It's not always easy to recognise that and so that's why I'm taking it slow and just talking about it today in a different kind of way than what I'd normally do. In 1 Timothy 4:1, it says now the Spirit expressly speaks. So He's saying that the Holy Ghost is drawing our attention to this reality, that in the last days - that's the days we live in - in the last days, ever since Jesus has been the last days but I guess we're nearer the last days than ever before - but in the last days men shall give heed - man means everyone - shall give heed to seducing spirits. They'll be drawn away from a personal faith that outworks itself with realities in life, into a dimension of seducing spirits. You say well that's not me, it couldn't be. That's because if you don't recognise how these things operate you would never actually know whether you'd been drawn away. The nature of seduction is you don't know what you're getting yourself into, and so a seducing spirit - that word seduce is the word [from which 00.19.43] you get the word planet, a wanderer. It's a spirit which tempts, leads, entices you and draws you.
Now when you're being seduced you don't even know what's going on until you wake up next morning: who the heck is that next to me? See, it's what goes on - and what did I do to get here? Something happened on the way. You ended up where you didn't want to be, because you didn't recognise what this influence was doing in your life. And so it says men will give heed to doctrines of demons, seducing spirits and particular doctrines, and that will draw them away from a living strong faith in Jesus Christ. In 2 Corinthians 11:1-3 Paul says I've espoused you to Christ. And then he says I feel lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve. Now he's saying to Christians, he's saying I'm concerned that just the same way that the devil deceived Eve, you would be drawn away, your mind's corrupted from just simple devotion to Jesus Christ. That's what the Christian faith is about. We're in love with Jesus Christ. He's our strength, He's our life, we have a friendship Him. We're given a destiny to fulfil, got a great life, and he says I'm a bit concerned that just the same way the devil nailed Eve he'll nail you the same way.
How did he nail Eve? He put a vain imagination in her mind and she began to feed on the imagination, that if she ate the fruit of that tree she could be like God. She could have an independent life. She could be someone great. It appealed to vanity: I can actually move on without God. That's what it was. I can get what I want to get. I don't need God to do it, I just eat this - I'm going to get a hold of my life. I'm going to you know, look after number one. And she ate into it and when she'd eaten into it, taken it all onboard, then she shared it and corrupted - and then Adam came into that same influence. So if we were to say then what is it then would open the door to seducing spirits, so I'm going to give you a list of a few things which - these come out of experience in ministry. They're either out of my person life - I needed deliverance, or they're out of someone else that needed deliverance that I prayed for, so they're not sort of fanciful things. This is reality. This is what goes on.
So I want to share with you then just some things that are traps. One of them is books. Now for me I spent my whole life in books. Nothing wrong with books, had some wonderful books. I like reading books. I still read books, but when books become a source of fantasy where you escape from reality it's a problem. I used it to escape the pain of relationship, just went and read a book. Don't have to face anything that way, you just go away and you're in another world in your imagination, so books can be a source of that. Romance novels can be very much that way for women; action books and things for men. Another one is the area of TV. TV can be - TV's a wonderful, wonderful tool. You do all kinds of things with it, but TV can open the door; soap operas, Desperate Housewives [laughter] and some women are desperate to get back there to watch Desperate Housewives! I've got to watch it! I can't miss it! Make sure you record it. [Laughter] It's true, because - now you've got to ask yourself what has happened here?