The God of this World

The "God" of this World

By Larry R. Lasiter

Until 1994 I never experienced depression and anxiety. I was a happy and confident person from my youth. But in 1994 at the age of 40 years old I was suddenly struck with an anxiety attack and depression followed. I was attending the Feast of Tabernacles in Snowmass Village, Colorado with the newly formed Global Church of God. It was the opening service of the first day and I was asked to come forward to offer a prayer of blessing for the Festival. Snowmass Village is a ski resort which is about 8200 feet above sea level, so the air is very thin which can make breathing difficult. I briskly bounded up the steps and made my way across the stage to the microphone, but when I opened my mouth to speak I found that I was out of breath. It was only a few moments of silence, but it seemed much longer to me. It was then that I suddenly felt a sense of panic, and anxiety began to rise up. I was an experienced speaker, and public speaking had occasionally caused nervousness but not fear, so I was shaken.

Afterwards I began to have anxiety attacks for no apparent reason. I became depressed and felt a sense of heaviness and I couldn’t understand why. When I would examine my life and how blessed I had always been, it seemed so strange and even alien to feel this heaviness. I was uncomfortable just talking with others-fearing that anxiety might come upon me suddenly -it was embarrassing. I had developed a phobia of having an anxiety attack. Sometimes I would feel as though I just needed to take off running, but you can’t run from depression or anxiety. In 1995 the Crusade Church was formed and I was ordained a Pastor. But much of the time I was unable to minister because of uncontrolled fear. I was in despair and starting to lose hope.

This debilitating condition lasted almost two years before I discovered the truth (or at least a partial understanding) of what was happening to me. To be completely transparent it was years before I fully understood the root cause.

One day I was watching a TV program about overcoming phobias. The instructor told his students to "act as if," meaning to act as if they were not afraid of whatever they had a fear of. One woman had a fear of spiders, so he brought her near a large spider and encouraged her to act as if she was not afraid of it. He made the statement "your brain has learned to react in fear, but your brain doesn’t know the difference between something real or something imagined. So if you begin to act as if you are not afraid of spiders your brain will begin to rewire the way you respond-you will create a new reaction much like how muscle memory works."

I was desperate and found this very interesting. It seemed to me a Christian concept. We are told to respond as we should and not as we may feel. To forgive when we may not feel as if we can or want to. So, I began to put this formula into practice. When I felt anxiety coming upon me I consciously said "no" and I forced myself to act as if I had no anxiety. And very soon I began seeing the results I so needed. I refused to receive the heaviness and sadness and forced myself to rejoice and give thanks to God. And it began to work like a miracle from God. Soon I was back to my former self, happy and confident. At the time I believed that all I was doing was retraining my brain to react the way I wanted it to. And I should say, that does work and does have its legitimate place but I later found that there was a more malevolent agent than the flesh at work.

During that period of time I thought that I was dealing with the flesh. I believed that in putting into action the "act as if" formula that I was "crucifying the flesh" as the Apostle Paul taught. Because I believed it to be a problem in my flesh it made it impossible to understand fully. I couldn’t understand why I could look at my life and see how wonderfully blessed I was and yet feel as though I was in a dark and bottomless pit of despair. I could clearly see that I had everything good to look forward to, but my feelings didn’t match what my eyes could see and what my mind knew. It was years before I would learn that my period of depression and anxiety was not caused by the fallen nature of the flesh, but by a fallen being. I had been attacked by a demon-probably several of them, but surely a spirit of fear and heaviness-and the spirit of hopelessness was there awaiting his opportunity. "Familiar spirits" who knew me and my family well.

A demon is a person without a body. Christians wrestle against malevolent beings without bodies. "For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age." (Ephesians 6:12 GNT) It’s important to understand that when we go through such attacks it is personal. Evil does not exist where Satan does not influence and rule. And evil does not exist where there is no person. Even the suffering of the creation is a direct result of a fallen person tempting the first created persons to rebel against their Creator. It’s common to hear people discuss the existence of evil as if evil is a thing or an act without recognizing that there is a "person" who is behind it. It’s unfortunate that most Bible translators have left out a single but very significant word in the Lord’s Prayer-the word "one." It’s there in the margins of your Bible but is usually left out of the text. Jesus actually said to pray this, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one." Just the omission of that little word renders evil a mere thing rather than a sinister and powerful person.

I came to understand that the source of my bitter trial was demonic by nature and not a mere weakness of the flesh. Where there was weakness in the flesh the fallen spirit was there to exploit. So why did the little "act as if" formula work? Because in following this method I was unknowingly also using God’s formula for victory over the evil one, -"Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7) I had submitted to God by accepting what He says of me regardless of how I felt. He said that I was forgiven, accepted and greatly loved by Him. He said that there is no condemnation in Christ. The Lord said that I was greater than however I happen to feel and that I must live by faith in the One Who gave His life to save me. And in resisting and saying "no" to the anxiety, the heaviness and depression that I felt, I was in fact resisting the lies and oppression of the devil. I submitted to God and I resisted the devil, and he eventually fled from me. Now, he comes around from time to time to see if there is an opportunity to work again-so we must always be watchmen who do not slumber but keep watch.

Who and What the Devil is

Before going into battle an enemy must always be clearly defined. The more is known about the weaknesses and strengths of the enemy the greater the chance for success. And it must be certain that the enemy is rightly identified and sometimes that can be difficult. On September 11, 2001 enemies of America flew aircraft into the World Trade Centers killing almost 3000 people. Our nation wanted to retaliate but we weren’t certain what enemy had attacked us. Our intelligence agencies began carefully gathering information to determine exactly who planned the attack and who carried it out. But regardless of what nation, group or people carried out this horrific attack on civilians, the true enemy behind all evil is Satan the devil.

Satan is the powerful spirit at work behind wars and conflicts. As far as we can determine by the Bible, he is the creator of war. When he rebelled against God he led his forces to Heaven to war against God, Himself. His goal was to overthrow God and take His Throne. (Isaiah 14/Ezekiel 28) We see in Revelation 20 that after he is released from his prison (during the Millennial Reign of Christ) he will stir up nations to war against Christ and the Saints. Thankfully, God will cast him into the Lake of Fire afterwards. Of man’s nearly 6000 years of recorded history, there has been only about 200 years without war -there are always nations at war. Satan and his demons have the power and authority to cause terrible sicknesses and infirmities. His forces are what is at work wherever you find disobedience to God. (Ephesians 2:2) As we learn from the Book of Job, Satan also has the power to cause "natural" disasters. Satan is a murderer. He is the spirit at work behind every murder. He takes pleasure in the murder of the pre-born and little children. It was this blood thirsty spirit who deceived people into worshiping idols that demanded thesacrifice of babies. And it is his spirit at work which influences people to murder 50 million babies each year by abortion. 125,000 babies are aborted each day in this present age -86 babies per minute which is more than one baby per second.

Christians are called into service to war against Satan and his forces of darkness. Though Satan influences and stirs up people our battle is not against flesh and blood, -"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses." Satan uses people but they are but mere instruments in his hand. We must not aim at flesh and blood but at the dark army controlling them. We do not pray against people but direct our prayers against the evil one and his demons. The following verse reveals that one of the strongholds of the devil is the fortress of speculation. -"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

One of the devil’s most dangerous tactics is planting a speculation in the mind of a believer. A speculation is not a known fact, and a speculation from the devil is designed to cause the believer to question and become unsure -to be confused. Left unchecked the believer will find himself imprisoned by the chains of uncertainty. This is why God has given His saints divinely powerful weapons which can tear this fortress down. The saint must capture each speculative thought and subject it to the obedience of Christ. We must never lay down a truth from God so that a lie from the devil may prosper.

Satan is the ultimate master of deceit, -"Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14) He doesn’t want you to know who he really is. The devil never comes to you with a sign around his neck that says, "Hello, I’m the devil and I’m here to deceive you." He practices stealth and intrigue and should be taken most seriously. He is after your soul and will offer you "another Jesus" or a "different spirit" or a "different Gospel", all of which will appeal to the fallen desires of your flesh. "But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus. . .or you receive a different spirit. . .or a different Gospel. . .you bear this beautifully." (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)

Satan has actually deceived the entire world, -"And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." (Revelation 12:9) 1 John 5:19 says that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Paul told the Corinthians that Satan is the "god of this world", and that he blinds the minds of the unsuspecting in order that they may not see the light of the Gospel."

