The Birth of Christ
Roman Evil Kings
Rulers of Israel
The Mystery Cults
Paganism
Satan's Counterattack of Christ
Ministry of Christ
Evil Kings Condemn Christ

The Birth of Christ

The angel Gabriel appeared to Joseph and told him to flee to Egypt with Mary and Jesus because Herod would try to destroy the Child.  So they fled to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15).  "The angel from the Lord" who made announcements to Joseph and Mary was Gabriel (Luke 1:11,19, 26; Matthew 1:20).

After the Magi tricked him, Herod ordered the deaths of all male children age 2 and under in Bethlehem and vicinity (Matthew 2:16-18).  Satan was the murderer behind this (John 8:44).  Thus, even the birth of Jesus Christ was counterattacked by Satan through the Evil King, Herod.  After the death of Herod, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus returned from Egypt.  They did not settle in Bethlehem because Herod's son Archelaus was ruling there.  Instead, they returned to Nazareth, which was under the rule of Herod Antipas (Matthew 2:19-23).

Roman Evil Kings

Roman Evil Kings were Satanic counterattacks of the Lord, who would rule the world as the God-Man in the Millennium.

Rulers of Israel

Herod was appointed procurator of Galilee at age 25 by Julius Caesar.  Mark Anthony gave Herod a tetrarchy and later persuaded the Senate to make him king.  After Herod helped Rome in putting down a rebellion in Jerusalem in 37 BC, he became king over Judaea and his power over the land of Israel was secure.  Herod was a ruthless king, who used the Jews as forced laborers to build fortresses, and was hated by the people.  He was a crafty, jealous, and cruel despot with nine or ten wives.  He murdered anyone who crossed him.¹

When Herod died, his son Archelaus was made ethnarch over one-half of his father's kingdom, including Samaria, Judea, and Idumaea.  Augustus refused to make Archelaus king.  Herod's other sons Antipas and Philip II were made tetrarchs over one-fourth of the kingdom each.²  The rule of the Herodians was accompanied by Roman procurators.  Rome demanded the Jewish rulers keep peace in the family, but the people hated both their Jewish rulers and the Romans.  Consequently, the region was ripe for rebellion.  Herod Archelaus was especially hated and was removed by Rome.  His territories were annexed to Syria, and a Roman prefect (later procurator) was appointed to rule the region.  The most infamous procurator of the region was Pontius Pilate.

In the politics of Israel the theocracy was long gone.  The Roman army subjugated the land and kept down rebellion; and the Jewish rulers, who were intended to preserve autonomy, were hated by their own people.  Politics created an attitude of civil unrest, but the strength of the Roman army also maintained order and stability, which facilitated the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Laws of Establishment authority were operational, but Satan effectively controlled both the Roman and Jewish government to thwart any attempt to establish a Messianic kingdom.  Both the Roman and Jewish governments combined under the power of Satan to send Jesus Christ to the Cross.

However, when Satan sent Jesus Christ to the Cross to prevent the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom, the incident became the source of Salvation for mankind.  The sins of the world were imputed to Jesus Christ on the Cross and judged by God the Father.   The sins of the world were paid for by the substitutionary Spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.  The Lord Jesus Christ won the victory over sin and freed mankind from the slave market of sin.  Satan's power over the first Adam through sin was canceled by the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, at the Cross.  The Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, became the new Ruler of the world, and Satan was defeated.  The spoils of victory that were seized from Satan belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He was free to distribute them to His followers.

The Mystery Cults

Paganism

Satan's Counterattack of Christ

Before the Lord Jesus Christ began His earthly ministry, He was counterattacked by Satan, who is the best student of Bible Doctrine next to the Lord Himself.  After Jesus had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, He was very hungry.  The fasting was proof that He had learned to live only on Logistical Grace provision.  The devil tried to take advantage of His weakened condition as he did with Esau.  The devil challenged Jesus Christ to make some stones into bread if He were the Son of God (Matthew 4:1-4).  This was the counterattack of Ecumenical Babylon.  It was a counterattack of Faith (X-axis).  The Lord answered the counterattack with faith by applying Deuteronomy 8:3.

Next, the devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple, which overlooked the Kidron Valley about 45 stories below.  The devil challenged Jesus Christ to jump and let the angels save him (Matthew 4:5-7).  This was an attempt to kill the humanity of Christ.  Deity would not die, but a human could not survive such a fall.  This was the counterattack of Cosmic Babylon, which the Lord answered with Deuteronomy 6:16.  This was a Z-axis counterattack of authority.

