Do Not Be Deceived I. Introduction: The reality of being deceived by people. a. Examples of people being deceived. i. Jokes to the gullible. 1. story of Grace and Haley s mom and vacuum cleaner. ii. Business dealings. 1. con artists deceiving older people, taking their money. 2. You can make $5000/week working at home. iii. Needy people. 1. illegitimate beggers. 2. trick people out of money. iv. Deception is a fact of life. b. We have to deal with deception. i. We have to be on guard. ii. Not everyone is honest in our world. iii. A sad, but true story. c. It s also true in the religious world. i. There are people who seek to deceive us. ii. I believe that there are two types of religious deceivers. 1. conscious deceivers. 2. unaware, sincere deceivers. iii. Both are dangerous. 1. and we must be on guard. d. This lesson will focus on the subject of deception and how we can avoid being deceived. i. Examples of people who were deceived. ii. Direct warnings from God about not being deceived. iii. Look at How we can avoid being deceived. II. Examples of People Being Deceived in the Old Testament. a. Genesis 3: Adam and Eve. i. In vs. 4-5, Satan seeks to deceive Eve. ii. She believes the lie in vs. 6. iii. She was deceived. b. Joshua 9: the Gibeonites. i. Commandment had been that the Israelites should not make any covenants with the nations of Canaan. ii. The Gibeonites worked a plan to trick the Israelites into making a covenant
with them. iii. Vs. 14-15, the Israelites agree to a covenant. iv. Vs. 16, they find out that they had been deceived. c. 1 Kings 13: the Old Prophet and the Young Prophet. i. Man of God had been given command by God to deliver a message to the king, but to not eat bread, drink water, nor return by the same way. ii. But an Old Prophet came to him and told him a different message in vs. 18. iii. In vs. 20-22, the punishment is seen for being deceived. d. God warned His people about being deceived and led astray. i. Gave His law to His people. ii. He warned them to not let others deceive them. iii. Deuteronomy 11. 1. Vs. 1, Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. a. Emphasis on always. 2. Vs. 8, Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess. a. Emphasis on every. 3. Vs. 13, And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. a. Emphasis on earnestly. 4. But pay extra attention to verse 16. a. Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. e. Israel s example. i. In Isaiah 44 God addresses the ridiculous notion of the Israelites serving and worshiping an idol. 1. Vs. 6-8, the affirmation that He is God. 2. Vs. 10-19, the ridiculous nature of serving idols. 3. Vs. 20, notice that they were deceived. ii. Israel s downfall was directly related to deception. III. New Testament Warns Us to Not Be Deceived. a. God gives us similar warnings. i. And as we will see, He gives us very specific warnings. ii. We re going to look at three passages where God tells us flat out, Do not be deceived.
b. 1 Corinthians 15:33, Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits. i. The context here is regarding the resurrection. 1. Some were teaching that there is no resurrection. 2. The entire chapter is devoted to showing that this not true, and that there is a resurrection. 3. But Paul s point here is for Christians to be on guard. a. They could allow the influence of the company they keep to lead them away from the truth. b. If they spend their time with people who don t believe in the resurrection, then they may come to believe the same thing. ii. We can deceive ourselves into thinking the same thing. 1. It doesn t matter who I spend time with. 2. I m strong. 3. I won t be led away. iii. God says, do not be deceived. c. Galatians 6:7, Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. i. Notice again the context of the verse. 1. Paul is talking about reaping eternally. a. Vs. 8, reaping corruption or reaping eternal life. 2. But he is also talking about sowing now. a. Sowing to the flesh or sowing to the Spirit. b. In verses 9 & 10, he explains at least part of what he means by sowing to the Spirit. i. Doing good works. ii. The world tries to tell us that you can live how you want and still go to heaven. 1. That is a lie. 2. Do not be deceived. 3. You will reap what you sow. d. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. i. Similar to our last point. 1. Only the righteous will inherit the kingdom of God. 2. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. ii. In our society today, many have certainly been deceived in this regard. 1. We tend to focus on homosexuality in these verses. 2. But notice the other things. a. Fornication. b. Adultery. c. Covetousness. d. Drunkenness.
3. These are all sins which many in the world (even the religious world) try to dismiss. iii. God says to not allow ourselves to be deceived by believing the lies of the world. IV. How Can We Avoid Being Deceived? a. Summary up to this point. i. Deception goes all the way back to the beginning. ii. God warned the Israelites about being deceived. iii. The downfall of the Israelites was due to deception. iv. God warns us to not be deceived. b. Obvious question. i. If God warns us of deception. ii. Then the question should be: how do we avoid being deceived? iii. We ll try to answer that question from 2 Peter. c. Five Steps to Not Be Deceived. i. Realize they are there! 1. 2 Peter 2:1-3, But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. a. There were; there are; and they ll always be. b. For whatever reason, false teachers exist. 2. 2 Peter 3:3, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts. a. We like to believe people. b. But the fact is: not everyone is telling the truth. ii. Trust in God to help! 1. 2 Peter 2:9, then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. 2. In verses 4-9, here are Peter s basic points. a. God saved Noah even when he was in the midst of wicked people. b. God delivered Lot even when he was surrounded by the wickedness in Sodom and Gomorrah. c. If God did this, He knows how to deliver us.
iii. Be Mindful of the Words of God! 1. 2 Peter 3:2, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. 2. This is the obvious answer. a. The only way to not be deceived is to know the truth. b. How do you know the truth? i. Study the word of God. iv. Be Careful! 1. 2 Peter 3:17, You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked. 2. We ve been given advance warning. a. Therefore, we need to be careful. b. Focus on the words own steadfastness. i. Peter is talking to Christians who were currently steadfast and immovable. ii. But Peter warns them that they could fall from that steadfastness. c. Any one of us could be led away with the error of the wicked. i. Therefore, we need to be on guard. v. Grow in grace and knowledge! 1. 2 Peter 3:18, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2. This is a continuation of the previous verse. a. What do we need to do to make sure we remain steadfast? i. Continue to grow. b. Grow in grace and knowledge. V. Conclusion: Being Deceived Has a Bitter Consequence! a. One more passage where God says, do not be deceived. i. James 1:14-16, But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ii. Sin brings forth death. 1. Terrible consequences of sin. 2. Do not be deceived. 3. We will suffer the consequences of sin.