End Times, Cults, False Teachers: Jesus said that they would come. St. Paul warned about them. They are actively seeking to infiltrate the True Church of the Living God. And if not - to discredit, lie about and defame the true servants of God. But, while the dogs bark at the horses' hoofs, the Caravan moves forward. They cannot stop the flow of the Holy Spirit throughout the earth. - Pastor Max Solbrekken

                                    SATAN & HIS AGENTS:
                   From Such Turn Away
                                                By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
   
 What are Satan’s Agents? Who are his emissaries? Do they really appear like angels of light? What is their business? How powerful are they? How much confusion do they cause? Are they the agents of disruption, discord, animosity and hate?
    Do they cause fear, anxiety, disease and death? Are they the architects of turmoil, conflict and war? Are Satan’s angels responsible for broken homes, violence, pornography, rape, murder and sexual perversion? Is he the world’s most hated terrorist? Are Satan’s days numbered? Will he spend eternity in the Lake of Fire?
     Is there still a way to stop the carnage, bring back decency, honesty and common sense to a sordid, depraved and fallen society? Does God still care for us in this age of godlessness and degeneration? Does He still search for the backslider?
     Will He still welcome us all back into His Fold? Is He still the caring Father whose eyes run and fro over the earth, strong in behalf of His fallen creation? Are His ears still open to our cry for help?
     Is there still cleansing and life-giving power in His shed blood? Is there still healing and deliverance to be had through the bloody stripes He bore for us in Pilate’s judgment Hall? Does Jesus Christ’s vicarious death for us all on the Calvary’s Cross and glorious resurrection three days later still make the sinner whole?
    Does He still love us? Does He care about our individual needs? Can we still receive God’s peace through the death of His cross? May all come to that fountain filled blood today and be forgiven and received into the Family of God? Does He still pour out the Holy Spirit on those who hunger and thirst after righteousness?
    Is the name of Jesus Christ still the most powerful and the greatest name in Heaven and earth? Will every knee bow one day and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father?
    Will our precious Lord Jesus Christ return for His Church in the parusia (return), harpazo (rapture, catching away, jerking up), apokalupsis (revelation, uncovering), epiphaneia (appearing, disclosure). Will we spend eternity with our Saviour, our loved ones and the redeemed of all ages as He has promised?
THE ANSWER IS YES! YES! YES!
     SATAN is eternally defeated! Jesus Christ has stripped him of all his power over every individual who believes in our Saviour and trusts in His precious blood for the forgiveness of sins! The Bible says: “He came unto His own and His own received Him not but to as many as received to them gave He the power to become the sons of God.” (John 1: 11,12)
     “He that committed sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might DESTROY the works of the devil.” (1 John 3: 8)
     JESUS CHRIST invites us all: “Come unto Me all ye who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11: 28); “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)
    “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6: 37) 
    THE BIBLE says: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
    But this He spoke of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7: 37-39)

     WHAT IS FALSE DOCTRINE?  Anything or anyone who takes precedent over Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is a false teacher and in opposition to the Gospel of Christ. Jesus said: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life and no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." (John 14:6)
     Our Lord stated: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth NOT by the DOOR into the sheepfold, but he that climbeth up some other way, the same is a THIEF and a ROBBER…
     Verily, verily, I AM THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP, All that ever came before Me are THIEVES and ROBBERS, but the sheep did not hear them. I AM THE DOOR: by ME if any man enter in, he shall be SAVED..." (John 10:1-18)
     The BIBLE answers this important question very well.  St. John states: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets  are gone out into the world.
    “Hereby ye know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (Incarnated..God in Human flesh) is of God: And every spirit that CONFESSETH NOT that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is NOT of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come: and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4: 1-3)
     Our Lord Jesus Christ warned; “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
     “And if any man shall take away from the words of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the Holy City, and from the things that are written in this book.” (Rev. 22: 18,19)
     ST. PAUL states: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you to another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ.
     “But though we, or an angel from Heaven, PREACH ANY OTHER GOSPEL unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed, as we said before, so say I now again: If any man preach any other Gospel unto you than what I have preached, LET HIM BE ACCURSD.” (Gal.1: 8,9)
     If a person strays from the truth of God’s Word and rejects the Gospel, that person is lost. Instead of God’s blessing upon his life, the Spirit of God will lift from him and he will be accursed and lost forever.
     The seriousness of backsliding and turning away from Christ and His Word is so tragic that the Holy Scriptures knit the Judgment of God upon sinners with the return of Christ: “If any man love NOT the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maranatha.” (1 Cor.16: 22)
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
     The words Anathema, Maranatha is an exclamation of the Approaching Divine Judgment. Here is a question that theologians and historians are asking: “Why did St. Paul insert, without translation, an Aramaic formula in a Greek letter to Corinth, where Aramaic was not current?” No doubt, it was because Maranatha was a fixed and widely circulated formula. It was almost certainly a key expression in the liturgy of the primitive church in Palestine, and that from there it passed into Greek Christendom without translation in fashion similar to ‘Amen’ and ‘Hosana.’
Maranatha is ‘Aramaic’ as an imperative: Marana-tha meaning, “Our Lord Come”. Or as an indicative: maran-atha, meaning “our Lord is come.”  (anon)
     The word Anathema means suspended and Maranatha means The Lord Returneth or Our Lord Come. This warning means that the CURSE as well as a BLESSING has its operation in Christ’s Kingdom and will rise to its highest power at Christ’s coming. Without doubt, He will come to bless as well as to curse. It was used as the church censure or final ex-communication.
     On the West Coast of Canada, the Native Indians used to sing a powerful Gospel song in our Crusades during the altar services. It was called, ‘When our Lord Shall Come Again’. The lyrics went like this: ‘There will be sorrow, there will be pain;There will be shouting and there will be rejoicing, when my Lord shall come again!’
     St. Paul wrote thusly to Timothy, his son in the faith: “As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightiest charge them that they preach NO OTHER DOCTRINE… Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience and of faith unfeigned.” (1 Tim.1: 3, 5)
    His instruction to Timothy was: Preach what I preached and taught you. Major on the Word of God: It will solve everything. Stay away from contentious, far-out ideologies. Rather, teach godly doctrines that edify the church and glorify Jesus Christ. Look for results:
    Charity (agape love) out of a pure heart; A good conscience – through repentance and godly living; Faith unfeigned – without hypocrisy. Amen.