Jesus Revealed in Doctrine YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE DECEIVED
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Eph. 6:11.
The enemy in this world is not merely humanity. The real enemy is stronger than we are. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Eph. 6:12, 13). Even though the enemy is stronger than we are, he is a defeated foe, so there is no reason for any of us to be defeated by him. The Lord has offered us an armor of truth that will protect us from Satan's attacks.
One of the truths about Satan is that he enjoys the spectacular. He likes to do flashy things. We are warned about this in Revelation 17 and 2 Thessalonians 2. Satan knows that people are impressed by the sensational, and this is one of his tricks. Sin doesn't make sense. Physical evidence will warn you that smoking produces lung cancer. Common sense will tell you that losing your temper isn't the best way to handle a problem. Rebellion simply doesn't make good sense. So he plans his attack on another line--he tries to deceive us, to impress us with the supernatural. And if we trust our senses, we will be deceived.
Sometimes we have thought that the final issues will be very simple. Do you keep the Sabbath, or don't you? Do you belong to the remnant church, or do you belong to one that isn't? But it will not be simple. Satan is planning to deceive the very elect, if possible. The only way he could hope to do so would be to come up with a deception that was very close to the real thing.
It is an evidence of the love of God that He has given us warning in advance, that no one need to be taken in by the plans of the enemy. We have been warned against trusting to our senses, warned that we must trust only the Word of God, and warned that without the vital relationship with Him we will be deceived. God has done everything possible to prevent our being lost, because in His great love He wants each of us to spend eternity with Him.
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Eph. 6:11.
The enemy in this world is not merely humanity. The real enemy is stronger than we are. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Eph. 6:12, 13). Even though the enemy is stronger than we are, he is a defeated foe, so there is no reason for any of us to be defeated by him. The Lord has offered us an armor of truth that will protect us from Satan's attacks.
One of the truths about Satan is that he enjoys the spectacular. He likes to do flashy things. We are warned about this in Revelation 17 and 2 Thessalonians 2. Satan knows that people are impressed by the sensational, and this is one of his tricks. Sin doesn't make sense. Physical evidence will warn you that smoking produces lung cancer. Common sense will tell you that losing your temper isn't the best way to handle a problem. Rebellion simply doesn't make good sense. So he plans his attack on another line--he tries to deceive us, to impress us with the supernatural. And if we trust our senses, we will be deceived.
Sometimes we have thought that the final issues will be very simple. Do you keep the Sabbath, or don't you? Do you belong to the remnant church, or do you belong to one that isn't? But it will not be simple. Satan is planning to deceive the very elect, if possible. The only way he could hope to do so would be to come up with a deception that was very close to the real thing.
It is an evidence of the love of God that He has given us warning in advance, that no one need to be taken in by the plans of the enemy. We have been warned against trusting to our senses, warned that we must trust only the Word of God, and warned that without the vital relationship with Him we will be deceived. God has done everything possible to prevent our being lost, because in His great love He wants each of us to spend eternity with Him.
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