Introduction

In my observation, I find many things quite intriguing. Near my mother's house, a Happy Oldies Club opened, where many elderly folks queued up to hand over their money. The promoters spoke eloquently, promising lucrative returns in just three months. Seeing this, everyone rushed to join the line. My mother was tempted and secretly invested some money despite my advice against it. Eventually, the Happy Oldies Club shut down, the owner vanished, and the money was lost.

Many people's life savings went down the drain, allured by the Happy Oldies Club. These investors witnessed countless people queuing to deposit money and others withdrawing it. Some, after retrieving their money, were coaxed into reinvesting it. Only a fraction managed to recover their funds; the vast majority did not.

Why did this happen? Because these people were deluded. In their confusion, they lined up to give away money, believing they could profit. Those who are confused and deluded are generally ignorant. If they had known it was a Ponzi scheme, they wouldn't have queued up to hand over their money. People perish for lack of knowledge. We must not be ignorant.

The quality of one's life hinges on how often one is deceived. Frequent deception can be fatal! One sister invested 700,000 online, another 2 million, all lost, and nothing could dissuade them! When one sister invested, I urged her to withdraw her money, but she procrastinated, unwilling to do so.

People perish for lack of knowledge. Why is this so? Wasn't it you who personally queued to deposit the money? Didn't you transfer it yourself? This delusion is powerful. There are many con artists in this generation! Out of 1.1 billion people, a billion are conning, and even more are being conned! Both the swindlers and the swindled are deluded. Our investigations reveal that both groups end up living miserable lives because evil spirits are at work!

Today, I am striving to help you become outstanding Christians, not muddled ones. This generation is rife with muddled Christians, staggeringly so. What are these people thinking? This is the theme I want to share today: Watch and Pray, Lest You Enter into Temptation.

Scripture

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Mark 14:38)

Prayer

Lord, grant us wisdom and understanding today, that we may be filled with the knowledge of you in all spiritual understanding, lest we fall into delusion. Lord, enable us to watch and pray, resist the devil, and continually overcome through the Holy Spirit. Lord, grant us willing hearts today, so that our flesh may no longer be weak. Lord, help us to overcome the evil desires of the flesh, that we may be strengthened and enter into your will, able to bear the destiny of this generation. In Jesus Christ’s name, Amen!

Background of the Scripture

The background of this passage is quite interesting, depicting an incomprehensible phenomenon. Jesus was about to be betrayed and crucified, a fate he knew was imminent. In his distress, he prayed in Gethsemane. After a few prayers, he returned to find many asleep. Jesus said to them, Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

After saying this, Jesus went to pray again. Upon returning, he found them asleep once more, and after waking them, they fell asleep again. This passage describes such a scene. Did these disciples understand what was about to happen?

Though they followed Jesus, they didn't comprehend what they witnessed. Immediately afterward, Judas arrived with men to arrest Jesus, and the disciples fled. At this moment, the disciples must have felt extremely confused: Isn't this Jesus who resurrected? Isn't this the one who fed five thousand with five loaves and two fish? Why was he so easily arrested? They were deluded because they didn't understand. Why didn't they understand? Because people only focus on the living. A dead camel is bigger than a horse, but it is still dead. After Jesus was arrested, people focused on their own survival, instinctively reacting with fleshly responses when their lives were threatened.

Why were the people we discussed earlier deceived? Because they were ignorant of the deception, believing they would profit. We often think we are living well, but we are not. There are too many things we cannot understand today. The arrest of Jesus deeply affected the disciples.

Today, we often struggle to understand the Bible. David was anointed king of Israel but was hunted and on the run for 13 years. Joseph had a dream of saving his family, but he was sold into Egypt, endured ten years of labor, and three years of imprisonment. We don't understand these things. We say our God is all-powerful, so why couldn't he change these events? Actually, God's wisdom far exceeds human wisdom. It's okay if we don't understand, but we must know how God works.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Therefore, our mortal bodies often fall into weakness. We must address this issue from its roots today. Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified. Without the suffering of Jesus, how could there be the resurrection? If there was no resurrection, how could the Holy Spirit descend? Without the Holy Spirit, how could we have victory today? It is all because Jesus Christ offered himself that we have grace from heaven. Today, we must continually cast off worldly values.

