Today’s readings are filled with some gems. There is the
glorious call of Isaiah (Isaiah 6) to prophesy against Israel, in which he sees
the Lord high and exalted, is cleansed and lays himself before God to day,
“Here am I; send me.” There is, in Isaiah 7, the Immanuel prophecy, which with
hindsight we know was pointed toward a virgin in Nazareth who would give birth
to a baby named Jesus who would be, literally, God with us. It is hard to
ignore either of those highlight Scriptures for our devotional thought of the
day. But there is another text, one in 2 Corinthians 11, that we need to be
digest.
Almost every Scripture that speaks of the end times warns us
of the proliferation of false Christs (who would claim to be God’s new
representative on earth), false apostles (claiming new authority over God’s
church), false prophets (claiming new revelation to add to or clarify what
God’s perfect Word already says) and false teachers (who lead God’s people
astray by twisting truth for their own reasons – generally money and power). We
are duly warned that such will always be within the church (yes, that is right
– INSIDE the church) trying to lead God’s people astray from the inside.
But this spirit of antichrist was already at work in the
church of Corinth. There were those who had come in among the brethren there
and tried to undermine Paul’s authority and call the gospel of grace he
proclaimed into question. It was the presence of these men, these false
apostles, that caused Paul to deal so harshly with the Corinthian church. He
was worried that they would follow the lies into spiritual destruction.
Wouldn’t it be great if liars and deceivers wore signs and
marked themselves clearly? I was reading today of a well-known “evangelical”
writer who has now compromised on pretty much every doctrine and moral standard
that we hold dear. Yet he never says, “I’ve left the faith and am no longer a
Christian.” He continues to maintain that he is both a Christian and faithful
to God’s Word. He is pleasant, a great writer, charismatic (in the personality
sense) – seems all around like a nice guy. But his doctrine is increasingly
poisonous. Wouldn’t it be nice if he owned his doctrine deviation and admitted
it, so that no one would be confused?
That is not the way of false teachers, false prophets, false
apostles or false Christs. Paul addressed this in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15. He
begins by describing those against whom he contended, in verse 13
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.”
Then, in verse 14, he explains the reason for this.
“And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
He makes this conclusion in verse 15.
“So, it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.”
Satan is not a hideous creature of with grotesque features –
like he is presented in fiction. He is an being of light who presents his ways
as beautiful, wonderful and happy. “God wants you to be happy,” he whispers as
you try to decide whether to do the right thing or not. “It’s all about you.” “Just follow your heart
and do what you feel is best.” Satan whispers sweet things to us and tells us
what we want to hear.
It is all a masquerade. His purpose is to kill and to
destroy. From the beginning of time his strategy has been to lie to God’s
creation and to get us human beings to choose what is wrong instead of choosing
obedience. By shining his lying light on us, he induces us to choose the wrong
path and bring the consequences of sin on our lives.
He seems fair and happy and beautiful but he pays off in
death and destruction. Don’t be fooled by the light. It can be simply a means
of being induced into the darkness.
When his false teachers enter the church, they follow his
pattern. They tell us nice things, things we want to hear. They tell us to stop
talking about sin, to ignore biblical standards that might make us or others
unhappy, to cast off the yoke of Christ and to maintain control of our own
lives. It all sounds so good but it is a mirage, a lie. It brings the death of
the church instead of the blessing of God.
We must be deep in the Word of God and sensitive to the
Spirit of God so that we can identify these false workmen who would lead us
astray from the inside.
Father, help me to be a proclaimer of truth and righteousness, to identify and expose those who would lead the Body of Christ astray.
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