Deception In The Last Days- 1

Subtitle: Jesus Warns Against Deception

This is a series regarding the warning of deception that is particularly powerful in the end times. 

The audio link appears at the end of the article which will be posted later.

Matthew 24:3-5, 9-14, 21-15.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty
Bonner on Sunday, October 18, 2026.

We are going to take some time to deal with the topic of deception particularly deception in the end times.  We are not to focus on setting dates.  However, there are many good reasons to believe that we are approaching, or are near, the end-times.  Of course, God is the One who is in charge.  He can keep things going for another hundred years.  Yet, these lessons are important for understanding deception and not falling under its power.

Today we are going to focus on the warning against deception that Jesus gave in Matthew 24.

Ultimately, I want to help us develop a way to see through powerful deceptions of any type.  That may be deceptions that come from occult circles, from religious cults, or even something as strange as an alien/UFO disclosure (now called UAPs- Unidentified Aerial Phenomena).

A recent movie called Disclosure Day has challenged whether such a revelation would shatter Christianity.  What if aliens arrived and said they had technology to fix our problems and, by the way, we created you!  I am not saying that this is going to happen.  I am saying that Christians need to be able to analyze any such things from a biblical perspective (from God’s perspective) and respond appropriately.

Let’s look at our passage.

Deception and the Beginning of Sorrows (v. 3-5)

In verses 1 to 2, the disciples are impressed with the temple complex and point it out to Jesus.  Jesus responds that not one stone will be left there upon another that will not be thrown down (presumably into the valley below). 

This sets the disciples aback.  It may be because they didn’t expect such an answer, or perhaps because they weren’t sure what he meant by it.  Regardless, in verse 3, they have moved across the valley on the Mount of Olives.  It is there that the disciples ask Jesus about his revelation that the temple would be torn down.

Their first question is clearly about the destruction of the temple.  “When will these things be?”  Yet, they also know that Jesus has been talking about being rejected, leaving and coming back.  They take opportunity to expand this question to reference this.  “What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”  We won’t deal with whether this is two more questions or only one.  Yet, notice that the response of Jesus is not immediately an answer about timing.  Rather, Jesus warns of deception ahead.

“See to it that no one deceives you.”  This is a good warning in general.  I don’t believe God wants His people to become fodder for scammers and deceivers in general.  However, Jesus transitions this to the particular deception of people coming in “My name.” 

Coming in my name can mean using the name Jesus.  Yet, Jesus quotes them as saying, “I am the Christ.”  This emphasizes that they are coming in his position or reputation.  God the Father had made Jesus to be the Christ, or Messiah.  Though the nation as a whole was going to reject Jesus, this would not change God’s mind on who is the Messiah.  It was, it is, and will always be, Jesus. 

False christs would play on two things.  First, those among the Jews who had rejected Jesus as Messiah would still be looking for another person to be the Messiah.  This makes them good targets.  However, Christians also believe that Jesus is coming back.  So, they too can be targets for a wannabe false christ.

It can be understandable that non-Christian Jews would be taken in by false christs, but Jesus is giving a warning to his disciples (and us).  On top of this, there are several passages in the Old Testament and the New Testament that make it clear that, when Christ returns, he will come on the clouds of heaven with a contingent of angels and resurrected humans.  No false christ to this day has ever mimicked that.  Yet, some Christians are tempted to believe such claims, at least for a time.

The first person to claim to be the Christ after Jesus was a man named Simon bar Kokhba.  Simon was a military leader who led a revolt against Rome in AD 132.  He claimed to be the Messiah, the Christ.  On top of this, a well-respected Rabbi named Akiva supported his claim.  This revolt was quashed by the Romans by AD 135 and resulted in his death.

Several other things followed from the Romans.  The area of Judea was renamed Syria-Palestina.  Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina.  On top of this, a temple to Jupiter was built.  All of these things would help to erase Jewish connections to the area.

Today, from time to time, there are religious people, whether in Jewish circles or Christian, who gather a following of people who believe them to be Christ.  Of course, they are false christs.

In a way, all nations of the world are open to or looking for someone who can fix this world.  This is what God has promised Messiah would do.

In verse 8, Jesus called this the beginning of sorrows.  It is not the end, but a period that is more closely associated to labor pains.

Transition from the beginning of sorrows to the end (v. 9-14)

Though Jesus is still speaking about the beginning of sorrows period in these verses, verse 14 becomes a clear transition to the end of this age.  The end of this age is not a Hollywood production where the world is destroyed.  Rather, it is the end of the open door of repentance that God has given to the nations.  It will be time for showing which side you are on, that of Jesus or that of a false christ.

In this section, Jesus once again warns us against deception, but this time he points out false prophets (v. 11).  This may seem anticlimactic, but it is an error that we run into more often.  People claiming to have a word from God about the world and the end times happens more than people claiming to be Christ.

We can recognize that Muhammed was a false prophet from outside of Christianity.  We can also recognize some false prophets from within Christianity.  The word prophet generally means a religious approach, but I wouldn’t overlook that atheistic philosophers today proclaim that they have the answer the world should follow, much like a false prophet.

It is easy to recognize false prophets that are from outside of your nation and influence.  Westerners are generally not drawn to Muhammed.  But those who have been raised in eastern lands find it much harder to resist the social pressure and see through his words and life.

As we approach the transition to the end, Jesus warns that we will still have to deal with false christs and false prophets.

We should also notice that there are other factors that Christians must face.  In verse 9, Jesus says that we will be hated by all nations and delivered up to tribulation and being killed.

He warns that many will stumble (be offended), betray one another, and hate one another.  Of course, Christians can fall into these errors.  However, Jesus is showing us what the world will be like and what Christians will have to endure in order to keep faith. 

The word for stumble, or offend, has the idea of causing someone to be tripped up and fall.  In this case, it is clearly about a moral and spiritual stumbling.  We will be tempted to turn away from the way of Christ and turn towards betrayal and hatred.  We see this happening in our world today.  More and more society is infected with a viral tendency towards anger and fighting one another.

It is here that Jesus warns of false prophets who will deceive many.  Just like scammers are more prevalent when the economy is dire and people are desperate, so false prophets come forth like a scourge as the world becomes more and more hateful towards one another.

In verse 12, Jesus warns of lawlessness.  This is not about man’s laws, although people will flaunt those too.  Rather, the lawlessness here is that of rejecting God’s law.  God has made clear through Jesus the Christ what He expects of humanity, but we refuse to obey that.  As we cast off God’s law, the love of people grows cold.  There is a natural love between parents and children, family, people of a particular nation.  However, these bonds are coming under severe spiritual attack.  People are stumbled and tempted into loving themselves and not loving the people in relationship with them.

Christians are called to love everybody, even our enemies.  But it is hard to love people who love themselves and are cold towards you.  It is in this context that false prophets arise promoting a way that will appeal to the flesh of those who are perishing.  Thus, Jesus warns believers that only those who endure to the end shall be saved.  It will be a heavy load, but believers in Jesus need to remain in relationship with him and his commands in this difficult time.  Everyone of these things can threaten our steadfast faith in Jesus.

Verse 14 gives us a clear sign for this transitional period.  When the Gospel of the Kingdom has been preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, then the end will come.  It doesn’t say how quickly and how soon.  I believe we are in this transition from the Beginning of Sorrows period to the end of this age.

During the Great Tribulation (v. 21-25)

Jesus then moves to speak about this end.  I am going to focus on verses 21 through 25 because I want to highlight the problem of deception during this coming period.

In verse 21, Jesus points to a time that we call The Great Tribulation from this passage.  It will be a time of difficulty that has never been this bad before and will not be this bad after.  Many Bible commentators try to make this about AD 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem.  As bad as those days were for the Jews in Jerusalem, there have been worse days since, in numbers killed and in atrocities committed.  However, Jesus seems to be talking about the whole world in this passage.  This Great Tribulation will involve a series of Judgments from God ending with the appearance of Jesus to take over the nations of the world.  It also involves a series of actions by the Devil and his Antichrist.  This period can really be thought of as a time that forces everyone to choose a side: Team Jesus or Team Antichrist.

Jesus warns in verse 23 that we are not to believe those who says to us, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!”  In some ways, Scripture makes it clear that no one will have to tell you when Jesus truly returns.  However, there will be powerful deceptions at play here as well.

Verse 24 speaks to this powerfully deceptive time.  False christs and false prophets will rise up and show great signs and wonders to deceive…  Some versions refer to them as lying signs and wonders.  Which begs the question.  Are these actually true wonders (miracles), or are they fake?

First, the idea of false is not connected to the signs and wonders other than they are done by false christs and false prophets.  Second, they do these powerful signs to deceive people, i.e., into following them.

