Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #31: Secret Knowledge
“But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.”—Revelation 2:24
On August 5, 2010, near Copiapo, Chile, a mine collapsed, trapping thirty-three miners 680 meters underground (2230 feet). Initially, the thought was that they could only survive for three days, but it was soon discovered that the miners found a power source and space for fresh air, and have managed to get food and supplies through bore holes as they await their freedom, which hopefully will come as early as this week. Deep in the heart of the earth, they are trapped and unable to get free unless someone bores a hole deep and big enough to reach them.
The Bible says that we are trapped in sin and unable to free ourselves. God sent His Son to us so that we might have life in Him. It is one of the simplest truths to understand. Which is why Jesus could say that we must “become like children”(Matthew 18:3), in order to enter into the kingdom of God—which is to say that we must have a simple, childlike faith, and trust in God’s Son for salvation. All too often, however, we want to make it harder than it really is. We want something deeper, which is where some of those who were in the church of Thyatira tripped up. There were some in the church who believed what John, the Spirit-inspired author of Revelation, calls “the deep things of Satan.” What were these so-called “deep” things? John gives us a description in verse 20,
“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing My servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”
A woman disguised as a “prophetess” or religious leader was advocating a supposedly “secret” knowledge whereby the church could indulge in sexual immorality and eat food that had been used in idolatrous feasts. She was making it sound like indulging in such sins were allowed because they possessed some sort of secret knowledge of God, when the reality was that it was actually satanic and rather than make them more spiritual, actually made them more trapped!
We must be on guard against any so-called “knowledge” advocated by any religious teacher, no matter how good he or she may sound, or quote from the Bible, because such lies trap all of those who choose to believe them. We must measure such teachings according to Scripture, making sure that we understand context and intent. Remember, Satan quoted the Bible when he tempted Jesus, but Jesus quoted the Word back to him in its proper context and intent, thus exposing Satan’s ploy to distort God’s Word for his own perverted purposes.
May we continually be like the Bereans during Paul’s day, who when confronted with the truths of Christ “received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so”—Acts 17:11. Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy! Rest in Christ with childlike faith, studying to show yourself approved unto God, rightly dividing His Word. And if we have given in to the so-called “deep things” which have trapped us rather than freed us, may we call out to Christ for freedom, knowing that He is the only one who can set us free. Amen.
On August 5, 2010, near Copiapo, Chile, a mine collapsed, trapping thirty-three miners 680 meters underground (2230 feet). Initially, the thought was that they could only survive for three days, but it was soon discovered that the miners found a power source and space for fresh air, and have managed to get food and supplies through bore holes as they await their freedom, which hopefully will come as early as this week. Deep in the heart of the earth, they are trapped and unable to get free unless someone bores a hole deep and big enough to reach them.
The Bible says that we are trapped in sin and unable to free ourselves. God sent His Son to us so that we might have life in Him. It is one of the simplest truths to understand. Which is why Jesus could say that we must “become like children”(Matthew 18:3), in order to enter into the kingdom of God—which is to say that we must have a simple, childlike faith, and trust in God’s Son for salvation. All too often, however, we want to make it harder than it really is. We want something deeper, which is where some of those who were in the church of Thyatira tripped up. There were some in the church who believed what John, the Spirit-inspired author of Revelation, calls “the deep things of Satan.” What were these so-called “deep” things? John gives us a description in verse 20,
“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing My servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”
A woman disguised as a “prophetess” or religious leader was advocating a supposedly “secret” knowledge whereby the church could indulge in sexual immorality and eat food that had been used in idolatrous feasts. She was making it sound like indulging in such sins were allowed because they possessed some sort of secret knowledge of God, when the reality was that it was actually satanic and rather than make them more spiritual, actually made them more trapped!
We must be on guard against any so-called “knowledge” advocated by any religious teacher, no matter how good he or she may sound, or quote from the Bible, because such lies trap all of those who choose to believe them. We must measure such teachings according to Scripture, making sure that we understand context and intent. Remember, Satan quoted the Bible when he tempted Jesus, but Jesus quoted the Word back to him in its proper context and intent, thus exposing Satan’s ploy to distort God’s Word for his own perverted purposes.
May we continually be like the Bereans during Paul’s day, who when confronted with the truths of Christ “received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so”—Acts 17:11. Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy! Rest in Christ with childlike faith, studying to show yourself approved unto God, rightly dividing His Word. And if we have given in to the so-called “deep things” which have trapped us rather than freed us, may we call out to Christ for freedom, knowing that He is the only one who can set us free. Amen.
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