The Fruit of Deception

Title-The Fruit of Deception

Passage-2 Samuel 28:1-6 & 2 Samuel 29:1-30:6

Attention- Remember that childhood rhyme

“Liar, liar, pants on fire”

That was one way to get someones attention real fast…to say that to them

Or to hear is said of you

Or even hear it inside your head because you just realized your actions...

The reality is that no one likes to be deceived

Sometimes the one that is doing the deceiving is doing so because they themselves are deceived

By others

By wants or desire

O, I think in David’s case, by giving into the pressures of circumstances and turning our faith from God and putting it on ourselves

Introduction

There is a story of a lawyer who was cross examining a young man about an injury claim caused by someone else.

In his cross examination he asked...

"Will you please show us how high you can lift your arm now?" asked Smith. The young man gingerly raised his arm to shoulder level, his face distorted with pain.

"Thank you," said Smith. "And now, could you show us how high you could lift it before the accident?" The young man eagerly shot his arm up above his head.

He lost the case.

Eventually the truth comes out

Eventually we come aware of deceit and rectify it

But it can often be too late

The consequences may have already arrived

What is the main driving point (CPS)?

Friends, the biggest problem with deceit is the consequences it brings

It can also keep us and others from the truth.

Why does the CPS matter, what is the consequence?

Someone once said, the truth is like an alarm clock, you might not want to hear it, but it can wake you up from your dreams and bring you back to reality.

That is exactly what we need

That is exactly what this world needs is a good dose of reality

Read more: http://www.searchquotes.com/search/Truth_Is_Like/#ixzz5ozmSeYPb

Similarly thats what David needs in this portion of Scripture

Transition

This morning we will see three fruits of deceit from the life of David

Lets begin reading in 28:1-2

I. Deceit leads to danger (28:1-2 )

Explain

For all practical purposes everything seems to be going fine for David.

We left off last week with 27:12...”And Achish believed David...”

And David was able to do his own thing

Provide for the people with him

It was all going well

But then Achish wants him do something dangerous…he tells David that he will be going to battle with the Philistines

Bridge to today

This seems to be the pattern. You CHOOSE deceit, sin is not something you fall into it is something you choose to do.

After you choose deceit you then get comfortable in it...

And it usually isn’t long after that it comes crashing down around you

Numbers 32:23 KJV 1900

But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.

What is the problem here?

David is being told to go into battle against the people he is anointed to be the king of

At this point I feel we often forget that David is the anointed one to take the throne from Saul

We see a fearful and desperate man on the run

This fearful and desperate man is the next king of Israel

He made a choice to run from Saul into the city of Gath and to befriend the king of his enemies

And he apparently did a pretty good job, he not only is to go to battle with them…he is to be the kings personal bodyguard

If you didn’t see it last week hopefully you can see this week that David is outside the will of God

God’s plan for David is to be king, not allied to the king of his enemy

Relevance

Deceit is like if you ever ran out of gas and had to push your car...

It takes work to get it going, but once you get rolling it doesn’t seem so bad

Until you want to stop or come to a small downward slope…then you have problems

You either need to foresee the downward slope and stop before you get there or else your other option is to crash

Why does this matter?

So what can we do?!?!

First of all, don’t run out of gas!!!! Keep your focus on the Lord, keep yourself in His Word, be consistent in your prayers

If you have run out of gas and can’t stop, ask for help before you crash..

There are people around you that want to help, you just need to reach out.

Confess it and ask the Lord to help...

He is the power in our live…but we need to come to Him, confess to Him, and keep our focus on Him

Transition

Lets continue by reading 29:1-11

II. You can fool one person but you cant fool everyone (29:1-11 )

Explain

As good of a job as David did deceiving Achish he surely didn’t fool everyone.

It was not just Achish that were to be depending on David in the battle

The princes were not fooled, they show their wisdom in verse 4…he is in the back, whats keeping him from attacking us from behind when we get into battle

Also, look at their question in verse 5

I think that in the same way we ought to never forget the soldiers that have died t to bring us the freedoms we enjoy…these men may remember some of the thousands that David slew…

Achish was deceived but the princes remembered who David is

There are others that would face the consequences if Achish was wrong about David

Bridge to today

So...what we can find out from these verses is that we are not dealing with anything new...

The rampant externalism and superficial happiness is a part of the deeper issue of humanity

Relevance

The problem for us is that in and of ourselves there is nothing we can do about it.

We can strive to clean up the outside and keep things looking good

But all the while we are ding on the inside

Why does this matter?

The only hope that we have is in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.

That is the only answer for our fallen human condition

After the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden mankind was alienated from God…life became miserable

That is why God has been working through human history to restore the relationship that was lost.

For you and I we find that peace by having a right relationship with our creator...

Our relationship is made right only through the blood of Jesus…through faith in His sacrifice

There are consequences for our decisions.

To live under our own power and in our own wisdom brings the consequence of an eternity separated from God in hell

We can choose to humble ourselves and accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation and enjoy the peace in this life and for all eternity

Transition

David learned a bit about consequences

Lets finish by reading 30:1-3

III. The consequences affect those around you as well (30:1-6)

Explain

Why did this happen?

Why were their families carried off

And their village and possessions burned

I think we have to conclude that it was based on David’s poor decisions.

David lead the men to Ziklag

David deceitfully joined up with Achish

David lead the raids on the villages

His effective deceit of Achish puts him in a position to have to fight against his own people

THe princes disagree

David and his men are sent back to Ziklag

Upon arrival they find out that while they were in Gath they were attacked

By who?!?!

The Amalekites…What does it say in 27:7-8

The ones that David attacked and took advantage of returned kind while they were away

They actually didn’t return kind, David killed everyone in the village and the Amalekites killed no one

Why?

Because David decided to deceive Achish and plunder the cities around him

Or in other words, David did not have the foresight to see the consequences and that it could have a huge impact on the innocent people around him

Bridge to today

This is another one of those human heart conditions that hasn’t changed a whole lot...

It is so easy to get focused on the here and now and not realize that our hearts were created for eternity.

We get wrapped up in the day to day issues

We ignore the yearning of our hearts for a right relationship with God.

We choose ourselves and the now over God and eternity

The intersting thing is that if you choose God and all of eternity you get the best of this life as well.

You may not get great wealth, or the biggest house, or maybe not even the greatest health

But you will get everything your heart is yearning for.

Relevance

We need to stop deceiving ourselves that this life is all there is

It will have eternal consequences

Not just on us but on those that can be reached by us

This goes for Christians as well as those who have not accepted Jesus’ free gift of salvation

Why does this matter?

Conclusion

Conclusion

Review of the Principles and the Sermon Proposition

Deceit has consequences...

It puts you in danger,

It makes you think you’ve fooled everyone when at best you’ve fooled a few

It puts those around you in danger

Challenge to act now (your part)…immanence

It’s time to see things honestly…as they really are

If you are here and don’t know Jesus as your savior

You are fooling yourselves with things and relationships and feelings

You need to see the truth that what your heart really wants is to be in a right relationship with the creator God

If you are here and saved, you need to stop pretending that it isn’t your job to evangelize...

That someone else will share the truth with them

Maybe, but maybe not

God has put that person in your life for a reason…stop fooling yourself

Visualize Audience Implementation

These are serious issues.

It is more than just half truths and deciet

Peoples eternal futures are at stake

We need to stop playing around and take a long hard look at the truth

That the world around us need Jesus

They also need us

Our responsibility is not to get results

It is to faithfully and honestly share the truth

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me?

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me?

Closing Hymn

574 Am I a Soldier of the Cross