God Loves… Himself

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

In order for the heart to come to Christ and enter heaven, it must either do so by its own wisdom and power or that of Christ. The heart that is going to follow Christ must overcome various deceptions by itself or it must have Christ do that for it. If a person left on a journey on foot in the midst of a vast wilderness with a vast number of trails that kept branching off into other trails, that person would need a guide in order to make it through. Even more, if each fork in the trail or each time the trail branched off there was a person there trying to get you to go the wrong way, it would be even worse. In some ways that is how life in this world is. As the statement above says, the way to destruction is broad and easy, at least in one sense. On that trail there are numberless deceptions. Our own hearts, the devil, other people, and the deception of wickedness and sin are always there. Christ alone can prepare our heats and lead us to the other side safely.

While many think of themselves as making wise or non-wise choices, the fact of the matter is that sin deceives people. Choosing sin is not just a simple matter of making a bad choice, but sin itself is a deception. Romans 7:11 speaks of sin as “taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” The verse is not talking about physical death, but more of in line with spiritual things. For the unbeliever each sin is an acting out of death or an adding to death in the sense of adding to the eternal judgment. But the point is that sin is a deception and sin and that it deceives people as it carries out its harm upon them and in them. Before a person can see through the deception of sin, that person must have someone who can show him or her the deception of sin. Christ alone can undeceive a person, so if Christ does not work to overcome the deception the person is left in the power of the deception of sin.

The Bible (in 2 Thessalonians 2:10) sets out the truth that wickedness has a great deception and it speaks of “all the deception of wickedness for those who perish.” We can ask why wickedness has such a deception, and the text says that it is “because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.” Those who do not love the truth are caught up with the deception of wickedness. Holiness, righteousness and truth go together, but so do wickedness, unrighteousness, and deception. The human heart is born dead in sins and trespasses and as such it is born in a state of deception. It is deceived about God, about itself, about truth, and about the nature of sin. As long as a human being is in the throes of being spiritually dead, it will always be deceived. The soul is utterly dependent upon Jesus Christ for life and holiness, and as such it is utterly dependent upon Christ to be delivered from deception. Men think that they can do it of their own wisdom and efforts, but that is simply another deception.

Titus 3:3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

Going along with the previous paragraph and how men and women are deceived as long as they are in their nature of sin, Titus 3:3 sets out how the unregenerate person lives. The person, even though s/he may be incredibly smart, is a foolish person who is disobedient to God and deceived. That person is deceived about what it means to be enslaved and as such is enslaved to his or her own lusts and pleasures. That person thinks of life in terms of self and as long as it pleases self that person thinks it is okay. S/he will judge all things by the harm or bad that it does to self or by his or her own moral standards of harm, which is to say that the person lives in malice and envy of others. That person lives a life of hate (as opposed to love of God and others) and is hated by others. That is the true state of sin. People are deceived about the nature of good and the nature of love and so as they live in what they think is good and what they think of as love that is nothing but a deception, so in reality they are enslaved to lusts and pleasures and they hate those around them and are hated by those around them. But of course they deny that, but that is a deception. Only the Lord Jesus can open their blinded eyes and prepare their hearts for eternity.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

If a man started off on a long journey and knew that it was going to be a difficult trip because the path that he had to take to get where he had to go was very dangerous, it would make him cautious and know that he must take what he needed for such a journey. If the man knew that his own heart would deceive him about the path, that there was one far wiser than him that would try to deceive him about the proper road, and that there would be many others who would try to deceive him, it is likely that he would not go on the trip. But if this man had to take the trip or he would die where he was, he might set off on it. But if there was one who knew the path and could get him there safely, he would assuredly trust in that person’s guidance. Yet we are told that there is only One guide and only One who can teach us the way to life eternal and yet men will trust in their own wisdom and will. There is only One who is wiser than the deceiver and yet we trust in ourselves. We will certainly perish and end up in eternal hell if we don’t have the One guide, but still people trust in themselves instead of Christ alone who can teach them and guide them along the path of life leading to life eternal.

