Fake news is nothing new. That is, we’re not the first generation to grapple with truth vs. lies.
Human nature is such that many people find it easier to tell a lie than to tell the truth.
If lying was a sport, it would be the most popular sport on earth today.
Politicians have the reputation of being the biggest liars in the world. They can tell some WHOPPERS with a straight face. Many of them are better actors than those in Hollywood.
Illus: Makes us think of a bus filled with politicians was driving through the countryside one day, on the campaign trail. The bus driver, caught up in the beautiful scenery, loses control and crashes into the ditch.
A farmer living nearby hears the horrible crash and rushes out to discover the wreckage. Finding the politicians, he buries them.
The next day, the police come to the farm to question the man. "So you buried all the politicians?" asked the police officer. "Were they all dead?"
The farmer answered, "Some said they weren't, but you know how politicians lie."
Every day we hear people telling lies wanting people to believe something that has no truth in it whatsoever.
Illus: You may remember a TV show by the name: To Tell the Truth. The way this tv game was played there were two imposters on the panel and one person who told the truth.
They had celebrity judges who had to decide which one of the three was telling the truth.
That turned out to be very hard to do because a good lie often sounds more truthful than the truth.
This tv game makes us think of Joshua when it comes to telling the truth.
The people of Israel have just defeated the city Jericho and Ai and are preparing to march deeper into Canaan as they claim the Promised Land that the Lord had promised them.
They now have a couple of victories under their belts. They had to some more lessons to learn as they moved forward to possess the promise land.
For example, God was going to teach them the lesson of becoming too friendly with the enemy.
This is also a lesson for todays church.
You see, a lot of folks do not seem to know they are playing with the devil…that is, they do not know HE IS NOT PLAYING!!!
Illus: Samson learn that lesson the hard way when he was playing with Delilah, that is, he was playing around with Delilah but DELILA WAS NOT PLAYING!
As believers we must come to realize the danger of BECOMING TOO FRIENDLY WITH THE ENEMY.
As we study this passage, let's learn the lesson that Israel had to learn.
For example, when Israel was on their way to conquer the promise land the Gibeonites (Their enemy) deceived Israel into making a covenant with them that God forbid them to do.
Why did God forbid them to covenant with the Gibeonites?
Because …
I. The Enemy Can Be Deceptive
Israel had a reputation of having victory after victory and if anyone got in their way they would SMITE THEM!!!
No single nation could stop them so they formed an alliance together to stop them.
Look at Joshua 9:1-2 And it came to pass, when all the kings that were beyond the Jordan, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and on all the shore of the great sea in front of Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; that they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.
(Look how Gibenites tried to deceived them into thinking they were there friends)
In Joshua 9:3-5 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, they also did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine-skins, old and rent and bound up, and old and patched shoes upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and was become mouldy.
And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We are come from a far country: now therefore make ye a covenant with us. And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a covenant with you? And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of Jehovah thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth.
These Gibeonites put on a very good show. They came to Joshua with this story, the only problem with their story, It was all FAKE NEWS.
They knew that Israel was on a roll, defeating nation after nation and they knew as Gibeonites they were in the cross hairs.
So they came to the conclusion, instead of them killing us, we need to cut a deal with them.
They put on a good show. They could have won and Osacar for the performance they gave making the leaders of Israel to think they were their servants wanting to make a covenant with them.
Look how the Gibeonites DECEIVED THE PEOPLE OF GOD!!!
A. They Used Deceptive Wiles (Tricks)
When the Gibeonites heard that the Israelites were headed in their direction, they devised a scheme to trick Israel into making a peace treaty with them.
They first used words, look at Joshua 9: 11-13 And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them (Israel), and say unto them, We are your servants: and now make ye a covenant with us. This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and is become mouldy: and these wine-skins, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they are rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.
They did everything in their power to trick Israel.
Illus: What a picture of our enemy, the devil!
The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Listen as a Christian, if you think the devil is not trying to trick you and deceive you every day you are sadly mistaken!!!
The word "wiles" refers to "deceit, trickery, crafty."
You see friends, Satan would like nothing better than to trip you up and cause you to fall into one of his traps.
Just before Jesus died, He told Simon Peter in Luke 22:31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat.
Satan wants us to fall. He wants us to fail, and he will stop at nothing to bring that to pass.
Satan uses deceptive wiles (Tricks), just like the people of Gibeon did.
Look at Joshua 9:4-5 they also did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine-skins, old and rent and bound up, and old and patched shoes upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and was become mouldy.
