Have you ever watched a lion with its prey? He is quiet and calculated, subtle with his movements, deceptive with his presence. His roar comes after he has caught you. And so it is with Satan who strives to deceive us and pull us from the path of truth – our Sovereign God’s truth.
I recently started reading Hebrews again, and a few days after reading the first part of Hebrews 1, I was watching Chris Rosebrough who hosts a radio program Fighting for the Faith (google him!). As God would time it, one of his topics was how the words of Hebrews 1:1-2 have been twisted by false teachers.
What it says in Hebrews 1:1-2: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He also made the universe.”
What false teachers state: “in these last days He ‘is speaking’ or ‘speaks’ to us by His Son.” Just a simple, quiet twist of the past vs. present tense. God’s words are “has spoken”.
“By His Son” would be while Jesus was on the earth teaching. When Jesus returned to heaven, He sent us the Spirit to “guide us into all truth.” John 16:12-15 makes it clear that, while the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three in one, the truth comes from the Father to Jesus to the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit reveals to us what the Father allows. (If everything were revealed to us, we couldn’t bear it. John 16:12) It is the Holy Spirit that works directly with our spirit. There is no more present tense “by His Son.”
So why bring this up? It is a challenge to myself, and to everyone who reads this, to “test the spirits” 1 John 4:1, and to be “alert and sober … there is a roaring lion” 1 Peter 5:8. Test what is written in these blogs; test what is preached; study what is taught. Read the Scriptures in context.
“The Spirit clearly says (in John 16:13) that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” 1 Timothy 4:1
Let us pray and ask the Spirit to guide us into all truth and make clear what God is teaching as we read. Let us pray and ask that we would want to understand and know what God is teaching, and not twist things to what we think we want to hear. “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20-21
Put on the full armor of God so you can stand against the roaring lion. Stand on God’s truth.