2002-01-01
Good Morning Treasured Readers,
Yesterday, I began a discussion of some of the citations that tell us what God has to say about how to avoid Satan’s efforts to seduce us away from the truth. The last one I gave is worth repeating, EPH 4: 25-26. “No more lying, then! Everyone must tell the truth to his fellow believer, because we are all members together in the Body of Christ. If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day.” The idea here is not to belabor the issue, but to emphasize its importance. In his section of a new life in Christ, Paul speaks about how problems come from unqualified leadership by those too new in the faith to have the maturity needed. I might also add to that leadership by people who come to it for human reasons that have nothing to do with God’s. This is exactly what caused the problem I mentioned in a previous message about the church Peter and I were in that ended up splitting. I’m sure that some of you have suffered under such unqualified human leadership from time to time. It really causes chaos which Satan loves. The underlying lesson is choosing leaders for our congregation wisely, bringing people who love the Lord, know Him well, and obey Him to lead us. The problem is also at the seminary level, in which our seminaries need to have a system whereby people without the proper vocation and calling to be pastors are weeded out. This may sound like tough talk, but it comes from having seen the results of allowing unqualified people to become ordained and released to do what they will in the churches.
1 COR 11: 13-15 really goes hand in hand with Christ’s words in MT 7: 15 about “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” “Those men are not true apostles-they are false apostles, who lie about their work and disguise themselves to look like real apostles of Christ. Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light! So it is not great thing if his servants disguise themselves to look like servants of righteousness. In the end they will get exactly what their actions deserve.” There is a danger here to us when we encounter someone who we suspect is unqualified in leadership. We must not be judgmental and self-righteous. Instead, we need to lean on the understanding that comes directly from Scriptures and humble prayer. We also need to realize that it is God’s job and not ours to adjudicate these cases. I recently found out, for example, that the pastor that caused so much trouble in the church that split has now retired twenty years earlier than usual. While I don’t know exactly how this came about, I realize that God has adjudicated his case without me knowing the details. We never needed to get involved beyond speaking out against what happened at the time without assessing personal blame.
Another important defense against Satan’s seduction from the truth is avoiding apostate doctrine. For example, we need to see cults and other alternative belief systems for what they are-Satan’s lies. The only way we can do that is to be very familiar with God’s word from daily study of the Scriptures and an active prayer life. I have spoken of my own first hand experience belonging to a so-called religion that extracted Scripture out of context and put it into a human-created construct. Such cults lure people in with the promise of acceptance and attention that they aren’t getting from other parts of their lives. Once in, they quickly find out where a person’s talents are and give them responsibilities that use these talents. The next step is a full-court press on getting the person to make a commitment to the cult. This process is called snapping. Some cults go so far as to take steps to separate the new member from all vestiges of their former lives and relationships with those outside the cult. The next step is to require as much money to be poured into the cult’s operation as possible. Some of these cults have been so successful at this that they now own huge assets in property, businesses, and the like. As time goes on, actual brainwashing begins. Often the most unusual aspects of their beliefs are not discussed outside of a select group of people practicing them. All along in this process, we should see red flags of warning go up in our minds. Thank and praise God, I finally did and made the decision to leave. When things have gone so far that an individual can’t leave, there are times when a caring family member or friend outside the cult must “kidnap” them out and subject them to deprogrammers, who enable them to get back to their former normal lives. It is only then, that they have a chance to see the truth. Satan can be very subtle and insidious in the steps he takes to lure a person from the truth. As 1 PET 5: 8 reminds us, “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” We only need to see those nature films of a real lion stalking its prey to see the truth in this. Our challenge today is to maintain the discernment God gives us so that this will never happen in our own lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, we are Your sheep and depend upon You to be our Shepherd. Without You, we are headed for death and destruction. With faith in You and willingness to obey Your commands, we gain eternal life. The picture of Christ calling out to His sheep who hear and recognize His voice allows us to understand just how very dependant on You that we are [JN 10: 14-15]. When we look to human shepherds, we find that they do not protect us, but instead, leave us to be devoured by the danger that awaits. Unqualified leaders take congregations off Your path and away from Your leadership. Cults with foolish and evil ideas lead their group to spiritual and sometimes physical death. The People’s Church led by Jim Jones is an example. All of those sheep were led to commit suicide in Guyana. Dearest Abba, we acknowledge that You are our Sovereign and Supreme God eternally. PS 93: 1-2 expresses this better than we can. “The Lord is King, He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, He is girded with strength. He has established the world; it shall never be moved; Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.” PS 104: 1 expresses the praise we have for You. “My whole being, praise the Lord. Lord, my God, You are very great.” Our protection and guidance must come from You alone. PS 5: 7, “But as for me, I will come into Your temple protected by Your mercy and Your love; I will worship You with deepest awe.” Our prayer today is from PS 119: 133, “Order my steps in Thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” We come before You in humility to confess our sins, to ask for Your everlasting guidance, to give us the discernment we need to recognize these “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” and to offer Your our utmost adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, honor, glory, trust, obedience, thanks, and praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, we will continue looking at what God has to say about avoiding seduction from the truth. This is so important that it is worth the extra time we spend on it at the Lord’s bidding. Our Abba loves us more than we are capable of comprehending. Each day that I am privileged to write about this, He reveals more ways in which He shows us His love. The trouble Satan causes us is as RO 8: 18 describes. “I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” When we realize this, we gain a closer approximation to God’s perspective. We can also know from His word that His protection is there for all who obey Him. So, we need to keep our chins up and fight the good fight. It’s really worth what we must endure. The Lord wants us to know that we do this surrounded by the aura of His love. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn