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 Timothy 4:1
A successful mission for seducing spirits
would be one where they lead you away from the Truth
Seducing Spirits or Deceiving Spirits,
depending on which version you read, are crafty
They make every effort to muddy the waters
so that you cannot see the truth clearly
This often happens very gradually
If we are not aware, we can be sucked in
and not even know how it happened
We must get very wise at recognizing them
The word seducing has nothing to do with sex
It is like a sexual seducer through, luring you, compelling you,
enticing you to stray away from the truth and from what is right,
using your senses to allure
The seducer has been around since the beginning
That is how Eve and Adam fell into sin
They were seduced
They were told they would be like gods if their eyes were opened
There were prophets of old, false prophets with lying spirits,
who told people what they wanted to hear
Things have not changed in that regard
Except that now, we have the whole bible to refer to
to recognize their tactics
But there were false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be false teachers among you,
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord that bought them,
and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways;
by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
1 Peter 2:1-2
This is why it is so crucial to love the truth
and place Gods word above all of our thoughts
and humble ourselves before Him
even when our natural minds
cannot comprehend the importance of the truth
There are very divisive issues in the church today
If you are not aware of the truth, that is,
you have not read the word yourself,
and learned the word and chosen to love the truth above all else,
you risk being led astray
This can happen with man’s doctrine as well
There are pinnacles of righteousness
that can be closely related to the word of God,
but are not always grounded in truth,
but instead in man’s interpretation and wisdom,
which is quite different from the Holy Spirit’s wisdom
Most likely, there is a mixture,
muddy waters to make the truth murky
If they said one thing of truth,
that does not mean everything they say is truth
Be wise when listening to others
and do not blindly absorb anything
You can ask in prayer for the Lord to reveal the truth to you,
to lead you to good teachers
who can help sort things out and clarify the truth
To cleanse out the false doctrine you may have received
God will make sure if you are earnestly looking for the truth that you will find it
Whenever a teacher, pastor, etc., exalts him or herself
to be the one who hears from God for you,
that is a dangerous person to follow
Follow Jesus the Christ
There are some Christian sects that have a god-like figure over their church
and while that is easy to see,
there are other sects or even
teachers or persons who independently want to lord over people
who wants to be the mediator and have you look to them instead of to God
We all must have our relationship with God ourselves
and do the diligent work that will help us to learn and know the truth,
otherwise we are trusting in something or someone other than Christ
Get to know His word,
Get to know God so that you will recognize when something is not quite right
The important thing is to find out what the word of God says,
the inspired word of God, Jesus, who is the Word
Then, accept it as His word
We cannot change His word
Jesus warns us about being ashamed of His word
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me
and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation;
of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed,
when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Mark 8:38
We cannot change the word of God
Jesus said what He said
His ways and thoughts are higher than ours:
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9
Casting down imaginations,
and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2 Corinthians 10:5
2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 talks much of the Apostasy, The Great Falling Away
and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish,
because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. v10
The following is in descriptions and warnings
for those who take pleasure in unrighteousness.
And for this reason God will send them strong delusion,
that they should believe the lie, v11
that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth
but had pleasure in unrighteousness. v12
Speaking lies in hypocrisy;
having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 1 Timothy 4:1-2
How can we know the truth? recognize it?
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth:
for he shall not speak of himself;
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:
and he will shew you things to come. John 16:13
For who hath known the mind of the Lord,
that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:16
These seducers of false doctrine will speak evil of the truth
or dismiss the importance of it
So as to lead astray as many as will follow
Woe to the world for the causes of sin.
These stumbling blocks must come,
but woe to the man through whom they come! Matthew 18:7
Learn to love the truth and humble yourself before the word,
even when you may not like what it says