LOWER

   LIGHTS

  Alan Jones, Editor

  (734) 942-7956

Satan: I have called you here today on most urgent business. Despite the persecution we have been stirring up, Christians continue to spread the gospel (Acts 8:4). Far too many people are being converted to Jesus. Men and women are crucifying self and allowing Christ to live in them (Gal 2:20). In their respective congregations, they are following the doctrine of Christ as their only guide (2 Jn 9). Therefore, there is a great unity among believers, a unity which will do nothing but cause the world to believe God did send Jesus (Jn 17:21). Something must be done or Christianity will spread further. What can we do to stop it?

First Angel: I suggest that we double our efforts to undermine the foundation of Christianity, that Jesus is the Christ (King), the Son of God.

Second Angel: That would be great, if it would work. Indeed, we have deceived many of the Jews in this way, but we have been hard pressed to fool others in light of the eyewitness testimony of the apostles, the miracles the Christians have been per-forming, and the convincing arguments they are making from O.T. prophecy. We need another plan.

Satan: There is a better way! We don't have to cause men to totally reject the idea that Jesus is King for them to be ours. We must make them think Jesus is their King, while in fact they are not living their lives in subjection to His rule. We must develop a false "Christianity" where Jesus is professed and denied all at once.

Second Angel: Why not deceive men into thinking that certain Christians have authority over the rest of the Christians, that all authority has not been given to Jesus (Mt 28:18). If we can convince them of this, they will stop following Jesus' word and will follow men into numerous errors, all in Jesus' name (Acts 20:28-32, 1 Tim 4:1-3).

First Angel: And, Satan, we could label the men with this authority "clergy" and those without it "laity" and dress the "clergy" in robes and let men call them "Father" or "Reverend" to further exalt them and to condition men to look to them as authorities. We could have the "clergy" preach that they were the only ones who could understand the Scriptures. This would keep the "laity" from studying and therefore insure that they would blindly follow men rather than Jesus.

Satan: Splendid! You both are of tremendous help! And, once we establish that the "clergy" have authority, we will have them meet in councils and then publish their decisions and decrees as creedbooks which men will follow instead of the gospel of Christ.

First Angel: Yes, but we must not let them think that they have created different doctrines. Let us cause them to believe and also convince the "laity" that they are merely condensing the doctrine of Christ so that men may more clearly understand what they should be for and what they should be against.

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Second Angel: Very clever! Once it is accepted that men may draw up creeds, many will do so. These books of men will, of course, be contradictory and all the "Christians" will be divided into various organizations on the basis of the creed which they accept. Infidels will laugh as they see so many conflicting doctrines all supposedly coming from one Book.

Satan: I'm already way ahead of you. When men wake up to their divided condition, there will be so many confusing ways that I will teach them to just admit that men cannot see the Bible alike. I'll get them to believe that since all can't agree, all are alright, as long as they "believe" in Jesus and are sincere. Therefore, they must just "love" and accept one another. If anyone comes along teaching the doctrine of Christ, exposing error and refusing to accept those who teach it, I'll have him looked at as a self-righteous fanatic. I'll suggest to those in error that they just quote (pervertedly of course) "Judge not that ye be not judged" (Mt 7:1) to him and just ignore what he has to say from the Scriptures.

Second Angel: Satan, you are most brilliant! If we execute this plan to perfection, a "Christianity" far removed from what Jesus established will be set in place. This counterfeit will be all most men ever know. Men will be following men instead of Jesus, professed "believers" will all be divided, and to top it all off, any true Christian will be looked at as an overzealous nut!

Satan: I thank both of you for your help in formulating this plan. With it we will deceive and damn millions of ignorant souls. Let us go forth and find men through whom we can work our plan.

AND THE REST IS HISTORY!!

P.S. The Palmer Road church of Christ is simply a group of believers who call ourselves nothing but "Christians" and meet together to worship and work under the direction of Christ. We reject the idea that anyone but Jesus has authority in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:18) and therefore reject the creeds of men and the denominations which have been formed based upon them. We believe that denomination-alism is the work of Satan and not the Lord.

We do not set ourselves up as the standard, but urge all believers and congregations to do as the Christians we read about in the N.T., to submit themselves to the will of Christ (Gal 2:20) as expressed in His doctrine (2 Jn 9). Only by doing so will Christians be one as the Father and Son are one and be able to convince the world to believe (Jn 17:20-21).

Please call us at (734) 942-7956 or e-mail us at our website prchurchofchrist.org to discuss how that you can avoid or escape from the Devil's counterfeit "Christianity" which gives lipservice to Jesus' Kingship and actually live and worship with Jesus as your King.