The Occult Generation

The title today, The Occult Generation. The Occult Generation. You've heard of various generations, Generation X, Y, but mainly they're calling the current generation the Millennials, basically those under 30 years of age. J.K. Rowling's fifth book, titled Phoenix in the Harry Potter series, was the fastest-selling book in history. About six million copies sold worldwide in two days. Six million copies worldwide in two days. In the first few hours, the book was selling at a clip of 500 copies per minute in the UK. Of course, Rowling's is British.

The word Phoenix has a deep and significant meaning in the occult world. Symbolism is an important literary device that is used extensively in practically all forms of literature, but especially in the occult world. According to Webster's dictionary, the use of conventional or traditional signs represents divine beings and spirits. Many of the symbols that are used represent gods and goddesses. God warns us that in the last days people will be deceived by lying wonders and signs and turn to worshiping Satan the devil. It even sounds like from 1 Timothy 4, if you turn there, that even some people in the Church of God would go that way and be deceived by this. Hopefully not. In 1 Timothy 4 and verse 1, the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times, some shall depart from thee faith. So obviously, if it is the faith and depart from thee faith, you can fill in the blank, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Of course, one of the quickest ways for the conscience to be seared is not to do what you know to do. The prophet Daniel describes in some detail the one who is coming on the scene and his strategy for deceiving the world. Let's look at Daniel chapter 8. Daniel chapter 8, and we'll begin in verse 22. Daniel chapter 8 and verse 22. Daniel just before the minor prophets, just before Hosea. And Daniel chapter 8, beginning in verse 22. Daniel chapter 8 is taken up with the vision of the ego pushing and the ram pushing, coming together, and then identified as Alexander the Great and his kingdom in which he was pushing eastward. He defeated Medo-Persia, and the Greeks, the Grecian Empire, conquered much of the world. Then upon the death of Alexander the Great, his kingdom was divided into four divisions among his four generals. And we pick up here in verse 22. We're more interested in this person at the end of the age who is leading this, and the strategies that he uses and it's straight from the Bible. In Daniel chapter 8 and verse 22. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full. Of course, we're seeing more and more transgressions around the world when transgressors are come to the full. As the old saying goes, we ain't seen anything yet. A king of fierce countenance, understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not of his own power, and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and practice, and shall destroy. And that word destroy, the Hebrew word here, has more the connotation of corrupt. Not completely destroy, as in killing, though I'm sure some will be killed, and shall corrupt the mighty and the holy people. So it has a Middle East setting, of course. And through his policy also, he shall cause craft, witchcraft, the occult to prosper in his hand. And he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall corrupt many. Some type of pseudo-peace will be coming.

He shall also stand up. And here's how you know it is the end time, because this is a parallel to Revelation 17, verse 14, where it talks about Jesus Christ coming again. He shall stand up against the prince of princes, but he shall be broken without hand. And of course it is the mighty word of God. And Jesus Christ the Word will return on with the saints of the great army, as described in Revelation chapter 19. And the vision in the evening and the morning which was told is true, wherefore shut up the vision, for it shall be for many days. And I, Daniel, fainted, was sick certain days afterward. I rose up and did the king's business, and I was astonished at the vision, but non-understood it. So this is definitely an end time prophecy. He shall stand up against the prince of princes, and he shall be broken, and that without hand. The Apostle Paul vividly describes how Satan carries out his plan of deception. If we would, now we'll turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, where we have once again an end time setting, and Satan's deception at the end of this age.

Verse 3, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there be a great apostasia first. Falling away, apostasia means false teaching, because there is one that is coming that will be so deceptive that everyone whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be deceived by this one who understands dark sentences, as we read from Daniel chapter 8. And the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God. I don't think we have explored the depths of what that really means. As of yet, maybe more understanding will come as we go along, above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God, so he pretends to be God, the great pretender, sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. And according to Revelation 13, which we'll read some of it later, everyone whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be deceived. Then continuing in verse 8, And then shall that wicked be reveal, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, see, once again the word of God goes forth and destroys him by the word of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, similar to what we read in Daniel 8, Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Of course, here is the recipe for not being deceived, loving the truth, reading, studying, meditating, doing what the Scripture says to do, and for this cause God shall send them grand delusion. God shall send them grand delusion that they should believe a lie. What is the lie? That that one sitting in the temple is God.

