Living in Truth in a Time of Great Deception (part 2)

6.14.2020

Introduction

1. I believe that we are living in the time just before the return of Christ.

The events of the last 3 months may be leading us to the time period just before the second coming of Christ.

I believe that we are living just before the return of Christ.

The world is now fitting into a biblical pattern of events foretold thousands of years ago.

Israel is God’s “clock” on the earth. Watch what is happening to Israel, and you will have a fair idea as to how soon Jesus will return.

2. There will not be a pre-tribulation Rapture.

There are so many Christians in the USA that believe the rapture will occur before the antiChrist appears. I preached that for 25 years.

But beginning 10 years ago, I began to see further light on God’s word.

The “Tribulation” as it is usually called, is a period of 7 years shown to the prophet Daniel that will end the church age as we know it, as it culminates in the 2^nd coming of Christ.

Most people think that this whole 7-year period is God’s wrath poured out on the ungodly, but it is not.

This period of time starts with a treaty of some kind between Israel and her enemies, brokered by a person the Bible calls the man of sin, the man of lawlessness, or antiChrist.

And the first 3 plus years of this time is the anger of the antiChrist person persecuting Christians and Jews, and then really turning up the heat after a little over 3 years of ruling nations in the Middle East.

The last portion of this 7-year period (maybe 2 years or so), is called the Day of the Lord, which is a period of time of unprecedented hardship brought on by wave after wave of natural disasters, beginning with what looks like meteor strikes.

I now believe that the rapture will occur just before the terrible period called the Day of the Lord. This time period is when the wrath of God is revealed through natural destruction by nature on an ungodly system and people who refuse to acknowledge God.

Jesus took the wrath of God for us, so since this last part of the 7-year “tribulation” called the Day of the Lord is actually the wrath of God, I believe the rapture will occur just before then. (I talked about this in detail Wednesday night before last).

So, the first part of this “tribulation” period is typified by some serious persecution of Christians and Jews by this person called antiChrist. We are NOT immune from persecution because we are believers. The wrath of God comes at the latter part of the 7 years, not at the beginning.

YOU will be here to experience the first part of this 7-year unprecedented period. The world as we know it will change. War, famine, disease, earthquakes, and serious persecution of Christians and Jews will be a part of this time.

It is coming. Are you ready?

3. Jesus said that this period of time before His return would be typified by deception.

Matthew 24:4 (NKJV)

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

Matthew 24:4 (Passion Translation)

4 Jesus answered, “At that time deception will run rampant. So beware that you are not fooled!

1 Timothy 4:1 (NLT)

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.

Misinformation is deception. It is a form of lying.

Misinformation is when a person withholds part of the facts in order to form a certain way of thinking.

Misinformation is when a person purposely leaves out key portions of information so that it changes what actually happened to support a certain opinion or outcome.

There was great misinformation about Covid 19. So many believed it that it changed the whole world.

A lot of what we heard about how bad it was to be just simply did not happen. Yet we acted on what we heard.

What we have just experienced is a “dry run” of how we as a nation will face the hardships to come.

Will you believe everything you hear on the news? Will you make your decisions based on what you see and hear in the media, or will you make your decisions on what you do based on what God says in his Word?

There has been a tremendous amount of misinformation given by the media on the corona outbreak. It disturbed me to the core. And still does!

I never believed that what I heard was the complete truth. Did you?

Did you act on what you heard as though everything you heard was true?

If you did, you may be a person who is deceived during the period of time that is coming.

4. There will be a falling away of believers from the faith.

If the antiChrist appears in the Middle East before the rapture occurs, and things go badly, there will be believers who are so disappointed that they just stop believing the Bible. What they heard did not happen, and they could become disillusioned and fall away from their faith in God.

Or, your believing of the Bible over the consensus of culture will bring so much pressure that some will just step away from God. The pressure will be too intense.

Will you be one of those believers that fall away during tough challenges?

Will you stand when what you believe is so different than the way everyone else around you responds?

Is your response during this last crisis the way you will respond the next time?

Let me remind you again of the words of Paul:

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 (NKJV)

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

The deception coming is going to be greater than what we have just come through.

Deception is something that you need to stay aware of and resist!

2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 (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,

5. 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

Division

Racism

World-wide law codes adopted by all nations.

World-wide currency

No borders between nations

6. The days before Jesus returns 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?

What is the answer?

John 8:31-32 (NLT)

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

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.

1 John 2:20 (NKJV)

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

1 John 2:27 (NKJV)

But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

1 John 2:27 (Passion Translation)

But the wonderful anointing you have received from God is so much greater than their deception and now lives in you. There’s no need for anyone to keep teaching you. His anointing teaches you all that you need to know, for it will lead you into truth, not a counterfeit. So just as the anointing has taught you, remain in him.

1 John 2:20-27 (NLT)

But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. 21 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.

24 So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. 25 And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.

26 I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. 27 But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.

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.’

Action Points:

1. Are you prepared for the time just before Christ returns, even if it means the rapture is delayed and life becomes challenging?
2. What are you doing to shield and protect yourself from misinformation and deceit?
3. What are you doing to insulate yourself from delusion and deception?