“Take Heed that no Man Deceive You.”
By John Matteson
This is the first warning given in the prophetic discourse of our Saviour as recorded in Matt. 24. It is often used by the different churches, when we go into a place to preach, in this way: A new ism has come along. No doubt it is one of those false prophets of the latter days. Says the Catholic, “Abide by your creed and catechism. The Catholic church is the mother church. Remain in her bosom and you are safe. Let no man deceive you.” Says the Lutheran, “Luther was the great reformer. He was a man of God. He brought light out of darkness. Our church has the word of God pure and undefiled. Remain with us, and you are safe.” Says the Baptist, “We believe in the Bible and the Bible alone. We teach the original and only true mode of baptism. Listen to nothing else. Let no man deceive you.” And thus we hear a hundred conflicting voices. Surely, some of them must be mistaken, for truth is a unit always in harmony with itself. But the greatest inconsistency of all is, that many men, who warn others against deceivers, are themselves deceived in their own heart, destitute of the love of God, full of corruption and worldly love. For “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: Who can know it?” Jer. 17: 9. And while they try to run away from deceivers, they carry the greatest deceiver in their own bosom. What, then, may we understand by the warning of our Saviour, Take heed that no man deceive you? The definition of the original word rendered deceive, is very instructive on this point: “Lead astray; seduce from the path of virtue.” And one definition given of the corresponding noun is: “Seduction from the path of truth and virtue.” This, then, is addressed to those who have received the truth, and who follow in the footsteps of Jesus. It is a tender warning to them not to depart from the truth, nor from the victories they may have gained over self, and the virtues they may have cultivated. Let every one, then, of whatever church he may be a member, zealously hold on to that part of his faith which is founded on the plain declaration of the Scriptures, for which he can show a “Thus saith the Lord.” And let every individual, who has commenced to yield one or more of those precious fruits of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,” be very careful not to listen to any doctrine that would lead him back to his former evil habits, but go on in the207path of the just, which “is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” Prov. 4: 18. Farlinville, Kan., April 19, 1870.