Don't Be Deceived!

⁵And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: ⁶For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

-Mark 13:5-6 (KJV)

Jesus was teaching His disciples about the end times, about our time right now. He was warning them about false teachers. I think are more false teachers today than there has ever been. I belong to several Christian groups on Facebook, and one thing I see that is becoming more and more common in these groups are the influence of Islamic teaching on Christian boards. And the worst part: Christians are embracing this teaching. Friends, many are being deceived. The Gospel has been so watered down, that many don't even know why Christians are Christians. Let's look at the warning Jesus has given.

Verse 5 says, "And Jesus answering them began to say, 'Take heed lest any man deceive you:" Take heed, in other words, Be careful, take caution. This is a warning. Watch what's happening around you, otherwise, you may be deceived, you may be led astray. Jesus has invested time in these men, teaching them the things of the Kingdom. Of all the people who followed Jesus through the years, they should be the last ones that would be led astray. Look at verse 6, "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." Even today, many people come claiming Christ, but their message is far from the truth. And many people are following their teaching, forsaking the true Word of God, because they don't know the true Word of God. 

Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 "¹Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, ²That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. ³Let 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;" The church at Thessalonica was deceived by a false teacher that the rapture had already occurred. They were fearful that they missed it.The teaching of that false teacher caused them to stumble in their walk.  Look at what Paul said to them. "That ye be not so soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." Their faith was shaken at the false teaching, they were led astray by false teaching. In verse 3 Paul states, "Let no man deceive you by any means:" Again, we must not be led astray by false teaching. How can we determine what is a true and a false teaching?

We read in John 4:1-6, "¹Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. ²Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: ³And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. ⁴Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. ⁵They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. ⁶We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." We must test the spirits, we must test what these false teachers are teaching. Does it coincide with what the Bible says? If not, then we must stay away from their teaching. But, we must know what is found in the Bible. We must know what the Word of God says. If you don't spend time in the Word, studying it, reading it, then how will you be able to stand up against the false teaching? When was the last time you actually read the Bible on your own? Think About It. 

Adam & Eve

³⁷ Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

-Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT)

This week, we have been looking at the topic of sin. What sin is and why we must rid it from our lives. In this section of Scripture, Jesus is answering a question about the most important commandment. In other words, the person asking wanted to follow the most important thing, wanted to keep the most important law. 

Verse 37-39 shows His response, "Jesus replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.'" It's simple. We must love God and love others. What I want us to focus on, for our study of sin, is found in verse 40. "The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." To live the life Jesus wants us to live, we must love God (truly love God) and love others. If we don't love God, and don't love others, then that is sin. Look at the words of Jesus, "the ENTIRE (emphasis mine) law and ALL (emphasis mine) the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." The entire Law of God, as found in the Old Testament, is based on love. Love for God, and love for others. To fulfill the requirements of the Law means that you must love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love others the way you love yourself. Sounds simple. The sad fact of the matter is this, we can't do it on our own. For the remainder of the week, we'll look at examples from Scripture and see where we fail.

Let's start right at the beginning. We read this in Genesis 3:1-7, "¹ The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” ² “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. ³ “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” ⁴ “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. ⁵ “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” ⁶ The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. ⁷ At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves."  We read the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. The serpent is going to trick them, and prove that they really don't love God with all their heart, soul and mind. The serpent first challenges the command of God. "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit fro any of the trees in the garden?" The serpent is challenging the command God gave them, he is trying to make them doubt the commands of God, like God is hiding something from them. Verse 3 says, "It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, 'You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do you will die.'" The serpent challenged the command that God gave them. Eve didn't have a clear understanding of the command, because she added to the command of God. We read in Genesis 2:16-17, "¹⁶ But the LORD God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— ¹⁷except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” God never told them not to touch it, He said not to eat of it. They were to care for the garden, so they would be touching that tree as they tended to the garden. 

The serpent tricked them into thinking that, by keeping them from eating of the forbidden tree, God was trying to hide things from them. Look at verses 4-5, "⁴ “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. ⁵ “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” The serpent challenges God's command. Verse 6 says, "The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too." They broke the command of God. The serpent challenged the command, they didn't really know the command, and they fell for the deceitfulness of the serpent. 

Friends, what can we take away from the story? First off, if Adam and Eve had actually loved God with all their heart, with all their soul and with all their mind, they would have kept His command. The problem was, the command never got into their mind. They didn't know the command, and when challenged, they couldn't keep it. Do you know the things written in the Word? The only way to truly love God with all of yourself is to know the commands and keep them. That is how we show our love for Jesus, and our love for God. I'll finish today's post with these words of Jesus from John 14:23-24, "²³ Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. ²⁴ Anyone who doesn't love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me." Think About It.