“Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God” (Colossians 2:18-19).
The apostle Paul was engaged in a great spiritual battle when he wrote these words. He knew that ravaging wolves were trying to work their way into the flock at the church in Colossae; they were trying to introduce lies that would turn the sheep away from their Shepherd; to turn the child of God away from the Father; to turn the bride away from her husband; to turn the Christian away from Christ. And, make no mistake: the wolves are still working to destroy the church of God today.
The success of the wolves’ deception depends on two things:
(1) The Devil’s ability to so alter their appearance and manner that they look like preachers sent straight from God. Here’s how Jesus described them:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:15-20).
The apostle Paul says this:
“…Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).
So the wolves are going to appear as the real deal: eloquent, charming, smooth talkers, charismatic people with winning ways. WOW! How in the world could a person know for sure that they were not being spiritually seduced by a wolf? How may we discern whether their fruit is good or bad?
Their success depends on:
(2) people’s ignorance of God’s word, the Scriptures.
God’s word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Without the discernment that God’s word gives, the wolves are able to ravage the flock.
What is the Devil’s agenda in all this?
If we look at the agenda of the Devil in the Garden, we’ll see that his agenda hadn’t changed at the church in Colossae, and he continues to work it in the church today at full force.
God made man in His own image and likeness so there could be unity, relationship, and fellowship between man and God: The Lord God was going to elevate man to a position with Himself that no other created being would ever hold. When Lucifer saw this, out of pride and jealousy, he determined to undermine and destroy God’s plan. Through skillful deception, he was able to bring sin and death into the world, ending God’s plans—he thought!
But God had other thoughts, and He put a hook into Satan’s mind by telling him what he was going to do to him without any details. “I’m going to bring a Seed from the woman that’s going to crush your head.”
When the Lord promised Abraham that the Seed was going to come from his lineage, the Devil was immediately filled with a hatred for Abraham and his family. And that hatred continues to this very hour, as evidenced by the Devil’s children around the world. Until Christ came on the scene, the Devil was in the dark as to who the Seed would be.
When Christ was born, the Devil was allowed to know this was the promised Seed that would crush his head. And so he set out vigorously to kill the Seed before the Seed could crush him, as seen in King Herod’s slaughter of the children. It seems as though the Father then hid His Son in the lowly village of Nazareth for 30 years, excepting His appearance in the temple when He was 12.
When Jesus was baptized, the Devil then fired up his children to destroy Him anyway he could. He began his work by the personal temptations in the wilderness. When that didn’t work, he put his hate into his children and put them to work to persecute, harass, hound, and finally execute Jesus in the most cruel method known to man. The Devil thought he had surely succeeded in destroying the Seed of God.
But all of what the Devil and rulers of this world had accomplished at Calvary was simply to deliver Jesus to the “determined purpose and foreknowledge of God.” Paul said that what happened to Jesus was ordained of God, according to the wisdom of God, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory (1 Corinthians 2:6-8).
We sinners, the Jewish leaders, and the Roman soldiers all caused Jesus to be crucified, but the prophet Isaiah declares that it was the Lord who was responsible for Jesus’ death.
“…The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all… it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When you make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed…” (Isaiah 53:6-10).
“Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible…. He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence…. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 1:15-2:10).
So what was the devil’s agenda in the Colossae church, and what is it today?
One and the same: to seduce the child of God away from Christ. In Paul’s day, the wolves were teaching the flock that faith in Christ was not enough; they had to basically become a Jewish convert to be saved. But then some came in teaching that they had “special revelation,” which only the privileged few had access to.
They were teaching them to pray to angels, and they were teaching them to physically abuse themselves to control their fleshly desires. They were teaching them that the flesh and the spirit were disconnected so that they could indulge in their fleshly lusts and it didn’t affect their spiritual life. All of which was designed to turn them from holding fast onto Christ.
What do we see alive and well in the church world?
How about praying to dead people for starters; elevating dead people as the ones to pray to and find help? God has elevated Christ to the highest position in heaven; Jesus is Lord over all in heaven and on earth; He is Head over all. And God’s word plainly tells us we have free and bold access to God the Father through Jesus at all times.
How about pastors openly advocating and teaching their congregants to lay the Bible aside? Jesus Christ is the living Word of God; the Scriptures, God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ are inseparable.
How about “pastors and teachers” embracing and promoting same-sex marriage, DEI, and abortion? It’s really this simple: the modern church, the Laodicean church, has believed the lie and welcomed the world into its midst, embracing its treasures and pleasures—and has left Christ standing on the outside.
Paul said he struggled greatly against this in his day; God’s children can do no less. The devil’s great deception and the church world’s acceptance of it now is setting the stage for the worldwide acceptance and welcoming of the antichrist when he appears.
What are the children of God to do at this present time?
Hold fast to the Head, who is Christ. Deny your pleasure-loving life and devote yourself to prayer and God’s word. Hold fast to Christ by loving as Christ loved; serve one another wholeheartedly; renew your minds that you may have the same mind as Christ; seek to live and walk as Jesus did.
Hold Fast to Jesus, for He is coming!
Brother Bill Oldham