Don't Be Deceived - Bob Jennings

James 1.

My attention is called
to this theme in v. 16.

James 1:16.

"Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren."

I say this theme, not this verse,

because this is a repeated verse

in the Bible.

A repeated verse and a major theme.

Have you ever noticed that?

"Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren."

Now, it's a negative,

kind of like the Ten Commandments.

A lot of them are negative:

Do not do this and do not do that,

but that's alright.

The negative for the
Christian is a positive.

A stop sign - that may save our life

if we obey it.

So, it is a negative command

in the New Testament.

A negative warning. An admonition.

But it's a very tender admonition.

Here he addresses the brethren.

He said, "do not be
deceived, my brethren."

My brethren. My beloved brethren.

Something for the Christian.

Something for us.

The warnings are very, very valuable;

very applicable; very helpful

for the Christian in his walk

and in his warfare.

And so is this theme of deception.

I'm going to use the word

"don't kid yourself,"

and that's really that same idea.

Don't fool yourself.
Don't kid yourself.

Don't deceive yourself.

Some things, you know,

there's this matter of deception

that's not too costly.

I've been deceived out of some money.

I remember back in high school

when somebody tricked me into

a stamp collection deal.

I probably lost $30, $40, $50 on that.

At least once, I've been deceived

on purchasing a used car.

That motor wasn't what I thought it was

or what I was told it was.

And some of those things,

they can be kind of costly.

But nothing compares to being deceived

in spiritual matters;

being deceived in the spiritual realm;

being deceived in the matters of our soul.

That is where it's really costly.

That's where it's big -

being fooled in that category;

being deceived in that category.

And so he says, "do not be deceived,

my beloved brethren."

Don't do that.

Don't let it happen.

Watch out.

Don't be deceived, my beloved brethren.

It's addressed, you know,

it's addressed as though

it were a personal responsibility;

as though we were responsible in it,

and indeed we are.

Looking here in verse 22,

he says "prove yourselves
doers of the Word

and not merely hearers

who delude themselves."

Isn't that something?

That we can delude ourselves.

And the same in verse 26:

if anyone things himself such-and-such

and such-and-such,

he deceives his own heart.

Isn't that something?

That we can deceive our own heart?

That we can fool ourselves?

That we can bring it on ourselves?

That we can mess ourselves up?

That we can go astray ourselves?

Put ourselves astray, and a lot of times,

that Greek word is translated that way.

It means to go astray.

It means to be led off track.

And so, do not be deceived,

my beloved brethren.

We have a responsibility in it,

and yet behind it all,

who is at work?

It is the devil, isn't it?

We see this in Revelation 12.

I'm going to appeal to
you to turn some pages.

It helps to look at it

right before your very eyes

on the sacred page and see it, doesn't it?

I was thinking about this last night

as we gathered together

for prayer and Bible reading.

I get a lot more out of that

so-called family devotion time

when I've got the Bible
right in front of me

and I'm doing the reading,

rather than if one of the children

is doing the reading

and I don't see the words.

And so it does help to
turn to the passage

and see it right
before our very eyes.

There it is. I'm reading it.

It's mine.

And so it says here in Revelation 12:9,

(incomplete thought)

"And the great dragon,

he was thrown down."

And we can tell by the following context

he was talking about
what happened at Calvary.

"The serpent of old,

who was called the devil and Satan,

who deceives the whole world,

he was thrown down to the earth

and his angels were thrown down with him."

Underline that in your mind.

He deceives the whole world.

It takes a little bit of cunning

to deceive one person.

You might be sitting at
a table playing cards,

you know, and trick the other guy,

but if there's a whole bunch
of people around the table,

I'm just imagining, it would
be much harder to deceive

that other person.

But think of this.

Think of the skill of the deceiver

that he has deceived the whole world.

You look out there on the scene

of the whole world,

and he is skillful enough,

he is tricky enough,

he is crafty enough,

he is subtle enough,

he is big enough,

he is smart enough

to trick the whole world.

