Edition 305: March 30^th 2016

The danger of gullibility:

The danger of gullibility:

Introduction:

Proverbs 14:15 “The simple (Lit=gullible) believes every word (anything). But the prudent man considers well his steps.”

A gullible person can be described as one who is easily tricked, cheated, manipulated or deceived. These are people who are naive, easily taken in, or hoodwinked. They repeatedly fall hook, line and sinker for anything presented as truth. They are susceptible, ignorant suckers.

The opposite is a person who is astute, knowledgeable, with deep understanding, caution and wisdom...one who is discerning, perceptive and solid as a rock.

We are now in dark days of deception and its going to get a lot worse very fast. We are now in days of the outpouring of the spirit of Satan, with all his tricks, schemes and plans to keep people unsaved and to neutralise certain believers.

We are in days of extreme evil because the heart of man is wicked internally, and Satan is at work externally, because his days are just about up. (Revelation 12:12)

We need more than ever to go deep in experience with our Lord. We need to go deep into the knowledge and understanding of His word as led and inspired by the Spirit. We need to become radical.

We are in a world that operates on instant, pop-up results. Digital everything lends itself to high-speed results. But it’s all shallow in character.

Our Lord will never compromise on the character of His servants.

The cause of gullibility:

Proverbs 1:32 “...The complacency of fools will destroy them.”

Of course there are many causes of, and different degrees or depths of gullibility, but there are a few big causes that are consistent in most victims. The verse above identifies complacency as one of these causes.

Complacency is really a sense of smugness or security in ones present state of ignorance. Today, huge numbers of people fit the ‘complacent’ bill. Are you content and complacent in your present position? Do you want to push ahead with our Lord, forever forward? If you don’t you just might get stuck in a rut of your own making, going nowhere fast.

The gullible never mature properly, which takes time and effort, because they want it all now and are too shallow to submit to God. There is no depth of spiritual root in them. As a result they are tossed about with every wind of doctrine, fancy idea and error of the devil. (Ephesians 4:14)

Proverbs 14:18 “The simple (naive) inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.”

“Prudent” means: Wise, well-judged, well advised, acting with care and thought for the future.

An inheritance is something that is your birthright, bequested to you. Note in the verse above that simple, naive people inherit foolishness, but you don’t have to take the inheritance! You can choose to leave it aside and be “crowned with knowledge”. How much better that is!

My friends, knowledge understanding and the wisdom of God don’t come cheaply. They will cost you everything you are, and ultimately reward you more than you can imagine.

The verse below is tragic indeed. Do you see how dangerous it is to be influenced by the unsaved world or unsaved friends? This is a certain cause of gullibility.

Habakkuk 1:4 “For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds.”

Whatever the world esteems highly soon becomes the esteem of the church... in a short time! That’s if you’re not diligent.

There is another frightening cause of gullibility – God Himself! (2 Thessalonians 2:11). (See further down for more on this.)

Why is gullibility such a dangerous problem today?

Proverbs 1:22 “How long, you simple ones (naive ones), will you love foolishness? Scorners (mockers) delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge.”

The above verse is a perfect description of the workings of pride. How many people do you know who love to mock, they rise up in their scorning. It’s so easy to mock and scorn something or someone that you don’t understand.

The biggest problem facing the unsaved and the gullible Christian today is spiritual blindness. Pride always causes spiritual blindness. Our Lord is coming soon. The world’s lord is coming soon too. Can you see them? Can you see the signs of both approaching?

I have such a perfect example here in my home. I have a beautiful dog that recently went blind. She now has full sight restored. But in her blindness, which came about suddenly, I often watched her walk right into a wall, or a hedge, and saw her fall into my pool twice. She was totally blind to all dangers and obstacles. Thankfully, the story now is the opposite.

But that’s the case for the spiritually blind – no different! How absolutely shocking to be in that position! How amazing it is to see people blunder on ahead straight into the obstacle and trap the devil has lain.

If you get your news from the deceived, spiritually blind, news media, please tell me what’s going on with Islamic terror at the moment? Well, you would say what the media says. It’s all about a few who have been radicalised. But not one of them knows why.

We, who know the Bible and the Spirit of our God, know that all who believe the Quran must ultimately become radical enforcers of Sharia law. We know that a grand Islamic strategy is on the go to spread fear so that Sharia law can come in without too much resistance. We know that a grand strategy is on the go to “soften” and deal with other Muslim nations, to bring them all fully into their fold.

