The Dark Ministry of Evil Angels

 

This World is a Place of Conflict

 

Against whom do we wrestle?

 

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12.  

 

To what place were the angels that sinned cast? For what purpose?

 

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment.” 2 Peter 2:4.

 

What is Satan himself called?

 

‘The god of this age.” 2 Corinthians 4:4.

“The prince of this world.” John 14:30.

“The ruler of the kingdom of the air.” Ephesians 2:2. 

 

Temptation and Deception

 

What is the chief occupation of Satan and his angels? To what is Satan compared?

 

“And he [Jesus] was in the desert forty days, being temped by Satan.” Mark 1:13. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. (See Revelation 12:9, 12; 16:14.)  

 

Note – “Angels of God will preserve His people while they walk in the path of duty, but there is no assurance of such protection for those who deliberately venture upon Satan’s ground. An agent of the great deceiver will say and do anything to gain his subject. It matters little whether he calls himself a spiritualist, an ‘electric physician,’ or a ‘magnetic healer.’ By specious pretenses he wins the confidence of the unwary. He pretends to read the life history and to understand the difficulties and affections of those who resort to him. Disguising himself as an angel of light, while the blackness of the pit is in his heart, he manifests great interest in woman who seeks his counsel. He tells them that all their troubles are due to an unhappy marriage. This may be too true, but such a counselor does not better their condition. He tells them they need love and sympathy. Pretending great interest in their welfare, he casts a spell over his unsuspecting victims, charming them as the serpent charms the trembling bird. Soon they are completely in his power; sin, disgrace, and ruin are the terrible sequel.

“These workers of iniquity are not few. Their path is marked by desolated homes, blasted reputations, and broken hearts. But of all this the world knows little; still they go on making fresh victims, and Satan exalts in the ruin he has wrought. The visible and invisible world is in close contact. Could the veil be lifted, we would see evil angels pressing their darkness around us and working with all their power to deceive and destroy. Wicked men are surrounded, influenced, and aided by evil spirits. The man of faith and prayer has yielded his soul to divine guidance, and the angels of God bring him light and strength from heaven.” E.G. White. Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 198, 199.

 

What are we admonished not to do?

 

“In your anger do not sin.” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Ephesians 4:26,27. 

 

Note – Those who give vent to anger or retain old grudges, who parley with temptation or tamper with vice, who indulge in intemperance, pride, foolishness, or levity, or give way to any other weakness, give place to the devil; that is, they give the devil an opportunity to work through them – give him an advantage over them. We should therefore close every avenue to Satan and his angels. We should suppress anger, be sober and watchful, and nip in the bud every prompting to sin.  

 

The Last Days of Devils

 

As we near the closing scenes of the last seven trumpets, why may we expect an increase in demonical manifestations?

 

“Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Revelation 12:12. 

 

Note – As enemies of God, Satan and his angels pervert the truth and disseminate the truth and disseminate error as far as possible. Far better, also, than the inhabitants of the world, do they know that the end of all things is fast approaching, and that their time to work is short.

 

Concerning what have we been definitely informed?

 

“The Spirit clearly says that in the later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” 1 Timothy 4:1.

 

Note – “The Apostle [Paul] saw clearly, as every Christian sees, that the foundation of religious life, which consists of faith in a risen Lord, is seriously imperiled when the seen is substituted for the unseen, the phantasms of the Spiritualistic séance for the realities of the Kingdom of Heaven, which comes not with observation.

“The same peril exists to-day, and always will exist. This, every thoughtful and reverent mind must admit, and it is a distinct warning against making a religion of Spiritualism.” Of the Threshold of the Unseen (1927 ed.), pp. 30-34. Copyright, 1918 New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. 

 

What shall be the final doom of Satan, his angels, and all the wicked?

 

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, in to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41.  “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.” Malachi 4:1.    

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