The core theme is the pervasive nature of deception in the current age and the critical need for individuals to develop discernment and hold fast to truth, grounded in Jesus Christ, God's Word, and the Holy Spirit, to avoid being misled.
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it's good to be with you again
our topic today is do not be deceived
jesus warned us when he was preparing
for the end of the age that it would be
a time of
rampant widespread deception that even
the elect would be deceived he said if possible
possible
so we need to be prepared it's going to
be a part of the world we live in you
know deception is when you believe
something to be true
when in reality it isn't and deception
doesn't just come from false prophets in
the sense of religious figures
a false prophet is anyone who purports
to be telling you the truth and in fact
they're not
so you need to expand your definition a
little bit we live in an age of
unprecedented deception you know we have the
the
all sorts of expressions let the buyer
be beware
i would submit to you in god's sight you
better let the seller beware
if you're deceptive when you're in the
marketplace god's judgment's coming for
you it's not good
business it's bad life we want to
understand how you and i
can choose to be people with pure hearts
before the lord
we're not pointing our fingers at
anybody else we're saying to god god i
want to live with integrity
and truth and uprightness in a way so
that your greatest
blessings can fill my life and my future
i promise you it's a doable assignment
grab your bible get a notepad most of
all open your heart
god has something for us today if you
believe it's impossible for you to be
deceived because of your intellect your pedigree
pedigree
your church affiliation your tenure
so the theme is deception how we're
going to avoid it and the reason i think
it's so imperative right now is we're
walking through a period of dramatic
deception really unprecedented
deceptive statements are flooding over
us on a daily basis
and they approach us it seems to me from
every ideological or spiritual direction
the result is it's just completely disorienting
disorienting
it leaves us feeling unstable we're not
sure what to believe or what to think or
where to look
for for truth and it leaves us feeling weary
weary
emotionally weary spiritually weary and
physically weary [Music]
[Music]
often our response is a desire just to
get past this
let's not quibble about what's true and
what's false let's just get past
this because if we could get past it
perhaps we'll land in a more stable place
place
a more clearly defined place well you
the only thing evil will yield to is a
power greater than itself
so the solution the answer to this
but this avalanche of deception if
you're not aware if you're not listening
if you're not watching if you're not
thinking you'll miss it and you'll be
swept along by the tide i just started a
short list it's by no means
inclusive but there are the
the deception around colvin the culvert
is real it's a real threat it's a real
virus it's a real illness
it has caused the deaths of hundreds of
thousands of people
and far more people have been sick
but the information we've been given
around covert has changed day to day and
week to week and month to month and from
state to state and city to city and
nation to nation
china was not honest about the
circumstances there and we just kind of
shrugged our shoulders and said whatever
great nation they just lie about pandemics
go home for two weeks and you'll be good
to go you can go back to normal well we
need to stay four more weeks but then
you'll be okay
the curve will be flat and there's no problem
problem
and then you can fill in the blanks it's
hard to trust we know there's a problem
we want to work together we want to help
one another
but there's been a lot of deception
wrapped up in it as well
we just finished an election season
election seasons in our nation
right now on a national election the
campaigns that go with them
are the they are the substance of deception
deception
how do we convince this group that i
believe what they want me to believe in
this group which is on the opposite end
of the spectrum that i believe what they
want to believe
candidates are experts at it it's the
nature of the beast and we watch that
and we think how could they say that
here and say that here and say that here
it's disorienting christian messages in
this season are confusing vote
do not vote don't vote for this
candidate vote for that candidate
it's just as evil the media
once a very trusted part of our culture
and our society we look to them for
accurate information
to be a point of accountability for all
of us
no longer they're no longer a neutral
source of information
there are propaganda producers
and it's disorienting science
my father's a veterinarian my college
career began in the basic sciences i'm
an advocate for science
but when science is politicized it
becomes a tool for deception
whether it's the politicization politicism
politicism
it's making political the information
around covenant
or it's the information around climate
there's no doubt there's climate changes
and climate activity
but it's been elevated to a point of a religion
religion
that everything should be subordinated
to it and it's objected to it
and science has been made political to
enforce the opinions that you prefer
sexual orientation they're trying to
find scientific evidence to suggest
we should be gender flood this is not a
new thing folks
the manipulation of science for
political agenda is not new don't be naive
naive
if you weren't paying attention in
school now you're gonna have to pay the
stupid tax and go back and learn a
little bit
but you can't afford to remain ignorant
and the church has had hands in this
we're not with
our hands aren't clean either galileo
ever heard of him
okay you won't find him on twitter he he
had this notion that the earth revolved
around the sun
what a notion that the sun was at the
center of our
our little planetary system here
but that idea challenged was in
disagreement with the prevailing idea of
the day because prior to that the
imagination was that everything revolved
around the earth
and the church at that time the the the
pretty much the universal church in the west
west
agreed with copernicus theory so galileo
was tried as a heretic
well he had the right answers you could
follow the science and get you to the
right place but
but the debate was so political
it had jobs attached to it and status
attached to it
and when science becomes manipulated by
political agendas and ideals you can't
afford to follow the science or you'll
be deceived
i'm not asking you to to tear your brain
out and ignore your wisdom use it
censorship in ways we have never seen it
the hiding of the truth the manipulation
of the truth to keep large popular parts
of our population
from knowing what is real and there's no
apology for it there's no embarrassment
for it
trampling on our first amendment rights
without any reluctance whatsoever
it's deception it's crashing over us
like waves at the beach
there are predictive voices around us
many of them
many voices from many spheres of
influence predicting
the events that are going to unfold
before us it comes from christianity the prophets
prophets
declaring upcoming events with absolute
certainty and determination and repetitiveness
repetitiveness
it comes from other arenas economic
arenas political arenas
there are experts in these categories
that have inside knowledge and they're
predicting future outcomes
and the outcomes don't come to pass
whether they've been spiritually
identified or economically identified
it leaves you disoriented churches in a
widespread way whole denominations are
rejecting orthodoxy
fancy language it means they won't
accept the biblical worldview
the divinity of jesus his redemptive work
work
his crucifixion his physical death on
the cross his resurrection the fact that
he's unique the incarnate son of god
whole denominations rejecting biblical
worldviews around
human sexuality well the label says church
church
but what's being espoused from those
places is so widely divergent
and some of it's so deceptive it's disorienting
disorienting
church is refusing to provide leadership
for their believers in seasons of challenge
politicians and leaders who don't put
our national interest first
but prefer personal gain accumulation of power
power
and therefore they don't uphold the truth
truth
the list could go on and on and on
on a daily basis deception cascades over
us so what are we to do
how do we find our way how do we
navigate this
how do we regain our balance well
fortunately jesus has given us some
really good advice isn't that good to know
know
i'll tell you know i'm not a beginner i'm
i'm
not in the sense that i've accumulated
all wisdom
i've just i've had enough birthdays you
know there was a time i was reluctant to
say i believe in jesus
i was wise enough to know it wasn't a
fully held view and i thought i don't
want to diminish my opportunities
folks from the place i stand today you
will never
and i've been in academic settings and i
love to learn and study and i'm grateful
for all the opportunities i have had
i've been in settings where
jesus wasn't welcome and i turned down
the volume to do what i needed to do in
those settings and i regret it
so whatever your life calling whatever
your mission whoever your circle of
friends is
let it be known you're an advocate for
jesus if the awakening is going to grow
and we desperately need it to grow it's
going to be a grassroots initiative
where you and i as advocates for jesus
are unrelenting we will not be silent
and we will tell the god story that we
have to tell
in all of our brokenness and all of our
weakness and all that we're not
we will advocate for jesus don't you stop
stop
and if you haven't been willing to do
that before the day is done get on your
knees and tell the lord you're sorry
because there's a day ahead of us when
you're going to want him to call you friend
friend
you won't want to be some distant idea perhaps
perhaps
you'll want to be his friend well jesus
warned us
in fact in the scripture almost every
passage which deals with the end of the
age deals with being deceived
they go together it is an overriding
characteristic of the end of this age
and we are in that season in matthew 24
