“Weapons Of Our Adversary”
“Weapons Of The Adversary”
By Rob Weddle
I, Volac, Subservient Demon General First Class, and Subordinate to the 32nd Regional Grand Duke, have been requisitioned to address the subject of the weaponry available to Christians, our overly confident and undernourished enemy. It is my understanding this assignment is a directive from our celebrated leader, Lord Satan himself, Supreme Master of Hell and all demonic armies, although he was not available to verify this. As you, my influential brethren, know too well, gaining an audience with his Excellency in these hurried times is not as uncomplicated as it once was. In any case, I intend to give this task its due consideration.
To write of everything I have learned on this topic over the last several millennia would fill many volumes, so I will not waste time peeling back a plethora of literary layers. I will be stripping the meanings of every piece of weaponry to their core, as I feel your understanding of this subject is vital in these last days.
The explanation of each piece of armor will be exposed by breaking every one down into a “truth/lie” description, in order to be easily understood. In other words, the “truth” portion of the description for each weapon will be the spiritual accuracy we know to be true, and in which the dreaded Book lays bare for all learned individuals to understand. This is not the face we Soldiers of the Fiery Rebellion want to present to Christians, however, and this will be explained in the “lie” section of each description. The lie is the mask we present to believers, disguised, of course, as truth. If we have the knowledge, patience, determination, and will to press on despite all resistance, we can systematically dismantle each weapon, leaving the Christian exposed and vulnerable.
If we as Christ-haters are to increase our numbers, “up our quota,” so to speak, it is essential to rip, tear, gouge at and mutilate every weapon the adversary has at their disposal. The so-called “fully armed Christian” is an exceptionally rare thing, mind you, and I have seen few who can make such a claim. Still, it is up to us as Whisperers of the Immortal Flame to unhurriedly work at obliterating every last fragment of “holy” armor.
Let us start with the “belt of truth,” shall we? This seems a logical place to begin, as it is the first piece listed in the dreaded Book. I shall hereafter proceed in chronological order as each one is listed, so you can familiarize yourself with them in the originally-written sequence.
THE TRUTH: Our glorious leader has been dubbed “The Father Of Lies,” but the enemy’s use of the belt of truth goes far beyond humans avoiding lies in their speech and thought process. We have duped many into thinking by not telling lies they have donned the belt of truth, but this is simply not the case. In fact, it is one of our more clever deceits, I think.
The enemy dons the belt of truth when they allow the reality of…God (may this assignment pass by quickly so as to not prolong my torture with having to use the “name”)…to permeate their every day lives. When our spineless foe realizes his ability to search the erroneous scriptures, and adapt God’s attributes to his own life, the enemy becomes nigh unstoppable.
I do apologize for the use of the “G” word, as I know we are not prone to employing it, but in this case it is unavoidable. I understand the hatred which envelopes our whole being at having to bow before the big “G,” but you know as well as I it is a necessary evil, so to speak. Therefore, to cover our subject fully, it will be essential I use God’s name, albeit loathingly.
But let’s get back to the belt.
It goes beyond being a person of truth, and into the realm of living in what God presents as his truth. Satan forbid our rival begins to actually understand the truths of the dreaded Book, and the power to set them free from our grasp! When they are steadfastly entrenched in God’s misleading teachings, they begin to become familiar with our tricks, as well as their ability to oppose us, the Fiendish Revolutionaries, and finally, to actually carry out God’s will!
Daily living in the truth of the Son’s blood and forgiveness, our adversary becomes relentless. Thus, it is painfully obvious why each one of these weapons must be given the utmost attention and respect.
The last aspect of this particular element of the believer’s brittle armor is that living in truth will keep them from stumbling. If you recall the days of the Roman warrior, their belt wasn’t only for decoration, but was also used to tie up their tunic, which was a soldier’s outer, robe-like garment. Doing this would keep the warrior from tripping over their clothing while in battle. The primary reason God bestowed this title upon the weapon was to remind the believers if they live in what they perceive to be his “truth,” it would keep these pathetic creatures from stumbling over one of our delicious fabrications.
