You, Too Can Be Deceived
TCF Sermon
June 5, 2005
As a preacher, or really any kind of public speaker, you’re always thinking of a really good start for your message. That opening that will captivate your audience, and hopefully disarm them, and eventually begin to draw them in to listen with some attentiveness to the things you have to say.
What’s hard is finding something that actually relates to what you want to say. Through the years, I’ve found a lot of good stories, good humor, good quotes, to open a sermon, but it doesn’t always relate to what I want to say. This morning, I’ve found the perfect opener. And, believe it or not, it does actually have something to do with what I want to say. In fact, it relates very specifically to a portion of the message this morning, as you’ll see here shortly.
But for now, let me just read this verse of scripture, and let it soak in, impact you, grab your attention, and make you think. Here it is, ready?
"I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that."
No doubt, many of you are thinking, well, what’s new. Every time Bill preaches, we put up with a little of his foolishness. This morning, and I hope at least more often than not in the past, it’s not simply foolishness, it’s not foolishness just for the sake of humor, or for foolishness’ sake...but foolishness with a purpose.
That was certainly Paul’s position, as he wrote this to the Corinthian church in 2 Cor chapter 11. Turn there in your Bibles with me, if you would, and let’s read this in context. Out of context, it’s kind of funny. In context, it’s deadly serious, as was Paul, as he wrote to this church that he helped found in Corinth.
2 Cor. 11:1-6, 10-15 I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. 2I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 5But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." 6I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.
then jump down to verse 10:
10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. 11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Essentially, Paul had decided that he had to lower himself to the level of boasting, which he considered foolishness. He clearly did not do this for the purpose of building himself up, but he did it because he was forced to defend his credentials. He had to convince the Corinthians of his worthiness to be trusted, to be listened to. He had to compare his own ministry with that of the false apostles who had infected the Corinthian church with false doctrine. Inevitably, Paul knew, that speaking about himself like this would seem like foolish boasting.
But Paul was convinced he had to do this to gain a fair hearing. But, as we noted a moment ago, Paul resorted to this foolishness for a very clear purpose. The International Bible Commentary explains it this way:
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Why Paul must boast: (think of it as if Paul were saying) If I go on to boast about myself, be patient with me (vs 1). It is only because I am driven to it by my concern for you (2) and my fear that unless I boast of my credentials you will lose, together with your respect for me, your respect for the gospel I preach (3). Yes, I do believe that if someone were to come with an utterly different gospel, you would accept him (4) I am entitled to boast, because I am in no way inferior to these “apostles” (5)...perhaps I am ineloquent, but I do at least know what I am talking about (6) The Corinthians have accepted the false apostles on the strength of their credentials, and since higher appeals have not been totally successful, Paul must appeal on this low level also.
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Ultimately, what Paul was saying here, the reason he had to boast, the reason he had to credential himself in what he considered to be a foolish way was this:
He was saying to the Corinthians, You Too Can Be Deceived. That’s the title of this morning’s message: You Too Can Be Deceived.
Verse 3 here is the key verse:
3But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Here’s Paul, one of the New Testament’s prime teachers of faith, one of the prime examples we have of faith lived out in the real world - here’s Paul, admitting that this is something he feared. He feared they would be deceived. He feared they’d be taken in, won over by, false teaching, and that as a result, they’d be led astray. So, we can speculate on whether or not this was a godly fear, just as Paul noted that he was jealous for them with a godly jealousy. We can speculate on whether Paul didn’t have enough faith not to fear this, but the bottom line is this:
Paul knew they were susceptible to deception. He’d seen it, he’d heard about it, he feared it. That’s the reason Paul resorted to foolish boasting to gain a hearing. Paul knew of Jesus’ warnings regarding being deceived. Deception was something Paul himself warned about in many other letters he wrote to the New Testament churches. Paul no doubt knew Jesus’ words in Matthew
Matthew 24:4 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you.
The immediate context of this passage is Jesus’ warning about the end times, and the many false prophets who would lead people astray. But seen in the light of the many other warnings about deception, Paul knew that Jesus’ words: “watch out that no one deceives you,” could be taken as a warning for every kind of deception.
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Life Application Bible says:
The disciples asked Jesus for the sign of his coming and of the end of the age. Jesus’ first response was “Watch out that no one deceives you.”
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Isn’t that interesting, that his very first response was to warn them about deception.
