The Destruction of Deception and Disobedience

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Short Summary
The discourse explains God’s plan to eradicate deception and disobedience through Christ’s mediatorial reign, beginning with addressing disobedience and culminating in the final removal of deception. It highlights how deception initiated the fall through Lucifer and the serpent, leading to humanity’s disobedience, and how the kingdom will first restore obedience by locking away deception during the millennium. Finally, after a final test of loyalty when Satan is briefly released, all opposition is destroyed, death is abolished, and God’s perfect kingdom is fully established.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary: The Destruction of Deception and Disobedience

Opening Scripture & Theme
– Isaiah 11:9: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
– This prophecy points to the hope of a future peaceful kingdom where disobedience and deception will be completely eradicated.
– The discourse emphasizes two key concepts: disobedience and deception, and explores their distinct roles in God’s plan and their ultimate destruction.

Foundation: The Ransom and Resurrection
– The plan begins with Christ’s ransom sacrifice and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
– Christ is the “firstfruits” of those resurrected, showing the power of resurrection and the promise of life for all in due order.
– Paul’s focus is on the end goal—destruction of death (1 Corinthians 15:24-26) and the authority Christ will exercise to bring this about.

Authority & Subjection
– Paul highlights the subjection of all things under Christ’s feet (1 Corinthians 15:27-28).
– The Greek term for “subjection” implies military-style strong authority.
– Eventually, after Christ’s mediatorial reign, all authority will be handed back to God, “that God may be all in all.”
– The destruction of death and disobedience will be the last steps in God’s comprehensive plan.

The Beginning of the Problem: Deception Introduced First
– The problem started with deception introduced by Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-15).
– Lucifer’s pride and secret ambition to be “like the Most High” was a deception held internally before manifesting outwardly.
– This deception led to disobedience—disobedience is internal personal choice, whereas deception is external misleading.
– The death sentence came through disobedience, which was triggered by deception.

The Role of Deception in Humanity’s Fall
– In Genesis 3, the serpent (Satan) deceives Eve by mixing truth with lies (Genesis 3:1-6).
– The serpent’s craftiness involved engaging in dialogue, listening, and twisting God’s command.
– Eve’s disobedience followed deception: lust of the flesh (tree was good for food), lust of the eyes (delight to the eyes), and pride of life (desire to be wise) — 1 John 2:16 outlines these three temptations.
– Adam also disobeyed by choice, following Eve’s lead.

Disobedience Pattern & Jesus’ Example
– Jesus faced similar temptations (Matthew 4:3-10) but resisted through:
– Selfless perseverance (rejecting lust of flesh),
– Humble loyalty (rejecting pride),
– Single-minded purpose (rejecting lust of eyes).
– Jesus’ faithfulness disrupted the pattern of disobedience.

Current Age: Prevalence of Disobedience
– The church in Laodicea exemplifies disobedience through spiritual blindness, arrogance, and nakedness (Revelation 3:17-19).
– Remedies involve gold refined by fire (for pride), white garments (covering for nakedness), and anointing eyes to see (for blindness).

Mediatorial Reign: Locking Away Deception
– Revelation 20:1-3 describes Satan being bound and sealed in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years to prevent deception.
– Deception is completely restrained during Christ’s reign, enabling a period free from misleading influence.
– This allows humanity to confront and correct disobedience without deception.

Purpose of the Mediatorial Reign
– It provides a time and place for all to learn obedience and be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-6).
– Those resurrected have clear understanding and no deception clouding their choices.
– Support and teaching come from faithful ones, enabling growth in truth and righteousness (1 Peter 2:9).

Final Test of Obedience
– At the end of the reign, a test separates those who obey from those who don’t (Matthew 25:31-40).
– This test focuses on outward acts of obedience to God’s laws and care for others.
– The greatest commandments involve wholehearted love for God and neighbor (Mark 12:28-31).

Ultimate Loyalty Test & Final Destruction of Deception
– After perfect obedience is established, a final test of ultimate loyalty takes place.
– Satan is released for a “little season” (Revelation 20:7-9) to attempt to deceive nations (Gog and Magog).
– This is not a physical war but a test of loyalty; fire from heaven instantly devours the rebellious.
– The destruction of deception follows the destruction of disobedience.
– This final judgment confirms complete righteousness and loyalty, wiping out all remnants of sin.

