Germany maintains three intelligence services. The BND (Federal Intelligence Service) is tasked with gathering information about foreign countries that is of importance to the Federal Republic in terms of foreign and security policy. The other two intelligence services, in particular the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, are tasked with gathering information within Germany that is directed against the free democratic basic order. That sounds positive. But the secret services also work with lies and deceit and do not even shy away from acts of violence if it serves their purposes. Here are two examples from the Second World War.

British intelligence was able to fool German headquarters with a deception. Very early on 30 April 1943, a British submarine glided into the port of Huelva on the south-west coast of Spain. (This place lies between Portugal and Gibraltar, i.e. still on the Atlantic side). The British had dressed a man who had died of pneumonia a few days earlier in the uniform of a major in the British navy and given him the identity papers and other forged documents of a William Martin, e.g. receipts, a reminder from his bank for overdrawing his account and a sealed briefcase containing various letters from the Allied headquarters to the commander in North Africa. The body was washed up on the beach and found there by a Spanish fisherman who immediately reported the find.

The letters indicated that the Allies would land in Greece, not Sicily. A German intelligence officer made copies of everything found on the body, including the forged orders. When German headquarters carefully scrutinised these documents, everyone was convinced that the Allies intended to land in Greece. Hitler sent several divisions to Greece and warships to support them, which were withdrawn from the areas around Sicily. This allowed the Allies to land in Sicily with little resistance and minimal loss of life. Secret services also have the task of deceiving the enemy. (According to V. W. Foster, Naturally healthy, (TopLifeCentre 1990) p. 13)

During the Second World War, the Americans were able to eliminate the commander-in-chief of the Japanese navy, Admiral Yamamoto. The Japanese admiral had planned to visit the Japanese bases on the Solomon Islands a few days earlier, as the battles there were entering a decisive phase. The outcome of the war could depend on this. Yamamoto prepared his tour thoroughly and carefully. A detailed itinerary was coded and sent by radio to every Japanese position so that the admiral could receive the necessary support everywhere. This was the right and sensible thing to do, and yet it led to his death. The Americans had painstakingly rebuilt the Japanese code apparatus and deciphered the code. The Japanese didn't know that yet. When Yamamoto's secret information was sent out, the American secret service listened in. As a result, they knew about the journey in detail. A few days later, on a clear April morning in 1943, the Americans sent a whole squadron of aircraft to meet Yamamoto's squadron. The opposing aircraft met near the island of Bougainville. The Japanese had no chance against the superior forces, their planes were shot down and the commander-in-chief of the Japanese navy was dead. The enemy had decoded his marching orders. In war, the intelligence services want to know everything about the strategic and tactical plans of the opposing side. If they also succeed in eliminating senior officers, better. (See L. R. Walton, Decision at the Jordan River, Advent-Verlag Switzerland, p.10)

We too are in the middle of a global war. We call it „the great battle between light and darkness“. Does the Bible also mention secret services?

In 2 Kings 6:8-10 it is described how the Arameans set ambushes for the Israelites several times in order to attack them, but the Israelites were able to avoid the danger each time.

Verse 11.12: „Then the heart of the king of Aram was filled with displeasure at this, and he called his princes and said to them: Will you not tell me which of us is with the king of Israel? Then one of his princes said, "Not so, my lord and king, but Elisha, the prophet of Israel, tells the king of Israel everything, even what you say in the chamber where your camp is.“

Yes, the Aramaic colonel knew: There was a prophet in the land of Israel. Elisha was able to warn his king of the ambushes. God doesn't need a secret service. He knows everything. And he can inform his children of impending dangers through the gift of prophecy.

Rev 12,17 shows us an extraordinarily important thought. ELB

„And the dragon was angry with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her descendants who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.“

Satan fights the End-time community, which keeps the commandments of God and has the gift of prophecy in its midst, but without declaration of war. Why? Because it works through seduction.

A few verses further on in Revelation 19:10 we learn what the testimony of Jesus is: the spirit of prophecy, the actual prophecy.

