The Evil One comes as the Good One.

Satan, the god of this world, (for the time being: 2 Cor 4:4; Rom. 16:20), shows himself as an angel of 'light'.

He is, for the most part, a phoney Christian. He looks like a follower of Christ, and acts like a follower of Christ, but he's not a follower of Christ. The devil is a mastermind of deception. He will bring destructive heresies into the Church, and these teachings will look good, not evil.

These teachings will come through false teachers, who proclaim to love Christ, and will even preach very fervantly against false teachings, and teachers, saying that they are the ones called by God to expose the false teachings.

These sown seeds of Satan will be very deceptive, that is why the Lord warns us, that if it were possible, even the chosen ones of God could be deceived.

Take heed. Be warned. Satan doesn't come as an evil being with a pitchfork, but as a nice guy carring the Bible.

How do we stand againat such a foe? To begin with we need to acknowledge the truth about who he is. Then we need to pray that the Lord would deliver us from the evil one. Matt 6:13

Satan is a defeated foe. He is chained to the Cross. He surely can hinder us with his clever ways of tempting us, but, we surely can resist Him by faith in Christ, and say to him, "The Lord rebuke you!"
We are no match for him. And he is no match for the Lord. Luther said, "The devil, is God's devil".
And above all we need to wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We need to know the Word, and to be doers of the Word. We need to be praying without ceasing, and we need to know the love of Christ, which is beyond knowing. This will make our hearts rejoice, and it's the joy of the Lord that gives us strength to serve and live out our lives in this world, where we are strangers and aliens.

We need to recognize him, and understand that he is an angel of light. This is the deception that most today are not paying attention to. (And even those who are enemies of the Cross need our prayers, and we need to be grieved that these men, and women, are in danger of God's righteous condemnation.)

If the Church allows him to continue to come among us with his subtle niceness, and his supposed gentleness and kindness wrapped around his lies, then the next generation will reap the consequences of a Church, which the Lord will spue out of His mouth. Rev. 3:16

I pray that those now who love God's Word, and love the truth of the gospel of grace will take courage, and stand firmly against these false teachers, and teachings. That the love of Christ will compel us to speak the truth in love. That we will fear the Lord more than we fear what man will say or do.
God grant us faith to fight the good fight of faith, and grant us a heart of repentance, so that when we do sin, that we quickly turn, and make things right again. Amen.