The apostle Paul gives a powerful warning in his second epistle to the church at Thessalonica. Paul wrote this epistle in the first century, when Satan’s deception was well under way, and the true churches of God were already being infiltrated by false teachers with seducing spirits. Paul earnestly admonished, “Do not let anyone deceive you by any means...” (II Thes. 2:3, AT).
What were the means that these false teachers were using to deceive the brethren? The answer is revealed in the first two verses of this same chapter. “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him [he is beseeching for the sake of their calling and eternal salvation through God the Father and Jesus Christ], for you not to be quickly shaken in your minds, nor be troubled, neither by spirit [from Satan], nor by word [a message or teaching], nor by epistle, as if by us [letters falsely written in Paul’s name, alleged to be the epistles of Paul or one of the other true apostles of Jesus Christ], that the day of the Christ is now present” (II Thes. 2:1-2, AT).
What presumptuous gall to use such tactics! Satan is bold! He means business! No wonder he is called the Adversary of God! His false ministers were actually using the apostle Paul’s name to promote their false doctrines! They were craftily writing letters to mislead the brethren and were claiming that their false teachings were authorized by Paul and the other apostles of Jesus Christ. This is why Paul wrote so forcefully, urging the brethren not to let anyone deceive them by any means—by spirit, by word or by epistle!
Paul’s warning was not only for the Thessalonians of the first century. It is a warning for true Christians of every generation! Paul revealed that Satan’s deception would continue down through the centuries and would reach a climax in the last generation shortly before the return of Jesus Christ. Notice! The apostasy must come first, before the day of the Lord! “Do not let anyone deceive you by any means, for that day [of the Lord] shall not come, except there shall have come the apostasy first, and the man of sin, the son of perdition, shall have been revealed, the one who is opposing and exalting himself above every thing which is called God, or object of veneration; so that as God, he goes into the temple of God, to sit down, while proclaiming that he himself is God” (II Thes. 2:3-4, AT).
Paul warns that the end result of Satan’s age-old deception will be a heinous apostasy. The Greek word literally means to stand aside from God, or push God aside. Apostasy is defined as “to abandon what one believes in, as a faith”
(Webster’s New World Dictionary). In order to abandon the faith, one must have first been a believer. A person cannot abandon something he or she does not have.
Being deceived is the first step toward apostasy. Apostasy is not the beginning of evil, it is the culmination of wave after wave of lying deceptions. This is why Paul emphatically warned, “Do not let anyone deceive you by any means.”
Paul’s words are a timely warning for true Christians in these end times. The prophesied apostasy is clearly happening in the world today. In its educational systems, in its religions, in its governments, the knowledge of God is being pushed aside and eliminated. Basic moral values founded in God’s Word, which the world had formerly accepted, are being systematically expunged or nullified in every aspect of life. In their place stands Satan’s godless “New Age” human philosophy.
To fully control this apostasy, Satan is bringing about the amalgamation of the world’s religions into a united global church! It will become the new one-world religion. In a world long devoid of God’s Truth, this new amalgamation of religions will be received as a wonderful “spiritual advancement.” In reality, it will be a grand pantheon of Satan’s religions and his gods. This “new” union of all religions will be the prophesied “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth” (Rev. 17:5). Just as Satan is inspiring an ecumenical movement among the religions of the world, he is also subverting all nations and governments into accepting a one-world government. This one-world government will be the beast which “Babylon the Great” will ride (Rev. 17:1-6).
At the same time that the prophesied apostasy is unfolding in the world, an apostasy is taking root within the churches of God. Satan is busy wherever possible within the churches of God! His goal is to destroy the Truth of God and the spiritual Church of God! He aims to deceive and destroy every begotten son of God by any means possible. Since he cannot kill every true Christian physically, he uses his seductive deceptions to subvert and destroy them spiritually. The most effective and least detectable method that Satan uses to deceive true believers is the promulgation of false doctrines from within their own church organization.
Satan is successfully using this insidious tactic in the churches of God today. True to the prophecy of Paul, those who once accepted and believed the Truth of God are abandoning the Truth for false doctrines! This departure from the Truth of God takes place gradually and subtly. One by one, false doctrines creep in and begin to replace the true teachings of God’s Word. Little by little, the apostasy within the churches of God takes hold, and Truth and faith are abandoned. Just as “a little leaven leavens the whole lump,” so the acceptance and belief of false doctrines act as spiritual leaven which leavens the whole congregation.
In baking, the leavening process begins slowly and imperceptibly as the tiny amount of leaven works its way throughout the large lump of dough. But once the leaven has permeated the entire lump, its pervasive effect is clearly visible, as it completely leavens the whole lump. The original lump of dough is completely changed into a wholly leavened loaf of bread.
