Will You Become Deceived?

He paid for his new bride. He confirmed the agreement with her father. He was sure.

He was certain, and he got married.

And the reality was, he married the ugly sister instead.

A Pharaoh was delighted by the prospect of yet another beautiful wife. She was okayed to him by her family. He proceeded.

The reality was, God would have killed him if he had touched her, because it was through her lineage that Jesus Christ would be born.

An angel told a woman that if she ate a particular fruit, she would live forever. The reality was, when she ate that fruit, it killed her.

How certain of you, how certain are you, of what is really true? How absolutely rock-solid sure are you of what is reality? Is it possible that you could become deceived? It is very important that we understand that there is truth, and there is that which appears to be truth. And surely, you and I are smarter than others think.

On the other hand, you and I may be smart enough to get ourselves into deep trouble, because Christ warns many times in the Bible about being deceived, becoming deceived. He's emphatic that it's not only possible or probable. He's emphatic that it will happen to many, many, many people who will be so convinced of something that is false as being true. As being true. Today, let's examine deception and the prevention for deception. I believe that if you and I are prepared, we will never become deceived. We will never become in a deceived state, thinking that we are standing, thinking that we are in very good shape. And yet, like these other examples, find ourselves with a very shocking reality at the end. If there's one thing that God's Church preaches, it's the coming Kingdom of God. It's the return of Jesus Christ. The Festival of Trumpets celebrates the great return of Jesus Christ. We are all about the coming return of Christ and all about the physical Kingdom that results from that. We call the Millennium. As we look forward to that return and to that day, we often say, Thy Kingdom come! Bring it, God! I hope it comes soon! And right there, right there, deception has its entry point for you and me. And you say, what, what, what, what, what? That's what we're about! That's what we're all about! Right there! I hope the Kingdom comes soon! I hope that Jesus Christ comes soon! Now, that shocking statement needs some definition, and we'll get to get that in a little bit. But what is the purpose of your calling and my calling? What is the purpose? Is it about your future and mine? Is it about our being accepted by God and being saved? Is it about us being transformed into spirit beings and reigning with Jesus Christ, and being exalted to be kings and priests, and being given cities to rule over it, and qualifying for as many of those cities as is possible? Well, if you say yes, then I would say you are ripe for the potential of becoming deceived. And yet you say, what? I thought that's what this calling was all about! I thought that's what this purpose in being called at this time as a first fruit was all about! Put another way, if you analyze your life, are you planning to get married, to get rich, and to get saved? Now you begin to see a little of the context. What is the purpose of your life? And what is the purpose of God's calling for you and me and all the first fruits at this time? Were you called to receive something, to receive salvation, honor, glory? Were you called to get, to be lifted, to be raised? Well, yes, in a sense we were, but in another sense, no, we weren't called to do those things. We were in fact called to overcome our human nature and build godly nature. We were called to produce the fruit of righteousness with God's help and through His Holy Spirit. That's what our calling is, and that's what the will of God is. The other actually are byproducts or rewards of our calling.

If we're not careful, we can get focused on our personal, spiritual objectives and spiritual potential and spiritual future in a very selfish focus, almost as if we're planning and calculating out this return of Jesus Christ, how to maneuver and manipulate and get prepared and get in the right position so that we're sealed and signed with God's approval as we enter into the kingdom. And it's at that point the reality will become obvious, Jesus tells us, and some will enter and some will get a very rude shock.

If your calling is primarily to pursue your own salvation, your own eternal life, reign with Christ, my point is that indicates a strong potential for you to be able to become deceived. Because the focus is where? It's on you. If you and I have that, then you and I are all set up for somebody to deceive us. And if that surprises you, you really need to pay attention to this sermon. Because I know I really need to pay attention to this sermon. I'm going to share this with you. The Bible celebrates the coming Messiah. He's going to enter with power.

He's portrayed as one wearing a crown riding on a white horse. The new king wearing a crown ready to conquer this world's governments and its systems, at whom the whole world will tremble.

Saints are going to join with him. They're going to rule. They're going to reign. Do you want to be part of that? Do you want to be elevated to that? I think we all do. It says in Revelation 6, 2, And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on ahead a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

How does that Scripture resound with you? Does that give you goosebumps? Does that make you get excited and want to participate? Can you see yourself joining him? You know, that Scripture is describing Satan the devil. One of the four horsemen of Apocalypse, deception. And yet it looks, sounds familiar, doesn't it? It's got the white horse, got the crown, it's coming to conquer.

A lot of people are deceived, and that's the point. Humanity is in a rush for self-promotion. We saw that among the carnal disciples. We've seen that in the Bible, portrayed many times of individuals maneuvering and striving for self-promotion. The society will fall quickly for deception because they are focused on the self, just as you and I tend to be.

