(I know I've promised a new article in the past and have not delivered but I will this evening)
"People get concerned about how can Satan, who is evil, come before the Lord. You and I associate with lost people every day. The elect angels and the fallen angels associate with one another in the heavenly places every day.
"Until Satan's cast into the bottomless pit he's free to go out there and associate," explains Richard Jordan. "You say, 'Well, how can he come in the presence of God?' Well, he did it just like in Job 1.
"He's not going to the third heaven but Satan's evilness, just like with lost people's evilness--they're not like cooties where you just go by and you get them like something's going to jump on you. It's a moral kind of thing and the issue of the righteousness of God.
"Satan's plan isn't going to stand, but God doesn't just go 'boom' and get rid of him; He has a plan to demonstrate that Satan's plan was unsuccessful.
"Satan's plan was he said, 'I deserve to be the most high God. I'm the wise one here. I've got the better plan.' You know the story in Ezekiel 28; he said he's 'wiser than Daniel; there's no secret they can keep from me.'
"If God back in Genesis had just snuffed him out, there would always be the idea in the angelic creation that God snuffed him out because he really was smarter. There'd always be that issue, so God's plan was to demonstrate the foolishness of Satan.
"He takes the wise in his own craftiness. He lets him work his plan out and then show how dumb it was.
"All He did was keep a secret about the forming of the Body of Christ in the heavenly places and it demonstrated the foolishness of Satan because of what Satan did in crucifying Christ. It allowed God to have a restoration plan to restore the whole thing back unto Himself."
*****
The outrageous, ridiculous lie is that aligning yourself with fallen angels and Satan, doing his bidding, translates into power, now and in the future.
Paul writes in I Corinthians 6, [2] Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
[3] Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?'
"Oops, you know what Jesus Christ did?" says my pastor, Alex Kurz. "There has been a radical shift change in the chain of command. Paul is talking about the Body of Christ.
"You understand we were the lowly of the low. I mean, real low, dead in trespasses and sins. Jesus willingly identified with our urgent predicament. He became the lowly of the low and, by virtue of the Cross, He not only earns and wins our redemption, He earns the title right now to put all of those angels under subjection.
"Ephesians 2 says, [6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
[7] That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
"This body, this new man, guess who's going to exercise authority over the angels? You see how it's flipped now? We're seated with Him in heavenly places. That helps me understand why Paul uses the present tense. He doesn't say we WILL be seated. We're the covering authority of angels. Let that sink in for a second.
"When you read about angels in the Bible, they are supernatural beings not to be messed with. Do you understand what it means now for these angels, who used to be better and more excellent in authority . . . guess what? Through Jesus Christ they're subject to the authority of the Body of Christ!
"We're going to judge just like Jesus telling His 12 disciples, 'You're going to sit on 12 thrones.' Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry, is already establishing a chain of command on earth. Twelve thrones judging the 12 tribes, who will be judging the nations. He's already establishing His official form of government.
*****
"When Satan told Eve, 'Ye shall be as gods,' do you know what the temptation was? He's saying to her, 'Why would you want to be third status when you could be second status?!'
"When Paul says a woman should be under the covering authority of male leadership within the context of the local assembly because of the angels, the angels--the bad guys especially--know all about rebelling against authority.
"Daniel 10. Michael is called the chief prince. Doesn't that not imply there are some other supernatural entities, supernatural beings, supernatural agents called angels. By the way, you've got angels, seraphim, cherubim, watchers, beasts, living creatures, morning stars, spirits. There are different types and categories of agents out there and yet all these different classes, they have order, structure. They're organized with a chain of command.
"Jude 6 says, [6] And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
"They defected. An estate is a domain, or it could be a dominion. The idea is they didn't keep it; they defected and rebelled against God's chain of command. They adopted the thinking and the policy of the devil here: 'I'm not content being over here; we're going to lead the estate.'
"This, by the way, demonstrates free will. They're not content occupying and dwelling in that realm of authority they had. They didn't want it; they coveted it not.
"Jude goes on, [7] Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
[8] Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
"There's that spirit of rebellion manifested and you have people despising dominion and speaking evil of dignitaries.
"There's more going on than merely the sons of god in Genesis 6 deciding to intermarry with the daughters of men. They are violating the chain of command.
"Verse 9: [9] Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
" 'Arch' is the idea of being the greatest, the principal. Michael's the top dog, the ranking authority in the realm of the angels.
"Then you notice there's the prince of Persia and the prince of Grecia. There are some lower level princes; Michael is the chief.
*****
"Michael's the good guy, the loyal guy. He's doing exactly what Psalm 103 describes: [20] Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
[21] Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
[22] Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.
"II Peter 2:4 says, [4] For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
"II Peter 2:9-12: [9] The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
[10] But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
[11] Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
[12] But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
"Angels have a legitimate right to exercise governing authority and yet, whoa, they do not bring railing accusation 'against them before the Lord.'