Conclusion: God’s Perfect Plan
– Death and disobedience are destroyed in order: disobedience first, then deception.
– God’s plan started with deception causing death and disobedience but will end with their total eradication.
– The final kingdom is peaceful, with people living securely under God’s law (Micah 4:1-4).
– Believers are encouraged to remain faithful unto death to inherit this kingdom.

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Key Bible Verses Cited:
– Isaiah 11:9
– 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
– Revelation 20:1-9
– Isaiah 14:12-15
– Ezekiel 28:12-15
– Genesis 3:1-6, 13
– 1 John 2:16
– Matthew 4:3-10
– Revelation 3:17-19
– 1 Timothy 2:3-6
– 1 Peter 2:9
– Matthew 25:31-40
– Mark 12:28-31
– Micah 4:1-4

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This discourse presents a comprehensive biblical framework demonstrating the sequential destruction of disobedience and deception through Christ’s mediatorial reign, culminating in a final test of loyalty, and resulting in the full establishment of God’s kingdom where peace, righteousness, and eternal life prevail.

Transcript

The destruction of deception and disobedience. Isaiah chapter 11, verse 9 reads, they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Brethren, this is one of many prophecies that boldly show us the grand hopes and expectations of the kingdom, and as we look forward. I’m sorry.

As we look around at the condition of this present, even world, we long for this peaceable kingdom to be fully and forever established. Now, this kingdom, based upon the mediatorial reign of Christ in the church, will thoroughly root out all disobedience and deception. If you haven’t figured it out yet, there’s two key words for this next 45 minutes, disobedience and deception. We’re going to be circling around those two words. The Scriptures show us many details about this process for permanently rooting out disobedience and say very little about the permanent removal of deception.

It’s kind of an interesting correlation there. So today we’re briefly going to examine the distinct roles that disobedience and deception are allowed to play in God’s plan and further observe how they will each be thoroughly and eternally destroyed. So just a couple of minutes of setting groundwork that you already know. Obviously, this all begins with the ransom. In 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul lays out clear reasoning regarding Jesus’s role and resurrection and how his sacrifice triggers the glory of God’s plan.

Nothing new here. First Corinthians 15, 20, 23. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits, and afterwards they that are Christ said his coming. There’s simplicity here. The simplicity is obvious. The power of the resurrection is overwhelming. Now, Paul continues in his discussion on this, and there are two overriding themes that he’s going to focus on.

First, the apostle is going to clarify the destruction of death. So what he’s doing is he just as he describes the ransom, is he’s going to begin with the end in mind, and yes, that is a phrase from Stephen Covey’s book, the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. But that’s what he’s doing. First Corinthians 15, 24, 26.

Then comes the end when he hands over the kingdom to God and has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. The last enemy. There’s no more left. It’s the last one.

He’s beginning with the end. The statement shows us that when all of God’s plan of reconciliation for heaven and earth has been completed, the final expression of this thorough rehabilitation is the destruction of death itself. So scripturally, this is the very last reconciliation step, and it happens during the little season which is mentioned in Revelation chapter 20, which we’ll see is the end of the story. Revelation 20, verses 7 through 9.

We’re going to come back to these verses briefly later. When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for war. The number of them is like the sand of the seashore, and they will come up to the broad plane of the earth and surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire will come down from heaven and devour them. Now I want to add two words to the end of that verse. Fire will come down from heaven and devour them.

The end.

Remember this. This is important. So Paul starts with the end in mind, so to speak, and then he continues back in First Corinthians by focusing on authority. This is also important. As we will see, this authority is clear and powerful long before the eradication of death.

And these next verses in 1st Corinthians 15:27-28, the apostle Paul is going to use the word subjection six times in two verses means we should pay attention. The word for subjection means to subordinate strong. 50, 293 from the commentary in the English lexicon. In the Greek English lexicon, it says a Greek military term meaning to arrange troop divisions in a military fashion under the command of a leader. So it’s about strong authority that’s going to bring about the destruction of death.

So I’ll add a couple of names in these verses to get the point of the what the apostle is saying. So we go to First Corinthians 15:27,28. For he has put, he’s placed, he’s put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he God says all things are put in subjection, it’s evident that he God is expect, is accepted. In other words, he’s not part of this.

Who put all things in subjection to him? Christ. So it’s saying God is above this subjection. Everything else is under Christ, Paul continues, and all things are subjected to him, to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all.

