A Strong Delusion

 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

There has never been a more confusing time than when we are living right now. Nations and governments are perplexed because they are unable to solve their problems. Crisis after crisis comes so quickly that there is no time to recover from one before the next strikes, and each brings the world closer to the brink of economic meltdown and military confrontation.

The spirit of the Antichrist is working overtime to destroy and deceive the hearts of people at an unprecedented rate. Yet, this deception will worsen before Jesus returns to set up his kingdom of peace.

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians pointed to the spirit of the Antichrist that was already at work in the early church to deceive God’s people. Indeed, that same spirit of the Antichrist has been at work in the hearts of men since the fall of Adam in the garden and has continued to increase in power and influence as the population also increased.

Oh, how easily the heart and mind of man is deceived. We are so quick to believe a lie and so quick to accept Satan’s lies. It is not only those who live in the world of sin who are quickly taken in by the god of this present world whose goal is their eternal destruction. Many people claim to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior but are also caught up in this trap of deception.

Do you believe that you can be deceived? Is it possible that the spirit of the Antichrist has been at work to cloud your judgment, to pollute your heart and soul, and to engulf you in the delusion that all is well with Jesus? Is your salvation assured this morning, or are you living in a world of illusion?

The most significant power of deception that Satan has is to compromise the convictions of the heart of a Christian. I’m not sure if I know anyone whose convictions are not compromised from time to time. Some live under this deception and have been in that place for so long that they don’t even realize how far they have come.

There was a time when righteousness and holiness were the rule in all churches, but now it is the exception. Many are like Lot, Abraham’s nephew, who chose to live in Sodom. He was a righteous man who lived in a degraded society.

2 Peter 2:8, "(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds)"

Lot lived in that sinful place and was bothered by the sin around him. His heart was affected every time he walked out the door. Living amid such a compromising situation clouded Lot’s judgment because we find that he even comes to the place where he offers his daughters to the mob, who stood at the door to protect his angelic guests.

Let me ask you, was it necessary for Lot to protect the angels – of course not. But Lot had been compromised in his faith to the point that he no longer remembered God’s power over sin. He took matters into his own hands and did that which was evil to protect them.

Lest we condemn Lot, let me also ask this question – how many Christians are willing to let Satan destroy their children because they lack the faith in God to deliver them from the clutches of sin? How many cast their children into the streets of this world, leaving them at the mercy of the spirit of the Antichrist, simply because they don’t want to be bothered by them or they are tired of fighting against the powers of hell to reclaim their children from the stronghold of sin?

Satan’s power of deception, through daily compromise and living amid such horrible sin, had clouded Lot’s judgment. That same power of deception can cloud our judgment, too, unless we stay buried in God’s Word and daily fall before God in repentance, and we are very diligent in following the paths of righteousness and holiness.

I know that we can be saved only by the grace of God and through the Blood of Jesus and his sacrifice upon the cross. It will not be because of our righteousness or our own holiness.

Isaiah 64:6, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

But there is another side to salvation, too. It’s the side of remaining sanctified, living a daily, sanctified life of righteousness and holy conviction of sin, for we do not have the right to live after the manner of others who do not know Jesus.

Romans 6:1-2, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"

Paul says that we are justified by our faith in Jesus when we accept him as our Savior. Still, we are not given that justification by faith so that we can continue to live in sin. We are given a new life that is no longer under the power of sin. We are set free from the bonds of compromise to live a sanctified and holy life unto the Lord.

I see too many people who claim to know Jesus, and yet they are convinced that they can continue to live like the world, to act like the world, and still be saved. Darkness and light cannot exist in the same place. We can’t be serving God and Satan at the same time.

How can we say that we are born again, spirit-filled, saved, sanctified, and on fire for God when we partake of the sin of this world? Unsurprisingly, the Church is bound up when its members are living lives of deception and compromise!

How can you come to church on Sunday and act as though you love the Lord and you are on your way to Heaven and ready for the rapture of the saints when you use profanity every time you get angry; you don’t care what you watch on TV or in the movies after all we are adults. The things that pour into our living rooms, murder, witchcraft, occultism, idolatry, and anything else you want to name, are considered as something that won’t affect us anymore. We will sit and watch it for 2 or 3 hours without feeling that conviction of the Holy Spirit anymore because our conscience has become seared through continued compromise.

There was a time when we would hear profanity, which would bother us. Now, we laugh at it and even repeat it. There was a time when we would turn our heads when someone walked on the screen naked; now, we stare and admire the work of art that man parades before us and call it artistic freedom. God still calls it sin, even if we don’t!

