The Great Deception
By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear Friends,
Welcome to Keep the Faith Ministry. I’m so glad you joined us today for another study on the end times. We’re living in an age of delusion and deception. And it’s only getting worse. Everywhere you turn, there are deception and lies in abundance. They are in governments, industry, science, churches, business, marketing, they all tell lies. And the leaders do it with almost complete immunity. The history of the tobacco industry’s lies is a classic. It’s a world gone mad where the masses are in delusion. This fallen world is a cauldron of lies. The enemy has sown tares and now they are bearing fruit. They even threatened to overwhelm the wheat. Don’t you want to be free of deception?
As we begin let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we long to be free of this world with all of its problems. And we pray that we can be ready for Jesus to come in the clouds of glory. The wickedness on full display is galling to the true Christian. And we believe evil men and seducers are going to wax worse and worse. Please send Your Holy Spirit to us today that we may understand Your purposes and prepare ourselves for the last great crisis. We thank you for your promise that you will be with us to stand by our side. We need you constantly. So, thank you for your presence today. In Jesus name, amen.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis 2:8, 9. Here we have the record of the first sin on planet earth.
“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
God had made everything perfect for sustaining life and for providing and eternal existence for man. Now turn to verses 15 -17.
“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the men, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
These words of God were very clear and unequivocal. Upon Adam and Eve was placed one prohibition. They were not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. The sinless pair were placed in a perfect environment and subjected to a simple test and duly warned of the consequence of disobedience. As a subject of the divine government, man was placed under the law of obedience as an indispensable condition of his continuing welfare and existence. If he transgressed, he would incur guilt, and disaster would follow.
Adam might have been created powerless to transgress. But he would have been a mere robot. And without freedom of choice, obedience would have been forced, not based voluntarily on choice. There would have been no essential development of character. God’s purpose of creating man as a free moral agent, who had the capacity to love God freely and experience eternal happiness, would not be realized. Men had to continually eat of the tree of life if he was to live eternally. And obedience was the condition of his eternal happiness.
Man was also necessarily endowed with the freedom of will. He was a free moral agent And could use his will as he wished, to obey God, or to disobey him. The contingency or possibility of a fall is, of course, inherent in such a creative provision. And so, the essence of the fall is, in reality, the abuse of that liberty. Therefore, sin, which is the transgression of the law of God, is the assertion of self over against God. But sin is also inherently a loss of that moral freedom and the adoption of slavery to a perverse will. And the choice to do so is voluntary.
Paul says in Romans 7:10, 11: “And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.”
All sin deceives. It appeals to your carnal nature, and you think the result is going to be good, but it isn’t. Sin destroys you. It is mortally deceptive. Only Christ can break that delusion and restore you.
Paul further alludes to the slavery of sin in verse 14:“For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.”
It is as if we are sold into slavery. And indeed, that is really what it is; slavery. We have lost our freedom of choice and to be pure and holy. And the only way out is the sacrifice of a substitute for us, involving repentance and dependence on Jesus the sin bearer who takes our sin upon Himself and gives us the gift of His righteousness.
Adam was created a mature man. He was not created a babe, or a robot. He was a completely responsible being. He must make his own choices. Though created sinless, he had to develop a righteous and holy character, which he would do naturally by making holy choices. The character is developed through the right use of the will voluntarily. The only course man was not free to take was that of never choosing. In fact, refusal of a free moral agent to make choices is impossible. Sooner or later a choice must be made between truth and error, obedience and transgression.
The fall of man was a result of the exercise of his own will in direct contradiction to God’s will. Opposition to God is Satan’s plan and mode of operation. And when man believed him, he too was in opposition to God. He must perish (see John 3:16). The scriptures say in Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death.”
But man was brought into being for the right and free exercise of his will. Liberty is therefore the very basis of his existence. And it is also the very basis of our existence today. Therefore, the removal of liberty means the destruction of his very being and the termination of his existence as a free moral entity. This is what Satan wants to achieve over the whole world; to destroy man’s liberty and his moral freedom.
Thomas Jefferson once said: “The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time: the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.”
The enemy has been relatively successful. Throughout history, he has exercised this liberty-removing power in many countries and in many places, sometimes with greater success than others. He has been allowed to place leaders, or monarchs and dictators over nations and empires that have removed the freedom of their citizens.
I don’t have the time to recount the history of the many, many dictators, kings or monarchs that ruled with an iron fist. And millions were led in the process to disobey God. And those that continue to be loyal to the King of the universe were persecuted and hunted down like wild animals.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis 3:1. It all began in Eden.
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
The serpent was more subtle than any other creature. Today it just crawls and writhes on its belly. But in the garden, it was a gloriously beautiful and intelligent creature. It possessed powers and capacities that it no longer enjoys today. This dazzling creature had wings and was most attractive and alluring as it flew through the air. Under normal circumstances in the Garden of Eden, it was not dangerous at all. God had made the serpent for the enjoyment of Adam and Eve. But when Lucifer entered the serpent, he was none other than the old serpent operating under a new enchanting and deceptive guise. Listen to this from Patriarchs and Prophets, page 53.
“The serpent was then one of the wisest and most beautiful creatures on the earth. It had wings, and while flying through the air presented an appearance of dazzling brightness, having the color and brilliancy of burnished gold. Resting in the rich-laden branches of the forbidden tree and regaling itself with the delicious fruit, it was an object to arrest the attention and delight the eye of the beholder. Thus, in the garden of peace lurked the destroyer, watching for his prey.”
2 Corinthians 11:3, 14 say: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, So your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
Eve was fascinated! She was drawn to the radiant creature who appeared as an “angel of light.” Apparently, and deceptively, it had increased capacities by eating the fruit of the tree. The serpent seemed to possess supernatural knowledge. And it had a remarkable quality. It appeared to be a talking serpent. Actually, this was Satan’s first deception, making the serpent out to be more than it was. It was an unspoken lie. It was a false pretense. The first sorcery practiced on earth. The first magic. The first witchcraft.
“And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in a day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
This was the first spoken lie on earth. And it was intended to deceive Eve into sin. Satan directly challenged the plain statement of God. He contended that what God said wasn’t true and that God had and ulterior motive in keeping certain knowledge from Eve that would help her to be better and more intelligent than she was. She was led to distrust God’s love and care for her and she thought that she wasn’t given all that she needed to know.
When Eve accepted Satan’s ploy, and acted upon it, she lost her freedom, even though she may have felt like she enjoyed more freedom for a little while. This was only a delusion. When we sin, we ultimately lose our freedom and liberty to obey Jesus and we become slaves to Satan and sin.
Satan has been lying ever since. He continues to lie today in every way possible. He is the father of lies. And he can do nothing but lie. Yet so many people believe his lies and live in a world of delusion. And Satan rejoices in this. He has caused more pain and more oppression in this world than we can imagine. And then people drown their pain and depression with vices and more sin. They think they can wash their pain away by those vices. But it too is only a delusion. Yet the world continues to accept Satan’s solutions to problems. The struggle between capitalism and socialism, or between capital and labor, is this struggle of sin worked out in the macrocosm? The Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages controlled society and dictated what kings and peasants did and didn’t do. They were part of Satan’s system to control and repress with sin. And Rome is still at it, though cloaked with a robe of righteous appearance.
Jesus told the Jewish church leaders that they were of their father the devil because they lied. They lied to the people about Christ, they lied about the doctrines, and they lied to themselves thinking they were God’s children when they were doing exactly the opposite of what He wanted them to do. And it was all to their eternal loss. Jesus said they were from another father.
In John 8:44 we read: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode 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 of it.”
Notice that there’s no truth in him. And in his followers the truth does not find a home. They will lie when it’s convenient or when it seems advantageous to them. They are simply doing what their father does. And anybody who is not in Christ will find occasion, in fact, many occasions, to misrepresent the truth and lie. All of us have done this from our youths on up. It starts when we’re really small.
And recently the enemy has created a worldwide pandemic built on falsehoods. It has changed the way people understand their liberty. He has co-opted many people in this world at every level of society and set up mass hysteria to frighten people into complying with overkill restrictions and endless jabs. Never before in my lifetime, has he been able to deceive so many people on a worldwide basis. And we can see these lies if we want to open our eyes. We see them in government leaders. We see them in the media. We see them in the churches. We see them in business and advertising. You see them on the news that slant the narrative to their agenda and cover up things they don’t want you to see. And it’s not just over COVID-19. We see it regarding every sector of society every day, and we usually think nothing of it. We have become numb to it.
There are some lies that we aren’t even aware of. We lie to ourselves. We sometimes shade the truth to others. We need the Holy Spirit to teach us where these are so that we can root them out of our lives. If you want to be part of the 144,000 you will not lie in even the slightest way. Revelation 14:5 says: “And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”
Jesus also said: “The truth shall set you free.”
So the real question is are you going to accept Satan’s lies, or are you going to rely on the truth of God’s word. The whole world is being consumed with lies and deception, falsehoods, misrepresentations and dishonesty. And God’s people will be so full of truth, that they will feel like outcasts of society. They will be isolated, mocked, and derided, just like in Noah’s day. To the wicked they will seem like those who are beating the wind, because they cannot comprehend that anyone could be so full of truth and so devoid of falsehoods.
Listen to this from Early Writings, page 284.
“I was pointed back to faithful Noah. When the rain descended and the flood came, Noah and his family had entered the ark, and God had shut them in. Noah had faithfully warned the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, while they had mocked and derided him. And as the waters descended upon the earth, and one after another was drowning, they beheld that ark, of which they had made so much sport, riding safely upon the waters, preserving the faithful Noah and His family. So I saw that the people of God, who had faithfully warned the world of His coming wrath, would be delivered. God would not suffer the wicked to destroy those who were expecting translation and who would not bow to the decree of the beast or receive his mark. I saw that if the wicked were permitted to slay the saints, Satan and all his evil host, and all who hate God, would be gratified. And oh, what a triumph it would be for his satanic majesty to have power, in the last closing struggle, over those who had so long waited to behold Him whom they loved! Those who have mocked at the idea of the saints’ going up will witness the care of God for His people and behold their glorious deliverance.”
So, the saints’ experience at the end of time will be similar to that of Noah. While they will be ridiculed on earth, but heaven will see them completely differently. That’s actually a very comforting statement to remember when you are mistreated or persecuted for righteousness sake.
Satan’s ultimate purpose in deceiving with all these lies is to take away the freedom of the human race and cause as many as possible to disobey God. The more lies there are, the more easily the enemy can enslave the population. Dictators depend on lies to have power. And socialism is really a dictatorship of lies or deception. It may be soft glove socialism, but a dictatorship it is nonetheless. Just look at Australia. It is a socialist environment that most people thought was free. But that was a deception. When push comes to shove, the state governments act like dictators, Just as some of the state governors in America and in Europe. They are already acting like the dragon, removing freedom from the people, and locking them down and restricting them in all manner of ways. Australia is not a free country. Most of Europe is the same way. Places that we thought were free are not. It was all a grand delusion. Just like other forms of socialism and communism, it is a magnificent deception.
The enemy can’t function without lies. And he will try to deceive the whole world. He has been at it for a long time. And now we can see that he has almost succeeded. It’s interesting that the medical and “scientific” lies are pretty well universal, with the whole world believing the same thing about the virus and the vaccine. But it hasn’t always been that way. For example, there are those that believe one thing in terms of religion, and some another, and some still another. In fact, it seems like there are endless falsehoods and religious ideas. But the deceptions were not coordinated and worldwide. Now, however, the deceptions in terms of medicine and science are coordinated and the people around the world mostly believe them.
And most leaders of the world are in league with Satan. Governments, bureaucrats, policies, laws and regulations all tend to take away the freedom of the masses. They are slaves even though they think they are free. And of course, they are free to sin, but Satan’s goal is to prevent them from obeying God and coerce the people to disobey. That’s his whole purpose. He wants to get everyone to obey him instead of God. But God will not let him force his will upon the human race. Man can disobey God, but only by choice. Satan can pressure him or try to coerce him, or persecute him, but he must make that choice. Satan can make his life very difficult, but man does not have to disobey God. All heaven will come to his aid. So he does not have to sin.
Do you have faith that God will deliver you from Satan’s coercive efforts? By the way, a close cousin of deception is coercion. If you do not believe that the vaccines are good, for example, you will have to rely on God to provide a way of escape from the mandates.
Satan does not want to release his prisoners. Listen to this from Isaiah 14:17. The Bible says that Satan destroyed the cities of the world, and in so doing he would not let people have freedom of choice, if he could cause them to join him. Listen: “That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that open not the house of his prisoners.”
When Satan sinned first in heaven, he said that he will be like the Most High. Isaiah 14:13, 14: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.”
Notice that Satan had a fixation with his own will as opposed to God’s will. “I will,” “I will,” “I will.” As a result, Lucifer, the “son of the morning,” the author and instigator of all sin, fell from heaven. This secret history is revealed by inspiration through the prophet Isaiah. Lucifer aspired to be like God in power and glory, but not in character.
Ezekiel tells us that that before iniquity was found in him; this celestial being was created, and hence was not able to rise to equality with God. God had exalted him above all the other angels and giving him remarkable qualities that none other had. He was the “anointed” one, the covering cherub, standing in the very presence of God. Listen to Ezekiel 28:13-15.
“Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the Jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set these so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created, till iniquity was found in thee.”
Lucifer was a splendid creature, most beautiful in all his features. He was also very exalted and had a very high position in heaven. But iniquity was found in him and he rebelled against God. The result was that there was a battle between Christ and Satan in heaven. And all of heaven was lined up on one of the two sides. The Inspired Record gives us this history. In Revelation 12:7 we are told that: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; And the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found anymore in heaven.”
Lucifer became the great dragon, a serpent of subtle deception. Deceit became his primary mode of operation and control. And as he moved into the garden of Eden with intent to deceive, he looked for a beautiful and subtle creature. And he entered the serpent, a fitting symbol of his own deceptive arts.
He has ever continued to use the symbol of a snake in many polytheistic cultures and religions. In ancient Egypt the snake was used as a symbol of power and control. The Pharaohs wore a snake that was ready to strike on their headdresses. In ancient Greece, the snake was a symbol of healing. Satan wants to represent himself as the great healer. And he will at the end of time have power to do this. Listen to this statement from Great Controversy, page 589.
“While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work… He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man and beast.”
And even today the snake is used in the medical symbol which has a staff with one or two snakes wrapped around it. There is no doubt that this pandemic that we have been under for the last two years is of Satan. And he is using the medical establishment as the vehicle for control over the whole world while he provides a supposedly healing vaccine that has terrible side effects and perhaps long-range consequences that are unknown and untested.
The coercive vaccine mandates are also a production of satanic councils. Truth and righteousness never use coercion. Isolating people who have conscientious objections to the vaccine is a form of coercion. There are many caught up in the medical system that want to do good, and with good intentions, but they are simply being co-opted and used for the enemy’s own purposes.
At the end of time, we have to rely on God, and on God alone. We cannot depend on medical science. It will always lead us astray, and be confusing. Many are blind, but some are awake and are horrified by the railroaded vaccines that are essentially ineffective against the virus but have a large risk of adverse side effects.
There is something about this vaccine that is satanic. All the coercion, all the suppression of information, all the cover-up of cheap and readily available treatments that work, and all the ignoring and suppression of the adverse side effects of the vaccine by those producing it, is evidence that something isn’t right about the vaccine. People are not given full disclosure. They’re just expected to obey the government which supposedly has “their best interests in mind.” If the vaccine really worked and was safe and effective, and didn’t have any adverse side effects or other issues, why all the coercion? Why all the suppression of information?
Satan has created a juggernaut that seems overpowering and can’t be stopped. And while there are those with good intentions, it is Satan that is behind it. And the people are being beguiled and overwhelmed. It’s part of Babylon. It’s a good thing that God is in control of the world and is more powerful than the enemy. We will see God’s hand protecting His people. Satan is making himself out to be God in the form of the medical association serpent.
The essence of the fall of Eve was that she believed the enemy’s lie. And that is the essence today in all areas of our lives. The enemy has developed a system of lies that has infiltrated every corner of society. Whether it’s governments, businesses, social order, medical systems, and even churches, there are lies and misrepresentations and deceptions everywhere. The only safe source of truth is the word of God. And the more you study the word of God, the more clearly you will see the deceptions around us.
Here is a statement from Great Controversy, page 523.
“Satan is ready to supply the heart’s desire, and he palms off his deceptions in the place of truth. It was thus that the papacy gained its power over the minds of men; and by rejection of the truth because it involves a cross, Protestants are following the same path. All who neglect the word of God to study convenience and policy, that they may not be at variance with the world, will be left to receive damnable heresy for religious truth. Every conceivable form of error will be accepted by those who willfully reject the truth. He who looks with horror upon one deception will readily receive another. The apostle Paul, speaking of a class who “received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,” declares: “For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12. With such a warning before us it behooves us to be on our guard as to what doctrines we receive.”
Instead of following God’s counsel and changing their lifestyles and living healthy, which would generally give them a defense against the virus better than any vaccine, people would rather receive the deceptions of Satan disguised as coming from scientists and so-called “experts” in the medical community. They excuse their lifestyles saying that medical science will provide a solution if we get into trouble. And they indulge themselves and ruin their health. And now when it is most important that our bodies be healthy and be a temple of the Holy Spirit, the enemy provides a supposed solution that only makes what health we have left further deteriorated. And he has affected the whole world by this mentality.
Now hear this from Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 1 page 268.
“I was shown the inhabitants of the earth in the utmost confusion. War, bloodshed, privation, want, famine, and pestilence were abroad in the land. As these things surrounded God’s people, they began to press together, and to cast aside their little difficulties. Self-dignity no longer controlled them; deep humility took its place. Suffering, perplexity, and privation caused reason to resume its throne, and the passionate and unreasonable man became sane, and acted with discretion and wisdom.”
Did you hear those words? War, bloodshed, privation, want, famine, and pestilence were abroad in the land. Those words will come to pass in all countries and in all places. That’s telling us the future. It’s likely to be in the near future. I’ll read on.
“My attention was then called from the scene. There seemed to be a little time of peace. Once more the inhabitants of the earth were presented before me; and again everything was in the utmost confusion. Strife, war, and bloodshed, with famine and pestilence, raged everywhere. Other nations were engaged in this war and confusion. War caused famine. Want and bloodshed caused pestilence. And then men’s hearts failed them for fear, “and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”
The pandemics will get worse and worse. The coronavirus is really a mild pandemic. If governments and scientists are willing to do what they have done for this mild pandemic, what would they do when it really gets serious, as it most surely will? It will get so serious and so deadly that Satan will come and present himself as the “Angel of light” that can heal the disease. The serpent will again manifest himself as a beautiful creature.
Here is another statement from Great Controversy, page 593.
“The people of God are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence of false teachers and the delusive power of spirits of darkness. Satan employs every possible device to prevent men from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions… The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.”
What are those marvelous works? At least some of them are miraculous healings. Do you think Satan is getting ready for the last almost overwhelming delusion when he personates Christ?
He can’t just spring it on the world, he has to prepare the world for it by introducing falsehoods and deceptions build up to the last great delusion. Wouldn’t mass hysteria be something he could use? Do you think he is done that today with the virus and the vaccine? He has certainly created a great fear and is still propagating it.
Now think about this statement from Great Controversy page 624.
“As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. Revelation 1:13-15. The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air: ‘Christ has come! Christ has come!’ The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who were deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest, give heed to these sorceries, saying: This is ‘the great power of God.’ Acts 8:10.”
