Don't Be Deceived

Greeting

Introduce myself and family.

Short testimony about surrendering to the ministry. I am still learning how to write sermons. I have probably reached around 50ish sermons.

300 Illustrations for Preachers

Maybe the most recognizable sports celebrity in the world today isn’t as recognizable as everyone first imagined. A Sacramento man was convicted of using Tiger Woods’ identity to defraud credit card companies of $17,000. According to prosecutors, Anthony Taylor used Tiger’s real name, Eldrick T. Woods, to apply for credit cards, which he used to buy televisions, stereos, luxury car rentals, and other services. Taylor’s defense attorney, James Greiner, told the jury that it is ridiculous to believe that anyone would confuse his client for the world’s most famous golfer. Yet people did not confuse Anthony with Tiger. They believed him to be Eldrick T. Woods. By not making the connection between the name and the identity, they were fooled.

In the same way, many people come and claim to speak for the one true God. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many other groups try to fit under the label of Christian in order to gain an audience. Yet when their message is compared to the message of the Bible, they are found to be as Christian as Anthony Taylor is Tiger.

300 Illustrations for Preachers (Pretending to Be Tiger)

Jim L. Wilson

Pray

Today we are going to be in 2 John 7-11

This is one of 5 books written by the Apostle John. It is believed that it was written around AD 90-95. This would be in the latter part of John’s life, while he was the head of the church at Ephesus. John was the last living Apostle. He is the only Apostle to die of old age. I believe that God let him die of old age because he was the only Apostle that was at the cross when Jesus died. This is just thought and I have no documents to prove it. That being said, John did not lack suffering or persecution in his life. The Roman emperor Domitian tried to boil John in oil, but he survived. He was also forced to drink poison, but he survived that also. In Mark 16:18 Jesus tells the 11 that those who believe in Him, that if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. One of many promises in the Bible that God kept. The book of 2 John deals with the same problem that is dealt with in 1 John, false teachers. In John’s time, the issue was the movement know as gnosticism. It is the belief that all material things are evil and all spiritual things are good. They believed that Jesus entered a man during baptism and left just before the crucifixion. They denied the true humanity of Christ. In 2 John, he is addressing the issue that some false teachers were using John’s congregation to conduct their false ministries. They were trying to make converts and taking advantage of the hospitality of the church. Today we face a different false teaching. The teaching of unity and tolerance and that salvation is just lip service. All you have to do is say you are a christian and you can continue living a life contrary to what the Bible says a christian life should be. Lets look at our verses and see what John has to say about the matter.

2 John 7–11 (NASB 2020)

7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. 9 Anyone who goes too far and does not remain in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

In verse 7 John tells us that there are many deceivers. It didn’t take long for the message of the Good News to become distorted and changed to fit sinful mans desires. There have been false teachers teaching a false message since the beginning of the church. We must continue the work of the saints that are in heaven, fighting against this false teaching and proclaiming the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Good News. John tells us how to identify the false teachers. Anyone who how does not acknowledge that Jesus came in the flesh is a false teacher. This is the foundation of our theology. If we don’t get this right, then nothing else matters. The true gospel is, God left Heaven and become man, lived a sinless life, gave His life on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave 3 days later. It all begins with God becoming man. We must get this right. Salvation is in faith alone in Christ alone. Without God coming to man there is no salvation. We can debate on some issues, but we must be unyielding on the issues of doctrine and the salvation process. John calls the deceivers an antichrist. Anyone who tells a different message than that of the Bible, is an antichrist. They are sons of their father the devil. They are doing his work, because he is the original, master deceiver. He deceived Eve in the garden. We must be on watch for the antichrists that are among us.

In verse 8 John gives us an imperative to watch ourselves. We must stay on the narrow path that leads to Heaven. John is telling us that we must be on guard continually. It is written in the present tense, meaning on going forever. We must not be lulled into deception. Our full reward in Heaven is a stake. Since John mentions a full reward, it is likely that he is talking about losing part of that. He is not talking about losing our salvation. The Bible is clear that Jesus does not lose any that the father has given Him. If we are saved, we are saved for eternity. We are promised a reward when we get to heaven for all the good that we have done in Jesus’ name. If we are deceived by the antichrists, then we will lose part of that reward. I know how good my heavenly Father is, I can’t imagine how good His reward will be when we get to heaven. I don’t want to lose any of that reward. We must help each other be on guard also. We are to help keep each other on track and on the right path. We have a tendency to wander away from the path that God has laid out for us. We need each other. I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to be in my business! I want them to love me enough to let me know when I am wandering. We must not let our guard down. Remain vigilant, always keep watch for the deceivers.

