"Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." Revelation 3:11
"That no man take thy crown." Yesterday we addressed this warning not to let any man take (steal) our crown. We said there were two main ways that our crown could be "stolen" from us. The first we talked about was through hurt and offense. Many have turned away from the Lord because of something that someone else did to them and they are blaming God for it.
This morning I want to talk about the second way. Our crown can be taken from us through deception. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." (1 Timothy 4:1) The devil is a master deceiver- he was at the very beginning in the Garden of Eden and he still will be at the end; the Book of Revelation tells us that. He comes to us with lies that are wrapped up in beautiful packages. Those lies appeal to the flesh- they tell us what we want to hear. They sound like the answer, they sound like the truth, they seem to "make sense" but they are a mixture of what is true and what is false. Therefore, it makes the whole thing false. "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (Galatians 5:9)
Beware of what you hear. It may sound right, but does it line up with God's word. Does scripture back it up? Just because it is a popular teaching, just because it is taught by well known respected people, just because everyone else is teaching it, just because it is the newest thing coming down the pike, doesn't mean that it is the truth. In the Book of Acts it is recorded that when Paul was in Thyatira that a young lady followed them proclaiming that they were sent from the most high God to show them the way of salvation. That sounded good, that was their mission, but the young lady was demon possessed and being influenced by demons. Am I saying that everything we hear is false and inspired by demons? Of course not, but I am saying that it doesn't matter how good or how popular the teaching sounds, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is the truth or that it is from God.
We have been given strict warnings in the scriptures, especially concerning the last days, to be on guard and not be deceived. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:3,4) If ever there was a time when this was true it is now. So many don't know what they believe, why they believe what they believe, or they believe anything and everything. That is detrimental to our spiritual well being. It can steal our crown of life.
How do we keep that from happening? Jesus said that when we know the truth it will set us free - free from deception. And what is this truth that will set us free? "Thy word is truth".
Have a great day. Don't let anyone steal your crown of life by deceiving you into believing that what is false is the truth.
For further reading:
Acts 16:16-18
2 Timothy 4:1-4
John 8:32; 7:17
Matthew 24:24
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