2 Corinthians 11:14 | The Compliment That Will Destroy You

A video crossed my social media feed with a title that immediately caught my attention:

“I Met Lucifer.”

As someone who has spent years ministering in inner healing and deliverance, I couldn’t help but listen. What followed was an encounter that raised a question I couldn’t shake.

One statement.

One sentence.

One comment that seemed harmless on the surface—but the more I prayed about it, the more I realized there may have been something much deeper hidden beneath it.

In this episode, we explore a fascinating spiritual principle that every believer, minister, and leader needs to understand. Sometimes the enemy’s tactics are not as obvious as we think. Sometimes the greatest dangers come disguised in ways we would never expect.

Join me as we examine a story, ask some difficult questions, and uncover a biblical truth that completely changed the way I viewed spiritual warfare, influence, identity, and what really matters in the Kingdom of God.

This conversation challenged me deeply, and I believe it will challenge you too.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey guys. All right. Today we have a very interesting podcast topic. It's something that I just encountered on social media. And so I want to go through it with you guys because I was shocked when the Holy Spirit really started revealing the tactic behind this. So, anyways, let me just start with um obviously I was just on social media. I saw this video of this woman, and her title was I Met Lucifer. And I thought, okay, interesting. If you know anything about me as a minister or our ministry, uh, we do a lot of deliverance. And actually these things are very intriguing to me. I like to um I like to listen to these type of stories because I don't know. I just um I just love um the gift of discernment. I love strategy. Um, I love exposing hidden things. That's just what God has birthed in me and in the calling on my life. And so when she when when I saw that title, I met Lucifer, I was like, interesting. Okay, like what happened? So there this woman, she uh was she is a deliverance minister. I don't know where she's from, um, just from random. I didn't go into her profile or look up anything. Um, I don't know her personally. I just happened to come across it. So she said that she was on a work uh trip, that she traveled a lot, and you know, this was very normal for her. She wasn't normally like scared or anything like that. Said she got into an elevator at her hotel and um all of a sudden the elevator stopped. You know, she just thought to herself, okay, somebody's about to get on, you know, whatever. She didn't think anything of it. Well, she said that as soon as the door opened, um, this fear like gripped her. And again, she's not normally scared, so this was kind of odd for her. She knew something was off. And this man stood there, and it's really crazy how she described him because she said that he was um very well put together, that it was a man in a um royal, like navy blue suit, said his hair was brushed back really nicely, just very pristine. Like um, she said he looked like a businessman, like a very well put together businessman. And she said that she just felt this gripping fear, like it was this fear that was not only an external fear, but like an internal fear that basically like almost like paralyzed her. And all she could do, she said she couldn't even look forward. All she could do was literally look down at the ground and just she was praying in her head and just asking the Lord to like not let him talk to her, don't let her talk to him, you know, whatever. And she was just kind of like praying in her spirit to try to get through the moment. And uh, so then she said that um she heard a voice and he said hello and he called out her name, but she said it wasn't like a voice like you're hearing me talk to you now. She said it was like inside her mind, but it was it was like a real voice, as if you would hear somebody externally, but she knew that it was only inside because like his mouth wasn't moving, there was no interaction or anything. Um, she said that that was really crazy, but that he said hello and he said her name. I won't say her name just for uh protection, but and then he said these words to her. And this is what this is what I want to go into uh into this podcast, okay, because what he said to her um took me a moment with the Holy Spirit to actually understand why. And like she said in her video, you know, weeks and months after the encounter, she was asking God, like, was that who I thought it was? And you know, why did he say that? And and she started asking questions. That's normally what we do. Um, because it says to seek first the kingdom. So even in the negative things, even I think a lot of times we seek the kingdom when it's only positive things, but we some people get scared to seek the kingdom when it comes to evil things. So, say like um evil dreams or bad things that have happened or whatever, we we don't necessarily seek the kingdom like we should for answers. And so I personally seek God on anything and everything because I know that there's a reason, that there's um something behind it, there's a strategy, there's a revelation in it, some form or fashion, good or bad, whatever it feels like, whatever it looks like. I know that God is saying something. He's speaking um or he's revealing something at all times. Uh, you know, a