Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Sunday I had several conversations with church members that involved distractions. It reminded me of my Vietnam experience. Any time you saw something that caught your eye, danger was near. If your eye was drawn up, look down, danger was at your feet.

That got me thinking about coming deceptions. What form might they take? How strong would the illusion have to be? How crafty would the lie be to deceive many? Then I saw that for the non-believers it already has them in their grasp. A full third of the earth’s people believe in a lie so strongly they are willing to die for their faith with absolutely no hope of any promise.

Much of the world lives in the moment with no expectation of anything except more of what they faced yesterday, so they do what they can with what they have. They have no hope.

This Word from Jesus was not given for the lost, it was given to the elect. The lost need not worry about being deceived, they do not know the truth. It is our responsibility to tell them truth, to show them truth, to overcome darkness with light. It is our responsibility to show them our hope and that it too can be theirs.

As for the delusion, the deception, He did say “if it were possible”. That is another way of saying it is impossible. To know Christ is to know truth, and if you know truth deception will be seen for what it is, a distraction, an illusion, a lie. It might be a good one, but it will not stand up in the face of the truth.

1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

True but yet here we are living in this world. Almost everything we see is prompted if not promoted by a world view. You cannot watch anything on television without being subjected to “give them what they want”. Even the religious programming cannot exist without financial support. It too is influenced by viewer demand. Give them what they want or they will stop their support.

You can tell the state of a society’s health by what they buy and sell. They wouldn’t sell it if nobody was buying it. So here we are in society with a world view, bombarding us with all the things that sell. It is no wonder they hate us because we aren’t buying it. The fact that we aren’t buying does not stop the onslaught of visual, verbal and tactile assaults on our senses.

Is it a sin to want better? Want no. Even Christ said, “I thirst.” Want is not the same thing as covetousness. To covet that which the Lord has provided is not a sin. So where does sin lay in this world view? When does it turn from want to sin?

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

It is when God is no longer first in your heart. That is rebellion, that is sin.