“…and God will send them a strong and powerful delusion…”

Beware…when God gives you what you want…it does not always end well (Ps. 106:15). But do keep in mind that God is unreasonably patient and long-suffering towards us, not wanting any…to perish but for us all to come to repentance. (2 Pet. 3:9). And yet, there will eventually come a time when this world as we know it will all come crashing down. (10)

I don’t know of a more troubling portion of scripture found in the NT…than the one I quoted up front, found in Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 2. He begins there speaking of the great apostasy that will unfold prior to ‘our gathering to Him (Jesus)’, admonishing us to ‘be not deceived by any means’ (2-3). He then explains that first …will come the ‘falling away’ and then the ‘man of lawlessness will be revealed’.

Depending on what Bible version you read, that term ‘falling away’ might be translated as ‘apostasy’ or the ‘rebellion/revolt’…which summed up, suggests many who were ‘in the faith’… turn and go another way. We have seen this occur ever since people first began to follow Jesus and His teachings (John 6:66; 2 Tim. 4:10) , but scripture would have us believe it gets worse over time. And oftentimes…it will first begin with a subtle ‘drifting away’….when we stop ‘giving heed to those things we have heard’ (Heb. 2:1)

You may recall Paul’s foretelling how ‘the time will come when people will ‘no longer endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, and because they have itching ears…they will gather around themselves teachers (who will tell them what they want to hear) and they will ‘turn their ears away from the truth…and be turned aside to myths, or fables’. (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

Don’t be too quick to automatically assume it’s ‘that other church across town’...who do that; just saying.

Paul goes on to lay out how the coming of ‘the lawless one’ will be “according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception…” (2 Thess. 2:9). This is not to suggest that there are not genuine ‘signs and wonders’ that accompany the preaching of the gospel of Christ, but make no mistake about it… there are plenty of counterfeits out there. (1 Cor. 2:2-5; Mark 16:15-20; Matt. 7:22; 24:4-5,11,24)

But please note who will be taken in by all the deception: “those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth...that they might be saved.”(10).  And what have we been looking at the past few days, regarding hearts that don't, or can't...'receive the seed of God's truth'? A couple of quick points here-

Who did Jesus tell us would be the ones who will ‘perish’, in Luke 13:3,5? And why are people ‘perishing’ according to the insight Paul offered up in 2 Cor. 4:3-4? (those whom the gospel had been hid by the ‘god of this age’). And as previously stated from Peter’s writing…It is not God’s will for ANY to perish but for all to come to repentance’. And yet, many will refuse His invitation. (John 3:19-21)

“And for This Reason…for this reason…for this reason…God will send them strong delusion…that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”. (2 Thess. 2:11-12)

God is going to ‘send’…or should I say ‘allow’ (since it’s impossible for God to lie- Heb. 6:18 ) a ‘delusion’ to sweep in that will lead to the downfall of many…who have no love or interest in ‘truth’.

That is an interesting word, as is its meaning:    [delusion] – a fixed, false belief that a person holds firmly to despite clear, undeniable evidence to the contrary. The affected person cannot be reasoned or persuaded out of the belief by logic, facts, or proof.

Yes, there is a day that is coming, when everything will be brought to light, and all that is hidden…’will be revealed’, including the motives of men’s hearts (Luke 8:17; 1 Cor. 4:5). It will be in that day…when we will truly…be able to ‘see everything’ (IYKYK).

One last thought for consideration.  The first time I ever heard that passage in 2 Thessalonians preached on... I had only been a Christian for a few years, and I still remember the impact it made on me.  The visiting preacher also used 1 Kings 22:1-24 as a companion text from the OT to show precedent that God was known to do this in the past - send or to 'allow' a lying spirit to move in, in order to carry out His ultimate purposes.

For the longest time after hearing that message, I used to wonder what kind of grand 'delusion' would God allow to come, if for no other reason...to 'test' our hearts.  My 'go to' scenario at that time included 'aliens' from outer space landing on the front lawn of the White House where all the world would be duped into believing that our origin really came from beings from afar, and not God Almighty.  I know, my mind can get creative at times.  So fast-forward 40 years and all of a sudden, we've had a recent rash of 'classified files' released pertaining to UFO's...along with a major movie (Disclosure Day) that added fuel to that premise. In fact, the number one concern that accompanied the release of such files, and was included in that movie...was the effect it would have on 'people of faith', where their belief in God the Creator would be undermined.

But I no longer buy into that line of thinking.  Could all that happen?  I suppose it could; but I am nearly convinced that this grand 'delusion'...is already here; and it's not coming out of Hollywood or our nation's capitol. The 'lie' is being propagated from many church pulpits across the land today that teaches us that true 'born again believers'...cannot be set free from sin, and therefore will always remain a 'sinner'....until they get to heaven.  But what does the Bible say?

"We know that whoever is born of God does not sin...and the wicked one does not touch him." (1 John 5:18)

"Whoever abides in Jesus does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him." (1 John 3:6)

"Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil..." (1 John 3:7-8)

"Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God." (1 John 3:9)

The word of the Lord....