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Transcript

Don't Be Deceived · In the Stillness Podcast

• 0:00
  Hey y'all, it's friendly. Welcome back to In the
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  Stillness. Thank you for joining me on
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  today's episode. Happy Monday.
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  I took a few days off as I've been traveling, but I hope that
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  y'all had a wonderful weekend and I'm super excited to be back
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  home to be recording and to get to open up the Word together
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  today. If you've been listening the
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  past couple weeks, you know that we've been walking through 1st
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  and 2nd Thessalonians and it is honestly felt so timely.
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  Of course it is, because God's timing always is.
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  But these letters talk a lot about the day of the Lord and
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  the return of Jesus, and we're living in a time when that is
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  all the talk everyone loves to speculate about the end times
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  you hear everywhere. You hear it through politics,
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  national news, documentaries, even books and podcasts.
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  People speculate about the signs, the timelines, and really
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  just what is coming next. But what I love about Scripture
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  is that God does not leave us guessing about what actually
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  matters the most. So with that being said, let's
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  go ahead and hop into Second Thessalonians chapter 2.
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  Reading through verses one through 4, Paul is going to
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  address confusion about the return of Jesus and give
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  believers a warning about deception concerning the coming
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  of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him.
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  We ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily
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  unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us,
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  whether by prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter, asserting
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  that the day of the Lord has already come.
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  Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not
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  come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is
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  revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
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  He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is
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  called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God's
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  temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
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  OK, the first thing Paul emphasizes here is not to be
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  easily unsettled or alarmed. So apparently there were false
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  teachings circulating, people claiming divine revelations,
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  spreading rumors, even writing letters pretending to be from
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  Paul, saying that the day of the Lord had already come.
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  And Paul's warning is simple, but it's so strong.
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  Do not be deceived. And deception only works, I
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  think, when we stop measuring things against the truth because
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  this feels so relevant today. Think about how many voices
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  compete for our attention. Books.
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  We have so many podcasts, Yes, even this podcast as I'm
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  speaking into it, Documentaries, social media.
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  We have influencers and news outlets.
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  Yes, these things can be so helpful.
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  And I believe God absolutely uses people to prophecy, to
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  encourage, to teach, and to warn.
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  But they are not meant to be substitutes for the Word of God.
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  They're supplements. And everything we believe should
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  be filtered through Scripture first.
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  We see in Acts 17 verse 11, this group of Jews.
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  They are being praised because they examined the Scriptures
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  daily to see if what they were hearing was actually true.
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  And in first John 41, we're told to test the spirits to see
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  whether they are from God. So Paul's message is so clear.
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  Do not be easily persuaded. Truth is anchored in God's Word.
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  Now Paul also mentioned something really significant
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  here. He says the man of lawlessness.
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  And this is referring to what many understand as the
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  Antichrist, the ultimate figure of evil who will oppose God in
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  the end before Christ's return. And Paul describes him as
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  someone who one will oppose God, two, exalt himself, and three,
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  present himself as the solution. But I want us to remember
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  something important. Scripture tells us there have
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  actually been antichrists in every generation.
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  And 1st John 218 we read you have heard that the Antichrist
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  is coming. Even now many antichrists have
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  come. And 1st John 43 it speaks about
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  the spirit of the Antichrist already at work in the world.
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  Now y'all, Satan is not omniscient like God.
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  He does not get to claim that title or description.
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  He does not know the exact timing of the end.
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  In Matthew 24 verse 36, Jesus says that only the Father knows
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  the day and the hour, not even the Son.
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  So many scholars believe that Satan is constantly raising up
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  potential Antichrist people or movements that oppose God, and
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  he's building toward the ultimate one that Paul is
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  describing, which means that there is a spiritual battle
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  happening all of the time, 24/7. But here's the key take away for
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  us. Our job is not to spend time
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  obsessing over the speculation about who the Antichrist is.
