Monday, June 16, 2025

June 6, 2025

June 7, 2025

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Revelation 12:9 - Unveiling Satan's Deceptions: How He Misleads the World Spiritually

Revelation 12:9 - Unveiling Satan's Deceptions:
How He Misleads the World Spiritually

(9) And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.

John 8:44

(44) Ye are of `your' father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.

Revelation 12:9 informs us that the dragon, also known as the Devil and Satan, "deceives the whole world." If God had not freed us from slavery and given us eyes to see things spiritually, such would still be our state. Jesus gives a similar description of our adversary:

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. (John 8:44)

Here, Jesus calls Satan the "father of lies." All of this world's deceptions originate in him, and wherever his spirit is present, destructive fruit, including deception, will be in evidence.

Satan has deceived the whole world, but it is important to note that he is not limited to a single deception. He does not have just one game or a singular tactic. The whole world is not deceived by Christmas and Easter and a triune godhead. One and a half billion Muslims have not fallen for these lies, nor have the legion atheists or followers of the various Eastern religions.

On the other hand, billions have not fallen for the deceptions of Buddha or Muhammad. So, while universal deception exists, it comes in more forms, shapes, and flavors than we can categorize. Satan does not have to get the whole world to believe the same thing to have everyone under his sway. Thus, just because a person recognizes the deceptions in the various pagan holidays does not mean that he is not deceived or cannot be deceived—it simply means that those particular deceptions do not have any hold on him at that point. Recognizing one lie does not mean that we are immune to all others.

Paul observes in II Corinthians 2:11 that "we are not ignorant of [Satan's] devices." This does not mean that, once we receive God's Spirit, we get a copy of Satan's playbook, and suddenly we know everything he is doing. Rather, Paul means that because we have been freed from spiritual slavery, we have eyes to see spiritually, and we can begin to recognize what is of God and what is not. We begin to understand some of the ways that Satan works, and we have the means to discern good fruit from bad. Though the danger of deception is lessened, it remains.

— David C. Grabbe

To learn more, see:
The Truth About Deception (Part One)

Topics:

Discerning Good and Evil

Satan as the Deceiver of the Whole World

Satan as the Father of Liars

Satan's Devices

The Truth About Deception

Sunday, June 8, 2025

June 8, 2025

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Matthew 22:37-40 - Loving God and Neighbor:

Matthew 22:37-40 - Loving God and Neighbor:
The Two Greatest Commandments Explained

(37) Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' (40) On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

In effect, He says we are to love our God with the entirety of our being, more than the pleasures Satan sets before us, more than the individual escapes we run to when we are tired or down, more than the pulls of this flesh, more than the opinions of our peer groups, employers, or neighbors, and more than our own intellect and opinions. Simply, we are to put God and His instructions first in our lives in every way.

Jesus states it so simply it must have been difficult for His twig-focused audience to comprehend. This commandment, out of Deuteronomy 6:5, is the first, the greatest of all in dignity and excellence, and is the foundation of all other commandments. It all begins with God and our wholehearted devotion to Him.

But Jesus does not leave it there. He continues in verse 39, listing the other part of the equation, a commandment that Israel had never been able to fulfill. He lists the commandment that requires repentance and change in each one of us, of every human being on this earth. He lists the commandment that will be the instrument or method that will assist in bringing and sustaining peace and harmony in this world among all nations and races.

Jesus tells the Pharisees: "And the second is like the first, 'You shall love your neighbor as your self.'"

When we consider these two great commandments, our attention automatically dwells on the first, complete love toward God. It is easy to understand why this is. God is the Creator, our Savior, our Healer, our Provider of all things, the One we must answer to, the One we pray to, and the Merciful One who forgives our sins.

However, we normally do not give more than lip service to the second great commandment, to love our fellow man. Again, it is easy to understand why. Our fellow man lies, cheats, steals, murders, commits sexual perversions, blasphemes, and generally makes life miserable for the rest of us.

Under Satan's guidance and in lock-step with the rest of the world, our fellow man promotes lawlessness, spreads pornography throughout the world, and devises evil schemes to bilk millions out of their well-earned money. Our fellow man wars, tortures, kills, and commits horrendous crimes against the weak, and the frustrating part is that we have no power that we can exert at this time to change him.

Our fellow man persecutes those of us who follow the truth. He puts obstacles in our way when it comes to taking our children out of school for the Feast, and he does not want us to take time off for it either. Our fellow man tries to insist that we work on the Sabbath and eat pork and shellfish, and when we persist in following biblical truth, he looks at us as if we have lost our minds.

Despite this, our Lord instructs us in the second great commandment that we are to love him.

Jesus makes an additional comment in verse 40: "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." In other words, the entirety of Scripture is summed up in these two commandments. Another way of putting it is that everything else in the Bible flows from and depends upon these dual principles. Both commandments are vital to living as God wants us to.

If that is the case—that everything starts with these two great commandments—they will surely continue to be the guiding principles throughout eternity. As Christians, we need to give them the time and effort they deserve.

— John O. Reid

To learn more, see:
You Shall Love Your Neighbor (Part One)