Let us now turn to the book of Genesis chapter 3. I'm just going to read for you one verse from Genesis chapter 3 and that is verse 4. Verse 4. Genesis chapter 3 verse 4. And the serpent said unto the woman, He shall not surely die. He shall not surely die. The title this morning is, Can Satan deceive us through healthcare? Can Satan deceive us through healthcare? Last week, a sister in the Lord asked me, Can we be deceived through healthcare? I thought this is a good question that I should take to the Lord. To go to the Lord means to go to his words. God does not speak in an audible words with us. He has given us his words to know the things we must know. Therefore, let us go to the word of God. But before that, let me begin by saying that we always wish and we pray for good health, isn't it? We know that good health is so very important. We don't want to die. We don't want to suffer. We aim for good health. The reason for having such a desire and the reason for aiming at such a desire is that we may live a longer life. Many people from all over the world, when wishing others on their birthday, they say, may you live a thousand years. It does not actually mean that this person is going to literally live for 1,000 years, but it means that a person may live many, many more years to come. And there is a birthday song in Hindi which expresses such sentiment. And in this song, the man prays that the woman he loves may live 1,000 years. Why is it that we have such a deep desire to live a healthy life and a long life? This is because eternity is put in our hearts. This is because we humans were created by God for a perfect life on earth, with a life of health, perfect life of health, and to live forever. God was very concerned about our health and eternity. Therefore, the Lord God warned Adam and Eve. In fact, this was the only warning that God gave to mankind when he first created male and female. Genesis chapter 2 verse 16 and 17 says, And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eat thereof thou shalt surely die. You'll die. God our creator made us for eternity and for perfect health. He did not want us to die. He did not want us to suffer in our body with bad health. But the enemy of our soul wanted just that, that we suffer in our body and that we die. How would ill health and death come upon us? This would be when we disobey God. The enemy of our soul knew this. Lucifer, the angel, first in rank, when he disobeyed God, he was separated from the most holy God and the light became darkness in him. He died in his holiness. He became evil. He knew that he would die forever. Therefore, if someone could make us break God's command, make us eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, we would suffer in health and we would die. So Satan came along and deceived Eve. He convinced her that if she ate the fruit of the tree of good and evil, she will not surely die, but that her eyes shall be opened and she shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. The first woman, the mother of all human beings, fell for the deception, and she even allued her husband in receiving it in his being, and he also ate. The devil, Satan, or the serpent as he is called, deceived Eve. Is this what the Bible says? Does God's word actually use the word deceived? The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 2 verses 13 and 14. For Adam was first form, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Does the Bible actually say that Satan or the serpent deceived Eve? The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3, But I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. The serpent beguiled Eve. through his subtlety. to deceive the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. So the Bible clearly says that Satan, the serpent and or the devil is the deceiver. We are all saying Satan, serpent, the devil is the deceiver. The first deception that Satan turned to deceive Eve and Adam was in regard to health and life. God said, if you disobey me, you shall die. Satan said, no, you will not die, but become like God's. To become like God's means you will never fall ill and you will never deteriorate and you will never die. The moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God, immediately the virus of sin set in our human souls and in our human bodies. Imperfection set in our flesh and death entered our bodies. This sin in our soul began to mutate. and new strains of disobedience, stealing, killing, adultery, idolatry, fornication, anger, hatred, unforgiveness, cheating and, you know, the rest began to spread in our souls. Because of the deception from Satan, our health was ruined and death came into the world. Because our first parents believed that Satan has a better health plan and a better eternity for us, our first parents gave into the lie of Satan. And all this for better health, better knowledge, for higher power, and better life. And of course, if they become like gods, they live forever by themselves, without God's help, It was that we shall be like gods. Then on, we have been following SNHS. That is Satan's National Health Service, which he provides for the whole world to keep us happy, live longer, and enjoy life. The question now to ask is, after deceiving our first parents, did Satan continue to allure people to himself with health care? If yes, how did he do this? There is enough evidence found in the whole earth as to how Satan continued his health care plan and kept them under him. enough evidence. It is found even today. So what did he do? He raised up shamans, witch doctors, medicine men, obeya doctors, mudang. These are men and women who practice voodoo, sorcery, divination and so on. All these in different cultures have different names. All these practices, all manner of witchcraft along with medicines to cure, to