The Battle of the Mind- 4
Pastor Marty Wednesday, July 2, 2025 at 11:02AM 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.