The word deceive was derived from the word ensnare and means to cause to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid. It is a common practice in our society today and used by many companies and governments to get out of employees, vendors, and customers what they need to survive. Others have used this practice without knowing that it is being practiced in their lives. Our society has become so unaware, or maybe I should say, so accustomed to being deceived that it has become accepted and now part of what it takes to run a successful operation. There are many different ways for one to be deceived. One way is to be false to or to act towards someone or something in a way that is different from the intended purpose. Another way is to fail to fulfill or to make a promise and not keep it. This next way of deception is the way I would like to focus on as it is the most famous and most often used. This is the way that gives a false impression or appearance; to appear to be someone or something that is not true. Now that we understand what deception is let’s look at it as it applies to the lives of those that are called Christians. First, the word Christian means “like Christ,” or to have taken on the very likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Gal. 3:27 tell us that as many of us as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Phil. 2:5-10 tells us to let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. So to be a Christian we are to take on the mind of Christ Jesus along with the fellowship of his suffering in obedience to God even unto death whose reward is life and life more abundantly. Jesus said it like this in Matt 4:4 “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” the word proceed indicates a present tense’ and also Deut.8:3 “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” The life of the Christian is dependent on the words that proceed out of the mouth of God, this is how he attains the mind of Christ. What constitutes the mind of Christ? Is it acting out what we read and study in the Bible or is it how we are instructed to act from the religious teachers of these times? How do we obtain the mind of Christ? These are questions that have stumped religious churches all around the world. When we look at ourselves and who we are, we find that we have been shaped and molded into what we are based on experiences and beliefs from our childhood to our adult life. We raise our kids based on how we were raised, we seek relationships based on different experiences and we choose our lifestyles based on the same things. In the same sense many of us choose how we will serve and worship God. When God made us, he made us in his image and in his likeness; then he breathed in us and called us a living soul. We were here but not here until God breathed in us, then we became conscious or our minds became alive to our surroundings, our nature, and who and what we are. When god breathed in us, he gave us his mind. God is the source of who we are, he is our mind and consciousness, this is how Jesus could say when you see me you see the Father. When God said to Adam if you eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden you will surely die and when Adam ate of the tree the separation from the source occurred and man really did die. When this occurred we lost the mind of Christ, we lost our freedom, and we lost the knowledge of who and what we are. We became dead to the Spirit of God, in other words “we lost our minds.” Acts 2:38 says “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.” This is how we will again obtain the mind of Christ, this is how we will be saved from eternal death, and this is how we will live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. So now, being a Christian simply means having the mind of Jesus Christ.
Take a look now at what is being taught today in modern society as it relates to the words that proceed out of Gods mouth. Most people are taught that to hear God they must attend a church or have a church home. That is to say that they must be under someone (pastor) who teaches God’s words. It has been said that one must attend a church so that they can have a covering or some sort of protection that is believed to come from that church. The truth is that synagogues and churches have been around since the days of Solomon and has been used as places people gather to worship and offer sacrifices to God. The deception is that the church is a necessary part of our salvation and service to God. Some even believe that it is the place to go when wanting to experience the power of the Holy Spirit. The truth is that upon the death of our Lord Jesus Christ the necessity of the church as we see it today has been diminished to nothing. While Jesus was here on earth he established his church (Matt 16:18–And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it), where he, is the governing body of the believers (St. John 10:7-11–Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9I am the door: by me if any man enters in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep). The church was established through the teachings of Jesus Christ while he lived on earth and continued or consecrated as his own upon his death, burial and resurrection. The work and establishment of the church did not end upon his ascension, it had merely just begun. The purchase had been made, now was the time for the church to began. The work of the old church or natural church failed; the church that appealed to and atoned for the flesh. This was the work of the law whose punishment was death. The church that would lead to salvation would be taught by the one who required the debt of sin to be paid, thus, causing