10. Overcoming the Seducing Spirit
Manifestations: Hypocritical Lies, Seared Conscience, Attractions: Fascinations by false prophets, signs and wonders, deception, wandering from the truth, Fascination with evil ways, objects, or persons Seducers-Enticers
Scriptures: (1 Timothy 4:1; Proverbs 12:22; James 1:14; Mark 13:22; Romans 7:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:10; 2 Timothy 3:13; 1 John 2:18–26; Deuteronomy 13:6–8; 2 Timothy 3:13; Proverbs 1:10; 12:26; 2 Timothy 3:13)
Roots: "The Works of the Flesh," Galatians 5:19–21.
"By their fruits, you will know all men." Matthew 7:20. According to Matthew 6:10; 11:12; 12:29; 16:18; 18:18; 28:18 Bind: Seducing Spirits
Loose: Holy Spirit, Truth, John 16:13
Overcoming the Religious Spirit Overcoming the Evil, Strong Men Overcoming evil spirits and demolishing strongholds of Satan, which fight against the soul of man
The religious spirit
That’s the spirit of idolatry. Prophet Ezekiel saw the image or the seat of idol of this evil spirit: And He put forth the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head; and The Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heavens and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the door of the inner [court] which faces towards the north, where was the seat of the idol (image) of jealousy, which provokes ealousy. Ezek 8:3, 5 AMP
The prophet also beheld the glory of God (v. 4).
The aim of this spirit is to seek worship from men—to keep God far off His “temple,” and we are the temple of God. That’s why the Apostle Paul said, And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 2 Cor 6:16 KJV
Let’s take a look at verses 7 to 11 of Ezekiel 8, in the King James Version: And He brought me to the door of the court, and when I looked, I beheld a hole in the wall. Then said He unto me, son of man, dig now in the wall, and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And He said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw and beheld every form of creeping things, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pouring upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.
In this ‘vision of idolatry’ in the temple in Jerusalem, Ezekiel also had “out of body experience”—and he saw the idols of abomination. In the darkness, he saw engraved on the wall all around every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts. He saw Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan—a scribe who was a writer—a secretary of the law. He also saw the elders of Israel with every man holding a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went over their heads as they worshipped the demons of idolatry.
‘The religious spirit,’ today, has bound many of God's people in churches and places of fellowship. Many have idolised their church leaders, and many outside the church are introduced to 'hero worship'. Too many people hold superstitious beliefs.
In verse 14, The Spirit of the LORD brought Ezekiel to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord's house, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz [a Babylonian god, which they believe was supposed to die annually and subsequently be resurrected].
And in verse 16, the prophet was brought into the inner court; at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the bronze altar, he saw about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces towardss the east, and they were bowing themselves towardss the east and worshipping the sun.
By this, God Himself, who is the Master of the Universe—"the God of all flesh" and "the God of all"gods"—says in verse 18: Therefore, I will also deal in fury; my eye shall not spare, nor will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.
In countries like India, Bangladesh, and Burma, to mention just a few, there are people who burn incense to gods in Hindu and Buddhist temples. Such are under the domain of this spirit.
The greatest confrontation against the gospel in these last days is'religion,’ and the enemy pushes this confrontation through the religious spirit.
How to overcome the religious spirit
The religious spirit cannot operate where the Spirit of the Lord is. Where the true worshippers worship God, there is the Spirit of the LORD, and where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is liberty. Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Cor. 3:17 KJV
Adonai is the spirit, and where the spirit of Adonai is present, there is liberty. Where the Holy Spirit is present, there is freedom. Where he is absent, there is bondage. Where He is present, there is light, but where He is not present, there is darkness! He brings freedom for ‘the captives’ and releases ‘the prisoners’ from darkness. He longs to fellowship with us. When we welcome Him as an honoured guest in our fellowship, then we can behold His face.
But we all, with an open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Verse 18 KJV
The more we see Him, the more our faces are unveiled, and the more we are changed into His holy and glorious image. With unveiled faces, we reflect the Lord's glory. The ‘idolatrous spirit’ cannot have a hold on us if we continually behold the Lord of Glory and abide in Him. By the Spirit, we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the LORD, who is the Spirit. Verse 16 says, Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. KJV
Whenever anyone turns to the Lord in repentance, the veil is taken away. From Him, we have emancipation from bondage.
When the children of Israel enjoyed this great privilege with the LORD, they suddenly recognised that God is a living person, not a piece of chiselled stone, and that His presence was with them. When God is personally present in our midst, a living Spirit, then we come to realise something: that old, constricting legislation is recognised as obsolete, and we're free of it! At this point, nothing comes between us and God. “Oh! How our faces shine with the brightness of His face!” And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives. When we behold Him with faces unveiled, we see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, and we are being changed into His very image, from one degree of glory to the next, by Adonai the Spirit.
Worship God in spirit and truth. Worship Him in your innermost being—fully dependent on His Spirit, in truth [in reality, as He is revealed in Scripture]. God is a spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24 KJV
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, Christ is celebrated. There, there is Liberty by The SPIRIT.
The Holy Spirit longs to inhabit the soul of man, as He does under this “Gospel-Dispensation.” He longs to set you free from the yoke of the ceremonial law and from the servitude of corruption, and to grant you liberty of access to God. By Him we have the liberty to worship God—we gain freedom of speech in prayer, and the heart is set at liberty and enlarged to run the ways of God's commands. The Spirit longs to give us light so that, with an open face—our spiritual eyes opened—we may behold the glory of the Lord. The Israelites saw the glory of God in a cloud, which was dark and dreadful, but Christians around the world today are given the privilege to behold the glory of the LORD as in a glass.
It was a peculiar privilege of Moses for God to converse with him face-to-face, in a friendly manner; even so, we are given the freedom to see Him more clearly with an open face.
The Spirit of God reveals the glory of God to His children. His light and liberty transform our souls so that we are changed into “the same image” [God’s image] from glory to glory, from one degree of His glorious grace to another, till grace here becomes consummated in glory forever.