Introduction

James 1:16 ESV  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

• DO NOT BE DECEIVED!
  • That’s it this morning. DO NOT BE DECEIVED!
    • Guess what the Title of my sermon is?

• Do NOT BE DECEIVED!
  • Why does that need to be said?
  • Why does an entire verse in scripture need to simply say “Brothers, Sisters… DO NOT BE DECIEVED!”?
    • You would think that people would not want to be deceived, that naturally they would loath being deceived… that we would avoid deception at all costs… that we wouldn’t need to be told “Do not be deceived”.
      • BUT WE LOVE BEING DEICIVED!
        • We watch news channels that are so far left or so far right that there is hardly any actual news in them.
        • We call movie stars and pop stars “Geniuses” even though some of them have the IQ of a can of pea soup.
        • We chase, watch, and share conspiracy theories that sound really good… until someone sheds some logic on the situation… then we get offended and run away.
        • We get our knowledge and our arguments from memes and think we are smart because some picture on Facebook said a thing…
      • AND I AM TALKING ABOUT CHRISTIANS Y’ALL!
  • I see Christians quoting talking points from the nightly news that has nothing to do with Scripture.
    • I see Christian pop stars answering interview questions… speaking with authority on issues… and I just scratch my head and think “Have they ever read their Bible?”
    • I hear Christian songs and I listen to the lyrics and I am like “bro, that doesn’t make a shred of sense… that’s not what scripture says at all”.
    • I see Christian movies and TV shows and youtube clips that are by all means heresy… and people LOVE THEM AND EAT THEM UP.
    • I see the memes that Christians share and I have to restrain myself from blowing these people up on Facebook…
    • And the conspiracy theory’s…. y’all, just stop… God is not playing games with His holy Word… if you are saved, then the Bible should not be some mysterious book full of codes and riddles… it should be power, it should be life, it should be authority… it should be living and active and piercing… you should walk away from you Bible time a better Christian…
      • You don’t need to decipher some kind of Code to figure this stuff out.
• And it is so bad that if I were to list all the memes, and shows, and songs, and theories that are heretical… that are against Scripture… if I were to list them by name, people would leave this church because they would be so offended!
  • And, listen, I have no stones to through, don’t mistake my passion for condemnation, there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus…
  • I have no stones to throw because I have been there… I have gotten offended, angry, yelling till I am out of breath… defending a heretical deception that I held… and so for people like me, James says “Do not be deceived”… and he throws in “My beloved brothers” to make it go down easier…

James 1:16 ESV  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

• I love that “my beloved brothers” at the end… it’s like when you send a text that is a little bit confrontational or abrasive… and you add a winky smiley face at the end to take the edge off.
  • Do not be deceived my beloved brothers… I love you, we cool, but listen please do not be deceived!

• Now, next week we are going to talk about a specific deception…
  • Because in context, this verse is about being deceived about the goodness of God while in the midst of trials and temptations.
    • So that will be like a part two to this sermon, because today’s sermon is just about deception in general.
      • And I want y’all to bring home two points with you today…
        • Point one: Rooting out deception is YOUR JOB.
        • And point two: Offense is the defender of deception.
        • LETS GET INTO IT!

Point One – Rooting Out Deception – It’s YOUR Job

James 1:16 ESV  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

• Well if we are not going to be deceived, we need to recognize deception… we need to see it coming… we need to root it out and get it out of our lives…
  • And that job, the job of finding and destroying deception… that job of rooting out deception… THAT’S YOUR JOB.
    • It’s not your pastors job, it’s not your parents job, it’s not your wife’s job or your husbands job… and it is certainly not the “Fact Checkers” job…
• Point one this morning: Rooting Out Deception – It’s YOUR Job.
  • Look at your neighbor and say “It’s my job”.
    • I always hate it when pastors do that… because I always end up talking to the back of someone’s head…
• But the reality is, if you are deceived, you have no one to blame but yourself.
• You remember the story of Adam and Eve, right?
  • THEY HAD ONE JOB! Don’t eat of the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil…
    • But then that ol’ serpent, that crafty little devil, came in and deceived Adam and Eve, and they ate… do you remember what happened next?

Genesis 3:8-13 ESV  And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  (9)  But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”  (10)  And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”  (11)  He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”  (12)  The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”  (13)  Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

• God, talking to Adam says “Did you eat of the fruit I told you not to eat from?”, it was a rhetorical question, God knew the answer of course…
  • Now this would have been a great time for Adam to fall on his face and say “I am sorry Lord, forgive me, I am a sinner and I deserve your wrath… please find mercy on me!”
  • But instead, what did Adam do? He tried to pass the buck!
    • “The woman you gave me gave me the fruit…”
      • Did you catch that, Adam blames two people there…
        • The woman deceived me God, if it wasn’t for her I would not have eaten…
        • And while we are at it God, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO GAVE HER TO ME… if you never gave me the woman I would have never been deceived.
      • Then the woman says “The serpent deceived me… it’s HIS fault that I ate of the fruit”.
• So Adam blames God and Eve for the deception… and Eve blames the serpent…
  • How did that work out for ol’ Adam and Eve? How did that turn out for humanity?
    • NOT WELL! Why?
      • Is it not true that the serpent deceived Eve?
        • Of course it is, he is a crafty little liar… the father of lies, Scripture calls him.
        • He certainly deceived Eve…
      • And Eve certainly deceived Adam… I think Adam is stretching it when he tries to blame God… but Eve certainly influenced Adam here…
    • And yes, the serpent got his punishment…
      • But so did Adam and so did Eve…
        • God did not find them faultless just because they were deceived…
        • It was Adam’s job to root out deception in Adam’s life… and was Eve’s job to root out deception in Eve’s life.
• Church it is your job to root out deception in your own life. But praise God, He gives us the tools to do this…
• Romans 12:2… this should be a life verse for somebody… tells us how to root out deception:

Romans 12:2 ESV  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

• How do we figure out what is the will of God?
  • How do we discern what is good and acceptable?
    • How do we know what is perfect, what is truth, what is real?
      • And on the other hand, how do we discern what is deceptive?
• Because there are a lot of things that look good, but aren’t God.
  • There are a lot of things that feel good, but aren’t God.
    • There are a lot of things that sound good, but aren’t God.
• Romans 12:2 sets out these steps to avoiding deception.

(Put all three steps on one slide please)

• Step One: Do not be conformed to this world.
  • If your life as a Christian looks like everyone else’s life who aren’t Christians… something is wrong!
  • The first red flag for me that some Christian teaching, doctrine, movie, show, song, celebrity, or whatever is off base… the first red flag for me is when the world loves it… when everyone loves it…
  • Because remember, the world hated Jesus’ teachings so much that they KILLED JESUS! The world is not in the habit of enjoying truth… the world loves deception… so if the world loves it, this is a red flag… that doesn’t mean necessarily that it is wrong… but it is a good warning sign.
    • Do not be conformed to this world… the way you act, talk, think… even the way you relax should be conformed to Christ, not to the world… it’s ok to be different y’all!
  • Step Two: Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
    • Ok, we are talking about deception here… about avoiding deception… right…
      • In order to avoid deception, your mind needs to think different than the world thinks.
      • We believe the Bible is the Word of God, perfect, complete, infallible.
        • We believe that scripture is the bedrock of truth.
        • THIS IS NOT HOW THE WORLD THINKS.
        • And we all came out of the world, so we have a tendency to want to think like the world thinks… but scripture says “RENEW YOUR MIND”.
          • We renew so many things in life.
          • We renew our driver’s license.
          • We renew our passports.
          • We renew furniture…
          • I mean women spend hundreds of dollars on skin renewal products!
        • We understand that things need to be renewed, made fresh again, restored to their original condition.
      • Your mind was made new when you accepted Christ Jesus as Savior!
        • You were a NEW creation, beautiful, fresh, full of fire and Zeal for Christ and the Gospel!
        • But the world wears on you… life wears you down… time goes on…
          • You get older, more jaded… frustrated… you hear, and see, and are exposed to so much filth from the world that naturally it has a negative effect on your mind.
          • And as your mind wears down, it begins to be more open to deception… the lies sneak in through the cracks…
        • So our mind, like everything else needs to be renewed. We do this by reading and obeying scripture, by listening to and applying Biblical sermons, and by surrounding ourselves with Godly peers and mentors. Discipleship is a big part of renewing our minds!
    • Step Three: Test and Discern
      • I don’t know why people find this step to be so hard! If I could just get the church to start TESTING things… there would be so much less deception… and my job would be a whole lot easier.
        • Just because something sounds good, doesn’t mean it is of God.
        • Just because it looks good, doesn’t mean it is of God.
        • Just because it feels good, doesn’t mean it is of God.
          • I once talked to an ex meth addict and asked him to describe what it was like to take meth…
          • He told me that it is the best feeling in the world… a euphoria hard to describe…
            • And I am sure it is… people don’t do meth because it hurts!
            • But just because it feels good doesn’t mean it is of God!
              • Meth will destroy your life! And so will good feeling, good looking, good sounding deception.
        • Theology that sounds good.
        • Doctrines that look good.
        • Teachings that feel good.
          • But that are ultimately not of God, they will destroy your life if you let them deceive you. JUST ASK ADAM AND EVE.
      • Test everything against the word of God. Discern if it is of God or not, if it agrees with the Word. And if the Word disagrees… STAY AWAY!
      • And listen, to test things against the word of God you have to KNOW the word of God… so Renew your mind and read the Word!

