Defeating Deception

Introduction

In our previous passage James dealt with temptation. He informed us that God does not tempt us with evil and not to blame God for it. He reminds us that it is our own human desires that lead us to give in to the temptations that are set before us. Lastly, he gives us the consequences for continuing down the life of sin that we sometimes choose.

James is going to spend the next part of this chapter teaching us how to defeat ourselves because many Christians go down the road of self-deception. James gives us the recipe to defeat that deception and find the life that God intends for us to have.

Stop the Blame Game

James 1:19–20 “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”

In verse 13 James tells us not to blame God for the temptations that come our way because it is our own human behavior that leads us down the path of wickedness. God does not tempt us, he does not want us to cave to temptation, and he certainly wants us to overcome temptation.

Many times when we fail in the Christian walk with God it is because we are doing the very same thing that Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden so many years ago. We are doubting God, we are running away from God, and we are blaming God. James tells us not to get made at God or anyone else when we give in to the temptations of sin. Stop blaming other people for your life, your sin, and your unfaithfulness. It isn’t God’s fault and it isn’t anyone else’s fault. It is your fault. You need to listen. You need to stop talking for once and listen. Stop getting mad at other people for your shortcomings and deal with them.

The blame game never helped anyone out of the mess that they were in. Eve got cursed, Adam got cursed, and the serpent got cursed. No one involved in that first evil action escaped the consequences of their own actions. Stop blaming other people for what you are doing wrong. Stop blaming people for the person that you are, especially when you know it is not the person you desire to be or that God wants you to be. Your anger toward God, toward your parents, toward other authority, or anyone else is going to put you on the path to living righteously. As long as you are willing to blame others for your actions you will never get right with God and live the life that God intended for you to live.

Deal with Your Sin

James 1:21 “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”

Concise Oxford English Dictionary Filthy

filthy

■ adjective (filthier, filthiest) disgustingly dirty.

▶ obscene and offensive.

▶ Brit. informal (of weather) very unpleasant.

▶ informal (of a mood) very disagreeable.

Every immoral act, every bad thought, and all offensive language needs to be extinguished from your life. Stop blaming people for your sin and deal with it by getting it out of your life. Put it out of your life.

ILLUSTRATION

to be engrafted (state) v. — to be or become attached to another plant so as to grow together with it.

Superfluity of Naughtiness speaks to the the weeds of the garden of our lives that are unnecessary and need to be removed from our hearts and our lives so that we can be prepared to receive the Word of God. We must deal with the sin in our lives before the Word can take hold and flourish in and through our lives.

Lay it apart. Get rid of it and all other things that are not necessary to live the Christian life that God intended for us to live.

Apply the Word of God

James 1:22–25 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

By hearing the Word and not applying the Word we are deceiving ourselves that being present to hear what is said is enough. It is not enough. We must not just hear the Word, but do it. When we hear something from God’s Word that challenges us to be better versions of ourselves it should not be simply something that we applaud but something we apply. In our first message we talked about how that James was calling us to spiritual maturity and that is coming into play right here. Stop hearing what is being said, and start applying what is said.

ILLUSTRATION

When you get up in the morning and you walk to the sink there is a mirror in front of you. As you stare into that mirror and see your hair all over the place, the goop in your eyes from having slept, and your clothes disheveled from tossing and turning do you look at yourself and say, “I am ready to hit the road this morning.” No, that is not what happens. We change from our pajamas, we brush our teeth, we comb our hair, and we put some good smelling stuff on. Why do we go to all that trouble? Because when we look into the mirror the first thing in the morning we don’t like the person we see. There have been times when I have gone to that mirror and forgotten to do my hair. I arrived to my stop and went about my day. At some point I ended up in the bathroom to find my hair look like I just got out of bed. Why? Because I looked in the mirror that morning and didn’t do anything about my hair and I forgot what I looked like.

When we look into the mirror of God’s Word we do not need to merely hear what is read or said, we need to do something about the person that we see as we glare into the Bible and see our lives as God sees them.

When we learn to use the Word of God as a mirror so that we can change the people that we are to be in line with God’s Word then we become a doer of the Word instead of just a mere hearer.

Serve the Lord Sincerely

James 1:26–27 “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

Talk is cheap. Just because you talk like a Christian doesn’t mean you are acting like one or serving like one. You are deceiving yourself if you think that mere homage to God is enough to claim a religious high ground. Pure religion takes more than just talk. It takes service to the Lord. Having applied the Word of God to your life and made necessary corrections go and do something for the Lord. Help someone. Give the gospel. Pray for someone. Show love to someone. Invest in someone. Serving the Lord is not just about hearing the word; it requires action on our part.

Let’s go serve the Lord in Clarendon.

Conclusion

We deceive ourselves when we blame everyone else for the way that we behave. We do ourselves no favors and advance our walk with God no further. We must learn to deal with our sin by looking in the mirror of God’s Word and applying it to our lives in a way that reveals a transformation from the person we were to be the kind of servant that God wants us to be.

If you are going to defeat deception in your life you are going to have to drop the charges against everyone else and find your own life in contempt, repent of your pride and your sin, apply the cleansing power of God’s Word, and serve the Lord with a sincere heart.