We often talk about loving God wholeheartedly. If you do, you will not easily be deceived. If you love the world wholeheartedly, you will be deceived. How many of us are being deceived daily, struggling to survive?

Satan Is the Deceiver

There is a being called Satan, who specializes in deceiving people.

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:9)

We deeply despise Satan, the deceiver, but Satan is necessary. We often ask God, God, why did you allow so many people to be deceived by the Happy Oldies Club? In fact, all those who are deceived deserve it. Deceived people have one thing in common: they personally handed over their money. Today, when we encounter deception, we must take responsibility. Even if you are a prophet, you will be destroyed God will eliminate you from Israel if you are deceived. Today, we must recognize the devices of the devil.

Recently, our church has been battling the devil, engaging in one exciting battle after another! I think life would be boring without the devil. The presence of the devil makes it more engaging! Now it is huang pi zi, Other times, it is lao ma…This makes my life very thrilling. Even today, delusion is still causing trouble. What would happen if a prophet were deceived? God would cut him off from Israel.

Who is responsible when people are deceived? They are! Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent and ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Who was ultimately responsible? Adam and Eve themselves! As the saying goes, Flies don't land on eggs without cracks. Deceiving people is Satan's job, but why are people deceived? Because there are cracks in their hearts. Thus, don't focus on solving Satan's problem; focus on why you are susceptible to deception.

Satan Deceives Through Fleshly Desires

Satan deceives people through their fleshly desires. This is interesting. Some pray, God, please don't let me be deceived by the devil! But such prayers are not very effective because people are deceived due to their own fleshly desires. If people cannot eliminate their fleshly desires, they are enemies of God! They cannot return to God and ultimately face destruction.

Satan's work is effective because it exposes people's fleshly desires. Without these desires, worldly values, and fleshly logic, Satan cannot deceive you!

Many years ago, my mother was walking down the street and found a large, glittering gold ring. A young man approached her and said, I also saw the gold ring on the ground. Since it's unclaimed, let's split it. But they had no tools to divide such a big gold ring on the street. The young man suggested, How about you give me the small gold ring you're wearing, and you take the big one? My mother thought it was a good idea and agreed. When she got home, she realized the big ring was made of copper! She regretted it immensely!

Why did this happen? Because people have fleshly desires, wanting to take advantage. If you always think about taking advantage, you will likely be deceived. How can I teach everyone to be wise today? Don't just think about making money and taking advantage, for that's when people get deceived. Exchanging a large gold ring for a small one might seem reasonable, but a large copper ring can never compare to a small gold ring! This is no joke.

1 Timothy states:

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. (1 Timothy 6:9)

Desiring to be rich leads to temptation, ruin, and destruction. We want to be rich, but we can't quite explain why. Making money and having a lot of it—what's the use? It's not clear. These fleshly reasons are illogical. Even officials who joined before liberation and enjoy good treatment in their old age still use wheelchairs and suffer! We think money can solve problems, but it can't solve the wheelchair problem! Getting rich doesn't solve many problems; it plunges people into delusion.

There are many forms of fleshly things: ignorance, disobedience, being deceived, lusts, pleasures, malice, envy, hatred… (See Titus 3:3) These are all fleshly things. People don't realize how Satan uses these things to deceive us.

In the time of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, there was a prophet whom God used greatly, named Balaam. He lived in the wilderness. As the Israelites passed through Moab, the king of Moab, seeing he couldn't defeat them, sought spiritual help. He hired a prophet to curse the Israelites. Balaam knew about blessings and curses; he knew that if people were cursed, they wouldn't prosper. Prophet Balaam's words always came true. So the king of Moab sent people with treasures to find him. Balaam saw the treasures and forgot he was a prophet. He felt his days of poverty were over. So this prophet who had never seen the world—it's dangerous for a prophet to be poor and unworldly—was captivated by the glittering treasures.

