PART 2

IN THE ENEMIES TERRITORY

We as believers in Christ are in the enemies territory as we live our lives in this world. I speak of our true enemy, Satan, the "kosmo krator", Greek for Lord of the Cosmos. This is his realm-it is a realm of chaos, uncertainty, demoralization and false and cruel promises of peace (eternal peace, first and foremost). He is a genius at what he does. He is a master at division and divisiveness and turmoil, pitting one faction against another. It is his M.O. and we see his bloody footprints upon our lives. Below are a few examples:

• The rich against the poor,
• white against black,
• man against woman,
• criminal against society,
• nation against nation,
• culture against culture,
• people of one ethnicity against a people of a different ethnicity.
• employers against employee
• employee against employer
  

On and on it goes. But it is not a "flesh and blood" problem. Paul is crystal clear when addressing wickedness in the world. He states we are up "against the schemes of the devil", Eph. 6:11. He says this:

Satan has the whole world stirred up by his schemes of division and divisiveness. And why? So eventualy he can ride in on his "black" horse and claim to be the Messiah and solve all our problems. He is the ultimate "politician" if you will. He will promise world peace for our vote, our alligiance, our lives. And this WILL happen. It is documented in God's Word (Daniel, Thessalonians, Revelations to name a few books). All we do not know is the time it will take place. And no, I don't believe the year 2000 has any magical power to it. And as 2000 approaches, we are going to hear all types of "doomsday prophecies". Or, that Christ is coming. Ignore so nonsense. But the "signs" do led us to believe it is more near than any other time in History. And Christ tells us to be alert to the signs.

I believe one of the signs is mass communication and instant news. No other time in our history has the world and its people been so close. One cannot govern or led a world without having the ability to communicate quickly his messsage to a world audience. Today, this is possible. And now with the internet, we have never had so much information available at the touch of a keyboard. And with the internet, we have email. Email enables you and I to communicate at no additional cost to people to anywhere in the world who have access to the Internet. Today, I speak by means of email to people in Canada, China, Philippines, Mexico and other parts of the world. This was unthinkable a decade ago. Today, it is an everyday occurance. As we continue to rush into this new "brave world", more and more people will be "hooking up" to the internet and the World Wide Web. And the more of us joined by the wonders of technology, the world becomes that much smaller. Which is good, I believe. But let us beware. Such smallness is a needed formula for a world dictator to take the throne.

But Jesus already addressed the problem of chaos and divisiveness. It is a spiritual problem solved by addressing personal sin and turning to Him for forgiveness. And at such time, we are given new hearts and minds by which "self" is crucified, thus rendering the devil powerless over us. Satan can only take hold of those who place "me" first. It is this "Me First" syndrome Satan exploits to perfection. We become his dupes each and everytime we put ourselves first. And when we do wrong towards another, because we did not regard their rights, Me must be protected. And this is done by blaming others, crucifying their reputations so that they appear not to be credible, and by acting like they are the "injured party" to solicit sympathy towards them and antagonism towards the other. Sound familiar?

Yet, let us not despair. Christ is still LORD. He is our SAVIOR, our KING, our MASTER. No one is greater than He. Yet we must be diligent and keep our focus off the world, its enticements and its government as a means to world peace and personal tranquility. Such things weaken us, defeat us, and put us at the world's mercy. Such mercy is cruel as we again, so often read in today's paper. Our focus must ever be on Christ.