not long ago Tucker Carlson was quoted as saying there's a spiritual battle underway and I think every Christian in America and around the world can sense that there's a spiritual battle taking place right now look around the world division lawlessness and the unraveling of society can be seen by anyone who knows the word of God some say deception is the driving force behind the division crippling America others say the moral decay in the west is bringing about God's judgment but for a moment I want us to focus on what the Bible says about division Jesus
began his famous all of it discourse about the last days by saying take heed that no man deceive you deception was mentioned first as the precursor to the unraveling of society in the last days but then he went on to say for nation shall rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places look at that word nation in Greek this word is Enos which means a group of people a tribe or an ethnic group now this means Jesus was telling us that ethnic group will rise
up against ethnic group is this not what we're seeing right now strong division between people one neighbor's political belief beliefs are here while another neighbor's political beliefs are there and because of this they resent each other or strong division between some Believers even Baptists against reformed this denomination is against this denomination the days that we are living in are different the Bible tells us in the last days perilous times will come the word perilous means full of danger and full of risk well I would venture to say perilous times are here and while you see
much about global Affairs tensions Rising between this country and that country political unrest and so forth when you see this remember that regardless of what happens regardless of what will happen God is ultimately in control who runs the world in the minds of a lot of people there is this notion that there is a group of people a secret society if you will that really rules the world and manipulate economies and decision makers to their advantage conspiracy theory or not there is no doubt that there are people in this world who believe that there is
a group in the shadows that govern the world think about those people who believe in the Illuminati with this kind of thinking there is a lot of fanfare and attention when it comes to things like hand gestures symbols and certain greetings between people but what if I told you no what if I gave you biblical proof that shows you that beyond the governments of the world beyond the decision makers the wealthy bankers and influential figures of the world beyond all of them there is a force that actually rules the world well in the next few
moments I will explain to you why the influential force in the world is far more Sinister and far more evil than what any conspiracy theory can point to or explain now as you are listening here's something that you should keep in your mind and heart so that you do not fear John Piper said although Satan has a measure of rule and Authority in the air or the heavens he's not God he's vastly under God Christ is vastly superior to over and has authority over him so Satan's rule in the power of the air or in
the lower air of the heavens is not Supreme the Bible in Ephesians 2:2 says in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of Disobedience let's underline that phrase the prince of the power of the air what does this mean the NIV translation uses the phrase the ruler of the kingdom of the air the NLT translation uses the phrase obeying the devil the commander of the powers in the Unseen World now I dug a little deeper
to see what some of the prominent Christian pastures of today interpret this in his sermon titled the prince of power of the air John MacArthur explained Ephesians 2:2 like this world does not here represent the physical creation of the world's order the world's systems of values and way of doing things the world's course and as Paul makes clear the course of this world follows the leadership and design of Satan the prince of the power of the air now let me just say when you look at the world verse is the word of God there is
a clear difference the spirit of the times in the world today reflects a rejection of God's laws and principles for example what's right in the Bible like marriage between one man and one woman that notion is challenged in the Bible secondly what's wrong in the Bible such as sexual immorality is widely accepted in today's society with adults platforms being the most visited websites globally and a growing normalization of sexual promiscuity and perversion and behind all of this behind all of the world systems and values it's not Black Rock it's not the Illumina but it is
the devil at work he may very well influence certain people and decision makers but Christians must be aware of the true evil force that is behind these people or institutions one more thing to point out from John MacArthur when speaking about sinners in this world and their persistent rejection of Christ he says they are of one mind because they have a common leader and Lord the prince of the power of the air Satan is now the ruler of this world and until the Lord casts him out John 12:31 he will continue to rule the power
or authority of the air probably refers to Satan's host of demons who exist in the Heavenly sphere Paul has this in mind in Ephesians 6:12 where he warns of the spiritual forces of wickedness in the Heavenly places during the present age he and his demon host dominate pressure and control every person who is unsaved he is the personification of spiritual death because he is the personification of rebellion I against God and so is the system he designed now do you understand why the Bible says God's children are sealed with the Holy Spirit do you understand
why the Bible tells us that friendship with the world is emnity with God do you understand why God's word calls us to be separate from this world on this topic John Piper said Scholars and commentators including me are not generally confident or certain about why Satan is called the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians 2 verse 2 that's the first point which I certainly agree with no one can definitively say why Satan is called the prince of the air and the air being talked about here is not oxygen or radio or broadcasting
Airwaves no Piper further goes on to say the fact that Satan has some measure of authority in the Air does not imply that he is omnipresent or omniscient we are not told in the Bible the extent of Satan's knowledge or how a non-spatial reality like a spirit which he's called In This Very verse the spirit that is dominating the sons of Disobedience with no up down or sideways reality positions himself in the world but he's not God he does not share God's omniscience and omnipresence but we do know that he has many unclean spirits demons
