Scripture Reading: Isa. 6:9-10; John 3:19-21; Matt. 6:21-23; Psa. 36:9; Prov. 23:23; 2 Thes. 2:10b-12; Acts 7:60b; 9:1-2; Phil. 3:6a; 1 John 1:8
When a person is possessed, he falls directly into Satan's hand and is controlled and bound by Satan. When a person is obsessed, he is deceived by himself. First John 1:8 says that those who say that they have not sinned are deceiving themselves; they are obsessed. Lying is different from being obsessed. Those who lie are condemned in their conscience, but those who are obsessed are very confident in themselves. They are convinced that they are not lying when they really are. They do not know that they are lying. A man who is obsessed takes his perception of reality as reality and considers his reality to be absolutely right. Second Thessalonians 2:10-12 speaks of the perishing ones who do not receive a love of the truth but instead believe lies. This is very sad. When a Christian overestimates himself, he follows the lies of his mind. Unless these lies are removed, he will fall into obsession sooner or later.
In the past some people considered taking our way but eventually decided to take a different way. The reason they changed their mind is that they became convinced of their view concerning certain things. They thought it over and over, and in the end, they concluded that their views were absolutely correct. At that point no one could help them anymore. These ones have fallen into darkness. They do not see the true nature of things. One brother thought that it was right to have a concubine. I exhorted him and tried to help him. Later, I learned that this brother was not trying to deceive me. If he had been trying to deceive me, it would have been easier to help him. He was deceiving himself. He would not give up his own view. It is very difficult to render help to this kind of person. The condition that leads to obsession is dwelling in darkness. The Jews rejected the Lord. They thought that their rejection was very reasonable, but their reasonings were not based on the facts. As a consequence, the Lord repeatedly said that they were living in darkness.
One can be obsessed not only in words but also in the mind. Lying and obsession are essentially the same in content, but when one lies, the conscience condemns it as sin even as one tries to deceive others. With obsession, the mind tells one that he is not sinning, and the person believes that he has no sin. Philippians 3 tells us that Paul was once obsessed. He was delivered from his obsession by the light. All obsessed persons bear one characteristic — they are always very confident of themselves. Even though they have sinned, they do not admit it. Malachi 1 speaks of the Israelites sinning against God many times, yet they kept saying, "How have we despised Your name?...How have we defiled You?" (vv. 6-7). This is obsession. It is falling into darkness. The Gospel of John has many examples of obsession. The Jews' rejection of the Lord in 5:38 was not contrived; they were obsessed. Other examples of obsession are in John 6:41-42, 52, 60; 7:28, 47; 8:24, 43-45.
The way to be delivered from obsession is found in Psalm 36:9: "In Your light we see light." "Your light" refers to God's light, and "we see light" refers to our seeing the true nature of things through the shining of God's light. Many people like to judge according to their mind, ideas, imagination, and conjecture. Such views are often contrary to facts. The most pitiful men are those who presume that they are right, who are very confident of themselves, and who are good at arguing with others. Actually, everything they talk about is wrong. Everything they argue for is wrong. We should come before the Lord in fear and trembling and come under His shining. If we do this, we will not become obsessed in the Lord's service and will not act like Paul before his conversion.
One principle of enlightenment is that light shines through an opening. The Lord said that the light is in us in Matthew 6:23. This inner light is the enlightening of the Holy Spirit within. Yet there can be hindrances to this inner enlightening. What hinders a person from receiving light? John 3:19-20 indicates that a man will not receive light once he is prejudiced and has preconceived ideas. Hence, the first hindrance to light is prejudice and a refusal to come to the light. The deeper a person is in the truth, the less assurance he should have of himself. A person who is prejudiced and who does not want to come under the light is dangerous. The second hindrance to receiving light from the Lord is one's desire to receive glory from men. There are certain conditions one has to clearly fulfill before he can receive light. The first condition is having a heart that seeks after God's will. If one seeks after God's will, he will know the true nature of things (John 7:17). However, even such a heart cannot always guarantee that we will not be deceived. Therefore, we have to ask the Lord for mercy so that He would put in us a heart that genuinely seeks after His will. Proverbs says that in order to receive the truth, we have to pay a price (23:23). Lies do not involve any price; they are cheap. If we want the truth, we have to pay a price. This is the second condition for receiving light. May the Lord be merciful to us so that we will have a heart that seeks after God's will and will pay the price to gain the truth.
