HOW CAN WE KEEP FROM BEING DECEIVED?
Matthew 7:21-23

From our last two studies together, I am sure that you are as convinced as I am of the dangers of being deceived.  Every time I study this text from Matthew 7, I ask myself the question:  How can I keep from deluding myself?  May I share with you some personal observations from my nearly thirty years in the ministry?

First, I think we can delude ourselves by relying upon the spiritual experiences of the past for our strength, rather than upon those of the present.  So often, during testimony times within the churches I had served, I would hear praises to God that went something like this:  “Twenty five years ago God saved me.  Praise the Lord!”  Or,  “Ten years ago God led us to this church.”  We have a lot of what I call “past tense Christians.”  Friends, I am not demeaning what God has done for you in the past.  But, what is God doing for you right now this very moment?  Paul told the Philippians that he forgot the past so that he might press forward to knowing Christ more intimately.  Don’t be deluded by just dwelling upon the past.  Become a “present and future tense Christian.”

Second, I have observed that we are quick to mistake profession and supernatural experiences for true spirituality.  The miraculous excites us.  The witness of something supernatural moves us.  I am reminded of Elijah there in the cave on Mount Horeb, as recorded in 1 Kings 19.  He is listening for the voice of God.  First came the fire…we would pay attention to it, wouldn’t we?  Next followed the earthquake, a sure attention grabber.  Finally came the stormy winds that would have gripped our hearts.  As we would reflect upon these miraculous events, we might be led to believe that God was doing something.  But, God was not in the fire, nor was He in the earthquake.  He was not even in the stormy winds.  God was in the quiet voice.  You would hardly know He was there.  How we need to learn to shift through spiritual experiences to find the hand of God.  Often we will find His presence where we least expect it.

Finally, we can delude, not only ourselves, but others with the preaching of cheap grace.  Cheap grace can be described in the following ways:  It is forgiveness without repentance.  It is discipleship without obedience.  It is blessing without persecution.  It is joy without righteousness.  It is activity without character where our focus is more on doing rather than upon being. 

So, how can we become fruit inspectors, not only of others but also of ourselves?  We need to become students of the heart.  We need to know our own hearts.  We might need to cry out as David did, “Lord, search my heart!”  And we need to get to know the hearts of others.  We must get beyond the lip service to the heart service.  When we do this, we will have then become successful fruit inspectors. 

Thank You, Father, for these past few days of study within Your Word.  You have certainly probed my heart and it has been good to just re-evaluate my relationship with You.  Lord, keep my heart from straying after deceiving things.  Keep me fixed upon Jesus and His love.  I pray this in Christ’s name.  Amen. 

 

Return to Sermon on the Mount Overview