at his disposal and they are deployed all over the world in the air the air is where the flaming arrows fly according to Ephesians 6:16 now the God of this world has a major influence on the ideals and opinions of people he has a big influence on the hopes and views of people and it's in a deceptive way that he does this 2 Corinthians 4:4 says Satan who is the God of this world has blinded the minds of those who don't believe they are unable to see the Glorious light of the good news they don't
understand this message about the glory of Christ who is the exact likeness of God here's a trick that the devil uses he's out to desensitize people from sin and here's what I mean if you're sensitive to sin you will be quick to react and get away from it but if sin has become your norm and you no longer see sin as Sin then you begin to tolerate it you begin to accept it and compromise a different example is if you look at someone who has a fear of dogs most of the time they didn't grow
up around dogs and so they have this fear about how a dog should act around them in the mannerisms of different dogs but given enough time around dogs they'll come to a stage where that fear of animals goes because they are used to seeing the animals they are used to the dog's behavior and so what the devil does is that the devil puts sin in front of you so often and so frequently so that it goes from being sin to being the norm you're in your car and all day you're listening to music that is
talking about violence and it's full of profanity you're around a group of friends or acquaintances who are very vulgar and unclean in their speech you get home you watch movies and TV shows full of violence and profane language now you can imagine what this does to you it Fosters and nurtures and bruise the spirit of anger your mind is filled with violent and angry thoughts because uncleanliness is everywhere this is what the God of this world has done this is what the God of this world has done the God of this world is after your
mind if it isn't sexual promiscuity that's being advertised it's something related to gambling if it isn't gambling it's something related to alcohol or some substance abuse the God of this world is after your mind if he can get you to put your own image above the image of God if he can get you to love pleasure more than you love God if he can get you to stay in the snare of Pride or bitterness then he knows he can blind you from seeing the goodness of God now this is not to say that the devil
rules the world completely no God is still Almighty and he is still Sovereign he has only allowed Satan to operate in this world within a set of boundaries but one day Revelation 20:10 says and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the Lake of Fire and sulfur where the Beast and false prophet were and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever there will come a day when the devil is defeated and destroyed once and for all there will come a day when Jesus Christ will rule and Reign forever more there
will come a day when we who believe and endure to the end shall be with Jesus Christ for all of eternity so reject the advances of the God of this world do not accept what the world accepts do not Embrace what the world Embraces but instead only accept the word of God God only accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior only accept there is one true king one who is the keys to life and death in his hands and that is Jesus Christ judges 21:25 says in those days there was no king in Israel
everyone did what was right in his own eyes in this time in Israel's history child sacrifices were happening people went to Pagan altars and women were treated as slaves one specific story that happened at this time in judges 20 involved a concubine for those who may not know a concubine is a woman who lives with a man but has lower status than his wife or wives the fact that men had concubines is a red flag in and of itself the concubine was traveling with a levite man with whom she was in a relationship the levite
and concubine took a stop to rest in a city as they travel the man got drunk that night with someone in the city the other men of the city took the concubine for themselves and this led to her death while there was a lot that does not make sense in that story it illustrates the wickedness that was happening in Israel at the time they lived in a culture of LA lawlessness while the laws of God were in place everyone did what was right in their own eyes we also live in a time of lawlessness sin
is everywhere and easy for the taking you turn on your computer and access pornography from wherever you are sitting you can turn on the TV and find people being hateful to each other on every News Channel you can go to the doctor and get any procedure done no matter the impact it will have on on the people around you what used to be wrong is now accepted as right while we may not be stuck in sin as deep as the people who were at the time of the judges lawlessness is still very present sin is
cheap and very accessible in this day and age the biblical definition of lawlessness is those who knowingly deliberately and willfully rebel against the laws of God and man now I wonder do most people even realize that lawlessness is like the air that we breathe in this world the Bible talks about lawlessness quite often the truth is that we need laws without laws the world would be in chaos people would be able to live how they want with no consequences people often think that the laws of God are oppressive however these laws are put in place
to prot protect Humanity these laws were made for our benefit when God tells us not to commit adultery it is actually in our best interest when we commit adultery we ruin our relationships with our spouse and the people around us it is good for us when God commands us to love our neighbor we build good relationships with those around us the problem becomes that people see these rules as restricting we live in a time when these laws are ignored this is what the Bible calls lawlessness an early example of lawlessness is seen in the Book
of Judges so how can the Christian remain on fire while living in such a lawless Society Matthew 24:12 helps us with that it says and because lawlessness will be increased the love of many will grow cold while this verse seems to only state of problem within the problem is the solution to fight lawlessness we must not allow the love in our hearts to grow cold the love in the heart is not talking about General love Lawless people love all the time they love their spouses kids friends and even their Lawless actions the love that Matthew