And to do it from the beginning of time

when he deceived Eve,

the very first woman.

It says it was not Adam who was deceived,

but the woman being deceived

fell into transgression.

By his subtlety, he did that.

So the world - the whole system -

it's not just one or two on the train

that are fooled,

but the whole train is on the wrong track.

The whole thing is a sinking ship

and smiling on their way down.

And we tend to think,
well, that's just secular,

but it's more than secular.

It's more than the
secular realm, isn't it?

It's the religious realm too.

It's Christendom even.

It's not just Islam and so on,

but even Christendom.

And I'm taking that from verses

like Matthew 7 where it speaks

of the narrow way and the broad way.

The narrow way leading to life;

the broad way leading to destruction.

But the few in contrast to the many.

The few and the many.

That is that most are headed

on the broad road to destruction.

Who are those many?

You can tell by the context

that the Lord is not contrasting

the Christian with the world,

but He is contrasting the Christian

with the false Christian.

The Christian with the false professor.

You can tell that by the context.

So, in other words, we
are forced to conclude

that most of the church goers

are deceived and are
going to tumble into hell

off a church pew with
a prayer on their lips

and a Bible in their hand.

Deceived you see.

Many will say to Me in that day:

Lord, Lord, didn't we do this and that?

and He will say in utter reality,

"I never knew you."

And so it goes deeper than
just the secular realm.

It goes into Christendom as well.

And in 2 John 7, he says

that "many (not few, but many) deceivers

have gone out into the world."

It says in 1 John 4,

"Many false prophets have gone out

into the world."

Not a few, but many.

There are a lot of them out there.

And they're getting worse and worse.

In 2 Timothy 3,

"In the last days,

evil men and deceivers will grow

worse and worse

deceiving and being deceived."

It's getting worse.
It's getting darker.

That which looks like light

is not light, but rather darkness,

and it's getting darker all the time.

And lest we sit here in any smugness,

you know we ought to remember

that Titus 3:1, "We also ourselves

were once deceived and disobedient

and worthless for any good deed."

It got us. He got us too.

We were there.
We had fooled ourselves.

We had kidded ourselves.

We were on the wrong track even ourselves.

Lest we think anything of ourselves

as being so smart, so secure,

we've got it all together.

We were fooled ourselves.

Let God be true and every man a liar.

Isn't it something the way
they esteem this man,

this singer, this musician James Brown?

I mean, the world, U.S.A. mourned

over his funeral last week or so,

and here the man was a no-good man.

He spent time in prison.

He was an addict and so on.

Unless there's something I don't know

about him repenting at the last,

but here the world esteems men

that are not worthy of being esteemed.

So the world - Satan
has deceived the world.

Look at this again in 2 Corinthians 11.

2 Corinthians 11:3.

Paul says, "I am afraid that..."

Think of that. Paul had some fears.

This mighty apostle -

this man was filled
with the Spirit of God;

had such authority upon him,

he had some fears.

And here was one of his fears.

He says, "I'm afraid for you..."

Corinthians - a church that
he had started, you see.

"I'm afraid that as the
serpent deceived Eve..."

How? "...by his craftiness,

your minds would be led astray

from the simplicity and purity

of devotion to Christ."

He says I'm afraid that you're going to

get away from the simple and pure -

just simple love and
devotion to the Lord Jesus.

I'm afraid you're going
to get away from that.

I'm afraid for you

that Satan is going to do a job on you

like he did on Eve.

He's called the serpent here.

He's a snake in the grass.

Terri's dad one time got
bit by a copperhead.

He didn't even see it.

He was hidden there.

He was subtle in the grass.

He felt the pain from it and realized

that's what must have happened.

So the enemy is a wolf,

not in wolves' clothing,
but in sheep's clothing.

He is a crocodile hiding
under the shallow water.

The only thing you see is
the two bumps sticking up.

So he is subtle and crafty,

very skillful,

a master at deception.

