Take Heed

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall
(1 Corinthians 10:12)

In his first letter to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul warns of this twisted thinking, retelling the story of how the Israelites displeased God in chapter 10. In their self-confidence, masking as confidence in God, they presumed upon the Lord; murmuring about lack, tempting about His power, and mixing idolatry with supposed godliness. Paul makes it clear that the Corinthians had been doing this and that they (and we today) are to keep a diligent heart toward the Lord. Standing against such self-confident presumption he wrote the verse you see above.

Sincere, serious, God-fearing Christians with any amount of spiritual discernment can obviously tell that there are many false “apostles” and “prophets” in the world today. However, there are multitudes of immature or new believers that are being taken captive by the schemes of supposed servants of God. These “servants”, while occasionally outright children of darkness, more often than not are just deceived themselves, only presuming to lead into the light of God’s truth, while actually being led by their own passion for glamour.

Under a false sense of humility and dependence, they entice carnal Christians with comforting words about “restoration” and “revival” rather than convicting with character words like “repentance” and “reformation”. People get caught up in seeking “a move of the Spirit” while not taking heed to their own lives, foregoing an abundant life of obedience for the “spiritual red-line” of emotional release.

This is not a new phenomena; it has been going on for centuries, but is cloaked with an ever-increasing sophistication. Truly, we need more spiritual discernment in the pulpit as well as within the laity today. Within these following missives, a history of some of the excesses and heresies of the past will be detailed, and statements that point to the truth will be given so that we may be trained to see the warning sign – “the presumption of faith” – with regards to gifts and heretical movements. Biblical examples of what to do and what not to do will also be provided as further evidence that this presumption can (and does) happen.

J.M. Stifler said it well when he remarked, “There are two ways of despising God, one is to ignore His power, the other is to presume upon it.” Perhaps many who are reading this believe certain spiritual gifts, such as tongues, continue today as in the early church. Others may not, but both sides wonder how they can know when people, especially themselves, are actually being Spirit-led, as opposed to being emotionally-led. What they see today is “going too far”, they might conclude.

These following days will deal with the notion that we can be deceived. We will also discuss why signs and wonders are not necessarily to be sought after, and will show how others have been taken captive. We will introduce some clear-cut instruction on avoiding the “pit” falls, and talk about the antithesis of the presumption of faith – the obedience of faith: Christ’s emphasis on discernment of God’s will by continual communion and ever-mindful humility.