Recovered In Christ

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Sunday, March 11th, 2012

THE DECEPTION PERIL OF THE LAST DAYS OF THE AGE

In the Apocalypse, we have the full unveiling of the Satanic confederacy in widespread control of the whole earth, and the war upon the saints as a whole; but the work of the deceiver among the foremost saints of God is especially depicted in the Ephesian letter of the apostle Paul, where, in Ephesians 6: 10- 18, we have the veil drawn aside from the Satanic powers, showing their war upon the Church of God, and the individual believer’s armour and weapons for conquering the foe. From this passage we learn that in the plane of the believer’s highest experience of union with the Lord, and in the “high places” of the spiritual maturity of the Church, will the keenest and closest battle be fought with the deceiver and his hosts.

Hence as the Church of Christ draws near to the time of the end, and is, by the inworking power of the Holy Spirit, being matured for translation, the full force of the deceiver and his hosts of lying spirits will be directed upon the living members of the Body of Christ. A glimpse into this onslaught of deceiving spirits upon the people of God in the close of the age, is given in the Gospel of Matthew, where the Lord uses the word deceived in describing some of the special marks of the latter days. He said: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My Name, saying, ‘I am Christ:’ and shall lead many astray” (Matt. 24: 4, 5, A.V. and R.V.); “and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many” (Matt. 24: 11, A.V.). “There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray [or “deceive” A.V.] if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24: 24).

DECEPTION IN CONNECTION WITH THE SUPERNATURAL REALM

The special form of deception is said also to be in connection with spiritual, and not worldly, things; incidentally showing that the people of God, at the time of the end, will be expecting the coming of the Lord, and therefore be keenly awake to all movements from the supernatural world, in such a measure that deceiving spirits will be able to take advantage of it, and anticipate the Lord’s appearing by “false Christs” and false signs and wonders; or mix their counterfeits with the true manifestations of the Spirit of God. The Lord says that men will be deceived (1) concerning Christ and His parousia–or Coming; (2) concerning prophecy–or teaching from the spiritual world through inspired messengers; and (3) concerning the giving of proofs of the “teachings” being truly of God, by “signs” and “wonders” so Godlike, and therefore so exact a counterfeit of the working of God, as to be indistinguishable from the true by those described as His “elect”; who will need to possess some other test than the judging by appearances of a “sign” being from God, if they are to be able to discern the false from the true.

The Apostle Paul’s words to Timothy, containing the special prophecy given to him by the Holy Spirit for the Church of Christ in the last days of the dispensation, exactly coincide with the words of the Lord recorded by Matthew.

The two letters of Paul to Timothy are the last epistles that he wrote ere his departure to be with Christ. Both were written in prison, and Paul’s prison was to him what Patmos was to John, when he was “in spirit” (Rev. 1: 10) shown things to come. Paul was giving his last directions to Timothy for the ordering of the Church of God, right on to the end of her time on earth; giving “rules to guide,” not only Timothy, but all God’s servants, “in dealing with God’s household.” In the midst of all these detailed instructions, his keen seer’s vision looks on to the “later times”; and by express command of the Spirit of God, he depicts in a few brief sentences, the peril of the Church in those times, in the same way that the Spirit of God gave the prophets of the Old Testament some pregnant prophecy, only to be fully understood after the events had come to pass.

The Apostle said: “The Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, seared in their own conscience as with a hot iron . . ” (1 Tim. 4: 1, 2, R.V. m.).

PAUL’S STATEMENT IN 1 TIM. 4: 1, 2, THE ONLY SPECIFIC ONE SHOWING THE CAUSE OF THE PERIL

Paul’s prophetic statement appears to be all that is foretold in specific words about the Church, and its history, at the close of the dispensation. The Lord spoke in general terms about the dangers which would encompass His people at the time of the end, and Paul wrote to the Thessalonians more fully about the apostasy, and the wicked deceptions of the Lawless one in the last days, but the passage in Timothy is the only one which explicitly shows the special cause of the peril of the Church in its closing days on earth, and how the wicked spirits of Satan would break in upon her members, and by deception beguile some away from their purity of faith in Christ.

The Holy Spirit, in the brief message given to Paul, describes the character and work of the evil spirits, recognizing (1) their existence, (2) their efforts directed towards believers, to deceive them, and by deception draw them away from the path of simple faith in Christ, and all that is included in the “faith once for all delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).

That the character of the spirits is described in 1 Tim. 4: 1-3, and not the men they somtimes use in the work of deception, may be understood from the Greek original.

The peril of the Church at the close of the age, is therefore from supernatural beings who are “hypocrites,” who pretend to be what they are not, who give “teachings” which appear to make for greater holiness, by producing ascetic severity to the “flesh,” but who themselves are wicked and unclean, and bring in to those they deceive the foulness of their own presence. Where they deceive they gain possession; and whilst the deceived believer thinks he is more “holy,” and more “sanctified,” and more delivered from the desires of the flesh, these hypocritical spirits defile the deceived one by their presence, and under cover of sanctity hold their ground, and hide their workings.

THE PERIL OF DECEIVING SPIRITS AFFECTS EVERY CHILD OF GOD

The peril concerns every child of God, and no spiritual believer dare say he is exempt from peril. The prophecy of the Holy Spirit declares, that (1) “some” shall fall away from the faith; (2) the reason for the fall will be a giving heed to deceiving spirits, i.e., the nature of their working being not known evil, but deception, which is a covered working. The essence of deception is that the operation is looked upon as sincere and pure. (3) The nature of the deception will be in doctrines of demons, i.e., the deception will be in a doctrinal sphere. (4) The way of deception will be that the “doctrines” are delivered with “hypocrisy,” i.e. spoken as if true. (5) Two instances of the effect of these evil spirit doctrines are given: (a) the forbidding of marriage, and (b) abstaining from meats; both, said Paul “created by God,” Therefore their teaching is marked by opposition to God, even in His work as Creator. –Jesse Penn-Lewis; War On The Saints, Chapter 1

Dear God, let your Will be done. Let all of us who are sincerely trying to walk with you  – walk in your light. Help us not to rely on our limited understanding, or our personal experience – instead, let us rely totally on you, and your infinite wisdom and power, which will tranasform and align our understanding and personal experience with your Truth.  Thank you for awakening and sharpening our minds to what is really happening around us. Amen.