[0:00] Let's turn to Matthew 24. You know, this morning when the news came, it was devastating.! You know, this morning when the news came, it was devastating.
[0:15] ! And in preparing to bring a message today, my thoughts are devastating. And in preparing to bring a message today, my thoughts are very scattered, but I believe that the Lord has a plan for us today. And it's quite different from where I had been before.
[0:41] You know, we've heard about, we've heard warnings about deception, and I want to look at this further today. You know, Jesus, when he was there with the disciples at the temple, and he told them that this temple will be destroyed someday.
[1:03] They asked him, tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?
[1:17] And I believe that in their minds, if this temple will be destroyed, that's going to be the end of everything, is it not? Well, how did Jesus answer them? And I think that this is something that we must take to heart today.
[1:39] Jesus said, take heed that no man deceive you. Take heed that no man deceive you. In Ephesians, there's a phrase that says, they lie in wait to deceive.
[1:58] They lie in wait to deceive. Take heed that no man deceive you. We live in that day of deception. We live in that day when false doctrine is rampant.
[2:11] We live in the day when false teachers and false prophets are all over. And they will bring an easy gospel.
[2:22] They will bring a gospel without a cross. They will do whatever they can to deceive the true children of God.
[2:33] Why? Because they are not walking with the Lord. They are deceived themselves. And they have become, you know, a false prophet, a false teacher is a tool of the devil.
[2:53] That's what he becomes. For many shall come, in verse 5, in my name, saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many.
[3:05] Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
[3:19] Many will be offended and will betray one another. Verse 11. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
[3:34] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Iniquity abounds in our day. Are we getting used to the dark?
[3:46] Are we beginning to allow things that used to be in the other kingdom, that used to be off bounds for us?
[3:56] Are we making allowance for them now? You know, I believe that's what he's saying here. Because iniquity shall abound.
[4:09] You know, our thinking, our human mind, it wants to make things relevant. You know, so the world is in a terrible place.
[4:24] And as long as I'm a distance back from that, I'm okay. No, it's not. We must be led by the Spirit of God. We must be full of the Spirit of God.
[4:36] And walk with our Lord Jesus. The only thing that will keep us from deception is if we have a heart full of love for our Savior.
[4:50] If we do not love Him more than anything else, we are ripe for deception. In verse 22, he says, And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.
[5:10] Now notice this. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. And in verse 24, there shall... Well, let's just keep reading verse 23.
[5:21] Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
[5:45] I believe that if there's an idol in your heart that is influencing you, and is, you know, in something that you are not willing to lay down, something you're not willing to renounce and get rid of, if there's anything in your life that is holding you back from going 100% with the Lord Jesus, you will be deceived.
[6:15] Actually, you are already. Because you think you can allow that. You can leave that in your life, and everything will be okay.
[6:26] It will not be okay. It will draw you further and further away. It will take you places you never dreamed of. And it starts in a very slow way.
[6:41] You know, the devil, he doesn't necessarily want you out in the gutter of sin tomorrow. But if he can just get you to compromise in one little area, today he's happy.
[6:55] Just one little step at a time, he will draw you away, if he at all can. If he at all can, he will.
[7:07] If there's something in your heart, if there's something in your heart that is keeping you from 100% commitment to the Lord Jesus, it is an idol, and it will draw you away.
[7:26] How will we escape deception? How will we? How can we? We live in that day.
[7:37] We live in that day that Jesus was prophesying about. We live in that day when there's many false prophets.
[7:48] There's many out there that claim to be right and claim to be true, but yet they compromise. They live a compromised life.
[8:00] In 2 Timothy, in 2 Timothy, in chapter 3, it says, This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come.
[8:13] And I believe we are living in those perilous times. We are living in the times that Paul was prophesying about. Very perilous times.
[8:25] We're living in them. Oh, you might say, Oh, we live in a land of freedom, and we can worship God however we desire.
[8:35] There's other countries in this world where it's perilous, and they're killing Christians. And that is also true. But I believe that the deception in this country is probably more of a danger to the true church than the persecution where they're killing Christians.
[8:57] Now what brings these perilous times? Men shall be lovers of their own selves. You know, when men love their own self more than they love God, that brings a perilous situation into your life.