This appears to be an amping up of the deception.  It wasn’t warned against earlier.  Of course, the devil is a trickster.  He will do what he can to separate you from Christ. Some have the mentality that says, “The devil can’t do miracles.”  We need to be careful with that statement.  The devil is not God, but he is a fallen angel.  Angels have powers that humans do not have.

There is an added angle to this.  Next week, we will look at a passage that speaks of a restraint upon the devil and his works.  In the end times, this restraint will be removed.  This means we will see far more powerful deceptive signs and wonders coming from his followers.

They will have enough wow factor to them to deceive possibly those who have been chosen by God, the elect.  Of course, Jesus ends this by warning, “See!  I have told you beforehand!”  Does the presence of a wonder or miracle necessitate that we believe the person doing it?  Jesus says, “Don’t be deceived.”

Jesus warns “if possible.”  It is up to each one of us.  We will be tempted but have been told in advance.  If we remember the words of the true Christ, we will not fall to such false prophets.

Maybe a part of you thinks that it would be impossible for our modern era to be wowed by false prophets.  We are not as easily deceived as people 2,000 years ago.  I wonder though.  Are we less manipulable or more?  We live in a day that has enormous manipulations happening all over the world.  Governments and smart people plan how they can manipulate large groups of people to do what they want.

In fact, it is good that Jesus came and spoke the truth 2,000 years ago.  Imagine if he waited until this highly manipulated age to come and speak.  How would we know he spoke truth?

Today, we have the words of Jesus and his apostles warning us against the deception of the Beginning of Sorrows.  We also have the Holy Spirit helping us to see through deceptions and grow spiritually.  Yet, a great deception is coming upon the earth that is intended to test every soul.  Make sure you are immunized and inoculated against it by knowing the true Christ’s words to you!

Jesus Warns audio

The Second Letter of Peter- 4

Subtitle: The Problem of False Prophets

2 Peter 2:1-3a.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, August 2, 2026.

In chapter one, Peter has shared some things that he does not want believers to forget.  However, he now turns to encouraging them to be vigilant in defending these things from false apostles, false prophets, false teachers, false Christs etc.

The devil doesn’t want us to know and live out the truth because it is a threat to him and his purposes.  Thus, he attacks believers through the temptation of false teaching.  It is important for Christians to be aware of this and to guard against it.

Let’s look at our passage.

Peter warns about false prophets and teachers

One way that the enemy of our souls robs us of truth is by undermining its foundations.  Once the foundation is greatly removed, then greater truths can be supplanted and replaced by lies and twisted truths.

False teachers can come in a multitude of ways, and this is made more complex by the sheer number of them.  They can be deceptive with partial lies, and they can be bold with complete lies.  I’m reminded of Miss Poppin’s song that says, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.”  We should always understand that a spoonful of “sugar” can help the poison (lies and half-truths) go down as well.

Though believers were receiving the pure and true teachings of the Messiah from his apostles, they should not expect to be somehow protected from false apostles.  In this age, Christ himself commands us to beware of false prophets and their false teachings.  His apostles went on to not only warn against them but also to rebuke them.  Essentially, we must not be deceived.

In Matthew 24:4, Jesus says, “Take heed that no one deceives you…”  He then warns of false christs in verse five, “many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.  In verse 11, he warns of false prophets, “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” Later in verse 24, he again warns, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

The Church will have false teachers just as Israel did. (v. 1-3a)

Deception was a big concern for Jesus.  He not only points to the real threat of deception but also speaks to it being a powerful deception.  Of course, we can overcome it, if we pay attention and guard against it.  This is what Peter is doing here.  He is passing on the Lord’s concern that we be not deceived.

It is easy to think that you cannot be deceived, but that is itself the beginning of deception.  I can be deceived, so I take care to watch carefully.

Peter’s description doesn’t use the words Church and Israel, but it is the natural understanding of what he is saying.  He uses tenses here that emphasize what has happened in the past and the expectation that it will continue into the future.  The Church will have false prophets just as Israel did.  We are not immune from it.

I do not believe Peter is making a distinction between false prophets and false teachers here.  Both of these words recognize that there are real prophets and real teachers.  Yet, false ones will also show up.  The word false here emphasizes lying and deceiving.

A person could be promoting the teachings of a false teacher.  He would be a false teacher as well.  We can make a distinction between false teachers who are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” versus those who are simply deceived.  Both are dangerous and need to be rebuked, but the simply deceived group may be saved.  We need God’s wisdom in calling people on false teaching.

