4And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.” [simple_tooltip content=’3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.
5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.’](Matthew 24:3-5)[/simple_tooltip]
Deception can be avoided or Jesus would not have said, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Satan can only deceive those who allow him to do it. Ephesians 6:11 tells us, “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” God said the “whole armor.” Many Christians have been running around with only the helmet of salvation on. There is more to overcoming the devil than just being saved. We have to understand our righteous position in the Lord. We also must possess faith, know the Word, and understand the gospel of peace.
The Christian life is a constant struggle against Satan who is trying to corrupt us. Most of us are aware of the warfare but don’t know where the warfare is occurring. The battle is in our minds. Just as the serpent didn’t come against Eve with brute force but used words to deceive her, Satan tries to corrupt us through thoughts contrary to the Word of God. His original tactic was deception, and that is still his method of operation today.
One of the characteristics of children is that they are easily deceived. They are gullible. In order for a believer to move from childhood to sonship, they must develop spiritual discernment. This comes from being grounded in the Word of God. The way to recognize deception is not to analyze all the false claims but to become so familiar with what is genuine that a counterfeit will be easily recognizable.
Today if you abide in God’s Word and continue to walk according to God’s Word, you will not be deceived. You will easily spot any thought or idea that is contrary to what you know of the truth.
