The way to know just how close we are getting to the last days is to see just how great the deception is in leading the masses away from God. The greatest deceptions are the most subtle of deceptions that can appear good but stand in opposition to God.
The wisdom of men will tickle your ears, but the words of Christ will kick you in the stomach. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4 NKJV).
The first deception from the devil was against Eve. He asked her a question, “Is that really what God said?” If we don’t know what God said, or we don’t stand on His Word as an unchangeable truth, the devil can deceive us as well.
Just because it sounds good doesn’t mean it’s right. “Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, ‘Can it really be that God has said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?’” (Genesis 3:1 AMP).
To this day, the devil continues to use the same tactic. The reason the tactic remains the same is that people still fall for it. Most people, believers or not, don’t really know what God has said nor understand the deeper meanings in the Word.
It is by the commentary of the Holy Spirit that we can understand the Word of God. “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13 NKJV).
We have the Word of God, but most do not study the Word of God so that they may be protected from the deceptions of the enemy. If you don’t know the plans of the enemy, then you are far more likely to be overcome by the enemy’s plans.
If you’re not standing on the Word of God, then you’re sinking in the sands of your delusion. Jesus taught, “But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the wind blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed — and its collapse was horrendous!” (Matthew 7:26-27 CJB).
The deception is hidden in the impure mixture. It is where we take the wisdom of God and sprinkle in a little wisdom of man, which, when mixed together, may sound good to man but stands in opposition to God. We need purity more than popularity.
If you water down the truth of God to make it easier for people to swallow, then you’re mixing in the lies of hell, and you’re leading people in the wrong direction. “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:5-6 MEV).
The best way to protect yourself from a lie is to be immersed in the truth. God’s Word is truth, and everything else is suspect. If you’re not in the Word, then the Word is not in you. The more you mix in with the Word, the less pure it will be in your life.
The more mixture you have, the less pure it will be. This is as true of ingredients on earth as of those in the spiritual realm. Read the Word of God and let it fill you richly with its pure and holy righteousness. Always be careful with anything you mix in with the Word of God lest it become impure. “Like newborn babies, long for the pure [spiritual] milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2 NASB).
You don’t need to be a scholar, but only a child who believes what they’re told by their Father. When God makes a promise, He keeps a promise. When the Word sets down a truth, it will always be the truth. The Word will stand forever; the rest will not.
Things may have changed on earth, but God’s Word stands forever. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8 NKJV).
The world is peddling deceptions at an increasing rate that are deceiving the elect to a degree never seen before. Churches are being consumed by the lies as they profess they are speaking in truth, and the devil has never been more pleased.
The truth may hurt, but the lie will kill you. “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die’” (Genesis 3:4 NKJV).
God is a God of order. The devil is a devil of disorder. God establishes what is true and right. The devil will always try to twist and distort God’s design, turning everything right into wrong and everything good into evil. God is a Creator. The devil is a distorter and a destroyer.
Often, those who preach that God is not the author of confusion do so to claim that they are the ones correct in a situation. They argue against confusion with confusion. “God [who is the source of their prophesying] is not a God of confusion and disorder but of peace and order…” (1 Corinthians 14:33 AMP).
What is original from God is what the devil will try to counterfeit. It is here that even the elect will be deceived, because they don’t know the original in order to discern the counterfeit. Even in the church, we hear more counterfeit being taught than the original.
You must know the authentic in order to discern the counterfeit. “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world” (1 John 4:1 NLT).
What can you do? Read your Bible. How can you discern the lie? Know the truth. How can you keep the mixture away? Staying in the pure Word of God. How do you know if you are being deceived? If the message is counter to the Word of God.
Some of the worst interpretations of God’s Word occur by the intellect of man, void of the Spirit of God. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you” (John 16:13-14 NIV).
Now more than ever, we need to be led by the Holy Spirit. It’s not the blatant lies and evil that will take the Christian out, but the subtle lies that have an appearance of good and help you to remain on good terms with those in the world.
A man cannot see himself with his own eyes, but only in a reflection. There is no mountain taller or steeper to ascend than that of your own self-delusion. This is why you struggle to change, because you try on your own, and in yourself have a deceitful counselor. The world says look inward and save yourself. The Lord says, “Look to Me, and be saved…” (Isaiah 45:22 NKJV). The “self-help” mentality is the devil’s subtle strategy to make yourself your own worst enemy. The Lord Jesus never said, “you’re on your own,” rather, “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4 NKJV).
Blessings to you always,
Paul Balius
Amen
Your paragraph stating that deception is hidden in impure mixture is spot on. Wisdom in it’s God ordained form is pure, holy, noble and always righteous. The wisdom of man is rooted in the desires of the flesh and pride of life. This morning after reading this posting I felt a prompting to look up a church body that I was Holy Spirit directed to leave 15 years ago. They have entered into the grossest of errors in the name of love and inclusion. The fruit of mixture produces poison. The pure and spotless bride of Christ does not mix man’s wisdom in with the clear written wisdom of God as found in His Word.
It is so sad to see the deep errors in the church whereby they become more like the world thinking they will reach more of the world, when in fact they are leading the flock astray and will get the harshest of judgments of all.