That they all might be damned, who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Of course, we have seen sort of a type of this in recent times, even in the church, when the announcement of the apostasy in the church in the 1990s, in which people rejoiced, oh, you don't have to keep God's law. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, free at last. Oh no. It's bondage, slave to Satan's way, to whom you yield yourself service to obey his servants you are. Now let's go to Revelation chapter 9. We'll see in Revelation chapter 9 that even after the trumpet plagues began to be poured out, that those who are not killed by the trumpet plagues do not repent. But notice what they do in Revelation chapter 9 and verse 20. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repeated not of the works of the hands, that they should not worship devils and idols of gold and silver and of brass and stone, one of the Harry Potter series is the Sorcerer's Stone, and stone and of wood, which neither can see nor hear nor walk, neither repented they of their murders nor of their sorceries nor their fornication nor of their thefts. The Apostle John highlights the role of sorcery in the beast system. The Sorcery. Let's look at Revelation 18. Revelation 18 addresses commercial Babylon. In Revelation 18, beginning in verse 21, a brief description here of the destruction of Babylon, and one of the main things mentioned has to do with sorcery. Sorcery can have a wide range of meaning. Witchcraft, black magic, the occult, mystical. The literal Greek word is pharma kia, which from which we get pharmacy or drugs. And of course drugs have played a great role in the perversion of our culture in recent times, anything from illegal drugs to prescription drugs. And you've recently heard about the opioids and that kind of thing. In Revelation 18 verse 21, a mighty angel took up a stone like a great mealstone casted into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers and musicians, and of pipers and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in you, and no craftsman, whatsoever craft, shall not be found any more in you. And the sound of a mealstone shall be heard no more at all in you. And the light of the candle shall shine no more at all in you. And the voice of the brightness of the bride shall be heard no more at all in you. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorceries were all nations deceived. So that which is breaking forth upon the peoples of the world is no light thing. It is not to be taken lightly. It is a wake-up call for all of us. And in her was found in Babylon the great, the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth. A very evil system. So I have here, this is from Drudge Report. I just put in sorcery, search, the articles that came up. Of course, I'm not going to read the title of all of them, but a few of them. The occult makes a comeback, which is everywhere. The occult takes on a president, more witchcraft rituals planned. They have a coven which tries to cast spells on President Trump so that he will fail. Wicca, Wiccan, Podesta. Podesta, of course, from the one who was directing Hillary Clinton's campaign after Wasserman was dismissed. Wicca, Wiccan, Podesta, practice occult magic. Vatican exorcist, Halloween causes increase in occult activity. Insomnia, mental illness, makes children suicidal, warns demonic activity on rise. Vatican exorcists warn of rise in occult activity.

Exorcism on rise, priests point to growing fascination with occult. Catholic Church warns of rise in Satanism and occult. Not the best warners, but anyhow. Queen of the occult, Anne Rice, finds Christ. Anne Rice was one of the main ones that so many people read her novels and so on. I promise that from now on I would write only for the Lord.

And then I have here this article. This article appeared yesterday on a drudge written by Michelle Goldberg. On a Wednesday evening last week, I sat in a class called Witchcraft 101, curses, hexes, and jinxes at Catland. Now Catland is one of the most famous of the occult boutiques. It was located in Brooklyn, New York.

The one who was doing the presentation says, We aim to serve the local community of occultists, yogis, pagans, mystics, phthalamites. Thephthalamites believe that every person has a will, and that will determines his existence, which is coyotes. That has to do with chaotic magic. And anyone interested in enhancement of their spiritual self, they are not the only one. And the person doing it was Vasi Ali. Vasi Ali is an Italian. He was conducting the class. He says, If you're not ready to admit that the universe is chaos, I'm not sure how far you're going to go. As Vasi Ali said to the class describing witchcraft as a way to exercise power in a world without transcendent moral rules, a supernatural technology for taking care of yourself when no one else will. Witchcraft, Vasi Ali said, lets you be the arbiter of your own justice. I suspect that the assumption of chaos, the sense that institutions have failed and no one is in charge, helps explain the well-documented resurgence of occultism among millennials. So that's why I titled the occult generation. Because more and more the youth are turning to the occult, and one of the first things they do is consult their horoscopes in the morning. And one of the first things they do when they meet and begin to talk is, what's your sign? And regularly depend upon astrology and the horoscopes and try to, and not just try, but play some kind of faith in it as if it determines your fate. Attempts at spell casting are obviously not unique to today's young people. The Washington writer and hostess Sally Quinn just published a book in which she boasts about hexing the renowned magazine editor Clay Falker, my journalism professor, before his death from cancer. Still, magic and witchcraft have a renewed interest, one that seems related to our current climate of political and cultural breakdown. Witches are everywhere these days. Says the introduction to Basic Witches, a cheeky how-to book about witchcraft published in August. Why the witch is the pop cultural heroine we need right now, said the headline for a recent piece on New York's magazine vulture site, part of the Witch Week Halloween series.