lot of people say, Oh, I don't hear from God, but I don't think it's that you don't hear from God. I think it's just that you don't know how to seek God. And I don't think that people are um the enemy has so almost like paralyzed and and dumbed down that aspect of seeking God that people think it's not necessary. They think it's oh, well, that's just a coincidence, or oh, well, that was just random, you know. And even in this video, the girl, she was like, you know, afterwards, I literally had to ask God so many times, was this who I thought it was? Because she kept saying, Well, maybe I was just making that up. Like, did that even really happen? Like, you know, and so her brain just automatically started trying to dismiss it without seeking the full revelation. And sometimes getting that full revelation from God, we have to wait upon the Lord. He says to be still and know. So you don't you don't get to know until you learn how to be still sometimes. And so it's not that he's always just gonna boom, you know, give you the revelation right away. If that is happening to you and you're constantly getting revelation instantly, uh, if I can be honest with you, it's probably not the Lord. It's probably again an angel of light, like this girl encountered. So um, this was Lucifer, this was an angel of light. He came as something beautiful. It literally says in 2 Corinthians 11, 14th, and no wonder for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. Guys, he's not always going to reveal himself and come to you in these scary, dark, you know, uh dreams and and um you know, people and encounters, and oh, you got to go down this dark alley to to encounter Lucifer. Like, no, he actually is gonna come to you in such a beautiful way. He's gonna come to you, um, like she said, he looked like a very nice, well-put together businessman. He was not um, he was not this crazy, homeless person, like looking all crazy with the red horns and this, you know, the pitchfork and all the things. Um, so I want to dive into this teaching because I want you to understand my desire is really for the body of Christ to really understand the gift of discernment and to understand the strategies and the schemes of Satan and to be able to actually have spiritual eyes and spiritual ears that can actually hear and see beyond their present circumstances. So um Lucifer in this encounter that she speaks about, um he he calls her by name, and then he says this to her. This was the phrase he said to her. He said, Your name is known in hell. That was literally all he said to her. He called her by name, and then he said, Your name is known in hell. And when I first heard that statement, I thought, why would Satan say that? So this is this is me as um, this is how I just dive into strategy and I began to seek the spirit of understanding, counsel and wisdom from the Holy Spirit. Those are uh three of three of seven of the spirits of God that actually we can seek and we can ask for, and we can ask him to reveal wisdom, to reveal counsel, and to to reveal the understanding of why would Satan say that. And I remember the day that I watched this video, and I didn't really have the answer at first. I just after I watched that, it just was in my spirit, and I was like, but why did he say that to her? Because, in my opinion, as a deliverance minister, and and she was a deliverance minister, that would be a compliment. If your name is known in hell, that to me, I hear people, a lot of deliverance ministers, you know, and even demons, you know, when people are going through deliverance, the they like they know. It's like when uh in the Bible, when the demon said, Well, we know Peter and we know Jesus, but who are you? Uh we know Paul. You know, there were certain apostles and there were certain uh people in the Bible that the demons knew, like they knew Jesus. And obviously we can say they knew Jesus, but you know, they knew who Paul was. Um, they knew who Peter was. And so that in scripture to me says that you're doing damage to the kingdom of darkness if your name is known in hell. So for Satan to say this to this woman, your name is known in hell, and then I realize I find out she's a deliverance minister, I'm like, that's really interesting, but why would Satan say that? Why would he say, why would he give her a compliment? Here he is, masquerading as an angel of light, a very put-together businessman. She felt the fear on him, so she knew that it was negative, but he looked beautiful, um, well put together and established and positive. And then he gives her a positive comment. Your name is known in hell. So it literally sounded like a badge of honor. It sounded like it I know this sounds so crazy, but it was like Satan was like giving her a reward. I know that sounds crazy for for people, but it just go with me here. But then I thought, actually, actually, I began to ask the Holy Spirit. I just that that question was like going through my mind as I was walking around my house. I was doing laundry and I was like, why would Satan say that though? And I'm like, Holy Spirit, but why would he give her a compliment? Why would he actually build her up? Because to me, that was that was building up. That was that's a compliment for a deliverance minister. For somebody to say your name is known in hell, that means you do a lot of damage, and that means that they constantly have to deal with you, and so they're constantly having to, you know, try to try