deceiver

Bible Study Guides – Signs That Deceive

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August 11–August 17, 2002

MEMORY VERSE: “For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” Mark 13:22.

STUDY HELPS: The Great Controversy, 593–626; Testimonies, vol. 1, 290–302.

INTRODUCTION: As the end approaches, Satan’s deceptions will increase in subtlety. His supreme effort will be directed against the remnant church, if only to nullify the great work God has commissioned it to do in preparation for Christ’s second coming. Many will be deceived, “giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.” They will “go out from us,” says Ellen G. White in Notebook Leaflets from the Elmshaven Library, vol. 1, 57. (See also Selected Messages, Book 2, 392.) It is therefore of the utmost importance that every member become familiar with Satan’s strategy and how to meet it, so as to be both forewarned and forearmed for the perils ahead. “Nothing disturbs Satan so much as our knowledge of his devices. If we feel our dangers we shall feel the need of prayer. . . .” Testimonies, vol. 3, 572.

1 What did Christ tell His disciples about last day deceptions? Mark 13:22, 23.

NOTE: “We shall all be severely tested. Persons who pretend to believe the truth will come to us and urge upon us erroneous doctrines, which will unsettle our faith in present truth if we pay heed to them. True religion alone will stand the test of the Judgment.” Review and Herald, December 2, 1884.

“Christ foretold that the going forth of deceivers would be accompanied with more danger to His disciples than would persecution.” Evangelism, 359.

2 How will the world be deceived in the last days? Revelation 12:9. Compare Revelation 19:20.

NOTE: “The enemy is preparing for his last campaign against the church. He has so concealed himself from view that many can hardly believe that he exists, much less can they be convinced of his amazing activity and power. They have to a great extent forgotten his past record; and when he makes another advance move, they will not recognize him as their enemy, that old serpent, but they will consider him a friend, one who is doing a good work. Boasting of their independence they will, under his specious, bewitching influence, obey the worst impulses of the human heart and yet believe that God is leading them. Could their eyes be opened to distinguish their captain, they would see that they are not serving God, but the enemy of all righteousness. They would see that their boasted independence is one of the heaviest fetters Satan can rivet on unbalanced minds.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 294.

3 What final delusion will Satan use? Matthew 24:5; Mark 13:21.

NOTE: “As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. . . . The shout of triumph rings out upon the air, ‘Christ has come! Christ has come!’ The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him. . . . In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. . . .

“Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures, and who have received the love of the truth, will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive.” The Faith I Live By, 346.

4 How successful will this deception be? 1 Timothy 4:1.

NOTE: “It is difficult to hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end; and the difficulty increases when there are hidden influences constantly at work to bring in another spirit, a counterworking element, on Satan’s side of the question. In the absence of persecution, there have drifted into our ranks some who appear sound, and their Christianity unquestionable, but who, if persecution should arise, would go out from us. In the crisis, they would see force in specious reasoning that has had an influence on their minds. Satan has prepared various snares to meet varied minds. When the law of God is made void the church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger proportion than we now anticipate, will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Instead of being strengthened when brought into strait places, many prove that they are not living branches of the True Vine; they bore no fruit, and the husbandman taketh them away.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 368.

“As we near the end of time, falsehood will be so mingled with truth, that only those who have the guidance of the Holy Spirit will be able to distinguish truth from error. We need to make every effort to keep the way of the Lord. We must in no case turn from His guidance to put our trust in man. The Lord’s angels are appointed to keep strict watch over those who put their faith in the Lord, and these angels are to be our special help in every time of need. Every day we are to come to the Lord with full assurance of faith, and to look to Him for wisdom. . . . Those who are guided by the Word of the Lord will discern with certainty between falsehood and truth, between sin and righteousness.” God’s Amazing Grace, 201.

5 How will we recognize the true church? Revelation 12:17.

NOTE: “Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time to prepare a people for the Lord’s second coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God’s special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world.” Maranatha, 33.

