Angel of Light

By Jerry D. Ousley

            We were in an old, dark, run-down house.  If there was ever a haunted house, this one would have been the model on which all others were based.  For one reason or another my companions and I were in possession of a device that when squeezed would produce light in parts of the house.  Whenever we would see the shadows appearing on the walls, and eyes would light up, peering around corners, we could squeeze the device and the light would cause them to disappear.  The house was full of death, destruction and terrible looking creatures.  But whenever we squeezed the device, the light chased away the darkness as well as the evil creatures of destruction and death.

            Then something occurred and we realized that, what we thought was protecting us – the light – was actually what was causing all the evil.  You see, after squeezing the device and lighting up the room, when the room would grow dark again even worse creatures would appear.  The fear that drove us to squeeze the device and issue the false light was the culprit all along.  The house without the light was just an old house.

            When I woke up, I was terrified to say the least.  Yes, it was only a dream.  But the meaning of the dream stuck with me.  I was directed to the Bible to see if I could discover the meaning of the dream and here is what I found.  In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul is once again forced to defend his calling as an Apostle of the Lord.  In the midst of his defense, he wrote: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.  And no wonder!  For 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 11:13-15).

            Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 24:4-5 that, “Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”  And Peter spoke of this as well in 2 Peter 2:1 – “But were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.”  In the day in which we live there are many voices out there.  Voices in the realm of Christianity who teach and preach things contrary to the Bible.  They sound good.  They want to teach just enough truth to get us to fall for their deception and then the trap is set.  The majority of these false prophets are after your money.  It is easy to tell because their teaching will eventually turn to their purpose, “If you send me your money you will get it back in a double blessing.” 

            It is important to know what the Bible says for yourself.  That way you can weigh the teaching you receive against the very word of God.  Always know that the Bible will not contradict itself.  If someone teaches you something that seems contradictory, run, don’t walk, away from that person and that teaching.

            It is not my job to name those who are obviously false teachers in this world right now.  If I do then I risk the danger of gossiping and becoming guilty of possibly the same thing.  So, I won’t name names.  But, If you know the Bible then you will learn to recognize them for yourself.

            I want to say that there is nothing wrong in itself, for a minister to have money, or a big house, or a large elaborate building in which to worship.  I personally have come to believe that these things demand a lot of support and so, in the long run, take away from what offerings are intended to do, and that is to help others.  There’s nothing wrong in a pastor to be paid a salary for his or her sacrifice to take care of the flock assigned to them by the Lord, but when that becomes the most important thing then the door is open for sin.

            The truth is simple.  When things are more important than people, we are wrong.  When we teach things that bring profit to the teachers and take us away from the more important missions of bringing healing to the sick, food to the hungry, help to the needy, and the gospel to the lost, then we are teaching false doctrine.

            The devil is not an ugly, horrid monster on the outside, like we usually portray him to be.  Instead, he takes the form of beauty and light in order to attract us from the truth toward what seems to be safe.  But in reality, his false light is what is bringing in the destruction.  The only way to know the difference is to know the Bible.  Over the centuries many lives have been lost in effort to bring the truth to people.  Let’s not make their sacrifice to be in vain.  Let’s study to know the truth so we won’t be deceived and become ministers of the truth and bring the true light to the world – JESUS!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.