Satan is the god of this world and has been given authority by God to rule until the coming of Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. God does limit what the devil can do-God sets the parameters for which the devil can work. Almost all people since the fall of man have worshiped Satan whether they knew it or not. "I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice (to idols) they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons." (1 Corinthians 10:20-21)Notice also, -"All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. (Revelation 13:8)

By the time of the flood, Noah was the only man on the earth who worshiped the true God. And he alone with his family were saved from the destruction of the flood. Satan has always fostered the lie that all religions will take you to God. This is his way of placing a veil over the truth that there is one God, one Savior, one Gospel, one faith, and that God cannot be worshiped except in Spirit and in Truth. (John 4)

People generally think of Satan the devil in two ways -as a comical character dressed in red with a pointed tail, or as a monstrous looking beast who is outwardly terrifying. Both of these portrayals are deceptions from Satan. He is a powerful malevolent being who hates God and man and should never be taken lightly. And he would be easy to recognize indeed if he came appearing as a hideous creature as he often is on the silver screen. But in reality, he is deceptive. What you see is not what actually is. He appears as an benevolent angel of light-a trusted friend. And his ministers who lead people to worship him and his ways also appear as messengers of light, -"For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds." (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

As we have read, the whole world lies in his hand and all but those whose names are in the book of life worship him. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11 most people receive "another Jesus" and "a different spirit" and "a different Gospel." When the Scriptures say "the whole world" this means many who think of themselves as Christians.

Satan is the tempter. Satan even tempted Jesus in the wilderness as He was fasting. Satan took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and said, "all of this I will give to You if You will worship me." (Matthew 4) Jesus never disputed that Satan had the world to give. Satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were given permission to eat of all the trees in the garden save one-the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was at this forbidden tree that the serpent met and enticed the first woman to disobey her Creator. The tree was in the very center of the garden so Eve had seen it many times. She surely observed that the fruit looked desirable to the eye, yet she never partook of it and ate until the tempter craftily spoke lies to her. Satan achieved his goal of causing man to fall from God’s grace and to bring death to all men. Satan hates God’s creation and especially man who is made in the image of God.

Satan has the ability to give worldly things and even power to those who will worship and serve him. If you are enticed by the things that are of this world, then the devil can easily get your attention because he can give you those things if you worship him. If your mind is focused on the things of this world he is already at work whispering, "You can have them." As he did with Eve, he will always leave out the truth that there is an eternal cost to pay -"if you take what God has forbidden, you shall not surely die."

The Bible warns that we can give the devil opportunity to tempt us if we lack self control. One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is that of self control. But the flesh is weak in self control and if we give into the pulls of the flesh we give the devil opportunity to begin a malevolent work in us. 1 Corinthians Chapter 7 is one of Paul’s teaching on marriage and relations between husband and wife. In verse 5 he warns each couple to stop sexually depriving one another and, "to come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." (Verse 5)

Satan is an accuser. The Bible says that he accuses the saints of God day and night, -"The accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night." (Revelation 12:10)

We get a glimpse of this in Zechariah Chapter three-Joshua the High Priest of Israel was seen by the Prophet standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan was standing at his right hand accusing him. The High Priest of Israel was to enter beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement to make reconciliation for the children of Israel.

Satan was making the case against Joshua, accusing him in order to disqualify him. Indeed, the Prophet saw that Joshua was clothed with filthy garments which represented sin in his life. Joshua made no defense-he knew well that he was unworthy and guilty of the accusations. But a wonderful act of grace occurred! God commanded Satan to be silent and commanded the holy angels to remove Joshua’s filthy garments and clothe him in pure and clean garments. That is an accurate portrayal of each of us who have come to see our filthiness and who cried out to the Lord who cleansed us and clothed us with the pure righteousness of the Lamb of God.

In Scripture Satan is referred to as a "liar" and the "father of lies." As an "adversary" an "enemy" a "roaring lion seeking someone to devour." He is called "the prince of this world" and the "prince of the power of the air." He is "the serpent of old" and the "dragon." And he is called "a murderer from the beginning." He is called "ruler of the darkness of this world" and the "prince of demons."

