D) Listening and adhering to lies

The devil can and will use preachers of lies to promote his kingdom. False religions were the main avenue that was used in the past. But with television and the Internet we have a vastly increasing demonic avenue which is much more dangerous than false religions. Information is the god of this generation and many are they that bow at the feet of it. People think that if man can only gain greater knowledge we will be able to solve all of the world=s ills as well as make the world a safer place. I=m not against knowledge, but it is not the highest virtue. There are many intelligent people who are murderers and rapist. How will more knowledge stop this? The real problem here is what our faith is in. Is it in knowledge, of which we will never have enough or in God who possesses all the knowledge as well as the power to use it?

There are also problems within the church with false preachers. Just because someone went to bible college and is now an authority in the church, this does not make him God=s chosen nor anointed. King David was a young boy when he began to serve God, and he knew God=s faithfulness and power. David was intimate with God. When a nation of grown men were confronted by Goliath no one dared to step forward to defeat him. David was just a child. A child who knew his God and was willing to step out in faith and kill Goliath. David knew God better than all the "Authorities@ that were present at this battle. Although it would take years before David was totally qualified as a true authority before God, evidence of his call was present in his youth.

In contrast to King David=s life, today we have people attending universities in order to become spiritual authorities. Most falsely think that knowledge of facts, abilities to speak, and carnal charisma are the virtues that make for a spiritual authority. They fall into this trap A in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God 2CO 4:4.@

When we are convinced that a idea or philosophical position is true, which does not agree with what the scriptures teach, we are inevitably moving into satan=s realm. Satan will then use these ideas and beliefs to stop us from receiving God's truth. These false beliefs will be as a wall that repels the truth of God's word. Not only will this wall prevent the Spirit of truth from entering but also if you are truly born again it will prevent the Spirit in you from reaching out. This is a very hard place to realize that we are in, seeing that most people in this position are unaware that they are bound. Most people in this place think that they have ultimate truth and are unwilling to listen to any conflicting ideas. We must however be aware that if our beliefs are founded in the scripture and many people are opposed to them it doesn't mean we are wrong but maybe ahead of the curve. We must be conscience of the fact that there are lies being taught from the pulpit, through television, over the radio, in the news paper, in schools, and even in bible colleges. Anywhere that there is the transmission of ideas, there will be lies transmitted as well as truth. It would seem then that it is inevitable that we will be influenced by lies. The apostle Paul said, AWe see in part and know in part.@ I don=t know if it is possible to be totally free from deception, but I do know that Jesus= sacrifice provided for our total freedom from bondage of every kind! Why do I say that I don=t know if we can be totally free from deception if Jesus paid the price for our freedom? Because, It would imply that we could be one hundred percent correct in our judgments and our beliefs. I don=t believe that any man with the exception of Jesus was and ever will be 100% correct. This does not mean that our goal is not to try and be 100% correct. We should be as accurate as possible because we are not of the father of lies but of the father of truth. This means work on our part. We need to know why we believe what we believe and not because someone else said so. This means that we need to spend time studying the scriptures in order to renew our mind and become acquainted with God=s thoughts.

This in itself posses great problems. Many have and do spend there lives studying scripture but have not come to a true knowledge of it. This is either because they rely on there intellect to move them into what they perceive as truth or they don=t possess the bear minimum which is salvation and the Holy Spirit (the teacher of truth). JOH 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; .... Coming to the truth is more than just studying. It involves a dedication to God and a willingness to accept that we may be wrong. It also means that we listen to God when He rebukes and corrects us. When we have some truth, we don=t abandon it because everyone we know is calling it a lie. Realize that if we are believing something no one else believes, it is risky. That does not mean we are wrong. We can=t expect everyone to accept it. Time is the factor that will train us if we are hearing from God or not. God has to train someone about truths before He can release them to the body as a whole. Humility is of the utmost importance when it comes to truth and especially new truth.

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