Then the devil took Jesus Christ up to a high mountain and offered Him all the kingdoms of the world if He would fall down and worship him (Matthew 4:8-10).  This was the counterattack from Political Babylon, which the Lord answered with Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:20.  This was a Y-axis counterattack of Love.

Thus, Satan, the king of Babylon, counterattacked the Lord Jesus Christ with the full force of the Cosmic System.  And the Lord withstood the counterattack, not with His deity but with the power of Bible Doctrine in His Edification Complex of the Soul.  Satan's counterattack was divided into three parts through the power of the Holy Spirit in Spiritual Warfare.  And the Lord Jesus Christ was keen to recognize Satan's lies through discernment from application of Bible Doctrine.

Ministry of Christ

The chief opponents of the Lord Jesus Christ were not unbelievers and sinners but the religious Jews, the scribes and Pharisees.  The scribes were the experts in the interpretation of the Mosaic Law.  The Pharisees were a sect of Judaism that began in 2 BC.  The Pharisees were activists and leaders of the Jews who practiced the wisdom of the scribes in Israel and in the diaspora.  They formed a political party in Jerusalem with a platform that demanded a legitimate priest-ruler as the supreme expression of fulfillment of the Law.  They opposed John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7; Luke 7:29-30) and conspired to kill Jesus (Mark 3:6; 12:13).  The Pharisees were legalistic unbelievers who were under the power of Ecumenical Babylon.

When the Pharisees came to Jesus to test Him on the subject of paying taxes to Caesar, the Satanic counterattack of the love of money ran head-on into the power of grace.  The love of money is the cornerstone of the devil's world.  It not only supports Evil Kings but also prostitutes.  Without money, prostitutes would not exist.  The Pharisees asked Jesus if it were proper to pay tax to Caesar.  Money is the coin of the realm in the devil's world, while Bible Doctrine is the thing of value in the kingdom of God.

In order to answer their question, Jesus asked them to bring Him a denarius, which corresponds to the penny.  The Lord Jesus Christ, the God of all Creation, didn't even have a penny to His name.  That was because His ministry was based upon Grace.  The denarius of the day had the head of reigning Caesar, Tiberius, wearing a laurel wreath with the inscription, TI[berius] CAESAR DIVI AUG[usti] F[ilius] AUGUSTUS, "Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the Divine Augustus."⁴   Jesus asked them whose likeness and inscription was on the coin.  When they told him, "Caesar's," He answered them:   “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21, NAS).

The coin of the realm in the devil's world is money; the coin of the realm in the kingdom of God is Bible Doctrine.

The back side of the denarius with Tiberius on the front pictured Livia seated on her throne.  Livia was the mother of Tiberius and widow of the former Caesar Augustus.  Livia died in 29 AD.  Tiberius and his mother Livia were called "the Lords Imperial."⁶  They were, indeed, Imperial Rulers, or Evil Kings, under the power of Satan, the ruler of the world.

Evil Kings Condemn Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ was seized by an angry mob led by Roman soldiers and the Jewish Temple Guard (Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:1-12).  They arrested Jesus and took Him to Annas, the former High Priest and father-in-law of the current High Priest, Caiaphas (John 18:12-23).  Annas was simply a political boss with no authority to try Jesus Christ.  The trial of Jesus Christ before Annas was illegal as were all six of His trials.  For one reason, it was illegal under Jewish Law to try a person at night.

The next illegal trial of Jesus was before Caiaphas, the High Priest (Matthew 26:57-68; Mark 14:53-65; Luke 22:54-65; John 18:24).  Now Caiaphas was looking for a scapegoat to crucify to give the Romans the impression that the Jews were cleaning up Jerusalem (John 18:14).  The only charge that Caiaphas had against the Lord was that He claimed to be the Son of God, which He was.  Since the trial at night was illegal, they waited until daylight and held another trial (Matthew 27:1-3; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-70; John 18:28).

Since the Jews were not permitted to put a person to death, they sent Jesus to Pilate, the Roman Evil King, to be crucified (Matthew 27:11; Mark 15:2-3; Luke 23:1-5; John 18:28-38).   It was expected that the Roman Governor would rubber stamp the wishes of the Jews.  However, when Pilate discovered that Jesus was from Galilee, he sent Him to Herod Antipas, who ruled Galilee and Perea (Luke 3:1).