24:12 points to is the love for God it is as though the more our love for God is fostered and it grows the more we run away from Darkness let's say you're in a house and it's completely dark there's no Reflection from the moon and stars no light posts putting off light and not even a car driving by as soon as you turn on the light in your house you now have a way to see if you open your door the darkness does not come streaming in the Darkness does not have the power to overcome
the light however if you are in the dark and you light a match the light overcomes the dark the more light you have the less Darkness there is out there love for God is the light that overshadows the dark desire for lawlessness so what does it look like to stay on fire for God in such a lawless time we spent time with God and allow his love to transform us this begs the question are you spending time with God if you are listening to this this is a great starting point hearing the word of God
taught and preached is excellent however it must be more than that are you spending time seeking him in prayer are you taking time to read the word are you gathering in Christian Community so that the Holy Spirit can shape you through the lives of others if not you're putting your heart at risk of allowing your love to grow cold if you want to fight the lawlessness that can grow in your heart you must allow the light of God's presence to be active in your life every day I recently heard one Pastor say the following statement
I'm very concerned with the amount of false teaching and false prophets that have found their way onto the internet vulnerable Christians are listening to them as if everything they say is from the mouth of God everything must be brought into agreement with what the Bible says end quote now Bible prophecy warned us that prior to the Rapture there will be a great falling away from faith and if possible the very elect would be deceived now a crucial aspect of our journey as believers is not only to understand deception but to unmask deception in these last
days because it's no secret that we have to navigate a world filled with conflicting messages and we're given enticing falsehoods but this is why the Bible is important it equips us with wisdom to discern truth from deception I want to give you four illustrations of how deception is working in this world and why it's accepted by so many the first illustration is what I'd like to call the chameleon's disguise imagine a chameleon expertly blending into its surroundings adapting its appearance to conceal its true identity this is similar to a person who looks like a Christian
they talk like a Christian and can even go as far as acting like a Christian when you see them however their heart their intention are far from Jesus Christ This is how deception in the last days often presents itself in ways that mimic truth deception today makes things challenging for a person to distinguish between truth and lie Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:4 saying for false Messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the elect just as the chameleon's disguise requires careful observation it requires you to
pay close attention we too must be vigilant and Discerning seeking the unchanging truth found in God's word the second illustration is the Mirage of shiny Illusions think of a traveler crossing a desert parched and weary in the distance of Shimmer ing Oasis appears promising relief however as the traveler draws closer The Mirage dissolves leaving disappointment in 2 Timothy 4: 3:4 the Apostle Paul warns for the time will come when people will not put up with sound Doctrine instead to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what
their it ing ears want to hear the Allure of false teachings can be as deceptive as a mirage leaving us spiritually thirsty true refreshment comes from the living water of Christ's teachings the third illustration is the puzzle of half truths picture a puzzle missing a few pieces from a distance it seems complete but closer inspection reveals the gaps it reveals that things are fragmented and incomplete deception often involves partial truths carefully interwoven to create a convincing narrative Jesus emphasized the importance of discernment in Luke 21:8 when he said watch out that you are not deceived
for many will come in my name claiming I am he and the time is near do not follow them just as a puzzle requires all its pieces to form a coherent picture we must rely on the complete counsel of God's word to guard against deception now my final illustration is not so much geared at understanding deception but rather unmasking deception and I would like to call this The Guiding North Star consider sailors navigating vast oceans under the guidance of the North Star when you look at the history of navigation at Sea before GPS and modern
technology one of the simplest methods for determining a ship's Direction was to watch the movement of the sun across the sky Sailors used the position of the sun as it moved from east to west to guide their route at noon they could determine North and South by the Shadows the Suncast Sailors had to literally look up to be able to figure out where they were heading in the same way God's word serves as our unchanging reliable guide through the tumultuous Seas of deception Psalm 11915 assures us your word is a lamp for my feet a
light on my path as the North Star remains fixed amidst shifting Skies the truth of God's word stands unwavering offering Clarity and direction in a world filled with confusion the last days present unique challenges to all of us Believers but we need not be overcome by deception in fact we should be like skilled detectives have you ever seen the level of forensic detail that detectives go to in order to uncover the truth they will exhaust every possible Avenue seeking the truth we too can do the same as Believers we can uncover the truth we can
unmask falsehoods by being attentive testing every Spirit against the word of God by knowing the word of God and seeking direction from above through prayer as we journey forward let us remember the chameleon's disguise The Mirage of shiny Illusions the puzzle of half-truths and The Guiding North Star let our discernment be fueled by faith rooted in God's word and empowered by the Holy Spirit the Apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 6:14 stand firm then with the belt of Truth buckled around your waist let us guard ourselves with God's truth shielded from the deception that seeks
to derail our faith I pray that all of us would become Vigilant Believers unmasking deception with discernment and the truth that is in the word of God [Music]
