Jesus Warned About Deception | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Maranatha Shabiba Conference 2022)

Good morning. Good morning. Hope you rested well. Without wasting any fraction of time, let's open our bibles to the gospel according to Matthew in chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24.

And if you get there, please meet me in verse three, Matthew 24 verse three. And our brother just prayed, but we're gonna pray one more time and ask the Lord to help us with the scriptures. I'm reminded in Luke 24 that when Jesus met with his disciples in his resurrection, it says that he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And so even in understanding the scriptures, we need an intervention from the Lord for the sake of comprehension and for application. And so that's what we're gonna ask the Lord to do.

Okay? You might be a little weary this morning. I heard some footsteps running around in this in the halls and stuff, so I get it. It's conference, but we need God's help. Lord, we ask you this morning, grateful for your common grace in the weather, in the sun, in our energy.

Thank you for soundness of mind. Thank you for the energy in our bodies. Lord, we pray as you have shown us in the scriptures that we are dependent upon you to open our minds. But Lord, our minds are not the only thing that we ask for, we ask that our hearts would burn within us. As your scriptures are proclaimed, as we hear the word of the living God, that we would sense the warmth and the embrace of your wisdom, of your affection, of your grace and mercy.

Lord, just apprehend all intrusion and dominate in every faculty of our being. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Matthew twenty four three. I hope you're there.

This chapter, Matthew according, to these words here we see with Matthew chapter 25 is known as something as the Olivet Discourse. Here's Jesus speaking on the Mount Of Olives about a particular subject. And the theme really of this discourse is centered around the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the events that will precede it. And more specifically, this lengthy teaching from Jesus as a response to the inquiry of his disciples who were wondering, when will these things be? What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?

It was a question based on what Jesus said concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. And what's interesting to note is that when these disciples asked this question, Jesus gave the lengthiest answer to any question in the Gospels. In other words, if you want to know the longest answer that Jesus gives to any question in the Gospels, here it is, which is very telling because that informs me at least that Christ found it necessary to give us in great detail the events that would lead to his triumphant return. And Christ found it absolutely necessary to give certain exhortations around that climactic event. This is important to the Lord.

But instead of dedicating this entire weekend to explaining the events that will lead to his return, instead of explaining these signs and the sequence of them, I believe it will be of great value if we simply focus on one particular warning in this prophetic masterpiece. And the one warning that we will focus on is found here in verse three and verse four. As he sat on the Mount Of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, Tell us when these things, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered them, See that no one leads you astray. If you ask Christians today, what will be the things that will come, that will be evident, the things to look for in preparation for the return of Christ?

What you will usually get as common answers are the things that Jesus says after verse four. Natural disasters. The increase of violence and moral degradation. We see here Israel's political and religious activity as a sign to the return of Jesus Christ. But how often is it that you would hear from people, or how often is it that people really understand that the very first thing that Jesus mentioned, the significant sign that he starts off with, has to deal with the growing intensification of deception.

Jesus here starts off his teaching with warning his people, his disciples, that as we lead up to that climactic event, there will be sweeping dynamic profuse deception around the globe. It will be powerful. It will be magnetic. It will be so strong that even Jesus says, if possible, even the elect can be deceived. And what's amazing here is that when we see this warning, Jesus is not giving it as a mere observation.

He's giving it as an exhortation, as a practical and urgent warning, my people understand there will be an unleashing of seducing spirits that can even numb the minds and persuade the hearts of those who profess Jesus Christ as Lord. Now it would be one thing for Jesus to just say that initially, but he repeats it in different ways a total of three times in the same teaching. So either in Matthew 24 verse four, but come with me to Matthew 24 verse 11. Jesus says again, and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. Matthew 24 verse 24.

For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, eve if possible, even the elect. It's fascinating how Jesus does not repeat about fires, about floods, about riots, about earthquakes. The thing that our Lord puts an emphasis on is that in the end, people will be duped, hoodwinked, persuaded into falsehood about the most important thing in this life, and that is the truth about who God is and what his will is. Now we see here that Jesus is obviously trying to warn his people. And whether you believe that Jesus is speaking to the group of Christians who will be there during the tribulation or not, there is one thing that is emphatically clear throughout the Bible, and it is this.

That it is very possible for those who profess to follow Jesus Christ to fall into deception. You can't debate that. Or else we have, we have to pull out our scissors and cut out, and cut out something almost in at least every epistle. And as we are racing toward the culmination of the age, as we're racing towards the closing chapters of history, I'm just curious to know, in the past two years, how many here have said out of their lips, we're living in the last days? Just lift your hand.

Am I the only one? Four people in here? Five people. How many people have been told we're living in the last days? Has anybody said to you we're living in the last days?

We are living in the last days. Not because something significant necessarily happened, but because since the book of acts, we've been living in the last days. And if we're living in the last days then, if they were living in the last days then, surely we are coming to the closing minutes of history. And Jesus said here, deception in the last days. As we come closer and closer to that sky splitting open, and a glorious resurrected Lord will descend on the earth, deception will be more severe and will be more serious than at any time in history.

With the intensification of earthquakes and natural disasters and all these things will come also false narratives, false philosophies, false ideologies. This entire weekend is dedicated to understanding deception. And by the end of this weekend, I hope you make it here till Sunday morning, because we're ending this for you to leave here equipped with the word of God to know how to be deception proof forever. How to be deception proof forever. Because the Bible assures us that you can live a life where you do not have to fear being tricked or lied to.

