Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
4/28/2022
The Architect of Evil: Spiritual Murder and Deception
Jim Jones was the founder of the People's Temple. More than 900 of Jim Jones' followers died in a cult murder/suicide in 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana. Over 300 children were murdered. It was the greatest loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until the 9/11 attacks.
The FBI recovered a 45-minute audio recording. It is disturbing. Demonic. Jim Jones calmly urges his followers to drink cyanide-laced Flavor Aid (technically not Kool-Aid) after giving it to their children.
Jim Jones is one of the most extreme examples of spiritual deception. But he is certainly not alone. History is marked by those who—in a hundred different ways—have influenced people away from God and damaged, even destroyed, their lives.
I have a heavy word today. I pray that you stay with me.
In the Bible, there are repeated warnings about those who will seek to deceive us spiritually. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns about false prophets.
What protects us is knowing the truth. Two things are going to take place in this end-time period. First, the rebellion will occur. The term rebellion gives us our word "apostasy." In classical Greek, this term refers to a political or military rebellion. Here it refers to rebellion against God. In several passages, there will be a dramatic manifestation of evil. It will ultimately be targeted against God. It is as though Satan is throwing all of his forces into one last effort. It will be a time of brutal war, upheaval—the persecution of both Jews and Christians. Jesus says in Matthew 24, "There will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive … " (Matthew 24:21-22). In 2 Timothy 3, Paul describes the thinking of those living during this time:
But mark this: “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents [perhaps one aspect of this is rejecting what their parents believed], ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. [Even now] Have nothing to do with such people” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
But there will be an unparalleled rebellion.
And second, "the man of lawlessness" will be revealed. This individual is referred to by as many as two dozen titles in the Bible; he is referred to as the Beast in the book of Revelation; he is referred to as the Antichrist in John's first letter. He is a Hitler-like, Stalin-like figure—incredibly evil, and violent. He is mentioned in a surprising number of passages in both the Old and New Testaments.
The Antichrist will be the one who is at the very heart of this rebellion. John writes in Revelation 13:7 that he will be "given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation." Verse 4: He will present himself as a god—as the only god. He will make himself the sole object of worship. He replaces not only the worship of God—but even the practice of false religion—with the worship of himself. John writes that all the inhabitants of the earth will worship the Beast.
Billy Graham says,
Thousands of uninstructed Christians are being deceived today. False teachers use high-sounding words that seem like the height of logic, scholarship, and culture. They are intellectually clever in their sophistry and adept at beguiling thoughtless, untaught men and women.
Truth rejected leads to even further deception.
2 Thess 2:10b: People who are lost refuse to love the truth; they refuse to pursue it—and receive salvation. Verse 11: Because they turn away from the truth, God turns them over to a powerful delusion—to further deception. Verse 12: Not only do they turn away from the truth, they take delight in evil.
In Romans 1, sin acted on leads to further sin. It's a downward spiral. Truth rejected, leads to more and more deception. We become more and more vulnerable. We finally believe anything.
G. K. Chesterton says, "The first effect of not believing in God is to believe in anything." I'm not sure it's the first effect; I think it's the last effect. Truth rejected leads to further deception—until we finally accept and believe anything.
Our protection against deception is a commitment to God’s truth.
Paul is grateful for the faith of his readers. They have been chosen by God; they have been saved through the sanctifying—the term means "to set apart"—the work of the Holy Spirit. That is, the Spirit has drawn them to the Savior. But notice they have received salvation – 2nd Thessalonians 2: "through belief in the truth." Verse 14: Our future is to share in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus will come back. Look back at verse 8: Jesus will simply speak/breathe and the Antichrist will be defeated. He will establish his kingdom on this planet. We will rule with him in his kingdom. We will be brought into conformity with the Son. We will share in the glory that belongs to Jesus Christ”.
And at this point, we might expect Paul to say: "Relax. God has it all under control." And while that's true, that's not what the passage says. The language is active, and direct; it is a command. We are to stand firm and hold on to the truth. even if everything in life is trying to blow us away from it. We have to do the hard work of holding onto the truth. Ephesians 6:10
If you want Satan to deceive you intellectually, morally—if you want to give yourself to that which will leave you distant from God, leave you with a broken heart, family, mind, do these two things.
• Don't make the effort to know the truth. Don't make the Word a priority. Don't set aside time to read the Word. Don't put yourself in settings where you can learn the Word. Don't find a small group where you can discuss the Word and think through what it means to act on the truth.
• Reject the truth if you somehow discover what it is. There are a number of ways to do this: We can reject it openly. Just dismiss it. I'm not going to do that. We can rationalize it away. It is so easy to justify that decision at work tomorrow; that bitterness we refuse to let go of. We can delay the implementation of it. I'll do something with that tomorrow. But, of course, we won't.
• It is all deceit. It leaves us wounded and damaged. It can cost us our souls. This all seems so hopeless. We need some good news: The One whose name is Truth loves us and calls us to himself. He also said, "The truth sets you free." That's true in every area of life.
To avoid spiritual deception, develop discernment by abiding in the Word, especially with regard to the gospel (1 john 2:24).
Knowing the Truth of Jesus is the only way home.
https://www.facebook.com/castingcrowns/videos/805840673439892/
Casting Crown Scars in Heaven
Excerpts heavily taken and condensed from: Jim Nite is the pastor of Center Point Community Church in Naples, FL.