You know, you think of somebody

who's done some skill, some craft,

some trade for a few years.

The more he goes on in it,

the better he is at it right?

So here is the devil who has had

millenniums to get good at what he does.

And he's got workers, right?

He's got helpers.

We find in 1 Timothy 4 -

you don't need to turn to it this time,

but it speaks of doctrines
of deceitful spirits;

deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

Referring to Islam here this morning,

I've just read a book
that Ray brought back

from down there at Voice of the Martyrs

entitled, "Unveiling Islam."

And you get to reading more about Islam,

what they believe, and you go

how could anybody believe that?

How could anybody rejoice in that?

Delight in those things?

Those things that they teach.

It's just so unacceptable.

(unintelligible)

There's so many laws,

so many rituals,

so much bondage, you know,

and fear - who would want that?

And yet, look at the masses of humanity

that have been deceived. How?

How? Why would they go for that?

Doctrines of demons.

Deceitful spirits - 1 Timothy 4.

It speaks of that.

Not only that, but look down here

in verse 13.

It speaks of false apostles.

False apostles.

Deceitful workers.

Clint and Jenny ran into one up there

near Morris.

That man - he looked real good.

He was very charismatic, right?

He knew the Bible very well.

And he was very zealous in good works

even in foreign countries,

helping the poor and so on,

trying to get the gospel out

and things like that,

but at least one problem

was that come to find out

there was a woman he
was closer to than his wife.

And when all the dust settled,

you have to conclude
he was a deceitful worker.

It speaks in Revelation 2,

"You allow that woman Jezebel to teach

and to lead my bondservants astray."

The word there is the
same word in the Greek

"to deceive" my bondservants.

Now, I mean, these false prophets,

they can affect the saints of God.

We have the consolation that ultimately

we cannot, will not -

if we are true believers,

we will not be deceived.

And we see that over here in Matthew 24.

Matthew 24:24.

"Where false Christs and false prophets

will arise and will show
great signs and wonders."

2 Thessalonians 2 speaks of lying wonders.

The activity of Satan
with all lying wonders,

"so as to mislead..."
same great word - deceive,

"if possible, even the elect."

If it were possible - it's not possible.

Not in the ultimate sense.

I mean, I'm glad for this word right here

that the weakest saint will win the day

though death and hell obstruct the way.

"If it were possible, even the elect."

But that just tells us something

of the subtlety of the wicked one -

how skillful he is.

So we ought to be on the alert.

It speaks in Romans 16,

it says, "they..." speaking of the false,

deceitful workers - "they deceive

the hearts of the unsuspecting."

There is a sense in which we
ought to be suspicious.

There is another sense in which
we should not suspicious;

should not be critical;

should not be introspective and so on.

There's a fine balance here.

But it says they deceive the hearts

of the unsuspecting.

I did not suspect that he

was a false leader.

And so, we're given this comfort.

We're given also this warning.

Let's look at some areas in which

the Bible either specifically

or by way of implication

gives us a warning -

ways in which we can be deceived.

In no particular order,

but just working from
the left to the right.

Proverbs 31:30.

"Charm is deceitful

and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord,

she shall be praised.

Give her the product of her hands

and let her works
praise her in the gates."

What a striking verse!

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain.

This word "vain," do you
know what it means?

It means "hollow."

It means "empty."

Beauty is vain, because why?

Because it's so superficial.

It's so temporal.

It's not really where it counts

in the long run in spiritual matters.

Yet, Peter says, don't let your
adornment be external,

but rather let it be the
hidden person of the heart.

The hidden person.

The inner man, not the outer man.

Don't worry so much about that.

But rather, the hidden
person of the heart.

"...With the imperishable quality

of a meek and quiet spirit,

which is precious in the sight of God."

That's God's economy.

Beauty is vain.

God is looking for the beauty of holiness.

Right?

Charm is deceitful.

It looks so good,

but it deceives the one who has it

and deceives others

if we're not careful.

Men, young men,

what kind of a woman do
you want to look for?

