Negotiating with the Devil

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The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.

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When I was growing up, fascism was a political term in common use. I was seven years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and the years ahead saw us totally occupied with the defeat of fascism. I can’t say I knew what it meant in those days. I just knew it was bad. And I have this uncanny feeling that as fascism rears its ugly head again in our world, a lot of people still don’t know what it means. The reason I think that is because not a few people are objecting to the term Islamofascism, which has come into rather common use. They say, well, that’s racist or that’s discriminatory against religion. Well, here’s a definition of fascism so we know what it is we’re talking about. It’s a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition. or it’s a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic dictatorial control. Now with Islamofascism, we add a new element, religion, into the mix. But it’s beyond dispute that there is a movement afoot among some sects of Islam to exalt Islam above the individual. It stands for centralized government headed by a dictatorial leader. It imposes severe economic and social regimentation and forcible suppression of opposition. So what’s the objection? with using the term Islamofascism. I had a strange sense the other night of Deja Vu watching Oliver North’s War Stories production, dealing with the death march in Bataan in the Philippines in World War II, as well as other aspects of the Japanese use of slave labor in Burma, the famous bridge on the River Kwai, and all that was done there. The Japanese treatment of prisoners of war was, if you’ll pardon me using this term, inhuman. The same inhuman spirit, you know, like the Japanese soldier who saw a woman nursing her baby, reached over, grabbed the baby, threw it in the air, and then spirited on his bayonet as it came down. This is what I mean when I say it’s inhuman. That same spirit of fascism seems to possess some parts of Islam today. And I sometimes wonder if the term inhuman may say more than we think it does. The way the Japanese overlords treated their own soldiers was inhuman and gave their soldiers in turn the license to act inhuman to their captives, to their enemies. And, of course, the Germans, while still more civilized than the Japanese in a way, were still inhuman in their treatment of conquered people. It’s been common over the years, by the way, to attribute demon possession to Adolf Hitler. I’ve heard it more than once. What is the rest of the world to do when they come up against the absolute embodiment of evil in a man, a nation, or a movement? Especially a Christian world that follows the Prince of Peace, believes in turning the other cheek. What are they supposed to do when they are face-to-face with the devil? Is it just possible that we don’t fully understand how a godly man might respond to the presence of evil? And by evil, I’m not talking about men who steal because they want stuff, burglars and car thieves. Nor am I talking about men who kill out of envy or even jealousy because they found their wife with another man. But when we talk about serial killers, we’re getting close. And we’re even closer when we come to the Islamofascists who send children to commit suicide, blowing up women and children. And the epitome of all this is that some of the people in Hamas sent this mentally retarded young teenager to blow himself up at an Israelite checkpoint. Now, that goes beyond anything human. There is at large in the world a spirit of fascism that simply does not die. In World War II, the seats of that spirit were destroyed. I mean, they were crushed. But it’s uncanny to see that spirit at work again. Oddly, it can be recognized first by an unreasonable hatred of the Jews. It’s hard to explain on any rational basis the obsessive hatred of the Jews that persists in the modern world. But I think I understand it. Toward the very end of his time with his disciples, Jesus was talking with them about hatred. It’s in that speech he gave to them or that long discussion, long monologue at the Last Supper. John 15, verse 18. If the world hate you, he said, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were one of them, the world would love his own. But because you are not of the world, I’ve chosen you out of the world. Well, the world will hate you. Remember the word that I said to you. The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you. If they’ve kept my saying, they’ll keep yours also. But they’re going to do unto you for my name’s sake all these things because they know not him that sent me. Now, you still are asking the question, okay, well, why is this hatred so virulent? Why does it persist like this? He said, if I had not come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t have had the same responsibility. But now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hates me hates my father also. Bottom line. And you realize the hatred, a blind hatred that led the Jews to murder Jesus and to attempt murder on more than one occasion was pure hatred for him. And Jesus said, he that hates me hates my father also. They never would have admitted that. He said, if I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they would not have had sin. But they have seen me and they have hated both me and my father. And this comes to pass. The word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They hated me without a cause. There exists in the world a blind hatred of God. It is rarely admitted. It is rarely understood. It doesn’t come to the fore very often. But you see, in the eyes of the world, the Jews are an ever-present reminder of God. They are the people of God. They haven’t always been good people of God, but throughout all time, they have recognized God. They have kept their Sabbath day, which is an identity of God. They have refused to assimilate into the world at large. They have retained their identity. They know who they are. And the world looks at them, and they think about God, and they hate it. And a world that hates God focuses that hatred on the Jews. If we can just get rid of the Jews, maybe God and the idea of God would just go away. And if all the hatred of the Jews were gone, do you think the hatred would go away? No. It would fall on Christians, as it has already begun to do. It is an unreasonable, irrational hatred of God. Now, I can’t help wondering about this spirit of hatred that persists in the world. It’s hard to understand it. Perhaps we don’t really like to think about it. But it should be plain to anyone that there is a spirit world that exists right alongside the world we live in. Perhaps you recall very early in Jesus’ ministry, in fact, right after his baptism, that he went up into the mountains and was fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, and the devil came to him and tempted him. And a third of these temptations is recorded in Matthew 4, verse 8. The devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory. And he said to him, All these things I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me. And Jesus said, Get away from me. It’s written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve. And the devil left him, and the angels came and ministered to him. I don’t think the devil was showing Jesus the physical kingdoms of the world. I think he displayed the kingdoms that he ruled in the spirit realm, kingdoms in the spirit world. There’s an interesting aside in the book of Daniel that is really suggestive on this, and I’ll tell you what that is right after this important message.

