Throughout the years gone by, I think that if there was one particular thing that we didn’t want, it was to somehow be deceived. We knew that people would be; we were told that from the beginning; we read about it. That always bothered me; I could not understand, how someone who was filled with the Holy Ghost, baptized in His name, could even come close to deception. But back in the day, we were all told to study the Word of God for ourselves; pray and fast and follow the true leading of the Holy Ghost. And having a deeper move of the Spirit, was what we all sought for.

Even as a young lad in the church, I felt that there were some things I was hearing taught, that didn’t always ring true. People might think that a small child who receives the Holy Ghost doesn’t see and know things; but they do. For many years, I trusted the adults to know what they were talking to us about; that everything we were being taught, was correct. As I began to get older, I began to have more and more questions. It did not take many years, to see that some things were changing. The idea arose, that we were to follow those over us, and not question or we were being rebellious.

Perhaps the thing that caused me the greatest concern, was that in too many ways, it seemed too many, were not acting as Jesus acted. I saw first hand, how those in different fellowships, treated one another. It was not until I was way past grown, had fled down the trail of the prodigal and came back to the Father’s house, that I began to study for myself. As God began to open my understanding to His Word, I began to see differently. Many of us had lived in assemblies, that said, we had the Truth. Prior to my studying with the Spirit, I had also been deceived into believing, that all those that did not believe exactly like we did, were lost; and going to Hell.

I’ve thought about deception a lot lately. The Bible prophesied that the time would come, that many would be deceived. One of the first things that our Lord said, when his disciples asked about these end times was, “don’t let any man deceive you.” What would cause so many to be deceived in this hour; it was foretold that false brethren, false teachers, false apostles and false prophets, wolves in sheep’s clothing, would enter the church. As long as we walked in the Spirit, lived in the Spirit, prayed in the Spirit, fasted, studied the Word and allowed the Holy Ghost to teach us, we were safe.

Promoting self, ruling and reigning for money, building our own kingdom, the idea of promoting politics and showing partiality, suppressing the gifts of the Spirit from full operation, trying to control the moving of the Spirit and thwarting the role of all of the ministries, is deception.

Demanding complete obedience to the commandments of men, strong-arming those who dare to speak out, not restoring those taken in a fault, not teaching that all of our people should study to show themselves approved unto God, and to work out their own soul salvation, is all deception. Entertainment in the house of the Lord, is deception. Denying all of these things, means it’s already late.

~ Robert Blackburn

Robert Blackburn