Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Revelation chapter 22 as we take a short departure from our normal study in the book of Revelation. As we have seen in some of our previous studies, I believe we are living in the days of apostasy or a falling away from the truths of God found in the Word of God. We have seen solid Christian leaders who are negating God’s Word and adopting New Age teachings and Eastern mysticism so that they may draw closer to God. Now keep in mind the reason for all of this is to bring all the religions of the world together in unity and thus, many of these Christian leaders are calling for the Protestant Church to return to her roots, return to the Roman Catholic Church!
How can leaders fall prey to this false gospel of the Roman Catholic Church? First of all I don’t hate Catholics, I love them, I just hate the false doctrine that is coming from the Catholic Church. But here is their strategy to bring us wayward children back to Rome.
I guess the big question now is, “How effective have they been in implementing this strategy among evangelical leaders?” Listen carefully to what some leaders are saying and I think you will be shocked by what some have said, as I was.
Robert Schuller – “It’s time for Protestants to go to the shepherd, the Pope and say, ‘What do we have to do to come home?’”
Paul Crouch, president of TBN – “I’m eradicating the word ‘Protestant’ . . . out of my vocabulary . . . [it’s] time for Catholics and non-Catholics to come together as one in the Spirit and one in the Lord.”
Pat Robertson – “My meeting with his holiness Pope John Paul II was very warm and through a personal letter to the Pontiff I pledged to work for Christian unity between Evangelicals and Catholics.”
Chuck Colson, president of Prison Fellowship and co-author of ECT – “We evangelicals and Catholics have differences, but on the ancient creeds and the core beliefs of Christianity we stand together.”
Jack Van Impe – “Pope John Paul II is a strong defender of the faith.”
Billy Graham – “I have found that my beliefs are essentially the same as those of orthodox Roman Catholics.” Billy Graham praised Pope John Paul II as a preacher of the true gospel and for “his strong Catholic faith,” hailing him as “the greatest moral and spiritual leader of the last 100 years.” “I don’t know anyone else that I could put as high as he is. He’s traveled the whole world . . . spreading the Catholic faith. . . . He and I agree on almost everything.”
Roger Oakland had this to say about another Protestant leader that seems to be missing what the Roman Catholic Gospel is all about. He said, “This spiritual myopia has driven Rick Warren to make alliances with and promote, for example, Roman Catholicism, as his Purpose-Driven team trains them to fill up their churches. This was surprising to us at first, but it seems in recent years Rick Warren has discovered there is very little difference between Roman Catholicism and Evangelicalism:
‘And, you know, growing up as a Protestant boy, I knew nothing about Catholics, but I started watching ETWN, the Catholic channel, and I said, “Well, I’m not as far apart from these guys as I thought I was, you know?”’
“Does Warren even realize that the core reason for the Reformation was the irreconcilable difference in the way that Catholics and Reformers viewed the Gospel itself? Brave people bled and died for the great difference that Warren no longer sees.”
Paul warned us in II Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” You see, healthy doctrine, sound doctrine is going to be removed and replaced with things that people want to hear, a message of unity and love.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am all for unity, but not this kind of unity. Now that may seem harsh, maybe I am going overboard on this, but I don’t think so. Remember what Jesus prayed for in John chapter 17, He was praying for unity before He went to the cross. In John chapter 17, beginning in verse 20 we are told by Jesus, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.” John 17:20-22. Folks, hear me out on this one, without the truth there can be no unity. You see, Jesus also said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
Keep in mind that salvation for the Roman Catholic is Jesus plus works. You must be baptized, go to mass, make your holy communion and on-and-on it goes. Even if you do all that you have no guarantee of going to heaven, you may have to go to Purgatory to atone for your sins there! That is not good news, and folks, that is not the Gospel!
Far different from what the Roman Catholic Church says, the Protestant Reformation’s battle cry was that our salvation was based on grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone! We as sinners can’t atone for our sins! You see, Jesus finished the work on the cross of Calvary for us. Thus, we can’t work for our salvation because Jesus has completed the work!
Now how can all this confusion among Christian leaders and Christians happen today? Folks, it started way back in the Garden of Eden when Satan declared a war on God’s Word. He does this by denying the authority and accuracy of God’s Word, which is bad enough! But he also comes against God’s Word by perverting it, which I believe is the most dangerous of attacks. He changes what God has said so people no longer know the truth.
Before we get to our text this morning, listen to this true story of deception and how deadly it can be. We are told:
Deception has been a part of warfare since the Trojan horse. During WWII, it became high art. Members of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops used special “weapons” like dummy planes, tanks, antiaircraft guns, and amplified recordings that created war sounds to fool the German high command. To enable a combat unit to change positions or even attack when the Germans thought it hadn’t moved at all, the 1800 men of the 23rd impersonated entire divisions.
