Spiritual Warfare: The Illuminating Salesman

The art of selling is one of the most skilful professions anyone can undertake. Due to the fact that you don’t meet the same scenario every time, you have to be as creative as ever to be successful each time, especially when you are dealing with human beings. So, a successful salesman ought to be respected as such.

One of the most successful salesmen in history is the Devil (Satan). Many people think he’s just a violent man who causes trouble and kill people all the time. He’s far much more than that. He’s a master at the art of persuasion. He knows all the mesmerising techniques of persuasion and winning the hearts of men and woman. He has been at it for centuries and he’s perfected his skills to near flawlessness. He has hardly lost any sales! Therefore, he ought to be respected. Only with a few has he failed to sell to – and those defeated him with the same tactic.

How Does the Devil Sell?
First, he sells with words. Let’s see: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen 3:1 GW).

Many people still hold the belief that Satan was a snake who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. Well, I won’t argue, let’s see what the Bible tells us about that serpent in the Garden.

“The serpent stood on the sandy shore of the sea. I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns, seven heads, and ten crowns on its horns. There were insulting names on its heads.” (Rev 13:1 GW). Here we see that the crawling serpent can stand.

“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world–he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Rev 12:9) So, the devil or Satan was the serpent.

Having established that the serpent was not just an ordinary snake, but the devil; Now, let’s look closely at how he sells.

The Glitz and Glamour

Money Trolley

Who knows the pinnacle of an acting career? An Oscar! Does being awarded and receiving it among other superstars and celebrities get any glitzier? There is no greater glamour on the world today than colleagues to nominate you for end-of-the-year’s accolades. How is this possible? Many things, but I will cite one or two. Hype!

Everything is based on hype; blow it out of all proportions. Do you know that it is the person who sets the rules in a game that has the upper hand? The devil sets the bar of achieving success in Hollywood so high that, in most cases, it will take an allegiance (selling your soul) to him is the ONLY way to achieve it. He creates a status quo to be desired.

Have you noticed the symbolic representation of success in Hollywood? It is the star of Baphometh! Do you also notice that when they are being inducted, they bow and worship? “And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, ‘all this power will I give you, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If you therefore will worship me, all shall be yours.’” (Luke 4:5-7)

The fact that you’re a believer does not mean you’re exempt from this, in fact, you can see that he did this to Jesus Christ (God) Himself. How does he sell this package to believers today? He makes them to see opportunities of “pastoring” big congregations, making so much money, having all their problems sorted, and so on. All he needs from them is to do his bidding; it may be to sleep with another man (that is one of the reasons why you have many gay pastors), deny a truth of the Word and lead many astray in their faith, such as twisting the scriptures – we see this with some popular preachers who preach erroneous doctrines such as “gospel of annihilation” and so on.

Satan illuminates their senses and imaginations to see a glory that this world gives and they buy it. That illumination calls out for pride – the pride of life. And they succumb to it. Yes, the illuminating salesman won!”

Class Distinction
There is nothing more persuasive for man than setting some lofty goals and adding exceptional rewards with it. The devil helps man to create class distinction so that a man will strive to get acceptability and recognition among the elite in his industry, town or country. Just watch the drive of that man in his striving to acquire the accolades and societal successful identity. Everything else becomes secondary; he runs day and night, sacrifices anything and everything that comes in his way, some go as far as sacrificing members of their own families.

I will tell the story of Mark (not real name) in Hungary who used to be financially capable, then somehow things just took a negative turn and he lost everything and started struggling with life, this continued for several years. His life was so diminished that sickness and poverty were his best of friends. His sister, Janet (not real name), who was a “Christian” would call and send some stipends to him; it was as if she was his lifeline. She had become very rich.

Recently, James (not real name), Janet’s husband, came to confess the secret of his problem to him; James revealed that it was Janet, his own sister, who had donated his life to Satan in a secret society ritual. He confessed that Janet was asked to mention the name of her sacrificial lamb at the initiation and it has to be someone she really loves, and it was Mark she gave. From that point onwards Mark’s life took a different turn in life. Why did this woman sell her own brother to Satan? She wanted to satisfy her human wants of being among the elite of this world. The illuminating salesman won again.

Deadly Provocation
This is a master act of Satan. People lose their blessings every day because they allow the devil to succeed in provoking them either to act foolishly or get angry and sin against God. Satan persuades people to provoke others to cause serious havoc so that they can lose their blessings.

“And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not.

Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.” (2Kings 3:26 -27 KJV2000).

In essence, the man shed the blood of a loved person and the host of hell was unleashed against his enemies. In witchcraft, when they can’t get to shed blood directly, discharged blood from monthly period or abortion is used. When this is done, you will see conflict and provocation all over the place, especially against specific targets of the witch.

He’s got all the obscenities and crafty nasty swear words you could ever hear or imagine! He made them all, so next time you hear someone swear, just know that he’s been learning from this deadly illuminating salesman. Some Christians even try to use swear words to rebuke Satan. At those times, he’s laughing his head off because they are speaking his language. You can’t rebuke the devil by cussing! F* Satan? He’s laughing at your vile mouth, which causes a stink in God’s presence.

