Deception! Dead Ahead! Or maybe it should be “death ahead”. For that is what lies ahead in wait for us outside of the protection of God. As we continued our series, “Under Cover”, we saw how deception can lead us away from God and result in an eternal death. This was blatantly seen through the events that took place in the Garden of Eden. Because Satan deceived Adam and Eve, man was banished from the Garden of Eden and (more importantly) the presence of God, made to toil for his food, and now has to experience a physical death (Genesis, chapters 2 and 3).
Thankfully, deception has a cure—the Word of God. Just as Jesus repeated the Word of God back to Satan and defeated his temptations, so can we use the same Bible and scriptures to refute the temptations and deceptions of Satan (Matthew 4:1-11). In verse 11, we see the beautiful provision of God following the temptation; God sent His angels to minister to and attend Jesus. We must remember, God is our strength and our shield; only under His protective cover can we see the escapes to the temptations and deceptions of the devil. In this day and age where a local society is difficult to distinguish from the global society, we are seeing the words of Paul come to life (2 Timothy 3:1-4). We need to be prepared to battle these deceptions (James 1:22), and shine the light of Christ through our lives for all to see—their souls depend upon it.
On Sunday night, we covered over a thousand years of time in thirty minutes. As we studied the 20th chapter of the book of Revelation, we saw Jesus’ millennial reign (with Satan locked up) on the earth. After the thousand years had past, Satan was released for a short time and allowed to deceive some of the inhabitants of the earth. Quick question: if you have seen the face of Jesus; have heard the stories of the past; know of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and second coming; and are aware of Satan’s return and ultimate demise, why would you chose to follow the devil? I guess if he can deceive a third of the angels (holy beings) into rebelling against God, he can deceive millions and millions of people at this future time. After Satan has been defeated and sent to the lake of fire (finally, I’m tired of seeing his name come up), then those who aren’t in heaven are judged. If their name isn’t found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, they are sent to the lake of fire for all eternity.
Now is a good time to ask yourself, “Will I be found in the Lamb’s Book of Life?” If you know that you will not, or aren’t 100% sure of your salvation, I suggest reading the right-hand column of this blog site; particularly, the “life-changing prayer”. It’s a simple step of faith to believe in Jesus Christ, but a hard eternity to live without Him. I congratulate those of you who said those words with a sincere heart, and encourage you to find a church that believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ (we have several links available on the bottom left column to help you find that church body). Next time, we’ll study the new heaven and new earth God has created for His children—this is where the Bible has beautiful imagery and concepts interwoven to excite and encourage the Christian (especially “new” ones).
Have a blessed week,
Pastor Claude