But without God's Holy Spirit, society has a focus on the self. And when one offers something like position and prominence, one will tend to focus and go in for that for oneself. There's a rush to receive, self-focus. That's why you see the end-time events in Revelation, where the whole world rushes in. What are they doing? What's all this promotion and focus and ambition and warring about? It's to promote me and my society and myself as much as possible in the face of all the odds.

There was a lady on the airplane this week as I returned from the home office. And she was a religious lady. It was interesting because I'm working on a sermon in one seat, and she's right there reading a religious book. And I noticed the title was, How to Win Heaven. And she was studying this book very, very hard. And it was a challenge to her. And she was kind of irritated by any distraction, I noticed.

And she didn't want to have anything to do with anybody around her. She was focused on how to win heaven. And she was studying, studying a few hundred pages. The Bible says that Satan has deceived the whole world. And Jesus said, Take heed that no one deceive you. So let's take some heed today. And let's become knowledgeable about some components, spiritual and carnal components. The components that would be able to bring deceit to us, which we will see on a fairly regular basis in this life.

But then, understand its lure and the catalyst within us that propels humans in to deception, to fall for the lie. I'm going to show some components of spiritual deceit. And I hope that we will be able to see some of the clever machinations that come from deceivers. I'll give you an example. We know the end is coming. When we think about the end, if we're self-focused, we can quiver a little bit.

We can begin to worry and struggle and be concerned for ourselves. However, when the end comes is always a curiosity. It's exciting to think about. There's speculation that goes about it. And why? Well, people want to be ready. People want to be in the right place. In Luke 21, verse 8, Jesus Christ tells us about deception in correlation with the end time. And I think it's interesting when we read this passage to come to understand why deception hits certain people in the end time.

Luke 21, 8. And he, Jesus said, Take heed that you not be deceived. Doesn't mean just tricked on a little point, but actually you fall for deception. You become deceived. Take heed that you are not deceived. Who is he talking to? He's not talking to the world. He's talking to those who know him, who know the right way. It's a potential that you and I can be deceived. And we are to take heed that we are not deceived.

For many will come in my name, saying that I am he, and the end time, the time, the end time has drawn near. Now, what are we seeing here? If you go back, there's a potential here that people are going to say, This is Christ, this is what you need to do, and the end is near.

What does that stimulate in your mind? What it stimulates would exacerbate whether you're easily going to fall for deception or not. There are two things that that could stimulate, but one thing that it always stimulates, it seems, in many people, is when the end time warning, drawn-ear, people turn to a selfish focus of personal concern. Oh, the end time is near.

Now, let's see. I want to be in the best position possible, so I'll begin maneuvering here into the best position possible. But notice what Jesus said, Therefore do not go after them.

That's not what your calling is about. That's not what his purpose is about. That's not what Christians in the end time are about. It's not about doing something because the end is here. Going or following some person, some technicality, or something that's going to set you up personally in a better situation.

When he says, Do not go after them, he's saying, avoid technicalities that they are telling you they have that are special, and avoid personalities that they are. Don't go after technicalities and don't go after people. Avoid them and do not move. Don't go anywhere. Don't go after them.

The truth is, the end is at hand. If we go back to 1 Peter 4 and verse 7, and the way that a godly person will approach that is very different than doing something about it so that you'll be in a good position, and you'll be able to stand, and maybe you'll be able to miss the tribulation, and you'll be in the right group with the right leader, with a whole bunch of little special aces up your sleeve, you know, better prepared to meet Jesus Christ.

It's not what this is about. It's not a game.

The truth we find is in 1 Peter 4 and verse 7. But the end of all things is at hand.

All right? Notice to self.

The end of all things is at hand.

Therefore, what should we do? Get yourself into position. Follow the preacher who talks about it the most. Join another church. Strive to be in Philadelphia. Strive to be in the place of safety.

Is that what he's talking about?

The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and watchful in your prayers, and above all things have fervent love for one another. Now, that is the right response that we should have towards preachers and messages and in-time events and prophecies and the return of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, that we should be serious about being godly, about living this way of life, and be watchful in our prayers to our spiritual state and praying and concern for other people and loving and giving and serving. And above all things have fervent agape love for each other.

So you see, if you and I are focused on our calling, which is to become godly, and an end-time prophecy begins to unfold, we should be stimulated to do what?

To be serious about being godly. And what does that mean? That means loving one another and serving one another. And what does that do? It takes your mind off yourself. Remember the Apostle Paul mentioned, he said, I would give up my salvation if this precious body of believers could be ensured entrance into the Kingdom of God. Where is the selfish motive of self-promotion or giving your ducks in a row so that when Christ returns, I'll get myself into the Kingdom.

