P.O. Box 640109

El Paso, TX 79904

25 January, 1998

Dear Children,

Boy did we ever get Satan stirred up last week. Talk about spiritual warfare!!! We (the Comforter and I) had a full fledge battle on our hands and we fought it together as I sat right here in this chair. I had a sermonet to write, and I knew what I wanted to write, but no matter how hard I tried it just wouldn’t come out. I mean it got so bad I thought I was just going to have to give up and call it quits till next week. But through prayer and determination (faith in God) we were able to break through Satan’s communication block (between the Holy Spirit and me) and get the message written that He had intended for me to write.

You see the Father had a message for me to give to you but Satan did everything in his power to stop it. And not only did he mess with my mind but he jumped on the computer too. Because it was after the sermonet was finally finished that I stored it on hard drive and three disketts; but I found out a short while later that all of them were unretrievable. In other words the information was stored, and I could see it on the screen, but I couldn’t print it or use it. It was a totally useless sermonet. But being wise to Satan’s tricks I was one step ahead of him. I had made a copy for printing before I saved the sermonet, and that’s how I was able to get the message to you in time. And as I was rewriting the sermonet again yesterday (for future use on e-mail and fax) I found several mistakes, although none of them really changed the meaning of the text. So please consider the battle I was fighting at the time and excuse the minor errors.

But anyway, that’s the way Satan works. He’s mean and nasty and he’ll do everything possible to stop the True Word of God from getting to those who need it. And if you remember the message from last week we were discussing the Comforter (Holy Spirit); what the Christian Science people believe in and what the word of God actually says. They say it was Mary Baker Eddy who sometime in the late 1800’s discovered the scientific secret of how to "get" the Comforter to come. Because, as it is found on their Internet web page, "...Mrs Eddy... the one chosen of God to present the Comforter Jesus prayed for God to send---another Comforter which would not usurp his place as wayshower but take its place in the fulfillment of prophecy."

Well I’ve got a secret to tell the Christian Science people. You see last week we read the word’s of Jesus as He made this promise of another Comforter to the disciples. And reading these beautiful words once again (John 14:15-18) to refresh your memory, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."

That was what He promised and He didn’t wait 1800 years to do what He said He was going to do. He did it very shortly after His death on the cross; sometime during the year 33 AD (over 1700 years before Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy was even born). And it was in Acts 2:1-4 that the happening of this great event, as promised by Jesus Christ, was recorded. "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

That’s when the Comforter came and He has been here ever since. But you see Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy didn’t have the Comforter because she didn’t meet the requirements that were absolutely necessary in order to receive the Comforter: "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter." She didn’t love Jesus because she didn’t believe that He was God in the flesh and she definitely didn’t keep His commandments. And therefore because of disobedience she couldn’t have the Comforter... and that’s why she had to come up with her very own... and that’s why she had to write her book entitled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

Understand? Well if you remember the story about her life (the one that I gave you from the Internet in the first message on Christian Science) you will remember that this religion of her’s came about because of her remarkable healing after a near death accident. But reading once again, just to refresh your memory, the story of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy before she married Mr. Eddy, "...Mary Patterson, walking with friends to a Temperance meeting, slipped on the icy pathway and fell, sustaining severe internal injury. She was carried into a nearby residence. A doctor was called. It was thought she could not survive... all feared that she would soon die."

So as you can see things didn’t look too good for Mary. But the story goes on to say, "The third day, however, Mary asked for her Bible. Alone in her room, she prayerfully opened the loved Scriptures. She read the account of Jesus healing a paralyzed man. Something in Jesus’ words to the paralytic and his friends who displayed such faith in the man’s worthiness to be healed, and the Master’s ability to do miraculous wonders, awakened Mary to a conviction that divine Truth and Love conveyed the healing power. Like the man who was healed nineteen centuries earlier, Mrs. Patterson rose up from her bed, healed. She dressed herself and walked into the next room where her friends awaited her death. They were astonished even as those present when Jesus healed the palsied man were amazed, impressed with God’s glory, and even filled with fear."

OK, so this lady named Mary was rebellious against the True Word of God. And even though she didn’t believe in the most important thing the Holy Bible has to say (Jesus Christ is God in the flesh), she was able to be "healed" of her wounds that should have caused her death.