Verse 9 tells us that anyone who goes beyond what the Bible teaches and adds to it, does not have a saving relationship with God. They offer a Bible plus doctrine and a Jesus plus theology. They claim to offer something new, a new revelation or a special revelation. There is no new revelation or special revelation. God has spoken through His son Jesus Christ all that we need to know. In Hebrews 1:1-2

Hebrews 1:1–2 (NASB 2020)

1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world.

God doesn’t need to tell us anything that Jesus hasn’t already told us. God gave His final revelation in His Son, Jesus. The Bible is sufficient for all our needs. We must not try and find new doctrine somewhere else. If we are doing that then we are in danger of not having salvation. John tells us that if we go beyond the teaching of the Bible, we do not have salvation. He tells us also that those who abide in the Word of God, they have salvation and has both the father and the Son. Those who are truly saved will be satisfied with the teachings of the Bible and will not have the desire to find some other truth, or to add to the truth that is in the Bible.

In verse 10 John tells us not to receive these deceivers into our house or to even give them a greeting. John is not telling us to not be nice to people that disagree with us. He is warning us to not have fellowship with people who are actively trying to destroy the church and mislead its people. We can tell them the Gospel truth, but we are not to fellowship with them. If we fellowship with them then it will seem like we are agreeing with them. Then we will be misleading people also. Fellowship is the getting together of fellow believers. Fellowship is designed for us to encourage and lift each other up. To develop a close and personal relationship with each other. These are the people who will be there for us during the trials of our lives. We fellowship with people that are like minded and are true believers, that have demonstrated that they live a life that glorifies our Father. Complete disassociation with these deceivers is the only correct action for the true believer to take. John says to not even greet them. That is not the message that most churches are teaching today in Western Society. They are teaching tolerance and unity with everyone. That is not what the Bible teaches us. The Bible teaches that light has nothing in common with darkness. 2 Corinthians 6:14

2 Corinthians 6:14 (NASB 2020)

14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness?

We must only fellowship with our brother and sisters in Christ. Don’t even pause on the TV channel when flipping through the channels when you come across one of these antichrists! I would say, if you see one walking down the street, move to the other side or go the other direction, not out of fear, but obedience to the Word. We are told not to even say hello. Remember John is talking about the ones that are actively trying to deceive the church. He is talking about people that are adding to the Bible or are just teaching a completely different message. He is not talking about the person who is lost and living in sin. We are to go to those and share Jesus with them. We are to show them the love of Jesus and shine His light. Those are two different types of people. We are to have nothing to do with the deceivers, the ones that are trying to take people to hell with them.

Verse 11 tells us what happens if we do greet them, we participate in their evil deeds. When we greet them and appear to be friendly towards them, then people will think that we agree with the message that they are spreading. It helps them to deceive the people that we have influence over. The ones that look up to us and see us talking with them and greeting them will think that they are a good person and then they will be more likely to listen to their lies. We need to be watchful of who we associate with, who we call friend. There is a strong warning in the Bible for those that lead people astray. We must be sure of a person and the message that they are spreading before we show our support or approval of them. We do not want to participate in their evil deeds.

So how do we apply this?

First we must know how to spot false teachings and teachers. The Secret Service is in charge of investigating counterfeit money. They have a very specific way that they learn to spot fake money. They do not study the fakes, the fakes are always changing and there are some out there that they haven’t even found yet. The way that they find the fakes is by studying the real money. They study it so much that they know it better than anyone else. That is how to spot a fake, you study the real one. We must be studying the Word of God, if we are to be able to identify the deceivers. If we are not studying the Word, then we will be easily deceived. The more we study the Bible, the easier it will be to identify the antichrists. We must do our homework. We cannot rely on just hearing the word preached once a week, and expect it to be enough to keep us from being deceived. Adam and Eve walked daily with God and were still deceived. We must do our part. We must prepare our minds to be able to identify the false teachings.

When I was in high school, a guy offered to sell me a radio that I really wanted for really cheap. I paid him and he said he would bring it to me. I saw him a couple of days later and he didn’t have my radio. He said he needed a couple of more days. I let myself be deceived because I really wanted a different radio in my car. I wasn’t satisfied with the one I had. Needless to say I never got that radio from him. We must learn and be satisfied with what the Bible says.

Once we know how to identify the antichrists, we must know that we need to have nothing to do with them. We must not even greet them. The people around us must know that we do not agree with them or what they say. There must be no doubt. I don’t think I have ever talked to that guy again. I didn’t want to be in that situation again. I knew that he was a liar and I didn’t want to be around him. We must only fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We must be ready to identify the deceivers and then we must know how to act around them. They are all around us, we must be ready. If we are not ready, then we will be their next victim.

Lets pray.