God did not leave us to ourselves. God has given us everything that we need to know so that we can continually walk in the fullness of his light and revelation. Deceit. Deceit is any behavior in words or actions which deliberately intend to make people believe that something is not true. Anything in words or action that has the agenda, that has the motivation to try to make you believe something not to be true.

I'm not sure if you've been a victim of deception. I'm not sure if you've been told by someone about something only to find out later that they were intentionally with a selfish agenda trying to lure you astray, but it is one of the most humiliating and frustrating ordeals that you can undergo. The feeling of being lied to, to the point where you invest your emotions and judgments and decisions into something, only to find out later that someone was was not telling the truth can be a devastating experience. And here's the thing about deception. At best, you can be embarrassed.

You can be embarrassed because when when the truth of a matter comes out, you've realized that your discernment was not was not operating. At worst, deception can be destructive. And what you have is people who can hurt themselves or who can wound others with irreversible consequences. Deception is scary. The reason why deception is scary is because people who are deceived don't know it.

Deception is not like sin. What do I mean by that? When people sin, sometimes they can look at sin, they know it's wrong, and they do it anyway. Deception is not looking at something wrong and doing it because you think it's going to advance some personal desire or satisfy you in a certain way. Deception is looking at something that is wrong and thinking it's right, and then applying it to your life.

We have a duty because Jesus said these things will come, and he will come embodied as truth to make everything right and to expose all falsehood. But until then, he leaves the sermon so that they would not be deceived in any way. In any way. What I'm speaking to you about this weekend is not just deception about certain doctrines in the Bible. I'm talking about deception in any way.

Here's my question. How does the New Testament clearly warn Christians to not be deceived. I'm not, I'm not speaking about how the New Testament warns how the world is deceived, or how the world can be deceived. How does the Bible look in the face of believers and say, do not be deceived. The warnings are numerous, overwhelming.

And we're not going to cover every single warning, but I hope that this weekend would stir you on a personal journey. And that journey would be for you to go home and to look at every single warning in the New Testament to see what the Holy Spirit says be careful about, so that you'd be fully equipped and assured that you are indeed walking in the light. And so this is not going to be a complete thing. This is not going to be an exhaustive thing, but there will be enough for you to understand that the Scriptures are loud and clear with a very familiar phrase to believers, do not be deceived. Let me say something before we begin and dive in.

The motive behind this is that you would know great joy and great assurance in the Lord. But for some, this can be a very disturbing weekend. At least initially. And I want to tell you why. Meet with me in first Corinthians chapter 15 verse 34.

I want you to see what Paul says to the Corinthians in this one simple verse. In first Corinthians fifteen thirty four, we read, wake up. Paul says in the ESV, wake up from your drunken stupor as is right, and do not go on sinning for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. The two words that start this verse off.

Wake up. The initial context, the initial meaning means be sober minded. Be free from the intoxicating influence of a certain substance. And the substance that Paul is speaking about is actually in verse 33 with the first four words of that verse. What does he say in verse 33?

Do not be deceived. Do not be deceived. In other words, deception was the very thing that was inebriating the Corinthian church. And what's amazing here is that he says, I need you to wake up because you are not aware of what is overtaking your judgment. You are not aware of your unconsciousness, the the looming dangers around you are presenting themselves as.

And I'm sure most of us in here have known the unpleasant experience of being suddenly awakened from somber. Some of you experienced that this morning. It can be an alarm clock. It can be a creative roommate. It's rarely a joyful thing to have our sleep interrupted, at least in the beginning.

And the reason for that is because we become comfortable. Or in the case of this context, we become numb when we are under the influence of an external substance that tries to help us escape a reality that is painful. And our relationship with deception is like that. Again, let me say deception is not looking at something wrong and saying I'm gonna do it anyway. Deception is looking at something that is wrong and believing that it's right and saying I I believe this to be true.

And what you have is when people who are deceived is that they are desensitized. They become comfortable when they adhere to a certain belief. And here's what happens. You build your life around that. You build your life around something that is untrue, but you believe it is true.

You believe it offers something. You believe it's the right thing. You believe it's it's true conviction. And what happens is you build friends. You you now invite people into your life who also believe the same as you do.

And some people even go beyond that, and they make a career out of that philosophy or that ideology because they become so passionate about the very thing that they've adopted into their lives. And so here years go on believing something to be truth, believing something to be right, believing something to be God. And as you're on that journey holding hands with others who are on the same path, here's somebody on the side of the road who boldly looks at you and waves at you and says, hey. Wake up. You're headed the wrong way.

You're headed the wrong way. And that's that's disturbing to some. That's uncomfortable to some. And I want to tell you today that these messages may initially feel like that. You may feel what it's like to be suddenly awoke in this merciless jolt that quickly calls for you to make an action, like my my dad did so many times in middle school when he would crash into my room unannounced.

And he was very creative in the way he would wake me up. He knew how to play certain songs. He knew he doesn't know how to sing, but he would try anything that he can do to make sure that I don't sleep in. What was His motive? Because as a father, He knew that I needed to be somewhere, and I needed to do something.

And if I kept sleeping, I would have missed out on it. Out of love, He woke me up. I want you to hear every message from your heavenly Father, as jolting as it may be, as sudden as it may be, as strong as it may be, with a heart of love, because God wants you to be somewhere. In His will, God wants you to do something. He has a purpose for you.