Balaam asked God, God, can I go to the king of Moab? God said, No. We can imagine Balaam's thoughts: Why can't I go? The gold and silver treasures are so good! I've never seen them before! He was driven by fleshly desires. Lying in bed at night, Balaam imagined what he could do with so much wealth. Like many people today, he fantasized about owning a Lamborghini: When you sit in the car and step on the gas, the sound is whoosh, the power is strong, and the attention you get! It's so good!

The result was that Balaam asked God, God, how can you block my path to wealth? Balak asked Balaam to curse the israelites.
God still didn't allow him to go. Balaam was still living in a dream and refused to wake up, he was too conflicted. Balaam dreamed of his Lamborghini, he was about to lose all these, how could he lose this great opportunity?

The huang pi zi and Lao Ma, or all kinds of Ponzi schemes are all aroud us. The parties are completely muddled, and they think they can make a lot of money. As a result, Balaam asked God: God, can I go? God said: no.

In the third days, Balaam asked God agian God, can I go? This time, God agreed, told him to go.

What would be the end? The bIble numerics record Balaka does not curse israelites. He also give some evil plan to Balak.

Did Balaam got the treasure? No one knew. He was death in the camp.

But Balaam see the gold and silver. The Satan use the fleshlydesier to harm people. To the flesh is harm. If yuo are cheted, you have pay for that. What drive you to be cheted? Desire to become rich. I give me your money and I return you becoming rich.

So, if person of ignorance, rebelious, being decieve serving all kinds of lust. We examine what it is inside.

Why they obey themselves/ The God is not living but live of God the image of glory.

Is Balak got enought treasure to live a imagine of glory? You can't. So one in heart covet is not image of glory.

When the Jesus comeback, they are sleep. Holy spirt and fighting. Why we are not move Satan away. We most move the sinful desire.

Satan entice Jesus ot kill people directly. He asked Jesus change the store to bread. In battle, Jesus win. And not tell what happens.The dialog is great.

Living is not eating. It is God. Jesus not go under the fake faith to prove himself. He does not try to test him.
We win again.

The devil brought him to the highest mountain and gives him all the glory if he worship. Jesus tell him to leave.
After reading the speech, we want to wonder. How is that?
The main part is Jesus has no sinful desire. He wants to compelete God. Who does no mission. Don't blame God.
So we begin to.

Satan entrap people is about sinful desire.
We can not be move by the devil and we most to keep warning.

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## Satan Deceives People Through Flattery

> I want you to know how hard I am contending for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. (Colossians 2:1-4)

Satan is very fond of deceiving people with flattery, which I have experienced many times. Once, a new person came to our church. At that time, I was leading a study on Genesis. As a result, one of our Christians, who had been with us for some time, said to the newcomer, Are you sure Pastor Liu is right? This single Are you sure? confused the newcomer.

Later, I discovered that to corrupt people and release deception, you don't need to explain anything. Just saying a few words like, Are you sure?, Maybe?, Really? can confuse people.

Another time, I was ministering to someone whose grandfather got up and walked. The preacher of their local church said it was charismatic activity, which confused those people and led them to say that I was a heretic. I found it very strange that enabling an old man to walk became heresy, while their inability to enable an old man to walk became orthodoxy. That's how people are.

Flattery comes from the earliest days in Genesis:

> Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)

Our sisters must constantly improve in understanding and resist the lies of the devil. The devil's words to the woman were very convoluted; this is flattery.

## Constantly Improve in Understanding and Resist the Lies of the Devil

Our sisters must constantly improve in understanding and resist the lies of the devil. The devil's words to the woman were very convoluted; this is flattery.

The Scripture says:

> Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:1-6)

The serpent said to the woman, Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'? These words are very convoluted; this is called flattery. Satan's language skills are first-rate. This “Are you sure?” is definitely flattery. One thing is certain: it is deceptive. This is called flattery; just a few words can deceive.

When people are deceived, they only see the profit and not the loss. If you think carefully about the state people are in before they are scammed—Wow! I'm going to get rich!—in the end, they don't get rich but are scammed. How wonderful this project looks! How wonderful this investment plan is! It is pleasing to the eye and desirable, and it makes people wise. It looks so cost-effective, but eating it is the end.