Herod was excited to see Jesus and hoped that Jesus would entertain him by performing a miracle.  However, the Lord Jesus Christ did not answer Herod a word during this trial (Luke 23:6-12).  Herod was sly and evil.  Jesus called him "that fox" (Luke 13:32).  He had married his niece, Herodias, who was the wife of his half-brother, Philip.  When John the Baptist exposed his incest, Herod had John beheaded (Matthew 14:3-11; Mark 6:16-28; Luke 3:19-20).  Jesus wasted no words on Herod.  Although Herod was pleased that Pilate had sent Jesus to him, he was obliged to send Jesus back to Pilate after he found nothing wrong with Him.

Pilate was caught under political pressure from Political Babylon.  An angry mob that had been incited by the Jewish leaders had gathered outside.  The crowd wanted blood, and Pilate had already begun to listen to them.  He caved in to the political pressure as Satan overpowered him also.  He tried to finagle a political solution by turning loose a prisoner on the Passover, but the mob called for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Christ (Matthew 27:12-26; Mark 15:4-15; Luke 23:13-25; John 18:37-19:16).  When Pilate tried to release Jesus, the Jews argued, "If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar" (John 19:12).  That was the clincher, for Pilate knew Tiberius would not tolerate the slightest disloyalty.  Pilate would lose his job and perhaps his life if the Jews suggested such a thing to Tiberius.  So, even though Pilate found Jesus Christ innocent (1 Timothy 6:13), he sentenced Him to be crucified.

The Cross of Christ
Stephen
Persecution of the Jerusalem Church
Deaths of the Disciples
Nero Persecutes Christians
Roman Persecutions
The Cross of Christians

The Cross of Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ taught this before His death (Matthew 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24).

Matthew 10:38-39
38 “And he who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 “He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life because of Me shall find it.

The Christian who had a successful life in the world must be willing to give it up in order to live the new Spiritual life.  The one who gives up the old life will find a new life in Christ Jesus.  The death of Jesus Christ on the Cross demonstrated death to the old way of life, and His Resurrection demonstrated the new Spiritual life with eternal reward.  Jesus Christ was faithful to death, even the death on the Cross.  The disciples of Christ had the opportunity to become martyrs by suffering the same fate as their Lord.  Many of them were crucified.  Others were burned, beheaded, stoned, stabbed, tortured and murdered in the most barbaric ways.

Satan's first attempt to stamp out Christianity was to murder the Christians.  Satan was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).  Satan inspired the martyrdom of Christians by the Jews, Romans, and angry mobs all over the world.  However, it didn't work.  Christianity not only survived, but thrived and became stronger than ever.  Satan's attack on Christians came through Evil Kings.  Even when mobs murdered Christians, Satan was inspiring the mobs to seize the power of capital punishment of the state.  And the Evil Kings let the mobs run rampant rather than maintain law and order.  Murder and mob rule are just other forms of imperial power seized by the people.

The Lord Jesus Christ in His victory on the Cross won the rulership of the world back from Satan.  However, Satan was not willing to capitulate easily.  Satan still convinces the ignorant of his lie.  And Satan still opposes the Christian with his Cosmic System.  However, the Christian can take back the world from Satan through the Spiritual life.  The Lord Jesus Christ will give the Christian the spoils of victory from Satan when the Christian has the capacity to handle the prosperity.

Stephen

Stephen, a deacon in the Jerusalem Church, was accused of blasphemy by the legalistic Jews and hauled before the court of the High Priest. The time is thought to be around the Passover of the year following the crucifixion of Christ.  The legalistic Jews used the same tactics they had used against Christ.  They secured false witnesses to claimed that Stephen blasphemed Moses and God (Acts 6:8-11).  This was old-fashioned witness tampering, but it also revealed Satan, who was a liar (John 8:44).  The Jews incited a mob, which hauled Stephen before the Sanhedrin just as they had done to Jesus.  They brought more false accusations and half-truths against Stephen (Acts 6:11-14).  The devil is the master of the half-truth.

Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, answered the charges against him in Acts 7.  He concluded by accusing the Sanhedrin of betraying and murdering the Righteous One, the Messiah (the Lord Jesus Christ) (Acts 7:52-53).  This made them violently angry.  Then Stephen looked up and saw the heavens opened.  He saw Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of God.

