Jesus warned us to not be deceived. He warned of false prophets. We are told even the devil can transform himself into an angel of light. We live in a world with a multiplicity of doctrines and denominations. How can we know the truth?
2 Corinthians chapter 11:1-4, “Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”
The Apostle Paul speaks of a fear that he has in his heart because that very first sin in the garden with Adam and Eve, the serpent came to Eve with a very crafty, deceptive message.
Genesis 3:1-6, “Now the serpent (nachash) was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Y
You know the devil comes as a roaring lion in 1 Peter 5:8, he walks about seeking whom he may devour. He also comes as an angel of light in 2 Corinthians 11:14, but he also comes as a deceiver, as a serpent to deceive, and he comes questioning God, the authority of God. He comes questioning the nature and character of God and who God is. Striking at the very core with
Eve begins a dialogue with the serpent. She said unto the serpent, “we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden? God has said, you shall not eat of it. Neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” And so the serpent, he’s also called a liar, and the father of lies and the serpent lied very blatantly to Eve. The serpent told the woman, “ye shall not surely die.”
That same lie has been one of the devil’s favorites. “You can disobey God. I’m not lying. You can disobey God and suffer no consequence for disobedience. In fact, if you disobeyed God, you will find that if you obey my voice, if you follow what the serpent says, you’re going to find wisdom. You’re going to find fulfillment. You’re going to find real meaning to life. You’re going to find life. You won’t die. You See, God is withholding something good from you because God knows that in the day you eat thereof and your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods.”
The deceiver, the liar is still a liar today, on the character and the nature of God. He wants to get you to question the goodness of God, the wisdom of God, the Authority of God and choose your own way instead of God’s way. We haven’t seen too much of the devil in America in these last number of years as a roaring lion. Now, at times you do see that, but how many would agree, we have seen that old serpent, the liar, the deceiver, as an angel of light? Have we seen him stick up his head that way? Yes, we have.
Escaping deception. How do we escape deception?
Well, Eve began to reason and to question, and when she began that and began into a dialogue with the deceiver, the serpent, that was the beginning of going down the path to defeat and to sin. What do you think would’ve happened if Eve would have stood on the word of God and said, “I believe God, God has spoken and God has said and declared it, and I believe God. Get behind me Satan.”
The old devil, the serpent appears in Matthew Chapter Four. We have another day in which the devil, the serpent, appears unto the man, Christ Jesus. Matthew 4:1-4, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
How shall we overcome this sly, deceptive devil? By believing every word that God has written and spoken. By standing upon the promises of God, I shall not, I cannot fail. You know the test comes to all of us, will I trust God? Will I believe the word of God? Will I believe the nature and character of God and stand upon the written word of God. You see, we are all tested. The great temptation and testing of the serpent
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him,” Revelation 12:9
He’s after your soul, brother, sister, and we must be anchored in Jehovah. Stay secure in the word of God as obedient children. Standing upon the word of God. Will you trust God?
Now let’s go back to 2 Corinthians 11:2. Paul says, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
Jesus is coming back for a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all menTeaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world,“Titus 2:11-12 We should be sanctified, holy unto Christ Jesus, a chaste virgin.
What would you think if you were a bridegroom and you were about to be married and your chaste virgin is fooling around with other men? When we love the world, when we play at even a little sin, we are an unfaithful bride.
Anyone who names the name of Christ is to depart from iniquity. In the name of Christ, depart from sin. You name the name of Christ. You love God. You will lose sin. You will lose it and you will want to depart from it. And when you sin, it will grieve your heart. You don’t just smile and smirk about it. It grieves your heart and you are sorry with a godly sorrow. You will repent and turn away from sin. Sin grieves my Saviour. It’s a spot upon my life.
“I am jealous over you,” Paul said. Corinthians, you who name the name of Christ in Corinth. I am jealous over you, “lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” and you begin to entertain philosophies of men to better your life, improve your life. There are myriads and multitudes of those kinds of teaching today, positive thinking, the power of the positive thought and all of that. I believe in the power of believing faith in God, but it’s very different from positive thinking. I don’t pull myself up by my own bootstraps. I don’t overcome by my own strength, but I have a mighty Saviour. He is able to deliver and save to the uttermost all those that will come to God by him. Do you know him? Has he delivered you from this present evil world, continuing to deliver you from this present evil world?
I fear less the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ
“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” I have to say this today, I have to warn you, there is another Jesus being preached today. There is another Jesus being preached and he’s not one that asked you to take up a cross and follow him. You just rely on this other Jesus and be so thankful that he died on the cross for your sins, but there is no requirement of holiness upon your life. There is no requirement of you to separate from this wicked evil world in your conduct and in your character and in your everyday activities. In all of these matters, there’s no need for self denial. No, this Jesus is just a good buddy. And you just believe on him and you’ll go, you’ll go sailing, right into heaven.
Jesus is coming back for a chaste virgin who has not soiled her garments. She has made herself ready. She’s dressed in white, she’s looking to see her bridegroom. She’s not fooling around. No, she’s no adulterous. She loves Jesus. The real Jesus.
