I see on “social” media and You Tube there is increasing pressure being put upon Western society for the acceptance of pedophilia. Advocates want the practice and practitioners of it to be thought of as normal, not abnormal. If God Almighty, whose name is Lord Jesus Christ, chooses not to intervene before His earthly return, Western society will accept it. Remarkably though, quite a number of advocates of LGBTI practice and practitioners are horrified at the thought of it being normal, especially those among them claiming to be Christians. Christians or not, the unfavorable responses show that human nature does have a moral standard, self-imposed such as it is.
I’m not surprised at their responses however; though they dismissed the possibility, it was only ever going to be a matter of time before they would be pressured into facing this evil issue. The thought of their very young nieces, nephews and children being legally penetrated and violated frightens and repulses them. But so too does the thought of having to stand up and be counted over this same issue. “Live and let live,” is beginning to sound rather hollow and phony to them now. Their accusations towards us whose moral standard is that of Jesus Christ will come back to bite them for sure. “Sexist” “homophobic” “bigoted” “intolerant” they’re not looking forward to facing a non-stop barrage of that! Judge not,…..and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you Matthew 7:1-2.
Comments from two leading University advocates of pedophilia here in Melbourne: 1). “The current pedophilia debate then is crucial to the political process of the gay movement: pedophiles need our support, and we need to construct the child/adult sex issue on our terms.” 2). “There is research to show that, as well as feeling a sense of power and control in sexual encounters with adults, children can frequently experience sexual pleasure. It is imperative that children’s sexual desires and sense of power and pleasure not only be recognized but also normalized.” Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight Isaiah 5:20-21.
As deceived as the minds of these advocates and practitioners are here in Australia, the minds of many church leaders are deceived more so. They are the people entrusted with the Scriptures of God; they are the ones commissioned of God to declare the whole counsel of God to the church Acts 20:27. But unlike the apostle Paul who did declare it, they shunned their obligation to do so. Instead of naming sin for what it is, instead of teaching the people the realities and practicalities of how to engage in spiritual warfare against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places Ephesians 6:12, they chose/choose the soft options. When they go down that path the devil shows up, not Jesus Christ.
Most church leaders are comfortable in speaking of evil in general terms but they’re most uncomfortable to speak of it in specific terms. For example, if one of their parishioners should come to them privately, informing them they, the parishioner, is demonically possessed, they will probably dismiss it out of hand. The majority I have ministered demonic deliverance to came from churches whose leaders “ran a mile” from such ministry. Sexual demons, violent demons, alcoholic and drug demons, the church is full of them every bit as much as society is full of them. So if church leaders are ill-equipped to minister to their own, what hope does a demonically possessed person outside the church have if he or she should walk into such a place seeking genuine help?
The odd one or two do walk into churches seeking help but they’re advised that psychology or psychiatry are the answers to their problems. That’s not what Jesus advised when people came to Him for help. Why not? Jesus knew such problems were spiritual in nature, not mental. When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon possessed (or demonized). And He cast out the spirits with a word…… Matthew 8:16. Decorum and “niceness” were never part of Jesus’ ministry; He cast those demons out of people in a flash, no matter how loud they yelled, screamed and screeched in protest! And the onlookers were amazed. They would be equally amazed today if church leaders believed the Scriptures and acted upon the commands of Christ. In My name they will cast out demons Mark 16:17.
It was the ministry of demonic deliverance, coupled with divine spiritual, mental and physical healing that caused many people to believe Jesus Christ truly was the Son of God (the human manifestation of God). To witness divine revelation exalting itself over human theology, to witness divine discernment exalting itself over human psychology and psychiatry, to witness supernatural power and authority exalting itself over human eloquence and reasoning, to witness supernatural direction exalting itself over man-centered religious programs – the people had only heard of such from the historical days of Moses and the prophets, long since dead. Now to see it all happening before their eyes, they were utterly gob-smacked! Sad it is indeed, that today’s Christianity for a large part, is a bad facsimile of the real deal.
Am I saying then that if authentic Christianity was demonstrated in churches that this would solve the world’s evils in their entirety? No. That won’t happen until the earthly return of Christ. But it would stem the tide of these evils. That’s what happened in the towns and cities where the gospel of Christ was preached in the days of the apostles. The Greek city of Corinth for example, was a city noted for everything depraved, decadent and debauched. The apostle Paul went in there preaching Christ and fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, drunkards, revilers and extortioners galore turned to Christ and were miraculously transformed by Him. Later, they in turn took the same gospel to others in and beyond, and they too experienced the same miraculous transformation.
The city of Ephesus was a similar success story. The pagan culture of Ephesus was filled with immorality and evil. Ceremonial prostitution was an Ephesus trademark. It was known as a city of refuge where murderers, thieves and perverts of all kinds could live freely. The tide of evil was stemmed there too by Paul preaching Christ and His gospel message. Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name, the disciples of Jesus said to Him during His earthly ministry, many years prior to Paul coming on the scene. No doubt Paul was fully aware of the Lord’s response though. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you Luke 10:17-19. Under the Holy Spirit’s anointing Paul exercised that authority mightily.
The same gospel of Christ and the same spiritual authority brings the same results today. But all too often now it’s the third-world nations witnessing this reality, not the Western nations. The most effective church leaders in the third world refuse to become deceived by sitting around arguing and debating whether this or that doctrine is correct or not correct; they simply take hold of the plain-sense meanings of the Scriptures, they proclaim them in their simplicity and the Spirit of God confirms their proclamations. The results? The same as that of the Corinthian and the Ephesian churches of old! The demonic spirits of evil get tossed from the people and the Holy Spirit of God takes up residence. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, the spirit of pedophilia shudders!
As Christians, it is presumptuous of us to expect Jesus Christ to intervene against these evils when we don’t meet the conditions He has set. The conditions? Pray. Ask. Seek. Knock. Believe. Trust. Obey. Exercise spiritual warfare in Jesus’ name. Come against the spirit of pedophilia in Jesus’ name and subject it to the Holy Spirit of God. If a small group of people did that in every church over a sustained period of time, Christ would act, but He’s not at all obligated to act otherwise. Act, is what the Corinthians and the Ephesians did. Remember Jesus’ half-brother, James. He said, ……you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss,…… James 4:2-3. In other words, the people he was referring to were me-centered, not Christ-centered.
Stemming the tide of evil is the task of Christ-centered Christians. Evil is spiritual in nature, not mental. Church leaders who have been deceived into believing otherwise will always be part of the problem, never the solution. God can’t use them. What to do then? Alone or with others, tell the Lord Jesus that in His name you are going to specifically target the demonic spirit of pedophilia. It resides within the educated and the uneducated; the political and the non-political; the religious and the non-religious; the law-makers and the law-breakers. Ask the Lord to expose it that they would repent of it. If they refuse to do so, ask that they would be removed off the earth. Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might…… Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore…… Ephesians 6:10-18.