Satan says that God is unapproachable... Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 KJV.

Satan says that, with our sin, we will one day wear out the patience of God...Jesus says, “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:20 KJV.

Satan says that God’s love for us may be extinguished...Jesus says, “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” Jeremiah 31:3 KJV.

Satan says that God will abandon us to his jurisdiction...Jesus says, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4 KJV. “... I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5 KJV.

But then I found this: “Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:” Jeremiah 23:39 KJV.

This says that there are circumstances under which this patient and merciful God will forsake us. So I asked God, “what are those terrible circumstances?” And He answered me through His words in the Bible...”Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:1-2 KJV.

Satan seems to bring the shadow of darkness of the Valley of Death to the people’s mind...but Jesus has, “His agencies. Even among the heathen there were men through whom Christ was working to uplift the people from their sin and degradation. But these men were despised and hated. Many of them suffered a violent death. The dark shadow that Satan had cast over the world grew deeper and deeper.” - The Desire of Ages, Chapter Two.

Men have no barrier against sin when they seek to save themselves. Satan says, “man can save himself by his own works” and this does “lay at the foundation of every heathen religion.” But Jesus says, “I am the Way and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.”

How does Satan pervert the gospel and confuse even the greatest gospel preachers to preach a false gospel. “They robbed God of His glory, and defrauded the world by a counterfeit of the gospel. They had refused to surrender themselves to God for the salvation of the world, and they became agents of Satan for its destruction.” Desire of Ages, Chapter 2. There are two sides to this perverted gospel. On one side you have a lack of surrender to selfish ways and a desire to be comfortable and have everything we want instead of what God wants. We have been lulled to sleep and told that sin is not that bad. If we ignore sin with a false sense of protecting the young or denial it will go away. But that is a lie from the pit of hell. We have not heard the cry, “Come out of Babylon, My people!” We have not been clinging to our God. Could it be that Jesus is coming soon and this is part of that cry? I feel it friends. I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that I will see the Lord coming soon and I want to be ready and remove anything from my life that He asks me to remove.

On the other side of the perverted gospel Jesus is made to look like a tyrant that hates sinners. He does not hate sinners. He loves even the worst of sinners. I am the chief of sinners and God has called me out of darkness into His glorious light and I have never felt closer to my Lord than now. Yet, I long to be closer and have Him clean me more. He can do the same for you. Jesus says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10 KJV We must lose our defensive edges and be willing to repent. God is faithful to forgive and meet us a long way off. He will run to us and is running to us now.

The faith of Jesus is a poignant aspect of the gospel that is often overlooked. Even in some Bible translations it is changed. The faith of Jesus is Jesus’ having faith in us. He sees in us what our potential is in Him. We must have the faith of Jesus toward others and know that the Lord is allowing trials and tribulations for our good so that we may become what He envisions us to be.

But Christendom has lost its ability to call “sin by its rightful name” under the banner of “don’t judge me!” We are to judge. We are to evaluate fruit. We are not to hide and cover over sin but repent of it and to anyone else whom our sin has affected. Is this easy? No! But we have not been assured that Christianity is easy. We have been assured that it is “the narrow way.”

We have a faithful God who will never reject us but He hates sin and loves us. So He will do everything it takes to save us from it and not in it. I must be willing to do whatever it takes to obey Him.

Satan says that the Sprit of Prophecy is old and outdated and only ultra-right-conservative-judgmental-Adventists read it. This morning I woke up at 5:30am and started my worship a little thereafter. Four or five paragraphs into the second chapter of the Desire or Ages the Holy Spirit started impressing upon my mind to write this and I found myself searching the Scriptures and shut in with God. This is the best and most comforting feeling. To be wrapped in the warm glow of the Word of God. I have done almost every drug that exists on our planet. There is no other experience so pure and so holy and so mind-opening as reading the Bible AND The Desire of Ages. Anyone who makes light or makes fun of those who hold the The Desire of Ages in high regard does not know what a wonderful tool they are missing. This tool leads us to search the Scriptures and I am grateful for it.

Lastly, Satan says, “forgiveness is impossible, God is a tyrant, and you CAN live without Him.” And Satan waited with glee to watch Jesus, in anger, destroy the world because of His hatred of sin... But Jesus did not destroy the world. Instead He threw down His body over the altar of the world and became the smallest living cell which grew like we all do into a baby in the womb. And He became what He hated in that He became sin for us so that He could destroy what He hated without destroying the children that He loves.

Whoever you are reading this, Jesus LOVES you. This love is so completely amazing that writers like myself have no words to describe it. It is intense, passionate, and complete. His faith in us cannot allow us to not reach His vision for us. That said, He must take us through painful experiences to see us fulfill His vision for us. When we emerge from the fire, we will be as gold, soft-hearted, beautiful, precious and valuable. Though we are dirty with sin, Jesus sees in us the gold. Though we have made mistakes, He can wash us and make us as the purest snow, with His purity and not our own. He wants to save us. When we are saved, there are things that Jesus calls us to do. That is make things right with our fellow man and share with others our own experience. This is the fruit of salvation. If we are not doing these things, are we not dishonoring our Lord’s sacrifice?

Satan says salvation is for others and not for you...Jesus says, “nothing can separate us from the love of God.” Romans 8:38-39. Nothing. Period. Stop. Nothing can separate us. That love exists all around us. It is a force that upholds the world. The reason why we even have the conveniences of life that we have now is because God wants to do whatever He can to show us mercy. He does not just love us. He “agapes” us. The definition of agape is found in 1 Corinthians 13. Part of that description of agape is that Jesus “rejoices in the truth.” And in Psalms 51:6 He says, “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” Psalms 51:6 KJV. We can not enjoy the love of God while harboring secrets, sin, and shame. We cannot experience a growing walk with God and have wisdom while we fail to call sin what it is. And this is because secrets, sin, and shame destroy the faith of Jesus in us. It destroys the image of God in us and in the church.

Satan says that you can never be free. It is too hard. It is too embarrassing. You will lose money or friends if you take steps towards freedom...but Jesus says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36 KJV.

Do you want to be free in Jesus? Are you experiencing the truth in all your ways and in all your heart? Are their people you need to ask forgiveness of? Then ask God to do what we are unable to do for ourselves. Be like Peter in the stormy wind and waves and cry out, “Lord, save me!”

Satan says Jesus will not hear you...but Jesus will stretch, “out His hand and catch you, and say to you, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’” Matthew 14:29-33 NKJV.

Truly He is the Son of God. And that is the Truth. Amen and amen.