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You can’t see the devil. You can’t hear him, touch him, or smell him. How can you know when he’s at work? Write or call and ask for a free booklet titled, Tracks of the Devil. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE44. That’s 1-888-242-5344.

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By the way, did you know that if you missed the first part of this program, you can listen to it again in whole or in part right now on your computer? If you’re plugged into the Internet, you can go to our website, borntowin.net. Click on Born to Win Audio Services and play today’s program again. And you can do it 24-7. Not only that, but if you click on the radio archives, you’ll find two weeks’ worth of daily programs. You can download them and listen to them at your leisure. That’s at borntowin.net. Now, what was it that Daniel was talking about that enlightens us a little bit about what Jesus said here? It’s in the 10th chapter of the book of Daniel. Daniel had been fasting and praying and trying to understand things, and he tells us that it was in the third year of Cyrus the king of Persia that a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar. That was his Babylonian name. Now, the interesting thing about this is that Judah was carried captive into Babylon quite a while before this. Then, in turn, Babylon was eaten up by that shark, Persia, and Cyrus, king of Persia, in charge of this area right now. That’s an important aside. The message, he said, was true. The appointed time was long, and he understood the message and had understanding of the visions. Here’s what happened. In those days, I, Daniel, was fasting for three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat, nor wine came into my mouth. I didn’t anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled. Okay. On the 24th day of the first month, I was standing by the side of the great river, the Tigris. Know your geography? You know right where he was. He was not far from Baghdad. I lifted my eyes and looked, and here was a man clothed in linen whose waist was girded with gold. His body was like beryl, his face was like lightning, his eyes were torches of fire, his arms and feet burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a crowd.” Daniel says, I was the only one that saw it. The men who were with me did not see it, but a great terror fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. So I was alone when I saw this thing, and no strength remained in me. I can imagine your knees would turn to water, and who knows what else would turn to water. He says, I heard this. I retained no strength. I heard the sound of his words, and while I heard them, I was in a deep sleep on my face with my face on the ground. Suddenly a hand touched me and made me tremble on my knees and the palms of my hand, and he said to me, Oh, Daniel, man greatly beloved. Oh, my goodness, that must have been a relief. Just to hear those words, you are a man greatly beloved, because it’s obvious what we’re dealing with. We’ve got an angel who has come to see, and this is a supernatural being. There are supernatural spirit beings, and Daniel saw one. Oh, Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright. I have now been sent to you. While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. Do you know the feeling? Maybe a few times in your life when you have been scared out of your wits and could just tremble and couldn’t get control of your limbs. He said, don’t be afraid. For from the first day you set your heart to understand and humble yourself before God, you were heard. And I was sent because of your words. Now, the thought might have crossed Daniel’s mind. Where have you been then if you heard me the first day? He goes on to explain, the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for 21 days. Now, how can that be? We’re dealing with an angel who, without much doubt, can disappear and reappear whenever he wants to. He showed up by Daniel’s side of the river on this particular occasion out of nowhere. So it wasn’t a question of him having to get by some human king or prince of Persia. There’s something else going on here. He said, the prince of Persia withstood me 21 days. Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I’d been left alone there with the king of Persia. Michael is one of the archangels of God, here called a chief prince. There are only two of these chief princes that are named in the Bible, Michael and Gabriel. Gabriel is the one who was sent to speak to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and he may very well be the one that’s standing here talking to Daniel. He said, I have come to make you understand what’s going to happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days to come. Well, this is what it’s all about. But the thing that’s of particular interest to us here is the aside that is in here. When he had spoken these words to me, I turned my face to the ground and I was speechless. Suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips. I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him that was before me, My Lord, because of the vision, my sorrows have overwhelmed me. I have retained no strength. Because Daniel had had a vision that scared him to death. For how can this servant of my Lord talk with you, my Lord? As for me, no strength remains in me now. There’s no breath left in me. Then again, the one having the lightness of a man touched me and strengthened me. And he said, O man greatly beloved, fear not. Peace be to you. Be strong. Yes, be strong. So when he spoke to me, I was strengthened. And I said, Let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me. And he said, Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I have gone forth, indeed, the prince of Greece will come. But I tell you what is noted in the Scripture of truth. No one holds me against these except Michael, your prince. Now, it’s impossible, really, to describe or understand exactly what he’s talking about. But it would appear that in the spirit world, there can be warfare going on that you and I have not a clue about, although it’s possible. I wonder sometimes if some of that spills over into our world in ways that we don’t understand. It’s hard to imagine. I don’t know how to explain it. You can’t really accommodate it by a Star Wars type of movie with giant beings with lightsabers fighting with one another, but something in terms of spiritual warfare was going on out there. He had to fight his way into Persia, and he figured he was going to have to fight his way back again because the Prince of Greece was on the way as well. And so you have these great spiritual princes that appear to have some kind of jurisdiction or control over parts of the earth. One in Greece, the other in Persia. I don’t know how to explain it, but he just tosses it in here. It was an aside. It wasn’t even what the story was about. The story was about the prophecy that Daniel was being given. But because he put this in here, It helps us understand to some small degree what’s going on in the world. Later in Daniel 12, he says, I think most people who know the Bible hear the great tribulation in this. But what’s interesting is that Michael is the great prince that stands for the children of your people. So there was a prince of Persia. There was a prince of Greece. Michael was the prince of the children of Israel. All this is an astonishing revelation. I only recall the names of two of these great creatures, Gabriel, the angel sent to Mary, and Michael. Apparently, these great battles are fought among these remarkable beings. There’s a third name, by the way, mentioned in the Old Testament. His name is Halel. You would have heard of him by the name Lucifer. Christian tradition sees him as Satan, the adversary, the hater of God. We go on our way blissfully unaware of this most of the time, never realizing the battles that are fought, probably in many cases for our safety. From this, the idea perhaps of the guardian angel could come. The idea of a demonic world is left to horror movies and the like. We don’t mind so much being scared in an air-conditioned theater with some popcorn and a Coke. We may hear of demon possession, but would rather attribute it to mental illness. But I was really surprised when I read M. Scott Peck’s book, The People of the Lie, that he not only believed in demon possession, but had seen it in an exorcism. The reason it surprised me is that he’s a psychiatrist. I didn’t think they were supposed to believe in that sort of thing. Well, Jesus also offered an example of this word, speaking to the Jews one day. And I’ll tell you what he had to say when I come back after this message.