Now think about this. Death is destroyed and then God is all in all. That’s the formula that we’re looking to develop here. After the authority of Christ has been absolutely completed, all authority will then be handed back to Jehovah, God. Disobedience and death will then be only known in the spiritual and earthly world as necessary experiences in conquest and and consequences from a long time past.

So why does the apostle start with the end when he’s doing this explanation? Why does he start with the destruction of death and end with the process of the authority that gets you there? How come he starts with the end and then sort of fills in the gaps? We’re going to make a suggestion here, and it’s a suggestion that he is alluding to the way all of the trouble in heaven and earth began in the first place. So the suggestion is that this final destruction cancels the first introduction.

What started things will be finished, will be, will end last. The death sentence was introduced through deception. Deception was first. It was introduced by Lucifer and therefore came from the outside in to the rest of God’s creation. We’ll unfold this in a moment.

The death sentence was applied through disobedience. So it’s introduced through deception. It’s applied through disobedience. Disobedience came second. It was originally a decision which came from the inside out.

That’s what disobedience was. Then it became an inherited defect that would need to be fought against and overcome. Thus the mediatorial reign, the plan for reconciliation of humanity and any of God’s spiritual creation back to him, works in the opposite fashion. It begins. God’s plan begins with addressing disobedience first and then deception last.

Why? Why is it backwards from the way it started? God’s wisdom dictates that the inside, the inside the heart of all of his creation has to first be clearly put in order. All must clearly learn obedience so that they have every capacity to withstand the final test of deception. So deception starts the problem, disobedience finishes the problem.

And now once you rectify it, you work on obedience and then you get rid of deception. Let’s put this in order as to how it’s happened, and then give you some thoughts on what may come about the beginnings of deception first and then disobedience. We want to take a look at this so we can appreciate the wisdom and foresight of our Heavenly Father’s plan. Lucifer’s own disobedience was based on his own secretive and prideful deception. We’re going to read a couple of scriptures, not.

Not dwell on them. These are the scriptures Brother Tom said he wasn’t going to read, but he alluded to this morning. Isaiah 14, 12, 15, how you’ve fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, Son of dawn. You’ve been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations. Verse 13.

But you said in your heart. You didn’t say it out loud. It says you said in your heart, and we all know the verse. I will ascend to heaven.

I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will make myself like the Most High. Nevertheless, you have been thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.

Lucifer kept his prideful ambitions to himself. He kept them in his heart while obeying in action. He was actually living a masterful deception. Take a quick look at Ezekiel. In Ezekiel, Lucifer, we know is prophetic.

We’re going to be looking at Ezekiel 28. He’s prophetically described through the King of Tyre in his outward splendor, might and privilege, as well as his inward deception and evil. So Ezekiel 28, 1217. We’ll just read parts of 12 to 14 or 12 to 15. Thus says the Lord.

You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering. You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were the.

On the holy mountain of God, and then verse 15. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you. Then it talks about his fall. Lucifer is the deceiver.

Put this very deception to work. At the beginning of humanity’s existence. He lived who knows how long that that was in place. Heavenly Father knew. Of course he knew.

But it says you said in your heart until this was found in you. It doesn’t say until it was manifested outside of you. Until the deception was found in you. This is why, brethren, deception is. Is.

Is destroyed at the very end because of how. How devious it actually is. He put, Lucifer, put this deception to work. At the beginning of human creation.

Those who deceive, those who purposefully deceive others engage with their target, drawing them into a space of perceived mutual trust. In Genesis 3:1, it says now, the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and the serpent said to the woman, indeed has God has. God said, shall you not eat of any tree of the garden? Pardon?

Simple question. Engaging a conversation, creating a perceived back and forth. Trust. Those who deceive listen. They listen to their targets.

The serpent. Let eve explain. Genesis 3:2 3. The woman said to the serpent, from the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat it or touch it, or you will die.

You ask the question, you get the answer, and if you’re the deceiver, once you started the process, you got them. Satan knew exactly what he was doing. The third point is those who deceive, they lie. They make themselves believable by mixing what they’re saying with some truth.

And we all know this. Genesis 3:4. The serpent said to the woman, you surely will not die. That’s a lie. That’s an out and out unequivocal lie.

For God knows that the day you eat from from it, your eyes will be opened. That was true. You will be like God. That there was a truth to that, the understanding of good and evil, knowing good and evil. So the deception had done its work.

