Devotions

Do you sit under strong preaching that lovingly exposes your sin? If so, do you allow that word to convict you? Or, do you continue in your sin without grieving at all?

If you are rejecting the warnings of the restraining Holy Ghost, disobeying God time after time, then you are being recruited for the cult of Antichrist. The devil is silently initiating you into his mystery of iniquity. And when the promising, miracle-working Antichrist comes along, you’ll be swept up in his lies and given over to a delusion!

Listen to what Paul says about compromising believers who refuse to love and obey God’s holy word: “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:12).

Here are the ominous results of not believing and acting on God’s truth:

1. The heart becomes hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
2. Satan works on the hardened heart to justify itself, so that it is relieved from all fear of penalty.
3. The believer becomes blinded by the lie that says there are no wages for sin and no Judgment Day.
4. The believer falls prey to doctrines of demons, thinking evil is good and good is evil.
5. He eventually drifts so far from Christ and the truth that he becomes blinded to who the Antichrist is — and he ends up worshiping and serving him as a god.
6. On Judgment Day, God will say to such a person, “Depart from me, you worker of iniquity!”

Beloved, it doesn't have to be this way. God has made a covenant promise to remove all delusion from us and give us victory over sin. All He asks is that we declare war on our sin, saying, “I refuse to make peace with this habit. Deliver me, Father!” When He hears this prayer, He will send such Holy Ghost power and glory from heaven, the devil won’t stand a chance.

Pray right now that God will implant in you a great reverence for His Word. Ask Him to help you be disciplined in your reading of the Scriptures. And ask the Holy Spirit to help you take to heart what you read— to believe that God means what He says.

Throughout Scripture, God gives us a clear picture of how important it is for us to obey His Word. We see one such example in the life of King Saul, to whom God gave clear, specific commands through the prophet Samuel. “Go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass” (1 Samuel 15:3).

God had spoken to Saul in crystal-clear terms and yet, after he went into battle, he obeyed the Lord only in part. Rather than destroying everyone and everything, he spared King Agag — and he even kept some of the spoils of battle (see 15:7-9).

Samuel was grief-stricken at this. He told Saul, “The Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?” (15:18-19).

At this point, Scripture gives us a grievous, chilling word: “Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments” (verses 10-11).

Does this describe your life? Has God told you in no uncertain terms to deal with something and yet you keep clinging to it? Right now, His Spirit may be speaking to you in a kind, wooing voice, “Your sin stands between us, interrupting our communion. I can no longer bless you while you persist in it. Trust My Spirit to help you. Lay it down now, My child."

God is telling us, “I want all your heart, all your love — not just half-hearted obedience!”

The wicked have always been destitute of the truth — despising it, trampling it, mocking it with disdain. I saw an example of this in The New York Post, as one writer confidently declared, “Science has now replaced faith.”

Paul’s greater concern was always for those who had known the way of truth, confessing their faith in Christ, and yet flirted with sin. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie . . . For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections” (Romans 1:25-26).

Others, held in bondage by their lustful pleasures, turned to false teachers to try to find peace. They ended up accepting “damnable heresies . . . and many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of” (2 Peter 2:1-2).

All of Paul’s messages on apostasy and the Antichrist were aimed at such carnal Christians. They weren’t meant for the idolaters of Rome, the heathen of Greece, the pagan tribes in unknown places. No, he meant for them to be read in churches, directly to believers!

You see, Paul was calling God’s people everywhere to love the truth — to search it out, study it and obey it. He wrote, in essence, “Let the truth be your guide! Ask the Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see it, ears to hear it, and a heart to love it. Otherwise, you’ll open yourself to deception and end up believing a lie. Satan will be able to initiate you into the cult of Antichrist!”

The Bible says that in the days just prior to Jesus’ return, Satan will attempt to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. It won’t matter how long a Christian has walked with Jesus, he will face temptations he has never had in his life. Even the strongest believer will be tempted to doubt God’s faithfulness and mistrust His Holy Word.

“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24).

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work” (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

The Greek word Paul uses for iniquity in this passage literally means lawlessness. Therefore, the mystery is one of lawlessness — acting without law or restraint.

Yet, this lawlessness is not simply a rebellion against the rule of man. It’s not about rebelling against civil authority or committing a violent crime. These things do provoke God’s wrath, but the mystery of lawlessness goes much deeper. It is an outright rejection of the truth that is in Christ — a casting aside of God’s Holy Word and His commands.

This spirit of lawlessness is rampant in our nation today. It is the very force behind the legislation that seeks to banish God from our society; the same spirit that Satan used to deceive Eve when he told her, in so many words, “God won’t punish you for disobeying. You can eat the fruit and you won’t have to pay for it!”

Satan is using the same lie on Christians today; day after day, he convinces masses of believers that they can sin without paying any penalty. It is a demonic scheme to pervert Christ’s gospel of grace.

Tragically, many lukewarm Christians are succumbing to this spirit of lawlessness. Paul says the Antichrist will rise to power because people will be blinded and deceived by their own sin (see 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).

Satan will deceive masses of people, just as he did Eve, by convincing them of a subtle but powerful lie: “God doesn’t punish for sin!”

Paul says this deception will come “because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (verse 10). He then adds, “For this [reason], God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie” (verse 11).

The apostle is saying, “Those who refuse to obey or respect God’s Word will fall under a powerful delusion. At first they’ll wink at their sin, justify it. But soon they’ll actively seek out a message of easy grace. In fact, they will invent a grace that is far beyond what God intended. His grace never leads to license and always leads to repentance!”

“Whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6, ESV).

A drifter, homeless and confused, was directed into my office when I served as an assistant pastor at Times Square Church in New York City years ago. He wasn’t interested in making conversation until he looked down and saw my fine, genuine Texas cowboy boots.

“I don’t know why I’m here,” he spat out. “You preachers are all the same, spending money on big buildings and fancy cars. And look at those boots!”

After he made that last remark, he looked down at his beat-up, ripped canvas shoes and shuffled his feet self-consciously.

“Do you like these boots?” I asked. And before he could answer, I removed my boots and gave them to him. And, yes, I walked home shoeless. Then forgot the incident.

About six months later, a pastor friend, Steve, called from Greensboro, North Carolina.

“Gary, you’re not going to believe this, but there’s a guy in my office who says you gave him a pair of cowboy boots. He’s been hitchhiking around the country and he says that every time he looks at those boots, he thinks about Jesus.”

That young man wandered into my friend’s church (obviously led by the Holy Spirit) and said he wanted to know more about Jesus. You can imagine the joy that brought to my pastor friend! But Steve was forthright with him.

“For six months the Holy Spirit has been after you. Are you ready to give your life to Christ?”

“That’s why I’m here!” And he was born again right then.

I want to encourage you to look for opportunities, even if you feel like you’re in a famine. Is your marriage in a famine? Look for an opportunity to serve, to love, to bless your spouse.

Are you in a famine with your children? Is there division and turmoil? Look for an opportunity to love, to serve, to order your household according to the ways of the Lord.

Are there difficulties in your finances? Look for a way in the midst of the famine to be a blessing to others and you will find the windows of heaven opening.

God pours out rich blessings on those who give —cheerfully.