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For a free CD of this radio program that you can share with friends and others, write or call this week only. And request the program titled, Negotiating with the Devil. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE44. That’s 1-888-242-5344.

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Jesus came on one occasion to a place on the other side of the Sea of Galilee to a country of the Gergesenes. You’ll find this in Matthew chapter 8. There met him there two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs. Fierce. No one could even go by those tombs. And suddenly they cried out, saying, What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? Wow. This is a fairly wild occasion. These people knew Jesus. They were, of course, demon-possessed men. These were spirits that had hold of them, and they knew Jesus. And they said, Have you come to torment us before the time? Implies that they knew what was ahead of them, and they thought they had more time. Now a good way off from them there was a herd of swine feeding, and the demons begged him, saying, If you cast us out, permit us to go into the herd of swine. He said to them, Go. And when they came out, they went into the herd of swine, and the whole herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea and perished in the water. You know, these spirits do exist. The spirit world does exist. And I gather they really don’t like to be disembodied. Earlier I asked, what is the rest of the world to do when they come up against the absolute embodiment of evil in a man or a nation or a movement? Let me put it to you this way. Do you believe it’s possible to negotiate with the devil and achieve any worthwhile end? Do you think that evil can be appeased? There was a time in Israel’s history when they were the dominant power in the Middle East. It was during the reigns of David and Solomon. The world was in a state of chaos around them, not very different from the mess that we see in the Middle East today. What few people realize is that if the Arabs were able to wipe out the Jews, they would start in on one another. When you look at the incessant killing in Gaza, now that the Jews are not available for killing, they’re killing one another. I suppose because some other person in Gaza is just closer than the Jews. Civil war certainly exists among the Palestinians, and something like religious gang war is common now in Iraq. And while we’re losing a few American soldiers and Marines in Iraq, the Iraqis are killing one another at an appalling rate. It’s that part of the world. The Arab world is just gripped in a fever of killing. We in the West love life. The Islamists love death, and they practice death at every opportunity, and I get the feeling it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference who it is that gets to die. Iran is obsessed with obtaining the greatest killing weapon of all time, nuclear weapons. And think of this. The Saudis have far more to fear from a nuclear Iran than we do in these United States. Right now, we have 18 Ohio-class submarines. Nuclear subs, they are missile subs. In the vernacular, they’re called boomers. Each one of these submarines carries 24 Trident missiles. Each Trident missile carries eight independently targeted warheads. These are ballistic missiles that go into space and come right down, almost straight down on their targets. So there are eight independently staged warheads. That means that the President of the United States could give the word and rain fire on 3,456 Arab cities and military sites in hours. And these are not small suitcase nukes. These are the real megaton deal. Now, you would think that this fact would focus the mind of people like Ahmadinejad, but in fact, some of them would welcome death in such numbers, because death is the objective. We won the Cold War with mutually assured destruction. We won because we were against an enemy who loved life like we do. Now we have an enemy developing… that loves death and cares nothing for nuclear retaliation, and may be motivated by a spirit that hates God. You cannot negotiate with this spirit. It sees negotiation as a sign of weakness to be exploited. We saw this most clearly with Adolf Hitler. We saw it again with Yasser Arafat. Why on earth didn’t the whole world know that that man was a liar? That he was only using the peace process as a tool in his war to destroy Israel. There was no goodwill to be found in Arafat. There is no goodwill to be found in the devil. And without goodwill, negotiations are pointless. There is a sad truth that is hard for us in the modern world to accept. An implacable enemy has to be destroyed.

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Until next time, I’m Ronald Dart. The Born to Win radio program with Ronald L. Dart is sponsored by Christian Educational Ministries and made possible by donations from listeners like you. If you can help, please send your donation to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560 White House, Texas 75791 You may call us at 1-888-BIBLE44 and visit us online at borntowin.net.

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