is the essence of the apostle John's admonition, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (I John 4:1). No matter how impressive or accurate a prophet's miracles or prophecies, his credibility hangs on whether he leads people toward or away from God.

The following questions, then, must all be answered before we judge a person as a true or false prophet:

1. Does he claim to prophesy in God's name or in a false god's name?
2. Do his prophecies come to pass?
3. Does he do signs and wonders?
4. Does he teach the truth based on God's Word?

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Was Herbert Armstrong a False Prophet?

Matthew 13:38

"The tares are the sons of the wicked one." Satan has sons too? In John 8:44, Jesus tells those listening to Him, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning," and so on. Satan has sons!

He not only has sons, he has servants, ministers, even apostles (II Corinthians 11:13-15). This parable says that Satan has secret agents! He has spies, moles, and plants right in the church! We just saw them - ministers, apostles, servants, sons - smack-dab amongst us, and they are so cleverly disguised that we cannot tell the difference between them and true Christians. They are so well disguised that they do not know who they are!

They look converted, talk converted, and seem so pure and righteous oftentimes. Paul tells us in II Corinthians 11:15 that they "transform themselves into ministers of righteousness." They look so good, they say the right things, they serve, and they teach just like the good seed. But they are evil! How subtle Satan is (Genesis 3:1)!

These evil, enemy agents, as good as they look, work to destroy the good seed after the initial period covered in the Parable of the Tares. If Satan fails to get us immediately, he has his plants try to dissuade us from the right way, while we are in church, in our own neighborhoods, when we are feeling relaxed and amongst friends and brethren!

Jesus tells His angels (His servants or messengers) just to leave them there until harvest time. The Bible says elsewhere that those agents help to prove who the truly good seed are (see I Corinthians 11:19; I John 2:19). If we can resist the secret agents, we are doing a pretty good job.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Parables of Matthew 13 (Part 1): The Mustard Seed

Matthew 24:24-25

Increasing deception will mark the "end time." At a certain point, these deceptions will be augmented by signs and wonders—miracles! Whether they are true miracles or not, we do not know. Satan has the ability to do certain things of that nature. Whatever they are, they will seem to give credence to the ideas of the people who are doing them. If we are not careful, even the elect—if possible—could be deceived.

This phrase "if possible" has made some people wonder, "Can the elect be deceived?" Well, it is kind of a trick question. If they are deceived, then they are not the elect! This is because the elect do something that keeps them from being deceived! It is not as if God says, "Here's this one group. I am not going to let them be deceived." That is not how it works. They are the elect because they do not allow themselves to be deceived.

So it is not possible to deceive the elect. It is not because these people have a special "safety net" around them, so that they cannot be deceived. They cannot be deceived because they will not let themselves be deceived, which is why they are the elect. They are working hard so that they will not be deceived. And that is the group that we want to be part of.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Preventing Deception

2 Corinthians 4:4

By blinding the minds of men to the true gospel of God, Satan has set himself up as a counterfeit of the Creator God. As the prince of the power of the air, he broadcasts his evil, rebellious attitudes to all humanity, and except for a few whom God has called out of his deceptions, the whole world lives under his sway (Ephesians 2:1-3; I John 5:19; Revelation 12:9).

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Basic Doctrines: Satan's Origin and Destiny

2 Corinthians 4:4

This verse defines or reveals Satan's religious position. He receives homage as the one worshipped by the unconverted. Thus, the world pursues his plan and yields to his temptations while at the same time neglecting or rejecting the reign, the realm, the Kingdom, the rule of God.

John W. Ritenbaugh
What I Believe About Conspiracy Theories


 




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