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Romans 1:22-25 - Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For some time now I have been hearing God call me to preach a strong prophetic message concerning our days.
The truth is it seems like the entire world has gone mad. Today what was once evil is now good. What once was considered good is now considered evil, outdated, small minded and scoffed at.
People believe that male is female, and female is male and anything else that you want it to be.
Today it is clear that people have exchanged the truth of God’s Word for the lies offered by the devil.
Romans chapter one shows us what a society without God will look like.
Today we are watching the collapse of society all around us. While we stand here in awe and unbelief at what we see going on - it has all happened before. Once mighty empires that people thought would never collapse have. The Romans, the Incas, the Aztecs, the Persians, the Babylonians. All of these were once mighty places that believed the lies of the devil and they are no more. They are no longer with us.
America and many places in the world have allowed the lies of the devil to become their truth. It is causing confusion, crime, and the perversion of so many things that it is leaving the heads of even the unsaved spinning. It is obvious that the world is not in a good place.
There are some things that we need to understand about lies.
These lies are what the devil tells us about God – Like he did with Adam and Eve.
It could be lies that we believe about ourselves. Either how good we think we are, which is pride, or how bad that we think we are. We now live defeated, depressed, and dejected.
We must remember that Satan is the Father of lies and that lies are his native language.
John 8:43-45 (NLT) - Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me!
Satan thrives on deception by presenting misinformation to promote a hidden agenda. His plan has been to control people through misdirection, deception, and intimidation.
The problem with deceiving is that it …. Does in fact deceive.
The Bible warns us that in the last days people will not put up with truth and sound doctrine but will gather teachers and preachers around them that will tell them lies and what they want to hear. They will scratch any itch that they want to believe.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 - For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.
Deception is a huge problem because people who are deceived are absolutely sure that they are correct, that they are accurate and on the side of truth.
In reality they are not correct. They are living and assuming a false reality. This is why deception is so scary and so effective.
It begins by not staying committed to truly Biblical teaching and believing.
The Bible says that people are drawn away by their own desires and they will turn from the truth and embrace fables. Another word for fable is myth… a widely held but false belief or idea. What gives power to the lie is that there are many people who believe it or…. want to believe it… so they do.
The Bible tells us that many in our day will gravitate toward doctrine that is “Culturally” Acceptable. Even if it does not align with God’s Word. This is called selective hearing.
People with selective hearing drift from the truth and gravitate towards those who tell them what they want to hear. This in turn reinforces what they want to believe which governs the way that they live. This leads to a life of true confusion. They actually believe that good is evil and that evil is good. That light is darkness, and that darkness is light; and that male and female are interchangeable or redefinable.
It is important to understand that deception leads to confusion and confusion leads to delusion which is believing that the truth is a lie and that the lie is the truth. In these days, the Bible speaks about God allowing people to fall into a strong delusion.
1 Thessalonians 2:9-11- The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
I hear people ask today when they see the lies that people are believing – “Don’t these people know that they are delusional?” No, they do not because they are deceived.
The Apostle Paul delt with that in his day.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 - But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
This is something that concerns me as a pastor in our day. People are embracing and putting up with another gospel.
The same deception that deceived Eve is deceiving people today. It has crept into the church and has been cleverly packaged to appeal to the desires of the flesh.
If we leave this problem unaddressed it will continue to weaken the church and allow Satan unfettered control of the world.
We cannot remain silent and we need to grasp the severity of this issue.
We need the discernment of God that will keep us from becoming confused and deceived.
Silence is not an option. We must declare the truth and declare it often so that it counteracts the lies and propaganda that are being told.
Silence communicates agreement and agreement grants permission. We enable deception when we refuse to confront lies.
The Bible says that in the last days because people will not retain God in their knowledge that He will give them over to a debased mind. Different versions say God gave them over to a debased mind, a reprobate mind or foolish thinking. If you're not familiar with the term reprobate, the literal definition in the Greek is failing to pass the test, unapproved, counterfeit.
People today aren’t crazy they are debased. They do not think straight, correctly or in truth. This is rampant in our society at all levels of education and financial spectrums.
The Good news is that we are not crazy either. We are walking in the light of God’s truth.
So, in light of this what are we to do?
Understand the times we are living in. Refuse to compromise ourselves and stay IN the TRUTH. We must refuse to be silent – we must preach and Declare the truth. We must call people individually and our communities and nation – corporately to repentance. If we are in sin We must turn from our wicked ways.
– We must pray and stand in the gap for our nation.
There will be a lot more to unpack when I preach this message. Listen, God is still on the throne. We are still saved and He is coming back soon. In all the turmoil of the World one thing has remained constant. God is still the same – Yesterday, Today and Forever! - You are dearly Loved.
Pastor Marvin and Dawn
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay