Godly Words of Encouragement

 (This message was edited by pinoy_celt on 12-24-03 @ 5:14 am EST)

Note: This is the first post of a three-part series.

It’s that time of year, folks. It’s graduation time for some of you, for others it’s just one more year to go. I know it can be a very anxious or exciting time in your life right now (or maybe not), but I’m sure you know that it’s a very crucial time as well. Probably the majority of you who read this post will plan on going to college, just like I did when I graduated from high school in ’96 (a while ago:)).

I’ve seen several Christians that were on fire for Christ either when they first arrived at college or shortly after, only to see them slowly fade away. Granted, some of them came back to the LORD, but there are spiritual forces at hard work here that will expose ANY weakness in your faith if you decide on college, whether it’s a Christian school or not.

There are 3 main demonic spirits to watch out for at any college. For memory’s sake, let’s call them the 3 A’s: academia, addiction, and apathy. Very often, a combination of any and all of these demons is at work on most college students who are not aware of them or don’t take them seriously enough. I will talk about the academia spirit in this post and the other two in the next.

First, the spirit of academia manifests itself in several ways. Academia is by far the subtlest of the three in terms of how it manifests and its effects on people. Be especially aware of liberal arts courses such as political and ethics classes and the term “critical thinking” used for such applications. I’m not saying that you should avoid taking such classes (especially if it’s required for the major you’re seeking), but I’m here to warn you of the pitfalls. I was briefly in an international ethics class as an elective for my management major before I dropped the class. But the instructor, rather than present practical everyday business situations with ethics applied to it, instead came up with these ridiculous hypothetical situations such as:

“Cave-explorers are deep in a system of caves when they’re forced to flee from rising waters caused by an unexpected storm miles away that has fed the streams running through the caves. The largest person is nearest to the cave entrance when they realize what’s up, and that person squeezes into the narrow entrance to get out, but gets stuck (which makes me wonder how he/she got in there to begin with) and can’t be moved without hours of much digging. Everyone else is trapped just below this person, and will all drown in 15 minutes if the entrance isn’t unblocked. You are the only person close to the scene outside the cave entrance, having been cutting up firewood with a power saw nearby; it would take about half an hour to drive for help. What do you do?”

First of all, this is a situation where there is no truly good solution. Either they die or you cut up the fat person to pieces so that the rest of them can escape. But this is a virtually unrealistic situation because there are more factors in real-life situations that are intentionally excluded from this “what-if.” There is NO WAY you can answer this scenario without more information, but the temptation is to naturally come up with an answer, even if it’s morally wrong.

I also took a basic political science course as an elective for my major. One of the underlying themes of the class was to “question yourself,” and to learn “critical thinking.” The problem with that is for you and me as believers in Christ, this can mean systematically questioning our belief in God until it begins to destroy our faith in Him (which is why I had to drop the ethics class after one week). Here I must make a distinction. There’s nothing wrong with questioning God as long as it’s in trying to understand His Word and His ways so that you can better love and serve Him in truth. But it’s a problem when you question God’s absolute authority and truth in a rebellious way. The deception about critical thinking is in tackling an issue (real-life or hypothetical) that may not specifically discuss morality, but makes certain underlying moral assumptions that are usually not biblical; it’s an attempt to get you to agree with unbiblical ideas and consequently disagree with the ultimate truth of God’s Word, but at an almost unnoticeable and gradual pace. I’ll give you a detailed example:

In my world politics class, one of the assigned readings was a series of excerpts from Thomas Hobbes’ book Leviathan, which was written in 1651. The basic idea of the assignment was to familiarize ourselves with an example of “realist” thinking in politics (in short, a warring and often every-nation-for-itself view of international politics). My instructor wanted us to merely “consider” the philosophy and theories in Leviathan as part of an overall analysis of such thinking. But I quickly realized that Leviathan was actually promoting a scaled-down version of an antichrist government. I’ll explain using the following quotes from Leviathan and a picture of “Leviathan” himself (the would-be antichrist) coupled with the refuting Scripture:



The premise behind Leviathan, Hobbes asserted, was that “the life of man” was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” due to humans’ sinful condition and struggle for power over one another, which is true if Christ is left out of the picture. To build on this premise, Hobbes states “The passions that incline men to peace are: fear of death; desire of such things as are necessary to (decent) living; and a hope by their industry to obtain them.” Hobbes then argues that in order to meet this need for peace and order, a powerful ruler must be established by a consenting group of people (of which its connection with Scripture I will explain later):

“THE final cause, end, or design of men (who naturally love liberty and dominion over others) in the introduction of that restraint upon themselves…of their own preservation, and of a more contented life thereby; that is to say, of getting themselves out from that miserable condition of war…and “if there be no power erected, or not great enough for our security, every man will and may lawfully rely on his own strength and art for caution against all other men…The only way to erect such a common power, as may be able to defend them from the invasion of foreigners, and the injuries of one another, and thereby to secure them in such sort as that by their own industry and by the fruits of the earth they may nourish themselves and live contentedly, is to confer all their power and strength upon one man, or upon one assembly of men, that may reduce all their wills, by plurality of voices, unto one will:… This is the generation of that great LEVIATHAN, or rather, to speak more reverently, of that mortal god to which we owe, under the immortal God, our peace and defense.”

There are several deceptions here to point out. First, I will quote from NIV Revelation 13:1-8,16,17:

“And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea…The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority…The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?’ The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world…He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

These verses are generally talking about the coming antichrist (the beast) empowered by Satan himself (the dragon), whose essence is described in NIV 1 John 2:22 “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.” I will not discuss in detail who exactly is the antichrist and the ensuing future government because there are differing interpretations of scriptures concerning these issues. I simply want you to see the basics of it in relation to Leviathan.

One deception behind Leviathan is that one man/assembly with absolute power can represent a multitude of different peoples united with a common interest in peace and security, but Hobbes consequently can’t offer any way to keep this ruler(s) in check. Here is the biblical evidence:

"The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority...The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, ‘Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?’ The beast was given a mouth…to exercise his authority…And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.”

Secondly, since Hobbes’ assumption is that humans are inherently and hopelessly sinful, who’s to say that this ruler(s) won’t act in an ungodly way? “He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them.” Furthermore, according to his theories, Hobbes’ analogy of the “great leviathan” as a mortal god is how the people would view this ruler/ruling body. But this is totally against the authority of God Himself (of whom, oddly enough, Hobbes acknowledges as “the immortal God”). The following verses illustrate this point:

“The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast…And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

And just like many of the Roman emperors, the antichrist, in openly rejecting God’s authority, will convince himself that he is God, and so would this Leviathan. It says in NIV 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4, “the man of lawlessness…the man doomed to destruction…He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God." Sadly, there must be incredibly powerful deception involved for people to think that one man or group will solve their problems using a universal system of government, economy, and society. The following verse further explains this: “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

And to sum it all up, NIV 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 states,

“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

I went through all this to show you how easily you and I can be deceived by not picking up on Satan’s tactics using academia and by not knowing God’s Word. And simply remember that “greater is he that is in you than he who is in the world.” You and I cannot effectively function in God’s kingdom without living in and for the Truth, for Jesus. Don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe in the middle of a possibly unbelieving class of fellow students. Don’t be afraid to call it as it is, using godly wisdom of course. And if you’re asked a question on a homework assignment, quiz, or test that would cause you to answer in a way that doesn’t glorify God, then answer the question as best you can in a manner that is respectful of the instructor but uncompromising, even if it means getting docked a letter grade. God WILL reward you for your integrity.

If you find yourself up against the demons behind academia in universities, take these things to heart and ask God for much wisdom and understanding, because you’ll need it. And most importantly, know and stand on God’s Word. Remember that Jesus simply applied God’s Word against Satan when he was being tempted. Understand God’s Word so that you can answer any challenge, academic or not, just like Jesus would. May God bless you, increase your faithfulness, and reward you in due season.


Works Cited



The Holy Bible: New International Version. (The International Bible Society, 1984).