And just like sleep, and just like in sobriety, those things like deception can rob us from so much. And God loves you too much to keep you the way you are, clouded by the fog of your own wisdom. Clouded by the fog of somebody else who walked into your life and told you something that God did not say. So So with all that being said, let's start with something, an admonition that is very known to Christians, but is very much relevant and needed today. First Corinthians, you're there already in first Corinthians.

Go to chapter six, beginning in verse nine. Here's a phrase that you're gonna hear most of this weekend. Do not be deceived. You're gonna hear that a lot. Or do not deceive yourselves, or let not your heart be deceived.

This is what you're gonna hear over and over again. And here we see it for the first time in our weekend together. First Corinthians six nine to 10. Paul says to this church, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.

Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. It's obvious when Paul wrote this that he was disturbed by the news of this church. This church was extremely gifted. This church had so much activity, but this church had a lot of problems. And one of the problems that were dominant in this church was that there was sinful behavior practice and sinful behavior that was condoned with little to any sign of conviction or desire for repentance.

This news came to the apostle Paul. And Paul as a faithful leader reached out to this church and would have this letter read publicly to say, I'm hearing about things in this church, and I'm concerned about your spiritual state, and so I need to call out and say, do not be deceived. So before he lists this catalog of sins that must have been that must have been going on in this church, he first boldly and lovingly says, oh, do not be deceived. Now why would he say that? The reason why he would say that, because then and even today, there are some who are under the persuasion within the four walls of the church who are consistently attending meetings who believe that it is possible to live in a way that the bible condemns and yet still have eternal life.

Now I'm not speaking about those who love righteousness and hate wickedness, but stumble along the way. I'm speaking about those who love unrighteousness and have no heartfelt desire to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, and to be like him as he is in his moral majesty. This is a form of idolatry. And and before we go on to this, because you're gonna you're gonna see we're gonna go in a different direction in a moment. I want you to see the best illustrations for sermons is in the Bible.

If you want an illustration book for your sermons, preacher, just go to the Old Testament. I want you to see a very clear picture that would be branded in your mind so that you would understand what this looks like spiritually in our day. One of the most infamous scenes of idolatry in redemptive history has to do with a golden calf. Moses is up there on the mountain with the Lord receiving revelation for the sequential movements of the nation of Israel, and the people get impatient. And they get so impatient that they ask Aaron, their spiritual leader, to to make them an idol.

And he does with very little resistance. And what I want you to see is what Aaron says when this idol is created, and he builds an altar before it. I want you to see it in your own bibles. It's in Exodus 32 verse five. Notice what Aaron says, and notice how it translates to the mindset of many today.

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made proclamation and said, tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord. I I I'm like speechless when I read that every time. Tomorrow so he looks at this nation. They're they're salivating at the mouth of the fact that they have this idol now that they can see, that they've created, that's before them. And Aaron looks at them, and he says, tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.

Capital l o r d, the personal name of God, Yahweh. And here's what I take out of that. That in their minds and even verbally, they're declaring that they are worshiping the true God. They are proclaiming even in verse four that God had delivered them from Egypt, but in reality, they are worshiping an idol. So hold on here.

There's proclamation. There's declaration that they are for the truth, that they're worshiping the truth, that they are serving the true God, all all while in actuality, they are standing before a beast made out of gold. It's just like mind numbing stuff. This is like when you step outside of it, you're like, is this even real? And it is real.

And it's real even today. Because what we see here is that these people including Aaron in their idolatry did not try to reject God. They they had no intention of removing the true God from their worship, from their vocabulary, from their doctrine. They knew his name, Lord. They knew what he's done.

He delivered us from Egypt. And so why the golden calf? It's not that the golden calf replaced the true God, at least in their understanding. They thought that they can worship the true God through the golden calf. And so how do we understand this?

Well, let's translate it today. You have people today who who claim the name of Jesus. You have people today who know what he has done. You have people today who even say that they worship him, all the while they are actually worshiping an idol. Now think about that.

You can live your entire apparent Christian life believing, proclaiming, declaring, even surrounding yourself with others that you are for the truth. All the while, you've been bowing before an idol. Sobering. And this is what Paul is concerned about with this church. The conviction and the conduct was contradictory.

So he writes out not to a secular school system, not to the White House. He he writes to God's house. Do not be deceived. And he begins to list a catalog of sins. The tolerance of unrepentant sin while claiming relationship to Jesus is truer now than it ever has been.

It's more prevalent today, especially with a certain sin, which I'm sure you can guess, the unnatural practice of homosexual passions. Pastor Daniel Bennett preached, on this briefly at our church last week, so I'm not going to spend too much time on this, but we're not at our local church. I'm not sure what you believe. I'm not sure what your church believes, but I have a duty to tell you this. I'm highlighting homosexuality not because it's the only sin, but it's the only sin that I know of that has an entire month dedicated to its celebration.

If you know of an adultery month, if you know of an anger month, let me know. I will gladly speak on it. I don't know of anything. I don't know of anything except for a month that is dedicated to celebrating, propagating, praising what the Bible calls an abomination. Remember the jolt thing from the sleep?

