Lesson 1: Knowing There’s A Threat.
“Knowing is half the battle.”
-G.I. Joe
Here’s another quote, “To be forewarned is to be forearmed.” When we know the threat we can plan for fighting it. We must not be complacent or ignorant. We must be on our guard.
“I’m fine. Deceived, me? I got the assurance of salvation and the Holy Spirit in me. Nothing can turn me wrong.” Ever heard anyone say that? I have. Me. I was of the opinion for a very long time that a Christian is incapable of being deceived.
Let me start out by pointing this passage out…
John 10
1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
I’m no where about to say that a true, elect, saint of God can be deceived out of salvation. Jesus here is speaking about those who are His and those who are not. Those who are His know His voice and follow Him in salvation. God’s elect will come to Him, (John 6:37), and a true saint cannot be fooled out of salvation.
Be that as it may, can a Christian be deceived?
2 Corinthians 11:2-4
2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
Paul uses the word “deceived” here. He says, “...as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted...”
Here is Paul warning of a danger. “...as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness...” How did that happen to Eve? It happened, “…by his craftiness...”
Let’s go back to the story.
Genesis 3:2-4
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 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.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
Is that what God said?
Genesis 2:15-17
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 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.”
God was very specific (God said the name of the tree), Eve was vague (“That tree in the middle of the garden.”)
Eve added to what God had told Adam. God did not mention touching the fruit.
My point is that she didn’t rightly know what God said. (Whose job was it to tell her what God said?)
Satan does know what God has said and he can very easily confuse someone that doesn’t.
Matthew 4
5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘ In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
Is that what God had said?
Psalm 91
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
Satan took a piece out didn’t he? So when we read Paul saying, “...as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness.” We can see that part of his craftiness is to confuse people who have a lack of knowledge of what God said. That is a problem far too common amongst true Christians, (Hosea 4:6).
It is painfully true that a child of God can be confused and driven into misuse and failure. By failure I mean spend huge amounts of time wasted on false information and false doctrine that keep them away from growth and effective service.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4
3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
As Eve second guessed and made a horrendous mistake “...so your minds may be corrupted...”
In what way? Paul says, “...from the simplicity that is in Christ.” The gospel is simple and has no need of the confusing add-ons and laws and other false doctrines that Satan and false teachers bring into it.
This is important to keep in mind because the Christian can easily waste time and growth burdened by “religion” and false doctrine. We are prone to becoming judgmental and legalistic and then, on the opposite side, we can violently snap back and become apt to be too “open” and “nice” and allow too much in with the hope of showing the love of Jesus. After all, we don’t want to “judge” anybody. We want people to “like” us so they’ll “like” Jesus and we end up with false Christians who came in with a false gospel.
Oh, yes. This is a deadly serious deception happening to truly saved Christians all over.
And look, Paul is scared! Look what he says, “But I fear, lest somehow you may well put up with it!”
Put up: # 430 “anechomai”
1) to hold up
2) to hold one's self erect and firm
3) to sustain, to bear, to endure
This is Paul saying, “I’m scared you’ll tolerate this false teaching.”
2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
“endure”... Same word, #430 as “put up” in 2 Corinthians 11:4.
Revelation 2:20
'But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
“Toleration”, “Put up”, “enduring” of false teaching is a sin. Toleration of sin is a symptom of a deceived Christian.
CAN the child of God be “deceived”? Not to the point of losing salvation or not coming to salvation, no.
But the Christian CAN be confused and distracted. That is a serious threat but the Christian who is on guard will know the Shepherds voice and what The Shepherd has said.
We need to know that there is a threat. That is the first lesson in growing and overcoming sin in your life and pressing on. We need to understand that the threat is drop dead serious and WILL hit you hard if you’re not ready. The Christian CAN be suppressed and waste years of their life in disuse and defeat. But there are weapons that we are equipped with to both defend ourselves and attack. Understanding the simplicity of the gospel and the fact that you didn’t GET yourself saved so you can do nothing to get yourself “un-saved” will bring the Christian victory and strength to return to duty. This return is daily. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” - Luke 9:23
Too many Christians suffer a defeat, submit to a temptation or stumble in a mistake and they chuck their sword, point down, unto the dirt and sit there. Did they think there would be no trials or temptations or mistakes? That is a lie from hell.
When I was in the Air Force I served in Iraq. The base I was at was attacked at least three times a day. I stopped counting after 150 mortar and rocket attacks. You know something that no one ever said around there? Not one single person ever mentioned this question. “I wonder why they’re shooting at us?”
All of us knew why they were shooting at us. Because we were in their territory. Because they wanted us out. Because they wanted us to be scared and worried and de-moralized.
If you are going to make any attempt to “…seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…” you can best believe you are going to get shot at. The Bible guarantee’s it, (Matthew 5:10-12, 1 Peter 4:12-13). You are a threat. A soldier. You do yourself no favors by refusing to believe that you can’t be fooled, lulled, or lied to. We need to be alert, guarded, suspicious, and “…wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)
1 Corinthians 10:12
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Lesson number one, you need to understand that you will be attacked. Attempts will be made to deceive you. These attacks are real and as deadly as poison.
These attacks will be coming from all sides, up and down and, this is profound… Right next to you.
These attacks are trying to surprise you. They are meant to confuse you. Their goal is to make you stop. Stop fighting, stop studying, stop witnessing, stop praying, stop growing, stop running.
And, this is important too, if you’re not going through attacks perhaps that’s not a good thing. Perhaps you’re not much of a threat to worry about. Or perhaps you are of more help to the enemy doing what you’re doing.
The Christian can be deceived. The Christian can be lulled to sleep, conned into legalism, mislead into over tolerance or duped into idleness. Watch out.
You get that fact right and you’re already ahead.
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