THE LIE: “I don’t really lie, man. I bend the truth occasionally, but that’s only when it doesn’t matter, or to keep from hurting someone’s feelings.”
“I’m a Christian, too! I mean, I don’t really go to church, because I can’t find a good one, and all those people are hypocrites anyway, but me and the big man, we have an understanding. God knows I’m a good person, and that’s the bottom line.”
The mask and counterpart for the belt of truth is, as you may have imagined, lies. One of the most effective ways to render the belt of truth useless is to divert their attention from the dreaded Book, and from any rancid gathering of the believers. If our opponent will not fully embrace our celebrated path, then it is up to us to engage them in daily activities, hobbies and pursuits which cause them to neglect further study. When a disregard for the words of the dreaded Book leisurely builds in the heart of a Christian, we can insert a falsehood or two here and there, slowly fragmenting the foundation of what they have dubbed “truth.”
Guilt can occasionally be employed, but is not recommended to use often. This is, in some instances, an extremely effective method which we are all well-versed in; however, it is not always the greatest tactical maneuver. If a follower lays his head on the pillow at night enveloped in the guilt of not pursuing his own perception of righteous truth on this particular day, it might backfire on us by him actually turning on the light and making up for what he perceives to be lost time by reading the Book and praying right then and there! It is vital, therefore, that, at the end of each hectic day, you whisper “good intentions” into their itching ears. I learned this lesson the hard way, and implore you to study my mistakes in the life of a young lady named “Tia,” Queen of Bunson, from the 19th Egyptian dynasty, so as not to repeat them. You can read of this horrid tale in “Volac, The Early Years: Egypt and Beyond,” Series II, Volume XXI, chapters 7 through 13.
Simply remind him he is still a believer, and neglecting to pursue what they observe as holiness for one day does not a sinner make. Tell him he can always “make it up tomorrow.” Consequently, the real trick is to never allow “tomorrow” to come.
This covers the belt of truth. You may contact your Territorial Arch-Demon, should any questions arise.
Next we have the “breastplate of righteousness.”
THE TRUTH: As you will remember, the primary function of a soldier’s breastplate was to protect his heart. It is the same in this instance. The adversary’s snot-nosed children don their breastplate when they attempt to be holy in the way they think, their overall attitude toward life, and the way they act, both in private and in public.
Decency, morality, honor and respectability are all ghastly features a Christian who is wearing his breastplate will attempt to embrace. Hopefully with this simplified description, it will be overly apparent why this piece of spiritual body armor is so vital to their survival, and so key to their destruction. Again, I have oppressed or possessed very few believers who are using their breastplate to its fullest extent.
THE LIE: “I don’t live at church, no. Righteousness is a relative term, anyway. When compared with some of the people I know, I’m a saint.”
The antidote to righteousness is wickedness. Regrettably, wickedness in its splendid fullness will not be accepted outright by God’s sniveling followers, so a gradual acceptance of worldliness must be utilized. Everyone has a weakness, and it is this chink in the armor you must exploit. Ask yourself: What is their principal fault? Is it anger? Then “push their buttons” every chance you have! Is it depression? Keep them busy enough in their daily life they will not have the time or strength to pray all our increasingly dark clouds away! Is it lust? Then saturate their thought-life in it. Our feminine spirits of lust are everywhere these days: from television, to the internet, and in advertising of all sorts. Thankfully our comrades in P.R. and Marketing are doing a superb job of handling most of this.
The key to wickedness in the life of a believer is subtlety. Little by little, a Christian who does not make a point of actively seeking a deeper walk in their wretched faith can be led astray. Patience and short-term memory is the key. Slowly pepper their life with dwarf-like iniquity, and then ensure they never reflect on how much they’ve adapted to our innovative ways. With any luck they will never bother to stop and examine their own lives long enough to realize how much less like their God are, and much more like us they have become.
