The Twenty-Seventh Epistle
Exposing the Devil.
DATELINE: Sunday, May 13, 2001.
By Rev. James R. Bingham
Special to corndancer.com
Posted from Memphis, Tennessee
Ezekiel
28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
There is so much to know about what is happening in this world, so much to ponder. I ask you: Why? It is because our duty to self and to God is to seek truth and the knowledge of truth.
It is almost pathetic, the way we watch certain movies with certain truths placed right in front of our eyes, yet we disregard those truths and go on with our life as if it were merely entertainment.
For instance, many of us have seen movies in the style of Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist I,II, and III. Each time we are thrilled and frightened, taken by the incredible acts and startling things that come across the screen. Now listen to this. When Rosemary was drugged to conceive from the devil, she was shown watching the Pope, on television, in a special Celebration Mass at Yankee Stadium in New York. Why is this important? It's important because the moviemakers were placing certain relative truths before us.
The Pope seen by Rosemary was Pope Paul VI. His visit was Oct. 4, 1965. Shortly after the television scene, a pope was shown coming to Rosemary's room, where she kissed his ring and he forgave her. Forgave her for what?
Nine months later, June 6, 1966, Pope Paul VI returns. The baby was born. Thirteen years later, 1979, when the boy devil was thirteen years old, the United Nations declares the year as the Year of the Child. What child? Our children? Be for real. This country had made a declaration against cruelty and right-to-work labor laws for children in the early 1900's.
It's Only Entertainment —
But at Whose Expense?
The devil — without fail, all the time — tells us what he is doing. It is his arrogant way of causing his people to celebrate his actions right under our noses. All we say is, "It's only entertainment".
Yet isn't it strange how no one has come forth to say that none of the movies I have mentioned were based on fact. The lie is the realm of the devil. Listen, when someone doesn't say it's for entertainment, we don't take it seriously. However, when it is touted by the hacks and jingoists as only entertainment, we do take it seriously.
Think about the daily horoscopes printed in newspapers and published on the Internet. For entertainment purposes only — certainly! But many of us take the horoscope seriously. Some people even base their daily actions on pronouncements from the astrological oracle.
For years we grew up hearing that the devil was thrown out of heaven. For some reason, since we are unable to find it in Genesis, we tend to think it didn't happen, or it is a metaphor.
Yet look closely at verse 16 of Ezekiel, chapter 28. It reads: "By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire."
To Know the Meaning of the Cherub
Is to Penetrate the Mystery.
A mysterious verse indeed. What is a cherub? The third chapter of Genesis, 24th verse, reads: "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
Webster defines a cherub as any of the second order of angels, usually ranked just below the seraphim.
Now Cherubim are positioned to cover, separate, and divide the holiness of God from the sinful exploits of man. Seraphim act out the wrath of God against sin. Thus Satan was a Cherub. He was a covering for the righteousness of God. Angels that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, were Seraphim. The angels who blocked the opening to Eden and who covered the Ark of the Covenant are Cherubim.
Therefore, Cherubim are close to God. They would appear to be nearest to God, so they indeed can sing his praises the loudest. Satan was reported to have been director of the heavenly host.
Look now at Ezekiel 28:17: "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee."
Finally, consider Isaiah 14:12-14: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:"
God Is Righteousness.
Satan Is Deceit.
It was no mistake that the serpent appeared to Eve. It was no mistake that the devil encouraged Moses and Gideon. It was no mistake that Satan met Jesus on the mountaintop. The devil has a plan. He wants to be seen as worthy of sitting with God. Because God is righteousness, Satan is deceit.
He has plans to deceive you into not recognizing your true nature. He wants to blind you to who you really are — a child of God!
Each of us is one of God's natural children, but we are deceived into thinking that we are destined to sin. We are deceived into thinking that good is evil and evil is good. Malachi 2:17 says, "Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?"
Satan worried the Lord. He tempted the Lord and tried to set himself up as God. He has deceived us into thinking that the way of the world is more desirable than delighting in the law of the Lord. Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. His delight is in the law of the Lord.
Another scripture, Revelation 19:20, reads: "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."
Expose the Devil.
Cast Him Out.
Satan, according to Scripture, was a covering angel. He has lost that status. His covering protected and shielded righteousness and separated man from evil, but because Satan fell from grace, the service he once provided can no longer be rendered. Now, he shields his own presence by deceit. We must look through the deceit and expose the devil, then cast him out! We must be cleansed!
Man long since has been plagued by the presence of sin in his genetic coding. It was passed on from generation to generation through the seed of Adam.
The act of circumcision was a form of cleansing. It was a bleeding to cleanse the blood, the life source. That's why it was performed on the genitals — not those of the woman, but of the man. The emphasis was to cleanse the way for the seed. But it was the seed that had the impurity. Circumcision could not cleanse the soul.
In fact, the blood of beasts could not cleanse the soul, but only serve as a sacrifice to show man's willingness to be cleansed. Here again, the blood was not man's blood. The Bible tells us that where there is no blood, there is no remission of sin.
Where, then, are we to find blood that is pure?
The Rite of Passage.
The rite of passage is not in the blood. The rite of passage is in the seed. Salvation is in the blood. Deliverance is in the blood. Sanctification is in the blood. Sanctification, deliverance, and salvation had to come from a man who knew no sin, yet was made sin on our behalf.
The blood of Jesus is the only blood that could cleanse our souls. His blood did not come through the seed of man, but he was born of a woman by the Holy Ghost. His blood has real power, cleansing power. Whereas the Cherubim may lose their positioning and their power to cover us, the blood of Jesus, which gives me strength from day to day, will never lose its power.
Cast Him Out of Your Home,
Your Work, Your Behavior.
For those who believe, the blood of Jesus will give you power to walk right and talk right. It will give you power to expose the devil!
Listen, he might be in your home. He looks like part of the family but he's causing havoc and confusion. Expose him!
He might be at your work. Every chance he gets, he makes a simple task seem difficult, complicated, and stressful. Expose him!
He might be in your talk, your cussing, or spitting. (You ever noticed how many young men spit as if to show their masculinity? It doesn't. It's nasty, and it spreads germs when you step in it and carry it in your homes.) Expose him!
The devil might be in your habits — that nagging addiction to shopping, gambling, drugs, or repeating some annoying act. Expose him!
He might be in the music you love and sing, saying, "It's only music." All the time the music makes you wallow in the dark side of love, "feeling so sad and blue." Expose him! Expose him! Expose him!
Say with confidence, "Get thee behind me Satan. You are a liar. You don't belong here."
After you have exposed the devil, gird up your loins with the whole Armour of God, then stand up and be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Shout it from the mountaintops: Victory is mine! Victory is mine! Victory is mine yesterday and tomorrow. Indeed, victory is mine today!
Give God Some Praise!!!
EDITOR'S NOTE: Rev. Bingham
can be reached by E-mail at
jamesrbingham@juno.com.
His phone number in Memphis is
901.785.5691.