There is no great struggle between God and Satan. Though Satan has the title of "god of this world" he is not the Creator God. Satan is merely a created being who rebelled against his Creator and was cast down to this earth as an enemy of God. Unlike God, he is not all powerful, nor is he omnipresent. God can be everywhere at the same time but Satan cannot. When he appeared before God in Job Chapter 1, he told God that he had been walking to and fro patrolling the earth. 1 John 5 tells us that the evil one cannot touch those who are saved in Christ. So the only power he has over the saints is wherever we may open the door to give him opportunity. Satan is a formidable foe, but a defeated foe. His destiny has already been written. At Christ’s return he will be seized, chained and imprisoned for a thousand years, then afterwards be cast into the Lake of Fire. Satan and his demons do not rule Hell. Hell was created by God for their ultimate destruction, -"the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:41)

Demons are Satan’s fallen angels

Like Satan, demons are persons without bodies. They are in service to Satan and do his work. Demons want to torment and torture. They want to keep you from coming to Christ to be saved. And if you do come to know Christ as your Savior they will work to keep you from being an effective servant of God.

We always need to determine if our problem is from our flesh or from an evil spirit. We can crucify the flesh and it’s desires, but we cannot crucify a bodiless person. Perhaps you come to be tormented by a spirit of heaviness and depression as I once was-well if it’s a spirit you cannot deal with it as if it is the fallen nature of your flesh. If it’s a spirit it must be cast out -not necessarily as in an exorcism rite -it may be by simply submitting to God and resisting the devil as I did.

If you’re deceived into believing that it’s just you then the door is open for the demon to place the blame on you -and over time work to prepare a place in you to receive the spirit of condemnation. But if you know that your problem comes from the work of an invisible person who is oppressing you, then you can call upon the Lord in faith to deliver you. And again, the Lord may simply tell you to "submit to Me and resist the devil."

Satan and his fallen angels have been here on this earth long before man was created. They are much smarter and have much more experience than human beings. They not only know you, but they know everyone in your family history. They are called "familiar spirits." They study each of us tirelessly and know where our weaknesses lie. They already have, and will continue to plant lies that will be passed without thinking from father to son and from mother to daughter, etc. This has gone on from generation to generation. When we come to Christ we must be diligent to break that cycle.

I am not implying "generational curses" which are in fact not real if you read Ezekiel 18 carefully, but our careless and deceiving beliefs that we pass from generation to generation that have consequences. If you are being oppressed by a spirit of heaviness and depression, the spirit will whisper in your consciousness "It runs in your family." This is an effort to get you to accept the oppression. But you can call upon Jesus, your Deliverer. There is a vast difference between wrestling with the flesh and it’s desires than doing battle with an invisible person who seeks your destruction. (Concerning Ezekiel 18, read "The Truth about Generational Curses" at our web site)

Demons will entice. When a thought comes into your mind with specific words or communication, such as, "take your life, end your suffering now" or "pick up that money and keep it-no one will ever know" -then obviously it’s a person enticing you.

The flesh produces emotions, feelings, lusts and urges, but never speaks to entice you to sin. Demonic spirits are watching and waiting for you to entertain such pulls of the flesh in order to speak enticing words to you as the serpent did to Eve. Though Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was desirable, she would have never taken and eaten without the spirit of the devil enticing her. Eve fell into disobedience because she began to listen to the words of the serpent.

Demons harass and torment. A demon of anger will follow you around all day looking for an opportunity to enter you to work his wickedness. All people get angry from time to time. Paul told the Church to not let the sun go down before you laid down your anger. But when a person receives a spirit of anger they surrender control of themselves. Out of control anger is always demonic.

For example: A man has an unusually stressful day at work. So many things have gone wrong and because he doesn’t want to be fired he bottles up all this pressure inside. After work he is so glad that this day is over and is looking forward to peace and quiet at home. All the while the spirit of anger is following, carefully observing. When the man gets home, his wife tells him that the electric bill is overdue -the children seem to be making more noise than usual, and dinner is not ready. The man now really wants to just let all this bottled up stressful pressure go and he just blows up and explodes in anger. He’s not really mad at his children or his wife, but since they are there they are in the line of fire. The spirit of anger is now at work and everyone has been wounded.