The rise of occultism among the counterculture of the 1960s and the 70s befuddled scholars who assumed the American society was moving toward even greater secularism. The dominant sociological model of the time, a University of Chicago professor wrote in 1970, cannot cope with the new manifestation of the sacred on a college campus and the communes where the collegians go when they flee from the campus. Today, technocratic rationality is losing its hold. Though young cultism predates Donald Trump's presidency, Rossi Ali believes the calamity of the election accelerated interest in witchcraft, witchcraft itself has certainly gotten political. Every month, thousands of witches neo-pagans and other magic practitioners virtually join together to cast a binding spell on Trump so that he may fail utterly, that he may do no harm. And the reason has to do with it's like there's a great battle going on between good and evil. Those who espouse traditional moral values are labeled as evil, and those who espouse the new age, the occult version of values, they are the ones to be listened to. So we cannot ignore what is going on with this.

The truth is, the deception that is going to come will be so great that everyone whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be deceived. Christ says in Matthew 24-24 that if it were possible, the very elect would be deceived. Did you ever notice that? If it were possible, which means that God, if you love the truth, will help keep you from being deceived.

That you cannot do it just on your own. That it's going to take more than that. And we are warned in Revelation 18.4, I don't know if you've turned from there, to come out of her. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, that you receive not her plagues. Current movie-makers and authors are making extensive use of symbols in their script and storylines. The movie Matrix 2 is laden with symbolism, some of which is taken from the Bible and some of which is taken from the occult.

I tried to watch the thing a few years ago just to try to understand what they were doing. And I was lost in it, I guess you would say. A.K. Rowling's book are laden with symbols from the occult world. In fact, her first book is titled The Sorcerer's Stone. Seems like we have already encountered the word sorcerer in stone in Revelation 9 and verse 20. A television serial called Phoenix presented a shaman and messiah, symbolic of the false prophet and beast, who is possessed by Satan upon whom the salvation of the world may depend. So a television serial called Phoenix presented a shaman and messiah upon whom the salvation of the world may depend.

The shaman or witch is endowed with awesome psychic powers, including levitation. Levitation means that you can cause this clock to rise through mind control. Psychokinesis also has to do with moving an object through the power of the mind. And acute ESP, extra sensory perception that you can predict from a distance what is going to take place. The Phoenix is believed to be a divine bird dating back to Egypt. The Phoenix destroys itself in flames and then rises from the ashes. Most occultists believe that the Phoenix is a symbol of Lucifer, who we know as Satan the devil, or whom we know, who was cast down in flames and who they think one day will rise triumphant.

Cast down in flames. Look at Luke 10 18. I think we are familiar with Luke 10 18. In Luke 10 18, what does it say? And Jesus Christ is the one speaking. In Luke 10 18, and he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

As you know, Satan tried to take over the throne of God, and he was cast down. Isaiah 14. They contend that those who believe in the Phoenix will experience a new birth, born again, a new birth and receive his blessing, a not so clever counterfeit of how we shall be born in the kingdom of God upon resurrection. In November of 2001, one of Britain's biggest teaching unions issued a stern warning to parents and teachers that Rowling's creation would lead schoolchildren into the sinister world of the occult.

Peter Smith, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, warned that, quote, children must be protected from the more extreme influences of the occult and be taught in a responsible and positive way the risk of journeying into the unknown. Educators and naive parents have tried to whitewash Rowling's books by stating that it is motivating children to read.

Isn't it wonderful that they are reading Rowling's books? We should all question the value of reading material that leads children into a world of wizardry, occult symbolism, sorcery. Children may be motivated to read any number of things as the old saying goes, curiosity kill the cat. Some proponents of Rowling's work claimed that children are being taught that good triumphs over evil, as Harry Potter, the wicked child there, employs various occultic practices in his pursuit of the bad guys. So is good.

The fallacy of such reasoning is readily apparent in that the ultimate battle of the ages of forces of the occult are defeated by Jesus Christ and the saints, not the other way around. The occult loses. The devil loses. The devils and the demons are rendered of non-effect.

