“TAKE HEED THAT NO MAN DECEIVE YOU.”
By T.
THE very interesting question was asked the Saviour, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matt. 24:3. In view of the directness of this question it is most significant that the words of the Master’s reply should be, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” “For,” He continues, “many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Matt. 24:4, 5. And, proceeding, the Lord points out the evidences by which it may be known when His coming is near, as well as to tell the disciples how it was possible to know when the destruction of old Jerusalem was at hand. But commingled with this evidence of His coming He continues to warn against deceptions. “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” Matt. 24:11. And again in the same chapter, “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Verses 23, 24. The Lord would not place so many warnings against deceptions, in the very midst of the evidence of His coming, unless there was danger. And the simple fact that He is so particular to give repeated warnings should cause us to be on our guard every moment. And we should never lose sight of the fact that the first thing the Lord said in answer to, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming?” is, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Then, whether we realize it or not, our Lord knew full well that many deceptions would beset us in these last days, and He warns us so that we may avoid them if we will. The apostles also had the danger of deceptions in the last days wonderfully impressed upon their minds by the Spirit of God. Says Paul: “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.” 2 Thess. 2:8-12. The “Lord shall consume” “that wicked” and shall destroy him “with the brightness of His coming.” But His “coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” How clear this language is! Satan works with “lying wonders” in a most extraordinary manner when our Lord’s coming is near. Further it is stated that his working is “with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.” Here is revealed, not only the “deceivableness” of Satan’s working, but also the channel through which he works. It is “in them that perish.” And they perish “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” So then the Lord sends His “truth” to graciously save men. But they do not love it, and so turn away from it, and are taken by the “delusion.” God will not permit a single soul to be thus deluded by Satan without sending him the truth and doing all that infinite love can do to warn him of the ensnaring evils of these last days. In Rev. 13:11 a prophecy is introduced by the symbol of a “beast” that had “two horns like a lamb.” In Rev. 19:20 this same beast is spoken of again under the name of “false prophet,” as any one will readily see who will take the time to compare this verse with the latter part of Revelation 13. But of this “false prophet,” it states that he was “cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” Rev. 19:20. Then the “false prophet,” or “beast” with “two horns like a lamb,” is still “alive,” an acting, moving power, when he is “cast” “into a lake of fire.” And while this power is alive and acting, note that “he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.” Rev. 13:13, 14. So, then, here is a text which shows that the masterly work of deception in these last days will be carried to the point where fire is made to “come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” What could be a greater display of power? And should we believe in the one exercising it?—Ah, the Lord has pointed out these things as deceptions, and we should beware! Reader, are you fortified against these delusions that Satan is preparing for the last days? When he “maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,” are you prepared to promptly reject the great snare of the evil one? And when all around us may be seen the “working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish,” can you say, I am sheltered by my heavenly Father from all this? And as the false christs, and false prophets, arise, and “show great signs and wonders,” can you say to them all: “No, I do not accept you? My Master has warned me against you, and I am trusting in Him”? God is now sending His Gospel message to the world. He is offering His truth freely to all. And His truth is so clear, and so perfectly is it light itself, that no one who receives and keeps it may ever be captured by any deception that Satan can invent. “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:4, 5, 9. Have you received this Light? If so, He will safely guide you past every deception, no matter how cunningly it may be devised. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Ps. 119:105, 130. T.