It seems so easy to get men to pray a prayer or perhaps to reform life to some degree in order to go to heaven, but what they don’t realize is that the very ease of that is a deception as well. We are told that we must deny our very selves if we are going to follow Christ. We are told with great clarity in the Scriptures that we must not be deceived because of “these things” the wrath of God comes upon sons of disobedience (Eph 5:6). The “these things” come from verse 5 which teaches us that “you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” We are also told in I Corinthians 6:9 that we are not to “be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” This is to say that those who believe that those described by these texts of Scriptures can enter the gates of heaven are deceived. A simple reading of the Scriptures at this point tells us that vast numbers of people are deceived in our day.

There is a great battle going on in our day, and while many see the battle, not many understand the nature of the battle. Many see the battle as the old version of morality fighting against those who wish to progress against the old views and see a modern view come in. This modern view, however, is really simply an old view that the evil one brings up to deceive the proud. Those who are fighting for what they think of a civil rights for the sexually impure are simply deceived and fighting to help deceive others. Those who are kept in the dark and so deceived about those things will awaken from their deception in hell.

The battle, however, is not for morality in our country as such, but instead it is the truth of God versus the deceptions of the devil. The devil cloaks his deceptions in movements and has political powers and the foolishness of youthful exuberance doing his deceptive work for him. What those of Christ (who is Truth) must realize is that we are in a spiritual battle with the powers of deception. It is not that we are fighting because we are right and so on, but we are fighting because the souls of so many are deceived by the evil one and those he has deceived. We must battle in one sense, yet we must be pointing to Christ the whole time. It is Christ alone who can take a deceitful heart that loves its deception and teach it the truth. It is only Christ who can change a heart from being completely ensnared by darkness and deception into that heart having light and truth. Sinners are not saved from the powers of darkness and deception because we are so right and so smart, but they are only saved by an even greater power of Light and Truth. We must constantly be pointing people to Christ as John the Baptist came as a witness of who Christ was rather than as one who tried to do all the work himself. Christ alone can rescue sinners from their deception. We are merely those who point to Him.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

The deceptions that come to the soul are varied and they are vast. It is so hard to get men to see that they are deceived about spiritual things, physical things, and things regarding themselves. Because of that deception, they have to be persuaded that their soul is far more valuable to them than the whole world. Instead, they spend their whole lives pursuing things that are worthless and yet doing nothing that is beneficial to their eternal souls. The Scriptures set out that there are only two places for a soul to spend eternity and that each soul will spend eternity in one of those two places. Our time on earth is spent building treasures for one of those places. When a person becomes a believer, that person has treasure in heaven where no man can steal or plunder that treasure (Mat 6:19-21). Yet the unbeliever spends his time and efforts at building treasures of wrath for the day of wrath (Romans 2:5). When these things are taught so clearly in Scripture and yet man ignores them, it should be clear that there is a lot of deception going on.

One of the ways men are deceived about treasures in eternity is from other men. Over and over we are told in the Scriptures that other men deceive us and are trying to deceive us. But our own deceptive hearts may not understand how they are deceiving us. People are not always making and effort to knowingly deceive us, but if they are deceived themselves then their efforts to convince us to believe and act like them are deception. Romans 3:13 is speaking of all unbelievers when it tells us that “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”. The nicest and kindest human being that we can imagine is a deception machine (so to speak) in all that s/he does. The person is just trying to be nice and kind, but that person is deceived and so that niceness and kindness (in appearance) is deceiving others about the truth of God. A nice and kind person may be appalled at the doctrine of eternal damnation, but that does not change the truth of it. So the nice and kind person may go on and on about how eternal damnation cannot be true, but that is nothing more than deception and is nothing less than the devil himself would do and wants to do.

We also see repeated warnings in Scripture regarding homosexuals, adulterers, drunkards, and things along those lines. The nice and kind people among us want to say that those things are okay and that God would never send those people to hell. We have nice and kind ministers who are nothing less than the breath of hell as they ignore sin and the need for men to be granted repentance of those things. Those same ministers do not minister the things of God, but instead they minister the deceptions of the devil and show just how broad the road is to hell as they deny the hell they are deceiving people about. Ephesians 5:5-6 puts the matter plainly: “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” In other words, there are deceptions and there are people who are being used to deceive other people about immorality.