Acts 7:55-56, NAS
55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

That was the beginning of a great persecution of the Jerusalem Church by the legalistic Jews.  Members of the church were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.  Saul went from house to house and dragged men and women out and cast them into prison (Acts 8:1-2).  The attempt to stop Christianity by killing all the Christians was inspired by Satan and embraced by the Evil Kings of the Jews.

Persecution of the Jerusalem Church

Caligula demanded that he be worshipped as a god and that a statue of himself be set up in the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem.  A crisis was in the making with the Jews ready to revolt when Agrippa averted the danger.  When Caligula was drunk at a party, he offered to do anything to help Agrippa in his new kingdom.  Agrippa requested that Caligula back off on his request to put his statue in the Holy of Holies, and Caligula assented for Agrippa.  However, Caligula was soon stabbed to death in 41 AD.  Although the Holy of Holies was no longer Holy after the Crucifixion of Christ, Caligula's anti-Semitism and his desire to be a god were evidence of an Evil King under the power of Satan.

As the new King of the Jews, Herod Agrippa I, sought to overcome the stigma of being an Idumaean.  So, he stressed his descent from the Hasmoneans and took the side of the Jews in the growing antagonism against the Jerusalem Church.  He sponsored a persecution of the Christians in Jerusalem.  In 43 or 44 AD, he sought to destroy the leaders of the Jerusalem Church and had James the son of Zebedee, one of the original 12 Disciples, executed with the sword (beheaded) (Acts 12:1-2).  James was the elder brother of John, and his mother Salome was cousin-german to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.

When Agrippa saw that the death of James pleased the Jews, he had Peter arrested with the intent of killing him also.  It was during the Feast of Unleavened bread, which follows the Passover, in 44 AD.  Peter was placed under the guard of four squads of soldiers with four soldiers per squad.  However, the members of the Church were praying for Peter and an angel came and miraculously released him.  Peter fled for his life, and Agrippa had the guards executed (Acts 12:3-19).

Agrippa then left for Caesarea, the city that Herod the Great had built in honor of Caesar.  According to Josephus, Agrippa was holding a festival in Caesarea in honor of Claudius, the Caesar.  Now, Agrippa was quite vain.  When he addressed the people during the festival, he was wearing his royal apparel, which, according to Josephus was armor that sparkled in the Sun.  The crowd kept calling him a god.

Acts 12:22-23
22 And the people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 But immediately an angel from the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory; and being eaten with worms, he expired.

Deaths of the Disciples

James the son of Zebedee was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa I in 43 or 44 AD.

Philip was crucified in Heliopolis, in Phrygia in 54 AD.

Matthew was martyred with a halberd in Ethiopia in the city of Nadabah in 60 AD.

James, the Less (son of Alphaeus), according to Foxe, was martyred at age 94 when he was beaten and stoned by the Jews; and his head was smashed with a fuller's club.  Others say he was crucified in Persia.

James, the apostle and half-brother of Jesus Christ, was probably thrown from a tower by the Pharisees about 66 AD.⁹   According to Josephus, he was stoned to death by order of the high priest, Ananus, after the death of Festus in 61 AD.¹⁰

Andrew, the brother of Peter, was crucified on a cross like an X (St. Andrew's cross) in Edessa in Macedonia.

Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, was dragged to pieces in Alexandria during a celebration of Serapis, an idol.

Peter, according one tradition was crucified upside down by Nero; however, there is some doubt of this.

Paul was beheaded by Nero in the Spring of 68 AD.  He was stoned to death but survived in about 43 AD (Acts 14:19-20; 2 Corinthians 12:2).

Jude, the brother of James, called Thaddeus, was crucified at Edessa, Macedonia in 72 AD.

Bartholomew, who took the gospel to India, was crucified by idolaters.

Thomas, called Didymus, excited the rage of pagan priests in India where he was thrust through with a spear.

Luke, author of the Gospel of Luke, was supposed to have been hanged on an olive tree by the idolatrous priests of Greece.

Simon, surnamed Zelotes, was crucified in Britain in 74 AD.

John, the apostle and author of the Gospel of John, was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil in Rome but escaped without injury.  Domitian banished him to the Isle of Patmos to labor in the mines, where he wrote the Book of Revelation about 96 AD.  Nerva, the successor of Domitian, recalled him.

