Deception in the Last Days: Warning and Guidance for Christians

God’s voice is active today, but Christians must learn to rightly discern it. We must be immersed in scripture to discern God’s voice correctly. We must study God’s Word to know what truth is, based upon the Scriptures. We must be totally devoted to Christ. We should love what He loves and hate what He hates. This devotion helps us recognize what He deems as false. Scripture clearly warns the church of a time when deception would be widespread. “For false Christs shall arise, and false prophets, and will do wonderful miracles so that if it were possible, even God’s chosen ones would be deceived” (Matt. 24:24, Living Bible TLB).

Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.

(Psalm. 25:5

Apostle Paul instructions to Timothy “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” (1 Tim. 4:1,TLB emphasis mine). He also warned Timothy of the dangers of the last days. In turn, he warned the church that difficult times were ahead. “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!” (2 Tim. 3:1-5 NLT ). He goes on to say, “But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived (v. 13).

The number one weapon the Satan deploys in the last days is deception. Revelation 12:9 describes Satan’s activity as being a deceiver of the whole world. “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him (Rev. 12:9 NLT).

The lack of discernment by professing Christians has led them down a harmful path. This path is not only hurting themselves. It is also hurting the Church’s witness. The Church is called to be about the Father’s business of reconciliation. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation as though Christ was in the world reconciling mankind unto Himself. “And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Cor. 5:18-21 NLT).

This is the message of the gospel of the Kingdom. God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ. He was not counting people’s sins against them. This how we are to make disciples of all nations as commissioned in Matthew 28:19-20. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments is everlasting.

Psalm 119:60

David understood that “disgrace would come to those who try to deceive others.” That is why he prayed for God to show him His ways. He wanted God to teach him His paths (Ps, 25:3). People, including Christians, are being deceived every day because they do not know God’s ways nor His Word. The ability to discern truth from error is the path that leads to life. “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever” (Ps. 16:11 emphasis mine).

My prayer for you today as God’s people He will give you discernment to discern good from evil at this time in human history ( ‘…for I am your servant; therefore give me common sense to apply your rules to everything I do (Ps. 119:125 TLB).

Blessings,

Minister A. Francine Green

Notes:

All Scripture references are taken from the New Living Translation (NLT) and Living Bible (TLB) unless otherwise noted.