While we can say that men are concerned (in a fallen way) about us and others, it is the case that they are deceived about that concern and also deceived about what the help is that they are trying to give. Our hearts love those who love us (in appearance) and so we just follow along thinking that they would not harm us, but in spiritual terms our souls are receiving great harm. We must understand and we must show others that we must have the teachings of Christ (the Scriptures) and we must have Christ Himself teaching us or we will continue in our deceptions. It is not just that Christ keeps us from deception, but He must deliver us from our present deception. A deceived heart that loves itself and is full of pride loves its deceptions and hates the light and as such it is willingly deceived. However, the only way for anyone not to be deceived and to be brought out of the darkness of deception into the light of reality and truth is for Christ to teach them. Those who know their hearts know that they don’t have a free-will that can just make a choice and for them not to be deceived and to be delivered from the power of deception. Oh no, the heart that realizes the true nature of deception knows that it must be born again into the Truth.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

While it is hard for a spiritual mind to grasp the extent of the deceptions of the evil one, it may well be impossible for the natural mind (unregenerate) to grasp these things. Our own hearts deceiving us is really a terrible judgment upon us, but then to have one who is far smarter and far more powerful than we are who exerts himself in deceiving people and keeping them deceived, this is a judgment beyond what we can comprehend. It should also drive us to an end of our own strength and wisdom so that we would look to Christ and seek Him for grace to enable us to seek Him from a true heart. Not only are we deceived about so many things, but we are also deceived about what it means to seek Christ.

Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Revelation 20:3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

Revelation 20:8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.

The book of Revelation opens for us some of the work of Satan. It shows us what his work on the earth has been, what his works is now, and it shows his work in the future. Satan is out to deceive human souls. He wants to deceive them concerning the need for the Gospel and to blind them as to the glory of the Gospel (II Cor 4:4). He wants to deceive men into thinking that they don’t need salvation and he wants to deceive them into thinking that they are saved. He wants to deceive them about the nature of God as he deceived Eve in that regard. He wants to deceive human beings regarding the nature of the gate to salvation and the road to heaven. He is said to deceive the whole world, which I take to mean all those who are part of the worldly system or worldly way of thinking.

Our own hearts deceive us, other men deceive us (some with intent and some by virtue of who they are), sin deceives us, and the devil uses all of those things in his arsenal to work deception in and upon us. It is bad enough for our own hearts to deceive us, but when the deceiver uses our own hearts against us, we are very deceived. It is bad enough to have sin (which is in us and surrounds us in seemingly all places at all points) at work deceiving us, but when it is in the hands of the deceiver, we should see how easily we are deceived and how impossible it is for us to be undeceived unless Christ should do the work.

It is so vital for us to understand that it is not enough for some poor soul to pray a prayer, make a decision, or walk an aisle in order to be saved. Those things themselves are the deceptions of the evil one. Every soul that is born of natural means (so to speak) is born dead in sins and trespasses and is born with a deceived heart regarding those things. The natural man is prone to deception regarding his need for salvation and for the way of salvation. Men must be taught these things by Christ and they must be broken from their self-autonomy and pride or they will be deceived by themselves and by the deceiver himself. When the Scriptures speaks of sinners being brought from bondage to the devil and from the power of darkness, that is part of what they are talking about. The Gospel is not the good news of what deceived man can do for himself, it is good news of what Christ does in rescuing helpless and deceived men. A deceitful heart wants to make the way to heaven easy, but the undeceived heart understands that with men this is impossible. Christ is the only Savior, yes, but He alone can teach us these things in the inward man and He alone can open the eyes of the heart. We must (absolutely) have Him undeceive us or we will perish.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

It would be a terrible thing if our souls were for more valuable than a thousand worlds and yet we were deceived about how valuable our souls were to us and about the two places that are the only options we will spend eternity in. If someone set himself to deceive us about ourselves and about eternal dwellings, that would be as wicked and evil a thing as a human could do to us. But then think of an entire worldly system that is set out to provide ways for our hearts to deceive us and we are in big trouble. But even more, that worldly system is set in place by the master deceiver who wants to deceive human beings. He deceived Eve and she ate of the fruit. He has been deceiving ever since then. But again, it is the objective truth that we will spend all eternity in either heaven or hell. We will spend all eternity in eternal bliss or eternal torment. Our souls are of far greater value to us than the world. But our own hearts deceive us about that and it appears everything else around us.

But perhaps worse than those things, the modern, professing church appears to be a major way of deceiving people. 2 Corinthians 11:13 sets this out and leaves no room for doubt: “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.” It is clear enough that men deceive themselves and want to deceive themselves regarding the things of religion, but when they do that they are also deceiving others. But there are also others who purposefully deceive others. There are some who are false apostles and deceitful workers who are self-deceived, but there are others who know what they are doing and want to deceive. We know that the Pharisees were terribly deceived and they went about deceiving others as well. It is a terrible thing when a person with a deceived heart, has others around him who are deceiving him, has the worldly system deceiving him, and the devil deceiving him. But even more, when that person attends a local professing church and the deception there can be even worse. The deception there can be one that deceives the person into thinking that he has the truth and is a converted person. That person will be helped into hell and have his slide there greased by the teaching of modern religious people. This is true of liberals, of conservatives, and of any in between.

Now this appears terribly judgmental with railings against the modern, professing church. But Jesus Himself told us (Matthew 7:22) that there would be many who would cry out on that day, “’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’” There will be many who prophesied (preached) and yet will hear the words of Christ spoken to them: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’” Let us not be deceived about the many religions and the many professing churches in our day. We must have Christ Himself teach us in our inner man and yet we are to look for those who are teaching and preaching the Truth of Christ. Yet all of them claim to do so and many of the false teachers are kind, nice, and very smart and learned people.

When Christ came to this planet 2,000 years ago what did He find? He found a religion that followed many of the externals, but hardly anyone followed Christ Himself. The religious leaders of the day had the appearance of great wisdom and great holiness, but they were fakes and frauds who taught something other than the Truth and Christ. When Martin Luther burst on the scene 500 years ago (round figures), what did he find? He found a religious system set in place that had virtually no Gospel and no true holiness. What did people find in religion just before Christ came? They found deception and emptiness. What did people find in religion during the time just before Luther? They found deception and emptiness.

I am not trying to argue that our modern day is as bad as the days of Christ or of Luther. I am saying, however, that it certainly appears to be quite bad. Men must learn that only Christ can give them eyes to see and ears to hear. Men must learn that they need new hearts and not just new information. Men must learn that they need an inner instruction as well as an outward instruction. Men must learn that their proud hearts are their enemies and are not their friends. They must realize that Christ alone can teach them and that Christ alone can deliver them.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

While the Gospel is said to be easy in our day, though that is certainly not accurate in one sense, that is a different thing than saying that it is easy to go to heaven. The heart that Christ prepares is a heart that must go through many temptations and trials. The heart that Christ prepares is a heart that must be broken, and it should be clear that a broken heart in the midst of a fiery trial is not an easy thing to go through. The way to destruction, however, while it does include the misery of sin, does not include the hard things that God brings on the soul to break it of self-love, self-will, and of pride. The way to destruction appears broad and easy to those who do not wish to fight with their own deceptive hearts, the deceptive hearts of others, and the deceptions of the devil. But while the way is difficult to go to heaven, that difficulty is only for this life and it is mixed with the joy of the Holy Spirit, but then there are eternal pleasures in the presence of God. The hearts that are on the way to destruction have to endure the results of sin in this life, which can bring much misery, but the sin appears to be the fulfillment of the desires of their hearts. But once they arrive in hell, there is unceasing torment forever and ever.

At some point each soul has got to come to grips with eternity and realize that his or her soul will be in eternal bliss or eternal torment. When a person dies, a person either goes into the arms of the Lord or will lift up his or her eyes in torment. The soul must come to realize in this life that it is far more valuable than the whole world and it must not give in the deceptions of sin and of others. Each soul must realize that part of the deception of sin, of the world, and of the devil has to do with the reality of sin and of the reality of eternal torment. It appears that the teachings concerning hell are rapidly disappearing today as the deceptions of the devil and of the human heart (which is at enmity with God and hates the idea of the wrath of God against itself) are at open war against God and the truths of God.

With all the deceptions that are going on, in, and around the human soul, another great deception is that man only needs more information and accurate information. The truth of the matter is that man cannot undeceive himself, undeceive others, and cannot overcome the deceptions of the evil one in his own power and with more information. As 1 Corinthians 3:18 sets out, “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.” Since man cannot do this great work of overcoming the deceptions in and around him, he must be broken from his own pride and self-sufficiency so that he could look to Christ to teach him Truth. Oh how the proud of man is so strong and so hardened to think that he cannot overcome the deceptions of his own heart and the deceptions that are around him. However, the very heart of pride and self-love are a major part of his own deception. Pride deceives man and self-love deceives man.

