WHAT IS THE GREATEST THREAT, IN THE LAST DAYS?
- Nuclear War – WWIII?
- Economic Doom – the loss of financial security/job?
- Persecution / Martyrdom?
Perspective:
· Yahweh says, “don’t fear him that killeth the body… rather fear Him that kills both body and soul…” – the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. The single most important reason we breathe is to LIVE… Our life here isn’t living… this is probation… living is what comes next.
Deception is the single biggest threat!
· Death doesn’t take Eternal Life from someone… deception does! The enemy cannot remove a person from the Hand of Yahweh… We have to, by choice, remove ourselves…
If we are deceived, we increasingly walk in spiritual darkness… until we can no longer discern our true condition, nor find the way out. Like fish trapped in cave, we lose our sight – even our eyes. Future generations of fish are born without eyes… This happens physically and also spiritually. Spiritual darkness causes us to lose our spiritual eyes.
• Matthew 24:4-5 “And Yahshua answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My Name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
• Matthew 24:11 “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”
• Matthew 24:24 “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
• Mark 13:5-6 “And Yahshua answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: For many shall come in My Name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
• 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that Day (Judgment, the Second Coming) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin (the Beast, aka King of the North, Prince of Tyrus…) be revealed, the Son of Perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
Magnitude of Deception:
· Deception will be so great, that it will even threaten the most sincere of believers.
o Eve, in the Garden of Eden had perfect senses before the Fall… yet her senses were insufficient to protect her from the deception of the Serpent. We are fallen with imperfect senses… if she couldn’t, we can’t!
§ We can’t just “know” if something’s wrong or is a lie… We can’t outsmart the devil by our own intellect, intuition, senses, or anything that we possess…
o Sincerity is not Salvation – How do we know? There will be a group in the End who say, “Master, Master, did we not prophesy in Thy Name? And in Thy Name cast out devils…?” He says to them – a group who are shocked to be lost – “Depart from Me, I never knew you (you aren’t in the Marriage Covenant relationship with Him)” Self-deception (not seeing the Truth about ourselves and own condition) is one of the most dangerous!
· The “Falling Away” is an End-time Prophetic Event! (2 Thess. 2:3)
o Falling away is from G646 apostasia – “defection from Truth… to forsake… apostasy”. So great is this defection (so many people will leave the Truth that they once had) that it is an actual End-time event in Bible Prophecy.
o Ephesians 5:6 – “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s Wrath comes upon those who are disobedient…”
· The Deceptions are made to appear “righteous” and “good”
o 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 - “...Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing (it should be no big surprise) if his ministers also be transformed as (appear as) the ministers of righteousness...”
o So just because something looks good to us, we can’t know that it is… And we definitely shouldn’t follow our hearts or use our own ideas to determine what is true.
· Every lost person is lost because of having fallen a prey to deception
o Revelation 13:3-4 “…And all the world wondered after (admired) the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast…”
o 2 Timothy 3:13 – “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”
o Ephesians 4:14 “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”
Protection from Deception: Truth
John 12:46 - “I am come a Light into the world, that
whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness.”
Spiritual darkness characterizes the realm of Satan,
representing deception – and spiritual blindness (inability to see and
recognize truth)
How can anyone, possessed by hell, ever hope to escape,
since Hell is the kingdom of darkness? Yahweh has Promised that the Light of
Truth and the opportunity for Salvation is given to every person – even those
who are demonically possessed.
· John 1:9 – “That was the true Light which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
Everybody is given enough Light to find Salvation!!! What we
do with that Light, when we are presented with the Light of Truth, determines
whether we’ll be blessed with continuing Light, or whether Truth will be taken
away from us.
Consider the story of the deliverance of the Gerasene
demoniacs (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39), frequently known
as the Miracle of the Gadarene Swine. The two demon-possessed men lived in a
cave, cast out of society and beyond human help—or restraint, as was clearly
demonstrated by the fact that they kept breaking the chains the magistrates
tried to use to shackle and control them. They were isolated, self-destructive
and tormented.
According to the Gospel record, the men were possessed by a
“Legion” of demonic entities (Luke 8:30). To put this into perspective, a Roman
legion was about 5000 soldiers!
But notice what Scripture tells us these demon-possessed men
did, when they met Yahshua, Who is the Light of the world.
First, the possessed immediately recognized Yahshua as the
Messiah! As soon as Yahshua stepped off the boat onto their shore, they ran and
knelt before Him.
Since it is Satan who causes spiritual blindness and
deception, it may seem shocking that a demon-possessed individual could see,
while the supposed righteous people—the spiritual leaders of Israel—were as
blind as proverbial bats? Clearly, it isn’t a person’s initial level of bondage
and darkness, which determines whether he or she can perceive the Light of
Truth!
Key point: The level of our deceivableness is not
determined by the magnitude of our original bondage! So, what does make us
deceivable? At what point does the kingdom of hell get the legal right to curse
a person with impenetrable darkness and complete deception.
·
John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with Yahweh, and the Word was Yahweh. The Same was in the beginning with
Yahweh. All things were made by Him; and
without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was Life; and the Life
was the Light of men. And the Light shineth in darkness; and the darkness
comprehended it not.”
As we saw in John 12:46 and John 1:9, Yahweh shines
the Light of Truth upon the life-path of every person on earth, at one
point or another. The question is what we do with the Light, when it shines
upon us. If we receive the Light and walk in it, more will come, eventually
fully dispelling darkness and deception from our lives, completely! But, if we
reject the Light, or even the opportunity to see it, that blessing of Light
dims and goes out, leaving the person in a deepening darkness that is actually
the result of their own choosing!
Thus, as Scripture teaches, those who are ultimately
deceived are not victims of deception. Rather, by rejecting and turning from
the Light Yahweh sends them, they are willing participants in the
process of becoming deceived.
·
John 3:19-20 - “And this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be
reproved”
· 1
John 1:5-7 “This then is the Message which we have heard of Him, and
declare unto you, that Yahweh is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him,
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the Truth: But if we walk in the
Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
Blood of (Yahshua) His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
In the Bible, Light and Truth are equated. Spiritual
darkness and deception are also different names for the same condition.
·
Proverbs 6:23 “For the Commandment
is a Lamp; and the Law is Light; and reproofs of Instruction are the Way of
Life.”
·
Proverbs 4:18 “But the Path of the
just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
·
Isaiah 8:20 “To the Law and
to the Testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is
because there is no Light in them.”
·
Psalm 119:105 - “Thy Word is a lamp unto
my feet, and a light unto my path”
To be protected from darkness, we must love the Light (Word
of Yahweh)
·
John 3:19-20 - And this is the condemnation, that light is
come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
o To Love Light = Loving Truth found
in the Word of Yahweh
o To love darkness = Choosing sin
and rejecting reproof, being unwilling to change to align one’s life with the
Word of Yahweh.
·
John 12:35 – “Then Yahshua said unto them, Yet a little
while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come
upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.”
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