Do Not Be Deceived

Commentary

Deception is the grand tool of the devil. He has used deception from the beginning to help usher unto this world sin and curse. It’s no wonder that Jesus’ first words to His disciples, when they asked about future prophetic events, were “Watch out that no one deceives you”. Those who are not following Jesus are already in a state of deception, but those of us who are following our Lord can also be deceived in various ways if we’re not walking obediently. Satan’s greatest tactic for deception is the subtle twisting of God’s words, just as he used on Eve in the garden.

If you’re not solid in the Word, then you open yourself up to doubt in your faith. All it will take is for a demonic entity to place a twisted word in your mind to get you questioning a command in the Bible or, worse, your faith in Jesus. Satan is not all-knowing, all-powerful, nor able to be everywhere at once like God, but he has his demons and human minions whom he uses to accomplish his evil works. Though I believe the Bible teaches that a believer cannot be possessed by demons, demons can certainly influence us in many other ways. Through technology, Satan’s reach has increased like never before in history. He is able to inject thoughts into the believer’s mind just by the media that we consume, the education we receive, the social media we view, the news we read, the entertainment we consume, and so on.

In this study, we’ll take a look at deception and how it creeps into every facet of our lives, even more so as we approach the end of this age, which will bring with it a great deception on those who are on this earth during the 7-year Tribulation.

Commentary

Through the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul warned that in the last days evil and deception would grow worse, even among the Church. We expect the unbelieving world to be full of deception, but not the churches we attend, the pastors we listen to, or the Christian media we consume. However, that is a place where Satan loves to do a lot of his work. If he can get just a few outspoken and deceptive people into a denomination, congregation, or Bible study group, then he can start to work in heresy.

The verse above warns us as believers that even just a little bit of sinful behavior among Christians can cause the majority to fall into sin. One only needs to observe the churches in America today to see this deception on full display. There used to be a church up the street from my house, where the “pastor” openly stated that the Bible does not teach that being homosexual is a sin, then proceeded to improperly teach on the common verses in the Bible that clearly teach that it is a sin. Sadly, the church today is full of this kind of deception, and many are falling into it and loving what they hear. Insert just about any major sin in place of homosexuality, and there is likely a church in the West, full of deception, teaching that it’s okay to live that way as a Christian.

While it’s absolutely important to be watchful of deception from the world, it’s also just as important to watch for it in Christian circles, as well as in your own life. If you’re seeking the Lord diligently, then He will help you to guard your heart and mind against demonic, deceptive attacks. But it’s going to take effort on your part, actively participating in your relationship with Jesus and living obediently to Him.

Commentary

Apostle Paul was concerned for the church in Corinth because they were not growing as they should in the Lord. They were still stuck with worldly minds, being involved in things they should not have been doing. They were deceived because of their lack of obedience to the Lord. It’s in that state of deception that your mind tells you it’s okay to do such and such, when you know that it is not okay. In your own personal life, it’s vital that you are walking as close to the Lord as you can at all times and avoid spending too much time around people who are very much focused on the world and its lusts.

The Bible compares the consuming thoughts and sinful actions of believers to being drunk. When you get caught up in things that you should not be caught up in, it brings a fogginess to your heart and mind. You may have even noticed in times of obedience, that God’s Word is top of mind and that Jesus is in the first thoughts that you have after waking up in the morning. But when you’re stuck in sin, it might seem like you’ve never even read a word of the Bible and Jesus becomes a much more distant thought in your mind. That spiritual fogginess opens you up for more deception and stumbling, just as alcohol dulls the senses and clouds your better judgment. The enemy’s job is made incredibly easier when you’re in this drunken spiritual state. Even a little demonic whisper in your ear can send you jumping headfirst into a deceptive situation that is meant for your harm.

Apart from our own personal struggles, we’re faced with a barrage of deceptive things in this world, from lies about human origins, to lies about skin color, sinful lifestyles, who Jesus is, modern medicine, world events, and so on. While not perfect, the follower of Christ should be among the most wise and the hardest to deceive with lies because our wisdom and strength should be drawn from the infinite wisdom and strength of our amazing God and His Word. But remember that Satan has come to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10), and he will do so by any means possible. If he can slip in quietly and taint your walk with Jesus and confuse the believers around you, then he can more successfully come at you with the world in an attempt to harm you and those you love, even further. Over the next two days, we’ll explore some examples of deception that are applicable to our time.

