from The Patmos Paper E-magazine
The disciples
asked Jesus about the end times and Jesus gave a list of social,
physical and spiritual conditions of the end times. Interestingly,
the very first thing he mentioned on that list was deception. He
warned in Matthew 24:4
“Watch out that no one deceives
you.”
We are warned by Jesus and other New
Testament writers to watch out for false Messiahs, (false Christs),
false prophets and false teachers. The condition of the end-times is
a time of great deception which entails believing in things that are
false. Not surprising that deception was the key to the beginning of
man as it is the end of man. Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan
because they believed something that was false. The serpent deceived
the duo because he contradicted God and got them to believe a lie.
Satan questioned God by saying “Hath God said?” or as some
versions put it: “Did God really say that?” God told them that in
the day they eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil they
would surely die. But Satan blatantly said “You shall NOT DIE But
your eyes will be opened to know good from evil and you shall be like
God.” The first couple quit believing the truth and choose rather
to believe a lie and mankind has done the same. Jesus came to expose
the lie and bring us out of deception by revealing the truth!
“And ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32
What is Deception
Deception is one of two things: not
believing God’s word and or believing something false. In other
words deception is either believing a lie or not believing the Truth!
How does this fit into the Last day scenario. Well first we see a
departing of the faith. Not just Christians but society as it is, has
become less religious and more atheistic. It no longer listens to
sound judgment or biblical perspectives. In other words it no longer
believes the truth but believes a lie. Society no longer believes
that the Bible is truth. Colleges teach that it is just myths and
fairy tales and science views it as archaic non historical banter
from times past with no relevance to today! So they have supplanted
Gods truth with their own lies and now many people have been deceived
into following their lies. Two examples of these lies are Evolution
and same sexual orientation!
The Deception of Evolution!
The Bible clearly tells us where man
came from. The first book of the bible tells of mans origin and it
had nothing to do with monkeys, or primordial goo. God made man from
the dust of the earth (that He created) and breathed in him and gave
him life. He didn’t want him to be alone so from his side he took a
rib and made him a wife to be a helpmate and to make a way of
producing children and populating the planet. The beginning of the
Bible tells the origin of all things. We know from scriptures that
God simply spoke and he formed everything from His words; that is His
very breath brought forth the properties of all things.
“Through him all things were made;
without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:3
Our existence consists of time, space
and matter. The very first sentence of the bible says that “ In the
beginning (God is eternal so he create time by making a beginning)
God created the heavens (space) and the earth (matter). The intent
was to create man but he started by creating an environment for him
so in 6 days he made the heavens, stars, sun, moon, seas, earth,
plant life, and animals and finally man and woman to populate the
earth.
Though the evidence is all around them,
so called scientists and teachers would rather believe that
everything evolved from nothing slowly over billions of years. They
mock at the idea of intelligent design and foolishly cling to a
concept of random chance being their God! The Bible says:
“The wrath of God is being revealed
from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who
suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about
God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For
since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his
eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that people are without
excuse.” Romans 1:19,20
Evolution was a fanciful theory made
popular by Charles Darwin who had no scientific degrees. Matter a
fact ironically the only degree he had was a Theology degree. His dad
had hoped he would be a parsons.
Darwin was basically a naturalist but
discarded his biblical teachings for a humanistic approach to nature
and his theory of evolution has now supplanted the Christian roots of
education so now in these last days many have been deceived by
discarding God’s truth for mans lie!
The Deception of Sexual Orientation!
The sexual revolution of the sixties not
only brought in loose morals, free love, fornication and unbridled
sex but also great perversions such as swinging couples (adultery),
homosexuality and pedophilia. Though these things certainly weren’t
new, they were mostly hidden and discrete and scorned publicly. Since
the sixties the seed of these practices have grown from secret sin to
acceptable normal lifestyles.
The gay lifestyle for centuries was
considered abhorrent and a perversion but now homosexuality is not
only proudly displayed in parades and on many TV shows but the
pressure for Christians to take a biblical stand against it is
becoming more and more difficult. The social stigma of being called
homophobic and intolerant makes biblical Christians the target of
these groups.
