Several years ago, a lady came into our church offices seeking financial advice. It seems that she had “fallen in love” with someone in Nigeria (sight unseen) and had been sending that person lots and lots of money – per their request – believing they would soon come to America and engage in . . . wedded bliss. She had lost most of her savings and now that her money was gone, so was he. She was deceived, of course – hoodwinked out of her life savings.
What exactly is deception? It’s actually the Greek word “planao,” which means to lead astray or to wander off course. It can depict a single person who has wandered away or it could describe an entire nation that has veered from truth. In the Bible, the word “deceive” was often used to forecast the wide-scale deception that would one day take over the world. Many believe it’s a foreshadow to the end times.
As Bible scholar Rick Renner has said, “It’s clear that we have entered into the very last part of the last days.” It’s prophesied that things will intensify as the days pass because we’re living at the end of the age where society as a whole will be deceived on a massive scale. In Matthew 24:4, Jesus warned: “Don’t let anyone deceive you….” One translation says that “deception will ruin rampant. So beware that you are not fooled.”
Matthew 24 goes on to tell us what those end times will look like: wars and rumors of wars, nations rising up against nations, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes…plus a culture that has strayed so far off, that, as Rick Runner relates, “It has become beguiled, bewitched, duped, and seduced into believing a lie in place of the truth.” Renner goes on to say: “This period of deceitfulness will be so intense that people will believe what is false over what is obviously true, even denying facts and truths that are common sense and what nature itself teaches.” Just look around – deception is everywhere – some pretty innocent and others not so much. I read a survey recently where it was disclosed that 15% of women dye their hair, 38% wear blush, 98% use eye shadow, and 22% have false eyelashes. And – 100% voted in favor of a resolution condemning any kind of false packaging. Pretty head-shaking funny! Yes — we gals do love our makeup!
But other deceptions are more weighty – government trickeries, corporate frauds, or moral shenanigans are all on the rise. Take, for instance, the male swimmer who is now smashing women’s records at the University of Pennsylvania. He’s a big dude – of course, he’s going to out-swim his female counterparts! But people are cheering him on nonetheless and vilifying those who would call foul.
Someone once remarked that “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” But truth doesn’t cease to exist because it’s ignored, nor does denying the truth change the facts.
2 Timothy 4 tells us that “The time will come when people will not put up with sound instruction…and they will turn away from hearing the truth and wander off to myths.” I think we are there! 2 Corinthians 4 goes on to say that “Satan, who is the god of this age, has blinded the minds of unbelievers.” Francis Chan once remarked that, “Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers,” so I don’t expect the “world” to come banging on my door and reward me for telling the truth – I fully expect push-back on every front.
Telling the truth to a culture running on lies and deception is an act of spiritual warfare and not always welcomed. I’m not sure who said this, but it bears repeating: “Men are not women, women are not men, animals are not children, live-in boyfriends or girlfriends are not spouses. The internet is not the local church; words are not guns, feelings are not facts, creatures are not the Creator. Jesus is the answer. The gospel still has power. The blood still works. The Bible is still true, and the church is still advancing by force and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
May truth prevail in our land and may God bless the United States of America!
Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you may contact them at DPCitychuirch.org
Susan Beckett | The Dwelling Place City Church
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