Appearances Can Be Deceiving
Wed. Night March 18th 2009
Hebrews 2:8-18
Introduction
Things are not always what they seem to be. You watch the previews on your TV set of a new movie showing at the theatre and you think to yourself that’s got to be one that you have to go see. You go see it and it turns out to be a real dud. In this case, the previews were deceiving; the previews didn’t give you a real picture of what the movie was going to be like.
You go to the bookstore and as you walking through the store there’s a book that catches your eye. It may be the title of the book that gets your attention; or may it is the subtitle that gets your attention. (You know the short description that is suppose to describe what the book is all about.) Well, anyway you pick it up thinking it will be a good read and when you get it home and start reading you quickly discover it is nothing like you thought it would be. It turns out that you can not judge the book by its cover.
I give you those two examples because life has many of those types of situations where appearances can be deceiving. And tonight, in our passage of Scripture, the writer of Hebrews is going to tell us that in our Christian life things are not always the way they appear on the surface- that appearances can be deceiving.
Read Scripture: Hebrews 2:8-18
I. I should be filled with such hope as a Christian because although this world sometimes beats me up, one day I am going to rule with Jesus over this world.
Hebrews 2:8-9 “In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”
Appearances can be deceiving. It doesn’t seem like I rule over anything. It seems that this world controls me. It seems like I am always in a position of reacting to what this world has thrown at me this time to deal with. If it is not sickness, then it is finances; if is not finances then it is broken relationships. It is always seems that there is something thrown at me to have to deal with.
And you know what my attitude should be as a Christian as I deal with what this life has thrown at me? One of great hope because one day the tide is going to turn. Everything that has held me as hostage will now be under my feet because I will be reining with the Lord.
Why the hope as a Christian? Because appearances today are deceiving. It seems like the world has the upper hand over me and you but the Scripture tells us in eternity that God put everything under our feet. We are going to have the upper hand.
Learn to deal with what life has thrown at you because in the end you are the winner!
II. Although Christians seem to be so divided today, there will be a time when we will be just all part of God’s family but until that day we got to work hard at building unity in our own church family.
Hebrews 2:10-11 “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.”
You look at Christians today and you say to yourself that there is no way that we will be united. But one day we will all stand together as brother and sisters in God’s family. The way things look today are deceiving because when we are gathered together with God we are just going to be one big family.
According to Christianity Today there are over 38,000 Christian denominations in the world right now. In other words, there are 38,000 different viewpoints about some aspect of the Bible. We have found someway to divide ourselves. It won’t be that way in eternity.
Not only does denominations separate us but so does race. Sunday’s, at 11:00 a.m. is the most segregated time in America. Blacks go to black churches and whites go to white churches with very few exceptions. But one day, the color of your skin is not going to make a difference. We will all be part of God’s family.
What should we be going as we wait for that time? We should be trying to build unity within our own church. If we want to do something, we should move forward together. If we are under attack by the devil, we should circle the wagons together and defend our position.
III. The devil looks like he is in control but I know in my heart that he is not because I no longer fear death.
Hebrews 2:14-15 “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
If you watch the local news or the national news you would get the impression that the devil is in control. Now, the devil might be in control of this world but he is not in control of me and he is not in control of you because we belong to God. The Bible tells us that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. The Bible tells us that Jesus has destroyed the devil.
And I know that by how I feel about death. Before I was a Christian I had a great fear about death. I didn’t know what would happen to me at death and so I feared death. Now as a Christian I do not fear death because I know to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord because the bible tells me that He who has the Son has the life and he who does not have the Son does not have the life.
We often talk about how the church is not this building but the church is you and me. We are the church. And knowing that’s true, Satan has no business here (because greater is He in us) unless we invite him in. I am tired of the devil running havoc over this church and we are kicking him out tonight and we need to all agree that he is not welcomed back.
He is not welcomed back in this church; he is not welcomed in our homes; and he is not welcomed in our children’s lives. We belong to Jesus. And we better live like we belong to Jesus- I am talking about living holy lives.
IV. Failure does not mean that I have to keep the guilt for past mistakes; nor do I have to stay angry at myself or others for broken relationships because Jesus made a way to deal with it.
Hebrews 2:16-17 “For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”
There are a whole lot of Christians walking around that have been carrying guilt for past mistakes for years. It seems that they can do nothing about it but that is the deception of the devil. Jesus has made a way to get out of carrying that guilt-He has made atonement for our sins.
Husbands and wives are suppose to love one another. But if for some reason the marriage does not make it that love can easily turn to anger toward one another. And if there is a child involved, the child usually is the victim. The deception of the devil is that it has to be that way but the truth is Jesus has made atonement to the Father and I don’t need to carry around that anger.
Failure doesn’t mean that I have carry around some baggage tied to me for the rest of my life because I have messed up. Jesus has made the way of atonement for my mistakes.
Conclusion
Things are not always like they seem. Tonight, did you paste a smile on your face as you got out of your car but deep down in side you are hurting? Has the world beaten you up and you have lost your hope but you will never let someone else see that? Are you carrying around a load of guilt or anger and have no clue how to get rid of it? The answer to all three questions is Jesus, Jesus, and Jesus.
He is waiting at the altar for you. Will you come?
(Thanks sermoncentral contributor, Preacher’s outline and sermon bible, Dr. Dave Hartson)
