(Satan’s Scheme!)

Pastor Michael Brigmond

First Apostolic Church, Kissimmee, Florida

Have you every wondered how Satan does what he does? How does he get away with such stupid tactics? A second grader should be able to see right through him, but somehow, intelligent adults that we are, he still continues, from time to time, to slip one in on us.

Traveling as much as Apostolics do, we have ample opportunity to see the Devil at work in many different places. The phrase that keeps coming up as we talk with new found brothers and sisters in the different churches is "Since I accepted the Lord..."

Now, what kind of statement is that? If the person is a new convert, we understand they have not fully learned to speak Apostolican. But sometimes we hear this statement from some who have been around long enough to know better. So, what’s up with this "accepting the Lord" business?

Give Satan an opportunity and he will make full use of it. We must not allow even new converts to continue to use that terminology. What is really being said when someone states they have "accepted the Lord?" Has the Lord done something wrong or bad, that now he must become acceptable to us?

Now, before you write me off as one straining at a gnat, let me explain before you swallow a camel. As Apostolics, we know that "Accepting the Lord" does not equate to full Bible salvation. My point is: To use that phrase borders on heresy, because we are the ones who must become acceptable to God. We don’t accept Him, we need Him to accept us.

The church world has been taken by storm. The reason is a mystery to many. Satan has a pattern and he is as predictable as daylight following dark. Our subject is "Backward Salvation". The term may be new to you, but the scheme is not. It is known in the denominal world as "Accepting the Lord as your personal Savior."

The scheme that Satan follows to pollute Truth is always the same. His first step is to find a place to insert a wedge, then slowly press it deeper until he is able to gain entry. Often the process is very slow and painless, and may go unnoticed by all but the most discerning.

He always starts from a position of Truth. Frequently quoting the Word of God to lend creditability to his lies. Then, ever so slowly, he alters the truth: little by little, being glossed over my more truth, or near-truth.

The next step is to create activity to draw attention away from his efforts. He is crafty, so he continues with a gradual change to avoid detection. If need be, he will increase the activity in a church and allow prosperity to soften the vision of those who would otherwise hold fast to Truth.

He inserts true proclamations into the conversation of the believers. Then slightly changing those statements to be correct in some applications, but not all. Slowly he takes what is absolutely true and turns it around until it becomes absolutely false. Here a little, there a little. Get the picture?

The biggest distortion abounding in the church world today is the notion that an individual, a lowly creature, born in sin, can find salvation by "Accepting the Lord". What in the world does that have to do with being born again?

What does it mean to "accept the Lord"? First of all, there must be a reversal of roles. For us to "accept" him, we must put ourselves in a higher position, exceeding the very throne of God. For that doctrine to work the sinner must be the one in control. The sinner must decide whether or not the Lord is acceptable to him. It is as if God is the one being examined. He is not the one who sinned, we are.

Before I lose you, let me tell you a true story. My family and I attended a "Young Preacher’s Conference" here in Central Florida just a few months ago. The night services were preached by very experienced preachers.

On this one particular night, a pastor, well known among his peers, (since he is not the subject of this article, he shall remain unnamed) preached from Matthew 15:21-28. You know it well. The story of a woman from Canaan whose daughter was vexed with a devil. She pleaded with Jesus to at least allow her the crumbs that fell from the master’s table.

This well meaning preacher delivered his message from the standpoint of Jesus first ignoring her, but eventually weakening and yielding to her request. He related the story as if Jesus, being constantly pressed by this undeserving heathen, was unable to maintain His position of Lord and caved in to her requests.

He went so far as to portray Jesus as being backed against a wall (the District Superintendent standing in for the wall). Weakening, breaking down, until He could do nothing but give the pleading baby her candy request.

Do you see the problem in this kind of preaching? Jesus did not respond, as that preacher related, because the woman overcame his resistance, but because she did two very important things: First of all, she worshipped Him (vs 25) and secondly, she exhibited faith (vs 27).

The message received by the hundreds present that night was a message of "Backward Salvation." The preacher put Jesus in the role of the enslaved and the woman in the position of power as she exerted her will over his. As it was preached, Jesus became the one who needed to change as the woman dictated to him her expectations.

This kind of preaching is weak and false. Unfortunately, it is creeping into many churches. The larger the assembly, the easier it is inject false doctrine. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Never will he be maneuvered by a person into a place of weakness. He may grant a request, shorten the length of a trial, or even raise one from the dead, but it will always be because of a decision He has made from a position of absolute authority and power.

We are to preach Jesus. Not a whimpering Jesus who must become acceptable to us, but a Jesus who is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent, one who has the right to require that we become acceptable to him.

The story of Cain and Abel, found in Genesis, chapter 4, is familiar to most Christians. It is the story of brothers; very different from one another. Cain worked the land (as a tiller of the ground) while Able tended the flock. On a certain day they each brought an offering, or a sacrifice, unto the Lord.

Cain brought of the fruit of the ground and Abel brought the firstlings of his flock. The Bible says the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and his offering, he did not have respect. Why not? The answer is quite simple. When God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden he pronounced a series of curses. The serpent’s curse was with his body as he would spend his life crawling on his belly and eating dust. Eve was cursed in her body. She was given multiplied sorrow in child bearing and placed in submission to her husband.

For Adam, the curse was outside of his body, in that God cursed the ground for his sake. Because, according to 1 John 3:12, Cain and his works were evil and Abel was righteous. That is easy to see when we understand that the ground had been cursed and Cain was offering an unrighteous, bloodless, cursed sacrificed! Hebrews 11:4 gives more insight by showing that "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous,..."

It appears they both had accepted the fact of God’s authority, or they would not have been offering sacrifices to Him! It seems they both did what they thought was acceptable, but the final determination was in the hands of God. And in God’s judgment, Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable, and Cain’s was not. But all was not lost. There was still hope for Cain:

Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee [shall be] his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

The choice was Cain’s. He could become acceptable to the Lord by obeying what was required. Obedience has always been God’s criteria for salvation.

No one was ever saved by merely hearing and accepting the Lord. Salvation comes by believing and obeying the Lord.

The choice was Cain’s. The choice is ours. We can offer to God the things he has declared to be holy and righteous, or we can present the cursed things of the earth and be rejected as was Cain.

Do you want it stated in plain English? Too many people today are bringing polluted sacrifices into the church. Some are offering music to God that has its roots in the world of drugs, illicit sex and violence, the so-called "Christian rock" music. Many pollute God’s children by having an October 31^st "biblical costume party". In reality it is just Halloween celebrated another way. A cursed offering.

Many take other pagan holidays, like Christmas, a catholic mass, and call it holy, or Easter, and try to tie it to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Still others take the beautiful communion service and move it from Passover, and use it to celebrate a "watchnight service" on New Year’s eve.

Scriptures do not indicate, state or even hint at a doctrine that Cain could have accomplished anything by accepting the Lord. He lost out because his life and actions were not acceptable to God!

Do not make the mistake of saying obedience is the same as "works." It is not. Obedience to His word is the bare minimum that God requires of us. Obedience to the plan of salvation will make us acceptable to Him.

When the Apostle Peter, on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) was asked by a sin-convicted crowd, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

Peter responded in Acts 2:38, ". . . Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Fulfilling Acts 2:38 is the bare minimum that God will accept. Keep this in mind:

It is high time for the Church of the Living God to get serious and proceed to become, and remain, acceptable to Him.

Don’t forget: All ten virgins had accepted the Bridegroom, but only five were found to be acceptable to Him.

P.S. I love you. [][][][]