Chapter 13 - The Deception
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First things first: We can never forget who our enemy is.
He’s the master of lies. He can deceive the smartest and
wisest of us with tricks he’s used and refined time and time
again. He’s been working hard to deceive the human race
for six thousand years or so. Anyone who thinks they can outsmart
him or outguess him had better think again. He wants everyone who
believes there is a God to believe that they will be saved, when
they’re not saved. He wants to be worshiped as a god, himself.
If we believe in Allah and are comfortable that we’ll go to
heaven when we die, he’s done with his work and can focus more
attention on someone who’s searching for the one true God.
Of course, our enemy would prefer that we don’t believe in God
at all. He’s called Satan, Lucifer, the devil, the
dragon, the father of lies, etc. He uses people to help him
deceive others by convincing people that a lie is truth so those
people will teach that lie to others. Here’s a great lie
that has stumped many a Muslim. Muslims
will admit that Jesus Christ was a true prophet, but deny that He was
the Messiah (although some Western Muslims will say He was anointed),
they will deny that He was God manifested in the flesh as of the Son
of God (John 1:14), and they will deny that He died on the cross and
rose again. Does that make sense?
Absolutely not; but most Muslims have never even thought of this
because they believe the lie so deeply that they don’t question
their faith. That belief cannot be truth because Jesus Christ
Himself said He was the Messiah, and said He was the Son of God!
John 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he
had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on
him? 37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is
he that talketh with thee.
Mark 14:61 Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
62 And Jesus said, I am
That would make Him a false prophet according to the Muslim
beliefs! How twisted is that? But it’s a lie
believed by one and a half billion people. We
absolutely must believe that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the
flesh, was crucified for our sins and rose again. This is the
gospel!
Second: If something is spelled out in the bible in one
place, but there’s a passage elsewhere that seems like it might
say something different but isn’t very clear, believe the thing
that is spelled out! So many people try to lead others down a
false path of “interpretation” by showing them things
that aren’t specifically pointing out an exact truth and giving
them their “definition” of that mysterious passage.
This is the mystery of God. He did it on purpose to give those
who don’t love the truth the excuses they seek. Don’t
listen to those people, or read those commentaries and explanations
of the bible without examining the rest of the bible. The bible
is full of hard to understand phrases and passages, and it’s
mostly due to the cultural differences of the time and people.
The bible almost always specifically points out the truth, usually in
more than one place, and the bible cannot lie! The bible cannot
contradict itself, and anyone who tries to convince you that it can
is telling you that God is a liar! Don’t listen to them!
Read the bible for yourself! And never forget; there is great
danger in taking scripture verses out of context and misinterpreting
them!
There are many, many warnings of false teaching.
For example:
Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and
vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the
world, and not after Christ.
2 Cor 11:3 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.
In the end time, the time we’re living in right now, Jesus
says that there will be many false prophets (men who don’t
teach the truth but pretend to come in the name of Jesus) and they
will deceive many.
Matt 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall
deceive many.
Please don’t allow someone you trust to bend your mind.
Seek God’s truth with your whole heart and He will lead you to
it! If you already have ideas or things that you’ve
believed for years, try to have an open mind and forget those things
for a while and really search for the truth! I’m not
saying you can’t go back to that thinking, because for all I
know you could be right, but try to make a way for new truths to come
into your mind without immediately discarding them. If it’s
truth, God will reveal it to you through His word.
Most people won’t get it though.
For the Scriptures to mesh and comply completely, totally, and
exactly with each other requires a very narrow, restrictive and
precise interpretation that produces an exact truth that "only a
few" understand and comply with.
Matt 7:13 Enter ye in
at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it.
The sinful self-will of man desires a wide, broad, vague,
ambiguous and confusing interpretation that does not focus on the sin
in his life.
2 Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away
their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Have you ever heard someone talk about the mystery of God?
God couched things in mystery and wrote the bible in such a way that
you won’t understand it unless you love the truth and seek Him
with all your heart! Some will say it’s a matter of
interpretation, but there is only one truth, and no “interpretation”
can change that. Don’t allow the people that have been
fooled to fool you with their fables and lies!
And God gives them the excuses they want, so they feel
comfortable with the lie!
2 Thessalonians 2:10 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:
You must love the truth and seek God with all your heart or God
will send a strong delusion so that you will believe the lies!
Matt 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why
speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto
them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever
hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but
whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see
not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in
them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye
shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and
shall not perceive: 15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and
their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest
at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their
ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be
converted, and I should heal them.
