Doctrines of Demons
Introduction: C.S. Lewis said “A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world -- and might even be more difficult to save.”
For the last 15 years or so I think we all would agree that we have seen a spiritual decline in our country. It seems that we can all sense this unholy snowball effect that is happening where things are rolling downhill growing from bad to worse only gaining momentum and increasing in danger. But sometimes such an obvious depravity calls our attention to it and it certainly has the last few years.
Even though we will cover it, this message is more than just the words “doctrines of demons” mentioned in I Timothy 4:1. We are expanding the phrase to its more general meaning. The word ‘doctrine’ means truth. But if a so called “doctrine” comes from demons or more specifically, the devil then we know that it is not truth - we know that it is, in fact, a lie.
Jesus said the devil “ . . . was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” -Jn. 8:44
The purpose of this message is to point out the work of the devil and how he uses his lies to change the perception of the church, the gospel, and Christians themselves.
For those who refuse to believe, there is no hope for them anyway. Because they never loved the truth, they reject it and therefore they never obey it. And as a result of this Paul writes:
“For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.”
- 2 Thess. 2:11
God will sometimes withdraw his grace from sinners like these and hand them over to Satan to be deceived. How does Satan deceive us? Satan will try to make the most harmful things seem the most harmless. He will take those things that corrupt our minds, and make them humorous. Satan tries to pass of what appeals to the flesh, knowing its corruption, as something that is a necessity. As if to say “As a Christian, you should do this or that.” It’s like the coach of a rival team giving advice to the opposing coach on what he should do to win the game. Its never the devil’s interest to promote the gospel or to advise Christians how they should live for Christ, and yet that doesn’t stop many Christians from taking his advice.
Transition: This shows us the need we have for discernment, the word of God, and the Holy Spirit in the last days as the doctrines of devils will certainly pull some of us away from God. The first doctrine of demons is to convince us that . . .
We need a different gospel
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” - 2 Cor. 11:3,4
The apostle was concerned that demonic doctrines would enter the Corinthian church and lead people away from their devotion to Jesus. What could lead them away from their sincere and pure devotion to Jesus? A different gospel.
Vance Havner said “We do not need culture, but we do need Calvary.” Joseph Clark said “the cross is God’s plus sign to a needy world. The cross is the only ladder high enough to touch heaven’s threshold. The cross is the focal point of John 3:16; without Christ and His cross, we are lost.”
“All unannounced and mostly undetected there have come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different. The likenesses are superficial but the differences are fundamental. From the new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life and from the new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique, a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching.”
More and more people are agreeing with the devil and reasoning that the only way to win the world to Christ is to make Christ more acceptable to the world. The only way we can get the world to come to church is to make the church like the world. If we want others to resemble Christ we need to make Christ resemble them instead of telling them they must die to self as part of the sanctification process. I’d rather pastor a struggling church preaching the truth than to pastor the wealthiest church preaching flatteries. I’d rather pastor the smallest church in Oklahoma telling the truth than pastor the largest church in the state telling lies.
The Devil’s lie is that you need to get rid of the old gospel and get a new gospel because you don’t live in the past you live in the present - you are a “modern Christian” and you need a “modern gospel” Satan whispers “The old gospel was good for old times but you need a new gospel for new times. - you need to change your ways because you live in a changing world.” Jesus said “Get behind me Satan because you are not concerned with the things of God, but the things of men.”
The new gospel is not opposed to the human race, it is not opposed to sin, it is not opposed to pleasure. It is a source of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. Doctrines of demons encourages a new approach to ministry. Instead of preaching the truth, lets have a new gospel that seeks to attract people by showing that Christianity requires nothing, in fact it offers the same thing the world does, just on a higher moral level.
The new gospel doesn’t call for repentance. The new gospel doesn’t call for the old man to die, it doesn’t call for a new creation. The new gospel doesn’t kill the old man (crucify the flesh) but tells us to embrace the old man and just put him in new religious clothes. The problem is in many churches is everyone is “saved” but only a few have been BORN AGAIN!
Doctrines of demons molds a new gospel to the desire of the world. It doesn’t use love and compassion to win the lost but focuses on the latest style and trend to make it acceptable to the public. There are actual churches that send out fliers to the community and ask what they would like to see and have in a church. The desire to do this may be sincere, but its sincerity doesn’t redeem it from its stupidity.
