The Deception of Deceiving Spirits

The deception of deceiving spirits. The deception of deceiving spirits. And we're dealing with people who are embracing ulterior lifestyles. And what they're using is Scripture. You see our Vice President Kamala Harris at Planned Parenthood, where they're actually murdering children right behind her. Thousands of them. And it's all about reproductive rights. No, that's called murder. And it's against the law of God. And if the pulpits won't say it, who will? And I'm just getting really tired too. And you're going to see it more. Don't be political. Well, now everything's biblical. So I mean, it's really hard. Tell John the Baptist that. That's what got his head cut off. He confronted the king. Every king usually had a prophet. Think about that for a minute. Every king had a prophet of God to go to them and tell them this is wrong in God's sight. You need to lead the people more effectively. And I'm just going to read Revelation 16 where we left off. And I hope you can gleam just from reading some of it, and then I will pull it apart. But I tried to pull it apart and it needs to kind of just flow for a minute. And look at this. This is Revelation 16 starting in v. 13. John said, I saw three unclean spirits like frogs going out of the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, and the mouth of the false prophet. We talked about that before, the unholy trinity where it appears there'll be this one world leader, his spokesman, and of course Satan working behind them. And these frogs are coming out of their mouth. For they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and to the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I am coming as a thief. This is Jesus. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame. So it's like Jesus interrupted this. He said, here comes these deceiving spirits. Hey, I'm coming quickly, be ready. Because what they're gathered to do is going to happen at this place they call, that we hear a lot, Armageddon. This great battle. And just looking at the commentaries, I wanted to share with you that there's some different views out there. Okay, and I'm just, as a preacher, with the clock ticking down, many of you might not come again, I don't like to get caught up in, well, this person says, and this person says, and this person says, and isn't this interesting? It has its time and place, but not when the time clock is ticking. We need to get right to the heart of the matter, looking as if there is a final battle coming up. The Bible talks about that. But then the seventh bull is where I left off last week, and the earth is being shaken. You can, just for fun, Google how many earthquakes have been up the California coast lately. I think it was Al Whittingill who decided to inform me. How many earthquakes are up that California coast? Then the seventh angel poured out his bull into the air. So we have the seventh angel, and this is the final, this is it, here we go. Revelation, this wrath is coming down right here. Then the seventh angel poured out his bull, and remember, the bulls are the judgments of God. That's how God would pour out His judgment, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying this, it is done, it is finished. And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake such as a mighty and great earthquake had not occurred since men were on the earth. And this is again, personally, why I can't say that a lot of, even though some of Revelation has been fulfilled, I believe in AD 70, I've talked about that before, a lot of it seems to be coming. This is pretty significant, that it seems that there's going to be this incredible earth shaking. And now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities and the nations, they actually fell, and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Remember, we're gonna hear about this later as we keep going through Revelation, and when John says, I saw Jesus come out of heaven, and the armies of heaven followed Him, and out of His mouth goes that double-edged sword that He judges the nations, and He will tread the winepress and the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. And then we also hear that call, oh, Babylon, God calls out, my people, my people, come out of her, lest you share in her sins and receive of her plagues. And so it is interesting, there's Christians during this time, and come out of her, and don't receive of the plagues that I'm going to pour out. It's almost like that call to Lot to come out of Sodom. And again, there's different views on that, and we'll unpack it as we go forward. But it goes on to say, every island fled, and the mountains were not found, and great hell from heaven fell upon men, each hell stone about the weight of a talent. That is heavy. Men blaspheme God because of the plague of the hell, since that plague was exceedingly great. Last evening, who felt the hell here? I was like, Lord, keep it small. Because you realize if that gets up to 10 pounds, it's going through your roof. I mean, those little things were hitting hard. They're hitting the trampoline and bouncing all over the place. But God often uses national disasters as judgment. You know what else He uses? The enemy of the people. And I truly believe that has a lot to do with our borders. Believe me, that is the number one problem in our nation right now. The enemy is coming in. What about the family that needs help? Yeah, of course, we need to help. Hello? Well, let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater. And God is allowing possibly these things to judge our nation. We need to be prepared as believers. Shane, I didn't come here to get negative. I know we're gonna get positive pretty soon. But I'm just reading God's Word. So let's break it down from it. For they are spirits of demons. So these people, the Antichrist and the one world leader or whatever you think these people are, there are deceptive spirits that come out of their mouth and they perform signs. So there's a lot of things that could be happening where it's going to validate their message. For they are spirits of demons. One of the commentators said, "'Christ expelled unclean spirits, "'but His enemies send them forth.'" Now remember, unclean spirits, deceiving spirits, I mean, there's controversy on this too, I know, but they can't necessarily, they can have physical harm, of course, like Job and things, but they're spirits. So often, the way they distract or take you down is through deceit, trickery. And where does most of that happen? I can see where somebody's starting to think, where they're starting to go, and you're like, oh, that's not a good direction. And often, deception, always remember this, there is a little bit of truth in there. That's how they get, I mean, if it was just clearly, you know, something so outrageous, then it's like, eh, anybody. But when you start to bring in deception into the conversation, all the cults, most of them, what they call Christian cults, there's some truth in there. And they take that, and then they start, like Satan, what did he say? Did God really say you can't eat of all these trees? Did God say that? What'd he say? Of this tree, you shall not eat. And so, see how he can be deceptive. And what makes this so important is because when you start to have a dialogue, and you start, you know, that's a good point, and she started Dialogue with the Devil, that's a good sermon title. Don't take it, Pastor Abram. Dialogue with the Devil. Sometimes you'll see me, like, I'm not texting up front, I'm like, I'm writing down stuff for next Sunday, as God is just downloading into my hard drive, or the team was singing that one song, the cross has spoken. And I just got so excited, I got, God's gonna do something, because the cross has spoken. It is finished, it is done. The cross speaks to us still today. All right, that's Easter, okay, hold on, come back here. But it's such an exciting topic, isn't it? People think I make this stuff up, or get, no, I get worked up. No, it's just, it's so exciting. It's like a kid on Christmas morning. You coming down, yeah, Christmas! And you come down, what am I getting all these presents? And the word of God comes alive in our hearts. But that's how deception works. There are some truths to that. And we have to be careful. We do have to know what the word of God says. We have to listen to those who know what the word of God says. And that's why I like to read a lot of books that are old, because they've stood the test of time. I don't know where they're gonna go later. These people still alive sometimes, and they're bringing in destructive teachings. Timothy, I didn't put first or second. I believe it's 1 Timothy 4. Now the Spirit, this word's interesting. Explicitly says, basically says, hey, you know when something's clear, very clear, the Spirit clearly says this, that in the latter times, which, if it's not now, I don't know when it's coming. But of course, when Peter even preached 2,000 years ago, this is that which the prophet Joel spoke of in the latter times. So I believe the church age, to some degree, is that latter times, but it keeps like an alarm clock, or a clock that keeps ticking towards that final outcome. So the Spirit is clearly saying, which to me it says we need to wake up, because all of us are susceptible, that some will depart from the faith. So they claim the faith of Christianity, right? Many of us, we know, kind of what the tenets of Christianity are, we've studied. But there will be this kind of this departing from the faith. Well, how do they depart? They pay attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons. See, they're paying, that's why I try to not, I limit my time sometimes on social media, and so should many of you. I'll get YouTube videos, I'm like, you don't need to be spending your time on that. Because it can lead to more rabbit holes. And then we can open ourselves up. I mean, just in the course of a week, I'll get, look, we didn't really go to the moon. Okay, I gotta prepare for a sermon. Here's why the earth is flat. You know? I can disprove that, but it's okay. But see, they let these things in that have no really, here's this watch this thing on aliens. Do you think it's, ah. And I've seen this over the years. We can talk to you about certain situations afterwards where these people are pretty solid, but then they start opening up to these things that are, you know, well, I don't think they'll be watching, so. I don't want my wife to see. Mm-mm. But we've had family members, they don't live here, but even friends, that they start to, like say, follow these YouTube channels about where you kind of have to observe the feasts. I mean, you really don't, right? You're not, you know, oh, no, no, no. You don't have to, you're not saved by that. But they'll start to teach. You know, if your church doesn't observe the feasts and the trumpets and the Hebrew, what they did, and then they start to come up with more weird stuff. Now they're starting to look Jewish and do their hair and beard, like, it's just, and just be careful on where you allow things. It's good to know the feasts. Observe them if you'd like. Oh, look, I see Christ in the Passover. It's wonderful, but make sure it's not steering you off course. Or, hey, Pastor, I've been doing a lot of study. I don't know if we should be meeting on Sunday. The Roman Catholic Church started that. And the Sabbath, I'm like, mm. We can sit down and talk about Colossians and other things, and Christ is our Sabbath rest, but they don't wanna go