The 4 Aspects of Deception
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
We as humans have a very damaging trait and that is our susceptibility to deception. Deception is the systematic inducement of false beliefs in others to accomplish some outcome other than the truth. Deception constitutes the misinterpretation of situations by one individual and a consequence to another or poses costs to the receiver and benefits to the deceiver. Deception is a very methodical way of tricking you or to put it Biblically the wiles of the devil as Ephesians 6:11 says. We are living in a time of unprecedented deception, with the advancement of A.I. artificial intelligence it is extremely easy to be deceived, and the risk of deceptions is astronomical. The Bible speaks often of this problem of deception and warns us against being deceived.
Deception is an effective tactic used by the devil. Jesus said of him in John 8:44 “When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it”. He is the father of lies and deception is the systematic inducement of false beliefs (LIES) in others to accomplish some outcome other than the truth. Satan used deception to first introduce sin in the beginning when he said in Genesis 3:4 “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die”. This deception continues today and we as Christians today are not immune from the devil’s tricks and deceptive ways, and I would stand on scripture and say like Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more subtle than any” because he has had more time to practice and hone his craftiness.
Today I want to teach on the 4 aspects of deception.
PRAYER
SCRIPTURES: - 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ”.
This scripture expresses how Paul feared the possibility of the people of the church of Corinth falling victim and being deceived by the devil as Eve was. Also, we today must not underestimate Satan’s deceptions and tactics he uses to deceive so many. Revelation 12:9 says, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him”. Remember in Genesis 3:1 he was the serpent in Revelation 12:9 he is the great dragon he grew he had a lot of practice at deception and has really homed in on how to deceive.
Now I titled this lesson The 4 Aspects of Deception and so often when we preach on deception and being deceived, we will focus on Why and neglect the How, the Who, the When, the Where, and the What. Today I want to deal with 4 aspects of deception that will deal more with the who how and what aspects of deception. The 4 aspects I will be dealing with are 1) the victim of deception 2) the participants of deception 3) the deniers of deception 4) the victors of deception.
TEXT: - Galatians 6:7 says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”. Matthew 24:11 says, “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many”. Acts 20:29-30 says, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them”.
1. Victim of Deception: - One of the greatest tactics the devil uses that makes him so deceptive is that he has others who are aiding him in his work. WATCH THIS: - 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 says, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works”. Now these will be those whom you might not initially suspect, they will be disguised as servants of righteousness, they will speak flattering words and sound really good can preach hold your attention and are full excitement, they have titles as prophet apostle’s evangelist and such but those are often just disguises of sheep’s clothing over raving wolves. Let me give a couple of quick examples: - 1 When my wife and I first moved to Florida we started attending this church and had been going for a couple of months by this time we didn’t go in announcing I was a Bishop or anything just we had recently moved from Ohio with my job and was looking for a church. They had this young preacher there that called himself prophet whatever and he preached pretty good then he started to call people up and so-call prophecy over their lives and he called me and I went up and he said “God told me to tell you to read your Bible because he is going to call you into the ministry and you one day will be preaching the word of God like me”. I didn’t say anything to him, the next day I asked the pastor could we talk and he said sure can you meet me at Wendy’s which was right down from the church I said sure I walked in with my Degree, My Bishopric Consecration Certificate, Letter of Recommendation from the General Board and set it on the table he looked at it and his mouth dropped open. I said your prophet was wrong, I have been doing this for years. The other story is a so-called prophet told me and my wife over 25 years ago that God said to sow so much money into this ministry and we would see a 100-fold blessing – well Abraham only had to wait 25 years we still haven’t received ours – we being young were literally victims of deception.
I said that because we need to be careful of who we listen to. Just because they go by a title or wear a nice robe does not mean that they are giving the unadulterated Word of God the Bible says in 1 John 4:1 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world”.
Romans 16:17-18 says, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple”.
DON’T BE A VICTIM OF DECEPTION!
2. Participant of Deception or Self Deception: - What is probably the most dangerous type of deception is self-deception because people will not believe that they are truly deceiving themselves. Galatians 6:3 says, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself”. Self-deception is pride and egos that will credit our good outcomes in life and refuse to accept responsibility for bad ones, they believe that they are more capable or more intelligent or more religious than they truly are and in so doing they create an attitude and arrogance in which they are religiously or morally blameless and in fact have no need of God or correction. So often they want to be affirmed in their sin, in their weakness that they will settle for mediocrity having the truth sugar-coated and watered down so much that they are delighted to listen to those who call themselves preachers of the gospel but will not call into question their actions or stand for Holiness and Righteousness 2 Timothy 4:3 says “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears”. They go to church, pay tithes, read the Bible and are Theologically strong and believe that is what true religion is all about but are Spiritually Weak because although they have Biblical knowledge there is no character changing qualities believing intellectual knowledge, mere lip service, or good intentions are enough while they are only hearing the word and not being doers of the word of God. James 1:22-27 says “But be ye doers of the word, and not hears only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therin, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world”. The Bible says Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it”. Arrogance and pride are causes of self-deception because so often a person thinks they cannot be affected by something or that it doesn’t pertain to them but Obadiah 1:3 says, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee” and Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall”.