This verse tells us.

"The woman who fears the Lord,

she shall be praised."

Don't be deceived.

Look for a woman who fears God.

Look for a man who fears God;

who has enough about him

to turn away from sin.

I mean, that's a lot of times,

the way the fear of the
Lord is defined, right?

Job was a man who feared God

and turned away from evil.

And it says that repeatedly.

Same thing in the book of Proverbs.

Turn away from evil.

"Fears God..." that is, he or she realizes

that it is God with whom we have to do.

It is God that I have to
center my life around.

It's God that I must love.

It's God's Word that I must deal with.

Look for a man; look for a woman

who's thinking about things above

where Christ is at the right hand of God.

He's heavenly minded;
she's heavenly minded.

Dealing with sin, reading good books,

talking about the things of God,

exercising self-denial.

Look for a woman who fears the Lord;

has enough of God about her

that she is able to veil that beauty

with what Paul calls modest apparel.

Fears the Lord - she shall be praised.

And it says here a specific
in the next verse:

"Let her works praise her in the gates."

She is a woman (or a man - either way)

who is serving the Lord.

Her works - what kind of works

is he talking about here?

Well, according to chapter 31,

he's talking about the home work

and the way that she cares for the family

and the way that she reaches out

to the poor and the needy and so on.

Rebekah was chosen not for her beauty,

but rather because she saw

that there was a need here

to get the water for those camels

and she ran for it.

Don't be deceived.

Like someone was
bringing out earlier today,

look at the movie stars

with all their glamor, charm, beauty,

and all of the repeated divorces

and remarraige.

Don't be deceived and think

you've got to have a pretty woman

to be satisfied.

Let's go on to Matthew.

Back to Matthew 22:29.

"But Jesus answered and said to them,

'You are mistaken...'" same Greek word -

deceived it could be translated.

"...Not understanding, not knowing

the Scriptures, nor the power of God."

We can deceive ourselves

if we have a low view of God.

I mean, that was going on in Christendom

because they do not understand,

know the power of God.

They do all these tricks to try to get

people into the kingdom

and make a decision for Christ

because you don't have appreciation

of the power of God.

You answer in anger, or
things like that, you see.

And not trusting that God is big enough

to change the heart or take care,

you see, for me.

And then secondly, He says,

"not understanding,

not knowing the Scriptures."

Deceived - not knowing the Scriptures.

If we neglect the Bible,

we are going to be deceived,

or we're deceived already.

Deceived not knowing the Scriptures.

I mean, are we going to try to make it

to the celestial city without a road map?

Are we going to try to build character

without a blueprint?

Are we going to try to walk

the path of righteousness

without a map?

A lamp unto our feet

and a light unto our path?

Are we going to think about standing

before the judgment seat of Christ

without first judging ourselves

by the Word of God?

It says in Hebrew 4:13

that it's quick, powerful,

sharp as any two-edged sword,

piercing to the dividing
asundry of soul and spirit

and of joints and marrow,

as is a discerner of the thoughts -

a judge of the thoughts

and the intents of the heart.

That's why you read the Bible, right?

Search me, Lord.

Search me with it.

See if there's any wicked way in me.

That's why we like to sit
under the preaching

of the Word of God.

Give it to me!

I remember Maynard's dad -

his old dad, Carl.

He used to say I like to
hear some preaching

where I have to scratch
and scramble a little.

Don't neglect the Bible.

I mean, let me make this statement.

If you right here today,

I mean, as you analyze your life,

if your life is not characterized

by daily reading the Bible -

I mean, if that's not your practice;

if that's not your habit,

a daily delight in
reading the Word of God,

be sure of this,

that you are not regenerate.

You are not a Christian.

Be sure of that!

Don't be deceived.

God has given us gold.

Here it is. Let's go on.

Mark 4.

Mark 4:19.

The parable of the
sower and the soils here.

The seed that is sown among the thorns -

in verse 19, it says the thorns are what?

The worries of the world,

the deceitfulness of riches,

and the desires or lusts for other things.

But there it speaks of the
deceitfulness of riches.

That riches are deceitful.

Riches are deceitful.

Why is that?

Because they can give you -

they don't have to,

but you've got to be careful -

they can give you a false
sense of satisfaction;

a false sense of security;

a false sense of success;

a complacency.

If we have riches,

that verse was quoted in 1 Timothy 6,

don't fix your hope on
the uncertainty of riches,

but rather on God.

And then he tells them that they ought to

use their riches for the furtherance

of the gospel, meet
pressing needs, and so on.

They must be held loosely.

They must be used wisely

for the kingdom of God

and for the furtherance of the gospel.

The deceitfulness of riches.

In Luke 12, it tells about a rich farmer

and his ground produced real well.

And he had many goods
laid up for many years.

And he says to his soul, "take it easy."

And God said, "you fool!"

You've been deceived, you see?

You're a fool.

This night, your soul
will be required of you.

What good did those
riches do for your soul?

And then who shall those goods be?

In other words, they are temporal.

They make themselves wings like an eagle

and fly away, sometimes
even before we die.

We can be stripped right down to nothing

with some catastrophic thing.

Deceitfulness of riches.

I know of one man who was a pastor

and he was doing real well.

He was doing real well.

He was bi-vocational.

And then he began to get more and more,

bigger and bigger salary.

Big money he was bringing in.

And it led to his fall.

Don't be deceived that
riches are just neutral.

Watch out.

Let's go on to 1 Corinthians 3:18.

1 Corinthians 3:18.

"Let no man deceive himself.

If any man among you thinks he is wise

in this age, he must become foolish,

so he may be wise."

Don't deceive yourself

in thinking that man has the answer

in life.

Man has no answers.

Oh, he may have an answer

for how to fix your
car and things like that,

but when it comes to the big things,

man does not have the answers.

I mean, in the matters of metaphysics,

he has no answers -

why anything is here rather than nothing?

Where it came from? Why we're here?

Where we're going?

The destiny of man or of the world.

No answers.

Even in epistemology -

that is the idea of knowing.

He has no basis for knowing anything.

I mean, sure, gravity's there.

It's been there.

The sun has risen.

It's done that for many hundreds of years.

But there's no reason to suppose

that it's going to come up again tomorrow.

It might do something different

for zillions of years in the future.

Apart from outside
infinite reference point

and a basis which is God Himself

who upholds all things
by the word of His power,

you don't know anything.

You're just on sinking sand.

You don't even have sand there.

Or morality - that's most easily seen.

You have no basis for right or wrong

apart from God - an outside

ultimate infinite reference point

who says this is right and this is wrong.

Man has no answers.

And so don't be deceived.

If any man among you
thinks he's wise in this age,

real clever - got it all together -

if you're going to get anywhere with God,

you've got to come way down

to the bottom of the barrel.

Let him become a fool that he may be wise.

And that's the history.

That's the testimony of every Christian -

how God brought me to nothing.

How God brought me
to see myself as a fool.

And I'm going to have to come to Jesus

for my wisdom.

John Sung -

He was converted in America

on his way back to China.

He threw all of his degrees overboard.

Paul said all of my
religious qualifications

I counted dung

that I may win Christ.

1 Corinthians 6.

Here's another one.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10.

"Do you not know...?"

You should know this.

"...That the unrighteous will not

inherit the kingdom of God.

Do not be deceived.

Neither fornicators..." and so son.

Don't be deceived he says.

And you can talk to people

everywhere all around that are deceived

on this very thing,

thinking that the unrighteous

will go to heaven because
they have professed Jesus.

Obviously, you wouldn't be deceived

about a non-professor -

it's talking about a professor.

Somebody who professes Christ,

but lives like the devil.

Don't be deceived about that.

You know, without holiness,

no man will see the Lord.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.

Don't be deceived about that.

I talked to a fellow - a Baptist pastor -

a few months ago,

and I gave him the example.

