05/16/2014 - DON’T THEY FALL DOWN ANYMORE?

And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God. (Mark 3:11)

Since Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden, the devil acted as if he were the owner of this world. He used people, who were created in the image and likeness of God, for the fulfillment of his filthiest purposes. Nobody fought him. It was as if he was untouchable, or, in the opinion of some modern theologians, it was as if he did not exist or as if evil was man himself. But then the Promised One was born in Bethlehem of Judah; the One whose mission was to destroy the works of the devil – sin, sickness and all kinds of suffering – completely freeing mankind from the clutches of the devil; after all, due to a single but conscious act, man had become slave of the evil one. Christ began a new era in which God’s work should be done in accordance with the model shown. However, the lesson was not followed and it was turned into another religion.

Before Jesus – For four thousand years people like us lived without having the opportunity to get rid of the action of evil spirits. They acted mercilessly, afflicting people with all kinds of suffering. The only way to escape the incessant action of evil spirits was to fully obey the Law of Moses, which was virtually impossible. There was no way: sin brought death – Satan’s nature – which spread among all mankind because of Adam’s sin. The apostle Paul stated that death reigned here, in this world (Romans 5:14-15). Holy men of God, paying a terrible price, lived piously and prophesied that one day it would end. Isaiah said: Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14). Emmanuel, which means “God with us”, was all that man needed; God would dwell with him again.

The young Mary, chosen to bring our Savior into the world, upon hearing the Holy Spirit speaking to her through Isabel, prophesied: He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. (Luke 1.52-53).
In the days of Jesus – He came to fulfill the will of God. Therefore, when starting His ministry He made it clear to the devil who would be in charge. Everywhere He announced to the people that the Kingdom of God had arrived. He invited those who were suffering to come to Him, assuring them that they would be delivered. He credited the power and authority He had to the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon His life. For Him what made the difference was to believe in God for He taught that all things are possible to him who believes. At the sight of Jesus, the unclean spirits fell down before Him confessing He was the Christ, the Son of God. He simply rebuked them and told them to shut up.

What wonderful days were those on Earth! For the first time, man no longer needed to fear the enemy; the sick had someone to turn to and those who suffered were freed because the mighty hand of the Lord God was above them all. Faith was the only way for people to come to God and be treated with equity. They felt great, because they could live free from fear and they could plan ahead and serve God truly.

Before returning to heaven, whence he came, the Lord gathered His disciples – His students, who spent three years with Him learning to do the Father’s work – And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:15-18).

It was done. The disciples were to go everywhere and preach the Good News to the people: The Kingdom of God had arrived. The devil was put to shame; he had not only been defeated when Jesus was crucified, because the work is eternal. The followers of the One who defeated the evil one started to spread to the world that captivity was over, the sick could be healed through their faith in Jesus, their problems would be solved by believing in the Word of God. They received power when the Holy Spirit descended upon them.

Nowadays – The ministry of the Lord Jesus should be widespread today. Men and women called by the Lord God should be doing the will of the Lord in all parts of the world; not only the preachers, but all those who listen intently to the Good News. But it is not what we see.

The Lord’s mission was sadly transformed into religion, secular and political power. All over the world, the devil has succeeded in deceiving a lot of people whom our God has called, saved, sanctified, prepared, anointed and sent to do His work. They start well, but the archenemy tricks them into thinking that today things are different, that it is no longer possible to do what the Lord Jesus did. Man has changed, demons are figures of speech, and therefore should not be cast out. What a tragedy!

What a disappointment it has been for the Lord God to see those who instead of being representatives of the Lord Jesus before whom the evil spirits would bow acknowledging the sovereignty of the Gospel are now promoting those beings and defiling the Lord’s name with their dirty wrongdoings. With one scandal after the other, political power is corrupting everyone from the junior to the senior leaders of the Lord’s people. It is never too much to remind them of the admonition of the Lord Jesus: Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! (Matthew 18:7).

An appeal – My dear brethren in Christ, there will be elections this year. The world will offer very tempting opportunities. To be important to the world is fascinating, but if you want to please the Lord, forget the proposals of the prince of this world. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. It is not for us to promote ourselves, but rather to promote the Kingdom of God. This is our opportunity to make the demons bow before our Savior. We have a much higher mission to accomplish than bickering over political power that sooner or later will end. But he who does the will of the Lord will remain forever. It’s time to make the demons fall down before our Lord.

Wake up, people of the Lord! The lesson should be learned and put into practice the way He taught us. If He wanted He would have been crowned king of Israel, but He preferred to suffer in the streets preaching the truth and delivering the people rather than being placed in a palace to “manage” things of this life. Because of His obedience He was promoted King of Kings. For those who decide to do the will of God , the Lord Jesus states: Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28).