----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2004 9:39
AM
Subject: [TruthTalk] deceived
Let me throw y'all something to ponder.
I'm tired of scratching my head alone.
Consider this:
Satan is described as a deceiver. We are
warned that he will,
if possible, deceive us. I think that all
of us will agree that this
is true. The Bible not only says so; we
ourselves have all seen
deceived people. Sometimes, they are real
easy to spot.
We are not surprised at this. Satan has
been around longer
than the human race. He is the father of
lies. He has experience.
He is good at what he does.
My question is, since this is a common
occurance, how do you
know that you are not the one being
deceived? Satan doesn't
just work on the stupid and the uneducated, and
he doesn't say,
"Now I am going to deceive you". In fact,
the way he operates,
the one being deceived never realizes that he
or she is deceived.
It is always someone else. If you knew
you were deceived, you
would not be deceived. So how do you know
that you aren't?
Terry
Judy:
Very good question Terry; I've been wondering
how to approach
the subject of demon oppressed/led believers
and you are making it
easier.
As we see in the life of Abraham (the father of
faith) the fruit of faith
is obedience to the will of God. We
should recognize the voice of the
Chief Shepherd and obey Him.
Eve was deceived because she listened to the wrong voice and acted
upon the wrong message. At one point
during his ministry to the
Church at Corinth the apostle Paul tells them he is afraid for them
"lest somehow as the serpent deceived
Eve by his craftiness, so
their minds might be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in
Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3)
Paul goes on to speak of one who
comes with another Jesus,
a different spirit, and a
different gospel - a scenario which we
are all
familiar with on TT. Over the 2,000+
years since Calvary the adversary
has produced more than 400 different Protestant gospels and this
is not including the quasi-Christian
cults and the RCC.
I know from personal experience that it is
possible for a born again
believer to be deceived because I've been
there and today I guard
against the spirit of error by continuing
to study to show myself
approved to God and to the best of my ability
walking in all the light
He has given me.
We must know God and His ways so that when the other voice
speaks to us or any idea that exalts itself above the clear teaching of
God's Word presents itself we are quick to take it captive
and cast it
down to the
obedience of Christ. (2 Cor 10:5).
Grace and Peace,
Judy
Blaine: But Judy, if what presents itself
as the "clear teaching of God's word" is really so clear, how come your
stats--400 different Protestant gospels--suggest
otherwise? I do not doubt they seem clear to you, and
they do to me too, but they apparently also seem clear to those who
draw different conclusions from you or I--and even you and I do not always
agree. There are not only the Protestants who cannot agree, but
we have a growing number of Messianics who disagree with what is
fundamentally agreed upon by most Protestants-- that the feasts of the Law
of Moses no longer need to be kept, the Sabbath should be observed on
Sunday, not Saturday, etc. All this from the same "clear
teaching of God's word." Read the following, and tell
we that this does not describe our day:
Isaiah 29:9-10 Stay yourselves, and wonder, cry ye out, and cry:
they are drunken, but not with wine. They stagger, but not with strong
drink. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep,
and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your rulers, the seers
hath he covered.
Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said,
forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their
lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear
toward me is taught by the precept of men.