Spiritual leaven works the same way. When a little leaven of false doctrine enters a church, it must immediately be rejected. If it is allowed to remain as a teaching of the church, it will only lead to the spread of error. Slowly and insidiously, more and more false doctrine will be introduced, until these deceptive teachings permeate the entire church. Then this spiritual leaven will explode into mammoth doctrinal changes, transforming a church of God into an entirely different church altogether—retaining none of the original teachings of Jesus Christ.
The spiritual danger from the leaven of false doctrines has existed since Jesus Christ began His true Church. Just as Jesus Christ warned His disciples to beware of the doctrinal leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the apostle Paul warned the early New Testament Christians to beware of false teachers bringing false doctrines to draw away believers from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have read Paul’s admonition to the Thessalonians, urging them not to let anyone deceive them by spirit, by teachings, or by a letter. Paul also warned the Colossians, exhorting the brethren not to allow any man to deceive them with clever-sounding doctrines of philosophy.
“And this I am telling you, so that NO ONE MAY DECEIVE YOU by persuasive speech....Beware, lest there shall be anyone who is making a prey of you [as one stalks an animal to kill] through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:4, 8, AT).
An animal that becomes a prey is stalked unawares until the hunter is in a position to attack. When the prey has been killed, it is dragged off to be devoured as a meal. In the same way, Paul is warning us to beware of those who would destroy us spiritually by involving us in philosophy and the doctrines and commandments of men, and ultimately the worship of fallen angels, thereby dragging us off to spiritual death.
The apostle Peter admonished, “Be sober! Be vigilant! Because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, is prowling about seeking anyone he may devour. Whom RESIST, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are being accomplished in your brethren which are in the world” (I Pet. 5:8-9, AT).
Those who desire to follow the true teachings of Jesus Christ must constantly be on guard against Satan and his seductive teachings through false prophets and false apostles. Every true believer must heed the urgent warnings of the true apostles of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament. These inspired words were written for all true Christians, “upon whom the ends of the world are come” (I Cor. 10:11). As true Christians, each of us has a personal responsibility to God—WE ARE NOT TO ALLOW ANYONE TO DECEIVE US BY ANY MEANS!
Many in the New Testament churches of God failed to heed the warnings of Paul and the other apostles of Jesus Christ. Whole congregations gradually succumbed to the creeping leaven of false doctrines being spread by false ministers of Satan working within the churches themselves. The insidious apostasy gained momentum after the death of the apostles Paul and Peter. John, the last of the original twelve apostles, wrote his three epistles against the evils and subtleties of the developing apostasy, which was spearheaded by false teachers and false apostles. After his death, the churches of God were swept up in a sea of false doctrines. The end result was the Catholic Church!
What were these deceptive doctrines that so effectively lured the first century churches of God away from the true teachings of Jesus Christ? Two of the false doctrines which were foremost in the first-century apostasy are the same false teachings that Satan is promoting today.
One of these false teachings is the denial that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who Was the Lord God of the Old Testament, emptied Himself of His divine power and glory and became a human being. This false doctrine denies that Jesus Christ took upon Himself the same sinful human flesh that we have (Rom. 8:3, Heb. 4:14-15).
The apostle John gave this warning: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but be testing the spirits, if they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this test you are knowing the Spirit of God: every spirit which is confessing that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit which is not confessing that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. And this is the spirit of antichrist, which you heard that it is coming, even now it is already in the world” (I John 4:1-3, AT).
We need to understand that demon spirits influence and inspire false prophets and false teachers. In reality, when we test the message of a preacher, we are testing whether that preacher is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God or by the satanic spirit of demons—the spirit of antichrist.
The apostle John clearly labels anyone who denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh as being of the spirit of antichrist. The end result of denying that Jesus truly came in human flesh is the false belief that He never truly died! It is claimed that because He was God, he could never actually die. Therefore, it is reasoned, His death was only symbolic! But the Bible clearly teaches that Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, divested Himself of His divine power and glory to become a human being for the express purpose of dying! To deny the human nature of Jesus Christ is to deny the reality of His sacrifice for sin! It is a denial of God’s love and grace!
The second false teaching, the doctrine of the Trinity, comes in many variations. Few people realize that nearly every “Christian” religion in the world has some form of a triune godhead as a fundamental doctrinal belief. Fewer still have any idea that the esoteric Jewish kabbalist doctrine teaches a triune godhead within the so‑called monotheistic belief of Judaism. Without doubt, belief in a Trinitarian doctrine is a characteristic of nearly every religion in the world! This major doctrine was passed down directly to the peoples in the Eastern hemisphere from the ancient Babylonian mystics, called Magi. (Read The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop.) Our Western nations inherited it indirectly through the philosophers of Greece and the influence of pagan Rome.