That wasn't what Paul had on his mind. I will love and serve you and I would die for you. I would just be kicked out of the Kingdom if all of you could go in, if that's what it took.

See the difference in the mentality? Of course, at the end of Paul's days, he knew, and he was inspired by God to say, a crown of righteousness is laid up for me. I have won the race. But he wasn't out for his own race. Paul was bringing and serving and loving everyone, and it's for that reason that he will be in the Kingdom.

Now, when we read verse 8, and above all things have fervent love for one another, two mindsets can result from this.

One is, the end is at hand, so here's an insider tip. I've heard somebody tell me this before. I've got an insider tip right here. It ends at hand. So, if I love one another, it says, for love covers a multitude of sins.

So, I'm going to write down some things here, and I'm going to do some stuff for some people, so that I'll be in a better position to enter the Kingdom.

So, we can look at this, have fervent love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins, as some sort of upping your odds of getting in. Would you see how the loving others suddenly become a self? I'll love you in order to get myself in the Kingdom.

Is that real love? Is that agape love? No, it's not. It's some kind of carnal expression of Ophelia, but certainly not God's love.

Or, another way of looking at this is, the end is at hand, so concentrate. Pay attention. Watch. Be serious about being loving and serving.

You know, am I checking my carnality? Am I deceiving myself that I'm really loving and serving, but I'm only loving and serving to be, you know, recognized by others, to be liked by others, for the little kickback that we get? And you say, Oh, I did that, and that's not right. We all do that. We have to repent of that. It's not how Jesus Christ came and loved us.

Why does he add in verse 8, for love will cover a multitude of sins?

Why is that added?

It's because your and my spiritual condition is about to receive its final judgment.

God knows that. He's judging you and I right now. You have God's Holy Spirit. We're being judged all the time and forgiven. And that's fine.

But there comes a time when we die and a final judgment is passed. It's a time when we're resurrected and a final judgment is passed. You don't get to live anymore. You don't get to overcome anymore. You don't get to change anymore. You were what you were. Okay? So we need to be serious about that.

It's like sorting a harvest. Previously, a farmer inspected the harvest.

And you go out and you look at it and say, it's growing. I got some fruit growing there. You can go out right now and see your orange trees. The orange is about that big and they're green. See, it looks like we're going to have a crop this year. Is that the crop? No, you wouldn't want to eat one of those things, would you?

That's inspecting the harvest as you go along.

But now, when Jesus Christ returns, when we're resurrected, it's sorted. You know, you go out to the tree and the oranges are there, but some of the oranges aren't ones you're going to eat. The ones where the bird picked a big hole in the side and it's gone rotten. You're not going to want to harvest that one. You're going to throw that one away. And so it is with various other things, with apples, with grain, vegetables, grapes. You sort through and you cull.

Jesus said in Matthew 13, in verse 30, Let both grow together until the harvest.

Let both grow together. And at the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, First, gather in the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.

So here's where the tares think that they're wheat. Oh, yeah, I look like wheat. I'm convinced myself I'm going to be in the harvest.

Maybe the tares grow just a little bit taller than the wheat. We're even a little better than the others.

And you get all gathered up.

And what? We're going into the furnace. We're going into the fire.

Wait a minute here.

It's kind of like those individuals that I mentioned at the beginning who were deceived. They were so convinced.

Jacob was so convinced that his new wife was Rachel. That he went through everything only to find out it was Leah. Why? How could that have happened?

In Matthew chapter 25 and verse 34, this is a familiar passage, but let's look at it through the proof of what our calling is and the proof of what it's not. In the context of deception and deceivers, Matthew chapter 25 and verse 34, then the king will say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for, for. And here's then the criteria by which we are judged and either are given or denied entry into the kingdom of God.

Four. I was hungry. You gave me food. Love and serving. I was thirsty. You gave me drink. Love and serving. I was a stranger and you took me in. Love and serving. I was naked and you clothed me. Love and serving. I was sick and you visited me. Love and serving. I was in prison and you came to me. Love and serving. Now, what is the criteria that Christ said he's going to use from sorting the tares and the wheat, the sheep and the goats?

Love and serving in every instance. No other thing.

Notice what he did not say. Your ministers didn't ballad. Come into the kingdom.

You kept new moons. Come into the kingdom. You pronounce my name correctly. Come into the kingdom.

You were in the Philadelphia era. Come into the kingdom.

Your preacher gave the Ezekiel warning. Come into the kingdom. Or a hundred other little things that people will use as some sort of a clever little thing that makes them stand above the rest.

But in doing so, and looking down upon the main crop, what has one done?

They don't love and serve the others. They'll tend to condemn, despise, ridicule, or in some way think of others as inferior.

