INTRODUCTION:
Last week, we talked about a falling away from the faith that must occur before the end comes. This falling away is going to be the result of deception that will blanket this world. The Scripture is quite clear: 2 Thessalonians 2:3 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.
And we said that this deception will occur in one of two ways. There will be others who deceive us. It might be a preacher, a family member or even your best friend. Also, let's not forget the devil, a master of deception, he is the father of lies. And, unfortunately, the second way that we can be deceived is that we deceive ourselves.
And last week, we looked at the first way that we can deceive ourselves. We can become so wise in the wisdom of the world that we will outsmart ourselves into missing God. As mankind gains more knowledge about this world we live in, it becomes harder and harder to believe the simple stories of the Bible- the stories of Noah, Jonah, and the virgin birth of Christ, for example.
Today, we venture into the second deception. Let me introduction this deception by way of an illustration. I have been told that you can fix anything that needs fixing my watching a video on U-tube as to how to fix it. Now, let's assume my brakes are bad; and I decide to save money by doing the repairs myself. I go in my home office, turn on the video and watch it a couple times even take notes. I go outside to begin my project and I neglect everything I saw on the video, and I neglect every note I written. My question is: are you going to get in the car and test drive it with me? No, not if you are smart.
I came outside to start my project, but I neglected to put in practice what I just heard and seen on the video, and I tell myself I think I can do it on my own. Well, isn't that what many of us do every Sunday. We sit and listen to the preacher; we see the Scriptures that he is referring to on the television screen; we may even take notes. We walk outside the church house; we don't put into practice what we learned; aren't we telling God we think we can do it on our own?
God has a word for that type of thinking: deception. You are deceiving yourself. Let's look at it from God's Word.
SCRIPTURE:
James 1:22-25 - NIV
(22) Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (23) Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror (24) and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (25) But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
POINT #1
The Word of God calls us to action. If we are not actively living out what the Bible tells us to do, we are deceiving ourselves.
James 1
(22) Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
If I would hold up my Bible and ask you, "Do you believe what it says?" I believe that most everyone in the church today would answer: "yes." Then Jesus' question to you is: "Why aren't you doing what it says?"
One thing that the Bible says is that "I love my church", referring to Jesus loving His church. Yes, He loved His church. He took action for His church. He died for it. Ephesians 5:25
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.
There are people who get on Facebook and preach to me and you and tell us how great God is but never enters the doors of the church or only do so on the rarest of occasions. They are deceiving themselves. Their relationship cannot be what they think it is when they don't love the same things that Jesus loves. If you are a person of action- you are going to love the church like Christ loves the church.
Another thing that the Bible says is that Jesus wishes none to perish but all to come to eternal life.
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
What actions are you taking that none should perish? Well, you say that I am not good at talking with someone about Christ. OK, there are some people like that. Then my question to you is this: "Do you have a list of names of people that you pray daily for their salvation?" I don't think God would be asking too much if everyone in this church today would have a list of five people that they are praying for their salvation. But to do nothing about people perishing and spending eternity in hell, you are deceiving yourself.
The final one I want to discuss is that God says that He is Holy and that you and I are to be holy.
1 Peter 1:15
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.
There are people who attend church religiously every Sunday, but once they leave the church house, you cannot tell them from the rest of the world. They think going to church does it for their Christian duty, and now during the week they can live like they want. They are deceiving themselves. We are called to be holy every day. I hope no one in this room had someone ever say to them something like this: "I thought you were a Christian." It is interesting to me that the world knows how we are to live as Christians, but we can deceive ourselves to think it is acceptable to live like the world.
POINT #2
The Word of God calls us not to be neglectful. If we forget where we came from and what God has done for us to get us where we are today, we are deceiving ourselves.
James 1
(23) Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror (24) and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
Never forget from where God took you from to where you are now. If I would ask you if you felt lead to stand up and give a quick testimony as to where or what God took you from, I believe you would find that some of us were in some incredibly low spots before God lifted us up and put us on the solid rock.
All throughout the Old Testament, God reminds the people that I am the One who took you out of the land of Egypt to a place flowing with milk and honey. Up to this point in Jewish history, this was the low point of their history. Four hundred years of hard labor and slavery. And God says, "don't ever forget that." To be negligent and forget that past, the danger is that you will go back to your old ways.
Jude 1:5
5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
A person who remembers where or what God took them from is most likely to be a person of action when it comes to God's Word. But, let that person forget what God has done for him or her and he or she will not be that person of action. And a person not of action is deceiving themselves.
POINT #3
The Word of God says we will be blessed by doing. Your actions will prevent more than deception overtaking you; it will result in blessings in your life.
James 1
(25) But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
God don't just tell us to avoid a negative of being just a listener because you are truly deceiving yourself. God could have left it like that- don't be deceived, and we would need to pay close attention and not deceive ourselves because that is God's Word. But God goes ahead and says to each one of us be a person of action and besides not being deceived, I am going to bless you.
Now, here is the deal. God does not bless us in equal amount to the actions I take. When God blesses, He always blesses more than whatever I do. In other words, I get the best end of the deal.
Ephesians 3:20
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
Conclusion
Be a doer of the Word of God and you will not be deceived plus you will be blessed beyond your own efforts. You cannot out do God! Amen.
Let us pray!