to undo what you're doing for the kingdom of God. And and so it's like you're well known in hell. But I kept asking the Holy Spirit, why would he say that though? Like Satan himself, Lucifer, appears to somebody and gives them a compliment and builds them up. And I'm like, Lord, that's against his character. Like, I don't think it's okay, I don't think it's against his character, but I think his heart is negative, okay? So we know the we know the hidden um desires and hearts of Satan are evil, right? And the Holy Spirit asked me this one question that broke open the revelation that I'm gonna share with you today. And he asked me this one question. He said, What was Satan's original sin? And I immediately thought about well, pride. He got cast out of heaven because of pride. Pride is his original sin, right? Like vanity. He wanted the glory. So I'm thinking, okay, if he says this to this girl, your name is known in hell. But he his original foundation is pride. And I hit me. And I was like, the compliment wasn't attacked. The purpose wasn't to discourage her. The purpose wasn't to discourage her. The purpose was to plant a seed. A seed that could later produce pride. Self-importance, spiritual superiority, and a fascination with her own influence. Think about that. So here is Satan coming as an angel of light, a businessman well put together. She felt the presence of him, which was a paralyzing fear. And then he gives her a compliment. But the hidden agenda behind the compliment was actually to sow a seed of pride in who she was and how strong and great she was as a deliverance minister with her name being known in hell. So here is Satan giving her a compliment. But the compliment wasn't for now. The compliment was because he was manipulating for a later agenda in her life and in her ministry, where he would actually, because she received that word and that compliment, your name is known in hell, that seed got planted into her spirit, into her mind, so that later he could actually use that doorway that he just opened and she received. And he could use that doorway to actually later in her ministry push her into a place of pride because now he could begin to build a stronghold in her mind of how great she was, of how many demons she cast out, of how many demons bow when she tells them to, of how many, how much authority that she had. Don't focus on how much authority you have in hell, but focus on the heavenly things, focus on the kingdom of God. So the seed that could later produce pride, self-importance, spiritual superiority, and a fascination of her own influence. Because the enemy does not always attack through intimidation, guys. I mean, I think there is a point that he comes with intimidation when you're like a when you're like a baby Christian. But then when you step into a place of maturity, guys, he don't use that no more. He doesn't use those tactics anymore. He understands, hey, they're smarter now, they're more mature now. We got to do something different. We got to have a better strategy to come at them because we've got to push them into sin without them even knowing that we're pushing them into sin. And we've actually got to come as an angel of light and something good. We've got to actually turn good to evil. All right. Um in 2 Corinthians 11 14, we talked about that, and no wonder for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. Many believers expect demonic attacks to look dark, ugly, and obvious. But Paul teaches us that Satan often disguises himself as something attractive, encouraging, appealing, or spiritual. The greatest deceptions are often wrapped in truth mixed with self-exaltation. Guys, sometimes the attacks are gonna sound like you're so special, you're different. Nobody carries what you carry. Hell is terrified of you. Your name is known everywhere in the spirit realm. The question is really not whether something sounds encouraging. The question is where is it directing your focus? Is it towards Christ or towards yourself? I have this pet peeve in uh in ministry, and I probably don't talk about it as much as I should. Um, but I'm gonna talk about it a little bit today. It really um, it really bothers me when um say we're doing ministry with someone and they, you know, they get on the call, and the first thing they say is is, oh, you know, woman of God, you know, how are you? Um, you have just such great counsel and wisdom. And and they just start saying all these things, and literally, I mean, it just makes me want to throw up. Like, I get so nauseous in my spirit that I'm like, really, like, can we move on? Because, like, can we just be like, hey, what's up? Hey, girl, you know, um, or hey, how how's it been? Like, we don't have to do all this exaltation. Um, it it really bothers me as a minister because I'm no different than you. I'm a daughter of God, you're a daughter of God, I'm a daughter of God, you're as you're son of God. Like, let's just be brothers and sisters in Christ. We don't have to be like, oh, I'm this minister and I'm, you know, like got all this revelation or whatever. Like, I'm like, you you can have the same thing. Like, it I don't know, it just bothers me when people address me like that. Um, I I don't like it. It feels very uncomfortable. And I think that people are they're they're meaning good. I don't think that they're trying to mean bad. It just it just doesn't feel right to me. Um, it feels like exaltation. I don't like it. Um, I