The Devil is employing different strategies to fight God’s children. His main aim is to convert God’s children to his side for destruction. The Devil is fighting tooth and nail to prevent unbelievers from repenting and at the same time set the fowlers to preach heresies to make God’s children apostate. God wants all human beings to be saved through Jesus Christ, but the Devil is fighting to derail people from doing the will of God, so that, they will all go to hell fire with him. This message is a warning against the traps of the fowlers. Fowlers are false preachers who hunt for whom to deceive through their devilish doctrine. They profess Christianity, but deny the power of redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Through their antics, the Devil wants to turn as many people as possible away from God. This is why 2Timothy 3:1-5 says: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2: For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. 3: Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. 4: Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. 5: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” The denial of the power thereof is the characteristics of the apostate. The apostate are the people who were in faith, but later rejected it. In summary, apostasy is falling away from faith. It is the act of a professed Christian deliberately rejecting the revealed truth as to:
• The Deity of Jesus Christ
• The redemption through the atoning of Jesus Christ and redeeming sacrifice.
Apostasy differs from the error about the truth. Error may be as a result of ignorance or heresy that the Devil has put in place as a snare to derail the people. Despite this, both exist alongside the true faith. The apostate depart from the faith, but not from the outward profession of Christianity. The Devil through the fowlers is using all these to draw Christians away from God, so that, they will not make heaven hereafter. We should be very careful about his antics.
Again, in the lead scripture the Devil employed false teachers who preach heresies to deceive even the very elect. The heretic messages will result into people becoming trucebreakers, incontinent, false accusers and despisers of the people that are good Christians. God is telling us to turn away from such people and their teachings. We should tenaciously hold onto the truth because it is only the truth that can set anybody free. John 8:32 says: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” We are to stand on and for the truth at all times.
Matthew 7:20-23 says: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21: Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. 22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? 23: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” The truth has to be told to ensure that the people who are obedient to the word of God do not follow the wrong teachings that will lead them astray or take them to hell. They should be aware of the false prophets whom the Bible described as workers of iniquity. They should also know that whosoever they deceive, even when the victim is ignorant, he or she would go to hell.
Their preaching need back testing and proper review to ensure they profess Jesus Christ and the redemption power of His blood shed on the Cross of Calvary. The fact is, because these false prophets and teachers do not have what it takes to convert a soul, they resort to using enticing words and material things such as money, houses, award of scholarship to students and all other material things as a bait to continue to enslave their converts. The essence of Christianity is to be in heaven and stay with our Lord Jesus Christ forever. Anything short of this is effort in futility and wasted journey on earth. The fowlers are agents of the Devil hunting for whom to deceive; in some cases the Bible describes them as demons possessed. The demons are spirits or Satan’s emissaries and they are so numerous to make the power of Satan appear ubiquitous. The Christians who are heaven conscious should be very careful in order not to be carried away and deceived by their antics.
The wealth of this world is good, but it will only help to keep the body and soul together here on earth and not hereafter. They have no relevance in heaven. Material things should, therefore, not take the place of the spiritual food, which is the true word of God that will lead one to heaven. The Bible is emphatic about this, when it asks: What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Or what shall he give in exchange of his soul? The soul is of God and it will go back to its owner hereafter if it lives according to the will of the maker, but if it derails from it for any reason, it will end up in hell fire. The snares of the fowlers are designed by the Devil and his agents to stop people from going to heaven. The Devil knows he will never enter into heaven again, so, he is making every effort to prevent people from entering heaven too. This message now stands as a warning to all, so that they can know the plan of the Devil and run away from it. Hosea 4:6 says: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”
The plan of God is that His children should be knowledgeable of the antics of the Devil and also, God’s plan to deliver them from the bondage of the Devil. Our Lord Jesus Christ has gone to prepare a place in heaven; He is coming back to take us to be with Him forever in heaven. One who allows himself to be deceived by the snares of the fowlers will not make heaven. Our focus remains heaven bound and nothing will separate us from the love of God and from making heaven. Until this feat is achieved, we shall not rest, in Jesus’ name.
