Deception

My roommate in Bible school told of a situation that happened to a family living in the Boston area in the late 70’s. One day their car was stolen from in front of their home but was returned later with an apologetic note on windshield explaining that they needed to use the car for an emergency and tickets to the Boston Bruins hockey game. At this time the Boston Bruins were the hottest hockey team in the NHL so tickets to their home games were at a premium. The family was upset that their car had been stolen yet found it easy to forgive the thieves when the note and tickets were given to them. A kind hearted thief is what they thought they were dealing with. They went to the hockey game and enjoyed it and when they came home they found their house had been robbed of almost everything!!! The thieves had returned, knowing that no one would be home.
Thieves and con artists always try to take advantage of the good will of people. They know how to present themselves in a way that is easy for the average person to be deceived. Deception is one of the primary tools the enemy, Satan, uses to get at God’s people. He began using this tactic immediately with Adam and Eve in the garden when he deceived them into believing that they would be like God if they ate of the forbidden fruit. Jesus said that Satan was a liar from the beginning (John 8:44). It seems that the enemy is increasing his deception in these days when times are difficult for many people and they are looking for easy, quick solutions to their problems.
We often let our guard down and don’t check things out thoroughly before we make decisions when we are under pressure and all too often get burned in a bad deal. In our time of need we can misinterpret what seems to be an answer to our situation when in reality it is a ploy of the enemy to rip us off. As believers we want to be trusting of people, that they have good intentions and really want to help but the enemy uses this against us as well. Recently in the missionary community a couple advertized the availability of a rental van for a reasonable price with the stipulation that half of the money be deposited prior to the date of renting to secure the vehicle. It all sounded legitimate until there was no further communication with the couple after the deposit was made. The enemy is sly and he takes advantage of our needs by setting up false ways to meet them. We have to be careful, to be wise as serpents, to be sober and alert, to check out the spirit of the person, to obey the check we feel in our spirit when something is happening that does not sit well with us.
Last week I felt impressed to check my bank account on line. I discovered that the day before someone had used my credit card to make 2 purchases. I immediately called my bank to cancel the card and request reimbursement for unauthorized purchases. I thank God for giving me the idea to check my account and realize it was the Holy Spirit working in me that alerted me to the situation.
We have to be especially careful in these days to do what we know to do to protect what God has given us materially and spiritually. The enemy will try to rob, kill and destroy. He has a host of demons as well as people who are under his control that are more than willing to carry out his mission. It is his mission and you and I are his primary targets. He wants to take us out because he knows that we a threat to him.
God does not want us to walk around in a state of fear and paranoia but we do need to be aware of what is happening around us and be prepared to take action. Physical or material things that are robbed can easily be replaced but the attacks on our beliefs are more devastating and can have life long implications. I believe the enemy wants more than anything to destroy our Christian beliefs and replace them with lies, doubts and fear. How can we stand against his attacks so that we do not fall prey to his deceptions?
The first line of attack of the enemy is the character and nature of God. Satan attacked the character and nature of God in his temptation of Adam and Eve. He made them question the nature of God’s goodness and that God lied to them and did not have their best interests in mind. They were being short changed by God, he was holding back something they should have. This was the thought he communicated to them. Both of them should have responded to the temptation by stating that God was good and they did not need anything beyond what he had made available to them especially when it was something that he had specifically forbidden. God by his nature is good and all that he does and will ever do for us is always for our good. He has no evil in him and no intention of ever doing anything that will harm us. All of his commands are always for our best. His restrictions are based on his infinite knowledge of what will happen to us if we do not obey them. It is his goodness and love for us that causes him to warn us of the consequences of our action. He is never cheating us out of anything but is always doing what will be in our best interests and brings us the most joy and satisfaction in life. The enemy always wants to take something good and find ways for us to experience it using ways that God has not sanctioned. We can see many examples of this in how people live today. One area is relationships with the opposite sex. Marrying the wrong person is one of tactics of the enemy to make you less effective in your witness for the Lord. It also almost always guarantees problems because of the differences in beliefs. Marriage has enough adjustments just with the differences in male and female and to add even more problems with belief systems will often push a couple over the edge. Marry well, find a mate who is equally yoked, responsible, faithful, committed to you and most of all committed to the Lord. A great temptation and lie of the enemy today is that sex outside of marriage is not a problem. Sex before marriage is prevalent but has