don't want it in my spirit, so I immediately just um, you know, kind of just suffer through it and uh wait for them to get done, whatever they want to say. And then I'm just like, okay, yeah, let's talk about um where you need healing and deliverance or whatever. And so that that's just my two cents on it. I I immediately recognize that, and um, it's just not something that I love. My husband always says, you know, praise isn't bad, but it's what you do with it when when somebody gives you praise. And that's really true because um, you know, I don't want the glory for anything. Um, anything that we minister, um, people who get set free and delivered and healed, that's great. And I'm so honored to be a vessel of God. But let's give him the glory. Let's give him the honor because if you give it to me, I'm gonna turn right back around and give it to him. And I'm actually gonna correct you in you giving it to me. I'm gonna correct you and redirect it right to Jesus because it's his glory, not mine. Um, yes, we do share in his glories as scriptures say, but right now, um, that's just that's just something that I I don't care um to partner with. And and again. This podcast is just reiterating that foundation in my spirit of why I get nauseous, of why I don't like those type of comments. Um you know, you know, it's fine. I think people feel like they're doing you a good service when that when they, you know, say those things, and that's okay. But for me, yeah, no, that that's gonna get thrown right to the feet of Jesus. Um, but but guys, flattery is different than encouragement. Um, we have to be able to discern the two. Proverbs 29, 5. It says, A man who flatters his neighbors spreads a net for his feet. Notice that scripture calls flattery a net, a hidden net. That's basically what what this um what Lucifer was doing to this woman is he was flattering her, but it was a net for her feet. You don't see it until literally you're caught by it. Encouragement points people to God, but flattery points people toward themselves. Encouragement says, look what God is doing through you. Flattery says, look how important you are. That's how I that's why a lot of times when people begin to say things to me, I I sense that flattery, and it makes me very nauseous. I mean, immediately I feel really nauseous and sick in my stomach when people when I feel that um on people's words because they're they're talking about me. And I'm like, can we just talk about Jesus? Like, I don't want to talk about me. Um, encouragement creates gratitude, flattery creates self-focus. One produces humility and the other produces pride. So that's what Lucifer was actually trying to do in this encounter with this girl that was in the elevator. Um, it looked harmless, it looked like nothing was happening, but behind the scenes, he was actually planting a seed of pride to use later in her life to actually destroy her ministry. Um, Matthew 4, 8 through 9. When Satan tempted Jesus, he offered him authority, position, recognition, influence without the cross, without suffering, without submission to the Father's process. Satan offered elevation before obedience. The temptation was not simply sin, the temptation was significance. The enemy still uses this strategy today. Many ministers can resist temptation, many ministers can even resist criticism. Many missed ministers, though, struggle to resist admiration. The Lord showed me something. Sometimes he's trying to make you important. Some believers are prepared for warfare, some are prepared, prepared for persecution, they're prepared for rejection. But guys, very few are prepared for praise. Because criticism reveals insecurities, but compliments reveal pride. The true test is often not how you respond when you're attacked, it's how you respond when you're celebrated. Just like my husband says, Praise isn't bad, but it's what you do with it when you get it. Second Chronicles 3231. This is about um Hezekiah and how he passed the attack, but he felled the admiration. God miraculously healed Hezekiah. He delivered him, he protected him. Then Babylonian leaders came to admire him, and Hezekiah showed them all his treasures. The danger was no longer persecution, the danger was admiration. Scripture says God left him to himself in order to test him and know all that was in his heart. God wasn't testing how Hezekiah handled enemies, he was testing how he handled attention. This is so important for leaders, and I think leaders need to pay attention to when God is shifting you because he will shift you after you have learned how to deal with persecution, after you've learned how to deal with criticism, after you've passed all those tests. But it's kind of crazy because the scripture says God left him to himself. God will actually um remove his empowerment in certain tests to see how you respond without his support. Like, how do you respond without the support of the Holy Spirit? Now, don't twist my words. I didn't say that he removes the Holy Spirit from you. I believe that there's times where the Holy Spirit can um resist, he can actually hold back um from empowering you to see how you actually handle it. It's like letting your teenager, you know, go out on their own for the first time. They get a car, you know, for a whole year while they were 15, you rode with them in the car, you were with them in the car, and then all of a sudden it's like, okay, well, there comes a day where you actually got to go drive by yourself, and you have to be let go to see how you will actually handle it. You have to be trusted to stay home by yourself. You know, you have to be um, you have to be let go. It says God left him to himself. In other words, God will do that with us as believers. He will say, okay, you know what? Um, I'm not gonna let them have any support. Um, the Holy Spirit is still there, but he's actually not going to speak. There's so many times where I tell people in ministry, I'm like, if you're not hearing God and you feel like he's not answering, you're not seeing any kind of signs and wonders, you're not seeing his voice in in any place, um, then remember that the teacher is always silent during the test. So that probably means you're in a test, and he's actually just seeing how you will respond based on the knowledge that you have, um, what you've put in in the word, what he has taught you in a previous season, like how will you respond? So for Hezekiah, um, that's what God was doing. It he left him to himself. He wasn't testing how Hezekiah handled enemies, he was testing how he handled attention. Luke 10, 17 through 20. The the 70 disciples returned rejoicing, and this is what I was talking about when um I said that the they were so excited about how hell responded to them. Um, they were excited because demons obeyed them. They were celebrating their authority, but Jesus immediately redirected their focus. Do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. This may be one of the most important corrections Jesus ever gave his disciples. Notice what he did. They were celebrating what hell knew about them. That's exactly what Lucifer said to this girl in the elevator. He he said, Your name is known in hell. She literally was living out Luke 10, 17, 17 through 20. And literally in this scripture, the disciples were celebrating that hell knew about them. But Jesus redirected them and he said, Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Jesus redirected them to what heaven knew about them. There is a difference. Are we known in hell or are we known in heaven? Which one matters to you? If you're a minister and you're seeing demons flee and you're seeing seeing demons bow their knee, is does that excite you that you're known in hell? Or are you more excited to to the fact that you're known in heaven? There is a difference. Being known in hell speaks of authority. Being known in heaven speaks of relationship. Being known in hell speaks of assignment. Being known in hell speaks of sonship. Being known in hell may speak of effectiveness, but being known in heaven speaks of intimacy. The goal of Christianity is not to become famous in the spirit realm, but the goal is to know Christ. Matthew seven, twenty-two through twenty-three. Many will say Did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty works in your name? Notice that these people had ministry activity. They had spiritual experiences. They had gifts. Yet Jesus said, I never knew you. Guys, he didn't say I don't know you. He said I never knew you. He never knew you. Never. That means he never did. You never built a relationship with Jesus. You never had intimate relationship with Jesus Christ on earth. All you did was preach the gospel every Sunday at your church. You showed up at Bible study on Wednesday. You went to Sunday night service. You went to the conference. You went to youth camp. You went to um, you know, all the all the camp meetings, you went to all of the uh vacation Bible schools, you you did all the things. You you even you read your Bible every day, you prayed every day, like you did all the things. But guys, don't get to heaven and stand before Jesus and having done all those things, having cast out demons, having healed the sick, and Jesus look at you and say, I never knew you. Guys, we've got to make sure that we're not more excited about our religious activities in the church and in the body of Christ, and that we're calling that holiness when it's far from being holy. Yes, it is the fruit and the result of having a relationship with Jesus, but so many people don't have a relationship with Jesus, and they're still doing all the church things. They still are whitewashed tombs as the um as Jesus calls it in the scriptures. And inside they're dead. He says in Revelations, you appear to be alive. You're doing all the things, you're going to church, you're teaching the Sunday school class, you're you're at all the camps, and you're doing all the things. You actually went to theology school, you got the certificate, you're an ordained minister. Yet you don't have a relationship with Jesus. And when you stand before him, he'll say, I never knew you. Depart from me. The issue is not ministry. The issue is relationship. You can have authority and still neglect intimacy. You can have influence and still neglect relationship. You can have gifts and still neglect knowing Christ. So maybe the question isn't, do demons know my name? Maybe the better question is does Jesus know me? And do I know him? Because when your name is written in heaven, you don't need hell to validate your assignment. You don't need demons to affirm your authority. You don't need spiritual reputation to confirm your identity. Your confidence comes from being a son or daughter of God. And if the enemy ever whispers, your name is known in hell, our response should be that's not what excites me. My name is written in heaven, and that is enough.