They would move in at night, change insignias, and inflate their rubber decoys. Meanwhile, the troops they were replacing sneaked away. Such deception was a major factor in the success of the Allies’ D-Day invasion, as the German 15th Army waited elsewhere for an assault that never came.
- Today in the Word, November 10, 1991
With that said, let’s being reading in Revelation chapter 22, beginning in verse 18 and see what the Lord has for us this morning as we look at this very serious topic of ALTERING THE SCRIPTURES!
Now why would Satan bother to attack the Word of God? Listen carefully to what Peter tells us in I Peter 1:22-25, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because ‘All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever.’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”
You see, he attacks the Word of God because it is what brings unbelievers to Jesus, it gives them the new life! God’s Word is living and powerful and is able to transform lives. Not only that but it is the key to victory for believers! So he not only denies its authority and accuracy but he perverts it!
Now how is he doing that? He is perverting God’s Word by making available to people many modern translations and paraphrases of the Bible and most of them pervert the truth. Thus, this morning we are going to be looking at a few of these to show you how dangerous this is. In fact, some of these paraphrases are used to promote the ideas and agendas of a well-known Christian pastor and author, as we will see. Now some of you may own one of these and I am not here to put you down but to warn you of the danger of getting into these perversions that alter the Scriptures. You see, God is very clear, as we read this morning, don’t mess with His Word! And yet it is being done at an alarming rate today with no fear.
Remember what that great theologian Mr. T. said, “I pity the fool!” And I do pity anyone who has the audacity to change God’s Word. And I do understand that some people say, “But it helps me to understand the Scriptures and draw me closer to God.” I am sorry, but not these paraphrases and translations, they are moving farther away from the true and living God! Listen to just three of these and you will see what I mean.
1. TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (TNIV)
The Today’s New International Version has recently been released. Its publisher is Zondervan, which is owned by Harper Collins, a secular company. And by the way, they also publish Anton La Vey’s “The Satanic Bible.” So think about that the next time you buy something at Zondervan’s, what you are supporting!
The TNIV “tweaked” the NIV in a number of areas, but the most significant and controversial changes were to make the TNIV more “gender accurate or neutral.” For example, “man” might be replaced with “person” or “mankind” with “humankind.” The singular “he” could be changed to “they” or “people” if the context indicated a universal application. Likewise, “brothers” could be translated as “brothers and sisters.” The word “man” or “husband” is changed to “other.” The word “father” is changed to “parents” which does away with the God ordained gender role of the man in marriage and the family. We already have a problem with that in our society and now it is in the church! And even the masculine pronouns used for Jesus and God are changed to “the one.” Why did they do this? To be politically correct and to appease the feminists!
Now is this really such a big deal? I mean, won’t more people read the Bible if those things that upset some people are removed? Think about that for a minute. You are going to edit the Bible to make it say what you want, to fit your ideas, your agenda, to make you comfortable and what you are really saying then is that God’s Word really isn’t His Word! We can pick and choose what we like and don’t like. A have it your own way Christianity! God won’t accept that, He loves us too much to let us go down that path.
Of this new translation, Jerry Falwell said, “This new publication is nothing more than acquiescence to feminists who are more concerned with the so-called language of equality than they are with the message of the gospel of Christ.” He is right! Also, Al Mohler, who is the President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary said, “Those who champion a feminist agenda will cheer the announcement of the TNIV, ‘but’ the moment we begin to translate the Bible so that it will be less offensive to one group or another, we insult the very character of the Bible as the eternal, inerrant and authoritative word of God.” How true that is!
In Isaiah 55:7 we are told, “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” You see folks, there is no softening of the Gospel, no making it “seeker friendly.” The Gospel message is not easy to swallow, as Paul says, “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” I Corinthians 1:17-18.
May we not forget that, the Gospel message is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe and the rest, it is foolishness no matter how you water it down! The TNIV is not worth the paper it is printed on!
