Hold on
Please, I beseech you; hold on to the Word of God!
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils…” 1 Tim 4:1
For Paul, the “latter times” he spoke of to Timothy were a future event. When you and I read this verse, the passage is very much apart of the present day in which we live. The subtle whisper of the seducing spirit strokes the ear of the simple now more than ever. The bold, defiant doctrinal devil pants while pacing to and fro daring all to challenge his message.
For now, I would like to take a look at the profile of the seducing spirit.
The seducing spirit is patient and accommodating. He will take his time and allow one to become comfortable. His plan requires that one learn toleration first; there is no other way for the revelation he has to be passed on. His efforts require consistency. People have been so long attached to their belief system that it requires time for them to see “another way”. Over time, he helps one accept his revelation by showing how it worked for others. He points out how well they continue to do after accepting what he taught and revealed. He draws his new student into their company and ensures them a spot at their banquet table. As time passes and the bond of fellowship strengthens, eventually the new disciple partakes of the tenets of his teaching. The revelation did not come instantly, but it came and so the spirit slips away to seduce another.
But a time of visitation will eventually come and God will want to know what happened. The response will be much like Eve: “...the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” What else is there to say?
Paul was aware of how easily error can penetrate the mind of the undisciplined. He communicated his concern to the church at Corinth: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” - 2 Corinthians 11:3
Hold on to the Word of God!
There is not enough time or space here for me to list the various mediums the seductive spirit uses to propagate his message. The safest measure for you is to hold on to the Word of God!
Truth must abide in your spirit and your mind must remain under subjection to God. His voice must be active in your life and it will drown out the other voices that call for your attention.
There are so many voices out there! Some belong to “…false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” - 2 Corinthians 11:13-14.
They operate in the spirit of the Son of Perdition; he who eventually will step onto the world scene: “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 received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
Notice in the Thessalonian text, those who perish have resident in them an aversion to truth. They do not love it, they despise it. They are biblically ignorant and willfully so. They question the Bible’s validity and reason its doctrines away. Or else they manipulate its words to accommodate and even affirm their own “truth”.
“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” - 2 Timothy 3:13
But thanks be unto God that not everyone will yield to these treacherous ways. There may be some that will sell the Word of God for the contemptible, but not all. God's eyes are searching across the face of this earth for those who will tremble at His word. Those who will fall in love with it, meditate on it, and memorize it. They will preach His Word and teach His Word. They will be like the Apostles who declared “we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” – Acts 6:4
God’s favor will be upon them whose “…delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” - Psalm 1:2
Those who would be protected from the seductive spirit need simply to obey 2 Timothy 2:15:
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
What power has the seducing spirits of the age over those who’ve given themselves to the Word? Their influence is minimized and their falsehood is readily seen by those who love Truth.
In closing, I recall Paul’s charge to Timothy:
“But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” – 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Hold on to the Word of God!
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils…” 1 Tim 4:1
For Paul, the “latter times” he spoke of to Timothy were a future event. When you and I read this verse, the passage is very much apart of the present day in which we live. The subtle whisper of the seducing spirit strokes the ear of the simple now more than ever. The bold, defiant doctrinal devil pants while pacing to and fro daring all to challenge his message.
For now, I would like to take a look at the profile of the seducing spirit.
The seducing spirit is patient and accommodating. He will take his time and allow one to become comfortable. His plan requires that one learn toleration first; there is no other way for the revelation he has to be passed on. His efforts require consistency. People have been so long attached to their belief system that it requires time for them to see “another way”. Over time, he helps one accept his revelation by showing how it worked for others. He points out how well they continue to do after accepting what he taught and revealed. He draws his new student into their company and ensures them a spot at their banquet table. As time passes and the bond of fellowship strengthens, eventually the new disciple partakes of the tenets of his teaching. The revelation did not come instantly, but it came and so the spirit slips away to seduce another.
But a time of visitation will eventually come and God will want to know what happened. The response will be much like Eve: “...the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” What else is there to say?
Paul was aware of how easily error can penetrate the mind of the undisciplined. He communicated his concern to the church at Corinth: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” - 2 Corinthians 11:3
Hold on to the Word of God!
There is not enough time or space here for me to list the various mediums the seductive spirit uses to propagate his message. The safest measure for you is to hold on to the Word of God!
Truth must abide in your spirit and your mind must remain under subjection to God. His voice must be active in your life and it will drown out the other voices that call for your attention.
There are so many voices out there! Some belong to “…false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” - 2 Corinthians 11:13-14.
They operate in the spirit of the Son of Perdition; he who eventually will step onto the world scene: “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 received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
Notice in the Thessalonian text, those who perish have resident in them an aversion to truth. They do not love it, they despise it. They are biblically ignorant and willfully so. They question the Bible’s validity and reason its doctrines away. Or else they manipulate its words to accommodate and even affirm their own “truth”.
“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” - 2 Timothy 3:13
But thanks be unto God that not everyone will yield to these treacherous ways. There may be some that will sell the Word of God for the contemptible, but not all. God's eyes are searching across the face of this earth for those who will tremble at His word. Those who will fall in love with it, meditate on it, and memorize it. They will preach His Word and teach His Word. They will be like the Apostles who declared “we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” – Acts 6:4
God’s favor will be upon them whose “…delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” - Psalm 1:2
Those who would be protected from the seductive spirit need simply to obey 2 Timothy 2:15:
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
What power has the seducing spirits of the age over those who’ve given themselves to the Word? Their influence is minimized and their falsehood is readily seen by those who love Truth.
In closing, I recall Paul’s charge to Timothy:
“But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” – 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Hold on to the Word of God!
posted by Pastor Cortes at 11:38 PM
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