The Gibeonites had taken every step possible to deceive Israel into believing that they were from a far away country.
Notice:
• They carried old sacks on their donkeys,
• Broken and bound up wine skins,
• Patched shoes
• Shabby clothing
• And even some mouldy bread.
Their entire aim was to trick Israel.
May I remind you that when the devil comes to you in a temptation, or to trip you up…
• He does not do so in a red suit with a pointy tail and horns.
• He will not be carrying a pitchfork and he will not smell like smoke in his clothing.
When the devil comes to your life to cause you trouble, he will appear as an angel of light.
Look at 2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light.
He will make his plan appear to be the perfect thing for your life.
Notice, he will use
• Wiles (Tricks)
• Wares (things)
But notice something…
C. He Uses Deceptive Words –
Look at Joshua 9:6-13, again, And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We are come from a far country: now therefore make ye a covenant with us. And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a covenant with you? And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of Jehovah thy God: for we have heard (flattery) the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. And our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take provision in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: and now make ye a covenant with us. This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and is become mouldy: and these wine-skins, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they are rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.
Notice that in these verses, these men from Gibeon lied:
In verses 6, 9, 11 and 12; they claimed to be something they were not,
This is a perfect picture of our enemy, the devil. He will use slick and enticing speech to get you to yield to his plans for your life.
In other words, the devil will give you every reason in the world to justify the things he wants you to do. Then when you have followed him and are out of God's will and in trouble, he will discard you like a piece of trash and leave you to rot in your sins!
I wonder what kind of a lie he whispered in the ear to get…
1. Cain to get him to kill Abel?
2. David to get him to sleep with Bathsheba?
3. Judas to get him to betray the Lord Jesus?
Satan will use words to tell us what we want to hear.
Illus: Listen, we like for people to tell us what we want to hear…don’t we! Even if it is not true!!!
• We like to be told that we are smart…so people tell us we are smart!
• You sure look like you lost a lot of weigt…even if we have gain five pounds!
And notice these Gibeonites, THEY ARE PUSHING ALL THE RIGHT BUTTONS BECAUSE THEY KNEW THE LEADERS OF ISRAEL WOULD WANT TO HEAR THESE NICE THINGS THEY MENTION.
These Gibeonites were smart enough to know the leaders of Israel will not kill us while we are saying NICE THINGS ABOUT THEM AND THEIR GOD!
The devil does the same thing to get an advantage over us.
Look at II Corinthians 2:11 that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Satan desires to gain an "advantage" over us, he will use every trick in the book to get us to follow him into failure.
When all the kings of Canaan heard what had happened to Ai and to Jericho, they joined forces to seek to defeat Israel. The kings of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, were sworn enemies…
But they formed an alliance to fight against the Israelites.
Isn't it amazing how the devil's crowd will join up to fight God's people? That is how the enemy works!
Joshua 9:3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai.
Look at that word “Heard”.
WHAT DID THEY HEAR?
They heard what Israel did to Jericho and Ai and they were scared to death.
• They heard of the collapse of the walls of Jericho and the burning of the city.
• They had also heard about the defeat of Ai.
• In Joshua 8:29 they heard about about The king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the eventide: and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised thereon a great heap of stones, unto this day.
It was as if Joshua had raised the black flag and said, “Take no prisoners alive!!!”
Satan lost that battle in heaven and now that battle is now here on earth.
This may shock a lot of folks to know this, that is, satan is not in hell, he never has been in hell.
One day he will be cast into hell, but right now at the present he is right here on earth.
When he was cast out of heaven, he was cast to the earth.
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.
He will be placed in hell forever in Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Satan wants you to think he is in hell, that is, you do not have to be concern about him because he is in hell.
No he is not in hell, he is right here on earth every day DECEIVING PEOPLE INTO FOLLOWIN HIM!
He is on the earth deceiving people the same way the Gibeonites deceived Israel with WORDS AND THINGS.
He knows he is going to be cast into hell but he is still trying to recruit followers to fight against all mighty God so that he want be cast into hell.
The devil is the enemy of everyone of us and we better recognize The Enemy Can Be Deceptive
But also…
The Enemy Can Be Detructive
Look at Joshua 9:14-16 And the men took of their provision, and asked not counsel at the mouth of Jehovah.
And Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them.
The Gibeonites when they heard that the army of Israel is headed in their direction they did everything they knew to do to trick Israel into cutting a deal with them and would spare them.