there. Then they open themselves up, and then they're actually, a lot of these people we're listening to are not believers. They're not believers. And so you're getting advice or taking your thoughts over your thoughts, and you have to be very careful. Do you know the top person who was Googled, the top name a couple years ago? He's a man, black hair, good shape, used to be UFC fighter, Andrew Tate. And all these people, look, but he said something good. Yeah, but look at this other stuff. Look at, mm, the thought. Be careful, and if you start to follow, and see, that's how deceiving spirits work. They begin to kind of pull you. I've had to struggle with that before. Right, you get too caught up in certain things. So that's how it works. So it takes some of the truth, some of the truth, and begins to bring in air to deceive the person, and to cause them to walk away. And many churches that I followed, even 10, 12 years ago, you hear that term woke, wokeism. And they start to bring in things that are, they're listening to the wrong voices. They're listening to the wrong groups. And they start to get led astray in these areas. I went back and forth. I had Luke at it this morning, but I'm gonna go ahead, and it's not in order. Oh yeah, it might be. It should be the next slide that pops up. It's a quote. There we go. I've got an email tweet into this church. Just wanna double check. It's on my Facebook. A lot of people, I just always wanna be sure, and even if the church didn't say this, or it was misattributed, it doesn't really matter, because a lot of churches feel this way, where many of them are going. This is a mega church. For us, the most important thing on Easter is inviting people to church. This means reaching people far from God, amen. So we're not going to use words like Calvary, resurrection, or the phrase the blood of Jesus. What? See, this is wokeism. I don't want to offend others. I want to draw as many, well, you just offended God. Okay, pick your battle here carefully. We won't use language that will immediately make someone feel like an outsider. And this person is the marketing director for this church, and I wanna say, listen, you can market the gospel. You can. You just say, come and see what Christ has done. Come and drink of the living water. Come and look. I'm not embarrassed at the gospel. That Calvary is a wonderful thing. He shed his blood on Calvary and has set me free, and he has rose again from the dead. If that offends you, then you might want to get up and go and find a place where you're not offended, because the gospel offends us. It breaks us. It humbles us. And I'm here because of God, not because of you. When did church become for non-believers? We are to welcome them and to reach them and to love them and to understand them. But at the end of the day, I'm here because of God. I will not apologize if that's a little too strong. But look, that's kind of deceptive. Here's some truth. Oh, we want to invite as many people as possible. That is a church void of the spirit of God, bottom line. And people are already mad at me. Yeah, but they reach more people than you do. So does the Mormon church. Look at faithfulness, not numbers. Faithfulness. And it's all I can do to not respond with, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but they will look for teachers. They will look for teachers who will tell them what they want to hear. So can God grow a megachurch? Absolutely. I pray He does. And I pray He does more. It's faithfulness to the Scriptures. Like, that's just embarrassing. That's completely embarrassing to me. And it's sad. What Gospel are they hearing? What Gospel are they hearing? Many of them, they tell you they paint Jesus in such a light that you think you're joining the country club instead of a spiritual battle that you better be prepared for. You better die to self. Humble yourself. Grab onto the hymn of Christ's garment. Never let go. Life is difficult. Life is tough. But let me tell you about the Savior who walked on Calvary, who shed His blood, and who was resurrected. I didn't just put that up there. I prayed. I was up early this morning praying. Lord, I don't want to just say things to say things, but this is so important. I hope it wakes people up. Let's go back. There are a few more points. Deceiving spirits basically means a person is spiritually adrift. There's a pattern of thinking that if left unchecked will deceive you. Now, I'm glad this has just prompted me. I thought of something that's so important because many times we think of compromising the Gospel, right, like I just showed you. And that is a deceptive spirit. But I've also seen people who love the Word, in the Word, they love to argue the Word, and they are deceived because of their pride, their hardness of heart. They're deceived. And the deceptive spirits, see, pride is an open door. Pride, and you have that open door, and those deceptive spirits will try to, you ever get that thought? I have. Oh, don't listen to them, Shane. They're just convicted. No, I was a jerk. Right, or they're just convicted. They can't handle the truth. You're standing for the truth. And they deceive you into thinking more highly of yourself than you should. If you truly have the truth, and you're not broken and humble, you can be... How many modern day Pharisees are led astray? It does happen. It does happen. We can be so hungry spiritually that we will consume anything. That's where the deceptive spirits come in. We can be so hungry spiritually that we consume anything. And in the charismatic community, this is what they have to be careful of. Because we can't say everything's the Holy Spirit, because there's another verse that says, test every spirit. Open but cautious. Open but cautious. We can't be so hungry. People are so hungry that sometimes they just allow things to happen as well. Just, oh, I don't care if it's odd, it's God. I don't think God likes that phrase either. Now, can He do things that we don't understand? Absolutely. It's funny, I just read this two days ago in a, I think it's George Whitfield biography. How many of you have heard of him? He was part of the First Great Awakening. I think her name was Lady Covington or something like that. She was a very famous, wealthy person in Christian America who funded his ministry. And when revival was breaking out, he's preaching, you're talking thousands of people. And people would start to get a little too emotional under the conviction of sin. They would fall down, they'd begin crying out. And he began to stop that. And so she wrote him a letter and said, be careful what you do with the Spirit of God. Because it was starting to quench his services. Because it's one thing to lead a church and to be sensitive and discerning, but it's quite another thing to quench the Spirit of God. And not allow God to have His way. And it's a hard balance. I don't think we'll ever do it perfectly here on this side of heaven. But that is involved in that as well. People are so hungry spiritually. And as leaders, we can either be too tight or too loose. Ah, it's okay, let things go without addressing them. Or too tight. I mean, I went to the church before. It's a large church about an hour from here. And I've heard stories and people have actually told me, and I could see it when I was there, but they won't let you raise your hands. You know, if you're getting a little too carried away, ushers will come and... We don't do that here. It's a little too emotional. No, I understand if people just get carried away and just raising hands doesn't mean you're spiritual. But neither does standing there like a soldier. That would be quenching and grieving the Spirit. What also happens, they justify their lies. They justify their lies. Deceiving spirits, if somebody's influenced by a deceiving spirit, they will justify their lies. Do you have anybody that just lies? Do you know anybody? It's like, and the justification is alarming. It's often because the thoughts they're saying are coming in from the deceiving spirit. Just coming in and then they lie. Well, you just don't understand me. You don't know me. And they begin to make excuses. And so be leery of compromise because that's where it does begin when we start to compromise on certain things. Beloved, the next portion here. Beloved, do not believe every spirit. So I would love to do sermons on each one of these verses because there's so much here, but I just want to sum it up. When John said, 1 John 4, 1, do not believe every spirit. It's not spirits flying around, ghosts, right? Telling you, do not believe every person talking to you about something. Or every thought that comes in your mind. Anybody have to put their mind in check? Just me? This morning, my deceiving spirit, right? I don't know if this, but it's like, you don't have to go to church today, just sleep in. I kind of do, I got to preach. It's a small example, but there are, do not believe every spirit, but test them. And where we'll see this a lot in the church is when he plants thoughts in your mind about someone else and it offends you. That's a biggie. That probably happens to me more than anyone else. I mean, more than anything else. You too as well, right? Here comes that thought. And what does the enemy, he starts to plant those thoughts. Test that spirit. I know that person, I know that situation. The bait of Satan. The spirit of offense. And that's why I do believe we should believe the best in others until they give us reason not to. We say, you know, I don't think they meant that unless you know they meant that for sure. And then even then, there's forgiveness and grace. That's how the, do not believe every thought that comes in your mind. Do not believe every spirit that comes to you. Everything that somebody says, but test the spirits. Test the spirits whether they're from God or not. Now he's talking about the false prophets. And for many, false prophets have gone out into the world. So don't believe everything somebody, and I don't know why we're so gullible. Do you? Why are we so gullible? Maybe it's part of our Christian nature to just trust people and to expect the best, but we can become very gullible in what we believe. And if you talk to people in Christian cults, it's like, how do they believe that? That's like, that is not even, boy, that is out there, gullible. And these people that follow other, not only Christian cults, but other cults, they listen to this leader. And they believe because they're lying and the deception of their own thoughts are coming in. So not only is the person lying, the deceiving spirits are planting thoughts in their mind and they line up. That's why they think they're Jim Jones. What explains that? A thousand people drink Kool-Aid? And if you listen to videos, I watch a doc, it's like, man, I would have known in two minutes. This guy's, he's out there. But how does it draw so many people in? Or some of the people we see on TV are like, oh my goodness, how do people send them money? Why are they even still on TV? Test that spirit. Is it really of God? And that sometimes takes patience. And sometimes it takes prayer. I've done that many times where I've asked God, Lord, show me, because I don't know. And I don't want to address this issue if it's not you. And when you know it, He'll confirm it, usually one way or the other. I mean, there's usually as a pastoral team, you know, we have to confront certain things. A lot of people don't know about, but we have to confront, hey, you're passing out pamphlets, or you're trying to do, you know, we confront, but wait