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Continuing this quote:
The fact is that whenever we look for signs, we become very susceptible to being deceived. There are many “false prophets” (Matthew 24:11, 24) around with counterfeit signs of spiritual power and authority. The only sure way to keep from being deceived is to focus on Christ and his words. Don’t look for special signs, and don’t spend time looking at other people. Look at Christ. Jesus’ warnings about false teachers still hold true. Upon close examination it becomes clear that many nice-sounding messages don’t agree with God’s message in the Bible. Only a solid foundation in God’s Word can equip us to perceive the errors and distortions in false teaching.
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Jesus says “watch out.” I believe that’s God’s word to us today, too. Watch out. Be on guard. Be careful. His Word is so clear that deception is potentially a danger to us all.
Here’s just a sampling of verses:
Col. 2:4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
Romans 16:17-18 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
Col. 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
1 Tim. 6:20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge,
Ephes. 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
2 Thes. 2:3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way
2 Tim. 3:13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
James 1:16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers.
1 John 2:26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.
In Luke 21:8, writing of Jesus, it says
He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ’I am he,’ and, ’The time is near.’ Do not follow them.
What an important word. Many deceivers will come in my name...Do not follow them.
So, who are we to follow? Well, the obvious answer is Jesus. The obvious conclusion is that we need to always have the Word of God as our standard, to distinguish truth from deception.
But there’s a problem, isn’t there? Can we admit that it’s not always as easy as that obvious answer sounds?
Because what we see is that deceivers use God’s words to deceive. I think that’s one reason, looking back at our opening passage in 2 Corinthians 11, that Paul uses the word cunning.
The word means: shrewd, crafty...the word signified the employment of any or all means necessary to realize an end
It implies trickery.
The first deception we see in scripture is Satan tempting Eve. Satan uses, twists, questions God’s words to tempt Eve. He appealed to her intellect... atan appealed to her innate human desire to be in control....to be like God.
But he didn’t say to Eve, “Hey, Eve, why don’t you just rebel against God.” He said, “did God really say?”
It’s important to recognize a couple of key points here about Paul’s comparison. Paul says he feared that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, the Corinthian believers would be deceived.
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One commentary noted:
Where Eve first gave way, was in mentally harboring for a moment the possibility insinuated by the serpent, of God not having her truest interests at heart and of this “other” professing friend being more concerned for her than God.
Jamieson Brown Fausset
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Another commentary notes:
Eve either did not know God’s command very well or did not want to remember it. By contrast, Christ gained victory over Satan by His precise knowledge of God’s Word (Matt. 4:4, 7, 10). Eve disparaged the privileges, added to the prohibition, and weakened the penalty—all seen by contrasting her words (Gen. 3:3) with God’s original commands (2:16-17). After Satan heard this, he blatantly negated the penalty of death that God had
given (3:4). Satan is a liar from the beginning (John 8:44), and this is his lie: one can sin and get away with it. But death is the penalty for sin (Gen. 2:17).
Bible Knowledge Commentary
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What the story of Adam and Eve tells me, and this is clearly reinforced by what Paul says to the Corinthians, is that we’ve been gullible since the beginning of time. Some gullibility is relatively harmless, sometimes funny, and almost cute.
Speaking of cute gullible, my wife Barb’s a cute gullible. It’s one of the things I love about her... she’s so innocent and trusting....but that leaves her wide open for my teasing. Now, I’ve burned her enough that she doesn’t always trust some of the things I tell her anymore, but when we were college students, there was this time we were walking through the gardens around the Prayer Tower on campus.
It was a rather nice day in the dead of winter, and we could hear birds chirping. Barb noted how she thought it was strange that we could hear birds in the dead of winter. What’s more, we didn’t see any birds. I said, no Barb, those are the bird tapes. I told her they had speakers in the trees, and they aired these tapes of bird noises year-round, for the tourists. She said, “Really!!!???”
I kept a straight face for a minute or so, then could no longer contain my laughter. Now, that’s just cute. That’s a rather harmless gullibility. There are other things we could mention that might seem harmless, but they begin to illustrate why gullibility isn’t always harmless.
I’m going to tell you two stories. One of them is true. The other is not. Now, if you’ve heard these before, please recuse yourself from answering. But both of these are stories that have widely circulated on the internet.
Let me say this about the internet. I love it. I enjoy the virtual library of material I can access on the web. But the proliferation of hoax emails, and hoax web sites, and so-called experts on any topic, on the internet, has become a real problem, and it’s a minefield for the gullible. There are stories that I find it amazing that anyone could believe, but they’re passed around as gospel truth.
What happens is that when it involves Christians, and we Christians fall for these hoaxes...it makes us look foolish, and gives unbelievers one more reason to dismiss anything we have to say.
So, let’s see how well we do here.