The Gibeonites knew they didn't stand a chance when they heard about this great nation of Israel.
It was a straightforward calculation, they came to the conclusion the Jews are planning to sweep through the land. When they get to Gibeon, they will kill us and burn the city. We’d better cut a deal while we can.”
The Gibeonites came with a story that almost makes you feel sorry for them.
But everything they said was a lie.
Look at John 8:44, we read, “…When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.”
• In verse 7, Joshua initially was a little skeptical of these so-called ambassadors to start with. Look at verse 7, Joshua 9:7 And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a covenant with you.
• In verse 8 he questioned them about their origin again. Joshua 9:8 And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye?
But when the Gibeonites showed the leaders of Israel:
• Their clothes,
• Their food
• Their broken wineskins,
Joshua was more than impressed and he believed their lie!
Notice, they break bread with the Gibeonites.
Illus: To break bread with someone in that day was considered to be a sign of unalterable friendship.
But what they considered to be the right thing to do turned out to be the wrong thing.
God had told them to utterly destroy the inhabitants and to make no covenants with them.
Look at Deuteronomy 7:1-2 When Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; and when Jehovah thy God shall deliver them up before thee, and thou shalt smite them; then thou shalt utterly destroy them: thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them; However, Israel disobeyed this command and as a result they sinned before the Lord.
But before we jump on the band wagon and condemn Israel may I remind you there are scriptures in this Bible that tells us things to do and not to do and we disobey the Lord Jesus also.
Now we can point our fingers at them and say, "Shame on those Israelites", but also “Shame on us!”
We can get ourselves in trouble as a child of God when we GET TOO CLOSE TO THE ENEMY!
What kind of trouble?
We soon become like them!
Let me share with you some things you SHOULD HEAR but you WANT HERE in many churches today from the pulpit.
Illus: That is, we have a society today of Christians that has gotten to friendly with the enemy spend and now Christians have become like them.
Have you noticed those Christians who spend too much time with the enemy they dress and talk like those who do not profess to be saved.
Some have hung out with the world so long and now you can not see any difference between them and the lost world.
When we sa
y we are SAVED it means we are saved from something and our life should show we are saved. WE NOW ARE NEW CREATURES IN CHRIST JESUS.
We have looked at:
I. The Enemy Can Be Deceptive
II. THE ENEMY CAN BE DESTRUCTIVE
III. THE ENEMY CAN BE DEFEATED.
1 John 2:15-16 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
WHAT IS WORLDLINESS?
When John used the term “world,” he is not thinking of the material universe, its material contents, and the people in the world.
The Word of God does not suggest that Christian should hate the material world or its inhabitants or that he should refrain from contact with them.
We cannot be the salt and light of the world when we isolate ourselves from the earth or the people. We cannot avoid the pleasures and comforts of life in the world because God did not intend life to be miserable but very good.
The term “world” refers to an invisible spiritual system opposed to God and Christ. This spiritual system is Satan’s system for opposing the work of Christ on earth. It is the very opposite of what is godly, holy, and spiritual.
Worldliness is a devotion to this invisible spiritual system under Satan and opposed to loving God and doing the work of Christ.
This spiritual system includes traditions, custom, things, and thoughts that belong to darkness or that sphere of human existence that is alienated from God.
• It’s o.k. for the garden to be in grass, but it’s bad when grass is in the garden.
• It’s o.k. for a boat to be out in water, but it’s bad when water gets in the boat.
I John 2:15 warns not to love the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH LOVING THE WORLD?
Look at I john 2:16, we read, Notice, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
The world offers only:
• A craving for physical pleasure,
• A craving for everything we see,
• A pride in our achievements and possessions.
Listen, it is alright to LIKE the things of the world, but we should not LOVE the things of the world.
Illus: When we love the things of the world and like the things of God we have the CART BEFORE THE HORSE!!!
These are not from the Father, but are from this world.
There are people today who do not ahe
There are people today who do not have time for GOD THEIR CREATOR because the gods of this world has all their affection.
Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Worldliness has invaded churches everywhere.
If we are going to defeat the devil let me share with you in closing some of the lies that satan is telling God’s church and many churches are swallowing these lies “hook line and sinker.”
Lies like the Gibeonites that told Israel, there was not one ounce of truth in them.
For example, a lie that we hear many times to day…
1.OUR CHURCHES MUST BECOME RELEVANT TO TODAYS SOCIETY IF WE ARE TO WIN SOULS FOR CHRIST.