2. THE MESSAGE
The Message, by NavPress, is a paraphrase of the Bible by Eugene Peterson. The New Testament was published in 1993 and the complete Bible was released in 2002. “Peterson’s purpose in this is to present something new and provocative at every turn, something vivid and unusual, in order to stir up the dull minds of people who have become bored with their familiar Bibles.” Many have praised it as being a wonderful, easy to understand version of the Word of God, but make no mistake about The Message, it isn’t the Word of God but it is the words of Eugene Peterson! Listen to what David Cloud says regarding The Message:
The Message is widely recommended by well-known Christian leaders. In keeping with his love for every new translation and paraphrase to appear since the Revised Standard Version, Billy Graham printed his own edition of “The Message: New Testament.” Warren Wiersbe says, “The Message is the boldest and most provocative rendering of the New Testament I’ve ever read.” Jack Hayford says, “The message is certainly destined to become a devotional classic – not to mention a powerful pastoral tool.” Rick Warren loves The Message and quotes it frequently, five times in the first chapter of The Purpose-Driven Life.
J. I Packer says, “In this crowded world of Bible versions, Eugene Peterson’s blend of accurate scholarship and vivid idiom make this rending both distinctive and distinguished. The Message catches the logical flow, personal energy, and imaginative overtones of the original very well indeed.” CCM artist Michael Card says, “Peterson’s translation transforms the eye into an ear, opening the door of the New Testament wider than perhaps it has ever been opened.” Leighton Ford says, “The Message will help many to transfer God’s eternal truths to their contemporary lives.” Joni Earckson Tada says, “WOW! What a treasure The Message is. I am going to carry it with me. This is a treasure that I will want to use wherever I am.” The Message is also recommended by Amy Grant, Benny Hinn, Bill Hybels, Bill and Gloria Gaither, Chuck Swindoll, Toby of DC Talk, Gary Smalley, Gordon Fee, Gordon MacDonald, Jerry Jenkins, John Maxwell, Joyce Meyer, Kenneth Copeland, Max Lucado, Michael W. Smith, Newsboys, Phil Driscoll, Rebecca St. James, Rod Parsley, Stuart and Jill Briscoe, Tony Campolo, Bono of U2, Vernon Grounds, to name a few. (This information was gathered from the NAVPRess web site.)
- David Cloud
Folks, I don’t know if they didn’t read The Message, but as you are going to see, this is not a good paraphrase and it is downright dangerous. We should not be quoting from it to support a practice in the church, but we should burn this book! You see, the errors in this paraphrase (it is not a translation) are numerous and they are serious. I don’t care who supports it, who says it is great, it is not! The Message cannot be relied upon to tell the truth, and as I have said, it is dangerous and it is misleading. Listen to just a few examples and you will see for yourself the danger of this paraphrase.
In John 1:1 the NKJV tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Message renders it this way, “The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one.” I have no clue what he means here!
In John 3:5 the NKJV tells us, “. . . ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’” The Message renders it this way, “Unless a person submits to this original creation - the ‘wind hovering over the water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life – it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom.”
In John 1:14, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” becomes “The Word become flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” Now many may make the mistake and think that this cavalier treatment of the text is reliable, but if you do you are setting yourself up to be misled in many points. I will give you this powerful example from this religious homosexual website called, Spirit & Flesh and their review of The Message. They said, “What about the passages against homosexuals, you might ask? Well, although we found his translation of Romans 1:26-27 a bit off, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-10 have been liberated from their homosexual bias and are translated in ways that are much more inclusive and truer to their original intent. – We at Spirit & Flesh say, nicely done!”
What do these verses say that Eugene Peterson felt he needed to change, change so that others would not be offended? Listen carefully first of all to I Corinthians 6:9-10 from the NKJV, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” And The Message renders these verses like this, “Don’t you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don’t care about God will not be joining his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom.” Not exactly how God said it, but here he doesn’t offend the homosexual, in fact, it is so watered down it is hard to figure out who is left out of the kingdom!
And in I Timothy 1:9-10 in the NKJV we are told, “knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.” The Message renders it like this, “It’s obvious, isn’t it, that the law code isn’t primarily for people who live responsibly, but for the irresponsible, who defy all authority, riding roughshod over God, life, sex, truth, whatever!” Again, notice what he leaves out, all the sins that Paul listed and he made this very difficult to understand; who is guilty before God?
Listen carefully to what pastor John MacArthur has to say about the Word of God, “Scripture must be treated with reverence and care because it is the self-revelation of God. The psalmist writes, “Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name” (Ps. 138:2). Psalm 119:161 adds, “My heart stands in awe of Thy words,” while in Isaiah 66:2 God declares, “To this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” How many today tremble at the Word of God? Not many as we see people with this cavalier attitude regarding the Word of God, so much so they feel they can change it to make it say what they want!