Some people refuse to believe the truth because then they would
have to change their life, and God gives them all the excuses they
want with the mystery He wove into in the bible! The mystery of
God separates the truth seekers from the excuse seekers.
2 Cor 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are
lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them
which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
The bible teaches that we will be persecuted.
2 Tim 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.
Nobody likes to be made fun of or be the minority, but:
If you’re in the mainstream of “religion”; if
you believe what most people believe, I would seriously start reading
the bible for yourself and asking God to show you his truth!
I have to tell you a little story here, and I’ll try to keep
it short…
I was raised in a Baptist church when I was young and my family
moved to a more liberal Protestant belief in my early teens. My
little brother died when I was 10 and I started turning away from God
at that point in my life, blaming Him and hating Him for what I
thought He did. I thought God caused my little brother to die,
and I also blamed myself for not being there to save him.
Today, I know that this wasn’t the truth. It wasn’t
God who killed him and it certainly wasn’t up to me to be there
to save him. But I didn’t understand that as a boy.
Today, I understand that things changed because of sin, and that the
evil in people’s hearts and the deceit of Satan is enough to
create the horrible and awful things that happen in the world today.
I spent about 30 years turning away from God. I did many
things I'm not proud of during that time. I don't want anyone
to think badly of me, but I'll be honest with you and tell you that I
did drugs, alcohol, crime, etc... I followed the world and the
ways of man down the wrong path. I should be dead many times
over, but God kept me alive all that time and brought me to where I
am today, and I cannot praise His name or thank Him enough! If
I had died back then, I do not believe I would have gone to be with
Jesus. That's a very sobering thought. When I finally
returned and began seeking God, I found myself in a church very
similar to the liberal protestant churches I went to as a child.
I believed I was in the right place and could trust the men who led
the church to teach the truth. I went to bible studies and
regular services and began seeking the truth, wanting to know God and
understand His Word. After a while, I began noticing a lot of
discrepancy between the things that were said and what I was reading
in the bible. I knew nothing different, but I kept feeling a
nagging tug and felt something wasn’t quite right. So, I
started reading the bible myself and searching for understanding.
After a while, I began asking my pastor about the things that I’d
found in the bible and I simply could not believe the lame excuses he
gave me for the reasons he taught the way he did! Don’t
get me wrong here, I’m not slamming anyone or saying that your
pastor or minister is wrong or that you’re not being taught the
truth, I’m simply relating my story as it happened to me.
I was totally amazed at how he manipulated scripture to make what he
wanted to be true, seem like truth; but the truth was easy to see
when I read what he quoted and read the entire book or chapter to see
what it really meant. I especially gained a much greater
understanding of God’s Word the first time I read the New
Testament in its entirety. My point is, that I thought I was
truly saved and thought I knew the truth because I didn’t know
any better, but when I started really searching for Gods truth, he
led me right to it! The whole point of this book is to
hopefully inspire others, like yourself, to do the same!
What we need to do is read the bible ourselves and read it so much
that we know it well enough to know when a pastor is not teaching the
truth. We definitely want to find a church where the truth is
being taught, but what’s most important is that we understand
Gods truth in our own heart and mind. If you find yourself in a
church that is not teaching truth; walk away and find one that is.
My personal story: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09M5CZNP9
A Sinner Saved - a true story
a story of abuse, drug addiction, self-hatred and a life of crime turned to a life full of hope and joy... the caterpillar becomes a butterfly...
I tell the story of my little brother's death and how my life spiraled into drug addiction, self-hatred and atheism for years until I found myself
at the lowest point of my life where I had nowhere to look except up.
There is SO MUCH DECEPTION in the world today!!!
BEWARE! Don't be fooled by the false teachers!
2 Peter 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you:
The primary warning of Jesus and the apostle Paul was to warn christians of the abundance of deceit and deception in the last days.
Matt 24:24 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.
Matt 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
2 Cor 11:3 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.
2 Cor 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2 Thess 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
1 Tim 4:1 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;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
READ THE BIBLE SO YOU KNOW A LIE WHEN YOU HEAR IT!
2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
Prepare for the days ahead!
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Watch, and be prepared. Do not allow the decption that is so strong in the world to seep into your mind. Stand firm! Praise the Lord Jesus Christ! Praise His Name!
So, let’s take a look at what Gods Word says; the truth of
it.