Eve, we know, would eat of the fruit. We’re laying this out, brother, so we understand how it works, because it’s important to see how it’s eradicated later on. Genesis 3:13. Then the Lord said to the woman, what is this that you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate.

And she was right. Deception was the beginning of what would bring disobedience. This one great deception set in motion the overwhelming power of sin, which is is driven by humanity’s now inherent disloyalty to our Creator. Deception came first, and it opened the door for continual disobedience. Now, in Scripture, there’s a lot of ways we can define disobedience.

We’re going to look at one specific scripture and use it sort of as a, as a pattern check for how it works. We’re going to look at 1 John, chapter 2, verse 16. 1 John 2:16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. Disobedience.

Three areas of life. Disobedience followed as Eve and then Adam acted in defiance of God’s plan. They didn’t plan on acting in defiance of God’s plan. She was deceived and Adam made a choice. But they followed the path of deception.

They were deceived and they took the bait and they walked with it. They would both disobey, and again, Eve because of deception, Adam because of choice.

Genesis 3, 6. We’re going to read Eve’s response and plant, if you will, first John 2:16 into the midst of that response as the pattern for how deception works, how disobedience works. Rather, this is the pattern of disobedience. Now, deception plays a role in all of this, but disobedience is the big thing here. So when the woman.

When Eve saw that the tree was good for food, pause. That’s the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, good for food, feeding my person, the desire of her flesh. She saw it was good for food, that it was a delight to the eyes. Well, that’s pretty obvious. The lust, the desire of the eyes.

And a tree that was desirable to make. One wise pause there. That’s the boastful pride of life. Make me wise, build me up. She took from its fruit and ate it.

She also gave it to her husband with her, and he ate. Thus the pattern for humanity’s disobedience was established. This was a test from Satan, and it worked marvelously. We’re going to see that this pattern is repeated again and again and again. We’re not going to take a lot of time on the repeating of the pattern.

We’re going to touch on just two other examples. But it’s remarkable how these three things, they don’t always have to be present. But this is what disobedience lives off of. This is what it draws from. Satan would use this success and, and.

And always attempt to stimulate disobedience with whomever he was dealing with. Well, he tried it on Jesus. Jesus is baptized and the spirit provokes him into the wilderness for 40 days, and we know of the temptations. Let’s just very briefly touch on this.

Matthew 4, verses 3 and 4. The tempter came to him, came to Jesus and said, if you’re the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. Lust of the flesh. You’re hungry, you can fix that. Why don’t you just do what you know you now have the power to do?

The lust of the flesh. Jesus answer was scripture. It is written, you shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Disobedience was rejected through the power of, of selfless perseverance. Yes, I’m hungry, but it doesn’t matter because that’s not what I’m here for.

And the scriptures put it in order. Satan didn’t stop. Oh no, why stop? Matthew 4, verses 5 through 7. Then the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is commanded, for it is written.

I’m sorry. He will command his angels concerning you and on their hands they will bury you up so you will not strike your foot against the stone. Throw yourself off, let the angels rescue you so everybody can see how great and glorious you are. The boastful pride of life. You know God will protect you.

We both know it. Jesus said to him, sure you, and I’m paraphrasing here, obviously you can quote scripture to me. On the other hand, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Disobedience was here rejected through the power of humble loyalty. Satan didn’t stop third temptation, Matthew 4, 8, 10.

Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdom of the world in their glory, and he said to him, these things I will give to you if you will fall down and worship me. Look. Look at all of this, and that is the lust of the eyes.

Satan tried everything he could. He tried what worked to try to deceive Jesus. Jesus, answer. Go Satan. It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only.

So we can see the methodology of disobedience was completely disrupted by Jesus and his faithfulness.

Disobedience here was rejected by the power of single minded purpose. So we have Jesus’s selfless perseverance, his humble loyalty and his single minded purpose that took the disobedience out of the picture. Well brethren, we’re not like Jesus. Disobedience has reigned in this world. Even now in the seventh stage of the church.

We have to understand and deal with that very, very, very quickly, and we’re just touching on a few things to try to paint a larger picture. Here in Revelation 3:17 it says to the angel of the church in Laodicea, write, because you say that I am rich and I have become wealthy and I have need of nothing. Do you not know that you are wretched and miserable? And then it says and poor and blind and naked.

Britain suggests that poor meaning you think you’re rich and self supporting. You think you’re really good. That’s the boastful pride of life. Blind you think you see and heal eyes because they were known for the eyesav that they produce. That’s the lust of the eyes.