So the criteria for salvation is not about a special leader. Jesus said, don't follow them. It's not about a special group. It's not about a hidden doctrine. It's not about prophetic insight. Notice he didn't say, oh, you understood the prophecies better than anybody else. You get a free pass.

It's about loving and serving. And that's all.

The criterion for salvation is godliness.

Are you and I growing in godliness?

Are we maturing in thinking and serving and loving others?

Jesus told us, do not go after them. The individuals and the technicalities won't do it for you. It's not there.

Technicalities, however, are tools of deceivers.

Eat the fruit. That's the special trick.

Follow me.

Believe this. Do that. See a miracle. Do a special work. Praise the Lord. Use a special name for God. And you will have a special edge. You'll have a leg up. You'll have the wind at your back. You'll have an ace up your sleeve for getting saved. You know, that's an age-old trick to a person who is thinking about my salvation. If you're thinking about how you can run your own personal race and you can win it, then you'll think about, oh, special tricks, lighter weight outfit, a little wind at the back, maybe, a little extra spring in the in the in the insole, maybe a little, you know, drug or hormone to help you a little extra strength or whatever. Somebody comes along, special word that you say, aha, special word, special prayer, special group, special leader, a special little belief, special little insight. Nobody knows. A little prophecy there. A little of this, a little of that, you know, gives you a little edge, doesn't it? Maybe the others will get in too, but I've got the special edge for me.

These are the tools of deceivers.

It's an age-old trick.

Will these supplemental tricks help you with the judgment?

It says in Romans 14 10 that all must give account and the judgment. Are these special things going to give you a leg up there? Help out?

Matthew 7 22, Jesus Christ talks about that judgment day when we will all stand before Him and give account. He's the one we're going to be giving account to. He is the one that's going to be doing the judging. Let's go ask the judge. Will these things give us a leg up? Will it give us a little nudge, like the magnet in front of the little soapbox car, you know, when they pull away the gate and you hit a magnet in the front of your little car because it's a steel gate that pulls away and it gives you just a little beginning nudge? Will that help us at the finish line?

He says, Matthew 7 22, Many will say to me in that day, what day? The day of our judgment. Lord, Lord, here are our special things. Here are extras.

Have we not prophesied in Your name? We gave the Ezekiel warning. We cried aloud and spared not and told Your people their sins.

It's funny they weren't telling themselves their sins, but they were telling somebody else. We did that. We cast out demons in Your name. We did many wonders in Your name.

And then He will declare, I will declare to them, He said, I never knew You. I didn't know You. We don't think alike. How do You know God? How does He know You?

The book of 1 John tells us, He who says, I know Him and doesn't keep His commandments is a liar. We don't know God if we're not loving and serving. God doesn't know us in that sense, unless we are loving and serving. And so this group, He's saying, You aren't loving and serving. I don't know You. You depart from Me, You who practice lawlessness. Lawlessness is a lack of keeping God's holy law of love and serving. They were practicing something self-centered, but they were very religious about it and doing religious works instead of. So we see there right from Jesus's own mouth that these supplemental tricks don't do anything. It all comes back to our, you and I, outgoing, loving, serving of other people, sacrificing ourselves for the sake of others.

So these things don't work, but what does work? Well, the previous verse, verse 21, tells us, He tells us, He says, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, not everyone who praises Jesus, not everyone who uses the special name, not everyone who has any technicality, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but here is the important part. Here is what works. He who does the will of My Father in heaven. What's the will of the Father in heaven?

Matthew 5, 48. Be or become you therefore as your Father in heaven is.

Repent. Overcome your sins. Peter tells us. It is God's will that all humans repent, repent, and receive eternal life. So you and I need to be repenting of our selfishness and becoming loving and serving of other people. There is a timeless example in the Bible of the Old Prophet. Let's go back to 1 Kings 13, verse 18. 1 Kings 13, verse 18. Here is a true man of God that was deceived.

He became deceived. It is a timeless example for you and me. It fits right into the context of what we are talking about. We don't know His name. We only know Him as the Old Prophet.

1 Kings 13, verse 13, verse 18. This individual had encountered another prophet. This other prophet was of a different mentality.

In verse 13, verse 18, he, the other prophet, said to him, the Old Prophet, I too am a prophet as you are. We are prophets together. And an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring back the Old Prophet with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.

Now, let's notice here what the focus of what this other prophet says to the Old Prophet. The focus is, special message, follow a man. But we didn't notice that, did we? We just heard what was, oh, I'm supposed to, angel the Lord said, For me to take you to my house, and that you're to eat and drink and stay with me.

The Old Prophet saw it through a certain lens, and he said, Ah, angel, an angel, told him, that I'm to go to his house, and I'm to eat and drink, really, nice food.

