#88 -- Gospel and Spiritual Growth

Valley – May 25, 2003 p.m.

 

THE WORLD SYSTEM AND THE TEACHING OF FALLEN SPIRIT BEINGS

 

Satan established the world system as a result of the murder of Abel by Cain.  He uses the system to accomplish his ends.  Demons also work through the world system to teach those things which encourage people to be independent from God.  Satan and his system have teachings identified as the deep things of Satan.  Fallen spirit beings have distinct teachings identified as "the doctrine of demons."  Much of this information is channeled through the secular education and religion of the world system.  The teaching of fallen spirit beings involves an optional lifestyle for the Christian to that provided by grace in the present dispensation.  

 

The first part of this message leads us to Revelation two and the message to the church at Thyatira (the fourth church addressed).  There is a woman in the church at Thyatira involved in teaching certain doctrine that leads saints astray.  "Thyatira" means "unwearied of sacrifices" and so has the idea "continual sacrifices."  Historically this is the era of church history in which the Eucharist or ongoing sacrifice of Christ in the Mass was developed and perpetuated in the Roman church.  Christ held a few things against the church (2:20).  They were permitting a woman identified as Jezebel who professed to be a prophetess to be teaching and to be causing the church to wander.  Jezebel is the name of the well-known wife of King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom (1 Ki. 21:1-21; 2 Ki. 9:22, 32).  She procured land that belonged to Naboth for Ahab disenfranchising the rightful heirs and murdering the hereditary owner.  This was done in the name of the king.  She was noted for her vanity and wickedness.  She promoted prostitutions and witchcrafts (2 Ki. 9:22).  She tried to impress men by painting her eyes and putting on fancy headgear but was ultimately thrown out of a window to her death.  The Jezebel in Thyatira was a self-styled, arrogant and insincere woman who professed to have the gift of prophecy.  In this way she was able to compromise the church.  She was continually teaching and causing the bondslaves of Jesus Christ to wander.  This wandering led them to commit spiritual fornication and to eat idol sacrifices.  This is the same teaching is also attributed to Balaam in Christ's address to the church in Pergamos though the order is reversed (2:14).  Her approach led to fornication first and then the eating in tribute to idols.  Jesus Christ had given her time to repent (2:21) of her fornication but she refused to repent and continued her teaching and misleading.  He promises to throw her into bed with her offspring and into great tribulation.  I believe that this refers to the Roman church and those who have come from her who have shared the same heretical bed.  They will be the recipients of the wrath of God in the second half of Daniels's 70th week.  He will kill her children.  In verse 24 Christ promises those who have not been taken up with her teaching that He will not lay more of a burden on them.  This teaching is teaching for faith and practice (didache).  The true believers did not experientially know the deep things of Satan.  Jesus Christ Himself identifies the fact that Satan teaches his own deep teaching.  He is a perfect counterfeit.  He provides a view that his deep things are equivalent to the "deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10)."  Those who accept his teaching are confident that these things are deep and hard to understand with special benefits to their lives.  They cannot approach or understand the depths of the riches that are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 11:33).  This teaching is filtered through the religio-educational order of the world system.  It is designed to make saints wander and to gratify unbelievers and the religious works of the flesh. 

 

Paul addresses the teaching of demons for faith but not for practice (didaskalia) in 1 Timothy 4:1.  "Now the Spirit by utterances is saying that in the letter times some will depart from the faith, while continually paying attention to misleading spirits even teachings for faith but not for practice from demons."  These are designed as Satan's doctrine for practice to cause Christians to wander.  The word is the source of the word "planet" in the English language.  The planets were heavenly bodies that did not remain in the same basic place but were wandering in different places in relation to the established constellations.  The word involves a doctrinal departure a part of which is an attempt to practice teaching not addressed to Christians.  These doctrines literally have demonic origin.  Their teaching has a measure of validity because it has some basis in Scripture addressed to other human beings than Christians.  The practice of some who pay attention to demons is noted in the next verses.  These are men who speak lies saying they are something that they are not ("hypocrisy").  They have cauterized consciences that are not sensitive to reality.  They forbid marriage.  The Roman church incorporated celibacy of its religious orders fairly early in her history though for many years it was not true.  Dietary matters and limits was a part of the teaching of these individuals.  They abstained from certain foods and attempted to get others to do the same thing in the name of knowledge and religion.  True believers know that all food is made by God and is from God.  They could eat anything with thanksgiving for the divine provision of it.  Paul encourages Timothy to be "a good minister of Jesus Christ, being nourished by the words of the faith and the obviously good teaching for faith and not practice" which he had followed.  Verses 7, 8 add to the effects of the doctrines of demons and the believer's reaction to them.  The believer is to have nothing to do with  "profane and old wives myths."  These have no divine reality but are false perceptions that have their source in demons.  Evidently these demonic false teachers taught that physical exercise was essential to their form of godliness.  Bodily exercise does profit a little but it is far more important to exercise in the matter of godliness (4:8). 

 

As has been seen in previous messages, the education of the world system and its religion is always trying to replace biblical standards for grace living.  There is an ongoing campaign by fallen spirit beings to deceive, distract and derail any true believer from growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.  It is a process of replacement that is designed to give the believer a false security concerning his or her ability to please God.  Central Christian life issues are ignored and replaced by a kind of works salvation.  "In Christ" truth is denigrated and declared to be unimportant.  Unsaved people revel in the teaching from Satan and demons.  Carnal true believers are often led into acceptance of these teachings by their sin natures.  In both cases the religious works of the flesh find gratification is the teaching.

 

Anticipating the up-calling of God in Christ Jesus.

 

Appreciating grace doctrine for faith and practice.

