Social etiquette tells us that it is not very nice to call someone or something satanic. The term “satanic” describes someone or something who belongs to Satan, or shares in his characteristics.
But our Lord Jesus was not shy in making this shocking statement and calling certain people satanic. In His conversation with the Pharisees and scribes of His day, Jesus said to them:
John 8:44 “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!”
Jesus had to be harsh with these hyper-religious people of His day because they were representing Satan’s interests and opposing Jesus’s work of Redemption. In fact, it was the truth which caused them to not believe!
This is a counterintuitive proposition, but on further analysis it proves the point that Jesus was making. His opponents did not believe Jesus because He told them the truth, which consequently points to the fact that they belonged to the father of lies.
The same phenomenon is happening today with respect to the truth.
While the Holy Spirit is carrying out His work of Redemption, Satan is also carrying out his work of blinding people with respect to truth.
Not only do we have atheism, agnosticism, and other theisms opposing the Holy Spirit, we now have so-called Christian churches which no longer believe the Bible. The Evangelical Lutheran Churches of America (4 million members) have just ordained their first openly gay bishop overseer covering a large segment of their church. The Presbyterian Church USA (1.9 million members) has been accepting openly gay pastors for at least a couple of years. These are acts of rebellion toward God.
It is a difficult statement to make, but certain members of the apostatic church today are exhibiting satanic behavior, that is they are representing Satan’s interests just like the religious leaders of Jesus’s time.
Delight in Truth is pointing out these developments because the authentic Church, the true Body of Christ across the world needs to realize the rapid decline in faith within the Christian establishment. Jesus said that these events must occur, and He even wondered if there will be faith on Earth when He returns.
Because of this, the Church must be on guard and remain grounded in biblical truth.