Now, if Eugene Peterson’s purpose was to get people to read the Word of God more, as he has said, then why does he make the following remarks? Listen carefully to what he is saying here:
The importance of poetry and novels is that the Christian life involves the use of the imagination, after all, we are dealing with the invisible. And, imagination is our training in dealing with the invisible, making connections . . . I don’t want to do away with or denigrate theology or exegesis, but our primary allies in this business are the artists . . . Why do people spend so much time studying the Bible? How much do you need to know? We invest all this time in understanding the text which has a separate life of it’s own and we think we’re being more pious and spiritual when we’re doing it . . . [Christians] should be studying it less, not more. You just need enough to pay attention to God . . . I’m just not at all pleased with all the emphasis on the Bible study as if it’s some kind of special thing that Christians do, and the more they do the better.”
- A Conversation with Eugene Peterson, Mars Hill Review, Fall 1995, Issue No. 3, pp. 73-90
Why in the world would you trust a man to interpret the Scriptures when he doesn’t feel they are that important, experience is the way to go! This man tells us that God’s Word is not important, that we are studying it more than we should and yet the Bible tells us, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17. Who are you going to believe? The Message is not something I would snuggle up with and read, but it would keep me warm because I would burn it! It is not healthy to have and read.
3. THE RENOVARE’ SPIRITUAL FORMATION STUDY
BIBLE
By far the most demonic, the most dangerous Bible that has come out recently is The Renovare’ Spiritual Formation Study Bible also published by Zondervan and Harper Collins. It uses the NRSV, which is the most ecumenical translation available today. One of the people who praises The Message is Richard Foster, who is the founder of the Renovare’ Movement and General Editor of the Renovare’ Spiritual Formation Bible. Foster loves The Message because it supports that movement. And Peterson is the Consulting Editor of the New Testament of the Renovare’ Bible. He reduces much of Paul’s vital treatment of the Gospel in Romans to metaphor, which he says is the “opposite [of] precise use of language” (p. 2045).
Let me give you a few examples to show you how dangerous this “study Bible” is. Dave Hunt tells us:
A number of commendable “Spiritual Disciplines” are mentioned, but some that are not commendable: “Solitude, Confession . . . meditation and silence … secrecy, sacrifice, celebration.” These innocent words have a special meaning for Foster. Explaining his view of “Celebration,” he writes: “We of the New Age can risk going against the tide. Let us abandon . . . see visions and dream dreams . . . The imagination can release a flood of creative ideas [and] be lots of fun.” (Celebration of Discipline, Harper & Row, 1978, p. 170).
In the West, meditation means to think deeply about something, but in the East it means to empty the mind in order to open it to the spirit world, leading to mystical experiences of “God.” Purporting to reject Eastern mysticism, Foster says, “Christian meditation is an attempt to empty the mind in order to fill it.” He seductively suggests: “John was ‘in the Spirit on the Lord’s day’ when he received his apocalyptic vision
(Rv 1:10). Could it be that John was trained in a way of listening and seeing that we have forgotten?. . . Let us have courage to . . . once again learn the ancient . . . art of mediation” (Celebration, pp. 14, 15) The idea that John had a special technique for hearing from God is heresy of the worse sort, but foundational to Renovare’s promotion of “spiritual disciplines” and “spiritual formation”!
Sadly, the Renovare explanatory notes deny the Divine authorship of much of Scripture – even that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Yet it hypocritically declares “We read the Bible literally, from cover to cover . . . [and] in context.” Renovare claims that Genesis 1-11 is neither historic nor scientific, and that the entire book of Genesis is merely a collection of myths:
Genesis began as an oral tradition of narrative stories passed down from generation to generation. . . . These stores [gradually] took on theological meaning. . . . Over time [they] were written down and collected together (Gen 12-50), and a prologue (Gen 1-11) was added. . . . Borrowing from other creation account. . . . stories with parallels to ancient Near Eastern religious narrative and mythology were reshaped with monotheistic intent. . . . These strands of varied materials were gathered and edited into the written text. . . .
What wickedness for Christian “scholars’ to unite with skeptics to declare that Genesis, which is foundational to the Bible, is just an edited compilation of mythology and folk tales! If Genesis is not literally inspired of God, then how can we have confidence in any other part of the Bible? What about Paul’s statement that “all Scriptures is given by inspiration of God” . . .
Of Daniel, the Renovare Bible declares, “We do not know who wrote it or exactly when it was written . . . it was most likely partially written during Antiochus Epiphanies’ persecution of the Jews in Babylon, which began with the desecration of the Temple in 167 B.C.” So it is the work of an imposter pretending to be Daniel 400 years after the fact! [That is interesting to me because Jesus said in Matthew 24:15 that Daniel whom He calls a prophet wrote Daniel, and I think I will believe Jesus over these men!]. To escape admitting that Daniel prophesied centuries in advance the breakup of Alexander’s empire under four generals, the rise of Antiochus Epiphanies, and the pollution of the temple, skeptics had to invent a later date for these prophecies. Renovare echoes this lie, robbing Christians of an essential proof of the validity of the Bible and depriving the unsaved of life-giving truth! . . .