 

Prospering in the new creation,

DKS

 

THE WORLD SYSTEM AND THE TEACHING OF FALLEN SPIRIT BEINGS

1 John 2:15

Proposition:   To present two passages that describe how fallen spirit beings teach certain kinds of doctrine in the world system that affect the education and religion of a believer.

        Introduction

              A. The World System as a Vehicle for Teaching of Fallen Spirit Beings

              B.   The World System as the Platform for Fallen Spirit Beings

                   1. The Deep Things of Satan

                   2. The Doctrine of Demons

              C.  The World System as the Mechanism Encouraging Independence from God

              D.  The World System Provides Instruction by Education for Life and Religion

TRANS:  Revelation two continues with the description of teaching of the secular world system as infiltrating the church in Thyatira by a woman who claimed to be a prophetess named Jezebel.  This teaching affected how they looked at things in general and how they were to live life.

 

  I.     THE TEACHING OF THE WOMAN JEZEBEL IN THE CHURCH IN THYRATIRA – THE PERMISSION TO AND INFILTRATION OF THE WOMAN JEZEBEL – THE COMMUNICATION OF DOCTRINE FOR PRACTICE IN THE TRADITION OF BALAAM BY JEZEBEL – THE SYSTEM AS A MECHANISM FOR THE TEACHINGS OF SATAN – Revelation 2:20, 24

      A.  The Problem with the Church's Permission of Jezebel as a Teacher – 2:20 

            1.   The Thing That the Son of God Holds Against the Church at Thyatira

            2.   The Toleration of the Woman Jezebel

                  a.  Her Identification as the Woman Jezebel

                  b.  Her Insistence for Saying That She Was a Prophetess

            3.  The Transmission of Teaching and Error

                  a.   She Is Continually Teaching (present act. ind.)

                  b.   She Is Continually Possibly Leading Astray (present act. subj.)

                  c.   She Consistently Targets the Bondslaves of Jesus Christ

            4.   The Totality of the Purpose of Her Teaching

                  a.   To Fornicate

b.   To Eat Sacrifices to Idols

      B.   The Potential Provided for Her Repentance – 2:21

            1.   God the Son Gave Time in Order That She Might Repent

            2.   She Does Not Desire to Repent

            3.   Of Her Fornication

      C.  The Punishment of Jezebel and Her Bedfellows – 2:22, 23a

            1.   I Am Throwing Her Into a Bed

            2.   I Am Throwing The Ones Committing Adultery with Her

            3.   Into Great Tribulation Unless They Repent Out of Her Word

            4.   I Will Kill Her Born Ones with Death – 2:23b

D.  The Provision of Experiential Knowledge of the Churches – 2:23b

            1.   The Son Searches the Kidneys and Hearts

            2.   The Son Will Give Each One According to His Works

      E.   The Promise of No More Burden to Those Who Do Not Accept the Teaching by Jezebel

            – 2:24

            1.   Do Not Possess the Teaching

            2.   No Experiential Knowledge of the Deep Things of Satan

      F.   The Participation of Others with Jezebel's Teaching – 2:24

            1.   Possess the Doctrine for Faith and Practice

            2.   Possess an Experiential Knowledge of the Deep Things of Satan

            3.   Presented Verbally

      G.  The Persistence of the True Believers Until the Son Comes – 2:25

      H.  The Promise to the Overcomer – 2:26-28

TRANS:  Paul warned Timothy of the fact that there would be those who would depart from the faith and pursue doctrine for faith that comes from fallen spirit beings.  This involved a compromising of certain elements of the Law that were not for practice and incorporating them with perversion into Christian practice.

 

II.  THE TEACHING AND MISLEADING BY FALLEN SPIRIT BEINGS IN THE LATTER TIMES – THE DEFECTION AND ATTENTION BY SOME TO DOCTRINE OF FALLEN SPIRIT BEINGS – THE CONTENTS OF THE MISDIRECTION AND TEACHING OF DEMONS IN THE LATER TIMES – THE SYSTEM AS A MECHANISM FOR THE DELUSION AND DOCTRINE OF DEMONS – 1 Timothy 4:1

      A.  The Prediction of a Departure from the Faith in the Later Times – 4:1

            1.   The Announcements by Utterance Concerning the Later Times

            2.   The Anticipation of the Departure of Some from the Faith

            3.   The Attention Directed to Fallen Spirit Beings

                  a.   Wandering Spirits Even

                  b.   Teachings for Faith from Demons

      B.   The Practice of "Some" Who Pay Attention to Fallen Spirit Beings – 4:2, 3a

            1.   Men Speaking Lies in Hypocrisy

            2.   Men Having a Branded, Numb Conscience

            3.   Men Forbidding to Marry

            4.   Men Encouraging Abstaining from Foods

      C.  The Position of Believers Who Knew the Truth – 4:3b-5

            1.   Recognize Divine Provision

            2.   Received with Thanksgiving

      D.  The Prominence of Good Spiritual Nourishment for a Minister of Christ – 4:6

            1.   By the Words of the Faith

            2.   By the Good Doctrine to Be Believed and Not Practiced

      E.   The Pressure to Refuse things of the World System from Fallen Spirit Beings – 4:7, 8

            1.   Refuse Profane

            2.   And Old Wives' Myths

            3.   Bodily Exercise for a Little Is Profitable

      F.   The Preferences for Christians

            1.   Exercise Yourself Toward Godliness

            2.   Godliness Is Profitable

TRANS:  Fallen spirit beings effectively work through the world system to teach their doctrine to Christians as well as others.  Their teaching encourages people to do things different from what God wants and to act independent of God in their lives.

© by David K. Spurbeck

Valley Baptist Church

P. O. Box 99, Gaston, OR 97119