Before you read this article, please understand that I wept as I watched the horror unfold in Paris. I am praying for all who lost family members. I am also praying for those who are in hospitals, that they will recover. This article is written in hopes that the readers of it will understand that EVIL has gripped our world. God is grieved and is waiting for people to turn to Him to be saved. Time is short.
” Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2: 5-12)
I want to take you back to a time when things in this world were vastly different than they are today. It was certainly not a perfect time – it is never perfect on this earth because of sin. But it was a time when people’s hearts were not as hardened. Many people attended church. We know that “attending” church does not mean that those people were all born again, but at least there was an effort to draw closer to God. Those who delved into witchcraft were stigmatized, and avoided by most of society.
But things have changed so rapidly. Those of us who love the Lord Jesus are stigmatized as being extreme – not normal, and a detriment to society. We are being watched by our own government and labeled as extremists and anti-government radicals.
What has become the norm? Sadly, Hollywood has set the standard of normalcy, and it is appalling. It is now culturally acceptable to outwardly express love for the devil. We see so many celebrities making the sign of the horns of the devil with their hands. Impressional young people are drawn into this – I think that many of them don’t actually realize what they are doing, yet they mimic what they see. Good has become evil, and evil good.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12).
PARIS
The world was shocked at the horror of that night in Paris, when almost 100 young people were gunned down by Islamic terrorists in the Bataclan Concert Hall in Paris. The Eagles of Death Metal were performing that night.
The song which had begun right when the terrorists began their merciless killing spree was called “Kiss the Devil” – one of the crowd’s favorite songs by the rock band. Here are the lyrics:
Who’ll love the Devil?
Who’ll sing his song?
Who will love the Devil and his song?
I’ll love the Devil
I’ll sing his song
I will love the Devil and his song
Who’ll love the Devil?
Who’ll kiss his tongue?
Who will kiss the Devil on his tongue?
I’ll love the Devil
I’ll kiss his tongue
I will kiss the Devil on his tongue
Who’ll love the Devil?
Who’ll sing his song?
I will love the Devil and his song
Here is a picture of the crowd of adoring fans, just minutes before most lay dead on the concert hall floor:
Crowd at Bataclan
Notice that many of the young people were proudly holding up the sign of the devil with their hands. They danced with the devil that night – laughing and showing their solidarity with EVIL. And then PURE evil entered the hall, and shot them one by one.
There were most likely very few, if any, Christians in the Bataclan that night. So, dancing with the devil brought these young people face to face with Satan.
STRONG DELUSION
“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 10-12).
The young people who perished that night in Paris believed not the truth. They did not receive the love of the truth, sent by God, that they might be saved. So God sent them Strong Delusion so that they would believe the lie of Satan. And so they did. And so they died – so horrifically. I am sure that Jesus wept over these lost ones.
God wants NONE to perish. He sent his precious Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the sin debt of all who dwell on the earth. God wants people to be reconciled to Him, and the death and resurrection of Jesus made that possible. But the only thing He asks is that we repent and believe. Those who perished in the concert hall in Paris will never get that chance. The devil is pleased – SO pleased.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)
HOW TO BE SAVED
Turn to Jesus. Do it now. No one is promised another day, or another minute.
MARANATHA