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3 They asked Jesus a number of questions concerning the end of the world, the end of the age. “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you,” Matthew 24:4 The very first words out of our Lord Jesus’ lips concerning the last days, the end of the age, the sign of his coming is “take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
Matthew 24:11-12, “ And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
They shall deceive many. The love of many shall wax cold, “but he that shall endure until the end, the same shall be saved,” verse 13. Here in is the patience of the saints. They hold fast, obedient to Jesus, steadfast onto the end. If you are walking faithfully with Jesus Christ today, he will keep you in the hour that temptation comes. He will keep you in that hour, but if we’re fooling around with the world today and we’re living in complacency and lukewarmness and indifference and in pleasures and with the character lies, I can’t guarantee you the promise that he will keep you in that hour.
Are you keeping yourself today in the love of Christ? Are you today mortifying the deeds of the flesh and of the bodies? Are you putting off the old man with his deeds? Crucifying the flesh today? That is grace that is carrying us through today and will carry us through in that day.
How shall we escape deception? “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be,” Matthew 24:23-27.
Jesus didn’t say, “you shall know them by their signs and their miracles.” No, “you shall know them by their fruits,” Matthew 7:16. It is so important today in order to escape the deception, that we know and abide in the words of Jesus. These deceivers, they speak great swelling words, having men’s admiration because of their eloquent speech.
Matthew 7:20-23 says, “Wherefore by their
You will know them by their fruit, through how they live a holy life. Are they putting off iniquity? Are they preaching against sin? Or are these just preaching an easy
How shall we escape that deception? We shall escape by holding fast to the word of Jesus Christ, to examine them by their fruits. You shall know them by their fruits. It’s very sad, but they make merchandise of the name of Christ by those who profess Jesus. Oh, the lavish mansions they live in with golden faucets from the monies they took of the people. And so with feigned words, fair speeches, they make merchandise of the people and tell them, to sow a seed of faith by giving of your pension check and your social security and rob widow’s houses. It’s awful. Oh, the judgement day is going to be an amazing, awful day when all these things are reckoned.
How
1 John 4:1-5, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.”
These false teachers come and they speak of material wealth, of health and happiness. They preach the good things of the world, not the good things of God. They deceive many. They fill mega-churches with thousands in attendance. They collect millions of dollars and live lavishly. They are expert deceivers.
But greater is he that is in us. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with God’s word, we can escape deception. By standing upon the written word of God just like Jesus did. “It is written.” By immersing and bathing ourselves in the word of God so that we know the truth and when we know the truth, the truth will expose the lie of the devil. That liar.
In today’s age you can get all manner of biblical teaching from all corners of the world so quick just by the push of a couple of buttons and I’m not opposed. There’s godly men and godly women who have suffered in their walk with Jesus and are sincere real Christians, but I tell you, it’s really good to check out their lives before you just listen because sometimes I’ve been very disappointed. Disappointed to find out this person later came out as gay, but he was writing Christian songs, singing Christian lyrics, but now he comes out as a homosexual. Or the preacher who preaches to huge crowds, builds a college and then is exposed as an adulterer.
It’s very important to know the life of who you’re listening to, to know their life message. Know their walk of life and the fruit of their ministry.
“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,” 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10.
We must love the truth. “Thy Word is truth. My word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.” We must love the truth about God, who he is and what he says is true and tried and solid, and it will never fail. Heaven and earth will pass away, but God’s word will never fail. It’ll never pass away. We must love the truth. When the Holy Spirit of God speaks to me and says, “that was a prideful thought. That was very selfish of you.” When the Holy Spirit speaks into my heart and life about my sin, I must love the truth and embrace it and repent. 2 Thessalonians 2 talks of those who did not receive the love of the truth and they perished.
I believe according to scripture, if we will do this one thing, the other things will be added and we will be protected from deception. The truth sets us free from the wild and the lies of the devil. I believe the word of God is the authority that we have to stand upon. And then the name of Jesus and the word of God. We rresist the devil and he has to flee from us.
But if I’m living in secret sin back here, do you think the devil’s going to flee? I don’t think so.
A house divided cannot stand. Now. Did you hear what I said? Living in secret sin. I didn’t say you somehow tripped and fell and you were aggrieved in your heart that you fell. Then you got up again repenting. That’s a whole different story. What I’m saying is if you or I harbor a secret sin. Today, if you hear his voice, Harden, not your heart. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to repent. Today’s the day to love the truth and agree with God.
They perish if they fall to those lying signs and wonders that the devil does in the name of Jesus. It says it right here with all this evil in them that they perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.
“I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one,“ 1 John 2:12-14
That’s how we are going to overcome. That’s how we are going to avoid being deceived, by loving the truth and embracing the truth and being one with our Lord Jesus Christ and walking in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.
No, it’s not just the heathen, atheist, unbelievers that are going to cast into the lake of fire, but it’s those that obey not the Gospel. There is another gospel being preached today. It says you don’t need to obey the commands of the Lord. It says, “We’re not under the law, but under grace.” We are not under the law, but Paul said, I, “being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,” (1 Corinthians 9:21). We are not under the Law of Moses, but we are not lawless. We are under the law of Christ, the law that says, “love your neighbor as yourself.”
There are many deceivers today. Many falsehoods being taught. Many believing they are saved, but are believing a lie because they have never loved the truth. They never search God’s word, but follow the flowery words of gifted speakers. When the Bible contradicts their lifestyle, when it calls them to repent of sin, they reject the truth. We must be wise.
As it is written in Ephesians 5:15-20, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We will escape the great deception by loving the truth and by the word of God.
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