Spirit of Truth vs. Spirit of Seduction

My heart is overwhelmed when I think back on the last few days and the incredible services we had throughout the United Kingdom and Norway. The Holy Spirit moved in such power and now in the afterglow of it all I am experiencing something that I often do. I find that when I am in the presence of the Holy Spirit in a significant way, I come out of it having fallen more in love with Jesus! I think that this is a characteristic of a genuine Holy Spirit encounter…our love for the Son will grow and blossom. I don’t understand people who have “revivals” and conferences where they are obsessed with spiritual things and even the "Holy Spirit", but don’t even acknowledge Jesus. They sing songs about glory, power, anointing and never mention the name of Jesus. They talk about angels and miracles, visions, encounters and third Heaven experiences, but never talk about Jesus. How can this be? The Holy Spirit does not come to speak of Himself…He points away from himself to another – Jesus!

John 16:13,14 says, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for HE SHALL NOT SPEAK OF HIMSELF…HE SHALL GLORIFY ME: for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.”

It is impossible to have a genuine encounter with the Holy Spirit and not have an encounter with Jesus. If you ever see this happening be very careful, because while there are many spirits in the world, there is only ONE HOLY SPIRIT!

In Genesis Chapter 24 we read the story of Abraham sending his servant Eliazar to find a wife for His son, Isaac. It is Eliazar who brings Isaac and Rebekah, his bride, together. In this story we see so many types. Abraham is a type of God the Father. Isaac is a type of Jesus. Eliazar is a type of the Holy Spirit, and Rebekah is a type of the Church. There are many spiritual truths that can be drawn out of this story, but there is one that jumped out at me as I just read this verse recently.

Even though Rebekah had never seen Isaac, she seemed to love him greatly. She chose to leave her father, mother and family to be with him. As soon as she saw Isaac, she jumped off her camel and went to meet him. When they met face to face there was an instantaneous bonding between them. There were no dates, no courting, no prenuptial agreements or arrangement…they went straight to the honeymoon.

How is it that Rebekah loved Isaac even though she had never seen him? I think you can blame this on Eliazer. I think that from the moment he met Rebekah, he began to talk about his master and brag about him telling Rebekah how wonderful he was, how handsome, kind and gentle. On the entire camel ride back to the south country, Eliazer told Rebekah stories about Isaac and described him in detail. Rebekah was infatuated with this incredible man and could not wait to meet him face to face.

1Pet. 1:8 says “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory…”

Verse 53 says that Eliazer, “…brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekah…” These gifts that Eliazer lavished on Rebekah are types of the gifts of the Spirit. They were not Eliazer’s, they were Isaac’s and were a sign of Isaac’s love. Of course they made Rebekah look beautiful as well, but the real purpose was to cause Rebekah to fall more in love with her groom…and it worked! When the Holy Spirit is moving and the Gifts of the Spirit are in operation we can expect to find people falling more in love with Jesus.

But consider this: what if Eliazer had flirted with Rebekah and tried to attract her with is own charm? What if Eliazer had given her his own gifts and told stories about his own life to win her over? What if Rebekah had become infatuated with and fallen in love with Eliazer instead of Isaac? He would have been a wicked, unfaithful and seductive servant.

Paul warns us that in the last days there will also be “seducing spirits” in operation. A seducing spirit is one that would seek to divert attention from Jesus and unto itself. Where people love the gifts more than the groom there are seductive spirits in operation. Where people seek manifestations more than “the man”, there are seductive spirits at work. Any time Jesus is not the main focus, the supreme attraction, the ultimate fascination, the crowning prize and the preeminent desire – WATCH OUT! The Holy Spirit has nothing to do with it!

The Holy Spirit will always speak about JESUS, reveal JESUS, exalt JESUS, promote JESUS and magnify JESUS…nothing else and nothing less than JESUS!

“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceeded from the Father, he shall testify of me.” (John 15:26)