We also know that this is all a pre-cursor strategy to their great overall, end-time purpose of defeating Israel, and the Jew, which is on hold right now, while these other strategies take precedent.

We know that the USA is a key target of Islam and will soon experience terror like never before. We know that it’s all part of the grand strategy of Satan to control and dominate the world. We also know that Islam will be defeated by Israel in the tribulation period – how about that!

We know that all of this means our Lord is coming very soon. It’s all a fast approaching glory story!

You see, if you know these things and can see them, you will not be filled with fear. You will not be gullible and fall for all the clever rubbish of the media and the self-motivation ministers.

Knowing God’s word and Spirit is the way to victory. It is the hope of the world. It is the answer.

Proverbs 21:10-11 “The soul of the wicked desires evil...when the wise is instructed he receives knowledge.”

There is something in the hearts of the unsaved, but also in many believers that secretly loves evil. They reject God’s wisdom. And they remain trapped in their evil, full of blindness and gullibility.

Don’t let the pride of the gullible stand in the way of your growth in the Lord.

More on gullibility:

Perhaps one of the most powerful revelations you can receive from our Lord and His word is that truth and error are spirits. Gullibility is a form a deception and a spirit of error.

Isaiah 5:13 “My people have gone into captivity because they have no knowledge ...” The word “knowledge” is Strong’s H1847 meaning “perceptive, discerning” knowledge.

Proverbs 1:28-29 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek Me diligently, but will not find Me, because they hated knowledge (discerning godly knowledge) and did not chose the fear of the Lord.”

Job 17:9 “The righteous will hold onto his ways, and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.”

The tragedy of our day is that most Christians live on second-hand revelation, that of others and not necessarily from the Spirit of the Lord speaking to them directly in their own studies and prayer. You can’t live on other people’s revelation for long.

Some examples of modern deceptions that the gullible fall for include the new Christian belief in a flat earth (not a joke – look it up). Nibiru (Planet X) is a fast growing modern internet hoax with no scientific or astronomical supporting evidence.

There are many other doctrinal heresies and imbalances out there.

We are commanded to “take heed” that we are not deceived.

You can’t hide gullibility. Eventually it will show and identify you. You will be known by the friends you keep. The gullible are always drawn to others who are in the same boat, because the same spirit is at work.

One of the main characteristics of the gullible is that they ignore the facts and the truth as they build their hobby-horse. Their hobby-horse becomes their supreme god, but it is a Trojan horse with the deception of the devil inside. They end up being blind to all but their hobby-horse.

There are no gullible, deceived people who know their Lord well and who know the word very well.

The closer you get to the living God the more clearly you see Him. You will see a Lamb change into a Lion. You will see the depths of His love and severity. You will see truth and error clearly. You will not be gullible.

The further away from our Lord you move the more difficult it is to see Him and His characteristics, His requirements and His holiness. Because you are now in relative darkness, your world now becomes a polluted, poisonous mess, and you can’t even see it. Truth and error become blurred.

It’s a great tragedy to have someone behind a pulpit present to you a Jesus that He himself can’t see because he is too far from Him on every front. So the Jesus you are presented with is manufactured by church doctrine.

The person, who knows our God well, is marked by that knowledge. He is a mystery in many ways. He is attractive and to be feared. He is humble and a strong, fighting defender of truth. He is everything but gullible!

Why do some have a propensity for gullibility? One of the reasons is that some believers have a real desire to serve the Lord and they get in there too quickly and they’re not ready yet. The Lord has not released them, so they are open to all sorts of presumptions, errors and false spirits.

Others have been plagued with rejection all their lives and now find acceptance in the family of God. But they are really there for the ulterior motive of getting rid of rejection. So they don’t mature in the Lord. They stay in realms of superficiality.

The following verses are insightful in regard to our walk with our Lord:

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves, teachers; and turn their ears away from the truth.”

Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest anyone cheat you (take you captive) through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Messiah.”

Psalm 119:130 “The entrance of your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.”

1 Corinthians 3: 19 “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. It is written – He catches the wise in their own craftiness. The Lord knows the thoughts of the (worldly) wise, that they are futile.”

Many will be shocked:

●What an incredible shock to die and immediately find out that you were on the wrong road all your life.

●What a shock to find out that the Bible was true and right all along and available to you.

●What a shock to find out that heaven was so close and is now too far.

