Seduced By Self

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

James 1:22

A person need not live long before they have been deceived.  Deception and life on earth go together like butter on bread.  When the first sin was committed on earth, deception was not absent.  Adam blamed his wife, and Eve blamed the serpent.  Genesis 3:13 reads, "And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."  In the KJV the word used for deceived is "beguiled," and is defined in the original as "to lead astray, to delude, or to seduce."

We have all been deceived, and we have all played the deceiver.  But the worst delusion of all is when we deceive ourselves.  James warns all who read his letter that self-deception, even for believers, is a condition we must soberly guard against.  We must remain vigilant and ever-watchful of the real potential which spawns from familiarity.  Because we read a passage with agreement, because a verse has been committed to memory, we can be deceived to think we have put the spiritual truth in continual practice.  The more we hear something we can become dull and numb.  We hear a verse quoted and are able to finish it off verbatim in our minds thinking, "Yeah, I know that.  Blah, blah, blah."  Even though we agree in principle, we can continue to live a life contrary to what God's Word says.

It is imperative we examine our thoughts, words, and deeds in accordance to scripture.  Proverbs 12:15 says, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise."  Even as a child must be trained by his parents, so every child of God must submit to His rule.  God will discipline and chasten us so we might be restored and reconciled to fellowship with Him.  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and fools hate knowledge.  King Solomon spoke a proverb concerning the man who walks in pride and self-confidence in Proverbs 26:12:  "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."  Those who are seduced by self are worse off than fools.  If you are familiar with the book of Proverbs, that is saying a lot!  Self-deception is Satan's greatest ploy in warring against God's people.  The devil wants us to become dull from much hearing.  He wants us to believe we are doers of the word when we are only idle listeners.

Thank God He has provided the Bible and the Holy Spirit to search our hearts who will never lead us astray!  If at the moment you are not actively mindful to avoid potential sins or fighting the good fight of faith against temptations; if it is a foreign concept to take wicked thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ or cannot think of a single area of sin in your life which must be confessed to God and man; if you are not being held accountable for areas of habitual sin to which you have been given over to for a season of your life, you likely have fallen prey to self-deception.  Let us all pray with David in Psalm 139:23-24:  "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; ²⁴ and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Evil or Good Towards God?

If nothing in the Bible shocks us, then we're not reading it very carefully!  It directly opposes the "wisdom" of this age, which is termed "foolishness" in God's eyes.  One fundamental difference between the humanistic view of man and God's divine perspective is the condition of man.  Man assumes he is naturally good, but God says there is none good, no, not one.  All are condemned by sin.  No one gets a free pass to willfully commit sin without eternal consequences.

2 Chronicles 36:9 is a real eye opener:  "Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD."  Jehoiachin was eight years old - and evil!  When I think of evil people, an "innocent" eight-year-old does not come to mind!  But according to God's righteous judgments, Jehoiachin did evil in God's sight.  Men, women, and even children must answer for a shred of evil found residing in his soul.  Proverbs 20:11 reads, "Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right."  A child's actions reveal his heart not only before man, but before God.  There are manuscripts that support the view Jehoiachin was 18 years old when his reign ended and he was carried away to Babylon.  But whether a person is eight, eighteen, or eighty, God looks upon him in light of God's holiness and righteousness.  He looks upon all with love, desiring that none should perish but that all would come to repentance and salvation through Christ.

We see another example of God's piercing gaze of even the young in Ahijah's prophecy to the wife of King Jeroboam.  When she visited the prophet of God to inquire concerning the failing health of her child, she disguised herself.  Although Ahijah was blind, he knew to whom he spoke.  Because Jeroboam had done much evil in the sight of God by leading all Israel into sin, Ahijah prophesied great doom upon him and his family.  1 Kings 14:10-13 reads, "...I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. ¹¹ The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the LORD has spoken!" ¹² Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. ¹³ And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something good toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam."  Though the child of Jeroboam was young, there was found in him something good towards the LORD.  He would be the only one buried of Jeroboam's house as a sign of God's favour upon him.  This highlights the devastating effects of sin:  it is like manure which is shoveled into a heap and set on fire.  I have no doubts that the soul of the young child, however, was joyfully ushered into eternal bliss in the presence of God.