That works. What's the reality here?

He focused on the special message, and he followed a man. And in 1 Kings 13, verse 19, we pick up the story. He went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water. Now, as it happened, as they sat at the table, that the Word of God came to this other prophet who had brought him back and cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, Thus says the Lord, because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the commandment, which the Lord your God commanded you.

See what the issue is here? It's about obeying God. It's not about some special angelic statement, something that you're told and somebody you're supposed to follow. It's about doing what you're told. And here, the man thinks he's followed somebody, and he's had this great deed, this technicality that's come up, and he finds himself disobeying the word of the Lord, not kept the commandment, which the Lord your God commanded you, but you came back, ate bread, drank water in the place where the Lord said to you, Eat no bread and drink no water, and therefore your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers. So it was after he had eaten bread and after he drank that he, the false prophet, saddled the donkey for the old prophet whom he had brought back, and verse 24, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And that's what can happen to a true prophet of God from Judah, who goes to visit a false prophet of God up in the northern kingdom of the kingdom of Israel. It could happen to you and it could happen to me. But if we always obeyed God, notice what would not happen to him. If he had obeyed the commandment of God, there would have been no problem here. Your salvation is about your obedience to God, about becoming like God is, Christ-like, nothing else, nothing else.

From the beginning of this Bible to the end of this Bible, we are told that we are called and placed on this earth to learn to do God's will, to obey God, and that is to love and serve and give and have God's mentality and to repent of and get rid of our own selfish, carnal human nature.

Anything that is different from that is a lie. It's false. You can't do that commission of God without the Helper and without His helpers. We have God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, and we also have their helpers, the ministry, the church leaders whom they serve you and me through. And those are important components as well. Let's go to Ephesians 4 and verse 11. See, this isn't about not following men and just obeying God. It's about obeying God through the instruction of true prophets and true teachers and true pastors. And we should be able to easily recognize one from another because of the two mindsets that you and I potentially have. It says in Ephesians 4.11 that Christ Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. So you see the last category there is the same person because there is an and before or right after evangelists, there's an and. It says and some pastors and teachers. It didn't say there are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. No, it gets to the end. It says and pastors and teachers. So pastors and teachers are the ministry that would serve in a congregation, and they would be the same individual in most cases. Because a pastor has to be a minister in a local congregation, needs to be able to teach. That's one of the qualifications in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3, that a man who's going to be an overseer in a congregation is able to teach.

Now, why do we have these? It says, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry. Ministry is from the Greek word servant, service, love, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

And that is what God's going to pass judgment on, is whether we've come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, godly. Christ loved and gave himself for others. Are we growing in that agape type of godly love, where we can grow and serve and love one another? That is the criteria. That is what a true minister is. That is what a true apostle, evangelist, pastor, teacher is to you and to me. The rest is hogwash. All the rest is hogwash. Notice the next verse, verse 14, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine. It's not about special doctrines by the trickery of men, by the cunning craftiness or deceitful plotting. It's not about the technicalities. It's not about being with the right person or the right thing, the right technicality. But instead, verse 15, speaking the truth in love, that's what it's about, that we may grow up spiritually in all things into him who is the head, Jesus Christ. It's about spiritual growth in loving and serving away from self, not the promoting and the worrying about self and the special technicalities and the right people and all these other winds of doctrines. No, that's what the true ministers are there to prevent, if possible. Let's go see this from Christ's own words in Matthew 24. Matthew 24 is an exciting chapter of the Bible because it's the Olivet prophecy about end time events. It gives us a very brief and fast chronology of what's going to happen at the end time that results in the return of Jesus Christ in the end of this current evil age. In Matthew 24, verse 23, Jesus said, if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or there, do not believe it. They're deceiving you. They're taking your mind off something. Why would you care if Jesus Christ was here or if he was there unless you were saying, oh, I want to be in the right place. I want to be in the kingdom. I want to be ready. And he's over there. Oh, I'm going to go over there and get myself saved, approved. See, what is this about? I'm going to go there. Why would a person go there if it weren't for a selfish motive? So the person saying to you and is pulling on your selfishness, your self-centeredness and saying, look, here is the Christ, or there, don't believe it. Don't believe any technicalities about who and what and where. Those things aren't part of our calling, brethren. Verse 24, for false messiahs and false prophets will rise and show great wonders to deceive, if possible, even the very elect. If you're about those things, you know, you'll fall in a minute. If it's about technicalities or powers or the people doing the miracles, you know, you're done. Remember what it's about? It's about godliness, isn't it? Verse 25, see, now what he's saying here is, I'm warning you, see, do you see? I'm telling you, I have told you beforehand so that you can be aware, that you can watch yourself, pay attention, formulate a plan, prepare for it, prepare not to be deceived, because deceivers will be coming and they are coming with all kinds of lying wonders.

