A Subtle Intrusion
A SUBTLE INTRUSION
Sunday, 7/21/07 A.M. PPHC
Text: Matt. 24: 3-4 “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.”
I. Take Heed
A. A Word for our Times
1. If ever there was a word for these times, it is deception.
a. Very important - recorded a second time: (Mark 13:5–6) “Jesus, answering them, began to say: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am He,” and will deceive many’ ”
b. Repeated yet again in Luke 21:8: “And He said: ‘Take heed that you not be deceived.
2. There will be an increase in deception and a tremendous potential for people to be deceived.
a. Three separate times in the space of twenty verses Jesus warned His disciples about the deception to come.
II. Deception In Our Day
A. Deception In Our Day
1. Today men and women are being deceived right and left.
a. Advertisements abound on the Inet, newspapers, tv about the latest doctrine.
b. New methods of understanding the Bible.
c. Opportunities to raise our children in “fresh” and “exciting” ways. (Family vs. A Village)
1. Yet, many times their teachings are unbiblical, dangerous, and deceptive.
· “This is a time when all of God’s people need to keep their eyes and their Bibles wide open…asking God for discernment as never before.” Dr. David Jeremiah, Until I Come
2. Does it sound strange to you that people who know God could be deceived?
a. Very real danger - NT warns God’s people about the possibility of being deceived no fewer than eleven times.
b. History teaches us that even faithful men and women who have named the name of almighty God are vulnerable to the deceptive tactics of the enemy.
III. A Subtle Intrusion
A. In Israel
1. “When Israel fell into idolatry, it did not openly renounce the worship of Jehovah in order to bow down before the pagan shrines.”
a. They did not break with the former in order to embrace the latter.
b. A subtle intrusion into their worship eroded the affections and effectiveness of His people.
c. Israel’s policy of spiritual “tolerance” and “diversity” left the door open wide enough for deception to slip in unannounced.
2. In the temple of Jehovah were articles made for the vile Canaanite deity Baal!
a. Fusing the worship of Yahweh with the worship of Canaanite demon-gods.
B. In the Church
1. There is concern about the spiritual direction of our nation and of God’s people.
a. In the name of “tolerance:
1. Today’s church believes it must call God both “he” and “she”.
2. That it must describe the mother of Jesus as a “young woman” rather than as the Virgin Mary.
3. According to the scholars of the group, Jesus Seminar, Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah.
4. The Lord’s Prayer was drawn up by Christians after Jesus died...
· (2 Timothy 2:26) speaks of “the snare of the devil” and not being “taken captive by him at his will.” What steps can we take to make sure we avoid this? I think we must begin by getting our minds ready for the attack to come.
- In order to effectively confront the deception of the enemy we must be reminded of the truth!
III. Three Crucial Truths
A. The Personality Behind These Deceptions is Satan
1. Not just a happenstance; There is a “someone” behind these deceptions.
a. He is the father of lies (Jn. 8:44), and since the very beginning one of his primary weapons has been deceit.
b. (Revelation 12:9) speaks of him as “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.”
c. However Satan advertises himself, his main weapon is deception.
d. (2 Cor. 11:14) Satan transforms himself into an angel of light.”
B. The Principles of Deception Have Not Changed
· In the 80’s, it was no mystery – when you lined up against Danny Ford’s Clemson Tigers you knew what was coming – they would line up and run the ball over you. Why use the same strategy game after game, week after week…? Because it WORKED!
- Satan has one proven strategy that he has used from the beginning. He doesn’t have a new playbook and he doesn’t need one.
- Identifying Satan’s master plan and how it applies to what goes on today.
1. He Disputes God’s Word
· Genesis 3:1 says, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’ ”
a. He immediately began to water-down what God had said, to change it—just a little.
1. Satan suggested that she may not have heard God correctly….
b. Today: The Word of God speaks a clear “NO” to something that you really want.
1. Then out of the blue, someone comes up beside you and gives you an “alternative interpretation” of the text that will allow you to do what God said “NO” to in the 1st place.
2. So you end up in confusion (DOUBT) saying that you don’t know what that Scripture means.
2. He Denies God’s Word
· “The serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die’ ” (Genesis 3:4).
· It was a flat contradiction of what God had said: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
· “I am learning that every time you try to find an interpretation of a Scripture that will permit you to do something you know is wrong—every time you give a little ground to the devil and lose some ground from the Word of God—it isn’t long until Satan drives a truck through that opening and dumps a load of stinking garbage in your life.” Jeremiah, D. (1999). Until I Come
3. He Displaces God’s Word
· He told Eve, “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).
a. “Little by little the idea of absolute truth is being eroded out of our culture.”
b. Even among major congregations, the authority of the Bible has been eroded until it exerts little to no power in the lives of churchgoers.
· That’s Satan’s master plan, and it works—as long as we let it.
· However, THIS is how we allow ourselves to be deceived:
1. First, she discounted God’s goodness.
· Genesis 2:16 tells us, “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat.’ ”
a. Genesis 3:2: “And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden.’ ”
b. Her comprehension of God’s provision was not nearly as generous as God intended it to be.
· “When you start to question or forget the grace and goodness of God, you begin walking down the road toward satanic deception.”
2. Secondly, she dramatized God’s restrictions.
· “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’ ” (Genesis 3:2–3).
a. Nowhere do we find that God told her or Adam not to “touch” the forbidden tree.
· Why this statement of Eve so important? When you give Satan an inroad into your life, you’ll soon be thinking less of the grace of God and more of the law of God. [i]
· People quibble about whether the times are really the same as when the Word of God was written—and shouldn’t they be allowed a little more freedom in today’s culture?
3. Lastly, she diminished God’s penalty.
· She said, “lest you die.” (compare to what God said) Genesis 2:17 the Lord declared, “…for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
· When put like that, the penalty for disobedience does not seem so certain.
· Satan comes to our young people and whispers seductively, “You know, you’ve got all of these desires to live it up within you. A little alcohol, drug….”everybody’s doing it.”
· Don’t listen to Satan’s voice: He wants to destroy, not build; to enslave, not liberate.
C. The Power Over Deception Is Jesus Christ
1. Against the backdrop of Satan’s deceit stands Jesus Christ, the personification of Truth.
a. When we follow Him, we walk in the truth and we are not deceived (1 Jn. 4:1)
· “Every time God’s people suffer destruction it is because the deceiver has been allowed just a little foothold in the door. When you see that foot edging in the doorway, be pitiless in the way you deal with it. How pitiless? The Bible says we are to “crucify” it. Crucifixion hurts! It’s an agonizing, bloody business. But it’s also permanent. And that’s the kind of response we must make every time we see the devil’s foot near the doorjamb. ” Jeremiah, D. (1999). Until I Come
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[i](Sermon adapted from the book of: Jeremiah, D. (1999). Until I Come)