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

Mark 7:21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.

Proverbs 21:4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart, The lamp of the wicked, is sin.

The heart of man must be taught of Christ and it must be humbled and broken by Christ. There is no greater power in man than his own pride and self-love, so clearly it must be a greater power than that to break him from his pride and self-love. That greater power and greater wisdom is Christ. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who will work in the hearts of sinful man and show man his sin and his weakness. It is the Lord Jesus who works in that heart until the heart sees that it if full of pride and self-love and cannot do anything else but act in pride and self-love. The very lamp or the light that guides the heart is pride. That heart must learn that Christ alone can change that heart.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

As the reality of eternity begins to sink in, the soul will face great deception. A person may have been raised to be moral or perhaps has rejected some Christian teachings or perhaps Christianity as a whole. What we must understand, however, is that when the weight of eternity begins to settle in on a soul, the soul may have some real terror settling in. The soul may begin to see sin in a different light and begin to question many things, but then the little voice (so to speak) begins to sound in the quiet times. It is then that one may meet some people who are very, very nice and outwardly kind and understanding and they try to explain some of the basic teachings of the Bible and of the character of God away. At times like that, we must understand that the Bible does speak directly to those issues and to people who are hearing things like that.

Ephesians 5:5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

The Scriptures tell us that we can know something (in this case) with certainty and that is that no immoral or impure person or covetous man has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. But again, the very nice people and the kind and understanding people will try to explain verses like that away. There are many, many nice pastors in pulpits across our land that try to explain those things away. But again, we can know with certainty that the type of person listed in Ephesians 5:5 has no inheritance in the kingdom. But we move on to verse 6 and notice that the warning there is to let no one deceive you with empty or vain words. Instead of the person that the things in verse 5 describes having an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God, those are the things that the wrath of God comes upon. Those are the people called “sons of disobedience.” These people are not sons of God, they are sons of disobedience.

1 Corinthians 6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

The passage just above also tells us that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God and Paul seems surprised that these people don’t know that. He goes on to tell them not to be deceived about this. Now many in our day are quite deceived about this and many ministers are now saying that homosexuality is not a sin. Many are saying that fornication and adultery and so on are not really against God either. Some of the people had been those things, but they had been washed and justified. In other words, those are things that a person needs the power of God to save them from. Once again Paul warns the people not to be deceived about these things. Evidently people were being deceived then and they are certainly being deceived about these things now (in our day).

From all of this it is quite clear that sinners are deceived about sin and one reason that they are deceived is so that they will go to hell with the devil. He hates all human beings and wants all of them to go to hell with him. He is at work to deceive people about sin so that they will continue in their sin and not seek the Lord for repentance from it. As long as people keep thinking that God loves sinners just the way they are and that they do not need deliverance from the bondage of sin and forgiveness for that sin, then they are deceived and are on their way to hell without realizing it. Christ is the Prophet who must open the minds of sinners to see past or out of their deceptions. Christ is the One who must open the heart to see sin as sin and then how sin binds sinners and makes them slaves of it. Christ is the One who must show sinners that He alone can deliver from the true bondage of sin. Christ is Savior, yes, but He is Savior from the power of sin, the deception of sin, as well as the punishment for sin.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

A blind person would not make it in the world very long at all without help and helps. That is also true of all other people as well. Jesus spoke of the blind leading the blind and they both fell in the ditch. But of course He was speaking of a spiritual blindness which includes a spiritual deception as well. Those who are blind are fully human beings, but they lack one sense that helps people in and through the world. They cannot see the world as it is. They cannot see curbs and pot holes and construction ditches. They cannot see that they are walking to the edge of a bluff. But imagine a blind person who deceived himself into thinking that he could see. That is what happens with people who are dead in sin and yet think of themselves as alive. These are people who are spiritually blind and yet think they have spiritual sight. Blindness can be overcome, but as long as a person is deceived into thinking that he can see there is no hope for that person. As long as a person that is blind to spiritual things does not see that Christ must reveal truth to him or her, there is no hope for that person.

Galatians 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

James 1:26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.