Romans 12:2 ESV  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

• I will give you an example:
  • I once came across a YouTube video with millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes… and it was about the “heresy” or false teaching of a preacher that I liked.
    • I was like… huh… is this person a heretic?
    • Now my first red flag should have been how many people liked this video… but I watched it anyway…
      • And they eloquently put out this argument “Pastor SOANDSO is a heretic… he even went as far as to say XYZ!”
      • And I was like really? THEY SAID THAT?
      • Then the video showed a clip of Pastor SOANDSO and he boldly proclaimed “XYZ” from the pulpit!
        • I was shocked… I couldn’t believe it… there is was… HERESY from someone I really respected…
          • But wait… was it heresy? No, I need to test and discern…
          • Why do I think it is heresy? Well it SOUNDS BAD….
          • But does the Bible say it is wrong…
            • I can’t think of a place…
            • Let me look it up…
            • Wait… YOU MEAN TO TELL ME JESUS SAID XYZ?!
            • Now I am at a crossroads… I have to decide… if this guy is a heretic than Jesus is a heretic… And if I go down that road, then the deception has won…
            • But thank God my mind was renewed enough to say NO! Jesus is King… What He says goes… Jesus isn’t a heretic… Pastor SOANDSO isn’t a heretic… if anyone is a heretic it is this deceiving youtuber!
    • But if I wouldn’t have rejected the world, renewed my mind, and tested and discerned… I would have been deceived… because what the youtuber said SOUNDED GOOD!
• So again, point one this morning is “rooting out deception – IT’S YOUR JOB”.
  • Now on to point two this morning – “Offense Protects Deception”

Point Two – Offense Protects Deception

James 1:16 ESV  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

• I made mention of this before, but I don’t think it is a mistake that this verse ends with “my dear brothers”.
  • James knows… well, the Holy Spirit who is writing the book of James through the man of James… knows that deception loves to hide behind offense.
    • Let me say that again… Deception loves to hide behind offense.
    • You see deception knows that if you are going to start testing and discerning things… deception knows you are going to find it and remove it from your life… you are going to seek it out and destroy it.
      • And deception doesn’t want to be destroyed… so deception needs an armor bearer.
      • Deception needs a shield to hide behind… deception needs protection!
    • And that protection comes through offense.
  • Because deception knows if you are two busy being offended, then you won’t have the time to test and discern….
    • Your focus will be on offense, not on truth, not on holiness, not on the Word of God, not on testing and discerning… but on offense… I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DARE QUESTION ME!!!!!!!!!
• So James softens the blow… “Look I love you guys… please by brothers and sisters, don’t be offended… but I really don’t want you to be deceived… don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers”
• So again, point two this morning is “Offense Protects Deception”
  • And I am going to make this point quick… but let me just get two things out here before we close…
  • First of all, men and women of God… we can learn a thing or two from the way James writes…
    • When you see a brother or sister being deceived… approach them with love, and gentleness.
      • Speak the truth, yes… make sure they know they are being deceived… but speak the truth in love…

Ephesians 4:11-15 ESV  And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,  (12)  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,  (13)  until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,  (14)  so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.  (15)  Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

• Look, we have people in our lives who God has placed there to help us not be tossed around by craftiness, false doctrine, and deception…
  • And maybe you have been placed in someone’s live to help them not be deceived.
  • Maybe you are their parent, or discipler, or teacher… or just fellow brother or sister in Christ and you see the deception in their lives…
    • Praise God for you! But to be effective, you must speak the truth in love.
      • If you don’t speak the truth… your brother will stay in his deception.
      • And if you don’t speak in love… your brother will be offended, offense will protect the deception, and your brother will stay in his deception.
      • So speak the truth in love y’all.
• That’s the first take away from this point: Speak the truth in love… when helping a Christian brother or sister see their deception, do it in love and tenderness. Truth yes, but truth in love. Amen?
• But secondly, I want to say this… STOP GETTING OFFENDED.
  • Just stop it!
  • Sop being so offended…
    • Wait, I should say it like this “Stop be offended, my dear brothers and sisters”.
• But really, you have to get in your head that offense is an enemy… particularly offense against other Christian brothers.
  • The enemy wants to use offense to divide us, and confuse us, and to keep the deception clouding our mind and our spirit.
  • We need to root out offense in order to root out deception.