Why the need for a new gospel? It isn’t because we live in a new age or in a new world. The devil wants a new gospel because he knows there is power in the OLD GOSPEL!
Transition: The Doctrine of Demons that calls for a new gospel is appealing to an unsaved world. Because it has no consequences, It doesn’t convict you, it doesn’t challenge you, But the devil knows it will never change you either. Which brings us the second doctrine of demons:
We need to love ourselves
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, . . .” - 2 Timothy 3:2
There once was a nymph named Narcissus
Who thought himself very delicious
So he stared like a fool
At his face in a pool
And his folly today is still with us.
Today in churches all around the world this doctrine of demons has captivated millions. In these churches the greatest commandment is no longer to “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” but to love yourself with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” Every problem in the modern culture and now in the modern church is traced directly back to not loving yourself enough. Are you sad? you need to love yourself more. Are you angry? You need to love yourself more. Are you convicted? ashamed? or remorseful? You just need to love yourself. Are you filled with doubt and worry? You just need to trust yourself more. Even though Jesus himself said in order to be one of his disciples you must “deny yourself.” But the devil is clever he knows how to put a scriptural spin on loving yourself, to make it acceptable to the skeptical.
In his article from Christianity Today, John Piper said “For ten years the cult of the self (as Thomas Howard calls it) has been expanding at a phenomenal speed and its professional members take every chance they get to put a mirror in front of us and tell us to like what we see.”
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,” -Phil. 2:3
“Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” -I Cor. 10:24
Paul tells the Corinthians that we should reflect the glory of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18) to others. The Holy Bible is a mirror that reflects who Jesus is to us, and causes us to love him and provokes us to trust him and challenges us to serve him. But when that same Bible mirror reflects a blemish in ourselves, when it reveals some flaw in our lives, far from repenting, it affords this generation of the offended, a good reason to leave the church and many will not come back, just as it was prophesied that they wouldn’t. The truth can be offensive, the reality of hell and the great white throne judgment of God is not pleasant to hear. Allowing Jesus to actually change us, not many will have enough faith that he can do so anyway. We are not called to praise men for the sake of their feelings, but to preach the gospel as led by the Holy Spirit.
The demonic doctrine that focuses only on ourselves draws large crowds because that is all the crowd wants to hear. They want to hear how good they are, they want to hear how much better they are than others, they want to hear how they are going to be healthy wealthy and wise, they want to hear they will be successful, and they want to hear that God approves of them now. They want to have their spiritual ego stroked. They want to hear about how great their faith is. They want to hear sermons on faith, rather than using faith when hearing sermons on Jesus to be born again! They don’t want to hear sermons on sin. They don’t want to hear sermons on repentance. They don’t want to hear sermons on judgment. They don’t want to hear sermons on hell. No Paul told Timothy exactly what these people wanted to hear in 2 Timothy 4:3
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
This not only appeals to our carnal nature but promotes it and justifies it and gives some biblical approval to it. So when the motto of the biggest church in America is “Discover the Champion in You” Paul said Paul said in Romans 8:31: “GOD IS MY CHAMPION!” (“. . . if God is for us, who can stand against us?”) If there is any champion in me, it is the God who lives in me, and not me myself! “Greater is HE who is in you, than he that is in the world.” “... we are more than conquerors through HIM who loved us.” The emphasis is on the one who lives in us not is we ourselves. The gospel wasn’t written to praise you! The gospel is not about how good you are, it is about how good God is. It’s about how a Holy God would stoop so low and love us so much that he would send his only son to die on a cross to save a wretch like me.
Transition: We are given a warning in Romans 2:8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” When you love yourself you practice idolatry which leads to a third demonic doctrine:
Idolatry is Good
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” - I Timothy 4:1 KJV
To put the word “truth” next to the word “demons” is like putting the word “freezing” beside “volcano” or to associate the word “wisdom” with a fool. But by using such a contradiction Paul makes the point that the devil will try pass what is obviously false for truth in the church and some will be deceived by it and will leave the faith because of it.