heal sicknesses, disease, to perform exorcism, to bring in rain, perform animal sacrifices in order that life may be extended and to bring prosperity and security. There were men and women who believed that they could control events. People went to them. On the 31st of January 2021, the sermon was titled, Rebellion is like Witchcraft. In it we saw how diviners, enchanters, consulters with familiar spirits, wizards, charmers, necromancers and sorcerers attracted people to receive healing and power and prosperity and success. They did this by the power of the devil. They worshipped Satan. These men and women were much respected. They were called medicine men. This was their trade. They earned for their living by this trade. No one could challenge their authority. You must have heard about Oracle of Delphi. in Greece. It was located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, about six miles from the Gulf of Corinth. And there was this sanctuary dedicated to Pytho, or Python, the serpent. The story is that Apollo killed this Python and burnt it. And the priestess of the Oracle at Delphi became known as Pythia, after the place named Pytho. And this place was considered as a center of the earth by the Greeks. This place became a sanctuary of the serpent. A single priestess lived there. She was chosen to serve as a bridge between this world and the next. People from all walks of life, from kings to the poorest men, generals, farmers, traders, they would all come here to find solution to their problems. Now, all Greeks did not believe in superstitions. There were men that observed and experimented and learned the truth about things around them. They tried to find solution through good science. good medicines, but majority of the people were roped in by shamans. We who come from India, from Nigeria, from other parts of the world, we are very familiar with this type of shamans. But with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the gospel went out in many places, the role of shamans or the witch doctor diminished and went underground. But nevertheless, it was not altogether destroyed. It is not destroyed. In days gone by, in the land of Korea, for example, The Mudangs, a Korean name for shamans or the witch doctors or the medicine men, held a society under their spell. People highly respected them. They were afraid of them. They were people who held power and knowledge about people's problems, both physical and spiritual. People went to consult them for everything, especially for cures. But come 1920-21, the Lord awakened the minds of the people in Korea to the truth. Missionaries and local converts preached the gospel. Through much persecution, the churches in Korea grew in leaps and bounds. By 1950, the Republic of Korea in the South became the most Christian country in the Eastern world. Korea came under the influence of the Lord Jesus Christ. The shamans went into hiding. Until the coming of Christ, Satan had kept the world under deception. He provided solutions to the problems of the world through witch doctors. First he put mankind in problems and then he introduced different things to take away their problems. But it was he who held them together under his hands, tyrannical hands. But everything that he introduced to mankind only led them into more bondage towards destruction. Under the influence of the Bible, people of the world began to be freed from superstition, ancestral spirits, and fear of dark forces. Men, under the influence of the Word of God, began to unravel the mystery that surrounded the earth. And then with the Protestant Reformation, science came of age in the West. Its influence was spread all over the world. Missionaries from the West took the gospel and true science wherever they went. The power of shamans, witch doctors and so on began to diminish as hospitals and schools were established. But mind you, let us not forget that the West was as much influenced by Satan as any other place. The whole earth was in His hand, under His influence. As the Bible says, He is the God of this world. Now, King Solomon the son of David. He was a scientist, a philosopher, a man who all his life spent much time to understand man, God and the earth. And he says something very important, being inspired by the Holy Spirit. being inspired by God, he says something very important about all kind of knowledge. What he says must always be kept in mind, especially we Christians. He admonishes all those that seek knowledge, saying, that's in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verses 12 to 14. He says, of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. The conclusion is this, fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Clearly Solomon, inspired by the Holy Spirit and being convicted of his sins, declares, fear God and keep his commands, keep his commands, for this is the whole duty of man. God will judge every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it be evil. This means men of scientific knowledge, men of power in politics can do evil and will do evil. They can and will reject to obey God's commands. They can and have the desire to control events and control people. Men with great knowledge, whether it be science, medicine, politics, or trade, they can and have the desire to do evil like the shamans, like the witch doctors, like the medicine men. The spirit of Satan can take over them and use them to fulfill his goal. He can deceive them. And in turn, these can deceive the whole earth. Anyone who falls at the feet of Satan to acquire knowledge and wealth and the things of this world and the power, he will give it to them. As long as you fall at his feet and obey him and consider him to be your God. being cut off from God, mankind was at the mercy of Satan. Satan became the god of this world. Now, there was deeply