Daniel LaLond Jr.

On Deception: An Intellectual Black Hole

Surely none of us are immune to deception. Jesus warns: "Take heed that no man deceive you" (Matt 24:4). To whom was Christ addressing His warning? Is it possible that He addressed the people of God...those in the Christian church? 

Deceive. Dee - seev. Two small syllables denoting one horrific disaster. Two short steps into an intellectual black hole from which most never return. To deceive, says Webster’s dictionary, is “to make (a person) believe what is not true; delude; mislead.” Deception causes its adherent to see what is not there or to miss the obvious. Like being certain that black is white, the deceived are convinced wrong is right. Regarding spiritual matters, the twisted reality of the deceived has exchanged light for darkness and the truth of God for a lie.

Are you now deceived dear reader? Such a question may seem ridiculous. If you are at all like me, “No!” would likely be your answer. Ironically, the vast majority plodding the dusty terrain of this celestial sphere consider themselves deception free regarding the eternal truths of God though diametrically opposed belief systems abound. Simply question a Satanist or an abortionist, ask a cultist or a racist if deception rules his reason. What will he say? He, like the rest of the populace, will resolutely declare, “Certainly not!” The deceived thus demonstrate the most frightening aspect of deception - ignorance. They do not know they are deceived; even worse, many close their eyes even to the possibility of their own deception.

“A deceived heart hath turned him aside,” warned the prophet, “that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?’” (Isa 44:20). The deceived cannot say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” not because they lack the power of speech, but because they lack the power of insight. They do not even realize that there is a lie in their hands. Like a person nonchalantly driving down the road without brake lights, the deceived are utterly oblivious, “turned aside,” completely unaware of the potential peril to which they are vulnerable. How many dear reader, at this moment, believe they may sin and “not surely die,” as did Eve? How many reading this very page are turned aside in this way by a deceived heart and cannot say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

Lest the descendants of Adam be tempted to cast a stone of judgment and contempt at the error of their father, the second Adam warned, “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matt 24:4). If the perfect pair of antiquity could be led astray, how much more may their less than perfect children be led astray? How much more so you or I?

Aware of human propensities to deception, Paul confessed, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor. 11:3). Friend, are we any less susceptible to deception than were our perfect parents? May the warnings of Jesus and Paul lend the deathblow to pride. Eve’s deception may be our deception and Adam’s delusion… our delusion. Satan’s lying promise of paradise may be the very lie in our own right hands, deceiving our hearts and turning us aside. Truly, deception is no respecter of persons, like bats in trees, its gangly knees swing from truth - seeing eyes to seize.

Article Tags: Intellectual Black Hole, Intellectual Black, Black Hole

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