The text in Revelation 12 also tells us against whom the dragon's particular attack is directed. The image of a pure, faithful woman represents the church of God. The dragon's attack is directed „against the others of their gender“.

The rest are always the last. The dragon's attack is therefore directed against the church of God in the last days. But God has given this church an important clue. It is written in 2 Chronicles 20:20 „believe in the Lord your God, so you will be safe, and believes his prophets, so you will succeed.“

Our Lord tells us how we can be safe and be successful. To do this, we must trust him and his prophets. The general will of God for all people is written down in the Word of God, and we must heed this. Why does God also expect us to believe his prophets?

Because special situations and developments occur at certain times, God wants to warn his children of current dangers in their situation. Amos 3:7 states: „The Lord God does nothing, but reveals his counsel to the prophets, his servants.“

So our great God does not inform all church members directly, but uses his prophets as messengers to pass on his instructions to the church.

Are we living in a special situation? Yes, that is clear:

1. The major change in human thinking. We don't need to study the history of the last 200 years. Each of us has experienced for ourselves how human thinking has changed. In the last 50-70 years, faith in God has been lost and, as a result, standards and many values have deteriorated, causing families to break up and society to disintegrate. And whether „artificial intelligence“ and the mass use of „social media“ can improve this is highly doubtful.
2. Development of diseases due to a wrong lifestyle.
3. The return of Jesus has come closer today than in past centuries. Climate change, famines, wars, pandemics and doomsday scenarios are on the increase. But the global proclamation of the gospel is also making great progress!

That is why God, through a prophet, has supplemented and explained the predictions of the Bible with current details, because he wants us to

1. proclaim the ‚eternal gospel‘. So that people can experience his love and the offer of salvation.
2. cope better with the drastically changed situations and stay healthy.
3. better recognise the particular dangers in the final phase of the Great War.

God reveals the strategy of the dragon in the end times through the word of the prophet.

Through the Bible-believing Christian Ellen G. White, God has shown us some concrete details about Satan's strategy:

 Influencing preachers

„I [says the dragon] will create popular, well-loved Influencing preachers, turn the attention of their listeners away from the commandments of God. What Scripture describes as a perfect law of freedom is to be presented as a yoke, as an oppressive constraint. ... People willingly accept their preacher's interpretation of Scripture and do not examine it for themselves. By working through the preachers, I can direct the people as I wish.“ (Testimonies to Ministers, 472)

Satan wants to destroy the church through Deception and seduction from the inside. He counsels his agents, the angels who have fallen away from God:

„Before we take these extreme measures, we must first use all our wisdom and skill to find the true Sabbath-keepers. to deceive and seduce. We can separate many from Christ through worldliness, lust and pride. They lull themselves into a sense of security because they believe the truth; but the satisfaction of their appetites or base passions weakens their judgement and destroys their discernment, so that they fall.“ (TM 473)

Seduction by carnal Christians

„Through those who maintain the pious form, but know no power in their Christianity, we can win many who would otherwise harm us. [Who are the people who do not know the power of God? Are they not the carnal Christians? ...] Those who love pleasure more than God will be our most effective helpers. (TM 473 )

Talented and intelligent people as bait

„The gifted and intelligent among them serve as bait for us, who in turn lure others into our traps. Many will respect their influence because they profess the same faith. In this way we can persuade them to take the demands of Christ less seriously than they previously believed. By adapting to the world,
they think, they could exert greater influence on people in the world. So they will separate themselves from Christ; then they will no longer have the strength to resist our power. In the course of time, they will even mock their former zeal and devotion.“ (TM 112)

False teachings mixed with truth

„We must be present at every one of their meetings ... I will bring in people who hold to false teachings that contain just enough truth to mislead people. I will also make sure that unbelievers are present who express doubts about the warning messages for the church. If people read and believed these warnings, we would have little chance of success. But if we can distract them from these warnings, they will never know how strong and cunning we are. And one day we will finally have them in our ranks“ (TM 474, 475)

