How to Escape Last Days Deception and False Teachers
There is a lot of deception in this world, and it can wear many different masks and come in many different forms.
Generally, by its very definition, deception is unwanted and unpleasant. But some people actually not only willingly embrace and accept it but also welcome it. If you don’t believe someone can freely embrace the idea of being deceived, just keep reading. I know of no one who will admit to willingly allowing himself or herself to be deceived. But when it comes to beliefs, emotions, desires, and matters of the heart, it happens more often than people want to admit.
As recorded in the gospels, Jesus repeatedly warned His followers to avoid deception. In fact, when the disciples questioned Him about the timing of His return, the first thing Jesus said in His answer to them was, “Don’t let anyone mislead you” (Matthew 24:4). Deception is promoted by the enemy of our souls and spread by others who allow themselves to live in deception. And we must be vigilant to keep ourselves from falling in among them and being misled.
But to keep from being misled we must rise above our emotional feelings and desires and take the first step of recognizing deception and realizing where it leads. The following warning Paul shared with Timothy gives us a clear description of the results of not doing that, and those results are rampant in our day.
You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
We live in a society filled with people who are consumed with their own importance and their possessions. And their selfishness is the driving force behind their disrespect for others. What is important to them is what they have and what they want. Getting what they demand to satisfy their physical desires, emotional needs, and their passions is all that matters to them.
Deception breeds deception. And people come to love and welcome lies in order to hold on to their sin and experience no shame. However, accepting lies and welcoming deception does not empty sins of their consequences.
In light of all of the warnings about deception in the last days, we must know and study the Word of God. We must stand on God’s truth. We must deny ourselves and any desires that war against truth. We must be willing to surrender our lives completely to Christ.
We must not only personally adhere to truth and reject lies and deception, we must make a serious effort to examine the words and lives of people who present themselves as speaking truth to us. Not everyone who says he or she speaks for God actually does. And today, more and more people who say they promote Christianity and God’s will on things actually promote lies.
Today, many false prophets and teachers claim God’s authority when they reinforce the legitimacy of lifestyles that are contrary to Scripture by telling people what they want to hear. Jesus spoke about how to recognize them.
Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? (Matthew 7:15-16)
We must be fruit inspectors, especially regarding the opinions and teachings we accept—and regarding those people to whom we listen. We should be like the Bereans, who eagerly listened to Paul’s teaching but also searched the Scriptures daily to be sure he and Silas were teaching them the truth. We must be on guard—quick to recognize false doctrine masquerading as truth.
We must know the Word and hold fast to what the Holy Spirit reveals to us through it. And we absolutely must desire the revelation of truth and be determined to follow it even if it means our flesh’s expectations of the present and dreams of the future are disappointed.
We must choose truth over satisfying our wants and wishes. We must desire and live in truth and not allow ourselves to be willingly blinded by refusing to acknowledge and deal with the pain that the truth can bring to our flesh as a result of facing either our mistakes or those of others. We must not allow our flesh to influence us to be deceived by either the enemy of our souls or our own fleshly desires.
As we go about attempting to satisfy our desires, we must allow God to instruct us and empower us to fight against and become victors over anything that tempts us to go beyond God’s will. We must put our desires under the control of the Holy Spirit and not deceive ourselves into trusting in the so-called wisdom of the flesh.
As we surrender our lives completely to the will of God and seek to please Him, we can finally reject any thought that deception is ever desirable. Then, as we live close to the truth, we are prepared to avoid deception’s traps.
And the best words of advice on how to become so close to the truth that we do not allow the flesh to embrace or welcome deception in any way are contained in Paul’s instructions to Timothy (and these words are so important to act on as we also attempt to teach others to avoid deception).
Study to [show yourself] approved unto God, a workman that [doesn’t need] to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV)
