Sage Voice

"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14 NIV) In the first part of this message delivered last week, we saw that Satan manifests himself in the world in two main ways, namely, Mammon and Babylon. We also saw that Mammon is the spirit that influences people to amass wealth by evil means. This week, our focus is on Babylon.  Babylon Old Testament Point of View In all its references in the OT, Babylon is indicated initially as an imposing city in Mesopotamia, and ultimately becomes an imposing kingdom.  Historical Point of View  Historically, Babylon was the capital of southern Mesopotamia (Babylonia) between 2000-1000 BC, became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) empire between 700-600 BC by which time it had reached its height of splendour. It was the commercial and administrative centre of Babylonia. Under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon became the largest city in the world. Ruins of Babylon are found in the ...

"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14 NIV) If you will sustain your victorious life in Christ, you have to decode Satan's appearances in the world. Bible says, he masquerades as an angel of light, for what purpose? To deceive people to buy into his agenda. To masquerade means to show up in a mask, or to appear under the pretense of someone that you are not. Satan knows that if he appears in his real image, nobody will buy into his agenda, so he makes a pretentious show of being an angel of light. Nothing of his is original, authentic, genuine or true.  Our primary source of the knowledge of Satan is the Bible. In it, we know Satan's three major identifies. First, as serpent, meaning trickster or deceiver; as devil, meaning accuser or slanderer; and as Satan, meaning opposer or adversary.  Opposer is different from competitor, in that, competitor initiates different inventions that perform the same or similar function...

"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God." (Colossians 3:22 KJV)   The Christian is both an heir of the Father and a servant of the Lord. The Father does not only pamper you with tender love and soft care, but also, trains you as a soldier to serve his purposes and pleasure with undivided attention and utmost loyalty. Your ultimate goal is to live for the pleasure of the Father or to always do what pleases him (2Cor 5:9; Col 1:9).  This week's Voice throws light on your qualities as a servant of the Lord chosen and given extraordinary power to serve the church which is the household of God. It enlightens you on an attitude that is commonly displayed by almost all servants but definitely not pleasing to God. This is so common that even you who are reading right now, perhaps, are deep into it knowingly or unknowingly. This attitude is called in the Greek Ophthalmoduleia [...

"They found that the Jews of Berea were of more noble character and much more open minded than those of Thessalonica. They were hungry to learn and eagerly received the word. Every day they opened the scrolls of Scripture to search and examine them, to verify that what Paul taught them was true." (Acts 17:11 TPT) We know Paul to be a charismatic preacher, an insightful, prophetical teacher and an apostle. Ministers of the Lord who possess such magnitude of grace in our day appear to be excessively authoritative and unquestionable. They exude a kind of authority that makes their messages not liable to investigation. However, the ministry of Paul leaves a model that allows for listeners to subject the messages of a preacher to scriptural inquiry. To effectively listen to messages or soak sermons, you need to exhibit attitudes and behaviour typical of the Jews of Berea.  In this article, we consider some right attitudes and behaviour that will make you effectively listen to mess...