HAVE YOU BEEN
DECEIVED?
Permit me to ask a
thought- provoking question; Are you among the many who have been deceived?
To
some people this question may sound rather preposterous and inconceivable in
this modern era of higher learning, science, and technology.
Nevertheless,
inconceivable as it may sound, we have been forewarned saying, “Let no one
deceive himself, if anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him
become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is
foolishness with God” (1Corinthians 3:18-19).
Regardless
how wise one may think he/she is in regards to the things of this world, he/she
can not understand the spiritual things, because the natural mind does not
receive the things of the Spirit, they are foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
We
have been forewarned by the greatest Teacher of all times saying; “Take heed
that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the
Christ,’ and will deceive many.”
He
said again, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray
and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many
people.” He
also predicted of the time when, “False Christs and false prophets will appear
and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect,’ and said,
‘See, I have told you ahead of time” (Matthew. 24:4, 5, 10,11, 24, 25).
There
is also the prophetic word which reminds us of the great whore [church] who
sits on many waters [nations] with whom the kings of the earth committed
fornication [intimate political relation], and intoxicated [deceived] the
inhabitants of the earth with the wine of her fornication.
Since
it is predicted that the many and not the few that will be deceived, the
thought - provoking question is, “Are you among the many that are deceived?”
The
deception will be so intense and widespread, if it would have been possible,
even the very elect would have been deceived. Therefore,
what assurance can one have to ascertain that he/she is not deceived!
First
of all, a deceived person does not know that he/she is deceived. A deceived person is one
who has been misled, or made to believe as true something that is false. A
deceived person is sincere, but is sincerely wrong.
One
makes himself/herself vulnerable to spiritual deception when he/she begins to
diverge from the faith which was once and for all delivered to the saints. And
this was prophesied to happen long ago. Jude
a servant of Jesus Christ wrote saying, “Beloved, being very eager to write to
you of our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to
contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For
admission has been secretly gained by some who long ago were designated for
this condemnation, ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into
licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 3-4).
Ungodly
persons have perverted the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our
only Master and Lord Jesus Christ, by not honoring him with an acceptable
offering on the days He has ordained to be honored as Lord. For thus says the Lord,
“You shall observe My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary. I am the Lord (Leviticus 19:30; 26:2).
It
is the duty of a son to honor his father, and the duty of a servant, to honor
his master. The Lord therefore said, “If then I am a Father, where is My honor?
And if I am a Master, where is My fear?
The
Sabbaths therefore were ordained for man to come before the Father and Master,
with the acceptable gift to honor Him as Lord and for this reason Jesus said,
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of man is
Lord even of the Sabbath.” Jesus
Christ being Lord or Master of the Sabbath signifies that we as sons and
servants must honor Him on that day, which was ordained for that purpose.
The
antidote for deception is to abide in the truth, and do not diverge from the
faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. We
have been admonished saying, “See that what you have heard from the beginning
remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
And this is what He promised us – even eternal life” (1John 2:24-25).
The
reason for the apostle John giving this admonition was to avoid deception. He
said, “I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to deceive
you.” What we have heard from the beginning; and allowed to abide in us so as
not to be deceived is the old commandment.
The
Apostle John wrote; “Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old
commandment which you have had from the beginning. This old commandment is the
word which you heard from the beginning” (1John
.2:7).
According
to the Apostle John, the word which was heard from the beginning was, “That
which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim
concerning the Word of life. ‘The
life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the
eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to
you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.
And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1John. 1:1-3).
The
old commandment or the Word which have been heard from the beginning became
flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the
One and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
When
He came to the world He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law
or the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For
truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot
will pass from the law until all is accomplished”.
He
further gave a serious warning and said, “Anyone who breaks one of the least of
these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in
the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be
called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew
5:19).
Pause
and consider thoroughly, in all of the old commandments written by the Word
which was from the beginning, which one of them that has been violated with
impunity? The one which has been violated with impunity and held in contempt;
is the one the Lord specifically reminded us to keep saying; " Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" and which was ordained, to
honor and reverence Him as Lord.
The first great commandment which is to love the Lord our God with all
our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind is fulfilled by practicing
the first four of the Ten commandments which constitutes the act of true spiritual worship.
And
the second great commandment which is to love our neighbor as ourselves
is fulfilled by practicing the last six of the Ten Commandments and being demonstrated by using our different gifts, talents and abilities for the benefit of others.
The
main reason why the original apostles proclaimed to us what they have seen and
heard, concerning the Word, is for us to have fellowship or communion with
them, it is for us to consider how to stir up one another to love and good
works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but
encouraging one another, and all the more as we see the day drawing near.
If
you have been taught otherwise, and have been practicing anything contrary to
the word which was heard from the beginning, you have strayed away from the
faith, and have unfortunately been deceived.
Whosoever
does not listen to Moses and the prophets, will not be convinced even if
someone rises from the dead, because they testify of the Word which was from
the beginning. It
is up to us to judge ourselves. If we judged ourselves truly, we should not be
judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not
be condemned along with the world. For the crux of the matter is, the Lord’s
Sabbath/s are holy both to the Lord and to His people and that is the way one demonstrates his/her love, respect, gratitude and adoration to the Lord for what He did for humanity on that particular occasion.
And the sure way of knowing that we are not deceived is by adhering to the instructions which state; " Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him" ( 1 John 2:3-5).
Avoid being one of those who are under the huge cloud of deception by which Satan has deceived the whole world.
With brotherly love