6 What will be the outward appearance of many false religions? Matthew 7:15.

NOTE: “Public opinion favors a profession of Christianity. Little self-denial or self-sacrifice is required in order to put on a form of godliness and to have one’s name enrolled upon the church book. Hence many join the church without first becoming united to Christ. In this Satan triumphs. Such converts are his most efficient agents. They serve as decoys to other souls. They are false lights, luring the unwary to perdition. It is in vain that men seek to make the Christian’s path broad and pleasant for worldlings. God has not smoothed or widened the rugged, narrow way. If we would enter into life, we must follow the same path which Jesus and His disciples trod,—the path of humility, self-denial, and sacrifice.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 172.

7 How are we to know what is true and what is counterfeit? 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1–3.

NOTE: “Faith in a lie will not have a sanctifying influence upon the life or character. No error is truth, or can be made truth by repetition, or by faith in it. Sincerity will never save a soul from the consequences of believing an error. Without sincerity there is no true religion, but sincerity in a false religion will never save a man. I may be perfectly sincere in following a wrong road, but that will not make it the right road, or bring me to the place I wished to reach. The Lord does not want us to have a blind credulity, and call that the faith that sanctifies. The truth is the principle that sanctifies, and therefore it becomes us to know what is truth. We must compare spiritual things with spiritual. We must prove all things, but hold fast only that which is good, that which bears the divine credentials, which lays before us the true motives and principles which should prompt us to action. —Letter 12, 1890.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 56.

8 What standard should God’s people use to test every message? Isaiah 8:20. See also Mark 4:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:21.

NOTE: “While conflicting doctrines and theories abound, the law of God is the one unerring rule by which all opinions, doctrines, and theories are to be tested.” The Great Controversy, 452.

9 Should we accept a prophet because he performs miracles? Deuteronomy 13:1–4.

NOTE: “We shall encounter false claims; false prophets will arise; there will be false dreams and false visions; but preach the Word, be not drawn away from the voice of God in His Word. Let nothing divert the mind. The wonderful, the marvelous, will be represented and presented. Through satanic delusions, wonderful miracles, the claims of human agents will be urged. Beware of all this.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 49.

10 Since there will be so many counterfeit Christs, how will Christians know it is really Jesus when He comes the second time? 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; Revelation 1:7.

NOTE: “Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ’s advent. . . . Those who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the testimony of the Scriptures they will detect the deceiver in his disguise.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 443.

11 How thoroughly should Christians understand the reasons for their beliefs? 1 Peter 3:15.

NOTE: “The Lord desires that every soul who claims to believe the truth shall have an intelligent knowledge of what is truth. False prophets will arise and will deceive many. Everything is to be shaken that can be shaken. Then does it not become everyone to understand the reasons for our faith?” Evangelism, 363, 364.

12 Why did Paul commend the Bereans? Acts 17:10, 11.

NOTE: “Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. To all the testing time will come. By the sifting of temptation the genuine Christian will be revealed. Are the people of God now so firmly established upon His word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible and the Bible only? Satan will, if possible, prevent them from obtaining a preparation to stand in that day. He will so arrange affairs as to hedge up their way, entangle them with earthly treasures, cause them to carry a heavy, wearisome burden, that their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life and the day of trial may come upon them as a thief.” The Great Controversy, 625, 626.

13 To whom does God promise protection in times of trial? Revelation 3:10.

NOTE: “He [Satan] can gain his object only as men voluntarily yield to his temptations. Those who are earnestly seeking a knowledge of the truth and are striving to purify their souls through obedience, thus doing what they can to prepare for the conflict, will find, in the God of truth, a sure defense. . . . He would sooner send every angel out of heaven to protect His people than leave one soul that trusts in Him to be overcome by Satan.” The Great Controversy, 560.

If the Devil Were Your Pastor, What Would He Say?

