Wednesday 25 April 2018

Deception

We need to exercise discernment like never before. Christians can often be naive which we cannot afford to be. We need to weigh up what we hear, read and see.

Source: Bill Muehlenberg
We live in a time where not only the things of the world infiltrate the church but also false teaching is on the increase and often social media is used to disseminate it. We need to exercise discernment like never before. Christians can often be naive which we cannot afford to be. We need to weigh up what we hear, read and see. We need to ask ourselves some questions; Does it conform to the whole body of scripture? Does it sit right with your spirit? Does it accept the risen Christ and everything that that embraces? Not only is there a large amount of material on the web that is 'dodgy', you can find it on Christian TV channels as well.

God gave me a warning dream many years ago which said that I must not rush off to Christian events/meetings unless I have prayed about it and found out about the person or ministry leading the meeting. The dream warned about the severe effect on a person that deception can have even to the point of causing spiritual illness and spiritual death. In Matthew 7:15-16 Jesus himself said: ‘Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them’. In Luke 21:8 He also warns us to ‘watch out that you are not deceived’. There are further warnings in 2 Peter 2:1‘There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord’. 2 Peter 2:10 calls them ‘bold and arrogant’

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 ‘For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve’.

Source: Inspirational Bible Verse Images - Knowing Jesus
The second area where we can be gullible and naive is about prophecy which again is important to weigh up and discern. 1 John 4:1 tells us; ‘do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world’ and remember that in 1 Corinthians 14, we are told that prophecy is to be weighed up by other prophets in the body. We don't live our lives in isolation; we have brothers and sisters in Christ and we can go to those who exercise gifts of wisdom and discernment, who hear God clearly. Finally, we should not forget what the Bible says about wolves in sheep's clothing which still applies today. We will always have wolves in sheep's clothing coming into our churches with one aim and that is to destroy the church, so be vigilant.

We cannot afford to be unquestioning and unobservant, accepting of everything. We have to spend time in prayer and be grounded in scripture and we have to be in relationship within the body of Christ.  As the days darken, we need to be aware of what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.


Author: Muriel Allen

May God bless and enrich your life


Please feel free to share this article and other articles on this site with friends, family and others

6 comments:

  1. A very important message for us to be vigilant in this world. Satan roams around like a roaring lion and will use any opportunity to try to deceive us. As the article tells us; 'We have to spend time in prayer and be grounded in scripture and we have to be in relationship within the body of Christ'. These things will help to clothe us with the full armour of God and help us discern what is of God and what is not. Thank you for this very important message this morning. God bless

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you dear sister in Christ for sharing this important message. All the Glory to God ALWAYS.
    I pray that we keep our eyes fixed on the cross of Jesus ALWAYS.
    I also pray that our relationship with Jesus is so intimate that we know his voice immediately and therefore we also know when we are faced with a wolf dressed in sheeps clothing and can boldly and confidently say "get behind me satan!!!"

    I love this part of the song at the end of the blog,
    "Rid me of my self I belong to you" Amen
    God Bless

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank so much for reminding us to be aware of what we listening and following the word of tells us to test what we have heard and the holy spirit will give us discernedment it is true that are many fault prophet today so let us be wise.may the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all Amen

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for this powerful blog article, we do need to be vigilant in these dangerous days and stay close to our God, be led by the Holy Spirit and walk in the power of the Name of Jesus.
    Matthew 10:16 says
    "I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Jesus warns us here that we are like sheep surrounded by wolves so we constantly need to be on our guard. As the article tells us there are many false teachers and prophets who will try to come in and deceive so we need to always keep our eyes on our good Shepherd and lock His word in our hearts. Let's stay wise in the fear the Lord.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great blog today , I love it when Christians proclaim Gods truths, thank you for bringing this message .
    many of these mega churches that have Thousands in their congregation preach (Jesus Christ is not the only way to be saved ) and Islam and Christianity worship the same God!!
    people love it because it brings them a cheap Gospel which is on the Wide Road that leads to destruction , and many will find it , they are presented with , you can live like the world God understands? they love that , they don't need to take the scriptures to seriously? I think its very good advice to check out these people before we go to listen to them at conferences ect .
    Jesus used to refer to his Disciples as LITTLE FLOCK I often wonder if the Remnant of his true believers will remain just that a REMNANT few of his followers will stand in the last days??. I would rather be in a small church that reflect Jesus Christ any day AMEN

    ReplyDelete
  6. Timely word. Gave me lots to think about. Bless you sharing these warnings and guidance. X

    ReplyDelete