In other words, we're not going to have
an easy time in this world if we
are Christians.
If you went to the 1st century Christians,
who were being persecuted and chased in 2nd,
3rd century particularly, running from cave to cave,
wholehearted disciples, people whose relatives were being killed
because they believed in Jesus and they wouldn't
say that Caesar is Lord and they were
being killed.
And you went and told them, Hey, you
know, you got to just trust the Lord,
man.
You'll be prosperous and you'll be living in
a big house.
You won't be running from cave to cave.
They'd have straightaway called you a false prophet.
But today nobody calls such people false prophets.
You know why?
Because we love to hear that message that
in the world you will have prosperity.
And when we love to hear something which
is contrary to what Jesus taught, God himself
will allow you to be deceived.
Because you don't love the truth.
See, it says that in 2nd Thessalonians in
chapter 2.
I believe this is, I've often said that,
one of the most frightening verses in the
whole Bible.
Because we've spoken about deception.
And the Bible says in Ephesians 4, I
think it's verse 22, that our lusts are
deceitful.
And it says in Jeremiah 17, that our
heart is deceitful.
It says in Revelation 12, verse 9 to
11, that Satan is a deceiver.
Do you get it now?
Satan is a deceiver.
The lusts in our flesh are deceitful.
And our heart is deceitful.
Above all things.
You know, our only hope against the deception
of our lusts and the deception of the
devil and the deception of our heart is
if God gives us light.
Then none of these things, we won't be
deceived by any of them.
But if God himself also deceives us, then
there's no hope at all.
That's why I say this is a terrifying
verse.
This is the one verse in scripture where
it says God will deceive certain people.
It says here in 2nd Thessalonians 2, verse
11, For this reason, God will send upon
them a deceiving influence.
You can look it up in any translation.
That's exactly what it says.
God will send a deceiving, deluding influence on
people so that they believe what is false.
Imagine God making people believe what is false
so that they will be judged.
Now for this reason, when you read a
word like for this reason, I really want
to know why is God, what is the
reason why God allows people to be deceived?
And that's in the previous verse.
They did not receive the love of the
truth so as to be saved from sin.
It's not because they didn't get healed of
their diseases.
It's not because they didn't become prosperous.
It's because they didn't want to be saved
from their sins.
Thou shalt call His name Jesus, first promise
in the New Testament, because He shall save
His people from their sins.
He didn't come to make us rich.
He didn't come to make us healthy.
He came to make us holy.
He came to save us from our sins.
And when people don't want to be saved
from their sins, God will allow them to
believe what is false.
And look at the millions who are believing
that.
Look at the millions today who don't want
to be saved from sin, who want to
be rich, who want some gift of the
Holy Spirit, who want to speak in tongues,
who want to fall down when somebody lays
hands on them, all types of things today.
But how many of them want to be
saved from their sins?
And when we don't want to be saved
from our sins, look what happens.
God allows them to believe what is false.
And it says here about receiving the love
of the truth.
There are two types of truth.
One is the truth in the Bible.
God's word says, sanctify them.
Jesus said in John 17, Father, sanctify them
through the truth.
Thy word is truth.
And the other is the truth about ourselves.
The Holy Spirit is called the spirit of
truth.
Jesus said, when the spirit of truth is
come, John 16, He will lead you into
all the truth.
Let's look at that verse.
John's gospel.
He's called the spirit of truth.
And it says here in John 15 and
verse 26, When the helper comes, whom I
will send to you, that is the spirit
of truth who proceeds from the Father.
And He's gonna come and convict the world
of sin, etc.
And He will lead you into all the
truth.
That's also in one of those chapters it
says.
Now what is all the truth that the
Holy Spirit is gonna lead us into?
First of all, all of the truth of
God in His word.
I don't mean truth about whether Christ is
gonna come before the tribulation or after the
tribulation.
That's also truth, but that's not as important
truth as the truth that helps us to
be saved from sin.
Or the truth about whether healing is for
today or whether all speak in tongues.
Those are also truths, but they're not as
important as the truth that saves us from
sin.
So there in 2 Thessalonians 2 it says,
They didn't receive the love of the truth
so as to be saved.
Some of these other doctrines, whether women should
cover their heads or men should not cover
their heads or whether women should wear ornaments
or not and whether we should have, wear
dresses as pastors or be called pastors or
bishops.
Well, those are not major truths.
We're talking about the truth that leads us
to salvation.
There are many, many truths in Scripture, but
here it's talking about the truth that leads
us to salvation, to be saved from sin.
The spirit of truth will lead us into
all the truth.
In other words, it's possible for us to
be saved from every known sin.
Now I may know only 10% of
my life, but in that 10% I'm
to be totally saved.
The other 90%, as little by little as
God gives light, I can be saved, but
I can't be saved until I get light
on something.
But the point is this, the truth of
Scripture and the truth concerning myself.
Now if I don't receive the love of
the truth, for example, in some particular situation,
the Lord shows me that I was proud.
I don't accept it.
I don't receive the love of the truth.
The Lord says, you were proud there.
That's why I didn't give you grace.
And that's why you fell into sin.
No, but I don't accept it.
God says, okay.
He's not going to force us.
But when we don't receive the love of
the truth, we are opening ourselves up to
the rest of that verse.
God sends upon them a deceiving influence so
they believe what is false.
What will happen to such a man after
some time?
I'll tell you.
He'll believe that he's spiritual when he's not.
Do you know multitudes of people today in
the world who think they are baptized in
the Holy Spirit?
No, I don't believe one bit they are
baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Some of them are the biggest lovers of
money on the face of the earth.
How could they be baptized in the Holy
Spirit?
But they call themselves pastors, who are spirit
-filled.
God has allowed them to believe what is
false about themselves.
Do you know the number of people in
the world who think they are born again?
Just because they repeated a formula or sat
in the right church.
So many people who imagine they are born
again.
I'm born again.
I'm okay.
God allows them to believe what is false
because they don't receive the love of the
truth.
If you want to marry somebody and you're
very eager to marry that person, you can
convince yourself that that person, that boy or
girl is born again.
Because you're so keen to marry that person.
Oh yeah, yeah, he is born again or
she is born again.
Okay.
You don't face up to the truth.