Deceived

Intro: circus coming to Montgomery—sold tickets for this company—went to work one day, no phones, no office furniture—no paycheck—this group had ripped me off, and Montgomery Alabama—they had no connection to a circus—scam—deceived—

There are deceptions going on all the time in our world: and the worst kind of deceptions are in the spiritual realms.

False teachers, false religion, seducing spirits—all to draw people away from the faith.

Deceived

I Timothy 4:1

This verse lists three things that are going to happen to people:

• Fall away from the faith

• Giving heed to seducing spirits

• Following the doctrine of devils or demons

I. Fall Away From the Faith—Hebrews 3:12—take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

a. scoffers—preachers have been preaching this stuff for centuries and a lot of things haven’t happened yet.

b. The day of miracles is over or it was just for the time when Jesus was here.

c. How do you know that Christianity is any better than Islam or Hinduism, or any other religion in the world.

Study to show yourself approved…

Without faith it is impossible to please God

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

II. Giving heed to seducing spirits—2 Timothy 4:3-4, 2 Thessalonians 2:11

Normally when you think of the word seduction you thing of the physical realm—but these seducing spirits are in the spiritual realm to draw people away from God. We could talk about hundreds but let’s narrow it down to three

• There is no sin, there is no punishment, God accepts you just the way you are: this is a seducing spirit that has crept into our society. If draws people to the belief that no matter how you live, God will wink at sin. God has no demands on our lives.

• Once you get saved, you are in---this draws many people to churches that say, join our church, become a member, get your name on the roll book and you get heaven no matter what

• If you serve God, you will get anything that you want, you will never go through any trials, you will be blessed with the best of everything that life has to offer

Ill) had a friend that believed that God was going to give him a white Continental with red interior. He even went to a dealership and claimed one. Here is an amazing part of the story. A lady in the church one day said she had a car for him, but when it wasn’t a white Continental with red interior, he said, no thanks.

III. Doctrines of Devils: Matthew 24:24 deceive the very elect

• Evolution or the Big Bang Theory—anything that discredits Genesis 1:1—in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth is a doctrine of the devil

• Jesus was just a good teacher, or a miracle worker or a prophet—but not the Son of God. Peter said, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Upon this rock will I build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

• New Age—you don’t have to serve some God, you just need to realize the God of who you are. Humanism is based in Babylonian theology—we will build a tower to the sky, and we will make a name for ourselves, and we will be like the Gods.

Close: chic tract: somebody goofed—story of young man who almost gives his life to Christ but an older man tells him he’s so young, he should wait until later. He goes on a ride with the man who says, let’s outrun the train, they don’t make it. In hell, he tells the man, the preacher was right, somebody goofed. The man of course takes off his mask and reveals he is Satan. This is a story about being deceive, this is the story of our world today.