I remember that I used to feel very sad and angry because of what false pastors and prophets were doing to the people. I felt that the people were being taken for a ride and they are used by these false pastors and prophets not for their benefit but for the benefit of themselves. In a nutshell, I used to think that people who are deceived by these false teachers and prophets, were victims. I say I used to because I don’t think so anymore. Now I beleive that these people are not victims. I say this because they are getting exactly what they wanted. What these false pastors and prophets are telling them, it is exactly what they want to hear and that is the reason why the pay so much. These people who listen to these false pastors and prophets, they know the truth just like you and me (at least most of them), they know that Jesus is the truth and that truth is to be found in the bible. Having all that knowledge, knowing the truth, they chose to reject the truth and choose lies. They chose to reject the light and choose darkness. They pay a huge amount for the lies that they are getting form these false pastors and prophets because that is what they want to hear. Now, because they rejected the truth and chose lies, as part of the judgement of God against them, God has send them false pastors and prophets so that they may even sin more and send themselves straight to hell.
The scriptures that we will be dealing with in this message will show exactly what I have said.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NLTse)
This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
The passage I quoted above talks about the Anti Christ, it calls him the man of lawlessness. This man will come to do the work of Satan by Satan’s power. He will do signs and miracles and will use every kind of deception to fool those who are on thier way to destruction, why will he fool them? Because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. The word deception also means delusion. So, this person will do the work of the devil using the power of the devil to do signs and miracles but most importantly, he will use every king of deception or delusion to fool, to decieve, to lead astray, not everyone but those who are already on their way to destruction. These people who are already on thier way to destruction are those who refused and continue to refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. Those who love and accept the truth, will not be fooled by this man.
These people who are already on thier way to destruction, those who refused and continue to refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them, God will cause them to be greatly deceived by this man and they will beleive his lies. They rejected the truth, so God causes them to beleive the lies. This will condem them to eternal hell because they enjoyed evil rather than the truth. So, this is the judgement of God upon those that have rejected the truth and chose to believe lies. It is not God who makes them beleive lies, they had already chosen to beleive lies and reject the truth, all that God did as part of judgement on them was to cause them to even beleive lies even more. They have already chosen the evil path, God is just guiding them in the direction of the path they have already chosen.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 (ESVST)
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Paul says that the time will come when people will not endure, not tolerate, not stand sound teaching. The time will come and I beleive the time has ready come and it will continue to get worse. People no longer want to hear sound doctrine, they don’t want to hear the truth anymore. They have rejected the truth. They have rejected the bible and say it is old fashioned and not moving with the times. What the bible said was immoral and sinful, they have made moral. What used to be moral is now immoral. They have completely rejected the truth and have now gathered for themselves false pastors and prophets who will teach them what their ears wants to hear. They will tell them what suits their own desires. They have completely turned away from the truth and now beleive in myths. It is important to note here that they will gather or accumulate or heap for themselves false pastors and prophets to suit their own desires. No one forces them to do this, this is a choice that they make. They reject all those pastors and prophets who tell them the truth that would save them and accept those pastors or prophets that tells them that their immoral and sinful desires are moral.
Galatians 5:19-21 (ESVST)
Now the works of the flesh are evident:sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
They will accumulate or gather or heap for themselves false pastors and prophets, who will tell them that everything listed above by God to be immoral and sinful, is now moral.
Galatians 5:22-23 (ESVST)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self- control; against such things there is no law.
And they will accumulate for themselves false pastors and prophets who will tell them that all the moral things listed above, are now immoral.
So, as you can see, these people are not victims, they are not being deceived by these false pastors and prophets. That is what they want to hear. That is why they pay these false pastors and prophets so much. They pay because they get value for money. They don’t want to listen to the truth that can save them but they want to listen to myths and lies and that is exactly what they are getting and that is why they pay. As a result, God punishes them by bringing for them, false pastors and prohets that will tell them exactly what they want to hear so that they can be condemned for choosing evil rather than beleivng the truth.
Therefore, these people are not victims but sinners who have chosen evil rather than the truth and the false pastors and prophets are a judgement upon them from God for choosing evil over truth and this will condem them to eternal hell.