With humans, there are always buttons to push, which leads us back to prayer and church attendance. By forsaking the assembling of themselves together, there will be no seeds planted regarding what they should or should not be doing as believers. Likewise, study in the dreaded Book and personal time alone with God will usher them into his presence. This is a frightening concept. First, because we are not allowed in God’s presence unless he has demanded an audience with us (and what an awful and terrifying time that always is, yes?) to either banish us from a place or person, or to put limitations on us. Second, the follower finds what he mistakenly perceives to be comfort, peace and strength there, which makes it all the tougher for us to re-integrate discomfort, chaos and weakness into their lives. If they do happen to make a pathetic attempt at “worship,” make it your primary goal to not let them attempt it again any time soon.
Sporadic prayer does a weaker believer make!
Consequently, it is your job to infiltrate their heart by chiseling, scraping and scratching at their breastplate until their heart is uncovered. If their heart is exposed to a gradual decline of holiness, and a gradual incline of wickedness, you can rip the bleeding organ right out of their chest, and laugh as they plummet into the perpetual flames of torment.
The third weapon at the believer’s disposal is the sandals or shoes of peace. You will also hear this referred to as the “feet fitted with readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” or various other ridiculous titles, which proves to be quite baffling to our foe.
THE TRUTH: If I may be simplistic for a moment, I would like to break this weapon down into a simplified meaning/purpose definition, and then expound on it further.
The meaning of the “shoes of peace,” according to my understanding, is as follows. A believer who dons these shoes has what is foolishly perceived as a spiritual groundwork, a foundation, which has been prepared by God and is ready for them to wear. Their familiarity with and reliance on the words from the dreaded book bestows a rancid peace in their hearts and lives we can not easily remove.
Those who study its meaning are normally dedicated to implementing it into their arsenal, and those who don’t are probably so confused over the plethora of names it is given in all the various translations of the dreaded Book they will not dwell on it further than a stupefied “amen” between Sunday morning pew naps.
Consequently, the purpose is two-fold. First and foremost, these “shoes” give them a grip or a footing on the slippery slope of war that we, try as we may, can not remove. Next, this peace which is derived from spending time studying the dreaded Book will, in most cases, spawn a natural desire to vomit the words on other unsuspecting ones!
THE LIE: “I’m just never satisfied, I always want more. That’s how I’ve survived up to now, and that’s what keeps me hungry.”
“How will I pay the bills? How can I ever meet up to my family’s expectations? I just get so scared I can’t even think straight.”
The treatment for the Christian’s semblance of peace is upheaval, uncertainty and chaos. This proves to be a useful ally in destroying this piece of armor, though obviously it can not be introduced in large doses. The “mask” we don for the shoes of peace will foster a feeling of restlessness in at least one area of a human life. You must bombard believers with doubt, and never let up.
Distrust and insecurity is common in the 21st century, and it is our task to never let the despicable followers enjoy a victory of any sort. There is always something left undone. Always a circle of one sort or another left unclosed, and if you clobber them mightily right between the eyes with the restless feeling of never quite having “arrived,” and a perpetual hunger for more (more money, more “stuff,” more everything), peace will fall away from their lives, and will be replaced by restlessness and unhappiness.
Regarding the portion of this weapon which leads believers to spread fertilizer droppings of “good news” to others, think outside the box! Do not be satisfied bombarding them with the usual fear of witnessing, but take this as far as possible, even delving into the territory of doubts regarding the validity of their own decomposing salvation.
“I can’t tell this person about Christ,” you can murmur to them. “If they only knew how completely unworthy I am they would be appalled. I’m the absolute last person to be telling them how to live. Besides, after last night (insert personal downfall of one sort or another: a slipped curse word, a bout of lust-drenched internet surfing, whatever), I’m not even sure I’m still a Christian.”
After this tasty thought is dropped into their pulpy brainpan, you can remind them to whisper a prayer to the sky for the person, and then cultivate a feeling of satisfaction at having done their Christian duty.
The fact that God endeavors to convince his followers none are righteous or worthy is also a lie we must keep hidden. If you can fog their spiritual mirror, and cause them to consistently see themselves as unworthy, it will gradually eat away at their wretched foundation. This could be seen as a gradual disfiguring of their personal and spiritual perceptions. It will also be a great deterrent to spreading the virus of Christianity, which is ultimate goal of all Sadistic Militia!
Next, we have the alarming “shield of faith.”
To be continued…
