How Satan Undermines Believers’ Confidence in Scripture (Part 2)

How Satan Undermines Believers’ Confidence in Scripture: Last month, we discussed how testimonies of encounters with spirit beings, usually referred to as Near Death Experiences (NDEs), are used by the devil to propagate errors in Christendom. In this segment, we focus on demonic revelations by so-called ministers of God, which have potentials to undermine believers’ confidence in Scripture.

The enemy has always targeted the word of God in his quest to control humanity. This was exactly what he did in the Garden of Eden, which led to the first rebellion by humans against Almighty God. When the LORD told Adam that eating the forbidden fruit will lead to his death, the devil countered this by assuring Adam and his wife, Eve that they would not surely die (Genesis 3:4).

What is the motivation for the attack on God’s word? Psalm 119:105 says that the word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Simply put, we can do nothing of eternal value without the word of God. It is through the Scripture that we understand God’s redemption plan, fulfilled in Christ Jesus. Invariably, anyone who is destitute of the word of God becomes a toy in the hands of satan and his demons.

 It is therefore hardly surprising that so many agents of the devil who operate as angels of light have thrown caution to the wind and are coming out with weird revelations about spiritual things. These charlatans are full of pride, an indication of the spirit controlling them. In other to project their importance as giants of the faith or people on a higher spiritual plane than “ordinary believers,” they cook up spurious claims of their encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Father.

One of them, Dr Abel Damina, with a thriving ministry in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State in Southern Nigeria unabashedly dismissed the Scriptural claims that Elijah called down fire from heaven in his encounter with the priests of Baal, as recorded in I Kings chapter 18.  The so-called pastor told his congregation that the fire came from satan!

This is despite the unambiguity of verses 38-39, which state, “Then the fire from the LORD came down and burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the ground around the altar. It also dried up the water in the ditch. When all the people saw this, they fell down to the ground, crying, “The LORD is God! The LORD is God.” How could a person be a disciple of Jesus and yet call God a liar or have the temerity to edit His word?

Yet another “man of God” from Nigeria, “Apostle” Joshua Selma with a large followership within and outside the country, asserted in one of his sermons that Adam was not the first human created by God. When some believers condemned this blasphemy online, many of his supporters defended him. In fact, one of them explained that the man’s demonic revelation was “theological,” a very silly statement that is not worthy of an analysis.

          I have also read a piece by an American pastor, John Fenn in which he questioned the authenticity of Genesis chapter 6. In particular, he took exception to verse 4 which states, “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. This man, who also claimed to have hosted the Lord Jesus Christ several times, dismissed this story as false.

If we believe that the Bible is the word of God, do we have any right to edit or delete any portion of it just because it does not align with our thought process? I agree that there are certain things in the Bible that are difficult to understand, but this does not give me the right to play God by deleting or editing them. No man has been given that responsibility. Even the Son of God did not tamper with His Father’s word while He was on earth. The Father Himself says in Psalm 89:34, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.”

These are just a few examples of people over-stepping their bounds into darkness in the guise of preaching the Gospel. Sadly, many people flock to these charlatans, especially those with itchy ears, attracted to lies and delusions. Why would a genuine child of God sit under a minister who adds to or substrates from the word of God? If you are among the foolish five virgins who draw strength from strange fires, you have an opportunity to repent of your folly today. Psalm 138:2 declares, “For You have exalted Your word above all Your name.”

Adding to or subtracting from the word of God is the worst kind of blasphemy. Sitting comfortably under ministers who do so attracts a curse from God Himself according to Jeremiah 17:5, “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.”

Upholding the words of these false ministers above that of God is a form of idolatry; one of the most terrible rebellions against God. If your pastor steps out of the Scripture, it is your responsibility to run for your dear life. Every word from his mouth that is anti-Scripture defiles your soul and spirit. Whose report should you believe – that of a mere man or God Almighty? The decision is yours. I conclude with an important advice from Micah 2:10, “Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you even with sore destruction.”