I want to talk to you today about deception. Especially end times deceptions, but deception in any form is something we should learn to discern.
In November of 1978 a horrible tragedy occurred. Jim Jones caused over 900 people to drink cyanide-laced Koolaid to commit suicide in a jungle in Guyana. As he routinely threatened those in his cult-group, few had managed to escape, but did you know quite a number of those 900 were Christians??
So HOW ON EARTH did they find themselves drinking poison Koolaid on November 18th in the Guyana jungle???
THEY LET SOMEONE TALK THEM OUT OF THE TRUTH.
THAT is what deception is – it is when you let someone talk you out of the truth.
Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more subtil (subtil here means shrewd, crafty or SLY) than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of 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 hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Basically the devil said : You WON’T DIE – it will make you SMART!!
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
SO EVE DECIDED TO AGREE WITH THE ENEMY, and the result was now we are all paying the price! And
Adam, by the way, was NOT deceived, but he fell to PEER PRESSURE. Sometimes we agree with something we KNOW IS A LIE because of peer pressure.
We must remember as we walk closer to the end that "Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11.14).
So let’s talk about how deception comes…
Deception may come through the people you care about most: Isaac was deceived by Jacob. Samson was deceived by Delilah. Tamar was deceived by Amnon. Rachel helped Laban deceive Jacob. Righteous Abel was deceived by Cain into going for a walk with him that ended up being his death march.
Deception may masquerade as a GIFT:
According to Homer the Greeks besieged Troy for ten years without success. And then when the warrior Achilles was killed, many wanted to give up the fight. But the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, came up with a plan to get the Greek army into Troy. Odysseus built an immense wooden horse.
Odysseus and his warriors hid inside it. And after leaving the horse at the gates of Troy, the Greek army sailed away. The Trojans thinking the Greeks had given up, and left the horse as a gift, brought it inside the gates.
That night, while the Trojans were sleeping, the Greek ships quietly returned. The soldiers in the horse slipped out and opened the city gates. The Greek army quietly entered Troy and started fires all over the city. The Trojans awoke to find their city in flames. As they tried to flee, they were killed by the waiting Greeks. (Trojan Horse story taken from a Sermon Central Illustration)
How to test the spirits: You can’t argue with the Word of God so anything that contradicts the Word is automatically FALSE. – NO EXCEPTIONS !! And if you think there IS an exception to that, then you’ve already been deceived.
EXAMPLE – this is a TRUE STORY -
I heard a story about a visiting minister at a small church that had gotten into deception. He said the church was just not ready for everything he knew. He said there were times when he cast demons out that kneeled before him, accepted Jesus and he ushered them up into heaven.
What happened was he had started out WORKING IN DELIVERANCE and HE became PRIDEFUL.
So the DEMONS convinced him they could be saved by putting on that show (or his own mind put on that show) – Okay – so HOW DO WE KNOW THAT HE’S WRONG ABOUT THIS???
James 2:19
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
So the demons BELIEVE – THEY KNOW Jesus is the Son of God. But they were CAST OUT of heaven because they are condemned.
Matthew 25:41
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
So the everlasting fire was actually DESIGNED for the devil and his angels, which are the demons.
2 Peter 2:4
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
Hebrews 2:16-17
16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Because Satan and the demons have no good in them, and there is no atonement for their sins – because Jesus died for the sins of PEOPLE, not demons or Satan, there is no way for them to be saved. EVER.
And WHY WHY why would you ever get your theology from DEMONS???
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 1 Timothy 4:1
The idea that demons could ever be saved is definitely a DOCTRINE of DEVILS. They must have had a good laugh the day they came up with that one, and an even bigger laugh the first time anyone bought it.
I live in Arkansas and I LOVE when autumn comes and fall leaves drift down on autumn breezes. But in Arkansas, you have to be careful about those leaves on the ground because some of them conceal SERPENTS.
There are lots of Copperhead Snakes here which are Venomous Pit Vipers that strike you as soon as they sense heat when any part of your body comes near them. And they blend PERFECTLY in with the leaves. AND when they sense a predator is near, they will sometimes freeze in place, making them blend in even better.
And they don’t even have the good manners to rattle at you like rattlesnakes in Texas do!
So be careful of those serpents that hide behind beauty, waiting for a chance to strike you and bring destruction.
Pride is what got the devil kicked out of heaven. Often the reason it is so difficult to get someone out of deception is because they get PRIDEFUL, thinking that they know THE REAL TRUTH – like that minister of deliverance. And YOU, of course well, you JUST DON’T KNOW THE REAL TRUTH YET, so they think YOU’RE deceived and not them. And they really BELIEVE THAT LIE.
So because they cling to their delusions, they cannot be delivered. Much like those under the influence of the Kundalini spirit.
2 Corinthians 2:11
11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
If we are going to avoid deception, we need to know what devices Satan is likely to use to bring it to us.
One device Satan can use to bring deception is PRIDE. PRIDE that you have knowledge others don’t have. Pride that you have it all figured out. Pride that your walk is holier, that you make better decisions, blah blah blah The lies Satan can sell you when you’re in pride are ENDLESS.
Galatians 1:8
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
One device that can be used to bring deception is the preaching of FALSE DOCTRINES.
Discernment is a GIFT – ASK for it, then expect that you will be given the gift and you will also start encountering deception so you can practice exercising that gift as you learn. It grows stronger with use, like a muscle
Matthew 24:23-24
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 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.
Another device to bring deception would be false signs and wonders. For what these might be, research the Kundalini spirit. That demon is famous for lying wonders.
Think about this: Coca-Cola is called The Real Thing. I can tell a real Coke from a generic cola, easily. WHY?
Because I drank the real Coke for years – so I am familiar with real Coke.
Unless you familiarize yourself with THE REAL THING you will not recognize the FAKE.
The #1 way to prevent deception is to learn as much of the Word as you can. Nothing and No one else can protect you from deception. You MUST KNOW THE WORD OF GOD. There are NO SHORTCUTS TO THIS.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
That word saved in vs. 10 there means to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction as well as meaning to save Biblically.
So knowing that deception SO GREAT WE CANNOT EVEN COMPREHEND that LEVEL OF DECEPTION from where we are is COMING soon, what do we need to be doing???
1. KNOW THE WORD, KNOW THE WORD, KNOW THE WORD.
You are NOT going to avoid deception if you don’t have at least a good working knowledge of the Word of God.
If you are not willing to make the time and put in the work to get to know the Word of God, you need to just go ahead and resign yourself to the fact that you are going to become one of the deceived early on in the end times.
There is no excuse for not spending time in the Word every single day when it is available in so many different media formats. You can watch it, listen to it, or read it. You can read it electronically OR in print. NO excuse.
2. We need to get used to TRYING THE SPIRITS. Every spirit clearly is NOT of God and if we are not regularly discerning and trying the spirits, then we will be one of those who falls for a FALSE CHRIST when they begin appearing.
The warnings are clear. The warnings were given to us over 2000 years ago in the Word of God. He is warning us the enemy is going to bring deceptions like nothing ever seen before “insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
So I looked at what that word “elect” means and I found that it means – the Chosen, or choice, select, i.e. the best of its kind or class, excellence preeminent: applied to certain individual Christians.
So even the best of the best of the Chosen are in danger of being deceived in what is coming.
Will you be among the Chosen who are NOT deceived? Or will you be one of the lazy who ARE deceived?
You choose.
You know what you need to do.
