INTRODUCTION
Who Needs this Message?
Prophecy of the Times
The Nature and Source of Spiritual Blindness and Deception
Spiritual blindness and deception are significant challenges for us in the last days and the Bible warns believers about the dangers of straying from the truth.
The word "blind" means the state of being unable to see, which originates from a Proto-Germanic term reflecting a loss of vision.
Spiritual blindness is the inability to see, perceive or understand spiritual truths of Jesus Christ with the mind.
This blindness of the mind is not natural or normal, but comes by the entity called Satan, who is the ruler of this age.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (WEB) "Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who are dying, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them."
The word "deception" comes from the Latin "deceptio," meaning "a taking away" or "misleading," derived from "decipere," which means "to ensnare" or "to deceive."
Spiritual deception is believing false teachings or lies that lead one away from God's truth due to pride, false prophets, and satanic influence.
Life is spiritual, behind every teaching or message there is a spirit or wind. The spiritual world only has two sides (God’s side and the devil's), and there is no neutral ground.
Ephesians 4:14 (WEB) "That we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error."
It is important for us to know and understand how the devil brings in spiritual blindness and deception.
The Stages and Causes of Spiritual Blindness and Deception
Spiritual blindness and deception follow a set pattern regardless of the cause and trigger.
It starts with frustration as a result of unfulfilled expectations, frustration leads to bitterness, bitterness gives birth to doubt, doubt creates unbelief, unbelief leads to deception, and deception gives birth to blindness, and blindness ultimately leads to spiritual death.
Stage 1: Frustration.
Frustration is the emotional response experienced when one's expectations or goals are hindered or unmet, often leading to feelings of annoyance, disappointment, and anger.
Usually frustration for believers come from the experience of unanswered prayers.
For example, the late founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses (Watchtower) - Charles Taze Russell, experienced frustration when he tried praying for the sick to be healed 'in the name of Jesus,' without success.
This led him to eventually doubt Jesus as God emphasizing Jehovah as the only name of God, and is the reason why members of the Jehovah's Witnesses do not pray in the name of Jesus today.
And often the reasons why some of our prayers do not get answered is because of sin, pride, and holding on to false teachings.
a. Sin: Cherishing sin in your heart is enough to block your prayers from receiving answers, and this leads to frustration.
Psalms 66:18 (WEB) "If I cherished sin in my heart, the Lord wouldn’t have listened."
Sin dulls one's spiritual perception through blindness. Through habitual sin, the heart gets hardened to lose the sense of feeling remorseful for the sins committed.
Ephesians 4:17-19 (WEB) "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts. They, having become callous, gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness."
At this point one's heart stops beating faster than normal after sin, and to him the practice of sin feels normal and ok.
Habitual sin is connected to pride.
b. Pride: Pride is a sense of high or excessive self-worth, or self-esteem, derived from one's achievements, qualities, or connections, which manifests as an arrogant attitude towards God and a superior feeling about oneself over others.
God doesn't answer the prayers of the proud, He opposes them.
James 4:6-7 (NET) "But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you."
Pride causes one not to realize how he has sinned and hurt God and others. It leads to spiritual blindness towards sin, and an unrepentant attitude.
1 Corinthians 5:2 (NET) "And you are proud! Shouldn’t you have been deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from among you?"
Pride leads to self-deception and destruction. Blindness towards sin due to arrogance does not exempt the sinner from judgment.
Proverbs 16:18 (WEB) "Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall."
Pride is connected to false teachings.
c. False Teachings: False teachings are wrong doctrines that mislead people by creating wrong and unbiblical expectations about God, leading to unanswered prayers and frustration.
False teachings lead both the teacher and the followers into self destruction.
2 Peter 2:1 (NET) "But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring swift destruction on themselves."
Frustration leads to bitterness.
Stage 2: Bitterness.
Bitterness is a strong and persistent feeling of resentment or disappointment, arising from perceived injustice, failure, or betrayal, leading to a harsh and doubtful outlook on life.
A frustrated person is easily deceived by the devil to become bitter against anyone on whom he lays blame for his perceived injustice or failure.
Bitter people have a spiritual arrogance that causes them not to see their own contribution of error to the unmet expectations. They often blame others and even God Himself.