The Salesman Up-sells

Salesman Up-sells

Have you ever noticed when you are buying a new suit or dress, the shop assistant would make you to see one that with a little more money is of higher quality and value? Just as you make that purchase, he quickly shows you a matching pair of shoes, bags and other accessories with some discount? That style of merchandizing is called up-selling. It is legal and nothing wrong with it. But, I reveal something to you, friend, the devil is the master salesman at this style of selling. How?

“By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.” (Ezekiel 28:16)

That covering cherub is Satan. He’s a master merchandiser with countless tricks!

How does he do this? It is at various levels, depending on who you are, he knows what he can use to entice and snare you. I won’t go into depth, but he would entice you with a desire for something that appeals to your senses, something that will make you enjoy the accolade of peers and neighbours, something that really looks good to acquire. It is usually an exaggerated need.

It could be a car, even though you have a nice car, you just become dissatisfied after seeing a new model or a flashy one. From that moment, that motivates all you do – you start running after things.

It may be of inordinate affection. As a married man, even though you have a wonderful wife at home, but there is this female colleague at the office who is always smiling at and looking after you, making sure that everything is okay; with time, you being to notice and even some of your other colleagues come to you and poke you of your “blindness” about the gorgeous lady who “loves” you. You complain that, “I’m married and I love my wife.” They laugh at you and reply, “And so what? It doesn’t matter, everybody does it and no one will know anything, you better ‘hit’ her before the opportunities run out.” Soon enough, you get involved and actually make the “hit”. You just bought from the illuminating salesman!

I know a man, he married a pretty woman and after marrying this lady, his mother-in-law got so jealous that she seduced him and they started having a sinful relationship; and the man was supposed to be a Christian. Do you know what he was selling here? Greed! Greed is the motivating factor behind that new flashy car purchase; it is the driving force behind a married man having an affair; it is the driving force behind the acquisition of things! The illuminating salesman has won again!

The devil is a subtle character and he knows his trade very well.

Fear Factor Selling
Satan is an expert at selling fear. He does it every day. Where? News; Check your TV news headline or newspaper’s front page, what do you see? Panic, a forerunner of fear! “20,000 to Lose Their Jobs!” “600 Hurt as Egypt Crisis Deepens!” “Schizophrenic in Killing Rampage”. While most of these are actual events being reported, but why is the bad one made to look worse? It is to draw attention and hence create a panic and stress within the mind. When this mind is soaked with fear, it becomes a prey for the devil to penetrate.

Fear comes mostly from a lack of knowledge or from the unknown. Satan uses fear of loss (to make you get into debts), fear of loneliness (to make you commit sexual sins), fear of poverty (to make you steal), fear of rejection (to make you compromise), fear of failure (to make you sell your soul), etc. to torment people repeatedly. In fact, God always encourage His own not to be afraid, because fear has torment. It paralyses and destroys.

Fear of Poverty

With fear comes tension. Tension is a strong feeling that makes the body chemicals run riot. Although usually internally sensed as an emotion, it actually is physical.

It makes your muscles stressed up involuntarily, so tense that the muscles can sometimes stiffen. Someone said, “It is uncomfortable and makes you want to do something to reduce the tension. Emotions that are felt as tension include:  irritation, anger, fear, emptiness, hunger, longing, wishing, discomfort, anticipation.”

Art of Word Framing
This is by far one of Satan’s strongest weapons. Expert professionals know that information, expertly framed, can make a huge impact on the populace. It is the art of taking a totally deplorable matter and making it acceptable. I will cite a typical example of a well-known politician.

In 1952, Richard Nixon was running to become the vice-president under Dwight Eisenhower; in the middle of their campaign, allegations of Nixon’s sponsorship being a creation of some rich bigwigs erupted. It was meant to end his career. Initially, he denied it, but the news wouldn’t go away. Then he appeared on the national TV and confessed that all he ever received as a politician was a little cocker spaniel named Checkers.

Who would, by the way, kick against a man accepting the gift of a puppy for his little girls? The American public was swayed and people turned to support him en-masse. Can you see that? A sinner became a saint overnight through the use of words!

Another name for this style of approach is Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). It is the twisting of words, which is a powerful way to apply deception. The spirit of Jezebel is an expert at this art!

The devil came to Eve and asked, “Has God said…?” He didn’t stop there, he went further by saying, “…God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)

He reframed the whole setting for Eve to see a different picture and she did. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.…” (Genesis 3:6).

The devil painted a different picture of sin and Eve saw and she was easily deceived. This is why he’s called an Angel of Light, because he’s got an uncanny ability to twist scriptures!

I can’t even begin to go deep in how he reframes the scriptures and created so many religions that we see around the world today. Talk of the illuminating salesman at his best!

One major key of successful spiritual warfare will be to know your enemy and what he’s capable of doing. Don’t go to war with the devil in ignorance, otherwise he will make you buy his wares and either makes you believe in falsehood or destroy you.

Then we’ll see how the hunted can become the hunter: “The Dead Cobra!”

The final part: Advanced Spiritual Warfare – “Frustrating The Devil”

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