CHASING ILLUSIONS
Text: II Corinthians 4:3 - 6
2 Corinthians 4:3-6 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. (4) In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (5) For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. (6) For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (NRSV).
The captain of the Titanic refused to believe the ship was in trouble till water was ankle deep in the mail room. Only then was it apparent the multi-layered hull had been pierced and the unsinkable ship was going to sink. Ships that could have arrived before the great ocean liner went down weren’t summoned until it was too late. Leadership, Vol X, #3 (Summer, 1989), p. 27, Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. Every Titanic has its iceberg. Every superhero has his/her weak spot. For Superman it was kryptonite. For every person its sin. Sin disrupts, distracts, deceives and even leads to destruction and even damnation if it is left unchecked.
The god of this world wants to blind the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel (II Corinthians 4:4). The god of this world would love nothing more than to deceive you with illusions and delusions (John 8:44). Satan wants to keep you from having the eyes of your hearts illumined to the hope of your calling and the riches of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:18).
The text today suggests how our pilgrimage can be navigated incorrectly due to deception which is why we must be vigilant in our daily journey as Christians.
PILGRIMAGE
Are we not all pilgrims here on a pilgrimage? There is the story of an older man who asked a young man what his plans were after graduating from law school. The young man, said he wanted a good job, get married, start a family, put his kids through school, spoil the grand-kids, then retire. At each stage, the older man asked him a profound two worded question, “Then what?” The young man would proceed to the next stage in life. When he talked about dying, the older man naturally asked, “Then what?”After that comes eternity and where we will spend it. (Greg Laurie. As It Is In Heaven. Colorado Springs, Colorado: NavPress, 2014, p. 19) Hebrews 9:27 reminds us that it is appointed for man to die once then comes the judgment. What are we doing about our “Then what?”
Is there anybody who thinks that God did not have a plan for them? 1) God’s plan: Just as God had a plan for Adam and Eve, He has a plan for you and me. He had already predestined you for His plan before the foundation of the world, with a future and a hope and a Savior (Ephesians 1:3- 11; Jeremiah 29:11; and John 3:16).
2) Nemesis: Just as Adam and Eve were deceived by the god of this world aka Satan and the Devil. Satan is an accuser (Revelation 12:10), a slanderer, a deceiver, a thief and a murderer (John 8:44). Satan wants to keep us from seeing the light of the Gospel.
Does life sometimes seem like a puzzle? My parents love to put jigsaw puzzles to together. So we gave them a 500 piece puzzle for Christmas. It was not your average puzzle. It was actually designed by Dr. Stan Rodski who is a Neuroscientist. Most of the pieces were shaped alike. The idea was for the puzzle to challenge your mind in such a way to get you to use both sides of your brain so that you would be creative as well as analytical. When they almost finished the puzzle, notice I said “almost” they had five pieces left where they could not find how they configured into the puzzle. They got frustrated, maybe even exasperated.
You can turn this story into a parable by saying that life is like a puzzle that won’t completely come together unless we follow the intention of our Creator---our Heavenly Father. Consider some revelations from one of Jesus’s disciples who present with Jesus at the transfiguration. 1 Peter 2:5 reminds us that we are “… like living stones are being built up [by God’s design] as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (ESV). Satan wants to blind us with all the distractions that would keep us from becoming God’s priesthood who were called out out darkness into His wonderful light (I Peter 2:9).
How do we do that? How do we follow the design and plan of our Heavenly Father? Do we read His Word, pray and listen to God’s Word made flesh---His only begotten Son? Satan does not just want you to get frustrated, exasperated, disoriented by deceiving you from seeing the light. He wants to get you lost, doubting, despondent and defeated while chasing illusions to keep you from seeing what to do with your “What then?” for eternity.
DECEPTION
Do you believe that deception or blinders can come in many forms? 1) Satan’s methods of operation: Could they come in the form of dishonesty, delusions, illusions, counterfeits, lies, slanders, accusations and blinders?
2) Blinders: No matter what the format deception comes in, Satan still wants to keep you from seeing your “Then what?”! Satan calls good evil and evil good (Isaiah 5:20) while he even masquerades as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:4) because his name in Isaiah 14:12 means light bearer. Satan is a proud pretender who was cast out of heaven.
3) Obstruction: Satan wants to keep you from becoming a part of God’s priesthood that will make His light---the light of the Gospel shine in the darkness.
4) The biggest blinder: The biggest deceiving blinder Satan uses is pride.
Have you ever wondered about the origin of blinders? “Blinders are small squares of firm leather that attach to the bridle at the side of the horse’s head. Some say that blinders were invented when a preacher had a wager with one of his friends. The preacher bet that his horse could walk up the stairs in his home, which the horse did with no problem at all. But, when he tried to coax the horse down again, it wouldn’t budge! So, the preacher covered the horses head and lead him down. He realized that covering all or part of the horse’s vision could encourage the horse to take chances it would not normally take”. (http://parklaneequestrian.com/why-do-horses-wear-blinders/). (from my sermon Abiding In The Light 2014 version). Again, no matter what the format deception comes in, Satan still wants to keep you from seeing your answer to your “Then what?” concerning eternity!
