How To Keep From Being Deceived

How To Keep From Being Deceived:

Jesus clearly tells believers to Not Be Deceived.

Luke 21:8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

Paul tells Christians to Not Be Deceived.

II Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means. (Galatians 6:7; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 15:33).

• In Acts 15, believers were being taught (misled by other believers) …circumcised and keep the law to be saved.
• We’re living in a day when: 
• Christians are being taught that a person must be baptized…saved. 
• Christians being taught that a person’s goodness can save or help... 
• Christians being taught that if they’re part of a certain church they’re saved. 
• Christians are being taught that the Kingdom of Heaven promised to Israel was transferred to “the Church.” 
• Christians are being taught that they aren’t saved without a particular salvation experience, defined by them. 

Christianity is divided 7 Main branches all differing significantly.

1. Bible believing Baptists
2. Roman Catholic
3. Greek Catholic
4. Lutheran
5. English Catholic (Anglican/Episcopal)
6. Presbyterian
7. Methodist

False teaching abounds on every side of the believer. 

1 Corinthians 11:19 (KJV) For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

What is a Christian supposed to do?

• We are commanded to not be deceived.
• It must be possible that we can keep from being deceived. Hallelujah!
• It is our responsibility to be not deceived.
• There must be a learnable way for us to obey this command.

1. Pray and trust God. Remember that the Lord Jesus alone has the power to open the understanding of man to the Bible Therefore, pray.

Luke 24:45 (KJV) Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

John 16:13 (KJV)Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: (The Holy Ghost leads by the word. Jn. 3:34)

1 John 2:27 (KJV) But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

2. Establish the Bible as your final authority.  Exalt and magnify the word of God above everything and everyone (Psalm 138:2; Psalm 119:128). 

Psalm 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

Psalm 119:128 Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.

• Some Christians Elevate Scholarship, the word of men. Historical positions. What does Calvin, Luther, etc. teach?
• Some professing Christians elevate a priesthood. The church of Rome elevates itself and its bishops as infallible. 
• Some professing Christians trust in themselves; in subjective opinions, intuitions, senses, feelings.
      Proverbs 28:26 (KJV) He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.  Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 
• The Bible believing Christians should elevate the word of the living God above all else and trust in the very words and ideas of God. 
• The Bible has the final voice not: Fundamentalism, Conservatism, Religion, Science, Philosophy, Psychology, Psychiatry, The Baptist Church, The Protestant Church, The Catholic Church. 
• The Bible is the standard of measure. If it’s not in the Bible, dump it.

3. Categorize Information. Learn to differentiate the word of God from the word of man. Identify opinion, conjecture, interpretation, supposition, theory…The word of man versus the word of God.  Life is a battle between Books. 

1st Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Romans 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

4. Don’t add to the word of God (Deut. 4:2; Proverbs 30:5,6).

1. Don’t add words
2. Don’t add people
3. Don’t add days

Do not add or allow others to add ideas or interpretations to the words (Proverbs 30:6). 

Illustration: Colossians 2:13-17

Romans 14:15

5. Don’t Subtract from the from the word of God (Deut 4:2; 12:32).

1. Words (firstborn, God manifest, etc.) I Timothy 3:16
2. People
3. Days

Do not subtract or allow others to subtract things (ignore things) from Scripture. (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32).

6. Don’t remove from context (II Peter 3:16)

1. Historical Context (Eccl. JW)
2. Structural Context
3. Doctrinal Context (Ezekiel 20:12,20)
4. Dispensational Context
5. Literary Context (Who, to whom, what, why, etc.) 

7. Judge everything by the Bible. Measure every spiritual statement, every moral statement, every religious statement by the Bible.

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

• Did Peter go to Rome? Look in the Bible.
• Was Peter the Bishop of Rome? Look for the answer in the Bible.
• You have the word of God in your language. Judge everything by the Bible.

If you have the word of God in your language:

1. You have the highest written authority on this earth. 
2. You possess the absolute standard by which to judge everything.
3. You don’t need an intermediating “priesthood.”
4. You don’t need a Greek or Hebrew professor, scholar, or Guru.
5. Every moral standard and religious teaching in contradiction to those very words is wrong.

The opinions of Science, Philosophy, Psychiatry, Psychology, Religion; Humanists, Catholics, Communists, Preachers, Missionaries, Evangelists, Friends, and Christians where they contradict or corrupt the Bible go in FILE 13, the trash!

Conclusion: 

• Maybe you’d like to thank God. He can hear you…
• Maybe you’d like to repent of trusting the opinion of self or man…
• You can use the altar or believe it or not, He can hear your prayer from where you are. Maybe there’s something else…