Do Not Be Deceived

Deception has been Satan's weapon from the very beginning when he approached Eve saying, "Indeed, has God said..."  (Gen 3:1). It has always been a deadly thing to watch out for, and will be until the very end when Satan is ultimately destroyed in the lake of fire (see Rev 20:10).

We find verses throughout the scriptures warning us against deception. If we are to stand before the Son of man at His return, we must be strong in our faith, unmoved in the face of what might be the strongest deception the earth has ever seen.

On one occasion Jesus' disciples asked about the signs of His second coming. Jesus begins His reply with a warning against deception.

It is quite amazing to look at the various "prophecies" concerning the return of Christ that have been floated out there over the last few centuries. Up to this point none of them have come to pass. As a result, people have been disappointed, disillusioned, and the word of God has been malinged. People have been deceived by men who could have been easily refuted if someone would have only tested them against the word of God. Therefore it becomes us to make sure that we are not deceived. Our souls, and the souls of others depend on it.

So in Matthew 24:4 Jesus says to His disciples, "See to it that no one misleads you."

Immediately He explains that many will come in His name, declaring that they are the Christ, and mislead many (verse 5). 

He then goes through the signs of the end. Wars and rumors of wars, nations rising up against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms, famines and earthquakes in various places. Note in verse 8, these are not the end, but the beginning of the birth pains!

Then severe tribulation, persecution and death, a great falling away, people betraying one another. The arrival of false prophets with more deception. Here we hear that the love of most will grow cold, but the one who endures all of this to the end will be saved.

This is the general flow of things that Jesus lays out in Matthew 24:3-14.

Jesus zeros in on the final great tribulation (3 1/2 years) leading up to His return and gathering of His elect in the next section of this chapter (Matt 24:15-31. Starting with the event that signals the start of this time of tribulation, the abomination of desolation, Jesus again describes the events leading up to His second coming. He warns of false Christ's and false prophets deceiving many. The signs and wonders performed by them will be so powerful as to mislead the elect if that is possible (Matt 24:23-24).   

This is the same thing Paul warns of in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12. Note here that Paul, in his response to those who were confused about the timing of Christ's return and the gathering of the saints (rapture) tells them, "Let no one in any way deceive you." (2 Thess 2:3).

He then states that His second coming and the rapture/gathering of the elect, will not occur until after the great falling away occurs, and the man of lawlessness is revealed (the abomination of desolation). Just like Jesus, Paul does not want us to be in the dark about the events leading up to the return of Christ. When these events begin to unfold we dare not be taken by surprise, as the deception will only get worse.

And like Jesus,  Paul also tells of a time of false signs and wonders that will decieve many. Let's compare these scriptures,

"For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect."

                                   Matt 24:24 NASB

Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.

That is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,

in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but too pleasure in wickedness.

                          2 Thess 2:8-13 NASB

Jesus and Paul are speaking of the same thing. The revealing of the Antichrist corresponds with the abomination of desolation. This is that. He will sit in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God (2 Thess 2:3-4). This is going to be a time of great deception, as we also see in Revelation 13:11-18.

Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon.

He exercises all the authority of he first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.

He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out if heaven to the earth in the presence of men.

And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.

And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the the image of the beast to be killed.

And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to he given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,

And he provides that no one will be able to buy or sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that if a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty six.

Here we are introduced to another beast, who is later referred to as the "false prophet" ( Rev 19:20). He operates with the same authority as the first beast or Antichrist. This period in time will be filled with all sort of miraculous signs, perhaps the most stunning will be the resurrection from the dead of the Antichrist ( see Rev 13:3). This event will cause the whole earth to follow after the beast in amazement. The false prophet, just as Jesus predicted, will perform amazing signs to deceive the world into worshipping the beast and his image. The whole economic system will be tied into this worship. It will be a line drawn in the sand so to speak, an irrevocable choice to make.

I fear that we won't be ready for this when it happens. Most Christians are not expecting to see these things unfold. As I previously stated, no one talks about this, no Sunday sermons on this topic, no midweek Bible studies. We need to understand what will someday come, perhaps in our lifetime, and prepare ourselves, by God's grace to stand firm come what may.

How can we be strong? How can we keep our focus and avoid falling into deception?

In John 8:32-32 Jesus exhorted to those who had come to believe in Him,

"If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;

and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

There is freedom in the truth. To hold the truth dear, to love it, and to put it into practice is costly, but freeing. To stand in the truth in the midst of Earth's darkest hour might cost you everything in the physical realm, but you will be spiritually free. 

There is no need to be misled. God has given us by His word, everything we need to know to make it through whatever we may face in this life. We have His Holy Spirit within us bringing to our remembrance what we need, when we need it (John 14:26). Study the word, rely on the Holy Spirit to teach you. Now is the time to prepare. Keep your lamps full of oil, and a little extra as well, for some day there might not be time to buy more ( see Matt 25:1-13).

Those who do not love the truth, but instead reject it, can expect to be deceived. In fact, God will send them a deluding influence as a judgement because they did not love the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness (2 Thess 2:10-12). People may be shocked by this, but God will not be mocked, you reap what you sow (Gal 6:7-8). At this time in history evil will have reached it's fullness. To allow yourself to fall into deception, to worship the beast and receive his mark will involve a deliberate choice to align yourself with evil. 

But again, God gives more grace, and we can depend on Him to bring us through. We have His word which is truth. By taking heed to it we can see clearly in the midst of error, and avoid the pitfalls and traps that would otherwise ensnare us.