profoundly negative results spiritually, emotionally, physically and socially. It destroys the intimacy that God intended a married couple to experience. Even among married couples fidelity to one’s spouse is not important. Your pleasure is more important than your commitment to God’s word and your commitment to your marriage vows. Many people are choosing to live together without being legally married. In Sweden statistics show that 80% of the children are born to couples who are not married. Many would say that the legal piece of paper does not mean anything but that is a lie. It serves to bind a couple together and is a foundation that must be established in order for a true relationship to be built. Many do not honor the legal commitment yet it does serve both a spiritual and legal purpose. Another area regarding relationships is how quickly couples will break up in search for the perfect mate. A friend wrote me recently and said her niece was on her 7th marriage. I am not sure what happened in the previous 6 but something is not right in her selection process or she has some major flaws that need to be addressed. The lie of the enemy is that there is always someone better for you and it is in your best interests to leave your present relationship to find the one that will truly satisfy you. God’s intention was for marriage to be forever because he knew that this would be the best for all parties involved including the children. Marriage is God’s gift to mankind; it is something very good when couples honor their commitments to each other and to God. But mankind has diminished its value and in many cases has discarded it as something unnecessary. God by his nature is faithful and we can all be thankful that he does not abandon us or view us as disposable or replaceable. Our relationship with others must reflect how God relates to us in all of his goodness. When we truly know God’s character and nature, we can accept what he has commanded us to do and demonstrated through Christ’s example as they way we should live and relate to one another. To know God is our first and most important pursuit in our life. We must be filled with the knowledge of God so we will know his ways, his thoughts. Col 1:9,10
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God
Are you seeking to know him through his word and through good teaching? If not you are setting yourself up to be deceived by the lies of the enemy because you have nothing in your belief system that will act as a shield of protection to identify the lies. It is critical that you have solid, unshakeable beliefs that accurately reflect the character and nature of God. This is our most important line of defense because it gives us a basis upon which we can examine every philosophy and belief system that is presented. Many people base their actions on their feelings instead of their beliefs. We have to apply our minds to seek and know the truth about God or we will fall into the deceptions of the enemy.
This leads to the second deception of the enemy that is propagated among many people. This deception is that it does not matter what you believe about God, what religion you chose to believe as they all lead to God. The destination is the same, but the road to get there is different. Truth is relative, what you believe is good for you and what I believe is good for me. Is this possible? Can two differing belief systems both be true? Logic and reasoning defy this argument. If there are two or more statements that claim to be true they cannot be contradictory and still be true. Either one statement is correct or they all are false. You cannot have both of them be true. There is only one Truth and as believers in Christ we believe what he claimed about himself when he stated, “I am the Way the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” His statement was exclusive, there was no other options given nor was it left to discussion. It was a statement of fact that we can choose to believe or deny.
Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world not through conversions but through the increase in birthrate among Muslim followers. Let’s look at some of the beliefs of the Muslims in contrast to Christian beliefs. The following information was gleaned from the book, “Unveiling Islam” written by Ergun and Emet Caner, former Muslims who are now believers in Christ.
Christians believe that God is love and that he loves people so much that he sent Christ to the world to die for their sins. (John 3:16, Rom. 5:8) God hates sin yet loves us even in our sinful state.
The Quran teaches that God hates transgressors (sura 2:190)and only loves those who first love him and do good works (sura 3:31).
Christians believe that God sent Jesus to be the Truth, to die for men and reconcile them to God (John 14:6)
Muslims believe that Allah sent prophets to proclaim the truth.
Christians believe that salvation is a gift from God given by his grace through faith in the work of Christ (Eph. 2:8,9)
Muslims believe that salvation is only earned through good works but even then there is no guarantee of such. On the Day of Judgment you will know if you made it into heaven.
Christians believe that God does not desire any to perish but all will come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Peter 3:9.
Muslims believe that Allah leads astray those whom he pleases and guides whom he pleases and he is exalted in power, full of wisdom. (sura 14:4) This is a fatalistic belief that events are fixed and unchangeable. Allah will send to hell or heaven those whom he pleases. There is no security for Muslims. Mohammed himself did not know if he would receive salvation. Even though you may have done many good works, your salvation is dependent upon the will of Allah.
Christianity teaches that one can have a personal relationship with God that is initiated by God’s love. God is infinite yet personal. He cares for his people, communicates with them and acts in love toward them.
