DO NOT GO AFTER THEM

“And He said: "Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.' Therefore do not go after them. (Luke 21:8 NKJV).

Why the warning?

When Jesus was asked a question about signs of the time of the end, He began His answer with a warning. The warning is simple, Take heed or Watch out that you are not deceived or led astray. A few things are very pertinent in this command. First it implies that deception or 'leading astray' is going to be the hallmark of the last days. Second, for Jesus to warn us about being deceived, it shows that this deception can be contained or resisted. Third, the warning implies that the coming deception will be so subtle that someone who is not actually watching out for it will not escape it. Many very 'good' people will be thoroughly deceived without knowing. People who claim to be children of God but are not watching out against deception as a matter of kingdom duty will be deceived. This is why Jesus gave the command to be on your guard.

Is this really possible

What is the nature of this deception? Jesus said, "Many will come in My name saying, I am He." People will claim to be the Saviour, the anointed one and the one with the authority to save the earth. Jesus added, "Do not go after them". We shudder at the very thought that something that bizarre can deceive us so easily. Such monumental deception looks impossible until you understand the nature of the secret workings of the power of lawlessness.

Apostle Paul while discussing the full scale deception that will engulf the world in the last days warned that this deception will be incremental in nature and present in the world in ways that could be described as a ‘mystery’ or a ‘secret’. In order words this deception is ongoing yet undetected by most people. Little by little, shifts from the truth will finally make the ultimate deception (i.e. someone claiming to be Christ) a walk over for the devil. In his second letter to the church of the Thessalonians, Paul wrote "For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.” (2Thessalonians 2:7 NIV). The continued ministry of the truth by the true Church is delaying the progress of deception until God takes the Church out of the earth.

The nature of this deception

Paul in his epistle to the Colossians revealed to us the way the 'power of lawlessness' is being deployed to deceive people. He wrote "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ" (Colossians 2:8 NIV). The tool of the secret power of lawlessness is simply philosophies that depend on human tradition and the basic principles of this world and not on Christ. The end product of these philosophies is always lawlessness. The mystery of lawlessness is simply how these supposedly harmless man centred philosophies create lawlessness in the individual and communities that embrace them. These philosophies simply create lawlessness by replacing God's eternal perspective to things with man's temporal perspective. The result is always a change in values and morality. One example of such philosophies is evolution.

                     The plank in the eye that skews everything

Evolution is not just explaining biology but has become the basic and foundational assumption on which all knowledge is built. Every research, investigation or inquiry must make basic assumptions about reality or adopt theories on which such research or investigation will stand. Theories in social sciences, physical sciences, the arts and entertainment, etc. are made based on these assumptions. This is inescapable simply because evaluation cannot be made in a vacuum and when you reject the explanation of God, you will need to create an alternative. Unfortunately, 21st century has adopted evolution as the unquestionable assumption on which other assumptions in other fields of studies are derived from. Evolution has become the plank in the eye that enables and sustains deception in the world. Even school curriculum based on evolutionary thought has been christened secular education, a term that carries deception deeper because there is nothing secular about it. It simply replaces the views of the God of heaven with the views of the god called man.

This is the secret thing about this power of lawlessness; most people are not aware that If the basic assumption about reality is wrong, other ideas built upon that wrong assumption will certainly contain a lot of error. These errors exist as alternate perspectives to biblical positions about the world, life in the world, gender roles, success, wealth, pleasure etc. It operates as a leaven in all branches of knowledge to corrupt worldview, values, morality, purpose, meaning and ultimate goal of life. Evolution removes God from our thinking when examining facts; it leads to knowledge devoid of morality or values.

Consequently, management sciences formally an initiation of the church to teach proper stewardship has now become a course on manipulation for advantage. Medical doctors once absolutely committed to saving lives are now trained to help take lives through abortions and assisted suicide. Entertainers once majored on entertainments that educated people on morality and family values. Today, to be entertaining might as well mean to be blasphemous and profane. There was a time when legality was informed by morality but now it is informed by what pleases man. These are all systemic deceptions that will continue to evolve and lead the undiscerning astray. Humility was once a virtue even in the public space but now arrogance is celebrated as self-confidence. There was a time when every form of lying by aspiring or incumbent public officers was rejected outright but now it is celebrated as media effectiveness and good information management.

Do we still know what is good?

What all these mean is that there is a massive shift in public perception of "the good" from what is good according to scriptures to what is good according to human pleasure. This is the result of gradual deception using the so called secular education as the primary tool. John Dunphy, one of the promoters of Humanist Manifesto II asserted that "The battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: A religion of humanity -- utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to carry humanist values into wherever they teach. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new -- the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism."

21st century secular education has achieved what John Dunphy envisioned. Secular education today demands that before one can come to the table of inquiry and make objective evaluation of anything, one must first empty himself of what God has taught in that field. The result is deception so severe that it is referred to as "Reprobate Mind" in the bible. Paul wrote "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." Romans 1:28 (KJV).

Where it all began

Apostle Paul warned Let no one take you captive. As deception is accomplished through reasoning or philosophies that stand on human tradition and basic principles of this world, those that embrace them are taken captive. To the extent the people are deceived, to that extent they are also become captives in their reasoning, objectivity, inclinations, love, etc. This is why endorsing the man that says "I am He" will be easy for captives. Most people would have been progressively deceived to the point that a "good man" for them will be defined by these deceptive philosophies and not the timeless values taught in the scripture. Who a good man is, will be so different from who a good man used to be when biblical values shaped culture. Again the bible says “When they refused to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done.” (Romans 1:28 NLT)

Have you too gone after them?

Jesus ended His warning about deception in the time of the end by saying "Therefore do not go after them." How do people go after them? By embracing their deceptive doctrines you are going after them little by little. Have you begun to go after them? When you use temporal values instead of eternal values to measure success, you have gone after them. When you rationalize and reject gender roles in marriage, you have left timeless teaching of scripture to embrace lies, you have gone after them. When self-esteem rather than self-denial becomes the prerequisite for good behavior, you have gone after them. When your idea of leadership is not anchored squarely on humble service but on manipulation, control and threats, you have gone after them. When you believe that some aspects of life are sacred while others are secular, you have gone after them. When your gospel message is about temporal things against the admonition in Col 3:1-2 to set your affections on things that are above, you have gone after them.
When Jesus commanded us saying "Take heed" and "Therefore do not go after them" it means that we have been given the capacity and ability to resist them and remain undeceived. You are able to watch out against deception as a kingdom duty, identify them and resist them if you so desire.

To begin a journey of victory over deception, you must learn how to evaluate all of life from only one perspective, that is, God's eternal perspective. When reading the bible, look out for God's perspective to issues being discussed. Join Apostle Paul to declare "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer” (2 Corinthians 5:16 NIV). You too may have regarded many things purely from worldly or existential point of view. You should from today do so no longer. God bless you.

Written by Ifiok J. Ukobo

If you will like to help support the effort to bring back Biblical Worldview to our churches and communities, send a request to Project Coordinator, Lifebuilders Resource. Email: tralright@gmail.com