The River of Seducing Spirits
In many modern day church settings we are invited through song to jump into the river of God. This river supposedly brings cheer to our otherwise melancholy hearts and dancing to our otherwise stationary feet. The unbridled display of emotions in many modern day church and television settings, however, makes some wonder. Is God the Spirit really the source of these things? Is this flowing river really the norm for our Christian lives? Is there something being subtly taught about this river in the midst of these gatherings? And if so, what is being taught? Some would argue that we need more emotional response to God in our worship than past church tradition has provided or allowed. But that is not the issue being addressed here. True worship can in fact elicit a number of different types of emotional responses ranging from profound grief to utter joy. But how do we distinguish if our worship is rooted in the sensual or is truly spiritual? Have we even thought enough to care about this fact or understand there may be a difference? Many have come to the conclusion that this river is really very menacing to true Christian growth. This is based upon the beliefs that are subtly employed in the music and flow from its' fountainhead.
Jesus said that we should love God with all of our heart and soul and mind. (Matthew 22:37) True love and worship of God is multi-faceted in the sense that the entirety of our being should be fully engaged. True worship as seen in Romans 12:1, 2 is presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God. But note this takes place in context as response to understanding the wonderful mercies of God already given to us in Romans 1-11. So does God ask of us to be engaged whole-spiritedly to that which we do not understand with our minds as truth when we worship? According to John 4:21-26 the answer is 'no' since Jesus says we are to worship God in spirit and in truth! Does our finite understanding of God give us an excuse to not be illumined in our mind to spiritual truth as we worship? According to I Corinthians 2:6-16 the answer is 'no' because Paul says we are to know the things which the Spirit teaches based upon the reality they are communications via words and we understand because we have the mind of Christ! Is true worship bypassing the given revelation of God (His Word) as the means by which His Spirit communes and communicates with us and instead plunging into the great mystical unknown and shelving our minds? Are we to instead initiate entrance into altered states of consciousness (passive mind) to have our spirit carried away uncontrolled on a spiritual journey? Are we to seek some mystical, visionary and fresh experience (supposedly of God) or hear some voice apart from the Word as the norm? According to Colossians 2:18,19 the answer is 'no' because these things are spoken of as 'fleshly' and not part of the understanding we have together under the headship of Christ.
The lack of discernment in many worship settings should raise a red flag as to the possible nature of the corporate worship and the foundations being laid within these ministries. The upbeat worship is often times smoke and mirrors for false doctrines to be brought into the church scene. This occurs by seducing spirits (I Timothy 4:1) no matter what perceived manifestations of 'God' might be taking place! The results can be astounding. The bottom line in all of this is whether or not we have a clear understanding of the fact that the Holy Spirit is the third PERSON of the trinity. He thus has all the customary attributes of person-hood rather than impersonal force. His communications are then specifically that: communications via words, not feelings via impressions or intuition.
Unfortunately what happens in many modern signs and wonders/seeking the glory-presence type settings is comparable to what is recorded as taking place in pagan rituals. That ought to make us very wary. Experiences like kicking, screaming, and barking are no where found in the Holy Scriptures let alone normative of the Christian life. Many statements of faith say we believe in the sole authority of Scripture for faith and practice but do we really mean it? Many have decided that judging things spoken or practiced is not the thing to do. (Which is contrary to I Corinthians 14:29; I John 4:1; I Thessalonians 5:21). And because we are not supposed to judge, then the original belief system which we had agreed to (church statement of faith, etc.) is rendered meaningless in any application! We are thus required to acquiesce and follow the leader. But, whether we consciously perceive this or not, the people gathered have shifted their understanding of authority from the Holy Scripture to the anointed leader. This can be incredibly dangerous. {Think about it - the angel of light only has to deceive one person to lead the whole flock astray if this has happened! And, unfortunately, any Christian can be deceived if not careful}. Remember, the Scripture says all true believers have an anointing from the Holy One. And that anointing teaches us all things which are true (Scripture!) (I John 2:20-27) The Scriptures also tell us that each believer is a priest unto God with Jesus only as their perfect and permanent High Priest. (I Peter 2:1-10; Hebrews 7:11-8:6) We don't need any human or spiritual entity, no matter who or what they are, to be set up as our intermediaries. NONE. PERIOD. (True shepherds of Gods' flock are really only under-shepherds of His. They provide the example of self-giving love and doctrinal integrity in their leadership of the flock.)
And lest you think leaders of this flowing river are not functioning as intermediaries let me remind you of this fact. Often times they have claimed for themselves the right not to be touched or questioned in terms of their authority or ministry. They have it and unless you agree with them you don't have it and are in fact against it. And if a church has bought into the idea of the five-fold ministry (a false translation of Ephesians 4:11 - compare to Ephesians 2:20) then they actually have given themselves biblical precedent for the lack of sole Biblical authority. (Make sure you caught that: supposed Biblical authority for the lack of sole Biblical authority! Talk about going around in a deceptive circle!) These self-appointed apostles and prophets take over the role of the Holy Scriptures by being those who are the leaders in the new flow of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church and all individuals therein. And do not be deceived - when they join together it becomes a new massive denomination whether they admit to this or not. And having denied sole Biblical authority don't believe for one second that they have not replaced that with an unwritten and pervasive agenda. (Every thinking person or spirit has an agenda - every non-thinking person is usually lead around by the former!) But friends the reality is this: if you don't think (Scripturally) - someone is more than happy to do your thinking for you. And the worst case scenario is when you do not realize that is what is happening.
BEWARE - the river could be plunging you headlong into troublesome waters!!!
Copyright 2004, David Sheldon, all rights reserved. Can be photocopied and distributed for free or price of duplication only but only in its entirety with copyright information included. Cannot be posted on any different website but can be linked: The River of Seducing Spirits - David Sheldon
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