In the verses above we see some of the great deception that humanity has to deal with. The world is constantly telling us that we are something and how great our self-esteem should be, yet it is opposed to the Scriptures which tell us that if we think we are something when we are nothing we deceive ourselves. The context of Galatians 6:3 is certainly a spiritual context, but we can simply note that it is very possible to deceive ourselves by thinking too highly of what we think our attainments might be. A person can think of self as quite spiritual and yet the reality is that the person is an unbeliever and still in bondage to self and sin.

The passage above from the book of James is quite powerful and should shred the hopes of many as to their religion. Many, many people think that they are religious, but they are quite deceived about the true nature of their religion. The true nature of Christianity has to do with the centrality of the glory of God and the hearts of men that He has changed so that they may live for His glory and be instruments of His glory. He does this by grace alone. But many think of Christianity as being essentially doctrinal, so if they have solid doctrine and an intellectual grasp of it they think they are converted. Others think of Christianity as moral, so they follow a certain morality and are quite content in thinking that they are solid Christians. But James teaches us something different throughout the book. Christianity has its essence in the heart and a person that does not control the tongue is not a person who has a new heart. A person can claim to believe, but a new heart and new life are necessary to validate that claim.

The person that thinks that Christianity is doctrine alone or moral alone is something like a blind person let out in the wilderness who thinks that s/he can see. The blind person in the wilderness must be convinced that s/he is blind in order to be led into the truth. Christ alone is the perfect Guide and the One who can lead people to the Father. People are greatly deceived who think that their doctrine or their morality can lead them to the Father or heaven. Following the way of doctrine is easy for the intellectual person, but repenting of all hope in the intellect is not. Following the way of external and public morality is easy for a strong-willed person or a proud person, but having Christ teach us that we have no self-righteousness and that even our good works are as filthy rags is not. While it is so hard for people to grasp in our day, but religion apart from Christ is very deceptive. Religion with a little of Christ is quite deceptive. It is also true that religion that uses the name of Christ a lot can be quite deceptive if not more deceptive than the rest. We must have the true Christ teach our hearts and take us in our spiritual blindness by our hands and lead us to truth and Himself. All else is deception.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

All human beings are born dead in sins and trespasses and by nature are children of wrath. While this does not sound so bad or seem like such a big deal to seemingly the vast majority of people today, the ramifications of these things are enormous. In fact, this answers the question as to why so many people don’t think this is such a big deal. Deception does not always key around one issue at one time, but a deception can be a way of looking at life as a whole and can involve the whole of life. In other words, people may be concerned about being deceived about one fact or one bit of information, but in fact they are deceived about the whole of life. If sin is deceptive and the mind and heart are fallen into sin, then sinners have fallen into deception about all things.

Why is it that so few people are persuaded to the very core of their being that there are only two places that they will spend eternity in? Why is it that so few people think of hell as being a place of true torment in our day? Could it be that the very way they view things and process information are deceptive and deceitful themselves? What if pride deceives people and self-love deceives people? If those things deceive people, then every fallen human being is deceived in a terrible way. It would seem that if people took Scripture seriously they would see that people are deceived about all things in all ways if they don’t have Christ to guide them into Truth.

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

The text just above is profound in its meaning and its many applications. When we think of the bondage to sin, we don’t normally think of it in terms of our thinking and our being deceived, but instead we think of it in terms of some outward and gross fleshly sin. Perhaps that is another deception. Instead of that, what we must see is that men are taken captive by ways of thinking and ways of deception. There are traditions of men in many places and in many ways, but we can think of the doctrines (yes, intended to say that) of evolution as doctrines according to the tradition of men and according to the elementary principles of the world.

If we think of philosophy as a way of thinking or as an approach to thinking and viewing the world, it seems as if we can get at the idea of what the intent of Scripture is at this point. In one sense there is a philosophy of everything. There are books on the philosophy of science (in general) and then books on differing disciplines of the sciences. In other words, the hard sciences are not quite as hard as they wish to present themselves as. All of them follow a philosophy or way of thinking and are guided by that. When a person is taken captive through a philosophy of something or anything and that is not according to Christ, the Scriptures represent those people as prisoners. All Christians have seen that in practice in false religions and in discussing things with others. It seems as if the people are blinded to truth and reality, and that is because they are. But what we must have our hearts gripped with is that people are indeed slaves and prisoners to ways of thinking. Only Christ can set them free.