The best defense against false teaching is to be focused on being a true follower of Christ.  To do this we must be students of the words of our Lord and his apostles.  We must be a faithful brother or sister in the Lord.  We see this in the life of Jesus.  He spoke the truth while loving the disciples to the end.  They all made mistakes and their flesh often was in the way of spiritual maturity.  However, Jesus was a true brother even to Judas.  Jesus knew who was going to betray him and who wouldn’t. We don’t have that same knowledge.  All we can do is be faithful in the truth to one another.  If a person is a wolf, or simply deceived, the truth in you will eventually provoke it into the open.

Peter then explains the work and effect of false teachers.  They will introduce destructive heresies in a secretive or crafty way.  They are generally not honest in the way they promote their ideas.

Heresy is a word that we rarely use outside of church.  Heresy refers to a teaching or idea that is outside of the truth and captures people from within the truth.  A person can still desire to love Jesus but have a weakness for a heretical idea.  It depends how foundational the lie is.

It is called destructive for many reasons.  Heresy, or false teaching, misleads us and affects us spiritually.  Even heresies about small matters need to be corrected.  However, some heresies are far more destructive than others. 

Paul dealt with this in the letter to the Galatians.  If it was simply a matter of choice, circumcision was not a bid deal.  In Galatians 5:6, he states, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”  However, this was precisely the point.  The Galatians were not being motivated to circumcise themselves out of faith in Jesus, or love for others.  They were being motivated to do so as a necessary work for salvation.  Paul recognized that the importance of Jesus was being diminished and the importance of our work was taking its place.  Thus, he strongly states in 3:1, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?”  Their desire to be circumcised was in order to be acceptable to certain false teachers.  Yet, Paul saw this as a bewitching.  Somehow, they were so impressed by these false teachers that they were willing to let the cross of Christ be diminished in their lives.  Paul saw this as a separation from Christ himself.  To let yourself be separated from Christ is to be separated from the grace that is found only in him (5:3-4).  Paul is not being contradictory.  He is sifting the motivations behind the actions.

Peter then says that these destructive heresies can be to the point that they are “denying the Master who bought [them].”  I believe this is the main point of the Galatian heresy.  They were beginning to turn their back on Christ.  Peter doesn’t give examples of what he is thinking.

There is no question that the Master he has in mind is the Lord Jesus.  How does false teaching “deny” Jesus?  It can do so as a full rejection of Jesus.  Peter actually was guilty of this on the night of the betrayal of Jesus.  He denied knowing Christ.  Of course, this was a dangerous thing to do.  Jesus had warned his disciples that those who deny him before men will be denied by him before the Father.  How thankful we can be that this is not about ever doing it once.  If Peter had never repented and believed upon the Lord later, then he would have had to face that fearful denial of Jesus before the Father.  However, Peter did repent.  He believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ and faithfully confessed him before men.

To deny the Lord Jesus can also be to contradict particular things about Jesus that were revealed to the apostles.  In the words of Galatians, this is following “another Jesus” or “another Gospel.”  (See Galatians 1:6-10). 

Throughout history many heresies have centered on the true person of Jesus.  They will either reject his divinity, or they will reject his humanity.  Heresies have even developed around the cross and exactly what Jesus was doing.  Some diminish the price that is being paid (1 Corinthians 6:20).  They teach that Jesus was only showing us an act of love.  His lordship is often challenged.  He may be the first in time, but now that he has shown the way, we can take it from here and eclipse him.

Such heresies always diminish a core truth about our Lord Jesus.  Today, it has become vogue for society to co-opt ideas from Christ and reinterpret them.  Thus, Christ taught that a love for God and a love for one another is the whole of the Law of God.  The modern world reinterprets love to mean that you approve of all that a person chooses.  You must even approve of sinful lifestyles, otherwise you are not loving them.  This is heretical.  Jesus is the very definition of love.  He who said, “Go and sin no more.”  It is not love to pat the homosexual on the back and tell them to just be a loving homosexual.  Love speaks the truth in love.  Love challenges us to see their bondage to the flesh and its desires.  It challenges us to plead with them and love them enough to warn them.

The flip side of this is some callous Christians who so despise homosexuals that they can’t show them even the least bit of Christian love.  Jesus demonstrates what this could look like with the woman at the well in John 4.

