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.