Audio Sermon: Don't Be Deceived — Bob Jennings

The Repeated Biblical Warning Against Deception

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. The stop sign, that may save our life if we obey it. And 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 says, 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. And Clint used 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. And some things, this matter of deception, it's not too costly.

I mean, I've been deceived out of some money. I remember back in high school when somebody tricked me into a stamp collection deal and I probably lost $30, $40, $50 on that. And 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, you know, they can be kind of costly. But nothing compares to being deceived in the 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.

And don't do that. Don't let it happen. Watch out. Don't be deceived, my beloved brethren. And 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.

And I mean, look in 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 thinks 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 that in a way, 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, verse 9, that line to the devil and Satan.

I'm sorry, I just started at 9. And the great dragon who was thrown down. And we can tell by the following context just talking about what happened at Calvary. The serpent of old who is 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. Now it's something, you know, it takes a little bit of cunning to deceive one person. You might be sitting at a table playing cards 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.

And so the world, the whole system. I mean, 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 with the many.

The few and the many, that is the most, are headed on the broad road to destruction. Who are those many? Well, you can tell by the context that the Lord is not contrasting the Christian with the world, but He is contrasting the Christian with a false Christian.

The Christian with a false professor. You can tell that by the context. And so, in other words, we are forced to conclude that the most of the churchgoers are deceived and 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 on 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 John says, 2 John 7, 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 go 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, we ought to remember that Titus 3, verse 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 were 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 got it all together.

We were fooled ourselves. Let God be true in every man a liar. Isn't it something the way they esteem this man, this singer, this musician, James Brown? I mean, the world, the USA 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. I mean, something I don't know about him, repenting in the last, but the world esteems men that are not worthy of being esteemed. And so Satan has deceived the world.

Satan's Craftiness and False Religious Teachers

Look at this again in 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3. Paul says, I am afraid that... Now think of that. Paul had some fears. This mighty apostle, this man who 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 servant deceived ye, how, by his craftiness, your minds would be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

Oh, he says, I'm afraid that you're going to get away from the simple and pure devotion. 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's 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. Terry'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.

And so the enemy is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Not in wolves' clothing, but in sheep's clothing. He is a crocodile hiding under the water, shallow. The only thing you see is the two bumps sticking up.

And so he is subtle and crafty. Very skillful. A master at deception. You know, you think of somebody who's done some skills, some crafts, some trade for a few years, the more he goes on in it, why, the better he is at it, right?

And 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, 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 mean, 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 read more about Islam, what they believe, and 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. I mean, it's so old covenant. I mean, there's so many laws, so many rituals, so much bondage and fear.

Who would want that? And yet, look at the masses of humanity that have been deceived. How? Why would they go for that? Doctrines of demons, deceitful spirits. 1 Timothy 4. It speaks of that. And not only that, but look down here in verse 13.

It speaks of false apostles. False apostles. Deceitful workers. Clinton Jenney ran into one up there near Morris. I mean, 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 and trying to get the Gospel out and things like that. But the only problem, at least one problem was is 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 bond servants astray. The word there is the same word in the Greek to deceive My bond servants.

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, verse 24. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders. 2 Thessalonians 2, it speaks of lying wonders. The activity of Satan with all lying wonders so as to mislead, same Greek word, deceive, if possible, even the elect.

It's not possible, but not in the ultimate sense. I mean, I'm glad for this word right here. That the weakest saint will rend the day till death and hell obstruct the way. If it were possible, even the elect.

But that just tells us, you know, something of the subtlety of the wicked one. How skillful he is. And so, we ought to be on the alert. It speaks in Romans 16, it says they, speaking of the false workers, 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 be 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.

Deception Through Appearance, Beauty, and Charm

Ways in which we can be deceived. And no particular order, but just working from the left to the right. Proverbs 31. Verse 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, 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. 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.

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.

Fear 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's a woman, a man, either way, who is serving the Lord and serving her works.

What kind of works is he talking about here? Well, according to chapter 31, he's talking about the homework. The way that she cares for the family and the way that she reaches out to the poor and the needy.

And so on. Rebecca 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. So don't be deceived. Like someone was bringing out earlier today, look at the movie stars with all their glamour, charm, beauty, and all of the repeated divorces and remarriage.

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. Matthew 22, verse 29, "...But Jesus answered and said to them, you are mistaken.".

Deception Through Ignorance of God and Scripture

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's what's 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 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 Hebrews 4 .13 that it's quick, powerful, sharper than any twigged sword, piercing the dividing of sin or soul and spirit, and at the joints and marrow, and 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 invite. That's why we like to sit under the preaching of the Word of God. Give it to me.

You know, I remember Baynard'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.

Right here today, 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're 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, verse 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 to 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. And we can be stripped right down to nothing with some catastrophic thing. Ah, 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 bivocational. 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. Chapter 3, verse 18. 1 Corinthians 3 .18. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks he is wise in his age, he must become foolish so he may be wise.

The Folly of Human Wisdom

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, 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. You see, apart from an 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.

Deception About Holiness and Eternal Destiny

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 count it dung. But I may win Christ. 1 Corinthians 6.

Here's another one. 6, 9, and 10. 1 Corinthians 6, 9, and 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 on.

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.

He'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 same example I used when I talked to a missionary of New Tribes Mission. And then a mission representative and then the head theologian down in Sanford, Florida with New Tribes 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 in to drink and lives the rest of his years as a drunken sod 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 says, do not be deceived. It says a drunkard won't go to heaven. And it says the covetous. You know, other things here that we often bypass.

You know, just buying this, buying that when you don't really need it. A delight in shopping and covetousness. They won't go to heaven. The reviler, it says here in verse 10. You know, he's a backbiter, profaner, 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.

It'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.

Deception Through Bad Company and Pride

1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 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, verse 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 learn his ways. I went for eight months with a mission group in Europe. When I went with 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 weren't exactly like-minded. I went into it knowing that. And I'll tell you before God, by the time the eight months were up, I had begun to be deceived.

Thinking, well, 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.

That's March On in Galatians 6. We'll be more brief now. I hope you can hang on and not miss it. Galatians 6, verse 3,. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. It's similar to that 1 Corinthians 3 verse, isn't it?

Thinks he's something when he's nothing. Just a zero. A big zero. He deceives himself. And you know, in a way, God works with the Christian. Over the years, too 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. Anyone of you know anything about Charlotte Elliot? I'll tell you.

She was a pretty young woman. And this would be about 100 and some years ago. And she was planning to go to this ball, this big ball, and she had a special dress that she had just made. And she had been planning to go to this ball for some time, and on the way to the ball, she ran in to her pastor.

And the pastor pled with her, do not go to this ball with its degrading influences. But she rejected his appeals and said, mind your own business. And she went to the ball and she was the center of attention, you know.

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 says, 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 into 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 have 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, you know, get down, reach out to others.

Reaping What We Sow and the Deceitfulness of Sin

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 a man sows, he'll reap.

Of course, the positive side is there too. Sows of the Spirit will reap. Sows of 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 way right down deep in the secret place of your heart. And there are consequences. Don't think you can mock 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's 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 just not a raw product. It's just not a neutral product. It's laying there with power in it.

Deceitfulness of sin. You ever tried to fix a car with that body putty? You know, here 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 the heart. It says hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. You become calloused. You become desensitized. You think 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.