[9:14] When you think you know better than God, when you think you know better, and the Holy Ghost speaks to you, and you just push them off, and you push them aside, that is a perilous situation.
[9:27] 2 Timothy 3, verse 2. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.
[10:06] From such, turn away. You know, this is quite a list. It's quite a list, and most of it, you know, we would pass over and think that, you know, it has nothing to do with us.
[10:20] But, but, how many of us have struggled with pride? You know, I believe that's, that's the first area, many times, where the devil will trip you, where he will trip me, is in pride, and thinking of ourselves higher than we ought to think.
[10:41] And that pride, that pride leads to, well, you know, I, what I think is, is better than what he says. And then also, what I think, well, you know, you know, the Holy Spirit speaks, and he tries to bring conviction, and show me where I'm, maybe thinking wrong, or going wrong, but, in my pride, I push it away.
[11:12] Lovers of their own selves, all this list, is something that comes from love of self. It comes from a selfish life, a selfish heart, a heart where I is on the throne, and not Jesus.
[11:31] You know, a lot of these people, they will profess to be Christians, they will profess that Christ is on the throne in their heart, but yet, self is on the throne.
[11:45] And it leads to despising those that are good.
[11:58] Despising those that are living right. Despising those that live for the Lord Jesus. Why?
[12:09] Because their very life brings conviction. Now here's another one, that I believe is very, very rampant in our country today.
[12:27] lovers of pleasures, lovers of pleasures, more than lovers of God. Isn't that what we see in our land today? Pleasure, this country, people are driven by, by pleasure, and the need for pleasure.
[12:45] You know, I'm not saying there's something wrong with, with taking a vacation, or, or doing something for yourself, or, going hunting, or whatever it might be.
[12:58] But when that is a driving thing in your life, it's wrong. When it becomes an idol in your heart, it's wrong. And when we allow these things into our life, what happens?
[13:22] Well, the Holy Spirit is not directing. The power of the Spirit is not there. And all we have left is what verse 5 says, a form of godliness.
[13:36] We might have a form. But if there's no life, if the life of Christ is not there, it's only a form.
[13:48] And it's a mockery. It's a mockery to our God. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such, turn away.
[14:02] From such, turn away. Turn away from, from those that are that way. Turn away from those that, that are living that life. You know, God is not mocked.
[14:19] Whatsoever a man soweth, that will he also reap. You know, there's coming a day, where there's coming a day, when the news will spread out, that, that I have died.
[14:33] And I've gone into eternity. The day is coming, when the news will hit, will hit the, the internet, that you have died. your name will go far and wide.
[14:45] You've died, and you've gone on to eternity. And as the tree falls, that's where it lays. If you're living for God, praise God.
[14:59] But if you've allowed idols in your heart, it will be too late. It will be too late. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that will he also reap.
[15:15] In Galatians, we have that verse. In Galatians 6, verse 7, Be not deceived. You know, we live in a day, when deception is rampant.
[15:29] We have all the false prophets, and the false teachers, but then we also have, many people deceiving themselves, like James says, we hear the word, but we do not allow it to change us.
[15:44] And we deceive ourselves, but here he says, in verse 7, he says, Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
[15:56] For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. But what he's, but he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit, reap life everlasting.
[16:10] Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. He that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit, reap life everlasting.
[16:23] You know, my mind went to Balaam. You know, in one of his prophecies there, in one of his chants there, with Balak, and about Israel, he said, you know, and let my latter end be like his.
[16:43] You know, if we want our, our ending of our life, to, to, to be with God in heaven, then we must live that way.
[16:56] We must live that way. We must sow to the spirit. We must live in the spirit. And we sow to the flesh. There's no way we will reap the spirit.
[17:07] No. God is not mocked. There's nothing hidden from him.
[17:19] You know, we, we, we hide things from people. We hide things from the church. We hide things from the preachers. But you can't hide anything from God.
[17:32] He's not mocked. He knows. He knows the heart. He knows the very thoughts. and intents of the heart. Like Hebrews says, what is that verse?
[17:43] It says, for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
[18:02] You know, God knows the very thoughts and the very intents of your heart. He knows, he knows your motives and the things that you do. He knows why you did what you did yesterday.