Belief in a Trinitarian godhead has blinded the nations of this world to the plan of God! The Trinitarian doctrine of the godhead restricts God to only three persons or to three manifestations of one person. With a triune godhead, there can be no Family of God. This false doctrine completely denies the truth of the Gospel that all who are spiritually begotten by God the Father are to become the spirit-born children of God.
The apostle John boldly declared, “Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God! On account of this very thing, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we do know that when He shall be revealed, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is. And every one who is having this hope in him is purifying himself, even as He is pure” (I John 3:1-3, AT).
True Christians who are spiritually begotten by God the Father and who grow and mature in the mind and character of Jesus Christ will be born into the Family of God, sharing His power and glory as His children forever. This is the glorious, fantastic plan of God the Father and Jesus Christ. What an awesome destiny God the Father has planned for each one He calls through Jesus Christ!
God has given and preserved His Word, the Holy Scriptures, to reveal to us His wonderful plan and purpose. God the Father has given His Holy Spirit to us so that we can know and understand. God wants us to know and understand His love and His salvation through Jesus Christ. We can know His purpose for us! We are to be His own children—the spirit-born sons of God!
But the doctrine of the Trinity denies the true plan and purpose of God. Those who promote this false doctrine would have us believe that it is impossible to understand the nature of God, or the true purpose of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Satan is the spirit behind this subversion! He is the one who wants to keep the true knowledge of God and His purpose a mystery through the false doctrine of the Trinity. Any religious organization which holds the doctrine of the Trinity among its beliefs is clearly marked as having been subverted by Satan through his false teachers.
The Trinity must always remain “an unknown mystery” to those who accept and believe it. Satan does not want people to know that he has blasphemously exalted himself as a third “God” in a false triune godhead concocted in his own evil, rebellious mind. He is the god of this world! That is the diabolical secret of the third member of the mysterious Trinity!
Today, Satan is using the same deceitful, lying doctrines of demons that he used to subvert the churches of God in the first-century apostasy. Are these seductive doctrines now being promulgated in your church? If they are, watch out! The deep ditch of apostasy lies ahead! If you accept and believe the satanic doctrine of a triune godhead, you are denying God the Father and Jesus Christ, and you will end up in total spiritual darkness.
When false teachers have exalted themselves to positions of power and authority within a church, they begin to introduce their seductive doctrines. At the same time, they begin to speak evil of the true doctrines of the Word of God. As soon as the minds of believers have been subverted and the initial false doctrines have been accepted, then more and more damnable heresies are brought in.
The apostle Peter strongly condemned false teachers who stealthily do their evil work within the churches of God. He warned, “But there were false prophets also among the people, as indeed there shall be false teachers among you [from within your congregations], who shall stealthily introduce damnable heresies [denial of the human nature of Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the Trinity, the Cross, the veneration of idols, that the church is the Kingdom of God, that one is born again now, Christmas and Easter], and who are themselves even denying the Lord who bought them, and are bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
“And many people shall follow as authoritative their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of [the Greek means “blasphemed”]. Also, through insatiable greed they will exploit you for gain, with enticing messages...” (II Pet. 2:1-3, AT).
These very words are being fulfilled today! We are seeing with our own eyes and hearing with our own ears the exact fulfillment of these prophetic warnings. FALSE TEACHERS ARE SPEAKING EVIL OF THE TRUTH! THEY ARE DENYING JESUS CHRIST! THEY ARE EXPLOITING THE BRETHREN THROUGH INSATIABLE GREED!
When a person speaks evil of the Truth, and the way of Truth, he is speaking evil of the Truth-bringer, Jesus Christ! Jesus said, “I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE” (John 14:6).
When anyone speaks evil of the Truth, he is judging the Word of God! He is judging God’s laws and commandments, which are truth, as unreliable. He is judging God’s salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as unworthy. He is exalting himself and his opinions above the Lawgiver and Life-giver. In effect, he is denying God the Father and Jesus Christ.
James, the brother of Jesus Christ, sternly condemned those who are judging God and His laws! “But if you are judging the law [and the Lawgiver and all that He stands for], you are not a doer of the law; rather, you are a judge. But there is only one Lawgiver who has the power to save and to destroy. Who are you, whoever is judging another?” (James 4:11-12, AT.)
