Sunday Sermons
Tell Yourself the Truth
Tell Yourself the Truth
Often the Bible warns the reader about the danger of being deceived (Ephesians 5:6). On the one hand we are all facing the arch deceiver Satan, who can come across as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). His ability to deceive is simply astonishing. In a matter of minutes, and with very few words he was able to convince our ancestors Adam and Eve that they were being deprived and missing out while living in an absolute paradise! (Genesis 3:3-6). Being deceived by Satan is still a very real threat, even for Christians (2 Corinthians 11:3). Then, we are also warned about being deceived by people who may or may not be the willing accomplices of Satan. The world is filled with people who will tell us what we want to hear (Romans 16:18; Ephesians 5:6; 2 Thess. 2:3; 2 Timothy 4:3; Titus 1:10; 1 John 3:7). Added to this, the world is also filled with people, who might not overtly try to deceive us, but will reinforce, sympathize with or support us if we are seeking to justify sinful behavior. When we try to sell them on what we are seeking to justify, they will not point us to Scripture, but rather they will say something like, "Yea, yea, I think you are right about that". Yet, in this lesson I want to address something else. The Bible also cautions us against lying to or deceiving ourselves:
Self Deception
"Let no man deceive himself" (1 Corinthians 3:18.). "He deceives himself" (Galatians 6:3). "But deceives his own heart" (James 1:26). One danger here is that we can lie to ourselves for so long that we start believing our own lies (2 Timothy 3:13).
Self deception happens when we want something so badly (that is condemned in the Bible) that instead of correcting and quarantining our heart (Proverbs 4:23; 2 Corinthians 7:1) and repenting, we try to justify it. We start saying things like:
"That sin isn't that bad"
"That sin is actually a good thing for me in my life right now"
"Everyone is doing it now. So many people are involved in this, this is so acceptable in the culture that God must have changed His mind about it"
"It is unreasonable for God to expect me to resist this"
"I just cannot help myself"
"The Bible isn't really going to be the standard at the judgment".
Campaigning
Like a candidate running for office, it is easy to fall in the trap of seeking to get people on my side when I want to do something which is against Scripture. Some people find a preacher or a congregation that will either agree with them, or at least not call them on it. Just remember, any attempt to justify sin is an attempt to suppress the truth with lies (Romans 1:18).
"Everyone"
One way that we lie to ourselves is that we start convincing ourselves that the vast majority of Christians are secretly doing something wrong. Yet this is not only presumption and an incredible lack of love and confidence in other believers, it is really selfish and pitiful when we long for others to fail so we look good.
Emotional and Intellectual Deception
Self deception can come in both an emotional and an intellectual form. We can start thinking that our feelings are infallible, that it if seems like something will bring happiness into our lives, then our feelings must be right. Yet the Bible warns us about trusting in our emotions over truth (Proverbs 3:4). The intellectual deception happens when we attempt to reason around a verse. We become convinced that we are smarter than the text, that we are smarter than we are (Galatians 6:3), and that our idea would work better. Case in point, many people just cannot see how sexual immorality could be the only cause for divorce with the right of remarriage (Matthew 19:9). We immediately start thinking of so many situations in which this verse would appear not to work or be fair to us. Just remember this, when a verse does not appear to answer all the "what if's". You are I are very limited. We are not divorce experts. We see very little of what is really going on, including people's real motives. On the other hand, God sees everything and has from the beginning, including all the secrets of men's hearts (Romans 2:16). His view of reality is actually far more accurate and clearer than ours.
Right Now
I want to pause the lesson at this moment and ask ourselves, "So what am I deceiving myself about right now?" "What lie am I telling myself?" "What lie am I trying to sell?"
God is not Mocked: Galatians 6:7
It is easy to read the above verse and yet say to yourself, "But I see God being mocked and it appears that nothing is happening to the people who mock Him". "I don't see everyone reaping what they have sown".
First things first. The expression "God is not mocked" is not advice. It is not something that exists in a fortune cookie. It is not a bumpersticker. It is a law. It is a rule. It is how this universe operates. What this expression means is that no matter how many exceptions we seem to be seeing in our limited vision, this is a rule, and the rule is still operating. No one gets away with it. Sin takes its toll, especially in the next life.
God is not Tricked or Fooled: Galatians 6:7
If I say to myself, "But everyone else is buying my excuse". Or, "I have convinced all my family members of the validity of my excuse. I have won them all over. They are all on my side." Or, even, "Everyone in the local congregation has accepted my excuse or situation". The reality remains, "God is not mocked". God is not fooled. God cannot be persuaded by numbers. God sees the lie, sees the sin, and will judge.
If I say to myself, "But I really do feel justified in doing this. I know that the Bible condemns it, but feel absolutely no guilt when I do it". Be not deceived. God is not mocked. It is still wrong.
From the Flesh Will Reap Corruption: Galatians 6:8
Did you notice that there is no neutral ground in this chapter or the last one? I see the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) and the Fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23), but where is the list of what is neutral? I see sowing to the flesh and sowing to the Spirit, but where is the sowing to the neutral? Observe that there are only two basic ways of living. We are either pursuing the flesh or the Spirit. There is no middle ground. A REMINDER TO THOSE ON THE FENCE. SATAN OWNS THAT FENCE. THE FENCE IS ON SATAN'S PROPERTY.
"But I Don't See Corruption Happening"
If I say to myself, "I know people who are involved in the sins mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21 and other verses, and it sure doesn't see that they are being corrupted. It looks like they are happy and rather good people". Be not deceived. If I say to myself, "The people involved in those things are not bad people". "Or the things on that list might lead to some problems, but they are not that dangerous. They certainly do not merit eternity in hell. They are not that bad". The truth is that we rarely see the sum total of a person's life. We do not see the private life. We do not see the thoughts. We do not see other stumbling. Frequently we are not around when the reaping starts to happen. Usually, we have long lost track of them. We only remember them at a point in their life and do not have knowledge of the entire picture. So we are only deceiving ourselves when we say:
"This work of the flesh, though wrong, is worth it".
"I can always repent later".
"I found a preacher who said that this thing on the list is not longer sinful".
"Hey, it's 2016, it's time for the Bible to catch up to the times".
"At least I am not hurting anyone".
"God won't sent anyone to hell. He is all love and grace".
"God is different now": Hebrews 13:8
"Can't I just indulge now and then, just a little bit". "Doing it occasionally is not practicing it...right?
In Doing Good: Galatians 6:9
The opposite of sinning is doing good. The opposite of sinning is more than just abstaining from a sin. The world is filled with people who are not doing horrible things and who are not doing godly things at the same time.
Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net