●What a shock to find that there are no human rights and no democracy in hell and you are there forever.

●What a shock to know that you were born with a magnificent plan and purpose of God, thought out before the foundation of the world, and you rejected it in your ignorance!

●What a shock to find out that you have stolen and wasted your life on self and the devil’s world!

●What a shock to discover that you are the subject of God’s judgement without an advocate or Saviour.

●What a shock to meet up with all your very “clever” unsaved friends who have passed on.

●What a shock to find out that your close friends were all wrong and that the media, which you trusted is really the word of the devil.

●What a shock to find out that you will not rest in peace for one second.

Of course none of this needs to be your lot!

The beauty of growth and stability while the world is shaking:

When the pressure is on you will see where people’s hearts really are. It’s like the toothpaste tube law: When you squeeze it, you see what’s inside!

How to know if you are growing, being led by the Spirit of God:

●You will always be led into all truth. You will grow in a love for the truth. You will identify with the truth and others who love it. You will delight in doing it, and be free as a result.

●You will see and know many things to come, both personally and on the big, world, prophetic stage.

John 16:13 “When He the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth...and He will show you things to come.”

●The beauty of holiness will be your lot.

Psalm 96:9 “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him all the earth.”

●You will begin to see the world for what it is, and you will overcome it. You will see self and it’s “doctrines” as your enemy and you will see devils and demons.

1 John 5:4 “Whoever is born of God overcomes the world...”

As we draw nearer to our Lord, so we overcome the world more and more. Yes it’s all done already in the spirit, but not in the soul. Overcoming the world and worldliness is a most wonderful thing. It lifts you into another world!

The world system is doomed. All sin is doomed. All wickedness will soon be gone. All evil has a time-stamp on it! The terror of man and the terror of God are about to collide. Those who know their God and live in holiness are safe.

The way to victory:

2 Thessalonians 2:8-11 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders, with all unrighteous deception among those who did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. For this reason God will send them strong delusion...”

Right from the beginning of this edition you would have noticed that the main problem and causes behind gullibility are foolishness, ignorance, error, naivety, and spiritual blindness. We are dealing primarily with spirits. Truth and error are spirits.

We need and must have the revelatory gifts of the Spirit at work in us to see and identify evil spiritual forces so that we can deal with them properly.

You can try until you are blue in the face to fix and deal with these issues with ordinary head knowledge. Even if you do find the answer, it will have a death-spirit over it and will not lead you into full and true deliverance.

God did not give us the gifts of the spirit to deal with the works of the devil for us to say we don’t need them.

Some idiot ministers of the gospel repeatedly say that the gifts of the Spirit were only needed in the apostolic era to establish faith and the word of God. The gifts then passed away with the last apostle. What absolute hogwash!

If ever there is a time when faith, and the truth of the word needs to be established it is now. It is under attack now more so than ever before.

By the way, the church really did well after the last apostle died and the gifts “ceased”! Without the gifts, especially the revelatory gifts, the church became hijacked by Rome, Babylon and all manner of evil. The popes all became mass murderers of note, killing millions in the inquisitions. The church without the gifts became an institution of mass control and domination, no different at all to ISIS. Without the gifts, the churches of the reformation produced over 30,000 denominations! (God’s requirement is unity!)

Without the gifts the church became a seed bed of anti-Semitism and hatred for the Jew and God’s plans for them, their city and land – just like the Spirit-less BDS Movement today and the other anti-Semitic denominations and churches.

If you are a Christian in today’s world without the gifts of the Spirit – good luck. You are going to need it in coming days. Luck will be your big helper.

My friends, to escape the trap of gullibility, you need to study your Bible well under the guiding and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. You need to turn in repentance, surrender and humility to our Lord. You need the full complement of the gifts, especially the revelatory gifts.

You need to separate yourself and study the word well for much time.

Finally:

You can be free from gullibility. You must strengthen yourself, studying the word for much time and getting to know our Lord well. This will pay wonderful dividends.

The answer to gullibility is knowledge, understanding and the wisdom of God built up into your life. Draw near to Him and away from the world and its ways.

You must apply and use the gifts of the Spirit, especially the revelatory gifts.

I took this picture deep in the Tsitsikamma Forest of the beautiful Fraser Falls. There are no paths here, so it was all arm-ripping thorns and glorious mud.

If you want to see some more pictures of our waterfalls, click HERE.

Shalom and grow in grace!