Remember that. Hold on to that. Because of the aggressive applause behind homosexuality, it is the church's duty and responsibility to address it with absolute clarity, for that is the only solution to the desensitization that is coming upon our generation, including the generation of those who claim to follow Jesus Christ. Now, again, I don't know what you believe, I don't know what your church believes, but the word of God is clear that this practice of homosexual behavior, whether it's monogamous, which is really the case, or whether it is a lifestyle that is free, this idea of sexual liberation, it's sin. It's sin.

The Bible condemns it, and those who live in it with no desire to be saved from it, with no desire to be redeemed from it, listen, will not inherit eternal life. Not that Jesus cannot save them. He can save them. This gospel is so powerful. It can save anyone.

But those who believe they can embrace this lifestyle and still claim the Savior at the same time, don't just have a different opinion. They are strongly deceived. Now, if you're a professing Christian who believes otherwise, if you're someone in this place who has friends or family that do live and are part of that community, or maybe you're somebody in here who struggles with those passions, Maybe publicly, maybe privately. But you're justifying it because your conception of Jesus affirms you in it. Again, I need to let you know that your emotions have duped you.

Your emotions have tricked you. Your conscience is in darkness. And any tolerance in the name of compassion that we might think we are showing to others by accepting them the way they are in that sin is only a contribution to cementing them in their deception. Be very careful, believers. Homosexuality is one of the strongest expressions of self worship.

It is a detrimental assault on the flourishing of any civilization. You want to study world history and know why some empires rise and fall? Do you want to know one of the major contributions to that? Homosexuality. Homosexuality is one of the major contributions to civilization's cracking and crumbling to find powder.

It dismantles the family function while sabotaging the natural order of reproduction. And if you think about it on a deeper level, it distorts the message of the gospel that God seeks to powerfully display in something that he has created called marriage, but only in a marriage between a man and a woman. This message is not about homosexuality. I just need to address this in passing. But let me also say this, that the Christian solution to homosexuality is not calling people to be straight.

The Christian solution is to call people to surrender to their maker and to come to Christ who has the supernatural ability to reshape their identity to such a degree that it can even influence their sexuality. And he can mold them and and shape them to such a point where their desires triumph over their flesh and their and their lust and their longings and their fantasies. And check this out. He does it not in a way where you're forced to be molded into something. You're molded into the way you were created so you are now in the fullness of joy.

This comes with a joy. This comes with delight. This comes with your intended purpose by God that can only come through the blood of Jesus Christ. And so I wanna let you know if you know somebody or if you are somebody that is in this, and you have been comforted because there are parades about this and then and your celebrities love this and they praise this. Your politicians are ones who are applauding this.

Listen. Shake out of it. Shake out of it and realize God's intended design for your life and realize that the way to it is not behavioral modification. It's to come to the foot of the cross. Because Christ sees you in that and he does not reserve his grace and mercy.

He longs to extend it and to make you into a testimony. Listen, I know people who have been saved from this and I cannot hold back. I'm not ashamed of the gospel because I've seen its power. I've seen its power. And so take that into heart.

Take that into consideration. But notice something because this message isn't about homosexuality. Look back at this list of first Corinthians six nine and ten. Notice that as we come to these verses, there are interesting things that are brought up, and I wanna bring something to your attention. Don't mind the buzzing.

We're trying something new, I guess. In first Corinthians six nine and ten, as you read this list, what you'll notice is that there are different things that Paul brings up. And one thing in the ESV that I find quite interesting, in verse 10, nor thieves, nor what's the other one? The greedy. The greedy.

Greed. Greed is mentioned on this list. Now think about that for a moment because Paul is saying something quite insightful. Greed. Those who are greedy will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Now when I read that, I thought to myself, I understand adultery. I understand idolatry. I understand thievery. Greed? In other translations, there's the word covetous.

What does it mean? No matter what English word you use, if you're faithful to the original, this is the simple understanding of it. Those who have a desire for something or someone that does not belong to them will not inherit heaven. Those who have a desire for something or someone that does not belong to them will not inherit heaven. That's exactly what this word means.

It's extremely sobering, but that's the point. You're wondering is that really a sin? And I say, yes. It's a sin according to the bible. So serious that it will bar people from even having eternal life.

And if you wanna know the essence of that sin, really behind it, it's telling God, I I am frustrated with your providential leading in my life. I hate how you have led my life. I despise where I am today, and since you are the one who claims to have control over what I have and what I experience, I hate you. If it was up to me, this is what I would have. And so it's really an assault on the sovereignty of God.

That's the essence behind it. And Paul says, shockingly, those who are greedy Now listen. This is this is something that might jolt us because as somebody cleverly said, greed is is in that category of respectable sins. Respectable sins. So it's not so flagrant.

It's not so obvious. It's not so gross. It's it's like it's like a classy sin. Right? It's a sin that doesn't really disturb others.

It's a sin that's just internal. It's a sin that doesn't cause much destruction. And yet, the holy spirit says, the greedy will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. How many of us would ever think that somebody who who's not a homosexual, somebody who's not an adulterer, somebody who's not an idolater, but at the same time is consumed with greed is just as much in need to be radically born again than any of the other ones? The reason why I'm bringing this to your attention is because we don't see sin the way God sees sin.

This is what I'm trying to bring to us. The reason why is because by default, we do not perceive sin the way God does. And my friends, that is one of the strongest way to invite deception into our lives. Let me say it this way. When we don't have a trusting view of the world by having the lens of God's holiness ever before us, then our perception of life becomes blurred to the point where we we make dangerous judgments about everything, including sin.