on the Lord. And usually somebody will come in and say, hey, have you thought about this? Because this person's doing... Okay, I got the confirmation. I'm seeing that as well. And so as you wait on God, you'll get confirmation of these types of deceiving spirits as well. We don't announce it, but we have asked people to leave this church before, because they're bringing in things that aren't healthy. They're trying to draw people to themselves. Oh, I've got a small group. Come here. Small groups are good, but what's the person saying? Are they united or dividing the body? That's how you test the spirit as well. How do you truly test the spirit? Do not believe every spirit. Test the spirits. And one of the great ways to test the spirit is to tell somebody no. Let's sink in for a minute. Tell your kids no. I won't name names, but a while back I told them, see, if you would have handled that better, you might have got your answer. But out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And a lot of times we say no, not yet. Maybe at some point. And then do they go back and they gossip? And they pull the church down? Oh, I see no just revealed your heart. Because when God's in it, there's humility. You rely on God's timing, not your own. Do not believe every spirit. There's so many things that come to mind. I don't know if I'll get through the sermon. But I think that's one that's important. I've shared this with Pastor Abram. I saw, I'm glad that God called me to, Morgan will probably remember some of this too, where God called me to go and preach. So I was preaching at different churches. They called me in to fill in pastor. And I can't tell you how many times people come up after us and go, oh, if you were our pastor. Oh, if you were our pastor. God is my witness. Three couples who said that came to our new church plant in September 2010 and they didn't last. Why didn't they? Because they heard no. No, I don't think that's gonna work. No, not, see, they think they got, oh, you're a one-time wonder. You preach a sermon. Oh man, if you were our pastor. No, you wouldn't like me either. You won't, if you don't like confrontation and you're not a humble person, no matter where you go, no matter where you go, you test that spirit. If you guys go on my YouTube channel, you watch the recent podcast I just did with Pastor Paul Chappell, Lancaster Baptist. He's a friend of mine. And I'm gonna do one with Chris Johnson at Grace Chapel and other. And it's funny, we talk. It's like, this person's here and this person. I like, well, now I'm at this church, I'm at this church, I'm at this church, I'm at this church, I'm at this church. Nobody, that's why I like that term church hoppers. I just found a guy I know who's on his fourth church in a year. And at what point, doesn't mean we're not without fault. Sometimes we obviously own it, take responsibility. We hurt people, just like you hurt people. We do, and we apologize. See, that's the difference though. We wanna work it out, we wanna apologize. But these deceiving spirits come in and they cause division and contention in your home. You ever get that in your home? Oh, yeah. That's why it's no problem driving to Disneyland but trying to get to church with your family and kids. It's like a battlefield. So here's how to take the taste test of believing or not believing these spirits. Is the fruit healthy? Is the fruit healthy? A famous Chinese strategist said this on how to win war without fighting. And this is what's happening in America right now. Undermine a country's national will, her values, and the unity. And you will destroy that nation from the inside out. How is it applicable here? Well, you look at the fruit. What is the fruit that this spirit, this decision, is it godly fruit? Is it God-given fruit? Is the fruit real? Of course, he's talking about false prophets here. So let's say you're following somebody on the ministry. Is the fruit healthy? Are they asking for money all the time? And if $150 this week, I'll send you a prayer cloth. I prayed over for five minutes on each of these cloths. And is there fruit? And is it genuine? Is the fruit real? In other words, is the message real? Is the message real? The church I just put up there, those types, if you go and listen on Easter, the message is gonna be, yeah, but off a little bit. It's like, well, you didn't talk about, I mean, I don't know how you go to Easter and don't talk about repentance and resurrection. And so, look at the message. Is it real? Is the fruit coming from the right tree? And that's what I mentioned earlier. Be careful who you're following on YouTube. And different things. A lot of guys now, when I talk about health and fitness, they're into watching hours and hours and hours of all these YouTube videos on peptides and TRT therapy and this type of diet, this, and this, I wanna look like this, and here's what the Reacher did to look like. And they're just, all they're doing. And so that's going to be their mindset. That's gonna be their focus. Is that godly? Is that biblical? No, you're getting influence from, many of these people aren't even Christians. And then women can do the same thing. You spend an hour on Instagram, you're gonna think you're a failure. Correct? Oh, look at this. Oh, look at this. Scrolling through and scrolling through. Feeding on the wrong spirits. On the wrong things. That's why the Bereans spoke highly of in Acts 17. They examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. That's a good thing to do. If you ever go to church and they don't want you to read your Bible or look into things yourself and that's what happened in Roman Catholicism. They spoke Latin. They didn't want the people learning. You realize how important this is. John Hus, William Tyndale, John Wycliffe, they