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Have you ever wondered what you would do if you were the devil and were trying to deceive someone like you? Have you ever thought of that before? By the way, the devil has all kinds of advantages. You see, God has a great disadvantage, because God cannot tell you what you want to hear; He can only tell the truth. (See Titus 1:2.)

Have you ever heard someone say, “Well that just doesn’t make sense to me”? Do you know what the devil does? He is listening, and, he says, “Well, I can make something make sense to him. I will come up with just the philosophy that appeals to him and that he thinks makes sense. If he thinks God is a certain way, I will come up with a religion that presents God in that way. I will come up with a religion or a philosophy or an idea that tells him just what he wants to hear.”

Satan is a deceiver and, as we read in Revelation 12:9, he has succeeded in deceiving the whole world. The Bible says that if it were possible, he would “deceive even the very elect.” (Matthew 24:24.) And after all, the elect are who he is really after. In Noah’s day, there were only eight out of millions who were not deceived. In Jesus’ day, there were only a few humble disciples and even some of them did not fair so well. And in the last days, we are told that there will be only a small minority, even of God’s people, who are going to be saved. The rest are going to be deceived. Those who are going to be sealed in the last days are those who, because of the Word of God, see the deceptions that are creeping into God’s church today.

“And the Lord said to him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.’ To the others he said in my hearing, ‘Go after him through the city and kill: do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. Utterly slay old [and] young men, maidens, and little children, and women: but do not come near anyone on whom [is] the mark; and begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the elders who [were] before the temple.” Ezekiel 9:4–6.

Now, if I were the devil, I would study your life. I would put an angel by you, just like every other Christian. In fact, if I had enough, I would put two angels by each Christian, and I would say, “Listen, you go by each one of these Christians and find how they think, what they really like, and what their weakest points are and strike at those weak points. You find what they like the best, and we will deceive them on those points. Tell them a lot of good things; just weave in a few errors here and there so subtly that they can’t decipher where they are, and lead them to hell.”

If I were the devil, I would go to a revival meeting and be converted. But I would not stop there for sure. It would not be good enough for me to be just a common church member; I would want to be active in the church. In fact, do you know what I would really like to do? I would like to teach and preach. I think I would go to the seminary and become educated.

Suppose the devil became the pastor of your church. What kind of a pastor do you think he would be? I want to tell you what kind of a pastor he would be. He would be the best speaker you have ever heard. He would be the best administrator you have ever seen. He would be the most personable pastor you have ever had. He would be a pastor who would speak more love than any pastor you have ever heard; it would be love and righteousness. But the only thing that your faith should be based on is the Bible. “To the law and to the testimony: If they do not speak according to this word,[ it is] because [there is] no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20. Paul says, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the scriptures daily, to find out whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11. He commended the Bereans because they did not accept what he said without going to the Bible first to see if it was according to Scripture.

I want to tell you something. Satan has lost none of his power and none of his guile and none of his ability, and he is working to deceive. “Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, ‘Peace, peace,’ when the Lord hath not spoken peace.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 77. Here we are told that when the faithful pastors are removed, pastors will take their places who have been trained by Satan himself; and they may take over all the pastorates.

The disciples were loath to believe that the Bible meant all that it said back in Jesus’ day. When Jesus told them that He was going to die, they said, “That really isn’t going to happen to You. You are speaking in parables.” I want to tell you, the prophets do not lie. Did you notice what the sign of a false prophet is and what they are going to preach? These people who have been trained under the hand of Satan are going to come with the voice of the false prophet and cry, “ ‘Peace, Peace.’ Oh, do not give us any straight sermons. Do not tell us, like John the Baptist, where we are wrong. We do not want to hear that. Do not tell us any of these things. That is being critical. Do not say any of those things. Just tell us how good we are.” I want to tell you, that is a doctrine of the devil!

“I seldom weep, but now I find my eyes blinded with tears; they are falling upon my paper as I write. It may be that erelong all prophesyings among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers.