Sin in our own lives, sin in the lives of other people. And so we see here that this is an example of how God has a very different standard of holiness than you and I. Can I give you an example in the bible that will challenge us in that? When you make the word association between David, the king of Israel, and sin, what comes to mind? Bathsheba.

Bathsheba, adultery. And further than that, murder. He killed her husband to have her, to try to cover his sin. And that was a sin. That was a severe sin.

That was a sin that God sent a prophet by the name of Nathan to confront David about. And I want you to see how the Bible words David's confession. David in two Samuel twelve thirteen, in two Samuel twelve thirteen, David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die.

He confessed it. Wonderful. Beautiful. Much different than Saul. But here's what's amazing.

When David confessed, there were still consequences. Right? And the major consequence to his sin is that four of his sons would die. Four of his sons would die. And the reason why four of his sons would die is because when Nathan came with a parable, a very clever parable to bring David to make a judgment in that parable, he actually pronounced judgment on himself.

And that's another study for another time. So God took him at his word, and the standard by which he judged, which Jesus told us, will be brought upon us. And so four of his sons die. Now here's the thing. There is another episode in David's life where you can say he had a major downfall.

It was much later than this moment. And for some reason, it's not usually in the association when we make sin and David brought together in the same thought. And what we see in that confession, because David confesses, which is a wonderful example by David. He sinned, yet he was a man after God's heart. And one of the reasons, because he confessed his sin continually.

Sincerely, he repented of it when he was caught in it, and even before he was caught in it, in some cases. Listen to this. You go down a few years later from David's infamous sin with Bathsheba. You go to chapter 24 in the same book, and look at verse 10, and I want you to see how David words his confession there. In second Samuel twenty four ten, but David's heart struck him after after he numbered the people.

So what does David do as a king? He calls out for a census in the nation of Israel, and he asks his men to number the the army, the strength of his army. And after he does this, even though Joab pleaded with him, listen, King David, you don't want to do this. Now, that's strange to us. What's the big deal of counting numbers?

God has a whole book called numbers. God is not against numbers. If we have this idea that God care doesn't care about numbers, go to the book of Acts. He numbers the amount of people who were saved. God is for numbers, calculating.

But the way David did it, his his motives were impure. They were unholy. He was trying to publicly flex his strength, his military might, in defiance of the dependency that he was called to have in God. And more than that, you read Exodus 30. David didn't do the senses the way the Old Testament told the nation to do his senses.

So he does this, and then he's pricked in the heart. He's convicted. And then it says here in the second part, and David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly in what I have done, but now, oh Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly. Did you notice that? When David was confronted about his sin with Bathsheba, he said, I have what?

Sinned. When he was confronted for numbering the nation, I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Greatly. And then he adds to it, at the end, I have done very foolishly. David was a new covenant believer in an old testament time.

You see that in so many of the things that he says and does. And here's one of those examples. David saw his sin of pride and arrogance as a greater offense than the sin of adultery and murder. Now, how many of us, if we're honest, would say that we can contrast those two things and say that they are in the same category or one's more intense than than the other. We would say the adultery and the murderers.

David, I have sinned greatly against the Lord. And here's what's shocking. Maybe God actually agreed with that. Because the consequence of this sin was not four of his sons dying. You read in the same chapter, you know how many people died because of this sin?

70,000. Seventy thousand people died as a result of David's sin as a leader over God's people. Apparently, the Lord agreed with David. But would our judgment be the same as God's? Would we actually say, that was a great sin, David, for what you did?

I don't think we would. And maybe we need another example to widen our understanding from the New Testament. Because when you bring up Old Testament, you have some people that are like, that's the Old Testament, brother. Okay. Let's go to the New Testament.

Let me show you a man who sinned three different times on three different days and how God answered those sins differently. So you go to the book of Acts in chapter 12, and there's a king, another king. His name was Herod, another leader. And Herod makes some decisions himself. Herod has no relationship to the true and living God.

If any relationship he had with God, it was killing his people. And in verse one of chapter 12, what do you read about Herod? About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands on some people who belonged to the church. In verse two of acts 12, he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. He killed one of the apostles.

He killed one of the leaders of this new movement. And look what happens in verse three. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. He was bloodthirsty because he was thirsty for the praise of men. The Jews loved the fact that he killed one of the leaders of the church, and so he sets up a new campaign to have Peter executed as well.

So he arrests Peter, and this was during the days of unleavened bread. So he wanted to wait till the feast was done. He already killed a man, and now he is meditating to kill and murder another man. That's one day. You fast forward to acts 12 verse 19.

Peter miraculously escapes. An angel comes and rescues him. He goes to the church to testify about it, and Herod finds out. And in verse 19 of chapter 12, we see, and after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries in order that they should be put to death, then went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there. So now he comes into the room and he goes, where is he?

And the soldiers who were surrounding him all day and all night says, I don't know. Oh, you don't know? You're all dead. Not even gonna give you time to see your family, not even gonna give you time to see your wives. You're dead now.

Calls for the execution. So this man was ruthless. He he killed those who were clergymen. He he killed leaders in the church, And he even goes beyond that, and he kills people who serve them and who are innocent in a matter. He had no regard for justice, no regard for investigation.

He was frustrated. He lost out of this. You're the reason why I'm gonna kill you, and he does. Another day, in verse 21 of the same chapter. On an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.

