Today our message is about “How to Avoid Deception.” What is deception? Deception is being misled by a false appearance or statement. In other words, to be deceived is to believe a falsehood or a lie. Deception has a very long history, going back to the garden of Eden.
2 Corinthians 11:3 (ESV) But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
In the garden of Eden, the serpent, Satan, deceived Eve with a lie. He got her to believe that what God had said was not true. Because of that deception, first Eve and then Adam disobeyed God and sinned by eating the forbidden fruit. We can learn some important principles from that first deception. Every sin is a result of being deceived and believing a lie. Sin is the inevitable result of thinking that something is true when it is not. Jesus warned us about being deceived in …
Matthew 24:4-5 (NIV2011) Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
As the time of Jesus’ return draws closer, the amount of deception will increase. Notice that Jesus puts the responsibility on each one of us to watch out so that we are not deceived. We must be able to distinguish between the truth of God and the lies of Satan. Not only must we be careful to not be deceived, we must also help others to avoid deception.
1 Timothy 4:1 (NIV2011) The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
When a person is deceived, behind that deception are deceiving spirits and demons. In order for a person to be deceived, the deception must sound like it is true. Let’s take a few minutes to look at a series of statements that many people believe. They sound true, but they are deceptions if you understand what God’s Word says.
- All religions contain some truth and an ultimately lead us to God.
- Widely believed but completely false.
- In order to be all that we can be, we must believe in ourselves.
- Sounds good, but not true.
- Every woman should have the right to do with her body as she chooses.
- Wrong for a lot of reasons.
- You will go to heaven if you are a truly good person.
- Nobody is good enough to go to heaven.
- Our highest priority should be our families.
- If that’s true, then our family has become an idol. God must be first.
And there are many, many other things that most people believe that are deceptions. So, how can you and I avoid being deceived? We must build our relationship with Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life. This morning, we’re going to return to the life of the prophet Jeremiah. He spoke the truth of God’s Word when those around him were being deceived.