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  Our Calling is to stand firm in our faith, to resist any and
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  everything that threatens it. Because deception is one of the
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  enemy's primary strategies. And deception it's rarely
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  obvious it's not meant to be. That's why we see in Ephesians
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  612 that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
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  against the rulers, against authorities, against the powers
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  of this Dark World, and against the spiritual forces of evil.
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  So we are to stay spiritually alert, grounded in the Word, and
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  we are to stay aware of the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives.
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  But here's the encouragement in all of this.
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  None of this is meant to make us fearful, are anxious because
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  even though evil, it is all around us and it is constantly
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  rising. Deception may increase, but the
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  end of this story, it has already been written.
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  Jesus has already won the battle.
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  One of my favorite verses that I've said several times in this
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  podcast, John 1633, Jesus says in this world you will have
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  trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world, but
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  notice the wording not I will overcome.
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  I have overcome. The victory was secured through
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  the cross and through Jesus's resurrection.
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  We're living in what many call the already, but not yet.
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  So Jesus has already won the victory, but we're still walking
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  throughout a broken world where sin and suffering exists.
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  I once heard an analogy from a pastor that stuck with me.
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  Jesus won the victory, but he still carries the scars from the
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  cross. And in a similar way, we may
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  experience wounds from this world.
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  We see this in the pain, in the trials and hardship, the
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  spiritual battles. But those wounds can be healed
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  and covered and filled by the grace and love of God.
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  So oftentimes, we're going to feel the battle, but the outcome
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  has already been decided. And actually, something really
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  cool happened this morning as I was wrapping up, writing down my
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  notes for this episode, a devo landed in my e-mail and it said
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  this the victory I call you to walk in is already within you.
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  I want to show you my victory, take my gift of today's victory
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  and rest in knowing that I'm already preparing tomorrow's
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  triumph. That's obviously like the Lord
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  is speaking to you. And I just thought, wow, God,
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  that timing. Because that's exactly the truth
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  that we see in Scripture. Jesus has already secured the
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  victory. And each day that we wake up and
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  we have breath in our lungs, we get to walk in that reality,
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  trusting that God is still working, still moving, and he's
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  still preparing us for what comes next.
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  So as we close, I want to leave you with something that the Lord
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  put on my heart as I was writing down my notes.
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  Paul says that the Antichrist will oppose God, exalt himself,
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  and present himself as this solution.
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  But if we're being truly honest, sometimes it's easy to create
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  small gods in our own lives too. So ask yourself this, as I did
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  myself, is there anything in my life that I am elevating above
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  God? Anything that I'm looking to for
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  validation, identity, or fulfillment that only God can
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  ultimately provide? It could look like success.
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  Maybe it's approval or control. But Paul's warning, it reminds
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  us, stay spiritually sober, keep our hearts fully devoted to the
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  Lord. Because if we're living every
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  single day ready for Jesus's return, walking closely with
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  him, submitted to his Spirit, we don't need to be consumed with
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  all of the speculation about every detail of the end times.
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  We're simply to be ready for our King, for our bridegroom,
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  whenever he comes. So the challenge for today,
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  instead of obsessing over the timelines or the speculation,
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  let's focus our eyes on what really matters.
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  If Jesus returned today, would my life show that I was ready?
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  Let's close out in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you
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  for the Word of God that You have tangibly given us that we
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  get to read and renew our minds to.
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  Would you give us discernment so that we are not easily deceived?
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  Father, help us to stay rooted, so grounded in Scripture above
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  every other voice. Would you search our hearts and
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  reveal anything that we have allowed to take your place or
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  anything that's even competing for that spot in our hearts?
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  Help us live each day ready for your return, standing firm in
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  the faith and trusting and living in the victory that
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  you've already won. Jesus, we pray this in your
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  name. Amen.
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  OK guys, well that is what I have for today's episode.
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  Praying that y'all can learn some things and that the Lord
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  continues speaking to your heart and encouraging you on this
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  Monday. I'll see you on the next
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  episode.