SATAN'S FINAL DECEPTION

2 Corinthians 11:14 ...'And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.'

There are many deceptions in this world right now. Deceptions that have taken hold of so many people throughout the earth. Satan has used his powers to deceive the people into following him instead of the One true God, Creator of heaven and earth and Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. And there are more deceptions to follow, with 'miracles' and 'signs and wonders', and of course the mark of the beast being one of the final worldwide deceptions. But there is one final deception of Satan that will captivate the whole world and gather the people under his banner. And what is that final deception?

"As the second appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ draws near, satanic agencies are moved from beneath. Satan will not only appear as a human being, but he will personate Jesus Christ, and the world that has rejected the truth will receive him as the Lord of lords and King of kings."(E.White, Last Day Events. p.168)

"But the true leader of all this rebellion is Satan clothed as an angel of light. Men will be deceived and will exalt him to the place of God, and deify him. But Omnipotence will interpose, and to the apostate churches that unite in the exaltation of Satan, the sentence will go forth, Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." (E.White, Last Day Events. p.168)

Satan is going to personate Christ Jesus right at the end to deceive and gather as many people to him as possible. And the world will by and large be fooled by him. His powers will captivate many. His gentle manner. His miracles, healings and all sorts of signs and wonders will draw anyone who is not standing firm upon the Word of God in the Bible.

"So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures." (E.White, Last Day Events, p.170)

If men are so easily deceived and misled now, how will they be able to stand and recognize the deception when Satan will personate Christ Jesus, working miracles? So many are led by their own 'feelings' today, rather than a 'Thus saith the LORD'. Let's just take a look at what kind of people and religious groups will be taken in by Satan's final deception:

Jews are still awaiting the first coming of Christ.

Muslims are awaiting the arrival of the Mahdi

Roman Catholics are already deceived by satanic 'apparitions' of Mary.

Sikhs and Hindus await the arrival of Kalki.

Buddhists are awaiting the arrival of Maitreya.

Even many Christians believe Christ will come down and rule ON EARTH.

So all of the above, which numbers in the billions will easily be deceived by Satan's impersonation of Jesus, because their faith is not grounded upon the Word of Jehovah in the Bible. Instead, their 'faith' is placed upon legends, traditions and false teachings of men. And when all these people who have not based their faith on the true Word of God see the great signs and wonders that Satan is to perform, they will be hypnotized!

"It is the lying wonders of the devil that will take the world captive, and he will cause fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men. He is to work miracles; and this wonderful, miracle-working power is to sweep in the whole world." (E.G.White, 2 Selected Messages, p.51)

So how can we be guarded against the final deception of Satan and his impersonation of Christ Jesus? There is only one way, and that is to find out the TRUTH from God's Word in the Bible. We need to know EXACTLY how Christ Jesus is to return to this earth at His second coming. And does the Bible give us the exact details of how Christ is to return? Yes! There are two very important facts concerning Christ's second coming, which we will now show:

FACT 1

Matthew 24:27 ...'For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.'

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ...'For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.'

Matthew 25:31 ...'When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.'

2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 ...'And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire.'

Revelation 1:7 ....'Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.'

Revelation 19:14 ...'And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.'

Oh how I love the Word of God! We are left with no doubt about how Christ is going to return. Do you see the clear information we get from fact number 1? We can clearly see that the second coming of Jesus is going to be a NOISY, VISABLE, FIERY event that EVERY EYE will see. Satan will not be able to copy this. The best he can do is to appear in different places and use the world's media to show him to all the people around the globe.

FACT 2

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ...'For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord IN THE AIR: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.'

So what else will happen when Jesus returns? There will be a mass resurrection all over the world of the saints, and also a very important point to take notice of, is that we MEET JESUS IN THE AIR. This means that Jesus never touches the earth when He returns. Jesus will not set foot upon this earth until AFTER the 1000 year millennium, when the earth is renewed. Whereas Satan will be ON EARTH during his impersonation.

Satan will be limited in the way he can counterfeit the return of Christ Jesus. Yes, he will be able to perform signs and wonders, and will appear 'Christ-like'. But as long as we heed the Bible truth above, concerning the second coming, we will not be deceived.

Matthew 24:23-26 ...'Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; BELIEVE IT NOT. 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. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; BELIEVE IT NOT.'

Jesus will return with such great power and glory, with all His holy angels with Him in the skies above, that we need not be deceived!