AND JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO THEM, TAKE HEED THAT NO MAN DECEIVE YOU. (Matthew 24:4)
INTRODUCTION
Frequently, in this day and age, we see words such as “take heed", danger, beware, warning, used to tell us of an existing problem that is perilous. It may be a road, or some particular product, or some particular circumstance that either confronts us or will confront us that is dangerous. We may not even be aware of the danger. In Matthew Chapter 24, the Lord Jesus Christ warns His disciples and all believers of a coming danger. Of course, Jesus' disciples had asked Him to tell them of the sign of His coming and of the end of the age. Jesus’ response was, “take heed that no man deceive you". That is his response to the question regarding when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of that coming and of the end of the world? Of course, it has been almost 2000 years since Jesus uttered these words to His disciples. Therefore, the warning is particularly relevant today because there are many professing to be coming in the name of Jesus who are preaching another gospel.
We hear of those who proclaim that Christians and Muslims worship the same god. Not so! We hear reports of those who claim that one can go to heaven, or “be saved", even though they are an atheist. Not so! We also hear of reports of those who proclaim that good Buddhists, good Muslims, and even good atheists go to heaven. Not so!
The Lord God through the Apostle John in his first epistle (1 John 2:18) tells us that we are in the last hour or the last days now. Scripture tells us that the last days are called the entire period between Christ's first and second coming. Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus Christ makes it clear in Matthew 24 that as we draw closer and nearer to his return, and “the end of the age", that we shall see and hear of these deceptions and we are therefore to take heed because “these are the beginning of sorrows" or, “birth pangs". The Lord Jesus tells us plainly that when we hear of wars and rumors of war that the end is not yet but it is the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:8) Thus, He warns us to “take heed that we be not deceived”.
Of course, it goes without saying, that when a woman is in labor and is having labor pains or birth pangs, the birth pangs or labor pains increase in both frequency and intensity as the time of the birth of the child draws increasingly near. A brief look at how to take heed, may help each reader to keep from being deceived.
Read more: https://www.worldviewweekend.com/news/article/do-not-be-deceived-these-perilous-times
Description: The Book of Hebrews refers to mature Christians as the ones "who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." What is biblical discernment, and why is discernment necessary for maintaining the purity of the gospel of Jesus Christ and preventing the church from drifting into apostasy? I'll talk it over with author and speaker Mike Gendron, founder of Proclaiming the Gospel, on JANET MEFFERD TODAY.
Believers are told to know the truth, and hold fast until the end so we will not fall for strong delusions, but few would deny the rapid decline of discernment in the church today.
The gospel must be preached without compromise to those who are perishing or they cannot be saved. We know the truth of Christianity is not popular today and the world would rather turn to Satan and eventually, the anti-Christ for solutions to the crisis coming upon the earth.
Read more + listen: https://standupforthetruth.com/2020/01/mike-gendron-the-gospel-decline-of-discernment-and-the-one-world-religion/