Deception about the gift of prophecy

„As a final deception, Satan will try to rob the testimony of the Holy Spirit [meaning the gift of prophecy] of its effect. ... A hatred will be kindled against the testimonies* that is truly satanic. Satan is working to shake the confidence of the churches in the testimonies. He has a specific reason: if the warnings and rebukes of the Holy Spirit were heeded, Satan would not be able to seduce souls so easily and ensnare them with his web of lies.“ (1SM, 48) (Testimonies = concrete letters to various church members, with which God wanted to correct and warn through Ellen G. White. They were summarised thematically in several books and published without mentioning names).

So:

The dragon works in a similar way to the secret services. It is cunning and sly and tries to trick us. It also does everything it can to eliminate loyal guards. He makes sure that people do not read and believe for themselves, but that they simply accept what is said. He works especially through people who do not put into practice what they have recognised through God's power and live as followers of Jesus. Satan is determined to discredit the gift of prophecy, as God has warned us through these specific prophecies and wants to continue to guide us.

The knowledge that Satan is working against the preachers should not lead us to mistrust them. We should readily accept the preaching and test it according to the Word of God to see if it is true.

In Acts 17:11 we have a good example. God does not want us to believe people, but his word.

It should also lead us to earnest intercession for our leaders and preachers.

Ephesians 6:12: „We do not have to fight against flesh and blood, but against the mighty and powerful, namely against the rulers of the world who reign in darkness, against the evil spirits under heaven.“

How can we protect ourselves?

Through the divine armour (Ephesians 6:10-20 and 1 John 5:18).

Why is it necessary for us to alert each other to certain dangers and pray for our leaders? Revelation 12:17 says that Satan develops great wrath against the „remnant“.

2 Chronicles 20:20: „Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be safe, and believe his prophets, and you will prosper.“

We trust God by believing in what he shows and reveals through his messengers, the prophets. For he has promised: „The Lord God does nothing, he reveals his counsel to the prophets, his servants.“

Summary: God gave an update. This became necessary because

1. people's thinking and lives have changed dramatically over the last 200 years as a result of industrialisation, digitalisation and the mass media,
2. The fact that the return of Jesus is drawing ever closer is made clear by various symptoms, e.g. environmental disasters, hunger, epidemics, destruction scenarios caused by nuclear wars, but also by worldwide missionary endeavours,
3. the church should be prepared for the proclamation of the last warning message so that all people can experience God's love and the offer of salvation in a wise way,
4. community members need to know how they can stay healthy under the greatly changed circumstances,
5. we need to see through Satan's strategies and his dangerous ploys so that we are better protected in the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan.

Special goals that Satan pursues with his agents:

He wants

1. a) undermine faith in the Bible and the prophetic messages (also e.g. through Ellen G. White). For in these writings he is exposed.
2. b) deceive the leaders of God's work and divert them from their faithfulness.
3. c) infiltrate unconverted, half-converted and egoistic „Christians“ into the church, whether they think very conservatively or rather liberally.
4. d) lead to disregard for the Holy Spirit by disregarding the word of the prophet: „Anyone who rejects the words of the prophet is blocking the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The result ... loss of relationship with God and opening up to negative influences.“^[1]

Protective measures:

1. a) Read and study the Bible daily and put what you have learnt into practice.
2. b) Take seriously the additional information that God has revealed through the gift of prophecy (e.g. Ellen G. White).
3. c) Pray especially for our leaders.
4. d) Contribute to the strengthening and revitalisation of the church through daily devotion and constant contact with Jesus through the Holy Spirit, by cultivating loving friendships with our fellow brothers and sisters and by caring for acquaintances and neighbours with empathy and intelligence, so that they will have a desire for Jesus.

^[1] Study guide standard edition, Philip G. Samaan, 11 October 1989, comment on question 8

When I was preaching about life in the Holy Spirit and passing on relevant literature, I noticed the following:

Many - often entire congregations - receive this message with great desire. They hear the message with wonder and joy. Others seem to have a Laodicean view, assuming they have recognised the scope of the issue. Their attitude gives the impression: „No need.“ And still others think that they don't have time to deal with it.

This shows that behind our core problem - lack of the Holy Spirit - there is another serious problem: the Bible calls it „blindness“.

God's Word says in 2 Corinthians 4:3,4: „Is our gospel now concealed, so it is for them concealed, those who are lost, the unbelievers to whom the god of this world has blinded the mind, that they do not see the bright light of the gospel ...“

To blind can mean: ‚to obscure, to take away the view‘ it can also mean ‚to bewitch‘. This means that the correct view is obscured and one is impressed or distracted by a false view and believes it to be correct.

Does Satan only succeed in depriving unbelievers of their vision or conveying a false vision? Doesn't he also have a good chance with carnal Christians? Does he perhaps even try his luck with the elect? (Matthew 24:24b) Can the evil one really „blind“ us too?

E.G. White says: „Sin no longer seems repulsive to you because you are blinded by Satan.“ (Sch II, 64)

Could such „blindness“ have become a general trend among us? Do not the Laodicean Christians also count as unbelievers, who in reality do not have a personal relationship with Jesus?

If they do not change their attitude and include Jesus in their personal thinking, planning, desires and actions, then they will be lost Revelation 3:16, 20.

Jesus describes the ‚no need‘ attitude in Revelation 3:17 like this: „You say: I am rich and have plenty and need nothing! And do not realise that you are wretched and miserable, poor, blind and naked.“

Jesus‚ advice on the ‘no need' attitude‘ follows in Revelation 3:18: „I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined with fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and eyesalve, to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.“

The Bible understands gold to mean saving faith (1 Peter 1:7), a living trust in God that becomes active through love. By white garments, it means the perfect righteousness/righteousness of Christ, which is given to the believer through forgiveness/reconciliation with God (Revelation 6:11; 7:9; 19:8; Romans 8:4). What do we need the eye salve for? Clearly, it is the Holy Spirit, because only He can heal the wrong vision and remove the „veil of cataracts“ from the eyes.

Jesus says in Revelation 3:20: „Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” Jesus realises that the believers in Laodicea have not really let him into their „heart“ (= thinking, feeling, wanting, acting). He stands outside „at the door“.

This shows the crucial problem: He was not accepted into life as God, Creator, Saviour and Lord (John 1:12.13). Have you accepted him as Lord of your life? Will you joyfully submit to his loving guidance in all things?

Our faith, our trust in God, is the prerequisite for our full devotion to Christ. The righteousness of Jesus is given to those in whose hearts HE dwells - through the Holy Spirit. And this also heals the wrong view.

This is a fundamental and subsequently daily necessary process (Luke 9:23; 2 Corinthians 4:16).

No one should worry about the consequences of full surrender and life with Christ in the Holy Spirit. This is the attractive faith, the best faith there is. Once you have found it, you will never want to go back. Please let me advise you: take the time and concern yourself with life in close contact with the Holy Spirit, „life in the Spirit“.

What can we do for those who have not yet addressed this concern? Dennis Smith says:^[2] So we have to ask ourselves how this veil can be lifted from the minds and attitudes of the lost. There is only one way: intercessory prayer.

It can remove the veil of spiritual blindness from unbelievers. Their false ideas and thoughts are like strongholds that Satan has erected in their minds.

But the wonderful news is that God has empowered his followers to tear down Satan's strongholds and take all thinking captive to obedience to Christ‘ (according to 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5).“

One more word about „no time to deal with it.“ Prioritise your quiet time in the morning over everything else. „Put first things first“ and you will realise that you have not lost any time, but on the contrary have gained time (Matthew 6:33)!

The Laodicea attitude is fatal if it is not changed.

^[2] In more detail in „40 days - Devotions and prayers in preparation for the return of Jesus“, Dennis Smith, (TopLife 2012) Day 23, page 107