THEY BELIEVED A LIE

Marcella Ward    November 2, 2022

THE GARDEN OF EDEN

Genesis 3:1-5

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  NIV

THE HOLOCAUST

“Europe’s extensive railway network of the 1930s and 1940s played a key role in the Holocaust. The deportation of millions of Jews to concentration camps such as Auschwitz in Poland was carried out mainly via rail.

Jews from all parts of German-occupied territories were bundled on to these trains. This process was often referred to as “resettlement to the east” by the Nazi regime.

The victims – including women and children – would be told that they were being hauled to labour camps. In reality, these were death camps where the largest known genocide in modern human history would unfold.”  (Times Now Digital Updated Jan 28, 2020)

MEDIA

I don’t know where to begin about the media’s lies!  Whether it be the “fake news” stations or social media i.e. twitter; Facebook, etc.  Another prime example are many politicians who lie just to get elected.   

WHAT IS TRUTH?

JOHN 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  ESV

JOHN 17:7

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ESV

JOHN 8:32

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ESV

It is of utmost importance for us to seek the truth.  Just because someone says something doesn’t mean that it is true. 

JOHN 8:44

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  NIV

THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS   2 Thessalonians 2

2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, ² not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. ³ Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness^[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. ⁴ He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

⁵ Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? ⁶ And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. ⁷ 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. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, ¹⁰ and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie ¹² and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

Stand Firm

¹³ But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits^] to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴ He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings^[c] we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.  NIV

 We need to discern everything that we hear or see.  In this age of technology, where truth can so easily be manipulated, we need to seek sources of truth.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Adam and Eve believed a lie. Seek the truth and you will find it!

Marcella Ward   November 2, 2022    Author of “Stolen Identity: Plan of the Evil One”