And the people were shouting, the voice of a god and not of a man. Immediately, an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give god the glory. He was eaten by worms and breathed his last. This is why we need to read our bible slowly. Like, take a step back and consider the sequence of events.

This man murdered one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. He was planning to murder another one. This man killed innocent people who served him. No intervention from heaven. But the moment people began to praise him, to flatter him really, that was the reason, and he basked in that glory, immediately he sends an angel and God has him killed.

When he received worship, he crossed a line. When it came to murder, God was willing to delay his judgment. He was going to judge him. When it came to pride, it brought a stench to heaven that God can no longer tolerate and brought immediate swift discipline. Fascinating, isn't it?

Is our judgment like God's? Do we see sin the way he sees sin? I'm afraid not. I'm afraid not. If we had a choice to stop Herod after he was murdering or after he enjoyed the praise of man, which one would we choose?

Which one would we be more patient with? In God's mind, he could not tolerate pride. Here's the temptation now. You ready? The thoughts that are might be creeping in.

Well, look, if that's the case and I might have a better sense of God's justice then he does. I might have a better standard of righteousness than he does. How can drinking in adoration from others be anywhere near murder? But here's the thing, I don't think God is giving us these examples to tell us that he thinks less of adultery, less of murder, less of thievery, and more of pride, and more of envy, and more of these things. That's not the point.

The point that he's trying to make is of how seriously he takes the sins that we don't even think about. That we have we have no grid for. That's not even in our top 10, so to speak. The reason why God brings these examples is to show that his standard of holiness is much much higher than ours. How many today justify sin?

Listen. Based on this, well, it doesn't hurt anybody. Right? I've talked to too many unbelievers on the streets in meetings like this, and afterwards, when you present the gospel, and you might have a conversation with somebody, and you ask them about their life, you ask them about their their faith, and when you bring up the concept of sin, here's the main objection about their goodness. Well, I'm not hurting anybody.

Well, they're not hurting anybody. And what you just heard here through these examples is that God is reminding us that in your understanding of how sin works, there is a vertical dynamic to this. It's not just that you're not hurting anybody. Even in your most private, hidden sin, there is a person who's affected. That's God himself.

That's the point. There is a heart that is being affected. There is a law that is being violated. There is someone who's being assaulted in it. We don't see that, and that's why these examples are given to us.

And when you and I listen, understand the vertical relationship between our sin and God, we not only will have a greater motivation to be intolerant about it in our own lives, but we will actually be more urgent about the gospel in a culture where we believe that we are good. And that even that is becoming skewed. But listen, I'm gonna end it here. This includes, this includes a greater comprehension, not just of how we affect God, how it affects him as a person, but of the eternality of his justice, as a judge. Ephesians five verse five.

Paul says to the Ephesians, for you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is covetous, that is in adultery idolatry rather, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Pause. Same thing that already said in first Corinthians six. Right? The the covetous, the person who has a desire for those things that do not belong to them is an idolater.

Has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Now look what he says when he adds this in verse six. He adds something that doesn't add in first Corinthians. He says in verse six, let no one deceive you. Let no one deceive you with empty words.

For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. So Paul here says, this deception goes further than not inheriting the kingdom of God. This deception includes thinking that God's wrath won't be poured out, that God doesn't have wrath, that God doesn't have judgment, that God doesn't have a sense of holiness that needs to be satisfied through justice, righteous justice. Let no one deceive you with empty words. Empty words, words with no meaning, words with no backing, words with no authority, words that say, hell doesn't exist.

Judgment isn't coming. We're all headed towards the same path. Those are empty words, and people are deceived. Listen. Let no one deceive you, the Christians, the church.

Let no one deceive you with empty words. Because the wrath of God will come upon these things. If you think about our human justice system, the severity of many of the punishments is often determined by the value of the victim and the nature of the victim. Right? So if you you catch me one of these nights killing a mosquito, I I I doubt that you're gonna call the police to charge me.

You see me swatting a fly and your heart is disturbed by that? I don't think that you would file a lawsuit against me. But then you consider our federal law and if you look at it carefully you realize that there are some animals who are protected by federal law. I remember being in Hawaii a long time ago for a basketball tournament in my unsaved days, and when we were there, we had time on the beach and a sea turtle approached the shore. And the moment it did, the people in charge put a red rope around it, and we were told even when we were swimming, that you can you might see a sea turtle, if you harass the turtle, if you harm the turtle, thousands of dollars in fines, thousands of dollars in fines, and in some cases, even jail time.

Why? Because, because of the nature of that animal, the the value of that animal, and the judgment of our government. If I harm your household pet, it's not gonna have the same consequences as if I if I kill the bumblebee because there's a value, there's a nature. What if I harm a child? What if I kill another human being?

And not just a human being, not just my neighbor. What about a top official in our government? What about somebody who has an important role in society? What what will come about that greater consequence that is in direct correlation to the value of that individual, The value of human life universally. Now, what happens if I assault somebody who is infinitely holy, infinitely good, infinitely more valuable than anything else in this universe including human life.

If you hold on to that logic, you can't abort now, you hold on tighter. Strap on. You agreed with me with the bumblebee and you agree with me with the dog. You agree with me with another human life, so hold on to that logic and let's take it to a person who created all of us. What happens if I offend somebody who is infinitely more valuable than all of us put together?