and verse 4 jesus said
watch out that no one deceives you for
many will come in my name
claiming i'm the messiah and they'll
deceive many
he's warning his closest friends his
best followers the best of the best the most
most
trained the ones with the most
experience watch out that no one
deceives you
now jesus is a true prophet of all the
hebrew prophets
and there are many he's the greatest in
that same chapter matthew 24 and verse
22 it says if those days had not been
cut short
no one would survive but for the sake of
the elect
those days will be shortened sounds to
me like the elect are going to have to
hallelujah i promise you my bible says
god will never ask you to walk through
something that he hasn't given you
everything you need to walk through it triumphantly
triumphantly
so wherever you find yourself god's
given you what you need
i read once from mother teresa said
sometimes i wish god didn't have so much
confidence in me
you may share that feeling verse 23 at
that time if anyone says to you look
here is the messiah or there he is
don't believe it for false christs and
false prophets will appear
and perform great signs and miracles to
deceive even the elect
if that were possible see i've told you
ahead of time
at critical junctures in the unfolding
story of god in the earth
in dealing with the descendants of adam
god gives us
critical information to help us flourish
in those seasons of transition
and jesus is cautioning us that
deception is real
there's a couple of very important
lessons one is that miraculous signs
do not prove a message is true
and we're incredibly vulnerable as
religious people to this
if there's attestation supernatural
evidence that something is happening
we tend to just blindly go yes
and jesus counsel and the larger council
of scripture is very clear the
antichrist will be a supernatural character
character
will be a religious figure that is one
of his most trusted assets
allies a false prophet
doesn't mean that miracles aren't
important we will need them
avoiding miracles is not the right
pathway we won't finish this course
well without the supernatural
intervention of god
and if you've avoided the supernatural
because it was a little messy to your
intellectual neatness tell the lord
you're sorry
you will need his help we may have lived
in a place where through your strength
and your logic and your reason and your effort
effort
you can navigate the challenges of life
we have left that place
we will need the supernatural help of god
god
and then jesus said even the elect would
be deceived
if it were possible the elect are god's
chosen ones
it's an interesting proposition why can
the elect avoid deception
because we sit in the right churches we
read the right translation
no because god chose us
it's as simple as that because god chose
us our security is not in our education
or our denominational affiliation
or the congregation where we participate
that's why the awareness that jesus is
lord that we serve at his pleasure
that he establishes our priorities
that we serve in whatever capacity he
asks us to serve him
we don't ask him to serve us
there's a question asked it was an
interview between jesus and the roman governor
governor
some of you remember his name was
pontius pilate and pilate's trying to
sort out what to do with jesus
jesus enemies in the jewish community
are asking for his execution and pilate
has the authority
but he senses that he's innocent and his
wife has a dream and she comes and
intercedes on behalf of jesus and
pilate is a very difficult political circumstance
circumstance
you better work out what your
allegiances are before you get into
difficult positions
because if you wait until you're in the
pressure of the moment before you decide
in whom you believe
it's highly improbable you'll have the
courage to make the right choice
you want to exercise that muscle on
small matters
before they become matters of life and
to determine your destiny think of the
difference for pilate
if he had said i agree you're the king
he liked his position he liked his power
he liked the wealth it brought to him he
liked the authority it gave him
he was afraid of those in authority over him
him
so regardless of what he felt regardless
of what he knew to be true
he capitulated before we point fingers
at him
over the centuries we need to look in
the mirror
and begin to say to the lord may i have
the courage to tell the truth
to be a person of truth may identify for
jesus answered pilate says you're a king
then and jesus
answered you're right in saying i'm a
king in fact for this reason i was born
and for this i came into the world
when jesus said that he signed his death warrant
warrant
he was aware of it the one thing for
which without question you could be
crucified is if you put yourself up in
opposition to caesar
and when jesus said i'm a king he didn't
deny think of all the ways he could have answered
answered
he could have answered in mystical language
language
he could have answered in so many ways
that would have deflected the question
and we would have called him clever or witty
witty
but he didn't step away from the truth
denying the truth
will not put you in a better place