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City of Los Angeles High School Math Proficiency Exam
Name:__________________________
Gang:__________________________
1. Johnny has an AK-47 with an 80-round clip. If he misses 6 out of 10 shots and shoots 13 times at each drive-by shooting, how many drive-by shootings can he attempt before he has to reload?
2. Jose has 2 ounces of cocaine and he sells an 8-ball to Jackson for $320 and 2 grams to Billy for $85 per gram. What is the street value of the balance of the cocaine if he doesn’t cut it?
3. Willie gets $200 for stealing a BMW, $50 for a Chevy, and $100 for a 4X4. If he has stolen 2 BMWs, 3 4X4s, how many Chevies will he have to steal to make $800?
4. If the average spray can covers 22 square feet and the average letter is 3 square feet, how many letters can a tagger spray with 3 cans of paint?
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Now, this isn’t really the LA Math Profiency Test. The question for you – is it true that real teachers have gotten into trouble because they’ve actually used ’The L.A. Math Test,’ a piece of Internet humor, in the classroom?
Here’s the other story, widely circulated on the internet a few years ago:
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This comes from a "60 Minutes" interview with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in 1994:
She was quoted as saying, “A cultist is one who has a strong belief in the Bible and the Second Coming of Christ; who frequently attends Bible’s studies; who has a high level of financial giving to a Christian cause; who home schools for their children; who has accumulated survival foods and has a strong belief in the Second Amendment; and who distrust big government. Any of these may qualify but certainly more than one would cause us to look at this person as a threat, and his family as being in a risk situation that qualified for government interference.
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Now, again, one of these is true. The other is not. What do you think?
The fact is that the quote from Janet Reno is false. She never said that on 60 Minutes, or anywhere else. The other is true – it’s not a genuine L.A. Math test,
but teachers in other areas have gotten themselves disciplined for using it.
The fact that so many were willing to believe the quote from Janet Reno illustrates something about deception. A lot of people – including many people here this morning – believe that liberal government officials are anti-Christian.
But, whether that’s true or not, is not the point we’re looking at this morning. When something fits our pre-conceptions, we’re more inclined to believe it, even if it’s not true. In fact, we want to believe it, because it often reinforces what we already believe.
A few more examples:
- There was an internet story circulated about George Bush leading a teenager to Christ. (conservative Christians wanted to believe that was true, so it was passed around as true for many months)
- internet story about a scientific study showing George Bush having the lowest IQ of any modern president (liberals wanted to believe it was true because they already think George Bush is an idiot).
- NASA scientists discovered a "missing" day in time that corresponds to Biblical accounts of the sun’s standing still in the sky (Joshua 10:12-13)
Christians want to believe this is true because we hope to find scientific proofs to Biblical claims
- Atheists are petitioning the FCC to get religious broadcasting banned from American airwaves.
Now, this one has been circulating on the internet since email became popular, and it was distributed the old fashioned way, with paper copies, before that.
There’s one problem with all these stories. Not a one of them is true. Believing them, and passing them along as true, is not harmless. Even if some story corresponds in some way with our worldview, a false story does not help in any way to support a true worldview.
Now, applying this to the spiritual realm, we have to look first at how we are deceived, and secondly, what are some protections against deception.
I think the Word shows us that we can be deceived by:
- other people
- the enemy of our souls – Satan
- ourselves
Some of the sample verses we read earlier show us to watch out for others who would deceive us.
Romans 16:17-18 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
When we read books, or emails, or magazines, or web pages, when we converse with people, when we consume any kind of information, we’re susceptible to deception.
Some people deceive perversely and knowingly. Most are probably just deceived themselves, and don’t know it. But the deception that captures them, can capture us, too.
You might be able to make a case that the enemy is behind all deception. While Paul, in our key verses from 2 Cor 11 this morning, recognized the important role that people, specifically these false apostles, played in their deception, he also pointed out that this is Satan’s style...He’s a deceiver. He’s a liar. It’s in his nature.
In verses 13-15, Paul writes:
13For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness
in John 8:44 Jesus is speaking of the devil... He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The enemy speaks from his own nature, his own native language is lying. So, a strong case could be made that whether deception seems to come from other people, or from ourselves, it all comes from the enemy, who, after all, is described in 1 Peter as a roaring lion:
1 Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Let’s also recognize that we can often deceive ourselves, seemingly without any help from anyone else.
James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Maybe one of the most dangerous phrases that circulates in our culture these days is this:
“Listen to your heart.”