I call it Rollings. I think some call it Rowlings. But Rowling's books are thinly veiled, guides to condition children into accepting the forces of the occult and the New Age movement. The peoples of the world are going to be deceived by the prints of black magic and wizardry. We've already read those scriptures up front. That print is none other than Satan the devil, who is, according to Revelation 12.9, deceiving the whole world. As we've already noted, the false prophet will work great signs and miracles deceiving the world into worshiping the beast. Now, some may argue that it is a far stretch to say that books, videos, and movies that portray the practice of black magic can be linked to Satan's great deception at the end of the age. But to me, it is as plain as anything can be from the scriptures we've already read. But stop and think for a moment. Such books, videos, and movies did not point children to God, not to the God of the Bible and Jesus Christ. In fact, such productions point to the forces that are associated with the fallen spirits, that is, witchcraft and black magic. In short, to the devil and the demons. The Pagan Federation, which represents druids and witches, says it has been swamped with calls following teenage programs featuring good witches. Of course, Disney and others have produced the Good Witches series. There is such a thing. Speaking to BBC News Online, the Pagan Federation's Steve Payne, the high priest of a coven, said the hit U.S. drama Buffy and the highly successful Harry Potter books were popular among practicing witches. Quote, they are taken as fantasy entertainment, but they do encourage people to think about different forms of spirituality. The Pagan Federation deals with about 100 inquiries a month from youngsters who want to become witches. It does not allow anyone under the age of 18 to become a member. That's from BBC News Online, August 4, 2000. I mean, this thing has been going on full force for 20 years or so. Of course, it dates all the way back to the Garden of Eden, as we shall see as we go along. But we see from what they've said here that even the occult community is honest enough to say that such productions can cause children to become interested in the occult. Isn't that nice?

But is it dangerous for children to dabble with powers they do not understand? Witchcraft author Maxine Sanders was asked, why were you concerned that your children might adopt the craft? I mean, here's the one who is writing about it. Witchcraft author Maxine Sanders was asked the question, why do you keep your children away from it? And you're writing about it. To which he replies, because I don't think the craft is for children. I really don't think that it is. I've had too much many experiences now where even adults can be disturbed by dabbling in witchcraft. And that's from Witches and Encyclopedia Paganism and Magic, page 139. I've documented every one of these quotes from basically the original source. But despite the concerns of children being exposed to the occult, there are a number of websites that promote Harry Potter. I mean, one of the from time to time questions on quiz programs like Jeopardy talks about Baltimore and various one characters in the Harry Potter series.

Peter Smith, the general secretary for the Association of Teachers and Lectures in the United Kingdom, states, quote, Youngsters can very easily visit a choice of hundreds of websites on witchcraft, Wicca Magic casting hexes and bloodletting techniques without adults having any control as to what they read if adults are not careful. Mr. Smith went on to say, This goes far beyond a case of reading a Harry Potter story. This represents an extremely worrying trend among young people. That's from BBC News Online, occult sites lure teenagers. Saturday, April 22, 2000. So, as I said, this has been going on for really in a very long time. A very concentrated way for over 20 years. Harry Potter books are filled with occult symbols. Here's one of the main ones. For example, Harry is well known for his thunderbolt scar in his forehead.

The scar is described as a curiously shaped cut like a bolt of lightning from philosopher's stone, page 17. As Harry grows older, he eventually learns that the scar on his forehead came as a result of a powerful evil curse from the evil dark wizard, Voldemort. That's from philosopher's stone, page 45. The thunderbolt is often used in occultic imagery, especially in Satanism. Anton Sandor LaVey. LaVey is the founder of the Church of Satan, often wore a medallion of an inverted pentagram with a thunderbolt through the center of it.

Thunderbolts are like, or the swat stickers also appear in the S.S. symbol of Hitler's special forces. The thunderbolt symbol is also used in various heavy steel, heavy metal, heavy death metal bands. Heavy death metal bands. The thunderbolt is often used as a symbol. Once again, we note Luke 10, 13, I beheld Satan falling from heaven like lightning.

The false prophet causes peoples of the world to receive a mark in their right hand. Let's go there and read Revelation 13 verse 15. This part about marks. Marks are going to play an important role in that which is coming.

In Revelation 13 verse 15, He had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in the right hand or in their foreheads. And that no man might by ourselves save that he had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the name of his number. So we see that marks is going to play an important part in the beast system. To put any mark there that is on the forehead, especially a satanic mark, is a mockery to God. The forehead is meant to be a place reserved for the name that God will put on those who are in his family. The forehead, of course, is the center there where a big part of the cerebrum is located, the center of thought and of moral character. In Revelation 14.1, you go over just a page and it says, I looked and lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him 144,000, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. Notice further in Revelation 22 and verse 4. Revelation 22 and verse 4 with regard to the mark of God. You want the mark of God. In fact, those who receive the mark of the beast will not be in the kingdom of God. In Revelation 22 and verse 4, And they shall see his face proth upon, and his name shall be in their foreheads. So the forehead should be reserved for God's mark. There can be no doubt that Harry's thunderbolt mark on the forehead has deep symbolic meaning in the world of the occult. In occultism, mirrors are commonly used for divination. That is, divination has to do with looking into that which is beyond the normal. This particular technique is called scrying. S-C-R-Y-I-N-G. Scrying. In the A to Z of Wicca, scrying is defined as, quote, the art and practice of interpreting the future, past, or present from images seen while gazing into a crystal ball. We've all heard about gazing into the crystal ball. A candle, flame, a pool of water are gazing at a mirror or crystal gazing or mirror gazing. From A to Z of Wicca, page 114, the dictionary of the occult says, according to the dictionary, the occult students of the occult commonly use mirrors to look into the world of spirits. Gazing into one supposedly reveals visions of spirit guides. In the Philosopher's Stone, Harry becomes fascinated by images of his dead parents. In the mirror of Erised, E-R-I-S-E-D, Erised, chapter 12, is this Philosopher's Stone. See, Erised is the word desire spelled rearranged. Erised is the word desire rearranged, and those who look into the mirror are meant to see their uttermost desires. Harry's desire, of course, is to see his parents. Although it is explained in the book by Dumbledore, that the mirror simply shows the desires of people's hearts. It could be argued that Harry was having a vision of spirits when he saw his dead parents in the mirror. But to even suggest to children that they can contact the dead, or even their parents, or more accurately, evil spirits, masquerading as spirits of the dead, is a cruel hoax to play on a child. The prophet Isaiah makes the statement about this. Let's go to Isaiah 29 verse 4.

The messages which are meant to come from the dead are actually deceiving spirits. We're familiar with Saul visiting the witch of Endor, and one mimicking. In Isaiah 29, and this is verse 4, and we'll read a more direct verse in just a moment. In Isaiah 29 verse 4, And you shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and your voice shall be low out of the dust, and your voice shall be as one that has a familiar spirit out of the ground, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust. So, as I said, we're familiar with Saul visiting the witch of Endor, and faking to be one that had risen from the dead, or speaking to the dead. The Bible expressly forbids contact with the dead. We go now to Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 10. Deuteronomy 18 verse 10. Now, why would the Bible say these kind of things? Because when you begin to dabble in that, which is beyond the normal, and you get into the paranormal above the normal, then you begin to invite by demons in. And why that is anything at which you begin to dabble into the occult is an invitation for the occult to come in and fill what you're looking for. In Deuteronomy 18 verse 10, There shall not be found among you anyone that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination. Divination. That is trying to look into the future through mystical means. Looking into a crystal ball. Looking into a mirror. Looking into a pool. Looking to anything in which you are hoping to get a message from the spirit world, or that uses divination, or an observer of times astrology. Oh, I was born on November the 4th in 1999, and my sign is, what's your sign? Oh, we will have a great day today. An observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consultor with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. Necromancer is one who tries to get in touch with the dead. Jesus states that the dead cannot have contact with the living. Look at Luke 16, verse 26. This is the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, and the rich man wanted to go back and warn his kinsmen about how hot the fires of hell were that were licking up toward him. Ganna Fire, he's about to be thrown into it.

And Luke 16, verse 26. And besides all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot. Neither can they pass to us that would come from there. There's a great gulf between life and death.

A great gulf between the living and the dead, and the only way that anyone can transcend this temporary physiochemical existence, is through the living spirit of God and Christ.