Commentary

Some in the Corinthian church were so spiritually drunk that Paul was worried that they would put up with false teaching about Christ, with no resistance. That is not a place that you ever want to be in. It’s not only deception about who Jesus is that you’ll encounter in your walk, it’s deception that is all around you, trying to trap you into physical, mental, and spiritual harm, and to corrupt the minds of the children and spiritually weak in your life.

Look at the school systems; many basically forbid the mentioning of the Bible and Jesus, but instead, children are taught outright lies such as evolution, climate change crisis, that you must love yourself before you can love others, and socialism-focused diversity, equity, and inclusion. While prayer to Jesus is often forbidden in a public setting in schools, they instead gather students into school-endorsed rituals like drum circles, in order to find “energy” and “connection” for inner-peace and emotional strength. A practice that has its roots in paganism; where it’s used to connect to spirits or the “energy” of people and nature, in order to find “healing”. The Bible teaches that everything we need is found in Christ alone and in nothing else.

While this may seem harmless to many, too many parents and guardians are distracted by other things (by design), and do not know what their children are being taught in school. The children in our lives are at the mercy of people who they hardly even know, who could be teaching them virtually anything. Deceptive teaching and innocent-looking pagan rituals are all meant to slowly lead your children away from Jesus. This is Satan quietly working through people to attack your children.

There are even so-called Christian schools now, along with many other schools, who have encouraged their students to embrace their LGBTQ thoughts, to live out “their truth”, which goes completely against not only God’s Word, but also against long-established scientific fact. The deception of transgenderism is so strong that once highly regarded hospitals are now mutilating children through surgeries and hormone drugs, making millions of dollars in revenue, while keeping the deception going. There is no difference between this and the horrific experiments that Nazi doctors performed on Jewish people during WWII. It’s the same antichrist spirit working in them, which has worked through evil people in all of history. This deception is part of a greater one, which claims that humans can be gods and that we can change ourselves in any way. Satan is setting up this world to accept transhumanism, through deceptions like evolution and transgenderism; and many, many people are being deceived into accepting such things right at this moment.

As a believer, if you don’t speak up but tolerate or look away from even a little bit of evil, I guarantee it will eventually become much worse. You cannot give Satan even a millimeter of room to work with, or he will overwhelm you and those you love the first chance he gets.

Commentary

If you’re not careful, then deception can really wreak havoc, not only in your physical life, but more importantly, in your walk with Jesus. Sad to say, there is no place in this world that is safe from such evil. This is why you must be alert at all times and armored up in the Lord — seeking His wisdom on all things and being patient to listen to Him when He speaks. The pandemic of 2020 showed us just how deceptive our own governments are, and sadly, even how deceptive the medical “experts” are as well. While God has used this time to help people find Him, many more have fallen away into extreme spiritual deception.

So many church-going believers started attending their churches again only to discover that their pastors are now preaching white guilt and social justice. These are often churches that took payroll protection money from their government and remained closed for the better part of two years, closing off access to people when the Gospel was needed most. But then turned around in mid-2021, to open as vaccine centers, now resembling more of a state-run church than something truly ordained by God.

Regardless of your thoughts on the COVID shots, the evidence is now becoming clearer that we were deceived, in regards to the safety and effectiveness. The reality is that the injury data is showing that more people have been harmed by these shots than any other approved pharmaceutical in history. This is an example of deception on a grand scale, from the origins of the disease to the hospital protocols to the supposed vaccine.

An interesting verse from Revelation 18 tells us that when the destruction of the wicked world system takes place in the Great Tribulation, the nobles of the earth will no longer be able to deceive the nations with their sorcery.

Upon reading this in English, you’d probably not give it much thought or think that’s an odd word to use. But the word that is translated in English to sorcery is written in the original Koine Greek as, φαρμακεία (pharmakeia). Its literal meaning is, the use or administering of drugs or poisoning. It can also mean drug use pertaining to witchcraft. It’s the derivative Greek word for the English, pharmaceuticals. I don’t know exactly what that verse fully means, but given the deception that we have faced in the world with Big Pharma and the unsafe drugs that are forced down our throats through manipulative advertising, pressure from doctors, politicians, and employers, it just might be pointing to this exact type of thing; evil people, guided by demons, deceiving and harming the masses for personal gain.

Regardless of the type of deception, the lesson is to be diligent at all times, lest you become so deceived that you fall into great bodily, mental, or spiritual harm, and your witness for Jesus becomes compromised as a result. The enemy uses tactics to overwhelm you and make you vulnerable to deception through fear and anxiety. But remember that anything that is truly good is from God; everything else is not. Please watch and be ready in the Lord at all times and help others avoid the traps of deception.