Bitterness is the root of the unbelief or doubt that short circuits the flow of God’s grace, creates more trouble for the carrier and defiles him.
Hebrews 12:15 (NET) "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled."
All false teachings and religious movements have their foundation in bitterness.
People who are bitter often preach 'against others,' and are deceived in the blindness of their resentment to think that God will reject everyone they dislike.
They often base their message on opposing everything taught by the ones that they are bitter against. Someone who grew up without a biological father and is bitter is most likely going to preach a 'revelation' against spiritual fathers and fatherhood.
All heresies are traceable to a root of bitterness. It takes bitterness against Jesus Christ to doubt Him as God and replace Him with something or someone else.
Bitterness can manifest in various forms, and the Bible addresses these different types throughout its text.
a. Personal Bitterness: Personal bitterness is resentment towards an individual due to perceived wrongs or injustices.
Many believers leave the fellowship and some leave the faith altogether because someone from church offended them.
When the devil wants to blind and deceive a person, he will cause someone he loves and honors to provoke him unto offense.
You don't necessarily have to be wronged to take offense, you only need to feel wronged. Most of the time people are bitter against others for wrong assumptions and mistaken conclusions.
Even when you have been wronged, you still have the power to choose not to be offended. Offense is taken, it is not given.
Offense is the fruit of receiving a provocation as an insult. When rejected the seed of offense dies as a mere provocation.
Usually the devil brings offense against leaders in the church inorder to effectively blind and deceive the saints. Offense must feel painful to be effective.
When Simon the Sorcerer was rebuked by Peter for trying to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit with money ('sowing into the anointing' as some call it), Peter saw that Simon was in bitterness probably because he had lost his business of tricking people with magic due to the ministry of Philip the Evangelist (Acts 8:5-9).
Acts 8:20, 23 (WEB) "But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! ...For I see that you are in the poison of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”
When the enemy wants to destroy you, he will isolate you from the brethren. To isolate you from the flock he must make you bitter against the shepherd for any reason.
Holding onto grudges and refusing to forgive those who have wronged us is like drinking poison while expecting another person to fall dead.
We must forgive and let go of bitterness.
Ephesians 4:31-32, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
b. Bitterness from Suffering: Bitterness can arise from prolonged suffering or hardship.
When a log has been put through fire, it catches the smell of smoke. Likewise people who have gone through suffering for a considerable period catch the smoke-smell of bitterness.
Job 10:1 (WEB) “My soul is weary of my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul."
If you are going through tough times, be sure not to catch the smoke-smell in the furnace of your refining.
Daniel's friends did not catch the smoke-smell of the fiery furnace that had been increasingly heated seven times.
Daniel 3:26-27 (WEB) "Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace. He spoke and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the middle of the fire. The local governors, the deputies, and the governors, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies. The hair of their head wasn’t singed. Their pants weren’t changed, the smell of fire wasn’t even on them."
c. Bitterness towards God: Feelings of anger or resentment towards God due to life's circumstances are the most dangerous type of bitterness.
Job 27:1-2 (WEB) "Job again took up his parable, and said, “As God lives, who h⁵4was taken away my right, the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter."
Bitterness against God is not only arrogant and self destructive, it is also foolish. If you get bitter against God, who will reconcile the two of you? Who will judge God wrong against you and order Him to apologize to you?
d. Interpersonal Bitterness: Bitterness against one's self stems from not forgiving yourself from moral or some other type of failure.
Many people demand too much from their flesh and do not submit to the grace of God when it comes to overcoming sin, and they end up being bitter with themselves as a result.
Overconfidence in the flesh is pride which leads to failure and bitterness. God opposes the overconfident and empowers the humble with more grace.
Philippians 3:3 (WEB) "For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
James 4:6 (WEB) "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
People who are bitter against themselves can not receive the love of God or their brethren.
e. Competitive Bitterness: This is bitterness stemming from a spirit of competition and jealousy against others, where one becomes envious of those who are perceived to be going ahead of the bitter person.
Some people become bitter because someone else was blessed with something that they are wishing for themselves.