This is one reason why quick conversions have been considered suspect by many people. While God can transfer people from the dominion of darkness and bondage to that darkness to the kingdom of His beloved Son when He pleases, it seems as if He almost always works through means and through a slower deliverance or waking people up to their bondage. Yes, most in our day will not recognize this as legitimate and will argue that this is putting something between men and Christ. I respond to that and say that this is not putting something between men and Christ in the slightest, but instead it is pointing out what is there. Denying that these things are there is simply one way of deceiving others about true conversion. Men must be taught the truth about the Person of Christ and the works of Christ. Men must be taught about who they really are and what state they are in. Until some of that happens, men will know nothing about their real need of conversion and what Christ has done and is doing to save sinners from the deception of their own hearts, the devil, and the world. This is a dire need, not just a difference.

Be persuaded that your soul is far more valuable to you than the whole world and there are only two places (heaven and hell) that you will spend all eternity in.

You can count on it that it is very difficult to come to heaven, but the way to destruction is broad and easy. Take it to heart that you have a deceitful heart with you, a wicked devil close to you, and snares and hindrances around and before you.

While the vast majority of people (in the modern day) seem to think that they can simply tell people that they need to make a choice and believe, that has not always been the case. In the past it was understood that people were depraved and had no ability in the spiritual realm. In the past people believed that people had deceitful hearts and that the devil was a masterful deceiver and that these were things that had to be overcome. It used to be understood that not only must one come to faith in Christ, but that Christ must work in that person’s heart by His Spirit for that person to be brought through all the deception of his or her own heart and the deceptions of the evil one to a true faith in the true Christ.

It seems to be apparent that in the modern day salvation seems to be nothing more than convincing a person to say a prayer or make a decision and there is little regard if any at all that the person has a deceptive heart and there is a deceiver at work. The devil, who hates humanity in his war with God, loves to deceive people into thinking that they are truly converted. He is not concerned with how religious people are, or how moral they are, nor how ardent they think they are following Christ. His work is to deceive those inclined toward religion with religion itself. As he did with Eve, he will take the words of God and adjust them for his own purposes. As he did with Jesus, he will quote the Scriptures and try to use the truth in an incorrect context in order to deceive. The Lord Jesus Himself must undertake for us if we are going to see through the deceptions and come to faith in Christ.

In II Corinthians 4 we are told that the gospel is veiled, “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Note that the gospel is veiled to them because the god of this world has blinded the minds in such a way that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. He does not blind them so that they will not hear about Christ, but so that they will not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. He will blind them so that they will have a belief in the facts of Christ, but that is different than seeing the glory of Christ. He will blind them so that they will make a choice or say a prayer based on their understanding the facts of Christ, but once again that is not to see the glory of Christ. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can reveal His glory to people and as such men and women are utterly dependent on Christ to open their eyes so that they will not be deceived.

The devil is just fine with people praying prayers and making choices to be saved, and in fact that is one of his greatest deceptions. Jesus taught us that a person must be born again in order to see or enter the kingdom, but the devil now has the majority believing that a person who says a prayer will enter the kingdom. If people would take time to study with care the Gospel of John, they would see that the majority of people (perhaps even the vast majority) who are said to believe or believe in Christ were not converted people. Surely this shows us that there are types of belief in Christ that are not saving. It is a divine work in the soul to bring about a new heart that a believing heart comes from. This is not a work of the flesh as if a human will can do it, but instead men and women must be shown that they cannot do this work and be delivered from the deception of believing in themselves for faith. Christ must prepare the heart by teaching that in the inner man.

The modern version of evangelical (so called) thinking on salvation is itself a deception of the devil. As the devil deceives countless people by getting them into a worldly way of thinking and just following the way of the world and what other people think is okay, so he is hard at work in the religious realm deceiving people into thinking that salvation is in their own power and strength. The vast majority of ministers are preaching this same false teaching, which of course makes the deception even stronger. We have whole religious system of publishing books and putting out materials that are build on this great deception. Yes, it is far easier to simply say a prayer or make a choice than it is for Christ Himself to teach the soul through hard things its own inability and helplessness in the spiritual realm or to do good things. However, Christ must teach the soul or it is deceived and will be deceived.