So today, you must know that Satan deceives people through flattery. Today, our church has a characteristic: speaking directly, yes is yes, and no is no. Some people say that your Chinese Mingding Destiny is heresy, saying a lot of things, that this is wrong and that is wrong. Then I can only say that I may be wrong, but I am **constantly seeking because our knowledge of God is endless.** If today we are wrong in some area and then become heretical, then there are many heresies in Christianity today; the whole world is full of them.

Faced with so much truth, we have tried our best to get to where we are today. There are many things we do not know. Our knowledge of God is just a drop in the ocean; the ocean cannot be measured. All the places we do not understand are based on faith in God to run forward. Mysteries belong to God; there are many things we do not know. Some things are still not right; if they are fixed, they will be easily solved.

Some people say, I said that five years ago, and I say this today. Was I wrong five years ago, or am I wrong today? Five years ago, I was at that level; today, I have grown, and my views on things are different. Can I be the same today as I was five years ago? Perhaps the vision five years from now will be more in-depth than today because we are constantly seeking. Some people are like this, nitpicking and liking to find fault. If you can find it, I am very grateful to you.

Never treat Chinese Mingding Destiny as something dead. We will not nail this thing down and say it is always like this. Today, we have summed up these things. After a few years, we will sum up more. Won't there be more then? So brothers and sisters must know not to be deceived by flattery. They want to deceive me and make me constantly prove that my Chinese Mingding Destiny is absolutely correct. I won't prove it. What's the point of proving that?

I also want to prove that we must constantly know the word of God and be filled with the knowledge of God in our understanding. Then, grow to the stature of Jesus Christ. But one thing I know is that until today, we have been practicing and knowing God in the process of putting His word into practice. It is definitely not flattery.

**Satan is very good at deceiving people with flattery. So what should we do? We must be careful, strive for holiness, and be vigilant in prayer, truly understanding the word of God.** Recently, someone sent me a message saying, Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses. However, Jesus said:

> He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. (Luke 19:26)

If you say it this way, isn't this a contradiction? Isn't Jesus going to be cursed? Look at how you read the Bible. I think today we need to know that **there are many pitfalls in the Bible. Whether you fall into them or are crushed by this rock of Jesus Christ, you must establish a systematic theological system.** How can flattery deceive you?

Satan and Jesus crossed paths entirely on a dialogue of language and understanding. If today you do not know or understand God's will in your understanding, and you stop learning and improving from the age of 40, then you will definitely have dementia at the age of 80.

People's lack of understanding of things is fatal. The Bible says that you **must be vigilant in prayer, not confused prayer. If people do not know in their understanding, confused prayer is useless. What is vigilance? It is knowing God simultaneously in understanding and spirituality.**

This is very interesting. When my mother was deceived by the fox spirit, she liked to say one sentence: I pray. Then she started to pray, but it was useless. She couldn't deal with it, couldn't deal with spirits like snakes and fox spirits. The lies released behind them are very powerful. No matter how you think about it, people think the lies released by evil spirits are right because they don't understand in their understanding.

For example, when my mother was deceived by the fox spirit, she thought, I'm old, I'm useless, and I live under someone else's roof. Look, my son scolds me and criticizes me, and my daughter also scolds me and criticizes me. What's the point of me living? You say she is always confused. Is it okay not to train her or take care of her? If you don't care about her, aren't you hurting her? But the devil will release such lies.

The devil releases lies to keep her from knowing in her understanding and then uses a religious prayer, thinking that this religious prayer can solve the problem.

> For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, (Colossians 1:9)

I am leading everyone in studying Colossians. We must know God in our understanding. If people do not know God in their understanding, they will be deceived as soon as the devil deceives them. You will find that the devil and Jesus respond to each other in understanding.

## Satan Deceives People Through the Spirit of Religion

Many years ago, a Korean pastor came to visit me. After he entered my house, he sat on the sofa and kept praying with his head down. I said, What's wrong with you? He was still praying there and started talking after praying for 20 minutes. I thought, What's wrong with him? Later, my friend explained it to me. That's how he is; he prays first when he arrives at someone else's house.