There are a lot of standards of holiness that were created from the laws of men. I am convinced that none of us can obey the holiness standards or do’s and don’ts of any preacher any more than we can abide by all of the Law of Moses. Those standards of men, just like the Law of Moses, are only useful in pointing out how much of a compromised and sinful life we lead. Obeying those standards can’t save you anymore than following the Law of Moses can save you. Does that make those standards ineffective? NO! We are still commanded to live a holy, sanctified life unto God! But we cannot depend upon our own holiness to save us, for that only comes through the grace of God and the power of the Blood of Christ.

I know it is impossible to live in this world without being tempted. It is impossible to drive down the highway, read a book, go to work, or do anything else without being affected by the power of sin. The billboards on the highway are more pornographic today than the movies were ten years ago. The Disney shows that once were the cleanest, family-oriented films of all have become little more than faucets that pour out occultism, witchcraft, and homosexuality. Even children’s cartoons have become purveyors of Satanic doctrines, black magic, and the “alternative” lifestyles.

We are living in a sinful world, and we will all be tempted. We will all be vexed, as was Lot, with these daily invasions of our hearts and minds.

1 Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

God knows that we are flesh and subject to temptation. He was also tempted in the wilderness by Satan. God knows that we have our weaknesses, so he also promised us that with every temptation, we would be given the power to overcome that temptation if we use it.

Therein lies our problem. When we are living a life of compromise with sin, and when we have a conscience that has become seared through repeated surrender to temptation, then we can no longer see the way out that God will give to us.

Let me ask you a question. If a prisoner is locked away in a maximum-security prison, under the sentence of death, for a crime that they committed, and somehow the door was left open with no one around to stop them, do you think that they would hang around and wait for someone to close the door? No, they would run as far and fast as possible from that prison.

If we could only learn to run from temptation, which can destroy our soul if we yield to it, how much better off would we be if we fled as quickly as that condemned prisoner would run from his cell.

The point is that if we are truly born again, indeed in love with Jesus, and truly desirous of pleasing the Lord and obeying His Word, our lives will bear the fruit of those convictions.

We will not be comfortable with sin. We will not compromise the standards of righteousness. We will not compromise the convictions of the Holy Ghost in the area of dressing modestly. We will not compromise the convictions of being ethical on the job. We will not compromise by using the same language as the world in communicating with worldly people. We will not allow the deceptive power of the spirit of the Antichrist to compromise our convictions to the point that we no longer know what our convictions are.

I’m not telling you to live according to my standards or the standards of any other preacher. I’m telling you to live by the standards of the Word of God! I’m telling you that you need to listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost as he brings conviction for the sin in your life and stop ignoring and hardening your heart.

The longer this world exists in this sinful state, the more influential the spirit of the Antichrist will become. His power to deceive grows stronger every day, and more people fall under his delusion.

John 3:19-21, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

Sadly, there are a lot of self-proclaimed Christians who live a life of compromise with sin who will not allow the Holy Spirit to shine his convicting power upon their hearts because they love the things of this world more than they love God.

It is not my place to set standards for you to follow. It is not my place to bring you under condemnation and legislate you into living holy unto the Lord. It is my place to warn you of the powers of deception that Satan has and to warn you not to allow Satan to fool you into believing that your heart is right with God when it isn’t.

The Holy Spirit knows how to get your attention if you only hear him speak to you. When you compromise the standards of holiness, he will speak to and warn you. Just listen and obey what the Holy Ghost speaks to you.

John 16:7-8, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:"

The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, that comes to live inside of you will convict you of sin and unrighteousness and give you the power to judge righteously. Don’t ignore him when he pricks your heart. Every time you do, your heart gets a little harder and your conscience a little more seared until finally, you can’t hear him anymore.

That’s a dangerous place to be because that’s called backsliding. No backslider who continues to follow after sin and not after God will enter Heaven’s gates. You will be left behind when Jesus comes for his bride. Left behind to face the onslaught of all the powers of hell that will be released after the rapture of the church. Left behind to face not only the deception of the spirit of the Antichrist but the strong delusion that God will send upon this sinful world so that the devil’s lies will easily fool all who would not accept him.

Don’t allow Satan to deceive you and drag you back into a life of sin. Don’t let him make a fool out of you! Listen to that still, quiet, small voice of the Holy Spirit as he gently and surely convicts you of the sin in your heart and life. Repent of it before it destroys you. Stay on your face before God. Don’t let one day go by without asking God to cleanse you from all sin.

Has Satan gained a foothold in your life? Have you already compromised the standards of holiness in your own heart? Have you allowed sin to hang around? Have you allowed temptation to linger near? Listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost right now and make it right with God. He will be faithful and will forgive you.