[18:15] He knows why you said what you said. Yes, he does. He knows the very motive behind it. He knows our heart. He searches our heart.
[18:27] And he tries the reins to see what is driving you, to see what is in your heart, to see whether your heart is trusting in him and walking with him, or if you're following your own thinking, your own self.
[18:46] there's a day of judgment coming. You know, whether we, whether we live until the coming of our Lord Jesus, or whether we die before that, there's a day of judgment coming.
[19:12] It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this, the judgment. You have an appointment. You have an appointment, and you will be there.
[19:27] You won't make an excuse. You won't say, well, I had to go over there. I had to go do something else. No, you will be there on that day. You will be there on that day.
[19:38] Some of this is not very popular in our day.
[19:50] But turn to 2 Thessalonians, and I want to read a few verses here. He begins, and he's talking about, about their faith and their charity one toward another, and then their persecutions and tribulations that they endure.
[20:20] This was a persecuted church. Then verse 5, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer.
[20:37] These people were suffering for the kingdom of God. But notice these next verses, saying it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.
[20:53] And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day.
[21:32] Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power.
[21:47] You know, might we be find worthy in that day? But notice, let's go back and look at this.
[21:58] You know, yes, he's talking about those that are persecuting the Thessalonian church, but it doesn't stop with those people. He goes on, he says, that the Lord Jesus is coming back.
[22:15] He will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, and in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those that know not God.
[22:28] And that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, there's a day coming when our holy God will be taking vengeance upon this ungodly world.
[22:48] The vengeance of God will come upon those that don't know him. And it will also come upon those that don't obey him.
[23:07] And there will be no escape in that day. When the day of grace is no longer, it's over.
[23:20] How will we escape if we neglect so great salvation? That verse in Hebrews, you know, it's so, he asks that question, but he doesn't even bother to answer it because it's so plain.
[23:42] There is no escape. If we neglect salvation in the day of grace, it's over and there's no escape. There is no escape.
[23:53] Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that will he also reap. There's a day coming. There's a day coming when the wrath of God will be poured out upon, upon this world.
[24:09] where will we be in that day? Luke says, there is nothing secret that will not be made manifest.
[24:27] All the secrets of the heart, they will be manifest. They will come out for all to see. You know, how is our heart?
[24:44] God allows us to have what our heart desires. If our heart is after him, he will come. If we draw an eye to him, he will draw an eye to us.
[24:57] But if we reject him, if we push him aside, he will allow us to have what our heart desires. Revelation, he says over and over again, he that has an ear to hear, let him hear.
[25:20] Are we hearing today? Are we, you know, in Luke, I believe it is, Jesus, there in the parable, he said, you know, these people, they, they don't hear.
[25:36] I can talk, and they don't hear. Why not? Because their heart is not to hear. Their heart is after self.
[25:46] Their heart is, is, is, is so bound up in, in their own self, in their own religion, in their own way, in their own thinking, that they cannot hear the truth.
[26:03] The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit. In Romans, it says, the carnal mind is enmity. It is the enemy of God.
[26:15] Our own thinking, you know, and I believe this is the greatest danger of our day, is, is men, you know, maybe sometimes they're walking in the spirit, but then, then, next, they're, they're walking in self, and they're making decisions in their own, in their own carnal mind, and they're following after the flesh.
[26:41] A mixture. God will not accept the mixture. remember, remember, remember, remember, the sons of Aaron, that, that offered, an offering, that God had not commanded.
[27:06] Actually, it commanded against doing that. And the fire of God came and devoured them. Why? Because they were offering something that they had thought of.
[27:21] Something that their own mind had concocted. Instead of what God had commanded. You know, when we replace the commanding, the commandment of God with our own thinking, it will bring death.
[27:40] It will bring death. Psalm 66 says, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
[27:52] If I regard iniquity, if there's something that, that, that I hold higher than, than the commandment of God, or the word of God, the Lord will not hear me.
[28:07] in Galatians, the apostle Paul said, Though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel, let him be accursed.
[28:28] Let him be accursed. Let me look at that. He says here, in Galatians 1, verse 6, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ, they would pervert the gospel of Christ.
