A Mixture of Spirits

A MIXTURE OF SPIRITS

 

Have you ever heard the old expression "The truth of the matter is", when discussing some particular topic? I certainly have, and often use it myself. Where do you think this expression would have originated? In a recent reading of a little booklet by Derek Prince called "Protection From Deception", I noticed he uses the expression "a mixture of spirits", to describe a certain revival movement. He went on to explain that he meant something that started as a move of the Holy Spirit of God, but had become contaminated by an evil spirit from our enemy Satan. We then have a mixture, and people tend to do one of two things, they either focus on the error and reject the truth, or they will focus on the truth but accept the error! This always causes "confusion", from which comes "division", because people tend to chose sides, and become aggressively committed to one or they other. Everyone likes to think their side is always right, and therefore the other side must be wrong! This has been the underlying cause of most church splits, and the forming of complete new denominations. A careful reading of church history covering the past 2000 years will easily prove this!

 

So what is the answer to this problem? I don't pretend to know the answer, but a careful reading of Paul's second letter to Timothy might give us a clue. In reading (2 Tim 3:1-5), depending on which translation you use, you will find as many as 18 unacceptable moral practices listed. Paul never wrote letters to pagans, as far as I know, but always to followers of Jesus, so we can expect to find some of these things mentioned here in the average church congregation today. Study this passage from several different translations and see what you can find out. In the NKJV you will see that it starts verse 1 with "Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come." Paul is being quite assertive here by using the phrase "know this", and when you check the word "perilous" in Strong's you find it could mean harsh, savage, difficult, dangerous, painful, fierce, grievous, or hard to deal with. Take your pick of these words, but you won't find an encouraging one among them. This word in Greek is only used one other time in the NT, in (Matt 8:28) to describe two demonized men. This fact should tell us something!! No wonder the Pretrib rapture is so popular among churches today!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer