Doctrine of Demons-A Falling Away
Friday, 31 December 2010 10:32
"A Falling Away"
From the Online Audio Series "The Doctrine of Demons"
1 Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, NKJV
Paul had earlier warned the elders of Ephesus about how the flock will be lured away by false teachers.
Acts 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. NKJV
One consequence of the false teaching is that people depart from the true faith.
Luke 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation (NT: 3986) fall away. KJV
Heb 3:8,12 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation (NT: 3986) in the wilderness: 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. KJV
Both groups spoken of in these scriptures are those who had received the word at some point in the past only to forsake that teaching later. The motivation in both cases is referred to as ‘temptation”.
Temptation: (NT: 3986) NT:3985 is some danger threatening to cause a person to depart from the correct path. Therefore some crisis, test or temptation that will potentially cause a person to depart from the faith. The first recorded case of this occurred in Eden as Satan instigated a crisis of temptation resulting in the fall of mankind.
The character of this testing is not of God, who takes pains to limit temptation
1 Cor 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. NKJV
The origin of temptation is the sin nature and the devil
James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. NKJV
Matt 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter (NT: 3985) came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." NKJV
The devil seeks to win in his war against God by controlling God’s creation. He has already won the allegiance of a portion of the angels. He gained strategic control of the earth and fallen humanity through the fall of Adam. Finally he seeks to draw away believers through false doctrine, through a false church and a false trinity.
2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. NKJV
By the falling away of believers and of professors of Christianity, the gospel itself will be ridiculed by the unsaved: “the way of truth will be blasphemed”. Through the promotion of false teaching, the entire concept of Christianity will be lowered in the eyes of men.
1 Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, NKJV
“Depart from the faith” is the Greek word from which we get the term “apostasy”. The Holy Spirit is predicting that some will depart from the teaching or doctrine of the Christian faith. This is what is signified by the words "the faith"
Jude 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. KJV
To walk away from the faith therefore means walking away from the authority of the teachings of the bible, to no longer submit to their authority or even to acknowledge their truth. A person who fails to submit to the Word of God but who acknowledges the Word of God as truth, is sinning, out of fellowship and needs to repent. These people in our verse above [1Tim 4.1] are different, they have turned their backs upon the Christian Faith as a valid and meaningful part of their lives. Its like the difference between not speaking to your wife and moving out of the house to live with another woman. Certainly there were disobedient and out of fellowship individuals in the time of the writing of first Timothy, however, this group is not in view here.
The passage says that "some shall depart": everyone will not embrace the doctrines of the seducing spirit. Some will recognize the doctrine of demons as just that and resist it. However, those that will depart from the Christian faith will do so as a result of the deception of a spirit who impersonates the Holy Spirit and a doctrine which does not originate with God but with demons.
This is interesting, a false [seducing] spirit, a false teacher (v2) and a false word [the doctrine of demons]: what will be the outcome? Nothing but a false church can come from the amalgamation of a false spirit, teacher and doctrine. It will look just like the real church, otherwise, what is the point of an impersonation? Would you listen to an impersonator who always sounded like himself and never like the person he was supposed to impersonate?
Satan has a Plan for the church; and that plan includes an organized system of doctrine which is designed to resemble true bible doctrine but will never produce mature believers.
We all know that there is food, fast food to be exact, that has all the appearance of food, but little to no nutritional value. In fact, the more you eat of this kind of food, the more unhealthy you will become. This food tastes good to us and we enjoy it and we buy so much of it that we have made it a multi-billion dollar industry. Yet that food which we buy, consume and enjoy is anti-life. The same is true with the doctrinal systems of Lucifer; they are appealing but they are anti-life.
In the Christian, the combination of the filling of the Holy Spirit, learning and believing the word of God results in spiritual growth, the acquisition of the character of Christ in our lives. What does the combination of false doctrine and a seducing spirit produce? It will produce spiritual kryptonite, stealing the life out of the church and the community.
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;
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