it seems that the price for jesus was
high because he owned the truth
but because of that in philippians 2 it
says god gave him a name that's above
every name
that the name of jesus every knee will
bow in heaven and earth and under the earth
earth
and when you're willing to stand for the
truth for righteousness for integrity
if in the moment you forfeit something
the creator of heaven and earth will see
to it
for this i came into the world to
testify to the truth everyone on the
side of the truth listens to me
and pilate asks the question that is
echoed through all the ages of human
history what is truth
what is truth we can't tell from the
context if pilate said it is a skeptic
mocking jesus or if he said it as an
inquirer who was
genuinely anxious to know it's just not
we can't tell only in eternity will we
know that
but the question has never been
adequately answered by philosophy well
there have been many attempts and many
would submit that they have
but the bible gives us an answer and
we're talking about deception
understanding how identity to identify
the truth is important now the bible
doesn't give us a simple answer
in fact as i understand that the bible
gives us three aspects or if you prefer
three coordinates of the truth and you
need all three coordinates to be in
place to identify something as true
the words aren't complicated john 14 and
verse 6 jesus said i'm the way the truth
and the life
so jesus is the truth there's no truth
apart from jesus
if someone says he isn't the son of god
you can know they don't hold the truth
they may be smart and well-educated have
letters after the name be influential
and powerful
but they're missing a key component john 17
17
17 says sanctify them by the truth your
word is truth
so god's word is the truth our bible
say it was written by people it was but
it was directed by the spirit of the
living god
now it was it's been written and
translated and copied
you don't want to build your worldview
off of one sentence in the bible or
but through the pages of your scripture
the character of god and the purposes of
god are revealed
in first john 5 6 it says this is the
one who came by water and blood jesus christ
christ
he didn't come by water only by water
and blood and it is the spirit who
testifies because the
spirit is the truth that's the third
coordinate the spirit is truth the truth
is jesus
the truth is the bible the word of god
and the truth is the spirit
in order to know the truth you have to
have all three coordinates
now that's important because you can
hear someone preach a wonderful message
talk a great deal about jesus
jesus this and jesus that but you need
to check your bible to see if what was
said is the truth
because saying nice things about jesus
doesn't always mean it's true
or you may hear someone talk a great
deal about the spirit and the moving of
the spirit of god
and how to know the spirit of god but
you need to check your bible if it can't
be substantiated
it isn't the truth even if it's what you
want to hear
or someone may preach a biblically
accurate message
quoting chapter and verse but if it
lacks the presence of the spirit that
brings life to god's word
it's burdensome and not freedom
to ensure you have the truth you need
those three things to be in place
is it true to jesus is it true to the
bible and does it have the witness of
the spirit
that's why more than a casual knowledge
of your bible is important it's why
daily exposure to the word of god matters
matters
even the parts you don't even the
now there's another component of
deception that is very prominent
and it has to do with another jesus i
want to read a passage from corinthians
it's a church but i would remind you
that the corinthians are very spiritual people
people
the movings of the spirit the gifts of
the spirit the miraculous was all a part
of the corinthian church and yet they are
are
warned repeatedly about deception so you
can be supernaturally
spiritually aware born again
and still be vulnerable to deception
second corinthians chapter 11 verse 2
i'm jealous for you with godly jealousy
i promised you to one husband to christ
so that i might present you as a pure
virgin to him
but i'm afraid that just as eve was
deceived by the serpent's cunning
your minds may somehow be led astray
from your sincere and pure devotion to christ
christ
adam and eve were in the garden of eden
god came and spent the afternoons with them
them
walked with them and the deception came
to them
and paul saying if it came to them it
could come to you
for if someone comes to you and preaches
a jesus other than the jesus we preached
or if you receive a different spirit
from the one you received or a different
gospel from the one you accepted
you put up with it easily enough
and in our world today there are many
versions of another jesus
there are the language is used but the
presentation is very different from the
biblical narrative i can't list them all
but i'll give you a couple of examples
there's jesus as a marxist revolutionary
there's a whole theological school built
around this
there are university systems built
around this
it's not the jesus of the bible now it's praiseworthy
praiseworthy
to have a desire to help the poor and
