Page 84 - The Prophetic Word Newsletter Archive 2009

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“BUT I FEAR, LEST SOMEHOW, AS THE SERPENT DECEIVED EVE BY HIS CRAFTINESS, SO YOUR MINDS
MAY BE CORRUPTED FROM THE SIMPLICITY (“WHOLE-HEARTED AND PURE DEVOTION”) THAT IS IN
CHRIST. FOR IF HE WHO COMES PREACHES…

…FOR SUCH ARE FALSE APOSTLES, DECEITFUL WORKERS, TRANSFORMING THEMSELVES INTO APOSTLES
OF CHRIST. AND NO WONDER! FOR SATAN HIMSELF TRANSFORMS HIMSELF INTO AN ANGEL OF LIGHT.
THEREFORE IT IS NOT GREAT THING IF HIS MINISTERS ALSO TRANSFORM THEMSELVES INTO MINISTERS

OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHOSE END WILL BE ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS.” 2 Cor. 11:3-4, 13-15

The second area in which Paul warns believers of potential, satanic deception is the presentation of “…a different
spirit which you have not received” (2 Cor. 11:4). Again I remind you, Paul is speaking of something that is a subtle
substitute for what he preached! This time it is “a different spirit” than the Holy Spirit that Paul preached. Just like
the preaching of “another Jesus” in which only half the picture is presented, such as the goodness of God apart
from the severity of God, or Jesus as our savior being given a preeminence over Jesus as our Lord. The same
can (and is) being done with what the Scriptures present as the ministry and Person of the Holy Spirit. Just as we
saw that a proper emphasis is needful on THE LORD Jesus Christ (His Lordship over our lives), we need to take
note that it is the HOLY Spirit who has been sent forth. His title contains His ministry! To be Spirit-filled or Spirit-
led is also to respond to the high call to live a life of HOLINESS by means of the one who is called the HOLY
Spirit:

“BUT AS HE WHO CALLED YOU IS HOLY, YOU ALSO BE HOLY IN ALL YOUR CONDUCT, BECAUSE IT IS WRITTEN, ‘BE HOLY,
FOR I AM HOLY.’ ” (1 Pet. 1:15-16) “FOR GOD DID NOT CALL US TO UNCLEANNESS, BUT IN HOLINESS. THEREFORE HE WHO
REJECTS THIS DOES NOT REJECT MAN, BUT GOD, WHO HAS ALSO GIVEN US HIS HOLY SPIRIT.” (1 Thess. 4:7-8) “DO YOU NOT
KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLS IN YOU? IF ANYONE DEFILES THE TEMPLE
OF GOD, GOD WILL DESTROY HIM. FOR THE TEMPLE OF GOD IS HOLY, WHICH TEMPLE YOU ARE.” (1 Cor. 3:16-17) “OR DO YOU

NOT KNOW THAT YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO IS IN YOU, WHOM YOU HAVE FROM GOD,
AND YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN?” 1 Cor. 6:19

Is the above emphasis being placed on the ministry of the Holy Spirit today? No it is not. It is more on the fact that
the Holy Spirit is “the Comforter” ( Jn. 14:16). There is more emphasis placed on the believer having eternal
security because of having been “sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise” and is therefore “the guarantee of our
inheritance” ( Eph. 1:13-14). A great truth, but only half the truth. Consider the whole counsel of God Paul
presents in this letter to the Ephesians:

“…HAVING BELIEVED, YOU WERE SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE, WHO IS THE GUARANTEE
OF OUR INHERITANCE UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED POSSESSION…”

(Eph. 1:13-14) “AND DO NOT GRIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, BY WHOM YOU WERE SEALED FOR THE DAY
OF REDEMPTION. LET ALL BITTERNESS, WRATH, ANGER, CLAMOR, AND EVIL SPEAKING BE PUT AWAY
FROM YOU, WITH ALL MALICE. AND BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING ONE
ANOTHER, JUST AS GOD IN CHRIST ALSO FORGAVE YOU.” (Eph. 4:30-32)

Can we claim the benefits of the first statement and ignore the ramifications of disobeying the second? Are we still
in a state of “guarantee” if we disobey the Holy Spirit’s instructions here? If you cling to the first and ignore the
second then you are embracing “a different spirit” than the one Paul preached. Listen to Paul’s stern warning to
New Testament believers who choose to sin willfully:

“HOW MUCH WORSE (STERNER AND HEAVIER) PUNISHMENT DO YOU SUPPOSE HE WILL BE JUDGED TO
DESERVE WHO HAS SPURNED AND THUS TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT THE SON OF GOD, AND WHO HAS

CONSIDERED THE COVENANT BLOOD BY WHICH HE WAS CONSECRATED COMMON AND UNHALLOWED,
THUS PROFANING IT AND INSULTING AND OUTRAGING THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO IMPARTS GRACE
(THE UNMERITED FAVOR AND BLESSING OF GOD). ” Heb. 10:29 Amplified Bible

When was the last time you heard a message about God’s people “insulting and outraging the
Holy Spirit who imparts grace?” We have a lot of “grace” teaching today, but not this negative
aspect. Why? Because it is a confronting picture of the Holy Spirit rather than a comforting one.
It is “a different spirit.” Seven times Jesus says to His own blood-washed churches, “He who has
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 3:22). Paul in Hebrews twice warns
the brethren, “Therefore the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden
your hearts…” (Heb. 3:7,15). If you want to see the rest of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, then I
recommend this book that I wrote on that subject: