Matthew 24:4-8(NKJV) 4And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Yesterday we looked at the question the disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 24:3. He had revealed to them that the system they were trusting in was about to be destroyed. They were left with tremendous uncertainty about their future and they wanted to know what to do next.
I believe we live in similar times to the ones they faced. We also live in great uncertainty about the future. Things we have trusted in all our lives are in question. I do not know if these are the last of the last days or one of the many cycles man has lived through since Jesus’ death burial and resurrection, but I do know that they are trying and uncertain times. However, there is something we need to remember.
Just as Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen next in their day, so the Lord knows exactly where we are and everything is moving according to his plan and purpose. The disciples faced some difficult days, but in the end, they would be part of the greatest thing to happen in the history of humanity. I believe we are going to see an unprecedented move of God in our day as well. We simply need to know how to cooperate with Jesus in the next few years.
That brings us to today’s scripture. Jesus answers the disciples’ question, but his answer can be applied to our day as well. He does give them some indication as to when they will know that certain things will happen, but his emphasis is much more on what they need to look out for and how to respond to it.
The first thing he tells them, and I believe, the first thing we need to be careful of, is that they not be deceived. Deception is the devil’s primary weapon against the people of God. He deceives us into yielding our authority to him. He deceives us into making mistakes and committing sins. Once we fall for his deception, he can bring all manner of problems into our lives. He is also able to use us to further his agenda even though that is the last thing we may wish to do.
That is what happened to Peter after he had his great revelation that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God. Jesus gives him some wonderful encouragement, but he allows it to puff him up a bit. Jesus reveals that he must go to Jerusalem and die. Peter rises up in pride and assures Jesus that this was not going to happen as long as he was around. Jesus response to him is more than a little harsh.
Matthew 16:23(NKJV) 23But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Jesus did not think that Peter was possessed by the devil. He was telling Peter that he had been deceived into becoming an agent for the devil’s agenda. We must be careful to guard against deception.
Where will the deception of the last days come from? Will it come from the world? There are certainly plenty of deceiving voices out coming from the world today. The news media and entertainment industries have a mission to promote their view of the world. If that involves twisting, or spinning, the truth to support what they want to promote, so be it. We must not believe everything we hear or see from those outlets.
Certainly, the worldly education system often wants to discredit the bible and anything related to biblical Christianity. We should be aware of this and teach our children to know the truths of the bible and how to stand against the deception in school.
However, none of things is the greatest danger when it comes to the deception of the enemy. Jesus does not say there would be opposition and deception from the world. We know that is the case. We understand that the world and the church have different agendas and we know that the world will try to deceive us. What is the greater danger?
Jesus said there would be those who would come in his name and they would deceive many people. He even says false prophets will come and bring the deception of the enemy into the camp of Christ. Deception that obviously comes from the enemy is not deception at all. It is when those who are within the camp allow the enemy to use them that it is really deception. Sometimes they are like Peter and unwittingly used of the devil. Other times they are sheep in wolves clothing who have infiltrated the church to spread lies. Either way they are more dangerous than the deception that comes from the world’s camp directly.
Mathew Henry’s commentary on this chapter says this, “Seducers are more dangerous enemies to the church than persecutors.” That is a powerful statement. We must understand that all we here in the name of Jesus is not necessarily from Jesus. There has been an explosion of Christian media in the last twenty or so years. While this is wonderful in many ways, it has given the deceiver a powerful channel through which to work.
Anyone who pays can be on Christian television. I know that efforts are made to ensure that the programming is genuine, but it is impossible to police everything that goes on the air. The internet is even more open. You can represent yourself as anything or anyone you like. You do not even need a great deal of money to stream audio, video or write a blog like this one. The potential for deception is out there.
There is also tremendous temptation for churches to accept ideas that will help them grow. The pressure on the leadership to succeed can be a problem. The pressure of keeping up financially with growth in a weak economy can open the door to deception. The pressure on leaders by both failure and maybe to a greater degree by success can leave them vulnerable to ideas that do not originate with the Lord. Jesus warned his disciples that it would be a problem in their day and I believe it is a problem in ours.
How do we guard against deception? First, we must make sure we are reading and studying the bible for ourselves. We must cultivate our own prayer life. We must worship God in honesty and purity. If we do not have a foundation of the Word of God and relationship with the Spirit of God established in our lives we can easily be deceived. If we do have these things in place, we will recognize deception. We will know that something does not fit the teaching of the bible or we will sense that still small voice of the spirit saying this is not right.
Finally, I believe we need to be part of a local church under local leadership that we can know personally.
Hebrews 13:7(NKJV) 7Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.
It is fine to supplement what you get from your pastor with other things, however, to be safe from deception Everyone makes mistakes, but in this verse we are encouraged to remember those whose faith and conduct we can follow.
I encourage you to find a good bible preaching church if you do not have one. If you do have one, be careful what you listen to in these days. Often good people, like Peter, get deceived into teaching or saying things that do not come from the Lord. If you know cannot see the outcome of the faith and conduct of the one teaching you, be careful. Check what they say out with the ones you can know in this manner and not the other way around. Be careful of deception!
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