Peter then states that these false teachers are bringing swift destruction upon themselves.  The word swift is a related form of the word used in Revelation 22:7 (one is an adjective and the other is the adverbial form).  Some versions translate the Rev 22:7 passage as “I am coming soon.”  You may note that other versions have, “I am coming quickly.”

This word can mean both.  It essentially means to be quick.  That quickness can be emphasizing the timing between now (when the statement is made) and then (when the event happens).  In this case, I am coming soon translates that meaning well.  However, it can also emphasize the quickness of the event when it happens, whenever that may be.  In such case, I am coming quickly would be a better translation.

Why is this important?  There are some who like to emphasize that Jesus and his apostles thought that he would be coming back within days, weeks, months, at most years.  However, this does not fit with many of the parables of Jesus that he used to explain the kingdom of God.  He commonly speaks of a king who is gone for a very long time.  It is so long that the stewards put in charge of his estate begin to act as if he will never return.  They drink the master’s supply and beat their fellow servants.  In each of these parables, the master shows up and quickly dispatches justice upon their heads.  The emphasis is not on the length of his absence but on the quickness of his arrival.  No one will be able to get ready once he arrives.  Judgment will be quick and swift.  Now is the day of repentance, while there is still time.

I believe that the swift destruction here should be seen in a similar way.  Many false teachers have lived long lives and did not appear to have “swift destruction.”  All judgment is in the hands of our lord Jesus.  His slowness to judgment may challenge our faith because of its timing. In fact, God may allow a false prophet to live to an old age just to test our faithfulness to His Word and the witness of His Apostles.

Every false teacher who neglects to repent before Christ will find themselves standing before Jesus one day.  They will not have a long, drawn-out appeals process. Their destruction will come swiftly.

In verse two, Peter makes it clear that false teachers will affect many, causing the Way of Truth to be maligned.  It would be one thing if false teachers only affected their own salvation.  However, they can affect the destinies of people we love.  Peter emphasizes many just as Jesus did in Matthew 24.  We cannot over-emphasize that even among those who embrace the Gospel of Jesus, many are susceptible and will succumb to these deceptions.  The word “many” says nothing about the percentage.  Yet, it should still be concerning.  Our being on guard against false teaching is not just for our own sake but also for the sake of our brothers and sisters.

Peter says that many will follow their “sensuality.”  They are living for the senses of their flesh: what tastes good, what feels good, what looks good, etc.  Of course, bodily pleasures are a part of God’s design.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying them properly.  However, we must never let the desires of our flesh become more important to us than the will of God and pleasing Him.  These false teachers live for their flesh and not for Christ.  They are led by their appetites and not by the Spirit of God.  Those who follow their teaching are being led astray into such sensuality as well. 

Jesus told us that we would know false teachers, false prophets, by their fruit (Matt 7:16).  What is produced in their lives and the lives of people who follow them?  It is not always evident immediately, but it will eventually surface.  A good tree does not produce bad fruit.  Jesus described them as those “who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”  A wolf may put on pretense around the sheep, but eventually a ravenous wolf will satisfy his belly with one of the sheep, however that comes about.

These false teachers will always have trouble in the area of the desires of the flesh.  They may be sexually immoral, but they may also appear quite moral in that area.  Whether they are hiding it, or they simply have other appetites, the point is not about any one sin.  The lust for money, the lust for power, or the lust for sexual immorality, all of these things can be a part or most of the motivation.

Ultimately, they give the Way of Truth (i.e., Jesus) a bad reputation.  The word for maligned is the word for blasphemy.  People will think and say untrue things about the Gospel of Jesus when we do not do a good job at exposing false teachers and protecting the body of Christ.

Verse 3a states that they will “exploit you with false words.”  The lust of their flesh will push them to use their followers for their own gain in many ways.

They obtain this through false words.  The word false here is not the same as the false prophets and false teachers.  The false teachers are liars and deceivers.  “False” in this verse is a different word that is the root for our word “plastic.”  It speaks of words that are shaped and formed not for veracity but for the ensnaring of those who will swallow and believe them.  Scammers employ these methods today.  In fact, they are most effective when we are not controlling our own greed and strong desires.

We must beware of deceptive teaching that leads us away from following Christ in righteousness by faith in him.  Or, as Paul put it, we must have faith in Christ working itself out in actions of love for God and for one another.

