Contemporary Lies of the Devil
Mr. William MacDonald of San Leandro, California, is a widely known Bible teacher and the author of numerous books and pamphlets.
This article is reprinted from Help & Food magazine.
Christians now live in a world in which they are being constantly bombarded with the craziest, weirdest, and most unscriptural ideas that the twisted human mind has ever concocted. The advocates of these absurd winds of doctrine have become so vocal and strident that the voice of truth seems to be a squeak by comparison. These evil winds of doctrine have gained in velocity till they have become a tornado of Texan proportions. The gullible are easily taken in when they hear the grossest insanities being advocated by psychologists, sociologists, clerics, and other “experts.” Even for sober Christians it is hard not to be affected by all the perverted thinking that crowds the news media. Our only safety is in staying close to the Lord and in checking everything against the Word of God. Now let us turn to some specific examples.
Pre-marital Sex
Take premarital sex, for instance. It is no longer an issue, according to the experts. Nothing is right or wrong in itself. A thing is only wrong when it is not done in love. There are no absolutes in the realm of conduct; each one must set his own standards. Beside all that, it is harmful to repress natural appetites. And so on and on and on. But what does the Bible say? It says, “Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body” (1 Corinthians 6:13). Men can defy and disobey God’s Word, but they cannot escape the built-in consequences. “Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18).
Homosexuality
Or take the gay liberation movement. Now we are told that sodomy should be legalized as long as it is carried on between consenting adults. What we used to think of as sexual perversion is not perversion at all. It is acceptable social behavior, and any discrimination against it is unloving, unamerican, and unchristian. It should not even bar a person from the sacred office of the ministry. But God’s pronouncements on the subject have not changed. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
Be not deceived: neither … effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind…shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9). “They which commit such things are worthy of death” (Romans 1:32). That is God’s judgment on the matter.
Abortion
Then think of how the public has been brainwashed on the subject of abortion. The popular opinion is that abortion should now be permitted generally, even in order to cancel an unwanted pregnancy. The idea that any abortion should be considered as murder is largely passe. The fact that many nurses have refused to assist at any more abortions, because of what they have witnessed in the delivery room, receives scant attention in the news. People want freedom in this area, and they can always rationalize what they want. But thinking Christians are not deceived. They remember that David, in his magnificent Psalm 139, speaks of himself as a person when he was still in his mother’s womb: “For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance was fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16) . Just suppose that David’s mother had had an abortion!
Birth Control
Advocates of birth control have done such an effective job of “selling” the pill that many Christians meekly subscribe without qualms. They are terrorized with the fear of overpopulating the earth. We seldom hear a prophetic voice raised in opposition. The landslide is on, and it never occurs to many believers that the Biblical position could be any different from the world’s position. But what about Genesis 1:28; 9:1: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth”? What about Psalm 127:3, 5: “Children are an heritage from the LORD… Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them”? And what about 1 Corinthians 7:5: “Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again”?
Women’s Lib
As if all these issues were not enough, our ears are now assaulted with mounting decibels of noisy trash concerning women’s lib and the equal rights amendment. God in His wisdom ordained a chain of command in the universe. The woman is subject to the man; the man is subject to Christ; Christ is subject to God (1 Corinthians 11:3). The fact that subjection does not mean inferiority is seen in Christ’s being subject to God the Father.
But modern woman rebels against any idea of subjection. In thus rebelling against God’s order, she only succeeds in making herself more miserable, more neurotic, and more unfulfilled.
Child’s Rights
Now the drive is on for a child’s rights amendment to the Constitution. It seems that children need to be protected from their parents. Actually they don’t need to be protected from their parents as much as from soft-headed militants who have nothing better to do than to advocate such idiocy. While the Bible does not condone child abuse, it does insist that only the rod of correction will drive naughtiness from a child’s heart (Proverbs 22:15). We don’t need a child’s rights amendment. We need to abandon permissiveness and return to the good, old-fashioned Bible way of rearing children, i.e., lovingly applying the board of education to the seat of learning.
Capital Punishment
With so much empty drivel being propagated, it is not surprising that capital punishment should come under attack too. Here again the Christian world has been mesmerized by the specious reasoning of hyperkinetic do-gooders. These reformers rush around, piously quoting Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill.” They can never get it into their heads that this refers to murder, and that capital punishment is not murder. They would be better advised to quote Genesis 9:6, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed”. In case someone argues that New Testament directives on love override this Old Testament command, he should refer to Romans 13:4, where Paul says that the ruler does not bear the sword in vain. Swords are not used to tickle or pamper offenders.
Divorce
As far as divorce is concerned, the avalanche is roaring down the mountain. For the most trivial reasons homes are broken, hearts are broken, and lives are broken. Even Christian people seem to be more guided by the civil law concerning divorce than by the law of God. But God is not mocked. He still hates divorce (Malachi 2:16), and His blessing cannot rest on any divorce that does not have Scriptural sanction. Divorce does not solve problems, but it does breed a litter of new ones.
Conclusion
We could go on with a long list of other contemporary lies of the devil. One of the stupidest is the dictum of some modern educators who say, “Children are basically good. We must start with that premise. If they go astray, it is the fault of their environment.” But enough of that! If I go on, I will be tempted to join those who say, “Stop the world; I’m getting off.”
While we shouldn’t want to escape from the challenge of Christian encounter with the world, we certainly don’t want to succumb to the chill of our environment. We don’t want to be defiled by the ungodly movements that are crowding in on us from every side.
Our safety lies in judging everything by the standard of God’s Word and by rejecting out of hand everything that does not square with that standard. Paul put it well in 2 Corinthians 10:5 (Phillips): “Our battle is to bring down every deceptive fantasy and every imposing defense that men erect against the true knowledge of God. We even fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ.”