The same example I used when I talked

to a missionary of New Tribes Mission -

a mission representative and
then the head theologian

down in Sanford, Florida with New Tribes.

He asked the same question.

Here's a guy that's a drunk,

and he hears the gospel, he's converted,

he lives a clean life for five years,

and then goes back into drink

and lives the rest of his years

as a drunken sot and dies.

Did he go to heaven or go to hell?

And they say, well, you can't tell.

You can't judge, you know.

I quoted this verse to him.

I said, "Do not be deceived,"

it says a drunkard won't go to heaven.

And it says the covetous -

other things here that we often bypass.

Buying this, buying that

when you don't really need it.

Delight in shopping - covetousness.

They won't go to heaven.

A reviler it says here in verse 10.

You know, he's a back-biter,

fault-finder, critical, peevish,

slanderer.

He won't go to heaven.

And note this, brethren,

that all of the parallel verses

just like this one in Ephesians 5

and Galatians 5 where it lists

heaven-disqualifying sins,

in each place it says,

"Do not be deceived."

He's trying to get
something through to us.

And so often you hear that,

well, I don't really know where he's at.

You do too know where he's at.

He's lived a godless life.

You know he didn't go to heaven.

1 Corinthians 15.

1 Corinthians 15:33,

"Do not be deceived.

Bad company corrupts good morals."

Don't be deceived.

Your company will affect you.

It will affect your conduct.

Who you hang around with.

That's almost the first
thing it says in Proverbs.

If sinners entice you, don't consent.

Watch it!

Watch who your friends are.

It says in Proverbs 13:20,

"He who walks with wise men will be wise,

but the companion of
fools will suffer harm."

It says in another place,

"Don't be around an angry man."

He's sharp with his tongue, see.

Don't be around an
angry man, lest you what?

Learn his ways.

I went for 8 months with
a mission group in Europe.

When I went to that group,

I knew good and well
they were compromised.

But I was going to show God, myself,

and my brother that I wasn't too tight,

I wasn't too narrow.

I could work with other people

who aren't exactly like-minded.

I went into it knowing that.

And I'll tell you before God,

by the time 8 months were up,

I had begun to be deceived,

thinking these things don't matter anyhow.

So what that a bunch of them -

even the leaders - are Catholics?

I was starting to get
deceived, I tell you.

By the grace of God I was snatched out

and got off on a different
branch on the vine.

Let's march on in Galatians 6.

(unintelligible)

I hope you can hang on and not miss it.

Galatians 6:3,

"For if anyone thinks he is something

when he's nothing, he deceives himself."

It's similar to that 1
Corinthians 3 verse, isn't it?

Thinks he's something, but he's nothing.

Just a zero. A big zero.

He deceives himself.

You know, in a way,

God works with the Christian,

over the years,

through many experiences

continually bringing us back,

more convincing us that we, in fact,

are nothing.

That folks can get along without us.

And we really aren't just a shade better

than somebody else.

Just continually bringing
us down in humility

to where He can show us more grace.

But it says over and over -

have you noticed the repeated admonition,

"Do not be wise in your own eyes."

You know, watch out for that pride

lest you deceive yourself.

I read the story of Charlotte Elliot.

Anybody know anything
about Charlotte Elliot?

I'll tell you.

She was a pretty young woman.

And this would be about a
hundred and some years ago.

And she was planning to go to this ball -

this big ball,

and she had a special dress made.

And she had been planning
to go to this ball for some time.

And on the way to the ball,

she ran into her pastor.

And the pastor pled with her,

"Do not go to this ball

with these degrading influences."

But she rejected his appeal and said,

"Mind your own business."

And she went to the ball

and she was the center of attention.

But alas, her gaiety was kind of forced

because her conscience was
beginning to bother her.

And she got home that night

and God came right down in her heart

and in her room,

and she went on for some days

just feeling her wretchedness.

And she was convicted of her sins

and her sinnership.