those less fortunate than ourselves
but the approach that this particular
theological perspective has taken
is not biblical the technical label for
it is liberation theology and it it has
holes on entire nations entire political systems
but it's not the jesus and the gospels
and then there's jesus as an oriental guru
in an attempt to align jesus with buddha
or socrates
or other great dispensers of wisdom and
thought and understanding
i mean the general box that this notion
goes in i suppose we would label his new age
age
but jesus is not a guru he's not a
dispenser of wisdom
he's not just a wise man he's not just a
founder of a religion
he's not just a miracle worker or a
healer or a sage
or a provider for you when you're in a
desperate place
he is the son of god and the savior of
the world
and it's important to understand the difference
well then there's one that's had a lot
of influence in american christendom
it's jesus is the benevolent uncle
he kind of walks amongst us when we
gather saying
he doesn't mention sin very much or talk
about judgment very
often and often he will infer if he
doesn't say it directly that all
religious activity leads to the same outcome
folks jesus is a conquering king and the
judge of the living and the dead
and he's not just your benevolent relative
relative
the numbers of people currently deceived
is in the millions it's why your
advocacy is so important
there are people you know that are
living in deception and we have lacked
the courage to tell them the truth
not in condemnation not in anger
not as a rebuke we have been reluctant
to have the dialogue because we didn't
want to deal with it
tell your god story talk to people about
what jesus has done for you
tell them what you know say i don't feel
like i know enough when do you think you will
will
i'll tell you a funny story i was a few
years ago haven't been too long
last four or five i know five or six
years i was in jerusalem
for a celebration of the feast of
tabernacles and there was hundreds of
thousands of people gathered from around
the world and i'd been invited to speak
and there were three sessions that
morning and the persons on either
side of me were heroes in my life
further along with the way than me more
experienced than me
i sit at their feet to listen and i'm
sitting in the auditorium early that day
before anybody come in and i'm complaining
complaining
to the lord in fact i'm thinking of
going to the organizers and saying let's
split my time between these two people
and i'm really complaining lord says
lord i don't feel prepared
and i heard that little voice inside of
me said when do you think you would be prepared
thirties
i mean really well into my 30s
and it occurred to me if i didn't feel
prepared soon i was going to step off
the stage before i ever got prepared
so i'd put to you the question that the
lord put to me when is it exactly you
think you'll be prepared
and what is it that's hindering your preparation
preparation
if it's urgent enough that our destiny
is going to be determined by what we
know about jesus
when exactly are we going to be prepared
now let's take a minute i have far more
notes than we have time
before lunch we'll just hook up
and work on this a little bit more but
how deception enters how does it come
into our lives what makes us so
vulnerable why is deception such a
persistent problem
in century after century culture after culture
culture
doesn't seem to matter what point in
time or history
what is it well the one there's one
primary door that's identified in scripture
scripture
you want to guess what makes us so
vulnerable to deception it's pride
pride behind all deception i would
submit to you is pride
it opens us up to deception
the great deceiver lucifer was an archangel
archangel
many scholars would suggest the most
beautiful and the wisest
of all the angels he had authority and power
power
in the kingdom of god
his pride led to rebellion and it ended
it was a very he found himself so
deceived that he led a rebellion that
wasn't going to succeed
if it happened to an archangel may i
humbly submit we should all be cautious
now you see expressions of this if you
if you pay just a bit of attention
the attraction of almost any cult of any false
false
religion and i'm not talking about
things that you identify as wicked i
mean deviations of christianity that
take you away from the redemptive work
of jesus
the attraction principally is join us
it appeals to our pride well i'd like to
people in these perspectives often will
say well the church has been a little
ineffective a little misguided
but if you join our group you'll be more
you see the lie the first lie which
satan turned on the human race is you
can be like god
you can know right and wrong you can be
the arbiter
folks we are the sheep of his pasture
it's why listening is the primary
characteristic of the people of god in
every generation
and if you've imagined that your
theological system was so tight
so perfected that you need not listen
beware of anybody that tells you there's
a group
that has gone further than any of the
others and when you hear that they're typically
typically
critical of the preceding generations of christians