Now the spirits of "emotional hurt and pain", and of "shame" and of "resentment" and of "distrust" and of "unforgiveness" and of "bitterness" and of "division" and of "divorce" are all awaiting their chances to move in. Divorce will prevail if hope is lost. The Bible says that hope is what anchors our soul. Without hope we will drift aimlessly through life.

The husband and father’s ability to act as the head of his family is in jeopardy. The home is no longer a comfortable haven -division exists. Now the wife, being emotionally wounded is weakened and vulnerable to the advances of another man who may speak "kind and understanding" words to "comfort her" -and the spirit of adultery awaits his opportunity to move in to destroy the family.

In all this, there is a real danger for unforgiveness to find it’s place in everyone involved. Unforgiveness results in torment. Those who refuse to forgive others will receive the spirit of torment. In Matthew 18 Jesus told a parable of two men who owed debts they couldn’t pay. One man owed an insurmountable sum of money and was graciously forgiven. But this same man was owed a small debt which he refused to forgive. When the Master who had forgiven him the great debt heard that this man was unwilling to forgive even after he had been forgiven, he took away the certificate of forgiveness and handed the guilty man over to be tormented and tortured. We can look at this as applying to the future judgment of Hell, but I believe that it has a broader meaning. This guilty man was assigned to the tormenters and torturers "until" he paid back his debt. But once a person is cast into the Lake of Fire there is no returning-no opportunity to pay back a debt. I can testify, that as a Pastor who shepherds the Lord’s flock, I have never known a person with a bitter, unforgiving heart who was not also living in torment.

Some of you like feeling that you have been victimized. You are mad because you like being mad. It feels better to blame others for your own problems. But the Holy Spirit has not led you there. There’s another spirit at work that is there to separate you from the will of God and to steal away the joy of your salvation. Forgiveness does not deny pain suffered nor change the past but it does break the cycle of bitterness and turns pain into an eternal weight of glory

Saints have been given authority

Must of what you have read thus far is the "bad news." But there is good news. The good news is that the saints of God have been given authority over Satan and his dark forces.

When Jesus sent his disciples forth to preach the Gospel they returned rejoicing saying that even the demons were subject to them. "The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘I was watching Satan fall from Heaven like lightning. Behold I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over ALL THE POWER of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in Heaven." (Luke 10:17-20

As born again Christians we are told that we have been given spiritual armor to put on and a shield of faith that will protect us against the fiery arrows of our enemy. We are promised that we possess divinely powerful weapons which are able to destroy the devil’s strong fortresses. We have been told that our enemy is a defeated foe and that our faith makes us victorious.

In closing, we must understand that though we are the most powerful army that God has ever formed -even more powerful than the war angels of Heaven who defeated Satan’s rebellion, yet we will suffer in this world. We are promised persecution, tribulation, peril and sword. We will have hardships as we follow Christ and war against Satan’s forces, but he can only touch our flesh -our true eternal life is safely hidden in Christ. All the Apostles suffered martyrdom save John who was exiled on the island of Patmos.

Many of the great cloud of witnesses recorded in Hebrews 11 suffered while on this earth -but they endured until the end and will receive glory, honor and eternal life at Christ’s coming. "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39

Let us not be ignorant of the devil’s tactics but wise and on guard, and not only for ourselves but also for our brethren. Let us not give opportunity for Satan’s minions to work in our lives. Let us be diligent to be careful what we allow our eyes to see and our ears to hear. Let us be diligent to carefully guide and direct where our feet take us. The tongue can be a powerful tool and a devastating weapon. It is the tongue that allows us to speak. And it is the spoken Word which created all things, and by which we confess our sins, ask forgiveness, pray, and even cast out demons. And yet the tongue is a restless evil that sets the whole world on fire, (James 3) - let us always bridle our tongue and use it only against the dark forces of this age and for the glory of God.

A bridle is used to control the horse, a powerful animal. It is the bridle that gives the rider the power to direct the horse in the right direction. Let us bridle our tongue that we may exercise power over it that it may be used for a force for good. And let us pray without ceasing against the dark forces that hold so many captive, and for our Father’s love and power to be clearly seen in us.

Points of Truth Ministries