The deception in this world is only going to become worse.  Yes, charlatans may be somewhat easy to spot.  Like the spiritists and their seances in the 1800’s, they can employ a modern equivalent of “spirit knocking” and “smoke and mirrors.”  Yet, Jesus and the apostles all warn of great and powerful signs and wonders done by deceivers in the end times.  We must not bank on our ability to sniff out liars because of their tricks.  We must continually feed upon Christ’s Word and His Spirit so that when the day comes of great delusion, we will not become casualties.  Instead, we will rescue others from the jaws of the wolf!

False Prophets 1 audio

The Battle of the Mind- 4

Matthew 24; Acts 20:28-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

All humans have to deal with a mental battle, but Christians have an understanding and help that others do not.  This is made available to us through Jesus and was God’s intention all along.  Humans were never designed to live life disconnected from their creator.

One of the biggest parts of this battle is the mental battle of deception.  Like Pinocchio being deceived into going to Pleasure Island, the battle is between what is presented as truth versus what actually is the truth.  Thus, the wooden puppet is promised freedom, but Pleasure Island is taking him to a life of slavery in a salt mine, or something similar.

Yet, lies by their very nature dress themselves up as truth.  This is the rub.

We are going to look at several passages in which we are warned as followers of Jesus against deception.  In so doing, we are immunizing our minds against the allure of the lies de jour.

Let’s first hear our Lord Jesus warn us in Matthew 24.

Be watchful against deception (v. 3-5)

Jesus and His disciples had been in Jerusalem.  The rural Galileans were impressed with the temple buildings.  They were in awe and remarked about it to Jesus.  Of course, they were shocked by the response of Jesus.  “I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”  Essentially, the place was going to be demolished.

Later, at the Mount of Olives, they pressed the issue further.  When will this happen?  They also asked what would be the sign of the end of the age and the return of Jesus.  It seems apparent that they do not understand that these three areas are not necessary simultaneous.  Of course, this is not my point today.

Notice that the first thing Jesus does is to warn them against deception (vs. 4).  This word calls for us to look, to watch out, to be vigilant.  “Many will come in my name saying, ‘I am the Christ.’”  We see that part of the power of the deception will be centered on the fact that Jesus has gone away and has promised to come back.

Christians have an expectation for Jesus to come back.  In this case, we have the New Testament (and the Old Testament) to help us know what Jesus should be like.  We are hungry for him to come back, but we can know what he is like.  This is better than being hungry for something, someone, without having a concrete idea of what they will be like.  This second situation sets people up for deception.

In the first century, the religious leaders did not recognize Jesus for who he was.  God gave Israel just under 40 years to make up their mind about Jesus, and then, He sent the Romans to destroy the temple (70 AD).  Later, in 135 AD, a man named Simon bar Kochba was promoted as the messiah by a respected rabbi.  Yet, Simon proved not to be Messiah.  The Romans came and destroyed their uprising as well as Jerusalem again.  This does connect to what Jesus was saying.  Here was a false christ, false messiah, of the ilk that Jesus warned about.  However, Jews who do not believe in Jesus are not the only ones who have had false Christs.  Among Christians, there have been many through the years who proclaimed themselves as being Jesus, the Christ, or even finishing what Jesus didn’t finish.  Regardless, Jesus warns that there would be great deception around this area of the coming of Messiah.

(V. 11-14)  In verse 11, Jesus warns again of deception, but this time, he warns that false prophets will come and deceive many.  The false prophets won’t claim to be messiah, but they will claim to speak on behalf of God.  It is more common for people to claim to be a prophet than it is to be the Christ.  Yet, there is one thing that is the same about them all.  They don’t come claiming to be false.  They all claim to be the real thing.

So, how can we know if someone is false or true?  This would be a scary thing for new believers.  Can you imagine someone who was saved while watching an evangelistic TV program.  Such a person isn’t connected to a body of mature believers in Jesus.  Yet, Jesus has warned them in this passage against deception.  They still need to connect with a body of believers and start learning the truth.  This is a dangerous situation.  When we learn to feed upon the Word of Christ, the false will stick out all the more.

Verse 13 tells us that those who endure to the end will be saved.  The word for endure here has the idea of staying underneath of something heavy, sticking in there when it is difficult.  A lie always comes in opposition to the truth.  It doesn’t call itself a lie, but it is opposed to the truth.  So, if you have been following Jesus, you will have some measure of understanding of the truth.  Yet, the lie comes along like the serpent in the Garden of Eden.  “Did God really say…Did Jesus really say….?”  It twists and contradicts what our Lord has said.  This builds a tension between what I thought was right and what is now being offered as that which is right.  That heaviness is tough to remain under.  Many people fall to temptation because they grow weary of holding up under such pressure.