The natural conclusion is that I heap up a mountain of violations against not just a life, but the author of life. The author of life himself. And because he is infinite in his nature, I incur an infinite debt. And because our punishment is against a spiritual being who is eternal, then naturally, I will inherit spiritual and eternal punishment. Even think about somebody who takes another life, somebody who even commits multiple or somebody who's a serial have you ever seen this where they get, like, an amount of years that doesn't even make sense?

Like, they're sentenced to, like, three, four hundred years. It's like, they're not gonna live that long. What are you trying to communicate there? Again, there there's the communication there of the seriousness of the violation. You took a life, and so you will pay for it with your life.

And your existence will be the very thing that will be accountable for robbing somebody else of their existence. God's existence is forever. There is no beginning. There's no end. And because of our sin against who he is, just by his nature, naturally demands a punishment that is in direct correlation to that.

Our sin is great because God is great. And his wrath is great because he is great. But that is not the only thing in this whole equation that is great. Let me take you back to David's words in closing. When David had sinned in the numbering of his people, he said, I have sinned greatly.

I have sinned greatly against the Lord. Then the prophet Gad says, well, look, I'm gonna give you a choice. God is letting you have a choice of the kind of punishment that you wanna experience. And he didn't have much to work with. But the one thing that stood out to David was that there was one punishment that came directly from God.

The other ones had to do with other means, including human means, and so David was prompted to go with the one that came directly from the hand of God. And here's his reasoning in in choosing a punishment that comes from somebody that you just heard for the past forty something minutes, who is infinitely holy, who sees something as hidden as pride and envy, and will say, you cannot inherit eternal life because of the lust of your heart and the desires that that tell me I am not sufficient, and my sovereignty over your life is not good. That same God, David says something so insightful In verse 14 of second Samuel 24. Don't turn there. Just listen to these words.

It may exalt the greatness of God. In second Samuel twenty four fourteen, then David said to God, I am in, there's that word again, great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord for his mercy is great. His mercy is great. But let me not fall into the hand of man.

Here's another deception. Man believes that they are more merciful than God. The Bible says the contrary. God is much more merciful than we are. And David knew that.

And though his sin was great and he knew that God's holiness was great and that God's judgment was great with all of that, his mercy is great. And so great is his mercy that regardless of the greatness of our sin, God can greatly forgive that sin and let you know something of a goodness and assurance and joy of his love that will never make you doubt it for a moment. So regardless of this sin in and in mine, regardless of it, left to the justice and holiness of God, we have no hope. We're we're sunk. We're done.

Let's eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow we die and hell is our portion. But that is not the only quality of God that is exalted in the scriptures, though I think it is underemphasized in our day, and it is a great cry because when we underemphasize the holiness of God, we minimize the greatness of his mercy. Always. Always. Good news is not good news until there's bad news that contrasts it.

And the more serious and sober we are about the severity of this bad news that deals with us, because we're the bad ones in this whole narrative, The more awesome is the revelation of his goodness, because you realize that we are undeserving of the great mercy of a great and holy God. And so may I present to you the gospel knowing that some people will not be here tonight, some people will not be here this weekend, some people might be so angry with a message like this, that they will not return to another meeting. So be it. At least you leave here with the gospel. The holiness of God.

Do you wanna see it? Do you wanna see how bright and shining it is? Do not look to any plague in the Old Testament. Do not look to any infliction of disease upon a man who's who dared to lift his nose in defiance to God. If you wanna see the overwhelming holiness of God, look no further than the cross on Calvary.

Because hanging on that cross was not a criminal, was not a man who sinned a few times, was a man who never in thought, word, or deed ever done anything to defy God's word. Who hung on that cross? God himself. Who hung on that cross? The same God that you see in David's life.

The same God that you see intervening in Herod's life. The same God that you see who declares his holiness, who has prophets melting like a popsicle stick before a burning furnace, who had men who thought that the most righteous thing about them was their lips proclaiming the truth of God, and those very same men, when they stood before the presence of God, said that the very thing they could have boasted in their righteousness was defiled. That same God, who has seraphim hiding their faces in His presence. You have these people say, when I see God, I'm gonna tell Him and ask Him all these questions. You're not even gonna be able to stand in His presence unless you have a redeemed mind and heart.

These seraphim, who if they chose to even just peek into this place, would have this whole place screeching in horror because of their beauty and their majesty, those same creatures would not even dare look upon the Holy One of Israel. And yet that same God who has who has these creatures, unbothered with the task of continually giving praises to him, uninterrupted for all of eternity, steps off of his throne, wraps himself in flesh, and comes into this dump of a world to redeem it. And as he steps into this world, he does not receive the praises of creatures that are on fire but not consumed, that sing with perfect pitch in a way that would even blow your mind physically if you heard it. He comes into a world that questions him, that accuses him, that slanders him, that dares to blindfold him and slap him across the face and say, hey, prophet, who prophesied to you? And spit on that same face.

And that that God, silently as we sang, suffered. Like a lamb led to slaughter, who could have at one moment declared for 12 legions to break open the sky, and sweep over those Roman soldiers, and those proud Pharisees, and consume them within a second. That same God chose to suffer. Because what was beating in his heart was love. A love that doesn't cancel his holiness, a love that kisses the holiness of God at the cross.

And so this idea of canceling our debt and sin, don't get it twisted. It's not that God took our sins and swept it under the rug. He just transferred the payment to Himself. It has to be paid. Something has to happen with our sin, or as God is not holy, he is not just.