Listen, I hear this all the time:
• In ministers meetings,
• Books on church growth
IT IS A BIG LIE!!!
The devil has convinced many churches today that we need to change the Gospel to fit our lifestyles!
Listen, True evangelism MUST revolve around the cross and TRUE repentance!
The popular thing to do now days is whatever it takes to "attract" people to church.
Booming numbers of people in mega-churches seem to justify using worldly methods to make the church "attractive" to people.
Are we really helping to get people saved and filled with Gods Spirit or are we simply filling the seats of the churches with the "tares" that Jesus warned us about found in MAT 13.
• Just because everybody else is doing, it doesn’t make it right,
• And just because you might believe it that way doesn’t make it true!
Today more so than ever before we need the truth of Gods word, and THAT does not change just because our lifestyles change!
Here is another lie Satan uses on Christians…
(2) "I’M A GODLY PERSON"
Maybe you are. I hope and pray that you are, you should be if you are a christian!
But if you can only say this because you are gaugeing YOUR Godliness by someone else’s, especially someone you know is that is openly living in sin, then you are letting Satan decieve you.
If you look around at some of the people you know in the world and compare yourself with them, you might say to yourself "Hey....I’m really a pretty good person; look at so-and-so......I’m a lot more Godly than he is!"
You’d better be examing and comparing your life to SCRIPTURE....no other comparisons will matter on the day of judgement.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
WHY WOULD GOD’S WORD TELL US TO EXAMINE OURSELVES?
Because there are a lot of people who are not save who think they are saved.
If they would examine themselves with the Word of God they would discover that!!!
YOU are the best judge of whether you are living your life as Godly as the Bible tells you to....examine it in truth!
God’s Word tells us clearly, IF YOU LOVE ME YOU WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.
If you are not doing what the Word of God teaches the Lord’s Word tells us you do not love the Lord.
Here is another lie that many have fell for…
3. WELL, OTHER CHRISTIANS DO IT THAT WAY
Because of the gradual change that has permeated our churches, we seem to feel that worldliness is OK and acceptable to God if other churches are doing it.
• In many churches today they are getting rid of the old King James Bible
• In many churches today they are getting rid of the old hyms of the faith that talks about the blood of Christ.
We are told today we need this 7-11 music where you have a song that has 7 words and you sing those seven words eleven times.
• In many churches they have closed down two-thirds of the worship services
EX 23:2 tells us "You shall not follow a crowd to do evil". Just because everyone’s doing it, doesn’t make it right.
When a church cease to be led by the Word of God and they are led by other churches are soon going to find themselves in a mess spiritually.
Test all you do by Gods Word!
4. "I DON’T LOVE THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD"
Or do you? Think about it just for a sec.....how devoted are you to the Lord Jesus?
Do you sometimes miss church because you have something you’d rather be doing than going to a worship service to worship the Lord Jesus?
You know, there is such a lack of interest in church that a lot of churches not only don’t have Wed nite services, but now don’t even do Sun PM services.
"Well, Pastor.......I’ve got things to do!!!"
What they should be saying “Well, Pastor, I love the Lord but I love:
• Football
• Family and friends
• Nascar
• Beaches
• Moutains
I love these things more than I love the Lord.
Illus: I sure am glad that when they crucified my Lord and Saviour, He didn’t say "Hey......I’ve got something else to do right now.....I’ll try to fit that in my schedule later...."
What you love is demonstrated by the things that you make priorities in your life everyday.
You prove to yourself , everyone that knows you, and to God what you really love.
• Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
• Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
5."WELL, GOD DOESN’T EXPECT ME TO BE AN ODDBALL!"
Well.....yeah, He kinda does!
Don’t you think most people thought Jesus was a little "odd?"
How about Paul.....boy, I can imagine what they thought about him.....used to persecute Christians and now "he are one"......odd behaviour!
What about Peter? Now, you talk about odd.......that guy couldn’t keep his temper, always opening his mouth when he shouldn’t.....by the way,
How odd do you think Jonah looked whenever he got to Nineva, after spending 3 days being digested by a whale?
Nearly all accounts we see, Christians are mocked by the world! And if you aren’t being mocked by someone, maybe they are having trouble seeing your Christianity!
This is why the Lord said John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Conclusion:
We have looked at:
I. THE ENEMY CAN BE DECEPTIVE
II. THE ENEMY CAN BE DESTRUCTIVE
III. THE ENEMY CAN BE DEFEATED
