In Matthew 24:13, Jesus said that many people will be deceived by the false prophets. This echoes what God told the His people in the Old Testament. In other words, the ministry of the false prophets is not new. These false prophets are doubtlessly living in sin and unfortunately, many are partakers of their sins. Sin is a grievous wound in the lives of believers. Sin can withhold good things from us. In Jeremiah 5:25-31, God lambastes these false prophets who deceive His people with false hope and would not allow them to enjoy the good things God had prepared for them:
Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
We must therefore strive to endure till the end because these false prophets want our salvation aborted and we cannot afford to allow this. That is why the Lord admonishes us to get rid of these besetting sins: "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1). The enemy wants to distract us. An over-comer is the person who endures till the end.
Prophetic Word: "The worst thing you can get is to pay for something you can get freely."
*This message was preached by Apostle Toni Ogobegwu on September 11 2005.