rooted, deeply rooted in the minds of the early people and it was fresh in their memory that God had destroyed the whole world by flood. After the flood, the earth was again populated through the three sons of Noah. People that grew in number after the flood remembered how God had destroyed the whole world. However, they continued to disobey God and then being led by their leader Nimrod, they erected a mighty tower reaching to the sky to protect themselves from the flood. They believed that this tower would protect them from God's wrath. If we reach up to the sky, to the heavens, that water will not reach them. And so the Tower of Babel was the first technological wonder of the world. But here at the very tower, at the very heart of man's innovative knowledge, the Lord God confused the language of the people and they began to speak in many languages. They would not put their trust in God. They would not turn away from their sin, but rather they empowered themselves to build this huge tower, Tower of Babel. and the Lord confused their languages. They could not understand each other and so they were scattered all over the earth. However, from that time to now, mankind has come a long way in trying to protect themselves. Men have built big, bigger, biggest towers in forms of buildings and bridges and even sending spacecraft in the sky. We began building big and wondrous things and have now come to nanotechnology. We now boast of fitting many things in a chip as small as a grain. the wonders of this earth through technology and science. And with this technology and science we believe we have come to the point where we can reset ourselves and unite ourselves as one body against God. Satan wants to get into our very body and make it his temple. He wants to imitate God, for God through Christ Jesus has come into our hearts, the hearts of his people, and has made us his temple, the temple of his Holy Spirit. Satan wants to get into our very flesh through technology and science. Science and technology have gained much respectability through its wonders, that mankind, as even Christian leaders, have more faith in it than God. This was how Adam and Eve was moved away from God to Satan. Moreover, Christians are forsaken the warning that Solomon the wise gives in the scriptures. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Knowledge is wonderful. Our God is knowledgeable. And he wants us to have knowledge of the world, no doubt about it, but under his direction. And we got to be under his obedience, exalting him, glorifying him. However, there is another warning. that God gives us for our present time, a warning that we can get deceived through healthcare. And this is found in Revelation chapter 18. Of course, we cannot read the whole chapter because of limited time. This chapter is talking about Babylon. Babylon is compared to the world, the world of sin, the world under the influence of Satan. The Bible in this chapter says, all the nations have drunk of Babylon, or the world. It has drunk the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the kings, the rulers of the earth, have committed fornication with her. And the merchants, that is businessmen that love money and power, are grown rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Jesus warns, saying, Come out of her, and be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heavens, and God has remembered her sins. God is going to destroy her. You will remember Jesus saying, You are in the world, but not of the world. Now among many other reasons why God is going to destroy the world which is called by the name of Babylon, the Bible in Revelation 18 23 gives another reason why the nations will be destroyed. The nation will be destroyed says the last portion of verse 23 in chapter 18. He says, because thy merchants, that is businessmen, rich men, traders, are great men of the earth. They have become great by trading and so on. For by thy sorceries, by the sorceries of the world, all nations were deceived. Now let us look into the word sorceries. In Greek it is pharmakia or pharmacy. What does it mean? It means the use or the administering of drugs. It means poisoning. It means magical arts and it is associated with idolatry. In Revelation chapter 12 verse 9 the Bible again uses the word in relation with pharmacy. But this time it is pharmacist. Revelation chapter 21 verse 8, where the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Here the word for sorcerers is one who prepares or uses magical remedies, a drug that is a spell-giving potion. The etymological meaning of pharmacy or pharmaceutical is very occultic. It is a symbol of two snakes entwined on a rod. You can read it for yourself. Now I am in no way saying that medicines are occultic in the sense that they are from the devil. I'm not saying our doctors are devilish. I'm not saying that our NHS is controlled by the devil and all the medicines we take are from the devil. Please, no. We thank God that we have benefited much from this system. But what I'm saying is evil men, lovers of money, very, very rich men, hungry for power, can use politicians and scientists to corrupt medicines. They can do it. What I'm saying is evil scientists and medicine men, technologists can use it for casting spells and turning the hearts of men towards Satan. I'm not saying this because I want to say it. No, I get this knowledge from the word of God. Moreover, Hollywood The voice of the world confirms that such traders, businessmen, scientists, rulers, medicine men do exist, or at least there is a possibility of such men living in our world. Many films have these characters. But the Word of God makes it very plain. It says, For by thy sorceries all nations were deceived. They were deceived. They will be deceived. Deceived through what? Through the reason of health. Through the