Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, October 22. The Bible says Satan is real and a formidable adversary. Let's pay careful attention to today's podcast as we learn how to spot the enemy's deceptive strategy in part two of The Real War. If you and I could wrap up Satan's primary strategy in one word, here's the word. And the word is deception. Deception is to tell someone something that is not true in order to get them to do something they otherwise would not do. So we tell them a falsehood in order to persuade them that something is right when it is not or they should do this when they should not do it.
Deception is his key. And if you'll go back to the book of Genesis and you'll recall that this was the problem with Eve, and you know this one by heart, don't have to turn to this one. But in the 13th verse of Genesis chapter 3, then the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. Now how did he deceive her? He misled her. He gave her some false information and she took it. He said to her, well, if you eat this, you'll be like God.
You'll know good and evil. Part of that was true, but she was not like God. And he deceived her by misleading her. And the devil has been using that tactic and that form of strategy all down through the years. And the truth is every single time you and I are tempted by the devil, Satan is misleading us by telling us something that is not true. Now you really need this when we don't.
Well, if you had this, you would really feel content and complete when we would not. And so over and over and over again, Satan's tactic is always that of deception, bringing us to believe something that is not true. So I want to give you a series of scriptures and I want you to jot them down, but I want you to follow these passages with me, if you will.
And I want us to begin. What we're going to ask is how does Satan deceive us? How does he tell us these lies?
And we began to be misled and go off into error or into some kind of conduct or attitude or thinking about ourselves that is totally destructive. How does he do it? Beginning with Galatians chapter six and look, if you will, beginning in verse seven. He says, Do not be deceived.
Do not be misled. God is not mocked. You can't make God look ridiculous. For whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Now here's what he says. Don't be deceived into thinking that you can sin against God, disobey God and not suffer the consequences. Don't be deceived into thinking that you can sow sin and reap righteousness. Don't be deceived into thinking that you can disobey God and get away with it. Don't be deceived into thinking that you can sow and you'll have a crop failure.
There are no crop failures. And here's the devil's deception. Oh, go ahead. Just listen. Don't worry about it. And what he's saying is don't think about the future. Just think about now. Think about what you want now. Think about what brings you contentment now.
What satisfies you? Just think about now. Satan's deception is don't look beyond the temptation. Just look at what you want and take what you want.
Don't look beyond that. And Satan says there are no consequences. And God says the consequences of sin is this, we will reap what we sow. It is a form of deception to think that you and I can sin against God and go on sinning against God without reaping the consequences. Deception number one.
Deception number two. Let's turn to James chapter one, just from second Peter back over to James chapter one. And let's begin in verse 13 of James chapter one. Let no one say when he's tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin.
And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. He says, don't be deceived into thinking that you can lust and lust and lust and lust after anything, whether it is sexual lust, financial lust, power lust, prestige, acceptance, whatever it might be. He says, don't be deceived into thinking that you can keep on lusting without somewhere in some way taking a step and bringing that lust to fruition and sinning against God.
He says, because it's going to happen. And if you keep on lusting and you don't check it, he says, you deceive if you think it's ultimately not going to result in outright sin. That's the devil's lie. And he says, unless lust is checked, it will come to fruition and ultimately bring spiritual death. Well, let's look at another one. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 33. Do not be deceived.
Bad company corrupts good morals. What does he say? Here's what he's saying. He says, if you think that you can run with a worldly crowd and go where they go and do what they do and listen to their filthy language and befriend them and be a part of their thing and it not rub off on you and damaging you, you are deceived. You say, well, but I'm a strong Christian. My friend, let me ask you a question.
Do you think that a woman could dress up in a wedding dress, beautiful white, spotless, untarnished, beautiful veil and put her on an elevator and take her down into a coal mine shaft about 200 feet deep and walk her about 100 feet along the rail and bring her back up to the surface and she'd be as white as she was? Friend, it's just going to get on you. That's all there is to it. Just going to get on you. You walk out in the rain, you're going to get wet.
There's no way to stay dry when it's pouring down rain if you don't have a raincoat. My friend, the Bible says, if you think that you can run with a world's crowd and you just going to be afraid, you say, well, I'm going to be a witness. Well, amen. Praise the Lord.