were all translators of the Bible. And two of them were burned at the stake because they dared to give the Word of God to the common people. This is alarming. This is so clear. So examine the Scriptures daily to see if these things are true. Are they in the Word of God? We need that. I always tell people, even in Revelation, go and look. Look what the Bible says. We use dozens of verses to go and look these things up. But like what Oswald Chambers said, never ask another person's advice about anything. Hold on. Hold on. I got the radio crowd in suspense now. They can't see this. Never ask another person's advice about anything that God makes clear to you. In other words, God makes you decide before Him. In other words, when God clearly wants me to do something, if you're like me and you don't want to do it, you can go find you know who to validate my decision. And then you're convicted because you're listening to that person. And that's how deceptive spirits work too. They're listening to the wrong voices. How many homes are just a complete mess across America because young women are listening to Taylor Swift instead of their moms? This is a truth service. All of our services are truth services. I'm just shooting you straight. They plant seeds of truth, but they weave in deception and deceptive doctrines to draw us away. So deceiving thoughts and people then are the ammunition the enemy uses. So when you want to know how deceiving spirits work, how do they work? God uses our own thoughts. Do they line up with Scripture? Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. And so I have to do this. I do this often. We don't share it with you, and I talk about it sometimes, but I know it's hard to believe. You guys ready for this? Are you sure? This side, you guys okay? Balcony? Okay. Sometimes I don't get nice emails. You know? Here comes a deceiving spirit. Sometimes it could be truth. Okay, let's say it's not in this case. And here comes this. They're planting thoughts in my mind, like, and then you get frustrated. You feel like a failure. You feel like quitting and giving up because you allowed this person to speak into your life who could have been being used by a deceptive spirit. That's why I'm very open. Ask Abram, ask my wife, ask people. Very open for constructive criticism from those who love you and care about the direction of the ministry and are basically unbiased. If they say something, okay, it's time to listen. But if somebody in the panhandle of Texas wants to chew me out, there could be some valid things you want to definitely do, but that's how these deceptive voices come in. How many comments do you think on Facebook should we read? I got an alert from Facebook. Share your status. 10,000 people commented this month or engaged or something. I'm like, what? How many of those are deceptive spirits that are trying to make me back off? Just from that Twitter feed that I did of that church, I was second-guessing myself. My brother, I think you're taking it out of context. Now, if they made it up, sure, if it's a lie. But you can't take it out of context. And so that's how deceptive... Do you see why this is so important? Why people don't come to church anymore for a while? And what you'll want to do, like me probably, you want to talk with them. And often when they don't want to talk, there's a good sign, that deceptive spirit. Because communication opens up the lines of love and unity and forgiveness again. But when we don't communicate, Nate, have you ever been there? And that thought just festers. The fire grows. And so one good way of dealing with this is talking through things. And what they try to do, they try to deconstruct or divide or detour or deflate you. That's what I just told you about me. What usually works for me is they try to deflate me and discourage me from saying what I believe needs to be said. What about that first one? Does that name sound familiar? That term? It's real big right now. Deconstructionism. That's what the new term is for those who had their faith and fell away. Or said they had their faith and fell away. Worship leaders, pastors, authors. And it's deconstructionism. They're starting to really re-look at the faith. And they all say the same thing. To me, it's so obvious it's a deceiving spirit. Because they'll say things like, let's say on the LGBTQ issue or any of it, they'll say, well, Jesus loved people. And I don't really see that in the church. Oh, there's one little chick. And you know this hell stuff? He's a God of love. You can see they're deconstructing their faith. And it starts with these thoughts that come. So on all those points, all you have to say is what does the Bible say? But once you get that in your mind that the Bible is the inerrant inspired word of God, it's not as difficult. That's where the battle becomes. And a lot of these people say, well, I don't think Paul really meant that. You know, that was for the culture back then. It's not really for us. Well, if that's the case, where do you draw the line? And so these deceptive spirits, they try to deconstruct their faith. And of course, the question will come up, I'm not gonna get into it. I've talked about it before. You know, as a person who walks away and loses their faith, were they ever saved to begin with? Can you lose your salvation? I'm not gonna go into details on that, but just to me, it's nothing you have to worry about if you're grounded in Jesus Christ. Stay close to the vine and let him pour into you. You stay in the Word of God. If you're full of the Holy Spirit and humble and you stay in God's Word, that's how the martyrs were martyred for their faith. Keep in mind, many of them did not have the Word. They had the Word testifying within them. The Holy Spirit testifying within them of the truth