I remember hearing this early on in my Christian walk of faith and it was like a speed bump of sorts that I guess was intended to ‘settle me down’ a bit. I’m telling you....I was On-FIRE for a 20-year-old who God in those first two years of my ’new life’ had brought so many transformative changes. God had and was making Himself real to me in so many ways. I was ready at one point to board a plane and move to the jungles of Africa if that was what He had in store for me.
I also remember trying to find that verse in the bible...the one about being ‘too spiritually minded’. I never could find it. You know why?
It’s not in there.
Funny how we hear a lot of those subtle gems that get planted along the way in our psyche thinking they are God’s words. They can be repeated over and over so often they become a part of us. You know....like the one about ‘God helps those who help themselves’. Or another one I address regularly about how we are ‘all God’s children’. We aren’t.
I have also referenced Joseph Goebbels here in times past. He was a renowned Nazi propagandist who is associated with the saying that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will come to accept it as truth. If history was not your strong suit, let me help you out here and tell you the Nazi’s were a bad group of folks and did a lot of bad things back in WWII.
It’s easy for us to look back in history at some of the things people were duped into believing and doing as we shake our heads in disbelief with a hint of judgement telling ourselves that we could have never fallen for that. All the while God looks down at us today and has to be thinking- “Oh, Really?”
For all the external and surface ‘signs’ that many church members like to point to as ‘another sign of Christ’s soon and imminent return’, the one that we see written about more often than anything else in scripture is the widespread deception that would take place. I mean, just look how many times Jesus Himself brought that up in the familiar 24th chapter of Matthew.
The disciples had come to Jesus privately after hearing Him discuss some future events wanting to know “what will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age?”. (3). And the very first thing that rolled off the lips of Jesus were:
“Take heed, that no one deceives you.” (4)
Let me ask you this....If Jesus responded in this manner to those closest to Him, do you think it is at all possible that a disciple...a devoted follower of Jesus could possibly be...deceived? And how does a deceived person know...they are deceived? Would they know? I’m guessing a simple definition as to what it means to be deceived is to believe something that is not true?
He goes on there talking about how ‘many will come in His name...and ‘will deceive many.” (5)
Would you just stop there a moment and consider that aspect. He was not talking about ‘other gods and religions now...He is talking about those who would come in the name of ‘Christ’ to deceive people. Again, He repeats this in vs. 11 warning that ‘many false teachers/prophets will rise up and deceive many.’ This probably falls in line with the warnings He gave in Matt. 7:15-20 regarding ‘ravenous wolves dressed as sheep’. He also offered up some good clues on how to identify them...you might visit that passage here in a bit. And while you are there, go revisit vs. 21-23 again...the one about the guy who is shocked on the day he thought he would enter the eternal kingdom of God only to be told by Jesus that He ‘never knew him’. This...was in spite of so many things this man had done...’in the Name of Jesus’. Apparently, this guy was deceived- and never knew it. (I’m assuming he never knew it.)
Jesus goes on there in chapter 24 repeating the warning of false christs and prophets who would even deceive...”if possible, the very elect”.(24). You know...the ‘chosen’.
Please don’t be offended by this but if you are telling yourself that you could never be deceived...well...I’ll break this to you softly...but you are deceived.
James writes in the first chapter of his letter this warning: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” (1:16)
Brethren...can be deceived.
What is interesting to note here, is that when the writers of the NT warn repeatedly about deception, it often ties in with those who think they are going to heaven, but are not. I know this sends a chill through us for multiple reasons. But again, I’m only pointing out what your bible and my bible tell us. Need an example or two? Try- 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5.
So just how does a person end up being ‘deceived’? Well, somewhere along the way , their minds are corrupted. Remember, that’s what we have touched on the past couple of days...how this ‘mind’ of ours plays in to opening doors for demonic activity and bondage. Our friend in Mark 5 had a mess of demons controlling his life in a bad way. Once Jesus dealt with his ‘spiritual issues’ in ridding him of his demons, the man was back in his ‘right mind’. (15)
We always hear about ‘guarding our hearts’ and for good reason. But do you know how something finds its way in to our hearts? Through our minds. That’s why Paul talks of the need to bring in to captivity every thought to the obedience to Christ’. (2 Cor. 10:5). He knows how quickly our minds can be corrupted. Especially sincere religious people. We are likened to sheep, you know? Not the brightest animal on the farm I am told.
We read in Acts 14:2 that ‘unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren’. How does one’s mind get ‘poisoned’? Usually with a lie. This is why I often point back to Paul’s writing where he expressed fear or concern that our sincere faith could be highjacked. Look at what he compares it to: “in the same manner the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.’ (2 Cor. 11:3)
And it doesn’t take a lot of poison to kill someone you know...if not make them deathly ill. A drop or two is all it seems to take in those movies where they ‘slip something in’ to their drink.
The serpent did that with God’s word...slipped a ‘little something in there’ to twist it around to where Eve believed a lie. But it looked and sounded so good. (Gen. 3). The one thing that makes deception so...deceptive...is there is usually a thread of truth woven through it. Looks good...sounds good...must be good. And when something in our ‘fleshly nature’ wants to jump on the bandwagon and embrace it...that should be the first red flag of warning. You know...It’s ok to watch this show laced with violence and sensuality and greed...it won’t affect me because I’m ‘saved’. So we take it in and then wonder later why we struggle with anger and lust and everything else we filled our minds with.
Sheep. What a silly animal God likens us to.
There is a passage in 2 Timothy that God brings to my attention regularly, and for good reason. Paul was advising him saying “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, so that they may know the truth., and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” (2:24-26).
Lots in there to glean. Notice the part about ‘coming to their senses’? Sounds like people not in their ‘right mind’, does it not? And because of this, or, as a result, who have they been ‘taken captive by’? The ‘devil’, you say? So you think he really might exist and be in the business of leading people astray and taking them down a path that leads to destruction? All the while...they are singing “I’m so glad that Jesus set me free”? (Matt. 7:13-14)
Have I mentioned before....how this is all probably much more serious than any of us have really wanted to believe? Oh, and how was Paul telling Timothy that these ‘captive’ folks might be set free? By ‘knowing the truth’.(25). Seems Jesus spoke about that as well back in John 8:32-36 and knowing the truth that we might be set free. And it goes back to ‘knowing truth’, loving truth, and embracing truth.
If you really love Jesus, you will come to the light of His truth/word. You won’t shun it, reject it, bristle when you hear it even when it seems to not line up with ‘what you have been taught’. If you love truth, you won’t run to commentaries to find some smart person to tell you why God did not really mean what He said. IF you truly love Jesus and His truth, you will lay everything on the table and let God sort it out and lead you in to ‘all truth’.(John 16:13)
But if you don’t love the truth, then be forewarned... God Himself, will send a strong delusion that you will believe the lies and in the end, be destroyed. Want scripture for that? - 2 Thess. 2:9-12
Sigh....So many have been asleep. He’s trying to awaken us...because He loves us. (2 Pet. 3:9)
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