Battling Deception
The Epistles of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 5 viewsWe encounter deceit daily. How can we keep from being swept away in it? In this passage, John gives a battle plan on how Christians can fight against deception: Be on Guard, Take a Stand, Hold Your Ground.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves 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 boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.
These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.
As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.
INTRO: How many of you like to be tricked or deceived? I know some of you like tricking others though- there’s even a Christian tract that is meant to look like a $100 bill, but when you open it up- oooh- GOTCHA! Of course, that’s the message of the tract.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being duped/ tricked. But I feel like deceit is everywhere. There are whole industries that rely on deception. For instance, magicians and politicians both make money by deceiving you. It’s true.
Now, that’s somewhat light-hearted, but the reality is that we really do live in a world of deception. Deception is packaged in a variety of ways- a few weeks ago we looked at how we can sometimes fall onto the slippery slope of apathy by trying to deceive others or ourselves regarding our walk with Christ.
As we continue to study John’s letter to the Ephesian church, I want to point us first to 1 John 2:26. (READ)
The Ephesian church had a number of folks who were trying to deceive them about what real Christianity is - sometimes this was obvious other times more subtle, but the reality is that this was a war… a spiritual war.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
This war still rages today. Let me point us to a few other passages in order to help frame the message today.
First I want you to see that Satan is a liar:
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Ok, now I want you to see that Satan is the ruler of this world (not above God, but this sinful world is his domain)
“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.
Finally, let me show you that Satan hates you:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
So, you see, Satan wants to deceive you- to get you to take your eyes off of Jesus. He has a battle plan to accomplish this -temptations, false teachers, lies, etc. and Scripture tells us that many will fall prey to him. But church, we must recognize that in Christ, the victory is ours (2:14) and so our battle plan is certain.
The message today is titled “Battling Deception” and we are going to examine the battle plan that will ensure that we protect our minds even as Satan tries to destroy us. If you picked up a bulletin, I encourage you to make use of the enclosed sermon guide as we learn together.
The first maneuver of our battle plan is to
Be on Guard (15-17)
Be on Guard (15-17)
To be on guard is to be alert- actively ready for the enemy’s attack. This is a defensive stance. If you are a soldier and you are actively at war, you must be aware of the dangers; the decoys, the blind spots, the enemy is after you! You mustn’t be caught unaware, for you will surely fall!
Let’s read 15-17 (READ)
Now, John is not saying that you should not enjoy God’s creation or love God’s people. Actually, he qualifies what he means in v. 16 - lust of flesh (sexual perversions, drug abuse, gluttony), lust of the eyes (greed, envy, covetousness, materialism), and pride of life (arrogance, entitlement, self-exaltation). These we must guard against.
John’s warning here is against the temptations or deceit of the world. Love, if you remember, is not an emotion, but an ACTION. The Greek word here is “agape” which means to sacrificially act in such a way as to pursue the object of your affection. To love the world is to abandon all thought of God and chase after these lusts, pursuing the next promise for happiness. But all of these things are empty promises, for they cannot satisfy our greatest needs.
ILL: How many Hollywood millionaires and celebrities achieved fame and fortune, but then continued to chase meaning through alcohol, drugs, sex, etc.? But friends we know that all of the fame, wealth, and prestige are EMPTY promises that will never satisfy what our soul needs most.
So, what we ought to see here is that the love of the world stands in contrast to the love of God. The world says, “It’s all about you- do what makes you happy! Do whatever it takes to gratify your desires. Buy more toys, exert more power and control, etc.” All of this which makes us slaves to these sins BUT to love God is to seek first His Kingdom and we will find freedom and purpose.
Practically, it’s the difference between selfishness and selflessness, fleeting vs. eternal, life-taking vs. life-giving. You cannot love the world and love God. You cannot, at the same time, act in obedience to God’s will and satisfy the lusts of the flesh. No man can serve two masters, but the lies of Satan will tell you otherwise.
Look here (v. 17), John tells us that all of this world is passing away.
Folks,One day, all the money in your bank account won’t be worth squat.
One day, that hot new car won’t get you anywhere.
One day, there won’t be any satisfaction for the cravings.
Friends, one day, all the love that you acted on toward the things of this world will be nothing but regret.
But Christian, the one who loves God will live forever in His Kingdom which has no end! His promises are certain. And so, we must be on guard against the deceit of Satan.
Next, Johns shows us that we must:
Take a Stand (18-23)
Take a Stand (18-23)
Verse 18 is like a battle cry- there is urgency and evident crisis. Let’s read it again. (READ 18)
John is essentially saying, “The end is near!”. John was saying that they were in the period where Christ’s return and judgment was drawing near.
In v. 17, he says that the earth is passing away, and in v. 18, he references the presence of antichrists as evidence of the last days.