Not only has same sex marriage become
legalized but there are many gay churches and lesbian ministers who
twist the scriptures to justify their lifestyle. Companies have to
deal with transgender bathrooms and colleges now teach gender
neutrality or personal gender identification (You are not what you
were born as physically but you are whatever gender you identify
with.) This deception of homosexuality and transgenderism is so wide
spread that society delights when someone comes out and celebrates
when Bruce Jenner becomes Caitlyn Jenner!
Deception is refusing to believe the
truth and instead choosing to believe a lie. The Bible has much to
say about homosexuality. We have the example of the destruction Sodom
and Gomorrah, The bible calls it an abomination in Gods eyes. It is
referred to as unnatural and the bible concludes with the warning
that homosexuals will not enter the kingdom of God and yet people who
have no fear of God are militantly antagonistic toward Christians who
try to show grace and love to them without acceptance of their
lifestyle.
In so many cases the false supplants the
truth in order to deceive. Today we are bombarded by a liberal media
that peddles “fake news” to persuade people politically. Colleges
no longer teach historical truth but rewrite it to fit their agenda.
Education is less about facts and more about sensitivity and social
safe places.
The Deception of Christians and the Church!
Even the church is not immune to
deception. Mega churches have left the simplicity of the gospel to
drive high tech entertainment services filled with seeker friendly
programs that make church “fun” and not relevant, excitingly and
not anointed, The padded chairs are filled but the starving hearts
are left unimpacted.
Jesus was talking to the disciples
therefore to the church when he said
“Take heed that ye be not
deceived,” Luke 21:8.
He warned that even the very elect would
be deceived “ Matt. 24:24
Even Paul saw and warned the church of
his day of deception. He even told them that after his death they
would fall into deception (Acts 20: 29).
The Deception of the World
The ultimate deception is about to come
upon mankind. Jesus, Daniel, Paul and others warned about an
Antichrist, the lawless one; the man of perdition who would come and
deceive many. He will turn many away from serving the true God and
will seek to be worshiped by the world. Much of what is going on is
in preparation for this endtime deception. The changes in society;
the political corruption and lies and the cold deception of the
church will undoubtedly prepare the way for one who serves the father
of lies! God himself will allow such a deception because they choose
not to follow the truth. Paul said:
“The coming of the lawless one
will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of
displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and
all the ways that wickedness 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.” 2 Thess.
2:9-12
The only antidote for deception is
Truth. Jesus said He is the Way, the TRUTH and the Life and that no
man comes to the Father but by Him (John 14:6). We must know God’s
word and it will cleanse us and keep us in the truth.
“Sanctify them in the truth; your
word is truth.” John 17:17
The eyes of many are being blinded daily
as people depart from the truth and believe a lie. We must speak the
truth even though many refuse to believe it. This is what Jesus did
to Pilate:
“Then Pilate said to him, “So you
are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this
purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to
bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my
voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” John 18:37-38
We are instructed by Paul to
“Speak the truth in love” Eph.
4:15
Jesus said that the time would come
when:
“...you will be handed over to be
persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations
because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and
will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear
and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the
love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end
will be saved.” Matt. 24:9-14
We are to stand fast in our faith and
hold true to the Lord even though the whole world lay in deception we
must be God pleasers, not men pleasers. When men call you homophobic
you say no you are Theophobic, That is you fear God not men. When
they scoff at you for not believing in evolution you say you would
rather believe in intelligent design than in a unintelligent random,
and purposeless existence. When the church compromises with the world
and becomes indistinguishable from it you seek out the few
like-minded believers that cling to the Spirits moving rather then
the pumped up music and performance based religion of the day!
Deception is something you decide to fall into or not. Eve made a
decision to not listen to God and follow the advise of Satan and her
husband followed suit. Things will only get worse in the world. Jesus
warned us of false Christs, prophets and teachers. He said the heart
would grow cold and many would depart from the faith (a falling
away). But he also said:
“Be always
on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is
about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of
Man.” Luke 21:36
“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28
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