Revelation 20:10
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Three times in Revelation 20, we see that the Devil is a deceiver. In other words, there is nothing trustworthy about anything he does. It all started in Heaven when Lucifer, which is the Devil, deceived one-third of the angels and got them to follow him in a rebellion against God, but he failed. He continued in the Garden of Eden when he deceived Eve with the forbidden fruit. He has continued his deception by offering false ways to get to Heaven. Anything the Devil does is done with deception because that is who he is. However, we find in the verse above that his deception ends with him being cast into Hell to be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
My friend, deception’s end is always a self-made hell that people must live in to their own torment. Many people have thought they could deceive others without suffering the consequences, but deceit has always led to a self-made hell that has tormented the deceiver for many years. You cannot live a life of deception and expect people to treat you kindly once they discover your deception. Deception always leaves a bitter taste in the life of the one being deceived, and the life of the one living deceit. Let me take this thought to several different positions of life.
Preacher, you cannot live a life of deceit and expect it to turn out well for you. You can lie to others about what you are doing, but deceit has always caught up to a preacher. God will not allow His preachers to practice deceit and get away with it. Whether it be financial deceit, moral deceit, or a two-faced life deceit, they all will eventually end the preacher in a self-made hell that nobody will want anything to do with that man.
Married person, you cannot live a life of deceit and think your spouse or children will not despise you once your deceit is discovered. You may have them fooled for the moment, but you will rue the day that you chose deceit over honesty once your deceit is discovered. You cannot expect your spouse or children to just ignore the hurt that your deceit has caused. Yes, they should forgive, but you can't expect them to immediately trust you once you broke their trust with your life of deceit.
Believer, you cannot live a life of deceit and expect people to respect you once your deceit has been discovered. You can lie about situations in your life, and lie about others to cover your own sins, but once others discover your deceit, you will find your deceit has created a self-made hell that will torment you for years to come.
Let me take this one step further. You cannot live a life of financial deceit and expect your finances to get better. You can live above your means to impress others, but eventually you create a self-made financial hell. Once the financial deceit has caught up to you, the embarrassment and shame of your lies will be hard to overcome.
The answer to overcoming a life of deceit is to live a life of honesty. Honesty has always been the best policy to live by. Honesty may not be easy in the beginning, but it will allow you to live in a self-made heaven instead of a self-made hell. You can choose which destination you want to live in, but honesty always benefits you tremendously in the end.
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