Despite the wickedness of Jeroboam, God did not punish the son for the sins of his father.  Should God do this, who would remain living?  Ezekiel 18:20 states, "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself."  If any will repent and trust in Christ, all will be forgiven.  Jesus has paid for all sin with His own blood.  God's grace is revealed that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, bore upon Himself the sins of all flesh so sinners could be redeemed and reconciled with God.  The Law only condemns a man, but the grace of God extends salvation to all who believe.  John 3:16 tells us, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  This is good news for young and old alike!

Sword Control

Hosea 4:6 begins by saying, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge..."  Ignorance has contributed to much unnecessary suffering in the world, even through those who desired to do good.  Before the discovery of dangerous germs, surgeons did not wash their hands or clothes between operations.  The result of this lack of sanitation in hospitals led to the spread of disease, infections, and caused many preventable deaths.  Even to this day in developing countries, people remain who do not understand the connection between drinking contaminated water and sickness.  When a child is stricken with dysentery from drinking water containing sewage, village elders assume evil spirits are to be blamed.  While the world is not without a spiritual dimension, ignorance of something as simple as the importance of clean drinking water can lead to disaster.

We live in a day when the world is experiencing a famine of hearing the Word of God.  The world has placed science and scripture at odds with each other, though there is no conflict from a Christian perspective.  Believing the Bible and reliance upon prayer are seen as archaic coping mechanisms of a superstitious day.  Even in many "churches" there is a departure from viewing the scripture as absolute truth and that it would be foolish to take the scriptures literally.  This is exactly according to the design of Satan.  When the authority of the Bible as the perfect Word of God is undermined or removed, God's people are stranded without the necessary weapons to do battle against temptation, the world, or Satan.  The Bible and God's promises are bazookas with unlimited ammo against our spiritual foes and temptations when discerned through the power of the Holy Spirit.  But many of God's people have been inoculated with worldly philosophies and relativism, and by putting down their Bibles they have laid down their arms.  When Satan tempted Jesus, how did He answer Him?  With the Word of God, also called the "Sword of the Spirit" (Eph. 6:17).  As the grip of the church on God's Word weakens, our inability to stand and fight against the spiritual forces of wickedness follows suit.

There is a thought provoking passage in 1 Samuel 13:19-22 which reads, "Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears." ²⁰ But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man's plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; ²¹ and the charge for a sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads. ²² So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son."  For many years the Philistines had occupied and oppressed much of the children of Israel.  To prevent an uprising among the Jews, the Philistines prohibited blacksmiths in the land of Israel.  They implemented a form of "sword control."  The Israelites relied upon the Philistine blacksmiths who sharpened their farming tools for a price.  In the whole nation of Israel there were only two swords owned:  one by king Saul and the other by Jonathan his son.  The end result was on the day of battle, there was a whopping two swords for the whole nation of Israel.  Good thing it was God who fought their battles!  Satan will blunt our blades and charge an exorbitant price.

Satan is crafty and subtle.  He knows that against the Word of God he cannot fight and win.  But if he can trick God's people to neglect the study of God's Word, it will rust in the sheath and be useless when the battle hits.  Without being trained to rightly divide God's truth through the Holy Spirit by discipleship in the family and home groups, people are without adequate balance, strength, or coordination to stand up to the temptations of the world.  God says, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge."  People die every day because they lack knowledge of God, His wisdom, and ways.  Jesus says the Holy Spirit has been sent to John 16:8-10 to teach us all things:  "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more."  The primary way the Holy Spirit instructs us is through biblical truth.  If the Holy Spirit also brings to remembrance whatever Jesus has said (John 14:26), how can we know what Jesus has said except we read it ourselves?  No man but a thief would attempt to withdraw money from a bank at which he has no account.  Man is foolish to think he can draw upon the wisdom of God without the Word.

