Truth matters: An earnest plea from the heart

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-11

Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
Matthew 24:11

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
2 Timothy 3:13

The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
Jeremiah 17:9

Test all things; hold fast what is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:21

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:13-14

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22

In my experience, many who profess the name of Christ despise warnings, however graciously given. But Scripture is replete with warnings; warnings for unbelievers and warnings against deception for those who profess faith in Christ. My plea here is directed to those who profess Christ.

The Bible teaches that one of the foremost features of the last days will be widespread deception and apostasy. In 1 Timothy 4:1 we read:

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

These are strong words that ought to make every professing Christian continually watchful. Have you wandered away from the truth? Are you believing a lying spirit, a different gospel? God, in His lovingkindness, warns us to be vigilant.

Our blessed Lord Jesus cautioned His disciples:

Take heed that no one deceives you.
Matthew 24:4

He expounded:

For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 24:24

Signs and wonders, therefore, are no indicator that any teacher is of God. Neither is apparent “gifting”. Indeed, the devil himself masquerades quite successfully as an angel of light – 2 Corinthians 11:14. The true indicator that any teacher is of God is their fruit, as our Lord Jesus taught.

Paul the apostle warned the Corinthian church with these words:

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. 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!
2 Corinthians 11:3-4

We are witnessing much preaching of “another Jesus”, “a different gospel” and the workings of “a different spirit”. Apostasy and deception abound within Christendom. It is now very hard, and in some places well-nigh impossible, to find a true evangelical assembly faithful to our glorious Lord Jesus and His word. Many churches have succumbed to the spirit of the age. They have wandered from truth and conformed to the world, contrary to God’s word – Romans 12:2. Many have embraced the world’s philosophies of feminism, cultural Marxism and climate change activism. In seeking to please the world, they have lost direction altogether. They have fallen into apostasy.

What do we mean by apostasy and by deception? Puritan minister, Timothy Cruso, described apostasy as “a perversion to evil after a seeming conversion from it”. An apostate is someone who once believed, at least visibly, the doctrines of the Christian faith but has turned away from them. A spiritually deceived person is one who believes that he is a follower of Jesus Christ but his walk and his beliefs indicate otherwise. Deception is manifested in the teaching and believing of false doctrine, and in the hypocritical lives of professing believers. Such deception is dangerous because it damns.

Our God-breathed and God-preserved Bible teaches us true doctrine, so that we may know what to believe. The Holy Spirit, given to true believers, guides us into all truth – John 16:13. New Christians are charged to desire and feed on the pure milk of the word in order to grow spiritually – 1 Peter 1:2. Through feeding on the Scriptures, the Christian grows into a spiritual maturity whereby he is much less vulnerable to deception, much less likely to be tossed back and forth by every wind of doctrine – Ephesians 4:14. He becomes much less likely to be beguiled by the “enticing words” of false teachers – Colossians 2:4. Are you spiritually discerning? The Bible exhorts all Christians to discernment – Colossians 2:8, John 7:24, Hebrews 5:14. Charles Spurgeon said that deception “is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

How can we judge and discern between right and almost right? Only through studying and understanding the Scriptures with the guidance of the Holy Spirit – Psalm 119:130, Psalm 40:8, Romans 8:14. Because deception is subtle and often involves half-truths and the mixing of truth with error, we must be sober and vigilant -1 Peter 5:8. In spite of clear guidance and warnings from Scripture, many churches and many believers have embraced varying degrees of false doctrine. Some even say that “doctrine divides”, and so we must not focus on doctrine, they argue, but instead on love and unity within the church. The danger and error of this position is clear in Galatians 1:8, where the apostle Paul gives this stern warning:

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.