It is important to know that Satan has a church, and he has prophets. A church can be more than a mere gathering of some people. A church can be a physical building in a geographical location. It can also mean association of people, a community, a fraternity, an institution. In another situations, a church may be a culture. The actual meaning of church is Ecclesia. It means the called out ones. These are those who were called out of darkness into light. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9). However, in the case of the church of Satan, they are the left behind ones, the not sent ones, the uncalled ones, and those who refused to heed the call.
The church of Satan.
"I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars--I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you." (Revelation 3:9).
"I know your afflictions and your poverty--yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan."(Revelation 2:9).
If Satan has a church, that means that he must have prophets who prophesy in his church. This means that there must be people who attend that church. Then there must be doctrines (teachings) which will be taught in that church. It means that Satan's church will have a mission statement. It means that the church will want to spread out worldwide. The fact that Satan has several demons in the earth means that his church must be led by his demons. That means that for Satan's church to grow, his church must have church growth mechanisms. As the church grow, there must be plan for parishes , dioceses, branches to spread out.
As the church spreads out, there will be politics concerning who takes which district of the church and who does not. There will be arguments and quarreling over the positions in that church. The headquarter of church of Satan will have people who wants Satan to notice them that they are regular attendants and participants in all the programs.
The people who attends Satan's church will not love to read the Bible. They will be regular late comers who comes in for the after-church associations instead of the sermon. At the church of Satan, there will be show offs. The members will prefer ceremonies and regular celebrations. There will be emphasis on what you have materially than who you are in God. Those who attend the church of Satan will prefer their own kind of sermons. They will have itching ear to the word of Truth.The congregation of Satan will be those who love to hear what seems comfortable sermons. They will not want to be reprove. As a result, when Satan's prophets prophesy in his churches, they will prophesy what makes the people happy. They would not want to rebuke the congregation.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," (2 Timothy 3:16).
Needless to add, at the church of Satan, the congregation will be blind to the word of Truth.
There will be no dividing of the word of Truth. Instead of thorough indept teaching of the scriptures, there will be junk messages. Mere enticing talks will be delivered on regular basis! In the church of Satan, there will be more empty stories about the personal achievements of the speakers much more than what Christ achieved on the cross! Why because the prophets who prophesy in the church of Satan will not want the masses to leave the church. So, the prophets of Satan will be afraid of teaching raw scripture in an undiluted form!
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15).
The major attributes of the church of Satan
There are two basic attributes of the church of Satan. These are: envy and self ambition.
"For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." (James 3:16).
All manners of evil practice such as witchcraft, will be in the church of Satan. All manners of iniquity such as pride, self-promotion, boasting, false prophesy, will be found in the church of Satan. Disorderliness will be seen in the church of Satan.
"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." (Romans 6:13).
The Prophets of Satan.
"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect--if that were possible." (Mark 13:22).
Satan has prophets! The prophets of Satan prophesy falsehood, they perform signs and wonders! It is important to know that miracles even happen in the church of Satan too! That is why it is important to know how to distinguish the prophets of Satan from the prophets of God.
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1).
"The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." (Revelation 12:9).
What the prophets of Satan do is that they mimic Satan their master. They do and say all what they watch Satan do. Since, Satan deceive and lead people astray; his prophets also do the same thing. Just like Satan, they keep people from the knowledge of truth. They mislead people and keep them ignorant. They prophesy doom in his churches. The reason is because the Truth is what will set the people free. So, the prophets of Satan will do everything to keep the people from the truth.
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32).
The prophets of Satan will not encourage their audience to read books. It is because the truth that the readers will discover from reading will expose the evil works of Satan and his host.
One of the attributes of those who attend the church of Satan is that they do not go home to study their Bible for themselves. They just take whatsoever was taught by their false prophets, hook line and sinker.
"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11).
Who is a prophet?
"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers," (Ephesians 4:11).
"This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him." (Matthew 3:3).
It is important to note that what prophet Isaiah prophesided came to pass. Men and women saw the evidence of Isaiah's prophesy. That was why we read: This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah. That prophecy came to pass!
How to distinguish false prophets from prophets of God.
What makes us identify the prophet of God is that whatever they prophesy comes to pass.
That is why we were told to judge all prophecies so that we can know which prophecy is from God.
"Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it."(1 Thessalonians 5).
"a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him."(Mark 1:3).
"...So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” “Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?” (1 Kings 22:6-7).
In the days of Micaiah son of Imlah, we saw how prophets of God operated. His story taught us that it is possible to be a minority and still be accurate in terms of prophetic. Majority does not matter in the school of the prophets! Those who prophesied for the King of Israel concerning the war were false prophets. There was only one prophet who stood out of the crowd. It means that one percent might mean a lot to God. Actually in the school of prophets of God; the principle of one percent still rules till date! The voice of the people is not the voice of God! And what differentiates the prophets of God from the prophets of Satan is that they are never afraid, never intimidated by majority. The true prophets of God can stand alone! They may not be popular. They may not have great following. Yet they will stand and declare God's word.
They may not have crowd as their congregation. Yet, they will prophesy without fear. Prophets of God understand time and seasons. They move base on timing. "men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do--200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command" (1 Chronicles 12:32). They do not appear everywhere. They do not wait for men's approval. They do not hang out excessively with people; because they do not have group herding mentality. They do not depend on the accolades of men. They do not wait for men's approval before moving. They understand that the accolades of men usually wane off. They understand that men are driven by their unstable emotions.
Another way to distinguish a prophet sent from God from the one sent by Satan; is whether or not their prophesies come to pass. Another way is by examining the central core of their prophesy. If the prophecy is not pointing to God, that prophet is not from God. If the prophecy calls for repentance, and make the people turn towards God; then that prophecy is from God. If the prophecy brings fear instead of faith, it is not from God. The prophecy must bring light. The prophecy must remove doubts. "For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6).
"Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet, I the LORD will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry. I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’ “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!“‘When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me, I the LORD will answer him myself. I will set my face against that man and make him an example and a byword. I will cut him off from my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.“‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the LORD have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.”( Ezekiel 14:1-11).
We are told in the scripture above that what is in the minds of the people matter to the kind of prophecy they receive from the prophet. Is the love of God in the hearts of the people before they came to the prophet or not. The prophecy that points man or elevate idols or the achievements of man, is not from God.
"If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you". (Deuteronomy 13:1-5).
