- Sep 10, 2021
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Leaders Must Resist The Devil, And Flee From Ungodly Temptations
Scripture teaches that Satan fell through pride. He exalted himself such that he began comparing himself to the Most High God, and as a result he was cast down to the earth, so he now fights against God and seeks to undermine everything He does as His enemy.
This includes in the church, where he takes every opportunity to corrupt God's leaders and fill them with the same spirit of pride that caused him to fall. Peter therefore now begins to warn those who were shepherding God's people of the pitfalls they could potentially face as God's leaders, with temptations to pride and personal gain being chief among them.
1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: 2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. 5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:1-7)
In the next few verses, Peter will add that Satan roams about as a hungry lion seeking who he may devour, and by that he meant through persecution. But if Satan can seduce God's leaders instead, he doesn’t need to destroy them. He can simply corrupt them and use them for his own ends. So he attempts to do this through the means Peter mentioned, such as becoming abusive "lords" over those entrusted to them, rather than simply serving as their examples. This is reminiscent of how the Lord warned the disciples that they must not "lord it over" others but be their servants (Matthew 20:25-28). He taught the same thing in Matthew 24, when He warned that if they began to abuse His people, they would come to a terrible end.
45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:45-51)
Satan seduces leaders of God through pride especially, and in particular those who move in great supernatural gifts. For example, he attempted to make Paul and Barnabas "gods" after they healed a crippled man in the city of Lystra.
And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 9 This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. 11 Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.(Acts 14:8-13)
But while he failed with Paul, Church records show that some of the early leaders were indeed seduced away from the faith into starting their own cults that practiced sorcery and sexual perversion instead, such as the Nicolatians, whom the church fathers say was founded by the same Nicolas mentioned in Acts, whom the apostles laid hands on but was turned by the enemy and corrupted into leading men into sin instead.
Watch Lest You Fall
Paul warned in one place that those who thought they were standing should watch lest they fall. In another place he compared believers to Eve being bewitched by the serpent. This was of course an allusion to being tempted by the Devil, where Satan planted in her mind the notion that they would be "as gods" if they ate of the tree God had forbidden them from eating from.
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:2-5)
Like with Paul and Barnabas, Satan still attempts to lift people up with pride when they move in greater supernatural gifts today, and the Spirit of God is warning that there are indeed dangers involved. The Lord Himself has given visions in which He warns that the Holy Spirit is given for no other reason than to glorify Him.
"There is as a great danger in walking in great power," the Lord responded. "It has happened to many of My messengers, and that is part of the message they are to give to My last-day church. You must walk in My power, and even much greater power than these experienced. But if you ever start to think that the power is My endorsement of you, or even of your message, you will open the door to the same delusion. The Holy Spirit is given only to testify of Me. If you are wise like Paul, you will learn to glorify more in your weaknesses than in your strengths.
True faith is the true recognition of who I am. It is nothing more and nothing less. But you must always remember - even if you abide in My presence and see Me as I am - you can still fall if you turn from Me and look back at yourself. That is how Lucifer fell. He dwelt in this room and beheld My glory and the glory of the Father. However, he began to look at himself more than he looked to Us. He then began to take pride in his position and power.
Many of My servants who have been allowed to see My glory and be entrusted with My power have fallen in the same way as Lucifer. If you begin to think that it is because of your wisdom, your righteousness, or even your devotion to pure doctrine, you will stumble too." (Joyner, Final Quest, P.180-181)
As we shall cover in the last section, giving in to the temptations of Satan after you have worked to bring souls to Christ is a terrible and tragic mistake. As scripture warns, it would be better not to have known the way of life, then having found it to turn aside to the ways of darkness again.
Scripture teaches that Satan fell through pride. He exalted himself such that he began comparing himself to the Most High God, and as a result he was cast down to the earth, so he now fights against God and seeks to undermine everything He does as His enemy.
This includes in the church, where he takes every opportunity to corrupt God's leaders and fill them with the same spirit of pride that caused him to fall. Peter therefore now begins to warn those who were shepherding God's people of the pitfalls they could potentially face as God's leaders, with temptations to pride and personal gain being chief among them.
1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: 2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. 5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:1-7)
In the next few verses, Peter will add that Satan roams about as a hungry lion seeking who he may devour, and by that he meant through persecution. But if Satan can seduce God's leaders instead, he doesn’t need to destroy them. He can simply corrupt them and use them for his own ends. So he attempts to do this through the means Peter mentioned, such as becoming abusive "lords" over those entrusted to them, rather than simply serving as their examples. This is reminiscent of how the Lord warned the disciples that they must not "lord it over" others but be their servants (Matthew 20:25-28). He taught the same thing in Matthew 24, when He warned that if they began to abuse His people, they would come to a terrible end.
45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, 51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:45-51)
Satan seduces leaders of God through pride especially, and in particular those who move in great supernatural gifts. For example, he attempted to make Paul and Barnabas "gods" after they healed a crippled man in the city of Lystra.
And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 9 This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. 11 Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.(Acts 14:8-13)
But while he failed with Paul, Church records show that some of the early leaders were indeed seduced away from the faith into starting their own cults that practiced sorcery and sexual perversion instead, such as the Nicolatians, whom the church fathers say was founded by the same Nicolas mentioned in Acts, whom the apostles laid hands on but was turned by the enemy and corrupted into leading men into sin instead.
Watch Lest You Fall
Paul warned in one place that those who thought they were standing should watch lest they fall. In another place he compared believers to Eve being bewitched by the serpent. This was of course an allusion to being tempted by the Devil, where Satan planted in her mind the notion that they would be "as gods" if they ate of the tree God had forbidden them from eating from.
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:2-5)
Like with Paul and Barnabas, Satan still attempts to lift people up with pride when they move in greater supernatural gifts today, and the Spirit of God is warning that there are indeed dangers involved. The Lord Himself has given visions in which He warns that the Holy Spirit is given for no other reason than to glorify Him.
"There is as a great danger in walking in great power," the Lord responded. "It has happened to many of My messengers, and that is part of the message they are to give to My last-day church. You must walk in My power, and even much greater power than these experienced. But if you ever start to think that the power is My endorsement of you, or even of your message, you will open the door to the same delusion. The Holy Spirit is given only to testify of Me. If you are wise like Paul, you will learn to glorify more in your weaknesses than in your strengths.
True faith is the true recognition of who I am. It is nothing more and nothing less. But you must always remember - even if you abide in My presence and see Me as I am - you can still fall if you turn from Me and look back at yourself. That is how Lucifer fell. He dwelt in this room and beheld My glory and the glory of the Father. However, he began to look at himself more than he looked to Us. He then began to take pride in his position and power.
Many of My servants who have been allowed to see My glory and be entrusted with My power have fallen in the same way as Lucifer. If you begin to think that it is because of your wisdom, your righteousness, or even your devotion to pure doctrine, you will stumble too." (Joyner, Final Quest, P.180-181)
As we shall cover in the last section, giving in to the temptations of Satan after you have worked to bring souls to Christ is a terrible and tragic mistake. As scripture warns, it would be better not to have known the way of life, then having found it to turn aside to the ways of darkness again.
