“I will give to each of you according to your works. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden (Rev 2:23-24).”
By the time my second deployment to Iraq rolled around I was little more senior in my military career. I was an Army Captain and that was enough rank in those circumstances to warrant my own private living arrangements. I wasn’t sharing a space with a bunch of soldiers. It didn’t last long but at the time it was a rare luxury.
As a Christian I wasn’t doing the things I needed to be doing to nurture my faith but God was working in my life. He had me leading a men’s Bible study and was convicting me to spend more time in prayer. Especially now that He had arranged a private place in which to do it.
I had shared this conviction with my wife who diligently sent me several books on prayer. I identified a place and searched the base for a small table and chair. As soldiers came and went, they would often discard furniture that they couldn’t take with them to their next assignment. Next to a vacated housing unit I found just what I needed. I moved them into my room and determined that the next morning I would begin. My plan was to open with a simple prayer, spend some time in God’s word, and then just listen before closing again with a simple prayer.
That morning God met me in a way He had never met me before and has not met me since! There was no blinding flash of light, there was no thunderclap, and there was no one to tell me to take off my shoes as I was now standing on holy ground. And yet, I found myself on the floor prostrate before a God in such a way that I knew I was unholy and on the verge of destruction before a just and holy god. While I had been a Christian long enough to know that Jesus had dealt with my sin, in this moment, in the quite place of an Army housing unit, I was being shown the seriousness with which God takes sin. That experience has shaped me, and my Christian walk, in many ways.
Recently I have been going through a study of Revelation. In chapter two I found a peculiar verse that refers to, “what some people call the deep things of Satan (Rev 2:24).” Adam Clarke, commenting on this verse, notes, “the Gnostics called their doctrine the depths of God, and the depths of Bythos, intimating that they contained the most profound secrets of Divine wisdom (Clarke).” The Gnostics are an entire group of heresies that were being dealt with by early Christians. They were one of the primary drivers behind the need to identify and establish a Biblical cannon so that early Christians could know what was an authentic Christian writing and what was something else purporting or masquerading as Christian. Our cannon, our Bible, is what those early Christians knew they could trust and what they could then compare everything else to determine authenticity.
The desire to develop a closer relationship with God is an admirable thing. To desire to experience God fully is an admirable thing as well. But we must be careful that our desire to be close and experience God isn’t being used against us. The Gnostics believed that they had been given special knowledge, or gnōsis, about God. Only they knew, “the deep things (Rev 2:24).” They would tell Christians that if they wanted to be closer to God or go deeper in their relationship with God all they needed were the deeper things.
And yet, the reality of our situation in a fallen world is one in which the vast majority of our time is living outside of what we would call experiencing God. The vast majority of our lives are mundane and monotonous.
In college I was hanging out with a much more “charismatic” crowd. We were leading a young adult study with a worship team, message team, and an activities team. It was a lot of fun. On one occasion we were halfway through worship and the Spirit was moving. Hands were being raised, people were dancing and even speaking in tongues. I wasn’t feeling it.
I left and went to the next room to be alone and pray. I wish I could tell you that God met me there and I had an experience. But what I came away with was a thought or more specifically a question; Is God moving even in the moments that I can’t feel that movement? The obvious answer is yes! That moment has shaped me, and my Christian walk, as equally profoundly as the moment in which I found myself prostrate before God.
If someone comes to you with the promise of going deeper or getting closer based on something that has been revealed to them or someone else outside of God’s Word, be careful! It may seem innocent enough at first but you watch over time they will down play that very word and even begin to imply, if not accuse, the believer of placing too much emphasis on God’s Word. I have even heard the accusation that some denominations have made an idol out of God’s Word. We have to be able to distinguish the deep things of God from the deep things of Satan. God’s Word is our reliable ally in this effort.
No, God’s deep thing has already been revealed. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Eph 1:7-10).”
If you are experiencing God you won’t need to be told what to do or how to remain. God is in control in those moments not you or me. No, the challenge is knowing what to do in the times in between those moments. God’s Word tells us though.
Begin in prayer. There are prayers of praise, petition, and fellowship and, “we ought always to pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1).” Then, look for those times in which God is and has been faithful to you (1Ki 8:56). We get closer to God when we can rest on His promises and when we remember His faithfulness it is easier to rest on the unknowns. Praise God (Psa 34:1). It is hard to complain or be discouraged when we are Praising God because praise is built on the assumption that the one being praised is praiseworthy. We knew that He is so let’s get to it. Don’t forget to practice God’s presence. He has promised to never leave us (Heb 13:5). Even when we sin, He is with us. What would our lives look like if we lived as if we believed this truth. Finally, participate in what God is doing. We have been chosen for fruitfulness (Joh 15:16). We are never closer to God when we are about doing His will.
Thank you for reading. Again, I know it has been a while but please join my email list so you don’t miss any content. If you are interested in following us as we go through our study of Revelation you can find our studies here on YouTube. The Word of God is not to be ignored. In it you will find eternal life!
Clarke, Adam. The Holyhttps://faith-hope-love.life/product/adam-clarkes-commentary-on-the-bible/ Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes. New Edition. Vol. I–VI. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2014.