And so she goes to the pastor

and tells him, "What do I do?

I'm a wretched person."

And he says, "You just come to Christ

just like you are."

"But I'm the chief of
sinners - I'm a wretch!

I don't deserve anything."

He said, "You just come...

nothing in your hand,
you come like you are."

And she went home and did
that very thing that night,

and was passed from death unto life.

And she wrote her thoughts down.

You know what they are?

You know the rest of the story.

"Just as I am without one plea,

but that Thy blood was shed for me,

and that You bid me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come."

I've got nothing.

Thinks he's something when he's nothing.

And it's in the context here, notice,

of good works.

Helping others, helping,

bearing the burden - verse 2 -

and reaching out to others.

As we sit in our high and mightiness,

get down, reach out to others.

Now, verse 7.

"Do not be deceived,

God is not mocked.

Whatever a man sows, he will reap."

We are deceived if we think

that we can fool God and sin

and get by with it.

See, God is not mocked.

Whatever man sows, he'll reap.

Of course, the positive side is there too.

Right?

He who sows to the Spirit will reap.

He who sows to the flesh will reap.

And so God is not mocked.

Now there are consequences to sin.

Eve sinned and there were consequences.

David sinned - there were consequences.

Abraham sinned - there were consequences.

Like Rodney was bringing out -

broken body, broken finances,

broken relationships and so on.

Eternal consequences -
shall reap destruction.

Do not be deceived.

God can see.

He sees.

He knows what's going on

right down deep in the secret place

of your heart.

And there are consequences.

Don't think you can mock or fool God.

Don't be deceived.

And then similarly, please, in Hebrews 3.

Hebrews 3:13,

"Encourage one another day after day."

That's what we're hopefully doing here

this very morning.

"...As long as it is still called today."

Hebrews 3:13.

"...So that none of you will
be hardened by..." what?

"...By the deceitfulness of sin."

Isn't that quite a phrase?

That sin deceives.

I mean, it's not just a raw product.

It's not just a neutral product.

It's laying there with power in it.

Deceitfulness of sin.

Have you ever tried to fix a car

with that body putty?

It's very pliable, and then you
add this other substance to it,

and what happens?

Immediately, nothing happens.

But in short order, it begins to harden

when you add this other substance.

And that's what sin does to our heart.

It hardens our heart.

It says, "hardened by
the deceitfulness of sin."

You become calloused.

You become desensitized.

You don't care anymore.

Why try?

It clouds the fear of God

and the eternal values.

And the thing to do is right there

stay away from that sin.

Don't touch it.

Keep your heart clean.

Keep your hands clean,
your conscience clear.

In Ephesians 4, it speaks of

deceitful lusts - same thing.

Now, we come last to James.

Back to James where we started.

There's one last thing
I'd like to point out.

This is real positive.

This first verse that I read - James 1:16,

"Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren,"

is right in the context of what?

Right in the context regarding

the goodness of God.

You see, it says up here in verse 13,

"God cannot be tempted by evil."

No, He doesn't do that.

He's not in that business.

Rather we're tempted when we're gone away

by our own lusts.

Don't attribute that evil to God.

See, don't be deceived there.

Then verse 17 after this verse,

it says, "Every good thing given..."

That is, maybe, in the physical realm -

rain from heaven and fruitful seasons.

He did good, you see. Acts 14:17.

Every good thing and every perfect gift -

that is things pertaining to
salvation and redemption

is from above coming down

from the Father of lights.

The most basic gift that God has given us

is just light.

"...With whom there is no variation

or shifting shadow."

God does not change. He's still good.

He always was good.

That was the original
lie of the devil to Eve.

He says God's holding out on you.

He knows that when you eat of that,

you'll be like God.

God's given you the
short end of the stick.

He's not a worthy object of your trust.

And so don't be deceived,
my beloved brethren.

God is good - a worthy
object of our trust.

He does good.

He withholds no good thing

from those who walk uprightly.

You'll never get the
short end of the stick

for following the Lord of Glory.

