"The enemy has ministers." by Robert Blackburn

"The enemy has ministers." . . Something kept coming back to me. I had reason to remember that Satan can be transformed into an angel of light. It crossed my mind that if he could transform himself, perhaps his angels could also. So, I went back and looked up what Paul was talking about. It's quite alarming, actually. He was talking about false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. He said it's no marvel, since their boss does it also. One translation says that they masquerade around as apostles; but they are not. He went on to say that they look for an occasion to boast and claim that they do the same work as the true apostle, but they are counterfeits. (2 Corinthians 11)

A lady here shared a dream she had about wolves in sheep's clothing. She remarked that he wolf and the sheep looked exactly alike. I don't have permission to talk about her dream but I felt the true power of it. I wanted to write this but I'm somewhat tired and I wasn't sure it was on time. The lady reminded us that we must know how to discern these wolves and the only way we could do that was through the Spirit. I do believe that there have been counterfeits among us all along. The apostles were very much concerned that false ministers, false teachers and false apostles would worm their way in among the new converts and churches and harm and destroy if they were not detected. They cautioned the churches to be alert for them. I say again, they've been among us but they looked and acted like everybody else. There is no doubt that they were cautious and managed to sneak their way up even into the leadership in higher levels. Politics helped them get promoted when they should not have been promoted at all. With the Gifts suppressed, most didn't know they were wolves, or that they were not spiritual at all. The five-fold ministry would have known.

I realize this is a bold post. There are ministers and saints alike among us that are not of us. I'll take Apostle Paul's word for it. The gift of discerning of spirits sees them. It's the biggest reason many do not want that gift operating. Evil spirits sit on pews unbothered for two reasons. One, almost nobody sees them. Two, they know they are safe because too many are asleep and don't even care if they are there, as long as it doesn't bother them and theirs. Those who are not spiritual would not believe it anyway. Some people are eaten up with spirits of envy and jealousy but you would not know it, without seeing it in the Spirit. These spirits are hindering the work of the church. They are attacking people and often no one even knows where the trouble is coming from. We need, more today than ever before, to know who and what we are dealing with. Too often we have put our trust and confidence in those close to us and we did not even realize that they were not our friends or brothers and sisters at all. We had to learn the hard way. This is not a doom and gloom message. It's not about just judging or looking for bad in people. It is a survival message. We need to see and know what is on the platform; what kind of real spirit they have, whether they be playing the music or standing behind the pulpit.

I close with this. We are entering the final battle. The enemy will pull out all stops to win and wrest control from God's people. The Spirit will show us how to work around these forces, whether they be evil spirits or evil humans. But we must know them for what they are. God will reveal what is true and what is counterfeit. We should always remember one thing. The Spirit knows our every thought. The enemy does not. Not only can we communicate in a language he does not understand, the Holy Ghost will lead us around and through this maze that has been allowed to take root in the church. There's no need for fear, for we have the power of the Name and the Blood of Jesus Christ. We will know the good and true people, by their spirit, through the Spirit.