And naked, you think you’re clothed and you’re clothing others you think you’re really, really in good shape. You’ve got it all together. That’s the lust of the flesh. The remedy for these things is in Revelation 3, 18:19. Again, we’re just touching on these things matter for more study at another time.

Revelation 3, 18:19 I advise of you to buy of me gold refined by fire so you may become rich. That’s the remedy for the pride of life. This gold that is refined by fire is the remedy for the pride of life, and white garments, so you may clothe yourself that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed. That’s the remedy for the lust of the flesh.

It’s the covering of Christ, and Isaf to anoint your eyes so that you may truly see, spiritually see. The remedy for the lust of the eyes, and then he says in verse 19, those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Therefore be zealous and repent.

So, brethren, deception has been and still is easily accessed and incredibly powerful as a tool of Satan throughout all of humanity’s history, and that was the point of this last 10 or 15 minutes. Establish that disobedience is just a commonly repetitive thing. Deception is there, but the disobedience is that internal personal choice that happens again and again and again and again and again. One small drop of deception into anything with pure intentions is all that’s needed to stimulate or potentially stimulate disobedience.

Such a process, left to itself brings destruction and death.

So we live in the age of disobedience, which started with deception. Now, what Jehovah our Almighty Father saw fit to arrange for the locking away of all possible deceptions during the mediatorial reign, said, okay, once it comes time, what we’re going to do is we’re going to take the deception part and we are going to completely remove it from the equation. Let’s go to Revelation chapter 20. We read a few verses earlier. Let’s go back to Revelation 21:3.

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and shot him up and set A seal upon him that he should deceive the nations. No more till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season. So let’s understand, without getting into the prophetic aspect of this, this is not a revelation study, but let’s understand that the methodology here is to say, in the mediatorial reign, the one thing that I am unequivocally removing is the potential for deception.

It will be locked away in all of its forms, and I love the way it reads that it will be old. Where is it? That’s on the bottom. Spit. Shut him up and set a seal upon him.

It’s not like you just say, okay, just stay there. You shut it up, you lock it down, and then you seal the lock. You make sure there is no deception. So with deception completely restrained, as the scripture says, this is how the battle against disobedience unfolds. Because now what we have to do is correct to disobedience, because that’s the first part of the corrective measures.

The Messianic reign is for the purpose of providing a time and a place to recognize all sin and disobedience. It comes completely equipped with a mediator. First Timothy and these. You know this. First Timothy 2, 3, 6.

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there’s one God and one mediator between God and men. The man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified. In due time, God will have all men to be saved, and the assurance of that will is that there is no deception possible.

So in the resurrection, they have a clear pathway to be able to choose and understand without that little drop of deception that says, well, how about doing it this way instead? That would only come inside of each individual. So when you have that potential only now from the inside of each individual, this kingdom is also equipped with the powerful tools of righteousness, teaching and support through those who have already proven faithful, telling you things you already know. First Peter 2, 9. You’re a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Understand that the trials and difficulties of our lives now are for the very purpose of putting that mediatorial reign to work in such an effective way that it could actually bring billions and billions and billions of people through this reconciliation process. There’s no deception allowed. It’s locked down, it’s gone. All they have surrounding them is truth, righteousness and the experiences of those who were faithful to drive them forward.

We’ve got the end of the messianic reign. The final tests of that age of reconciliation will be those of obedience, of being sure that every outward action, those are important words, every outward action of obedience, of all of humanity will be in perfect accordance with each and every godly principle of the new covenant that is growing amongst them, and we know that the final test of that mediatorial reign is described in the parable of the sheep and the goats, and this is all about obedience. Let’s look at Matthew 25:31, 40 again.

We’re touching on a lot of things without getting into a lot of deep, deep details, because we’re trying to lay out a broad picture. Matthew 25, verses 31 to 40. But when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne, and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right hand, come, you are blessed of my Father.

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I was naked and you clothed me.

I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me, and then the righteous will answer him and say, wait, wait, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty or give you something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?

And the king will answer and say to them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, to that extent you have done it to me. So the lesson is, and we know that the goats say, well, we didn’t see you in those situations, and the whole point was to be able to observe your environment, to recognize the righteousness that has been taught for all of those hundreds of years of every individual’s life. So you can say it applies to everyone equally, no matter what, and obedience reigns, you know, in.