Barnabas, an apostle, was supposed to have died in 73 AD.

The disciples of our Lord were faithful in taking the Gospel throughout the world.  They evangelized the entire world in obedience to the great commission.  They took the Gospel north, south, east, and west.  The locations of the their deaths indicate how far they got.

Nero Persecutes Christians

Nero, who proceeded to persecute the Christians, devised many unique and cruel ways of putting them to death.  Some were sewn in animal skins and killed by dogs; others were burned in his garden at night to illuminate them.  The persecution spread through the Roman Empire, but it was not a state policy and it soon ended.  Thus, it was Nero, the Evil King of Rome, who began to persecute Christians.  Up until then, the legalistic Jews had been the chief persecutors.

It was during Nero's persecution of Christians that Paul, the leader of the church in Rome, was executed by Nero.  Paul was beheaded in the Spring of 68 AD.  Then the bottom fell out of Nero's dominion.  Facing pressure from all sides, he committed suicide later in 68 AD.

Roman Persecutions

The second persecution began under Domitian in 81 AD.  He commanded all the line of David to be executed.  Many Christians were executed.  John was boiled in oil, but he survived and was banished to Patmos.  A law was made, "That no Christian, once brought before the tribunal, should be exempted from punishment without renouncing his religion."⁵  Timothy, the pastor at Ephesus and disciple of Paul, was clubbed to death by a mob of idolaters.

Trajan

The third persecution began under Trajan in 108 AD and lasted through Hadrian in 138 AD.  According to Pliny the Second, many thousands were put to death daily.  Among those martyred was Ignatius, who was the bishop of Antioch next after Peter.  Under Hadrian 10,000 were killed.

Marcus Aurelius

The fourth persecution began under Marcus Aurelius in 161 AD.  The most horrible forms of torture were used.  The Romans demanded that the Christians renounce their faith.  Polycarp, who had been a Christian for 86 years, was martyred by being burned at the stake.  The number, 86, stands for the Arab persecution of the Jew.  Justin, the philosopher, was martyred after he refused to sacrifice to Jupiter.  The bodies in the 600 miles of Catacombs of Rome increased during this persecution.

Severus

The fifth persecution began under Septimius Severus in 193 AD.

Maximus

The sixth persecution began under Maximus in 235 AD.  The president of Cappadocia, Seremianus, tried to exterminate the Christians from that province.  During this period, Christians were slain without trial and buried in heaps of 50 to 60 to a pit.

Decius

The seventh persecution began under Decius in 249 AD.  This persecution was precipitated by hatred of Decius for his predecessor, Philip, who was considered a Christian.  There was an attempt to exterminate Christianity, which was thriving.  Origen, the famous pastor of Alexandria, at the age of 64, was seized, placed in stocks, and threatened with fire.  However, Decius died, and Origin was freed.  Origen later died at age 69, for running the course.

Valerian

The eighth persecution began under Valerian in April, 257, and continued 3 years and 6 months.  Many martyrs died.

Aurelian

The ninth persecution began under Aurelian in 274 AD on December 22nd.  The persecution ended the next year when the emperor was murdered by his own domestics at Byzantium.

In 286 AD, for the Arab persecution of the Jew, the Thesbian Legion contained 6,666 of nothing but Christians.  They were sent to Gaul to exterminate Christians.  Their commanders ordered a general sacrifice to the gods and demanded that the soldiers take an oath to exterminate the Gaul Christians.  The soldiers all refused.  The commanders ordered the death of every tenth man, which was carried out, but the other soldiers still refused.  This was repeated, and the remaining soldiers still refused.  Then, their officers drew up a decree of loyalty to the emperor, which all the remaining soldiers accepted.  However, when the emperor heard it, he ordered the entire legion destroyed, which was carried out.

Diocletian

The tenth persecution began under Diocletian in 303 AD and lasted for 10 years.  The persecution was caused by the hatred of Galerius, the adopted son of Diocletian, who was stimulated by his mother, a bigoted pagan.  The persecution began on February 23rd during the Roman Terminalia festival in honor of Terminus, the god of boundaries.  The pagans planned to terminate Christians.  The Roman Prefect of Nicomedia along with officers and assistants forced entry into the Christian church.  They burned all the books, and then leveled the church as Diocletian and Galerius watched.  Not satisfied, Diocletian commanded the destruction of all other Christian churches and books and soon followed with an order to render Christians of all denominations outlaws.

All the Christians were imprisoned and many were martyred.  Houses were burned and whole Christian families died in the flames.  The persecution covered all Roman provinces.  Tortures of every imaginable kind were invented.  A city of Christians only in Phrygia was burned, and all the inhabitants perished in the flames.

Maximus, governor of Cilicia, who was at Tarsus, had three Christians brought before him.  They were Tarachus, an aged man, Probus, and Andronicus.  When none of the three would recant their faith after torture, they were taken to the amphitheater where hungry animals were turned loose on them, but the animals wouldn't touch them.  A bear that had destroyed three men that day was brought out.  But neither the bear or a hungry lioness would touch them.  Maximus had them killed by the sword, on October 11, 303 AD, where 11 stands for a witness and 3 is for the Justice of the Holy Spirit.

The persecution ended only when Constantine defeated the forces of Maxentius.  With the coming of Constantine the Church was not persecuted again by the government for a thousand years.

The ten persecutions were predicted by John in Revelation in the warning to the Church at Smyrna in Asia Minor.

'Do not fear what you are about to suffer.  Note, that the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have special persecution ten times.  Keep on being faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

The Cross of Christians

I have been crucified with Christ.  Now I no longer live, but Christ lives within me; and thelife which I now live in the body, I live by means of doctrine with reference to the Son of God who loved me and delivered Himself up on behalf of me. (Galatians 2:20)

The Roman Empire became the first Gentile Client Nation to God in spite of the persecutions that were waged by some of its Evil Kings.  The last Jewish Client Nation ended in 70 AD, and there will not be another Jewish one until the "times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).  Rome was the envy of the world during the Golden Age of the Antonine Caesars of Pax Romana from 96 AD to 192 AD.  The number, 96, stands for the spoils of victory.  The victory was won by Jesus Christ on the Cross, and the 7 churches of Revelation listened to the Bible Doctrine taught by John and took the high ground.  They received their Escrow Blessings on deposit since the Cross, and Rome prospered when they prospered.  This is the principle of the "salt of the land" (Matthew 5:13), where salt in the right amounts is a fertilizer of the soil that enables plants to grow and produce fruit.

Prostitutes in Corinth
Solution to Prostitute of Babylon
Solution to Demon Attacks

Prostitutes in Corinth

The new Christian converts in Paul's church in Corinth continued to engage in prostitution.  In 1 Corinthians Paul explained to the Corinthian Christians the sin of continuing to practice prostitution.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I, therefore, take away the members of Christ? Shall I make them members of a prostitute? May it not be! (1 Corinthians 6:15)

Do you not know that he who has sex with a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, "The two will become one flesh." (1 Corinthians 6:16)

But the person who connects himself to the Lord is one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17)

Flee fornication. Every other sin which a person may commit is outside the body, but the person who fornicates sins in one's own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18)

Fornication refers to sexual sins outside marriage.  The sins against "one's own body" lead to weakness, loss of health, and eventually the sin unto death.  Fornication will bring Intensified Discipline.  It will not go unpunished from the Supreme Court of Heaven (Hebrews 13:4).

Solution to Prostitute of Babylon

For you see, you were purchased for a price:  Now therefore, glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20)

Since the Christian has been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, he should, therefore,  "glorify God" in his body.  This is the solution to the problem of prostitution.  Glorifying God in the body means letting Light shine through the body.  Here is the solution to prostitution.  It is Light in the body.

Light is divine good production.  It is the fruit, or production, of the Spirit.  But how does it get in the body?  It comes from the Heavenly Control Room from God and enters the body through the soul.  But the soul that is full of scar tissue blocks the Light.  The person who fornicates receives scar tissue of the soul.  The scar tissue must be removed through execution of Bible Doctrine and advance to Spiritual Rapport.  Only in Spiritual Rapport will the body be full of Light.

but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

Execution of the Spiritual life will purify the soul from the ravages of the Prostitute of Babylon.  Paul told the Corinthians, who had engaged in prostitution and all manner of sins, that his goal was to present them as pure virgins at the Judgment Tribunal of Christ (also called the "Judgment Seat of Christ," 2 Corinthians 5:10).