The fact is, the Bible teaches we are in the midst of a spiritual battle of epic proportions.  The destiny of the eternal souls of men and the glory of God are at stake.  In giving us His Word, God has provided a sword for all those adopted into His family by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  How much value do you place on the Word of God?  Do you believe it is 100% accurate and true?  The demons believe and tremble!  The devil knows the fearful things written concerning him and any who fight against God.  Zechariah 14:12 is a good example:  "And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths."  If God should strike those who fight against His sanctuary with such fury, what rage shall be reserved for Satan and the rulers of wickedness?  Take up the sword, children of God!  Heaven and earth will pass away, but God's Word will never pass away (Matt. 24:35)!

Burdened No More!

This morning I was treated to a living illustration.  Since the boys go to the same school and have heaps of books between them, we decided to hire a large locker for the entire school year.  The last couple days I noticed one of my son's backpacks was completely stuffed with heavy books.  On the way to the bus today I took this picture of him carrying the burden of books.  The whole reason behind hiring the locker was to reduce the amount in our son's backpacks.  But the backpack remained stuffed while the locker is empty.

We have had several delightful conversations about why the locker is not better utilised.  The excuses have been plentiful:  "I don't have time," "It's full of spiders," "I never know what books I'll need," or "There's always a bunch of girls blocking the way."  So day after day, mile after mile, my son comes home with sagging shoulders under a heavy burden - a burden we've paid to have lifted.  But this is something my wife and I cannot do for him.  He must make a conscious decision to remove each book from the pack and carry only what he needs for the next class.

I can't see this picture without thinking of Pilgrim from Bunyan's classic, The Pilgrim's Progress.  Loaded with a heavy burden, Pilgrim set out from the city of Destruction heading for eternal life in Celestial City.  It was only when Pilgrim knelt at the cross that the weighty burden of sins fell from his back.  It is the blood of Jesus that has shed His own blood so the sins of man could be forgiven by grace through faith.  1 John 1:9 reads, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Even as my son has all sorts of reasons to justify labouring under the heavy weight of his backpack, people can choose to bear burdens of guilt and sin Christ has already paid for with His own blood.  It is not only the unbeliever who carries such a weight, but this is possible for God-fearing, Christ-trusting people as well.

A Christian's life is not a carefree existence.  Our eyes have been opened to the spiritual plight of all people who remain dead in their sins.  This is a burden all Christians are called to carry with joy, knowing that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life!  We are called to bear one another's burdens, and carry our own load (Gal. 6:2-5).  For example, when my wife was pregnant I could not physically carry the baby for her.  She had to carry that baby for 9 months.  That doesn't mean I was unable to help shoulder the burden.  I could help out with cleaning the house, with cooking, or shopping.  We all have responsibilities in this life for which we are all personally responsible and must be held accountable.  But when it comes to sin, guilt, shame, and condemnation, those are burdens Christ has taken upon Himself on the cross.  We sin in unbelief when we gather the memory and hurt of those sins for which Christ was wounded and carry them around with us.

Hebrews 10:14-18 tells us plainly of what Christ has offered to all who receive by faith:  "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. ¹⁵ But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ¹⁶ "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,"¹⁷ then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." ¹⁸ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin."  God has chosen not to remember our sins, but Satan is happy to burden us with their memory.  We can stew in guilt, bitterness, condemnation, regret, and despair over what we have done or what others have done to us.  But that is a weight we need not carry.  Love keeps no record of wrongs.  When we have been born again by faith in Jesus Christ, our sins God chooses to remember no more.  He has made a conscious effort to put them eternally away from His memory, every single one.  We are forever free from the guilt and condemnation of any sin.

Psalm 103:8-12 reads, "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. ⁹ He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. ¹⁰ He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."  If God has shown us mercy in removing our sins from us, why should we load down our consciences with the memory of them?  Let us be partakers of the redemptive work now!  The burden of Pilgrim fell from his shoulders long before entrance to the Celestial City!  If God has made you free, you are free indeed.  Jesus does not strengthen us to bear a burden only He can bear.  Leave it at the foot of the cross, having been washing clean with His precious blood and clothed in a robe of righteousness.

Are you weighed down with the sin that so easily besets us?  Enough with excuses!  May we look to Jesus alone, not our history of unrighteousness.  Jesus entreats all in Matthew 11:28-30:  "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."