He's worthy of our trust,

worthy of our pursuit,

worthy of my life, my love,

my soul, my song.

Don't be deceived on that

and think that you're
going to come out short

by following the Lord

and leaving self and sin and Satan behind

and society's standards and smiles.

In conclusion, what should
we say to these things?

We ought to examine our own heart.

Be vigilant. Be vigilant.

Watch it!

It says the heart is deceitful

and desperatly wicked.

I don't know what to make of that.

I mean, I know the Christian
has a good heart - Luke 8.

But nevertheless, there's something there

that's deceitful within

that we've got to watch.

And forget the high theology,

we do need to be careful.

1:16 shows us that.

So watch over your
heart with all diligence.

Watch it. Watch your heart.

Keep a clean conscience.

Watch out for hypocrisy you see.

Here in verse 22,

"Prove yourselves doers of the Word

and not merely hearers

who delude themselves."

You see, we can sing that Psalm 19

that the Word of God is sweeter than honey

and more desirable than gold -

even much fine gold.

We sing these songs, you see,

and lo and behold, we never do much

read the Bible.

That's hypocrisy.

Don't be a hearer only,

but be a doer.

Watch out for hypocrisy in your life.

Be honest about it.

Lord, this just doesn't match up.

This is inconsistent.

Pray about it.

Pray about deception.

Proverbs 30, he says,

"Two things have I asked of the Lord."

One was what?

Keep me from lies and deception.

Don't let me be deceived.

Pray about that. Ask God
to do that very thing.

Tremble at the Word of God.

Stay right true to the truth, you know.

It says in 2 Thessalonians 2,

he says, "the deceitfulness
of wickedness in those

who do not receive the love of the truth

so as to be saved."

The deceitfulness of wickedness

toward those who do not receive

the love of the truth so as to be saved.

Oh, we better just stay true to the truth.

Stay true to the Word.

Stay right on the roadmap, you see.

And you'll be alright.

We can help one another, can't we?

Help one another in these things,

in this matter of deception.

If somebody comes to you

with a word of reproof,

boy, you better cherish it.

You better cherish it.

Don't get mad at them.

You better cherish that.

It says in James 5,

"My brethren, if any of you strays..."

There's that same Greek
word as deceived.

"...Strays from the truth

and one of you turns him back,

don't you know that you've saved a sinner

from..." how is it? Anybody know it?

Right at the end of James.

That saves a sinner

"from the error of his ways

and will save his soul from death

and cover a multitude of sins."

See? We can help one another

to avoid deception.

That's why God has put
us around one another

is to help one another on to heaven -

to not be a hindrance, but a help.

So, in this regard, again I emphasize

that verse we looked
at in 2 Corinthians 11.

He says, "lest Satan by his subtlety

lead your mind away from the purity

and simplicity of devotion to Christ."

All to Christ. Death to self.

There is safe ground.

When it comes right down to it,

that's what the devil is after.

He's trying to get away

from love and loyalty to Christ.

You know, it makes me appreciate

our Lord and Savior in this regard.

There's a verse in Psalm 89:22.

It says, "the enemy will not deceive Him."

I like that.

The Lord Jesus - He made it through

without being deceived.

He could have been deceived

about being subject to His parents.

He could have been deceived

about His need to pray.

He could have been deceived

about His need to go through it

and call on angels.

He could have been deceived

and let them make Him a king by force.

He could have been
deceived in the wilderness

and eaten food out of the will of God,

and cast Himself down presumptuously,

and taken an inheritance prematurely.

He could have been deceived,

but the enemy did not deceive Him.

He made it through.

He won the victory for us.

He was the one Man who never was deceived.

And so, ah, what a Savior we have!

A Savior, it says in Hebrews 5:2,

we have a Priest who is able

to deal gently with those who are ignorant

and out of the way.

And again, it's that same Greek word:

deceived.

Able to deal gently with the ignorant

and those who are deceived.

So, suffer the word of exhortation.