But he translates it upon himself. He puts it upon his own shoulders. And there he is hanging. With the joy that is set before him, and the joy, yes, is in pleasing the father in his glory and magnifying him, but also knowing that those who would respond to him would receive eternal life, and that his house, as pastor Daniel said earlier, would be filled would be filled. He had every sin in mind that you've committed from the moment you were able to sin when he died on that cross.

Every sin. And he's so quick to forgive. And this weekend, understand that he is very likely looking at some in here who need to be forgiven of their sin. And he's waiting upon your confession of that sin. For you to to make a conscious decision, I will not live in deception.

I will not worship God through an idol. I will not worship a Jesus that I have created and fashioned with my own hands. I will see him in his holiness. I will see him in the entirety of his being. I will see him in the greatness of his justice and also the greatness of his love.

And I will embrace him. Because to embrace him is to embrace the truth. And to embrace the truth is to bring about true freedom in your life. So as you've heard the greatness of his holiness, do you at the same time see the greatness of his mercy? Do you perceive it?

Do you see it? What more can he do than what he has done? And what I just presented to you leaves us with this point. No man has an excuse. No man has an excuse.

I love to use this point because I've talked to very few who believe this, but just in case there's even one person who believes this, I haven't sinned. You know what first John tells us? He who says he does not sin is a liar. There you go. You're a liar.

You sinned. And you need forgiveness. Let me say this too. Is there's a giant clock behind me, right? Is it still there?

Or am I deceived? Give me a couple of minutes to be very bold. Is that okay? We'll smile at lunch together. Listen, if you're a Christian in here, you profess to be Christian, and you're living in willful sin, you're not bothered by it.

You're in a very dangerous place. Okay? Understand something. Unrighteousness. Loved it.

I love to drink it. And the only time that I would it. I love to drink it and the only time that I'd be convicted about it is when it embarrassed me or if I disappointed my mom and dad, but there was no sense of a God conscious grief in my sin. I have a special burden for people who grew up in the church because I know what it's like to sit in meetings like this and to almost be so numb that no matter who goes up there and says what, it barely moves you. Barely moves you.

Can I present a possibility? Could it be could it be that despite the name of God on your lips and despite the understanding of his ways, could it be that you're deceived? I I don't wanna project a doubt upon those who are truly saved. That is not my intention. I don't I don't like that kind of preaching.

And my intention here is not to get emotional reactions this weekend. I am in favor more of like calculated, logical planning with your soul. More than, oh, it was so powerful. And then you go back to do the same thing. Could care less about the tears, really.

So I want I want to ask you, could it be young guy, could it be sister, that the the the fact that you're undisturbed about your worldliness is not because Jesus is so merciful and he'll let you do what you want, it's because you have a false Jesus that you are bowing down to every day. Consider that deception. And the way that I was able to escape that deception, God was very merciful to me, is when I realized that this sin was not satisfying me, which is an awesome evangelistic tool in bringing you to Jesus. This lack of satisfaction was so obvious that I came to the word, and when I discovered in my own Bible that I didn't own in college, that I had to go fetch from my dad's library and bring it back to my apartment, what I realized was not just who Jesus was, that who I was. I was not the real thing to begin with.

I wasn't even the real thing. And one of the verses, it's still in my journal in 2012, one of the journal entries that still are it's just embedded in my conscious was when I came upon that part in Mark where it says, they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. I said, that's me. That's exactly who I am. And so I I I ask you.

I really do. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna yell at you. I'm not gonna beat you over with anything. I'm just gonna ask you to do something. Have you ever come to the word of God honestly and said, am I the real thing?

Like, am I the real thing or am I deceived? If that is your heart desire to know, God will speak to you. He will reveal himself to you and he'll make it so known. He'll deliver you. And I hope that you will endeavor to do that in this place if you're not sure.

If you're not sure. My prayer, my goal as I close here, I said that couple of times, didn't I? Is that every person would live here deceived free with the most important clarity that you can have in this life and that is a matter of your salvation. I know that I'm saved. The spirit bears with me within me and witnesses to me that I am a child of God.

That is my desire for you. Lord, we ask you this morning, thanking you for the words that have highlighted how you see sin differently than us. And Lord, we just pray that this weekend as we explore how the new testament, your word tells us not to be deceived about, tells us how we can be assured of certain aspects of our lives. That there would be an eagerness and a hunger to know the truth. Lord, we all confess in this place that our sin indeed is great.

Even the things that run-in our minds, even the things that live in our hearts that no man sees, you see it, Lord. And we thank you that though the the magnitude of our sin is deserving of great judgment, so great is your mercy that not only matches it, but deals with it. Lord, we ask that every person in this place would have confidence, Not in their ancestry line, not in their parental upbringing, but Lord, in their own personal knowledge of the gospel, that through repentance and faith in what you've done on the cross, they can be saved. We can be saved, and we can know that mercy that satisfies us deeply. Lord, hold us by the hand and lead us through this word about how we can be secure from deception.

And Lord, may our conversations be edifying. May they be challenging if need be so that we can sharpen one another and know with greater certainty that we indeed are fellowshipping with you in the light. Lord, we wanna magnify you because your mercy is great. That you've forgiven, that you're willing to forgive. And so Lord, if there's even a few, if there's even one who might be deceived about their own salvation, rescue us.

Rescue us that we may be free in the truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.