[29:06] You know, isn't that what we see in our day? Men taking this gospel and changing it to fit their lifestyle, to fit what they want to do, to fit how they want to live.
[29:25] Verse 8, But though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
[29:36] As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you, than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
[29:48] you know, God will not compromise.
[30:00] If you have compromised in your heart, you're headed the wrong way. God will not compromise with the devil.
[30:14] and he will not compromise in his church with the enemy, with the world. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
[30:30] He didn't come to compromise with the devil. He didn't come to draw a line and say, well, you know, we'll allow this and we'll allow that.
[30:42] No! That carnal mind, it is enmity with God. Satan controls that carnal mind. That is why we must be led by the Spirit of God.
[30:54] We must be full of the Spirit of God. or we will compromise. We will be led astray.
[31:06] In 2 Thessalonians, in chapter 2. We will not read all of this.
[31:30] We'll read part of it. In verse 3, he says, 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 opposes 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.
[32:04] you know, except the falling away come first. You know, for many centuries, I believe, I believe every generation for many centuries has thought that they're living in that day of the great falling away.
[32:22] And yes, there have been great fallings away in the past, but I believe we're seeing it again. We've seen it in our day.
[32:32] But I believe, yes, it has been an ongoing thing. And I also know that many will say this verse 4 is referring to the Antichrist sitting in a physical temple.
[32:58] and that might be someday. But I believe that we as the temple of God, there's nothing that Satan would like more but to sit on the throne of your heart.
[33:13] To sit on the throne of your heart. We are the temple of the living God. We have the Holy Spirit living within us.
[33:24] If we are walking with him, we've been bought by the blood of Jesus. And it is Satan's greatest desire to sit on that throne where the Lord Jesus is supposed to be in your heart.
[33:44] Where hopefully he is today. If Jesus is not completely on that throne today, please take today to make it so.
[33:55] because if you push off the word of God, if you push off when the Spirit of God speaks to you, the day will come before you know it that Satan will be on that throne.
[34:12] alone. Let's read again in verse 9.
[34:27] Even him who is coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.
[34:39] Now we're talking about a people that are perishing and why did they perish? Let's notice this. Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.
[34:53] You know, do we love the truth more than anything else? Do we love the truth even when it says that I'm wrong?
[35:07] Even when it points out a mistake, an error that I've made. You know, all of us have the tendency to make mistakes.
[35:27] All of us have the tendency to listen to the wrong voice and go the wrong way. that is why we must love the Lord Jesus more than ourselves and anything in this life.
[35:44] We must love the truth. He tells us here that these people perish because they did not receive the love of the truth.
[35:57] They love something else more. They love themselves more. Remember what we read in Timothy that they love themselves.
[36:11] Perilous times come because men are lovers of their own self. They love themselves more than they love the truth. They love themselves more than they love God.
[36:24] They did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved.
[36:36] And for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but at pleasure in unrighteousness.
[36:52] I believe that this strong delusion that overtakes these people is they believe that they are okay.
[37:07] They believe that they're saved. You know there's so many people out there that live a compromised life that live a life in in in contradiction to the word of God.
[37:36] But yet they believe they're saved. They believe they're okay. They believe they're going to go to heaven. And I believe God has allowed it because they've gone their own way.
[37:50] they've chosen to go their own way. And they believe the lie that they are right.
[38:05] But they're wrong. Someday they will find out when our Lord Jesus comes with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God.
[38:25] We must all appear before the judgment seat of God. There we will give an account as to how we lived our life, as to why we did the things we did.
[38:46] Why we rejected the word or why we spread the gospel. You know, there's a whole world out there perishing.
[39:01] What are we doing? How are we living? How are we sharing this gospel? our God, the Lord Jesus, he has commanded us to take this gospel to a lost and a dying world.
[39:22] The night cometh when no man can work. The night is coming. Amen. Amen. The night came for Rachel yesterday.
[39:46] Someday it will come for us. Will we be ready?
[40:00] Or will we have regrets? you know, if there's things that we have left undone, if there's things we know we need to take care of, if there's things that we know are not right, but someday we plan to make it right, today is the day of salvation.
[40:37] we really don't have a promise of tomorrow, but we have this moment. Let's make our calling and election sure.
[40:53] Let's calling and election sure.