Living In Truth in a Time of Great Deception

6.7.2020

Introduction

The time just before the return of Christ

I believe that we are living just before the return of Christ. Life now is fitting into a Biblical pattern of events.

Israel – a nation.

Jerusalem – in Israel’s hands since 1967

US recognizes Jerusalem as capital and puts embassy there in 2017

Now, there is a plan for peace.

News about the Temple Mount.

We are NOT raptured before the antiChrist rises in the Middle East. We will see the first 3 years or so of his rise to power there.

I want you to be ready for what is coming!

Understand that God’s heart is the salvation of man!

2 Peter 3:3-15 (Passion Translation)

Above all, you must understand that in the last days mockers will multiply, chasing after their evil desires. (4) They will say, “So what about this promise of his coming? Our ancestors are dead and buried, yet everything is still the same as it was since from the beginning of time until now.” (5) But they conveniently overlook that from the beginning, the heavens and earth were created by God’s word. He spoke and the dry ground separated from the waters. (6) Then long afterward he destroyed the world with a tremendous flood by those very waters. (7) And now, by the same powerful word, the heavens and the earth are reserved for fire, being kept for judgment day, when all the ungodly will perish. (8) So, dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape your notice: a single day counts like a thousand years to the Lord Yahweh, and a thousand years counts as one day. (9) This means that, contrary to man’s perspective, the Lord is not late with his promise to return, as some measure lateness. But rather, his “delay” simply reveals his loving patience toward you, because he does not want any to perish but all to come to repentance. (10) The day of the Lord will come and take everyone by surprise—as unexpected as a home invasion. The atmosphere will be set on fire and vanish with a horrific roar, and the heavenly bodies will melt away as in a tremendous blaze. The earth and every activity of man will be laid bare. (1) Since all these things are on the verge of being dismantled, don’t you see how vital it is to live a holy life? We must be consumed with godliness (12) while we anticipate and help to speed up the coming of the day of God, when the atmosphere will be set on fire and the heavenly bodies consumed in a blaze. (13) But as we wait, we trust in God’s royal proclamation to be fulfilled. There are coming heavens new in quality, and an earth new in quality, where righteousness will be fully at home.

Preparation for the Coming of the Lord

(14) So, my beloved friends, with all that you have to look forward to, may you be eager to be found living pure lives when you come into his presence, without blemish and filled with peace. (15) And keep in mind that our Lord’s extraordinary patience simply means more opportunity for salvation, just as our dear brother Paul wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him.

John 3:16 (AMPL)

“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.

James 5:7-8 (TPT)

Meanwhile, brothers and sisters, we must be patient and filled with expectation as we wait for the appearing of the Lord. Think about the farmer who has to patiently wait for the earth’s harvest as it ripens because of the early and latter rains. 8 So you also keep your hopes high and be patient, for the presence of the Lord is drawing closer.

A great revival

There is also a great move of the Spirit of God during this time.

Joel 2:28-32 (NLT)

Then, after doing all those things,

I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your old men will dream dreams,

and your young men will see visions.

29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit

even on servants—men and women alike.

30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—

blood and fire and columns of smoke.

31 The sun will become dark,

and the moon will turn blood red

before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives.

32 But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD

will be saved,

for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape,

just as the LORD has said.

These will be among the survivors

whom the LORD has called.

And a falling away

And there is also a falling away from the faith by many…

2 Thessalonians 2:1-11 (NLT)

Events prior to the Lord’s Second Coming

1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. 2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. 3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. 4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

5 Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you? 6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies.

Nefarious

Over the last 3 months, since the coronavirus situation put the whole world in lockdown, I have been deeply disturbed. At first I couldn’t understand what I was sensing inside, but now I understand it.

There is a spirit of deception that has entered the world, seeking to convince people of things that have only a partial truth.

The second week of March, I was praying, and at the conclusion of my prayer time a word came up inside of me.

Because I like words, God often gives me a word when He speaks to me.

For instance, I needed to make changes in how we lead our staff team, and to start that process, God gave me the word trendsetter.

When I came here over 25 years ago, God gave me the words: already existing church.

 

So the word Nefarious rose up inside me as I was praying about the corona virus situation.

I had to look it up in a dictionary.

Nefarious:

[Latin nefarius, from nefas, unlawful, or ne and for, fari, to utter.]

Wicked in the extreme; abominable; atrociously sinful or villainous; detestably vile.

wicked, evil, sinful, iniquitous, villainous, criminal, heinous, atrocious, appalling, abhorrent, vile, foul, base, abominable, odious, depraved, corrupt, shameful, scandalous, monstrous, fiendish, diabolical, devilish, unholy, ungodly, infernal, satanic, dark, unspeakable, despicable, outrageous, shocking, disgraceful; archaic knavish, dastardly; rare egregious, flagitious. ANTONYMS good, admirable.