So I guess you might could say pretty miraculous huh? Because knowing what we know from the Scriptures, ("If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter."), there should be a great big question mark forming in your head as to how Mary got her healing. If she wasn’t able to receive the healing power from the real Comforter, because of her unbelief in Jesus, then how in the world did she get healed?

Well the real life story of Jesus that we are about to read took place shortly after the twelve disciples had been chosen. And in this snapshot from the past we will see Jesus work miracles through the power of the Comforter just as He had done in the story Mary read while on her death bed. You see it’s in this story about miracles that I intend to show you that her’s probably wasn’t. Because the answer to the question (how did Mary receive healing from the Comforter if she didn’t have the Comforter?) can be found in these Scriptures.

So turning to Matthew chapter 12 verse 1, and reading, "At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day."

Now keep it in mind that the Pharisees were another one of those religious groups that didn’t believe Jesus was God in person (the Son of God). They too had "written their own book" leaving out the fact that this Jesus was the Christ. They didn’t want to believe it, they didn’t believe it, and that’s why they gave Him such a hard time about having lunch on "Sunday" (in those days Saturday was actually the sabbath). In reality what they were doing was trying to tell God how to run His universe because it was Jesus as the Word of God Who did it all. What idiots!!!

And what did Jesus have to say in return? Reading on into verse 3, "But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priest? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priest in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day."

How bout them apples Satan? Can you see how utterly stupid these Pharisees were? I mean to argue with God about the laws that He Himself had given to Moses is just a little bit insane. To think that you know more than God can only end up taking you to Hell... and that brings us back to the subject of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science.

But anyway, continuing on into verse 9, "And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days."

Have you ever heard the expression "I dare you to step across that line?" Well that’s what the most holy religious Pharisees were saying to Jesus when He went into their synagogue that day. They were tempting Him to break their law so that they would have the legal rights to kill Him. You see they really didn’t care if He was God, because they just wanted Him dead.

But Jesus wasn’t afraid of their intimidation’s (attempt to scare Him) and He took them up on their challenge. Because in His very next move He walked boldly across their line. Reading it for ourselves in verses 13-14, "Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him."

Wow, talking about licking the red right off their candy!!! Jesus showed them, but to say the least it didn’t make them happy. They were mad; boiling mad. In fact they were so mad that they went right on out and started their research on "how to get rid of Jesus". But Jesus caught wind of their scheming and He did the most logical thing that He could possibly do; He healed more. And reading from verses 15-21 we can see it for ourselves: "But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust."

Now I don’t know about you but when I read these words they turned on like a flashing neon sign. After what we talked about last week (the Trinity: the Body, the Soul, and the Spirit) it seems as though God has led us right on into these truths once again. To be honest with you I have never before caught the importance of this particular verse until now. But the truth of the matter is that Jesus as the Word of God, before He walked on this earth in the body of Jesus Christ, gave to the prophet Isaiah (Esaias) the words that Matthew would use in this particular Scripture (found in Isaiah 42:1). And it was these words that describe to a "T" God in three persons. Because the Word of God speaking the word’s of God told Isaiah, "...my servant,... in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him...". You see "my servant" is God in the body (Jesus) in whom God the Father ("my soul") gave the Comforter ("my spirit") so that He (Jesus the man) could do the works and miracles of Jesus the Christ (God as man). Wow, I love it!!!

All right, so the Pharisees dared Jesus to heal on Sunday and boy did He ever take the dare. Not only did He heal the one, but He healed each and every one that followed Him out of the synagogue. And it was the each and every one part that totaled up to what the Scriptures call "great multitudes". And in plain and simple language that only means there was a flock of em that got their healing on Sunday. But Jesus didn’t stop there. Noooo. You see Jesus not only stepped across their line but He just kept right on walking. Because in the very next verse He gave one of His most powerful demonstrations of His Holy Ghost power for all to see.

So reading on into verse 22, "Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils."

This miracle was the miracles of all miracles; the one that knocked their socks off so to speak. You see this fellow was what you would call a basket case. He not only had a demon but on top of that he couldn’t see, hear, or talk. And because he didn’t know what was going on he had no way of exercising his faith in Jesus. But since Jesus is God He can do anything and everything that is good and perfect. And it was His will that this poor helpless man who was under the attack of demonic forces be healed. And that’s exactly what He did; He healed him.