DON’T BE A PARTICIPANT OF DECEPTION
3. Deniers of Deception: - Deniers of Deception and Self-Deception are closely related because oftentimes self-deception involves the act of claiming what is being done is not a sin. People boldly deny that a particular action is sinful, though it is plainly condemned in the Bible. This is the big one right now Homosexuality is condemned in the Bible Leviticus 18:22 says, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination” Romans 1:26-27 says, “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet” and 1 Corinthians 6:9 says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind” yet people insist that it is not a sin, but rather an alternate lifestyle. What the Bible defines as sin, the world labels as acceptable, normal, and sometimes even praiseworthy and celebratory and why we have the entire month of June as pride month. Deniers of deception will try to stand on the philosophy that times have changed and many things that have become commonly accepted in our time that were generally looked down upon in times pass. However, this does not mean that the morals, values, standards, righteousness, old paths of the Bible are irrelevant to our modern society. God’s standard does not change 1 Peter 1:25 says, “But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you”. Hebrew 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever”. Some deniers of deception will go as far as to even acknowledge that certain actions are sinful but claim that there is no reason to be concerned when they commit them or are committed by people of God. They will twist scripture to fit what they need it to fit saying that God loves us and will therefore save us by His grace no matter what we do. The Scriptures, however, teach us that grace is not a license to sin Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein 11-12 Likewise reckon ye also yourself to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof”. When you allow yourself to be deceived, you open the door for sin. Therefore, never let your guard down. Recognize the lies that are told about sin so that you will not fall for them. To keep from being deceived, you must develop a greater knowledge of and ability to handle God’s word.
DON’T BE A DENIER OF DECEPTION
4. VICTOR OF/OVER DECEPTION: - I started this lesson by stating that deception is the systematic inducement of false beliefs in others to accomplish some outcome other than the truth. Well, I want to give the systematic inducement of Biblical Truths to accomplish Victory over Deception making you a Victor of Deception. I am going to give 4 steps to being victorious over deception.
a. 1 John 4:1 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world”. TRY THE SPIRIT: - Don’t be so quick to believe everything or everyone but examine what is being said by the scriptures diligently seek God’s leading and guidance in what is being said and presented. This is what 2 Timothy 2:15 is all about when it says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”. To rightly divide the word of truth is testing it making sure it is truly the truth. The Bereans didn’t accept every doctrine that was presented to them they studied the scriptures for themselves to determine the truth. When you fail to study the Bible for yourself comparing what you hear with what is written in the Bible how will you know that you are not being deceived, so Try – Test the Spirit.
b. KNOW THE SPIRIT: - This is not just mere Biblical knowledge of Him but a deep personal and intimate relationship. It is understanding the things of God through the Holy Ghost being lead in all truth by His empowering presence that gives us discernment. Philippians 3:10-11 says, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead”. You know the spirit by the spirit or to put it another way by the fruit it bears. The Spirit of God is God and will only produce Godly fruit, it cannot produce anything other than Godly fruit/Spirit therefore you know if what is being produce is not Godly than it is not right. Matthew 7:17-19 says, “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire”. The only way you will know this is by developing a relationship with Him through His Word, by studying to show thyself approved.
c. BE STEDFAST UNMOVEABLE ABOUNDING: - 1Corinthians 15:58 says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord”. Stedfast = to be firm in your belief, be faithful and firm in your stance and position. Unmovable = to be unyielding, incapable of being moved not tossed to and fro or diverted, not allowing anyone or anything to move you spiritually from your clear and precise spiritual direction. Abounding = always soaking up as much of God’s Word as you can – as the song says fill my cup and let it overflow.
d. HAVE THIS TESTIMONY: - Acts 20:24 “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God”. We are striving to wear a crown and see His face when it is all over, so I must make sure I hold on, that I am unmovable and have the testimony that I have fought a good fight and have finished my course, I have kept the faith, I was not deceived, I have received of the Lord Jesus and testified the gospel of the grace of God.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