The combination of bitterness and jealousy is a natural habitat for demonic influence and witchcraft.
James 3:14-16 (WEB) "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed."
f. Relational Bitterness: Many people struggle with relational bitterness, the resentment that develops within personal relationships due to betrayal, separation, or conflict.
It is important to love one another, treat each other with courtesy and forgive each other in family relationships.
Ephesians 4:31-32 (NET) "You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk. Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you."
Ephesians 6:4 (NET) "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
Colossians 3:19 (NET) "Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them."
g. Collective Bitterness: Collective bitterness is shared resentment against someone or others within a community or group due to shared grievances.
Usually collective bitterness is a result of historical conflicts of tribalism, ethnocentrism, racism, colonialism, holocausts, wars, and so on.
In the early church there was a conflict in the church as the Greek speaking Jews protested against the Hebrew speaking Jews who were overlooking their widows in food distribution.
Acts 6:1 (BBE) "Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was increasing, protests were made by the Greek Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were not taken care of in the distribution of food every day."
A common form of segregation that can lead to collective bitterness in the modern day church is the partiality that is shown to the rich as they are preferred ahead of the poor.
This may cause the poor to be bitter collectively against the rich. Pastors and church leaders must not show favoritism to the 'haves' over the 'have nots,' they must treat them both with fairness.
James 2:1-4 (WEB) "My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality. For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool” haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?"
A good principle is to relate with people personally and join in group conflicts and collective bitterness.
Bitterness then gives birth to doubt as one starts questioning the truth of God's Word. Nothing blinds a person to the truth quite like bitterness.
Psalm 73:21-22 "When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you."
Stage 3: Doubt
The word "doubt" comes from the Latin 'dubitum,' meaning "a thing to be doubted" or "questioned." The Latin root 'duo,' meaning "two," suggesting a notion of being "in two minds" about something.
Being doubtful, unstable or double minded causes one not to receive anything from God, including revelation.
James 1:6-8 (WEB) "But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
Because of frustration and bitterness, a person who was walking in the light may be caught in between minds darkness, questioning his original beliefs in doubt.
Brethren who are at this stage are in great danger of falling away from the faith deep into deception.
John the Baptist is a good example of someone who grew bitterness and started doubting the truth about Jesus Christ that he had believed before.
Before he got offended, John the Baptist testified amazingly how God had revealed to him as a prophet that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the Son of God.
John 1:28-34 (WEB) "These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’ I didn’t know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water: that he would be revealed to Israel.” John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
But after getting into prison for rebuking Herod, and when he heard that Jesus was performing miracles, he started to question whether Jesus Christ was the real Son of God or if another one would come. This was because he was offended with Jesus probably because He had not taken him out of prison.
Matthew 11:2-6 (LITV) "But hearing in the prison of the works of Christ, sending two of his disciples, John said to Him, Are You the One coming, or are we to look for another? And answering, Jesus said to them, Going, relate to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, and the lame walk; lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised, and the poor are given the gospel. And blessed is the one, whoever shall not be offended in Me."
Doubt when entertained will lead to unbelief.
Stage 4: Unbelief
Unbelief is the deep stage beyond doubt, in the red zone of facing God's judgment.
The word "unbelief" comes from the prefix "un-" meaning "not," combined with "belief," which "lack of belief or faith."
Faith is fuelled by love and doubt is fuelled by bitterness.
Galatians 5:6 (NET) "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight – the only thing that matters is faith working through love."
As a result of offense, the voice of doubt speaks louder and more aggressively than the voice of faith all the time.
The problem with unbelief is that it is the sin by which a person is condemned, in the same way faith is the righteousness by which a believer is justified.
Romans 4:5 (WEB) "But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness."
Romans 14:23 (WEB) "But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it isn’t of faith; and whatever is not of faith is sin."
A person in unbelief is no longer in doubt of the truth in between two minds, but has made up his mind to believe a lie.
This is a personal who has repented away from the truth to accept deception as the truth.
I remember discussing with a brother who repented away from righteousness and became a preacher and advocate for drunkenness with beer.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (WEB) "Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom."
Unbelief then gives birth to spiritual blindness.
Stage 5: Blindness
Blindness is the state of darkness in which you can not see light or anything.
Spiritual blindness is the state where Satan is blocking you from seeing the light of the Good News in your mind or heart in order to separate you from the life of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (WEB) "In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them."
Ephesians 4:18 "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart."
Satan only is able to blind the minds and hearts of those who have unbelief towards the truth and have accepted a lie as their newly found truth.
God actually gives such people over to Satan in order for them to be deceived.
Romans 1:21-25 (WEB) "Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves; who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen."
In this sense God is said to be the One blinding the unbelieving. God gives people to be deluded by Satan and takes responsibility for the blinding.
John 12:40 (WEB) “He has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and would turn, and I would heal them.”
A person in spiritual blindness is not only in unbelief, but is no longer open minded enough to hear and consider the truth.
A person or people in blindness can not see the light and can not receive salvation as a result.
God gave the nation of Israel to be blinded in order to give the Gentiles an opportunity to enter into His kingdom.
Romans 11:25 "For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in."
Finally, blindness leads to spiritual death.
Overcoming Spiritual Blindness and Deception
Here are a few steps to take in order to come out of spiritual blindness and deception.
》Acknowledge that you don't know what you do not know. The challenge with us is that we don't know what we don't know, and we don't know that we don't know it.
Ignorance is often accompanied with arrogance. The challenge with assuming that you know is that you will not feel the need to seek truth and will remain in darkness happily.
》Seek the light of Truth with accuracy in God’s Word, and don't seek to be correct in your own views.
Psalms 119:105 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
John 17:17 (WEB) "Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth."
To every truth that you have, there is a more accurate way. Apollo the apostle taught the truth accurately concerning the baptism of John, but was taught the more accurate truth by Priscilla and Aquila.
Acts 18:24-26 (WEB) "Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside, and explained to him the way of God more accurately."
Sometimes you need to be corrected not because your knowledge is wrong, but is incomplete and requires to be perfected.
And also know that even when your knowledge is wrong, you are not what is wrong. It's the knowledge. Separate yourself from your knowledge so that you don't take loving correction as a personal attack.
Many people fail to learn because they are protecting themselves from a perceived attack by guarding their wrong doctrines.
》Rely on the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of truth is the one who guides into all truth.
John 16:13 (WEB) "However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming."
The true Holy Spirit guides us to know the Truth of Jesus Christ through the scriptures. You can not know the things of God without the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:11 (WEB) "For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit."
You must be sure to receive Christ and the Holy Spirit so that you may be led by the Spirit into understanding the Bible. If you are not spiritual you can not be scriptural.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (WEB) "Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
》Test the spirits behind every teaching or message regardless of the teacher, to see whether they are from God.
1 John 4:1 (WEB) "Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."
Behind the words of any message there is a spirit, and when you receive the message you embrace the spirit behind it. The truth imparts the Holy Spirit and life to the listeners.
John 6:63 (WEB) "It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life."
Listening to a false prophet or minister imparts you with three types of demons.
Revelation 16:13-14 (WEB) "I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God, the Almighty."
The three demons are the spirit of the pride of life, the lust of the flesh (obsessive desires), and the lust of the eyes (love of money).
1 John 2:16 (WEB) "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s."
Ultimately the evil spirits teach in different cunning ways against the incarnation (coming in the flesh) of Jesus Christ, and against the manifestation of His saving works of the cross in the life of the believers.
1 John 4:2-3 (WEB) "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already."
Don't accept a message because of the reputation of the person who is sharing it including myself, but put every teaching into the scrutiny of the Bible.
The Bereans were commended for examining scriptures daily to verify the teachings of Paul and Silas.
Acts 17:10-11 (NET) "The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once, during the night. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so."
Understanding and addressing these issues helps believers stay anchored in truth.
Conclusion
Spiritual blindness and deception can lead believers away from the path of truth.
The Bible provides clear guidance on recognizing and overcoming these dangers through a deep commitment to God's word, reliance on the Holy Spirit, and a humble heart.
By staying vigilant and discerning, believers can remain anchored in the truth and avoid the pitfalls of spiritual deception.
I hope you have been blessed and enlightened in this teaching. Shalom.
No comments:
Post a Comment