Christian Media

Communiqué

THE PERDITION ENGINE

Part VIII

 

The figure of the Perdition Engine is a way of expressing how the principalities and powers of Death and Hell interact, as they strive to kill (or diminish) the victorious Life offered by God in Jesus Christ. However, God is greater than these forces (I John 4:4), and He has already won the Spiritual war with the Angelic Rebel Coalition (ARC):

“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Revelation 1:18).

As God has told us through the Scriptures that the evil that has invaded the earth will not remain hidden (Obadiah 1:6), His victory over “the rulers of the “darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12), is evident for all to see.

“Having spoiled principalities and powers [Christ] made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:5).

In previous chapters, we’ve shown that the Spirit of “Hell” deceives them that dwell on the earth, so that they are comfortable with their limited Flesh and Blood existence, and do not avail themselves of the Spiritual gift of eternal Life.

“And he [the allegorical vehicle filled with Hell] deceiveth them that dwell on the earth….and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to [embrace Death]” (Revelation 14, 12).

As Spiritual powers are actually the substance of the creation, their presence – and evidence of their influence -- is frequently deciphered by their shadow in the physical world. For instance, the Apostle Paul, writing to the Greek Christian Gentiles at Colosse, was consistently challenged by the leaven (Matthew 16:6) of Old Covenant based teachings which the Spirit of Hell tried to implant within the body of Christ.

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days; Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of [the substance in] Christ” (Colossians 2:17). 

The typical tactic of the enemy is to attempt to mingle with the Spirit of God, within the human vessel, which then leavens the power of God in the Life of the earthly person. In the LORD’s effort to rescue fallen men and women from the eternal death Adam and Eve unleashed, God the Father dispatches the Holy Spirit, who draws men to Christ.

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself” (John 16:13).

The Spirit of Hell seeks to mingle with the Holy Spirit, within the confines of the earthly vessel, to “cause” people (Revelation 13:12) – albeit inadvertently -- to embrace Antichrist. When a person does not let the Holy Spirit lead them to the redemption of Christ, they are embracing Death through their refusal to inaugurate Spiritual regeneration in Christ.

In this regard, it’s useful to remember the default position of every person is death. In other words, the person who has not been born again in Christ is already dead Spiritually; and they are facing what Revelation reveals is “the second death” (Revelation 2:11).

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power” (Revelation 20:6).

This explains the context of the statement Jesus made to one of those that was following him. One of his converts said he would follow Jesus “withersoever thou goest” (Luke 9:57), but another one said he had to take care of some personal business first.

“He said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury the dead” (Luke 9:59, 60).

This classic tactic of the Spirit of Hell, when the Holy Spirit has convicted the earthly vessel of their sinful nature (and how they’ve recognized the time has come to make a decision to turn to the Son of God for salvation), is to stall for time, so that the urging of the Holy Spirit fades in intensity, in order to give their Flesh and Blood nature time to resurge, and reconsider the pending decision to become a follower of JESUS CHRIST.

In our previous installments of The Perdition Engine, we’ve shown how Death and Hell are supernatural entities, by their consistent attributes which are manifested in historical vessels across the age. In short, the evil Spirits of Death and Hell continued long after their earthly hosts Ahab and Jezebel had passed on to their eternal recompense. Death and Hell are subsequently seen in a prominent sequence of events in later “vessels of wrath” Herod and Herodias.

“What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?” (Romans 9:22).

In both examples, the truth of their tales is revealed in Scripture, by “vessels of mercy” (Romans 9:23) empowered by the “third part” (Zechariah 13:9), which is the Life of God.

In both cases, the patterns of behavior indicates their presence, as Hell (nested in Jezebel and Herodias) enticed Death to come forth in their earthly counterparts Ahab and Herod. We’ve shown one of the consistent characteristics of Death is a reluctance to kill the vessel of Life, in spite of Hell’s urging. Ahab declined to use his power of Death on Naboth, which brought Jezebel (Hell) to the point of choreographing the circumstances which would compel the authority of Death in Ahab to execute Naboth.

“[Jezebel said] Let thine heart be merry; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite” (I Kings 21:7)

Although there are actually many instances where we can see the Perdition Engine at work in human vessels, the LORD provided these examples as a warning for what was to come in the incredible cycle of Jesus, the Jews, and the Gentiles. Jesus even spelled it out in the Parable of the Vineyard, and the Prophetic Parallels to the characters in the story of Ahab and Jezebel are absolutely stunning.

He told the story wherein “a certain man” had a vineyard, and when the time came for the harvest (when he would receive his just dues from the output of the vineyard), the managers of the vineyard (“husbandmen” in the text) were corrupt, and mistreated the owner’s servants

“And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty” (Luke 20:10).

Notice the concept of property is embedded in this story, so the Communist credo that seeks to shift ownership to the collective workers (thereby giving the community the ownership) is sharply contrary to the Scriptural alignment. Indeed, the Communist Manifesto codifies all sorts of evil tactics as acceptable in the effort to transform the world into the wicked tyranny that shifts the role of God to the people. 

In any event, in a thinly veiled portrait of how the LORD sent prophets to declare the course of action of Israel was unacceptable to him, the “certain man” sent more servants, who were treated even worse.

“And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another” (Matthew 21:35)

After a third effort with similar results, the vineyard owner sends his son.

“But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance” (Matthew 21:38).

The “inheritance” was precisely the pivotal point in Naboth’s refusal to transfer the ownership of the vineyard to Ahab. Even though Ahab’s offer to pay Naboth for his vineyard seemed generous, Naboth was the rightful heir of the vineyard. This is Prophetically Paralleled by Satan’s “offer” to Jesus for the “vineyard” that rightfully belongs to Christ.

“The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:8, 9).

In recounting the Parable of the Vineyard, and how the managers thought if they killed the rightful heir they could keep control of the vineyard, Jesus urged the disciples themselves to conclude what the true owner of the vineyard should then do.

“They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons” (Matthew 21:41).

By allowing the disciples to determine the outcome of the cycle, the LORD anticipated the fulfillment of one of his predictions. This occurred when Jesus and the disciples were casting out Spiritual Serpents and Scorpions (“devils” in the text), and the religious authorities accused Christ of being in league with Beelzebub, in a plot to deceive the people.

“And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?...If I by Beelezebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges” (Mark 3:23; Matthew 12:27).

It is on this occasion that Jesus reveals the singularity of the “third part,” in that He then states that if a person is not with Him, they are against Him.

“He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30).

As the Scriptures repeatedly refer to Christ dwelling in us, there is a unity with Jesus that is undivided.

“If the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:11).

By being one with Christ through the indwelling of his Spirit, we are just like Naboth, who clings to the inheritance that was rightfully his. Further, since Jesus is the eternal heir to the “vineyard” that is the earth, we choose to “gather” with him, as we are one with Christ.

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may also glorified together” (Romans 8:16,17). 

 

James Lloyd 

 

To Be Continued