What's his point? Be in the right group, have the special doctrine, special leader, be in the place of safety, or have godly character. Have godly character.

Verse 42, watch the Greek word, be awake, be vigilant.

Therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. And guess what? You never will. Doesn't matter how close you pay attention to prophetical things or who says this or who says that or who jumps up and says, I know when it's going to start or when it's ending or whatever. You will not know. Jesus Christ said this. It's not like, well, you don't know till now, but there's some special guy who's about to send you a letter or a pamphlet or whatever. And he knows. No. None of us will know. Even Jesus Christ said he doesn't know. You will not know.

What hour your Lord is coming. But know this. If the master of the house had known what hour the thief would have come. In other words, somebody's coming to your spiritual house. Somebody is coming literally to your spiritual house, the temple of the Holy Spirit, to take your goods. He's coming to take your crown, to take your salvation, to take your spirituality away. And if you don't believe that, you don't understand Christ's warnings. Somebody is coming. A thief is coming to take what is in your spiritual house. If you had known what hour the thief would come, you would have watched and not allowed his house, his temple of the Holy Spirit, to be plundered, to be broken into. I didn't say if you watched, you would have watched. You would have known when Christ is coming. No, Satan the devil is coming to try to trick you out of eternal life.

Therefore, be ready. Don't be watching. Be ready, he said. Don't be on alert watching the news to try to figure it out. You be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. And notice, watching is not going to help you. But being ready will ensure that you're prepared.

The ten virgins, remember, were five foolish, five wise. Not one of the ten knew when the bridegroom came. That's part of the message of that particular parable. Nobody knows, nobody will know. We all think we've got it all figured out. I think it's just a matter of planning. Three and a half years after the sacrifices interrupted at the temple in Jerusalem. Abomination, desolation, get out your calendar, point it right there to the day, got it all sorted out. It's funny, Jesus Christ never said that, did He? Is the point of the parables to determine when Christ will come?

Or is the point of the parables that we are to produce fruit for the harvest? And parable after parable after parable talked about fruit, the production of it, about meaners that developed some into five, some into ten times, into fig trees that were either cursed or not cursed, into grain that grows up with heads that are full or not full. The first fruit selection is coming and then there's no changes. The door is shut. The harvest is gathered. It's done. It's over.

Will you make it to them? Pursuing godliness. That's the question. In verse 30, then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with great power and glory and He will send His angels with the great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds. In other words, from every direction, every place, from one end of heaven. That's the air we breathe. In other words, when you look out and you look at the four winds, north, east, west, and south, anywhere where humans live and we draw breath, God will gather His elect. The summary there is if you want to be a first fruit, live and build godly character. Obey and do His will. And you'll be there. You'll survive all of these end time things and you'll be in the right place at the right time. I say survive spiritually, physically, as only God will know. There's another way of deception. It doesn't always come from others. It can come from within. It's really the same thing, though.

Is the focus on self or is it on godliness? If it's on self, you don't really need somebody else to come deceive you or you could be deceived enough times by other people, you get tired of it, and then you just pull off and you say, ah, I'm done. I'll give you an example.

I once fell in love as a boy of 12 and I was so in love with this girl.

And then she ran off with another guy in school the very next week. My heart was broken.

And I thought, wow, that's terrible. But I learned something. I learned something about girls. And so the next time I fell in love at age 15, this was different.

This was a girl that I had known many years before and she had moved away with her family a long time ago, but I got a picture of this girl and wow, she was beautiful. And I fell in love again with this photograph, I mean with this girl. And I was so in love and I knew that she somehow was in love with me all the way in Oregon. And I began writing her love letters expressing my devotion and love to her. It was an amazing time. I was so in love.

Now, I finally got a response and the response went like this. I really like your letters. We read them as a family at dinner.

We all get a big laugh out of them.

She was never involved in the deception. She didn't know anything about it. It all came from here, you see. We can deceive ourselves.

And the reality is sometimes quite shocking. During a question and answer, sometimes we in the ministry will get this kind of response. Thank you for sharing your opinion, the man said, as the answer to his question using scriptures was completed. Now, it was God who said what the answer was, and merely we in the ministry put it together and shared it with him. But his response was, thank you for sharing your opinion.

See, we as individuals can then develop personal doctrines, beliefs, or theories of our own. We begin to see ourselves and see them in a very strong sense. Society says, believe in yourself, believe in your opinion, have your own lifestyle, your own spirituality. And so we as individuals can begin to trust in me more than what God and his servants say.