It tells us in verse 11 that many will be deceived.  These then become part and parcel in pressuring those who are not deceived to follow them.  We are not told that this will be easy to face, but we are told to endure the difficulty until the end.  It may feel easier to cast off restraint, but it leads to heavy destruction.

This is the message of Pinocchio in regards to Pleasure Island.  It looks like freedom at first when we cast off restraint, but in the end, we will never be more enslaved than when we go that route.  May God help us to have stick-to-it-iveness in this matter of the truth.

(V. 23-27)  These verses are essentially telling us that the coming of Jesus will be obvious.  No one will have to tell you that he has come back.  Of course, this is different than his first coming.

Now, not all false christs do great signs and wonders.  Many simply employ the art of manipulating others.  Yet, verse 24 tells us that some will do powerful signs and wonders in order to deceive.

This is similar to the opposition of the Egyptian priests against Moses.  They replicated some of the miracles that God was doing through Moses.  Their “miracles” were not as great (the serpent of Moses ate the serpents of the priests), they were not able to reverse or fix the plagues God brought through Moses, and they eventually could not continue doing what Moses was doing.  Their dark arts could only go so far.

In Matthew 24, Jesus warns that people will try and talk you into going with them to a place in the desert, or a room in a building.  “We found the Christ!  Come follow us and see!”  This may sound good, but Jesus is warning us that deception will be great, especially in the last days.  Jesus will not come back and hang out in the desert waiting for people to come to him.  He will not come into town and rent a convention center so people can come and see him.

To help us understand, Jesus uses a metaphor of lightning.  When lightning strikes across the sky, no one has to tell you that it just happened, not to mention the resultant thunder.  It is obvious.  Similarly, the coming of Jesus will be just that kind of event.  These deceivers try to make the coming of Christ something less than it is going to be.  Scripture says that Jesus will come riding the clouds of heaven in great majesty.  We may not know what that will exactly look like, but the charlatans will not be able to duplicate it.

So, this is what Jesus had to say about our need to be careful.  Now, let’s look at what the Apostle Paul had to say about it.

(Acts 20:28-31)  Paul is speaking to the elders of the church of Ephesus.  He knows that he will not have another chance to speak to them so he gives his final encouragements and warnings to them.  Though Paul does not use the terms deceive or deception, he does describe it: “men will rise up speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”  Perverse things are things that have been twisted.  Like a twisted driveline, to twist the truth is to make it a lie and neutralize any good benefits it could have given.  Paul warns against men who pervert the truth and try to draw disciples away from the Truth and from Jesus who is the Truth.

Paul, therefore, warns them to watch!  This is a similar word to the one used by Jesus, but it adds the idea of bringing something close for an inspection.  We need to watch ourselves by slowing down, taking time to pray, and asking the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom.  We need to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Paul also tells these elders to watch over the flock (believers) in their church.  These shepherds are not to rule over the flock, but to help them not fall into deception.

The ego of man draws many people off course.  Whether a person began following the truth, or they were always a wolf, it is tragic when they get off course.  Of course, you don’t have to be a shepherd to watch out for one another as brothers and sisters.

I want to look at one more passage to finish up this warning about deception in our days.

The truth immunizes us to the lie (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

Something was going on in the church at Thessalonica in Greece.  People were being told that they had missed the Second Coming of Jesus.  Paul even mentions the idea that someone may present a letter as if it was from him (a fake letter).  These other people have disturbed the church, and Paul is reminding them of the truth.

The Day of Christ (vs. 2) is talking about the Day of the Lord that we find in the Old Testament.  It is a time when God judges all of the nations through Jesus, the Christ.  It is not just a 24-hour period.  Rather, it is a brief period and quick, but more than one day.

This day of judgment will be bad for the wicked, but it will be good for those who are caught up in wickedness.  It is similar to a test time in school.  Everyone will take the test, but not everyone will pass.

Paul reminds the Thessalonians that a great falling away must happen first.  This is an apostasy, falling away, from the Truth of Jesus and the faith once and for all handed down to the saints by his apostles.

When I think about the condition of the Church today, I don’t think the problem is in the disagreements over tangential things, and that we have made separate denominations.  I think the real problem is that, more and more, we have churches, pastors, who are promoting something that is clearly contradictory to the commands of Christ and his apostles.  They twist and pervert the Scriptures to their own ends.

