Deception -Will You Endure Until the End? – Part Two

Last week, I started this series on Matthew 24:9-13. To read Part One, click HERE.

“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”

Matthew 24:11

The Bible actually talks a lot about false prophets and teachers. False prophets or teachers are those who speak on behalf of God FALSELY; whether by foretelling something, preaching the Word in an imbalanced way, or by using their influence as a leader to point others in a wrong direction. My husband and I have talked about this at great length, and believe strongly that many false prophets will not even realize they’re false prophets, making them even more dangerous. Many will passionately believe they’re doing the right thing, when in fact they’re passionately leading people astray. How does this happen?

Prophets and any who speak God’s Word, have a responsibility, to walk uprightly before the Lord. As God’s mouthpiece, a holy fear of the Lord must be their guide when speaking on God’s behalf. The moment a leader or person with the prophetic or other spiritual gifting begin to compromise and lean on their own understanding, they become dangerous. The false prophet will ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit again and again, falling deeper into deception and becoming bolder in their false presentation of the truth. Paul describes this person as having a “seared conscience

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

Paul is talking about when a person’s conscience or convictions have become desensitized through repeatedly sinning and ignoring the conviction of the Holy Spirit. What is sin? It’s to know what’s right, and choose instead, to do what’s wrong. Eventually a person’s sense of right and wrong becomes numb to the point they can no longer distinguish between good and evil. Their mind and heart have become clouded with deception (Isaiah 5:20). Pride has diminished their fear of the Lord, and instead of repentance, they have reasoned their sin away. They have rejected the conviction of the Holy Spirit, have rejected those who brought truth before them, and have opened themselves up to satan, the father of all lies (John 8:44). The false prophet is speaking what they hear, but it’s certainly NOT the Holy Spirit they’re hearing.

This is scary for anyone, but especially for those who are leading others (Matthew 1:6-7). We must pray for those that are deceived, but must also make sure we don’t fall into deception. As you see from this verse, many will succumb to deception. Oh, God, help us. I think of the many hungering for truth, who will instead be fed lies and be led astray. Church, it’s imperative that first and foremost, we know the TRUTH of God’s Word for ourselves!! I get shivers today, as I hear message after message being preached with little to no scripture. And this is what American Christians feeds themselves! Church, we don’t need pep talks; we need the unadulterated word of God! It’s the truth that sets us free!

Remember, deception is called deception because it’s deceptive; meaning it hides behind something that looks good, but isn’t. No one intends to be deceived. It’s subtle and happens over time.  Awhile back, I was watching a tv show with my son. Initially, we were enjoying it, but soon I began to get a check in my spirit. I couldn’t understand why at first, because there was nothing overtly evil happening, yet I couldn’t shake this grieved feeling in my spirit. Soon, I began to see the very subtle messages being presented. I decided to do some research and discovered that the writer of the show was an atheist who boldly proclaimed a hatred for God, and said his mission was to produce things that led people away from God. Whoa! In the natural everything seemed ok, however, the Holy Spirit was warning me and leading me into truth (John 6:13) The enemy wants to desensitize us. He will feed us subtle lies that defile us, and eventually lead to deception.

 One of the ways this deception comes forth is through a watered down and imbalanced Gospel. When an imbalanced message is preached. People think, “Well, they are using scripture so it must be God.” The TRUTH is, we need the entirety of God’s Word in order to walk and worship as God calls us too. We need the message of love and forgiveness balanced with righteousness and justice. We need the message of grace balanced with repentance. We need the message of mercy balanced with godly judgement.

The false prophet is a tool of the enemy to cultivate blinded, lukewarm Christians. This watered-down gospel we’re being fed in America is destroying us. We have Christians who don’t even know what the Word of God says, but instead follow blindly the false doctrines of men, created to ease their own consciences and promote their own agendas.

Church, we must be strong in our walk with the Lord, so we can clearly discern good and evil. We must say no to compromise and be a people that study to show ourselves approved, so that we can rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). We must be so equipped with the truth, that when we hear a lie, our Spirits jolt like we have been slapped in the face. Remember, the false prophet will often use the Word of God, but with subtle twists, just like the serpent in the Garden of Eden did. This same spirit is behind the voice of the false prophet. I implore you Church, to first and foremost, study the Word of God for yourself. You may say, “I don’t like to study or I don’t understand when I read the Bible.” We have so many resources available to us these days, we have no excuse. If you were dying of a disease, and there was a cure that you had to research to find and understand so you can implement it and save your life, you would. Wake up Church!

I also encourage you to find a church that preaches the unadulterated word of God. I can’t tell you how many people I hear say, “I go to my church for the worship or the fellowship. We don’t really hear a good word, but the worship sure is awesome, and my kids have a lot of fun at youth group, and we have the comfiest chairs and the best coffee, and so on….. I am not saying that a fun youth for our kids and great worship is bad, but don’t sacrifice the preaching of the truth for these things. Find a church that cares more about boldly preaching the Word, than tickling ears. It’s rare, so when you find it, value it. Then get involved and rally others to help make the youth group or the outreach ministry or the worship team or whatever you see lacking, better. This is not a popular message. There are pastors out there fighting against the assaults of the enemy every day, with little support; just so they can be faithful to God and speak the truth the enemy hates; the Truth that is not only unpopular with the world, but with the average Christian today. Child of God, measure everything you hear against the Word of God. Look for Godly character in your leaders. Will you find a perfect leader? NEVER – but find one who speaks and lives truth and who is committed becoming more like Jesus every day, rather than succumbing to compromise.

Church, these are serious times we’re living in. We can’t ignore the signs. We must heed the warnings God has clearly given us in His Word. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming. The enemy wants to confuse us. But we’re not alone. We have the best Guide ever – the Holy Spirit; so we must stay connected to Him and hear clearly when He speaks. And when He does speak, we must follow what He says so we can stay on the path of righteousness. Let’s pray:

Father, we thank you for your goodness and mercy in our lives. We see our need for You and we ask that you help us in this season to stand strong like never before. Increase our hunger for your Word. As we commit to knowing You more and studying your Word, increase our understanding and revelation so that we can live and present truth to others. Lift any veils of deception from our eyes, and align our lives with truth. We ask for greater discernment, and commit to being faithful to listening to your small still voice as we hear. Lead us in guide us to be connected to others who stand for truth. And give us the boldness to be a voice of truth in this season so that many can be set free and saved. In Jesus Name, Amen.