Jesus did the impossible and everybody and their brother started thinking seriously about whether what the Pharisees were saying was true. And that in turn got the Pharisees even hotter; to the point of calling Jesus the Christ a name like Beelzebub. Now just in case you didn’t know it, this was the insult of all insults. Beelzebub was the god of the Philistines who was the Jews most hated enemy. And this Philistine god was known as the god of flies, the dung god, or lord of the dunghill. This god was the most vile and repulsive idol of those times, and this was what they were calling Jesus.

And reading Jesus’ reply as found in verses 25-28, "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."

You see it was through the Almighty Power of God (the Holy Spirit; the Comforter) that Jesus actually cast out this demon (devil) from the man. It was not just a magic show to impress the people but the honest to goodness real thing. Jesus chased them demons right out of the man because Satan and his demonic gang are the enemies of God. And since He had (and still does have) the power over Satan and his demonic kingdom, you had better believe that He used it. But on the other hand Jesus talked about the followers of the Pharisees when He said, "And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges."

Now there’s just one thing we need to clear up before we go any further with this message. Satan is the master of disguises. He wears many hats (black ones at that) but some of them don’t portray (show) him to be who he really is. You see Satan is described in the Word of God at least ten different ways. He is known as: a serpent, a crocodile, the great red dragon, a roaring lion, fowls, scorpions, a wolf, the fowler, an adder, and the angel of light. And if you were to meet any one of these on a lonely dark road you would probably very quickly loose control of yourself; with the exception of one. The one that wouldn’t make you loose it (unless you understood who he was) would be the angel of light.

You see in this form Satan is not ugly (by appearance anyway). In this form Satan takes on a entirely different image of good and not evil. Now that doesn’t mean he’s not bad but he just appears not to be. So you see you could be standing right in front of Satan (in the form of the angel of light) and think he is one of God’s finest. And that’s exactly why he uses this disguise. It is a known fact that there are many rebellious people in this world who flat out ain’t ashamed to admit that they worship Satan. But on the other hand there are those who would shake in their boots at just the thought of having Satan as their god. So you can see in order for Satan to accommodate everyone, and to sucker those who really don’t care to be associated with him, he uses the disguise of the angel of light.

And that’s why we find Paul saying in II Corinthians 11:13-15, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

You see these followers of the Pharisees, although thinking they were doing great miracles of God, were in effect not getting rid of the problem (casting out the demons) but merely making them invisible (removing the outward signs; disease, blindness, etc.). They did not have the power of the Holy Ghost (Comforter) because they, just as their fearless leaders, had not accepted Jesus as Lord. And it was only Satan, as the angel of light, pulling the wool over the eyes of the bystanders so that he might get more recruits into his most holy religion. Ain’t Satan smart.

So the one thing that you must always keep in mind is that it’s Satan who invented all these tortures called sickness, pain, and death. He’s the one who puts these things on us and likewise he’s the one who can also take them off. Because if it benefits him to remove a curse that he has already made real, such as Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy’s injuries which appeared to be serious enough for her to die, then why shouldn’t he do it. You see if she would have died before she wrote her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Satan’s kingdom would have been shortchanged considerably. Because it was her book, with all it’s twisted teachings on the Holy Bible, that has now resulted (since the date of it’s publication) in many many souls being won into the kingdom of Satan. His followers are increasing... whether they know it or not.

And in closing, for all of you who might be associated with the false religion of Christian Science or any other religion that doesn’t believe Jesus is God, please listen up. Satan has much power and he is very good at deceiving people. And in the book of Revelation we can see just how much power he has by reviewing a few selected verses from chapter 13. Reading the words of John as he describes what he saw in his vision of the future, "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea... And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and his authority...And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth... And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him... And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do..."

This ain’t no joke. Satan (the dragon) was invested with (given) a whole lot of power. God gave it to him when he was the good angel Lucifer but to be used for good. He has since turned on God and is now using it for bad. So don’t be fooled by the Christian Scientist ability to conduct what appears to be "great healing miracles". The Christian Science religion is not of God... but Satan is trying his dead level best (through his magic tricks) to convince the unsuspecting bystander that it is.

Don’t be fooled, don’t be tricked, know your Bible and keep the faith!!!

Love,

Dad (Bruce Hallman)