[Rick Shabi] Christ's disciples asked Him what the sign of His coming and the end of the world would be. He began His response with, "Don't be deceived." Deception, lies, and deliberately misleading people are signs of the end of the age. And misinformation, my friends, is spreading in this world at an unprecedented level. You see it all around us. Don't we live in a time when lies dominate the news and leaders lie routinely or give half-truths just to get people to see things their way? And that isn't happening just in the United States presidential race. There is worldwide deception and lies. There are lies everywhere, just as the Bible said it would be.

Notice this verse in Isaiah 59:14-15, what it says about our time. Justice. "Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off, for truth is fallen in the street, and equity," that's integrity, "cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey." Prophetic words from the Bible. We're living in those times. Yes, lying and deception are everywhere. It is a sign of the times, and it is instigated and inspired by a spirit you need to be aware of so you can turn from it. Who's the master of deception? The Bible tells us. Clearly, it is Satan.

Let's see what it plainly says in Revelation 12:9. "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Did you get that? It's Satan and his spirit that deceives the whole world. He is cast out of heaven to earth along with his demons. Regarding Satan, Christ described him perfectly. In His own words, here's what He said about Satan when talking to the Pharisees. We find those words in John 8:44. Christ speaking, He says, "You," to the Pharisees, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He," Satan, "was a murderer from the beginning, and he doesn't stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it."

Satan is the father of lies and murder while God and Jesus Christ are truth and life. Where you see lies, destruction, division, and hate, you find Satan and his spirit. From the time Satan lied to Adam and Eve and they took of the forbidden fruit, rejecting God and choosing the way of Satan, the earth has been under the sway of Satan's evil influence ever since. Politics has always been a playground for lies. We've all heard jokes about politicians saying whatever it takes to get elected to the office and then they never do what they say they're going to do. But today we see this playing out in a more sinister, even deliberate way. There are lies being told about the country, lies about some of the policies that are in place, and even where the world is headed. The question is, with all these lies and deception going on, where are we really headed? Where is truth?

Well, if we have our eyes wide open, let's look at what we've seen in the past few years. One of those things is censorship. If you say something the establishment doesn't like, you can be censored and canceled. We've seen government-attempted vaccine mandates around the world during the time of COVID. We've lived through a global pandemic in which as many as 3 million have died around the world, and yet no one has determined or stated what the origin is. Was it a leak from the Wuhan lab, or was it just an accident emanating from bats eaten at a food market in China? Those that know just don't want to say.

And it's not just politics where lies and deception are being spread. It's even in religion. It is a sign of the end times that Christ spoke about. Think about it. Are churches teaching the truth about God and Jesus Christ, or are they leading you down a road you will regret? Let me give you a recent example from perhaps the most prominent religious leader in the world. He recently made this statement. "All religions are paths to God. They are like different languages that express the divine." That, my friends, is simply not true. Who knows how many millions of people have lost their lives through wars over religion? Who knows how many people have been put to death by religion because people didn't agree with their beliefs? They may do it in the name of God, but that is not of God. Lies, deception, hate, war, and death come from Satan and his influence. They do not come from the true God or Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and life.

If you want those things, there's only one place to find answers, and that is in God and Christ and the Bible. There is only one Savior and only one way to salvation, and that is through Jesus Christ. It's not Islam. It's not Buddhism or any church or religious leader that tells you otherwise. The Bible has some very strong words about the end-time religious leader who will dominate the earth with new gods that will be introduced while blaspheming the true God of the Bible. Leading up to that time when an autocratic regime and governmental system has replaced democracy, yes, that will happen, Christ tells us that there will be a time of lawlessness. Today, lawlessness is already being talked about on the news and in society, as mankind tries to legalize criminal and outright immoral, unnatural sexual behavior.

We see many examples around us. What about cashless bail? What about saying shoplifting is virtually okay with no jail time as long as the theft is under $900 or some limit? What about sending drag queens into schools to entertain our children? What about exposing children to pornographic literature or submitting them to life-changing gender surgery? Will those things lead to life and peace? In the movement to rewrite law and do away with many of the long-standing standards and morality of the land, how long will it be before the Bible becomes the target and is outlawed? Remember that verse we read a while ago? Truth perishes in the street. Lies, deception, and lawlessness dominate, and the world becomes a very dark place. Humanity can't survive. There can't be anything good, free, or productive in a society based on lies, falsehood, and deception. When the world's governments and religions are based on lies rather than the truth of the Bible, then we are in Satan's hands, and that is an awful place to be, as the world will see in the years ahead.

Notice what the Bible in Revelation 12:12 says about that time when Satan is on earth and lies and deception abound. Revelation 12:12, "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." A short time, which is the end time. Religious and government and globalist deception will plunge the world into great tribulation and the most horrific time in human history. And there will be a powerful religious leader who will deceive the world into believing what the Bible calls the lie. We can read of the prominence of lying in the end times back in the book of 2 Thessalonians 2. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, it says, "Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

That man of sin is also mentioned in the end-time prophecies of the book of Revelation, where he's known as the beast. In Revelation 13, we see that the end-time religious system is given its power by Satan, and it tells us there that the whole world follows him and worships him. And this false one-world religion blasphemes the true God. Satan is the adversary of God. This leader and religion will also hate God and His people and put them to death. Let's see what God says specifically about this false religious leader. Continuing in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9, we read, "And then this lawless one will be revealed. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all powers, signs, and lying wonders." You see that? His coming is marked by lying wonders. This leader and system is of Satan and is marked by lies. The world will be deceived and may even be deceived into believing he is Christ. They will believe the lie, as it says in verse 10.

Think about that for a moment. God says the lie defines what will happen in the end time. The lie defines what people will believe and fall prey to. They're deceived, and they believe the lie, the Bible says, because they don't know the truth. God is in control. He allows mankind to make a choice between His way and the way of Satan. He wants us to see the end results of the way we choose. When God is not part of society, Satan is. And where Satan is, lies, deception, division, hate, and misery follow. Only through God and Jesus Christ do we find truth, peace, joy, and life. Make no mistake about it. We are in the time of a clash between the powers of good and evil. What will you choose? Will you choose the way of truth and life, or will you follow the way of lies and death? God and Jesus Christ will triumph over Satan, and he will be put away when Christ returns and sets up His kingdom on earth. That kingdom will be a place of peace, safety, joy, and life. You can choose that way now and choose truth and life just as God admonishes us to do in Deuteronomy 30:19.

Do you want to understand the Bible? Do you want to understand God's plan and what is really going on in the world today? We can help you understand the reality of what's happening today, and we can help you deal with that reality. We can help you find peace in these troubled times, and we can help you find the hope and strength to see you through. That only comes through the knowledge of the truth and faith and trust in God and Jesus Christ. Turn to Him. Turn to truth and live. Turn away from lies and death. There's so much more to say about this. Find us and learn more than we can say here at ucg.org/thelie. And while you're at it, if you want to learn more about what the Bible says about world events and what lies ahead, take the time to subscribe to this channel and leave us a comment.