Deception is a Sign of the End of the Age :: by Tom Steward

“What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?”
(Matthew 24:3).

  1. Jesus warned us not to be deceived. Matthew 24:4 “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.”
  2. Deception is mocking God concerning His truth. Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
  3. Self-deception is believing a lie. Voluntarily forgetting God’s revealed truth is self-deception. James 1:23-24 “For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.”
  4. The enemies of God are deceivers.
    1. All mankind who are apart from the saving influence of the LORD Jesus Christ are part of this cycle of deception. 2 Timothy 3:13 “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”
    2. Obviously, Satan and his demons are deceivers. Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
    3. The Antichrist will claim that he — and NOT Jesus — IS the Christ. Matthew 24:5 “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
    4. The Antichrist knows that whoever lays claim to the name of Christ is actually claiming to be THE ONLY TRUE GOD. For this reason, he will sit in the rebuilt Jewish temple on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, demanding all to worship him. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin 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, showing himself that he is God.”
    5. The false prophet will deceive the world by directing the worship of Antichrist. Revelation 13:14 “And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.”
  5. Even the LORD God Almighty has promised to deceive all but the elect.
    1. The deceiving and seduction of the elect (those who are appointed to salvation) will not ultimately be possible. Mark 13:22 “For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” God will Himself be in the process of preparing the final judgment of those who have rejected His Son as the Only True God and Saviour. Ezekiel 14:9 “And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel.”
    2. Believing the “lying wonders” of Satan (demons physically manifesting themselves as the stronger and smarter aliens who have been here from the beginning and can save us from ourselves or destroy us if we do not cooperate with the Paradigm Shift evolving all man into this higher Christ consciousness of becoming God), causes unelect man to love not the truth of the Gospel or believe the warnings of God’s prophecy — making them incapable of being saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the Truth, that they might be saved.”
    3. God’s book of judgment will close with the final purging of all the earth of those who reject the Truth and have pleasure in unrighteousness. Yes, there is right and wrong. That is what this is all about! God’s strong delusion will cause their wickedness to be full so that their final damnation will be complete. 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the Truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”