Matthew 24:4-Don't Be Deceived

What is the true Church?

The True church, I’ve been hearing this term a lot lately. It’s also become very apparent to me, that a lot of church goers are not on the path of life.  They believe that they are on the correct path, but they are not. That’s part of the great deception.  We are warned about this in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”  I can’t 100% pick out who the people that fall into this category.  I wouldn’t even try, that’s the Lord’s to know and for you to know and work out one way or another.  We like to say that being a Christ follower is not a religion but rather a relationship with the Trinity: God the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.  But in reality, many treat Chritianity like a religion and going about their life doing religious things to show man how righteous they are. But never even think about verses like Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”  It’s time we come together as the body of Crist and stand on the truth. I know’ many of you are thinking, even those who call themselves Christians are asking, “What is the truth?”  The truth is Jesus as He stated in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”  The Spirit is the truth as stated in 1 John 5:6, “This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth”. Now John 1:1 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And there you have it, God the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit are all identifies as truth. They are TRUTH.  Anything that is adverse to truth is a lie. To be 100% clear and you don’t misunderstand what I’m saying, the definition of adverse according to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5^th Edition:

·       Acting or serving to oppose; antagonistic (e.g., adverse criticism).

·       Contrary to one's interests or welfare; harmful or unfavorable (e.g., adverse circumstances).

·       Moving in an opposite or opposing direction (e.g., adverse currents).

As you can read, if you are adverse to the Truth you are opposing God and you fall into the category mentioned in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Remember, we are talking about deception, and we have all been deceived at one time or another.  The key to not being deceived is knowledge and wisdom.  Reference Proverbs 9:10, ““The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” This verse emphasizes that true wisdom and understanding start with a respectful, awe-filled reverence for God, rather than merely intellectual knowledge.  Now reference Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”  I’m going to ask, where do you stand?  It’s not for me to know but for you to acknowledge, understand, and know where you personally stand concerning your relationship with our creator.  Believe me when I say, no matter where you are standing, God knows the truth and you can be 100% confident that He wants you to be with Him.  Again, I ask, where are you standing today?  I know that I can sound like a broken record, but there is another point I want to bring up, especially for those who have realized they are not on the right side of the fence but are adverse to our creator.  The verse is James 4:14, “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”  I mention this verse for those that think they have time, and that tomorrow is just a day away.  Here is a dose of reality, tomorrow is not guaranteed.  If you are aware that you have something in your life that needs attention, make it a priority to fix it.

Deception, remember we are discussing deception?  God gave us eyes to see and ears to hear but we cannot be deceived if we are going to see and hear clearly.  I want to reiterate to you, no matter where you stand today, either embroiled in sin, or walking the path of righteousness everything I have to say is for self-reflection and self-correction with the help of our Father.  At the end of the day, it’s comes down to your relationship with the Lord on how effective you can and will be as part of the body of Crist.  That’s the beauty of being a Christ follower, that every minute of every day, we can run to our Father’s arms and get comfort, guidance, courage and strength.

I have set the stage, by now you should know that I’m not here to attack but rather to help you prepare for what needs to come and what is coming.  I ask myself this question often, “HOW DO I GET PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND?” I feel a lot like Jeremiah when God said to him in Jeremiah 7:26-28, “Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. “Therefore you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you. “So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.” No matter what people say or do, we must continue to beat the drum of truth and always remember that we are here to glorify God, not to satisfy man.

Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”  That is a threefold attack. And you know what, man is involved with two of the three.  I know, you could argue all three, but it was not our blood it was Jesus’ blood.  And did you notice the “they” overcame him???  It does not say, “you overcame him”…. What does that mean to you?  I’ll tell you what it means, that we have a fight on our hands and that we have been deceived not to get involved thus making our divine purpose all but obsolete. Which is exactly what our adversary wants.  Why, because the power and authority we have available to us, if used correctly will end the war.  It says, “They overcame him” so it’s written, it’s going to happen, but it hasn’t happened yet.  Because “THEY” never mobilized to fight the battle.  Isn’t it obvious of the times we are in?  Do I have to spell it out for you?  Just look around, it literally takes a mere second to see all the death and destruction!  The murder and the mutilation, the rape and the pillage!  It’s all around us, so much so, it’s become normalized and so many are deceived that they refuse to get involved.  It’s TIME TO WAKE UP, IT’S TIME TO SEE WITH YOUR EYES AND HEAR WITH YOUR EARS!  It’s time that we stop being deceived.  It’s time we look to our Father for direction. It’s never been time to look to man for direction, but that seems to be the default of choice.  We must have the faith to Trust our creator, our Father, the Lord of lords, the King of kings . Again, He told us is Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”  That’s a warning if I ever heard one.  I’m going to ask straight up, how can you have faith if you don’t know the promises the God has given us?  How can you take a step of faith without knowing what His written Word says?  If you think salvation is the pinnacle, and you have made it, and it’s time to relax, YOU ARE DECEIVED!  Salvation is just the beginning.  Jesus is called the Lord of Hosts for a reason. It’s because we are at war!  Wakeup!  Wakeup!  Wake your comfortable lazy bones UP!  Are you going to let this time pass?  Let me rephrase that statement for YOU. Are you going to waste your time until it’s too late.  Jesus did His part nearly 2000 years ago.  Don’t you think it’s about time “We, the body of Christ” do our part?  Our testimony consists not only our written and spoken words but also our walk.  And knowing that 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” We must daily walk and pray with the Lord.  AND, we must have the courage that can only come from our Father as Joshua 1-9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” We must not fear for our life.  Our life is not our own, Jesus bought and paid for it, it belongs to Him.  Do you trust Him? Do to have faith in Him?  It’s time that we stand as the Body of Christ, proclaim the truth, stand firm on the truth and not back down.  We must be courageous, we must be knowledgeable, we must be wise, we must stand tall and know, believe and trust the promises our Father has given us.  Are you going to join the fight and stand tall knowing you’re doing your Father’s will?  Or are you going to stay comfortable and not get involved as the world gobbles up your children, ravages your wife, daughters, and sisters?  When are you going to become the man God created you to be?  I hate to break it to you, it’s now or never!

For consideration, Revelation 21:8, "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

As I close this article, I’m including three proclamations that I received from the Lord on 31 October 2025 as I was in Sau Paulo, Brazil, sitting in a Catholic Church looking at the architecture as a priest was giving a message is Portuguese. I don’t speak or understand Portuguese, so I have no idea what the priest was saying. 

⁃            You must not defile that which I see as precious, says the Lord.

⁃            You must not condone that which is an abomination to me, says the Lord.

⁃            You have my written Word, there is no excuse, says the Lord!

Let those statements sink in for a minute!  Then remember, this article is about deception and our adversary is always at work, has been methodical in his ways, he’s the father of lies and never knew the truth.  Jesus says in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”