God is judged by no man! But when men speak evil of the Truth, they are judging God. They are blaspheming the Word of God and God Himself as the Lawgiver. By judging the law, they are presuming to sit in the seat of God! That is what Satan has always attempted to do! There is nothing more arrogant and vain than to judge God!
When people do not the love the Truth of God, God gives them over to believing lies! People who turn to lies believe them with the same conviction and intensity with which they formerly believed the Truth. When that happens, they have surrendered themselves to Satan’s deception! They are his captives! That is exactly what Satan wants—to delude them into accepting false doctrines so that he can ensnare them in his ultimate deception.
Those who turn away from the true teachings of God’s Word and blindly follow false teachers will ultimately fall prey to Satan’s most masterful deception when Satan comes with all his powerful, lying wonders! When that time comes, they will be so deluded that they will join the deceived masses of the world in their worship of Satan! Satan, who has deceived the whole world with his lies, will be welcomed with open arms and worshipped as God in the final delusion of the Great Apostasy (Rev. 13:4).
Only by loving the Truth and holding fast to the true teachings of God’s Word can we hope to escape this diabolical apostasy. Paul declared, “For the mystery [the secret of Satanism] of iniquity [lawlessness] is already working....And then will the lawless one be revealed [the world ruler possessed by Satan himself], whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and shall destroy by the brightness of His coming.
“Whose coming [the coming of the Satan-possessed dictator] is according to the workings of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and in all the deceivableness of the unrighteousness in those who are perishing, BECAUSE THEY DID NOT RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH, so that they might be saved.
“On account of this, God will send into them the inner workings of delusion for them to believe a lie, so that ALL MAY BE JUDGED who are not believing the Truth, but are delighting in unrighteousness” (II Thes. 2:7-12, AT).
Paul clearly states that those who do not love the Truth will be judged because they delight in unrighteousness. They do not delight in keeping the commandments of God, which are righteousness (Ps. 119:172). That is why they turn to false doctrines. They want to be free to practice their moral corruption and then cover up their unrighteousness with doctrines that give an appearance of godliness (II Tim. 3:5).
Paul foresaw a time when many in the churches of God would slip into moral decadence. They would begin to delight in unrighteousness and would turn from the Truth, rejecting sound doctrine. Paul warned, “Because the time will come when they will no longer endure sound doctrine. But according to their own lusts they will accumulate many teachers, having itching ears to hear new things [”new understanding” that in reality is of ancient Babylonian origin]; they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to fables [religious myths]” (II Tim. 4:3-4, AT).
Have you turned away your ears from hearing the Truth? Are you rejecting sound doctrine? Have you accepted false doctrines of religious mythology as truth? What about the doctrine of the Trinity and the denial of the human nature of Jesus? Are these false doctrines being preached by ministers and teachers in your church? All those who turn away from the Truth and embrace the myth of the Trinity and other religious myths will end up in spiritual blindness and will not even realize that they are worshipping Satan!
Whole churches of God are being bombarded by fables and religious myths and false doctrines of every kind, all being promoted by false teachers who profess to be bringing “new understanding.” In many churches, no voices are being raised in objection, and these false teachings are becoming the official new doctrines of the church.
The Word of God teaches us that when the leaders of any church organization reject the Truth, they are judging God’s Word as unworthy of their acceptance and belief. In judging God, they have usurped the prerogatives of God, just as Satan did in his rebellion. They have cut themselves off from God and have become blind leaders of the blind. If these ministers and leaders continue unrepentant in their errors, God’s judgment is sure to follow! After a period of warning, which God always allows, He will execute His judgment against them and their organization—ministers as well as members. The apostle Peter wrote, “For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin with us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God?” (I Pet. 4:17.)
Judgment is sure to come upon every member and every minister in the churches of God who turns aside from the Truth and follows after the myths of the religions of this world! But God tells us in His Word that He desires mercy and not judgment! Anyone who truly repents before God will have his or her sins placed under the blood of Jesus Christ and will find mercy. But if there is no repentance after repeated warnings, then judgment will follow—God will not be mocked! Those who forsake righteousness and follow after unrighteousness will reap the reward of unrighteousness!
“Do not be deceived! God is not mocked! For whatever a man may sow, that also shall he reap. For the one who is sowing to his own flesh, from the flesh he shall reap corruption; but the one who is sowing to the Spirit shall reap from the Spirit eternal life” (Gal. 6:7-8, AT).
It is God’s desire that all true Christians sow of the Spirit to eternal life. We are to sow the seeds of the character and love of God in our lives so that we may bear the fruits of the Spirit, which are “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). Only then can we reap the reward of eternal life.
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