Hallelujah. Being a witness to them and running with them is two different things. He says, if you think that you can run with a world's crowd and not be tarnished and not get morally tarnished and damage your Christian experience, he says, you are deceived. And my friend, that's the way a lot of God's people, while they're living a carnal Christian life, don't go to church anymore. Don't read the Bible anymore. Don't pray except in an emergency because they got in with the wrong crowd. How many parents have said, my son was going to church and my daughter was this and they were living for God and reading the Bible and having their meditations.
And then they have some friends at school and they got to doing this and got to doing that. Now, they're not interested in church. They don't read their Bible.
They don't do this. An absolutely clear illustration of being deceived. Well, there's another one. Look, if you will, in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18. 1 Corinthians 3 18.
Now, this could be applied to many things and we will apply it to two or three right quick. Verse 18. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you, or woman of course, thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise. Now, he says, if you think that the world's wisdom is the way to live, he says, you're deceived.
And if you look around you, here's the world's ideal. You want to get ahead, man, you climb over the guy in front of you. He says, if you think that's the way to do it, you're deceived. You want to multiply your income, then you just get all you can get. That's the world's way and you're deceived.
And we could go right down the list. So much of what the world does is in antithesis to the Word of God. And what he's saying in this passage is this, when you look to see what the world's doing, ask yourself, what's the opposite of that?
And most of the time, it'll be the right thing. Because the world's wisdom is just that. Listen, who is the ruler of this world? That is the prince of the power of the air. This, when we talk about the world, we talk about the world system. Who is the prince of this world system? Satan. His demonic forces ruling and reigning in the world system. And for us to look at the world to make decisions by their principles is an absolute disaster. He says those who live with the world system are deceived.
Listen to this one. Turn, if you will, to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Here's another principle. It's a different kind of principle, but it's the same thing about being deceived. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
And people give all kinds of defense for this. In 1 Thessalonians 4, the first eight verses, what Paul is talking about here is our moral purity. And he says, beginning in verse 2 of 1 Thessalonians 4, for you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. And what is that commandment? This is the will of God, your sanctification, your separation. That is that you abstain from sexual immorality. That each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification, honor not in lustful passion like the Gentiles or the unbelievers who do not know God. And he says, and besides that, don't defraud someone else.
Don't promise them something you can't deliver. Then in verse 7 he says, for God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. Now here's the principle. Look at this, verse 8. Consequently, he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives his Holy Spirit to us.
Now here's what he's saying. To say that, yeah, I know that's what you believe. I know that's what you Christians believe, but that's just what you believe. That's not what I believe. That's just what you believe. Don't try to force your morals upon me.
Here's what he's saying. Anybody who says that and they're talking about some principle of Scripture is absolutely, totally deceived because they are attributing to man the laws of God. And he says, when they reject that principle, they think they're rejecting the morality of men when they're rejecting God himself and they're totally deceived. And we got a world full of people who will defend all kinds of sexual immorality and tell you that there's nothing wrong with it.
This is the way God made me. And after all, I have to get my needs met and on and on and on they go and they say, besides that, that's just your opinion. He says they are absolutely deceived, violating the law of God. And what they're doing is saying, that's your opinion when he says what they're doing is rejecting God. Listen, you can't reject a principle of Scripture without rejecting God. He is the author of it. And if I reject what he says and what he says is a part is representative of who he is, then I reject him.
Well, let's move on. Look in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Listen to this passage.
Chapter 9 verse 6. Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.
Now think about this. Does he not say that if I sow or give sparingly, I'm going to reap sparingly. And if I give or sow bountifully, I'm going to reap bountifully. Now, if that's true and it is true, and if you say, well, yeah, I do believe the Bible. If you believe the Bible, you got to believe it all. If you believe parts of it, then you don't believe the Bible. You believe parts of the book, but you don't believe the whole thing, then you're headed for trouble. But let's say you say, yeah, I do believe the Bible. Now think about this for a moment.