I said, Isn't this a religious stick? He could have prayed at home before coming in! In my house on my sofa, I really wanted to kick him out and see if there were any evil spirits in my house. I thought he was sick and uncomfortable. It's a religious disease. I don't care much about it. Doesn't it look annoying to people who don't know him? This kind of religious spirit is very harmful. It's a very strange thing. I really don't know what they are doing!

When have you ever seen Jesus in the Bible go to the homes of tax collectors and sinners, not eat with them, and hide in a corner to pray! Never! Never in the Four Gospels. When Jesus arrived at people's homes, Jesus was God, incarnated and came into this world, but He lived out the life of a completely normal person.

Jesus went to other people's wedding banquets. When there was no wine, Jesus turned water into wine. He was a very normal person. When Jesus arrived at the homes of tax collectors and sinners, He was not like a religious stick. Today, there are actually many things that need to be dealt with among us.

One of our sisters, her father passed away, and she felt uncomfortable inside! Relatives and friends came to visit and attend the funeral. She felt uncomfortable and hid in a corner to pray, ignoring people. She righteously thought she was normal and reasonable! Don't you think people looked at her like a monster? Your own father died, and people came. You should entertain them. It's something a person should do!

Religion doesn't solve any problems. Satan deceives people through religion. Once a person has a love for the world, he pushes you into loving the world and indulging the flesh. If a person has a love for God, he cannot make you love the world, so he pushes you into religion. So today, our brothers and sisters must be vigilant in prayer, not pretending to be religious.

Later, I ministered to this sister and her daughter. They argued endlessly. According to religious taste, I did not! They didn't give me time to speak at all, but thank God that we really tore down this deceptive thing, so that our brothers and sisters really had a clearer understanding of the spirit of religion.

Religion is very harmful. If we do not know in our understanding, for example, Peter, that is, the Peter who wrote 1 Peter and 2 Peter, when Peter saw people coming from James, this James was Jesus Christ's biological brother, that is, the James who wrote James, and there was also a Judas who wrote Judas. These were Jesus Christ's two biological brothers. Peter was afraid when he saw people from James because people from James insisted on keeping the circumcision and insisted that Jews could not eat with Gentiles. Peter was afraid because he did not know in his understanding. Of course, we are not qualified to criticize Peter, but we are qualified to quote Paul's words. When Paul saw that Peter's actions were not right, he directly rebuked Peter and corrected this problem! It seems that he also changed a little!

## Conclusion

What Peter had inside was a religious taste, which easily leads people into fear and confusion. We need to know that the devil not only deceives people through carnal desires but also deceives people through flattery and religion. If we can overcome the flesh, flattery, and the control of religion, we will be able to recover more lost ground in spiritual warfare and see God's promises more fulfilled among us.

We must begin to imitate the Lord Jesus. Not only must we know God in our understanding, but we must also obtain power from the Holy Spirit in our spirituality. **The most important thing is to be vigilant and pray. Vigilance is vigilance in understanding, plus spiritual prayer.** In this way, we will not fall into the devil's tricks in our understanding, and we will be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit in our spirituality. We must systematically know God in our understanding and no longer live in a state of ignorance.

In all things, we must know one thing: when we completely dedicate ourselves to God and give ourselves, how can we be deceived? When Jesus Christ said, Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation, He wanted to dedicate Himself completely, be nailed to the cross, and give up His life. This is an example of giving.

If we all receive our destiny and live completely for God from now on, to become a blessing to this generation, imitating Jesus Christ, we will cause the captives to be released, the oppressed to be freed, the prisoners to be released from prison, and to preach the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ. When God's word becomes the goal of our life, how can you be deceived?

A person who is greedy for life and afraid of death cannot preach the pure gospel. A person who lives for the flesh cannot avoid being deceived. The control of religion is through the carnal feelings produced within us. What does it matter if carnal feelings are bad? I often have bad feelings myself. What does it matter? I completely dedicate myself to God, so that more people can be blessed through us, know Jesus Christ through us, and become a person with a destiny. Isn't this the key to living a wonderful life?

May God bless everyone!