of God. And divide, divide, divide, divide. Deceptive spirits want to defy. They want to detour you and they want to deflate you. Basically take all the momentum out of you. Don't worry, I'm coming to an end here. Here's the top seven outcomes of a deceiving spirit. Look at your own heart. I looked at mine as well. When they are leading us, it will remove the blessings of God from your life. It will quench the spirit within you. See, it's one thing to have a deceptive spirit. You know, you're kind of, okay, I'm open. As you're praying about it, processing it, you know, that's temptation. You close that door. But these are people who just, okay, I know what the Bible says, but, here we go. I know what the Bible says, but, and I get this a lot on social media. I know you're gonna answer it, Shane, you're a pastor. I know what the Bible says, but, well, I can't answer you. So it quenches, you will quench the spirit within you. Many who are struggling in their faith, many Christians who are struggling in their faith, it's because they have quenched the spirit in one way or another. Maybe because of pride. Maybe because of compromise. I'll let God deal with you on that. I'm not sure. I know, in my case, both will happen. It leads to a very toxic and bitter attitude. It develops into a very critical heart. It will draw your family, and especially your children, away from the Lord. Parents, you are the best example to give your kids right now. You can't just drop them off at youth group. You can't just drop them off at church. You can't come now and then, as long as it doesn't fit in with baseball, motocross, swimming, basketball, and all these other things. They see you. They see what you stand for. And I'm trying not to be repetitive, and many of you have heard this quote, but I know a lot of you haven't. Josh McDowell, I'll never forget. I think I still have the article in the magazine 20 years ago. He spoke at young adults conferences, and he would say the number one question he gets from teenagers all across the United States is this. You ready for this one? They would ask, how can I live for Christ when I don't want the Christ my parents have? Now, that should cause all of us to wiggle in our seat a little bit. Even me, I'm like, Lord, I do not want them to not want the Christ. And will they see sometimes things in you that are not good? Yes, absolutely. But what do you do with it? I'm sorry, that was wrong. Jesus calls me to repentance. Ah, see, you're still resembling. We think it means to be perfect. That would be great, but in your walk with Christ, they see you got up from your failure. You didn't let this financial thing get you down. Yes, you cussed. You dropped an F-bomb, God forbid. And you apologized for that. And they saw you grow in your faith. And so at the end of your walk, they can look back and say it wasn't perfect, but He helped me and showed me who Christ is. That's so important. And I've seen this, so many draws, this deceptive spirits in your heart, they'll draw your family away. Not just you. Because so many kids right now are so fearful because of the words and actions of their parents. And number six, these deceptive spirits will lead you back into sin. Mark my word. Mark my word. Whatever sin you fall back into, it first started with a thought. And that thought became, yes, what did that verse say? Explicit says they will depart from the faith paying attention to. See, it's one thing when you have the thought, but don't pay attention to it because that's when you mull it over. Anybody relate? Each week, it seems like we're helping people with some type of addiction. We're praying with them in the prayer room. And often I'll hear that, but I thought I could have one now. One, just one won't hurt. When did that thought, that thought started like a week ago. And then that thought grows. See, the thoughts, they don't just stay neutral. We repent, Lord, that's not right. I need the truth of Your Word. Back in here, and no temptation has overtaken me, but what is common to man, God, I will be able to bear that this is wrong. And it leaves. Or, that's a good point. Yeah, it has been a hard week. And you start to dwell on that thought. It becomes stronger and stronger. And then number seven, deceiving spirits will lead a person to hell. They will. They get into the minds of people, and when we're calling them to repentance, oh, you can do that later in your life. Oh, that's not true. And they begin to deceive people. And they do not allow them to repent. You've heard of John 3.16, but have you heard of Colossians 3.16? Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts. We are deceived many times when we don't have thankfulness in our hearts. Yes, it's tough right now. Is there a lot to be thankful for? Well, on one hand, no, but on one hand, yes. No matter how hard it gets, God is still on the throne. He still has us. He holds us together. But we don't wanna miss this. Let the Word of Christ. Let it. See, there's a yielding to that. Let it dwell in you with all wisdom. There is no wisdom outside of God's Word. I don't know. There's none. There's no wisdom outside of God's Word. Show me wisdom outside of God's Word. Well, Cephasias, what's his name? Cephasias, yeah. It sounded funny when I said it. Well, he said this. Are you saying, well, it's a biblical principle, but he didn't come up with it? All wisdom, all wisdom originates from God and God alone. Everything that's right, everything that's pure, everything that's noble, everything that's just comes from God. That's why Paul, in the letter to the church in Philippi, said, let your mind focus on these things. Whatever's true and just and noble and honest, meditate on these things. And that's why Jesus said in verse 15, I am coming as a thief quickly, quickly. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. What is nakedness? They're vulnerable. They're exposed. They're uncovered. They're shame. And this could be applied to the believer as well, but for the unbeliever, it's what we talk about a lot of times. They are not clothed with the righteousness of Christ. That's why when those people are invited to the wedding party in the Gospels, they said, you can't come in here. You don't have the right garment on. Or they're shamed because they're not clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Got questions? Culture has glorified nakedness, hasn't it? Culture has glorified nakedness and worked to numb our natural modesty by parading nakedness before our eyes. Even children's clothing is sexualized and media outlets praise nakedness as bold, brave, and liberating. Let me go on a tangent real quick because this airs in Hollywood Monday through Friday. Did you know that? The sermons air in Hollywood, all in Orange County, LA County, Monday through Friday in commuting traffic, and they need to know they've got the innocence of the little children on their hands. They are promoting things that are perverted. They are engaging in things that are wrong in the sight of God. There should be a covering of our kids, a covering of sexuality. It's right and pure in God's eyes, but when you pervert it, there is destruction and there is disaster. This is a church who believes a man cannot become a woman and he cannot have a baby. I'm just... Even our attorney said, Shane, you might want to begin to add that into your doctrinal statement. I'm like, I would have never thought that when I planted the church, me and my wife, we planted the church, we would have never... I gotta add that a man can't have a baby and he cannot become a woman. A woman cannot become a man. What? But see, deconstructionism. Who are you to tell someone who they are, what they feel inside? I'm not telling anybody anything. Get naked and you'll find out. No, we're not, here we go. I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry. But it's true, it's so clear. Trust the science. Well, guess what, not that science. I mean, we have become hypocrites. We have lost our mind. Our conscience have been seared. In the last days, they will be led astray by deceptive spirits. That's what the Bible says. So on one hand we go, oh my goodness, but on the other hand, yep, it's clearly written. Actually, I don't have the, it says strong delusions. Think about that. They will be led away by strong delusions. Have you heard that? You're delusional. That's exactly, I just thought of that. That's exactly what this is. They are delusional. And they say, you're delusional. So you have to say, well, how do we define it? Where's the standard? God's word. Always comes back to God's word. That's the standard. That's the plumb line. That's the engineer. That's the blueprint. Come back to that. They will be led away by strong delusions and their influence. That's why when you saw the, I believe that a lot of the sexuality issues that we're seeing are a direct result of what's happening on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, all these things, because now these deceptive spirits have more voices and they're reaching the kids and influencing them. Yeah, who are you to tell me if I'm a boy or not? Well, hello? Delusions, strong delusions. You need to repent and break out of that. That is the only hope for that one. Repent and say, God, let me line up my thinking with your thinking. Or if you can't say, Lord, help me. I thank God. I know that's one prayer God will answer. Even when you're lost and in your darkness, God, help me. I want to know the truth and I can't see who's right, who's wrong. God, help me in this area. And then the seventh angel was poured out that bowl. Everything was coming to this cataclysmic time in God's judgment. And they said, it is done. It is done. From the enduring word commentary. This announcement coming from the throne itself tells us that there will be no more delay. In mercy, God has stretched out the scene as much as possible. But the seals were followed by trumpets. The trumpets were followed by bowls. But there is no more judgments upon the earth after this. It is done. It is done. God's wrath is now poured out. But you see, it is done. But thank God for it is finished. Jesus said, it is finished. God says, it is done. You have to make a decision, America, or who's ever listening to this. Repent and believe in the gospel. There is not a lot of time. It is crystal clear. Kill your fear with faith. Trust God's sovereignty right now. That's why we say it is your sanity. That's how you stay safe right now. That's how you stay sane. You keep anchored in his word. You keep anchored to his promises. What are his promises? If you seek me, you will find me. If I hold you, I will not let you go. That's why Paul said, what can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus? Nothing can. In that famous poem, here's a clip, it said, when once his word is passed, when he hath said, I will, the things shall come at last, God keeps his promise still. Thank God for that. And we're hearing a lot, and people are trying to get you scared, right? Get your house in order. Get your house in order. This clip, this clip. Get your house in order. But you have to get your house in order spiritually before you get it in order physically. Get your house in order spiritually. There has to be a hunger for God. If there's no hunger, there's no spiritual awakening. If there's no spiritual awakening, there is no change. If there's no change, it's no covering of God over your home. If there's no covering, there's no victory against these deceptive spirits. This is the time to fully surrender and get back on track.