The bible warns us that in the last days the spirit of deception would be prevalent and therefore we must guard ourselves against being deceived. As Christians we must not only know theWord of God but we must know God for ourselves by having a loving father child relationship with Him.
Webster Dictionary defines deception as: Someone who has accepted "as truth or valid that which is false or invalid" Likewise; one who deceives others convinces them to accept, as truth, something false. Deception/Satan is at work todaymore evidently than ever before and we need to be vigilant for our adversary the devil walks around seeking who he may devour. Deception means: To live a lie openly shown; To mislead by manipulation, distortion of the truth, or falsification of evidence. It is one of Satan’s most powerful tools that he uses against the believers and as we move closer and closer to the return of the Lordwe are seeing a tremendous rise in deception that is very close to home. We don’t have enough room to look at every area of deception but I want us to look at just three main areas.
1. SATANIC DECEPTION:
This kind of deception is designed tomislead by giving a distorted impression or false sense of reality through trickery, cheating or beguile. The ancient Greeks used this word to describe the pleasure that comes fromwatching the theatre. In order to be deceived you must have some truth to measure the error by. Let’s look how this misuse of what God said is played out in Genesis 3:1-5 1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to thewoman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan took the truth of what God had said and twisted it (error) Eve bought into the error instead of holding fast to the truth. We must understand that Satan’s main purpose is to undermine the authority of the word of God. Satan’s plan is to cause man to question God’s provision by making them think God was withholding something from them. We will always get into error when we forget the blessings and benefits of God’s care, provision and protection becausewe are looking formore of what else we can get. One of the best Biblical examples of deception is referenced by Paul in 1 Timothy 2:14 saying: "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression." Eve knew the truth. She knew that God had commanded her not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But, the serpent convinced her that God had told her a lie saying: " . . . You shall not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:4-5). We have to be awareof who we allow to speak into our lives because even when we know the truth we can still be deceived if we have the wrong people speaking into our ears and this leads us to the next area we are to guard ourselves in.
2. DECEPTIVE TEACHERS:
The Bible warns against deceptive teachers in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 10 “Let no one deceive you by anymeans; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. Verse 10; 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
Stay away from people who do not stick to theWord, stop following fads and hype and stay in theWord. The Apostle Paul, in his warning to the Corinthians, says in2Cor. 11:13-15 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works" There are so many people out there today who operate under the guise of being “ministers” who are preaching error and deceiving the people through gimmicks, and because some Christians don’t take the time to know theWord of God for themselves, they are unaware that they are being deceived. Oneway is to listen to what they say and see how much of the glory goes to God; ask yourself would Jesus even do some of the things thatwe see so called men of God do. Jesus himself made a whip and chased the people out of the temple who had turned the house of God into a place of merchandise.
There are some new brands of Christianity that have now come on the scene and they will appeal to those who are looking for a “cool Christianity”; one of them being the Hipster Church. This is an eclectic group of followers who embody the counter culture mission statement - "This ain't your mama's church." We're trying to make a church for our generation," said Pastor Jung, a self-proclaimed hipster. Jung an ordained minister was the former lead pastor at the United Generations Church in Brooklyn. His “Hipster Church” services features an indie rock band that plays its own religious songs. Instead of using Bibles in book form, his congregants use a Bible application on their iPhones. Their service even includes an informal mingling where participants listen to indie rockers likeMGMTand Arcade Fire and chat over doughnuts and candy.
These are dangerous times thatwe are living in and Satan has very subtly seduced people who are in places of influence and leadership to communicate his lies such as; Timothy Keller well known author and Pastor who advocates Contemplative Prayer. Contemplative Prayer is Eastern Mysticism labelled with Christian words to make it more acceptable to people who are not doctrinally educated. He haswritten various books such as “Is hell for real”, or “The reason for God”! Another one to stay away from is Pastor Rob Bell of Mars Hill church with 7,000 members; he has written a very controversial book “love Wins” in which he acknowledges hell’s existence on earth but finds it difficult to believe that it is forever and that God can punish non-Christians for all eternity. These are just a few of the growing number of “Christian leaders” that we are seeing straying from the truth of God’s Word and teaching error and heresy. Fromsuch people we should turn away and not follow their erroneous doctrines which are not from God.
We have to stick to the word, know it for yourself and know God for yourself; don’t church hop or wander because it’s at these times we can get deceived. The enemy is having a field day because most Christians hardly ever read their bibles these days let alone carry them to church. They rely on someone else to study the Word for them, if that’s you then you are a likely candidate for deception so don’t be lazy. Get to know God for yourself through His Word so when you hear error you will recognise it. Jesus said His sheep would know His voice and no other voice would they follow.
3. SELF-DECEPTION:
The Bible warns of self-deception in 1 Corinthians 3:18 “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that hemay becomewise.”
If you are looking to live a compromised Christianity where you are free to live how you choose instead of how God says you should live then you will get deceived. I honestly believe if a person is genuinely seeking the truth God will show it to them.
Galatians 6:7-8"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life". We may deceive ourselves and others, but we cannot deceive God.
We have a personal responsibility to see that we are not deceived. Paul commands the Ephesians: "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience" Ephesians 5:6. AndtoTimothyPaulwrites: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron" 1 Timothy 4:1-2.
Evewas deceived by the serpent, so also are those who do "not receive the love of the truth" 2Thess. 2:10. You have to love the truth even when it’s not pleasant and it’s challenging. Jesus says in John 8:31-32 "If you abide in My word, you aremy disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free"
Here is the solution to avoiding deception:
1. Seek the truth
2. Love the truth
3. Obey the truth
4. Abide in truth
Don’t underestimate Satan because deception is his strong suit, remember when Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness Satan was waiting for him there with suggestions. Satan’s weapon is hismouth as he did with Eve “the one who whispers, hisses, suggests.”Our mind is the field that he whispers and makes suggestions to; the bible says we are to have on the helmet of Salvation to protect our thoughts at all times.
Satan’s deception causes distrust for spiritual authority and doubt of the truth. Not only did he cause Eve to rebel against God, but to misconstrue and misinterpret the words that God spoke, he uses the same strategy to this day because there is nothing original about him.
The strategy of deception:
1. Distort what God says by changing the emphasis
2. Bring into question God’s motive (always the result of twisted meaning)
3. Introduce reason that ultimately leads you to question God’s goodness and integrity.
Once that’s accomplished it’s easy to turn you against God’s authority. Remember Satan led 1/3 of the angels astray from the very presence of God in heaven, and caused Eve to disobey in a perfect environment. James 1:16- 17 “Be not deceived,my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.” James is saying that if you believe there is any good outside of God’s provision, then you can be deceived, just like Eve.
No matter how good it tastes, looks, feels; no matter how rich, abundant,wise, or successful it may make you, if it is not from God, it will eventually lead you down a path of sorrow, regret, and in the end, death. James 1:22-24 tells us to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”. When a person hears the Word of God and doesn’t obey, deception enters his heart andmind. This person thinks he’s on target when actually he’s in error.We mustwalk theword, live the word, work the word, and express the word. We can’t defeat the devil in our own strength the onlywaywe can do this is to know theword and walk in the light of the word, not deviating from it.
It’s important for us to remember how Jesus was able towalk away intact,He knewtheWord and He knew the Father, He had a relationship and through that relationship He knew who He was, so even though the devil tried to trick the second Adam with whatworked with the first he failed.
Jesus warns us that prior to His return deception would come. Mark 13:21-23 ...if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.
Pastor Erica Goodman