the necessity of a sinless teacher. This teacher would live in the heart and mind of the church so that it would not forget the law, be deceived by false teachers, or required to work in a way that would atone for sin. This teacher would be the Holy Spirit. St. John 14:26 says “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” also Heb. 10:15-17 says “Whereof the Holy Spirit also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” The church would be taken to the place where true worship to God is required. St. John 4:23 tells us “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” The true worshippers or, the new church would worship the Lord Jesus where he is (in the Spirit) and they would worship by faith alone in Jesus Christ. The old church required a sinful man to mediate to God for a sinful people; which caused deterioration in the relationship between God and man; the new church destroyed the old church and gave a perfect man to mediate for a sinful people, which would reunite men with God. St Jhn. 2:19 says “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” making the old church no more. The devil wants us to believe and continue to work in what is no more. He has assumed pastoralship of the old church and has convinced the world that when Jesus said “I will raise it up in three days” that he didn’t really mean that. He has convinced the world to continue to live under the Law of Moses, preach the Law of Moses, believe in the Law of Moses and offer salvation under the Law of Moses. The devil (Anti-Christ spirit) has convinced the world that it is saved, by giving it something to measure it’s religion to, through works of the flesh. Our society of church members has become so confused that now it believes that it is right and that it is saved when they confess Jesus with their mouth but their hearts are far from him, it now calls the Anti-Christ spirit Jesus, not knowing who it is serving and it now lives under the law and calls it grace. Our work for our Lord Jesus is produced by faith; our work does not produce our faith. Now we must understand that the devil knows God, lived as an angel with God, sat at the feet of God, and praised our God in heaven. He knows God in a way we have not yet experienced. Now that he is no longer with God he uses what he knows to imitate God or act in a manner that is very similar to God; in a way that if it was possible he would be able to fool the very elect of God. With this strategy he listens to us when we pray as if he was God and will answer (he is the prince of this world St. Jhn. 14:30), he gives gifts as if he was God, he uses the emotions of our flesh to imitate the presence of God’s Holy Spirit, and causes us to believe that the Bible is God’s Word to us. He has convinced us that we can get to Jesus through the flesh or a building. He has built many different kinds of church houses (alters in the old testament), appointed ministers unto himself that feed us scripture that keeps us bound to the law, shows us how to keep the law; because if we are guilty of one part of the law we are guilty of the whole law, and appeals to the desires of the flesh to keep us from looking elsewhere for what our souls truly desire. He is the one who deceives the whole world, he (the anti-christ) is not coming, he is here now. So Rev.12:10 says “…Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” The new church simply says “just believe.” Hebrews Chapter 11 verse six; but without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. It is natural for the devil to not want us to believe, his mission is to keep us separated from God. With this in mind, it is absolutely necessary for a Christian believer to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When we will come to the Lord Jesus believing that he is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him, we will find that we are covered and protected from all the traps of the devil. The devil wants to keep us from that kind of a relationship, that kind of relationship keeps us in a place where the devil cannot touch us. Jesus said “and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou has sent me” John 17:19. Praise God, in that place we cannot be deceived. The deception here is, that the spirit of God lives on the outside of man. The devil and the church teaches us that the feeling of the Holy Spirit is felt in the flesh. The truth is, there is only condemnation in the flesh, the spirit of God does not dwell in condemnation. Romans chapter 8 verse one say there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. The spirit of God is not a force that can be touched by the hand of man. The spirit of God dwells in the heart of the believer, it is felt and seen by faith. It does not require that we need to be in a particular place or under a particular person, the only requirements of the spirit is that we believe. The devil keeps us confused by teaching us that we can only have access to the spirit through the church house, working in a church, keeping laws of the Old Testament, and giving our money to support his (the devil) work in this world. Living in the spirit is a way of life and a mind change, it causes us to think differently, not the way we think according to the way of the world, but according to the way of God. It teaches us that our thoughts are not like Gods thoughts and our ways or not like God’s ways. It teaches us that to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. It shows us the mind of Christ as we live day by day, to keep us from being deceived. Living in the spirit of God is the only requirement of being a Christian. Everything we need in this life to see Christ and to live by his words is in his spirit.
