Love of Truth Necessity
I saw the circular image of myriads of people enveloped in the joy of the Lord moving forward. This I recognized as the Body of Christ progressing onward throughout the earth over the past 2 millennium. Within it cries of repentance, salvation, and the splashes of water baptisms were abundant. The echo of prophetic words; and scenes of divine healing and deliverance from evil spirits were common. Yet, the Body never stopped moving to camp around any of the miraculous signs or any of the prophetic words heard. However, there were frequent small groups of stragglers that would break off to tarry on emphasis about one of the aforementioned topics.
The individual interests groups erected booths/tents with signs advertising their specialty. They read the likes of: “Come hear demons name themselves.” “Watch expert demonologists converse with demons that speak from audience members.” “You need to know about the conspiracies of the NWO.” “Learn the identification of the Antichrist and the exact date of the Lord’s appearing, etc, etc”.
As time went on, a midway lined with sideshow booths as customary with carnivals and circuses was created. The longer the booths stood on either side of the midway, the more tattered they looked and sparser were the number of onlookers. Their hawkers barked louder to catch attention, but eventually audience dwindled to pitifully small numbers. Nonetheless, way up ahead the Body to which the created midway led got larger illuminated with greater intensities of God’s glory. And, new midway booths with the same sideshow emphasis continued to form only to be left far behind.
As I watched all of this a woefully neglected passage came to mind; 2Thes 2:7-17. It speaks about the necessity of having a love of the truth. The truth is found in the traditions and regular practices of Jesus, his disciples and the early church. The ancient Mediterranean world was filled with secret cult societies. Yet, we don’t read about the apostles constantly reiterating their conspiracies for world takeover.
Deliverance was commonplace in Jesus ministry and throughout the book of Acts. Jesus didn’t permit demons to speak, much less engage in long conversations with them. The only time that he asked a demon to name itself was with the demoniac who lived in tombs. There was only one incident where he specifically expelled as spirit by name; deaf mute demon of Mk 9:25. Normally, come out, was sufficient.
The same goes with the church apostles. We know that the slave girl was delivered of a spirit of divination, but there’s not any mention of Paul naming it when he cast it from her. The Bible warns about deception from doctrines of demons. A surefire way of exposure to their doctrines is to encourage the critters to speak.
The apostles and the First Century Church ministered on the move in their day to day lives pressing onward in Christ. Like the huge crowd seen in my vision, they ever increased in number as they ministered all of the glorious bells and whistles of salvation while on the move. They were totally opposed to clicks and divisive groups quartering themselves off away from the spiritual wholeness of the Body at large.
Many associated with ministries that have mutated into midway sideshows, would be willing to acknowledge that their numbers are small. For these, it’s a delight to see a new face to practice their craft upon. There are millions of people who need deliverance. But, it could be that God will keep them to himself until those with skewed emphasis come more in line with biblical perspectives.
The 2Thes 2:7-17 warning that we all need to heed is that if we don’t have a love for the truth; God himself will send us a delusion that will cause belief in lies. This is sobering. Strong’s translation for “delusion” is straying from orthodoxy. Vine’s says it’s mental straying in religion. An English dictionary gives the psychiatric definition of delusion as “a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact.”
Have you ever tried to talk a sideshow enthusiast away from his tent? I have and there have been more than a few that met the dictionary’s definition. Saints, don’t camp around any methodology that does not have clear and consistent biblical support.
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