“When God shall work His strange work on the earth, when holy hands bear the ark no longer, woe will be upon the people.” Ibid. The ark is not dependent upon who is carrying it. It is still God’s ark. God has a church on earth today. It is defined and identified in Revelation 12:17, and throughout Revelation. It will be those who keep the Commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

“None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.” The Great Controversy, 593. None! “Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures, and who have received the love of the truth, will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive.” Ibid., 625.

I want to tell you something, friends. God inspired those words. He knew that we would need them in this day. And I want to tell you something about inspired words. Inspired words mean what they say. A lot of people think that there are exceptions. They think that if they are in the right church, they will somehow sail through as long as they keep their membership. Inspiration says that that is not so, that it is only those who have fortified their minds with the truths of the Bible who will have a defense against the powerful temptations of the evil one. You need to prayerfully open the Word of God. Study it, dear friends; study it day after day after day. Spend more than five minutes with it. You have to become a diligent student of the Word of God. It must become a personal Book to you. Jesus Christ must become your personal Savior.

Do you know what is the greatest deception in all the world? It is to think that you are right when you are absolutely wrong. We are told in Matthew 7:21–23 that when Jesus comes, many will be so certain that they are saved that they will argue with God about it. They will have done many things in Jesus’ name. They went to church and even paid their tithe in His name. They were Christians through and through. They held church offices. They may have even led many souls into the church. They have all the proofs and marks of salvation. Then they will hear those sad words, “I never knew you: depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!” Oh, I tell you, do not think that you are smart enough to outwit the devil. You can never do it.

But guess what? There is another power on earth besides the power of Satan. What power is that? the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit. God has promised to put a shield and a hedge around every true follower of His. If we will study the Bible daily and if we are following everything that it says, He will protect us from Satan’s deceptions. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31, 32.

Now if I were the devil, I would do one other thing. Not only would I be converted at a revival meeting, but also I would go to the seminary and become a pastor and work my way up. You see, I would be interested in achieving. Not only would I seek to be a good pastor, I would seek to get into a position where I could hire those I wanted to hire and get rid of those I wanted to get rid of. In time, I would surround myself with men like me, and I would take control of whatever organization I was a part of. Now, thank the Lord, God has said that His church is going through, but in the meantime, He says that it is going to suffer. If you do not believe this is so, consider this statement: “Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 409, 410. Do not think it is not possible for Satan to take control of any church in the land, even of God’s church.

Listen, dear friends, Satan is no dummy. He has his agents, and they are as good as any preachers you have ever heard. They are the best. They will do anything to achieve. They will do anything to get to the top, and they are getting there, dear friends.

Do you know what I would do first? I would try to get to the top and surround myself with people like me. Then I would start to weed out anyone who gave the straight testimony. If anyone thought that they were going to follow those who were giving the straight testimony, I would send out an avalanche of bad news, gossip, rumors, and bad reports about them so that everyone would be turned away from them.

Second, I would get my public relations department going and in four-color brochures, in pictures, and in every other way, I would tell people what a good job I was doing. I would build up all of my people and destroy anyone who was giving the straight testimony.

Dear friends, I am not talking in parables. I just read that someday, when the faithful, firm, and true pastors are removed, their places are going to be taken by those “training under the hand of Satan.” Now, God does not want us to judge others, but He does tell us that we are to be wise as serpents because He sends us out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Many times the wolves are in the highest places. They are in places where they can influence our thinking and our actions.

Oh, dear friend, I have an appeal for you. You do not have to be deceived. Everyone is going to be deceived except those who study the Word of God every day. Pledge yourself to begin to faithfully study the Word of God every day.

Pastor Marshall Grosboll, with his wife Lillian, founded Steps to Life. In July 1991, Pastor Marshall and his family met with tragedy as they were returning home from a camp meeting in Washington state, when the airplane he was piloting went down, killing all on board.