‘Lest Anyone Deceive You’
By Hal Lindsey
When His disciples asked Jesus to tell them about signs of His return, He started with the words of Mark 13:5. “Take heed lest any man deceive you.” In Matthew 24, we see Jesus giving worlds of information in relatively few words. That doesn’t leave room for a lot of repetition. But in that one chapter, the Lord warned about last days deception four times. That means it’s important.
Revelation 12:9 speaks of Satan deceiving the world during the end times. In chapter 13 and again in chapter 19, we see the False Prophet and Antichrist deceiving the masses, and doing so by Satan’s power. Revelation 20, verses 3, 8, and 10, show Satan deceiving the nations.
It makes sense. In John 8:44, Jesus called Satan the father of lies. Deception follows him, confusion follows deception, and despair follows confusion. You’ve seen dream sequences in films where walls and other solid objects distort and change shape. That’s the world Satan wants people to live in.
Today, we have more opportunity to get the truth out than ever before. The phone in your purse or pocket can potentially reach the world. If your social media post goes viral, millions might see it before the next sunset. But if truth is easily disseminated, so are lies.
Mainstream news outlets no longer tell both sides of a story. Fairness was once standard practice for journalists, but that was before they became activists and propagandists. Now they choose sides, then withhold things from the public that might be seen as favorable to the other side. They spin the rest in favor of their chosen causes and candidates.
So, millions now turn to alternative media to find out what’s really going on. But alternative media is also a land of gossip and propaganda. Without truth’s certainty, people have no solid ground on which to build their lives. They are left to choose what they want to believe. It becomes “my truth” and “your truth.” But in the world God made, things are either true or false, whether the facts favor your cause or not. The truth is the truth for everyone.
We’ve seen the politicization of science and even of courts and juries. At some point, most people join Pontius Pilate in asking, “What is truth?” We face the frustrating and sometimes difficult task of finding truth in a sea of deception. But with God’s help, it can be done. In Matthew 7:7, Jesus said, “Seek, and ye shall find.”
So, try it. Seek truth… and you will find Him. Jesus not only has the answer, He is the Answer. In John 14:6, He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” If you have trusted Him with your life, you have the light. If not, search it out.
Should you need a respite from the flood of disparate voices, open the Bible. Here’s a taste:
In the beginning, God… Sin entered into the world… I will make of thee a great nation… Whither thou goest, I will go… David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone… The Lord is my shepherd… They have committed villainy in Israel… He that scattered Israel will gather him… For unto us a Child is born… Thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name JESUS… In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us… I am the resurrection, and the life… Now is Christ risen from the dead… Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound… I will come again, and receive you unto Myself… So shall we ever be with the Lord… Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
And that’s the truth.