Yes, I do believe the Bible. He that sows sparingly, it reaps sparingly. He that sows bountifully, it reaps bountifully. So the time comes for the offering and you don't tithe. And you say, well, the reason I don't is because, man, I've got all these obligations and I owe this and I owe that.
And besides, I've got some plans and my wife or my husband or my children or this, that, and the other. And so I just can't, I just can't do it. Now, would God ever ask you to do anything you can't do? That's why He said, bring ye all the tithes of the storehouse and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and bless you abundantly. But He also says, why will you rob me? And they said, what do you mean rob you? He said, you rob me by refusing to give you tithes and offerings. Then He says, therefore, I will curse you with a curse.
And here's what I want you to see. You cannot, as a believer, withhold what God says is His and pray and expect God to bless you materially and prosper you or help you in your finances. If you think you can, you are deceived.
You cannot violate the law. Somebody says, but now wait a minute now. There are a lot of folks who have a lots to give. We're not talking about lots to give. When He says, so sparingly, reap sparingly, so bountifully reap bountifully, somebody says, but now I don't have but a sparing amount. That's why, listen, that's why to some people to sow bountifully is a large sum of money. For others to sow bountifully is a little bit of money.
It's bountiful compared to what they have. So God never expects us to give something we don't have to give. But here's the principle. Do I think God is going to bless me, help me get out of debt, help me get my bills paid, help me get my finances straight, when I am disobeying Him and excusing it and rationalizing it and saying, I just can't, I can't, I know it's what God says, but when you put a buck behind the principle of God, you're already headed for trouble.
You see, the fact that I think I can't, I've been deceived. There is no way to out-give God. And you see, somehow when we start talking about money, people start getting uptight. You know why we get uptight? Because we know deep down inside we're disobeying God, and we can't get over the threshold of saying, okay, God, you said it, I'm going to do it, I'm trusting you.
That's all He wants. But I'm amazed at people who pray, now, Lord, I want you to just prosper with me and bless me financially, violating the laws of God all the time. Can't, it won't work. And what you have to ask is, God, the truth is, have I been deceived into thinking that I really can't, because here's what we're saying is, God, I know that's what your principle is, I can't practice it.
It won't work for me. You know what that is? That's pride. God, I'm an exception to the rules. Brother, you better believe there's not a single one of us who are an exception to the rules. One last thing, and you know this one by heart, listen. Here is the ultimate deception.
This is the ultimate one. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.
Here's the ultimate deception. I believe in God. Don't give me this Jesus bit. I believe in God. I love God like everybody else does. I pray and God answers my prayer. No, I'm not a Christian. I don't intend to be one. I don't, I'm not interested in going to church.
Yes, I do believe I'm going to heaven because I believe in God. Ultimate deception. Absolutely blinded.
Totally in darkness. Naturally, Satan's going to tell you, you're not as bad as other folks are. Look how good you are. Look at all the good things you do. You're not wicked. You've never been in prison.
You never killed anybody. Listen, what, what, what is all this forgiveness bit? God loves everybody. Everybody's going to get to heaven one way or the other.
Brother, that theology was born straight out of a pit. The ultimate deception is I can go to heaven and ignore the sacrificial, all-sufficient, atoning death of Jesus Christ and ignore it completely and die and go to heaven. The ultimate deception.
Now let me ask you a question. Has God brought something to your mind and said, you've been explaining that away. You've been rationalizing that. You've been excusing yourself. You have been deceived by the devil and you need to get it right.
And how do you get it right? By confessing it and repenting of it before God and asking Him to forgive you and thanking Him for His forgiveness and make a decision right there. I choose to do thus and so at this point to correct this.
Here's the deception. Somebody says I've been saved, been baptized. Well, I just don't really feel like I need to be baptized.
Why not? Well, I just never have felt like that I really wanted to be baptized or I needed to be. Jesus said, go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel. He said we're to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
You say, well, but I just never have felt like I needed that. Then, my friend, if you think that you can walk in the will of God and be filled with the Spirit and be in the will of God and refuse scriptural baptism, you're deceived. Any one of us can be deceived and we're deceived. We are open for the devil to play havoc with their lives.