reason of health. The Bible says those who make such medicine, such mixture and deceive people will not enter into the kingdom of God. They will burn in the lake of fire. Revelation 21 verse 8, But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whomongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And then again Revelation chapter 22 verse 15, for without, that is outside, are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. Make it a lie. Sorcerers are liars. They deny God. They hate God. They follow after Satan. They want to be honored and become masters of the people. They want to rule over the people of the village, the town, and obviously the whole earth. The Bible says disobedience is like witchcraft. If any person is constantly under disobedience to God, the serpent will take over that person, isn't it? so also the society and the nation. Solomon clearly says, of making books there is no end, and much study is the weariness of the flesh. But let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. The warning is that we should not be carried away by knowledge. What is important to know is whether this knowledge is used for good or for evil, for deception or for truth, to obey God or to disobey God, to have faith in God or to lead man to unbelief. We know for sure that scientific and technological knowledge, seeing its wonders, have led many people, many people, to unbelief. Many people. They don't want to do anything with God. I believe in science. You cannot prove you're God. We cannot believe in it. And then they say about, talk about evolution, that it is science. And they say it happened billions of years ago. Have you seen it? No. But no, our scientists know it. You see? Our scientists have proved it. What have they proved? In animation? Have they gone there, two billion years ago? Or six million, or whatever? So they point to science. Just as society was once ruled by the shamans, We see more and more people putting their trust in scientists of all kind. Just as shamans had solution to the problem for people woes, the scientists have solution to the woes of the modern people. Just as shamans had total power over the village, city and nation, today the scientists, technologists, businessmen, pharmacologists have total power over kings and subjects of society. What they say becomes final. If businessmen say, these slums have to be cleared because I want to put up housing society, the government will bow to them. The slums will be razed to the ground. If the scientists say that this earth was created out of nothing, it is believed to be so. If the scientists say that the earth is billions of years old, it will be believed. that it is so. Everyone must believe and the government must introduce this curriculum into all schools. If the scientists say that people are born gay and not by choice, so it is. All must accept or else you can be punished. If scientists say that the baby in the womb is not a human being, it is believed to be so. All must believe and babies in the womb can be killed, because they are not humans. When we began, we asked the question, can we be deceived through healthcare? Yes, we can. We can be deceived through anything. Anything. We saw that the first deception was about health and eternity. You shall not die, the serpent told Eve, but be like the gods. The first temptation that Satan tempted Jesus Christ was about health. It was about health. If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Come on, why are you starving? You are the son of God, you need to eat, otherwise you will die. Make that stone into bread. This temptation was about health, about life and death. The world through its many ways want to preserve our lives and make the way broad for us through medicines, technology, technological advancement. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 16 verse 25 onward, for whoever shall save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Again Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7 verse 13 onward, enter ye in at the straight gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in thereat. Because straight, narrow is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets. which come to you in sheep clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. One thing Christians and those of other religions agree, and it can be said that even atheists, sober atheists will agree, that is, we are at a time where faith in God has diminished. Men want to do whatever they want to do. Traders, businessmen, scientists and even rich clowns are showing off their power. Rich men traders are sitting in the chairs of the parliament as rulers, having businesses, huge empires. Chapter 18 of Revelation says that the merchants, the traders and rulers have sucked the wealth of the world. These have fornicated with the world. that is with the God of this world, who is Satan, the serpent, the devil. They have not only become rich by trading different items and articles, but also by sorcery. Any business can be used, righteously or unrighteously. Any science can be used, giving glory to God or glorifying Satan. The Lord Jesus Christ says, do not be deceived. That's the first warning that Jesus gives when the disciples ask him, what is the sign of your coming? What is the sign of your coming, Lord? Do not be deceived. Remember, Jesus warns us, do not be deceived, shall we pray. O Lord God Almighty, keep us safe, we pray. O Lord, give us a very understanding heart and mind. O Lord our God, help us to be cautious because salvation is so precious. Eternity is so precious. Lord, we want to look into every direction, through every angle, whether we will be deceived. Give us Thy Spirit, Thy discernment, O Lord, that we may be willing to walk the narrow path. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.