Jesus, speaking of the last days, had told his disciples:
“At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
“Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
Many of you are familiar with that word- antichrist. When you hear it, you probably immediately think of that one bad dude in the book of Revelation. But what we must understand is that even in John’s day, there were many antichrists.
For us to better understand this, let’s read v. 19-23 and then we’ll break it down. (READ 19-23)
Antichrist means ‘against Christ’ or, as John describes - it is one who denies that Jesus is the Christ, anointed Messiah, Son of God. These antichrists evidently were at some point attenders of the church, but they left the church and followed and promoted a false teaching.
Paul describes this as a great apostasy or falling away.
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
We might see these as folks who once were here, but then decided- maybe not consciously, but through their love for the world, they decided that Jesus was not worth their devotion, thus denying His lordship. They deny His identity as the anointed one of God, for if they grasped this, they would have remained. We see this behavior explained in Rom. 1:
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Let’s read v. 19 again: (READ v. 19)
This is where we are called to take a stand. This means we are on the offensive. You know the truth! You know what God’s Word says- You recall what Jesus said in John 14:6 (I am the way…) and what Peter confessed
Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.
“We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
And knowing this, it’s your duty and my duty to stand and call out these false teachers and Christ deniers and point to the authority of God’s Word. There is a crisis of faith in Penrose today! There is a crisis of faith in America- people need to hear the truth of God’s Word proclaimed more than they need to fit in at school or play a sport or get that job!
Satan is lying to you kids and teenagers through false teachers - what you are seeing as inclusive or loving according to social media or peer pressure is really a denial of Christ’s Lordship and authority. They are trying to convince you that church is unimportant and your faith is outdated. Oh, but friends, one day, we all will stand before God and give an account.
Parents, Satan is lying to you about what is priority, whether it be a promotion or a lifestyle. The most important thing you can give your children is a strong foundation in Jesus Christ.
It’s time that the church took a stand and mounted an offensive strategy against the wiles of Satan! It’s time the church made an effort to push back the darkness in such a way that we rescue the next generation from the wicked lies of the devil!
Jesus said that the gates of Hell would not prevail against His church!
Be on Guard, Take a Stand, and finally,
Hold Your Ground (24-28)
Hold Your Ground (24-28)
Look at v. 24-25 (READ)
There are few things sadder than to see a church or Christian compromise their beliefs. Yet, it happens all the time. It’s happening right under our very nose!
There is one glaring example from Scripture, and it’s a guy by the name of Demas. Demas began as a helper to Paul.. we see him referenced in the letter to the Church at Colossae:
Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas.
But, at some point, Demas compromised.
for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.
The picture of battle is a bit scary- maybe you think it’s a bit extreme in terms of language. But, let me remind you that Jesus said He sent us out as “sheep among wolves.” The war we are engaged in as Christians is as much about the future generations as it is the current ones.
With all the forces pressing in, some churches have chosen to soften their teaching on certain cultural hot topics. Some avoid them all together and others even embrace sin as if it’s a badge to be worn, having chosen the lies of Satan to be a better judge that God.
At LRBC, we will hold our ground.
John essentially tells the Ephesians (v. 24) “The message is the same as it always has been! Don’t worry about the fads, keep moving, hold your ground!”
Listen, programs and strategies may shift to accomplish our mission, but folks our mission and our means remain the same.
Our mission was given to us by Christ -(Matt. 28:18-20) GO make disciples.
At LRBC, we do this through the framework of GATHERing to worship, Getting in Groups to GROW, and GOing to serve others. And in each area, our goal is the same- Help people mature in Christ (make disciples!). God gave us the means to do this.
Our means are His Holy Spirit and His Holy Word.
The Holy Spirit gives gifts to serve and teach, His Word is truth and light. What more do we need?
All we have to do is wield the means to accomplish the mission!
John helps us here too - (READ I John 2:28 )
Abide in Him. Cling to Him. Grow close and mature in Him.This is where the fruit is produced!! This is where lives are changed!
In HIM, we have all that we need. Without Him, we are hopeless!
When the lies of the enemy tells you to compromise this teaching or that, abide in Christ.
When the enemy tempts you to prioritize the worldly things, abide in Christ.
When the enemy tells you that you don’t belong in church, abide in Christ.
When the enemy tells you to love yourself over your neighbor, abide in Christ.
When the enemy brings hatred against you; When society rejects you; When you feel like giving in -
Folks, hold your ground, Stand shoulder to shoulder, the sword of the Spirit held high, and abide in Christ.
This is how I pray the Lord find LRBC when He returns. Will you be a part of that?
[PRAY]
Discuss: How does loving God and loving the world conflict?
Discuss: What is antichrist? Can you identify some modern-day antichrists?
Discuss: What is the secret to holding our ground as a church?