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“By The Trickery of Men”
“By The Trickery Of Men”
James E. Farley
The apostle Paul issues a warning to the Lord’s church at Ephesus concerning the danger of immaturity in the Christian faith resulting in their being “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). The New King James Version has this verse, “...no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting....”
The Lord expects us to GROW (Eph. 5:15; Heb. 5:11-14; I Peter 2:2; II Peter 3:18). The way of the Lord demands that we be alive; and any living thing that is not growing is either dead or dying. It is true that we have to die to become a Christian...die to sin...crucify the old man...but Christ must LIVE in us by faith as we rise to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:1-6; Gal. 2:20). As we walk this new life in Christ, we must renew our minds daily through study and use of the Word of righteousness. Only by the Lord’s Word can we discern good from evil, right from wrong (Rom. 6:3-5; I John 1:5-7; II Cor. 5:17; Rom. 12:1-2; II Cor. 4:16; II Tim. 2:15; Heb. 5:13-14).
The devil, our adversary, does not want us knowledgeable. He does not want us to grow in knowledge and grace, for his two main tools are ignorance and the lie. It is easy to lie to ignorant folks! Satan cares not that a person, or a group of people, are zealous, just as long as they are ignorant (Rom. 10:1-3). The father of lies and liars (John 8:44) has little trouble convincing ignorant people of his false ways, for if a person does not know the Truth (John 8:31-32), how will he be able to judge whether a doctrine or practice is right or wrong? Yes indeed...it is easy to lie to ignorant folks!
God has placed the treasure of the Gospel in earthen vessels (human beings). That means he has given the commission to preach the good news to men, not to spiritual beings (Compare II Cor. 4:7; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 8:26,29; Acts 9:6,10-17; Acts 10:1-6). So too, Satan uses men to carry on his deceptive work. He has ministers, and they, like him, are very active in carrying out their father’s bidding, deceiving and being deceived (II Cor. 11:13-15; II Tim. 3:13). These troublers pervert the Gospel of Christ, and lead men and women into a snare to become captives of the devil (Gal. 1:6-10; II Tim. 2:25-26; 3:5-9). Keep in mind that they do this with deception and trickery. They appear to be “ministers of righteousness” (II Cor. 11:15).
We know that Satan is active and very successful among and through denominational churches, and for years we have prepared ourselves to fight “against the wiles of the devil” on that front (Eph. 6:10-20). However, when those from among our own number turn out to be his deceitful disciples, it delivers a blow that is staggering indeed. This is especially true when we have come to love and trust the one who turns out to be a heretic (Titus 3:10-11).
Paul wrote of some “false brethren” who came in “privily” (Gal. 2:4). Jude says they “crept in unawares” (Jude 4). You see, they sneak in, for they are of their father, the devil. They “lie in wait to deceive” (Eph. 4:14). They ambush using lies and hypocrisy as their camouflage. They are ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15-20; Acts 20:27-32). Think for a minute about that picture. Think what one lone wolf could do to a flock of innocent, unsuspecting sheep! Obviously, the Lord wants us aware of this great danger, and He wants us to prepare to meet them and stop their pernicious ways! Therefore, we must “try the spirits” to see whether they are of God, and if they do not have the doctrine of Christ, they must be marked and avoided (I John 4:1; II John 9-11; Rev. 2:2; Rom. 16:17-18). Furthermore, when one of these heretics is uncovered and warned twice, he must be rejected. Notice the urgency in Titus 3:10-11. If a wolf is loose in the flock, we do not use tolerance and patience with him. We do what we can quickly to rid the flock of this pressing danger.
Brethren, may God help us to be loving in all we do for Him (Eph. 4:15). We must love Him first and foremost with all our heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:30). We must love Jesus who is the Christ; the one who bled and died for us (I John 4:19). If we truly love Him we will obey Him (John 14:15). We must love the church of Christ, purchased with the precious blood of the Lamb (Titus 3:15; I Peter 1:22; 3:8; I John 3:14-16; 5:1-3). Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for it (Eph. 5:25). We must love the Word of God that directs us as a lamp in this dark world of sin and error (Psalm 119:97, 104-105, 127). And, we must love the souls of men and women even to the point of warning them of these kinds of dangers. Paul loved the church and he warned of the dangers of wolves within (Acts 20:28-32).