For you see I am devoted to you with a devotion from God; for I have betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. (2 Corinthians 11:2)

The metaphor of the "pure virgin" is described in other scripture as being blameless, holy, and beyond reproach (Ephesians 5:27, Colossians 1:22; Jude 24).  "Blameless" means freedom from the penalty and guilt of sin, i.e. expiation.  This is not a person who is sinless but a person whose sins have been forgiven.  It is a person who has been washed clean, or purified, from sin.  This is a person who uses Rebound to maintain the Filling of the Holy Spirit.  The person who is "holy" is consecrated to God.

But I am afraid, lest as the serpent completely deceived Eve by his craftiness, your thoughts should be led astray from noble simplicity and purity toward Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)

"The serpent completely deceived Eve" in the garden.  "Completely deceived" is the Greek ejxapatavw (exapatao).  Even though Adam and Eve in the Garden had harmonious rapport before the Fall, Eve was completely deceived by the craftiness of the devil.  The Christian who perseveres to reach Spiritual Rapport will be in the same danger.  Satan will be there in the form of the Evil King and the Prostitute of Babylon.  Satan will be allowed to cross examine just as he did in the Garden.  Only the believer with the ability to apply Bible Doctrine will ever see Satan, let alone overcome to be a winner (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 21:7; 1 Jn 5:4-5).

Solution to Demon Attacks

Demon attacks associated with the Prostitute of Babylon are symptoms of a problem with the Prostitute of Babylon (Jezebel).  Similarly, demons associated with the Evil King may also attack.   The Prostitute of Babylon attacks believers today just as Jezebel attacked Elijah.  God punishes believers involved with the Prostitute of Babylon, and He sends demons to complete the discipline.  The solution is Spiritual Rapport with God.  In Spiritual Rapport, God defends the believer through the power of the Divine Dynasphere.  The Problem Solving Devices of Sharing the Happiness of God (+H) and Grace Orientation must be used to get to Spiritual Rapport.  And along the way application of the Doctrine of Sovereignty must be used to trump the attacks of Satan and his demons.

Procedure for Handling a Demon Attack

The correct procedure for handing demon attacks in the Church Age, such as those associated with the Prostitute of Babylon or the Evil King, is the same as Paul used to deal with the Thorn in the Flesh demon.  The solution is to use the Problem Solving Device of Grace Orientation and resist the devil (1 Pet 5:8; James 4:7).  Resisting simply means rejecting, turning away from, ignoring the demon, and not thinking about him in any way.  Grace Orientation means responding to the the Grace of God.  It includes submitting to the authority of God and drawing near to God (James 4:7-8).  This is like a push, pull.  The demon is pushed out of the mind while God is pulled into the thought process.  The demon has to have an open invitation before attacking, and an attack can be thwarted simply by thinking about something else.

Only God can remove the demon.  Prayer will not work; nor will attempts to cast out the demon.  The power to cast out demons was a temporary gift that was given to some disciples and apostles of Christ before the completion of the canon of scripture.  The "anointing with oil" recommended by James (James 5:14) was part of a Jewish exorcism procedure used during the precanon period.  It is no longer applicable in the Church Age.  Paul didn't bother to try it when he got the Thorn in the Flesh demon.

The weak believer may have problems "resisting the devil" (1 Pet 5:8; James 4:7) when under direct assault by demons associated with the Prostitute of Babylon or Evil King.  The demon may be hindered, but he may stick around and not leave.  The volition is often too weak to resist the subtleties of the demon's influence.  It can be strengthened in time.  Regardless, the believer under demon attack should not submit to the demon's wishes.  The solution is for God to remove the demon.  Shocking though it may be, the demon is there for a reason, which must be understood in light of the Sovereign Design of God.  Examine the issues from divine viewpoint, and the meaning will become apparent.

The believer under demon attack is in a state of weakness and falling short of the Grace of God.  He needs to turn to God and enter Spiritual Rapport.  This means eyes on the Lord and not the demon.  "Do not anxiously gaze about."

Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously gaze about, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you; yea, I will help you;
Surely, I will support you with My victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

Quoting scripture will help to restore Spiritual Rapport with God after Rebound.  Rebound restores the Filling of the Holy Spirit," but it does not restore Spiritual Rapport or even Grace Orientation.  Entering Spiritual Rapport with God will neutralize the power of the demon.  When God gives the believer a grace promotion (more grace), the demon will be rendered powerless against the Spiritual strength of the believer in the Divine Dynasphere.  After applying the Problem Solving Device of Grace Orientation, the believer must execute the Spiritual Life.  Divine viewpoint must be used to understand the nature of the demon attack.  When the demon attacks, there will be clues that can be examined in Light of God's Sovereign Design.  Sovereignty trumps everything else, including the masquerades of the devil.  Every relationship is specified in God's Sovereign Design.  The believer who can understand the Sovereign relationships in his life can win the poker game with evil.  Demon attacks are often related to relationships with others who may be under the power of the Prostitute of Babylon.  Separation from the world is a prerequisite to Grace Orientation per the door of the Holy Place in the Tabernacle.

There are also do's and don'ts for handling demon attacks.

1. Don't be afraid.  Those who can be frightened have already lost.
2. Don't react.  Those who react with self-righteousness or anger have already lost.
3. Resist.  Don't submit to the demon's demands.  Don't negotiate.
4. Don't attack.  Demon warfare must be defensive.  "The battle is the LORD's!"
5. Don't believe the demon's lies.
6. Don't take the bait.
7. Don't talk to the demon, except in some rare cases.  Don't order him around.  Don't lecture him.
8. Don't fall under the demon's spell.  Wiggle or squirm to break the demon's power.
9. Do turn to God immediately.
10. Do reflect on the scene in light of God's Sovereign Design.
11. Recall the promises of scripture.
12. Don't assume there is only one demon involved.  There may be many hidden behind the first one.
13. Don't feed the demon's ego.  He wants attention.  Taking pictures or talking about him only emboldens him.

The procedure for handling a demon attack is not designed to remove the demon.  Following the procedure precisely will not necessarily remove the demon.  The procedure is the grace approach for dealing with the problem.  The demon is not the problem.  The demon is punishment for the weak person.  Withstanding the demon attack and learning from it will enable the Christian to mature and overcome the problem.  This is not a short term fix, but a long-term solution.

The Christian cannot be demon possessed because his body is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.  "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" (1 Jn 4:4).  However, demons and Satan have access to the believer's mind through mataiotes, which is the counterpart of scar tissue of the soul.  They can implant thoughts that drop into the subconscious and cause all manner of problems.  They can create dreams.  They can awaken a person and put him to sleep.  Demons can capitalize on holes in the believer's Integrity Envelope or armor.  Further the demons can attach themselves to the body and block the Light of Life like a vampire.  All these things can lead to injury or disease.  In most cases demons are too weak to render physical injury to the believer.  However, some can materialize and inflict physical injury or even cause death.  The entity demon can rape.  Others can cause disease, e.g. the case of Job, blindness, or muteness (Matthew 12:22).

Dream Attacks

The most common demon attacks occur in the hypnagogic state, which is the period of dozing off between being awake and falling asleep.  This state occurs about 30 minutes after beginning to doze off.  This is the time of greatest vulnerability to demon attack, since the subconscious is freed from the power of the conscious mind.  In the hypnagogic state, images of demons and demon art are often visible with the eyes closed. In this state demons may induce frustrating dreams, which often awaken the person.  The images usually disappear when the eyes are opened.  However, sometimes the demon image will still be visible with the eyes open, and sometimes a demon assault will follow.

There is a great debate between the psychiatrists, who contend that the dream images are purely imaginary (just dreams), and the paranormal investigators, who believe they are associated with spirits.  The truth is in the middle.  Demons can, and do, cause dreams.  Yet, a person who is dreaming is dreaming.  Both, the demon activity and the person's dreams have a common thread that is linked to the person's life.  Events on the Stage of Life are both physical and spiritual (divine or demonic).  So, God allows both demons and dreams to help the person fully understand issues in the Angelic Conflict.

Satan sends the demons to attack, but God allows it.  God has both demon attacks and dreams specified in His Sovereign Design for every person.  God allowed Satan and his demons to attack Job and Paul, and He may do the same to others.  So, here is the great solution.  Both the hypnagogic demon attacks and dreams can be understood from the perspective of God's Sovereignty.  The demon attacks are often related to previous contacts on the Stage of Life, and the dreams are associated with personal problems.  Divine viewpoint can be used to understand both the demon attacks and the dreams.  When they are exposed by the Light of divine viewpoint, they will cease to be a problem.

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