E talitonu le toatele o Kerisiano ua leai se mea latou te toe faia ma le tiapolo, auā o ia o le fili ‘ua fa‘ato‘ilaloina. Ona o lenei manatu, e toʻatele Kerisiano na lē taulau i le tatalo ma le taua faaleagaga. It’s true that Jesus defeated the devil and has the keys of death and hell. Ae peitai, Jesus Christ gave His authority and power to His Church, because the devil is not cast into the eternal lake of fire yet. He is still the god of this world and still exists. The devil still goes around as a roaring lion, saili po o ai e mafai ona ia 'aina. The devil still tries to deceive and spiritually disarm the Church, so that the Church becomes ineffective and powerless and the devil has nothing to fear. This was the mission of the devil from the Day of Pentecost and still is. O lenei, let’s look at whether the mission of the devil is successful or not.
What is the mission of the devil?
The devil is the adversary of Christians and his mission is to silence and devour the believers and destroy the Church of Jesus Christ (assembly of born-again believers). Aisea? O lena la, the devil can continue his destructive works on earth without interference and resistance of the Church.
Ia agalelei, Ia mataala; Aua o lou fili le tiapolo, o se lio le leona, Savali, sa'ili po o ai e 'aina e ia: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world (1 Peteru 5:8-9)
The mission of the devil is to enter the Church, deceive and tempt the Church, and cause the Church to go astray and disobey God and His Word and obey to him.
The devil tries to stop Christians from doing the works of God and destroying the devil’s works and cause them to do his works and destroying the works of God.
Lea auala, Christians enlarge the kingdom of darkness instead of the Kingdom of God, Lea o Iesu Keriso o le Tupu.
The devil is always looking for openings in the lives of believers, o ai le Ekalesia.
As soon as the devil finds an opening he enters the lives of Christians and attacks. The devil comes as an angel of light with his deceptive lies, faaosoosoga, and power causing supernatural revelations and manifestations.
E ala i ana pepelo pepelo, which derive from his kingdom (le lalolagi), and the focus on the flesh, the devil makes the people prideful towards God and passive and lukewarm for Jesus Christ, His mission, and the works of God’s Kingdom.
The devil sows doubt and lies in people’s minds
The devil sows doubt and lies in the minds of people, which causes unbelief and false doctrines.
The unbelief and false doctrines, lea e aoaoga faavae a tiapolo, ensure that the Church doubts God and His Word and stays silent about the truth of God and the commandments and warnings of Jesus Christ.
How the devil changes the truth of God into a lie?
The devil changes the truth of God into a lie by using a partial truth of God and mixing it with his lies. E ala i ana pepelo, the devil has spiritually disarmed, destroyed, and appropriated many churches.
His carnal ministers, who have a carnal and mafaufau pea are puffed up and full op pride just like their father. They believe his words and speak his words. They use their father’s power and exalt themselves above God and His Word and walk in sin and even promote sin. (Faitau foi: O Iesu o se faalauiloaina o le agasala?).
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, e le faafetai tele; ae na o le mafaufau i o latou mafaufauga, ma ua pogisa lo latou loto valea. Faitala latou te atamamai, ua avea i latou ma tagata valea, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, ma manu, and fourfooted beasts, ma mea fetolofi.
O le mea lea na autilo ai foi le Atua e ala i le le mama e ala i le naunau io latou lava loto, e faalumaina o latou lava tino i le va oi latou lava: O ai na suia le mea moni a le Atua i se pepelo, ma tapuai ma tautua i le meaola sili atu nai lo le Foafoa, O ai ua manuia e faavavau. Amene.
Mo lenei mea na avatu e le Atua ia i latou i le fua alofa: aua e oʻo foʻi i le latou fafine na suia le faʻanatura faʻaaogaina i totonu o le mea na tetee i ai: Ma e faapena foi i alii, tuua le natura faaaoga o le fafine, susunuina i lo latou tuinanau tasi i le isi; O tagata ma aliʻi o loʻo faia le mea e le masani ai, ma mauaina ia i latou lava o le toe foi mai o lo latou sese lea na feiloai.
Ma e pei ona latou le fiafia e taofi le Atua i lo latou malamalama, Na tuuina atu e le Atua i latou i se mafaufau le mafaufau, e faia mea na e le faigofie; Ua tumu i le amioletonu uma, faitaaga, mativa, matape'ape'a, leaga; tumu i le lotoleaga, fasioti tagata, felafolafoaiga, pepelo, leaga; musumusu, Tagata fai mea fai fale, Manu o le Atua, tusa lava, mimita, vasters, Faia o mea leaga, Uilalo i matua, Aunoa ma le malamalama, Fauina Faaipoipoga, Aunoa ma le alofa masani, lē umi, lē maluelue: O L e Iloa le Faamasinoga a le Atua, latou te faia mea e aoga ai i le oti, e le gata faia tutusa, ae fiafia i latou e faia (Roma 1:21-32)
Le Ekalesia; o le Tino o Keriso
Le Ekalesia, the assembly of believers who are born of God, is appointed on earth as a representative of God and His Kingdom and ought to preach His Word and establish His Kingdom on earth.
The more the Church spiritually matures, knowing the will of God, ma tuu ese le toeaina ma ofu le tagata fou and walk in the authority of Jesus Christ, le Upu, and the power of the Holy Spirit in the will of God on earth, the greater threat the Church becomes to the devil and his kingdom.
If local churches lay down all carnality and walk after the Spirit and do what Jesus commanded to do and pray and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the will of God and sanctification, they would be the light of the world.