And yet, the caveat in all this is shown in 2 Peter 3.16, where Peter says that Paul and all his epistles, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. Do you see where that can go? And yet we feel strongly about it, and yet we deceive ourselves. And what is the catalyst? Self. It's about me and my understanding and my ideas after reading the Scripture and my interpretation. And, oh, look, I'm seeing things different and better, and my logic works real well. And the next thing you know, you see, it's about exalting myself. And I would like to thank you, ministers and the Bible, for sharing your opinion.

It's no different. Deceiving yourself is no different than somebody else pulling the right strings and deceiving you. If we have a selfish focus and promoting the self, we'll fall for it every time. Some get semi-detached, and they begin to think that their special technicality becomes paramount. They don't need God. They don't need the church. They don't need to obey where it says, you know, submit to those who rule over you in the church as those who must give account. They don't have to follow, be part, join together, fellowship with one another, love and serve the brethren, etc., etc., because they've got this special thing that somehow they've been elevated.

Personally, they're elevated. The reality of it is they're deceived into disobeying authority. Same thing Satan didn't want to do. He didn't want God's authority. He rebelled against authority. There's a thousand different ways that we can rebel against authority. Women can do it to their own husbands in a thousand different ways to discount and rebel against it and seal it, and they don't do it anymore. Christians can do that towards the ministry that God placed or the church that God placed by any number of methods of finding yourself over here and justifying it.

Herbert Armstrong summarized the criteria of salvation as submission to authority. The entire Bible, he summarized, is submission to authority at one time. There's various ways of looking at salvation. One of the ways, he said, was, you know what it's all about? Submitting to authority. That's what it's all about. Two great examples in point. Jesus Christ, total submission to God the Father. He said, I didn't come to speak my own words. I won't do anything except what God told me to do. I won't say anything except what God told me to do. Totally submissive to God the Father. And any time he had any thought otherwise, not my will, but thy will be done, he said. And the other example is Lucifer's rejection of God's authority. He disobeyed and he rebelled.

In Bible study course lesson number eight, it says, as human beings, we prefer to do things our own way. I recognize that in myself. I have to fight that. And as a result, we can easily develop resentment towards God's authority over us. This is especially true when his instruction forbids us to do as we wish. We begin to ignore some of his laws or reinterpret them to fit our own views. See how clever this is? And this is how our sinful nature works. These wrong attitudes begin in our minds. We usually disguise disobedient attitudes to such an extent that we deceive ourselves into believing they do not exist. I don't have the wrong attitude. I have the right attitude. I'm standing on the right principle. We deceive ourselves. We easily deceive ourselves, it says, into believing we are doing nothing wrong. And this is why the Scripture tells us the mind is deceitful. Talk about being deceived. Your mind and my mind is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it. That's one of the greatest deceivers that you and I face. It's our own selves, our own way of thinking. It says also that there is a way that seems right to a man. Oh yes, this is it. But the end of that way leads to death. We blind ourselves to the seriousness of our own sins, but everyone must face the problem of a sinful, deceitful mind.

There are no exceptions. Resistance to God's instructions begins in our thoughts and attitudes, and we are all guilty. That Bible study correspondence lesson 8 is profound to point out where inner deception can come from and how all of us are susceptible to it and all must fight it, almost repent of it. We want to resist God in some ways. That's why, frankly, fasting is such a good tool on a regular basis to knock the props out from under our old selfish ego and vanity and say, look, who am I and what am I really about here? Is this about me and pursuing self-promotion in the kingdom of God and self-promotion in this life? Or is it really about just me realizing what a carnal wretch that I am and getting my mind onto serving God, loving him, loving my neighbor, promoting others, helping everybody get into the kingdom like Christ did in the Apostle Paul said an example in. And if we're doing that, then Christ wants us to be in the kingdom. He wants us to be a helper. But when a person is self-saved focused, you know, save myself, and that's my focus, that person is ripe to fall for anything. In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 19, I'll read this from the NIV.

But notice what Paul was facing there in Corinth from people who had a self-saved focus.

It says, 2 Corinthians 11, 19, you gladly put up with fools since you are so wise. You have put yourself up and you're focusing on yourself and you think you're so wise, you put up with fools. In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face.

That's what we see happening to deceive people all the time.

Those who themselves or others have convinced that as they head for the finish line, they can have a special exemption. They can have a special edge. They can have a leg up, an ace up the sleeve. If you just follow me, if you just follow this technicality, if you just focus on yourself and really push yourself hard, you end up putting up with fools and enslaved with people who exploit you and take advantage of you and push themselves on you and slap you in the face.

Now, if you were surprised at my earlier suggestion that a personal focus on the Kingdom and looking forward to Jesus Christ and qualifying for rulership with Him is misfocussed, well, consider the two great commandments that Jesus Christ said that encapsulate the entire Bible. They are that agape, outgoing love of God with everything, all parts of our being in our mind.