There are a number of incidents in the Harry Potter books where individuals are taken over or possessed by other entities. Possessed by other entities. The philosopher's stone shows Voldemort revealing himself as one who has possessed Professor Queriel. Quote, see what I have become. The face said, mere shadows and vapor. I have form only when I can share another's body. Remember the demons when they were encountered by Christ. He was cast them out of a person. The demons cried out, ho, cast us into the herd of swine. It seems that the demons have difficulty manifesting themselves unless they are cast into a living body. I have form only when I can share another's body, but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds. From philosopher's stone page 213. In book four, The Goblet of Fire, Voldemort goes into more detail of how he possessed Professor Queriel as well as animals. Quote, I could possess the bodies of others. I sometimes inhabited animals, snakes, of course, being my preference. But I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic, and my possession of them shortened their lives. None of them lasted long. Then four years ago, the means of my return seen matured, a wizard, a young, foolish, and gullible wandered across my path in the forest. I had made my home where I'd made my home. He was easy to bend to my will. I took possession of his body to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders. I mean, this is Harry Potter. This is what young people are reading. The Goblet of Fire, page 567. Remember, can you mind-boggling 567 pages? This is one of the books. In the Philosopher's Stone, Harry discovers that he is different from his non-witch parents. His parents are not witches. He's different from his non-witch parents. The non-witch parents are called Muggles. M-U-G-G-L-E-S. I'm not sure what Muggles has to do with, but that's what non-witch witches are called. Muggles in the book. Due to various unexplained supernatural occurrences being a feature in his life, Harry becomes very aware of this. That is, that his family are not witches. His parents are not witches, especially when he goes to the zoo. So Harry is now going to go to the zoo, and he's going to find out, really, that he's not like his parents. It is here at the zoo, out of all animals, that Harry discovers that he is able to communicate with the snake. Philosopher's Stone, pages 25-26. The Bible depicts Satan as being a serpent. So we go to Genesis 3. Not that you've ever read it, but we'll just go read it.

In Genesis chapter 3, and the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. So here we have a person, Eve, talking to the serpent. So Harry was able to go to the zoo, and he could talk with the snake. He realized he wasn't like his parents. His parents were not witches. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the snake, the serpent, said unto the woman, one of the greatest lies of all time, You shall not surely die.

Of course, we know that the wages of sin is death. In 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 3, let's go there, 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 3, Harry can talk to the snakes at the zoo. He realizes he's not like his parents.

In 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 3, But I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

It's amazing that in the day and age in which the peoples of the world need God, more than they ever needed God, are turned to devils. Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.

And in Revelation 12 verse 9, which was quoted at least once or twice, Revelation 12 verse 9, which I would imagine most of you can quote, we shall read.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world he was cast into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Now notice this, and I heard a loud voice saying, In heaven now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of the brethren is cast down, who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him. How are you going to overcome Satan the devil after he is cast down? They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. By the blood of the Lamb, it is through the blood of the Lamb that we can be reconciled to God and Christ and receive forgiveness and God's Spirit. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, the word of their testimony. They stood in the gap. They spoke the truth. They loved the truth. They did not compromise with the truth. And they loved not their lives until the deaths, and they were willing to die for it. And I suspect that God will supernaturally intervene for those who love the truth, who do not compromise, who might look like they are going to die, but he delivers them because they are faithful to the truth. Verse 17, And the dragon was mad with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. In book 2, The Chamber of Secrets, Harry eventually discovers that the incident at the zoo wasn't just a one-time event, but that he actually has the gift of being able to talk to snakes through a language called partial tongue. He can talk to the snakes through this special language, partial tongue. Of course, we know about people speaking in gibberish. That's from Chamber of the Secrets, page 145. Harry discovers this special tongue. So, the great end-time deception comes to a great crescendo when Satan possesses the person who is the beast. This person then does Satan's bidding, and through this person, Satan's insatiable quest to be worshipped is realized. So, we continue in chapter 13. And it stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads, ten horns, upon his horns, ten crowns upon his head, the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw like a leopard, beat was the feet of a bear, mouth is the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. Remember in Daniel chapter 8, and he received power and that night of his own, and he'll stand up against the prince of princes? The dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wandered after the beast, and they worshipped the dragon which gave power to the beast. And they worshipped the beast, saying, who is liken to the beast? Who's able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, similar to 2 Thessalonians 2. And power was given unto him to continue three and a half years. And he opened his mouth and blasphemed me against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints overcome them, and power was given unto him over all kentrids and tongues and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of the life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world.

Verse 9, if any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity. He that kills with his sword must be killed with his sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. So, brethren, I hope we have that faith and patience of the saints, and we want to make sure that our names are written in the Lamb's book of life.