As the light of the world, they would draw many souls, who live in bondage in darkness, to the light.
They would save and deliver many souls from the power of darkness and hell and plunder the kingdom of darkness.
If the churches would really believe in the Word and the Name of Jesus Christ (Le Pulega a Iesu Keriso) and do the will of God, then they would grow up into the image of Jesus Christ and preach, bring, ma faatuina le Malo o le Atua i le lalolagi.
Ona, the churches would stop relying on the wisdom and knowledge of the world. The churches would stop referring Christians to the world for help and solutions. Nai lo lena, the churches would rely on God and walk in His power and be able to provide for the needs of people, e pei lava o Iesu.
Do churches walk by faith or by sight?
Ae paga lea, most churches don’t walk by faith in Jesus Christ; the Word in the power of God, due to carnality (mafaufau tino, carnal will, tu'inanau ma tu'inanau o le tino, and carnal works. (Faitau foi: ‘E tatau ona ou mauaina le faatuatua i le lalolagi?’)).
Most Christians are not willing to lay down the flesh and put off the old man, ma tuu i luga o le tagata fou. O lea la, many Christians keep walking after the flesh and keep sinning. They want to receive the blessings of God and do signs and wonders, which belong to the life of the new man, but they refuse to lay down their will and flesh.
If you sow in the flesh, you shall not reap the fruit of the Spirit
Aua le faaseseina; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting (Kalatia 6:7-8)
They feed their flesh with the things of the world and expect to bear the fruit of the Spirit. But if you sow in the flesh, you shall never reap the fruit of the Spirit. When you sow in the flesh, you reap the fruit of the flesh, o le agasala, ma mulimuli ane, faiga pi’opi’o.
If you want to reap apples, but put kiwi seeds in the ground, you shall not reap apples, but kiwis.
If the natural man understands this simple principle, why doesn’t the spiritual man understand this principle?
Why do so many people, who say they are Christians and say they believe and claim to be spiritual, sow in the flesh, expecting to bear the fruit of the Spirit and life everlasting?
Those who walk after the flesh are led by the old sinful nature. They’ll feed the flesh and bear the fruit of the flesh and walk in rebellion towards God and His Word.
They’re carnal and think like the world. They speak the same words as the world and act the same way as the world.
They put their trust in the wisdom, malamalama, and words of the world and everything that derives from it. Instead of putting their trust in Jesus Christ, le Afioga Soifua a le Atua.
And so the local churches with carnal believers, le mea the devil is seated and in charge, are built upon carnal wisdom, malamalama, Manatu, ma aafiaga o tagata.
The words of God are replaced by the word of man
The churches have taken God’s words out of context and mixed them with their personal beliefs, Manatu, ma aafiaga. Lea auala, they’ve created a sensual humanistic gospel, where people are the center instead of Christ.
The church gatherings are sensory appealing. The sermons revolve around the flesh of man and the things of this world instead of the spirit of man and the things of the Kingdom of God and cause the people to persevere in sin.
Instead of feeding the spirit of man with the truth of God, the flesh is fed with the devil’s lies. O le faaiuga, the old man continues to exist and the new man goes to the wall.
There is hardly any difference between Christians, who say they believe and belong to Christ and go to church, ma e le talitonu, who are sinners and belong to the world.
Many churches are no longer a mana o le Atua, who acts in the Name of Jesus and through the fivefold ministry and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, raise Christians in the will of God unto spiritual mature sons of God (e faatatau lenei mea i alii ma tamaitai). They no longer make them spiritual soldiers of Jesus Christ, who are active in the spiritual warfare and resist the temptations of the devil and expose and destroy the works of darkness and save souls from hell.
Nai lo lena, many churches became social institutions, a place where everything revolves around the flesh of man. A place, where the flesh is entertained and pleased with the purpose to motivate the people and experience supernatural manifestations, whereby many churches move into the occult. (Faitau foi: ‘O le Lotu o Meaalofa‘ ma ‘Tausaga Fou i le Ekalesia?‘).
How did the devil accomplish his mission?
Matua lemu, the devil accomplished his mission and succeeded in deceiving and appropriating many churches and making them lukewarm and passive for Jesus Christ. Many churches remain carnal and sensual and don’t have the Spirit of God. They belong to the world and listen to what the devil has to say and believe his words.
O i latou ia o tagata muimui, tagata faitio, savavali i o latou lava tu’inanau; o latou gutu fo‘i e tautala i ‘upu fa‘amaualuga, ua viia tagata ona o le manuia. Ae, alofagia, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, tu'inanau, ua le maua le Agaga (Iuta 1:19)
Many Christians are spiritually blind and don’t see the mission and Galue a le Tiapolo. They don’t discern the devil’s lies from the truth of God. And they don’t realize that they live in the devil’s power and are bound by the devil’s lies.
Instead of being witnesses of Jesus Christ and preaching His truth and keeping His commandments, doing what He says and abiding in His love and doing righteous works and bearing the fruit of the Spirit, they have become witnesses of the devil.
They preach the devil’s truth and do what he says and abide in his Alofa sese (the love of the world), which ensures that they keep walking in darkness and bear the fruit of death, o le agasala.
Let the Church arise and accomplish her mission
But luckily there is still time for the churches, who have left the Word and God’s truth and gone astray and are seated in darkness, i salamo and return to Jesus Christ.
Let the church arise and submit to Christ; le Upu ma tausi Ana poloaiga. Let the church make Jesus the Head of the church again and walk after the Spirit and preach, bring, and establish His Kingdom on earth.
‘Ia fai ma masima o le lalolagi’