And the second is loving your neighbor as much as yourself.

Desiring the Kingdom of God is more about desiring the mentality of the God family and wanting to live and exist and serve with them and be part of reaching out and loving for all time in that unique mentality that the God family has. If you and I really want to be part of that, then we're becoming that now. We're trying to become little God-like people, godly people.

And if we don't, if it's all just about ourselves, well, then we're playing a whole bunch of games and we're trying to work little angles so that we can win ourselves a little trip into the Kingdom into the next life.

In conclusion, I'd like to go to Romans 16, verse 17. A couple of scriptures here as we conclude.

In verse 17 of Romans 16, Paul's going to show us the cause of deception and the effective way to avoid it.

Romans 16, we begin in verse 17.

Now I urge you, brethren, I'm talking here to those who are called, those who are being converted.

Note those. I'm talking about persons here. Note persons who cause divisions and offenses. Something other than being godly and pursuing godliness and obeying God and doing the will of God.

They cause divisions and offenses through technicalities. Division is always a technicality. Somebody comes into the audience and causes division. What are they saying? You need to do some other technicality. You need to follow some other person. See, it's always about technicalities and individuals.

Note those individuals who do that contrary to the doctrine which you have learned. What is the doctrine from the beginning to the end? Obey God. Be godly. Love. Give. Serve. In a godly sense. That's the doctrine which you have learned.

And avoid them. Why? Because it's not about personalities. It's not about technicalities. It's not about promotion of yourself.

Verse 18, those who are such, the deceivers, do not serve. That's the problem with them. They don't serve. They're not examples of that which you and I are called to do. To love and to serve. They do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

In pursuing and teaching godliness. But they serve their own.

It's a self-service. It's about me. About my position. So you come. You be a part. You join our technicality, our group, our special, whatever it is.

They serve their own belly with your tithes.

And by smooth words. What are smooth words? They're technicalities. I can give you an ace up your sleeve. I can help you avoid the great tribulation. I can help you be in a special group. You'll be right at the head, the first people to go in the door.

Smooth words. And notice, flattering. What is flattery? Flattery goes right to the self. Flattering makes you think, Oh, be!

Flattering words means you are focused on yourself. And this is now the thing that really gets the juices flowing in you.

It's going to be about me.

Flattering. Exciting our self-focus. The speech, the technicalities, the self, the person. And guess what? They deceive. See here? Deception is about person. Technicalities about the self.

And they deceive who? The hearts of the simple. The simple are those who don't know much about pursuing godliness. That's the definition here of what simple would be. Simple-minded Christians or those who don't know much about being loving and serving and godly. They deceive those. Those are the ones you get at. The simple ones who don't know much about pursuing godliness. But in contrast, we go in verse 19 now back to the brethren that we addressed in verse 17. I urge you brethren, verse 19. For your obedience. There's your focus. That's the focus of the brethren. It's on obeying God. Your godly focus has become known to all. Therefore, I am glad on your behalf. But I want you to be wise, focus and active in what is good. But simple. Don't know much about that towards each other. That's what brethren summarizes from the Apostle Paul. Where deception comes from, what it's all about, and how to prevent it. Be focused on being godly and you won't have a problem. Stray into some technicality of the promotion of yourself. You'll fall for it every time. So let's summarize what we've learned about being deceived. The self-focus are ripe for being deceived. It's about me, after all. And here's a way I can do it better. The self-focused are ripe for being deceived by oneself. It's about me. And I'm pretty good. And I have pretty good knowledge that nobody else has. But the principal key to avoid being deceived is focus on repenting of self and obeying the law of God, which is love God with all your heart, soul, and might, and love your neighbor as yourself. Your and my calling is about repenting of evil, about obeying that message from God. That's the message from Adam and Eve all the way to New Jerusalem in the Bible. Close by reading Revelation 22, verse 14. One last proof of many, many, many that we could have read in the Bible as to what our calling and purpose and the way to the Kingdom of God is. Revelation 22, verse 14. Oh, how extremely blessed, the Greek word would say. Oh, how supremely blessed are those who do His commandments. And His commandments are love God with all your heart, soul, and might, and love your neighbor as yourself. And the result of doing that? That they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city of New Jerusalem. It's all about love and becoming godly. So brethren, let's stay focused on becoming more godly and getting rid of the self and therefore preventing ever becoming deceived. The question of the day and the title of the sermon is, will you become deceived? Well only you can answer that. Only I can answer that. Another way to ask that question is, will you become focused on yourself and some person and some technicality? Or will you always focus on repenting and growing in godliness? In the end, only you and only I can determine whether or not we will become deceived. And that will always depend where our focus is.