This is the warning.  A great falling away from the truth is not just coming, but is happening even as I write this.

Listen, if you are looking for a Bible teacher who promotes what you want to do, then you will find them online.  Someone somewhere is teaching every apostasy that you can imagine.  Guard your heart.

Apostasy has always been with us from the first century to today.  However, it is growing worse.  We must avoid being caught up in the spirit of this age because a “Great” falling away is beginning to happen.

The truth is intended to immunize us to the lies.  I thought about using the word antidote, which is okay.  However, an antidote is given after someone is bitten.  Whereas, immunizations are given before a virus is caught.  Don’t wait for the serpent to bite you with lies.  Pull out your Bible and look for the Truth that will protect you from the toxins of deception.  Read it, pray about it, and live it out!  This is how we steel ourselves against deception.

Yet, Paul reveals that an arch-enemy will be revealed at some point who is against all that is worshiped as God.  This ultimate enemy of Christ is called “The Man of Sin,” and “The Son of Perdition.”  The man of sin is self explanatory, but perdition is destruction.  This means that his nature is that of a destroyer and his destiny is destruction.  To follow him is to follow the path of destruction.  He is not called the Antichrist in this passage, but it does say that he will oppose (anti) and exalt himself against all that is worshiped as God.  In fact, he sits in the temple of God declaring himself to be God.  Could we fall for something like this in the modern age?  Let’s read on.

(V. 5-12)  In verse 8, we are given another title for this man, “The Lawless One.”  This doesn’t mean that he loves to drive 120 on the freeway when the speed limit is 70.  We can set up laws that are against God’s revealed will.  Thus, we would be a lawless society all while pretending to be law-abiding.  However, we only follow the laws of our own making.  This man will be a law unto himself, but extremely lawless towards God.

This passage is important for a greater reason than learning about the Antichrist.  Notice the relationship between truth and lies in it.  The coming forth, revealing, of this man is being restrained.  The mystery of lawlessness has always been working. Yet, the schemes of the devil have a certain level of mystery to them.  People often help his purposes, whether knowingly or unknowingly.  Yet, God has been restraining it.  This man would have come forward centuries ago, but God has not let it happen.  Think of that?  We cannot know how much evil God has kept from happening on our planet.

The power of this evil man will wow people (v. 9-10).  They will quickly move away from all the other religious “solutions” out there, including true Christianity.  They will embrace this deceiver.  But, what is he pushing?  He is definitely not promoting Jesus.  He is promoting himself..

Thus, verse 9 tells us that he will do powerful signs and lying wonders.  These demonstrations of power will lead people to follow him.  They will be deceived.

Why will they fall for it?  Verse 10 tells us that it is because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  Notice, the powerful miracles will help, but they are not the actual reason people fall for deception.  It doesn’t even say they will be deceived because they didn’t have the truth.  It says they did not receive the love of the truth.  In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God is giving a love of the truth to us, not just the truth.  Even right now, God is trying to give each one of us a love of the truth, if we will have it.  Those who love the truth (not just know it) will see this guy and know instantly that he is not even close to Jesus.  He is a lie, and a liar.

It is important that we don’t just read our Bible to gain information.  We need to ask God to change our heart so that we come to love it.  In fact, as I have said above, Jesus is the truth.  The Bible itself is just a facsimile of Him who is Truth, Jesus.  It reveals him to us.  May God help us to fall in love with the character and work of Jesus.  May God help us to fall in love with the way that he tells us the truth, “You are a sinner in need of salvation,” and yet also has loved us so much that he paid the price for our redemption.

Those who do not receive a love of the truth by the grace of God’s Holy Spirit will be hungry for a savior, but they have been refusing what God  has been trying to give them.  It is dangerous to be hungry for anything but what is good for you to eat.  The world will be hungry for anything, but Jesus.

Don’t set yourself up for deception.  Ask God to help you to internalize the truth of the Bible and to be able to break down the harder things that God reveals in it.

In the end, the man of sin will reveal who actually loves Jesus.  Just as Christ was a litmus test for his generation, so the Antichrist will also.  God will send a great delusion in order to expose the hearts of many.  It won’t just be lost people following him that day.  Many who claimed to be Christians will do so as well.  May God help us to warn the lost, but may we also protect ourselves by loving the truth.

Deception audio