Proverbs 19:11 ESV Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

• Come on now! Good sense makes one slow to anger… yeah we get angry sometimes… God get’s angry sometimes… but anger is not the first resort.
  • Anger is not a kneejerk reaction to something we don’t like…
  • When we get angry as an impulse… we are really getting offended…
  • But it is glorious, proverbs 19:11 says, to overlook offense.
• Let me give you an example from my life…
  • I remember recently a brother from this church challenged me on something I had taught… he said matter of factly “Your wrong… what you taught was wrong… and this is where scripture proves you are wrong”.
    • And when I read that text, I was so angry…
      • I was quick to anger.
    • I was so offended…
      • How dare him say this… doesn’t he know how much I study, how hard I work, how careful I am when I write these sermons and teachings?
      • HE THINKS HE KNOWS BETTER THAN ME!!!! AND I AM GOING TO TELL HIM OFF!
    • I was offended, I did not have good sense…
      • But praise be to God, I do not conform myself to this world but I am transformed by the renewal of my mind…
      • And as such, even in my offense, I prayed… “God how do I handle this situation”.
        • And God responded “Slow down”.
      • So I didn’t text back. I let it sit for a couple of days…
        • I asked myself “Why am I offended by this? I know this brother loves me… You know what… I am going to choose to not be offended…”
        • Then when I wasn’t angry anymore, because I had made the conscience decision to not be offended… then I looked at the text again… and the text didn’t seem as angry anymore…
        • I read it more like “Hey, I think maybe you missed it… did you know about this scripture?”
      • It is funny how you can go back and read something again when you are not offended and it seems to say something completely different.
        • I then read the scripture they guy said proved me wrong… and wouldn’t you know it… the guy was wrong… the scripture in context didn’t mean what he thought…
          • But he wasn’t THAT wrong… and I could see where he was coming from…
          • And I was able to have a conversation with him and I learned something and he learned something… and we both fought deception and grew in Christ together.
          • Iron sharpening Iron.
• Church, when someone confronts you about a doctrine, or teaching, or theology that you have… when they suggest that you have been deceived…
  • CHOOSE NOT TO BE OFFENDED
    • Make the conscience decision right now and say “I am not going to be offended when my brother suggest that I am wrong”.
      • Turn to your neighbor and say “I am not going to be offended”
      • Turn to your other neighbor and say “no really, I am not going to be offended”.
        • Because listen, if your brother or sister comes to you with a correction… and you chose not to be offended… then one of two things is going to happen:
          • You are going to find out that you were wrong and being deceived… and that deception will be cast out of your life…
          • Or, you are going to find out the other person was wrong… but at least they love you enough to be wrong on your behalf!
            • And if they are wrong, they are wrong, so what… why be offended when someone tries to tell you 2 plus 2 equals 5?
            • In the same way, don’t be offended when someone tries to tell you that you are missing something, or being deceived, or teaching a false teaching…
              • Listen to them, hear them out, and if they are wrong… lovingly show them why.
              • And if you are wrong, praise God, you have found deception in your life and you can cast it out!
• Alright, let’s conclude this message…

Conclusion

• Deception comes in many forms… through false teachings, false doctrines… bad influences from media, movies, tv shows, podcasts…
  • It seeps into our lives as believers…
  • And it is our job to root it out. It is your own job to find deception in your life and get it out!
    • But, sometimes God gives us help by the way of a Christian brother or sister who comes and speaks the truth in love to us…
    • “Hey brother, I don’t think that song is very accurate in it’s theology… hey sister, I think that podcast you have been listening too is distorting your view of the truth… hey fam, Scripture actually disagrees with a lot of stuff you have been posting on Facebook and Instagram…”
      • And when that brother or sister comes and corrects us, we must consciously decide not to be offended.
      • Because offense protects deception.
• Gospel Call

Aaronic Blessing