Islam teaches that the believer must first love God in order for God to love them. When a believer loves God they expect him to pay them back in some form of prosperity (sura 24:51-55). A personal relationship with God based on love is not possible. Everything done is base on duty and desire to be given a payback.
There are many other differences in the beliefs between Christians and Muslims. They both cannot be true. Either Christ is the Truth or the teachings of Mohammed are the truth.
The testimony of Ergun Caner describes the conflict he saw in his Muslim beliefs that Jesus was just a prophet and the teachings of the Bible that Jesus was the Son of God.
“After hearing about the saving grace of Jesus Christ, it became evident to Ergun that Islam was wrong about one seminal thing: there was no way that Jesus could have been a prophet, as Islam taught. Jesus was arrested and imprisoned on a dual indictment-the Romans held Him for insurrection, and the Jewish leaders convicted Him of blasphemy, that is, claiming to be God. Islam, in order to resolve the matter of the Resurrection, teaches that Judas, not Jesus, was crucified, allowing Jesus to appear three days later. Yet even that bit of misinformation doesn’t confront the larger issue of Jesus’ deity. Even extra biblical history notes that Jesus claimed to be God, an act of blasphemy, which was a capital offense.
To borrow a motif from the Christian philosopher C.S. Lewis, if Jesus claimed to be God, He couldn’t have been a prophet. He could have been insane, like those who wander the streets assuming they are divine. But if He were insane, He couldn’t have been one of Allah’s prophets. He could have been a fraud, deceiving people, but, again, an impostor and charlatan couldn’t have been a prophet of Allah. Ergun faced one other option: Jesus was who He said He was Immanuel-God with us.” P. 18
A third tactic of the enemy is to deceive people into thinking that they really cannot know the truth. He has created a multitude of religious beliefs in order to utterly confuse people and keep them from embracing the truth that is found exclusively in Jesus Christ. The question many people have is how can I know the truth? With all the competing philosophies it is understandable that people are confused. God understood this and He has made it easy for us to know the truth. The gospel message is simple, straightforward and understandable. There are no secret formulas, special underwear you have to wear, incantations or ceremonies that only a few privileged people know that will reveal truth. God sent Jesus to be his Truth revealed in the flesh to mankind. When we know Christ we know the Truth because he is the embodiment of the Truth. In his love for mankind he has also given us the Bible that as Francis Schaffer said is “True Truth but not exhaustive truth.” God has also given us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. He wants us to know the truth and be grounded in it. True Christianity offers freedom while other religious beliefs all have some type of bondage the holds people down and keeps them under the power of another person or demonic force. When we study the life of Christ we see the Truth God wants us to know and when we know the truth we are set free. We no longer have to seek for anything else because there is nothing else! We have to be willing to confront people with the truth and ask them hard questions about what they believe. The uncertainty and contradictions of their beliefs must be brought into the light of the truth so they can compare what they believe with the truth. Many people are not willing to examine what they believe and they are quick to reject Christianity without having any proof to support their claims. There are several tests that should be applied to help people evaluate what they believe and if they are willing to take the time and energy to honestly look at these areas it will help them determine the validity of what they believe.
1. What they believe must not have logical inconsistencies. If there are contradictions in their beliefs it must be considered false. One example of this is people who believe that there is no sin or imperfections in heaven yet claim that even though they are not perfect they are good enough to enter heaven thus making heaven imperfect.
2. The things that are real that are understood through our conscious daily experiences, scientific investigation and reported to us through the experiences of others must be evaluated to determine if it is true and if it is found to be true, it must become part of their belief system. If it is not incorporated into their beliefs their belief system is false. An example of this is the evidence of the resurrection of Christ if it is believed to be true, must be incorporated into their belief system. It cannot be rejected because they do not like the implications of this fact.
3. They should be able to explain four important questions: 1. Origin: where did I come from? 2. What is my purpose in life? 3. How do I determine what is right or wrong? 4. What happens to me after I die?
4. What they believe must give a sense of satisfaction, nothing is left out and what they believe is livable for everyone.
 
The battle ground is in the mind but the forces behind the battle are found in the demonic realm, the principalities and powers that rule (Eph. 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places).
2 Cor. 10:3-6
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

We must pray against the lies and deception of the enemy while at the same time proclaiming the truth of the gospel message. The Holy Spirit can take our words of truth spoken in love and lift off the veil of darkness that keeps people from coming to the knowledge of the truth. The devil’s lies and deception can be revealed and destroyed. His power over people can be broken.