I intuitively knew that there was more here than I was hearing about what was happening with the coronavirus .

Demonic forces are working today to create lawlessness, paving the way for the world to accept the man of sin called antiChrist.

They are seeking to disrupt normal ways of life, to divert attention from the most important things, and they are seeking to create chaos.

Recognize that deception is everywhere today.

Jesus and the apostle Paul both revealed that the time just before Christ’s return would be characterized by deception.

I submit that we are encountering that deception right now.

Matthew 24:4 (NKJV)

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.”

AntiChrist will be a deceiver

The antiChrist will one day rise to power in the Middle East, and will aid Israel with some kind of treaty. This person will be a deceiver, bar none!

Daniel 8:25 (NLT)

He will be a master of deception and will become arrogant; he will destroy many without warning. He will even take on the Prince of princes in battle, but he will be broken, though not by human power.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NKJV)

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1 John 2:21-23 (NLT)

So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. 22 And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. 23 Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

1 John 4:1-6 (MEV)

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and is already in the world. 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world, and therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are of God, and whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not of God does not listen to us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Isaiah 5:20 (NKJV)

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;

Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

The spirit of antiChrist pushes for:

Abortion

Same-sex marriage

Pornography

Living together without marriage

Relative values

Socialism

Communism

Control

Atheism

Lawlessness

Fear

Godlessness

Amorality

Divisiveness

Inequality

Rioting

Violence

The days before Jesus return will be typified as days of deception.

Deceive: Daniel Webster (1828)

1. To mislead the mind; to cause to err; to cause to believe what is false, or disbelieve what is true; to impose on; to delude.

2. To beguile; to cheat.

3. To cut off from expectation; to frustrate or disappoint; as, his hopes were deceived.

4. To take from; to rob.

Deception:

The act of deceiving or misleading.

1 Timothy 4:1-2 (TPT)

The Holy Spirit has explicitly revealed: At the end of this age, many will depart from the true faith one after another, devoting themselves to spirits of deception and following demon-inspired revelations and theories. 2 Hypocritical liars will deceive many, and their consciences won’t bother them at all!

2 Timothy 3:13 (NKJV)

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

John 8:44 (NKJV)

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Revelation 21:8 (NKJV)

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Revelation 22:14-15 (TPT)

Wonderfully blessed are those who wash their robes white so they can access the Tree of Life and enter the city of bliss by its open gates. 15 Those not permitted to enter are outside: the malicious hypocrites, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, murderers, idolaters, and every lover of lies.

We are living in an age of delusion.

Delusion:

An erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary.

A false belief that is resistant to confrontation with actual facts.

A delusion is a belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary.

Deception is everywhere right now.

Lying has become commonplace. And particularly in the media, lying and deceit have become acceptable practices.

Everything you read and hear has a bias, a slant. How do you know what is right from what is wrong?

Jesus and truth

John 14:6 (NKJV)

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 8:31-32 (BBE)

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had faith in Him, If you keep my word, then you are truly my disciples; 32 And you will have knowledge of what is true, and that will make you free.

Isaiah 33:6 (NKJV)

Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure.

The Holy Spirit and Truth

John 14:16-18 (NLT)

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.

John 16:13-15 (NLT)

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

Don’t just hear, practice the Word.

If you attend church and even read the Bible, you will be deceived unless you decide to put what you read and hear into practice.

James 1:21-25 (TPT)

21 So this is why we abandon everything morally impure and all forms of wicked conduct. Instead, with a sensitive spirit we absorb God’s Word, which has been implanted within our nature, for the Word of Life has power to continually deliver us.

22 Don’t just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let his Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life!

23 If you listen to the Word and don’t live out the message you hear, you become like the person who looks in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of his face in the beginning. 24 You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin. 25 But those who set their gaze deeply into the perfecting law of liberty are fascinated by and respond to the truth they hear and are strengthened by it—they experience God’s blessing in all that they do!

Matthew 7:24-27 (TPT)

24 Everyone who hears my teaching and applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his house on an unshakable foundation. 25 When the rains fell and the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation.

26 But everyone who hears my teaching and does not apply it to his life can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 When it rained and rained and the flood came, with wind and waves beating upon his house, it collapsed and was swept away.

Action Points:

1. Put the Word into practice in your personal daily life!

2. Pray in the spirit.

3. Be a part of a strong Word-based, Holy Spirit-led church.