The Renovare “scholars” continually downplay the powerful Old Testament prophecies of Christ (pp. 22, 32, 1375, 1377-8, 1384 etc.). The key prophecy in Isaiah 9:6-7 of the coming Messiah, who is “the mighty God, the everlasting Father,” is said to speak of “human agents” (p. 997).
The notes reduce Isaiah’s prophecies to “tradition” (pp. 982, 983), would have us believe that much of that book was not written by Isaiah (there are “three authors” – pp. 982-1068), and even deny that chapter 53 prophesies Christ’s sacrifice for our sins
(p. 984)! Renovare describes the book of Isaiah as “poetic imagination . . . Isaiah imagines,” etc. the Renovare “scholars” declare, “The prophets of Israel are not to be thought of primarily as . . . predictors of the future . . . they were poets” (p. 1079). Through poetry, Jeremiah attempts “to make sense of the events of his day . . .”
(p. 1080). Blasphemy!
Renovare rejects the powerful prophecies of Daniel, including the proof of 9:24-26 that Jesus is the Christ. All of the major prophecies so crucial in proving the Bible to be the Word of God and Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah are either not commented upon, or are spiritualized away as pertaining to the “faith community” and its “spiritual formation.” There is no recognition of the great prophecies in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc., of Israel being brought back into her own land in the last days, and that she must endure forever (Ezk 35-37, etc.). For example, the powerful prophetic promise from God to bring back the Jews scattered around the world (Jer 31:8-14) is interpreted as a promise to all homeless people (nothing about Israel), and God’s promise that Israel can never be destroyed (31:35-37) is ignored!
This “Study Bible” is one more step on the slippery downward path into deepening apostasy. The Bible is being mocked in the church. Let us stand firmly, vocally, and actively in defense of God’s holy, infallible, inerrant, and sufficient Word!
- Dave Hunt, The Berean Call, August 2005, pp. 3-4
In regards to the book of Revelation, it is reduced to a “pastoral letter meant to sustain the suffering and hearten the weary faithful” (p. 2267). The Antichrist and False Prophet spoken of in Revelation chapter 13 are de-personalized as “dark forces of evil” (p. 2281). The marriage of the Lamb and His bride spoken of in Revelation chapter 19 is not a real event in heaven but “symbolic of the many different celebrations that bring joy and jubilation” into our lives (p. 2287). And the thousand-year reign of Christ spoken of in Revelation chapter 20 is not a real event, and the armies of the world coming against Christ and the saints in Jerusalem after Satan is released merely symbolize “the armies of darkness [which] surround us” (p. 2288). This “Study Bible” is one more step on the slippery downward path into deepening apostasy and the coming together of the one-world religion that that Bible speaks of!
I know, not a very uplifting message but a warning to earnestly contend for the faith that has been entrusted to you. God’s Word is truth and we must not fall prey to these perverted translations and paraphrases of the Bible even if they say they are a “Study Bible!” Be careful and use the discernment that God has given to you, stay away from this garbage that is not of God, but in reality, is nothing more than doctrines of demons!
You see, the Word of God is an absolutely vital part of the Believer’s arsenal – without the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, we cannot be victorious against the enemy - and he knows it! In the Christian classic, Pilgrims Progress, there is a scene in which a terrible allegorical battle is portrayed between Apollyon (Satan) and Christian:
“Then Apollyon seeing his opportunity began to close in on Christian and wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful fall and Christian’s sword flew out of his hand.
Then said Apollyon, ‘I am sure of you now.’ And with that he had almost pressed him to death, so that Christian began to despair of life. But as God would have it, while Apollyon was preparing to take his last blow, thereby making an end of this good man, Christian nimbly reached out his hand and caught his sword saying,
‘Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy, when I fall I shall arise,’ and with that gave him a deadly thrust, which made him back away like someone who had received a mortal wound.
When Christian saw this, he went at him again saying, ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.’
And with that Apollyon spread his dragon wings and sped away, so that Christian saw him no more for a time.”
You see, John Bunyon knew that Spiritual warfare is waged and won by how effectively a Christian holds onto and wields the Sword of the Spirit. If Satan can somehow tamper with the Believer’s sword he can render it ineffective and defeat the people of God in this battle. DON’T LET HIM