It's that enticement, that appeal of secrecy

At the very beginning of a YouTube trailer for a new heavily-advertised FOX News "investigative" special on "Freemasons: A Society of Secrets," comedian Tom Shillue asks "the grand master of Pennsylvania": "So you're the biggest guy around here--kind of the grand poobah?"

Master: "You could say that, yes."

Shillue: "I'm going to say some things and you tell me if Masons think these are good things or bad things? Human sacrifice?"

Master: "Bad."

Shillue: "Murder?"

Master: "Bad."

Shillue: Child trafficking?

Master: "Bad."

Shillue: "Ice cream?"

Master: "Fantastic."

Shillue: "Why do people think the Masons engage in demonic activity?"

Master: "I think they're minds just run wild and they think, 'Oh my goodness, what are they doing behind closed doors?' No demonic activity. No. We're not sacrificing anybody at altars. We're not burning any incense. Our meetings are basically a business meeting."

Shillue: "Nobody says any conspiracy theories about the Knights of Columbus. Nobody says it about the Rotary Club. Why do they say it about the Masons?"

Master: "You know what, the other thing that I would point to is the whole thing with the way we do things with symbols."

*****

“Satan’s spirit works in lost people. He’s got a whole crew of people; the rulers of the darkness of this world. The politicians, the business executives, the music moguls, the movie producers, the newsmen, the preachers.

"All of the people in the upper echelons who RUN things have a philosophy and thinking process that is in line with the Lie Program.

“You need to understand, when you look to politicians for your answers, that’s where they’re getting their answers from. When you look to business executives to lead your nation, or your life, that’s where they’re getting their answers from," explains Richard Jordan.

When Revelation 17:5 talks about MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH, this verse is not just about the mother of all mysteries, but there’s the mother’s mystery maidens. The verse says she is the mother of harlots, meaning she has offspring that are of her lineage, so she’s got a lot of children in the world.

“When Paul talks about the manifold wisdom of God being made known to the principalities and heavenly places, there’s a satanic counterfeit mystery system. Satan always seeks to counterfeit what God’s doing.

“Unlike the Adversary, when God does something, He doesn’t keep it hidden behind codes and walls. I love in Matthew 10:27 where Jesus Christ says, ‘What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.’

“God wants things made known, whereas the Adversary’s whole system is based on this secret society; that’s what the ‘occult’ means, by the way. It’s this kind of thing where I’ve got wisdom, understanding, powers that are secret that you can only get in contact with if you have my instructions and you’re one of my initiated.

"In Deuteronomy is the warning from God, 9] When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
[10] There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
[11] Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

“All of those titles and names are descriptions of attempts to use special knowledge to try and tell you the future, claiming they have power in the spirit world to pull things out—hidden wisdom, hidden understanding and knowhow.

“You see, the devil has power and he uses it to coordinate things together to achieve his end. His aim is to install himself on the throne of the universe.

“Satan’s goal is the deification of the creature: ‘I will ascend into heaven; I will be like the most high.’ It’s to take the creature and make God out of it.

"That’s the ultimate, fundamental lie that, when you buy into it, you’re following the Adversary. You’re making him your authority. It’s only when you follow the truth of God’s Word that you make God your authority.

“The Bible says of Satan, ‘Behold thou art wiser than Daniel.’ He uses his wisdom to traffick. He uses his ability to know a secret that you can’t know and that only he and those he shares it with know.

"Satan uses that enticement, that appeal of inside knowledge that only he and those who are his associates can have. That’s the basis of his marketing plan. He did that starting with Eve.

“Genesis 3:1 says, 1] Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

“You see that word ‘subtle’? He’s going to use deceit; he’s not going to just come up to Eve and say it out clearly; he’s going to try and deceive her.

“You get these sales calls on the telephone and they ask you a question so they can get this answer, and if they get that answer, they got this other thing for you to answer and it’s all designed to get you to the point where you say, ‘Yes, I’ll buy the product.’

“Now, Satan uses his wisdom to deceive. He says, ‘I know something you don’t know. If you knew what I know . . .’ It’s that enticement. ‘Yeah, hath God said?’ He’s saying, ‘Are you sure that’s all there is to it?’ You see how he puts that little thought in the back of your mind?

“Satan says to Eve, ‘For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’

“He’s telling her, ‘You’re going to be like me and those folks associated with me.’ Knowing good and evil means knowing something only God knows. While God says ‘Good and evil’s mine,’ Satan says, ‘You know, I can tell you how to know something God doesn’t want you to know. I already know it. My guys know it!’

“Like I said, he uses that enticement of, ‘It’s secret information nobody can know unless they come and get it from me, and you’ve got to come do what I want you to do, and when you do, then you can have it.’

“The people who fall for that wind up ‘ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth,’ because they’re always reaching for it and never quite get there.”

(new article tomorrow)