275. They Even Sacrificed Their Sons and Their Daughters to Demons

This has been written for our admonition, so that we do not do likewise. We have an idol called:

Worldly Greatness

This is a god that is worshipped by more or less everyone, both worldly and religious, rich and poor. In order to be a priest in the state church, you need an education that gets you so far up the social ladder that the average man on the street does not dare to speak frankly with you. And now I hear that the Methodists are in hot pursuit, so that in order to become a Methodist priest, you have to have completed middle school and preferably also high school. Christians doll themselves up in silk gowns and pearl necklaces, with fancy rings on their fingers, and low church parsons set themselves apart by their special uniforms. God’s people look up to what is great and grand, and their children have to be educated so that they can take a seat among the great, even at the cost of their Christianity. All must be sacrificed to the idol “Worldly Greatness.” And once they have been sacrificed on this altar, their parents never get them back. Abraham offered his son according to God’s will, but today people are offering their children according to the will of the flesh, according to what the carnal man looks up to and admires. The children of Israel sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons, and the same pattern has been repeated throughout the ages. People are willing to give their all to position their children among the lords of this world and those who have power on this earth. Yet Jesus said: “My kingdom is not of this world.” If anyone wants to win a place among the powers-that-be, they must fill their corruptible brains with knowledge, those brains that will soon pass away. Resources for this cause are not only pumped into the brightest children, but also the slower ones who are struggling, striving, and falling behind. Their parents’ honor is at stake, and for this everything is sacrificed on the idol’s altar. Paul on the other hand says; “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” Phil. 3:7-8.

The light and knowledge of God enables a person to speak as the oracles of God without needing earthly diplomas. The wise of this world, on the other hand, are notorious stragglers when it concerns laying hold of the knowledge of God by faith. Their own knowledge clings to them like a dead weight, and they are constantly making comparisons between the worldly wisdom (which is empty deceit) and God’s wisdom, which will be revealed in its time and which will rule over all principalities and powers.

Let us sacrifice our sons and daughters to the Lord, for this is true godliness. Let us train them in what God considers great in order that they can please Him. Let us offer them to Him who is Head over all principalities and powers, so that we receive them back as an eternal possession.

Recently I asked the son of a priest, “I suppose you, too, will become a priest?” “No, not even if they chain me to the pulpit,” he replied. His desire was to become an actor. Just consider the children of such priests, how all or nearly all have been sacrificed to the powers on high. Pray to God for eye salve so you are able to see, because if you look at any religious newspaper (it really does not matter which one), you will notice an undercurrent of idolatry and adulation of worldly grandeur. Leaders of religious assemblies are constantly being inspired by worldly greatness, and God’s people want it that way. A newly converted actor can lead the people of God just as well, provided he is highly esteemed in the world and has the necessary appearance and manner. This is the kind of leadership that religious assemblies admire and why they demand worldly education. For them God is to be united with the world, and people are to worship idols on the high places. No matter how God-fearing those who are lowly and poor may be, even if their knowledge of God and their light are exceedingly great, they are still held in low esteem. Their poor social status according to the flesh places them in a lower class than the others. The reproach of Christ rests over them, and they are not seen fit to be priests. But, God be praised, they are fit to serve as priests before God. Ezek. 44.

Personally I have been amazed for quite some time now that the children of the friends are, generally speaking, full of the fear and love of God and have all their delight in the Lord and His saints. But now I understand this mystery: they have not been sacrificed to demons, but rather to the living God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And rightly so, dear brothers, because from such people the people of God are being formed, and they will live and abide forever. But idolaters will utterly perish.

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” 1 John 5:21.