Don't Be Deceived

INTRO.- Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. I believe that some people do want to deceive others for one reason or another. It could be for money, a vote or something else.

ILL.- A politician was running for re-election and was talking at a campaign stop to his constituents.

"My opponent has called me a liar. I want you to know that I have never lied to you. The only problem I have is that the facts don’t always match up with what I believe or say."

Not all politicians are guilty of lying or deception but some are. Or else they make a lot of promises that they can’t keep. We do know, however, that the world is full of people who try to deceive others.

II Tim. 3:13 "Evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."

ILL.- Michael Jackson is being sued by Arab sheikh in UK court. The son of an Arab monarch took the King of Pop to court, charging that Jackson took $7 million as an advance on an album and an autobiography that he never produced.

Lawyers for Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa say their client paid Jackson expenses as an advance on the book and joint recording project with the sheikh, who is an amateur songwriter. Jackson claims the money was a gift. IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE DECEIVED SOMEONE ELSE!

ILL.- This story is told about a blind man. The poor guy, with dark glasses and his little tin cup was standing on the street corner, patiently waiting for a small contribution. A kindly man passed by and generously dropped a dime in the poor old fellow’s cup. Then for some reason he turned around, and to his surprise saw the blind man’s glasses pushed up on his forehead, looking at his recent gift.

“I thought you were a blind man,” said the disgruntled donor. “Oh, no,” was the answer, “I am only substituting for the regular blind man today. I’m not really blind at all.”

“Well, where is the regular blind man?” asked the other. “Oh, he’s gone to the movies; it’s his afternoon off.”

Brothers and sisters, there’s a lot of deception going on in this world of ours and perhaps mostly for money. There is always some kind of scam on the internet and other places in order to get people’s money. Some people want to sell others a bunch of no-good goods!

The world is deceptive. The world promises much but doesn’t deliver.

Matt. 10:16 "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

The Lord does not want us to be deceived in any form. He always tells us the truth about Himself and about life.

PROP.- In our text, I see several thoughts about God, which the world distorts or tries to deceive us.

1- Good is from God - praise Him!

2- Truth is from God - praise Him!

3- Life is from God - praise Him!

I. GOOD IS FROM GOD - PRAISE HIM!

16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above..."

ILL.- A Mother had decided to trim her household budget wherever possible, so instead of having a dress dry-cleaned she washed it by hand.

Proud of her savings, she boasted to her husband, "Just think, Fred, we are five dollars richer because I washed this dress by hand."

"Good," Fred quickly replied. "Wash it again!"

All Americans would be better off if they were more budget-minded and would cut a few corners occasionally to save some money. I wouldn’t recommend, however, washing out clothes by hand though.

We do live in a spendthrift society. Plastic credit is too easy to spend and gets a person into trouble. We must not be deceived about spending money. If you spend more than you make you’ll be in trouble. Been there and done that. Don’t want to do it again.

ILL.- A young man was having some money problems, and needed $200 to get his car fixed and road-worthy again. But had run out of people to borrow from. So, he called his parents via the operator, and reversed the charge and said to his dad, "I need to borrow two hundred dollars."

At the other end, his father said, "Sorry, I can’t hear you, son, I think there may be a bad line."

The boy shouted, "Two hundred. I need two hundred dollars!"

"Sorry, I still can’t hear you clearly," said his father.

The operator cut in, "Sorry to butt in, but I can hear him perfectly." The father said, "Oh, good. YOU send him the $200."

Brothers and sisters, it may be that everyone experiences money problems. This is a real problem when raising children. Children often want everything that everybody else and that puts a strain on mom and dad’s budget, if there is one. There is a point where mom and dad need to say "no" to themselves and to their kids.