Notice that the great deceiver “heals the diseases of the people.” if pestilences are raging in every place, it doesn’t sound like they are mild. People will be desperate to find healing solutions. They will probably be frustrated with the medical system and the scientists, because they can’t find adequate solutions. This is already the case, and many secular people realize what is happening. They know that the vaccine is not the solution. But they have no alternative. They don’t know about God’s natural remedies, and the health laws and the principles to maximize their immune system. Even God’s people ignore them either completely or partially.
Friends, the great pestilences of the end times have started. Don’t be surprised when Satan presents himself as Christ and does miracles of healing. People will be desperate for solutions to the pestilences. They will readily accept his delusions in order to have healing from dangerous and deadly disease. Through this means the enemy can coerce people to do what he wants them to do. They will enact a Sunday law because Satan will imply that the pestilences will stop if they do. The other disasters and chaos that this world will suffer will add to the impression that God is punishing the earth for its iniquities. And people will desperately want a solution to restore their health and temporal prosperity, so the calls will go out to enact a Sunday law. When there is mass hysteria many of your friends and fellow church members will go right along with his suggestions. Your church will not rise to your defense. You will have to defend your own Sabbath keeping alone. Get ready!
“It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation of the Sunday sabbath; that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity.”
Listen to this statement from Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students, page 449.
“The young man who makes the Bible his guide need not mistake the path of duty and of safety. That Book will teach him to preserve his integrity of character, to be truthful, to practice no deception. It will teach him that he must never transgress God’s law in order to accomplish a desired object, even though to obey involves a sacrifice. It will teach him that the blessing of heaven will not rest upon him if he departs from the path of right doing; that although men may appear to prosper in disobedience, they will surely reap the fruit of their sowing.”
The world is gullible. They have gone after fables. Mass deception, lying wonders and global deceit are all part of the end times. Rome is involved too. We don’t know what the Papacy’s role is in this pandemic or any future pandemic yet. But rest assured it is very intimately involved.
2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 tells us: “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
If you do not love the truth, you will love unrighteousness. And if you love unrighteousness, you will be deceived with the delusions that are coming up on the world at the end of time. For Satan will make sure that you are deluded. God will not specially protect you if you are in any league whatsoever with the world. Here is an interesting statement from Great Controversy, page 594.
“When God sends to men warnings so important that they are represented as proclaimed by holy angels flying in the midst of heaven, He requires every person endowed with reasoning powers to heed the message. The fearful judgments denounced against the worship of the beast and his image (Revelation 14:9-11), should lead all to a diligent study of the prophecies to learn what the mark of the beast is, and how they are to avoid receiving it. But the masses of the people turn away their ears from hearing the truth and are turned unto fables.”
2 Timothy 4:3, 4 says: “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 (lies).”
After quoting this verse, Great Controversy, page 593 tells us: “That time has fully come. The multitudes do not want Bible truth, because it interferes with the desires of the sinful, world-loving heart; and Satan supplies the deceptions which they love.”
In the end, the world will believe lies about God’s people and will turn on them and persecute them to get them to conform to the lies that they believe. The enemy is preparing the world now for this eventuality. He has been working very subtly for a long time. But now he is openly promoting chaos through deception and fear.
2 Timothy 3:13 says: “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”
The reason is because of deception. You will think they can help you with a solution to some problem. But it’s a deception. It’s a delusion.
Friends, I tell you, we are on the edge of eternity. Great and decisive events are going to take place in the very near future. We can already hear the steady tread of their footsteps upon the pages of the future. It’s time. We must get ready, and quickly. The world is going to be taken with an overwhelming surprise. Please don’t be caught up with them.
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we are sobered by the understanding that the enemy has begun the final process to gain the control of the whole world. Please help us. We are far from where we need to be. Give us Your grace and wrap Your arms of protection around Your people. May we understand what is happening in our world. May the Bible become a most precious book to us. And get us ready, we pray, to face the trials and pressures of the end times. We want to be in the kingdom of heaven. Please do not pass us by. In Jesus name, amen.