One part of this verse is plain and simple and can only be understood one way. This is obviously a prophecy. Elijah and Jeremiah and Isaiah would have said “Thus saith the Lord” Paul makes it clear that this is not merely his own opinion, but this is directly from the Holy Spirit; The Spirit clearly says that there will surely be apostasy in the church in latter times. There will be some who identify themselves as Christians but will abandon the truth.
Some of the older commentaries hold that this is referring to the Catholic church. In the following verses we read “Such teaching come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.” I Tim. 4:2,3
The great apostasy, the enshrining of relics of the martyrs, paying divine honor to them, erecting altars, burning incense, and consecrating images and temples and praying to dead disciples, this is paganism wearing a Christ like mask. This is idolatry under a Christian label.
The Roman Catholic church forbids their clergy to marry. Women (nuns) are not to have husbands and men (priests) are not to have wives. We’ve all seen how well that has worked out for them. Ironically, the disciple they consider to be the first Pope, Peter, had a wife (Matthew 8:14). And secondly, In an era where we feel that we almost need to apologize for eating a steak or a hamburger- Matthew 15:11 says “What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them." Some people pride themselves for not allowing “unclean” things into their mouths but they have no problem letting “unclean” things come out of it! “I don’t eat like a glutton, but I don’t mind cursing like a sailor.” The word says “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
The Bible does not command us to be vegetarians, even though it doesn’t condemn it either. In Acts 10, Peter has a vision of animals coming out of heaven and heard a voice say “rise, kill and eat.” He replies “no way! I never ate anything unholy or unclean” and the same voice said “Do not call unholy what I have made clean.” So even the “first pope” was told there was no wrong in eating meat. Do you see how doctrines of demons work? They will command what God has forbidden and they will forbid what God has allowed.
The Bible says is that we should not force our convictions about this issue on other people or judge them by what they eat or do not eat. Romans 14:2,3 tells us, “One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.” You can see how the doctrines of demons are at work in the Roman Catholic church. Many of them worship saints or angels as a sort of middle ground between them and God. Hebrews 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne room of grace...”
I thank God for Mary, but I do not worship Mary! I worship Jesus! There are some Catholics that hold Mary up on the same level as Jesus, and others hold her up above Jesus. You may hear them say “Mary, mother of God.” as if she deserves some higher respect than God himself. Some worship her as they should worship Jesus. They make statues of her, they pray to her, and some Catholics believe that like Elijah, Enoch and the Lord himself that Mary never died. Some even claim to have seen apparitions of Mary, if that’s true, it is most certainly of the devil, that is necromancy or mediums who look to the dead for advice like Saul did with Samuel (Lev. 20:27 says that mediums were to be put to death.) It is possible to bring back apparitions of the dead, that is what mediums do, but this is the work of the devil. When you deal with that stuff you are dealing with witchcraft and the occult.
Through our own study of the Bible we find that Mary is an important figure and should be taught about and respected. Mary was a disciple of Jesus before Jesus was born. She believed in God and the Messiah or she never would have been chosen by the grace of God to give birth to the one she believed was coming. It is not her fault that fools worship her, she never asked them to, but the deception of demons has led people to abandon the church of Acts and follow the church of Rome. Spurgeon said “I question if hell could find a more fitting instrument within its infernal lake than the church of Rome is for the cause of mischief.”
Some worship Mary instead of Jesus. This would be blasphemy to say in Catholic churches but Mary was just an ordinary humble woman but in comparison to the holiness of God, she was just another wretched sinner. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” and that does not exclude Mary or any other disciple or saint for that matter. She is saved by the same blood that Peter and Paul are saved by. She is saved by the same grace that you and I are saved by. So let’s praise the savior and not the saved!
Conclusion: The church belongs to Jesus Christ. I have an issue with churches that name themselves after men. St. Mark’s church or St. Timothy’s church or St. Francis’ church. Although these disciples should be respected and admired, they should never be praised. It wasn’t St. Mark who bled for you, it wasn’t saint Timothy who hung upon the tree for you, it wasn’t Mary who took the sins of the world upon herself for you, it wasn’t the pope who came out of the grave on the third day and ascended into heaven! It was Jesus and Jesus only who did that for you! Godly men promote God, Vain men promote themselves. Everything the church does should be for his glory and not for the glory of men.
Amen.