"This is fascinating. Paul writes in I Corinthians 11:10, [10] For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
"If we begin to adopt the same philosophy, the same way of thinking where we're actually following a playbook written by the Adversary himself, we're playing into the very hands of rank rebellion which results in confusion, disorder. And by bucking authority, you're playing into this rebellion that's taken place already.
"Interestingly, when Paul refers to women, he actually warns against playing, or falling into the hands of Satan's policy of evil. So I take the angels to be the bad guys and Paul's saying, 'Listen, the angels know something about rebellion.'
"Can you imagine the spiritual wickedness when they see the Body of Christ in absolute disarray, practicing the very rebellion that they're responsible for?
Paul writes in I Corinthians 6, [2] Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
[3] Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?'
"Oops, you know what Jesus Christ did?" says my pastor, Alex Kurz. "There has been a radical shift change in the chain of command. Paul is talking about the Body of Christ.
"You understand we were the lowly of the low. I mean, real low, dead in trespasses and sins. Jesus willingly identified with our urgent predicament. He became the lowly of the low and, by virtue of the Cross, He not only earns and wins our redemption, He earns the title right now to put all of those angels under subjection.
"Ephesians 2 says, [6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
[7] That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
"This body, this new man, guess who's going to exercise authority over the angels? You see how it's flipped now? We're seated with Him in heavenly places. That helps me understand why Paul uses the present tense. He doesn't say we WILL be seated. We're the covering authority of angels. Let that sink in for a second.
"When you read about angels in the Bible, they are supernatural beings not to be messed with. Do you understand what it means now for these angels, who used to be better and more excellent in authority . . . guess what? Through Jesus Christ they're subject to the authority of the Body of Christ!
"We're going to judge just like Jesus telling His 12 disciples, 'You're going to sit on 12 thrones.' Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry, is already establishing a chain of command on earth. Twelve thrones judging the 12 tribes, who will be judging the nations. He's already establishing His official form of government.
*****
"When Satan told Eve, 'Ye shall be as gods,' do you know what the temptation was? He's saying to her, 'Why would you want to be third status when you could be second status?!'
"When Paul says a woman should be under the covering authority of male leadership within the context of the local assembly because of the angels, the angels--the bad guys especially--know all about rebelling against authority.
"Daniel 10. Michael is called the chief prince. Doesn't that not imply there are some other supernatural entities, supernatural beings, supernatural agents called angels. By the way, you've got angels, seraphim, cherubim, watchers, beasts, living creatures, morning stars, spirits. There are different types and categories of agents out there and yet all these different classes, they have order, structure. They're organized with a chain of command.
"Jude 6 says, [6] And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
"They defected. An estate is a domain, or it could be a dominion. The idea is they didn't keep it; they defected and rebelled against God's chain of command. They adopted the thinking and the policy of the devil here: 'I'm not content being over here; we're going to lead the estate.'
"This, by the way, demonstrates free will. They're not content occupying and dwelling in that realm of authority they had. They didn't want it; they coveted it not.
"Jude goes on, [7] Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
[8] Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
"There's that spirit of rebellion manifested and you have people despising dominion and speaking evil of dignitaries.
"There's more going on than merely the sons of god in Genesis 6 deciding to intermarry with the daughters of men. They are violating the chain of command.
"Verse 9: [9] Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
" 'Arch' is the idea of being the greatest, the principal. Michael's the top dog, the ranking authority in the realm of the angels.
"Then you notice there's the prince of Persia and the prince of Grecia. There are some lower level princes; Michael is the chief.
*****
"Michael's the good guy, the loyal guy. He's doing exactly what Psalm 103 describes: [20] Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
[21] Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
[22] Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.
"II Peter 2:4 says, [4] For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
"II Peter 2:9-12: [9] The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
[10] But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
[11] Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
[12] But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
"Angels have a legitimate right to exercise governing authority and yet, whoa, they do not bring railing accusation 'against them before the Lord.'
"This is fascinating. Paul writes in I Corinthians 11:10, [10] For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
"If we begin to adopt the same philosophy, the same way of thinking where we're actually following a playbook written by the Adversary himself, we're playing into the very hands of rank rebellion which results in confusion, disorder. And by bucking authority, you're playing into this rebellion that's taken place already.
"Interestingly, when Paul refers to women, he actually warns against playing, or falling into the hands of Satan's policy of evil. So I take the angels to be the bad guys and Paul's saying, 'Listen, the angels know something about rebellion.'
"Can you imagine the spiritual wickedness when they see the Body of Christ in absolute disarray, practicing the very rebellion that they're responsible for?
"In their minds they are succeeding if their policy of rebellion can infect and influence the Body of Christ. You see how they're seeking to gain ground in and through the people of Almighty God?"
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