It’s a message we see in movies, TV, in popular music, we heard it spoken as absolutely taken for granted as true, and we see it depicted as true in stories. But scripture tells us our very own hearts can deceive us. It’s not inevitable, because the Word also says that when we’re redeemed, God gives us a new heart.
But the reality is, even we as believers walk in the newness of that new heart imperfectly, and to listen to our hearts, and our hearts alone, can be a dangerous thing. Because our very own hearts can deceive us. We are more than capable of deceiving ourselves when it comes to right and wrong, good and bad, sin and righteousness.
Let’s close with a look at some ideas of how we can guard against deception.
1. know God’s Word, and know it well. Memorize it, study it, meditate on it. The better you know God’s word, the more protected you are from deception. So that’s where we must start, that’s our standard, that’s our foundation.
Yet, as we recognized earlier, that’s not enough, because inevitably, we have to choose between different interpretations of scripture.
2. be a Berean... search the scriptures daily to see if what you hear from others is true. If you don’t know about the Bereans, they’re the people commended in Acts 17
Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
They weren’t just doubting Thomases. It says they received the message with great eagerness. But it also says they examined the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true. The word for examined here means they scrutinized, they didn’t just take for granted what Paul told them, they looked at it carefully.
3. know those who labor among you.... I think this is a very important protection against deception. As we noted, inevitably there arises a question about whose interpretation to trust. Now, this doesn’t excuse us from learning how to interpret scripture for ourselves, but as Jim Garrett has noted in a sermon recently, it’s a relatively new phenomenon in the church that we have all these private interpretations of scripture.
When a congregation only had one Bible, interpretation was a corporate exercise, based on sound interpretive principles, and guided by godly leadership. It was never just me and Jesus. The question was never, “what does this mean to me? But the question was, what does this mean? How do we discover it’s true meaning – that there is, in fact, one true meaning to be learned.
When there’s a question about which interpretation of scripture to trust, who are you going to trust? Some TV or radio preacher? Some guy on the internet? Some author with a best-selling book? Now, any or all of those may be absolutely trustworthy. There are certain authors I really trust.
But what about the leaders whose lives you’ve watched, whose sermons you’ve listened to, whose character you’ve witnessed...
I would submit that those are, at least in part, credentials you can rely on.... that’s why Paul was boasting in 2 Cor 11... so let me do some foolish boasting.
If I have a question about one position versus another,
I’m going to trust someone like my fellow elder Bruce Clutter, or I’m going to trust Jim Garrett. I could go on and name others. I’ve seen their lives, I trust their character. I don’t think they know everything, and we might actually disagree on some peripheral issues. What’s more, I know that when they don’t know something, they’ll say so.
But when it comes to the essentials of Christian doctrine...I’m going to start with the Word of God, and search the scriptures daily, as my ultimate standard, and then go with who I know.
This relates to the opening verse of scripture from 2 Cor 11 we read, where Paul felt the need to boast, even though he considered it foolishness.
You know what Paul was saying? Paul was saying to the Corinthians, why would you listen to these guys? Why don’t you listen to me? Haven’t I earned that much? In verse 4, he appeals to the welcome they gave visitors who came proclaiming a message other than the gospel that they had embraced, the gospel that brought them salvation.
It was as if Paul was saying: Surely you should show your father in the faith the same degree of respect, that you would show a newcomer, someone you don’t know like you know me.
This is another way of saying to “know your source.”
The Word speaks of believing something on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Here’s just one of several verses that cite this standard.
Matthew 18:16 "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.
There is, I believe, a measure of protection in the plural leadership of this church. Now, the leaders of this church aren’t perfect, and are not beyond deception themselves. So don’t go out of here saying this morning that Bill said pay attention only to what the elders say about doctrine. But, combined with these other protections against deception, we’re a lot less vulnerable to deception than we are if we go it alone.
4. consult church history... this is an overlooked protection. Now, our forefathers in the faith, didn’t always get everything right, either. But think about this. If the church of Jesus Christ has believed something for 2,000 years, if they’ve had councils, they’ve had reams of documents written, endless discussion and debate and study, and for two millennia they keep coming to the same conclusion about the most significant, basic doctrines of heaven and hell, the Trinity, the divinity of Jesus, the way of salvation by grace through faith, the creation, the fall, and the various other things we read in the creeds, I have to at least give that significant weight when deciding what’s true and what’s false doctrine.
This morning, as an elder of TCF, I can say with Paul...
"I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy"
I can’t say I’m fearful, really, but I can say I share Paul’s concern for your spiritual well-being. I can say that I hope you’ll be on guard against deception, realizing we battle against a cunning foe.
And I can say I pray your minds may never be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
