Someone may be a very eloquent speaker, moving others to tears even if he does not speak of God or Christ. Even though this kind of preaching may be inspiring, according to Ephesians 4:13-14, it is but the sleight of the evil one. Satan uses eloquent speaking to form winds of teaching that toss the saints and carry them away from Christ. Some may say that they are weeping because they love the Lord; however, loving the Lord is a matter of degree. Some may love the Lord for many years without knowing Christ as life and without living in Him. This kind of person can be easily touched when he listens to messages because of his inward affection. Regardless of the center or content of the messages, he is easily touched. If we speak concerning numbers in the Bible, such as the number six hundred sixty-six and the seventy weeks, he will be touched; if we speak concerning hymns, he will be touched also. These people are touched because of eloquence and utterance. Therefore, even though they love the Lord and are zealous in the church, they can still be tossed and carried away after ten or twenty years. Winds of teaching refer to messages that are seemingly pure and proper but do not take Christ as the center and the Son of God as the content.
We often hear saints testify of how the Lord answered their prayers by healing their sicknesses. This kind of experience is not bad, but it can be used by the evil one as a wind of teaching. Some among us have learned the lessons of prayer for many years, but they still do not know Christ as life. They only know that God answers their prayers, but they have not seen that the Son of God who answers their prayers is now living in them as life. They only see God who is on the throne and who is faithful and merciful. When they pray to Him according to His Word, that is, when they petition Him by the blood of His Son, God often answers their prayer. But they have not seen that the God who answers prayer is now in His Son and living in them as life. Whether God answers their prayers is not the most important matter; what is important is that God desires to work His Son into them so that they may have His life and nature and so that He may live in them.
In the Bible, neither Paul, Peter, nor John ever gave a testimony about how God answered their prayers. Rather, in Ephesians 1:17 Paul prayed, saying, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.” In 3:16 through 19 he bowed his knees unto the Father, praying, “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, that Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what the breadth and length and height and depth are and to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.”
The Lord clearly said that we should not be anxious for food, drink, or clothing, for all these things the Gentiles anxiously seek (Matt. 6:31-32). If a certain brother cannot find a house, he may pray, “O Lord, I do not want a house that is too big; it will be sufficient if it is about three hundred square feet. O Lord, please do not let your children have any lack.” He may pray again and again and even remember a verse in the Bible to firmly hold on to in his prayers. Two weeks later, after finding a place that is bigger than three hundred square feet, he will stand up and testify in the meeting. He will quote Psalm 23 and praise the Lord for being a good Shepherd to him because he lacks nothing. He will testify that those who seek Jehovah will not lack any good thing (34:10). Two months later when this brother loses his job, he will ask the church to pray for him, and he and his wife will fast and pray at home. A few days later after finding a good job, he will testify again about learning the lesson of prayer. God truly looks upon His children, but the things that the brother asks for are only the things that the Gentiles anxiously seek. The Lord wants us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33). What are His kingdom and His righteousness? We will know God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness only when we know that the Christ of God is the center and that the Son of God is the content.
The evil one can use all kinds of messages and testimonies as winds of teaching. Even something such as learning the lesson of prayer can be a wind of teaching. We may have had several experiences in which God answered our prayers, but we still may not know Christ as life or know that God’s unique work is to work in us to the point that Christ is everything in us. This is God’s unique goal. The evil one wants to nullify the work of God’s eternal goal. If we have been a Christian for thirty years and have only learned the lesson of prayers being answered, but we do not have the experience of Christ living in us and being constituted in us, God has not accomplished His purpose in us.
As far as our prayer is concerned, God may have truly answered our prayer; however, as far as God’s eternal purpose is concerned, there is no difference between us and an unbeliever. Just as God’s eternal purpose cannot be fulfilled in an unbeliever, it cannot be fulfilled in those who have only learned the lesson of prayer. Just as an unbeliever does not know the life of Christ, we do not know the life of Christ. This is what the evil one does, and this is what Ephesians 4:14 reveals. Even things such as answered prayers can be something in Satan’s system that shifts our focus. We may think that we have learned the lesson of prayer, without realizing that Satan has brought us into his system of error. Hence, we need to be careful not only in listening to messages but also in speaking. If we are not careful, what we speak can become a wind of teaching that distracts people from Christ.
Some saints truly love the Lord, and they know that the Lord’s sweet desire is to live in them and be the Lord and King in them; hence, they are willing to take Him as everything and to give themselves to Him. This is not a matter of prayer or fervency but a matter of the “I” being lost in the Lord. When they love the Lord in such a way, they experience crucifixion with Christ. “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Because the Lord loved us and gave Himself up for us, we also love Him and give ourselves up for Him. His giving Himself up for us is by dying on the cross; our giving ourselves up for Him is by giving ourselves to Him. Only this kind of love is proper and fitting. How many in the church love the Lord in this way? Sometimes when preachers speak concerning loving the Lord, the message they give becomes a wind of teaching. Their original intention was to stir up the saints to love the Lord, but in the end they distract the saints from Christ, because they do not take Christ as the center when they exhort the saints to love the Lord. Instead, they take zeal, diligence, and serving the church as the center. Thus, the saints do not love Christ Himself. Even messages on love, zeal, diligence, meekness, and endurance can become winds of teaching which carry people away from Christ.