Can Satan make religious people blind to the truth and light of the Gospel? Remember the religious leaders---the Pharisees of the days of Jesus’s earthly ministry? 1) Blind leaders: Read Matthew 23 and see how Jesus told the Pharisees about how they were like the blind leading the blind.
2) Missing the mark: Jesus refers to their blindness to arrogance, hypocrisy and bad example which means that they were blind to their own sinfulness---their own failure in missing the mark of their calling. Are there leaders in our world that are blind today? Who blinded them and why? What happens when the blind leaders lead the blind and they both fall in the ditch? Isn’t that a question that Jesus asked (Matthew15:14)?
Do we think that we can be exempt? Consider the life of the late country music singer Hank Williams, Sr. who wrote the classic country song entitled, I Saw The Light. Hank did indeed see the light and change his ways. However, his addiction to alcohol came back to bite him. One can only wonder how his life might have been different if Hank had not hopped-off-the-wagon. (From my sermon Temptation is a Baited Hook 2015 ) . We are not bullet proof!
VIGILENCE
Can we operate on cruise control in our journey and expect to complete our pilgrimage well? 1) False foundations: True story. I heard about somebody who owned a Winnebago motorhome and went out on the open road for a trip. They set the Winnebago on cruise control and left the driver’s seat. They had gotten up to go make a cup of coffee and the Winnebago wrecked. It went to court, and they won their case believe it or not. Yes, I know what you are thinking, it defies all logic!. In the bar of heaven, we cannot cheat justice and God’s judgment.
2) God’s blue prints: Unless the Lord builds the house, we build in vain! (Psalm 127:1). God will not be mocked because we will reap what was sown. The Bible is very clear! We cannot sow to the flesh and reap from the Spirit.
Is vigilance a part of exercising God’s wisdom? 1) Godly fear: The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom in the book of proverbs. That means that godly fear is about reverence. I once read where someone explained Godly fear as “reverence“----respect tinged with awe”. Godly fear is about vigilantly seeking God’s guidance. Proverbs 16:9 reminds us that “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps” (KJV). Again. If we strives to build without God we build in vain (Psalm 127:1).
2) Folly: “The opposite of wisdom is folly, meaning the short-term self-indulgence which marks out the person who doesn’t think about long-term priorities and goals but lives on a day-to-day basis, asking, “What is the most fun thing to do now?”Your Father Loves You by James Packer, (Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986), page for July 5, Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.
3) Obedience: Isn’t obedience a big part of being vigilant in exercising God’s wisdom? What happened when God’s people disobeyed? Did they get off course from following His plan? Do they create unnecessary challenges because of their stubbornness? Remember what happened to Jonah when he did not obey God’s call? Is disobedience ever fruitful?
4) Chasing the wind: The book of Ecclesiastes mentions “chasing the wind” a total of nine times. What does that expression mean? It can only mean an exercise in futility! How can we ever gain understanding on our own? Proverbs 3:5-7 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. (6) In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (7) Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil” (NRSV). Disobedience will leads to dark places!
Remember what happened to the captain of the Titanic? 1) Pride that makes us stumble: He waited until it was too late and the unthinkable, unsinkable Titanic sunk. Satan wants to blind anyone he can to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel. Satan wants to blind us from letting the light of Christ shine in us. Satan wants to keep us from being a city set on a hill that shines for God’s glory.
2) The eyes of our hearts: Satan wants to keep you from having the eyes of your hearts illumined to [the] hope of our calling and the riches of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:18).
3) Chasing illusions: Satan would like to deceive you with any illusion or delusion that would weaken your obedience, your love and your fellowship to make you stumble. 1 John 2:10 says “Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling” (NRSV). Satan is stirring up a lot of hate in our world today!
4) Living by God’s light: John 3:21 says “But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God” (NRSV).
Satan, the god of this world, wants us to chase illusions that would keep us from being whom God our Heavenly Father has called us to be as His children. God calls us to shine and we cannot shine without His help. He calls us to shine like a city set on a hill in a world with dark places. Satan has many fooled by his illusions and delusions. We need to remember that “[God’s] … light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). Jesus said “In the world you will have trouble, but be courageous—I have overcome the world!”" (John 16:33 NIV). We can only be overcomers by God’s help. We need to shine now more than ever! Satan wants to keep you from living in that victory! The light is greater than the darkness! “We overcome seducers---Satan’s agents, because greater is the Spirit of Christ that is in [us] than the spirit of antichrist that is in the world”. (paraphrase of John Wesley’s commentary on I John 4:4). Satan wants to destroy your present witness and keep you from your victory in Christ that would shine for Jesus. We are pilgrims here on earth but citizens of God’s kingdom. This world is not our home! Through living a life in the light of Christ, darkness loses!
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