In Mark 12:28, 31, one of the scribes came and asked Jesus about the foremost commandment, and we all know his answer. He says, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and your strength and your neighbor as yourself. Well, at the end of this mediatorial reign, this test, this deep test of obedience shows us it’s a test that requires the full and complete observation of heartfelt compliance to God’s laws. There is a heartfelt compliance to everyone who continues beyond this. It’s a test that will weed out any and all nominal fulfillment of those laws.

There is no faking it. You do recognize the beauty of life and the wonder of righteousness. There’s no, oh, faith, and yet there’s no nominal fulfillment. There’s no fulfilling it in name only.

After this test of obedience will ring true in every heart and every mind will be driver of the strength of every being, just like Jesus said in all of God’s creation. So now we have this situation where everything’s great, everybody is in compliance. Those who have chosen to not be in compliance, they’re off the scene. They everything is great. You can’t get better than this.

So we have to go the next step. After this very long and sufficient time of learning and growing and reconciling in accordance with God’s principles, one final test will be administered with the oversight of Christ in the church. This test will fully and finally test the core values of each and every heart, as it will not only look upon what every being in every heaven and earth does, but what every being in heaven and earth holds as their supreme loyalty. Just as the very first test was one of deception, so the very last test will be one of deception, and this, brethren, is not merely about obedience.

It’s about ultimate pure loyalty. So this has been put aside. The world has been given this incredible opportunity to embrace obedience, to learn in an environment where everything is exactly the way for them to be able to absorb it and to make it their own, and that’s the purpose of the mediatorial reign, is so the world can make it their own. But you need that final test because remember, Satan in his heart sought to be like the Most High.

So it was on the inside that his own deceptive thoughts were growing. God Almighty plans for a final test to keep that, put that aside. So the final abolishing of death becomes reality at the end of this little season, after the separation and the sheep and the goats. But here’s where we go back to Revelation 20, verses 7 through 9. When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war.

The number of them is like the sand of the seashore. Not only is Satan’s civil power released, but all opposition to God’s kingdom, both earthly, representing the. The. The attack on Gog and spiritual attack on Magog, will be released. In other words, everything has been refined.

Everybody is in order, everybody is obedient, everybody. There isn’t disobedience anywhere you look. But now comes the test of ultimate loyalty. The test of ultimate loyalty.

Verse 9 of Revelation 20, and they came upon the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

It says that they gather for the war. Brethren, there was no war. There was no war. What happened? They gather and fire devours them.

All of Satan’s influences bent on making war. But God simply said, nope, I now know who it is that will be drawn away who does not have that loyalty, and all of the disobedience had already been swept away. So now it’s a clear cut, simple final statement of God’s plan from this moment forward, there’s no more death. The little season is designed.

It’s designed to draw it out. Every last vestige of every remnant of sin is now gone, and here’s what we have. It comes down to our Father’s predetermined strategy. Death dies only after disobedience and deception are destroyed in that.

Are destroyed in that order. So how does that happen? What does the attempted deception look like? Well, the Scriptures don’t tell us. So let me give you just an idea, a very quick idea.

Satan’s civil power of the past exerts its influence in this new present, and he says to those of the world as they are surrounded, look how far you have come. Look at what you have become. That is the lust of the flesh. Look at who you are.

You are. You are obedient. You are wonderful. You treat each other well. Perhaps, he says, look at what you’ve already learned.

Look at how you’ve grown. Look at how you now know the difference between good and evil. See your strength. See what you see, what you’ve become. That’s the lust of the eyes.

Perhaps, he says, we propose ways to apply this newfound strength of yours in growth and maturity, to lift you up to an even higher level because you’ve come so far, you can go up even higher, one that can now expand your ability to have a more powerful dominion. Look at what you now can be the pride of life.

The heavenly Father consumes it with fire. There is no conflict. There’s just the ending, and let me just read reread verse nine again and add those two important words. They came upon the broad plane of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints of the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

The End the End final verse Micah 4 and he will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as a chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the people will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, into the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us about his ways, that we may walk in his paths. From Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he will judge among many peoples and rendered decisions for mighty distant nations, and they will hammer their swords into the plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not lift up sword against nation. Never again will they train for war. Each of them will sit under his own vine and fig tree with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

The destruction of deception can only happen once the destruction of disobedience has been put in place, and God from ages past put this all in order. That is the plan of our Father, brethren. It’s for that cause that we are to be faithful unto death. May the Lord add his blessing.

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