The Author of Confusion

The devil loves to accuse the righteous of being wicked, and in fact he loves to accuse the righteous of "being of the devil." Furthermore since the true Gospel of Christ came into being, he has been working overtime to have his own 'Gospel of Christ,' and call the real gospel "of the devil." I just heard the other day, and not for the first time, that "those who speak in tongues are possessed by the devil." Now how about that? The devil accusing those who have been redeemed, of being possessed by the devil. Speaking in tongues came by the greatest of all costs, that being the suffering and death of the Son of God, who gave himself for us. Speaking in tongues was and is the initial sign or witness that someone has received God's Spirit into their life, as the result of real faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. On the day of Pentecost and ever since, those who have fully repented and believed on Jesus "speak with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance," upon receiving the Spirit (Acts 2:4). Now that is the same holy Spirit that the scripture says washes us from sin, justifies us, and sanctifies us (same things - I Cor. 6:11; Rom. 15:16 Tit. 3:5). This is the same Spirit that the Bible says, without receiving it we "are none of his" (Rom. 8:9). God's Gospel has not changed from how it began. That's the way he is (Mal. 4:6; Jas. 1:17; Heb.13:8). But isn't that just like the devil? "Speaking in tongues is of the devil." What that is really saying is that truly being born again is of the devil. So you see he's admitting that being of the devil is a bad thing, and also that being born again is a good thing. But his objective is to throw confusion into the issue of being born again, to turn people away from the truth of the matter. He accused Jesus of casting out devils BY The devil, and of being possessed by a devil as welll (Mat. 12:24; Jn. 8:48). So again, the devil knows that it is a really bad thing to have anything to do with him. I have learned in over thirty years in Christ that it is in fact one of Satan's favorite tricks to accuse others of what he is guilty of. And those who are deceived and influenced by him are the ones who do his bidding, and whom he manipulates to believe that "good is evil, and evil is good" (Isa. 5:20).

We know that the scripture says, "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace" (I Cor. 14:33). The same CANNOT be said about Satan however. He loves to confuse the truth of anything that pertains to truth and holiness in God because he doesn't want anyone to recognize God's truth and holiness, and subsequently expose him as well. The truth and love of God being in someone is the only way that Satan can be exposed for who and what he is, because he is a liar and a murderer, the things that are contrary to truth and love (Jn. 8:44). Confusion is what Satan is all about, even as simplicity of truth and love is what God's Spirit is all about. The very word "devil" means "slanderer," so it is no marvel that he continually speaks falsely of God's truth, and says that it's "of the devil." I recently had a brother in Christ tell me that I was crazy, a heretic, and finally that I wasn't even a child of God; simply because I spoke the truth to him in a spirit of love and peace while he rambled on with confusion of error, anger, and malice. And the spirit that he was under was successful in it's deception because those who were prsesent with him were not free from that very spirit themselves. That spirit wasn't trying to convince me of anything. It knew that I was free from it, but it wanted to make sure that no one else there decided to get on the road to deliverance. Friends, the devil is capable of some very serious and complex confusion, but if you pray much and stay on what you have experienced in God, and on what his Spirit has truly taught you; he cannot prevail over you: "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony" (Rev. 12:11). He is "seeking those whom he MAY devour," but whom he may NOT devour are those who stay with the simplicity of humility, honesty, love, and truth. But make no mistake, if you hold onto anything that is contrary to those things, he may and WILL devour you. And therefore we have the exhortation to "be sober, [and] be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (I Pet. 5:8). Amen.