Many and varied are the ways which Satan devises to destroy
the Church of Christ in this world and at the same time to establish his
antichristian kingdom. Although many of these ways become boldly evident to us
as we watch for Christ's second coming there are others which are much more
subtle and for that reason can sneak by undetected. Every way conceivable Satan
is out to destroy the Church and the cause of Jesus Christ in this world. And
he sets out to do so with the savagery of a roaring lion. He stalks us
unrelentingly. If we are caught sleeping but for a moment we become the prime
target of his attack. For that reason we must be on our guard every moment of
our lives, carefully watching every aspect of our lives as the people of God.
One such attack upon the Church of Christ through which
Satan attempts to destroy her is a lack of knowledge of God and His works and
ways. This attempt of Satan to render the people of God ignorant of God's Word
has been evident throughout all of the history of His Church.
Soon after the nation of Israel had inherited the land of
Canaan for a possession, Satan set to work to sway the hearts of the people.
Because Israel had already possessed the land and become quite powerful she
felt no need to drive out and to destroy the heathen nations that had
previously dwelt there. Instead of obeying God's command Israel allowed the
heathen to dwell among, them. Already Satan was at work fulfilling his scheme
to destroy the church by causing her to forget God and His mighty works. Now
that Israel dwelt among the heathen nations of Canaan the next step was simple.
In Judges 3:6 and 7 we find, "And they took their daughters to be their
wives and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. And the
children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their
God and served Baalim and the groves." Satan's tactics were simple enough.
At that time all the great works of God which He had done for His people were
passed from generation to generation only by word of mouth. The knowledge of
God and His precepts was passed in tradition from father to son. By means of
intermarriage Satan had caused the ignorant, unbelieving heathen to enter into
the very homes of Israel. The result is evident. The knowledge of God and His
commandments that had passed from generation to generation by word of mouth now
ceased. Therefore, "there arose another generation which knew not the
Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel" (Judges 2:10).
Today the avenues through which God instructs His people are
more than those used in the early, old dispensational church. No doubt covenant
instruction in the home remains basic to all instruction in the Word of God and
His commandments. Now, however, there are more means. We receive instruction in
God's Word by means of the preaching of the gospel, by means of the Christian
school, and also by means of the printed page. Because of all these different
ways by which we are instructed in God's Word, Satan's attacks upon the church
become more varied. In order for him to make us ignorant of God and His mighty
works he must in some way approach each of these avenues of instruction and
rend them apart. That he does.
In this article we focus our attention on Satan's attack
upon our knowledge of God by means of the printed page. To be sure, Satan still
works in the home, he still works in the schools, and he still works within the
church. Now, however, he must also contend with the fact that there is readily
available to the child of God good, sound, spiritual literature. In fact, this
means of instruction in God's Word can be found within all three of the spheres
mentioned above. We can be sure that Satan emits a painful roar every time a
book or a periodical which instructs in the Word of God comes from the printing
press.
With the Reformation God raised up godly men who translated
the Bible into the everyday language of the people: These same men began
writing concerning the truth of God's Word. By means of the printing press the
Bible was not only given to the laity but a need for good literature was filled
with the writings of godly men. Through the years their writings were preserved
and many more books of a sound, exegetical character were added. Today you and
I have at our fingertips the best spiritual literature available.
But Satan never gives up. He has his ways, shrewd, cunning,
and oh so devastating. He realizes that at this time he is unable to destroy
all of those books that have been written concerning the mighty works of God.
But it really does not matter. He has other ways. He is able, for example, in
some parts of the world where the child of God is suppressed by the government,
to check the flow of spiritual literature. Or, if this cannot be accomplished,
Satan will cause that spiritual literature to be watered down. Instead of books
based upon Scripture and an explanation of Scriptural truths the market will be
flooded with the trash of Christian experience and personal testimony. Books
such asCalvin's Institutes will become scarce, while others such as How I
Accepted Christ Into My Life, will fill the walls of the bookstores.
But Satan does not stop there either. He works within the
hearts of God's people. He attempts to destroy within them any desire to read
these spiritual works. He attempts to make the child of God a spiritual
illiterate, that is, one who is unable to read or understand the truths written
between the covers of those books. The child of God will have no trouble
picking up an easy-reading, novel and reading it through from cover to cover,
but give to him a book filled with abstract ideas and after ten or twenty pages
he has had enough.
Satan works that tendency within us in several different
ways.
He does so first of all by means of a doctrinal error.
Somehow people begin to believe that they can have astrong, vibrant faith
without possessing knowledge—the most essential element of faith. It is true,
of course, that this knowledge is a certain, heartfelt, spiritual knowledge,
yet it does necessarily imply an intellectual knowledge. It is felt, however,
that one can be a strong child of God and yet not have a knowledge of
Scripture. All the abstract truths of Scripture are too difficult for the
common member of the church to grasp, but it really does not matter. His faith
is not dependent on that anyway. Therefore those books which speak concerning
these truths of Scripture also become too difficult to read. But again it
really does not matter. It is of no consequence to being a strong child of God.
Secondly, Satan works a kind of spiritual illiteracy within
us by means of the world's influence. In the schools of the world, "Johnny
can't read," so teach him skills instead of reading, writing, and
arithmetic. Find textbooks which show him pictures, instead of forcing him to
read and understand concepts. In the homes of the world, children are no longer
forced to sit and read. Life is too filled with activity and fun. Being with
the family is no longer sitting with one another in the family room. It is
going out with the family and having fun. Or, if it is sitting with the family,
it is in front of what worldly authorities peg as the idiot box. There the
family can sit for hours, not required to use their intellect but being
spoon-fed the trash of this world. Such is to be found within the schools and
homes of the world. No wonder "Johnny can't read."
But what has already become true of the world now begins to
filter into the church. The result is the same. God's people become illiterates
as far as reading and understanding the abstract, spiritual truths of Scripture
are concerned. Good, spiritual books are written but all they do is decorate
our book-shelves. They are not read. Reading and studying the Bible becomes too
difficult and far too time-consuming; and to spend time reading other religious
books and periodicals just takes too much time out of our busy lives.
This spiritual illiteracy which begins to infiltrate the
Church of Christ is a contributing factor in the rise, of antichrist. Because
of the failure to read and understand the terminology of Scripture the church
becomes characterized by a lack of knowledge. Even as Israel of old we begin to
lose sight of the wonderful works of God for us and in us. The precious
doctrines of Scripture become vague, abstract concepts which we fail to
understand. Not understanding the truth of God's Word paves the way for heresy.
Once heresy has entered the confines of the church it spreads until the church
crumbles and falls.
Then begins the amalgamation found within the church world
today. Because there is no more knowledge of doctrine, because there is only
ignorance of God's work of salvation, there are no longer any barriers to
separate churches. The only difference between them is their names. No one
understands the clear truth of Scripture any more. Those books which teach the
Word of God are discarded. The idea soon arises, let us join hands and all
march happily to heaven. That is the rise of the great antichristian kingdom of
Satan. Satan uses every means possible to build that kingdom of
antichrist—including spiritual illiteracy.
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