If you have your spiritual eyes open, you know that we are seeing things happen in the church world today that we never thought we would see. We are seeing people who used to preach the truth go off into error.
The Bible tells us exactly why this is happening. 1 Timothy 4:1 says, “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.”
Now, notice that they depart from the faith because they give heed to seducing spirits. To give heed means you hold your mind toward something. You give it your attention. And that is exactly how a seducing spirit gets ahold of a child of God. They don’t just jump on you; you have to give them a place to land.
The Entrance is Through a Person
The Lord showed me that the way a seducing spirit gets to you is almost always through another person. The devil is not stupid. He doesn’t come to you looking like a demon. He comes through a person you like, someone you admire, or a “big-name” preacher that everyone is talking about.
If you sit under a person’s ministry long enough, you are going to pick up their spirit. If that preacher has a seducing spirit on them—if they have departed from the Word and gone after “new revelations”—and you keep listening to them, that spirit is going to jump on you too. You’ll start thinking like them, talking like them, and eventually, you’ll be deceived just like they are.
I remember what Brother Hagin used to say. He said that if a person gets off into error, it’s usually because they wanted something more than they wanted the Word. They wanted a “deeper” revelation or they wanted to be “popular.” When you want something more than you want Jesus, you have just created an opening for a seducing spirit.
It Starts in the Mind
A seducing spirit is like a prostitute, excuse my language. But it entices you. It whispers to your mind that the “old-time way” is too narrow or that you don’t need to be so “legalistic” about the Bible. It tells you that you’ve found a “new move of God” that is all about “love” and doesn’t mention sin or the blood of Jesus.
That spirit is looking for a “hook” in your heart. If you have a desire to be accepted by the world, or if you have some pride in your heart that wants to be “special,” that spirit will hook into that.
2 Timothy 4:3 says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” You see, it’s the “itching ears” that lead the way. You stop wanting to hear the truth that convicts you and you start looking for a teacher that makes you feel good in your carnal state. When you “heap” those teachers to yourself, you are opening the door wide for a seducing spirit to come in and take over your thinking.
Follow the Inward Witness
The Lord said, “If you will follow the Word, the Spirit, and Me, you will not be deceived.”
The way you stay out of this trap is by listening to your spirit. You have the Holy Ghost on the inside of you. Many times, you’ll be listening to a preacher and your head will say, “Boy, he sure is eloquent,” but down in your spirit, there’s a check. There’s a “scratchy” feeling. That’s the inward witness telling you that something is wrong.
If you ignore that check because you want to be “nice” or because you want to follow the crowd, you are headed for the ditch. You have to be willing to walk away from anyone—I don’t care how “anointed” they seem—if they are not staying straight with the Word of God.
Stay with the Word. Stay with the move of the Holy Ghost. Don’t let a seducing spirit use a personality to draw you away from the Truth. God is with you!
